POV: Experiment "X"

I relaxed onto the chair that had appeared in front of the woman. Her smile made me feel a little uncomfortable. She leaned backwards and began to scrutinize me. I raised my eyebrow as her eyes slowly roamed over my body. Once her eyes began to move away from my face, I tensed. "Relax, my dear. I'm merely making sure you're all right. I assume that you are comfortable within the facility?"

"I –" I shifted forward in the seat, resting my elbows on my knees and locking my hands together. "Am I allowed to ask questions?"

"Of course," she smiled. "I'll answer to the best of my ability."

"Why do all of those men look alike? They said that you and I are the only two that look different. Why is that?"

Her smile never faltered. "A dying man asked me to make copies of him. I agreed to it and I've done in my power to keep them all safe. You and I originals. We found you a few weeks ago and had to lock you in a medical bay."

"Why?"

"You were in critical condition. Lucky for you, my bodyguards and I decided to go for a walk that day. If we hadn't, you and I wouldn't be having this conversation."

I leaned back, feeling devastated. "Is my name really X?"

She stood, coming closer to me. She rolled the sleeve of my left arm up and flipped my arm over. I saw the letter 'X' engraved above my veins. "That is why we call you X."

"But what if that's not me?"

"It is you. Do you have any other questions?"

"Are there others like me? Can anyone else wield a lightsaber?" I pulled the weapon from my belt, displaying it to her.

I watched her eyes widen and her lips part slightly. "How did you get that?"

"When I entered, it was in the doorway. I picked it up and it felt so familiar. A lot of things seem familiar to me and I don't understand."

She shook her head and smiled at me as a bell rang. "It's time for your first training session. Now, you may only carry the lightsaber for these sessions. Otherwise, it will be in my cabinet. I will escort you personally."

She began to walk out of the room. I stood, reattaching the lightsaber to the clip on my belt. I ran after her, slowly falling into step as I caught up to and followed her. "What are these things?" I asked, glancing at the life that I had passed by and feared earlier.

"Most are animals that we rescued." She glanced into one room, seeing the male that I had seen earlier. "He killed himself."

"What? How?"

"The lunch utensil." She moved to a wall, hitting a button. "W is dead."

"We'll clean it up, Mistress."

She moved away from the wall and headed down the hallway, leading me into an area that was painted red. "Which men will you be most comfortable with?"

"Rex."

She nodded. "The five hundred first is full of good men. I'll place you there."

I smiled as we entered a large field. I stared in amazement, seeing many different areas that would be used for training. "What exactly are we training for?"

"Oh, look. It's Question X – Mistress!" Every man in the room dropped to one knee and placed a hand on their chest, bowing their head.

I glanced at the woman, seeing a wide smile spread across her face. "Hello again, Cody. Men of the five hundred first, please rise." Six men stood, including Rex. He saw me and nodded, smiling. "You have a new member joining your troop. Please treat him well and with respect. Captain Rex?"

"Yes, Mistress?"

"Protect him with your life. This man trusts you with his. Cody," she growled. "I do not want another act like the one that you just displayed. X is an equal and a brother. You will treat him as such." She turned to me and kissed my cheek. "You are safe, brother."

Everyone stood as she exited the field, walking into the building. Rex clapped a hand on my shoulder. "Good to see ya, kid. Welcome to the five hundred first. We're all glad to have ya. We'll get you familiar with the other members and our strategies first." I nodded as he pulled me along with him, draping his arm over my shoulder. He took me to the other five men that had smiles on their faces. Each man had something that made them different from the rest, whether it was a different hairstyle or a marking. "This is Cat," he said, pointing to a man with a scar across his face. "He's an extremely skilled sniper. This is Palmer. He can wield two guns in one hand. This is Aid. He can hear things from a distance, giving us the advantage. This is Killshot. He's the one who always receives the most amount of 'kills' during a training session because his accuracy is perfect. And finally, we have Stream. He's skilled with healing."

"I'm X," I whispered.

They all nodded and smiled at me. Palmer had a handprint on his chest, Aid had black hair that was slicked back, Killshot had red spots over his blue armor pieces, and Stream had a tree engraved onto his chest. All of them had some blue insignia, possibly an indication that they were all a part of the same group.

"X," Killshot boomed. "It's nice to have ya on the team. Rex hasn't shut up about you since we found you earlier. We basically switch up our strategies each session so no one can take the advantage over us. We've won almost every combat practice with our other brothers. You picked the right team."

I glanced at Rex and smiled nervously. He smacked my back pretty hard, making me fall forward slightly. "Thanks for being so welcoming," I whispered.

"You're a brother. We're going to treat you like that, unlike Cody ol' boy over there. Welcome to the five hundred first. All right, come on, boys!" Killshot ran off into the blue area that led down a narrow pathway. "Try to keep up, X," Rex laughed, running off after him. I smirked and ran to catch up, keeping a fair pace while holding my lightsaber in my hand.

POV: Experiment "Y"

I sat in the center of my closed up room, meditating. I could feel that a new man had entered the facility. I knew he was like me, but that didn't mean I trusted him. I'd never seen his face, but I wouldn't hesitate to kill him when the time came. He would be a threat to me if the Mistress began to suck him into her lies. I knew what I was and I knew what he was.

He was created before me, but he'd taken so much longer to come into consciousness because of something inside of him. I knew that he was malfunctioning and the Mistress wouldn't keep him around long. Being a 'Y' model, that made me a little better than him.

The Mistress kept me locked away from the rest of the men. No one knew I even existed except for the scientists and the bodyguards. I heard the door unlocking and I sighed, keeping my eyes closed. I heard light footsteps enter the room. "Hello, Y."

"Good day, Mistress."

"May I speak to you?"

"You don't have to question me. My opinion does not matter to you, nor will it ever." I opened my eyes and stared at her. "What do you want?"

She walked towards me and knelt down, beginning to stroke my rear lek. "Have you lost something lately? Misplaced it maybe?"

"I haven't been out of this cell in weeks, Mistress. You've made sure of that."

"Then how did the blue lightsaber make its way out of here? I know you've left the room. You are the only one who possesses sabers."

"Maybe one of your guards smuggled it out of here. They take my clothes and such every now and then. Speaking of which, I'm desperate for some new colors. White doesn't suit me very well. A red color will make me happy."

"If I find out that you've been seeing the men, I will have to kill you and anyone you come into contact with. They aren't to know about you and they never will. Your practice sessions will take place in the orange room later."

"The only time I leave this room is when I'm being escorted to the training room away from all of the main halls. I never leave."

She nodded, pulling her hands away from me and crossing them behind her back. "You haven't given me a reason to not trust you, Y. I believe you. I must go. I have other business to attend to."

I smirked. "Get some rest, Mistress."

She smiled and shook her head. "You know me too well already, young one."

I bowed my head as she turned away from me and left the room. She would be leaving to her quarters for the night. Once her footsteps grew distant and the door slammed closed and locked, I raised my hands and carefully pulled a panel from the ceiling. I levitated it onto the ground and pulled my lightsaber to me, attaching it to my waist.

I would go visit the men and figure out who the mysterious X was. I jumped up into the ceiling and pulled the panel up, covering my escape. I crawled through the small tunnels until I reached the training room that was designed to look like a field.

I glanced down through a vent, seeing all of the cloned men in their small squads. I glanced at each group, looking for someone who didn't fit in. All I heard were blasts from their blasters.

"It's all right, X!" someone called out. I turned to the left, peering at the blue group. I saw a man on his knees, breathing heavily. The lightsaber was beside him. Good, he'd found it. The captain removed his helmet and knelt beside X, resting a hand on his back. "Are you all right?"

I could hear his breathing as he stared down at the floor. His head lifted slightly to peer at his comrade. "I'm fine. I'm sorry."

His deep voice gave me an odd feeling. There was something about him that seemed familiar, but this was the first time I'd ever seen or heard him. He stood up with the help of his captain. "Don't be sorry, X. This is your first session. It's okay to mess up."

"Thanks, Rex," he breathed. He turned around and looked… well, familiar. "Let's start the simulation again." The man – Rex – nodded and walked towards a podium, pressing a button. The ground beneath them was blue, but there was small red stains lining it. X looked a little beaten. I wondered how hurt he was.

He stood between Rex and another man who had red dots on his blue armor. I watched as droids began to appear from the other end. X ignited his lightsaber and immediately charged in, the rest of his group blasting.

He lurched forward, swinging his blade down and cutting right through the middle of one of the commandos. He quickly stood up, slashing through the waist of two others. The droids were blasting and being hit by blasts. His squadron ht the ones that he passed by.

With speed, he deflected a blast, killing a droid. He deflected another shot, destroying another droid. I watched him jump forward and slice through the midsection of one more droid before his hand outstretched and he threw three into a wall, disabling them.

He deactivated his lightsaber, breathing heavily, staring at the wreckage that he and his squad made. The men behind him cheered and congratulated him. He half smiled as he turned around. The men removed their helmets, telling them that he had improved quite a bit in the last few moments.

I frowned, seeing as though his skills were slightly better than mine. Since he was new, he wouldn't understand some things. I could easily take him down and I'd wait for that moment. I saw him raise his head in my direction, staring towards me. I knew it was too dark and he wouldn't be able to see my face, but he sensed me. I pulled away from the vent and headed back to my room, dropping into it silently.