1 Code 072

Bzzz...

The speaker in the room buzzed for a while before a deep and clear voice came through, "Attention all codes. Proceed to the dining area in an orderly fashion. Tardiness will not be tolerated. Your five minutes starts now."

After that, the speakers died down as the lights in the room were turned on and the door smoothly slid open.

The florescent light brightened up the room. It was a small room that was overlaid with clean white tiles that had an acrylic feel to it.

The room had a single-sized bed, spacious enough for a child, and a small bathroom, leaving little space for other furniture.

Drowsily, the boy sat up on the bed as he readjusted his vision to the bright white light. The boy was adorned in a speckless white pajamas with an electronic device cuffed on his ankle. He was around thirteen years old with a pair of big blue eyes and long silky black hair. On his neck however, was three numbers, 072.

Once he got accustomed to the brightness, he immediately ran towards the opened door without the slightest hint of hesitation.

Upon running out to the corridor, he was joined by around sixty other children as they ran out of their respective rooms and headed for the dining area.

As they were running, a girl suddenly tripped and fell. In the midst of regaining her footing, she was accidentally knocked down by the others behind her.

Unable to get up due to the constant wave of children behind her, she could only shout for help in between her cries.

"Help..."

The boy heard a faint whimper and turned back to trace its source. When he finally found it, he saw a girl with a short pony tail, lying on the floor with tears flowing down her cheek.

As if she sensed someone was looking at her, the girl wiped away the tears that were blocking her vision and looked at the boy as she plead, "Help me..."

The boy wanted to help her as he reached out his hand. However, he suddenly thought of something. 'Father say I cannot be late. If I help her...'

He glanced behind the girl and realized there were only a few children left. 'If I help her, I will be late.'

He made a decision and retracted his hands as he sprinted down the corridor. Behind him, the girl's cries intensified when she realized that she was going to be late.

'There it is.' After making a few turns, the boy finally arrived at the dining area. Just like their room, the dining hall was radiated with white lights as the benches were organized in an orderly fashion. The hall was enough to accommodate a hundred of them. However, there were only sixty of them, making the hall less crowded.

After the children settled down, a man dressed in a white lab coat sauntered in from another door, he was accompanied by six armed soldiers with ten chefs, each pushing a trolley of food.

Instantly, the children stood up as they greeted the man in white in unison, "Good morning, Father."

The man, known as Father, had a clean shaven face and a high cheekbone, his hair styled neatly to the back. Father smiled amicably as he said, "Looks like my children made it..."

Before he could finish, the door that the children came in from opened. Standing there was the girl from before. Her leg was bruised as she continued crying, not from the pain, but from the fear of being late.

"On time." Father finished his sentence as he calmly walked towards the girl by the door.

He then squatted down and wiped off her tears as he gently asked, "My dear..."

He glanced at the number at her neck and continued, "089, why are you late?"

The girl with the ponytail, known as 089, answered timidly, "I got knocked down on my way here and my ankle is painful when I walk."

"I see, I see..." Father stroked his chin.

"As punishment for being late, you will be denied of all meals for today." Father calmly spoke before walking away.

"W-wait, Father, I'm sorry!" Code 089 panicked as she grabbed on to Father's lab coat.

"Sorry? My dear 089, if sorry can amend for you mistakes, how about I cut one of your fingers and say I'm sorry? That's not how it works." With that, Father pulled his lab coat away from her grasp as he gave out orders to the chefs.

"No food for Code 089 today."

He then glanced at the children before saying, "Thirty minutes. Finish your meal in thirty minutes."

After that, he walked out of the hall with his troop of soldiers.

Each child had a tray of food, on it was a dry soft bread with a cup of warm milk, like always.

Once the food was served, all the children hurriedly dig into their meals, while keeping in mind of the thirty minutes duration.

Just when the boy was about to eat the dry, soft bread, a person sat in front of him. He looked up and saw that it was the girl from before. She was staring at his bread, unknown of the saliva drooling down her mouth.

The boy felt a strange feeling inside him as he watched the girl stared at the bread. He felt guilty about not helping her earlier. He knew that sorry won't cut it.

After struggling with the feelings inside him, the boy tore the bread in half and handed the other half to the girl.

"Ah..." Surprised, the girl let out a small yelp.

"For me?" The girl asked quietly, her eyes doubting the scene in front of her.

The boy nodded plainly and the girl happily accepted it as she ferociously swallowed the bread. Due to eating the dry bread without taking the time to chew, the girl choked on it as it got stuck in her throat.

Seeing that, the boy pushed the cup of warm milk towards her. She immediately drank it and felt the choking feeling go away.

With a half eaten bread in one hand and a cup of milk in the other, she thanked the boy, only to realize that he has walked away. He has finished his breakfast after all, consisting of half a palm-sized bread.

Mysteriously, the boy heard her and turned back to give her a silent nod before continuing on his way.