Alex notices another subject in the adjacent room. A girl. Young. Still alive—for now. They never speak, but something passes between them in the quiet. A shared recognition. A moment of fragile humanity.
---
Time passed differently in Room 9.
There were no clocks. No sounds from the outside world. Just voices through speakers, lights that never shut off, and a growing sense that none of this was ever going to stop.
Alex had started to count his breaths. It didn't help.
At some point—maybe six hours into this stretch, maybe ten—the light in the top corner of the room changed color.
Blue to white.
Motion triggered a flicker in the lower left wall.
Not inside his room—but just outside it.
Alex stood slowly, moving to the edge.
A narrow cutout ran between the edge of his room and the next chamber. Less than a foot wide. Barely visible if you didn't know where to look.
Through it, beyond the sliver of reinforced glass, he saw her.
Another test subject.
Room 10B.
She looked… young. No older than fourteen. Thin. Tired. Short, messy black hair that hung around her face in uneven strands. Her knees were pulled to her chest, her chin resting on top. She wasn't crying. She wasn't doing anything.
Just sitting there.
Drawing invisible shapes on the floor with her finger.
Lines. Circles. Sometimes nothing at all.
She didn't look at him at first.
But Alex didn't look away.
She was the first living thing he'd seen that wasn't afraid.
Or dead.
---
Eventually, she turned.
Not a dramatic moment—just a small tilt of the head. Her eyes found his through the gap.
They stared at each other.
He didn't move.
Neither did she.
She raised her hand slightly.
Two fingers. A gesture—maybe hello. Maybe not.
Then she went back to her drawings.
No words. No smile. But something in his chest twisted.
Not pain.
Recognition.
---
A faint voice murmured behind the glass again:
> "Keep eyes on both. Emotional imprinting is progressing."
> "You think they're bonding?"
> "Doesn't matter. We don't need both of them."
Alex's eyes narrowed, just slightly.
The girl in 10B kept drawing her shapes.
And somewhere in the back of his mind, something began to grow.
---