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Nicholas never understood what was so great about this world. It had never given him anything meaningful in his whole life. He had been an accident, he wasn't meant to be born. His mother, only sixteen at the time he was born, had done him the favor of placing him on the doorstep of some church. It showed him how much she had wanted him. Nicholas hated her.
He wasn't the only child who had resided at the church. There were others, mostly orphans or children abandoned by their parents. Yet not a single one of them came near him. They avoided him like the plauge. And the nuns who cared for him showed only disdain towards him. Nicholas hated them all as well.
Not even love was kind to him. On Sundays, during the seminars held by the pastor, a young girl by the name of Marissa and her family, which comprised of her two brothers and father, would be present. She was beautiful, and he could see that. He wanted to make her his. But every attempt he made ended with Marissa saying she wasn't interested. One day, he noticed that she came with someone else, a young boy. To his chagrin she had fallen for some wimpy, little, Autistic artist. How someone as beautiful as her, could fall for someone like that confused him to no end. Out of everything, Nicholas hated the artist most of all.
Nicholas hated the world around him, for the world hated him. Even as it was changing with the advancements in machines, it refused to give Nicholas a single bit of pity.
One Sunday, as the seminar ended, a strange man wearing a hat walked up to Nicholas. He remembered seeing this man before. A few weeks prior, this same man had taken a boy named Andrew with him. Andrew used to be the center of the nuns disdain, even more so than Nicholas himself, due to the darker shade of his skin. Ever since he had vanished, the nuns focused on Nicholas. He wondered why this man was approaching him now. "What do you want with me?" he asked.
"Why, I'm here to take you away from this place. From all worries and troubles you have here. My boy, I'm here to free you." the man told him.
Nicholas couldn't believe what he was hearing. It had to be too good to be true. "What's the catch?" he asked. "There's no way you're just taking me from here without there being some kind of catch to it."
"You're clever boy." the man said, smirking from under his hat. "All I ask is that you take part in a simple litle experiment of mine. That's all. If it all goes as planned, you won't have to worry about anything."
"And if it doesn't?" Nicholas asked.
"Well, we'll find out once that happens now won't we?" the man replied. "Either way, you won't be here."
He did make a convincing point. And Nicholas would do anything to leave the church. "Fine, you have a deal." he said.
The man smirked again and headed for the exit. "Very well then. Follow me." he said, and Nicholas slowly followed behind. After walking for some time, they reached a large building. It must be where they were holding this experiment. Nicholas just wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. As they walked inside, he thought he saw something peculiar. It was one of those Walker machines. Except unlike the others he had seen, this one's eye was green. It looked at Nicholas pleadingly, almost as if trying to warn him. He just shruged it off and continued inside. They came to a room with only a small chair, and a table that had something on top of it covered by a cloth. The man motioned towards the chair. "Go on, sit." he said. Nicholas did as he said, and sat down in the small chair.
"Now what?" he asked.
"Now, we can begin the experiment."
Nicholas looked down to see his arms were trapped. He tried to bolt up, but his legs were bound to the chair as well. "What the hell is this?!" he yelled out. The man removed his hat, revealing himself to be the Chancellor. Nicholas could only stare in amazment. "You..." he was speachless. The Chancellor walked to the table and removed the cloth. Under it was a strange device, and hooked up to it was a black doll-like creature. On it's back was a 14 written in white. "What the hell is that thing?!" Nicholas asked.
"This," the Chancellor explained, "Is the experiment. If what I've learned is correct from using it on that Andrew boy to place him in that machine, this should place your soul into this tiny litle body. After all, if that scientist can do it then so can I." Nicholas's eyes grew wide. This was not what he had thought he had signed up for. "However, this is only the prototype. The 14th prototype actually. I don't want something to go worng if I decide to try it on myself." Nicholas realized what was going on. He was just a guinea pig. Just when he had thought the world had decided to give him a break, it was all shoved back into his face. And that Walker he had seen moments before, was Andrew or at least what was left of him trying to warn him. And now, Nicholas was going to pay the price.
"Now then, let's see if this one works." the Chancellor said before walking out of the room.
"Stop! Come Back here you son of a-!" Nicholas said, stopping upon seeing a small, green light coming from the table. He turned his gaze towards the light. A small circular object was making the light, and Nicholas didn't know whether to be calmed by the light or to fear it. He never got to decide. The light shot out at him, tearing out his very soul. But in his last moments, he knew only one thing. The same thing he had known all his life. Hate.
In mere moments, Nicholas was no more. His body fell limp in the chair, and on the table the prototype awakened.
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He had no idea who he was. He didn't even know his own name. He couldn't remember anything. That is, if there was anything to remember. Only one word seemed to echo in the little Stitchpunk's mind. Hate. He knew not what it meant, but it felt important. Soon, a creature larger than himself burst through the door and walked straight towards the table. The creature smirked, and something inside him made the Stitchpunk feel weary of that smirk. It didn't feel trustworthy. "Success." the creature said. "The transfer was a success. You're lucky 14. You were the only prototype that managed to live."
"14... My name...is 14..." 14 said in fragmented sentences. His attention turned towards the chair nearby, and the lifeless body sitting in it. He looked at it curiously. Something about it felt familier... Frightingly familier. 14 turned to the creature in front of him, the smirk still on it's face. He noticed it's gaze was focused on the body, as if it was proud about it. 14 began to feel some kind of dark feeling inside of him. Again, the word "hate" echoed through his mind. Was this what it was like?
Eventually, the creature left 14, and he decided to look around. Unaware of his surroundings, he just wandered aimlessly. After some time, he came to notice a red light coming through one of the doors. He peeked inside and saw a huge mechanical creature inside. Slowly, 14 walked closer towards it. It seemed to look as if it knew the dark feeling that 14 had felt before. A twisted grin of his own spread across 14's face as he came closer towards the giant, red eye.
"Hello..." 14 began, grabbing the attention of the machine. "Might you know what 'hate' is?"