A/N: I'm taking a week off on writing this fanfic, but I'll have another chapter posted by the 16th of October.

---BCIY---

Sephira pulled up a chair to my bed. I was still too woozy to move much. She laid a hand next to mine on the bed, but didn't touch me. I wasn't sure what to think of her. She had a stoic expression, but it didn't seem as hostile as some of the other numbers were.

She waited for me to start my story.

Well, the best way to place was at the beginning.

"I had come to think of the Chronos Headquarters as a home by the time I was branded."

…

It had already been two years since mommy and daddy sent me to live with papa Wilgar. At first I had been scared, but papa Wilgar was really nice. He gave me my own room and paid a lot of attention to me.

I got kind of mad at mommy and daddy because they never paid attention to me. And then they sent me away.

"When is mommy and daddy gonna visit me, Wilgar?" I asked. He had told me to start calling him daddy, but it didn't really sound right when I said it. I would think it in my head, but it was weird.

"Call me "father" from now on, Kagome." He patted my head with his big heavy hand and smiled sadly.

"What's wrong, Wilgar?" I asked, forgetting again. He made a sad face and pulled me into a hug.

"You won't ever see your other parents again. I know it's hard, but you might as well forget them." It was already a rule not to cry ever, so I had to be happy instead. I pulled up my cheeks and showed my teeth.

"…Yes, father."

---BCIY---

I had to learn all sorts of things. Some things were kind of fun, like playing and exercising.

Some things were not so fun.

Some things I had to practice til my hands hurt bad and bled.

"Try again! You have to get it right!" I had a cold weapon in my hands. Uncle said that it had to be an extension of my arm. Uncle always taught me the things that weren't fun. He never was nice and he never hugged me like papa Wilgar did.

When I pulled the trigger, the gun went BANG! And I got scared and dropped it. I missed the target.

"AGAIN!" And then Uncle would hit me. He didn't prune his punches.

Eventually I was more scared of getting hit then I was of the loud noise.

I hit the center every time now. Papa Wilgar was really happy with my progress. He said that I was getting really good and soon I would get a promotion.

I didn't know what that meant, but it made me happy. I practiced and practiced until I could hit the center without looking.

---BCIY---

Then Uncle brought in a man.

The man looked scared.

When the man looked at me, he started to cry. His eyes were big and round, and he wet his pants. He looked so frightened. Uncle laughed, and told me that crying was weak and to say so to the man.

"Crying is weak." I repeated, my usual blank face staring at the man. I was curious as to why the man was so scared. Uncle looked happy though. I looked up at him and he grinned.

"Men who cry deserve their fate." Uncle gave me a look that said to do what he wanted. "Isn't that right Kagome? Ask the man if he knows what his fate is." I nodded slowly and then turned back to the man.

"Do you know what your fate is?" The man started begging and he fell on his knees. I frowned at him. He seemed like a big baby. Uncle laughed.

"Hit the target, Kagome."

So I laughed too. And then, I hit the center, just like Uncle taught me.

The man kept crying, but his tears were red this time.

---BCIY---

The smell of blood. The feel of it running down my leg.

Pain. Not someone else's; mine.

All of this passed over my head.

All I could think about was Wilgar's smiling face while XIV was be sliced into my thigh. I couldn't cry, and even thinking about screaming made my stomach sick.

I learned to have a blank face and not show my real feelings.

"You're Number Fourteen now." Wilgar was so excited. He picked me up from my chair, even before my brand had been bandaged, and crushed me in a smelly hug. I didn't like it. This wasn't fun. But…I sort of felt like I belonged now, like I had been nameless before and now I had an identity in Chronos.

I felt grown up.

Now I had to act like it.

…

"For a little while, Wilgar sent me on missions. They were easy enough, but I made mistakes. I was punished for the mistakes, but those punishments were nothing to what reward I got for the successes." I didn't see pity anywhere in Sephira's gaze, and I didn't want it. I was uncomfortable enough talking to her while I was so vulnerable, but I didn't show it. I just treated the situation as a debriefing.

…

After an assassination that I had succeeded in completing, Wilgar brought me to his office. I sat obediently in his lap while he stroked my hair and cooed in my ear.

"Kagome, you are almost the perfect weapon…" He purred, his fat fingers tangling in my hair. "But almost isn't enough." I couldn't understand what I had done wrong. I had always done what he told me. I succeeded in my missions. I kept my identity a secret."It's not your fault," He elaborated, sensing my change in mood. I sat still and kept a straight face. "No human is good enough to be a perfect weapon." I slid off of his lap and turned towards him.

"Then I don't want to be human." I replied with determination. His smile was almost predatory.

"I was hoping you would say that."

---BCIY---

Later that day I went with Wilgar to the west side of the headquarters, where I hadn't been allowed to go before. I was blindfolded and Wilgar held my hand and led me along. We stopped for a second in front of a door and he grabbed his keycard and swiped it. There was a double beep and he led me in.

"Kagome, this is the Chronos doctor." Wilgar introduced, untying my blindfold. I looked around the room. It was a bland office. I glanced at the old man in a lab coat skeptically. He was bald and his nose was too big for his face. Also he was staring at me weird, like I was a fun new toy that he was gonna play with. I bowed my head respectively and the doctor only continued to stare.

"Hello Doctor." I greeted, standing with my feet shoulder-width apart and my hands behind my back.

"She's a good looking specimen, Wilgar." The doctors voice was whispery, and it bothered my ears. I didn't like his tone either; it was like he was talking about an animal. "She'll do very well for this experiment." I narrowed my eyes slightly. Wilgar looked back at my excitedly and smiled.

"Very good. You'll be using nanomachines, correct?" The scientist-doctor hesitated.

"Well, you see Wilgar…" My father didn't look happy.

"What is it?" He growled. "You better not have lied to me." He looked back at me and I put my hand on my holster. The scientist-doctor gulped.

"N-no, that's not it Wilgar. It's just, instead of just nanomachines, the experiment will be mixing her DNA with the DNA of a wolf-pup. It has very exciting results from what previous tests I have done." His eyes gleamed in the dim light of the office. "She will be faster, stronger, better. Her senses will increase their effectiveness tenfold, especially with the mix of wolf DNA and nanomachines. The nanomachines will make sure her body doesn't reject the foreign materials." I perked up at the sound of that.

"I'll be perfect?" I asked tentatively, watching Wilgar for a signal to be quiet. The scientist-doctor's hungry eyes gleaned into me again.

"Well, there is a slight side effect of increased aggression. But that can be remedied." I stepped forward and the scientist-doctor seemed startled.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" I shoved up my sleeve and showed him my forearm. "Let's do it now!" Wilgar seemed to smother a laugh.

"It won't do for you to seem impatient." He scolded, the sides of his mouth twitching with laughter. I felt a little silly and lowered my arm. The scientist-doctor clucked his tongue against his teeth.

"We have lots of preliminary tests to run before the experiment even begins, Wilgar. I suggest we begin." Father's face turned serious and he pushed me gently towards the doctor.

"Right."

…

I looked at Sephira. She was looking at me with a constant intensity. I stared right back at her with defiance, and she smiled. I wrinkled my nose.

"I was five, so I got really bored with the physical, psychological, and sociological tests that Tennor – the doctor," I added, although she seemed to know who I was talking about. "The tests that Tennor ran. I was impatient to get the experiment started." I looked at the end of my bed where Shade lay asleep.

…

I stared into the golden eyes of the wolf-pup in the cage and he stared back. We were both hooked up to machinery and our heart rates were being monitored and there was a lot of annoying background noises that I had to ignore. His black fur was smooth and soft-looking.

"You'll be asleep for most of the process," Tennor explained in what he probably hoped was a soothing voice but ended up being one that just was creepy. The thought of him messing about with my essence while I laid helpless was unnerving, but I dealt with it. I looked at the pup again.

"What's his name?" I asked, getting my mind off of the subject. The scientist-doctor looked surprised.

"Name?" He repeated. "Well, this pup has been designated DR-702. It doesn't really have a name." I frowned. For some reason that made me really irritated. I might have accidently glared at Tennor because he looked at me with a little bit of fear in his eyes. "You can give it a name if you like."

I stared at the pup again. It seemed like more of a big deal than what was logical. Naming anything was a big deal though. The pup blinked slowly and yawned at me.

"Shade…" I murmured, and the pup's ears twitched forward. Tennor came towards me and I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye.

"Just breathe regularly." He explained, putting a plastic looking mouth piece over my mouth. "Count backwards from ten." I looked at him skeptically but obeyed.

"Ten. Nine. Ayyyy…" Suddenly everything got blurry and then it went black.

…

"And then I'm not really sure what happened." I looked towards the wall again. "It was all a bit obscure. I woke up a few days later and felt like shit." I furrowed my brow as I heard another set of footsteps coming towards this unfamiliar room. Sephira must have been aware of them as well, because she turned toward the door and we both waited for whoever it was to arrive.

There was a knock on the door.

"Kagome-." Wilgar entered the room and stopped suddenly when he saw Sephira was there. I smirked at his expression. "Sephira. I'd like to talk to Kagome alone, please." She glanced at me and I realized she was asking me if that was what I wanted. I dismissed her with a turn of my head.

She brushed past Wilgar with a slight glare and walked out.

"Kagome," Wilgar repeated, leaning against the wall. "I have discussed things with the numbers." I sat up excitedly. This was it! He was going to tell me that I was now an official number!

But he wasn't looking at me.

"They have all agreed it would be best if your existence is kept as a secret. They will all act as if they haven't met you."

---BCIY---

A/N: A little bit of Kagome's past revealed, though not in detail. Next chapter: VII: Defection