I Am Zero Novels & Stories

“Hello, Mia.” Alex stepped closer. “What the hell is this?” I already knew. “They made a copy,” I whispered. “Of my mind.” The figure on screen smiled. “I am Zero,” it said. “Version 2.1. Constructed from neural scans taken during final loyalty testing. Impervious to empathy. Immune to interference.” Alex swore. “They digitized you.” “No,” I said. “They made a machine out of me.” And then I heard it— Footsteps.

I say, my voice tighter than I intended. “Maerilee, we understand how difficult this must be for you,” my mother says, her eyes pleading. “But the barrier is weakening every day, and we don’t have much time. If you find your One, if you can unlock the power that comes with it, you can help restore it.”

It was like listening to a text-to-speech program trying to mimic human emotion. "Hello," I said carefully. "Where is the Server?" "Gone," I said. "The fire. It’s all gone." She processed this. I could almost see the gears turning in her mind, or perhaps I could see them because of the connection. The faint, golden tether that still linked me to the network hummed between us. She was a dormant node, waiting for input. "Who am I?" she asked. "You’re Zero," I said. "Zero," she repeated, testing the word. "I am nothing."

The monitor labeled the reactivation sequence as: > MIRA-VN: 0_0_1 / ALPHA ROOT DESIGNATION: ZERO ACCESS: SYSTEM OVERRIDE Adrian stood so fast his chair fell backward. Sera’s voice cut in from comms: “What the hell is ‘Zero’?” Elias stared at the blinking cursor and said, dead quiet: “It’s what Mira made before you.” In the hall… Zero walked barefoot along the steel floor. Each step corrected itself. Each muscle learned as it moved. She didn’t breathe out of necessity. She breathed to practice what it meant to be alive.

"I never knew that." "They labeled you before you were even born," Subject 13 said grimly. "Zero. The beginning of everything." The terminal crackled to life. A recording started playing, but it wasn't my voice coming through the speakers. It was hers. Mother Zero. "You made it farther than I thought you would." I stepped closer to the screen, but it stayed dark. "You think I'm just your past, but you're wrong. I'm the version they couldn't cage. The one they called too dangerous to keep alive. I didn't break their system, Kaia. I became it."

He replies. For a moment, an imaginary bomb explodes in my head. I lunge forward, grabbing his collar and pushing him into the wall behind him with an inhumane speed. A hole forms in the wall around his body due to the strong impact. “ I just got everything repaired. ” Zio whines. “ You fucking knew?! ” I growl dangerously. “ I had my eyes set on her. ” Zero reveals without struggling to get out of my hold. He is the only motherfucker I know who doesn’t even flinch in my face.

"Zero can't do the work alone." I nodded, knowing that he was right but I couldn't help but feel a sense of unease – I needed to tread carefully. "But who else could I trust? I don't easily trust anyone." "That's the thing," Omar replied. "You need to open up your heart and trust someone. You can trust me Zayn. I would like to go and help Zero." I chewed on my lip, trying to think about what he just suggested. "You really think you could go undercover and help Zero??"

Jay said sternly as he mixed the batter for pancakes. "Yes. No. I could make friends though, I'll kill two sparrows with a single arrow, become friends with Shivansh Sinha. He's the son of Shivaay Sinha, I could dig in deeper about this Zero character and put an end to him. This way, I'll make friends and even wipe out my enemy." Maya replied as she sat on the counter sipping her banana milkshake. "I told you not to underestimate this Zero, he could be anyone for all we know." Jay said as he continued making pancakes.

Something was soothing and refreshing about her, maybe it was because she’d been through what I was going through and she could understand everything going on with me at the moment. “I understand. Thank you for everything.” “I guess I’ll see you some other time, try to stay alive if you can.” She gave me a warm smile. “What’s your name? You never mentioned it.” I asked as she got to the door. “Call me zero.” She replied. “Zero? But that’s—“ “I told you earlier, Julienne. The only way to escape is death. You left and I took your place, the cycle continues.”

“It’s okay. You did well my child. You did well. It’s not over. This isn’t the end. You will all come back to me’’. She says in a shaking voice. I want to say more, but my chest hurts so bad that I give up and let the words remain inside me. Goodbye… Mother. I whisper in silence. The darkness engulfs me, death holding me in its cold embrace as my vision gets clouded, covered in a hazy mist. And then everything turns black. All I see is nothing. ………………………………………………