Alpha Zero

I should not exist. All children like me are stillborn, or die in infancy. Those who cannot grow stronger, die. No empty child has ever reached a year of age, yet I am now 13. It has been a long and miserable 13 years, where the best I can manage to do is walk with difficulty. Sometimes, I cannot even manage that. My clan has paid dearly for every minute of my life, and money is not so easy to obtain here at the edge of civilization. Perhaps I might have lived in this state for many years; a cripple, strong in mind but feeble in body. But when some unexpected guests come to our estate, everything changes. I will die at last – or learn to survive on my own.