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Sock was an android child purchased by 2 humans who had recently lost their youngest daughter. They had dropped a lot of money into getting one of the most advanced models. It was so advanced that you honestly wouldn't be able to tell that it was an android. It aged like a human and had the "sentience" of one. They named her Sock in honor of their recently deceased daughter, who loved socks.
However, things did not go exactly as the 2 humans had planned, as when the android was about 13, he came out as a guy, not fitting the "female android" model they had purchased. They accepted him with open arms, however. They loved their android child as if it were a human, and would happily accept him for whoever he turned out to be. He also was an... odd kid. He got in trouble a lot for killing small animals like squirrels and rabbits. That was concerning to the parents, but they brushed it off as some messed-up phase and hid the knives for about a while.
When Sock was 16, something in his programming malfunctioned. Whilst in rest mode, he walked to the kitchen and grabbed a big knife, which was recently returned from its year in hiding. Next thing he knew, he was standing over the dead bodies of his parents. It didn't scare him, though.
He felt no emotional reaction as he looked down on the corpses of the people who raised him.
If anything, he just was afraid of what would happen to him. He was fully aware of the discrimination that androids faced. If someone found out that he, an android, had killed his 2 human parents, it would be ten times worse than if he were a human. They'd put him through Hell along with everyone like him.
So... He ran.
He changed his clothes, packed a bag of some snacks and water, and he ran out of the apartment. He didn't know where to go, and it didn't matter. He just needed to get away from the apartment.
It seems he ran just in time too, as he heard the distant sounds of police sirens not too long later. Panicked at the thought of being caught, he ran down an alleyway and hid behind a dumpster. He was alone now, and very afraid of being caught.
And yet, despite the fact he was alone, he still felt no emotional response to killing his parents. It wouldn't come as much of a shock to them if they were still alive, though. At least not the fact that he killed 2 people. He had often killed small animals and had gotten in trouble for violence several times in school. However, he always seemed to love his parents
He did it in his sleep, and it was a malfunction, so realistically it was not a conscious choice he made, and he shouldn't be 100% blamed for it. However, a court would never see it that way. Why blame a multi-million dollar company like CyberLife for messing up when you can just blame the kid?
Still, that didn't change the fact that he felt no emotional response to it
Suddenly, he was pulled out of his thoughts by a "Hello" next to him. He fell back, startled, and looked up to see a blonde boy with a gray jacket on. He recognized it to be his classmate from civics class
"Jonathan?" Sock said, confused "What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same question" Jonathan responded with clear annoyance as he helped Sock off the ground. "Why's there blood on your face, robot?" Sock winced at the nickname, but then processed the question. I DIDN'T CLEAN EVERYTHING OFF!?
"I... Uhhh..." Sock stuttered out nonsensically, visibly panicked. Jonathan picked up on this and grew alarmed. "What did you do?" he said sternly. Sock flinched at this but sighed in resignation. He was screwed anyway. Might as well tell someone.
"I killed my parents in my sleep"
...
...
...
"You WHAT!?"
"I malfunctioned in my sleep and, next thing I knew, I was standing over their bodies!" Sock yelled out in response, growing more and more panicked. He had dug himself into a hole, so to speak, and now a classmate knew. "Sock, that's really bad" Jonathan replied, visibly shaken. Great Sock thought to himself I brought him into this
Less than 10 seconds later, they heard the sound of police sirens coming closer. Panic seized Sock's body as he grabbed Jonathan's hand and ran out the back of the alleyway. He tried to run the two across the street, but Jonathan forced himself free of his grip. "Woah, dude" Jonathan said, very clearly pissed off "This isn't my problem! I was just trying to go get something from the corner store. I didn't want any part in this"
"Neither did I, Jonathan!" Sock shouted in response "Do you think I wanted to kill them!? Hell, I'm not even sure my programming has fixed itself yet cause I'm not feeling whatever emotion I should be regarding that!" he continued, tears springing to his eyes "They're gonna shut me off if they catch me" he said solemnly. Jonathan didn't know how to deal with this, and before he could stop himself...
"Well maybe they should!" he yelled "They'd be doing the world a service"
As if that was the code to fix it, Sock finally felt the emotional response he should have felt a while ago. A wave of crushing guilt washed over him. Even if he was asleep, he had still done that. He had still killed the two people who loved him more than anything in the world. His feeling of panic was also amplified massively. He was gonna be shut off if the police ever caught him... Maybe they should
Jonathan soon realized what exactly he just said, and that guilt was amplified by the expressions crossing Sock's face. "Sock, I-" he started, but was cut off by the other boy. "No, Jonathan" Sock replied sharply, though his face was etched with guilt. "You're right. I took two human lives. I should be shut off"
"But, it was a programming malfunction that happened while you were asleep!" Jonathan cut back "You can't blame yourself for that" he tried to argue. Sock wasn't listening though. It went in one ear and out the other. Sock's face turned into one of defeat. "I'll turn myself in" he said with finality, pulling out his phone.
In a moment of panic, Jonathan slapped it out of his hand and stomped on it, destroying the device. "No!" he responded. "Look, I'm sorry for what I said. But you shouldn't be killed for something that wasn't your fa-"
Jonathan was disrupted by the sound of sirens down the street. They were very exposed, but thankfully the cars were far away and it was dark outside. Jonathan took Sock and ducked them back into the alleyway.
Sock was too dissociated from the situation to really pay attention to what was happening, so Jonathan took the opportunity to try and find an escape. Both of the streets that the alleyway crossed between had patrols looking for the killer. Obviously, Sock was a suspect due to his absence from the apartment, but they had also caught wind that Jonathan had run off in the night to who knows where without telling his parents.
Little did the two boys know that they were both suspects
Jonathan found a ladder that climbed up one of the buildings that formed the alleyway. It wasn't much, but it was some layer of safety if the police decided to check in their current direction. Happy with his discovery, he walked over to Sock and tapped him on the shoulder to break him out of his daze. Sock just looked at him with a sad expression.
Not letting this get him down, Jonathan silently pointed at the ladder that was dimly illuminated by the moonlight. Sock gave a small smile, and the two climbed up the ladder. Once again, this was just in the nick of time, as meer moments later, they heard patrols searching the alley. They both quickly realized they didn't have much time before they would try the ladder.
This realization was enough to pull Sock from his dissociation enough to take action. He frantically grabbed Jonathan and the two started building hopping. It was incredibly stressful and they both almost didn't make a few jumps, but the adrenaline kept them going. Once they were several buildings down, they heard the sound of the patrols rising from ground level a few buildings away
Afraid of being seen from the other building, they hid behind an electrical unit on the rooftop, giving them a temporary hiding place. The adrenaline was going away and was soon replaced with a tightness in their chests, very understandably panicked. Subconsciously, they're fingers entwined, providing some comfort to each of them.
In the dim moonlight, Sock spotted what looked like a trapdoor in front of them. Slowly and carefully, he opened it, revealing a bedroom below. They didn't know if it was inhabited or not, but they needed a place to hide. They slowly lowered themselves into the room, having to leave it open as they were both a little too short to shut it again. Only once inside did they notice the man sleeping on a bed.
He was a tall, thin man with ginger hair and sideburns. A purple blazer was hung up on his coat rack by the door. Somehow, he wasn't awoken by the sirens or the intruders, but the teenage boys were thankful for it given their situation.
Looking around for a place to hide, Jonathan eventually spotted a large walk-in closet, complete with a door. Walking in, he and Sock saw that all the racks were filled with different blazers, most of which being different shades of purple. Thankful for a safe place to stay for the night, Sock quietly shut the door and the two sat behind a box.
They were very close together at this point, but neither pulled away. Jonathan mumbled out an "I'm sorry for what I said" to the boy next to him. "It's okay" Sock responded "I'm sorry I pulled you into this mess"
Jonathan just sighed in response. He wasn't gonna pretend like he was happy about the situation. It was very bad, and his life would probably never be the same. But, for whatever reason, it didn't make him hate the other boy. If anything, he'd always felt a sort of connection to the anxious android boy from civics class. But, he shoved that away. This is a robot he reminded himself
"'Night, Sock" he said simply
"Goodnight, Jonathan"