Chapter 2: Z

Z's assistant had just called, telling her that 'Becca' had just entered the building. Z huffed in annoyance, she didn't want to do this, she actually had a few children she was assigned to that she would much rather hang out with, from what K had said, Becca was fairly annoying, Z just couldn't wait to meet her.

It took a while for her to get to her office on the hospital's ground level, she was tired and a bit anxious, she hadn't been a letter that long, maybe a month? She wasn't fond of the idea of losing it all to a future number. Z scoffed to herself.

She sat down at her desk and let out a sigh, she didn't know why the colors chose her to do this, did they not like her? You were quite literally the lowest letter out there. She had half the mind to ask Gold herself, that is if Gold wasn't as brutal as he was, Z laughed off her thought.

There was a knock on the door. "Come in." She said impatiently. A girl, maybe 20, stumbled into the room with 2 giant books and multiple papers flying over the room. "I suppose your Becca?" "Um- Uh yes ma'am, th-that's me." Z mentally faced palmed at the girl's stuttering. Becca was a nervous wreck. She sighed and signaled for Becca to sit down. Z would have to call a flower over to clean up the mess the girl made.

"Ok let's start with the basics. Your name is 1,268,567 is that clear?" "Uh-" Z cut her off by handing the girl a sticky note with her number on it.

"Your dorm room is on the 52nd floor down. Floor 50-55 is for newbies like yourself. You should meet some decent people there. Another rule you should take to notice, numbers aren't permitted to have intimate relations with anyone, a friendly relationship is allowed as long the person is in your line of work, in other words, no flirting with the hundreds or thousands. After you get settled in you most likely will never talk to me ever again, or if your lucky I'll be your boss in the future." Z winked. The girl was speechless. "Pardon? I never agreed to this!" She raised her voice. Z then stood up from her chair and glared at the girl trying to look intimidating as possible, it seemed to work, the girl seemed to shrink into the chair. Z took a breath, composed herself, and sat back down. "You didn't need to agree to it," Z rolled her eyes. "We did a background check on you, you're qualified. You're a decent number, the numbers reach up to 6 million, if you're lucky you'll be up in triple digits in no time." 1,268,567 was in shock, she didn't move, or couldn't move for that matter. Z knew she and had an effect on people, She had used it to get where she was today, she knew she came off a little strong even when it came to higher letters than herself. It made her wonder if the colors simply wanted her out of the way, or maybe a test of loyalty? She scoffed at her wishful thinking. She didn't think the colors liked her very much, and was convinced they wanted an excuse to execute her by giving her this task, and with K of all people.

"Well, 1,268,567, follow me if you will. I will be dropping you off at your dorm, you have 3 roommates, the dorm has 2 bedrooms with bunks; one for the males and the other for the females. Tomorrow around… maybe 6am you'll go to the 70th floor for your training, we'll provide food for you while your there, considering you're not being paid just yet. You'll stay on that routine for around a month, you will then be chosen for a job depending on your current skills. Am I clear?"

"Uh-Uhm I still don't get it, I didn't apply or anything, and all of this seems vastly unnecessary, I'm a trained surgeon! I feel I'm far more qualified than you see me as!" Z rolled her eyes. "Don't raise your voice 1,268,567; It seems vastly unnecessary." She mocked the number with a smile. "Right, guard! This one is rather annoying, could you escort her out?" Z smirked at 1,267,567.

Becca was left speechless when the security guard came in to drag her away.

"Toodles! Hope to see you again, your quite bright." Z mused. "Bring the girl to floor 52 down, room.. 728? That room has 2 extra slots right?" The guard nodded. "Fantastic! Ok, 1,268,567 you'll see me at your first practice tomorrow, I legally have to wish you luck along with wishing you off. Have a fine day 1,268,567!"

Z held her smile until the new number closed her office door. Her office had hardwood floors, which was now covered with scattered paperwork. There was a rather modern fan going on above her, the walls were made of concrete, with bits of black granite infused in it, making her office have a bit more of an expensive aesthetic.

Z turned to her laptop. Which of course, was MHI branded, MHI had taken over practicality all remaining businesses, and rebranding them as their own.

Z typed in all of 1,268,567's basic information into a new document, she'd have to send it to K later. She looked through 1,268,567's medical, job, education, and financial history, adding some of the more interesting stuff to the document.

She sighed. Sending the document away to Bronze, for him to look over.

She then wishes her guard a good day and went down to the letters break room. All in all, she was exhausted, from either her new assignment, to the simple idea with working with K, or to be babysitting a rather annoying number.

She opened the break room doors, there was a flower there laying out the food for the Letters buffet later.

Every month they would celebrate their accomplishments, Silver always insisted on paying for the party, although she only stayed for an hour out of the whole day. Silver had always been Z's favorite, she was fairly sure Silver was as bored to death as most of them were, despite the fact of being absolutely filthy rich, and having millions of people willing to do her bidding, she always seemed so upset with everything. Despite that, she somewhat tried to maintain a relationship with most of the letters, including Z.

Next to the buffet's set-up, was a giant table, sitting 30 people, 26 seats for the Letters, and 4 extra seats for the Colors. The seats were made of a fine black leather, with gold accents engraved into the backs of the chairs. The table was made of a beautifully carved slab of African blackwood, with a pane of glass covering it so the wood wouldn't be damaged.

Z slumped in one of the chairs, looking over to where the flower was working, from what she could see, there was a steak, mash potatoes, cranberries, and a couple more closed trays that Z couldn't quite see. Z stretched out her arms and yawned. "Looks nice." She said to the flower, the flower looked as though they saw a ghost, practicality shaking. "Th-thank you, ma'am, we really appreciate i-it." The flower studders. Z raised her eyebrow. "And what's your name? Sorry, I can't ever seem to remember what they named the flowers." She gave the girl a small smile. "O-oh um, my name's Tulip, me and Dandelion work in the k-kitchen." The girl looked like such a mess, not to mention looked extremely young, maybe 17? 'Tulip' looked like she was about to ball her eyes out. To be frank, Z pitted her in a strange way. She sighed. "I'll have you know your gonna die soon, you might as well challenge somebody. Just saying." That was Tulip's breaking point, the girl completely collapsed on the ground crying. Z frowned at the sight. "Uh give me a second." She mumbled to the girl.

She left the room and picked up a phone, dialing a number. "Hello! Number 4,768,905! We need 5 extra workers for the kitchen, thanks!" Z hung up the phone before the number on the other side could answer.

Then checking back on the sobbing girl, she left the staff room cringing, and went to her dorm.