Subject 009 had a good life, although most of it was within four clinically white walls. People wearing lab coats and smiles brought him food and games, and he got to play sometimes when he wasn't busy working.

His work was very important, they said. He was Subject 009, which meant that he was among the first to be doing this kind of work. He could be well on the way to changing the world for the better, that was what they said to him, that was what they filled his mind with. They told him that he was very special, and that he would save the world someday.

Subject 009 had never seen the world, but he loved the idea that he would be so important to it.

Sometimes he was taken out to the courtyard, where the other subjects played, each with their primary care manager. None of the subjects were allowed to interact with each other.

They were so little, but he remembered Subject 007 like it was yesterday. He was utterly entranced by her pink hair, and he thought that she looked like a sunset. He longed to stroke her pink hair, to feel its softness running through his fingers. Subject 009 had touched his own hair, and it felt brittle and straw-like.

Sometimes, they got to play games with their primary care manager, but a lot of the time they had to work.

Subject 009 didn't like working. Often it was extremely painful, and often he threw up afterwards. They put sticks in his skin filled with fluid, they put stickers on his head that zapped, they put him in pods of darkness and water and looked at pictures of his brain on a colourful screen.

Subject 009 didn't know what any of it meant of course, he was just doing what he was told. It was the only life he had ever known.

He still remembered the day that Subject 007 went missing. The white walls turned red, and the alarms blared for days and days. He didn't get any sleep.

But he was still only a few years old, so he adapted, and he tried not to think about that day when nothing was the same, not even the routine that they had been stuck in since birth. Subject 008 sometimes wondered if the girl with pink hair would ever come back. He wondered what happened to her. He thought about it for years until he had the courage to ask his current primary care manager.

"Mama," he called her, as he was instructed to do. "What happened to the girl with pink hair?"

They told him that he wasn't allowed to remember her, and that he should never ask about her again.

So he didn't.

But it wasn't until many years later, when he started to notice changes in his body, and changes in the bodies of the other older Subjects, that they were taken into another white room with more people in white lab coats. And they were told the truth.

"Many of you will remember Subject 007," they said, and they showed a picture of her. Some of the children in the room nodded.

The Director of Project Apple stepped forward, and the children shrank back.

"You are all finally old enough to know the truth. She was kidnapped and taken by some evil people, and right now she is out there somewhere in the world, but she needs your help. We will send you to go and find her so that you can bring her back, where she can be safe and sound and we can protect her from the outside world."

Subject 009 and the other children sat straighter in their seats and clasped their hands together, demonstrating their attention. They all wanted a chance to help their fellow Subject!

The Director smiled when they saw the children respond with such obvious enthusiasm.

"Here's what you all will do…"

And they were given the plan in excruciating detail.

All the children would be stationed at schools across the country, and they would be told to look out for a girl that matched the description of Subject 007.

Subject 009 was given the alias "Adrian Kuning ''.

When Adrian received his name, he couldn't stop saying it out loud to himself. "Adrian, Adrian, Adrian, Adrian Kuning. That's me!" He was so excited to tell his primary care manager. "I'm Adrian Kuning! That's my name!"

"Yes, Adrian," crooned his primary care manager. "Now, let's get you to the Everyday Skills class. I'm sure you're going to find it very useful."

Adrian and the other children gathered in the specially designed classroom and shared their aliases with each other in collective excitement.

"I'm Adrian Kuning!"

"My name is Cindy Lewesburger!"

"Oh me too! I have a name! I'm Matthew Sianburg!"

And once they shared their names, they sat down for their first ever class of Everyday Skills. They wondered at first what it would mean. Would they go through more pain endurance classes? What kind of work would they be given to do this time?

None of the children were prepared for what they would learn.

They were shown videos of the outside world, of cars and public transport and animals and farms, and news reports, and debates of politicians, and even some popular films at the time, which was the talk of the lab for at least a month.

They learned about cutlery and serviettes, and dancing, and what a government was, and why they had to abide by the rules of the government. They learned about their primary care managers, and were instructed now to call their managers either "mama" or "papa" according to their gender. They learned what gender was, and why society rewarded people when they acted in accordance with their assigned gender at birth.

They learned about the tradition of gift giving, and handshakes, and social signals like eye contact, and sarcasm, and boasting (and to stay away from this). They learned about phones, and television, and trams, and trains, and pets.

Subject 009 - sorry, Adrian - enjoyed his lessons of Everyday Skills, but he did wonder why they all had to learn about this now and why they couldn't learn about it earlier. He also questioned the things he saw on the screen and the blackboard in front of him, and after a long time of thinking over the questions privately in his head, he brought it to class to ask the Director.

"The outside world doesn't sound so dangerous", he said when he had his hand up. "Why don't we learn about these things in person?"

It was the wrong thing to say.

The children all sucked in a breath at once, and they turned as one back to the Director, thirsty for answers.

The Director's face screwed up in a ball, and they spat at Adrian: "The outside world wants war. If any of you run away from this home without permission, you will be trapped by the war, and you will be killed. Do you want to be killed?"

Adrian shook his head. "No, Director."

He didn't question them again.

The war was a prominent topic for the next year in Everyday Skills. They learned about reconnaissance, and what intel was, and what codes people used to send and decode information. They learned about weapons, their different designs, how to use them, and how to conceal them.

Then, one day, Adrian turned up to a classroom where it was only him and the Director.

"Because you are going to infiltrate the upper class schools," they started, "I will be giving you additional lessons about what to expect from them, and how to blend in."

Adrian didn't question it as they gave him extra lessons about social etiquette, what fork to use, how to fold your napkin on your lap, how to give a firm handshake, and most importantly how to talk on the same level as many of the students and teachers at the school.

"You will be expected to have read the Classics at an early age," they instructed, and to help familiarise him, they brought the tallest stack of books that he had ever seen in his life. Homer, the Odyssey, Hercules - that was just the start. Then there was Shakespeare, Hardy, and Bronte. Dozens more that he was forced to name and learn off the top of his head.

Adrian enjoyed it mostly, even though it was "work", because it was work that wasn't painful. There weren't any electric currents, or forced suffocation, or injections, or incisions, or sensory deprivation, or isolation, or cauterizations, or surgeries, or anything else that involved something sharp and painful - usually in contact with his own skin.

The new "work" days were pleasant, and Adrian loved the stories that he was given to read. He loved the problems that he was asked to do, and he loved writing essays and learning languages. Ostanian was his favourite subject, as was Etalian, and Vrench.

And after a few years, the children were told that they were ready.

Several men in dark suits and sunglasses accompanied Adrian on his first ride in a car, which was to his first accommodation. The same men accompanied him each time that he had to change schools.

It was hard. Adrian mostly ate alone in the boarding school refectories, and he struggled to understand the other children around him. He learned that in the 'upper class schools' rank was of the utmost importance, and that there was an invisible divide between the 'aristocratic' wealth, and people who came from 'new money'.

And an even worse class than both of those: 'commoners'.

Nobody cared about commoners. In many cases, they were hated, and despised, and Adrian learned very early on not to associate with any of them.

But he kept up his guard, kept up his mission, and kept dutifully reporting to the Director every month. After two years of turning up empty-handed, the Director moved him to his last assignment: Eden College.

"And if you don't find Subject 007 by then," he was told, "you won't be given another assignment."

They gave him the key, and a bank card. And then they left.

And Adrian was on his own.

The first few weeks were freeing.

And terrifying.

He used everything he could remember in Everyday Skills. He practised for months with feeling comfortable on a bus, and looked at how to use the bus timetables. He went to the bank a few times to ask questions about how to use money, and they showed him something called a "savings account", and signed him up for a budgeting class.

In the class, they told people how to shop cheaply at supermarkets, and how to make meals without spending too much money. Adrian tried cooking at home a few times, but it wasn't as good as the food he had in the lab.

Going to Eden was a godsend. By the time he figured out what to do and how to enrol in the school and what textbooks he needed, he was already a couple of months into the new school year, but he was so thankful for the food in the cafeteria. It beat anything that he had ever tried to make, and it beat the food from the lab by miles and miles and miles.

He walked around the school a few times, enamoured by its beautiful architecture and vast campus, until he was told off a few times for not being in class.

He didn't expect to find Subject 007 so quickly.

On the first day that Adrian figured out what his class timetable was supposed to be, she had come to him. He recognised her straight away - how could he not? Her beautiful, signature pink hair stood out, and Adrian nearly laughed when he realised that she still wore those ridiculous cones on her head.

And then she had the gall to not even remember him.

Even worse, she didn't look like she needed his help at all. She smiled freely and often, which Adrian remembered from his social cues classes that meant a person was genuinely happy.

Adrian didn't know what to do. Did Subject 007 still need saving?

He resolved that she must have been brainwashed by her captors, and they probably hypnotised her into being happy, when actually it was all fake. She wouldn't be happy until she came back home - with him, and not that damn Damian Desmond.

So he made the call - to contact the Director, and let them know what he had found.

"Thank you, Subject 009. You have saved a life today - you know that, right?"

Adrian opened his mouth, about to correct the Director that his name was Adrian, but something held him back. He couldnt put a finger on it at that moment in time.

"Yes," was all he was able to say.

For the next week, they sent messages back and forth, trying to plan out how to best retrieve Subject 007.

Adrian's first suggestion was actually to ask her directly. "Maybe something like: I'm from your old home! Please come back, we'll keep you safe."

The Director laughed at his suggestion.

"Subject 007 will have forgotten all about us. We need to make her remember, so that we can bring her home."

Adrian wasn't sure what to make of that. If Anya had forgotten all about the lab, then why would she want to come back? Of course he wanted her back, but it was no longer because he believed that she was in danger from the outside world.

It was because she awakened something in him that he never knew existed, and he wanted to find out more.

Why was it that when she walked into a room, the world seemed like a brighter place?

Why did his body react to her being near him? He felt hot and cold all at once, dizzy and sane, sweating and chilled. She did things to him that he didn't know he was able to deal with.

How could he let her go, after finding her all these years later?

It wasn't going to happen.

Adrian thought that it was all going to plan, until the day actually came.

When he saw the look in her eyes - the look that said why? - he felt a pull in his chest that made it hurt to breathe. It knocked the air out of his lungs.

If Anya was coming home, shouldn't she be happy?

If she was coming back to safety, why did she look so hurt?

He thought it would be easy - or at least easier than this, but suddenly Adrian was wracked with a feeling that he didn't know how to describe.

Yor had been silent this whole time, but she took a moment to gently interrupt at this point. "That's what we call guilt," she said.

Adrian looked down at the floor and clutched his chest. "Guilt," he said, playing with the word on his tongue. "I don't like it. It feels painful."

Yor sighed. "It's the feeling we get that tells us we have done something bad, and that we need to fix it."

Adrian's head snapped up. "But I didn't do anything wrong! I was only doing what I was told! I was given orders!"

"I know, and I understand," said Yor. "I've been asked to do some horrible things too, but it doesn't make my actions any less unforgivable."

"So why do you do it?" Adrian burst out. "Why do you kill?"

Yor glanced towards the door, where she was sure Damian still stood against the wall. He might have been listening to the whole conversation.

He cannot know what my real job is, said Yor in her mind while she held eye contact with Adrian. Just so you know, my employers have given me orders to kill anyone who finds out.

Adrian's face went ashen.

Yor continued: But I know you can't help knowing. You must know so many things about people. I imagine it's hard to carry that all by yourself.

He stared at his shoes as the pit in his stomach deepened.

Aloud, she said: "Humans kill for a lot of horrible reasons, but humans will do anything if their reason is motivating enough. I am Anya's mother, and I will find her. I don't care what I have to do to get to her."

Yor watched Adrian carefully as he took in her words, and he seemed to come to a conclusion.

"Then I will help."

Damian stared at his trembling hands while he waited outside the door. His legs ached to run, and he wanted to get as far away from that loathsome slug as he could possibly get. Everything about Adrian set him off. Every alarm bell in his body rang when he was close, and now that he knew that Adrian was actually involved with abducting Anya, Damian didn't know what to do with himself.

His suspicion was confirmed, but it didn't bring him any joy to know that he was right. It left him with a sour taste in his mouth. When Adrian mentioned Anya's true past, it was beyond his limits.

Damian's head spun as he tried to process what Adrian had just revealed. Anya was a… telepath? From being in a lab for human experimentation?

It turned his stomach all over again, and Damian held a hand to his mouth to keep from being sick.

What the fuck was he supposed to do with that?

If Anya was really a telepath... If she could really read people's minds… Then she must already know everything about him. His worst secrets. His deepest desires.

He couldn't cope with the idea that she might know everything.

But… he couldn't cope with the thought that she could be lost forever, because some evil organisation decided to take her back by force. Damian clenched his fists in the effort not to punch something.

Anya was the main priority right now. Afterwards they would talk, and they would talk about the truth, he was sure of it, but to be able to do that, he had to find her first.

With renewed resolve, Damian marched into the living room, where Adrian had finished telling his story, and he and Yor seemed to be having some kind of silent conversation.

He didn't care if he was interrupting. "So how do we get her back?" Damian started.

"It's simple," said Yor, rising to her feet. "Brute force!" She slammed her fist into the palm of her hand. "We'll break down the front door and kill them all!"

Damian pinched his lips in an effort to hold himself back. Eventually, after his internal battle showed visibly on his face, he said: "That won't work." Then, he faced Adrian, surprising even himself. "What do you suggest?"

Yor deflated, as Adrian sat up with a quizzical look in his eyes. "I thought you hated me."

Damian knew he wouldn't be able to hide it. He shoved his hands in his pockets and avoided eye contact with them both. "Yes. But I love Anya more."

Both Yor and Adrian held their breath.

"Damian!" breathed Yor. "Why didn't you say so sooner? I'm sure Anya would-"

"Don't," he cut in. He already wanted to disappear into the ground. "Don't tell her, please. I'll tell her in my own time - but we have to find her first."

Yor nodded in understanding. "Of course."

When there was another lull in the room, Adrian cut in once again. "I think your best bet is to take them by surprise, but it's hard to tell if you would be able to pull it off. It's only been a few days so their security is probably on high alert. I can give you as much information as I can, but I don't know if it will be enough."

Damian raised his gaze towards Adrian. "We'll take anything you have to offer."

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I do feel sorry for Adrian, he's a confused boy

Thank you everyone for reading and supporting my story so far, it really means so much! I love Damianya so much and I really wanted to explore their relationship in the Spy x Family style of action and fun, so more than anything I want to thank you all for your incredible patience! This series is not easy to write but I'm happy I get to geek out with you all :D