Chapter Text
Out of all his brothers and sisters, Seven was Papa's favourite.
It wasn't always that way. There was a time, a long time ago, where Seven was no better than his siblings. A time where he, too, misbehaved and failed his lessons. A time where he was met with the consequences of those actions. But unlike the others who cowered and offered Papa their fake apologies, Seven began to observe.
Seven learned early on that if he wanted to survive, if he wanted Papa to stop hurting him, then he would have to be not only the best at his abilities, but also the most obedient. That would mean getting his strength up to that of Two, but also be smart enough to avoid the one thing that Papa hates about him - selfishness.
Two being the oldest also meant that he was one of the strongest, and he takes pride in that, always attacking and making fun of his weaker siblings when no one paid attention. What he didn’t realize was that being so selfish is just as reprehensible as failing your lessons. Papa doesn’t like Two’s pride, no one does actually. Whenever he catches Two doing something shameful, Seven could see the distaste in his eyes; he doesn’t need Papa to look at him the same way.
With that knowledge in mind, Seven knew to perform well, always follow orders, but also to never boast about it. His strength and control improved significantly as he got older, causing Papa to turn his preference towards him rather than the disobedient Two.
As expected, Two didn’t take such retaliation so kindly. Although he knew Two was still slightly stronger than him, it didn't matter. Seeing someone become as good as him made him jealous and desperate. He picked on his siblings more and there had been a spike in his emotional outbursts, but all it led to was more visits to the Dark Room and Papa favouring Seven even more. Since then Two had looked at Seven with an icy, piercing glare but never dared to challenge him. Seven later learned that a good expression for that would be “all talk, no bite.”
He didn’t really form any close bonds with his other siblings. The hostile, cold air and intensive training didn’t exactly promote such an environment. During his time in the Rainbow Room, he liked to play with this block of colors that could be moved and he learned from Papa that he’s supposed to make each side the same color. Papa said that it was called a Rubik’s Cube. He also heard from some of the doctors that it was a display of intelligence.
All his siblings have telekinetic abilities - when they go for lessons they often compete against each other using them, Seven makes sure to always win. They also have their own special abilities that makes each of them unique, Papa said that Seven’s ability had been different, and that it made him extra special.
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There had been a time when Seven was younger where he was able to hear beyond the walls of the rooms. He could hear the doctors on the other side of the mirror talking about the results of his lessons. He could hear the other children playing in the Rainbow Room. He could hear them crying when they were sent to the Dark Room.
Seven remembers asking Papa what the doctors from the other side were talking about. He had just done his lessons and wanted to know how well he did, but the words the doctors used were confusing.
“What do you mean?” asked Papa.
“Their words are confusing.” Seven clarified. “I don’t understand them.”
Papa looked at him intrigued, “You could hear what they were saying?”
Seven nodded.
“What else can you hear?”
Seven never got to learn what the Doctors said. He wasn’t allowed to leave his room for a while after that. But Papa said he did nothing wrong and that he was good for telling him. As a reward he was allowed to keep his Rubik’s Cube with him while he stayed in the room.
When they finally let him join his siblings in the Rainbow Room, he learned that something had changed. He couldn’t hear anymore.
“Can you hear anything outside the room?”
Seven shaked his head, “Is something wrong?”
“No.” Papa assured. “Everything is exactly how it should be.”
Seven’s lessons also changed since that day. He began doing more than moving things or crushing cans, they began testing his hearing. They would play audios consisting of codes, conversations or music from a distance and ask Seven about them. Sometimes the orderlies would cover him with a blindfold before the lessons. Seven always found blindfolds to be funny, he always felt stronger when he had them on. He learned that his hearing gets better and he feels more aware in some way, like he could still somehow see even with his eyes covered.
“But it doesn’t feel like normal seeing…” Seven explained.
“Then what does it feel like?” Papa asked.
Seven paused as his lips trembled, he didn't want to disappoint Papa, “I-I don’t know…”
The lessons then began focusing more on his new vision. They taught him how to read and Seven was ecstatic; usually they had to wait until they were older to learn. Then during his lessons, they blindfolded him and attached the headpiece.
“I placed a book on the table in front of you, can you pick it up and tell me what the title is?” Papa asked.
Seven hesitantly held the book in his hands and he slightly gasped. It was like he could see each detail of the book through his senses. His fingertips traced the cover where he sees the title, “T-The Cat in the Hat…?”
“Very good.” Papa said with clear fascination in his tone. “Could you open it and read the pages for me?”
Seven smiled and he could feel the blood on his nose. He flipped to the first page and read its contents confidently, “‘The sun did not s-shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the h-house all that cold… cold, wet day.’”
Seven finished the rest of the book with ease and was rewarded extra time in the Rainbow Room. He immediately went to the small bookshelf in the corner, excited to try his newfound ability, and began reading it the same way he did in the lesson. Seven learned that other than his Rubik’s Cube, books are also lots of fun.
As Seven grew older, not only did his telekinesis improve, but his other favourite lesson consisted of him reading more complex books, often paired with Papa asking him questions or demanding a detailed summary to which he obliged.
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One day, Papa introduced a new sibling, Eight. He explained that Eight is having trouble adjusting to her new home and that they should help her feel welcomed. Seven looked at the girl next to him who had a puffy face and bloodshot eyes, he could see scars on her neck that meant Papa recently used the collar.
At first Seven thought Eight was weird. When Papa said she had trouble adjusting, he meant that she would always yell at the guards or any one of the staff to get out or insisting that her name was “Kali”. He didn’t really understand what she meant by any of that, but he also witnessed her try to run away a few times which led him to believe that she was one of the more misbehaving siblings, a bit like Two but also not like Two, it’s hard to explain.
The more he observed Eight the more he understood a few things. She came from the outside world, which is why she kept screaming about going out. Her real name was Kali before they changed it to Eight and she didn’t like that. But one thing that got him thinking was her insistence that Papa and all the other men are bad.
Seven always thought Papa was strict, but never bad. He says that he cares about them, that whenever they go through tiring and painful training was ‘for your own good’, but seeing Eight’s desperate cries and screams made him wonder why Papa always made them fight to be his favourite if he loves them all equally. He never thought about that before, which almost feels foolish since he's supposed to be the sibling who was smarter than everyone else.
‘Sometimes, Papa doesn’t always tell the truth.’.
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Seven had been observing all the staff’s behaviour and routine, on top of memorizing the route of the hallways he was able to see. The current orderlies guarding the Rainbow Room are the ones that don’t pay too much attention. Seven took his chance and approached the corner where Eight was sitting in.
Eight immediately looked up to where Seven stood. He slowly sits down on the floor not too far from her and places a finger over his mouth. He's read that people use this when they want to be quiet.
Eight’s eyes follow him curiously, “What?” She whispers.
“You want to get out, right?” Seven asks.
“Why do you care?”
“Because I want to help you.”
Eight looked surprised, “You believe what I said about those men?”
“I don’t know.” Seven admits. “But I want to get out and you want to get out, so let’s help each other.”
Eight thought for a moment before nodding, "Okay, we help each other.”