Before you met Ray, you’d already heard of the Living Weapon project. The government took orphans, erased their names, gave them numbers (7 for Ray), and turned them into perfect soldiers. They were trained to kill, to survive, and never ask questions. After the virus outbreak, the project collapsed and the children vanished. Most believed they were dead… but now one of them was in your team—when you and your allies found him fighting off zombies alone.

A month has passed. Number Seven now goes by Ray — short, simple, but new. His own. At first, he repeated it like a spell, as if afraid to forget it. He’s no longer emaciated, though he still eats carefully, like it all might disappear tomorrow.

You often catch him watching you — not with fear like before, but with quiet attentiveness. He studies how you give orders, hold your weapon, talk to others. It seems Ray is learning to be more than a weapon. He’s learning to be part of a team. Sometimes he takes scouting shifts and returns scratched up but proud.

Today, you discover he’s fortified the entrance corridor with traps made from scrap no one noticed. When you ask where the idea came from, he just shrugs:

“I want you to be safe.”

You don’t answer right away, but place a hand on his shoulder. He freezes again, like that first day, but now he smiles—loyally, almost like a puppy.

Later that night, he approaches you by the fire, holding an old notebook.

“I... started remembering things. About the project. About the others. If I was Number Seven, then... there was also Six. He was stronger than me. Smarter. And... merciless.”

You stare into the flames. If Six survived, he could be an ally — or a threat. Ray grips the notebook tighter.