you were everything

The Robot Meets an Unfortunate End

☂ eat your porridge ☂ 

Many years prior....

"Do it now, Number Eight," Dad commands, his voice sharp. He claps his hands, pointing at the solid concrete wall.

I move quickly, tearing through it with a fluid motion of my arm, the dust swirling and crumbling to the floor in a silent cloud.

"Again."

I grit my teeth, stepping over the wreckage to face the next wall. And then the next.

Each one disintegrates under my touch, turning to nothing but ash, and still, he watches, unmoved. No matter how many walls I tear down, Dad always rebuilds them—brick by brick, stone by stone. The exercise never ends.

It's a tedious cycle, time-consuming and pointless.

"Good," Dad says flatly. "I shall see you tomorrow."

I freeze, my chest tight. "Wait!"

He pauses, hand on the doorframe, monocle gleaming in the dim light. "What is it, Number Eight?" His voice is laced with impatience. "Do you wish to practice another drill?"

"No," I say quickly, shaking my head. "When can I meet the others?"

Dad's expression hardens. "I've already told you. It's too dangerous. Your powers are... unpredictable."

I stare at him, pleading. "Please. I don't want to be alone here anymore."

"You're not alone," he says, his tone dismissive, but then a strange glint enters his eyes. He makes a sweeping gesture toward the door. "Come. There's someone I'd like you to meet."

I tilt my head in confusion. "Who?"

A woman steps into the chamber. Tall and slender, her hair cascades in perfect ringlets, and her smile stretches across her face with unnerving brightness.

"This is Grace," Dad says, his voice carrying a strange finality. "You will address her as... Mom."

The word hangs in the air like a foreign object. The woman's smile widens, but her eyes hold something distant, something cold.

"Hello, dear," she says, her voice smooth, but strangely mechanical. It's both soothing and deeply unsettling at the same time.

This is it—the prototype. Not the Grace the others knew, the one who would smile and laugh with them. No. This is the first Grace, the one Dad built to take care of me, the outcast.

She isn't real.

I take a step back, my pulse racing. "I don't like her," I whisper, my voice trembling. "I want real friends."

Dad's expression tightens, and his voice rises, sharper than before. "That won't be possible." His words are final, a decree. "One more word, and no supper."

"Please," I beg, the words catching in my throat. "I don't want to be alone."

Dad's eyes flash, and for a moment, I think he might snap. But instead, he gestures toward Grace, and her smile never falters.

"We're here for you, sweetheart," she says, her head tilting in that unnerving way. She takes a step forward, her movements fluid but too precise, like someone reading from a script. "We can have fun together."

Fear clenches my chest as she inches closer. My heart races, and I press my back into the cold wall. Something about her is wrong, so wrong.

"Please..." I whisper, almost pleading with her to stop.

But she doesn't. She reaches out, her arm creaking with the sound of metal against metal, and it makes my skin crawl.

Dad stands in the corner, his pen scribbling rapidly on his notepad, his face a mask of concentration. "She will not do for the others," he mutters under his breath, frustration creeping into his voice.

I barely hear him. I only see Grace—too close now, her hand hovering just inches from my face.

"No!" I shout, a surge of panic ripping through me. I raise my arms instinctively, a reflex, to shield myself.

But my power reacts out of control. A shockwave bursts from me, and the next thing I know, Grace is sent flying across the room, crashing into the wall with a sickening thud. The sound of tearing metal fills the air.

I stumble back, horror crawling up my throat as a shard of metal flies toward me, slicing deep into the inside of my right thigh. The pain is sharp, but it's nothing compared to the emptiness in my chest.

I look down, watching as the blood pools on the floor, and then it hits me:

I've done it again.

I've proved Dad right.

My powers are erratic..