After two months of silence and being alone, Randall had sketched doodles of his former coworkers and family members, then would viciously tear them up before the good doctor would get his hands on them. A small pile of shredded paper grew. He didn't want to forget anyone. He didn't want to forget his home. He tried to draw the little girl he had terrorized from heart, but felt like he didn't capture her well enough. He ripped up the artwork immediately. He had no right to forget her. He would never allow himself to forget what he had done.

The cell door opened to Dr. Kovac and his armed guard calmly entering the cell.

Randall stood up, watching the good doctor. "Been awhile," he coldly greeted.

"How was your time alone? I hope it gave you some time to think."

"It was peaceful. Your voice gets annoying after awhile. I still won't tell you anything. Never! I don't care what you do to me! I don't care if you torture me, cut me open– I will never tell you anything!" He growled, baring his teeth like a predator on prey.

Dr. Kovac tilted his head. "Your will is…admirable, 314. I have had test subjects break far quicker than you and many have tried to kill me. You only attacked me once so far."

"I really, really want to kill you," he darkly promised.

"We both know that will only happen in your dreams."

Randall twistingly grinned. "And what good dreams they are."

His gaze drifted to the pile of shredded paper. "What is this?"

"Secrets that you will never know," he mocked, pretending to admire the scales on his hand.

The doctor looked back at him. "Remember that time I operated on you?"

'"You mean when you wanted to look at my innards? How could I forget?" He lowered his arms, revealing the pale scars on his front.

"I noticed you had one lung like a proper reptile."

He crossed his second set of arms and pressed his first pair of hands together. "Gee. I wonder why?"

"Your organs are similar to a reptile's, but there is something that did interest me. You're heart is in the center of your chest like a human."

"So?"

"A lizard's heart is located by their neck."

That's weird, he thought. "And?"

"You also have two hearts, but one is not beating."

That's not normal for reptiles in this world? Wait, they have their hearts by their necks? Now, thatdid not sound normal. "It's a secondary heart. It starts when something happens to the first. It's like a backup."

"Interesting. Did you just know that on top of your head?"

He was about to open his mouth and say, "That's normal for us," but quickly thought otherwise. Instead, he flatly asked: "You're going to do something to my hearts, aren't you?"

A tight smile formed upon the doctor's lips with a glint in the dark eyes. "I will remove your working heart to see how the second one works."

"Do it. Do it!" He screamed. "Take my heart out of my chest and see what happens! Oh! I know! Nothing! You will never make me talk! You will never know my life! You will never know a damn thing about me!" He cackled like a lunatic. "Bring it on, Doc, because I will never break!" He took a step forward. "You wanna know something about me? I'm a tough monster to break, but you? You are more of a monster than I could ever be! I've done bad things! Hell, I've tried to kill for less! You heard me! I tried to kill someone!"

"Who?" Dr. Kovac calmly asked.

"You will never know!" He laughed manically. "Ever! So, Doc," his voice dropped, "how does it feel with every feeble attempt you will never, ever get what you want?"

"Your two months in isolation didn't break you, it just–"

"Made me a lot angrier." His voice was dangerously low. "So go ahead, Doc. Rip my heart out. It won't do anything."

The doctor straightened up. "I have been doing this all wrong. Physical pain won't break you, so I must break your will. You know you will never see the light of day again, so I am going to break your mind. I think…several months in the Hole will break you."

He blinked. "What?"

"Sedate him."

The guard swiftly took aim and fired.

Randall properly came out of the deep sleep and foggy mind, he found himself surrounded in darkness. "Hello?"

There wasn't a reply.

"Where am I?" He murmured to himself.

His eyes adjusted to the dark, but it didn't help. He couldn't see his own hand in front of him. It was almost like he was blind. He could feel cold, metal floor, but that was it. He tried to take a step forward, but it felt like he was in a void. He didn't know how big the room was or where he was. His heart began to race and hyperventilate. "Relax," he told himself, sucking in breaths of air. "You're alone. Nothing is going to hurt you." How many months did the doctor say? Several? He knew he couldn't last that long in this void.

After countless of hours, Randall was not calm. He kept pacing, learning he was in a tight cell with no known camera. There was a food slot at the bottom of the door, but not big enough for him to crawl through when opened. "Just kill me!" He screamed to the void. "I'm better to you dead than alive! You will get nothing from me! NOTHING!"

"Hello?" A woman's voice called.

Randall's eyes snapped open and held his breath.

"Can you hear me?" The voice was echoing like it was coming from down a tunnel or a pipe. "I can hear you."

Realizing the voice was coming from the back wall, he scurried to it, finding a weird, small grate at the base of the metal wall. "Who are you?" He shook his head, curling his lip. "Never mind. You're just a trick to get me to let my guard dow–"

"No!"

Randall jumped at the inhuman screech.

"I am not part of them!" Her growl was guttural.

"Okay, okay," he soothed, settling down by the grate. "I believe you. Who are you?"

"Experiment Number–"

"I meant your name."

"…I don't have a name. Do you have a name?"

"Randall." It was strange to say his own name for the first time in over a year.

"Randall?"

It was stranger to hear someone else say it.

"Yeah."

"That's a nice name."

He smirked. "Thanks."

"When were you taken here?"

"Last year."

"Who is your doctor?" Her voice dropped to a strange croak.

"Kovac."

"Kind, merciful Kova-c! So, so kind."

He glared at the grate. "Are you serious? He's a monster!"

The woman– or creature– giggled, but it sounded distorted. "Dr. Hart is a monster," she sweetly replied.

"Dr. Hart?"

"Dr. Sara Hart. She's heartless." Her voice kept dropping, sounding distorted. It was unnerving to hear. "Why are you here, Randall?"

"I was captured."

"No. In the Hole!"

"Oh. I won't tell Kovac my life story."

"He's punishing you for information?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry. He's usually nice to me."

"Do you tell him what he wants?"

"Yes…. Where are you from, Randall?"

"Far away."

"Can't you tell me?"

"No. I don't know who's listening."

"They always listen."

"Yeah. Figured." He rested against the wall, smirking. "Well, you're the first one I've finally spoken to that's not a doctor."

"There are many of us. So many."

"Do you know how many?"

"Too many."

Randall's skin crawled. "Why?"

"We are science experiments."

"Yeah, but why?"

"We are not like them."

"You mean human?"

"Yes."

Randall inhaled. "Kovac wants to remove my heart. I have two."

"Oh?"

"Hey, uh, what do you look like?" He looked at the grate as it was his new friend. "I'm a purple reptile with eight legs."

She giggled. "Purple's pretty. I'm…." Her voice faded.

"Hey, I won't judge."

"…My eyes are red."

"Mine are green."

"I have claws."

"Most of the people I know have claws."

"Really?"

"Yeah." He chuckled, smiling at the memory of Fungus, Roz, Mike…. So many different monsters in his world. All the humans look the same to him. Well, when they're not in armor.

"I'm also white," she continued. "Very, very white. I look like a human, but I am not."

That's unsettling, he thought to himself.

"I read thoughts," she quietly added. "I can make doc-tors die if I want," she croaked. "I can make anyone die."

Randall swallowed, hoping she was unable to read his thought just now. "I can camouflage to the point of invisibility," he calmly said.

"…I wish I can turn invisible…."

Those words broke his heart. He lit up. "Hey, you should have a name."

"Why?"

"Everyone deserves a name."

She didn't respond.

Randall began to think. Her voice sounded soft and yet terrifying. She had red eyes, claws, and very white. "How about…Snow? For your name."

"…Snow?" She gleefully laughed. "I like it! Snow! I am Snow!"

Randall genuinely smiled at the sound of pure joy. It made him want to cry. In a room full of darkness, there was light.

Days passed. Randall and Snow talked about anything and everything. He vaguely talked about his world and she explained where she was from, but the more and more she talked about it, it gave him the sense that she wasn't from anywhere, but this facility. She kept saying she was from "the dark" and isolated. She couldn't remember where exactly, but it felt like she never was anywhere else but here. They also talked about their hobbies. They both shared a common interest in art and it made Randall's heart weightless by how easily he made Snow laugh. If he stayed in this cell for the rest of his days, he'd be okay with it. It didn't seem too bad with his new friend.

The food slot opened and a bowl slid through. It was the slop again. He went to pick it up, but then heard an unfamiliar voice call through the grate:

"5752. Come with me."

He heard movement through the grate, the a metal door close. Afterwards, silence.

Randall continued to eat his food, feeling like an animal.

After what felt like hours later, there was movement through the grate, followed by the sweetness of Snow's voice. "Hi."

He scurried to the grate. "Hey. Are you okay?"

"Just another test."

"How bad was it?"

"I had to fight another experiment."

He shuddered and eyes grew. "What?"

"It happens to the strong ones."

Randall swallowed. "A-are you okay?"

Snow giggled. "I'm a strong one."

"What, uh, what happened to the other one?"

"I crushed its skull in."

Randall felt nauseous by the gentleness of her tone saying such horrifying words.

"It's okay. They won't do it to you. You have to be strong."

"Reassuring," he murmured under his breath.

"Randall?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you have a happy place?"

The memory of curling up in his bed in his small apartment, reading a book before bed flashed before his eyes. "Yeah…yeah, I do."

"Does it help?"

"Sometimes," he lied. "Does yours?"

"Sometimes." She suddenly screamed, making him jump out of his skin. "No! Please! I was strong! I–"

Rapid gunfire exploded through the grate.

The reptile scrambled back, camouflaging in the darkness with his hands uselessly covering his ears.

Everything came deathly quiet, until he heard movement through the grate. After long, agonizing minutes, a metal door closed and it was deathly silent once more. He slowly sank down, forgetting to blink and to breathe. He choked back a sob as his body began to shake. "Snow?" He whispered through tears. He hesitantly crawled to the grate. "S-Snow?" He wailed with a shattered heart.