Eight hissed in frustration at the old board on the wall, wishing that it would just disappear. It had been two whole days since she'd been placed in Quarter A - which was definitely not the place she was supposed to be in - and Miss Heathershine was practically missing in action. One boy gave her a side look, and she quickly caught herself, shooting him an apologetic look.

My problems shouldn't be other people's problems, she mentally chided herself. Besides, it was her fault that no one in Quarter A was her friend or even knew that she existed. Back in Quarter D, she never found it necessary to talk to anyone except the children she deemed were going to end up in Quarter B too. She thought that, if they were all going to end in the same Quarter anyway, it would only make sense to befriend them. So naïve, she berated herself again. If she could go back in time, she'd slap her past self straight across the face.

The only other person Eight has managed to make friend's with outside of the Quarter B kids, was Zero-twelve, a fast boy with wild red hair. Even then, that was only because One was fond of him.

And, as her personal mantra went, "Anyone good enough for One is good enough for me."

"Sorry? Double zero-eight?"

She flinched as if she were caught doing something wrong. Wait, did she say that out loud?

"Did you say something?"

She turned to the voice, noticing that it was the same boy that shot her that side look earlier. Sheepishly, she shrugged her shoulders, mumbling below her breath. Great, now he probably thought that she was an idiot.

"Come again?"

"Ah, nothing," she replied awkwardly. He had green eyes and dark hair, and she couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity. Did she know him? Before she could get the question out, he was squinting at her, like she was a specimen ready to be investigated. Eight gulped.

"You're Zero zero-one's friend, aren't you?"

It suddenly hit her. One had green eyes too. Was he-

"I'm her brother. Well, I'm pretty sure I am, anyway. Miss Heathershine told us that."

No wonder his eyes seemed so comforting, they reminded her of One. Wait a minute.

"Can you read my mind?"

"What?" he asked incredulously, a puzzled smile on his face, "I'm no mind reader."

"Then how did you know what I was thinking?"

"Lucky guess," he replied, "anyway, I'm sure One would want me to make sure that you're alright. Back in Quarter D, she said that you were quite the recluse."

Suddenly, she felt an overwhelming urge to hug One and her brother. They were both so kind, and much too good for this world, she was sure of it.

"Thank you," she replied gratefully. The second reason why she didn't make any more friends outside of the few she had was because she was terribly socially awkward; she guessed that anyone related to One had a cooling effect on her, and again was grateful for them existing.

He gave her a beaming smile, and a whole wave of nostalgia hit her. Why didn't One introduce her to him in the first place?

"Why don't we go around and get a better look of the place?" he suggested. "We've been standing by the notice board for twenty minutes. People are going to start to think that we're insane."

It was true. The people who have been in Quarter A longer than they have seemed to be passing them odd little glances, and she suddenly became very self-conscious. "Yeah," she said, "let's go."

He nodded resolutely, and began leading her away from the notice board and to some distant location she didn't know. She followed silently behind him, thoughtful. Again, she didn't bother exploring Quarter A much, and it was her fault that half of the place was a mystery to her. The whole sector of Quarter A was huge, but not as big as Quarter D was. She didn't want to walk around by herself; the times she did try only drew pitying glances from some of the older residents of Quarter A.

She didn't need people to pity her. The older kids were the people who got Quarter placed three or two years ago, when she was still much too young for a placement. They had a smug aura to them, which annoyed her to no end.

She suddenly felt soft grass beneath her shoes, and her eyes widened as she stared at a large, empty field, with only a few trees scattered here and there. A medium sized hill sat far away from her, and she wondered if they built it or if it was natural. It was surprisingly lovely. She felt the urge to roll around in the grass, no matter how silly it sounded.

The boy looked back at her, seeming to be amused by her reaction. "It's a nice place. I sometimes have lunch here," he commented.

"The server lets you leave the mess hall?" she questioned, shooting him an odd look. To her, the server was a big, scary bear. Surely no one could get on his good side.

"I just asked nicely."

Ah. Of course. He used the Zero zero-one family speciality - being kind.

Nice boy: one
Server: zero

She was about to reply, but his eyes suddenly seemed to be drawn to something, like he was in a trance.

"What's wrong?" Eight questioned.

Slowly lifting his finger up, he pointed to a tree with dark green leaves. It took her a while, but she finally seen what he was so enraptured by. An oddly large bird that seemed to blend into the tree itself sat on a branch, a trail of feathers arranged behind it like a gorgeous fan. Its colors reminded her of Miss Heathershine's dress, with a deep forest green running down its neck and slowly fanning out into gentle shades of blue and turquoise.

"It's Miss Heathershine's familiar! I heard that she was such a good Mask, a peacock descended from the sky and claimed her his master. Of course, that's just a rumor." he hummed thoughtfully, "I wonder where she really got him from. I've never seen him before today, which is quite strange."

She thought it was fitting that Miss Heathershine got a familiar as graceful and shining as herself. Jealousy ran through her again, and she hissed in frustration. The boy didn't seem to notice at all, however. He was too busy staring at the bird, and she couldn't blame him. It was a lovely creature.

He did a little motion with his hands, beckoning it to him. As soon as it noticed this, its eyes narrowed in such an odd way she couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. It launched itself off the tree with a mighty flap of its wings and a breeze wafted past her. Light reflected off of its body like a mirror exposed to sunlight, and then it was gone.

Why did it feel so wrong? She thought about asking the boy, but that would be rude; he obviously looked up to the creature. Maybe it was sickeningly perfect because Miss Heathershine herself was.

So, instead of voicing her concerns, she asked, "By the way, what's your name?"

He smiled in response.
"Zero-sixteen."