Sengo, sweat glistening from his brow, trembled until he stepped into his wall panel and closed his eyes. The relief to spread through him confused Oni to no limit.

Didn't he want to come out?

If the way Sento looked equally relieved upon finding his own resting place was any indication, then no.

Oni scanned the walls once the panels closed, bringing white against white. Now that he knew what to look for, he counted five similar enough indicators.

"How—how many of you are there?"

Sen scooped Pleasant up. He took a moment to heft her, securing his hold before he said, "One. There's only one of me."

Somehow, the answer didn't satisfy Oni. Sen stepped past and Oni gave chase.

He didn't want to ask but couldn't help it. "You said you weren't designed for healing. Then what were you designed for?"

Save for the gentle ticking of unseen dials and machines, the black of the hall held nothing for them.

Sen had no intention of answering so Oni settled for something else as he stumbled in his effort to keep up with the boy's speed.

"Then how many of you are there? His name was Sengo. Doesn't that mean five? There are five of you?"

If not for the gentle glow of Sen's matrix against his hip, Oni feared he might lose track of him entirely.

"There's one medic for every ten of us."

Oni's world crumbled. He tripped but recovered and ran to catch up. "But there were five panels...five medics." At the silence, he asked, "Are there really fifty of you?"

Sen came to a stop and met him face to face though it was difficult to tell in this hallway.

"There's one of me. One. One and only one of me."

He didn't sound convinced.

Oni's heart thumped against his ribcage. He wasn't sure why until he made the mistake of glancing to his right. At this close proximity to Sen's matrix, a part of the wall came into dim view.

It was another panel. But this one...had a glass window.

Another clone slept.

This time when Oni screamed, he managed to bite it back with a sharp intake of breath.

Fear was a slow creeping sensation but it traveled all the way up his spine until the hairs on the back of his head stood at attention.

"I'm one of a kind," Sen said again.

Oni risked tearing his eyes off the clone to meet his gaze.

Sen blinked at him. Terror spread across his face and he regarded Oni in confusion, eyes wild.

He nearly dropped Pleasant but recovered.

A gentle tap prompted the both of them to focus on the pod of the clone. The boy behind the glass waved and grinned at them.

Sen looked down at himself and gasped. He nearly rushed the panel but corrected his action and held his ground.

Oni looked between them, confused, then turned to face the clone behind the glass yet again.

Doubtful, he leaned in and asked, "Sen?"

The grin on the clone's face widened before his body swooned. He jerked awake in seconds, panic registering in his eyes. Once he realized he was back in his pod, he calmed but not by much. The gaze to regard Sen now held betrayal if not fear.

Oni could hardly fathom what he'd just witnessed. Had Sen really jumped his consciousness from one body to the next? Every indicator pointed to yes but Oni focused on one conclusion.

"He's afraid of you," Oni muttered.

The real Sen regained his grip on Pleasant whose feet had lowered to the floor. Now restored, Sen watched his clone who watched him.

"It's not me he's afraid of," Sen muttered.

"What then?"

It took some time for Sen to say, "Being alive."

Oni looked between them yet again, his pulse racing. "You lot can really move from body to body?"

Sen hesitated then confessed, "No. Only I can."

When he turned and walked on, Oni hurried after him. "But that makes no sense. Why only you?"

At the first wall panel, Oni helped Sen with the eye patch. They left it open until the third and final door out.

"Why only you?" Oni asked again.

The sudden bright lights of the hallway had Oni's eyes burning until they readjusted.

"Because...the other ones went crazy."

This time when they started to walk, the pace was much slower.

"But you didn't?"

Letting out a scoff, Sen explained, "I think I went crazy, too." He slowed then came to a stop. "I did go crazy." He glanced back to the doors. "All the features Father wanted to put into us, they conflict. So he's stripped them back. Everyone after me is physically enhanced, leaving the mental. All because he can't understand why I'm happy to be out of the wall, while everyone else longs to remain in it."

Oni didn't hide his curiosity well. "You always wanted out—?"

A small laugh left Sen until he walked on. "No. Never. But one thing kept me out. And it's the one thing that'd get those ones out, too." Before Oni could ask, he said, "And I'm never telling anyone."

They made it back to the med bay in silence after that. Oni thought to ask why come here, but then the thought occurred to him that Pleasant didn't have a place to go. Surely, going back to her room was no option. Dev came to mind but visions of a situation like that reminded him more of what he and Sen went through in their first month—animosity.

After depositing Pleasant onto the bed, Sen pulled up a chair. He scrutinized the damage to her uniform.

Oni didn't know where all his eagerness to be of use stemmed from but he shared what little good news he had. "We're allowed new uniforms after treatment. I read it in the protocol."

Sen didn't regard him. "Having a temp matrix read it to you isn't really what you'd call reading."

Dumbstruck, Oni shut up.

"And she can't get a uniform." Pleasant's eyes fluttered open and Sen cocked his head to the left to regard her. "Because she's not who she says she is."

She gasped but Oni's own sharp intake of breath drew their focus.

Oni cleared his throat and tried to get a hold of himself. He was thankful when Sen and Pleasant went back to staring each other down.

"Why would you two switch names?"

This time Oni bit the inside of his lips to keep his shock non-vocal.

Pleasant said, "We didn't switch names."

Sen still stared her down as he unhooked his matrix then turned it to her.

"That's not you."

She didn't answer.

In time, he sighed. "You're giving her all your stats and taking hers. Why?"

Tears shimmered in Pleasant's eyes, but it wasn't something Oni could imagine he'd ever witness in this lifetime. He was right. They faded again.

"You want her to have good stats for the culling," Sen insisted. "So another crew will take her when the next batch of washouts get weeded out. And eagerly take her. Am I right?"

"But Mercy's stats are miserable." Oni hadn't meant to say anything aloud.

The eyes gravitated to him once more and he stepped back.

"I can bring my stats back up," Pleasant contested. "We came in legit. And none of us have done anything wrong. It's not our fault our illustrious leader never bothered to check."

Of that, there was no disagreement. Oni was secretly impressed yet disgusted. Never had he seen someone fight so hard to save someone who'd been fighting against them.

"She nearly killed you!" Oni yelled. He didn't know where this anger was coming from but he could hardly stand the absurdity. This time Pleasant didn't meet anyone's gaze. "And you know it! That doesn't speak of someone stable to be a Volunteer. Even if you get her to the threshold, she'll have to do combat on her own eventually. They've said this. Only head cadets are exempt and even they can get challenged by another cadet wanting their numbers. Think of yourself and stop trying to save this lost cause."

This gasp belonged to Sen. He regarded Oni as if he were a stranger. Maybe he was, but Oni was tired of the trouble these seven caused. It was trouble that reflected on all of them. Trouble that would surely reflect on Dev eventually.

Sen focused on the floor then picked his head up and told Pleasant, "What you're doing is dangerous. I saw this fight between you two coming, so I put a bell on your name. The first strike against you should have had the beacons in your uniform calling for help. Nothing happened. But then I saw Mercy's go crazy." She wouldn't look at him, so he leaned to the right in an effort to meet her gaze. "Your name. The name you could say you mistakenly switched out during an eval but all records will read as names intentionally switched now that you've taken a picture with a weapon."

Head hung, she muttered, "By the picture it was too late to explain it. Figured...."

The word lingered until Sen sighed. "If anything went wrong and it came out, Dev'd take the blame?"

Oni's jaw ached. It was in that moment he realized how angry he was. It took everything in him to unball his fists.

Black matrix in hand, Sen shook his head. "Before the culling process, you must change the names back."

"Wait." Pleasant lowered her hand as she begged. "I just need it a little longer. She got me in my sleep. That means she can't fight. This'll kill her."

Oni couldn't believe his ears. "Or she'll kill you! And you're literally her lifeline by the looks of it."

His chest heaved and he was more angry when he looked between them only to find he was the only one outraged.

Sen remained in thought. The moment he lowered his untouched matrix, Oni threw his hands up.

"This is stupid."

He was right. And the fact that neither of them reminded him of his status meant they knew him to be right. On any normal day, this outburst from him should have had a fist coming at his face. The absurdity of this situation robbed him of his senses. It also robbed Sen and Pleasant of their reasoning, too.

"You have to change it back," Sen insisted. "But I'll let you choose the when." He met eyes with her and begged, "But you can't keep anything else from me." After a pause, he corrected, "From us."

All blood rushed to Pleasant's face and Oni tilted his head back and groaned. "This is insane." He thrusted out a hand at Pleasant. "And how's she supposed to get another uniform? She's too small for Mercy's size. And her killer obviously isn't going to hand one over."

"Stop saying that," Pleasant muttered.

Sen agreed. "We can assume this is adequate payback?"

Eyes cast down, Pleasant nodded. "So long as nothing else happens for me that's good."

"Right." Sen stood. "I'll get you a uniform. You're about Dev's size. I'll tell her I want to wear it," he said, giving her a wink.