Hidden Circuits

Prologue

Sunlight, stars, moonlight, sky.

I haven't seen any of these things for as long as I can remember. Part of me doesn't even know if I ever did see them, or if they're just something I remember hearing from the HCC workers or newcomers.

Leah Rosann Roberts. That's the name I was given at birth so I've been told by my older sister, Lola Tyler Roberts. Though, no one ever keeps their real name very long down here, hidden from the world. I was named LRR0002. Because I was the second one. The second 'prototype' as they call us twenty. All of us have been here since around the age of five or younger. All gladly given up by our parents who didn't want us. I recall being what most would describe as 'normal' until I was around nine or ten. Old enough that I wouldn't bleed out in a matter of seconds. That's when they did it. Gave me enough morphine that I wouldn't pass out from the pain and carved away my arm and both of my legs. Replacing them with faulty pieces of metal that hardly worked. Five of us twenty died as result of the faulty equipment.

Years passed. Every year or so my limbs were replaced. When I was fifteen was the first time I remembered being able to properly use them. Being able to feel with them. It was an amazing experience, even if I knew they weren't real limbs. For the first time in years, I was able to walk normally and touch, and feel. I think I may have even cried that day.

Sixteen. They planted a chip in my brain, the part that controls my motor functions. Another that can seize control of me or deplete my emotions temporarily if need be. Lola didn't take to well to the chips, they... Changed her. Lola was no longer the same big sister I had once known. She may have been alive, but to me she was still dead. She didn't talk anymore except about things I no longer understood. She'd hurt herself a lot of the time. Officially, six more died as result of the chips. Nine of us now left.

Eighteen. Four of us dead from disease. Hair dyed unnatural colors to make us look more robotic, mine being a dark violet. A training accident when it came to us learning how to fire guns, for those who would be sent off to join the police force if interested. The accident resulted in the loss of most of the left half of my face after a bullet bounced off another's arm and slammed into me. The side of my face was replaced with robotic parts and a unnaturally electric blue eye.

Twenty-one. Our masters actually let the four of us still alive, after the fifth, Ciara committed suicide. The brief moment of almost fun didn't last long though. At the end, two of us were marked as 'Errors'. Basically, we were the failed prototypes. The ones who they'd made all the mistakes on and just couldn't be used to be sent out into the real world again, to act as if nothing ever happened.

I was one of the Errors. The brand of Error0002 was burnt into the flesh of my left arm, making that the second one. The first being the large brand of 'property of the HCC' burnt into my back, stretching from one shoulder to the other. The other was Lola. Who'd been pretty much broken for years and years. Timothy and Zeharia were the two who passed. Who had their robotic parts covered by artificial flesh and were released from the underground construction lab. Lola was tossed into one dark room and I was tossed into the other. We were given very specific instructions on how the rest of our lives would be spent.

Awaken. Complete the Tasks. Recharge. Repeat. Those four steps became all my life was. We were the two who did tasks down to help the engineers. As more people were brought in. Older ones had their memories wiped clean, and more children sold illegally to the company had it seared into their brains from the start that it wouldn't be pretty if they let anyone know what was going on in these dark, steel corridors. The company opened. Known for releasing robots that acted completely human while exceeding human capabilities. Right before being released, and 'robot' had their memories altered if they recalled any time when they were human. They believed truly and deeply they were robots, and so did the rest of society.

Then here we are. My sister and I doomed to walk these dark corridors until the day where God takes us away from this cruel life. Perhaps showing us a more merciful one. For now, this will be how I live. How I will likely live my entire life.

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Thank you for reading! I will attempt to update this story every Friday or Saturday, though I may miss an update if something in my personal life comes up. For now, please comment and vote if you think this story is good! I really do appreciate it <3

Have a wonderful weekend!