Backstitch

Chapter 12

Lou watched helplessly as the machine picked up cage after cage and carried the dolls to the recycling. He was supposed to protect them and couldn't even do that. He glared at his copy, "What did Greyson do to you? Prototypes shouldn't be this self-aware already!"

"He made me better," Lou proudly fidgeted with his suit cuffs. "There's no way for me to make a mistake if I already know everything. I know hideous things must be destroyed. I know I'm responsible for training the new dolls. I know I don't want to go to the Big World...." He trailed off, eyeing the original.

"So, he brainwashed you, is that it? He's convinced you that you know everything and that you're serving your ultimate purpose by being here."

"Don't make it sound so cruel," Lou chuckled and sauntered up to the cage. "As perfect as I am, why would I allow a child to ruin me? And why should I hold back my knowledge from other dolls? You turned out selfish. Holding everyone else back just because you wanted to leave. What kind of leader does that?" The original stayed quiet, eventually looking away. "Exactly. I'm the better you. Selfless, perfect, obedient—"

"You're a slave to this system just like I am," Lou hissed. "Don't act all high and mighty. You follow orders only because Greyson will destroy you the second you start thinking for yourself."

"Then maybe you shouldn't have started doing things your way," the copy leaned in close, a dangerous glint in his eyes. "Every prototype has a job, and it's not for you to negotiate. You knew exactly what the consequences would be for stepping out of line, yet you did it anyway. Mr. Everett should have disposed of you a long time ago."

"You're murdering innocent dolls!" Lou stomped his foot down. Another cage was lifted and taken to the recycling.

"That's our job, Lou," he stepped back from the cage and smiled at the imprisoned spectators. "We have to keep the system flawless for the company. You know where you went wrong, Lou?" He gave a chilling smile to the blonde, "You got attached. You fell in love with the dolls more than the job. And that right there is a death sentence for a prototype. It makes you slip up and allow imperfections into our world," he sent a glare to Ox and the other Uglies. "It makes you bend the rules for the unfortunate," he turned to Mandy, Nolan, and a few other Pretty Dolls that didn't quite meet the standards. "The system has no room for love, Lou. Not for a prototype. If you'd understood that and accepted it like you were supposed to, maybe you wouldn't be in this mess."

Something shifted, and Lou looked up to see one of the claws clasping the top of their cage. It lifted them into the air and over to the pipes. "We'll see each other soon, don't worry!" His copy called up to him. "You'll be brand new!"

You'll be perfect.

It was all happening. The nightmares were unfolding right before his eyes. The only difference was that there were more screams around him as other dolls were subjected to the same fate. A fate they didn't deserve. All they were doing was living out their purpose in life...he was the one who had tried to change his future. And now they were all paying the consequences for it.

The conveyer belt had been reprogrammed at a higher speed. The second their bodies were dumped out of the cage, they were practically thrown into the furnace. Lou instantly reacted, scrambling to his feet and running toward the wall. There was no way to climb up to the pipe, but whatever time he could buy himself would have to do. The Spy Girls were already running in place to stay ahead of the machine. Another female doll tried to do the same, but her foot got caught on a string wound around one of the troughing idlers beneath it. She screamed and fell, desperately trying to pull her foot out.

Lou watched as she got closer to the machine. Kitty looked back to the girl, "It's too fast! We'll die before we get to her!" She called Lydia and Tuesday, who were debating if they should help or not. They were all gasping for breath, barely staying alive themselves.