66 Fleeting Freedom

"We're here."

Once more, the train was gradually coming to a stop. Zero patted on the red-headed girl who had fallen asleep on her lap. The blond boy as well was starting to rub his eyes and looking rather sleepy. It must be past their bedtime.

By the time the train had come to a full stop, the red-headed girl had seated herself up and was rubbing her eyes with a yawn. As the doors opened and Zero proceeding towards the exit, the other two sluggishly following along, the excitement they had some moments ago no longer seen.

Like before, they passed through the crowded station undetected, but even while no one seemed to have noticed them, no one bumped into them. In fact, they appeared to be opening a way for them. Why? There's no point asking, there's no understanding the mechanism behind the phenomenon. Even the experts were at a loss in trying to explain it, and I am certainly no expert. All I know was the Zero was somehow doing it, making it so that the crowd would open a way for them without even realizing it.

The numbered children made it out to the streets and following Zero, they took a turn to the right, towards a large white building within walking distance. On the road, there was a vehicle heading towards the same direction, one that made a hard to ignore noise even before it came into view, flashing red lights installed on its roof. It was an ambulance, or at least, I think it was, and it made a turn into the white building, which would make that the hospital.

The children proceeded into the hospital. Within the hospital, there were those seeking treatment, all seated and waiting for their names to be called. Their numbers were few, likely due to how late into the night it was, though I wasn't sure how late it exactly was. There were nurses moving up and down the halls, probably making their rounds and checking on the patients. Of all the places, why did Zero choose to go there? Most likely, she's here to see someone. The question was: Who?

The children took the elevator, all the way up to the fourth floor. The halls were dark and so were the rooms, it must be lights out of the patients. However, all the way down the hall, there was one where the lights were still lit. For some time, Zero hadn't spoken the word and neither of the two had prompted her to. In her silence, a sense of dread could be sensed from her. Even so, they proceeded, they've come too far to stop, or rather, they must do this no matter what. This was Zero's last chance. She won't get another opportunity ever again.

The numbered children took their steps towards the room at the end of the hall. Zero had her eyes focused forward whilst the other two walked behind her with bated breaths. Then, all of a sudden, the blond boy stopped.

"She's here."

As soon as those words escaped his mouth, the hallway suddenly extended endlessly and the room at the end with the lights on went farther and farther away from them, till it could no longer be seen, fading into darkness.

"L-let's run!"

"It's no use, we're trapped!"

The blond boy stopped the red-headed girl from sprinting off, his eyes searching the hall that appeared to stretch on forever.

"She's right there."

Calmly, without a sign of panic, Zero called the attention of the other two towards their rear. There, they find a figure wearing some kind of suit. The suit was black and bulky and made of a material akin to hard rubber at first glance, though I wasn't too sure what it was really made of. Looking at the height, the one wearing it couldn't be more than a child, or at least a very short person. No, it's definitely a child. Through the visor of the helmet, a child-like visage can be seen, one with deep blue eyes and reminded those who stare into it of the deep sea, blue eyes not dissimilar to the pair the blond boy has. The person within the suit also appeared to be submerged in some kind of liquid as air bubbles could be occasionally seen floating up through the visor. That may explain the bulkiness of the suit.

"S-S-Seven, she found us!"

The red-headed girl was starting to panic. Even though she shouted so boldly at this person known as Seven right before they made their escape, it appeared to have been just for show as now she looked to be on the verge of pissing her pants.

"Sis!"

The blond boy called out as he stood in between Seven and the rest.

"Nine... Six... and Zero... You understand what you've done, right?"

Seven's voice that came out of the suit was somewhat distorted, sounding like she's speaking through some kind of microphone.

"If you three come back with me right now and your punishment will be light. If you resist, they'll deem you as uncontrollable, too dangerous even. You know what that means, don't you?"

Zero stepped forward, passing by the blond boy standing in front of her.

"Seven, I just need ten, no, five minutes. Please."

Zero, who had been calm and confident to the point of being a little cheeky up till this point was sounding as if she's begging, or rather, she probably was begging. Whatever was in that room at the end of the hall was that important to her.

Slowly but firmly, Seven shook her head though the helmet of her suit was too bulky to move with it.

"The orders are to bring you three back immediately, without delay. They'll know if I didn't."

Zero cast her eyes down and bit down on her lips, her fist clenched. The decision was painful, but she probably knew, not just for her own good but also the good of both the blond boy and red-headed girl, she has to submit.

"Gotcha!"

"Six, would you shut your mouth for a second!"

The two voices came from behind Seven, and upon hearing them, she side-stepped while turning to look behind her, with incredible ease, as if the bulky suit didn't even matter. There, right behind her, were the blond boy and the red-headed girl. They came at Seven from a high angle with the blond boy reaching out his hands towards her. Though Seven reacted almost immediately, the two were too close for her to get away in time. However, as the blond boy's hands were about to reach, the strangest thing happened. The boy's hands began to twist and became elongated, wrapping around the space Seven was in. It looked like something seen in a convex mirror. As he got closer, even his shoulder began to twist, followed by the rest of his body. His whole person twisted around her and eventually snapped back to shape once he had reached the other side akin to a rubber band that had been stretch and released. Before he knew it, he had ended up behind Seven.

The boy clicked his tongue upon realizing what had happened.

"There goes our one shot!"

"Not yet!"

The red-headed girl charged in, trying to grab onto Seven herself, but as she approached, the same thing that happened to the blond boy happened to her, and she wounded up on the other side, unable to lay even a finger on Seven. However, now one the same side as the blond boy, the red-headed girl reached out towards him, likely trying to teleport them both behind Seven once more for another shot. But of course, Seven had seen it and knew what to expect, and before their hands could meet, again, they twisted around one another, passing by each other and wound up on the opposite side without touching.

"It's useless. You can't touch me. No one can."

"That's not true."

The voice was calm, and it came from right in front of Seven. Before anyone had realized it, Zero had gotten up right in Seven's face. Unlike before, when she was pleading, Zero was composed. She had regained her composure after seeing the blond boy and red-headed girl fight for her. How had she gotten so close? Most likely, she had used that strange power of hers, 'cognitive disruption'.

"Zero!?"

Seven looked surprised. Why? Did she not know Zero had such a power? Or was her suit supposed to protect her from it? Regardless, Zero had managed to close in on her.

"That's right. I'm Zero, not 'one'."

Through the visor, one of Seven's eyebrows twitched. I wouldn't blame her. That was pretty bad.

Zero extended her hand towards Seven, and on the chest, she struck the bulky suit with a flick of her finger. Being struck, the suit, made of materials that looked akin to hard rubber, convulsed dramatically for a moment before bursting open like a water balloon, spilling the liquid inside all over, or so I thought it would, but the liquid evaporated the moment it came into contact with the outside air. With the suit destroyed, all there was left was Seven, wearing a skintight suit and a mask covering her mouth and nose. The mask had what appeared to be tubes extending from it, so I assumed that it was for breathing. Like the blond boy, Seven was blond as well, her hair long and flowing.

"Zero, you-!"

Before she was able to finish, I not so much see and more felt some form of energy leaking from Seven's exposed body, and as if reacting to it, the same mysterious energy burst forth from Zero as well, albeit far more violently. The air surrounding them vibrated intensely, no, not just the air, space itself was being torn apart between the two.

"Are you trying to create another 'Crater'!?"

Seven looked horrified, her eyes opened wide. She seemed as though she had no control over the energy leaking from her. Then, from behind, a pair of hands stretched towards her, holding both sides of her head. The instant they made contact, Seven's eyes dilated and her body began to relax. Eventually, her eyes closed and she fell limply to the ground with her head gently placed on the blond boy's lap. As soon as she fell unconscious, the air stopped rumbling and the space around them appeared to have stabilized.

"Go on ahead, Zero, we'll take care of her."

The blond boy, his hands held firmly upon Seven head, pointed Zero forward with his eyes.

Zero nodded, turning away from the boy and looked towards the end of the hallway, the no longer endless hallway. The moment Seven had fallen unconscious, the hallway reverted to how it was. Zero proceeded towards the room at the end, her brows furrowed. For some reason, after coming this far, she looked as if she didn't actually want to go in there. Still, she must go, after all the trouble the other two went through for her, she must reach the conclusion.

Lightly, Zero pushed open the door. Within the room, there was but a single bed. The bed was surrounded by people, some rather young, some middle-aged, some in-between. The atmosphere was heavy with melancholy. On the bed, there laid an old man, looking thin and shriveled. The machine next to his bed, the machine that should be beeping in fixed intervals was making but a single constant tone with the line displayed upon it straight and flat.

Zero moved up to the bed. No one noticed her, likely due to her use of cognitive disruption. She reached for the old man's hand only to be then knocked away by a nurse who came in and hurriedly went to check on the old man. The nurse did not feel a thing, even after being knocked to the ground, Zero did not let up her cognitive disruption.

"I'm sorry, but he's passed on."

That was what the nurse said.

Slowly, Zero got up. Her stare was blank, and with her head hanging low, she walked out of the room.

"Zero..."

I tried to say something to her, but nothing came to mind. Absolutely nothing at all, even though I wanted nothing more than to say something, anything, there was nothing that came to mind that could make her feel even a tiny bit better.

As I watched her dejected figure walking away, my vision began to fade to black. I was waking up. I wanted to stay for even a bit longer. However, as if pulled by a force I could not fight against, I woke up.

***

The next time I fell asleep, I returned once again to that white room. No, it was no longer that same room. The room was white, yes, but it was a different room. This place was different, much wider, the walls and ceiling at least ten meters from the center, and in the middle of the room, there was a glass box, or I suppose it could be said to be a room with glass walls and ceiling, a glass room within a white room. Within the glass room, there lies Zero. In the room, there was only a bed, a single bed. There were no tables or chairs nor were there the plushies she had built up over time. It was a despairingly empty room.

As my awareness of the surroundings had to do with what Zero herself was aware of, naturally, I could not see beyond the walls ten meters from her. Her range of detection for something that she couldn't see was five meters at best.

"Zero..."

Inadvertently, since the children called her that, I myself have started calling her by her number without noticing. I wondered if she actually liked being called that.

"Oh, you're here..."

She was hugging her knees on her bed, packing herself into a corner of the glass room. She looked up to me when I called, trying to look elated at my presence but didn't quite have the enthusiasm to pull it off.

"That old man the other day, who was it?"

Zero's eyes cast down for a moment after being asked. When I didn't think I'll get a reply, she looked back up to me, apparently finding a sliver of resolve within her.

"He was my brother... My little brother."

That was why she had to go. He was about to pass away and she would never get another chance to see him again if she missed it. But to think that he's so old while Zero here remained young as ever. I knew that she never aged even a bit since a long time ago, but it's still strange to think about.

"I see..."

I could find no words for her, nothing at all.

"In the end, I couldn't see him after all. I knew that, I knew it would happen, but I wanted to try anyway. I even dragged Nine and Six with me... No, I suppose that would have happened regardless as well."

"It's not your fault for wanting to see your family now, is it?"

I didn't quite get what she's talking about, but I figured that I should say at least this much. She wasn't wrong, or at least, I didn't think she was.

"No, I was quite wrong. Just stepping outside could have had a myriad of consequences. You saw what happened with Seven right? Something like that could happen, or all sorts of other stuff. Seven was the strongest of the children so she made it easier, but it could have happened even if I was by myself. Not that it would happen though, not on that day."

She spoke strangely, going from speaking hypothetically to saying things with certainty as if she knew how some things would exactly play out, even though she couldn't have predicted them.

She couldn't have, right? Such a thought ran through my head.

"No, I really could."

I looked toward her. I must have a rather flabbergasted face on me.

"I see visions, phantoms, from time to time. They're not just random imagery either, Mr. Phantom, no, they're things that happened, or will happen. That is why I am speaking right now, to myself, to a phantom that's not really there."

She stood from her bed, looking at me with tender eyes.

"I could not fight it, this thing called fate. I knew I would never be able to see my brother or anyone in my family ever again, but I couldn't even not attempt to try. It hurts too much to sit idly and let the inevitable happen without doing anything. So, as I had always known, on that day, there would be a thunderstorm without rain, that there would be a power outage, that with Six and Nine, I would escape and try to see my brother, and that I would fail."

She smiled, mockingly she smiled. It was meant for herself, I think. Looking at her, it'd be a lie to say my heart didn't break a little.

"But while I can't fight it, I would still like to be your guide. To you, Aurelius, who would one day gain access to this memory long after everything had come to pass. It's long overdue, but welcome, Aurelius, to my memories. Here, you'll find the truth you seek. Hopefully, you won't regret it."

***