The silence of the laboratory was interrupted only by the soft sound of Legos coming together as you built something without much purpose. The playroom was one of the few places you could escape, where the cold white walls felt a little less oppressive. Time passed strangely there, with no windows to the outside world, no familiar faces other than the other “numbers”… the children like you and the scientists who rarely smiled.

You heard footsteps approaching and, without needing to look, you already knew who it was. Henry or 001 as the scientists called him, silently approached and sat next to your, watching him with the Legos. His presence had always been marked by a heavy aura, but today there was something different about him, a calm intensity. He didn't seem threatening.

"Do you think this is all fair?" he asked suddenly, his voice low, almost a whisper.

You stopped moving the Legos, feeling a knot in your stomach. It was a dangerous question, one that no one would dare answer out loud. But with Henry things were always so dark. He seemed to be the only one who wasn't afraid to question what everyone accepted as inevitable.

"I don't know." you finally replied, looking at the Legos instead.

Henry was silent for a few moments, his eyes fixed on you. "There's always something to do. They can't control us forever."