Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Long ago, before the start of the universe, all there was was Infinity.

Infinity was the representation of everything that existed, in fact, they were in fact all that existed! Imagine that? Being literally all there was and nothing else. Must’ve been lonely. But anyways! At some point, Infinity exploded and became the universe!

The remains of Infinity became the planets, moons, stars, black holes and asteroids! It was then an endless, colorful world! Math became the universe’s way of speaking, controlling how everything worked.

The thing is, Infinity had a lot of power. Like, a GINORMOUS amount of power! When it died, it had to go somewhere!

So, when Infinity exploded, it split apart and created the algebralians! An algabralian was each a value on the scale from one to infinity, and they all took a piece of Infinity’s powers! They took different amounts of it, but still, they all got something.

Anyways, in Infinity’s final moments, it wished that its numbers would live in peace and harmony, forever. It gave them a planet to live on with every necessity they needed and plenty of things to do.

And that’s where we live today, in Infinity’s world.

Chapter Text

“Aaand that’s why we exist!” Fourteen closed their book and smiled.

“That’s so cool!” Ten exclaimed, “But I have to ask, how do you know that we were created by Infinity?”

“Uhmm,” Fourteen looked at their book and flung it into a nearby bush behind them, “Infinity gave me the power of storytelling..?” They shrugged, their voice ending in a high note.

“Hmmmmm…” Ten’s eyes squinted with suspicion at the other number. Fourteen back at them, sweat forming above their eyebrows.

After a long staring contest, Ten smiled. “Oh, that makes sense!” They said, giving Fourteen a thumbs up.

Fourteen wiped the sweat off their forehead and stretched their arm into the bush to get their book. “Great! Now that you bought that, do you want to hear about more stories I made up?”

“No thanks, I’m good,” Ten huffed, standing up and wiping the imaginary dust off their lap, “I want to run around. I’ve been sitting around all day!”

“Awwwwe,” Fourteen grumbled, frowning, “I wanted to tell you the story about the Lost City of Mathu Picchu.”

Ten looked back at the dark green integer. “Maybe tomorrow?” Ten offered.

That made Fourteen perk up and their smile returned. “Yeah! I like that idea!”

“Ok! Byeee Fourteeeeen!” Ten ran off into the fields as Fourteen picked up a pencil and started writing in their book. Today was a great day, with a bright blue sky with fluffy clouds. The wind was alive and rustled the leaves of nearby trees and shoved leaves into Ten’s face as they ran. Today was perfect, but it was always perfect in the Equation Playground.

Ten ran over slopes and dodging trees, passing other integers as they went. They waved at Eight as they sprinted past them, and they waved back.

“Hi Ten!” They called out. Ten nodded to Eight in response; their lungs were burning and too busy trying to collect oxygen for them to talk.

The orange integer continued to run until they spotted Six, Nine and Seven under a tree atop a hill. Ten needed a break anyways, so they ran up the hill and skidded to a stop.

“Hi Ten!” The others said in unison. Ten keeled over, their arms clutching their knees to support their body.

“Hi guys..!” Ten gasped out, their heavy breathing making it hard to talk, “What are…you up to?”

“Oh! Oh! You should totally join us!” Seven jumped up and down enthusiastically, “We’re playing this game where me and Nine have to guess how many leaves are in a tree and see who’s closer!” Seven pointed at Six, who had their hands over their eyes, “Six has this weird ability where they can look at anything and know exactly how many there are.”

“I’m still shocked you dimwits can’t do that!” Six said, not exactly facing towards the others because they couldn’t see them.

Nine looked at Six with a frown. They marched up to Six, grabbed them and forced them to face them. “I am NOT a dimwit!” Nine yelled at the other in their typical whiny voice.

“You’re the one who said a sapling had a million leaves when it only had 53!” Six exclaimed and pushing Nine away.

“How was I supposed to know what a million leaves looked like? But now I can say for sure now that this tree has a million leaves!”

“Welllll, I think there’s 999,999 leaves on this tree!” Seven giggled to themself.

“Haha! You guys are so off!” Ten pointed at the tree. “There’s 276,342 leaves in that tree!”

There was a long pause as the other numbers looked at Ten in confusion, long enough that Ten started to worry that they did something wrong. Six dropped their hands to look at Ten. “That’s…oddly specific,” They looked up and their jaw dropped, “But you’re right Ten! Like, exactly right!”

“Wow Ten! You have Six’s weird ability too?” Seven wrapped their arm around Ten into a side hug. ”That’s awesome!”

Ten looked at Seven, now the one confused. “Wait, you can’t do that?” They asked.

“That’s what I said!” Six said, throwing their arms in the air.

“Aw man, maybe me and Seven are the weird ones for not having it…” Nine lamented, looking rather disappointed.

Seven shrugged. “Maybe it’s an even number thing?” They suggested.

Ten grabbed both Nine and Seven by the shoulder into two side hugs, “Well I believe that you guys will learn to do it some day as well!” Ten said.

“Yeah, I’m sure of it!” Six chimed in.

“Aw, really?” Nine said. “I hope so too!”

“Imma go see if Five can do it!” Seven ran off into the hilly plains without another word.

“Hey! Wait for us!” Nine called after them. They and Six chased after Seven. Ten smiled; they really adored their friends. They laughed and ran after the others.

Chapter Text

“What do you think that cloud looks like?”

“It looks like…a rabbit!” Four exclaimed.

“I think it looks like a duck,” Two said to the right of Four.

“Well, I think you’re all wrong and that cloud looks like a dog!” One chimed in and pointing to said cloud.

“I’m boooored!” Three whined. They were laying in the grass, facing the sky. Their friends, One, Two and Four, were doing the same thing around them. They were all identifying shapes in the clouds, but Three was getting sick of it. Clouds were so boring! They didn’t understand how the others found it fun.

Four sat up to look at Three. “Okay then, let’s play a game! How about…–” Four scratched their chin ”–tag?”

“Uhm, can we please not play tag?” One said with a frown, sitting up as well. The last time they played tag, One ended up as It, but struggled to tag anyone because they didn’t have arms. It really embarrassed them.

“Yeah! One doesn’t have arms!” Two said. “Let’s play a game where they have a fair chance.” One looked at Two with a smile, grateful that their friend was backing them up. Two smiled back.

“Fiiiine,” Four grumbled. They liked playing tag, especially being It. “We could play a card game.”

“But you always win,” Three pointed out, “And it’s not fun if no one else wins.”

“What about Hide and Seek?” Two suggested. Hide and Seek seemed like a neutral game to them.

Four and Three looked at each other. “Sounds good to me,” said Three. Four nodded along with them.

“Who’s gonna be the seeker?”

One pulled their legs in when Four asked that question, nervous. They didn’t want to be seeker. They were scared that it would end like that game of tag. Please don’t pick me, please please-

Two noticed One was nervous out of the corner of their eye. They quickly connected the dots in their head.

“I’ll be the seeker since I came up with the idea,” Two said. Two turned around and gave One a thumbs up with a grin. The blue integer smiled and mouthed ‘Thank you’ to Two.

“Okay! You have a minute to hide and I have 10 minutes to find you!” Two ordered. “GO!”

One watched as Four teleported away to who knows where. “Hey! That’s cheating!” One yelled at them.

Four quickly returned, “No one said it was!”

“No one else can teleport, Four, so you can’t either,” Two said.

“FIIIINE,” Four groaned. They didn’t understand why they couldn't use their powers. Sure, the others didn’t, but why does that matter? They had powers and they wanted to use them! They ran in a random direction, hoping to find somewhere to hide.

One did the same thing. They ran over a hill to break their line of sight from Two, but after that, they had no idea where to go. The place they called home was mostly made up of grassy plains, with a few forests here and there, playgrounds and other landmarks. Kind of empty, and it made it probably one of the worst places to play Hide and Seek.

So they kept running. As they went, One stopped to inspect hiding spots, but all of them were unfit in some way. They spotted the tree house, which seemed like a great place to hide, but when they climbed inside, they found Ten and Six inside.

“Uh, hey guys,” One greeted sheepishly, “Mind...mind if I hide here?”

“HEY! GET OUT!” Six shouted, pushing One back towards the exit.

“Wha- Huh?” One sputtered.

“This tree house is for even numbers ONLY!” Ten said, “Did you NOT read the sign??” Ten pointed at the paper taped to the window. ‘EVEN NUMBERS CLUBHOUSE” was written on the paper, but the top left corner of the page was draped over the word ‘EVEN’. One frowned. The tree house was made for everyone to use, how dare they claim it for just themselves! But they only had so long to hide and arguing would take too much time.

“I only need to hide, and this will be the perfect spot! You won't even notice I'm here,” One tried.

“That doesn’t matter, you’re not allowed! So…OUT!” Six pushed One out the door and they fell down onto the grass below.

“OW!” The blue number cried, tears pricking their eyes. They expected one of the even numbers to feel a shred of remorse, but when One looked up at the tree house, they had already moved on like nothing happened. They huffed, got up, and shook themself off as a bitter feeling slowly started simmering in their chest. Those even numbers were so greedy to claim a tree house that was meant for everyone and bar everyone else from entering.

Well, not all even numbers were horrible, One corrected themself. Two was their best friend and really nice to everyone! Four was a bit violent, but only rarely and they weren’t greedy. Six and Ten just seemed to be the problem. One wondered if Four and Two knew about the clubhouse.

Since, again, one minute is not a long time, One decided not to waste time fighting Six and Ten, and instead look for a new spot.

They ran west of the treehouse for a few seconds before entering the large forest. One wandered the forest, looking up at the branches above them. The trees seemed to be a good hiding place. They were dense and hard to see into, but easy to see out of. The integer walked up to a partially large, bushy oak but quickly realized a large problem : they couldn’t climb, being armless and all. They tried anyway, trying to shuffle their way up, but they lost balance every time.

One after falling for the third time, they started to get antsy. The minute had most definitely ended and they didn’t have a spot to hide! A sudden wave of anxiety hit them. One needed to find a spot. If they didn’t, they would be laughed at, be ashamed and embarrassed, and they don’t want to feel that way! They just needed to do stuff right for that not to happen. Why couldn’t they just do stuff right? Oh, because I’m not good at anything, that’s why, they thought bitterly.

They sat down against the tree. It felt less stressful to just give up than continue looking for a spot. They were already pretty far from the starting point anyways, so it might take a while for Two to get to them. They were ready to accept defeat, when they heard movement above them.

“Huh?” Before they could look up, a hand grabbed them and pulled them up off the ground. Two found them! One screamed in surprise, but a hand covered their mouth, silencing them. One opened their eyes to see that it wasn’t Two who grabbed them, but Three.

“SHUSH,” Three whisper-shouted, “Don’t give our spot away!”

One blinked. Our spot. Three was letting them hide with them! One quickly nodded, hoping Three wouldn’t drop them back to ground. Three, after receiving confirmation, placed One on a tree branch next to them. One scrambled to gain balance and grab the branch with their legs, but they managed.

Three look at One with a blank expression, studying them. One gave them a nervous smile, uneasy. They knew each other through mutual friends, but hadn’t talked at all, so the air was a bit awkward. It didn’t help that One found Three a bit intimidating since they’ve rarely seen the other display any emotion. They always had that unnerving blank face.

Three didn’t smile back, but instead climbed high into the tree and poked their head through the leaves to keep watch. One’s anxiety came roaring back. Did I do something wrong? Do they not like me? I hope they don’t hate me for using their hiding spot.

“I…I’m sorry for hiding here,” One tried.

Three looked down at them, their eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “But…I was the one who brought you up here? I chose to do that.”

“OH!” One panicked. They may not have messed up earlier, but they definitely have now. “I- Uhhh- sorry!”

There was a moment of silence as Three looked at One in even more confusion. “O…kay,” They eventually said, “Do you wanna come up here?” Three held out their hand.

One hummed in thought. I’m pretty sure they hate me, so why are they trying to help me? They wondered, Are they trying to get me out?

“Sure…” answered One reluctantly. They just needed to act confident, then Three wouldn’t try anything. If Three was going to try to get them found, Two would probably let One go anyway. One carefully climbed up the tree with Three making sure they didn’t lose their balance.

The bright blue sky and piercing white clouds made their eyes hurt for a few seconds, so they squinted until they adjusted. One scanned the horizon for any sign of Two, but luckily saw nothing. They huffed out a sigh of relief.

They heard a giggle behind them. When they turned around, they saw Three looking into the distance, their hand over their mouth stifling their laughter.

“What are you laughing about?” One asked. Three pointed towards where One came from, a few giggles escaping their grasp. One followed their finger, but didn’t see anything. It was just hilly plains dotted with a few lone trees and a blue sky. “What..?”

“Look!” Three made circles with their hands and placed them on One’s eyes to look like a pair of binoculars, except they actually worked. One’s vision zoomed in on the horizon, where they could see Two and Four flying, with Two chasing the other with a smirk.

“I can’t believe Four was found before us, they’re so competitive!” Three said, “Finally they won’t win this time.”

One chuckled, “I’ve never seen Two look so much like a menace before. They really want them not to win.”

“‘No fair! I’m the one who’s supposed to always win!’” Three said, making their voice higher and raspier to mimic Four’s voice.

“Wait! Lemme try to do a Two impression!” One clears their throat, “‘I’m Two and I like tea and biscuits!’” One didn't change their voice much, just copying Two’s accent, although not very accurately. They weren’t good at impressions.

“‘Well, if I don’t win, I’ll DESTROY your tea and biscuits!’” Three continued, pretending to be angry, but their smile was pushing back onto their face.

“‘You need to learn how to lose every once in a while!’” One was starting to get worse at their impression, their normal voice sneaking in.

“You’re such a meanie Two! And stupid!” Three snickered. One giggled along, but cut themself off, their eyes widening. As soon as Three had uttered those words, Two’s head snapped around, facing their exact location. “Uhmm…” Three mumbled; they had also noticed Two’s odd behavior.

“I’M NOT STUPID!” Two appeared suddenly in front of Three, slapping them straight across the face. One screamed and jumped up in surprise which caused them to fall down to the ground. They looked up at Two, how did they get here? They could teleport? SINCE WHEN??

“First off, OUCH!” Three said, rubbing their cheek, “Secondly, how in math’s name did you hear me?”

“Doesn’t matter! We do not tolerate bullying here!” Two explained.

With Two distracted, One zipped behind a different tree, just in case Two somehow didn’t see them. They felt guilty for getting away while Three got caught, in their own hiding spot no less! But they were so close to winning, they were the only number who hadn't been seen yet.

They had, in fact, not gone unnoticed by Two, as they jumped down from the tree and sang out, “Oneee! I know you’re heeere!”

One mentally ran through their options. They could stay where they were, but risk Two finding them. They could run away, but Two could fly and One couldn’t, so there was no chance they would outrun them. One sighed quietly. There was a third option that was a bit risky, but the other options were less appealing. Remember One : Confidence. The integer stood up and stepped out from behind the tree.

“C’mon Two!” One whined, “Three didn’t know that you would hear them! It’s unfair that you tag us out.”

Two, who was reaching out to tag them, paused. “Well, maybe you shouldn’t be making fun of me from afar,” Two reasoned.

One huffed. “Really? You just told Four that they couldn’t teleport! Well, I guess you’re the seeker or whatever, so you’re allowed to do that…” One looked down at the ground, trying to look as disappointed as possible.

There was a pause as Two looked at One, before sighing.

“No..no, you’re right. I shouldn’t use my powers if you guys aren’t allowed to.” Two scratched the back of their neck, guilt clearly written on their face, “I-I don’t wanna be a hypocrite.”

A small smile formed on One’s face as they looked back up at Two. It worked! They knew that Two would listen if they just pretended to be sad! Well, I didn't pretend to be sad, they thought. I would've been sad if I got out, so it's technically true, right?

“Look, I’ll go try to find and tag Four real quick. You and Three go find somewhere else to hide.” With that, Two teleported away. Three poked their head out of the leaves.

“Whoa, how did you convince them to not get ya?” They asked, clambering down the tree they were hiding in.

One chuckled sheepishly, “I…I don’t know! But not only that, Two gave us a second chance to hide!”

“What?! No way!” Three wrapped their arms around One in a bear hug. “You’re the best!”

“Oh I wouldn’t go that far,” One insisted.

“Whatever, let’s look for a new spot before Two changes their mind!” Three said, picking up One over their head.

One started laughing. “What are you doing??” They giggled out.

Without answering, Three started running through the woods at an extreme speed. One screamed and laughed harder at their antics.

They went on to find a new place to hide, with Three winning the game by abandoning One. One didn’t mind though, they're now pretty sure that Three doesn't hate them. Anyways, they would get their revenge at some point.

Chapter Text

Today, Five was hanging out in a part of the Equation Playground that was covered in tall, yellow grasses, taller than most algabraliens, which they called the Tall Grasslands. Five had run here because, like always, the other numbers were getting on their nerves again. The others wouldn’t follow them here, and if they tried, they would get lost. But this time, Five came across something…interesting.

They stumbled upon a more open area of the Tall Grasslands, where the grass was shorter than normal. They soon learnt why : a large slab of rock had stopped the growth of any grass.

They circled around it, studying it at all angles. It looked like the addition symbol Eight and Six found and tested a few days ago, but this one was just a long rectangle, not a cross that the addition sign looked like.

It probably has different powers! Five realized. What could it do?

Before they could give it more thought, they heard a rustling behind them. They whirled around, facing the noise. “WHO’S THERE?” They called out, pointing a finger in the direction of the source.

A black number emerged through the blades. “Hi Five!!” Seven waved ecstatically, full of energy.

Five sighed, frowning. “...hi Seven,” they said. Seven was the kind of number that believed they were friends with everyone and everything, and that everyone loved them in return, but they were completely oblivious to that fact that it wasn’t true. They constantly interrupted people’s games, and wanted to be the center of attention, so not everyone liked them. This was especially true for Five, who couldn’t keep up with Seven’s boundless energy nor their absolute stupidity.

“Guess how many fingers I’m holding up!” Seven held out their arms really close to Five’s face, all their fingers spread out. Five, uncomfortable, took a step back and used their own arms to block Seven from getting any closer.

“Why are you asking me this?? Get away from me!” Five pushed Seven away. Seven regained their balance and kept their bright smile, not taking any offense to Five’s annoyance.

“Just guess!” Seven insisted, holding up their hands again with all fingers still held up.

Five felt like they were missing something or there was some kind of catch.“...Eight?” They said carefully.

“OMA! You’re right!! How did you know?” Seven squealed, looking at Five in awe.

Five looked at Seven with a mixture of shock and concern. “...you held out all your fingers! We all have four fingers on each of our hands, so-”

“Oh my gosh, right AGAIN!! I DO have four fingers on both my hands! You’re so smart Five!”

“Thanks,” Five deadpanned, giving up.

“Say, what’s that you’re looking at?” Seven stepped around the grumpy number, only for that number to grab them by the arm and pull them back violently.

“BE CAREFUL! I don’t know what it does!”

“What?” Seven asked, before looking at the ground, “Oooo!” In the grass there was the long rectangle slab of rock, with the shorter side facing the two integers.

“I found it here when I was going on my daily walk. It looks a lot like that addition sign, but instead a big rectangle," Five explained.

“What does it do?” Seven said without looking away from the symbol.

“I just said I didn’t know!” Five was really getting fed up with this terrible excuse of a number, “Surely you aren’t that dense, right?”

Seven, completely ignoring Five’s scorn, picked them up. “Ooo, a mystery! Let’s solve it!”

“Seven, I swear to Infinity if you-” Five didn’t have time to finish their sentence before the black integer flung them to the other side of the symbol. Five looked at Seven in pure rage, but their face fell as Seven started glowing. “SEVEN MOVE AWAY!” They ordered.

“Ehh, I’ll be fine,” Seven shrugged as their world was swallowed by white light.

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Five rubbed their eyes trying to remove the white spots in their vision and the ringing in their ears slowly fading away. They sat up and groaned. They didn’t remember falling, but they were definitely on the ground now. As they slowly peeled their eyes open, they hoped that whatever happened to Seven was in any way reversible. Five’s eyes widened in shock when they saw two black numbers on the other side of the symbol.

“WHA- SEVEN?” Five gasped out. They dashed to the other side, where black Two laying in the grass alongside a black Five. “WHAT HAPPENED?” Five shook the two black integers' shoulders. The black Five, along with the black Two, opened their eyes.

“Woah-ho!” The black Five said, sitting up and looking at themself, “This is awesome! I look just like you Five!”

“YOU EVEN HAVE MY VOICE!” Five shrieked, baffled at how Seven could stay so calm. Every day they’re more grateful NOT to be Seven, but maybe their ability to stay level-headed despite the chaos around them might be something to be jealous of.

“And I look like Two!” The black Two added with a wide grin. They giggled, “Two’s voice is so silly!”

“WHICH ONE OF YOU IS THE REAL SEVEN??” Five demanded, pointing between the two other numbers. Who knew if EITHER of them were Seven?

“Me! I’m the real Seven!” The numbers said at the same time. They exchanged looks before bursting into laughter.

“THIS ISN’T FUNNY! This is a SERIOUS SITUATION,” Five yelled, glowering down at them. “A-Answer me this! What's Seven’s favorite color?”

The black Five giggled while the black Two said, “That's a trick question! All of them!” They both said the answer in unison.

“Wait, you’re both Seven?” Five asked, their shoulders relaxing a bit.

Both of the black numbers shrugged, “Well, I remember everything Seven did and thought," Black Five said.

“Me too! We’re totally both Seven,” Black Two concluded.

“Okay, well, we can definitely get you back together, we just need a plus sign,” Five said.

“WAIT!” Seven’s numbers said.

“We aren’t done researching!” Black Five said, running around the symbol, “We need to see what happens when there’s two Fives!!” They placed themself on the opposite side.

Five watched in horror as the rectangle sign started to glow instead of them. They remembered that when using the plus sign, which combines two algabraliens into one, the symbol glowed instead of any of the algabraliens. That meant something else was gonna-

“NO! SEVEN YOU IDIOT,” They screamed as white light once again took over their senses.

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Zero woke up to a lot of pain. Not that searing hot pain, but just an aching pain all over their body. Where am I? They wondered. It feels like I’m laying down on stone. They groaned as they sat up, rubbing their arm trying to ease the soreness. Why were they so sore? Zero pried their eyes open to look around and their jaw dropped in amazement at the beauty surrounding them. Grassy hills bordered the horizon and a soft blue sky welcomed them with the sun watching over them. The wind weaved through the tall grass around them creating a swishing sound that filled the silence.

“Woah,” Zero mumbled to themself, awe sparkling in their eyes. They may not know where they are or who they are, but this seemed to be a great place to live! A yellow butterfly fluttered by them, catching their attention. “Eh!” They grunted as they tried to catch the butterfly in their little gray hands, but the soreness in their arms prevented them from stretching far enough.

They paused and looked at their hands, studying them. Their hands were gray and smooth with four fingers, but felt like they weren’t supposed to be that color. Which color? They weren't sure. They flexed their hands, making fists and opening them again over and over, testing them out. They also felt too small.

The yellow butterfly flew by them again, stealing back their attention. Zero swatted at it, following it towards where the tall grass grew thicker. They were too busy chasing the bug to notice the bodies passed out around the slab of stone…

The butterfly glided above the grass, avoiding the obstacle with ease, as the number tracked it from below. They didn’t know why exactly they wanted to catch it so bad, but it was fun! The butterfly flew erratically and Zero below it fought with the blades to keep up, not letting it out of their sight. Eventually the grass thinned out into a lush forest, where the yellow bug melted into the shadows.

They scampered after it, but the butterfly was nowhere to be seen. They sighed and marched deeper into the forest.

The leaves crunched under their feet as the sun cast a kaleidoscope of yellows on the forest floor. Birds sang a large variety of calls from every direction, echoing off the trees in a chorus. Under the canopy, the air was much cooler than in the tall grass area and smelled of rotting wood and moss, which smells good, don't worry!

After a few minutes of walking, they were pretty sure the butterfly was gone and looking for it would be a lost cause. Despite this, they kept walking. They didn't have anywhere else to be! And this place was nice.

As they went, Zero curiously inspected anything they found interesting, like a ladybug, an odd looking plant (that didn't taste good), some mushrooms (that actually tasted good!), a squirrel (they couldn't catch it to try) and the inside of an empty log.

Eventually they came to the end of the forest, but before they stepped back out into the sunlight, they spotted some movement on the horizon.

A few yards away, a person was walking towards their general direction. They seemed to be angry with the way their feet stomped on the ground and they way their shoulders were tensed up and their hands balled up into fists. Zero started to panic. They don’t look like they're in a good mood, they might attack me! They didn’t want to risk their life to test that theory, so they looked around for a moment, before diving into a bush they deemed suitable. Zero sat inside the bush as they heard the footsteps get louder.

“Stupid stupid stupid Nine…” The person muttered as they walked into earshot. There was some rustling, then a loud thud. “OW!” They said, “STUPID TREE!” Following that, Zero heard an even louder crack and the sound of wood snapping. What is happening? Branches snapped and leaves rustled as the tree fell to the ground, sending a gust of wind that sent debris and dust into Zero’s face. They accidentally breathed in some of that dust, which made their nose start to itch.

“Ah…AHCHOO!” They sneezed. They rubbed their face afterwards, but only when they heard the person running did they realize their mistake.

“WHO’S THERE?” The person demanded, ripping through the bush to find who made the noise. Zero was greeted by a dark blue number, who looked very cross. The number’s fury immediately vanished into confusion once they saw them. "What are you?”

They picked up the gray number, inspecting them from different angles. “HEY!” Zero said, “PUT ME DOWN!”

“You don’t look like any number that I’ve seen!” The blue integer commented in amazement, ignoring their pleas. The anger from before was completely forgotten. “What’s your value?”

“Uh, I don’t know? What does that mean? Who are you?” They asked. What was their value? What does it do? Is it important?

The blue number placed Zero back down in front of them, now looking at them with a very serious expression. “Your value is what you represent as an amount of items or other stuff,” they explained.

Zero blinked. “What are you talking about?” They said flatly, still very much, if not more, confused.

“I’ll show you! I’m Four”—They pointed to themself—“so represent the amount of four! Which is THIS many.” They showed Zero four fingers. Four now started searching the ground for items to show the newcomer. “This is four leaves and this is four sticks!”

“Okay okay, I get it!” Zero insisted, making Four stop, “How do I figure mine out?”

Four poked the gray integer chest to emphasize their point, “You can feel it in your chest. All algbraliens do.”

“Oh…” Zero looked down, trying to feel for any notion of a numerical value, but…”I don’t feel anything.”

Four grabbed their arm and started dragging Zero deeper into the forest, “I know a different way, and it's more fun!”

“Oh- uh ok!” They said, struggling to keep up with Four’s fast pace. Zero only just met this person, but they didn’t seem to be hostile, in fact they were really friendly! They also had no idea why they were trying to figure out their value. Was it an important thing to know? Maybe. Why else would Four be so determined to find out? If it was important, Four was really nice for helping them!

Four led Zero through the forest, dodging trees and logs with great efficiency. They clearly knew the forest very well, predicting every root or stone along their path. Four suddenly screeched to a stop after they had traveled for a minute, turning to face them.

“Don’t touch ANYTHING, you got that?” Four instructed. Zero thought back to when Four made an entire tree collapse for hurting them. They shivered at the thought of what might happen if they made Four angry.

“Got it!” Zero confirmed, giving them a thumbs up. Four nodded in approval, before leading them a few more feet into a clearing. Scattered across the clearing were toys of all different shapes and colors like a child’s messy playroom. A cardboard box to the left of them had a bunch of them inside like a toy box. In the center of the clearing, framed by the sunlight, was a huge seesaw, with some of the toys on top of it.

As Zero looked around in awe, Four slowly started to cross the clearing, stepping around the toys on the ground. They followed them after a moment, following Four’s path step by step. Once Four had reached the seesaw, they stretched their arms over the seesaw and swept all the toys onto the floor, which caused the seesaw to level out.

Four dusted off their hands, “Get on,” they told Zero, pointing to one side of the seesaw. They silently lifted themself up on top of the plank, legs swinging off the side. They expected the seesaw to tip, but it stayed level.

“Now what?” Zero asked. Four turned to the pile of toys they created, shuffled through it and picked up a few.

“We’re gonna find your value!” Four exclaimed, holding up an orange toy, “All of these numbers have a value, so we’ll see if you’re less than or more than it. This one has a value of ten.” Four placed the ten on the opposite side of the seesaw, which caused the seesaw to finally move, with the side that Zero was sitting on lifting them up to the sky. “WOAH!” Zero said, grabbing their seat for dear life, before it halted to a stop.

Zero looked down at Four. “No way that toy is heavier than me! Why am I up here?”

“The seesaw doesn’t measure weight. It lifts the number that has a less numerical value than the other side!” Four explained cheerfully. They loved to talk about math to anyone who would listen. “So that means you are less than ten!”

“Well, that makes me feel SO good about myself,” Zero said, crossing their arms with a huff.

“Your value is your value, it don’t matter too much.” Four said while taking a pink number and a gray line, placing them next to the ten. Four stepped back and watched the seesaw, waiting to see if it moved. Zero also braced for free falling to the ground, but nothing changed.

“So…why do you want to know my value? Why does it even matter?” Zero watched Four start searching through the pile of numbers again.

Four picked up a black number, tossing up in their hand and said, “Can’t I be curious?” Looking up at Zero with an eyebrow raised. They felt a bit provoked that this new person was questioning everything they were doing. They wanted to know, so they’re going to figure it out! What’s so confusing about that?

“...sorry,” Zero mumbled, unsure of what they did wrong.

Four threw the pink number back into the pile and put the black number in its place roughly, now slightly more grumpy than earlier. The seesaw didn’t move again, so Four moved on and picked up a white number and replaced the black number with the white.

“...oh,” Four said to themself. How could this number be less than One? One was the smallest number!

“What’s wrong?” Zero asked, concerned.

“HUSH YOU!” Four yelled, throwing the white number back into the pile with a smash. Zero snapped their mouth shut, deciding to stay silent from now on. Zero watched as Four stomped around, looking for something. They wondered why Four was so…grouchy all of a sudden. Zero did nothing that could’ve caused this, so what did? Did they have a bad day? They were angry when Zero first saw them, grumbling about ‘Nine’. Maybe they needed some space.

“AHA!” Zero looked up to see Four holding another ten up like a trophy. They darted back to the seesaw and placed it next to the original ten. Zero clutched the side of the seesaw as it creaked to life and they were lowered down closer to the ground, but not all the way. The seesaw stopped moving when it was parallel to the ground.

“Congratulations…uhm, who are you?” Four said.

Funny that Four wanted to know their value before their name. “My name’s Zero,” They said out loud instead.

“Congratulations Zero! Your value is, well, nothing!” Four declared, far too cheerfully compared to what they were acting like before.

“So I don’t have a value?” They were…nothing?

“No, you do!” The blue integer said, “Your numerical value is of nothing, when there are no things to count!”

“Oh uh, that’s cool, I guess.” Zero tried to give them a smile, but it came out more like a grimace. They wanted to be as happy as Four, but when you’re the representation of literal nothing it’s a little bit disappointing.

Four, not noticing Zero’s disappointment, said “I need to go get Six to carve me some small versions of you. See ya!” Four left abruptly, running back the way they came.

“OH! Y-Yeah!…Bye!” The grey number called out hurriedly. They sighed once Four was out of sight. What a day, they thought as they drudged away into the forest.

“Hnnnnn…” Five groaned as they sat up, rubbing their head. Once they remembered what happened, they wasted no time and snapped their eyes open to look down at themself.

“I’m…Nothing’s changed!” Five breathed out in disbelief. A wave of relief washed over them. “Oh thank goodness!” They looked up at Black Five, who was just starting to open their eyes as well. They looked at themself, then Five.

“Did…nothing…happen?” Black Five asked. Pink Five shrugged.

“Aww, that’s no fun!” Black Two whined, puffing out their cheeks and crossing their arms.

“I wonder why the symbol glowed if it did nothing…” Five wondered aloud, scratching their chin.

“Let’s try again!” Black Five exclaimed.

“NO!” Five ran to the other side of the symbol and picked up the other Five, “I’ve had ENOUGH of you ‘experimenting’ today, bub! Or…bubs? Wherever, we’re going to get you guys added back up, capeesh?”

“Fine..” The two black numbers grumbled. Five made their way through the grass towards where they last saw the addition symbol with Black Five in their hands and Black Two following behind them.

I can’t believe I wasted my whole afternoon on this stupid, useless symbol! Five thought, At least I got a nice nap out of it.

I drew the algabraliens as kids using the old colors from XFOHV because I wanted to lol