Whatever had been done to Jeffrey that allowed him to get that big and still be able to breathe properly, also made him snore.

Between that and the endless scuttling of 37's captive critters, your deep and dreamless sleep was very short-lived. You woke up sometime in the very early morning, before the sun had come up, if the darkness of the fake window was anything to go on.

As you slid out of bed, you were met with the vague concern that the new adults in your life wouldn't be so lenient about your decision to wander around when bored.

Your concern died with a whimper as you saw the privacy curtains of the grownups little sleeping nooks had been left wide open. Mara's bed was empty, as was Doctor Downfall's; both of them were still made as if they'd never been thought about, let alone slept in.

37 was still curled up and asleep in her bed, with Jeffrey sprawled across her legs and snoring like an old asthmatic. It was probably a bad idea to wake them, so you tiptoed out of the sleeping area as quietly as you could. The front door was unlocked and cracked open, as if the adults had left in a rush.

Outside, the Habitat was dark, dimly lit by warm orange lights embedded in the ground. You could hear the fitful dreaming of the other children just beyond the walls. You felt like a trespasser, a slimy little thief deep in the guts of a goblin's den in search of gold.

Any wrong move or sudden sound could wake the entire horde and put your adventure in jeopardy.

Anxiety crept along the length of your spine and sent pinpricks of cold to the ends of your wires. Something deep in your guts wanted you to turn back, to crawl into bed and take your chances with the Nameless Nightmare Thing that waited just behind your eyelids, but something teased your curiosity like a carrot on a string. Even if you hated carrots with your entire tiny being.

Voices, muddled by distance, filtered through the hallways and pulled you towards them.

As you glided along the corridors of the Habitat, you felt like a herbivore in the underbrush, the subtle whirrs and whines of the security cameras watching you with their wide black eyes felt like the warm breaths of hunters on the nape of your neck as you drew ever closer.

"You don't-- I can't-- those are CHILDREN!" Stammered a voice you couldn't recognize, thick with disgust and regret. "I can't do this, not to children, they don't even know what's going ON…"

As you got closer and closer to the source of the conversation the smell of tobacco and Doug's nasty vape filled your nostrils. The exhaust fans spun at top speed and coated the entire conversion in a haze of shuddering gray noise, but you could still tell each voice apart by color and shape so it wasn't too distracting. You paused, hidden behind a corner, and listened.

"It's slavery! In the past ten years there has been more fuss about androids getting rights than how it's wrong to experiment on people without their consent, and androids aren't even ALIVE!" Fabric rustled slightly, something dense thunked against a table –probably a head– and made several glasses rattle, "I just… I just don't want to do this…"

"Bit late for that," Anza said, as she took a long drink of something and immediately winced like it hurt. "You had your chance to leave, we all did, so don't go soft on me now."

Weeping, soft and snotty filled the sudden silence. You dared to peek around the corner and see what was going on. A woman in brightly patterned scrubs had her head on the table, surrounded by other adults as her body shook with quiet sobs. Some of the faces you recognized, Anza, Doug, Downfall, and Mara.

But most you did not. Some were dressed like Mara, others were in white coats like Anza, but they all looked tired and uncomfortable. Sipping amber liquid from little glasses and screwing their faces up like it tasted horrible.

"We have to do this, you know what will happen if we don't." Anza continued, pouring the weepy lady a glass of the nasty brown liquid.

Doug mimicked his head exploding, complete with unnecessary sound effects. Everybody except Anza flinched.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Oh come on," Doug started, "Conglomerate microchips haven't been explosive since the 80s, it was just a joke."

Nobody laughed. He took a pull from his vape and blew rings with the smoke before continuing. "I don't see what the problem is, yeah they're just kids but we're honestly doing them a favor-- it's safer in here than it is out there and if they croak… we'll at least be gentle about it."

Several people grimaced, their reaction tinging Doug's words with an agitated yellow. "Don't look at me like that, don't act like those brats have it worse than we do. They don't have the Conglomerate breathing down their necks all day, they don't have to worry about their families if they slip up, they aren't microchipped like animals and expected to wring blood from stones every fucking day!"

"You're so SO close to getting the point." Whispered the weepy lady, head still firmly on the table.

"Dude, you number your interns, you're just as bad as the Conglomerate." Said one of the new interns.

"That's not me, that's the guy who ran this shit before me, do you know how fucked up this place was before I got my hands on it?" He took a swig from his glass, "numbering interns is tame, all it does is make them easier to tell apart. Up until recently we'd neuter the specimens upon arrival. Leave 'em with just the hormone producing bits and a single hole to excrete with. Don't ask me why, top brass never told me shit." He gave Anza a look, "So you might wanna check if your Conejito isn't actually Conejita."

"Nothing like that is happening under my watch, fucking Christ if I'd known it was this bad I would have had this place scrubbed years ago." Anza looked like she might puke. "And don't be a transphobe, Conejito is a boy if he wants to be a boy."

You were NOT a boy, or a girl for that matter, and had no interest or intention in being either. You were you and that was all that mattered.

Doug held his hands up, "I'm a lot of shit but I sure as fuck ain't a transphobe! I helped Nala pick her name back when we were interns."

"Oh! …that's wild, anyway--"

Whatever Anza was about to say next was cut off by a hand over your mouth, and a voice in your ear as you were dragged away from your hiding place.

It was the boy from earlier, you could tell by the shape of his voice and the bruise on his wrist. "I don't like you."

OK? And? You shrugged in response. Nobody liked you, get in line pal.

Wait.

WAIT.

He was trying to study you. The fine hairs on the back of your neck lifted in discomfort. You wriggled loose of his hold and turned to face him.

His eyes seemed to glow in the low orange light, like coals in a fireplace. You could hear him breathing and the adults still talking in the distance.

In the depths of his gaze was a spark of recognition and something else you couldn't name. Almost like he wasn't used to other kids understanding him.

Footsteps came towards the both of you, voices slowly growing in volume. You grabbed the boy and pulled him into another darkened corridor, backs flat against the wall as a pair of interns ambled past.

The boy yanked his arm out of your grip and looked you up and down. You pointed at him and tilted your head in question, asking him who he was.

"You don't talk do you?" He said, eyes picking you apart at the seams until you felt itchy and naked. You just shook your head in response and pretended like the attention didn't bother you.

"... call me V." Something told you that that wasn't his real name but you didn't care enough to pry any further.

More footsteps, more voices.

You could hear Mara.

You needed to get back to your room before she realized you were up. V must have had the same realization because it was his turn to drag you around, back towards the apartments, but after a few steps he stopped and looked you over with renewed interest. "You don't make any noise when you move."

You shrugged. He huffed and kept going, tugging you along behind him like a kite on a string.

You made it to his apartment first, V let you go and stood in the doorway. "What's your name?"

You held up seven fingers.

"Your name… is Seven?"

Another shrug. It clearly wasn't but if HE wasn't going to be straightforward about anything, then YOU weren't under any obligation to do the same.

"Is shrugging all you can do?"

You thought about it for awhile, screwing your face up in dramatic thought before shrugging again.

V scowled at you and disappeared into his room without a word.