Zero was following Doll as she guided her. The corridor was wide, and the wooden doors evoked a sense of curiosity about what lay beyond them. Various children were sitting on the wooden floor, playing or talking to each other, while others were cleaning the rooms and corridors, looking at Zero with a mixture of concern and admiration, a blend of curiosity and confusion.

Zero felt disturbed, avoiding seeing those faces, and anxiety settled within her like mold settling on corpses.

'This... is disgusting... It reminds me... of an old feeling... those looks around me... as if they are screaming... disgusting... damn it... that crazy girl... I don't like this at all... I really want... to fall to the ground without standing up... again.' Zero inside, appealing to someone to come to her rescue.

Doll turned to Zero, finding her anxious and tense, standing still in her place. Doll smiled, took her hand, and said, "Don't worry... everyone here... has the same feelings... we are no different from each other... we are like brothers and sisters in the end... don't be afraid..."

Those kind words eased Zero's anxiety, yet Zero was not convinced. In the end, she believed in one thing that would never fade. Nevertheless, Zero smiled, followed Doll, and her fear of those eyes around her grew little by little.

Zero noticed Doll's artificial limbs, moving closer to her and saying, "How did this happen?"

"H... What do you mean?" Doll stopped in her place.

"I mean... your limbs... artificial." Zero was internally tense.

"Ah... my limbs?" Doll said in surprise, looking at her left hand.

"Ah... never mind... I have no right to ask... after all..."

"My three limbs were cut off." At that moment, shivers ran down Zero's body, feeling paralyzed and cold in her hand, as if a rope of memories was trying to pull her back, causing her anxiety and severe fear, bringing back that intense pain, as if that rope was pressing on her hand, cutting it off with great force and speed.

At that moment, Zero felt severe nausea, and Doll rushed towards her anxiously.

"Zero... what's wrong?"

Zero raised her head, enduring it, "Don't worry... I'm... fine."

"Let's go back to the clinic... I have medicine for this -" Doll said anxiously.

"It's okay... a fleeting feeling, that's all... don't worry..." Zero reassured Doll.

"Ah... okay... if that's what... you feel." Doll said anxiously.

"Let's continue..."

"Ah... okay..."

Zero and Doll continued on their way, and then Doll turned to Zero, saying, "This is what happened to me."

"Why... did you do... that?"

"I was forced to do this..."

"But... that doesn't mean you have to sacrifice in this violent way... Ah... sorry... it's not my place... to say that."

"It's okay... I know this is disturbing... but... it would be harder to face death..."

Doll felt a coldness stinging her body, looking at Zero with a calm smile that planted a feeling of sorrow and sadness in Zero's heart. Doll turned back, saying in a voice that hid severe pain, "Perhaps... you are right... pain is one thing... and death is another... perhaps we have tasted the bitterness of pain... but death... comes once, not twice."

"Huh... death... might be salvation from this suffering... forever."

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This caught Zero's attention, and she said, "I think... you are older than me."

"Huh... twelve years old... why...?" Doll said in surprise.

"I am ten." At that moment, Doll was astonished, saying, "You are ten years old... I thought you were thirteen or older... that's strange... I didn't expect that... this is not normal... a ten-year-old girl... talking this way... perhaps she has reached adolescence... but... it's rare to see children at ten with this thinking... unless... she is aware... of the reality of what we are going through... Zero... let's continue... walking." Doll.

Silence prevailed between them for a moment, until Doll asked Zero, "Zero... haven't you treated the Mirage in your left eye?"

"Oh... this... actually... I refused that." Zero said nervously.

"Huh... why?" Doll said in confusion.

"I felt uncomfortable back then... '... Believe it or not... even I... don't know.'...".

"I advise you to accept treatment... she... is the one who treated my injury." Doll said, touching that solid arm with her bare hand, her eyes shining with sadness and sorrow, her eyes gleaming under the dim sunlight, as if the past was telling a story that was and still is engraved in Doll's memories, filling her heart with a bitter truth, a truth that must be accepted, whether she liked it or not. Despite her gentle smile, which filled Zero's heart with reassurance, even for a second, that smile would remain fake, hiding folds of suffering behind it, in the face of that bitter reality.

*****

Time takes Doll back, to that dark room, all those balls around her, and those artistic paintings with scribbles, planting a feeling of isolation in her broken self. Dim light illuminates Doll, who is bound by shackles, in her place, only the light of the lamp, and that light seeping from behind the door, is what makes her see those decaying walls, with their pale, faded paint, and that gray floor, reflecting an endless echo of loneliness in her heart. Every day, she hears the sounds of moaning and screaming, crying resulting from eternal torment, planting fear in her heart awaiting her inevitable fate. Those shadows behind the door make her yearn for freedom, despite her imprisonment in that hell. Every day, she looks at those tattered drawings behind her on that wall, scribbles of children who suffered before her, and those red lines around her from everywhere, planting fear and madness in her heart, and those chalky eyes around her, showing her the miserable reality. She realizes that whoever imprisoned her is watching her moment by moment, and that those eyes are just a means to torture her.

Doll raised her head, looking at that iron door.

"What now?" Doll said, noticing something approaching.

Doll began to hear whispers behind the door, moving towards it as much as possible. Fortunately, the shackles were long enough for her to get closer to the door, even if only by a few centimeters.

* Hmm... looking at the record... she is a sample... with no point in keeping her. •.

******

'Hmm... an adult voice.' Doll said to herself with fear and caution.

*****

* Doctor... I'm not sure she has any use at the moment. •

At that moment, Doll was shocked. It was a girl's voice, not like the voices she had heard. This was the first time she had heard this voice, next to the voice of a deformed monster.

'Impossible...'

*****

* Unfortunately... no shipment has been delivered for three weeks... the delivery date is tomorrow... prepare the sample for testing... •.

* But... you know it's still too early for her time... • the girl's voice.

******

'Argument... again.' Doll began to sweat, listening very carefully.

*******

* The director will be angry if we are late in delivering the shipment... Room number 10... bring her... she's in front of you... hurry up. •

* Yes, sir. •.

****

At that moment, Doll heard footsteps approaching her, retreating backwards, looking right and left, her heart pounding frantically. Suddenly, she found a wooden box her size. Doll was astonished, rushing towards it and opening it, finding inside a collection of colored paper, pencils and various colors, and various handicraft tools.

At that moment, she felt a sudden nausea, picking up those normal-sized scissors, starting to hit those shackles on her right hand, until she broke them with difficulty.

Suddenly, she heard a click on the door, as if it was about to open. Time was running out, she wouldn't be able to break all those shackles in time. Breathing became almost impossible for her, and anxiety was pressing on her more. Escape became impossible, she had no choice but to...

******

The girl opened the door, looking in all directions, moving towards that light, finding an iron chain on the ground, following it, noticing something, it was dark in color, blending with the floor, bending down to touch it, it was a liquid like viscous, blending with her skin, turning dark red.

At that moment, she raised her head, realizing what had happened, finding a severed hand and two legs in front of her.

'Damn it.' The girl said to herself, rushing towards that hand, shock evident on her face.

"Doctor... she has escaped."