Xia Yu's eyes widened, and she leaned toward the bars of No. 028's room.
It was pitch-black inside. She couldn't see anything.
"Is that you? No. 001?"
She called out uncertainly.
That young child's voice sounded again.
"It's me, big sister."
Wang Ke, who was with her, could hardly believe it either. He had worked at the laboratory longer than Xia Yu.
He had never seen what No. 028 really looked like, nor had he ever seen a test subject leave No. 028's room alive.
Wang Ke took a flashlight from his pocket. He had brought it for his trip home after work.
The flashlight's beam shone through the bars in the door and into the dark room.
Unlike those spotless white rooms, No. 028's room was covered in black, crusted deposits.
There was also a heap of unidentified black objects.
Perhaps they were bones gnawed clean, or perhaps corpses that had completely rotted away.
Wang Ke saw a black humanoid figure crouching in the farthest corner.
The creature seemed to be trembling. He wore no clothes, but his skin was pitch-black.
As black as the walls.
His long-neglected hair hung loose, covering his face.
Suddenly, the creature seemed to notice the flashlight's beam. Wang Ke saw a pair of pitch-black eyes peering through that tangled hair.
There were no pupils, no whites-only solid black, reflecting pinpoints of light from the flashlight.
Sinister. The word flashed through Wang Ke's mind.
His heart clenched, and he staggered back several steps, gasping for breath.
Xia Yu hadn't seen what was inside. She was a little shorter than Wang Ke and was standing on tiptoe, trying to peer in.
But Wang Ke grabbed her.
"Wait. Let's tell the professor first..."
Xia Yu couldn't bear it. She wanted to give No. 001 something to