"PATIENT ZER0"

Cameron

It was so beautiful outside, I was relaxing with her head in my lap, running my long thin fingers through her straight soft black hair. She was the definition of beautiful, though she struggles with emotions. We stood up, hand in hand walking into some sort of barren looking building, and then suddenly everything changed and I felt so hot I thought I might pass out. Her hair... the flames... it was gone, all gone and it was my fault... I did this to her, I killed Elizabeth Nade.

The repeating beep of my alarm clock disturbed my sleep, though I couldn't remember what my dream was about I was visibly shaken. It had to have been some nightmare.. Crawling out of bed I threw my thick blankets off of my body, standing up to walk into the personal bathroom attached to the room I had been assigned not so long ago. Upon walking in, I shut the door to change into a pair of skinny jeans, red converses, and a plain gray v-neck. Brushing my teeth, I took a few moments to check the reflection I saw in my full length mirror.

Tall, average build. Some muscle but not so much that it's frightening, short, shaggy straight-ish brown hair. Bright, vibrant green eyes, with bags beneath them - and the familiar scowl my face harbors when I still need a good ol' cup of coffee. Quickly spitting out the remainder of the minty paste that sat in my mouth, I was quick to step outside my door to find An Bao preparing to knock on my door, holding a steaming cup of coffee that smelled like... banana bread. My favorite! She quickly got over her surprise and handed me my cup, which I gingerly took to drink.

"We were just notified that your experiments are ready for the day," She explained. "A nurse went in to see the girl's wrist, she just punched her with her good hand to the point where she had to be sedated in order for anyone to check her wrists. They're both fine, just a little cut up and bruised with a slight sprain in the one she used to punch the glass wall, so we bandaged that wrist. The man seems to be more willing to cooperate, only asking if the girl was okay." I stiffened at the news of the girl, she was my responsibility. How troublesome...

"Alright, thank you An. And thanks for the coffee, you went through the trouble of making my favorite cup. I owe you," I told the older woman and meant what I said. She simply smiled and ruffled my hair and I groaned in annoyance.

"Okay okay, that's enough hair-ruffling for me mom," I teased. An Bao playfully glared at me before we parted ways and I headed for my own lab on the compound. Before I was even halfway there, I saw Ian Brauer, one of the scientists from our social sciences division. He studied a lot of human and animal anatomy, and hated me with such a passion that only I could match it. His eyes seemed to narrow on their own as he passed me, and I quickened my pace to the lab to see what he had done. As I was preparing to pass both the man and his daughter, he stopped me with these exact words.

"He went straight down the hall, I heard his footsteps from pretty far away," He added and my body stiffened. I stopped in the middle of the corridor with his cell not too far behind me, the door to my lab on the right and the only thing that lay beyond this point was the girl's cell. I had to find out her name soon or else I'd be driven mad. Without warning I dashed through the halls of cells that I used for my experiments, where some reminded me of questionable experiences. When I finally rounded the corner where I knew she would be, I was surprised to find the girl in the corner of her "room" hugging her jean-clad knees to her chest. I was quick to punch in the code to her door and shut it behind me, careful to approach her slowly.

"Are you alright?" I asked her softly. "Did that man do anything to you?" I asked, automatically jumping to conclusions.

"N-no, no he didn't.." she stuttered, standing up and walking in the opposite direction of me.

"But I remember the nurse, and I feel bad for hurting her but then things went black and I woke up and.. I saw the bandage on my arm but I'm just upset that I don't know if anything else ha-"

I was quick to cut her off because I knew exactly where this was going. "Don't worry, no one did anything but bandage your wrist. Plus, it was only a woman who took a look at your hand," I told her with a reassuring smile. She craned her head to look at me over her shoulder, her hair falling loosely over her back. Her face held a look of surprise, but quickly morphed into a small smile.

"Thank you for that then, Mr. I'm gonna just kidnap a girl and her father on her godforsaken first day of school!" She spat with a spiteful smile, and cue the record crack.

"Woah woah woah woah, I did not kidnap you two. That's all on people that are completely above me!" I explained quickly, with my hands up in the air. "I'm just the genius they make test the guinea pigs. I'm sorry but if I don't do as I'm told, then bad things happen," I mumbled. It really bothers me that with all the sci-fi movies that are almost exactly like what we do here, she still doesn't bother to think about leverage.

"What's your name?" She suddenly asks me, causing my head to shoot up.

"What?" I ask her, trying to be sure I heard her right. "You want to know my name when you most definitely know it will be because of me that you'll die in here? That's sweet but you're a little.. Erm you've got some issues," I pointed out and this is when she turned her whole body to face me... just to laugh so hard she ended up on the floor.

"Yo- you really think... Ahahaha! No you dunce! It's so I know what name to plaster everywhere and destroy when I get out of this place," She laughed. Now I felt like an idiot.

"Who's the one with the issues now?" The young girl asked, and I was suddenly reminded of how we still didn't know each other's names.
"What's your name though?" I asked, watching her closely as if trying to decode her movement while she sat herself up against the wall opposite to me.

"Just so you know they don't actually give me a file, they pick the toys and tell me how to play with them," I added quickly to be sure she knew I meant nothing bad.

"My name is Cameron, but I want to know yours now too," She answered. "Just to make things fair." I sighed in a mixture of annoyance and curiosity, why was she so calm with me? It's so strange... damn women and their weird, complicated emotions.

"Very well. My name is Caspian Constantine -  I'm sure you've heard of me - and you won't be getting out of here. Ever. Even if you were to somehow magically escape, we'd be able to track you down within minutes. Probably less. Point is, stop hoping. I'm treating you well now but that's just because I need you to heal to begin. If you hurt yourself again then we'll just be forced to mimic the conditions for your father. You'll just hurt him too. Besides, I'd advise against hurting yourself at all - when the tests begin you'll need as much energy as you can spare," I explained while standing up, brushing myself off to exit the confining little cell.

"You're insane," She spat out at me, and I could only chuckle while walking out of her cell.

"Ah, but all the best people are," I smirked finally shutting the door behind me. Walking back down through my maze of empty cells, I stopped in front of Cameron's father. He seemed to be writhing on the glass, knuckles bloody and bruised from what I assume to be him attempting to break through.

"Don't you touch her with your filthy hands," he growled. I admittedly was taken aback by this comment, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Oh sir, I wouldn't dream of it." I replied, finally exiting my testing area. God, there just isn't enough coffee for me in the world today.