Zero Nebet // [District 3 // 21CBD3]

Growing up with two fairly reasonable but also fairly intense parents, she'd always gone by her given name: Anne. It was simple, easy to say when she was a tot. It was only later that she realized just how lame it sounded. Old. Ancient. She'd tried variations - Annie, Nan, N.N. - but none suited her.

It was when she was introduced to algebra, and then to coding, that she began to understand that Anne didn't suit her. It wasn't the right root. The deeper she got into writing programs, the more she discovered who she really was. Her parents loved her. She had plenty of friends. She'd dated, casually, and her break-ups never seemed as dramatic as others. She wrote all of this into the school's computers, a diary of code, a narrative of ones and zeros.

In other stories, the author always focused on 'the one'. Neo. He who would save them all. The misogyny bothered her so much that for a long time she didn't dig any further. During an independent study her junior year she polished off the program - a clever little bot that would let her spy on other school communication, which was sure to be deleted the moment her teacher understood what it was - and went to type her name in the author field.

The one. Ones.

It felt instantly right that she should be Zero.