Broken glass. Blood. Dripping fluids falling from the broken tube.
These are things no child should have to wake up to.
It's a shame something like this has to happen to a little boy, new to the world.
Trembling and scared, he looks around the lab. He seems to be the only one there.
Terror strikes the child as realization hits him: he is completely alone.
What to do? There's not much he can do. He feels like crying, but no tears come out.
It doesn't even feel like he has an eye.
Feeling his face for reassurance, his hand freezes on his right eye.
There's nothing there. Just a gaping hole.
The boy feels sick.
What else was wrong with him? Other than having no parents, of course.
Speaking of which, how did he know about any of this?
He doesn't care at the moment. He has other things to worry about.
The boy looks around for someone, anyone. Hoping that this might all be just a bad dream.
Broken machines litter the area, but nothing else occupies his vision.
He feels his empty eye socket with his fingers. The feeling is foreign, and it disturbs him quite a bit. He pulls his hand away before it starts to affect him too badly.
Questions filled his brain. What's my name? Where exactly am I?
He promises himself he'll look for answers eventually.
Right now, he has other things to focus on. Such as blending in with society.
And finding out who created him.
It's been one year since this child has been introduced to the world. Things have changed since then. He no longer cares about finding those responsible for his creation, although he promises he will make them miserable if he ever does.
He has picked a name for himself, as well. He is known as Dr. Chipotle, the mad scientist. He will make a name for himself in Miracle City, the filthy place he was born. He swears by it.
He has also been inspired to replace his empty eye socket with that of a robotic one, and to make use of his technology to gain a cyborg arm as well.
Going by Diego as a civilian, he passes by a restaurant downtown. Feeling hungry, he decides to step in and grab a quick bite.
He immediately regrets it upon seeing a young child with his parents.
The young boy is wearing a polka-dotted party hat, surrounded by other children his age. Two adults, one man and one woman, sit next to him and smile as he blows out six candles. The other children clap as the boy digs in, shoving a large piece of cake into his mouth.
Diego scowls at the ground, his anger bubbling over. Deciding it would be best not to make a scene, he leaves as quickly as possible.
He makes a point to slam the door as loud as he can.
Huddled next to his guacamole monster, Diego feels as if there is an emptiness inside him, growing every second.
His monster tries to run his fingers through the boy's hair, but the boy smacks his arm away, not wanting to be bothered or to have guacamole in his hair.
The idea of not having parents never bothered Diego until recently, when he started seeing more and more young couples with children. Maybe he always wanted parents since he was born, but pushed it away until it became too much to bear.
Either way, he longs for a guardian. Whenever he turned on the TV, he had felt a pang of jealously whenever he saw people hugging their parents. That same jealousy had extended to seeing them being patted on the back and congratulated for their accomplishments.
In his one year of living, nobody had ever said they loved him.
Maybe he would change that.
It would be simple to do. All he would have to do is clone himself and age the DNA. He would have instant guardians. A father to hug him and care for him and rob banks with him.
It sounded a bit too good to be true, but Diego still knew it was possible. After all, he was Dr. Chipotle! Or should it be Dr. Chipotle Jr, with a father involved?
It didn't matter. He would have a father, and that was all that mattered.
Having a father wasn't really what Diego expected.
When he cloned himself, he was hoping for a figure to look up to. Someone that would comfort him when he cried, who would tell him that he was proud of him and that he loved him.
So far, none of that had really worked in his favor.
Diego's father was always busy, working to create monsters to help him with his nefarious deeds. Sure, he admired that, but he wanted something more out of him than just someone to wreak havoc with.
Clearing his throat to signal the man's attention, Diego feels his father's menacing glare staring into him.
"Dr. Chipotle Sr. is busy. What do you want?"
"D-do you want to play a game with me?" Diego nearly curses at himself for stuttering.
His father merely scowls.
"Dr. Chipotle Sr. has no time for games. Go away."
He focuses back on his work, making sure that the boy will not distract him again by sending him to another room.
Slumping back against the cold, metal wall, Diego starts to weep. His cries are loud and harsh, his body trembling with sobs.
In the distance, he hears groaning from his father's lab area.
Diego doesn't care. The sobbing hasn't stopped in the slightest.
"Hey, nerd!"
Diego spins around, facing the bullies in the crowded hallway of Leone Middle School. Immediately after doing so, the tallest bully picks him up and forcefully shoves him against a locker.
He struggles against the taller boy's grip, while the two other boys snicker.
"Aww, poor nerd!" The three laugh as Diego continues struggling, his cheeks flushed red in anger.
"So much for a ten year-old in middle school! He can't even protect himself!"
He could very well protect himself! But he couldn't reveal his identity at school...
"Let go of me, right now!" His legs kick the air, but it clearly resolves nothing.
"We've got a nice locker picked out for you. It's kind of cramped, though. Hope ya don't mind!"
Opening the locker to his left, the bully shoves Diego in and slams the door. He bangs his fists on the door, sending the bullies into a laughing fit.
Hearing their footsteps retreating farther away, Diego sighs in defeat. This happens almost everyday, and he is still not used to it.
"Who are you?"
A high-pitched voice comes from below Diego. Looking down, he sees a brown set of hair.
"I have a big headache. Would you mind getting off'a my head?"
"This locker is really cramped, sorry," Diego replies.
After sitting in silence for a few minutes, the short boy below Diego finally speaks again.
"I'm'a Sergio."
"Diego."
More silence.
"Say, if'a we ever get out of here, do you want to come over to my house after school?"
Diego thinks about it, then nods.
"Sure, I guess."
To him, Frida is a blue-haired goddess. A rebellious sweetheart. A bag of surprises.
She is perfect.
And he promises she'll be his one day.
Diego knows Frida probably likes Manny, but he shouldn't be too hard to get rid of. He'll just make it look like an accident.
The thought makes him giddy.
He writes it down in his daily entries, how much fun he'll have with Frida when they're dating. Sergio would still be his friend, but he'd understand that Frida wasn't his.
Diego and Frida, Diego and Frida. That's all on his mind right now.
Smiling to himself, his guacamole monster plugs in the boy's night light and covers him up in blankets.
"Soon, my guacamole monster. Frida, and all of Miracle City, will be mine."
His monster pats him on the head, then turns off the lamp, shrouding the room in darkness, with the exception of the night light.
It's a good thing tomorrow is a Saturday. Diego has no time to be thinking about homework for a while.