Sylvia did not understand what happened - yet there were two things that she felt within her very core in that single instant.
The first - that Number One had done SOMETHING.
She did not know what, but somehow, in that instant, Sylvia felt the world around her change.
And within an instant, as if she had teleported, she was in front of the man.
It was as if the very space between them had disappeared.
Whether her speed had increased or something else had happened altogether, Sylvia did not know.
The only thing she knew for certain was that Number One had interfered.
Second - Number One had interfered in alignment with Sylvia's will.
Despite the uncooperative nature which Number One had shown up until this point, Sylvia felt it within herself.
Their minds were aligned.
Without even the need to discuss anything, Sylvia had performed actions in accordance with the movements which Number One had designated and vice versa.
It was as if they were literally of a single mind.
'You... wanted me to do that, didn't you?'
[Hehehe... well, it wouldn't have been very fun if you had just KILLED him, right? After all... isn't it all the more fun to watch their surprised expressions as they realize it was hopeless to go against you in the first place?]
Sylvia did not know how she felt about such a thing.
She felt corrupted.
As if her mind was rotting away.
Yet even so, if she had a mouth to do so, she would have smiled.
'Yeah... I suppose that's right. Haha...'
If she had a mouth to speak, her words would have been guttural - filled with a brutal madness in them.
'Let's hit this next memory then. Shall we?'
[Yes. We shall.]
----
Immediately, the blanks were filled in.
Sylvia found herself once more in that cell, chained to the wall in the body of a child.
However as soon as she inhabited this body within this memory that she was experiencing, she immediately knew of the occurrences which had happened over the past week.
She knew that a week had passed since the last memory.
And as soon as she awoke inside that cell, she remembered everything that had happened up to this point.
Number One had been captured, chained, and visited by that man every single day.
And each day, the man had taught her various things.
However most prominent in the things he taught her was nothing less than absolute loyalty through FEAR.
The body of the girl was shivering.
It was cold.
She was thin beyond belief, and her cheeks caved in on the girl.
Her green eyes had excessive bags underneath them, and Sylvia knew exactly why.
'I'm... so tired...', the young girl thought to herself.
She was trapped inside a container of fluid.
Getting to sleep in such a state was next to impossible.
She had not moved her body for a week.
Tubes lined the body of the girl, who was dressed in a nightgown. Heading into her mouth were tubes for oxygen, food and water, and there were other tubes for all other functions that weaved in and out of the girl whose long black hair floated about in the fluid.
Her expression was dead beyond repair, and she looked around to see nothing.
'This girl... she has been... brainwashed.'
Sylvia knew from the memories which currently were present inside her mind.
Day after day, the girl had been beaten, abused, and ridiculed.
And yet even as the man had done such things, he did them all with a delighted smile.
'He... is evil.', Sylvia thought.
'I'm scared... will the master be displeased with me again? Why... Why couldn't I have been born a human? If only I was born a human... then maybe I would have been able to please him more...'
It was as she heard these thoughts, combined with the memories which had flooded into her mind, that Sylvia felt herself overwhelmed with emotion.
If she could cry, she would have.
Yet she did not cry.
Because she was not in control of this body to do so.
----
[January 6th 2030]
Eight years before the events of the present day.
A girl hung from a pair of chains, alone in a cold cell.
Her head hung from her neck without motion, the girl's disordered black hair hanging in front of her.
The light breaths of the girl were the only proof that she was even alive.
'I... don't know what I should do. But... I do know one thing.'
It was then that a memory played itself in the mind of the chained girl, and a gentle smile drew itself across her face.
"I am the only one allowed to damage my own property."
She recalled these words, spoken by a man with ever so slightly disheveled hair - pure white as snow, and eyes which were the golden shade of honey.
That man, who wore a lab coat over his suit was the one and only person who came to the mind of the girl.
'I... am his property. And he... called me precious.', the girl thought.
And with this thought came a deeper grin.
'I... should do everything I can... for him.'
It was at that moment that the girl looked around, a crazed expression on her once lonely face.
'For my master.'
----
She did not know who she was.
She held no memories of any individuals.
Except for one.
There was one single man who had greeted her when she awoke in this strange facility.
One single man who had looked upon her with worth - even though she was not even a human herself.
She was merely an object.
A thing.
Something to be treated as such.
Yet even so, there was a man who viewed her as worth something.
A man who had called her a success.
And so, she desired it.
She desired more than anything to be looked upon with those disturbing golden eyes, just as he had looked upon her when he first came across her.
She wanted to please him.
She wanted to be successful for him.
For there was no other purpose she had in this world.
----
"Number One. It's time for your lesson. Follow me."
Number One was greeted by a guard who was armed to the teeth with modern weapons.
He carried a riot shield with him and wielded a baton on his side, accompanied by an assault rifle.
However Number One didn't have any knowledge of such things.
What they were, why he wore them, what they could be used for, none of this she understood.
For she had forgotten everything.
With a few basic pieces of knowledge aside, her memory had been wiped completely clean.
The man unchained her, and soon she was led through the hallway.
"Will..."
The girl walked behind the man with a shy walk, tapping her fingers together as she softly spoke.
"Will I see the master today?", she asked.
"If you mean Doctor Lichtenburg, then yes. I am taking you to see him right now."
The joy which the girl felt in her heart at this statement was immeasurable.
It was enough to make even this morbid child's mouth gape wide open with an excited smile - one that so accurately measured the innocence of a child.
The man glanced back to see the happy expression of the child, viewing her for a moment before turning forward without a word.
He said nothing, leading her to the airlock chamber which they passed through before the door opened to reveal the laboratory.
"Oh... you've brought her. My first success... yet most certainly not my last. Come, come. Bring her forth. Strap her down so that we may begin. After all... we now have many successes. And with many successes... comes the opportunity to risk failure for even greater success."
There he was.
Standing at a station as he poured one substance into another from test tube to test tube was the white haired man, not bothering to so much as turn to face his so-called success.
"I understand, Doctor Lichtenburg. Come on."
The man notioned for the girl to get up onto the table, which she did obediently. She almost found herself giggling as she was strapped down, her eyes unable to be taken away from the back of that man.
'I... I wonder if my master will praise me again? Will he... be proud of me again today?'
These thoughts filled the mind of the girl, who cheerfully imagined such a scenario.
'Will he protect me again... even from other humans?'
Humans.
The creatures who were above her.
Her master was one of them, and they were superior in every possible way.
She could never dare to go against a human herself, therefore only a human could speak back to a human for her sake.
And that was exactly what her master had done.
"Experiment Number One."
The words of the man rang in her ears, causing her to perk up to face him with glee as he spoke.
The man turned around, pouring a vial of red fluid into a syringe with a gleam in his eyes.
"Let us begin the next trial."
Approaching the girl, the man squirted the syringe to rid it of any air pockets, then fiddled with it in his hand before making his way around the subject - inspecting her all the while.
"Now then... where to inject? This is an extremely experimental formula, and I have confirmed on other subjects that it serves its purpose... yet to what extent? To what extent can I establish regeneration throughout the human body? Today... is the day I find out."
Grabbing the arm of the girl, the man looked down upon her with slicing eyes as she looked up to him with a happy expression.
"Why are you looking at me like that, Number One?"
"Ah... well... I... was just happy-"
"You are not a human. You cannot be 'happy'. You don't get to have EMOTIONS. They are a concept which only humans have. Remember this."
The girl became confused, before looking down with shame.
"I... I'm sorry...", she whimpered.
"Sadness is another emotion. This is the first lesson I will implement into your mind, Number One. If you are to become a success, then you will cease to feel ANYTHING."
"Cease... to feel?"
The girl looked up to the man with confusion, at which she felt a prick on her arm.
"Eek!"
The girl shouted out as the syringe was stuck into her, however the man held her arm with an intense grip so as to not allow her to mess up the procedure.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
"Just now... you felt PAIN. However you are not human. Therefore you should not feel such a thing. Do you understand?"
"I... should not feel such a thing?"
"You cannot feel such a thing. But you think you can. Therefore... I must teach you. That you cannot feel such a thing."
Removing the syringe, the man wiped it off with a cloth before heading back over to his table and coming back with a scalpel.
"Pain is a human concept. One which an object cannot experience. Therefore I want you to understand that. If you ever think you are feeling pain, I want you to remember that you cannot."
It was at that moment that the man looked down upon the girl with a glare of pure disgust.
"Is that understood?"
"I... understand.", the girl replied quietly.
She did not understand at all.
Yet she wanted to.
She wanted to obey his every word.
The words of the man who owned her.
The words of the man who protected her.
The words of the man who saved her.
"Then... let me ask you. Can you feel this?"
It was then that the man sliced off one of the girl's fingers.
"AGH!!"
The girl let out a squeal of torment as her finger was sliced off, at which she found the hand of the man covering her throat, preventing her from even screaming.
"Did you not listen to me just now? I said that you cannot feel. Or have you already forgotten?"
The man slowly took his hand away from the mouth of the girl, to reveal that she was biting down on her lips - desperately attempting to hold in her cries as tears streamed down her face.
"You cannot feel this."
Slice.
Yet another finger was removed, causing the girl to bite down as she closed her eyes in the torment.
She wanted to scream, yet something stopped her.
It was not fear of the man who was hurting her, but rather the fear of disappointing him.
That demented fear, brought on by a disturbing affection, caused this girl to bite her tongue even as she desperately felt the urge to shout.
Yet she did not.
Slice.
"MMMMMM!!!"
The girl used every effort in her capacity to hold her mouth shut, trembling in horror as another finger was cut clean off.
She was desperately panting at this point, and the cold spread of blood covered her hand.
"I think this is enough. Now we have three trials. And with three trials... we shall see how long they each take to regenerate. The clock starts now."
----
"Why... why.... why why why why why why WHY WHY WHY!?"
The man's eyeballs couldn't have been closer from popping out as they strained themselves, faced directly with three stubs which once had fingers.
Three bleeding stubs.
"WHY WON'T THEY REGENERATE!?"
"Sir, I don't think it's that they aren't regenerating. Look closer. You can see that it's doing something. It's just very slow."
The man standing guard made this observation, at which the scientist glared even deeper at the stubs which were once fingers.
"Ah. I suppose you are right."
It was then that the man stood up, glaring down at the girl with an immense amount of disappointment.
"So what you are telling me... is that this specimen has FAILED to meet expectations."
It was as he said this that the girl felt her heart shatter.
Fear welled up inside her chest, which caved in with terror as she heard these words over and over again.
'Failed?'
'Failed?'
'I... failed?'
'Have I failed him?'
The pain which tainted her hand was hardly forgettable.
It was enough to consume her, yet even so, in the face of such words from the single man who she existed for, that pain was nothing.
"I... I'll do better...", the girl whimpered, at which she was met with a slap on the face.
"Do not speak back to me. You are the subject. Nothing more."
The butchered hand of the girl twitched at this statement.
And it was as she heard this that the girl was unable to stop her tears from flowing.
Whether it was because of the pain in her hand or the immense hole inside her heart, even she did not know.
"Ah... and now you're exhibiting emotions. You truly are a failure... time and time again. It seems that I will have to do a great amount of WORK on you before you can come anywhere close to success."
Headed back to his lab station, the man began to tinker furiously, gathering every chemical, plant, substance, and alloy he could find in his vast array.
"Experiment Number 1, Trial Number 2... next to complete failure. Regeneration is insignificant. Such a thing would be revolutionary in the medical field perhaps, as major cuts and heavy wounds would regenerate within a few days... however I am not aiming as low as mere medication."
As he chaotically threw together one compound with another, the scientist performed skilled motions with his hands as he monologued.
"If it is to become fit for battle... regeneration must be next to instantaneous. Entire limbs in a few seconds... yes, that is the level it must be at. A goal has been set. I will now begin alterations of the applied compounds. Number One. Prepare yourself."
Loading another syringe with a newly formed serum, the man grinned deeply as he bore over the girl.
"Because you failed... you will have to endure more trials. And until the day in which you succeed... the trials will not cease."
The girl nodded lightly, not even able to wipe her tears.
The man injected her once more with a new compound, and at this she smiled ever so slightly - biting down the pain.
For beyond that pain was a slight joy.
'If being punished like this is enough to pay for my failure... then I will endure it.', she thought.
----
"Finally.... finally... FINALLY!!! Hahaha!! A success, finally!!! A success!!!"
Days had passed.
How many times had her fingers been sliced off?
How many times had they regenerated now, each time just a bit faster than the last?
Number One did not know.
"Trial Number 23, proceed!!"
The man raised a knife, bringing it down on the girl's hand with a spray of blood.
Each of her fingers fell to the ground as the girl winced, holding in her cries as the fingers immediately regenerated within mere moments.
"EXCELLENT!!"
The man watched with delight as the phenomena occurred, fascinated with her.
The pain soon subsided, and the girl found herself smiling as well as she looked up to see his overjoyed expression.
'I... was finally useful to him...', she thought with relief.
Time after time she had failed him.
She was a lesser being, therefore failing someone greater than her - namely a human - was unacceptable.
She had learned this thoroughly over the course of these trials.
And so, she was punished.
But that was obvious.
Of course she would be punished for disobeying her master, the man who owned her.
'I... am finally a success.', she thought as tears flowed from her eyes - however this time they were not tears of pain, but rather of joy.
Overwhelming joy at finally being able to fulfill her role.
"Number One. Why are you crying? Did you forget again that you are not to have emotions?", the man asked.
"Eh... ah... I... I'm sorry, Master Lichtenburg... I just... I was so happy... I... I'm sorry..."
The girl would have wiped her tears, yet her hands were chained in place therefore she could not.
"I was so happy that I was finally successful.", she stated with a sigh of relief.
However the moment the girl uttered this statement, she felt a chill go down her back.
The entire room became cold as if it had frozen over, and she felt a glare on her unlike anything she had experienced before.
"You... were successful?"
The man spoke these words with complete and utter distaste.
"Number One. It seems that you have failed to understand something.
'Eh?'
'I... failed again?'
It was at that moment that Number 1 felt her hair grabbed, and she found herself just inches from the face of the man she adored.
"You are an object. This success was not yours. It was MINE."
In that next moment, she felt her head slammed back on the table as she lost wind.
"To think that my property which created so much failure would try and claim my success for itself.... disgusting."
With this, the man walked out of the room with a displeased expression.
"Have her taken back to the room and beaten into submission. I never want to hear such words again. Make sure she understands one thing."
The man spoke to the guard as he left, turning to him with an evil glare.
"If there is failure... it is hers. And if there is success... it is mine. For she is a mere object... and I am a human who molds her failures into successes."
----
Whips.
Flogging.
Endless flogging.
The pulling of nails.
The slicing of flesh.
The gouging out of eyes.
Ripping out of the tongue.
Pulling out of the hair.
Being placed inside an iron maiden.
Being torn apart, limb from limb.
Being placed under water, drowning only to be allowed to live after suffering.
Burning metal was pressed to her skin, poisons were fed to her and the antidotes were administered just short of painful death.
Days passed, and the girl lost track of time completely.
For there was nothing else in her life aside from this suffering.
'Why... would I say such a thing?', she thought.
It was all because of one phrase.
A single sentence which had slipped out of her mouth.
"I was finally successful."
No, she was a failure.
A complete failure.
And her largest failure was her failure to realize her position in this world.
Her position as an object.
A thing, which deserved not even the concept of success.
Failure was the only word that existed to describe her.
'How... could I ever even think such a thing?'
The girl wanted to cry, but that too would have been a failure - for she was not to show emotion.
'That I could be successful?'