"See, I told you, it was going to be okay," One told me once we finally got back. Meanwhile, I wasn't doing quite so well. I was clinging into his arm with one hand and shakily holding the lighter out with the other, my eyes darting around the room even though I knew we were safe now. Just to be safe, we shut the door we just came out of behind us so nothing would follow us in.

I was so grateful that his flashlight had yet to go out.

"Six, you can let go now." One laughed, only instead of letting go I firmly shook my head and held on tighter. No way I was gonna let go until we were OUT of this horrible place. I wasn't sure what was worse, the inanimate objects chasing after us or the deranged children from the lab.

He lightly giggled at my fear as if it was humorous, then continued walking forward, detaching the key from his belt and unlocking the second lock. There was only one more to go.

"Do you wanna stay here this time?" He asked me, turning to look down at me. I had forgotten he was a few inches taller than me until now. He seemed so much bigger and stronger, even if he was rather scrawny. He also seemed so much braver. I had no idea how he did it.

I silently shook my head, grabbing his arm tighter. I still didn't want to wait alone in the dark. No way I was leaving his side.

"No. I-I'm fine. T-The next section. What is it again?" I asked, voice small and weak. I knew I sounded weak, but I didn't care anymore. I felt weak. 

"Doctors quarters," One explained. "He doesn't leave them often. This is where he works on the already made things and conducts tests. He won't hurt you himself, but there's a big incinerator, which I used to be terrified of." He added. "So... watch out for that."

I shakily nodded, then looked over at the last door, nervously swallowing. "Is there any chance that the doctor went on vacation...?" I squeaked. "M-Maybe we'll get lucky and he won't be here!"

"Not likely," One giggled. "People don't really 'vacation' often. But it'll be okay. I won't let him get you."

I shakily nodded again as he walked me through the third and final door, which to my surprise, wasn't actually a door, but an elevator. Great. We got inside and he gently pressed the down button, allowing the doors to shut and bring us down a few floors.

"There's no more mannequins, r-right?" I asked him.

"There shouldn't be any mannequins," He assured me. "And if there are, I've got my flashlight to save us."

When the doors finally opened, they led to another dark hallway. I put my lighter away since One assured me that there would be no mannequins, but even then he still had his flashlight out so he could light the way. We walked forward through the hall, our footsteps echoing with each and every step we took. My steps were a little louder since I had shoes on, I noted. I hoped my loud walking wouldn't alert the doctor...

We walked into a small room where there were a few mannequin parts like arms and legs, leading to me glaring at One since he promised me we were done with those. But I couldn't be too upset with him because I think they must have been new. He had an almost confused look him his brown eyes when we saw them.

"Weird... these are new," He muttered, confirming my thoughts.

The door in front of us was boarded up, as if they were trying to keep something out. Or rather, keep something else in. It was the only way forward, so we'd have to pull those open. Not too difficult, however, once One reached for it, one of the drawers holding hands suddenly moved, making me jump.

"Shoot," He muttered under his breath, which confused me for a moment. I was about to ask what was going on when he suddenly shoved me towards the thing which just made the noise. "QUICK!" One shouted before I could even process what was happening, pointing at the drawer that just moved. "Hold that shut!"

I did as he said and rushed over to the drawer, but not before one hand slipped out. Lucky for me, it wasn't after me. 

Unluckily for One, it was after him.

He picked up a lead pipe that was lying on the ground and held it up as the hand came for him while I held the drawer closed. I was lucky enough not to see the horrifying little spider-like hands before, but that also meant I wasn't nearly mentally prepared to see them then. I had to bite my lip and squeeze my mouth shut to prevent myself from screaming.

I held the drawer shut, feeling another hand on the inside trying to break out while One swung the lead pipe down on the hand, making it wince, but not die. It merely backed away, then crawled around, trying to reach him without being hit. It was like it had a mind of its own. "WHY ISN'T IT DEAD?!" I cried, shaking as I tried holding the drawer shut.

"These break after three hits," One calmly explained, swinging and hitting it again, when suddenly the one inside the drawer I was holding shut broke out, knocking me over. 

Great. Now there were two hands after him because I was too weak to hold a stupid drawer shut.

But he didn't seem upset with me. 

"Try breaking the boards off!" He told me while he defended himself. I nodded and rushed behind him to the door. There were three boards over it. I reached up and started pulling at the first one, breaking it off after a short moment. Then, I started on the second board, getting the same result. Lastly, I tried pulling off the third board, only it was on tighter. I couldn't get it on my own.

"One, it's stuck!" I cried.

"It's okay. Keep trying! I'll just keep us alive here for the foreseeable future," He said, swinging and taking down the first hand while the other tried attacking him, not getting too close as it was also trying to play defensively and protect itself from One's lead pipe.

 It took a few misses, but eventually, he was able to take that one down too and drop the weapon, turning and rushing over to me so he could help finally break off the final board, leading to me quickly opening the door and slamming it shut behind us.

I closed my eyes and leaned my forehead on the door, breathing heavily.

"It's okay, it's okay," One assured me, taking a moment to catch his breath as well. "We're okay now..."

I slowly nodded after what felt like a long moment of silence, allowing my heart rate to go down, then looked around the new room. There were a bunch of what looked like... faces. They were clearly fake, but some almost looked real.

"Let's go," One breathed, grabbing my hand and walking us through the room and into the next as if he didn't want to waste more time than necessary in there. There were also more mannequins, but they didn't move because the lights were on, probably because the doctor used these rooms, so One didn't need his flashlight anymore. He turned it off and reattached it to his belt, hoping to save battery. 

Then, we proceeded into a room that looked to be some sort of storage room. There were lots of shelves with different items on each. "Where are-" I started when One suddenly covered my mouth and grabbed my shoulder, forcing us to duck and hide under a small table nearby. Then, he silently pointed to the ceiling.

There was a short, plump-looking man, crawling around the ceiling like some sort of spider, occasionally standing up and looking through the drawers as if he was searching for something. I immediately knew that this wasn't some sort of mannequin, but the doctor himself.

One wasn't lying when he said that this man's field of gravity was all messed up.

He scanned the drawers for a while as if he was looking for something when he finally picked up a book. I didn't quite see which book it was, but I saw the word 'pixl' on it. Perhaps that book was here from when this place used to be a pixl factory.

As the doctor walked/crawled around the ceiling checking stuff, One carefully grabbed my hand and tip-toed through the room into the next, which appeared to be a more hospital-like area, as there were lots of beds lined up. We hid under them all to avoid being seen. One seemed to be taking extra care to be cautious and to avoid being caught.

I could feel and hear myself breathe. I was almost afraid I was breathing too loudly, but couldn't quiet myself down without holding my breath. 

One pointed to an open door, then quickly snuck us through when the doctor's back was turned, taking us to temporary safety, but also to what looked to be a dead end. 

"Great, we're trapped," I whispered when One shushed me and pointed to a big metal door.

How did I miss that? I guess I was just blind. Or perhaps I was too busy being terrified to take note of my obvious surroundings.

"That door is super loud, but it leads to his office. It's also where the incinerator is. But I bet you 100 coins that it's where he'd be keeping the final key." One whispered.

"Okay... so then how do we get in without alerting him?" I asked. "I really don't wanna grab his attention like how we did with the hunter and the teacher."

One paused, then stood on his tiptoes and looked through a window into another room, seeing what looked to be some sort of isolated patient. A single bed in a single room, with a single being on it.

"... It looks like he's testing on something," One whispered. "Probably one of his creations. So, I'll be sure to distract him in there while you open the door and find the key,"

I paused, not liking the idea of us separating, but nodded and went with it since I didn't think I would have been able to come up with a better idea.

So, I ducked under a small desk next to the metal door and gave him the thumbs-up, showing that I was ready to open the door once the doctor was distracted. One gave me a thumbs-up as well, then rushed off to a small vent which led into that next room over, crawling through and popping up on the other side.

He said that the room was lit just enough for him to see. Additionally, he said that the one patient looked to be sleeping.

The patient... wasn't a person, but indeed another creation. However, instead of a disfigured mannequin, One said it looked like a little girl. More well put together than every other mannequin. 

She also breathed, One noted, which was odd.

Her skin was green, along with her hair, which covered her face. She slept sloppily with her mouth open and her arms sprawled out, taking up the space of the whole hospital bed.

He furrowed his eyebrows beneath the paper bag, not sure what to do.

"...Hello?" He asked, gently tapping the girl's shoulder. 

She didn't have a number because she wasn't born, but created. Numbers weren't given to machines. Instead of having organs she had gears. But... there seemed to be something so real about her, and when he touched her, she shivered and curled up as if she could feel it.

He frowned slightly, then looked to the side to see the doctor's notebook. Curious, One picked it up and read through it.

Turned out, when the doctor lost him, he shifted his research to a new project, creating and conducting tests on this girl. A failed attempt at creating another pixl, so it seemed. She was instead a creation that had gained full consciousness. Test results showed that she could indeed feel and think for herself, stating that according to research and data, she often cried, felt fear, and tried resisting testing.

Further notes showed her abilities, telling that she was recently modified to be able to shapeshift, giving her a number of around thirteen. Ah, the unlucky number itself. But, again, since she wasn't real she didn't get a number.

The doctor's notes claimed that she could perhaps become a weapon of the future. She was his first creation which wasn't limited to being alive in the light. Because of this, the doctor had to make sure to keep her safe for more testing, taking his time away from any other projects.

One paused, then set the notebook down lightly tapped her shoulder yet again. 

"....Hey." He whispered to her.

The girl paused for a minute, then slowly shivered, curling in or herself as if to make herself smaller. 

"No..." She whispered, her voice sounding young and scared. "No more tests... please,"

One's eyes softened more. She thought he was here to test on her? "No, no," One softly assured. "I'm not here to test on you. I'm not here to test on you, I promise."

He waited as she slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him, blinking a few times. She almost looked shocked. Her expression as she looked at him was one of awe and amazement, as she had never seen another person besides the doctor before this moment.

"Who... are you?" She asked, slowly sitting up.