"Who are you?" She asked, slowly sitting up, looking at him with awe.

He was so used to people looking at him with hatred and fear that whenever anyone looked at him with any other expression he always would feel a surge of happy feelings. It felt nice to have someone look at him the way she and I did.

"I have no idea," One honestly replied, just as he did when I asked him the same exact question in the woods. He smiled under the paper bag to himself, then held his hands out to her. 

"Who are you?" He asked as well, though he was sure he already knew the answer. She likely didn't have a name, just like himself, because creations didn't often get names, which was quite a shame.

She paused, briefly glancing down at his hands, then back into his gentle brown eyes, a confused expression on her face. "I... don't know either..." She trailed off, confirming his thoughts. Then, without hesitation, she took his hands as if she didn't know better, allowing him to help her out of the hospital bed and stand up. She was wearing a hospital gown which was unflattering. But looking past that she really was a fairly pretty girl. She was probably designed that way.

Once she was stable One let go, taking a step back while she cocked her head to the side at him. She was just a few inches shorter than he was. Probably close to my size at the time.

"Are you like... a here to save me?" She questioned, lightly giggling. "Like the brave knights in the stories? Your armor is strange. It's silly looking."

"A knight?" One asked, before shaking his head and holding his hands out in front of him. "Oh, no, no. I'm no knight."

"Oh. Well, are you... some sort of paper bag monster then?" She asked next, legit sounding convinced that he might be.

"Ah ha ha, Nope," One giggled, reaching up and taking his paper bag off, revealing a small smile. "I'm just a kid."

As soon as he took the paper bag off, revealing his face, she gasped and covered her mouth. "Whoa... You're pretty!" She exclaimed with wide eyes.

She started reaching out for his face and gently touching it, utterly mesmerized by the sight of him. "I've never seen a kid before..."

"Uhh, thanks," One nervously laughed, pleased with the idea that just the sight of his face made someone so excited like that. "You're pretty too!" He politely added.

This seemed to make her day as if seeing his face didn't make it already. "REALLY?!" She squeaked, jumping a little, her eyes going even wider. "YOU REALLY THINK SO?!"

"Well, of course!" One chimed, now really laughing. "Why do you sound surprised? Look at you!"

She beamed as if she was just told that she won the lottery. "You think I'm pretty! A pretty person thinks I'm pretty!!! B-But I was told that I was a horrible creation. I was told that I couldn't be pretty-"

"It doesn't matter what others say," One interrupted, looking at her, then placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You're beautiful. No matter where you came from and no matter who you are. Don't let anyone tell you any different."

This seemed to make the girl really happy. Her entire face lit up. He could almost see tears forming in her eyes, but he must had been mistaken because it didn't make sense how a machine could cry.

"Oh, that's so wonderful! I love pretty things!" She beamed. "I wish I could see pretty things all the time!"

The girl then slowly looked down as if her energy was fading. "But... the doctor never lets me see pretty things," She muttered, her mood changing to a more sad one. "I think... you're the first pretty thing I've ever seen."

One's eyes slowly softened and his smile faded. Even if she wasn't a person, she could clearly feel. He knew he couldn't even begin to comprehend how awful it must have been for her there, all alone in the factory. 

He didn't like the saddened expression his face was making, so he put the bag back on, which made the girl's eyebrows raise as if confused. "...Why did you do that?" She asked him as he put the bag back over his face, seeming almost disappointed.

"Do what?" One questioned.

"Cover your pretty face." She clarified. "Why'd you do it? Do...do you not want to share it with me anymore? Oh no, H-Have I scared you?!" She asked, seeming almost afraid.

"Oh, no, no! Don't worry, it's not because of you! I promise! I just hide because the world hates me and wants me to fail," One assured her. "It's got nothing to do with you."

She slowly nodded in understanding, then slouched her shoulders slightly. "Well... what are you doing here? Is he testing on you too...?"

One shook his head, then pointed out the window to the room I was in, pointing at me. "That's my best friend. I'm trying to get him home to his dad. But... to do that we need a key from that room. So I need to distract the doctor." He explained.

She looked out of the window and over at me. I could see her raise her hand to wave, but I couldn't hear her since she was in another room.

"Whoa... he's pretty too," She whispered to One, making him lightly giggle.

"I know, right? He's also super strong. You should see his magic! He can make these cool black blobby things!" One beamed. "I'm so lucky to have found someone like him. It's hard to find people the world hasn't completely broken yet."

"Were you two just born pretty? Or are there more pretty people outside?" The girl asked him, leading to One looking at her and shrugging.

"Well, there may seem to be a lot of ugly people out there, but I like to believe that there's pretty in everyone. Inside and out. Sometimes it's just hard to see." He explained to her. "But people like you and him? It's easy to see the pretty. So, please, don't let the world change you."

"You think I'm 'people'?" She asked in awe.

"Well... can you feel this?" He asked her, reaching over and giving her shoulder a squeeze. 

The girl blinked, then slowly nodded.

"Then yes. If you can feel, then you're 'people.'" He beamed, making her face light up even more.

And One's face lit up too because he made her feel that way. There she was, in a horrible, dark world where she had never even gotten to see the light, and he still managed to make her feel happy. What could be more rewarding than that?

"So, you and your friend want to escape?" The girl questioned.

One nodded in response, making her pause and bring her hand to her chin in a thinking manner. "Well, I think I can help distract the doctor if that's what you want."

"Yes, that would be perfect!" One exclaimed, his eyes lighting up.

"Okay! Then I'll just tell him I'm malfunctioning while you and the other pretty boy get the key and get out of here!" She stated, hopping back on her bed and giving him a thumbs up.

"Thank you so much," He chimed, quickly giving her a thumbs up as well and walking over to the vent. However, as he crouched down to crawl in, he briefly paused and looked back at her.

"Are you okay?" She asked him as he paused, just staring at her for a moment. "Why are you stopping?"

One paused for another moment, then nodded at her, a determined look in his eyes. "I promise, once I get him home I'll come back for you and save you. You don't deserve to be here."

To this, she smiled an actual smile, believing him. "Okay... I'll hold you to that," She giggled. "Thank you... uh, what's you name?"

"I don't have one," He replied. "But, you can call me One."

"Okie dokie! Well thank you, One!" She beamed, not even reacting to hearing that number. Looked like she didn't have much knowledge about the number system.

"Anytime," One nodded, crawling through the vent and back to me, where I was waiting, somewhat confused. I could see what happened through the window, but was unable to hear anything that had just gone down.

"Who was that? What happened in there?" I asked him once he made it back to me. "Y-You never distracted the-"

"I made a friend," One beamed, "She's gonna distract the doctor for us. That way you don't have to be alone."

Almost as if on cue, we could see the girl begin to malfunction through the window. Her head appeared to snap to the side, making a bunch of robotic legs shoot out from her. She looked almost horrifying to me.

No, scratch that. She looked horrifying. There was no 'almost' about it. She was terrifying.

But... not to One. His view of her never changed. I could tell, he still thought she was beautiful. He wasn't afraid of her. I envied that in him. Being able to see the beauty in everything.

As the doctor quickly rushed in from the ceiling to get to her, One and I quickly shoved the big door open, rushing inside and looking for the key. One wasn't lying about the incinerator being in there. It was huge. It looked like it could definitely fit a fully grown man. 

It didn't take long to find the key. I was the one to find it this time. It was located up on a desk. I quickly grabbed ahold of it and tossed it to One. Then, together we ran.

Only, that's when the worst happened. Right as we passed by the room with the girl... I tripped, right over my own feet and onto my face, making a loud thud and grabbing the doctor's attention.

I hated myself more than I had ever hated anyone before at that moment. 

"SIX!" One cried, turning back and kneeling to help me up. He grabbed ahold of my shoulders and helped me to a sitting position when the doctor suddenly crawled in on the ceiling, shutting the door with the girl still inside the room. Through the window, we could see her turning back into her normal self and pressing her hands to the glass with a worried expression as she watched us.

The doctor stood on the ceiling while One glared up at him, quickly standing up and standing between me and the doctor as if he was trying to shield me. The doctor then whistled and clicked his tongue. "Look who came back..." He whispered, reaching down and grabbing the back of One's jacket, lifting him into the air and away from me. "I was wondering where you ran off to," The doctor cooed, holding One up as he squirmed around, kicking his legs.

"Yeah, I missed you too buddy," One sarcastically snapped. "Would you be so kind as to put me down now? I'm not all that fond of wiggling around like a fish on a hook."

"Yeah! P-put him down! I-I'm warning you!" I cried, standing up and holding my shaking hands out in front of myself, feeling energy dance around at my fingertips.

"Get him," The doctor calmly whispered, though to who? I do not know. I raised an eyebrow in confusion, when two hands suddenly crawled in, one grabbing each of my arms and holding me down as I cried out in shock.

"Now, you," The doctor breathed, looking at One and cocking his head to the side. "If I was smart, I would tear you apart and use you for parts and on my current project... after all, you do have nice eyes, and your heart is mighty strong," The doctor pointed out. "BUT, my creation is actually faring pretty well, so I'll just dispose of you by fire, as I should have done long ago. You've flown under the radar for too long now."

One's eyes went wide as the doctor shrugged and walked him to that room with the incinerator as if he was just carrying out a casual task.

"No!" I cried, trying to wriggle out of the hands' grip while the doctor took him away. "One! Bring him back! D-Don't hurt him! ONE!!!"

The doctor ignored me as he marched in and threw One inside of the large incinerator, shutting it and powering it up. One said it looked like a small room with all-metal walls. He said it was pitch dark. From the outside, I could hear the poor boy desperately banging on the walls, but nothing would work.

"ONE!" I cried, feeling tears fall. "PLEASE, L-LET HIM GO!"

My vision began to get muggy, tears fogging it up. I couldn't help myself. I was horrified. One was going to die, and I was probably next, and it was all because I was a clumsy idiot. It should have been me in there. I was the one who messed up. I was the one who wasn't careful enough. Heck, I was the whole reason One was here in the first place!

"PLEASE! ONE!" I hysterically sobbed, feeling tears fall faster and faster. "ONE!!"

I was about to just give up and cry, allowing the tears to swallow me.

That's when I suddenly heard glass shatter. 

I sniffed and looked up to see the girl who was locked in the room, standing there with wide eyes, having just thrown what looked to be a led pipe through the window, shattering it.

Then, she quickly hopped out and rushed into the doctor's room. I didn't see what went on, but I could guess from everything that I heard. I heard the doctor scream and I heard the door open. There was the sound of metal stretching and cutting across the ground. It was a lot of noises that I wasn't sure how to process.

Me, being afraid, simply closed my eyes and looked down, not wanting to even know what was going on. I just wanted to go home. I wanted to take One and run far, far away. All I wanted was a feeling of safety and belonging. Was that really too much to ask for in this world?

A few moments later, One came rushing out towards me, seeming out of breath. He quickly kicked the hands back from me, grabbed my arm, and forced me to get up and break into a sprint.

"JUST RUN, DON'T LOOK BACK!" He yelled, fumbling for his flashlight as he sprinted and pulled it out, flicking it on.

I could hear sounds of scratching and fighting behind us when I suddenly heard a high-pitched scream and silence, which must have come from the girl. 

I could only hope that she was okay.

"W-What's happening to her?!" I nervously asked One as we sprinted through the rooms, somewhat afraid. She was alright, right? The doctor didn't hurt her, did he?!

"She'll be okay," One assured me as we ran. "He created her, so he wouldn't actually kill her. I'll come back for her someday! I promise!"

As we ran, the world seemed to fall apart. Not literally, but everything that could go wrong seemed to do exactly that. I could hear hands crawling around in the shadows, but we didn't have time to let that slow us down. We sprinted through pitch-black hallways with nothing but One's flashlight to light the way, doing our best to retrace steps.

Then, while the doctor was still distracted, we saw what, but another set of mannequins. "No, no, no, NOT AGAIN!" I cried, as One skid to a stop and shone his flashlight at them, taking a moment to catch his breath.

"It's okay... it's okay," He breathed, tapping the flashlight. "They won't hurt us-"

As if on cue, the light flickered and went out, leaving us in total pitch darkness.

"....Aha... well isn't that convenient," One muttered, nervously laughing. "Looks like someONE's in trouble..."

Was he serious?!

"ENOUGH WITH THE NUMBER PUNS!" I cried, hearing the mannequins move in the dark and fumbling around my pockets for the lighter.

"What? I'm just trying my best to make LIGHT of this DARK situation!" He giggled, though I could tell in his laugh that he was clearly nervous and just trying to calm himself.

I ignored him and listened as the sounds of footsteps got closer and closer, when I finally found the lighter and flicked it on, squeezing my eyes shut and holding it out in front of me.

"Oh thank Grambi," One breathed, grabbing my arm and sprinting again as my lighter gave off barely enough light. "Nice quick thinking, Six."

And with that, we continued running. I could only assume that the doctor knocked the girl out or powered her down, putting her aside so she wouldn't get in the way because he was starting to chase after us now. I could hear him knocking things down as we ran, knocking over tall cabinets and making huge messes.

As they fell, some almost hit us. As he crawled on the ceiling, the whole world seemed to shake and crumble.

One let me go so I could run ahead, not wanting to slow me down and decrease my chance of survival. The doctor was knocking things over, reaching for us, and screaming.

I had to keep reminding myself that the nightmares would be over soon. That I'd be home and safe soon.

We continued sprinting, retracing our steps when we finally made it to the elevator. I safely slid inside, then turned to see One still running down the halls.

"START CLOSING THE DOORS!" One cried, still running.

I did as he said, pressing the close button, making the doors start to slowly close. The doctor was mere inches behind him. I wasn't sure if he was going to make it.

"Hurry up, hurry up, HURRY UP!" I cried, as One finally slid inside, just before the elevator doors shut. I could hear the doctor frantically banging on the metal separating us, denting it as the elevator slowly dragged us upwards.

Thank goodness it was over...

"Have the key?" I asked One.

He nodded, taking the key off his belt and showing it to me. Not long later, the doors opened, leading back to that room. So, we walked over, unlocked the third lock, and escaped, into the city.

Finally, out of the factory at last.

As we walked out into the dark town, I could see One's energy drop, as if something was weighing him down. "... That girl..." He trailed off.

"You'll go back for her," I reminded him, smiling and placing a hand on his shoulder. "You'll find a way to save her."

He nodded, still looking down. "Yeah... I know. I just wish she didn't have to wait so long..."

"She'll be okay. She has hope now," I told him. "She knows you are coming for her. It's only a matter of time..."