I Am Number 10

NUMBER 001

THE YEAR 2030.

A boy's loud cry was heard while lying in a bloody hospital bed.

There are various types of medical apparatus attached to its pitiful body; it is almost impossible to see the body of the little child properly.

It was surrounded by people dressed in white laboratory gowns who were now looking intently into the glass room where the poor boy was being experimented on.

Despite the child's constant screams, no one who was there at that time acted to help him.

They are not interested in the boy itself but in the outcome of the experiment.

Some of them just kept writing in the notebooks they were holding, while others keenly observed the changes in the boy's body through the monitors in front.

Suddenly, an alarm rang loudly, which meant that something was not going well with the child's body.

"It's dropping!"

The boy's screams got louder and louder, but the people around him seemed deaf. None of them blinked even once; they were so preoccupied with the data in front of them.

The noise eventually stopped, and the entire room fell into a deafening silence.

The boy finally stopped his frantic movement.

The people around just sighed tiredly; no one wanted to speak.

It was as if they had died at that time; some of them even dropped the paper they were holding in annoyance, while others punched the air in anger.

A few seconds passed without anyone speaking.

A woman gently put on her glasses before putting a red stamp on a piece of paper with information about the boy.

"Test subject Number 12025008 has failed."

It was a weak announcement, but no one spoke. In that very room, there was a large box made of thick glass, in which lay the lifeless boy.

The entire room was large, and more than fifty doctors were observing the experiment in progress.

An extremely loud crash was heard in the middle of the deafening silence. Some equipment was strewn throughout the area.

A familiar man turned angrily towards them. Annoyed, he threw away all the things he could get his hands on, causing some of his colleagues to stay away from him.

"Fuck this, bring the other child!"

"But Sir Number 09 needs to rest; if he can't—"

"Bring him here now!"

Because of fear, the people inside moved immediately; three of them ran out to get the other child.

Can't everything get right?

Suddenly, a huge door opened, and three doctors entered through it. They pushed a hospital bed while the weak boy lay there.

It was so pale that anyone who saw it would have thought it was a corpse if it hadn't been for its constant moaning.

The poor boy, who was only ten years old, was immediately placed inside the huge glass room. The tubes were attached one by one to the child's weak body, causing him to scream every time different types of apparatus were attached to him.

"Experiment Number 12025009, on set."

"Start the engine at a slower pace."

A doctor slowly turned the button, causing the boy to start moaning.

"Make it higher by 0.06."

The doctor turned the button again, and at the same time, the boy's moan became a scream.

"The heart rate begins to increase."

"The system is slowly collapsing." A doctor who looked in front of the three monitors spoke worriedly.

"Increase the pace," the man said coldly, causing the doctor to look at him with surprise.

"Sir, he might d—"

Without a second thought, the man pulled out his gun and shot the speaker in the head. Some of them stopped quickly and were shocked; because of this, the people inside trembled even more in fear.

"I said increase the pace." He spoke seriously and gently put the gun back in the case as if nothing had happened.

A doctor turned the knob shakily.

The boy's series of deep breaths began. Gradually, he felt intense heat in his veins. It spread faster and faster throughout his body.

Everyone could see the slow reddening of the weak child's body and his almost muffled screams.

Everyone could see his every vein; it was as if his whole body had become transparent. It was scary to watch, honestly, because everyone could also see his two round eyes and every bone he had.

The agonizing scream was a sign to call for urgent help from the people outside, but everyone acted as if no one heard the scream from the glass room. They were even more amazed by the progress that the boy showed them.

"Sir, it's happening," a doctor reminded him, but the man didn't pay attention to it; instead, he just looked intently into the glass.

This better be a success.

Little by little, there was a fire forming in the child's fingers, causing him to scream even more from the pain and the heat he felt.

No matter how loud the boy screamed, the people around him seemed deaf. Everyone was staring intently at him as if watching an interesting television show.

"Phase number one has passed," a female doctor declared while looking in front of her monitor with a smile.

Excitement can be seen in her eyes. It seems that everyone forgets that what is in front of them is just this weak and vulnerable child.

After several years of studying to create the most important serum that is currently flowing through the boy's entire body, everyone feels ecstatic.

The fire in his fingers quickly traveled to his arm, and it began to engulf his feet as well.

Soon, five fireballs came out of the child's body. It's like little balls that just keep bouncing around inside the glass room.

"Phase number two has passed."

A smile appeared on the lips of the man holding the gun earlier. It seemed to be revived in the hope that the experiment would finally succeed.

Amid the rejoicing of those inside, the surroundings suddenly glowed red as the alarm went off.

"Vitals are dropping at a rapid pace," a doctor stammered as he hastily typed on the monitor to regulate the fluid being released by the apparatus, but the situation worsened.

The man's smile had vanished, replaced with a serious expression.

The head of the boy inside the glass room started to catch fire, and the fire slowly consumed his whole body.

While the doctors were busy arranging the necessary repairs, the child began to melt right in front of them.

Everyone stopped what they were doing when they saw that the boy had completely turned into ashes. They were enveloped in silence once again.

"It... failed." His head exploded before he even finished his sentence. 

At a distance, the man emotionlessly glances at the dead man before he puts his gun on the table.

Because of what had happened, they didn't need to speak anymore. Everyone in the area immediately took action, and the three doctors ran out to get the last test subject for the year.

The man stood silently as he looked intently at the glass room in front. He clenched his fist tightly, causing blood to slowly flow out of his palms.

If it fails again, I'll have to wait for fucking 5 years. I can't wait that long.

Suddenly the door opened, and a girl entered it. She walked quietly towards the inside of the glass room. A doctor came over to help him climb into the hospital bed, which had now been replaced with a new one.

One by one, the apparatus was attached to the girl's body, but unlike the previous children, who screamed constantly every time each tube was attached to their bodies, no noise could be heard from it.

The man outside the glass room looked intently at the child lying quietly on the hospital bed.

Both her eyes are lifeless as if she has already accepted the possibility of death. It eventually caught the attention of the man behind the glass door.

"Who's that?"

"It's the aristocrat's daughter whom you killed five years ago." The woman with the glasses gave a serious answer.

The man smiled sharply at what he had heard.

"Interesting"

"Experiment Number 12025010, onset."