Even Stranger Things

Just Like Old Times

"So how do you know Eleven?" Was the first question Lucas asked the second they sat down.

"Lucas," Mike scolded.

"Yeah," Max laughed. "Isn't it obvious? She was at the lab too."

"How much do they know?" The stranger asked El.

Eleven looked down and played with her hands. "I see," the stranger sighed. "El wasn't the only one who was experimented on."

"Seriously?" Dustin asked.

"If she wasn't the only one who was experimented on then. . ."

Lucas stopped talking when the stranger took off her watch, putting it on the table and revealing her tattoo identical to Eleven's. 

"001?" Max asked.

"Wait," Dustin said slowly, "are you saying. . . You're the first?"

"For our session, yes," the stranger said as she grabbed her watch and put it back on.

"Session?" Mike asked.

"We weren't the first," the stranger explained. "I believe we were actually the third or fourth round of experiments. But I was the oldest in our session so I was given this number."

"What happened to the others?" Will asked.

"They didn't make it," the stranger said glancing at El.

"Meaning. . ." Lucas hesitated.

She turned toward him, her face not showing an ounce of emotion. "They weren't strong enough."

No one said anything until their waitress walked over and took their orders. El was the one to finally break the silence.

"I haven't seen you in almost three years. Where have you been?"

"Dr. Brenner sent me to college," the stranger said simply. Steve couldn't help but study her. There was something off about her but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"What school?" He asked.

"University of Southern Indiana," she said almost automatically.

"I've heard that's a good school," Dustin said.

"Like you would know," Mike scoffed.

"It's a good school," Dustin shrugged.

"What are we supposed to call you?" Lucas asked with a mouth full of food.

"One is fine," she shrugged.

"We can't call you a number," Dustin laughed.

"Well, that's who I am," she shrugged. "I'm 001."

"What was your name before?" Max asked harmlessly but the stranger froze.

"You obviously had a life before," Will added.

"Maybe we shouldn't pry," Steve said, clearing his throat.

"We're just curious," Lucas shrugged.

Steve glanced over to see the stranger staring down at her plate. He turned to the kids and whispered to them.

"Doesn't mean we should push her to talk about things she may not want to open up about," Steve clarified.

"Steve's right," Will said. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," the stranger said, glancing at Steve.

"So, do you have superpowers like El?" Dustin asked.

"Superpowers?" One chuckled as she glanced at Eleven. El shrugged in response.

"If you want to call them that," One said, clearing her throat.

"Can you show us?" Lucas asked.

"You want to see them?" The stranger stuttered even though she knew exactly what this curious child wanted to see.

"Of course," Lucas shrugged. "What's wrong with us wanting to see your magic?"

"It's not magic," Eleven said glancing at her oldest friend.

"Then what is it?" Will asked.

"It's energy," the stranger started to explain.

"One," Eleven tried to stop her.

"It's okay," she shrugged. "It's not going to hurt anyone to tell them. Unless you'd rather not."

Everyone looked at Eleven but she kept her gaze on One.

"I guess you're right," she said shakily. Eleven tucked her hands under the table, leaning closer to Mike.

The stranger took a deep breath before lifting her arms, palms up. The group watched, practically holding their breaths as she started moving her hands in a circular motion. Soon, a ball of clear energy began to form.

"I don't see anything," Will mumbled.

"That's because energy doesn't have a color," the stranger said with all her focus on forming the orb. "Until I add it."

Just like that, blue energy slowly started adding to the orb. Within a matter of seconds, the entire orb was blue.

"Whoa," the kids chuckled.

"How are you doing that?" Max asked.

"The average person uses less than 10% of their brain capacity," the stranger started to explain as she continued to manipulate the energy. "Eleven and I were trained to use more. We spent time exercising our minds and pushing them further."

Suddenly, the stranger sucked in a breath. She looked up at Eleven with wide eyes as the orb disappeared.

"Are you alright?" Steve asked gently.

"That's not what happened," the stranger mumbled, still in her daze.

"What is she talking about?" Mike asked Eleven.

"What does she mean? It's not what happened?" Will asked.

"Yes and no," Eleven sighed. "It's what they kept saying to us while they were. . ."

"While they tortured us," the stranger said, her eyes glazed over.

They were about to ask her more questions, but she quickly stood up and walked to the bathroom.

"What was that about?" Lucas asked Eleven.

"You wouldn't understand," she sighed. "We've been through a lot, but One, she got the worst of it. He had her for a lot longer than the rest of us?"

"How long?" Steve asked.

"Weeks?" Max guessed. Eleven shook her head as she looked at the bathroom that One disappeared to.

"Years."