Zero woke with a start, shooting out of slumber with wide eyes. One moment she was in a void of darkness and the next she was conscious. It was like a switch had been flipped. Sitting up now, she took in a few deep breaths to get her bearings.

She could remember everything that happened yesterday, but she could not remember her dreams if she did dream. At the very least she wasn't starting off as another blank slate. It was comforting that she might be able to cultivate new memories, something she could keep possibly forever. She could live with that. She could live with yesterday being the start of a brand new life, as long as she wouldn't forget it.

This day was already beginning to be better than the last. She had woken with a shelter over her head instead of branches. Her clothes were dry and warm instead of wet and cold. She was clean instead of dirty. She wasn't being screamed at in the face by some beast-man with a horrid stench for breath.

Life was good at that moment.

Zero pushed the blanket off and swung her legs so that she was sitting normally on the couch. She mimicked Karl Heisenberg's stretch from last night to loosen up the muscles in her shoulders before she stood up. This was when she noticed something new about the large table in the room. It had been cleaned off of metal parts, and now held home to a pile of clothes, a metal plate of food, and a fresh glass of water. On top of the clothes was a piece of paper with messy handwriting.

These are for you. Be back soon.

Guessing this meant he wasn't around and that she should wait for him to get back, she sat down and ate her food. It was just another sandwich with some sort of meat and cheese, but it filled her up nicely. After washing up the dishes, and making herself another glass of water, Zero went to the bathroom with her new bounty.

Heisenberg must have taken a shower before he left because the mirror was still slightly foggy from steam. Zero could only see the bottom half of her face clearly, the corners of her mouth turned down ever so slightly. She thought she was smiling before. Her hand rose and she wiped away the condensation revealing the rest of her reflection.

Her features had not changed since yesterday. Her eyes were still that pale pink that looked so unnatural. Otherworldly, as Heisenberg put it. She didn't know what she expected when she had wiped the mirror. She had only hoped they would have looked different.

Heaving a sigh, Zero turned the knobs at the sink. Splashing some cold water on her face made her senses jolt like they were rewiring themselves. This made her feel more awake than she could ever remember, though that wasn't saying much.

Once she was done freshening up, Zero made her way back to the main room and cleaned up the sofa she had slept on. Folding up the blankets neatly and placing the pillows on top of them, she saw it made the thing look slightly more inviting.

When she took a seat she realized that she didn't really want to just sit and wait while doing nothing. There was a part of her that told her she should. That she should just sit there and wait for some sort of order. A command. She didn't want to do that, though. She wanted to do something. Occupy her time. Maybe she could make herself useful.

Her fingers twitted on her thighs until she stood up and observed the room. The place didn't look like a disaster, but everything had a light layer of dust like it hadn't been wiped down in a very long time. Deciding that she was going to fix this, she set forth towards the kitchen to search for cleaning supplies.

Heisenberg didn't have to let her in his factory. He could have left her to her own devices somewhere else, and quite frankly, Zero was glad she was given to him. There was no telling what the other lords would have done with her, and she was too repulsed by them to want to know. Well, perhaps Lady Dimitrescu wasn't repulsing, but she was definitely scary and demanding.

Cleaning was the least she could do to make up for Heisenberg letting her stay here. She did not know if she would ever be able to speak, so this would suffice for now.

She wasn't able to find any official cleaning supplies, finally having to resort to using a large metal bowl with water, a bar of soap, and a washrag. She started with the kitchen, beginning with wiping down the counters, stove, and table. There wasn't much food in the fridge so she just scrubbed around it. Cleaned out the microwave. The chairs. Picked up some trash. There was no broom that she could find so she couldn't sweep.

She was making freshwater to use in the main room when the kitchen door swung open and Karl Heisenberg stepped through. He looked like he was already beginning to say something before he froze, taking the kitchen in. His eyes narrowed as they darted around the room.

"What are you doing?" he questioned.

Zero sighed in a light exasperated wisp, and her brow furrowed in frustration. That wasn't a yes or no question. It wasn't easy for her to answer. So instead of trying to speak, she took the rag and moved it in circular motions on the already clean counter. She used her other hand to point, trying to communicate that this was what she was doing.

Heisenberg's expression turned to one of befuddlement. "Uh, why?"

Another question that couldn't be answered by a simple yes or no, and this one was even harder to answer than the last. How was she supposed to show him that she was doing this for him?

Not being able to think of a way to give him this information, she stared at him with the rag now in both of her hands.

Heisenberg blew some air from his nose. "Nevermind. We got stuff to do anyway," he coached.

They were halfway through the factory- heading towards the exit- when Heisenberg finally spoke again.

"Miranda sent a message earlier. A message for you, actually," he pulled out a partially smoked cigar. "She wants you to get adjusted to… being alive, guess," he looked to his right side where Zero was actually keeping up with him. "You'll be meeting with her in a week."

Zero nodded thoughtfully.

"She also suggested I try and help you speak," he huffed. "As if I didn't already fucking think of that," he rolled his eyes, then shrugged. "I wanna see what else you can do, too. See if you got any special abilities."

Special abilities? Like the way he could control metal? Like Donna could possess dolls and induce hallucinations? What would Zero be able to do that would top that?

Heisenberg must have picked up on her apprehension. "We'll start slow today, but I don't want to waste this week I have with you," his eyes looked pointedly ahead. "No idea what she's gonna do when she gets her damn hands on you."

Zero had tried to avoid the icy feeling Mother Miranda made her feel until spoke those words. The chilled experience she had when Mother Miranda touched her at the meeting made her want to run. Run far away. Well, that was what she wanted to do. It just felt like she wasn't allowed to.

She needed to think of a new name.

Zero looked up at Heisenberg as they walked through the exit doors, which had been opened with his abilities. He looked at her as if he pitied her, but he suddenly smiled at her widely.

"Hey, sweetheart, lighten up. We could find out you're stronger than Miranda. That would really be something."

Stronger than Miranda? Zero? No. No, she would never be stronger than Mother Miranda; there would be no way.

The two of them came up to a part of the field with targets. There was a metal table with various weapons on it. Knives, axes, bows, arrows, swords, and many more. She assumed this had something to do with seeing what she could do. Did they think she was some sort of weapon, herself? That she would be able to do something great? Powerful?

She didn't feel powerful. No, at the moment she felt fairly vulnerable and useless. If only she were able to just remember what she could do in the first place she wouldn't have to figure it out.

Heisenberg pulled two chairs from the table and sat them a couple of feet apart, facing each other. He took a seat, gesturing towards the other chair. "Sit."

Zero obeyed immediately.

"Let's try this talking thing now," he puffed on his cigar as he eyed her over his glasses, a slight smile on his face. "Can you try to say my name for me?"

Zero stared at him with her mouth slightly open.

"Alright, alright, maybe that's a bit too complicated for you to start out with. Let's try something more simple," he looked up in the air as if he were trying to find something there. "How about-" his free hand rose up to stroke his chin- "...bitch."

She couldn't help but smile a bit at the idea of this being her first word. Letting an amused, noiseless breath expel from her mouth, she nodded.

"Good. We have a goal now."

However, that goal didn't work out too well. There wasn't so much of a problem of her not knowing how to speak the words themselves. It was a problem of not knowing how to use her vocal cords at all. Anytime she tried, the air from her lungs would just move past them. After many failed attempts, Heisenberg switched to trying to get her to just make random sounds instead of full words.

"How about an: ahhhhhh," he coaxed, his tone beginning to sound impatient. "I mean, come on, even babies know how to make random-ass noises before they even know what language is!"

This made Zero frown and she narrowed her eyes at him. It wasn't like she was doing this on purpose. She tried anyhow, but only a breath could be heard.

Heisenberg huffed loudly. "Again."

She pushed the bottom of her fists on her thighs in frustration.

"With your chest this time, please; we don't have all week!"

Zero scrunched up her face, trying to use all of the muscles in her throat this time. Some of it felt new. Maybe she would be able to do it this time. Once the build-up was too much to handle she suddenly let out a loud, "AH-" which caused her to stop just as abruptly as she started to open her eyes wide; a grin breaking out across her features.

Heisenberg jumped up in quick excitement. "Ah!"

"Ahhhhhhhh!" the sound she slowly formed into a giggle she couldn't remember having. "Ah! Ah!"

"Good, this is good! You're doing so good! Just keep going!" he was now waving his arms encouragingly.

Incredulous, Zero thought. He was just belittling her before he flipped a switch. She narrowed her eyes at him, now trying something different. "Yuh-" she tested the syllable in her throat. "Yuh."

"Go on, say what you gotta say!"

"You're…"

"Yes, yes! First word!"

"You're a…"

"I'm a what? Come on-"

"You're a bitch."

Heisenberg's mouth fell open in bemused shock; only staring at her for a second before he cocked his head back to let out a boisterous laugh. "I'm a bitch? Not many people would be brave enough to say that to my face," he walked closer to Zero now. "And usually," he was even closer, putting one of his hands on the back of her chair. "I kill anyone who disrespects me," he was towering over her, leaning in.

Zero's heart was steadily increasing during all of this. Her breath was catching in her throat. She almost forgot how to breathe. She had also almost forgotten that the man standing in front of her was extremely dangerous and that he might not like her using such language directed at him; no matter how much she was joking with it.

Heisenberg gave her a toothy smile, seemingly pleased by her reaction. He smelled like the musky soap in the bathroom, smoke, and old leather. There was something metallic about it all. "Are you afraid," he challenged, lifting his free hand to take hold of the bottom of her chin.

Zero nodded to the best of her abilities.

He let out a low chuckle, leaning in even further. His mouth was at her ear now. "Really, sweetheart?" he growled, oh so softly.

An involuntary shiver coursed through her body. "Yes," she whispered.

Heisenberg let out a laugh as he moved away from her, but not before the breath of it brushed across Zero's ear; causing her to shiver for a second time. His fingers were still under her chin. "Lucky for you to be an exception, then," he murmured and sauntered away backward.

But not before he had grabbed her hand to pull her up and nearly right in his chest.

Zero's face heated furiously. She blinked rapidly; her heart sputtering.

"Time for a break from speech therapy. Let's move on to something a little more… active."