Firestarter
First question: When does a child become a weapon?Maybe it was when they were carried through the door of Hawkins National Laboratory. Brought through a psychological barrier that stripped them of their humanity. Or maybe it was before that. When drugs mutated them in the womb? When their mothers signed up for the program that would eventually give them their powers? Maybe it was even further back, beginning when the Indigo Program was only a spark in Doctor Martin Brenner's mind. Or maybe that was the wrong way to go about it: maybe there was a process. The door began it. The tattoos, the shaved heads, the powers - they all continue it. They, as alchemy turned lead to gold, transformed child to weapon. Second question: When does a weapon become a child? Ten was only twelve. Twelve long years of testing and dehumanization. Papa always seemed to like her the least. She was a replacement. A well timed copy of test subject number Nine, who had been broken years before Ten was even born. But what good is a replacement that is weaker than the original? So they pushed her harder, punished her worse, did everything to show her what she was worth: nothing. Nothing except the ways they could use her powers (One day she would be replaceable. One day there would be another.) ---- Stranger Things season 1 - 3…
