Over the next week, Subject Sixty-One’s plea for help haunted Yerin's every waking moment. At night, she tossed and turned, debating whether it was a real cry out of desperation or just a rambling from the medication. She wanted to believe what she had been told; that they were all volunteers who were aware of the different tests they would be facing. That’s how all trials were supposed to be done, with full consent from the volunteer. So why did this not feel right?

She needed to find a way to gain more contact with the subjects. Somehow get more information out of them without being suspicious. She couldn’t break a new vial every other day.

Different ideas were running through her head as pen in her hand bounced up and down against the counter. Each possible solution was scrapped as soon as it came up.

“Can you not do that?” Nada complained, throwing a wad of paper that hit Yerin in the face.

“Sorry,” Yerin mumbled, putting the pen down. Most of her work for the day was done and there wasn’t anything she could really start that wouldn’t take her all night to finish.

“You can just go home, you know,” Nada pointed out.

She was right. Yerin were salary now and didn’t have to stay until five o’clock if everything was done. But she didn’t want to go home since all she would do there was stare at the wall, wrestling with her conscience. Nada made the decision instead.

Yerin barely caught the purse before she could be hit in the face for the second time.

Nada acted like she didn’t almost give Yerin a black eye as she casually said, “Go home. I can’t concentrate with your fidgeting over there.”

“Fine,” Yerin said with a huff. Slinging the bag over her shoulder after hanging up her lab coat, Yerin waved goodbye to her coworker who was already back at the microscope.

The one thing Yerin really hated about working in the basement was how long it took the elevator to arrive. 

In order to keep unauthorized personnel off the floor, the elevator would only arrive as long as the car was empty or an employee with clearance was headed down here. At certain times of the day, you could be standing there for fifteen minutes before it let you on.

Right now was one of those times. Six minutes had gone by according to Yerin's watch and she contemplating going back to the lab or hiding out in the lounge. There was no way she would take that many stairs. She wasn't that desperate. Before her mind could be made up, the alarm sounded, splitting your eardrums from the high pitched screeching.

Yerin covered her ears to try and save her already bad hearing from a majority of the noise while searching for the reason for the alarm. Red lights flashed everywhere as steel doors started dropping over all the exits, including the elevator. Shouting could barely be made out over the alarm. A man dressed in nothing but a pair of black sweats came running down the hall that housed the subjects, straight towards Yerin. He outran the flock of doctors and security guards behind him in a blur, making it to her before the pursuers even made it to the next door passed his wide open cell.

Without hesitation, the man whipped behind Yerin, wrapping his left arm across her stomach. He was holding you hostage. His grip wasn’t tight, just enough to hold her in place. She could still breathe and move a few centimeters or so, which kept her from going into a full on panic. There was no way out. What was he going to do to her? The man’s breath was heavy in her ear. She could feel his chest heave up and down against her back.

Dr. Kwon was in front of the group that was running to catch the man. He scooted to a halt at the sight of Yerin.

“Eighty-Eight,” Dr. Kwon took a step forward. “Let the girl go. I know you don’t want to hurt her.”

A growl vibrated from his chest, sending a shiver through Yerin's veins. It was the wolf DNA coming to the surface. Yerin's mind tried to remember what she had read in Eighty-Eight’s file. In his mix was cheetah or leopard or some sort of fast animal, which explained the speed with which he was able to escape from his cell.

“Now, she’s done nothing to you.” Dr. Kwon put his hands up. His tone of voice was like one that was trying to calm down a child who was throwing a tantrum. “Just let her go and we’ll take you back to your room as if this never happened.”

Another growl ripped through the air and Eighty-Eight yanked Yerin back, bringing her in closer to his chest.

Then, without any indication or warning, his grip loosened and his body fell to the ground, limp.

“Yerin, are you okay?” Marcus came running up behind, a stun gun in his hand. Sticking out of the subject’s side were two little darts that were once filled with a tranquilizer.

Yerin nodded. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

Without thinking, she bent down and pulled the two darts out of his skin. She couldn’t help but think that this one was even more handsome that Sixty-One. It was a silly, passing thought in the back of her mind, but it was still there. He was almost as tall and his tanned skin seemed to glow even in the harsh red light. The hair on top of his head was blonde; so light it was almost pure white. His muscles were defined to the point that every little movement was visible under the skin.

Two other security guards hauled him up and dragged him back to his cell as the alarms started to fade.

Marcus put a hand on Yerin's shoulder, making her jump. “Sorry. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine,” she snapped. How she was was the last thing she was concerned about. Meeting one of the subjects and seeing his desire to be free was bad enough. There was no denying now that Eighty-Eight’s face would join Sixty-One’s in haunting her whenever she closed her eyes to go to sleep. She pushed back up to her feet, completely drained.

Dr. Kwon stepped up, shaking his head. “I’m sorry that you got involved in this, Yerin. This incident shouldn’t have happened at all.”

Yerin's hands clung to the strap of her purse. It was becoming nearly impossible to try and contain the anger that was beginning to bubble up. “What exactly did happen?”

“These things tend to occur every once in a while,” Dr. Kwon explained as he wringed his fingers on his stomach. “The mix of the DNA has brought out aggression in the subjects and they occasional go off and need to be calmed down again.”

The wheels in her head began to turn. “So what you’re saying is that the DNA has had some effect on their brain activity?”

“It appears so, but we’ve never looked into that too deeply,” he nodded. “Please, go home and get some rest, Dr. Lee.” With that, he left back down the hall.

Yerin wanted to slap herself in the face for how stupid she had been. What she needed was right there in front of her the whole time. Finally, she knew how she could gain access to the subjects without breaking protocol. If only Dr. Wang would agree.

**

“You want to do what now?”

Dr. Wang sat at her desk, her arms folded across her chest as she leaned back in her chair. Not a good sign that she was willing to agree to this odd request.

“All we’ve done is focused on the biological effects of the DNA mixture,” Yerin said. “I went through the records. No one has ever fully followed up on the possible changes that could be taking place in the cerebral cortex or the frontal lobe. All the focus has been on the physical changes to their muscles and cells, but not their psyche, their mental state. Before we extend the trials or bring in new subjects, we need to understand this from all sides. The mental effects are just as important. I even mentioned this in my original thesis.”

Yerin had practiced this argument over and over again late into the previous night, trying to think of every possible counter to any objections Dr. Wang or Dr. Kwon may have. She hoped it would be enough.

“I can understand where you’re coming from,” Dr. Wang leaned forward, resting her elbows on the desk. A good change. “But you’re a blood analyst. Why should you be the one to interview them?”

Yerin smiled. “I originally double majored in psychology. After a while, I decided not to go through with it in order to graduate with the rest of my classmates. I was falling behind and my grades were suffering.” An unfortunate fact that probably kept her from being number one in the class, but oh well. “However, I did have enough credits to shift it to a minor.” Barely. And she had to take on an extra class to qualify. It was a nightmare. “I’m not certified in counseling out there, but I could still decipher some things and connect them to our research in here. I think it’d be valuable.”

“Well, that’s interesting,” her mentor teased. “And I do see the benefits in it. One second.” She dialed in a number to her desk phone. “Yes, can you send Dr. Kwon over to my office? Yes, thank you.”

After a few minutes of silence, Dr. Kwon arrived and stood next to Dr. Wang.

“You called for me?”

Dr. Wang cleared . “Yes. It seems that Dr. Lee here has had an idea after the… incident.” The last word was strained. When she’d heard about the attempted escape, it was like a volcano had erupted right there in the lab. Of course, she never yelled at Yerin, but the security guards were lucky to still have their jobs. “She’s made very good points about evaluating the subjects’ minds beyond what we’ve already done. As it seems she’s qualified to take on this task, we’re looking to you for permission to proceed.”

his beard, Dr. Kwon pursed his lips. “And what exactly is Dr. Lee planning on doing?”

Dr. Wang motioned for Yerin to speak.

“Just simple interviews,” sheexplained. “How they take in their surroundings, how they evaluate stress and dangerous situations. I believe we need to see how the animal DNA has counteracted with their human instincts and decision-making process.”

“That does sound intriguing,” Dr. Kwon nodded. “I don’t see why not. But I believe we should start with the less volatile subjects, hm?”

“Perhaps Subject Zero-One?” Dr. Wang suggested.

“Good choice.” Dr. Kwon turned to Yerin. “Zero-One is currently in a resting phase, so whenever you wish to, you can conduct your interview. We’ll let all the orderlies know to give you full access.”

Dr. Wang dismissed Yerin. She walked out of the office, head held high. It was hard to contain the victory in a professional manor with others possibly watching. Alone in the elevator, she did allow herself one little fist pump into the air.

The new attendants of the filing room hardly paid attention to her as she went to the back room to grab Zero-One’s file. She didn’t know much about the details of that subject. Apart from her first few weeks downstairs, Yerin hadn’t done much in terms of testing his blood. Sure, she remembered that he was basically part fish and his physical stats, but there hadn’t been much going on with him in terms of data collection and the details had faded.

Yerin skimmed through his file as she made her way back down to the basement. With folder and notebook in hand, she stopped at one of the first doors in the left hallway. The orderly manning the controls eyed her suspicioulsy.

“Well, that was fast,” he said. “Dr. Kwon said you’d be coming by. Really that eager to ogle at the freak?”

Rolling her eyes, Yerin snapped, “Just open the damn door.”

With great reluctance, he did, letting it shut hard after two steps in.

The room was an exact replica of Sixty-One’s room, down to the welded bed. The only real difference was the occupant. Instead of being held down by restraints, Zero-One was simply sitting on the bed his back against the wall connected to the footboard of the bed, staring at the opposite side. He didn’t acknowledge Yerin's existence at all, even as she crept closer.

Taking the chair provided in the room over to his bed, she sat down, crossed her legs in a professional manner and waited.

Minutes ticked by with neither of them speaking. He still didn’t look at her or glanced in that general direction. In fact, he hadn’t moved at all. Yerin was okay with this; it gave her uninterrupted access to study his features. 

It was awe-inspiring how different the three of them were. The one she stared at now was shorter than the others, but his features were more mature, his expression a solemn one. Ashy blonde hair adorned his head, complimenting his lighter skin and his chin that came to a sharp point.

“Just get it over with,” he finally murmured, still not looking at her.

Yerin tilted her head. “Get what over with?”

“Don’t play games with me,” he lashed out, at last making eye contact. Even in anger he kept his face controlled. “Stick whatever needles in me you want to and leave.”

“I don’t have any needles with me,” Yerin replied, holding up her empty hands for him to see. His face contorted into one of confusion at the confirmation of her statement. Yerin continued in a soothing voice she had heard from her own therapist growing up, “I’m simply here to talk. My name is Dr. Lee Yerin.”

He scoffed. “So you’re a shrink?”

“No, I’m not,” Yerin said. “Officially, I’m a blood analyst, but I think there’s more to what’s going on inside of you all than a biological change. That’s merely the surface.”

He raised an eyebrow. “And so you want to dissect my head?”

Yerin nodded. “In a sense.” Pulling the pen out from behind her ear, she flipped open her notebook. “How long have you been here?”

“You should know that,” he said with a growl. “It’s in my file.” Apparently he was going to fight the whole way. That was fine. She was prepared for that.

“I want to hear it from you.”

His wall was high. As someone who’d spent years tacking on the bricks and mortar of her own fortress, Yerin knew how to spot that kind of barrier. This wasn’t going to be easy and she’d never done even a mock session before. The classes she'd taken were all theory based and – truth be told – she kind of fibbed about exactly how much she remembered from those classes. But if there was one thing college taught her, it was how to bull her way through something.

It was currently a standoff, neither one wanting to budge. Yerin didn’t care. She’d stay there all day until someone came and kicked her out. The staring contest the two of them were having was more than enough to keep you focused.

But, to her astonishment, he relented first. “Fifteen years, give or take. It’s hard to keep track sometimes.”

Yerin stiffened, not expecting that answer. Because how long he’d been here wasn’t actually in his file. There was no indication in any of their files of when they first entered the program. But if he’d really been here that long, that would explain why he needed a four-drawer cabinet all too himself. Based on his current listed age, though, that would have made him just a teenager when he came here. What kind of Special Forces was that?

Yerin wrote down number fifteen along with the letters “SF”. “And have you always been in this room?”

“You’re asking questions that you should already know the answer to.”

Sighing, she felt like she had taken two more steps back. Mom always said that honesty was the best policy.

“I don’t know the answers, that’s why I’m asking,” Yerin said calmly, tossing the notebook and file on the floor and leaning forward with her elbows resting on her knees. “I’m actually fairly new here. I was barely able to get permission to speak with you. Soon, I’ll talk to the others as well.”

He copied the posture, shifting around so his full body was facing Yerin and his face maybe only ten centimeters away from her own. “And why do you want to talk to us so badly?”

“Because I still see you as human,” Yerin whispered. “You’re more than just something to poke and prod at. So, I want to know how it’s all effecting you.”

Something flickered in his eyes. It was gone before Yerin could fully read it. Was it curiosity? Confusion? Or maybe hope?

Zero-One straightened up and looked away. “But I’m not human. None of us are.”

“I don’t believe that,” Yerin said. “You were born human. No matter what happens to you, you’re still human.”

Those words were ones that she’d heard a thousand times from the same type of set up as this. At first she hadn’t believed them either, but – with time – she came to accept them. Maybe he could too.

“You’re not like the others,” he frowned. His deep brown eyes felt like they were boring into her, studying her like how she was supposed to be studying him. Yerin resisted the urge to shift uncomfortably, not wanting him to think that he was actually getting to her.

Yerin picked up the notebook, needing to put some space between herself and Zero-One in order to collect her thoughts.

“What’s your name?” she asked so quietly that any possible microphones in the room wouldn’t pick up on it.

Zero-One smirked. “You’re not allowed to know that.”

“Why won’t you let me know that?”

He shook his head. “It’s not me that made that rule. It’s them.”

Of course. To them, he wasn’t a person, simply a number and a body. “So, break the rule. Just once.”

There he was, staring again, trying to read if she was really sincere or simply trying to cause trouble. Thankfully, he went with the former.

“Junmyeon. My name is Junmyeon.”