Title: Twisted Roots
Author: Daniella Ivette (formerly known as "Danielle Swinton". I changed my penname because there's actually a Californian surfer girl by that name, and I received mails that were directed to her!)
Genre: Drama/Horror
Rating: PG-13
Archive: Sure!
Feedback: Please!
Disclaimer: Adrian David Swinton is 100 mine. David, the Swintons, Teddy and Dr. Hobby were created by Brian W. Aldiss; Kubrick, Spielberg, Amblin Entertainment and DreamWorks own them; I just play with them. As soon as I finish playing, I promise I'll give them back Dannie snickers to herself
Warning: Alternative Universe, own characters, new writing style (for me, obviously)
Notes: Inspired on a "Virgin Suicides" fic I found out there. Can't remember where, but it was unfinished. So I made my own version of it, adapting it to the A.I. universe. Please, don't sue me :P
Summary: the Swinton's youngest child grew up unknowing about the first Mecha-Child. But the tree where he's been living has developed twisted roots...

Prologue

Ever felt like your life didn't belong to yourself? Like you were not living it, but being merely a vessel for who's lived before you?
I know what it feels like. As if someone had been watching over you, controlling every single move of the pieces in the chess board of your life. Yes, those feelings were familiar to me.

All my short life, I felt like I wasn't seen as my own person, as if I didn't have an identity. My self-esteem and awareness were
disappearing, and leaving my body as an empty shell, with nothing inside to show.

I always wondered why, but every time I asked, I was quickly ignored. Maybe it would be over soon, and one day I'd be able to show everyone who I really was, the real Adrian David Swinton would surface. And my family, especially my mother, would love me for myself.

But I was not ready for the reality, for when it came, it hit me like a sledgehammer to my head.