It wasn’t cold anymore, but there was also a lack of warmth. 636 woke up when Zaiden started to move, that lack of support storing her in her sleep. He smiled at her in greeting but didn’t say anything about what happened last night. She handed him his blanket, which he took a little reluctantly.

The morning air smelled like rain. For a split second she thought it was going to storm again and her heart pounded at the thought. She didn’t like the storm. It was too loud and the flashes of light made the ground shake. It reminded her of so many things she wanted to forget. 636 grudgingly gathered her things, packing up her blanket before walking out. The sun hadn’t fully risen yet and she was glad, she enjoyed watching the sunrise more than anything.

636 climbed on top of one of the trucks and sat on the metal roof. She watched the skyline, just waiting for the morning light. Zaiden followed her, looking curious. Climbing on top of the vehicle quickly and taking a seat next to her. He kept his eyes on her for a few moments but her attention remained on the horizon. He followed her line of sight and watched the sun come up with her.

Colors painted the sky again, which made 636 smile. The pinks and blues were quite beautiful in her eyes. It was one of the things she liked most about this world. The amount of color that it was filled with made her feel robbed. She thought about the blank white walls she had grown up with, so void of color.

Zaiden tapped her shoulder, bringing her out of her daze. “We have to leave soon. I’m going to gather everyone up and we’ll head out.” He turned to go but paused to look back at her. “You should probably get down before anyone sees.”

It didn’t take long for Zaiden to round everyone up and they were back on the road again. Unfortunately, 636 was once again in a truck with Malcolm, only this time they were both seated in the back while Zaiden drove. If it weren’t for Simone and Alex, the ride would have been unbearable.

Everytime she raised her head, she’d find Malcolm glaring at her. It was like that look was permanently edged onto his face. Like he was trying to scare her off with nothing but a look. It was starting to get annoying so she stared back at him and smirked.

“Zaiden was right. Your face does seem to be stuck like that.”

Alex coughed when he tried to suppress his laugh, which wasn’t well hidden and didn’t go unnoticed. Simone, however, just slapped Malcolm’s shoulder, seemingly more annoyed than 636 was.

“Wipe that scowl off, Malcolm. We’re almost there. I for one am excited to get out of the car and away from your brooding looks.” Simone grinned as she teased him but he didn’t seem to find it funny.

“Sorry, but unlike you two I haven’t forgotten what she did.” He turned to her and glared. “What she could still do. She’s a danger to us all.” If looks could kill.

“Calm down. She didn’t hurt anyone.” Simone threw her hands behind her head and leaned back. “In fact, if anything we should be worried about you. I mean weren’t you the one who tried to kill our truck the first time you saw it.” This time Alex couldn’t contain his laughter and 636 found herself smiling too. She imagined Malcolm trying to kill a vehicle with nothing but his bare hands, hitting it repeatedly until they hurt.

Malcolm swung around and glared at Simone, offended. “It was the first time I had seen one, plus I was like ten and didn’t know any better. That was completely different.” He argued but Simone and Alex were too busy laughing to hear him.

“Fifteen and ten are very different,” Alex said through his laughing fit.

Malcolm folded his arms in front of his chest and began murmuring to himself, no longer glaring at 636. It was funny to see the broody guy embarrassed and for the first time since the ride had begun, she was comfortable.

The rest of the trip didn’t take long, the area was familiar to 636 and she had a feeling that if she looked ahead, she would find the chasm she had created when she destroyed the labs. She wasn’t looking forward to being there again, but she knew she had to if she wanted to finally know her name.

From the shouts and yells that came from the group, 636 knew right away that they had arrived. Everyone else in the car looked around confused but she hopped out of the trunk anxiously. She hid her discomfort with determination and kept walking, straight to the ledge where she could see the damage she had created weeks ago. Malcolm followed her closely, still not trusting her to be on her own and took an abrupt stop when they came to the edge.

Abrax had probably seen a lot when traveling but a giant chasm made from the remnants of an underground building and 636’s ability was not on that list. Most people stared, too dumbfounded to formulate words. From where they were standing they were too high up to see the bottom.

“What… is that?” Malcolm seemed to have forgotten he was supposed to hate 636 too much to talk to her without malice but he was just as lost in curiosity as the rest of them.

“My old home,” 636 responded, not looking at the man as he turned towards her.

“What in God’s name happened to it?”

This time she did turn, she looked him straight in the eyes and said, “I did.” There wasn't pride in her voice, but there wasn’t shame either. For once, she was able to take credit for her ability with indifference.

She walked away before he could respond, both not wanting to hear what he would've had to say and not caring for whatever his reaction would have been. Zaiden and the others soon caught up with her and they waited by the edge together. No one said anything as they looked down the giant hole in front of them. 636 didn’t know if it was amazement or curiosity on their faces. Maybe a mix of both. Malcolm wouldn’t stop sending 636 looks; looks she refused to meet.

“I don’t think we have rope long enough to reach all the way to the bottom,” Zaiden thought out loud.

“I can get you all down there,” 636 offered and four pairs of eyes looked at her. “I can also bring anything you might want out. Shouldn’t be too difficult.”

“Right,” Alex said, stretching the word out.

“No offense but I like living way too much for that,” Malcolm said, looking down and swallowing a lump in his throat.

“You won’t die,” 636 defended. “At least not yet.”

“Reassuring.” Malcolm deadpanned.

“Let’s do it,” Zaiden said, “We don’t have a lot of options and I trust that 636 will get us down there safely. Plus it’s probably faster.”

“I’m in, the last time she made me fly was kind of fun,” Simone said.

“You can not be serious!” Malcolm exclaimed. He turned to Alex, who looked like he might throw up. “There’s no way Alex can do this.”

“Yes I can!” Alex argued and then looked down and fidgeted with his hands. “Maybe.”

“Looks like it’s settled.” 636 said and then jumped down, a few of them shouted in surprise as she fell down but she remained calm. It wasn’t the first time she had jumped off a ledge, having done so in training on multiple occasions but it was the biggest height she’s ever had to go down.

Using her gravity manipulation she caught herself and continued to affect the area for them, so if they jumped down they would end up floating once they got close to her. She waited but no one followed.

Projecting her voice, she yelled, “Jump!” With the help of an echo her voice carried to them.

“What did she say?”

“I think we’re supposed to jump,” someone answered.

“Jump?” another voice responded, most likely Alex.

Zaiden yelled orders to some other people, telling them to wait up there, and then jumped before Malcolm could stop him. 636’s light blue and gold mist surrounded not only her but the whole floor she was on, ready to catch them as one after the other they each jumped down. There was some screaming and then some cheering as Simone and Alex jumped down together.

Once they were all down on the ground floor with 636, she stopped her ability, making some of them yelp as they landed on the concrete floor.

“That’s gonna leave a mark,” Simone said as she rubbed her sore back. “Remind me to never do that again.”

“Alright, let’s start looking for anything that could potentially get used. Alex, everyone will run what they find by you to make sure it has some use. Once we’re finished and we’ve gone through every inch of this place, 636 will take us back up and we’ll head home!” Zaiden called out to the group.

They all nodded in understanding and started walking around, getting right to work searching for anything useful. 636 was about to leave the group when Zaiden grabbed her arm. His hold was firm and warm. She looked up to meet his soft brown eyes and raised her brows in question.

“You and I will go a different route,” he whispered. “Where do they keep files?”

She thought about all the times Dr.Willow would document her progress on his clipboard. She never saw where those files ended up but she had seen the direction he took after every test was completed. Past the room with the red doors. It was a bit of a stretch but the only lead she had.

“Follow me.”

The two of them split off from the group and walked through the wreckage. Stepping over slabs of concrete and fallen pipes, tossing up dust with every step.The halls looked different but 636 could still navigate through them. Taking the same passageways she had walked through growing up. It was like muscle memory. If she closed her eyes, she could once again see the white hallways and concrete floors. The cells lined up one after the other.

They passed the room with the red doors and 636 tried not to look at it for too long. Tried not to let her anxiety show. She didn’t want anyone to realize how hard it was for her to be here.

For the first time, she turned and walked past them. At the end of the hall was a single door. The destruction from her episode hadn’t quite reached the area and everything still looked intact, just a little dusty.

She stopped in her tracks, making Zaiden stop and almost run into her back. What if it wasn’t there? What if this entire trip was for nothing? Could she go on? Could she give up on having a name? Her true name. A part of her wanted to stand in that spot and never move. Delay the disappointment.

“Is that it?” Zaiden asked. “Is that where they keep all the files?”

He patiently waited for her response as she stood there staring at the white door. She was frozen in place. So many things could go wrong. The files could be in a different place or, even worse, not exist at all. Maybe Zaiden was wrong. Maybe the doctors never documented who she was before she came here. Maybe it was naive to have hope.

“Maybe,” She finally mumbled, a hint of sorrow in her voice.

“Only one way to find out right?” Zaiden said and walked through the door.

Inside was a large room full of shelves, each housing boxes of documents. Even though the room was big there wasn’t much room inside. At least her guess at the place being the record room was correct. But that fact did little to calm her and she was still as anxious as before, maybe even more so now that they were closer.

Zaiden tried to turn on the light but it only flickered before the fuse short circuit and it blew out, making a small popping sound. It was quiet but it still made 636 flinch. She really needed to calm down.The room was too dark and there was no way Zaiden could read anything without a light.

“Here.” 636 called to her familiar power again, making her hands light up with the blue and gold mist. She didn’t mess with the gravity, it was more of an inbetween phase where she was ready to use her power but it remained dormant until called upon further. Her light wasn’t bright but their eyes adjusted quickly and they both started moving again, shuffling through the items in the room.

She followed Zaiden as he scanned the boxes, opening a few before putting them back. 636 could only recognize numbers, anytime a letter came into view she couldn’t decipher what it meant. Finding her name was resting heavily on Zaiden’s shoulders and he didn’t even know it.

He looked up and down the shelves before a box up top caught his eye. Sensing that that was the one he wanted, 636 brought it down without him asking her to. He silently thanked her before going through the different files inside.

“What is it?” she asked.

“It’s the documented account of every kid that was taken and experimented on. If your actual name, not just a number, is in here somewhere, it has to be in these files here.” He frantically flipped through the different documents, pictures of different kids were attached to each folder. 636 reprimanded herself when she realized she didn’t recognize any of them. She searched for their faces in her memories but came up with nothing. An unwanted and terrorizing feeling bubbled in her stomach when she realized she would be able to recognize their screams if she were to ever hear them again.

Each name in there was someone who went through the same torture she had, the only difference being the she had made it out. She was the one out of seven-hundred and fifty-two. They had a right to be remembered but she couldn’t do that for them. No matter how hard she tried, they were still a bunch of blank nameless, no, numberless faces.

Her heartbeat quickened when Zaiden finally pulled a file out of the box. On the outside was a picture of her from when she was around the age of ten. She didn’t remember that day. Couldn’t recall a time when she had been brought in to take a picture. Her attention dragged over the same colored eyes and scarless arms.

“Is that you?” Zaiden asked softly before handing it to her. She nodded her head and opened the file. There was another picture inside, this time it was a photo from when she was an infant, presumably taken the first day she was brought here. In the top left corner was a number she wished she didn’t recognize.

636.

Her eyes drifted to the words across the page. The combinations of letters not making sense to her. Her left eye started to tear up. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She couldn’t read her own name. She could name the different letters but once they were together, they stopped making sense. No one had ever bothered to teach her.

“I can’t read,” she whispered, wiping the tears away from her face. She spoke again, louder for Zaiden to hear her clearly. “I can’t read.”

His expression didn’t change. Zaiden looked from her face to the papers in her hand. He gently took the file from her and began to read it. 636 closed her eyes and listened to his heart. She knew he wouldn’t lie but she had to be absolutely sure that what he was about to read was in fact her name. The one thing she had always longed for.

“636,” he said. “Your name is Emryn. Emryn McCannon.”

Her eyes shot open and as she looked at him she smiled. Tears threatened to fall again, but they would be for a different reason. A different feeling.

“Emryn,” she said and laughed through a sob. “Emryn.”

Zaiden held out his hand for her again, just like he had done when he first met her. She was crying now, but this time out of happiness. Her heart patted with joy as she took hold of his hand.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Emryn McCannon. My name is Zaiden,” he chuckled, “but you already knew that.”

636 laughed joyously. She had a name. A real name.

Still holding his hand, 636 pulled Zaiden in for a hug, surprising him. She held him tightly and after the initial shock had worn off, he hugged her back.

“Thank you,” she whispered into his ear.

“No more numbers, Emryn,” he said, “just names.”