Factory Recall

Ugliest Truth

Ox visited the next day. And a couple days after that. He became a regular among the Doll Type 6 residents, and a welcome visitor.

No one else seemed to want to accompany him. Ox had the suspicion Mandy would have, but she was on vacation with her kid. So, he walked alone, never really minding, but wishing they could forgive him.

Lou was still fighting the system. Ox didn't try to convince him otherwise. it would be better for Lou if he submitted by himself.

"Why do you do this?"

"Huh?" Ox had been curiously poking around the closet, exploring Lou's new wardrobe when the blond spoke. They were sitting in his dorm, while the rest of his class had their free period.

"Why do you do this?" Lou glanced up at him, looking woebegone. He was wearing his sleeper, and was getting ready for a nap, but it appeared he had other things on his mind. "Why do you visit me so often? Why...why do you care?"

Ox walked up, and sat down next to him on the edge of his crib, thinking over his next words carefully. "Well...When you welcomed me...I could see it in your eyes. You DID care. But, you were so afraid of losing me, you did all you could to keep me around." Ox sighed. "Lou, if you'd told me the truth, I could've helped you."

Lou pondered this for a moment, rolling over and facing the wall. Ox had cared. He'd never stopped caring. Lou knew he had also cared. But...

"I didn't...want...I don't..." Ox patted Lou's shoulder. He could tell his friend was having trouble choosing his words. "Take your time."

"It was Magdalene."

"Magdalene?"

"Yeah." Lou smiled, but just a little. "She was my everything. She was...the first doll created after me. Doll Type 7. She was...the prettiest thing I'd ever seen."

"What happened?"

Lou shrugged. He'd never told anyone. It hurt to talk about it. "Well...she once told me...she couldn't control anything in her life. The only thing she could control was how she looked. She at least wanted to look good, and she was in control of that. I thought...I thought the same thing."

He sighed. "I couldn't control what I was. I couldn't help being a prototype. So, I controlled my looks. it actually felt better to know I looked good, when  I couldn't do or be anything else."

Ox thought about this for a moment. "So...why'd you get everyone else thinking the same thing?"

"Well...I was really the only one who thought she was pretty. Everyone else...she was the first to graduate from the Institute. But, I was the only one who was happy for her. All the others...they thought she was a mistake, and not meant to exist. That she should never go to the Big World...when they can't."

Ox stayed silent. It was all starting to make sense now. Lou had learned such bad habits from his peers during his first go as a prototype, as a LEADER. He had learned that pretty meant perfect, no matter what.

"Magdalene was my who world. She was the only one I could really talk to. Then, they tried bringing out a new line of dolls...Ugly dolls. They were accepted and loved, even among the pretty dolls. They all rejected Magdalene. They thought she was ugly on the inside. They hated her."

Lou stopped talking for a moment. Then, without warning, he leapt out of his crib, and chucked a framed picture against the wall. It shattered, and the picture fell to the floor.

Ox's eye widened, and he jumped off the crib, grabbing Lou's arm, and yanking him back. "Lou! What's wrong?!"

Lou turned on his heel, and faced him, with that crazed look of hatred that Ox remembered so vividly from the time he tried to destroy the portal. But now, Ox saw something different. Hatred, love, hopelessness....he'd loved someone, with all his heart. This was the look of a person who would do anything for his loved ones.