Only my Greek-named stitchpunks are mine. The rest is Shane Acker's.
Prototypes
Chapter One: Meet and Greet
Gamma knew the body the instant she saw it slumped on the riverbank. It looked as if something had been attached to its lower half, as cloth had been stitched around its legs and roughly hewn off at the end.
The talisman in her hand began to pulse faintly, like a dying heartbeat, almost reaching for the water that lapped at the body. Curious, Gamma knelt down and plunged her hand and the talisman into the river. Immediately, a green light began to grow around the symbols engraved on its surface. She glanced at the limp stitchpunk at her side and back to her hand; she knew what she was doing.
The talisman came out of the water and Gamma gently undid the shoelace that held together the front of the body. There were three loose wires that fit perfectly into the back of the talisman. As soon as the last touched its socket, the glow spread down the wires into the dead mechanisms. The talisman suddenly shook and fell from her hand, losing connection with the wires as it did.
The body blinked.
Gamma hissed in surprise and scrambled backwards.
"Wait!" called the other, pushing himself up into a sitting position. "I'm a friend!" Gamma hesitated.
"You're 2," she whispered. He looked over his shoulder at the writing on his back.
"Yes, yes I am. Still. And you…?"
"Gamma." She turned so he could see the symbol on her back. 2's eyes widened in surprise.
"A letter!" he breathed, struggling to his feet. It was then that he noticed the skirt-like remnants of the cloth. Annoyed, he ripped the seams out and stepped towards Gamma, but she retreated. 2 stopped and studied her face closely.
"I was dead, wasn't I?"
She nodded numbly.
"Then why--?" he halted midsentence as his eyes fell on the talisman by the water. With a mixture of reverence, fascination, and fear, he picked up the object. The light was all gone now. He looked up at Gamma.
"Were there others like me?"
Nod.
"How many?"
"Four."
"Only four? Where?"
Gamma pointed towards the library, where the numbered ones stayed. They hadn't seen her yet, but she had seen them. She kept well away from their territory, ever since she had run into one of them.
"Alright then," 2 said, "Come on. We need to find them." He grabbed Gamma's wrist, but she resisted.
"What?"
"No. I won't go there."
"Why not?"
"7."
It was 7's turn to keep watch, though there was little to watch out for, with the machines gone. More accurately, it was alone time. Months had passed since the little ceremony with the talisman, but it still hurt, which was why they had thrown it away.
She sat on a rock, staring down the broken road. Many days, she would sit there, hoping that they would all come down that road and they could be a family again, yet she knew it was only wishful thinking.
"7?"
She knew that voice, but it couldn't be. She wouldn't dare to hope—
"2?" she called hesitantly. A figure stepped into the light and ran to throw his arms around her.
"But—but—" stammered 7, looking down at one she had though dead. A movement in the shadows caught her eye. 7 snatched up her spear, pushing 2 behind her defensively.
"7, don't," 2 warned, but she was already gone. She leapt and landed. There was a huff of pain.
"7!" cried 2, rushing over. She had pinned another, frightened stitchpunk to the ground, spear to her throat.
"Another one," 7 hissed. "These scavengers. I've caught two like this one before, looting 9's stores."
"7," 2 said, "let her up. She's the one who brought me back." 7 glared over her shoulder.
"This? They steal our supplies and slink around with weapons, and you just want me to let her go?" The newcomer took advantage of the distraction and slithered out from her grip, scrambling to her feet.
"Told you, 2," she said shortly. Before 7 could get her act together, the stranger had run off down the street. 2 shot a look at 7 that she couldn't read, and took off after her, leaving 7 blinking in bewilderment, wondering what she had done wrong.
"Gamma! Gamma, wait!"
2 caught up with her and grabbed her arm.
"What?" she growled, pulling away from his grasp. "You told me she'd be different and I believed you. She killed two of us—you heard her, and I remember Theta and Xi disappearing all that time ago, don't think I don't."
"What do you mean? Others?" 2 looked at her in concern.
Gamma glanced over her shoulder to make sure 7 wasn't following, and slumped down next to a broken pot.
"We were your prototypes."
Author's note: Thanks for reading this far! It's my first story out, but please review! I want to know what I'm doing wrong. It never made sense to me why the scientist would test out his new contraption on himself, and I had Gamma pouting in a corner for her own story, so I decided why not? You'll learn a little more about Gamma next chapter, but I need reviews!