Chapter 2: Kindred Souls

Hey guys! I've decided that for the time being I'm going to focus solely on this story. Mainly because I've actually got a decent idea of what I'm going to do for the next ten or so chapters. Usually my planning of a story goes as far as knowing how I'm going to start, end and some events in the middle. Also, I've decided to actually start doing chapter titles (this'll be confusing for newcomers, but the second chapter basically got a title before the first)! Or at least try to. I'll still have like a 'song of the chapter' or something. Because I believe that you can know more about a person if you know what they listen to and I want to get close to my readers. Not like intimate, but well acquainted. So this chapter's feature song is Houdini by Foster the People. From 90s rock to whatever you want to define Foster the People as. Alternative indie? Good enough. Stick around though and you'll find that you might learn a few things about music. Like whole genres ;)

I followed Mother as she led me through a winding path. While this new area that Mother revealed was much bigger than the one that I had awoken in, it still felt cramped. It also all seemed so… unnatural. From the hard surface that lined everything to the lack of odors or sounds. I really wanted to run. To explore. To find new things. But I had to stay with Mother so I could meet my 'brothers'. Brothers. Brothers were a new thing. New things were exciting.

I noticed Mother stop before a noticeably different part of the surface. She took something out of her outermost layer and put it into something colorful, where it disappeared. I had never thought that Mother's first layer could be used for storage. It seemed rather useful. The colorful thing spat out the object she had grabbed and emitted a chime. Then, a space opened up which Mother walked into. I followed after her, only to find myself back in the area where we left. How had we ende-

My thought process came to a crashing halt as I noticed a third being in this room. It was staring at me as well. It… it looked like me. Its body looked exactly like mine. But it wasn't me. It couldn't be me, right? I was here and it was there.

"03, this is 02. 02, this is 03. You two are brothers, so I do hope you get along with each other," Mother's voice pulled me away from the other creature. Who was my brothers? No, brother. Singular. But mother had been talking about it in a plural sense.

I then noticed that the other creature had begun to approach me and I tensed. What was it going to do? After I tensed, it slowed its approach but still continued until it was face to face with me. Part of me told me that it was planning on harming me so I should attack it first, while another was saying that attacking a brother wasn't right. Almost like hurting Mother.

"You…" It rasped out, almost startling me into action. It seemed surprised at its own voice… which sounded exactly like mine. "You look like me."

"... Yes, you resemble me as well," I replied, a bit nervously. Its proximity to me was still unsettling.

"You even sound like I do… what are you?" It asked. I decided that it was a male like me since everything else seemed so familiar. Though, his question caught me by surprise.

"I am not entirely sure. All I know is that I find my appearance to be… odd," I answered.

"I was having similar thoughts," he said.

"Aw look at you two getting along so well," Mother said, drawing both of our attentions. "You two better behave yourselves while I go and get your brother."

"Miss Lusamine, you can't be serious about leaving them alone!" The disembodied voice appeared once again. "At least wait for me to call down a few employees to- and you left. Gods, this company…"

"You hear it too, don't you?" The other being asked me. What had Mother called him? Ohtoo? And she had called me Ohthree?

"The voice that doesn't belong to a person?" I asked him.

"Oh good. I thought I had been the only one," he replied. I nodded. "Why do we look so alike?"

His question caught me by surprise.

"I don't know why. I assume it's because we're brothers, as Mother said," I guessed. He seemed a bit unsatisfied with my answer.

"What is a brother?" He continued.

"I assume it's something or someone that look the same," I answered. Ohtoo paused as he stared at where Mother had left.

"Do you trust Mother?" He asked, once again, taking me by surprise.

"Of course I do," I said. He didn't answer immediately, which prompted me to question why he had asked. "Do you not?"

"No, I do," he replied, looking back at me. "Something just… doesn't feel right."

Before I could further question him, the outer area of the domain opened up once again. Mother walked in… with another creature that looked like Ohtoo and I.

"And he was worried that they'd do something. 01, this is 02 and 03. 02 and 03, this is 01. You're all brothers!" Mother exclaimed. Ohwon? "Oh, why stop here? Branch Chief Fuji, are you listening?"

"Of course Miss Lusamine, what would you like?" The voice popped up again.

"Could you get my son and daughter, I'd like for the whole family to meet," Mother said.

"Your son and daughter? Are you sure about that, Miss Lusamine? We haven't yet conduc-"

"Branch Chief Fuji," Mother interrupted, her new tone sent a shiver down my spine. "Do I need to remind you who your boss is?"

"... No, Miss Lusamine. I'll ensure that your son and daughter arrive shortly," the voice said.

"Thank you, Branch Chief Fuji," Mother said.

There was no audible response.

"Hm… we'll need to think of proper names for you three though. Oh! I know. We'll name 01, Prime. 02 can be Dawn and 03 can be our little Alpha."

And that was how I met my family.

And that's where we'll end it! So, I know this be a little confusing but there's a reason why the branch chief isn't Faba. It'll be explained eventually. Probably. Anyway, I'll try to keep this end note short since my opener was huge. But I need to thank Vaettir, x-Lady Nova-x, AnimeFan4Eternity and sarahxcrawford for the follow and favorites! Means a lot to me. Makes me almost think I'm a decent writer and creator. And the reviews! Holy heck. Thanks so much for those! I'm glad this was well-received (by my standards at least). And to the two guests, if you want to read more then I suggest getting an account so you can favorite/follow so you know when I update immediately *subtly winks*. This was short… ish. My notes might be longer than the actual story -_-' There'll be longer chapters, I promise.