The clock on the classroom wall tocked in near-perfect tempo against the gentle hum of the fan. The students navigated through the maze of math problems on their desks while the teacher sat in the corner, examining their faces. Zack Stuart bit his nails, deciphering the foreign symbols. For the most part, Zack hated numbers. But that would all soon change.

The afternoon sun meandered into the classroom, spun in silent circles outside the window, and rested on the ground. Zack spun his pencil and wasn't finished with his test when the teacher said time was up. A fourth of the class moaned; this test was worth 40% of their grade.

After the tests were collected, the teacher wrote on the overhead projector.

Find the fastest way to add all the numbers between one and 100.

"Whoever can find the fastest way will receive extra credit," the teacher said. "Show me what you come up with tomorrow."

As the teacher said this, the bell rang. The students poured through the door like peanut butter and jelly. It was Thursday, and one day remained until the weekend. Peace.

On the school bus, Zack sat next to his friend Ryan.

"Hey," Zack said, taking off his backpack.

"Hey Zack. How's it going?"

"Alright. Just finished a test in math class."

The bus roared and it was off.

"Ahh. . . math can be hard," Ryan said.

"Yeah. And confusing."

Ryan chuckled. "Well, it makes sense, you know."

“Or at least it’s supposed to.”

Zack and Ryan's conversation shifted from crushes to philosophy to computer games. When Zack got home, he followed his usual pattern: he took off his backpack, grabbed a snack, played on the computer, began homework, ate dinner with his family, watched TV, played a little more on the computer. Remembering his extra credit assignment, Zack got out a piece of paper and added the numbers between one and 100. Then, he went to bed.

The next day, after lunch, Zack excitedly entered his math class. Maybe he would be the only student who had an answer to the extra credit assignment! He would raise his hand, explain the answer, the teacher would be surprised because no student had ever before figured it out—not even other teachers!—and the girl he liked would be impressed. And Zack would be a hero. If only!

The teacher asked the class, "So, did anyone find the fastest way to add the numbers between 1 and 100?"

A couple people, including Zack, raised their hand.

"I'm impressed," the teacher said. He scanned the room. "Zack, would you like to show the class what you did?"

Zack smiled and walked to the front of the room, where he nervously scribbled numbers on the board.

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 = 45

"So you can add the first nine numbers, like this," Zack explained. He felt everyone watching him. What if, after class, the girl he liked came to him and told him he was smart? What if she said she liked him? That was going too far, but what if? "I found it really easy to start off adding just the single digits," Zack continued. "That way, you don't have to worry about adding double digits right away. I know it's kind of hard to calculate it in your head, but I believe this is the fastest way.

“Next, you add the next ten numbers.”

10 + 11 + 12 + 13 + 14 + 15 + 16 + 17 + 18 + 19 = 145

(Of course, it took him some time to mentally calculate this.)

"Then you can add 145 to 45, and you get. . . umm. . . let's see. . . 190. And you just keep doing this until you have added them all."

A couple of people giggled.

"Do you want me to keep going?" Zack asked the teacher.

"No—that's fine, Zack," the teacher said. "You certainly found a common way to add the numbers. Now. . . was anyone able to find an even quicker way?"

One boy raised his hand. "I found a way." He approached the board. Zack, upon realizing his method was not the fastest, walked back to his seat, slouching over his shoes.

"It's easy," the boy said. "You just do this."

1 + 100 = 101
2 + 99 = 101
3 + 98 = 291

"Oops." Three plus 98 didn't equal 291. The boy wrote again.

3 + 98 = 0.1109

He scratched his head. His face turned red. "What? I—don't understand," the boy said. He wrote the numbers intentionally this time.

3 + 98 = 101

". . . There."

Have you ever been sleeping in bed, drifting into a dream, when you suddenly wake, violently kicking your foot at the midnight air? That describes the students' reactions when they saw 98 change to 99. Some stood up in confusion.

"Am I going crazy?" the teacher said.

One girl shouted. "Look at the clock!"

Instead of numbers from 1 to 12, the clock displayed 13’s, 19’s, and 21's. The ticking of the hand was also outstandingly offbeat. Some students screamed. Others jumped out of their chairs. Zack could only stare.

The screech of feedback signaled the intercom system, and the principal spoke.

"Students and teachers, there is an emergency situation that we must inform you of. Due to a strange occurrence with our clocks and watches, school will be dismissed early today, and all students and teachers are asked to meet at the soccer field. The buses will arrive in fifty minutes and—wait, sorry. One thousand minutes. Wait. What's going on? I apologize. The school buses should arrive in—ninety-eight minutes—I can't say it properly! What's going on? Everyone, leave your classrooms immediately!"

As in a fire drill, the faculty, staff, and students marched onto the grassy field. Lines merged into crowds and order vanished. Teachers held signs with their classroom numbers, but these had also changed. Room 101 was Room 993, and Room 204 was Room -86.9.

"Zack!" Ryan ran towards Zack with a piece of paper and a pen.

"Man, what's going on?" Zack asked.

"There's something really wrong here." Ryan scribbled an equation.

1 + 1 = 60

"How does it equal sixty?" Zack asked.

"I don't know. I followed all the processes of solving equations. I tried 1 + 1 on my calculator—check it out."

1 + 1 = 4.7774452 E

A couple hours later, the students were home. Zack's parents had come home from work early, barely managing to endure the traffic jams. On every channel, frightened reporters reached a unanimous conclusion.

"Mathematicians are vague right now," the reporter said. "But they agree that something has malfunctioned in the mathematical universe."

A man with a white beard and thick glasses spoke in a Russian accent. "We do not understand how these numbers are functioning. You see, numbers obey laws, such as 'Pi equals approximately 3.14.' This is an elementary example, of course. But now, these numbers are not obeying the laws. One way to explain it is. . . 'revolution.' As I have observed, pi does not equal approximately 3.14 anymore. Each moment, pi equals a new, random number. It is remarkable, I must say. But pi is only one example of the aberrations occurring in the arithmetic realm."

The reporter turned to a woman, asking what effect this number revolution would have on the world. The woman replied very carefully.

"As we have seen already, in the few hours of this event, the entire world has changed. European banks are virtually empty, while Indian markets are increasing rapidly. And millions of citizens here in the U.S. have discovered their bank accounts empty. Our money is, potentially, worthless."

While she spoke, the screen displayed scenes of people running in streets and smashing windows, even firing weapons at other people.

She continued. "No one seems to know what has caused this, and no one has provided any solution yet. If numbers continue sporadically shifting like this, there may be little hope for humanity."

Normally, Friday evenings were fun. Zack's family would rent a movie and order pizza. This afternoon, though, Zack's parents were consumed by the news. As the day grew colder, TV stations shut off one by one. Zack's parents were dismayed to find no more channels operating. Zack went outside.

His neighborhood was always quiet, but now it seemed dead. No cars drove by, no ice cream trucks danced, no one jogged. Zack imagined a huge city. Would the skyscraper lights still be on? What about the license plates, the drivers' licenses, the calendars? Would technology still work? Would people still run around in their routines? Maybe this crisis was big enough to break even their patterns. Maybe the politicians and leaders from every country would be still, if only for a moment.

Zack did not notice that he had traveled to the edge of the neighborhood. Engulfed in his thoughts, he did not see the red orange caution sign. He walked into the forest. The rays of the setting sun fell gently through leaves and branches. As he walked, he did not see the slippery rock bulging from the ground. His foot slipped and Zack plummeted through mud and fallen leaves, knocking his head on the thick roots of a tree at the bottom of the slope.

Symbols, characters, lines, and strokes emerged. Amid the darkness, a small, star-sized point shone in the infinite distance, steadily approaching. Zack could not look away from it, and he was attracted, pulled in, until it wrapped itself around him. Everything was blank. Everything was new.


Wake up!—he heard a faint voice. Hey, wake up!

He couldn't open his eyes.

Hey, you! Wake up! Are you all right?

He could not feel anything, but he was able to think. Who are you? Where am I?

His last memory was of a former life—his name was Zack, yes, Zack. It seemed like a dream to him, now. The world was collapsing—yes, something about numbers. And he hit his head on a tree.

Who am I?

Don't be funny, 0.01 said. You are the number three!

Find out what happens next in Part 2!