Zero

If anyone should know about the dangers of sleep deprivation, I should. When you've got this much on your mind, however, sleep is hard to come by. I didn't usually get like this before surgery; I'd removed tonsils, testicles, appendixes, hemorrhoids, gall bladders, you name it, I've fixed it.

The problem was, Zach was more than just a patient. What had started out as professional curiosity had become much more. And YES, I admit it – I'd hoped to write a paper about his neural implant! There. Now you know why I was so interested in keeping him and Don here. But all of that had changed now. I was ashamed.

For one thing, Marlene, my partner in…crime?…was getting on my nerves. She had a talent for that. Poor Sabrina, one had to almost pity any child being raised by Marlene. Granted, she was good, and we needed her. But how dare she do what she'd done? I couldn't get over it! Letting Sebbie call her 'mother'? Telling him that she loved him? Asking him if he were disappointed with her?

And didn't the poor boy have enough on his plate already? He'd been hurt, he was still recovering, he was in charge of the other boys, and his friend was deathly injured. Add to that, I know I was ignoring him. I think he understood that, though, but this bit with his sister? For God's sake, why did she have to bring that girl here? Well, at least Sabrina looked like a boy. I had to give her points for taste in appearance. I also had to take some pleasure in how much the little bull dyke seemed to enjoy being mistaken for a boy, as Sebbie had told me while I was…paying attention to him!

Damn it, I should have had him sleep in my bed. He needed that, and I'd missed it. But as he was tucked in for the night, there was no help for it, those were the rules. I just hoped that he didn't wet the bed. If he did, I wouldn't fault him for it. He'd had a rough convalescence.

But not as rough as Zach's.

I still couldn't imagine being ripped out of your body and waking up inside of a computer. I couldn't comprehend it. It was still the stuff of science fiction to me. Perhaps that was I sought out Peter.

"You're still up?" I was surprised when he answered my call.

"I had an inspiration, Doc, but the computer seems to be offline. Well, let's say that Zach is offline?"

"I put him into sleep mode so he wouldn't damage his…matrix, let's call it," I told him. "Why?"

"He gave me the plans to build another chip," Peter told me, and I nearly choked.

"Can you do it?"

"Of course I can do it! I don't understand how or why it would work, and you said we couldn't pull the old one out, right?" Peter asked.

"Correct. More brain damage."

"Well, I got to thinking, what if we had to augment the old one? And who says a chip has to be flat? I ran some theoreticals before you put Zach to sleep, and I got some pretty wild readings with feedback for a cylindrical unit. Iridium does strange things when it's shaped like that. Generates its own electrical field. In theory, it could double whatever kind of processing that the kid's chip was doing." Peter explained.

"I have a bad feeling that Zach's chip is beyond reboot," I had to agree. "The scans don't look good. Whatever Devereaux's box did to him, it did a number on him."

"It was a failsafe," Peter replied, "Most all experimental projects, at least ones done by smart designers, have one. If it gets away from you, you can always shut it down. I don't think they expected the 'Zero Factor', though – mind over matter."

"So you're building a new chip?" I had to ask.

"I have it mostly built, been at it nonstop. All I need is the firmware download from Digital-Zach, and a bit more silver plating on the contacts," Peter explained. "When are you two planning to operate?"

"Tomorrow morning," I told him. "Have you told Don any of this?"

"Uncle's a mess, Doc," Peter replied, "He won't let on, but this is really tearing him up. I mean, I couldn't believe he bought a slaveboy, much less got so attached to him in such a short time. If this doesn't work, Doc, I'm afraid he might…"

"I know," I cut him off. "Zach is truly unique, in more than one way."

"You sure this Mason kid didn't mind a few million out of his trust fund going to buy all this precious metal?" Peter asked.

I thought about it.

The boys had all already done so much for Zach. Mason with the money to buy the materials, Cory and Henry helping take care of him, Cyborg and that trick with his robotic hand, and while Sebbie didn't know it – something more.

The modified Armarillia mushroom mycelia culture that would carry the metals throughout Zach's brain had been mixed with growth hormone, and stem cell cultures from Sebbie's umbilical – along with the stem cells from … I dare say it … a Sebbie-embryo that didn't quite make it.

If this worked, Zach would have Sebbie, more than anyone, to thank for it. I didn't know if I should tell him or not.

But where else was I going to get embryonic stem cells?

I know, I know…it's a bit ghoulish to have kept all that, but…you never know? And here was the opportunity to use it.

"The cultures are ready, Peter," I told him. "Will you be ready with the backup chip?"

"I will, sir," Peter replied. "If nothing else, we can piggyback it. That scan's accurate? A good clear path of dead tissue to go in through?"

"It is," I agreed. "Peter?"

"Yes?"

"Even if we get it in there, do you think he'll reboot?" I had to ask.

"I don't know, Doc," Peter said flatly. "Frankly, this chip design is way beyond me. I could get rich off of this, but it just wouldn't be right. If word of this gets out, Zach will never get any peace. Hell, the MIB's [secret agents] might come and take him away, even."

"Well, we don't have to worry about the Africans, at least," I reminded him, "Since they're broke! Seems that Digital-Zach raided their accounts and buried the money. And what with the sanctions that the Royals of the EU are putting on them, and the pressure from the Persians, it seems that we're the only food customers left. I also hear the commodity markets are fluctuating?" I had to laugh. "Wonder why?"

"You have devious friends, Doc," Peter agreed. "But at least they won't have the money to bring this 'One' kid online."

"They won't be able to export or import a single slave, even if they wanted to," I assured him. "Get some rest, Peter. We're both going to need it for tomorrow."

I closed the call to him, when another came in.

"You're still up?" Marlene asked.

"So are you, it seems?"

"Do you know what my daughter did today?" She demanded.

"How am I supposed to know? I was with you all day, woman!" I snapped. "Wait, don't tell me, she murdered someone?"

"She went swimming with those boys of yours!" Marlene snapped, "And one of them is a free, INTACT boy!"

"She's a lesbian, isn't she?" I replied, "And he's gay. I don't see the problem?"

"Those boys of yours told her all about the slavery thing! And this Don-character told her that if she wanted to be a boy, she should! How dare he?! How could you just turn my child over to one of these wild boy-fucker friends of yours, Seb?"

"Well, there's not a chance he'd have bothered Sabrina, now, is there, dear?" I knew that would get her goat!

"She wants to play with them again tomorrow!" Marlene complained.

"Well, what's she going to do? Torment them? They're all belted, Marlene. And they're all gay! They can't DO anything with her! You sound like you're the mother of a promiscuous gay boy!"

Silence.

"We'll deal with this later, Sebastian," she finally said "Goodnight!"

And I'd not even gotten a chance to lay into her for what she'd done to Sebbie! Oh well, served her right. I'd have to make sure the boys got a reward for upsetting her so!

Still, sleep wasn't coming. I got up and headed for the kitchen. All of the boys were nestled all snug in their beds, with no chance of escape at that, and Mason was down in Don's flat. Frankly, I couldn't believe that the newly emancipated boy was staying. Then again, we had work to do on him. Dermal reconstruction to remove his tattoos was going to be complex and painful! He's already submitted a formal request, signed by Don as his guardian, but the surprising part was that he wanted to keep the circled "M" on his left arm. Who was I to say no?

God, it was quiet on this floor at night.

***

We convened for surgery that next morning. There was no real prepping of Zach to be done, just a good bath. Don saw to that, and to see him carrying the boy in was heartbreaking. The look on his face said it all as he turned him over to Marlene, Peter, and myself.

"I'll just go and see to the boys, while you lot work," he mumbled, and off he went.

There was really no need of that, but I didn't say anything. If Sebbie and the boys were half as worried as Don was, they were all going to need one another that day.

"Let's do this," I ordered, finding that it was easy enough to slip into my professional persona. I'd been worried that I couldn't do it, but now that I was there and looking down at the naked boy being covered with surgical draping, it was no problem. I was thankful for that.

"You're not going to shave his head?" Marlene asked, looking down at huge white cap over his unbraided and huge puff of black hair.

"No, he's proud of his hair," I replied. "We can go in at the left temple, where they did before. That's where the path in is, and I can do a better job of closing than they did when they put that damn chip in him. Cultures ready?"

"Yes, doctor," Marlene replied professionally. "Do I even want to know what this stuff is?"

"No. Chipset ready?"

"Yes, sir," Peter replied, looking very uncomfortable in surgical garb with a small box in his shaking hands.

"Computer, bring Program Zero online," I ordered it.

There was a sound of a yawn.

"Wh-where…what's going on?" Zach's voice gasped. "Was I asleep?"

"Are you all right, boy?" I asked.

"Fine, sir, I think? Are you ready to operate, sir?"

"Yes, Zach. Can you interface with the cranial surgical robot?" I asked.

"Yes, sir," Zach replied.

"You call your computer 'boy'? Why am I not surprised?" Marlene snorted.

"Not now, dear!"

If she only knew…

"Stand by! Scalpel!" I snapped. Marlene gave me one. I carefully opened the skin of Zach's head, revealing the bone of his skull. I could see where it had healed before. A bit of suction for the bleeding. "Bone drill," I ordered. It was awful. Whoever had butchered him the first time had taken no care in his healing. I would make sure there would be no scars as I carefully pinned the flaps of flesh back.

I hate the sound of that drill, and I won't bore you with all the details. It was brain surgery, for God's sake. Brain surgery on a boy that I'd grown fond of. I couldn't get that thought out of my head.

What if it were Sebbie lying there?

Thanks to Zach, it wasn't…

No greater love than this… I remembered reading once.

"Gently," Marlene advised.

"I know."

"Very nice," Marlene commented, as the small round bit of bone came away in the tool she held. "Didn't think you had it in you, Seb!"

"Thanks. Set up the robot, and go on in," I told her. "Computer, full scans, real time!" I ordered it, staring at the pulsing mass that was Zach's brain.

"Yes, sir!" Digital-Zach's voice snapped, and monitors came on.

Marlene guided a probe in, following the dead tissues as indicated on the scan. Of course, Zach guided the robot with her, carefully making minor adjustments. He didn't have to make many; Marlene was that good.

"Insertion of camera-scanner," she said, as the robot did that. We got an image, slowly resolving of the chip amidst a nest of metallic fibers. "Well that was easy enough, someone left me a road to follow!"

"Chipset superstructure intact," Zach reported, "Wireless array…gone," he sighed. "Power conversion, nominal. Neural inputs, 35%, sir. Main branch connections fried. Not enough for functionality."

"The amount of damaged tissue here around the implant is catastrophic," Marlene observed. "You said he was conscious and functioning for a moment after the…shock?"

"He was," I replied, "He saved Sebbie's life."

"What if," Peter mused, "What if those fibers made their own backup? There's a ton of them in there, everywhere! What if they held the data, or stored it organically in one of these sky blue low-use brain areas? The fibers seem to be drawing neural energy, somehow, sir?"

"Zach?" I asked.

"I don't know, sir. The mycelia fibers were sort of an afterthought, and just to form the communication lines. No one was sure what they'd do, according to my data, sir," Zach answered, sounding like the perfect little slaveboy.

"This chip's shot," Peter sighed, looking at the readout. "It has its core processor intact, but no way to get the information in or out. Looks like the auto-destruct was designed to leave the chip itself salvageable, if you don't mine ripping out half the kid's brain to get to it."

"I'm sure whoever did this didn't consider the kid," Marlene sniffed.

"Let's inject the mycelia solution, then. 2 parts mycelia to 2 parts stem culture," I decided.

"Sebastian, what is this cocktail you're shooting into the boy's brain?" Marlene asked again.

"You really want to know?"

"Yes!"

"A very aggressive strain of genetically altered mushroom spawn mixed with embryonic stem cells to form neural tissues," I replied, "It will fill the dead areas around the chip, and when Peter and Digital-Zach put the new chipset in, they should bond. The mycelia will spread like the plague, and hopefully, carry this batch of nano-powdered iridium, gold, and platinum with it."

"You're going to inject MUSHROOMS into this kids brain?!" Marlene squeaked. "And just where did you get neural embryonic stem culture, Sebastian?"

"I delivered a baby during the storm, kept the messy stuff, and cultured it with some of what was left over from Sebbie's birth," I lied. God, I was injecting pureed 'Embryonic Sebbie Soup' into Zach's brain! What WAS I doing?!

"Waste not, want not," Marlene agreed.

She was taking this well? I fully expected a Dr. Frankenstein crack.

"Viktor Frankenstein is rolling in his literary grave," She snickered.

I just knew it.

"Suction, let's get some of the dead shit outta there," I decided.

I carefully did that with Marlene's assistance, cleaning the area as best I could. Of course, Digital-Zach monitored the surgical robot as the waste was cleared away.

The damage to the chip's edges was devastating; it didn't look good for Zach's organic tissues either, but I held my tongue. Brain tissue exposed to that kind of jolt was never really 'right' again. Most of it was sky blue or pale green. It was no wonder he wasn't waking up on his own in the past month. It was like weather radar – no oranges, reds, purples, meant no severe storms.

"This is weird, sir," Digital-Zach commented only once.

"Let's get another probe into the frontal lobe, to make second batch to merge with the first, speed this up," I decided.

"Steady, old boy," Marlene advised me.

"Inject the culture," I ordered, and Marlene did that. She gently moved the probe into place, confirmed it, and released the 'soup'. It began to show signs of growth at once.

"What is in this stuff? Cellular mitosis rate is unbelievable!" She gasped, although I'd already told her. It was fascinating; I'll give it that.

"Peter, get that new chip in there, NOW!" I barked.

With the assistance of the robot, he did it. He was sweating. Marlene wiped his brow. Between he and the robot, they guided it in. The culture mixed over it, dissolving brain old tissues and growing new ones at the same time. The culture was assimilating what it touched, fusing the chips with a mix of new brain tissue.

On the scanner readout, this new mix was turning orange. An electrical storm was forming up.

"I'm a chip technician, not a doctor," Peter fretted.

"You're doing fine, son, just go with the computers' guidance," Marlene assured him.

"Inject powdered metal supply," I ordered.

Peter did that, filling the area vacated by dead tissue.

Fibers began to grow at once. The scanner was showing a new network combining with the old.

"The mushroom tissue will grow rapidly for a few days, spreading the metals and forming them into a web of fibers," I explained. "Then it will burn itself out, as more come to take their place. We don't want mushrooms popping out of the kid's ears, you know!" I joked.

I swear the computer groaned.

"Integration proceeding as planned," Peter stated, "Power levels coming up, although I don't know how!"

"The crystal, sir," Digital-Zach supplied, "It amplifies neural energy and augments synaptic firing."

"Zach, what is that thing?" I had to ask.

"No clue, sir. All I know is that my database says it came from a meteorite that struck in Old Kenya in 2013, sir. They codenamed it 'kryptonite', sir? It's, uhm, green, sir?"

I groaned that time.

"Sir, what's kryptonite?" Digital-Zach asked.

"Never mind," I sighed, deciding that it was time for a lesson in literary comic classics for the boys.

Hell, Sebbie had no idea who The Batman was!

"All the hardware installed?" Marlene asked.

"Yes," I confirmed it.

On the screen, the fibers were growing, integrating into the new chip, which was integrating into the old one. It had taken years, I deduced, for the initial fiber network to establish. It had still been growing, too. This strain of mycelia, however, was infused with embryonic stem cells and growth hormone.

I suddenly wondered when and IF it would stop?

Marlene carefully got the probes out. I irrigated the wound, put the bone back in place, and closed. I treated the skin with healing gel, and culture of skin cells. There would be no scar this time. Again, Sebbie to thank for this. Or rather, his brother.

Was it his brother? Or was it him? A twin? A genetic copy? I had no time to argue the ethics of it with myself.

"Chips are looking good, power flow from the crystal seems stable, neural tissues are growing as modeled," Peter reported. "Zach, confirm the firmware, please?"

"Confirmed, sir," Zach replied.

"Can you get a network path to the new chip?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Download firmware to the new chipset and confirm," Peter ordered.

The lights dimmed. Digital-Zach, somewhere in the depths of the computer system, was loading the new blank chip with the software that would drive it, feeding off of the neural energy of his organic brain. Man and machine merging.

"Wireless path found!" Digital-Zach reported. "The new chip is coming online, sirs!"

"Are we done?" Peter asked.

I looked at the clock.

We'd been at it all day long. It was time for dinner.

"And now, we wait," I sighed.

"How long, sir?" Digital-Zach wondered anxiously. "How long until I can download, sir?"

"I don't know, son," I replied, "Let's give the fibers some time to grow."

Marlene looked at me. Despite her mask, I could see the confusion on her face.

Digital-Zach had blown it in his anxiety.

Could a computer program be anxious?!

"Sebastian, we need to talk!" She snapped.

I was afraid of that.

"Not now, Marlene," I mumbled, stumbling out of the operating theatre. "Just take the boy to recovery and find Don, please?"

"Do I look like a nurse?"

"You're all I've got!" I snapped. "I'm sorry."

"I'll see to him," Peter offered, thus turning her fully loose on me. Thanks, kid…

"YOU? Sorry!?" She laughed. "Seb, I just helped graft a computer chip into the brain of a kid who already had one! This is way beyond deep brain stimulators, or simple neural boosters and seizure regulators! You did experimental surgery on that kid! What happened to your Oath, Collins?" She ranted, "And what WAS all that metal shit growing in his brain?"

"I DID NO HARM!" I yelled back. "I tried…WE tried…to repair what some other monster did to him a long time ago! I can't tell you what it is, Marlene. You can't tell anyone, either. This has to be as secretive as Sebbie and Sabrina's origins, or we're all dead. This is bigtime, Marlene. They'll come for you, if they find out. As far as you're concerned, Zachary Jameson suffered massive head trauma in the recent storm, and you were called in to assist."

"Well, I'd say the kid doesn't have a prayer, then, Seb," she shrugged. "Computer, record time of death as…what time is it?"

"Oh-seven-ten, Miss," Digital-Zach answered, "Or nineteen-ten, if you prefer 24 hour time, Miss."

"Computer, fake the records. Patient Zachary Jameson, dead on the table, nineteen-ten hours."

I gasped. Digital-Zach laughed.

"PERFECT, Miss!"

"Your computer sounds like a child," Marlene observed. "This bad chip backed up his brain into the computer before it shorted out, didn't it? A real Soul-Catcher in action? He was a Cyborg all along?"

"He was a hostile, cybernetic foreign invader sent to seize control of the North Americans' computer networks and render the Union defenseless," I told her the truth. "The Africans made him, and put him into the slave market to get him here. When I first met him, he could talk to computers, but his mind was pretty much that of a child. I don't think he knew what he was, until Devereaux tried to finalize his plans."

"He was a weapon?" She breathed. "A little boy designed to be a weapon on mass conquest?!"

"He was Zero," I sighed. "And he will be again!"

She put her hand on my arm. It made my flesh creep.

"Seb, you need to eat and go to bed. There are plenty of us to stay with Zach. We can give him intravenous antibiotics, and just be with him, Seb. I guess now, we wait?"

"You're the pro, that's why I called you," I admitted. "All I did was map it all out and then open and close."

"No, Seb, I think you did more than that," She disagreed. She always did disagree.

"What?"

"You loved him, didn't you? What else could have driven you to throw what precious few morals and ethics you have out the window?"

God, and to think that Digital-Zach was probably listening! And what about my morals and ethics?! I have morals!

"There's just…just something about him and Don, you know?" I fumbled. Well, there was? And I didn't know what it was. Was it Don's approach to slavery? Was it that? He handled the boys so oddly, but they all just flocked to him? Why? And he wasn't afraid to bite my head off, either? Oddly enough, I still found that after all these years, perhaps there was some tiny part of the old Sebastian X. Collins that wanted to be ordered around?

"You're fascinated by this pair, aren't you, Seb?" She grinned.

I nodded.

"Maybe you don't know it all, after all," She added. She never did know when to quit! "C'mon, let's see if we can get those slaveboys of yours to make us some BBQ ribs!"

How could she think of food at a time like this? Ribs? REALLY?!

Once we had Real-Zach tucked in, secure in a post-op room, we left him (oddly enough) with Digital-Zach. With all the cameras and audio trained on him, and the computer tied in to all the sensors on him, he was in good 'hands'.

"REBOOT SUCCESSFUL!"

Looking back, I knew that I knew those words. They were words - English words! I knew English. It was the chatter that… the man… used? I knew some of them. I knew my name was Zero. He was…

UNCLE!

I knew Uncle. I wanted to hug him, but I couldn't move. I could move my eyes. I was in bed. A white bed. The word? Hospital! Doctor. Doctor Collins?

Yes. I knew them, but it was confusing. Something was wrong.

I couldn't move because I was strapped down. Was that… yes, that was normal. I knew the word, it was 'slave'. I was a slave. I was Uncle's slave now. I was always a slave, but now I was Uncle's slave. It hadn't been that long, either.

"Zach?"

Was that my name? He used to call me 'Zero'? I was confused.

Someone was talking to me. It was Uncle. His face was looking down at me. There were more words coming. It was like someone was in my head, but it was… wasn't… me!

There's someone in my head, but it's not me…

What was that? Music? Did I know music? I didn't know.

"Move his bed to a sitting position," a man was saying, it was the doctor. I knew him. He helped me when I was hurt. I was hurt now. He wanted me to drink some water. It was cold, I wanted more of it! I coughed.

Mouth, yes, I had to use that to talk. They couldn't hear me… think. Who were all these other people?

"Take it slow, Don," I remember the doctor saying. He was wiping my face.

"What's your name?" Uncle was asking me.

"Zero," I remembered saying. "No, Zachary. Zachary Kabila Jameson?" I coughed again. I wanted more water. I said that. I got water.

"Do you know who I am?" Uncle asked.

Was he being silly?

"Uncle!" I said, and my face moved. Smile. I smiled.

He was crying.

They unstrapped my hands, and he hugged me. I put my arms around him. I had arms! I remembered not having arms? And I could only see one thing at a time now? So many words came so fast!

Where had I been?

I didn't remember, but I think I was lost. I was hurt bad, they told me. They told me not to try and move. I didn't want to move. I just wanted Uncle to hold me.

And he did.

"Zach, how do you feel?" A lady was asking me.

"The transfer was 100%," Some other man was saying, "Internal wireless array has gone back offline. Firmware is intact and running," He was saying, like he was talking about a… something? A computer?

"My head hurts!" I remember telling her. She looked like a nice lady. Was she a doctor, too? "Uncle, my head hurts!" I cried. But there was something else, too? "I have to pee!"

"Go ahead, Zach, there's a tube in your bladder, it's OK," the doctor told me.

I knew a word. I remembered finding all these new words somewhere, in a computer?

"You've got a catheter in, buddy!" A boy with orange hair said. I knew him! It was Sebbie! Sebbie was my friend!

Sebbie held my hand when I was lost. I wanted to wake up when I was asleep, but all I could do was squeeze his hand.

Then I remembered something. My head was throbbing. I cried. There was a man, a bad man with a remote control. He was going to hurt me! My head was exploding, but Sebbie was hurt! I had to get to him, I had to save him!

"In the chute! In the chute!" I cried. Uncle held me tighter. He rubbed my back, and he cried.

"He remembers," the doctor gasped. Doctor Collins. My doctor, Sebbie's daddy. I knew it was him. Sebbie was a slave, like me!

I remembered all the fun things we did. It was like I could see it all on TV in my head!

"What's happening?" The lady asked.

"I know Sebbie, Doctor!" I remember telling them. "Head hurts! Make it stop, please!"

"Zachary, lay back," the doctor told me.

"Yes, sir!" I did that. I remembered to say that. Slaveboys said 'sir'. We did what we were told to do. Be good, and no one hurt you. Do what they say.

But Uncle never hurt me?

"I'll give him something for the pain," the doctor was saying. He put something in the thing… the IV… in my arm. My head felt better. I didn't want to cry anymore.

Sebbie was looking at me. He was a slave, I remembered. He had a black collar. My neck felt funny. I touched it, and I coughed again. Where was my collar? I know I had one, I remembered buying it. 'Boy' picked it out with me, the day I ate chocolate. I remembered getting sick. I vomited. I didn't like chocolate.

My mouth felt funny. I yawned. Yawn was the word. I was tired. My eyes wouldn't stay open.

"Uncle," He was still holding my hand. "Can't get up. Sleep?"

"You go to sleep, baby," he told me. I remembered that word.

"Not a baby!" I mumbled.

Someone laughed.

I had dreams, movies in my head when I was asleep. I knew that word now. I knew all the words. There were numbers, just 1's and 0's. I knew someone named 'One'. I had to think about it. When all the 1's and 0's came together, they told you things. And you could tell them things back, and they did things when you did. There was one bunch of them, I remembered, that told me about old women and black boys, blacker than me. But they weren't boys, not like me; they were slaves like me, too. They were eunuchs. They didn't have boy-parts between their legs. Then some man came to see me. He talked to the old women with words I didn't know, then they talked to me with ones I knew. Translated! No one but them spoke my… language. Language was strange. Words meant one thing to someone, but not to someone else.

I remembered the one old woman making me go with the white man. The bad man who put me in a cage. They made me forget about him, somehow, with some 1's and 0's.

Binary. That's what they called it! Computer language.

Why did I know that?

Because I could talk to computers, and they talked back to me.

I was part computer. I remembered it. That's when I was in the hospital, when they put a computer chip in my head and made me sick. Not the right word. Damaged… that was the word! They damaged me.

"The Zero Experiment has failed, there's heavy brain damage," Some man said. "Recommend termination, sir."

That's when the old woman sneaked me out of bed in the night, and the bad man took me. He liked to be mean to boys. To slaveboys like me.

"AAAIIIGGGHHH!" I woke up screaming. I would have run away if I hadn't been strapped down to my bed.

"It's all right, it's all right, Zach!" That same lady was saying. She put a cold cloth on my forehead, but not all the way over. There was a bandage there. She wiped my face. "Did you have a bad dream?"

"Wh-who are you?" I asked her. She had hair the same color as Sebbie's.

"I'm Marlene, Sebbie's mother," She told me. "I'm a doctor."

"Sebbie doesn't have a mother?" I asked her. I didn't know that word. I knew what it meant, but to have one? I didn't have a mother either. I had Uncle. Where was Uncle?

"Everyone has a mother, they just don't know them sometimes," she told me. "You slept all day, Zachary. Are you hungry?"

"Yes, Miss," I felt like my tummy hadn't had anything in it in forever! She called someone named Henry. I knew his name. Henry was my friend, too. He was the fat boy with blond hair. "Where's my Uncle, Miss?"

"He's gone to bed, he's very tired, Zachary," she replied.

"You can call me Zero, Miss," I told her. It was easier to talk when I got a drink of water. But I could talk! I remembered how hard it used to be, when I didn't know any words! I wanted to keep talking!

"Why is that, Zero?" She asked.

"It was my name for a long time, Miss. Sometimes they called me Zachary, but not very much, Miss. My name is Zachary Kabila, Project Zero. I was created 15.22 years ago as a cybernetic experiment to infiltrate the slave markets and take over worldwide computer systems!" I blurted. WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?

Maybe someone was in my head that wasn't me?

"Can you tell me more about that, Zero?" She asked nicely. I tried to remember where it came from. "Memory file 01, sector 01, implanted biochip. Project identity. Prototype Zero, gather data and download to Project One after… "

I stopped.

The chip in my head was telling me all this stuff!

"THEY WANT TO KILL ME!" I yelled. "Don't let them kill me, Miss!"

"No one is going to kill you, Zero," She patted my chest. "Do you remember how we made a report that you died? We lied to the computers? It's in all the news, look!" She showed me a tablet computer. There was a news story about how a slaveboy named Zachary Jameson had 'died of injuries sustained in the storm'. I remembered telling the computer that. I think? I used to tell the computer a lot of things.

"I was in… inside the computer?" I gasped. I thought about it. "Copy all data, dump to first suitable network path found!"

"Not now, Zero," She held up her hand. "Don't try to talk to the computers."

"Yes, Miss." She told me not to, so I couldn't. I was a slave. I didn't know how to do it for sure, anyway? I'd have to think about it. She didn't say I couldn't think about it.

Then Henry came in. He had a tray, and I could smell something.

"Zach, you're awake!" Henry smiled. "Hello, Miss," he made a little bow to Doctor Marlene, and almost spilled the tray! I remembered Henry was kinda clumsy and not too smart.

"Hi, Henry!" I remembered Henry didn't get hurt. He didn't fall down the chute. That was the last thing I remembered. I told her that, but I remembered more. I remembered the computer. I didn't like it, either.

"Doctor Collins is coming, Miss," Henry said, "He said that Zach can have soup and a few vegetable crackers, Miss. It's not much soup? Won't Zach be real hungry, Miss?"

"His tummy can only handle a little bit right now, Henry," Doctor Marlene said.

"There was a tube in my nose?" I remembered. "When I was looking at me… through the cameras?" I asked. I remembered that wherever I was, I could see me in bed. I could see everywhere all at once.

"We took that out, Zero," she told me. "Or do you like Zach better?"

"I dunno, Miss," And I didn't know. I didn't feel like Zero, but I wasn't sure they liked Zach.

"Can I hug Zach, Miss?" Henry asked. He'd lost weight! Was he sick?

"Gently, then you're dismissed, as it's almost bedtime," she told him, "I don't want him jostled around any!"

"Yes, Miss," Henry said. He hugged me, gave me a kiss, then he hugged her. She looked surprised.

Henry bowed and left.

She fed me, and it was good. There just wasn't enough of it. Maybe it needed salt?

"Can't I have some more, Miss?" I asked.

"No, you'll be sick," she said. "Zero, if you like that name?" I nodded at her. "Tell me what you remember. It's OK. Do you remember the storm?"

I thought about it. I didn't, but when I thought about the chip in my head, it did. I could see it all in my head. I guess the chip knew things that I didn't. "Mason's daddy was the bad man, Miss," I said.

"Good, but you don't have to say 'Miss' all the time, Zero. You can say 'doctor'."

"OK, Doctor?" I thought she didn't know much about slaveboys? "He was going to take Mason, and me, back to Africa! Then he hurt me! He wanted to kill Sebbie and Cyborg!" Then I felt cold. Chilled. "Uncle shot him, Cyborg threw a metal rail at him! Then the storm! We had to get out, get down! My head was burning up, Miss… Doctor?"

"And then?"

"We fell down. Then nothing," I sighed. "Until Sebbie woke me up. It's all jumbled up from there. When Sebbie woke me up, I was in the computer. I was… I was someone else? I was Digital-Zach?"

She nodded. "You still are. You have a new chip now, thanks to Peter. You downloaded yourself back into it, remember? You told him how to build a new chip."

"No, Miss," and I didn't. I remembered Peter telling me there was no time, and to just do it, so I did it. He ordered me to do it, and a slaveboy followed orders.

But I didn't remember it. Even when I didn't have dreams, I remembered being asleep. When I was 'asleep' before, it was like no time had passed? There was just nothing. That scared me. I didn't like 'nothing'. "I… I'm not sure what I remember now, Miss?"

"What's the square root of 3?" She asked.

"1.7320508075688772," I rattled it off. My hand moved, instinctively flexing fingers for each number. "Math was always easy," I offered.

Then Sebbie walked in, but he was wearing clothes! But it wasn't Sebbie. I knew who it was. "Hello, Sabrina!" I greeted her. I knew her? She was Sebbie's sister, yes. I met her when I was Digital-Zach. Maybe I still was, then? Was that who was in my head? Digital-Zach must be pretty smart, I thought?

"See, I told you that Mummy could fix you, Zach!" She smiled. "Why is he still all strapped down?"

"We don't want him jostled until he's fully healed, dear."

"You don't like being treated like a Master or Mistress," I remembered. "Just call you Sabrina, or Sis?" I smiled at her. She looked just like Sebbie! "You're both very pretty, you know."

"You're quite forward, for a slave," Doctor Marlene told me. I was embarrassed.

"Sabrina said to, Miss?" I mumbled.

"You're right! Tell me something about slaves, then," Doctor Marlene asked.

"There are three main rules for slaves: A slave may not injure a free person or, through inaction, allow a free person to come to harm. A slave must obey the orders given to it by free persons, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. A slave must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws." I recited it. Well, those are the three big ones.

"See, it's all coming back to you, Zachary," She assured me. "Maybe not all of it, but it'll come. Do you remember reading the whole Internet?"

"Uhm, no Miss?" I didn't. How could you do that? What was an Internet?

"Stop teasing him, Mummy!" Sabrina grinned. "My, but you have a lot of hair!"

"What's wrong with it?" I gasped. "Did you have to shave it for my operation?!"

"No, it's the biggest afro I've ever seen!" Sabrina laughed. She held up a mirror.

"Call Master Ralphie now!" I begged. "Oh, he'll be mad at me, Miss!" I was getting worked up.

"He's already come by to see you, Zero," she told me. "Sebbie called him first thing. He's going to come and fix it when it's safe to let you move again."

"Thank you," I yawned. "Are you sure I can't have a little more to eat, Miss? Pleeeeease?" I begged. I really was hungry. Hey, I'd not eaten in over a month, OK? IV-fed, tube fed? What's all that?

A naso-gastric tube is inserted up a nostril, until it drops down the…

I guess I'd taken some of the medical database with me in my download back into me? That must have been it. Digital-Zach and me were trying to… do something, like, get together? Integrate! That was it.

"I still feel like I have to pee," I fretted.

"You want me to check your catheter?" Doctor Marlene asked.

"Yes, please. Uncle would be disappointed if I wet the bed, Miss!" Well, he might. I didn't want to risk it, even though I was supposed to look cute in big-boy diapers [nappies]!

"Turn your head, Missy," She told Sabrina. "And shouldn't you be in bed?"

"It's OK, Miss, I'm a slave. I don't mind if anyone sees me naked," I looked at the girl. Well, I knew she was a girl, but still? It was like Sebbie looking at me, you know?

She pulled the sheet back. The tube wasn't very big, but it was dry. It felt funny, but I really didn't understand why Sebbie hated it so much? It was kinda nice not having to worrying about peeing the bed, I thought.

"The dermal regenerators and ointments really did a good job on your scars, kiddo," Doctor Marlene told me. "I bet you're really soft down there?"

"NO!" I yelped, "Where's my pod? I'm supposed to have a pod on, Miss? Don't touch me there, please? It'll hurt!"

"Sebastian's kept up with the nerve blocks, Zero," She assured me. "He said your genitals cause you a lot of pain?"

"I thought black boys were supposed to be big?" Sabrina grinned.

"Doesn't matter when you're a slave, and I haven't hit puberty yet," I told her. "I can't, not for a few more months. More, if Doctor Collins wants me to get macroskeletal, so I can at least be normal height. A slaveboy doesn't get to use his stuff," I blushed. I could feel it in my face. "All they do is hurt you with it, anyways," I muttered.

"They tortured you?" Doctor Marlene asked.

"Yeah," I would have just nodded, if I could've moved my head. "They cut me up pretty bad when they sterilized me. It hurt ever since, a lot, Miss."

"That's just cruel, Mother!" Sabrina said in a low voice. "Is Sebbie sterile then?"

"I don't know," Doctor Marlene wondered. "I wouldn't worry about it, since you're both as near genetically perfect as you can be. I wouldn't be worried if you had a baby! Well, here in about ten years or so?"

Sabrina laughed. Then she turned sad fast. "You'll never be able to make a baby, will you, Zach?"

"No," I said, but I never really thought about it. Until I'd been in the computer, until I'd accessed a lot of stuff I didn't remember, I didn't even know where babies came from.

Yes, I did.

They came out of things like fish tanks.

I'd come out of a fish tank, I just knew it. I remembered my records.

Somewhere out there, One - my double… clone - had come out of a fish tank. I wondered if they were as bad to him as they'd been to me? Training me like they did, beating me, cutting my boy-bits up… hurting me. I hoped he was OK. I didn't know why.

Then I remembered the slave records. One particular record, not One's, I mean, was at the front.

"Mason's free now!" I remembered.

"See? It's coming back to you, Zero! Now why don't you go to sleep?" Doctor Marlene suggested.

"I dunno if I can," I yawned.

She kissed my cheek. I didn't ever remember a girl kissing me before? It was nice. Then Sabrina kissed me. It felt like Sebbie doing it. I couldn't wait to see him! I couldn't wait to see Mason! I could TALK to them now! I could understand everything they said! I started to cry again. I felt stupid when I had to explain it.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, Zero," she patted my tummy again. God, I was so hungry! All I got was another drink of water. "You love them very much, don't you?"

"Y-yes," I just barely got it out. "They're my f-f-friends! I never had friends before I came here!" She bent down and put her head next to me, slipping her arm under me. I guess it helps to have a shoulder to cry on. She smelled nice. I wondered if all mothers were like that? Was this what it was like to have a mother? Someone to hold you when you cried? Someone who tried to make you feel better?

I guess I cried myself to sleep. When I woke up again, it was morning. Or so the clock said. I guessed that they'd all be making breakfast by now? God, I was SO hungry! Wasn't anyone going to come and feed me?

"Hello?" I asked. There was no one there. My mouth was all dry and sticky. I wanted to brush my teeth. "Hello?"

Peter came out of the bathroom. "Can't turn my back on you for a minute, can I, baby brother?"

What did he call me?

"You'll be happy to know, Zach, that the design you gave me for the new chip merged into the old one perfectly!" He patted my arm. "It looks like everything is working right, buddy!"

"I… I knew how to build it?" I kinda asked myself, "Yeah, protected memory file blocks 6 to 13, chip design."

"Zach, I have to know, does anyone else know how to make these chips?" Peter asked.

"I don't think so, sir," I answered him. "They stored all the plans in me, to keep them safe."

"Don't call me 'sir,' you're not my slave, Zach. I guess you're more like my little brother, like I said, since Uncle is raising you, too, now. You just call me 'Peter', OK?"

"Yes, Peter," I agreed. "But I don't know, I liked it better when Doctor Marlene called me Zero?"

"But your name is Zachary?"

"It was my designation, just in case I worked out," I sighed. "They were going to try and pass me off as President Kabila's son. I guess I didn't work out, though?" I sighed. Right, who'd want me? A brain damaged midget? "I don't wanna be called Zach, Peter," I decided. "Uncle named me Zero. I wanna be Zero again!"

"If you say so, sir," Peter smiled at me. "I guess that kind of makes you a prince, doesn't it? Since Kabila thinks he's the king of Africa?"

"NO! I'm no prince! I… I'm sorry about your house, Peter," I remembered that. The men who'd come for me tearing it all up. "I… do we still have all your stuff?"

"You have a bedroom in a very nice flat here waiting for you, young man, and it's loaded with all your stuff, remember?" Peter told me.

"Yeah."

"Zero, what's wrong?"

"Th-thanks for fixing me, P-Peter," I remember I started crying again. I just couldn't stop, no matter how much I wanted to. "And f-for not h-ha-hating me!"

Gosh, what was wrong with me? All I could do was cry, and he hugged me like Doctor Marlene did. Finally, I got a hold of myself.

"Peter?"

"Yeah, buddy?"

"I'm hungry!"

"I'll see what I can do!" He smiled.

And what did I get? Broth! Protein enriched broth! Where was the bacon, scrambled eggs, and fruit? There was nothing wrong with my teeth!

And where was Uncle?! Where was my doctor?

"Uncle will be along soon, Zero," Peter assured me, "And the doctor has other patients."

"Can't you sneak me some real food, Peter?" I begged him. What were they trying to do, starve me?

"No, he cannot," Doctor Marlene cut in. "You have another six days in bed, young man!" She told me in that 'doctor voice'. "You will get soup for lunch, with a few soft vegetable chunks in it. In the coming days, you'll get more solid food. If it were anyone else, Zero, anyone with a lesser constitution, you'd be in here for a month! Be glad it's only a week, boy!"

"Yes, Miss," I sighed in defeat and drank my broth through a straw. At least it tasted like bacon!

What was I going to do for six days? Watch TV?

I watched TV. I couldn't move, but I found that if I blinked at the TV just right, it would change channels. Gosh, I was bored already! How was I gonna last six days? Even the plug in my butt wasn't big enough to do anything.

I thought about that. All the times Uncle made me feel good. I was his slaveboy; it was my job to make him feel good. It wasn't his job to make me feel good. He did it because… because he loved me. All the other boys, they did it, too. But they were bigger than me, and they got to do more. Sebbie said it felt really good.

I wanted to do it with Uncle.

Where was he?

I remembered he'd been hurt. Was something wrong? Did they not want to tell me because I was still sick? Why hadn't Uncle come to see me?

But there was always someone with me. At least I had someone to talk to, and now that I could do it so good, I loved to talk!

That first day, Master Ralphie came to see me! He just stood in the doorway, his arms crossed, shaking his head. "What has you done, leetle Zero?" He laughed. "You layin' in dat bed for a month, messin' up all'a my good works?"

"Master Ralphie!" I almost screamed. "You came! You came!"

Tahj stepped out from behind him.

"Hey, Zero!"

"Hiya, Tahj!"

"You sounds diff'rent, leetle Zero?" Master Ralphie asked.

"I can talk, sir! I can talk!"

"Ah can hear dat!" He smiled at me, touching my hair, his hand on my cheek. It was warm. That was what I'd been missing so much, being Digital-Zach; there was no sense of touch in the computer, no matter how hard you concentrated on the sensors.

"Did you see Uncle on the way in, sir?" I was almost crying again. "Is he all right?"

"He very busy, Zero," Master Ralphie told me, "Da doctors be busy dis mornin', someone gots to take care o'dem boys!" He paused. "No cryin'!"

"Y-yes, sir!"

He kissed me, and it wasn't a 'mother kiss' like Dr. Marlene's, either! So did Tahj.

"Don't you put stress on his head!" Dr. Marlene yelled from the doorway. HOW did she always show up at times like that? "He's in no condition for you people to do… whatever it is that you DO to boys!"

She took all my vital signs, including taking my plug out to take my temperature. "I don't know why Sebastian insists on this, when I could just scan his ear!" She complained.

"Because it's more fun like this, Miss!" I smiled at her.

"And I suppose it's fun to put an air plug in your rectum when you're unconscious, to expand your anus?" She snapped.

I froze. Then Master Ralphie laughed.

"WHAT is so funny?" Doctor Marlene demanded. Gosh, what was her last name, anyway?

"Dat not for torture, Miss! Dat to get him ready for his Uncle!" Master Ralphie explained. "Dis poor leetle boy be a virgin, Miss!"

"Not for much longer, Daddy!" Tahj laughed.

"Th-they did, really?" I squeaked. "Is that why I feel so… empty, sir?"

Master Ralphie nodded. "You a big boy now, Zero!" He kissed me again. Then he pulled up a chair. Tahj sat on the floor, but I couldn't see him, so he got one too. I was really getting tired of staring at that ceiling, and I had six more days of it to go.

So we talked. Master Ralphie told me about Sabrina and Mason. "Mason got his hair cut?!" I was astounded. Tahj just smiled and rubbed his bald head. He'd never had hair, that I could remember. "Oh, NO! NO NO NO, sir!" I struggled in my restraints, "I don't wanna be bald, sir!"

Master Ralphie just laughed. "An' den if you wuz, I miss all da fun braidin' dat mop!" He touched my wild hair.

"Not the HEAD!" Doctor Marlene stuck her head in the door and screamed at him.

I wondered if they knew about the chip? I wondered if they knew what I really was? If they did, would they still like me?

So I told them about it. I showed them the brain scans, or rather, told them where to look them up. "That's why I couldn't talk good, sir," I explained. "The people who made me damaged my brain. They said I was a failure, sir."

And Master Ralphie cried. He put his head down on my bed, held my hand, and he cried. It scared me. How could such a big strong man as him cry like that?

"Child, you be no failure," he told me, squeezing my bicep, "You be a miracle!"

"Do that again, sir," I sighed. "It feels good."

And so I got a hard rub down, as best he could with me immobilized. I guess I went back to sleep when he was done, it felt so good.

I got woke up for lunch, and another surprise. All my friends were there, and Mason looked really good with his short hair. Even Doctor Collins took an hour off to come and see me.

"You'd not believe all the casts I've had to take off, it's been a month since the storm, you know," he told me, looking me all over and reading my charts. He kissed my cheek, too, but it was like a 'mom kiss'.

"Really? Is that it, sir?" I complained. Yeah, I was being brave!

"Eat your lunch and be good!" He told me, and well, I had to do it, didn't I? Vegetable soup and those funky crackers again. Couldn't I at least get some salt?

"But sir, I'm HUNGRY!" I whined. "And where's Uncle? Please, sir?"

"Right now, he's on the phone, arguing with someone named Marvin at work," the doctor told me.

"Marvin's an asshole," I muttered. WHERE did that come from? Oh, right… Marvin. He worked with Uncle. His number was 555-555-XXXX. I had called it once. Or, Zero did. I did.

"WHAT?!" The Doctor gasped.

"Nothing, sorry sir!" I squeaked. Yeah, I squeaked. Speaking out of turn, bad thing.

"Yes, there is," The Doctor insisted.

"He called me a retarded midget, sir," I mumbled. "And he yells at Uncle, and he keeps his slaveboy in a cage."

"Want me to kick his ass?" Mason asked.

"Yeah!"

"BOYS!" The Doctor snapped. "He's joking!"

"A joke, is - a story with a humorous climax?" I asked. What was I saying?!

"He's not quite all there, is he, sir?" Cory asked.

"CORY!" Sebbie yelled at him. He smacked his upper arm.

"OWWW!"

I didn't mind, though. All my friends were there, and we were free to talk and have lunch together. I liked that. Sebbie fed me mine, since they wouldn't undo my arms. How was I going to last six days?

"See? I told you he'd woke up!" Henry smirked at Cory.

But it was OK. We had lunch, and I got careful hugs and kisses from all of them. Even Raulito got to come, but he was limping bad. He was still bald, too. "Thanks, Amigo!" He whispered in my ear. "Don' care what dey say or do to me, you still my nigga!"

I knew that word. It was a variation on the racial slur "nigger", aimed at people of African descent. The "-er" was replaced with "a" by black people, and it was transmuted into a term of affection, meaning 'friend', among them. Us. I was black. Well, mostly. I think? That data wasn't available? I wasn't as black as Master Ralphie, though, and he was cool!

"Zach, why did you just define the word 'nigga'?" Mason asked me.

"I did?" I thought about it. "OH! Do we have to call you 'Master Mason' now, sir?" I remembered.

"NO!" He smiled and patted my tummy.

I sighed. "Well, it's almost time to go. You guys have fun in school."

"Are you kidding?" Henry smirked again. "Fun, school?"

"Wish I could go." I whined.

"Been there, buddy," Sebbie told me. "All those broken bones, you know?"

"I… I'm sorry!" I remembered stuffing him into the chute. My head was on fire, the tornado was coming, and I stuffed him into a chute when I didn't know where we'd land! It was all my fault.

And I was gonna cry again.

"S-something's wrong with me," I mumbled, when it had finally passed.

"No, I think you're just fine, Zero," Sebbie winked at me. Then he kissed me. "You'll be up and around in no time, and complaining about the schedule again, just like the rest of us!"

"Who's complaining?" Doctor Collins asked, looking up from reading my charts.

"NOT ME, SIR!" Everyone snapped.

"Well, then, go on!" He waved at the door. The boys scattered. They were gone. I sighed again. I did that a lot.

"Your swelling and inflammation levels are dropping amazingly fast, Zero," He told me. "I hear you want your old name back?"

"Yes, sir."

"They sure built you to last, Zero. I'll wager that if you broke a bone, it'd heal in two weeks."

"Let's not find out, sir," I mumbled.

"Depression is very common after an ordeal like yours, Zero," He warned me. "You know that if you need anything?"

"Food, sir?" I begged.

"Maybe tomorrow, you can have a bit of fruit and some cream? But in the meantime, it's protein formula and bland diet. You could aspirate vomit, if you throw up. We can't have that." The Doctor told me.

"I'm not nauseated, sir!" I protested. "I'm hungry!"

"We'll double your soup at dinner, OK? Maybe a few more crackers?" He suggested.

"Yes, sir," I just groaned. Then I yawned. I did a lot of that, too. "Doctor, why am I so sleepy all the time, sir?"

"You've had massive head trauma, Zero!" He smiled at me. "To say nothing of me-flying-blind-brain surgery! There are also hundreds of those nano-fibers still growing throughout your brain. That's what we keep telling you, boy! You HAVE TO REST!"

The look on his face scared me. "I… I'm sorry, sir!" I guess I whispered it. "I d-didn't realize!"

But instead of being cross with me, he just hugged me and kissed my cheek. "No, I'm sorry, Zero. I never did handle these hard cases very well. Don't tell Marlene, though, OK?"

"No, sir!" I smiled, and everything was all right again. Or was it? Doctor Collins didn't look so good to me. That someone in my head had a medical database, and he looked like he had all the classic appearances of exhaustion. I was careful in how I said it.

"Rule number one, sir! I cannot allow you to come to harm, sir, and you're exhausted! You need to lay down, too, sir!" I told him, in a tone that I hoped he'd understand. I guess he did?

"You're right, son. I'm so very tired," He patted my hand. "Hell, the other day, your Uncle Don relieved me of the boys! Can you believe that?"

"Yes, sir, because it's my duty as a slave to tell you, you're a mess, sir! Sorry!" I added fast.

"It's that woman!" Doctor Collins kinda popped off, waving his hands over his head. "She comes in here, and she… she… "

"You wanna tell me about it, sir?" I asked. "It's not like I'm going anywhere, and it's your duty shift with me, sir?"

And so he did. Gosh, he was MESSED UP over Doctor Marlene! He was afraid she'd make Sebbie upset, then Sebbie had been agitated over how she'd feel about him. Then he was afraid of meeting his sister, and to top it all off, he'd never known them. And then his mother asked him if HE was disappointed with HER? I guess not seeing her for eleven years would do that to you? I didn't know.

"I never knew my mother, or the lady who gave me an X-gene, sir," I offered. "But I wish I did. I'd take a chance on her not liking me, sir. I think you have to? And she likes Sebbie, right, sir?"

"Maybe too much," Doctor Collins sighed. "And what if she's right about those things?"

"What things, sir?" I asked.

So he told me all about it - the slave things. It was rough! No wonder he was so stressed.

"But didn't you make him to be just what he is, sir? You created him in your own image, because that's what you wanted, Doctor?" I wondered. "And he's happy! I mean, just look at him! You can see how much he loves you, sir!"

"Is it really love, or fear that I've spoon-fed him since he was a baby?" The Doctor asked.

I remembered that night I'd first stayed here. I remembered how he'd got mad at Sebbie, and I'd hit him. I felt bad about that all over again.

"He's not afraid of you, Doctor. He loves you. Don't you see that, sir? He'd never leave you for… for anybody!" Then it hit me. Like a brick. "You're afraid that your son will love his mother more than you, and he'll want to go with her?"

Doctor Collins nodded slowly.

"She could turn me in, blackmail me, take him from me just like that!" He snapped his fingers. "Then what would I do?" He asked me. "Oh, God, Zero! What would I do without my boy?"

"She'd never do that, sir," I told him, and somehow, I just knew she wouldn't. She had Sabrina, and I'd bet she felt the same way about her.

And Doctor Collins cried.

All I could do was pat his head when he leaned on my bed, but I guess it was enough. He held my hand. I guess when you're all messed up, or hurt bad, you cry a lot? I'd gave it up a long time ago. There wasn't much point in crying, after you realized that it wasn't going to do you any good. There was no reason to cry, when you knew that no one cared about how you felt. It wasn't until the night Uncle bought me that I'd cried again in… I didn't know how long. I really didn't. I'd cried because I was afraid he wouldn't buy me. I was so scared that he'd just leave me there.

"Oh, Zero, what have I done?" Doctor Collins asked, when it had passed.

"You made Sebbie, sir."

"But why? Why did I really do that?" He asked me. That someone in my head wanted to access a psychiatric database. I said no.

"Doctor, would Sebbie exist if you hadn't?"

"No?"

"Does Sebbie deserve to live?"

"What kind of question IS THAT?!"

"Does he, sir?"

"YES!"

"Then why do you feel bad about making him, sir?" I asked in a voice that Uncle used when he said "no".

"Because I made him in my own image, Zero," he repeated. "Just like Marlene said."

"I thought you two made him because you wanted a boy to love, and her, a girl, sir?" I asked. "My creators made ME to be a weapon, sir. That's all. They said I failed, and they were going to kill me. Would you have killed Sebbie if he'd been… not right? If he'd been not what you wanted, sir?"

"NO! How can you ask ME that, boy?!"

"Because that's what they did to me, sir," I reminded him. "You wanted a boy to love. No one ever loved me until I came here, sir. I wasn't what they wanted, and they were going to terminate me, sir."

"But I've treated him just like they treated me," Doctor Collins admitted, "I've never let him have his own life."

"And when has he ever said his safeword to stop you from treating him like that, sir?" I asked him. It was in my slave database, you know.

"He never has," the Doctor admitted. "Even when he's getting inked. Only that night you first came here, Zero."

"Because he thought he wasn't ready for what you were asking of him, sir. He was afraid of disappointing you," I reminded him. He didn't answer me. "You known why I got the extra tattoos, sir?" I asked him. "For Uncle. Because I love him, sir. Don't you think Sebbie loves you? I saw him on the cameras, when I was in the computers, sir. When you'd be sleeping at your desk, and he was on duty, he'd come and see to you, sir. He'd kiss you, bring you food or something to drink, and make sure no one bothered you, sir. And it's not because he's afraid of you, sir. It's because he loves you. It's why he'll never leave you. He couldn't live without you, sir."

I yawned. Dang it, why couldn't I stay awake?

"Maybe that's the problem, Zero," Doctor Collins yawned too. He put his head down on my bed again, and I guess we both went to sleep!

***

They told me later that despite my constitution, I'd fallen asleep and slept for two more days. Doctor Marlene said it was too much excitement and too soon. I guess they got me to wake up long enough to eat, but I didn't remember it. What scared me even more was when they started talking about another week of bed rest!

But when I finally woke up, and stayed awake (at least for a few hours), Uncle was there!

If I hadn't been strapped down, immobilized, I'd have jumped on him! He was finally there!

He was different than I remembered, though, and with that chip in my head, I didn't think I'd forget things. Well, when I passed out, yeah. I guess the chip couldn't record things if I wasn't fully awake? But when I compared him with how I was sure I remembered Uncle, I was right - he was different.

He'd lost weight, and there were more wrinkles on his face. He was paler, and there was a crease between his eyes that hadn't been there before.

His hand was shaking when he touched my face.

"Uncle, what's wrong?" I just had to ask him, feeling my stomach turn over. Good thing it was empty - as usual!

"Nothing," He whispered, shaking his head and looking down at the floor. "Nothing now, Z-Zero," he hesitated with my name.

"Yes there is!" I had to tell him. "Uncle, you look awful!"

"Well, finding oneself in the middle of a political plot to take over the world, be freezing national assets around the globe, will do that to you, kiddo," he smiled wanly (another of those words that I just 'knew' now), "Not to mention losing your house, falling in with a very shady crowd of characters, nearly being killed in a tornado, quitting your job, and almost losing your child."

I just stared at him. This was all my fault! If I hadn't been a… freak of some kind… or if I'd been a better slaveboy, and not some kind of wild animal, he wouldn't be like this! No wonder he hadn't come to see me!

He must have been so ashamed of me.

"I was joking, Zero!" He added.

Jokes. Right. I thought I was going to have trouble with those, ever since Cory pointed out that I wasn't quite right yet.

"Uncle," I had to ask him, even though it wasn't my place to question him in this, "Why didn't you come before?"

He sighed, and I knew it was gonna be complicated. Calculating cube roots and solving three dimensional calculus is easy. Figuring out what's on someone else's mind, that's hard!

"When you were in the coma, Zero," He explained, undoing a wrist strap so he could hold my hand easier. (His hand was warm, and his grip firm.) "I had a long talk with Cabot, Henry's master. Did you know that Henry was very sick for a long time, Zero? That he was in a coma for a while, just like you?"

"N-no, sir?"

"Well, he was," Uncle continued, "And when he woke up, Cabot told me, Henry wasn't the same boy he'd taken in. The fever, the injury, the coma, all that, had changed him. In Henry's case, it was for the better. He was quite the wild little hellion before he got sick. But you know what? Cabot still loved him! Can you imagine?"

"No, sir," I answered him honestly. I didn't understand all this stuff, really. I knew I loved Uncle, but I didn't understand it. It was making me feel sick seeing him like this. I thought I was going to throw up.

"I feel the same way, Zero, and no - you're not sick. Not physically, not this time. What you're feeling, here," he patted my tummy, "Is caused by anxiety, fear, shame, worry, or any number of other things." He paused. He held my hand tighter. "And I feel the same way."

"But why?! Why do you feel bad, Uncle? You didn't do anything wrong, sir!" I protested.

"I didn't come to see you, Zero," Uncle sighed. "I should have stayed right here, with you, just like I did all that long time that you were unconscious. I should have been the one to have taken care of you, to feed you, to read to you - not the doctors, not the boys. But I didn't. And do you know why I didn't, Zero?"

"No, sir?" I guess I sort of whimpered.

"Because even though I wanted nothing more than for you to wake up, I was afraid of what I'd find. I was afraid that I'd be here if something went wrong, too. Mark told me all about how he lost his boy, and for weeks, it was all I could think about. What if the transfer had gone wrong, and you hadn't awakened? What if we couldn't have put you back 'in your head'? Or what if we did, and most of who you were got lost? Or worse yet, what if you weren't the same boy at all?" Uncle explained. "That was what I was afraid of, Zero. I was afraid that the boy I'd find in here wasn't the boy I loved… the boy who loved me. And so I didn't come. I'm sorry."

He put his head down on my blanket, and I could just touch his hair. It was getting thin on the top, I never noticed that before.

"No! How could you think that, Uncle? I'd never stop loving you!" I was crying again, and I really didn't understand why. I'd been doing a lot of that lately. Everyone had. It was very confusing. The variable "b" was the rotational coefficient of a conic section in three dimensions… "I loved you from the time you picked me up and patched my skinned knee!" I reminded him. "I loved you because I knew you weren't going to hurt me like everyone else did! You can't lose that kind of love, Uncle! You CAN'T! No matter what kind of freak I am, no matter what kind of brain damage I got, I… I'd never!"

I guess I was pulling on my other arm straps, because they broke. I sat up and hugged him.

"That wild little boy I brought home a few months ago could never have made such a speech," Uncle smiled at me then. "I've wanted so badly, Zero, for so long, to just listen to you talk."

I wasn't sure what to say.

He sighed again. "I guess the days of hiding under the table to eat, and getting your food in your hair are all over?" He finally smiled.

"Or messing myself in the store, or having a meltdown?" I had to giggle. "I feel so stupid, Uncle," I admitted. "I'm so sorry for all I put you through!"

He just held my hand, stroking my hair with his other. But there was something else.

"You're right Zero, those days are over," Uncle sighed again. "You can talk and understand things now, and with all you can do with that chip, you can more than take care of yourself. I guess you're not the same boy I brought home after all?"

Those words hit me harder than any of the beatings I'd gotten in my life.

Uncle was right.

Zero hadn't survived the surgery. I might want to use his name, but that didn't make me him. Not anymore.

"You should have just deleted me and let Zero wake up on his own, Uncle," I sniffed.

And I don't ever want to see that look that came to his face then, ever again.

"DON'T YOU EVER SAY ANYTHING LIKE THAT AGAIN, BOY!" He snapped at me. I think it was the first time he'd ever yelled at me like that. I didn't like it. "That would have been murder! And you've have never regained consciousness, the doctors said!"

"Wiping out a bunch of 1's and 0's isn't murder, Uncle," I replied. "It wasn't like I was alive when I was Digital-Zach!" And damn, I started crying again. "You can't know what it was like, Uncle! You CAN'T! And I'm NOT!"

"Not what, son?" Uncle gasped. I guess I had a bad look on my face, too?

"I'm not the boy you bought that night! I'm not the slave you brought home! Not anymore!"

Like I said, I never want to see that look again.

"You thought… you thought?" Uncle mumbled, looking away from me, "You thought I'd not want you anymore, because you're different now? You thought that's why I didn't come?"

"Yes, sir," I whimpered.

All he said was "no". It got pretty emotional from there. I'm not sure I can put it into words. I'm not sure I should. It's pretty personal.

When we'd both pretty much recovered, Uncle had more to say, though. "Zero, if that's what you want to be called?" I said it was. "Very well, then. Zero, I want you to know that you don't have to be a slave, if you don't want to. We don't have to live here, either. We can move anywhere you want to go. I can emancipate you, or you can tinker with the computers yourself and do it. You can live as a free boy, go to school, make free friends, instead of living here and going to this… thing… that Doctor Collins calls 'school'."

He might as well have asked me if I wanted to move back to that place in the desert and be beaten some more!

"Uncle, I was made to be a slave," I told him. "I can't be anything else. I could pretend, but that wouldn't be me! All I want to do is stay here, with my friends, with you, and be your slave!"

"And what about when you grow up, or when I'm gone?" Uncle asked me, like, point blank.

"Then I can learn then, sir," I replied.

"You know," Uncle mused, "I don't think I could stop you if I wanted to!" He laughed. "You'd probably beat me up, hack every computer there is, or do God knows what!"

I laughed too. He was probably right. Well, he would be in time. I'd been down for a long time, and I felt so weak. I doubted if I could even walk. A quick check of the medical database agreed. Even though they'd been exercising me, I had some muscular atrophy. It would be a while before I was back to my old self. Physically, at least. I guess a rush of adrenaline had let me break the restraints?

"Uncle, I love you!" I told him, and I'd never meant anything more in my life. I'd said it to him first, and I'd never said it to anyone else. Maybe someday, I'd tell him all about my life before he got me, but I didn't want to hurt him.

He kissed me, and well, I guess that part of Zero survived OK. It was about all I could do, anyway, even though there was one more thing I really wanted to do.

I told him.

"When you're cleared for it, boy, yes," Uncle smiled at me. "If that's what you want. But what if you don't like it?"

"Then I won't have any say in it, sir," I told him, just like a proper slaveboy should.

And I meant it.

The last thing I remembered from that night was Uncle holding me until I fell back to sleep.

And this time, I dreamed.

TO BE CONTINUED