4's Abduction
Up the Rabbit Hole
Images flickered in his mind of the current stopping. He wondered if this was what death is like. He couldn't move, or sense where he was, or even see what was happening. Yet, he felt himself being delivered from the water and onto the warm dry earth. He heard voices. Unfamiliar voices that sounded so near, yet a world away.
"What do you suppose these are?" said one of the phantom voices.
"I don't know." Another answered. "They kinda look like us. Are they alive?"
"Impossible. Nothing can survive in these lands."
"How do you explain us?"
"Good point."
"Hey look. They have strange marks on their backs."
"Not this one."
"This one looks like it had some patchwork done. So they must've 'been' alive at one time."
He tried to open up his optics to see where the sounds were coming from. But he could not feel any movement within his face or limbs.
"Maybe 'E' can tell us more of these two. If not give us a good story." said the second voice which sounded younger then the first.
"Yeah, but they all end in tragedy."
"At least it passes the night away"
"Come on. Let's get them dried off at least."
Even in his unconscious state he could sense something lift him up from the earth. His mind felt weightless though his body was heavy as lead. He could not tell if he was in some sort of afterlife, or was merely asleep in an impossible dream.
The sight of a black metal ceiling met his eyes. He blinked roughly as he tried to regain his focus. He quickly felt a tug pull against his burlap skin as his zipper was pulled down his body. Instinctively he pulled away from the invading force and jumped upward in his seat. Immediately, a set of strong metal hands pushed him back down.
"Stay down, or you'll hurt yourself more…" said a stern feminine voice.
9 turned his head to the one holding him, expecting it to be 7. Instead he saw a complete stranger. Similar to him in design, but this doll was sown with light brown fabric for the arms and legs. Darker cloth formed her body. A triangular patch of the lighter cloth was sewn in the chest area. Other differences he soon noticed was that this Stitchpunk had folds of fabric hanging from her sides strangely, and that a feather was woven into the stitches atop of her head.
Disoriented, he tried to rub his head. Instead his right arm lay limp at his side. He glanced between them in confusion.
"You were seriously damaged by the rapids." The other Stitchpunk said as she nudged him back down on the table, which was made from a broken cutting board.
"Wha… What happened? Where am I?" he asked worriedly. He now sensed that his legs were not working as well.
"In camp. I spotted you from the spring and 'C' dragged you all out." She replied as she turned her back to him briefly to put away a spool of thread that fell over when he woke up. "Don't worry about your limbs. 'B' will be with you shortly."
"Where are my friends?" he soon asked nervously.
"Outside, getting some sun. You were all soaked from the river. Luckily they only got a few tears." In the brief moment 9 noticed a mark on the odd Stitchpunk's back. Two lines leaning against each other with a third connecting them. The style of the mark was in a fancy styling. "Who… are you?"
The doll turned back to him, "The name is 'Amelia Abigale Airheart'. But everyone just calls me 'A'."
With his functioning left arm he rubbed his head to let the recent news soak into his brain. The others were still alive? And there were other Stitchpunks as well? How could all this be possible? Was someone else creating the dolls besides the scientist? Or was this doll created earlier?
Before he could concentrate further another stranger entered the room. "How's our third patient?" said a new light hearted voice from yet another female Stitchpunk. This one was much shorter then the first. No taller then 2 possibly, though the coiled wire cone atop of her head made her seem taller. She was primarily made with a dark brown cloth for the head and limbs, with a lighter fabric for the middle. A tiny copper colored button held fast to her left shoulder. But what caught his attention the most were the long bladed hands she bore. Long sharp blades also hung down from the cone in her head with the letter 'B' etched on the side. Immediately he pulled his zipper back up his frame, though he sensed his burlap skin would be useless against her touch.
She tilted her head to the side curiously while she watched him, "What?"
'A' roll her eyes and lifted a finger to her, "'B'… your gloves. "
The curious medic quickly glanced down to her deadly hands, "Oh! Sorry. I forget I have these on sometimes." She said this with such a casual laugh one would think she preferred to have sharpened hands. Nevertheless she unhooked the clasp on one hand with the blunt side of her claw and let the metallic glove slide off onto a nail in the wall. From the intimidating covers came much smaller hands with nimble fingers of copper.
For a moment 9 could almost relax, were it not for the long razor blades that still swung about atop of B's head.
Regardless of what he felt the medic neared him to examine his paralyzed limbs.
She smiled to him very sweetly, her now exposed hands were held closely to herself as though a touch beyond would shatter them. "I know it would be easier to treat if you were unconscious, but I need to know what works for you and what doesn't." With that she reached a hand to his limp one. "Tell me what seems to function."
After some physical tests they soon found that his limp limbs were not broken or taken apart roughly, only dislocated by their joints with no permanent damage to the wiry tendons. Throughout the process he suddenly felt as though he was in the Emptiness for the first time, with 2 tinkering with at his wires to give him a voice of his own. This young medic reminded him of 2, petite and sweet, childlike in nature yet very intelligent.
Her bright round eyes glimmered with excitement, "Looks like whoever made you gave you a fail-safe mechanism for your joints. So they only pop out and not break while you were knocked about in the water. Ingenious…" She then took a hold of his knee and swung the dangling leg about until an unsettle snap was heard from within.
9 winced, but at once he could move his leg and foot again. One by one his other leg and arm were snapped back into place and he was able to walk out into the sun, stumbling a bit on the uneven terrain. The heat of the sun quickly warmed his fibrous flesh,
"9!" 7's voice shouted as strong arms grabbed him from behind. He laughed happily, recognizing the sound and touch of her presence, "7!" Before he could turn to see her another set of arms grabbed him around his waist. Laughing he looked to see 3 holding him tightly.
From the doorway of the tiny clinic 'B' and 'A' watched the recovered Stitchpunks revel in their new lease on life.
"I can't believe there are more of us…" 'B' said excitedly, "And alive to boot."
"Maybe, but we don't know where they came from, or even who made them." 'A' said, a little more skeptical then her sister. "We best keep an eye on them, especially the men..."
You didn't think I would actually kill them did you?
FYI I'm putting '' around my oc's names to make them stand out a but more. The As were throwing me off a bit during proofreading.