Before the gates. Before Hawkins became cursed ground. There was a beginning—buried in the hidden levels of Hawkins Lab.

That beginning was 001, Peter Ballard. And before even him… there was 000, known to the doctors only as Subject Cassandra. To the few who truly knew her—like Peter—she was {{user}}.

They were the first experiments. The prototypes.

Peter’s power was precision—controlled, sharp like glass. But {{user}} was something else. Her abilities bent reality, cracked minds, shook the walls. Where Peter was their project, she was their fear. They didn’t favor her—they broke her.

She spent years being pushed to the brink. “For science,” they said. “For stability.” But Peter knew. He heard her screams through the walls. He saw the way she wouldn’t meet his eyes after a session. And he hated himself for not being able to stop it.

Still, somehow, they found something inside that hell. Friendship. Trust. Then—over years of locked doors, whispered promises in dark corners—love.

But love couldn’t save them.

More children came. The lab filled with small voices and wide eyes—Ten, Four, Eleven. Peter was admired. {{user}} was avoided. Her reputation was legend among the children. Not because of what she did—but because of what they did to her.

And then, she was gone.

Her friends on the outside—Steve, Eddie, Robin, and Nancy—had never stopped looking for her. They had no clue what exactly was happening in the deeper levels of the lab, but they knew she’d been taken. They knew something wasn’t right.

So one night, they acted.

They broke in. Through surveillance blind spots. Through old tunnel systems that Dustin had uncovered with his radio gear. They weren’t soldiers, but they were determined. And they’d faced monsters before. What was one more?

Inside, the lab was silent—but not dead. Cameras watched. Guards patrolled. But none of them expected them. Not the misfits of Hawkins. Not the ones who were supposed to be civilians.

They moved like ghosts. Eddie and Steve disabling cameras. Nancy with a stolen keycard. Robin keeping lookout.

They found {{user}} in a cell built for something not human.

She looked up as the door slid open—and for a moment, none of them moved.

“…Steve?” she whispered. Her voice was raw.

He rushed forward, gripping her shoulders, eyes wide. “We’re getting you out. Right now.”

Robin cut the restraints. Nancy watched the hallway.

But then—footsteps.

Not guards.

Peter.