Workers

* Cleanup Worker
* Nurse

Workers are individuals that are confined within the facility and who work there doing particular jobs, akin to slaves.

## About

Workers usually stay in the background, largely unseen aside from when they clean up rooms after visits. Throughout the story, they are shrouded in mystery since their first major appearances to Ten in Chapter 8 and Chapter 16 until around Chapter 62, where Lucius explains the truth behind the Workers and their strange behavior

## Appearance

They generally wear protective clothing (specifically masks to cover the face and throat) to protect them from the anesthetic that gets regularly distributed in the rooms.

There are two types of Worker (see *Types* below). While each type of Worker dresses a particular way, they all dress to completely conceal any inch of their skin. Workers who go room-to-room for cleanup often dress in standard personal protective clothing, with hooded coats, and thick black boots and gloves. Workers who have a role leaning more toward being general assistants tend to be female, and they will dress more openly, with puffy-sleeved and hooded short dresses that loosely resemble traditional nurse attire, white boots, and short white latex gloves. Any visible limbs are covered in black cloth.

Workers also wear a different kind of mask to indicate their role. The former wears a standard mask with two lenses and two filters, while the latter has a more open and unified lens. All masks worn in the facility have an opaque lens, with Workers' lenses being grey, and lenses in masks used by The Overseer or Lucius having a red color.

## Types

Workers in the facility fall under two major categories and one minor, each with their own purpose and designated areas. For some kinds of Workers, mobility across the facility is necessary, and they will travel to different sectors. Other Workers remain in designated areas, or are only summoned upon need. Nonetheless, their overall treatment and expectations placed upon them are largely similar.

Monica reveals in chapter 90 that there are at least five nurses, so it is likely that there are also five workers too.

### Cleanup Workers

Cleanup Workers, often given the title C# depending on their number, are seen in different sectors of the facility, and are the ones more likely seen by the prisoners underground. While they must remain in the shadows, they've been reportedly seen by a few Numbers, and especially Ten throughout the story.
It is unknown whether the cleanup Workers also operate aboveground. However, while underground, they are delegated to a variety of tasks such as cleaning up exam rooms or bedrooms after visits, ferrying (usually unconscious) Numbers around to different parts of the facility, working in the infirmary areas, and cleaning up dead bodies.
Ten first saw a Worker after her visit with Micah, and a Worker could also later be seen carrying Eight to the showers in Chapter 33. Workers have also been seen just prior to and during Ten's confinement, as she was brought to The Overseer's room by a few and later met new Workers while confined. As for the dead body cleanup, this has only been seen a few times, the first being when Workers were summoned to fetch Jay after she was shot by Lucius.
### Nurses

Nurses, given the title N# depending on their number, are usually more hidden and exclusively stay in designated areas away from recreational areas in any given sector. Usually, they're seen working as assistants in areas of the facility where no prisoner is likely to go (at least not while conscious).
Nurses are only seen in story when Ten wakes up too early from the effects of the anesthetic after her first injection. Once she has met at least one, she starts seeing them more often, especially during her confinement to The Overseer's room.
Nurses only appear to help the doctors with medical examinations and procedures, and basic assistant tasks (such as handing over tools and medication, or likely moving equipment between rooms). It's not clear what other purpose they serve, if any.
### Chefs

Chefs, abbreviated as CH, are Workers delegated to the kitchen within the cafeteria. To keep them in the dark, they're locked behind a door, with their only interaction with other prisoners being through the cafeteria counter where the chefs can distribute food. More than likely, they have a place beyond the kitchen behind that door and away from the main cooking area, where they have a place to sleep.
It is unknown how many chefs there are, though the only one known in the story currently is Charlie. Not much is known about chefs otherwise, as most information garnered through a cautious Charlie is minimal. However, it's evident that, like all Workers, chefs get replaced once their ability to serve their function decreases with a Red Valentine addiction. Only once has this been documented to have happened in the story, as seen in Six's journal.
## Induction

Lucius usually oversees all the Workers as a part of his responsibilities (though they also answer to The Overseer as well). They are brought into the facility via kidnapping just like the other prisoners, and immediately undergo physical and mental abuse to keep them in line.

### Selects

Workers appear to be taken from the outside, though Lucius curiously mentions a group called the "Selects" when discussing replacing C1 (see *Notable Workers* below) after his death. Nothing is known about this group, but it seems to be another established group of people that Workers can be picked from for replacement as well. In story, Ten only ponders whether this group is simply one full of people Lucius intends to kidnap, or if it's an established underground group.
## Treatment

### Addiction

The Workers are usually conditioned during their early days, often "promised pleasure" that is given via Red Valentine, a highly addictive pleasure drug that heightens sexual drive. While harsh abuse is doled out on Workers, dosages of the Red Valentine which give them instances of intense satisfaction and relief from their woes becomes something to look forward to. Because of the addictive nature of the drug, the Workers become highly dependent on it to a point that they will put up with abuses knowing they'll get consistent doses for regular obedience.
Newer Workers tend to be more rebellious and resistant before this addiction phase, and may simply only respond or comply due to the physical abuse Lucius lays out to keep them in line until they become more compliant. Once the addiction phase is reached, Workers will do anything for more doses of Red Valentine.
As Lucius describes it, this is a system to garner "*artificially induced loyalty.*" However, as a side effect of repeatedly taking the Red Valentine, their physical and mental states deteriorate irreparably an until their deaths. Workers are continuously brought in to replace the previous one and the cycle continues.
### Voice Removal

Sometime between when they're taken in and put to use, a Worker's ability to speak is removed. Prior, the Workers were scared into silence while keeping their voices, but The Overseer found that as they descend into their Red Valentine addictions, Workers would start making inhumane noises which annoyed him enough to fix the issue.
Workers may have their voices removed in a few ways, either through nerve damage, the removal of particular parts, or perhaps through irritating or damaging drugs. Lucius has stated that Workers may have a hard time breathing, and that in the worst case require a stoma in their necks (likely meaning that there's procedures such as a laryngectomy done to Workers sometimes). However, he also states that having to deal with these devices is a nuisance (especially considering how incapable more addicted Workers are), so those who require this maintenance don't last long. No Workers in the main story seen by Ten appear to have a stoma.
### Sexual Abuse

Due to Lucius' urges, it is highly hinted that he sexually abuses the Workers on top of his usual physical abuse. Given that the Workers become sex-addicted and mindless, he can more easily take advantage of their urges to fulfill his own. He has been said to try keeping his abuse of the Workers as private as possible, however, knowing that his boss doesn't like that he does it.
### Recycling

It has also been revealed that if any doctors are proven of no more use (due to behavioral difficulties, unnecessary work, or rule-breaking), or if the prisoners still have some use after their purpose as "guests", they are converted into Workers. Their memories of their time at the facility are wiped with Mnemosyne, and their bodies are pumped with Red Valentine until their inevitable deaths.
This occurrence has only been mentioned once, through Lucius' recounting of Richard Lafayette. Him becoming a Worker was considered a punishment for his disobedience, since he attempted to protect Jade by hiding her pregnancy.
### Death

In the story, it's been mentioned in the background that Workers have died. While Ten is confined to The Overseer's room, she witnesses one death of a Cleanup Worker, and overhears of a Nurse's death.
Like with other prisoners or unruly doctors, Workers are merely discarded and forgotten upon death, likely if there is no significant note in reports made by Lilah (who oversees mortuary matters). It's not currently known which Workers are dead.
## List of Workers

Some workers are more notable and involved than others, with a few only being mentioned or glimpsed. It is difficult for both Ten and the reader to fully keep track of who is who unless the worker is specifically named.

### C1

C1's history is unknown, but he was likely a general Worker before his appearance in Chapter 62. He was on his "last leg" when he was brought into The Overseer's room by Lucius to explain to Ten what the Workers were, and to demonstrate his use of the Red Valentine drug on them. However, as payment for pushing for information, Lucius subjects a restricted Ten to a Red Valentine-induced C1, and she continuously takes his use of her until his body slows down and he can no longer keep going.
After stopping, Lucius grabs C1 and throws him off of Ten, then shoots him point blank in the back of the head.
### N3

N3 was assisting Nathaniel when he was examining Ten after her injection, and was the first Nurse Ten ever saw. She was mostly in the background while Lucius and Nathaniel spoke. Monica later describes her as a "reserved girl" who may well be hooked on Red Valentine already since she is always so eager to carry out her tasks.
### N4

N4 makes her first appearance in Chapter 61, when she follows Lucius and Ten into an examination room to inspect her bleeding. When Ten tries to protest and tell N4 not to take abuse, Lucius makes N4 raise her arms for him, and punches her to make an example of her. Ten begs him to stop and Lucius turns to strike Ten, but N4 grabs Lucius' arm, thus showing an empathy that Workers are usually expected to be void of.
Throughout Monica's examination of Ten later on, N4 is prompt and quick to fetch items for Monica, even before she asks for them. Ten becomes suspicious of Monica's connection and strange introduction into the facility when Monica addresses the nurse by her designation despite it not being mentioned beforehand.
Monica speaks positively of N4, but says she is too kind for her own good. This likely explains her sympathetic behaviors toward Ten.
### N5

Briefly appeared in Chapter 67 to help The Overseer look after Ten in recovery upon waking from anesthesia. Monica says while she is kind, she is more diligent than N4 about doing her duties without question.
### Other

* N1: Said by Monica to be "sweet and clumsy" with "impeccable will" She was likened to Ten.
* N2: The former N2 is said to have been colder and harsher with her experience in the facility, while her replacement is newer and still learning her place.
* C2: Unknown
* C3: Unknown
* C4: Unknown
* C5: Unknown

## Trivia

* Although Nurses are referred to as "Workers", the term tends to get used in story to imply the Cleanup Workers rather than the Nurses, since the existence of the latter is not known for a while. In general, the term "Worker" is collective.