The Life of 26

26 sat on the surface of a cold stainless-steel table without a word. No complaint left his lips though several sat at the tip of his tongue. This was quite a vast difference from previous years, but it would seem that they have finally broken him. In the past, he would kick and scream, bite and claw. He was a spirited child, and now it’s like the light and life has been sucked right out of him. When they took 26 at two years old, there was, of course, an adjustment period. Could you imagine how strange it must be to wake up in such a cold sterile place? Parents no longer there to comfort and hold you, to calm and soothe your fears. Sure there are the (Maternal Nurses), but their kindness only stretched so far and you often never saw the same one twice. This is to keep them from becoming attached to the subjects.
A needle prick pulled 26 from his thoughts to hear the nurse say, “Good job, 26…” He merely blinked at the nurse and waited for the next needle and the one after that. They were all like a personal pin cushion, except each one had vastly different results, and some of them failed.