19 hours later. . .

"He--"

". . ."

"Hey!"

". . ."

"Hey! Wake up!"

"Uuh?"

"HEY! WAKE UP!"

". . .?"

Experiment#496 wakes up in surprise.

"Uuhhh. . . What happened?"

"HELLO!" 

A loud voice of a young girl is coursing through Experiment#496's left ear at close range.

"WHAAAT?" Experiment#496 leans to her right in reflex.

"Good God. I've been trying to wake you up for a whole minute now."

There was a girl next to Experiment#496.

"Who are you?"

"OH! You're fully awake now? Hey! My name is Michelle. I don't know my last name, however, which sucks."

This girl is Michelle. She has bright green eyes. She has shoulder-length pale orange bob hair. The edge of her hair is so curvy that it forms hair buns on its own. She is 119cm tall and weighs 22kg. She is wearing the normal pale green hospital gown unlike Experiment#496.

"What about you?"

". . . I don't have a name."

"Huh?"

"Everyone just called me Experiment#496."

"EEEEHHH? That's kinda cruel."

"So, where am I?"

"You don't know? Hm, well they told me you were just out of the ICU room when you were transferred here."

"ICU? What happened to me?"

"Heeh? I don't know. I never met you until you arrived last night."

"I see. . ."

"AKH!" Experiment#496 screams and quickly holds her belly.

Experiment #496 felt a little stinging pain on her stomach.

"You okay?"

"Yes. I'm good. . . So, you haven't answered my question. Where am I?"

"Oh right! This is the room where problem children are locked in. To be honest it's not that different from our usual room. The only difference is that this room doesn't have any lights."

". . . So you're a trouble maker too? Why did they put us together?"

"Is this your first time breaking the rules?"

"Not really my first time but, they never put two subjects together."

"Huh? Weird. They always put two trouble makers in one room since forever."

"(. . . I guess I was treated differently, but, why the change now?)"

"I KNOW!"

Michelle suddenly shouts that she surprised Experiment#496.

"I'll think of a name for you!"

"Why even bother?"

"Because we'll be together for a while and it is really annoying to address you as "Experiment#496" every time, you know?" said Michelle as she points her finger right at Experiment#496's nose.

"Oh. . . okay, I guess?"

"Btw, why are you here? I mean, what did you do?"

"I just beat up some bullies who tried to pick on me."

"Really? THAT'S AMAZING!"

"And what about you?"

"Well I, broke an equipment during an experiment and harmed a scientist directly, hehe." said Michelle while flustered as if what she did was an accomplishment.

"That is. . . amazing." said Experiment#496 jokingly.

"That was a very polite insult."

"You're welcome!"

"What the heck?"

"(It. . .feels nice having someone to talk to inside this hell of a confinement.)" said Experiment#496 to herself.

They spend the rest of their day getting to know each other. They grew closer for the next few days to the point that it feels like they had been friends since forever.

          One month later. . .

Michelle and Experiment#496 have grown even closer now. Michelle has brought a smile upon life inside the facility to Experiment#496.

"ROCK PAPER SCISSORS!"

". . ."

*SLAP*

"AAAWW!"

Michelle slaps Experiment#496.

"Hehe, you lost again!"

"Grrrr, one more time!"

"Alright!"

"ROCK PAPER SCISSORS!"

*SLAAAAP*

"AAAAAAAAWWWW!!"

"You lost again!!"

"ONE MORE TIME!!"

"ROCK PAPER SCISSORS!!"

*SLAAAAAPP*

"AAAAAAAAARRGGGHHHHH!!!"

"Just give it up! You can't defeat me! I'm a master at this!"

"ONE! MORE! TIME!"

"Be my guest!"

"ROCK PAPER SCISSORS!"

". . ."

Experiment#496 won this time. She smiles maliciously.

"IT'S TIME TO DIE!"

Michelle cowers in fear.

"NOPE!"

Michelle runs away from the spot.

"GET BACK HERE!!"

Experiment#496 runs after Michelle with the creepiest smile possible. Michelle tried her hardest to escape her in such a confined space. They're running around for almost 10 minutes.

*pant pant*

"Y-You're pretty fast. . .Mi-chan. . ."

"Heheh. . .That's the power of fear. . ."

*pant pant*

They then lie down on the floor and trying to catch their breath.

"Mi-chan. . . It has been a month now. Have you thought of something for my name as you promised?" said #496 in a pissed tone.

"Err, #496-chan is not good enough, right?"

"OF COURSE NOT! THAT'S JUST SHORTENING MY LABEL!"

"S-Sorry!" Michelle bows on the floor and begs for forgiveness to #496.

#496 grabs Michelle's head and grips it hard.

"OI, HURRY UP AND COME UP WITH ONE ALREADY!"

"F-FINE! WAIT A SECOND!"

Michelle is in deep thought while #496 is still grabbing her hair.

"AH AH! I GET ONE!"

"Spill it!"

"It's something that I learned a while back. It's something that my father taught me."

"Your father? What's going on here? You never told me about your father."

"Well, he's no longer in this world so I never brought him up. Don't worry, I'll tell you about my family later!"

"S-Sorry to hear that. . ." #496 felt guilty for asking that question.

"There's this flower that has multiple symbolism that represents different things. It's called—"

*BEEP BEEP*

A sound of loud beeping covered Michelle's voice but #496 heard it loud and clear. The door to their room is suddenly opened. A bunch of security staff enters the room.

"Your punishment time has expired, both of you will proceed to undergo the final punishment."

". . ."

"See you later, Mi-chan."

"Of course. I'll see you in a bit."

They both parted ways as the security takes them in different directions.

          VR Experiment lab, Simulation room. . .

"(This? I've never gone through this experiment before.)"

#496 was told to wait outside a bit while they prepare the simulation. There are security staffs that are waiting together with her in front of the room.

5 minutes have passed and suddenly, she heard loud screaming.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! IT HURTS!! FORGIVE ME!! IT HURTS!! LET ME GO!!"

#496 was shocked. It was Michelle's voice.

"Mi-chan? Didn't they take her to somewhere different? Why does her voice sound so close?"

#496 was ready to go towards the voice and then suddenly. . .

*beep*

*BZZT*

"KYAAAAAH!!"

The metal collar activates and generates electricity that electrifies #496's whole body. Once the collar deactivates, #496 falls to the floor.

*pant pant*

"Nobody told you, you can run away. This is a punishment. Face your consequences." said one of the staff that is also the one who activated her collar.

"Ukh. . ."

#496 is groveling on the floor enduring the pain.

*BEEP BEEP*

The door to the simulation door opened.

"Bring her in." said a scientist from behind the door to the simulation room.

The securities pick up #496 and brought her inside. They carried her towards the center of the room where there is a lone chair. There is some kind of equipment above the chair as well. 

The room itself is one giant round room. There are lab equipment and scientists surrounding the chair at the farthest back of the room. #496 was placed and bound to the chair. Her hands and legs are locked by metal bracelets that come out of the chair.

"We will begin the VR Experiment! Prepare the necessities!" commands someone that seems to be the leading scientist in the room.

A VR headset attached to a device above the chair in the middle descends slowly until it finally fits into #496's head.

"Warning Experiment#496! Once you're inside the simulation, please do your best to solve whatever problems are going to come to you. Please don't lose control of yourself. Oh, and also, you cannot use your Faith power inside the simulation." said the leading scientists warning #496 about what to expect.

*BEEP BEEP*