The Number One - Ellen Chu

“The Number One”

On a serene day where the wind was mild and the sun was bright, two girls passed through an abolished lab. They looked up to the building, and one of the girls said, “Why isn’t the building dismantled? It would be so painful to see this place if I were one of them.” The other girl notice something and nudged her friend while she said, “Look over there.” There stood another girl, staring at the building meaningfully. “Let's not stay here for too long,” she continued. Then they went away and left the girl alone behind. “Although it is painful, this place stores valuable memories.” The girl looked down at the mark “1” on her arm and murmured. … 1 year ago … Number one woke up in the lab, she didn’t know where and who she was. Beside her, there are many other girls like her laying on their beds. She slowly stood up and walked out of the room. The place was very well technological, it was as huge as if it was endless, everything was clean, tidily arranged, and the temperature was...cold. People in uniforms were walking around. She hid behind a pillar when one of them came close to her, but then bumped into a little thing. It was a graceful female cat, its fur was purely white and it made her blue eyes even more dazzling and luminous. “Ouch! Be careful!” the cat yelled. “You….you talk!?” Number one asked surprisingly and stared at it with an unbelievable look. The cat nodded gently and said, “You shouldn’t be here, they will catch you, then you will be either dead or hurt.” “Why? Who are they? Who am I? Where exactly is this place?” Number one asked panickedly.

“Hey, let's calm down and listen carefully. This place is an experimental lab, I am also one of the experimental products they test on.” The cat pointed to the people lying on the bed in room Number one used to stay and said, “you must be one of them, the clones.” “Wait, I’m one of what?” Number one interrupted. “The clones, look at the number on your hand, ‘1’, that means you are the number one among all the clones.” Number one looked at the cat, speechlessly. The cat continued, “This place is nothing but cruel and merciless, they do ruthless experiments on humans and animals only for their benefits. If they find you awake and have self-awareness, they will take you to a punishment room, where you will die in pain. You must escape, my dear, remember my words and you can successfully run away. You must NOT trust anyone here, especially the experimenters and the doctors. Next, you go through the hallway and you can find a set of uniforms, wear it and pretend you are one of them. At last, talk to your body when you need help and you will find the answer. Now go, you must be quick.” After a few seconds of silence, Number one replied. “How about you, why don’t you come with me? Don’t you want to escape? ” “I tried, but now I’m too tired and afraid, I don’t want to take that risk, but you are different, I can see that, you must get out and rescue all of us behind. You should go now, good luck.” The cat disappeared as soon as she finished her words. Number one followed the cat’s urge, she walked to666 the end of the hallway and grabbed the uniforms to wear. At lunchtime, she asked the doctor, who seems the youngest among all the staff in the lab, “Excuse me, sir, today is my first day and I’m not familiar with the place, can you show me where the entrance is? ” “I’ll take you there,” the doctor answered. “That will be great, thanks a lot.”

That night, Number one went to the entrance the doctor told her and thought that she could find a way to open the door. Unexpectedly, the doctor popped out and said, “Don’t be so impetuous, you really think you can open that door easily?” He noticed that Number one looked at him with fear and added, “Hey, I won’t hurt you, I notice that you are a clone at the dining hall,” he pointed at Number one’s hand and said. “By the way, my name is Ryle, do you have a name?” Number one shook her head. “Can I call you Renee then, I think it matches you very well.” “Okay...” Renee agreed. She recalled the cat’s words about not trusting anyone, but she thought that she would not be able to escape on her own, so she needed company. In the following few days, they discuss ways to run away, and for not long, they fall in love. “I became close to the controller of the lab, he promised that I could go out and meet my family, it is the only chance we can get out,” Rylee told Renee. “That’s great! Thank you so much, darling, I love you.” “Me too, after we get out we can do whatever we want, meet me at 8 tomorrow night at the entrance.” The next day, Renee made her promise and went to the entrance. What she didn’t expect was that Ryle wasn’t alone there, instead there stood a group of well-armed experimenters. “How can I be imperturbable? Ryle? I want to hear from you.” “I’m sorry Renee, I need money, they told me if I tell our plan, I will be better paid for the rest of my life for a better position in the lab. It was nice to meet you, but I need to be more realistic.” Renee felt not only indignant, but also terribly upset. “I thought you were different, but after all of this there is no nuance between you and them, I should never believe you!”

Ignoring her strident scream, two strong men walked out and grabbed Renee. Suddenly, the cat rushed in and scratched the two men. “Remember what I told you, communicate with your mind, quick!” The cat shouted. Renne closed her eyes and focused on her mind. “Look closely in people’s eyes and control them,” a sound whispered. Renee then turned at Ryle and looked straight into his eyes, “Go take the pass and open the door” she commanded in her mind. Ryle, as if he was possessed, took the pass from another man and opened the gate. Renee then continued, “Protect me from the attack.” Ryle again followed her instruction. “Come with me!” Renne said loudly to the cat. “They will catch you! forget about me, I won’t be able to live long anyway, just live on for me.” Renne tried very hard to hold back her tears and ran away out of the lab. She was not sure what’s outside the world, maybe it would be another adventure, but she will remember everything in the lab and her promise with the cat and survive for as long as she could.