CHAPTER 1
Night time was always silent. Of course the daytime didn't have much difference to it but most nights were completely without sound. Ever since the gas had killed all organic life the nights were no longer an active affair. Nothing flew, nothing chirped, and nothing moved... well almost nothing. Certain things did move but they were small and lifeless. They functioned like living beings but they did not live.
Well not all of them anyway. There were eight who did. They resided in the only safe place in the dying world. a ruined church. At the moment they all lay sleeping. But that was about to change.
1 was suddenly woken out of a sound sleep by a loud noise. He sat up, startled. It sounded like the noise came from inside his room. "Who is there?" he shouted into the darkness.
His demand was greeted with silence. He was alone after all. So then, where had the sound come from?
His bedroom door opened and 8 poked his head in. He looked worried. "You all right, boss?" he asked.
"Of course I'm all right," 1 slid out of bed and came toward him. "If I wasn't you would have heard screaming."
8 didn't reply for a moment. He seemed to be trying to process what 1 had said. "Either way that sounded like it came from inside," 1 went on. "Either a beast broke in or we have a different kind of intruder."
"Intruder?"
1 pushed past him and stepped into the hall without answering. He saw 7's bedroom door open and her head pop out. She was already gripping her spear, which told him she had heard the noise as well. When she spotted him looking her way she came out of her room and went toward him. "What was that noise?" she asked.
"We have an intruder," he replied, as 8 came back into the hall and stood behind him. The stitchpunk leader looked from one to the other. With them both here he felt a bit braver. "We must find the intruder and deal with it."
"How do you know it's an intruder?" 7 asked him.
He frowned. Of course 7 would chose to argue with him. "If you do not think it is an intruder then check the others bedrooms and see if any of them have left their beds," he suggested.
7 chose to do just that. She knew 2 sometimes stayed up late working on new inventions. She went from room to room, checking on the others. They all seemed to be sleeping soundly, Even 2, whose upper body lay sprawled over his work desk. When she returned to the others 1 was smirking.
"Was I right?" he asked.
She hated to admit it but she nodded anyway. No sense arguing with him about it further.
"Now that that's established we'd better find out what caused that noise."
7 looked at him. "You're going to look for it as well?"
1 looked at her. He saw a look of utter disbelief on her face. Of course she'd ask that. 1 wasn't the bravest stitchpunk in the sanctuary but he felt he should go with them and look. If only to give said intruder a lecture.
"1 it might be a beast," she informed him, hoping that would make him change his mind about searching. "It could attack you." If he did she'd have to focus not only on fighting the monster but making sure he didn't get hurt by it. He might be loud and bossy but he was no fighter.
"It's not a beast." he sounded so sure of himself.
How was he so sure of that? Did he know something?
"If it was a beast it would have come after us already." he went on. "But it has not." he headed down the hall toward the elevator. "Let's go. The sooner we find the intruder the sooner we can deal with it."
8 and 7 looked at each other then followed the older sttichpunk. Once all three were in the lift, 8 lowered it to the first floor then they all got out. 1 gripped his staff tightly. He'd remembered to grab it as he was striding out of his bedroom. It wasn't just something he used to establish authority, if he really needed to he could use it for a weapon, even if he wasn't a very good fighter. He looked around the dark sanctuary. 7 and 8 did the same, searching the shadows for anything out of place. None of the trio saw anything that looked suspicious but that didn't mean it wasn't there.
7 could sense a presense of some kind but she could pin point where it was coming from. She continued to scan the ruined room, hoping to spot something that would clue her in on where the sound from earlier had come from.
1 looked back at the two. "Let's go," he told them. "We won't find out anything standing here."
"Right boss," 8 said, nodding.
1 walked forward and 8 followed. 7 stood back a moment, putting some distance between herself and the other two. She gripped her spear and looked over her shoulder. Did she really see something moving behind the ruined pulpit? No, she had to be seeing things.
"7?" 1's voice brought her out of her thoughts. She turned back to them and rushed to join them. When she reached them 1 gave her a searching look. "Did you see something?" he asked her.
"No," she replied, shaking her head. "It wasn't anything."
"Hmmm." 1 glanced over her shoulder toward the pulpit but didn't see anything either. "Stay close. There is safety in numbers."
Who was he to give such advice? she wondered to herself. 1 was a coward and would probably run in terror the moment danger approached. But she didn't say that. She merely nodded and followed him and 8 as they began their search for the intruder.
A half hour later they still hadn't found the intruder. 1 became more annoyed as they search progressed. He'd been hoping to deal with this issue as soon as possible. He started to wonder if the intruder had left. Maybe it had gone the moment it had alerted them with the noise. He was beginning to think that was what had happened.
"It looks like it's gone," 1 finally said. He looked at 8 and 7. "Search a little longer." he started to walk away from them.
"Where are you going?" 7 asked him,
"To bed," he replied. he waved at her. "I trust you will find something." then he walked away.
7 glared at him. Of course he'd go back and dump it on them once he was sure he wouldn't have to do anything. She started to say something then saw 8 shaking his head and changed her mind. So now it was up to her and 8 to find this person if the person was still in the building.
8 put a hand on her shoulder. "Let's keep looking. Just one more room."
She nodded. " All right."
She followed 8 into the room that had once been the lobby. She looked around it, seeing nothing but broken plaster and shafts of moonlight. Just another empty room. "Maybe it did le-" a sudden noise cut off the rest of her sentence. she looked at 8. "What was that?"
"I don't know." he took his knife off his back. "But we had better find out." he took a step toward the place the sound came from. 7 followed, gripping her spear.
They'd nearly reached the spot when suddenly something popped out in front of them. 8 gasped and swung at it with his sword. The figure jumped out of the way and back flipped into a shaft of moonlight. Now they could see who it was. It was a stitchpunk. A short and skinny one with a hood.
"4?" 8 asked, looking surprised.
7 stared. It did look a little like 4. "4, is that you?" 7 asked then wondered why she was asking such a thing. Of course it wasn't 4. 4 wouldn't go anywhere without her brother.
Instead of answering the doll's eyes suddenly started flickering on and off rapidly, blinding both dolls. 8 grunted and 7 put her hands up to shield her eyes. When she did this something hit her from behind, knocking her forward. She lashed out instantly, barely missing a body that quickly flipped out of range.
8 blinked away the spots quickly. His vision cleared and he found them surrounded by four stitchpunks. "Huh?"
Two of the dolls moved quickly, rushing the warriors. 7 gripped her spear defensively. Something heavy slammed against the metal, jarring her hands and arms. When she tried to get a good look at her attacker another set of blinking lights blinded her. She yelped in surprise and covered her eyes which only gave the attacker a chance to slam into her.
Meanwhile 8 was having the exact same problem. Every time he tried to attack one another of the four would shoot off a spectrum of blinking lights that would blind him. Once he was blinded the other stitpuncks would go after him, knocking him back.
It didn't take very long for both 7 and 8 to be incompacitated. Once the two were no longer a problem the four figures took off, heading back inside the building.
1 was on his way back to the elevator. He was confident 7 and 8 could deal with the problem and he was looking forward to getting back into bed and sleeping the rest of the night. He was halfway to the elevator when a sound startled him. He stopped in midestride and looked over his shoulder. Nothing. He saw nothing.
"Hello?' he called.
No reply.
It must have been his imagination. He continued walking. He'd almost reached the lift when he heard the sound again. This time it was right behind him. He gasped and spun around, finding himself face to face with another stitchpunk.
"Who-" that was the only word he got out behind he was struck from behind and knocked unconscious. He fellt heavily to the floor.
"Well that was easy enough," said the one who'd struck him. His attacker stubbed 1 in the side with his foot. "He didn't even put up a fight."
"But is this even the one we're looking for?" another asked, frowning at the body.
"Lift his cape and we will see." a third commanded. "Better yet take that thing off. He won't be needing it where he's going."
The others quickly complied, taking off the broach and the cape and flipping 1 onto his stomach, revealing the dark 1 on his back.
"He's the one," the third stitchpunk replied, smirking. "All right. Let's get him out of here before the others come."
7 regained consciousness a short time later. She was instantly on her feet and looking for the four who had attacked them, but she saw nothing. No strobe light stitchpunks and no footprints to prove that they had even been there. She quickly awakened 8 who looked at her confused.
"What happened?" he asked, scratching the back of his head in confusion. "Where did they go?"
"I think they left," 7 replied. She helped him to his feet. "But I don't get why they were even in here or why they attacked us. What did they want?"
8 scratched his head more. He had no idea.
7 looked around again. "It seems they're gone now.." she looked at him. "Unless..." suddenly she took off as a horrible feeling filled her chest.
"7?" 8 ran after her, wondering what had caused her to run away so quickly. He followed her back into the sanctuary. She was headed toward the elevator but stopped short before she actually reached it.
"Oh no!"
"What?" he asked, coming up behind her.
She was looking at something lying on the floor. A familiar looking staff and red cape
'Those are 1's," 7 told him. She knelt down and picked up both items. "He never takes this off, even when he goes to bed. Why are they here?"
8 didn't answer. He took the items and stared at them.
Suddenly it hit 7. "Oh no!" she exclaimed running away from 8. She searched the entire room and ran back into the sanctuary. She looked horrified when 8 met her eyes. "What is it?" he asked her.
"They took 1!" she exclaimed. 'That's why they came here!"
8 stared at her, unable to understand what she meant. "They took 1?" he asked her. "Why would they do that?"
"I don't know," she replied, grasping her spear. "But we cant let them get away with it!"
The female stichpunk nearly went tearing out of the building but 8 prevented her from doing so by grabbing her arm. "Wait a minute. You can't go after them with the way you're feeling now."
"Why not?" she snapped. 'The longer we wait the further away they're going to get!"
8 didn't respond. He just held onto her arm until she calmed down and let her mind come up with the reason why her actions were foolish by herself. Finally she stopped struggling and looked at him. "So what now?"
8 didn't reply. He turned away and headed toward the elevator. She followed, not knowing what else to do. They both got back into the elevator and 8 pulled the crank and took them back to the floor with the bedrooms. On the way up, 7 looked out the windows at the ruined city. The intruders had gotten away and taken 1 with them. But where had they taken 1 and why? Why had they specifically targeted 1? What was so special about him? She didn't know and had no way of figuring that out. But maybe someone else could tell her something...
A short time later the elevator stopped and they got out. 8 headed right to 2's bedroom and stepped inside, walking up to him and waking him up.
"Huh?" 2 asked, blinking his optics. He looked up at 8. "Huh? 8? What is it?"
"We have a problem," the bigger stitchpunk replied.
"A problem?" 2 stared at him then got up and walked around the front of his desk. "What is it? Shouldn't we tell 1?"
"That's the problem," 7 replied, stepping into the room.
"Huh?" 2 blinked, confused. "What do you mean?"
So 7 and 8 told the him the story. From the sound that had woken them to the four stitchpunks that had attacked them to finding 1's items of power lying on the floor. 2 listened without asking questions, a troubled look on his face.
"I see," he finally said. For a moment he was silent, as he let their words sink in. He tried to figure out why 1 would be taken but nothing came to him.
It didn't really make any sense. Out of all the stitchpunks in the church the intruders had targeted 1. Was there something about the leader that had made them single him out? Did he have some special knowledge about something that they wanted? If so, why hadn't they just come during the day and asked him then instead of sneaking in and taking him away?
"What are we going to do about it?" a new voice spoke up.
Everyone looked toward the other door. 5 stood there. He'd been listening to the entire story. When he saw he had their attention he repeated his question. "What are we going to do about this? If they took 1 we have to get him back."
"Exactly," 2 replied. "We do have to bring our leader back."
7 didn' t respond. Part of her wondered if that was a good idea. Maybe they shouldn't bring him back after all. He was such a control freak. Then she mentally slapped herself. Of course they had to bring him back. They couldn't let some total strangers come in and think they could get away with running off with him. Even if she and 1 didn't get along she didn't want him dead.
"But how?" she asked him. "We don't even know where these people took him! He could be anywhere in the city!"
"Or they could have taken him out of the city," 2 replied. "which will only make finding him even harder." he looked from one warrior to the other. "Think for a moment; do you remember anything specific about your attackers?"
"Aside from the fact that they blinded us with flashing eyes?" 7 asked. "No. I didn't get a very good look at any of them except the first one and she looked a little like the twins."
"That's a start," 2 replied, writing it down. "Anything else?"
"They were rather small," 8 spoke up. "But they were agile." he thought a moment. Since he was taller he had been able to see more about the group than 7 had. "There were four of them and they looked like they might be two sets of twins."
"Twins?"
"Well they looked like twins." 8 shrugged.
"I hate to interrupt," 7 said. "But this doesn't really help us find 1 or give us any idea on how to bring him back."
"I know," 2 replied. "But every little bit of information helps." he looked at 7, 8, and 5 in turn. "even if it doesn't help us figure out where exactly he was taken it helps us spot the people responsible more easily."
"But it was dark," 7 told him. "I don't even know what color these people were!"
"But you know they were two sets of twins with the ability to flash their eyes like 3 and 4." 2 folded his arms and began to pace. "Since 3 and 4 live here and don't need to sneak around it tells us there are others out there with the same abilities. Which means..."
"What?"
"Which means there are more of us out there than we thought."
"You mean the scientist created more?"
"I don't think the man who made us is responsible for these new dolls."
"How do you know, 2?" 5 questioned.
"I just do," 2 replied. He looked at them all. "But who or why they were created isn't the issue here. We must find them and 1 and find out what this is about and why they took him."
"Yes, the sooner the better," 7 spoke up. "Who knows what they could be doing to him right now?"
"I do agree we must go after 1," 2 confirmed. "and we should start out as soon as possible."
"Yes," 7 agreed. "The longer we stand here talking the further away they'll get." she turned and started for the door but 2's voice stopped her. "Wait, 7! You can't go out alone!"
She looked back at him. "Fine." she glanced at 5. "You're coming with me.'
"M-me?" 5 asked, looking surprised.
"Yes," she replied. "Get your stuff and meet me at the elevator in a few minutes."
"Okay.." 5 left the room.
2 looked at her. "Why are you asking 5 to go with you?" he asked.
"Well for one his bow could come in handy and for another 1 might be damaged and thirdly." she looked at 8. "One of us should stay here and guard the others to make sure they're not attacked should these people come back."
"Oh." that sounded logical. 2 nodded. "But before you go." he reached into his desk and took something out then walked over to her and handed her a rolled up piece of paper. "You'll need a map."
"Thank you," 7 said, taking the map. 2 gave her a hug. "Good luck."
She nodded and stepped out of the room.
5 had already gotten his stuff and gone to the elevator. She quickly collected her skullmet and her arm guard then she joined him. They took the lift to the first floor then headed out. "Don't worry, 1. We'll find you."