EEJones Here. 9 does not belong to me, I'm just a fan of the movie.
Prologue
It's almost funny when you think about it. All that hard work the inventor went through was in vain. After all, humanity is constantly wiping themselves out and having to start all over again. It's a cycle that's existed since the beginning of time, and one that the inventor's struggles could not change.
It only took a couple thousand years for life to be back at a relatively similar pace to where it had been before the machines took over. Sure, some things were different. Countries had names that were spelled a little different, certain people hadn't been reincarnated for one reason or another. It was all very small in the grand scheme of things.
The only large and rather jarring problem with the world was the nine.
They were all broken fragments of a single soul. Where there should have been one brilliant man stood nine. If the inventor were any other man, this problem would have been ignored. There are so many fleeting lives that it is pointless to focus on just one. The inventor, however, was the catalyst. He had been the catalyst since the world first destroyed itself.
While it's certain that humans would find some other way of destroying themselves, there was a definite unease as the nine children grew up.
Life was a cycle, kept in place by a delicate balance. Such a tiny mistake had never existed before, and the results remained to be seen.
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They had been given human names, of course. A parent does not name their child after a number, no matter how free-spirited they may be. The numbers came from the forum. Two, as he would later be known, had come across it entirely by accident. He was looking up ways to fix his father's car when he clicked on the wrong link.
The only post had been created two weeks ago by a man who called himself One.
One
I am the first, I am One. I am the leader of this forum and all shall obey my rules.
There was no sign of any other members. Two felt slightly bad for him, and made an account so he could post a reply.
Two
Greetings! Since I'm the second I'll be Two, yeah?
He opened up another tab and continued looking for ways to fix the car. When he found them he was about to turn off the computer, but decided to refresh the forum. Just in case. To his surprise, One had already replied.
One
I would assume even an imbecile would know what number comes after One.
Two, shocked and determined to defend his honour, never did get around to fixing his father's car that day.
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They had talked for weeks before any other members joined. One would complain about idiots arguing with him in class, and Two would discuss his inventions. One always had some helpful suggestion, and though they were usually wrong, Two knew better than tell One that. He usually just promised to keep them in mind and let One think he was grateful for the help.
The next member was Seven. Though One was upset by the disruption of his number order, Seven refused to take the number three since seven was luckier. Two tried to console him by assuring him that 3-6 would show up eventually and things would be in order again.
Two wasn't really sure why Seven remained in the forum. Every conversation she started with One ended in a fight. Though Two got along with her well enough when they weren't discussing One.
Next came Three. He lurked more than anything, though Two had noticed he had small conversations with Seven. It wasn't until Four joined that he got more than two words out of the man. Four and Three just seemed to click. They had long and seemingly meaningless conversations which irritated One, since he wanted to be at the centre of every conversation.
The forum had begun to lose its splendour. One and Seven argued. Three and Four didn't like talking to anyone but each other. Every conversation Two had with Seven or One resulted in one ranting about he other. Two was debating leaving the forum until Five joined.
Five was a lurker like Three, but he chose to cling to Two instead of Four. Once he got the boy to open up they talked about everything from inventions to literature. Though Five didn't seem to have all the knowledge of mechanics that Two did, he was willing to learn and Two delighted in teaching him.
Six joined under everyone's noses. It wasn't until his pictures starting floating around that anyone took notice of him. He received many compliments on them and Two saved most of them in a folder on his computer. He rarely spoke, just posted a picture and then disappeared until the next one appeared.
Eight was the final member, and it seemed as if no one else was going to join. Eight was loud and brash and delighted in mocking the others. He and One seemed to get along surprisingly well, and when they teamed up to bully someone it usually resulted in tears.
Things went on like this for almost two months. Then, without warning, Four and Three slipped away. No one knew where they had gone. There had been no goodbyes, just a week went by with no new comments or posts. Two wanted to believe they were just busy, but something told him he wasn't going to hear from them again.
Seven's exit had been a much bigger affair. A fight with One had gone too far and resulted in her deleted account. He had made some comment about women and she had insulted his manhood and Eight had jumped in and before Two knew it, he was left alone with just Five and the ever elusive six for company. He had never gotten along with Eight and One had ceased to be fun to talk to.
It wasn't until Nine joined that things started getting interesting again.