The Spark. (001/Peter Ballard/Henry Creel Fanfic)

- 11

(didnt plan for the chapter number and character to line up LMAO, sorry for the wait)

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001 had a plan.

He despised how much his plan relied on the powers of a young child to work, hated how everything rested on her shoulders.

But he had no choice.

A1 still refused to remove the chip, insisting she wanted nothing to do with him or the reason that chip was placed there. So, his only option was to train the poor, lonely kid numbered 011, in hopes she would be strong and willing enough to remove the chip.

He just needed time.

And a ton of patience.

He had lots of both.

So, every day he sat in the Rainbow Room, whispering words of advice and comfort to her, quiet enough for the cameras to not catch it.

Every. Day.

It was an incredibly boring, time consuming project, each day felt like no progress was made, each time she failed at a challenge felt like a step in the wrong direction.

However, his first big victory came the day of the circle tests.

Like all the other days, he whispered advice, comfort, and encouragement to her.

This time, it worked.

She threw the other subject back, winning the test.

001 paid for it.

But he could take the pain, the hatred, as long as it was for her.

Anything for her.

He had a foot in another project too, every day he visited A1 and tried to get her to remember, to feel something, anything. He knew Brenner got immense joy out of watching him try and fail time after time.

But he would wear her down, make her remember.

He would, powers or not.

And so, this is how it went for six months.

Six months spent coaching eleven, six months spent trying to fix A1.

His attempts were not in vain. Even though A1 didn't remember anything, sometimes during certain actions or events that happened the same way ten years ago made her stop and wait, as if a wave of deja vu hit her. Her snarky remarks became softer, and she spent less time trying to shoo 001 out of her room. He found himself calling himself 001 again, for Peter was the name Brenner assigned him, Peter was the name of a person A1 did not know or remember.

Eleven was making progress too. She trusted him more than anyone else. Along with that, her powers were showing potential. If she tried, really tried, she could do more than any of the other children. And that was all he needed. Trust and powers.

So, the day came where he needed her to remove the chip and she agreed. He had been studying the chip, how it affected him and others. He found out it wasn't a tracker, so once it was gone there was no need for him to carry it around. It simply blocked his powers and some of his memories. He vaguely remembered sneaking into Brenner's office when he was younger, but when he tried to focus on what he read in the files, his mind went all fuzzy.

He led Eleven to one of the storage rooms without a camera, having told Brenner he was going to get a chess game with her for the Rainbow Room. As they entered the dim room, Eleven gave a little shiver, and he turned around and offered her a soft smile and his hand.

"Don't worry, there's nothing to be scared of." he whispered to her, his voice carrying softly across the empty room. "Thank you for doing this for me. I just want my memories back." Although it was a lie, he didn't feel bad, wouldn't feel any remorse once he freed A1.

Eleven gave a shaky nod and watched him as he bent down and undid his belt, sliding it out of the loops before folding it and turning to look up at her.

"Even if it hurts me, just go until you remove it, alright?"

She nodded, then reached her shaky hand out as he bit down on his belt, preparing himself for pain.

A muffled moan of pain slipped through as he felt the chip yank against his skin, and he closed his eyes until he felt a rip and heard the clink of it hitting the ground. Almost immediately after, he dropped his belt and pressed a cloth he brought to his neck, not wanting his uniform to be bloody.

"Thank you Eleven." he offered with a smile, picking up the chip and studying it before slipping it into his pocket and standing up.

He handed her a chess game from the nearby cabinet and then he was off.

Off to free A1.