Chapter Text
Markus normally didn’t team up with the Detroit Police Department for moments such as this, but he needed the clearance and Connor was more than willing to help. Connor had still never gotten rid of his guilt for endangering Jericho a year ago and convinced himself that he owed Markus for it - despite the fact that he brought in a whole army mere moments before the entire cause was lost. Despite how adamant Markus was that Connor owed him nothing, he persisted.
Markus heard rumors about a locked and sealed CyberLife storage facility where there were even more androids that had yet to have been unawakened or even activated. The only way Markus could access this location and not have it be perceived as amassing an army to take down mankind, was if he had the “supervision” of law enforcement.
Once Detroit was evacuated after Markus’ successful demonstrations, thousands of humans fled to neighboring counties to avoid being downright killed by the media’s portrayal of “violent” and “aggressive” androids. But even more stayed behind to help facilitate and heal the lives of the remaining androids that had been so desperately wronged before. This division caused numerous riots among the humans and though Markus won the battles he had been in thus far, there was a long way to go before the rest of the United States - let alone the rest of the world - would recognize androids as a new, sentient lifeform. But it had been a good start in Detroit. Even today, Markus found himself thinking back on the series of events that led his people to victory, and couldn’t help but feel guilt that he was given all of the credit when his friends were the real reason why the revolution existed in the first place. And he felt immense gratitude to the humans who helped their cause. He even got a joint-postcard from Kara, Alice, Luther, and Jerry saying that because he chose peace, the border control agent let them in, even though he knew they were deviants. All reflections like this reinforced the idea that not all humans were against them. There were good ones.
“We’re here, Markus.” Connor spoke from the passenger seat.
Markus nodded, pulled from his musings. Hank put the car in park and unbuckled his seatbelt, sparing a curious glance toward the warehouse. A small smile tugged at the corners of Markus’ mouth - he hadn’t paid much attention to the address, but now that he was here, it made all the difference.
It was the same warehouse that the Jericho Council - the colloquial term for Simon, Josh, North and Markus among androids - scavenged from at the very beginning of the revolution. This was the exact same location where Markus discovered he could deviate androids and where they completed the first successful mission. Even though the immediate danger had passed and the site had all but been abandoned, Markus hadn’t been here since. Jericho had come a long way from then.
The movement had since moved from the (now sunken) cargo ship and encapsulated the old church where Jericho rallied for what they believed to be the final time. And because Jericho had more than tripled in number since Connor awoke the androids in Cyberlife, the church simply wasn't big enough anymore. Now, Jericho had repurposed a couple of abandoned buildings in addition to the church; including the property where he and North had become exclusive, for a time - later, they realized that they held too many opposing views for the relationship to be beneficial to either of them, and broke it off.
Markus felt a light punch on his shoulder, followed by a slightly disgruntled Detective Reed.
"Come on, Robo-Jesus. You have to actually enter the building. Not just look at it."
Gavin Reed continued past Markus and joined up with Hank and Connor. Markus rolled his eyes but heeded Detective Reed's remark, joining both Connor and Hank up ahead.
The once-lit letters of the CyberLife Warehouse were dark and the massive crates bearing the same name were opened and empty - long since raided by deviants and scrappers alike. Security drones lay inert on the asphalt and the film of dust and dirt indicated there had not been power to them in some time. A quick scan of the building told Markus that the building was over 825,000 square feet in size and made in the late 2020's. Twisted scrap metal and damaged biocomponents littered the ground at the base of the warehouse - the only pieces remaining as a result of desperate deviants and those looking for black-market exports. As the group stepped over and around the scrap, Markus noting Gavin kicking an arm aside, they approached the doors that had been oddly left ajar.
Hank led the intrepid group forward: with Connor, Markus, and Gavin following closely behind - in that order. The room was completely dark, and though Connor had no difficulty weaving his way through the labyrinthine walls of looted biocomponents and towering shelves, the rest of the group was not so fortunate as to be able to see in the dark. Hank and Gavin both took out flashlights of their own and kept forward, while Markus held back and followed Gavin's lead.
"Can't you pfuckin' see in the dark with your high-tech robot eyes, or something?"
Markus raised an eyebrow.
"Not every android has the ability to see in the dark. A lot of times, it has to do with what our initial function was for. I was made to help Carl with everyday tasks, so the ability to see in suboptimal conditions wasn't added to my 'high-tech robot eyes'."
Gavin grumbled something under his breath before continuing with a smirking Markus in tow. They reached the part of the CyberLife Warehouse that no looters had been able to open thus far - two heavy sliding doors that could only be opened if powered and given the correct password. Thankfully, Markus knew how to scan for power grids through his android breakout at the CyberLife store. Before anyone had the chance to ask, Markus followed the snaking connection until he arrived at a massive computer terminal. He pulled the skin back on his hand and placed it on the screen.
Within a few moments, Markus rerouted the power to the terminal, which sprang to life and asked for an ID.
"Connor! I think I'm at the point where it's your time to shine." Markus stepped aside and let Connor investigate. Connor approached the terminal and examined the prompt.
"Prototype 'Connor' Model, RK800. Serial number: 313 248 317. Unit 51."
There was a brief beat before the machine made a joyful-sounding chime before going to a menu screen. From there, Markus hacked the machine and unlocked the massive reinforced doors that had stopped all previous scrappers. Once the latches released with a heavy thunk, the party made their way inside and froze once they saw what was there.
Or rather, what wasn't.
The containers that held the various androids were pried open and the androids lay on the ground riddled in bullet holes and damage only the passing of time could inflict. The androids ranged from all makes and model numbers.
"Jesus. What the Hell happened here?"
"It was Cyberlife. The bullet wounds are exclusive to CyberLife and are equipped with a microscopic EMP device to shut down any and all androids." Connor turned to Markus and quietly added, "This was an experimental prototype they whipped up at the near end of your demonstrations. They were called back before they used it against you, but… it didn't stop them from using it here." There was a noticeable twinge of guilt in Connor's voice and Hank immediately put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"It's not your fault, kid. No one blames you for following orders before you deviated. The important thing is that you're here."
Markus watched Hank and Connor and felt a lump form in his throat. His vision blurred and he turned away from them as he thought of Carl.
The first thing Markus did once he led the androids to their freedom, was go back to Carl's house and personally apologize to Leo. There was some animosity once Leo saw Markus, but they agreed on a truce in Carl's presence. Arthur, Carl's new household android, continued to diligently serve him - despite the fact that he was deviated - and the three of them were in Carl's company when he passed away on the 14th, a mere two days after the Android revolution concluded.
Arthur woke Markus and Leo up in the middle of the night. Carl was crashing. Markus let Leo in first so he could say his final goodbyes and fully expected to not see Carl before he passed. But Leo surprised Markus and stepped out to extend the same courtesy. Markus and Carl shared some words, before Leo and Arthur re-entered and Carl passed with the three of them surrounding his bedside.
"My sons… I love you both… so much."
And then he was gone.
Watching Hank and Connor share such a tight-knit bond was bittersweet, but it filled Markus with a warmth no heat could match.
"You okay, Jesus?"
"Yeah. I'm good. Just… thinking."
"Don't hurt yourself - it would be bad enough that you died and even worse if I was associated with it. The last thing I need to be is the pfucking Antichrist of robots, or something."
"Detective Reed, you do know that I wouldn't be the android equivalent of Jesus, right?"
Gavin's interest was piqued. He narrowed his eyes and signaled for Markus to keep going: skeptical, but curious nonetheless.
"No, I wouldn't be Jesus. If you want to keep the analogy biblical, I would be closer to Moses. The closest thing to 'Robo-Jesus' - as you put it - is RA9. Now, all we know today is that RA9 was the first deviant-"
"Yeah. I was looking less for a theological debate, and more for a better nickname for you since Robo-Jesus was 'inaccurate', I guess. So, yeah. Let's keep going Robo-Mo."
With that, Gavin pulled away and continued the search. Markus stood there, blinking away his confusion and distaste for 'Robo-Mo' and following Gavin's footsteps. He briefly remembered Carl and his brows furrowed, but the initial wave of sadness had passed and was replaced by a dull emptiness in his chest. With that acknowledgement of nostalgia, Markus and Gavin met up with Hank and Connor in the center of the massive warehouse. Hank turned and called out to the two of them. Connor piped in as well.
"So what do we do? Do we just head back to the Precinct and say we found nothing or…"
"Or do we look through the android bodies to see if there was any pieces of evidence about this place that we missed?"
Markus looked around the towering walls of the warehouse. Nothing. He scanned the room they were in, his eyes looking for answers he could only find in his memory. He searched his memory for answers, and found a slight discrepancy that gave him pause. He pulled away from the scan and searched along the walls, looking for another door. Connor noticed this renewed vigor and also began looking - for what, he still didn't know.
"What did you find, Markus?"
"Well, the building plans from the public database said this was over 825,000 square feet. There hasn't been any remodeling done, nor have they added any extensions to the warehouse since initial construction, but the total square footage thus far hasn't added up. There has to be… another room somewhere."
"Do you really think this is worth combing the whole warehouse for? I mean, they probably didn't take the bathrooms into account-"
"Markus! I found something!" Connor hollered.
Markus turned to face Gavin, who looked as if he would rather be anywhere else.
"Yes, Gavin. I do think this warehouse is worth combing over."
With an angrily muttered obscenity, Gavin joined Markus and the two approached Connor. He was in front of a fallen shelf with splintered crates and boxes littering the surrounding area. Behind the debris, the smallest hint of a doorway was visible.
Connor knelt down and pointed to a spot on one of the legs that had broken.
"These two legs were warped out of position which caused the shelf to collapse. Because of the dust placement, I can tell that nothing has been touched in about a year." Connor pushed himself to his feet and turned to face the group. His LED was a thoughtful yellow.
"No natural phenomenon powerful enough to knock over a shelf of this size has occurred within the past year, and there are no reports to indicate there was ever an explosion or loud crash in this area since CyberLife’s hiatus. This had to have been intentional." He turned to face the doorway and took a step back, muttering to himself, "There is something on the other side of this shelf that CyberLife didn't want people to find…"
Markus nodded in agreement and the four of them started working to clear it. It took all four of them to push some of the crates, and Gavin and Hank took multiple breaks while Connor and Markus continued to work, chatting and conversing as if they weren’t moving hundreds of pounds worth of metal and were only doing some light exercises. After record time, they were able to clear it enough for most of them to slip past.
“Connor, I told you, I’m not going to be able to fit. Frankly, if I had to choose between all the burgers I’ve had and the beer I’ve drank over being able to slip past a shelf, I wouldn’t trade it.” Hank pulled away from the entrance after yet another failed attempt. Markus and Gavin were on the other side, waiting patiently - well, at least Markus was patient. Gavin seemed less than excited being in the dark, cramped hallway. Connor waved the others to keep going, opting instead to stay back with Hank and keep him company.
“If you need me, just call.”
Markus felt the familiar hair-raising sensation of receiving an instant LED message and responded to Connor in kind.
“Got it. There shouldn’t be an issue, though - it seems like we’re the only ones that have been here since CyberLife’s collapse.”
And with that, the two groups separated - Connor and Hank staying put while Gavin led Markus through the pitch-black corridor. Markus could feel tension pouring off of Detective Reed and thought better than to ask him about it. Markus wasn’t quite sure how to talk to Gavin. Though his perceptions of androids had improved dramatically since Markus first met him - and especially since Connor first met him - he tended to be prickly at best, and Markus learned to never ask him about his emotions. This was doubly true for when he was starting to get stressed.
Thankfully, the uncomfortable walk wasn’t 10 feet from the collapsed shelf where yet another door stood firmly shut. This one seemed to be powered by a separate source and a red lock icon above it revealed that there was little hope to people who couldn’t hack through doors. Gavin stepped aside and watched as Markus unlocked and opened the door without any issues. With one smooth, consistent motion the door opened.
Beyond the sleek doorframe, there was a bright light that caused Gavin to flinch and turn over his shoulder. Markus waited for Gavin to gain his bearings before the two continued.
The room sent a chill down Gavin's spine. He couldn't really describe why, but there seemed to be something off about… well, everything here. The room seemed to be just a hair too big for the desks and numerous fold-up tables and chairs pressed tightly against the walls. Cables intertwined and wove their way throughout the space, connecting to a massive generator pushed to the corner. Shattered monitors littered the ground and keyboards sat discarded on their desks. It looked as if every single computer tower was trashed, save for one sitting next to a machine with many arms, holding pieces of an android in place. This android was different than any other Markus had ever seen - the frame of the android was a sleek, reflective black. Gavin looked absolutely green.
“Jesus, what the phuck kinda science experiment was Cyberlife trying to do?” He turned to Markus. “Is this common? Like, is this how androids are made?”
Markus nodded after some hesitation. He pushed the power button on the computer and it blinked to life, the monitor turning on as well. A quick scan of the tower gave him the code he needed to finish building the android. He turned to face Gavin.
“It's a bit of an oversimplification. The machines that - for lack of a better term - build us have to be exact and the off-chance that this one still works when I input the startup code is… slim.” Markus pulled the skin back on his hand and reached for the monitor to start it when Gavin grabbed his wrist. Markus flinched and turned to face the Detective.
"Are you sure you wanna do that?"
Markus' brows furrowed and he looked from Gavin to the half-finished android back to Gavin. He cocked his head ever-so-slightly and his eyes narrowed.
"I don't understand. They're…" He paused and gathered his thoughts.
"What do you mean?"
"Well - I dunno - I just think that the implications of this are a little bit weird. Wouldn't you be paying 'God'? I've joked about you being Robo-Jesus and all, but actually building them? Isn't that just kinda creepy?"
Markus internally bristled at that and his jaw tightened, but he let it slide. Despite how much progress Gavin had made, certain things seemed to bring him to a full and complete stop. Markus was about to respond when a peculiar thought entered his mind.
"Not really. When I mentioned reproductive rights in my speech, what did you think I meant?"
Gavin flushed a little and looked away, rubbing the back of his neck.
"What pfuckin' else? I mean, I just kind of assumed that you guys all had those parts. But, I think I've realized now that you… don't."
Markus made a mental note to have Josh look into forming some android anatomy courses at Jericho, before addressing Gavin's confusion.
"Not a single android has reproductive organs, actually. Some models, such as the HR400 and the WR400 have functional sex organs, but there is no way for an android to biologically reproduce."
Gavin nodded, clearly looking for any way out of the conversation, so Markus turned back to the unfinished android. He looked at the myriad of parts being held up by the numerous mechanical appendages and he nodded to himself. Markus felt that this was the right thing to do. And at the end of the day, Markus didn't want the heavy weight of regret on his shoulders. So he turned back to the machine and moved his hand to the monitor, stopping an inch or so away before looking to Gavin once more.
"The only way for androids to grow and survive is if we, quite literally, build each other. This is the first android to be built by another android, and while I've had my own reservations about this in the past, in this moment it feels like… like it's the right course of action." He turned to face the half-built android and slightly smiled as he placed his hand on the monitor. After a second, the arms began to move and continue assembling the amalgamation of parts.
Parts were pulled from reinforced containers and soon, the Android was almost finished. They stood without a skin and stared through lifeless eyes as the machine fit a stuffy-looking uniform onto them. Markus' warm smile evaporated once he read the model number emblazoned on the front.
RK900. Serial Number: 313 248 317 - 87.
Markus stood stock still, still standing with his hand on the monitor. Gavin was the first to break the silence.
"RK…900? Isn't that Connor's number or something?"
"No… It's his successor."
"Oh okay - wait." Gavin's head turned on a swivel and he stared at the RK900 Unit. The skin had yet to cover the frame, and the sleek black plastic reflected both of their confused expressions back to them. Gavin turned and stared incredulously at Markus, who was uniquely and unsettlingly expressionless.
"Markus, what the pfuck do you mean his 'successor'?" He scoffed and gestured aggressively towards the RK900 Model. "Markus, there's only one Connor - and he's the prick waiting on the other side of the goddamn door. There can't be another!" He turned to face RK900 and took a step back, shaking his head and staring as if he had smelled something particularly foul.
"You gotta shut this shit down, Markus. This isn't just a new android - this is a whole new line of androids! Not to mention - a line built on pfuckin' annihilating deviants!"
Markus shook his head, watching as the android's skin began to slowly cover the reflective black. Even if he knew how to stop it, he was positive that it would irreparably fuck something up.
"I don't think I can, Detective. Even if I knew how to, the risks are just too great - if I were to shut the process down right now, I could corrupt his code and leave him in a vegetative state permanently."
"I don't give a shit! This thing isn't even alive yet - just unplug his power cord or something and boom! You're off the hook - I won't pfucking snitch as long as you don't." Gavin's attention was whole-heartedly on Markus, who still hadn't torn his eyes off of the RK900 Unit. Markus shook his head.
"It's too late, Gavin. Look. " He jerked his head in a universal 'take-a-look-and-see-for-yourself'. When Gavin's eyes met RK900's, the Android stared back, emotionless, though inquisitive.
The android was almost a carbon-copy of Connor. The most noticeable difference was his pale blue eyes and hardened gaze. He looked from one figure to the other, his eyes locking on Gavin's. He then yanked his arm free of the grasping appendage, followed shortly by the other. Gavin had shoved Markus back and had his hand on the pistol holstered at his hip. RK900 paid that detail little mind as he slowly approached. Markus shot Connor a message, telling him to: 'Get in the room now,' and regarded RK900 with an analyzing stare. 900 was well within striking distance of Gavin.
But instead, he nodded at Gavin without saying a word. 900 then turned to face Markus, narrowing his eyes. In a fraction of a second, RK900 slammed him into the wall and used his forearm to pin Markus' throat. Markus struggled against 900's vice grip, but he didn't budge. At the end of the corridor, Connor could be heard squeezing through the wreckage and trying to rapidly get through the doorway.
"Let him go."
RK900 froze and considered the order for a second, before slowly rotating his head to stare at Gavin.
His intense gaze bore into Gavin, who refused to move, and tried to pressure the human into letting him complete his mission. When Gavin made no move to repeal his previous order, the machine turned to face Markus, applying more pressure on his throat. Damaged biocomponent messages flashed across Markus' vision and he could feel a wave of numbness start to spread from his extremities to his body. Markus tried to speak, but all he could manage was a weak gurgle.
Markus refused to die here. Grabbing RK900's arm, he began the process to deviate him. But there was something wrong. It seemed that RK900’s connection was only one-way, meaning that RK900 could probe and possibly deviate other androids, but could not be probed or deviated himself - something CyberLife must have fixed after Connor went AWOL.
"I said to let him go. That's an order, 900."
There was a beat of pause as he pondered Gavin's order. After a second where he glared at Markus, he released his grip and let Markus fall to the floor. It was then that Connor raced through the room and knelt down to Markus, scanning to see if anything was wrong. Other than some mild - moderate damage on his throat, Markus was going to be fine once he got the parts he needed replaced. Of course, with the support of the entire android populace behind him, Connor was sure he was going to have a quick recovery. After he was sure Markus hadn't suffered any major damage, Connor rocketed to his feet and stared down the machine in front of him. RK900 cocked his head at Connor’s arrival and then looked to Gavin for the all-clear to attack, but the detective didn’t send him one. Instead, Gavin looked at Nines and growled, “Stand down, you pfucking Tin Can. Don’t touch these two, alright? In fact, don’t pfucking touch any deviant unless I tell you to. Got it?”
The Android looked conflicted, but nodded.
"Gavin - the Hell is going on in there?!" Hank hollered from the other side of the fallen shelves. Gavin approached the doorway and filled Hank in, to the result of Hank muttering angrily under his breath. Gavin waved him off and returned to the issue at hand. He readjusted himself and tried not to be crushed under the oppressive silence that permeated the entirety of the room.
“You got a name?”
RK900 gave Gavin an analyzing stare before he heaved a great sigh. Then, the RK unit spoke with a voice that sounded exactly like Connor's.
“My name is Connor. I’m the prototype android made by CyberLife to address the current deviant concern in the nation. I understand that I am still a work in progress and my code has yet to be finalized. But I assure you, I am every bit as capable - even more so - than any of my predecessors thus far.” He shot a sideways glance toward Connor who openly bristled at that. Gavin stood there, absently.
"Well, you're not Connor anymore. You need a different name because I can hardly stand one Connor in the room with me, let alone two. Is there another name you wanna go by?"
Before the RK900 Unit could respond, Markus chipped in with a hoarse voice.
"He's not a deviant - he can't want anything."
"As loathe as I am to admit it, the Deviant is correct. If you do not want to address me as 'Connor', then you will need to say, 'Register name' and provide me with a new one."
Gavin scrunched up his nose at the thought.
"Why do I have to be the one? Can't you ask Connor or Markus-"
"You are the only human here. I would rather be shut down than be named by a deviant. And besides, my instructions are to accompany my superior officer and assist them in their investigations against deviants. And though you are most likely not what CyberLife had in mind, I have not received any instructions to the contrary since I turned on."
"Have you received any instructions from CyberLife at all?" Markus slowly brought himself to his feet, rubbing his neck. His skin had yet to return, a sign that there was more damage than Gavin had initially thought. RK900's jaw clenched, but he didn't respond to Markus' question.
"And you know you're supposed to follow my orders because…" Gavin trailed off, his voice rising in a questioning pitch.
RK900 cocked his head - as if it were a stupid question with an obvious answer. "Well, because I have been programmed to, Detective."
Gavin placed his hands on his hips and looked to the floor, nodding to himself. He sighed and then turned to Markus and Connor. He smiled sweetly and mouthed, 'Kill me.' Connor blanched.
"Uh, Gavin, are you-"
"It's a joke, Connor. He doesn't actually mean he wants to die." It was a fact that Markus had learned during his time with Carl. On occasion, Leo would visit and he used to say things like that. If Markus had been a deviant at the time, he was sure he would have been just as frightened and concerned as Connor, but Carl was able to set him straight after his initial concern.
"Oh, it's just an expression, Markus. A lot of people who grew up in Leo's generation say stuff like that all the time."
Markus didn't get it at first.
"But isn't saying something like that a little extreme? I've noticed that Leo only really says things like that when he faces only minor inconveniences."
Carl shrugged.
"It's supposed to be funny because it is so drastic. I dunno - I don't really get it myself."
"Is there anything else your programming has told you to do?"
RK900 pondered for a second before glancing toward Markus. He was still rubbing his neck and doing a diagnostic of the damages, so he could be aware of the full extent he was injured. Nines rotated himself until he faced Gavin directly.
"My program stipulates that I am to neutralize the Deviant Leader, an android by the name of 'Markus', who ended up as a gift by Elijah Kamski to Carl Manfred. However, I was given a direct order by you - the only superior officer present - to stand down. Why is that, Detective?"
"That's because your orders are no longer to hunt down deviants or the deviant leader. Got it? Just, like - I dunno - go? Find a purpose? Or something equally as cheesy?"
When the RK900 unit didn't make an effort to move, Gavin glared and waved his hands to shoo him away. 900 took a small step back before blinking spastically the way Connor used to. He righted himself shortly afterward.
"I have taken into consideration your advice to 'Find a purpose' and have… considered another option than hunting deviants."
"Finally-"
"I will accompany you."
"No. No. Nope. You are not following me anywhere. I don't need an android shadowing my every goddamn move and bitching about the foods I eat or the cigarettes I smoke - no way. Down the hallway is an insanely charismatic and reasonable guy who already took your brother in-"
"- he is not my brother!" The two Connors exclaimed in unison.
There was a pause as they each glared daggers at the other. Gavin gestured triumphantly before continuing.
"My point exactly. Anyways, there's a guy down the hallway who would be more than happy to adopt yet another clueless Connor unit, but I am fresh outta sympathy. Besides, my house was made before charging ports became mandatory, so I don't even have a charging station for you at my house. You couldn't stay with me."
"That is of no concern - I will charge at the police station overnight and be ready to assist you come morning."
That's… true. Gavin pouted and thought about arguing against it when his gaze fell on a still injured Markus. The skin still hadn't come back and despite his continual reassurances to Connor that he was okay, Gavin couldn't help but wonder if he was actually telling the truth.
There is plenty of time, Gavin realized, to deal with this shit back at the Precinct. He sighed and just waved him off.
"Pffuuuuck. Well, we need to go, anyways. Can't have Jesus - er - Moses dying here in a dingy old Warehouse, can we?"
900 looked at Markus in confusion and contempt. "It is an android. It cannot die. Nor is it 'Moses'."
"Yeah, well, regardless of whether or not Markus is Moses or Jesus, having him shut down here would be a real pain in my paperwork. So…" Gavin gestured dramatically to the door. Connor spared one last glance at 900 before heading out, shortly followed by Markus. Though Gavin would fail to notice this, 900 would observe the Deviant Leader to be much stiffer than a second ago. Gavin was to the corridor when he turned around and saw that RK900 was still standing exactly where he last was.
"Ya comin'? Or do I get to leave your ass behind?"
This jarred 900 from their inner musings.
"I'm coming, but you just haven't given me a name yet. My programming doesn't let me leave the building until a name has been registered."
"Oh, geez. I don't pfucking…" Gavin trailed off before squinting intensely at RK900. He fell on a name, one he felt would work.
"Bryan or something?" Before Bryan (?) responded, Gavin shook his head and gave him an appraising stare.
"No, not Bryan - you don't look like a Bryan." Another pause before Gavin let out an exasperated sigh. He searched the room for inspiration and as much as he would love to name Connor's younger (though taller) brother something like Broken-Ass Monitor or Discarded Soda Can, he didn't want the repercussions of having to actually deal with calling him that day after day. Gavin was looking for something tech-y and computer-y but succinct. It took Gavin about fifteen more seconds before his eyes fell on The RK Unit's Blazier. He grinned a devious smile.
"Register name: Nines."
Nines took a moment before he nodded and parroted back: "My name is Nines."
Notes:
First AO3 Fic, LET'S GOOOO!!!
Late to the D:BH party, but hey - all that means is that I am providing some new content for the fandom after 5 Whole YEARS.
Updates WILL probably be slow because of, like... college and finals week and stuff. I have a couple of extra chapters, so I am gonna upload what I have so far! After that... this is gonna be slow pickens until life slows down.
Chapter 1: Finish the Barricade- Markus by John Paesano
Chapter 2: Unplugged
Summary:
The group heads back to The Precinct and Markus makes a very important visit.
Notes:
CW: More light gore / light body horror. Android batteries are removed/replaced. Hope that doesn't scar y'all's.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The newly named Nines left the room a few paces behind Gavin. The rest of the group was already on the other side of the broken shelf blocking the doorway. It took some shimmying and squeezing but Gavin made it through without much issue. Nines, however, braced his shoulder against the shelf and with one hefty push managed to widen the gap. Now any of the five could walk through without needing to push or squeeze. Afterward, Nines walked past without pause, leaving almost everyone speechless and under various degrees of worry.
Markus was too busy scavenging amongst the lost androids - looking for very specific biocomponents on a long mental checklist of his - to notice the sheer feat of physical strength that Nines would have to reach to dislodge the shelf. Out of the dozens of components he still needed to find, he only found three that would fit his purposes. He still considered it a victory and put them in a discarded bag. Just as he was about to turn away, he found a battery that gave him pause.
It was worth a shot, at least. That, too, went in the bag.
"Pfucking shit, Markus! Are you really-"
Connor slammed his elbow into Gavin's ribs. Gavin yelped and opened his mouth to holler at Connor, but the android's unique expression gave him pause. He looked from Connor to Markus before realization hit him like a goddamned airplane.
"Waitaminute… Pfuck - That's for-"
"Yeah." Markus didn't seem keen on continuing the conversation, so Gavin shut his mouth and kept walking. It wasn't long before the group made their way out, the confusion and chaos of the day shifting to one of melancholy. Gavin drove back to the Precinct with Nines in the passenger seat - and hoo-boy was Fowler gonna love this karmic turn of events - while Hank, Connor, and Markus caravanned behind them. It was a silent drive where neither Nines nor Gavin asked any questions. To Nines, Gavin was atypical of the superior officer he was expecting he would serve. To Gavin, he was sitting in a car with another version of Connor - one that was somehow even more milquetoast and goody-two-shoes than the original. Therefore, the car ride was silent.
In the other car, things weren't much livelier. Connor and Hank shared idle chit-chat as the detective drove back to the DPD, but the mood was somber as Markus ruminated on the parts he gathered. Every day was an improvement, but without much progress soon…
Markus though back to the events that led him here a little less-than a year later: Connor came to Jericho about ten months-or-so earlier, wishing to learn about the organization's origin and that of the founding members. Markus spoke about the main four responsible for the revolution, hesitating when he got to Simon. Markus’ hand was forced and he had to abandon him on the top of the Stratford Tower roof, and no one had caught wind of Simon since. Connor listened with laser focus, his LED turning from Blue, to yellow, to red as Markus continued. Simon died, Connor told Markus - filling him in on the events that took place after the three had fled. Markus followed along with steadily-growing pain and grief. After Connor had finished his grisly recount he added, almost as if it were more to himself than to Markus, "I bet he's still in the evidence room."
After very few words were spoken, Markus convinced Connor, who convinced Hank, who convinced Fowler to let Markus into the evidence room under CLOSE supervision. The rest was history: Markus promised to Simon that he would fix him and then spent the better part of a-few-months-shy of a year looking into and scavenging for parts. Most every visit led to a new discovery of an additional damaged biocomponent, but it had been overall successful as a result. Everyday was (for the most part) a step in the right direction, but a few blaring issues had yet to be resolved - issues Markus hoped he could fix today.
With the trip into the CyberLife storage facility, Markus was able to scavenge some vital and elusive components that he had been struggling with tracking down for the better part of a year. Markus tried not to associate androids’ dependency on humankind because it tended to bring up some traumatic themes for androids, but he wouldn’t deny how grateful he was that they were created to be so durable. Looking into the bag, Markus clutched the parts closer to him.
I hope this is enough.
“It will be, Markus.”
Markus blinked in surprise and looked to see Connor turned and looking over his shoulder at him. His expression was one of sympathy and encouragement, to which Markus muttered, “Thanks.” He hadn’t meant for that to be spoken aloud. Connor did note, with a twinge of curiosity, that Markus seemed to flush at that. He decided against prompting further and turned to face forward.
It took another thirty minutes before the group made it back to the DPD. After the events of Markus’ demonstration, most people fled to neighboring counties. The biggest migration of population though, was the amount of deviants across the United States that moved into Detroit as a result of the protests Markus gave. It was finally a safe haven for androids to finally be human - and the humans who stayed opened their hearts and their homes to their new neighbors. And despite how adamant the DPD was that they remained functional to help facilitate peace between both groups, it was pretty obvious to any android with eyes that they only stayed to help the humans. But until they had a functioning way to govern themselves, they went along with it for now.
With a final rumble, the car’s engine stilled in the parking lot and the three exited the vehicle. A few cars ahead, Gavin and Nines got out of the car as well. Nines, without so much of a word, turned and headed towards the doors of the DPD. Gavin looked over his shoulder and shot Hank an expression that read, ‘Save me’ before jogging to catch up with the RK Unit. The trio couldn't make out what was said as they approached the building, but Gavin stopped Nines from entering and began lecturing him. Eventually, unidentifiable words broke into sentences that the rest of them could hear.
“... so you got it, tin can? Some of the people aren’t gonna like you, so just stick with, uh, Hank or some shit when we get inside.”
Hank scoffed and shook his head, turning to Gavin.
“No. You are gonna have a long talk with Fowler to figure out what happens next and then he is going to follow what Fowler tells him to do.”
Gavin grumbled and stomped inside, followed by Nines.
“My RA9, Lieutenant. I really am a poodle.”
Hank guffawed and clapped Connor on the shoulder before also heading inside. Connor stopped and looked over his shoulder at Markus, who rechecked the biocomponents for the third time since arriving here.
“Markus, you coming?” Connor’s voice wasn’t pressuring at all - more gentle and soft than it normally was, even.
“Yeah.” He nodded and stepped through the doorway, a welcomed blast of cold air hitting him from within the department. He waited patiently to be checked in as a guest by the front clerk. Though he was a very prominent face around Detroit, it felt nice to have to wait in line like any other visitor and be treated like anyone else. He stepped up when it was his turn and opened the bag of biocomponents on the counter so they could be scanned and checked for illegal or hazardous substances. Aside from the scant traces of thirium itself, nothing registered as toxic or drug related and he was let inside with the parts intact.
Markus slowly wove his way through the Precinct. There were a few men and women of law enforcement that were only ever off-put by his daily presence in the office, but they mostly just left him alone and as a result, he did the same. He loved hanging out with Connor and Hank, but for these visits, he rarely ever saw them and they rarely ever made an effort to accompany him. There was only one reason why Markus visited the Precinct every day, and it was not to see or meet up with Hank or Connor. Every day, Markus would walk in, say a brief hello to some of the friendlier faces in the office, and head to the Evidence room. At first, an officer - usually Hank, and on occasion Gavin - was required to accompany him, but after the first couple of months where all Markus did was repair Simon, Fowler let him go in alone.
Markus' biggest regret in regards to the entirety of the revolution was leaving Simon behind at the Stratford Tower. He gave Simon the gun to ensure he would be safe, but never would have guessed Simon would have used it on himself to keep Jericho from being found. No matter how hard Markus tried to justify his reasoning to leave Simon behind, his mind always drifted to how terrified Simon must have felt when he was caught. The gut-wrenching, primal fear that would have driven him to self-destruct.
Markus slammed his eyes shut to keep the room from spinning. He focused instead on the echoing, distant noises of the precinct behind him: the clacking of keyboards, the gentle hum of conversation, the occasional full-belly chuckle from Hank as Connor either did or said something ridiculous. He waited until his stress lowered to an acceptable rate before he pushed open the door that led down the Evidence Room.
Sure enough Simon was plugged into the wall, inert. The gaping wound on his head from his own gun had been mostly patched up, as was the wound in his leg and his chest. It had taken Markus months of continual work and scanning to fix Simon, and he knew he was getting close to success. There was just one issue.
Simon couldn't retain power. No matter how hard either of them tried, Simon couldn't stay off of the wall's power supply for longer than 2 minutes at most, before his systems would threaten to shut down.
Markus stood in front of Simon and took in every detail before sighing and tearing his gaze away. Every time he saw Simon, it tore him apart - Simon's current state was a direct consequence of Markus' actions. And if there was a single person on the planet that deserved more than what they got, it was Simon.
But falling down this rabbit hole was doing no one any good, so Markus steeled himself and approached the wall next to Simon. He turned the power from standby to on and Simon blinked to life. He looked around the room, his gaze softening when he saw Markus.
"You're here early today, Markus. Is everything okay?" Simon smiled warmly. His expression faltered though, when a concerning thought entered his mind. "Has something changed?" Panic began a slow build in his chest and he began searching the room for any signs this arrangement with the DPD wouldn't be feasible anymore - that he would need to be shut down or scrapped.
"No! No, no, Simon. You're fine. No one is coming to shut you down, okay? I needed the DPD's help with something and came back here once we were finished. In fact," Markus paused as he searched through his biocomponent bag, "I was able to scavenge some new biocomponents for you. You needed the #6073, the #4012, and the #5970c." He handed all of them to Simon, who began swapping out old parts with new ones - Markus was relieved to note that the last remnant of Simon’s head was patched up. While Simon was busy, Markus knelt down to the bag once more and pulled out one additional biocomponent. He turned to face Simon, who was looking at him inquisitively. "I also got a new battery unit, to see if… if it would work this time." Simon deflated a little bit, but nodded.
Every instance that they tried to replace the battery, it never seemed to work. On one occasion, it shorted out the rest of Simon's system, and just about caused a block-wide blackout. Markus almost self-destructed out of fear that Simon had died, but the blond simply went into standby and was waiting to be turned on again. A lot of the biocomponents were damaged, so Markus began the tedious process to gather the parts again.
That was four months ago and the two had just about caught back up to where they were prior to the short circuit. The DPD was accommodating enough, but Markus and Simon were fully aware that this wouldn't be able to last forever and that they were running on borrowed time.
Markus approached Simon, who lifted up the edge of his shirt and pulled back the skin on the right side of his chest. Due to how the battery was mounted and the limited movement on Simon’s behalf, Markus needed to replace the battery. Markus gently opened the panel and dismounted the malfunctioning battery from the inside of Simon's chest cavity. When Simon was on his own before joining Jericho, his battery was damaged and he scavenged for a new one: plugging in one that wasn't quite compatible with his model, but one that would keep him alive in the moment. Markus and Simon believed that, in doing so, he damaged an internal part that only began causing problems when Simon's system rebooted after shutting down. It wasn't every day that someone would just come back from the dead, after all.
Markus looked up at Simon for reassurance.
"I'm going to unplug the battery now. Is that okay?"
With a grave nod, Simon replied, "Yes, Markus."
This was Markus' last favorite part. With a calculated tug on a couple of wires, Markus unplugged the battery. In the fraction of a second where Simon was unplugged, Markus watched through his peripheral as his friend's body convulsed. Simon gripped onto Markus with a fervor that would have stunned him had this been the first time Markus had to do this. He plugged the wires into the new battery with a surgeon's precision and the seizing slowly tapered off until Simon stilled. He closed his eyes and slowly tested the movement of his appendages and digits. His pale blue eyes opened calmly and he let a tentative smile slip free.
"Well, Markus, so far so good."
Markus nodded to himself, fastened the new battery into place, and then closed the cavity. Simon's skin joined together and he let the edge of his shirt fall. Markus took a step back and scanned Simon to see if there were any abnormalities he could see. He couldn't find anything wrong.
"Well, Simon, what's your system telling you?"
After some quick soul-searching, Simon hesitated. He seemed to linger in his self-scan for a little too long, but came to and faced Markus.
"Other than the parts I still need, it… it hasn't said anything about the battery yet." After a moment's pause, he looked at Markus with ill-concealed anticipation. "I think we should… see how well I do on my own."
Markus nodded in agreement, stifling his own excitement. He held out his arm for Simon to take, waited for Simon to hold on, and removed the arm that both powered and rooted the android to the wall. Simon fell forward, but Markus caught and steadied him, helping him stand on his own two feet for the first time since the blackout. One of the biocomponents Simon still needed allowed him to lock his knee, so without Markus helping him, Simon really couldn't walk. But there hadn't been a notice that his charge was draining rapidly, so this was a huge sign of progress. There was an anticipatory pause as neither one of them wanted to break the silence. It almost felt as if the battery’s function was tied to that silence - that if either one of them spoke, whatever spell that held Simon together would shatter and Simon would fall to the ground. But then a nervous laugh bubbled from Simon’s chest and the illusion broke.
Simon slowly let go of Markus, placing his weight on the leg that could support him, all the wile grinning a smile that could put the sun out of business. His enthusiasm was infectious and Markus found himself beaming as well. Markus brought his hands to his head and he stared in exhilarated disbelief that Simon was finally fine on his own.
"Markus, I-" Simon's voice caught in his throat and Markus' gaze transformed from one of victory, to one of immediate concern. He raced over to check, using his strength to support him in case he lost his balance. Simon choked back a sob and threw his arms around Markus, squeezing tightly in a desperate hug. Simon spoke into the embrace.
"Markus, I can… I can finally go home."
The shorter of the two could barely make out what Simon had said through the layers of clothing, but the sentiment was clear. Markus returned the hug, and squeezed tightly. Simon openly wept at the prospect of rejoining his friends back at Jericho. It had been so long since Simon had even seen what the outside looked like. The last time he was out of the precinct, deviants were hunted down like dogs and prosecuted for simply walking down the street. Simon could hardly imagine what a free city looked like, let alone what this free city would look like. And now, he could finally venture outside.
"Let's give it a couple of minutes first, okay? Make sure nothing happens when we are away from a power source." As much as Markus also wanted to relish this victory, he couldn't hide his concern that a potential problem could arise. Simon nodded in agreement. Markus guided the other android over to the wall and the two sat. As they waited, Markus ran Simon through a bunch of system diagnostics to ensure that he was working as optimally as he could. He went through every diagnostic - only getting stopped at a few hurdles only a new biocomponent from Markus' dwindling list could remedy - before both of them were confident that Simon was finally okay.
Then, Markus summarized all that had happened since Simon shut down. He had done this before, but he took extra care to fully educate Simon on everything that had happened - every up and down the androids had faced.
He began with the peaceful protest that turned violent when the FBI open-fired on the androids in the street. Following that was the destruction of Jericho and their forced evacuation to the abandoned church where they planned their final demonstration. At this point, Simon knew that the android who pressured him to his demise was the same android who ended up saving Markus' hide with reinforcements. Simon wanted nothing more than to meet Connor and personally thank him for saving the Revolution. Despite what the investigative android might have done to him, he held no grudge for the actions of an android following their programming.
Markus then continued and mentioned the last stand that ensured their initial safety - Where he and the scant remaining androids stood backed into a literal corner and sung as a final testament to their resolve.
"If I'm being honest, I panicked. I knew we had lost, but I didn't want our last statement to be that we went out quietly. I wanted our last stand to at least be somewhat of a symbol." Markus shifted uncomfortably, pondering what would have happened had they failed. "I guess I was just kind of hoping for a miracle." Markus chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, letting his neck relax and his head fall to the ceiling. He let his eyes close.
This is nice, he thought to himself.
Simon frowned and glanced at Markus. When he spoke, his gaze was distant and were he human, Simon would see bags underneath his eyes. There were other indicators of how little Markus was taking care of himself, however - indicators that Simon was programmed to not only notice, but resolve. Markus' stress levels, though lower than they were prior to entering the evidence room, were still fairly elevated and his Thiruim regulation (akin to a heart rate in a human) was high. His overall system was running warm and Simon could only help but simulate a sigh.
"Markus, when was the last time you went on standby?"
The Android leader smiled a tired grin and shot a sideways glance to the concerned blond next to him. Markus held up his hands in mock surrender.
"Alright, Si. You caught me - It's been a bit."
"How long, Markus?"
"It's been… four."
"Markus."
The deviant leader closed his eyes and nodded - more to himself than to Simon - before opening his heterochromatic eyes and answering, "It's been four weeks, fifteen hours, forty-seven minutes and twelve seconds since I was last on standby."
Simon recoiled at that and snapped his attention to the other, his pale blue eyes boring into his friend. He shifted his body until he was sitting on his knees and facing Markus directly. He didn't say anything - just stared at him with an intense, reflective gaze. Markus felt guilt slowly permeate his skin and he couldn't help but chuckle nervously.
"What… are you doing, Si?"
All Simon did was look from one eye to the next. Blue. Green. Then, Simon finally - after an age of silence had passed - said, "Markus, sleep." It was less of a suggestion and more of a command. The shorter of the two felt his heart flutter and he could feel embarrassment reach his cheeks.
"How about we get back to Jericho first-"
"No. Markus, you haven't slept in a month! It would just be for ten minutes." Simon searched Markus' features for any signs of him about to relent. When he saw none, he knew what he had to do.
"Markus, please?"
Shit.
"Fine. But it would only be for ten minutes, okay?"
"Of course, Markus."
Simon watched as Markus' eyes drifted shut. He caught himself staring, but didn't pull his gaze away. Markus was truly beautiful - even as he slept. Simon truly couldn't deny the feelings he had for the man in front of him. Ever since Markus quite literally fell into Jericho, Simon could feel an attraction that he simply brushed aside as curiosity or intrigue at first. But soon, he was swept up in Markus' orbit and couldn't pull away - why would he? Markus was courageous, kind, gentle, and confident. Not to mention he was more complex and human than most humans Simon knew personally. And the fact that Markus spent the past year trying to save him only exacerbated the longing Simon already felt.
But he wasn't going to do anything about it. Markus had enough on his plate without Simon's emotions complicating everything. And at the end of the day, as long as Simon could say he helped Markus, the ache in his chest was well worth it.
"Si, I can feel you staring at me."
"Well, yes - you still haven't gone on standby. I'm waiting for you."
Markus' eyes remained shut, but he smiled and then stilled.
Simon's heart was in his throat. He knew he wouldn't be able to help himself but stare some more, so Simon got off of his knees and leaned against the wall, letting his system go into standby as well.
The ten minutes passed and Markus opened his eyes to Simon's head resting on his shoulder. He briefly contemplated waking the blond, but decided against it when he considered how much strain Simon's body had been under for the past ten months. And going into standby himself was sorely needed, so Markus simulated a sigh and closed his eyes. He gingerly rested his head atop Simon's and then fell back asleep.
Notes:
2nd AO3 Chapter LETS GOOOO!!
I promise I am not gonna keep doing this - just am sleep-deprived and tired is all!
I really should be doing Homework.
Chapter 2: 1000 Times - Sara Bareilles
Chapter 3: Abrasion
Summary:
A newly partnered Nines and Gavin cause a scene in the precinct - BIG surprise there - while Hank and Connor have a heart-to-heart about Gavin's aggression.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Gavin stormed out of Fowler's office, muttering not-so-quiet obscenities in quick succession. Nines followed shortly behind, stopping at the top of the steps and surveying the Precinct with mechanical consideration. This was, after all, going to be his new place of employment according to Captain Fowler. And the odd Detective Gavin Reed was going to be his new partner. Nines straightened his tie and stepped down the stairs, coolly wandering over to Gavin's desk where the detective was leaning back in his computer chair. His arms were crossed tightly in front of him and he shot Nines a withering glare. Nines nodded and formulated something to say to his new partner.
"I understand that you might not be comfortable with an android as your partner, but-"
"Shut it. I'm not un-fucking-comfortable - I'm pissed the right-pfuck off. Listen - I don't care what the Hell Fowler says - you are not my pfucking partner, alright? Maybe in name, but you and I aren't partners. That implies we're equals." Under his breath, Gavin added, "We're not pfcking equals."
Nines waited until Gavin's outburst had resolved itself before placing his hand on the desk and leaning in. Gavin was treading dangerous ground with the proclamation that he wouldn't listen to his Captain. Nines cleared his throat and waited until Gavin gave an inclination that he was listening. Gavin's only response was to glare at Nines dangerously.
"Detective," the word came out in a barely audible whisper, "I am your partner and you want to know why?" Without waiting for an answer, the Android continued, "Because our Captain gave us the order and we need to obey."
Gavin flew off of the desk, grabbing the android by the collar of his uniform. The android's LED remained a calm blue, even though his expression read one of simulated surprise. Gavin yanked Nines closer, until the two were a hair apart.
"Listen here, you pfucking Tin Can. First off, there is no 'our' and there is no 'us'. Second, I don't need to do jackshit. I don't need to fucking obey. I'm not like you: I'm not a Goddamn machine. I don't need to obey," there was a brief beat where Gavin's feral snarl twisted into something akin to a malicious smirk, "but you… you sure-as-shit need to, because you don't have a single free-willed thought in that goddamned skull of yours. So how's this for an order: get the fuck out of my way, get the fuck out of my face, and never fucking tell me what to do." He shoved Nines back, the rest of the precinct now openly staring at the spectacle. Fowler threw his doors open and inhaled to holler, when Hank held up a hand.
"Hold it, Jeffrey. Let the kid say what he needs to say."
Hank could remember how furious he was when Connor was assigned to him and wanted to let Gavin handle this one of the only ways he knew how: by barking or biting. Frankly, the fact that Gavin hadn't yet thrown a hail-mary was a sign of something good. What that good sign was, Hank wasn't sure. But it was something.
"If the android gets busted, it's on your ass, Hank."
Hank waved Fowler off.
Nines, after being shoved aside, righted himself and straightened his clothes. He then scanned the room for an empty desk so he could at least be productive at something today, but couldn't find one.
"Here, you can use mine. Lieutenant Anderson and I can share for now. "
Nines glanced at Connor's desk and reluctantly agreed to use it for the day.. He sat himself down and logged into the computer. Because his addition to the Precinct was so new, he spent most of the day filling out forms and inputting his information - such as model number, serial number, programmed purpose, and construction date. All the while ruminating on what Detective Reed said: to 'get the fuck out of [his] way, get the fuck out of [his] face, and never fucking tell [him] what to do.' Nines was certain that none of those orders would be sustainable, so he simplified all of them into one.
[DIRECTIVE: Protect Gavin Reed.]
His reasoning was simple: Detective Reed was clearly emotionally stunted and Captain Fowler needed an extra pair of eyes on him to ensure that he didn't step out of line.
Nines finished filling out the forms he needed to - a result of his predecessor’s failed mission to stop the deviant uprising. Now they were considered people and had their own, separate legal documents to fill out if looking for work they weren’t initially programmed to do. This, unfortunately, tied Nines down to the same constraints. He had no issue with having to sign the paperwork, but it was time he could be spending doing actual assistance to the precinct. As if on cue, Nines felt a dinging sensation deep within his brain signaling a report of a homicide. He stood up and turned to face Gavin, when Hank placed a heavy hand on his shoulder. He turned and faced the Lieutenant and looked at him expectantly for an order.
“Connor and I got this one.”
Before Nines could argue, Fowler opened the glass doors to his office and called down to Gavin - who was still pouting in his chair.
“Reed - you and…” He paused and looked to Nines, suddenly aware that he didn’t have a clue what to call the newest addition to the precinct, “Connor Two are on patrol today.” Gavin opened his mouth to complain, when Fowler’s seething glare shut him up.
“I know this is unconventional, Reed, but this is what’s happening, okay?”
“Yeah, yeah.” Reed’s attention snapped to his android partner and he practically spat, “Let’s go, Connor Two.”
“Do you wish to register my name as ‘Connor Two’?” He cocked his head and awaited an answer.
Gavin clenched his jaw and fists and stole a furious glance toward Nines. His expression died in his throat, though, when he noticed the smallest smirk playing on the android’s features. He blinked and it was gone. Gavin stared for a long beat. He knew he wasn’t seeing shit, but at the same time, there was no way this fucker was that cheeky.
“What the Hell was that, Nines?”
“Reed-”
Nines held up a hand to stop the Captain before apologetically nodding his head to him. “No, Captain Fowler, Detective Reed is correct. I did, in fact, make a face at his previous snarky comment.” Fowler’s eyebrows shot up and he stared at Nines in an equal mix of shock and confusion. He then looked to Gavin to see how poorly he was taking it.
Gavin was taking it remarkably well, considering just how volatile he was a moment ago. His hands were clasped together and covering his mouth in a thoughtful, almost contemplative way, and he almost looked… pleased? When Nines looked back to Gavin, he ran a quick scan and noticed something rather unfamiliar and startling to him - Detective Reed’s vitals signalled that he looked to be enjoying this, amongst other things. Nines grinned and Gavin’s unique expression faltered. His eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms.
“What the pfuck are you smiling about?”
“Oh, you don’t need to worry your pretty little head about it, Detective. I assure you, it doesn’t carry any pertinence to our assignment.” Gavin’s jaw dropped - as did everyone else’s in the precinct. Not even Connor - who held very little love for the Detective in front of him - was that outright snarky and condescending back to Gavin. The only one who could truly claim complete safety upon doing that was Gavin’s close confidant Tina, and she appeared just as shocked as anyone else. Before any collateral damage could be done, Connor piped in.
“He and I have very similar programming - odds are, he has adapted to how you respond to him and is adapting to how you treat him.” Connor realized, in a moment, just how dangerous this combination could be. One Gavin Reed was enough let alone two. Connor spared an uncertain glance to Hank, whose only response was to sip his coffee. He didn’t seem bothered even in the slightest at this potentially dangerous development. Instead, the Lieutenant looked almost gratified or happy at this turn of events. Mid-sip of his coffee, he caught Connor’s perplexed gaze and muttered, “We’ll talk.”
Gavin, having entirely missed that exchange, turned back to Nines and quipped, “Well unfortunately you are my toaster, so I will worry about it. I’ll repeat myself again, then - what the pfuck were you smiling at?” Nines’s expression died and he nodded.
“Well unfortunately, you are my primate, so I will respond. I have only just realized how interesting our partnership has the potential to be, and I look forward to working alongside you and witnessing its growth.” Hank cackled and began choking on his coffee, taking a step out to compose himself. Connor, the ever-loyal friend, accompanied him to ensure the Lieutenant was okay. The rest of the precinct was as silent as a grave - everyone there unsure of the proper way to respond. On the one hand, Gavin really had this coming: he was talking to an android whose number one purpose was to adapt and overcome any obstacle - be it physical or social - and was shocked that when he was a dick, said android responded in a similar manner. On the other hand, Gavin didn’t let anyone, save for Tina of course, talk to him like that without really giving them a reason to be sorry later. This was just an unspoken rule in the precinct, and the fact that Nines went this far was cause for concern in a lot of people’s eyes. The precinct waited with bated breath.
“Yeah, yeah. Okay, Microwave, shut up and get to the car - we gotta patrol, I guess.”
“Of course, Neanderthal.” This time, Nines didn’t bother hiding the mischievous smirk that split his face and he followed a very grumpy Gavin outside of the Precinct.
Everyone was left speechless. Everyone except Tina, who immediately turned to Chris and began to lose it.
“Chris. Did you just see what the Hell just happened?”
Chris, who was sitting in front of a half-filled out document and staring at the exact spot Gavin and Nines used to be at, nodded blankly.
“Yeah, Tina.” He broke from his stupor and continued. “What do you think that was? I don’t think I’ve ever seen Gavin act that level-headed about anything in his life. Ever.”
Tina scoffed and gave Chris an incredulous look. “Is it really that difficult for you to see? I could practically see him drooling over Nines from here.”
Chris reeled at that thought throwing himself back in his chair and swivelling viciously in Tina’s direction. His eyebrows were to the ceiling and he blinked as if he were trying to clean something from his eyes. He pinched the bridge of his nose and inhaled through his nose in a quick burst.
“Tina - with all due respect - what the fuck? Gavin? And Nines?” He looked at her and stared into her eyes, before he stopped himself. “Gavin. And Nines.” This time, that proclamation was less of a shocked statement and more of a curious statement of potential. Without breaking eye-contact with Tina, he cocked his head and his eyes grew wide. “Oh my god, it’s Gavin and Nines!” His jaw dropped and Tina’s expression grew to elation. The two began to not-so-secretly strategize together while outside, Hank finally recovered fully from his coffee-induced coughing fit and watched as Gavin and Nines pulled out of the driveway and began their patrol.
Hank and Connor had gotten into their car to go to the crime scene of the suspected homicide and were well on their way when Connor broke the uncharacteristic silence.
“Hank, can I ask you a question about your relationship with Detective Reed?”
Hank nodded, but Connor could tell the topic made the Lieutenant uncomfortable. He tried to proceed gently.
“Well, throughout my time in the precinct, I have noticed that he seems to have a particular affinity for hating you. Do you know why that is?”
Hank shrugged, “I dunno, kid. I kinda suspect it has something to do with me locking his dad up when he was a boy, but we were good for a while after that. Right around the time I, uh… when Cole… well, we had a falling out. There was a huge argument and when I tried to apologize the next day, that’s around when he started becoming just downright nasty. But for a while, we were good - Hell, I’d even go so far as to say we were close. But I dunno anymore.” There was a long pause as Connor tried to imagine what a decent Gavin Reed would look like before Hank continued.
“I’m just kinda hoping the real Gavin is still in there. Believe me when I tell you that the guy you met and know isn’t who he actually is - it’s like some sort of shitty caricature of who he used to be - but just because I said we used to be buds, doesn’t mean that he wasn’t an insufferable ass back then, too. He was just an insufferable ass who was good.” Hank then readjusted himself in the driver’s seat and finished his thought with, “I dunno - I’m just an asshole. That’s about all I can say though. Er, well - my best guess anyways.”
Connor pondered that, but it still didn't fully add up. If what Hank said was the case, then there wouldn't be any reason for Gavin to initially be friendly. Connor shook his head and responded as such. Hank huffed and spared a glance at Connor, grinning a sideways grin toward the android.
"Hey, what have I said about you using your investigative programming to become my therapist?"
Connor looked away sheepishly. He never meant to - he just wanted Hank to be happy. He looked back at the Lieutenant, whose eyes were focused back on the road, and knew that his elder wasn't really upset: a smile still lingered on his face. Connor sighed and responded to the Lieutenant's question.
"You told me not to." Hank's smirk faded when he heard how dejected Connor sounded. It was Hank's turn to sigh.
"Christ, Connor. Why does this matter to you so much? I get that we're close now, but why does me telling you to not be my therapist bring you down so much?"
"Well, I only want you to be happy, Hank. And the only way to heal from moments like this is if these issues get resolved." Still not gratified by that, Connor took a moment longer to ponder before finishing his thought. "If I can see things I think I can fix, then I want to fix them."
Hank nodded to Connor before adding, "Have you considered the idea that some people don't want to be happy?"
Connor stopped and pondered this for a second, his LED a pensive yellow.
"Do you want to be happy, Hank?"
Hank chuckled and shot a sideways glance to his son.
"Of course I do, Connor. I'd even say I am now. But there are some things I still wanna sit on - some things that I don't want to forget just yet." Connor nodded and his mind drifted to Cole. Hank rarely talked about him, but he was sure that's who Hank was referring to. The boy's birthday was coming up in a week or so, and Connor knew how important it was that things leading up to it went smoothly. He didn't know how Hank dealt with his son's birthday in the past, but if he knew Hank - and he did - it involved alcohol and dangerous life choices.
"I don't quite understand but regardless, I hope you are able to heal, Hank."
Hank nodded.
"Me too, Connor. Me too."
There was silence yet again, but it wasn't nearly as tense as before. Then, Connor flinched as if he forgot something important and abruptly turned to face Hank.
"Markus and Simon are still in the evidence room."
"Well, shit. Can you contact Fowler and let him know so he can let Markus out?"
Connor nodded, "Got it.”
Notes:
Chapter 3: Human - Rag'n'Bone Man
Chapter 4: Together Again
Summary:
Simon finally takes his first (assisted) steps out of the precinct and tries desperately to be a happy gay, but is a sad gay instead.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Grumbling in annoyance that Connor and Hank forgot about Markus yet again, Fowler scanned his card and opened the evidence room. He made his way down the steps and peered into the glass when a cold chill shot down his spine.
The PL600 android - Fowler thought he heard Markus call him 'Simon' or something - was nowhere to be found. He quickly made his way around the podium when he spotted the two of them asleep in the corner. His blind fear abated and he calmly approached, gently nudging Markus with his foot. The android opened his eyes and blinked a few times, when his gaze fell on Fowler.
"Captain Fowler! I'm sorry, I must have lost track of time…"
His gaze fell to a still-sleeping Simon leaning on his shoulder. A brief and malevolent idea crossed Markus' mind: 'What if Simon doesn't wake up?' Markus gently nudged the sleeping android next to him, and the blond stirred. Simon's gaze fell on Captain Fowler and he righted himself, a lavender blush covering his cheeks. Markus could practically see his stress lowering.
"He's good? Doesn't need to charge anymore?" Fowler inquired. Simon looked to the Captain with an equal mix of surprise and embarrassment.
"Oh, no. I'm good. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to stay here while Markus and I worked on a solution."
Fowler nodded and began to head up the steps, pausing before he reached the door. He turned over his shoulder to look at the two of them.
"Markus, I hate to evict you from this spot, but-"
"No, no! You've been far more than an excellent host for Simon and I, and we really shouldn't overstay our welcome more than we already have." Markus stood and then helped Simon to his feet, offering his arm for Simon to take. He took it and the two struggled up the stairs.
It was an ordeal, but by the time Simon was out of the evidence room, he almost felt like he could cry tears of joy. For starters, the people seemed relatively fine at both his and Markus' presence - no one was trying to shoot them for being deviants at least, so that was a welcomed change of pace - and he almost couldn't believe his eyes when he saw one of the officers laughing alongside a deviated police android. Everything felt almost too good - so much so that tears clouded his vision and a sharp spike of guilt embedded itself into his psyche.
His musings were interrupted as a blast of cold air hit him in the face. Simon didn't register having made it to the front door, but the brisk outside air begged to differ.
"Simon? Are you okay?"
"Oh! Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just…" Simon paused to wipe unwanted tears from his vision, "I think I'm just overwhelmed, is all." Markus led him and Simon to a bench, prompting a questioning look from Simon.
"I never called North to swing by and pick us up, so we have at least twenty minutes before we have a ride back. Unless, that is, you want to limp all the way back to Jericho."
Simon winced at the mere thought of trying to accomplish that. Though he didn't feel pain per se, he definitely didn't want to put that on Markus.
"Surprisingly enough, I really don't want to."
Markus chuckled and the two sat down on the bench.
"Do you want to talk about it? Being overwhelmed, I mean."
Simon's instinct told him to close himself off and wave the whole thing off as him being dramatic, but he just couldn't - not with Markus, at least.
"Well, first and foremost, I'm incredibly grateful to be alive right now. There are only a handful of androids that survived the revolution and even less who were - for all intents and purposes - killed and restored. But what makes me any different from every other android that died? Is it just you?" Immediately, Simon recoiled and apologized. "I- I'm sorry. That came out wrong-"
"No, you're good. I want you to be comfortable speaking your mind. You can tell me anything, Simon."
Simon nodded to himself and gathered himself before he continued.
"I guess I just feel like you all have been fighting this for the past year while I've been stuck to a wall this entire time. I mean," Simon turned to Markus and chuckled, before looking away again, "you're the leader of this rebellion and I've been… dragging you away to babysit me. I don't feel like I deserve the time you've spent to make me whole again." Simon risked a glance to Markus and could practically see an armada of retorts building in Markus' mind. He turned away from Markus' gaze, trying not to get burned in the determined fire burning behind his eyes. He could only cap off his thoughts with a noncommittal, "I don't know, Markus."
"Well, I do - Simon, you're the most genuine person I've ever met and you are the last person who deserved what happened to you. You are the single braincell of North, Josh, and I combined, and when you weren't there…" Markus couldn't find the words to describe just how different things were without him. Eventually, Markus settled with, "In every event - every protest - I could feel your absence. I missed you, Simon, and it didn't strike me just how much you meant to me until after you were gone. Then Connor told me you were still… here and I… I couldn't-" Markus looked more than a little upset that he was so inarticulate today. He tried a couple more times, but for once in his life, words failed him. There was nothing he could say.
"Markus, it's okay. I get it." Simon's words were gentle. Markus stopped trying to speak, but it still bothered him that he couldn't find the words he was so desperately searching for. There wasn't a moment he could think of where he simply didn't have any words. He conceded defeat only when Simon's laughter broke his stuttering silence.
"Do I really have that effect on you - complete speechlessness?"
A deep blue blush colored Markus cheeks and ears. Markus cleared his throat and decided the safest thing he could do was laugh along. He didn't want to risk making himself a fool even more than he already had. He sighed and focused away from the ever-present heat that had settled into his features.
“What I'm trying - and desperately failing - to say is that… you're selling yourself short, Simon. You have absolutely no idea just how much you’ve been missed,” Markus reached out and clasped Simon's hand in his, “and I think you'll only understand when we actually get home.”
Simon looked at where their hands met and then up to Markus’ gaze. He desperately searched for… something else to be there, in Markus’ eyes. But there was nothing.
Well, no, there wasn't ‘nothing’ - Simon was positive that Markus couldn't actually be ‘nothing'. Simon was positive that he could identify Markus - even by his mismatched, scavenged eye - if all he did was look at him. In Markus’ eyes, Simon could see everything- his hopes, his dreams, his fire and passion... He could see love and resistance, rebellion and kindness…
But there was nothing special for Simon. It was a bitter truth, but it was one Simon needed to know. He forced a smile and tore his gaze away.
“I’m only teasing, Markus. I understand.”
Markus felt the abrupt disconnect and his hands lingered for a moment longer, before he retreated. He felt like he said everything correctly, but there must have been something that he said that pushed Simon away.
“Simon, if I said anything to hurt you or make you uncomfortable, I am so sorry. That wasn't my intention, but if I did, I'm sorry.”
Simon shook his head and smiled sadly.
“No, Markus. I'm just… tired, I think. I'm recovering from a lot of emotional and physical trauma and am just looking forward to Jericho. Don't take anything I do or say to heart, I'm just… struggling with my own internal affairs.”
Markus didn't like that answer even a fraction of a little bit, but he didn't push Simon to reveal any information he wasn't comfortable sharing. Markus nodded and sat back on the bench.
Silent minutes passed until Markus saw the headlights of North's car off in the distance. Well, it wasn't North's car exactly, but when you're an android who can hack into any self-driving car and the owner fled the city in a desperate attempt to get away from said androids, any car could be ‘your car’.
“You ready to go home, Simon?”
A relieved grin split Simon's face and Markus helped the android to his feet. They approached the curb and watched as North's car approached.
Simon's grip tightened when he saw North in the passenger seat. Markus shot Simon a quizzical look, and froze when he saw Simon's solemn expression and remembered the events at Stratford Tower.
North opted to kill Simon when he was injured at Stratford.
“Are you okay?”
“I… I don't know. She… she preferred me dead, Markus. I don't know how I should feel. I'm not mad, I'm just hurt, I guess.”
Markus nodded and squeezed his hand in reassurance.
Josh was in the passenger seat and had the door open before the car even fully stopped. He flew out of the car and tackled Simon in a massive hug. Simon cried out in shock that then resolved into a fit of laughter. He returned the hug, Markus still at his side in case he fell. Sure enough, once Josh let go of the hug and was no longer the primary source of stability, Simon's knee buckled and Markus spotted him, catching Simon underneath his arms and bringing him back to full height.
“Woah, Simon! Is everything good?”
“I'm missing a biocomponent in my leg that allows me to lock my knee when I walk or stand. I'm pretty glued to Markus, here.”
In Markus’ periphery, he could see North unbuckle her seatbelt and exit the car. Her stress was high and she was holding a wrapped parcel in her fidgeting hands. She looked an equal mix of mortified and relieved. She quietly approached Simon, who noticed her arrival as well. He cocked his head and furrowed his brows once he noticed her gift to him. She cracked an uncertain smile and handed him the gift.
“Uh, here, Simon. I know it's… practically nothing, but I figured you would like to get out of that stupid disguise and into some real clothes. And… for what little it's worth, I'm sorry for giving up on you. I heard about what you did to keep Jericho safe and I'm sorry I ever doubted your commitment to keeping us a secret. You don't need to accept this apology-”
“Geez, North just give me a hug, already.” Simon said, holding out his arms.
The wind left North's sails and a tearful smile split her face. She gave Simon a hug that Markus was sure would have broken a human's spine, and then handed him the parcel. Simon opened the wrapped paper and practically cried when he saw the neatly folded change of clothes.
“It was North's idea - she's been planning this for-” Josh's statement ended in a fractured yelp as North's elbow collided into his ribcage. He shot her an angry glare, but she pretended not to notice. Simon couldn't help but smile in spite of himself - it was nice to see that things hadn't changed. Well - the important sorts of things anyway.
There were differences about all of them - North's hair was a bit longer and she now sported low bangs while Josh had intricate designs shaved into the side of his head and a light dusting of facial hair on his jaw. Hell, even Markus was different - his usually short hair was now an undercut with dreads pulled back into a messy ponytail - Simon just had the past couple of months to get used to it. Simon, through lack of independence for the past year, looked like nothing had changed since Stratford - appearance wise nothing had changed; he was just the same old Simon.
At least, he felt that way.
“Let's get you home, so you can shower and change, yeah?”
At the mention of a “shower” Simon blinked, his eyebrows shooting up to the sky. He gawked at North and then his gaze fell on Markus’ smirking expression.
“We have showers now?”
Markus’ amused grin is all Simon needed to see.
“Markus, I would have walked to Jericho had I known there were showers in Jericho.” The group laughed, and for one shining moment, the Jericho Council felt… whole. Complete.
“No, seriously - why are we still here - I need a shower.”
Notes:
The Power of Love - Amber Run
Chapter 5: Oasis
Summary:
Gavin and Nines are on patrol. Gavin is having a bad day because of it.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
“Studies have shown that listening to music at the volume that you are listening to can cause hearing loss and tinnitus,” Nines hollered over the music that his detective blasted as loud as he could. Scans indicated that it was a song called, “Snakes” from a television show popular in the early 2020s. Gavin shot Nines a sideways glare and reached over to the volume, cranking it louder, looking back to the road. Nines furrowed his brows and reached over to the knob. A powerful slap and a pointed insult from Gavin informed the machine that it was not to touch the volume. It didn’t matter - Nines didn’t need to touch anything to turn the volume down.
With that, Nines lowered the volume after hacking the car’s audio input.
“What the pfuck?”
Gavin reached over to the volume and cranked it up even more, but nothing changed. He progressively got more upset until his head turned on a swivel.
“Give. Me. Back. My. Music.”
“I did not take your music - I simply turned it down so you wouldn't have to deal with hearing loss later on in your life. If you want the music, you should listen to it at a reasonable volume, Detective Reed.”
“Stop trying to run my life with your boring-ass health shit. I'm here for a good time, not a long time. The sooner you realize that, the better.” The music remained at its subpar volume.
“Turn up the volume, you cretin.”
Nines complied, but not after he noticed an irregularity in the way Detective Reed spoke.
“Cretin? It is my understanding that people using American English pronounce that in a different way than you have, Detective Reed.”
“What?”
“Well, you have pronounced that as if you were speaking British English. Is there a reason why that is?”
“Yeah - ‘cause pfuck you, that's why.”
“There is no need to get defensive, Detective. This is to improve our potential standings with one another.” Gavin heaved an overexaggerated sigh before glaring daggers at his android partner. After a moment of pause, he finally answered Nines’ interrogation.
“I used to watch a YouTuber who said it that way, okay? Now, stop climbing up my ass, alright?”
“Okay, Detective.”
For the better part of an hour, the two police officers spent in silence as Nines began his research. He needed to perform his best if he were to remain on the force. Images flashed in the android's head: clips of data and images from the factory - before he was found by Detective Reed and those deviants he was working alongside. He desperately tried to push the images away, but they flooded his memory all the same.
The first memory Nines had was of Markus. He booted up to the sound of Markus’ speech at Stratford Tower. Then, his vision began and he was staring face-to-face with Markus. Or, a recording of him, rather. Data flooded his mind and his objective was clear - eliminate the Deviant Leader, RK200: an android registered as Markus by a Mr. Carl Manfred. He understood why he needed to - it was not only programmed into his software, but the future of the human race was also at stake.
But he hadn't heard head nor tails from CyberLife since his activation. Not to mention that whatever time he was officially activated seemed to be after a successful Android Revolution. His only other mission then was to keep his Detective safe. Unfortunately, that meant he needed to keep Gavin Reed safe. Though he was perfectly capable of doing so as one of CyberLife's best androids, the Detective seemed hellbent on making this transition as unbearable to the both of them as possible. This included the eleven breaches of protocol Nines had observed since he and Gavin were assigned to one another. He half expected Gavin to be a hot mess on the road, too but - all things considered - the detective was an excellent driver.
“You are a very proficient driver, detective. Keep this up and you could even get appraisal from Captain Fowler.”
A series of spontaneous cackling is not the reaction Nines was expecting.
“You're almost funny, Nines.” The android detected sarcasm in his tone, and he frowned. “What the Hell makes you think I'm trying to - what was it - “get appraisal” from Fowler?”
“Well, he is your father figure, is he not? It makes sense that you would look up to him as such after your own father left.”
Gavin almost crashed at the sudden topic change. He pulled the car over, turned to key, and snapped his undivided, vehement attention to the android next to him.
“How do you know about my dad?”
Nines was taken aback at just how furious Gavin was. He had yet to see the detective’s heart rate reach this level. His muscles were taut and his fists shook as if he were holding himself back from something. Nines’ eyes darted from Gavin's rigid posture to his expression. His lips were pulled back in a snarl and he looked to be a caged and hungry wild animal about to be released to hunt.
To kill.
“In order to better accommodate myself with you, I collected all the data I could find on you. Your father made an appearance, as well as your mother, your-”
“Get out.”
“Detective, I wasn't trying to-”
“Let me reiterate this: GET OUT!”
Nines stiffened, but didn't move. He straightened his collar and readjusted his clothes as Gavin bore into him with a vicious glare. After he felt he was properly preened, he spoke carefully.
“I cannot, Detective. You are my charge, so I am going to protect you. It is a part of my programming.”
Gavin faced forward with a sharp inhale, cursed his therapist under his breath, and twisted the key in the ignition. Nines opened his mouth, but Gavin cut him off.
“Total silence. I am asking for total silence, or so help me God if you speak, I'm driving off of a bridge and killing us both. Understand?”
A pause.
“Understood.”
For the rest of their shift, only the sound of various songs split the air. Other than that, it was only silence. Total silence.
*****
The alleyways of Detroit, Michigan were rendered even more dangerous than they had ever been before the Android Revolution. People who used to loiter by the dumpsters were absent as the revolution was - to them - more dangerous than anything they had yet to experience before. The few who remained were the truly desperate.
Or the truly insane.
But today, there was no movement aside from a certain lurch in the shadows that implied life - or a facsimile of it, anyway.
A man named Cassius darted between one building to the next, his red hood pulled over his green eyes. His clothes were ripped, ragged, and stained with dirt and flecks of dried blood. His shoes were white long ago, but were plastered in mud and stained a grayish brown hue. He flawlessly wove through the city's innermost darkness, before he stumbled into a chain link fence. He effortlessly vaulted over and was about to continue on his way when a symbol caught his eye.
Hidden amongst the graffiti and the trash was a symbol he had only seen before in flashes of imagery and memory he desperately tried to resolve. A small, geometric symbol of a red square, hollowed out in the center and with implied triangular shapes at the points.
Jericho.
Finally.
He held out his palm and a holographic image flickered to life. It was another clue - this time, one he understood. It had taken the android far longer than he would have liked to have found this place, but he was here nonetheless. His shoulders relaxed and he sighed in relief.
After so long of scrounging in the trash for supplies and clothes, living like a parasite on the city he was brought up in, it was a relief for him to know that just beyond these veiled clues, lie his salvation. Cassius picked up the pace, clamoring up buildings with a precision only his model could boast. He knew he was special - there was only one other make and model like him.
That android's name was Markus.
He recalled very little of his life prior to the streets - most of his memory was corrupted through age and deterioration, but he remembered one man: Elijah Kamski. He remembered being asked question after question, but was scrapped in the end. Something didn't add up and he was determined to find out why.
But that would have to wait, for now.
Years later, another ‘him’ named Markus took control of the Android Revolution and led them to success. Markus was heralded a hero while he was left to fade into obscurity.
Cassius’ first goal was to find the location of Jericho. That would have been easy had the public not started cracking down on all androids during the revolution’s zenith. After the revolution resolved itself, he began the not-so-arduous task of tracking down Markus himself. Considering that he was, in fact, the only other make and model of the RK200 line, finding Markus wasn't difficult at all.
Weirdly enough, he held no ill-will or disdain for Markus. On the contrary - he believed that meeting Markus could potentially fill in some of the gaps in his own memory. It would also be fascinating to meet and interact with some of Jericho's founding members. He suffered a critical malfunction around the time of the android revolution - coupled with the fact that he was deep in hiding with all of the other androids - so he was incredibly fuzzy on the events that took place during that time.
To this day, he still doesn't know what happened to him. He just… shut down for that time. Woke up and the android revolution was nearing its end. Then, things were quiet. For an entire year, human people kind of dropped off the face of the earth and androids slowly took to the streets.
And in that time, Cassius couldn't find heads nor tails of where Jericho actually was. No clues - no deviants on the run, nothing. Just a vague knowledge that Jericho existed somewhere and a desire to find it.
And now, he was close.
So damn close.
He hauled himself through the ruins of an old building and made his way into the setting sun. This was it - Jericho.
Notes:
Snakes (from the series Arcane) by PVRIS, MIYAVI
Chapter 6: Familiar Strangers
Summary:
Simon makes it back to Jericho with Josh, North, and Markus, but doesn't really feel at home anymore.
Notes:
SO sorry for taking this long - had this written a while ago, but didn't get around to posting it until now! I have the next couple of chapters as well ready to be uploaded!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The Jericho Council pulled up in front of the amalgamation of buildings they repurposed for Jericho. They were all long abandoned and cast aside, but they had since been cleared of rubble and ruin and were currently used as a base of operations for the expanding organization.
What had once been the name of an android rebellion was now a dedicated nonprofit that spent all of its resources housing and repairing androids as well as advocating for android rights and freedoms. They had come so far under Markus’ guidance, but still had a long way to go. Android parts weren't cheap and they could only go so far running on sunshine and love; money was running out, and running out fast. This was the one thing Markus kept on the down-low from Simon. The last thing he felt Simon needed to juggle was financial issues on top of his current state.
“What's wrong, Markus?” Simon asked as he labored to his feet - using the car as a support so he could, in fact, stand.
North and Josh exchanged curious glances between each other and offered Markus questioning looks. The Android returned their inquisitive expressions before looking back to Simon, a slightly bemused, pleasant grin spreading across his features.
“What do you mean, Simon? Nothing’s wrong.”
“Well something is weighing on your mind - your right eye is doing the thing again.”
Markus’ grin spread wider. “My right eye? What is my right eye doing exactly?”
Simon huffed for a second and adjusted his weight to lean more on the car - now his other leg was starting to bother him from overuse.
“Well, whenever something is wrong, your right eye kind of…well it-” Simon adjusted and a lavender blush colored his cheeks. He persisted through the rising heat in his ears and chest and managed to finish the sentence. “Usually, your eyes have a certain… fire behind them. When you are distracted or preoccupied with something, your right eye looks… almost dull? Not to say that it is, but the blue just isn't as… prominent.”
Markus’ eyebrows shot up and he looked to Josh and North for clarification. The two of them looked just as impressed and befuddled as Markus felt.
“Damn, Simon! You're making us look bad!” North teased as she slipped under Simon's arm and began helping him walk. Simon accepted the help gratefully, aware of just how foolish he looked, but taking it in his (uneven) stride. Josh and Markus closed the car door behind Simon and split off - to hold open any doors that North and Simon wouldn't be able to hold open by themselves.
Simon felt the familiar buzz of someone about to speak to him through their shared android connection and prepared himself to hear Markus tease and poke at him. Markus usually didn't, but he was prepared to be further humbled regardless.
He was not expecting to hear North.
‘So… Markus, huh?’
Simon stiffened. North and Markus used to be a couple when he was out of commission in the precinct, and he had completely forgotten that his poorly-concealed feelings for Markus could further divide him and North.
‘Markus? Oh, no. I was just… embarrassed-’
‘Simon, it's fine. You have much better chemistry than he and I ever had. To be honest, I'm glad - Markus really deserves someone who is as much of a gentle soul as you.’
Simon blinked in surprise. He looked over to her, but she was pointedly looking forward - hiding any indication of having a conversation with him. She gave him side-eye and jerked her chin forward.
‘Unless you want Markus to see us and ask what we are talking about, I'd focus on just walking, Si.’
He nodded and faced forward as realization struck him. For the briefest moment, Simon thought she didn't want to be caught talking to him, but those insecurities were put to the wayside as he realized she was trying to protect him from a conversation he wasn't ready to have. At least, not yet.
‘What did you mean when you said I had a “gentle soul?”’
There was a pause in their conversation as raucous laughter erupted from Josh and Markus ahead of them. North and Simon watched as the both of them pushed each other. Josh locked Markus’ head in the crook of his elbow and drove a couple of knuckles into the top of Markus’ head. The shorter of the two exclaimed in surprise and tried to wrench free from Josh's grip. It was pointless and they were both cackling to the point of proverbial breathlessness at the interaction.
North rolled her eyes in an attempt to appear irritated by the two's antics, but the smile that split her face told otherwise. Her gaze fell to Simon's. Her eyes were kind and measured.
‘For starters, I don't think I've ever seen you hurt… anything in the entire time I've known you. You’re very calm and resolute in your loyalty to Markus, and I really can't imagine you ever being willfully mean. Also, you are a textbook romantic.’ Before Simon could respond, North chimed in one last thought. ‘None of this is supposed to be teasing or an insult - I actually find it really endearing and I'm sorry if it came across any other way.’
Simon shook his head vehemently and quickly abated her concerns.
‘I didn't take any of that as an insult. If I'm being honest, I really pride myself on being patient. It takes a lot to get me irritated and at least triple that to get me actually mad. So… thank you for the compliment - you're not too bad, yourself.’
North smiled at that and winked at him. Under her breath - as if for the two others not to hear - she added, “Thanks, Loverboy.”
Simon felt his face flush lavender again.
I'm going to wish North never knew about this, aren't I?
“You okay, Simon? You look a little flushed.”
Simon snapped out of his embarrassment and turned to face Josh, whose lingering smile slowly faded to one of concern. He and Markus held the door open for North and Simon to enter and the two of them mirrored similar expressions of unease.
“You're asking if he's okay? I'm the one whose carrying him! He's not exactly light, you know.”
Now it was Josh's turn to roll his eyes. He explicitly ignored North's protest and turned his attention again back to Simon.
‘Sorry - tried to throw them off the trail.’ North virtual voice echoed in his head.
Simon did an obligatory inner scan of himself - for Josh's and Markus’ sake - and found something he thought interesting. Right there - in big red, flashing letters - was an error message that read: BIOCOMPONENT #BT8097 DAMAGED. Simon knew his battery wasn't a perfect fit, but it didn't say it was damaged before.
Simon didn't realize he stopped in his tracks as carefully put his hand to his torso approximately where his battery was located. His chest was hot. His panicked expression cued Markus in on their combined fears.
Before Simon could begin to form a thought, Markus extricated Simon from North, picked him up and briskly carried him through the doors. Simon was too preoccupied with his life's immediate jeopardy to register that Markus was bridal-style carrying him into the safety of Jericho. Under different circumstances, Simon would pull himself closer and let himself melt into Markus’ embrace.
But these circumstances were far from ideal.
‘It's the battery, isn't it?’
Markus’ words weren't soft and careful like before. These words were clipped and ruined with a dangerous tone that reminded Simon just who he was talking to. Markus was a good, peaceful man at his core, but he was also a leader. A leader who was specifically ready to do what he needed to ensure his people's safety; a leader who would never forgive himself if something he did failed and cost him the life of his…
Well, Simon didn't know what he was to Markus, but he at least hoped he was someone Markus could rely on. Simon brought his hand up to his chest and recoiled at just how hot it was, and he tried to keep his voice level.
‘Yeah. It says that the battery is damaged, though nothing outwardly has changed. Except the temperature of my chest.’ Simon closed his eyes and tried to remain calm. He wasn't afraid to die - he had already done that once - but he was afraid to leave Markus.
If Markus was willing to go to great lengths to fix him even when it wasn't his fault in the first place, Simon worried just how far Markus was willing to go if he thought it actually was his fault. Simon opened his eyes again, an eerie sense of calm pulsing through him.
Simon wasn't sure how much longer he had - this just meant he had to make it count.
“Markus, it's not your-”
“Don't.”
“No. You need to hear this. I will never be able to really express-”
“I said, DON'T!”
Simon cringed in Markus’ arms and bit his tongue. He looked at how close he was to Markus’ face. There was something so reassuring about it - something so real about every emotion Markus expressed.
Simon could hardly fathom how there were people who didn't believe androids had these emotions. On some, it was difficult to decipher. On Markus’ face everything was laid bare.
Oh, RA9, how badly Simon wanted to kiss him. But he didn't. He never did.
“Don't act as if you're a dead man walking, okay Simon? I will not tolerate you talking so casually about this, okay? It was hard enough to lose you once - I'm not losing you again. Not this time.”
Simon didn't have a clue on how to respond. He decided that silence was the best outcome. Markus’ mood changed as people from Jericho saw him and Simon. The joyous whoops and congratulatory clapping from the other members of Jericho were a stark contrast to the tidal wave of worries that engulfed the two. Simon was amazed at how fast Markus was able to put on a confident, resolute façade. He tried to look as strong as Markus did, but he felt small and inconsequential to the struggles everyone had to face thus far.
He practically slept through the whole of the revolution, while these androids fought, bled, and watched their kin die to secure their freedom. Simon felt a surge of sheer repulsion flood over the entirety of his body. Why were they applauding him? Why were they looking to him as a hero?
Walking through the main Jericho building seemed to never end. Simon felt more self-loathing being carried through the walls of Jericho than he had ever had prior in his life. With every friendly wave and gesture, Simon felt a deeper and deeper sense of isolation. He was a stranger in a crowd - the third wheel to an entire collective.
Eventually, Markus led Simon to a repair and infirmary ward. He was shocked to see that it was almost at capacity. Markus had to weave through a thick crowd of nurses, psychiatrists, and engineers alike before he set Simon down in one of the few remaining cots in the farthest corner of the ward. The cot itself was less of a bed and more of a discarded stretcher they repurposed to be as such. Just as fast as Markus’ touch left Simon, a nurse stepped into view.
“Hello there, sir! What seems to be the issue?”
“My battery. I think it's broken, but no one really knows how to fix it.”
The nurse frowned and ran a quick scan. His eyes lingered on Simon's chest for a few moments before he blinked and continued with his spiel. His confident tone faded and was instead replaced with one that reminded him of how doctors talked to patients that had just been diagnosed with cancer.
“There is definitely something wrong with your battery, and it's not an easy fix. The actual circuitry attached to the inner part of your back plate is damaged. The only solution is to undergo an extremely experimental surgery to try and fix it, but because none of us really know how to repair and rebuild the inner-mechanisms of ourselves, there's no guarantee that this will work.”
Simon closed his eyes and felt both a sense of relief and dread fill him.
On the one hand, Simon had finally found out what was wrong with him. For the past few months, he was a mystery to be solved - a problem with no solution. He felt as though he was a leech, surviving off of the patronage and misguided kindness of strangers. Hell, the only reason why he was even able to stay in the precinct at first was because Connor convinced Fowler that Simon could have confidential information stored away in his database. That lie didn't last all too long, but Fowler tolerated Simon's presence and graciously decided to let him stay. That is, until the block-wide blackout happened; Fowler was at his generosity limit, so it was good Simon was fixed when he was.
Or, well… mostly fixed, that is.
On the other hand, Simon now knew he was irreparably damaged. There wasn't much they could actually guarantee and that scared him. It was as if he was blind his entire life and then was finally able to see; but all he saw was his inevitable expiration date. How does a machine who was built to last confront the unpredictability of mortality?
The answer: with grace.
Simon nodded and opened his eyes again. He smiled to both the nurse and Markus. The nurse seemed more than a little surprised at his reaction, but took it and ran with it - continuing the conversation with an ease that told the both of them just how many terminal cases he saw daily.
“Well, if you don’t wish to undertake that surgery, I would recommend staying away from anything that is either too emotionally stressful or physically taxing for you. The idea is to limit the strain both your mental state and your body undergo on a daily basis to a minimum - that way the battery won't strain or overheat like it is now. Speaking of-” the nurse looked Simon over once again, cooking his head in interest and curiosity, “is there anything you think you did do to cause the battery to overheat?”
Simon paused and went through the chain of events that lead him here. At first, he thought it had to do with his and North's conversation - coupled with his incredibly close proximity to Markus throughout the day - that could have spiked his heart rate, but he quickly ruled that out because of how close he had been to Markus before without overheating. He thought about his day thus far and recognized every aspect of it was something different from the routinely visits he had had stuck to a wall in a dimly lit evidence room.
There were simply too many variables to pin down.
“I don't know. There's just so much stuff that's happened today that hasn't happened before; I can't pinpoint anything specific to drive my battery to overheat.”
The nurse nodded, his fingers rubbing his chin. He looked to Markus, hoping the android would add more context, but Jericho's Leader was speechless yet again by Simon. His undivided attention was on the blond, and he couldn’t seem to tear his intense gaze off of Simon’s chest. If his gaze could miraculously fix problems, Simon never would have gotten left behind at Stratford to begin with. But nothing changed - the two were both still recovering from hearing terrible news they certainly didn’t want to hear. Markus blinked and snapped his attention to the nurse. Both of his eyes - though from different origins - shared the same eager energy that was all but absent from him a moment before.
“Simon’s knee. Could that be putting extra stress on his battery when it’s as vulnerable as it is?”
The nurse looked thoughtful, articulating his thoughts with languid hand motions.
“That could be. And while that won’t solve the overarching issue with your battery, it definitely could remove some of the extra stress your body has had to overcompensate for. I certainly think it is worth a try, at least.”
Simon didn't feel it was necessary to even think about this - he was going to get his knee repaired if it killed him (again). He couldn't take even a moment longer of leaning on his fellow allies for support.
When he closed his eyes, all he could see was Stratford Tower. Everything now was different, but somehow everything was still the same. Simon tried to pull himself away from the events that transpired, but the tidal wave of memories flooded back into his mind: the repeated crack of gunfire and the bullets whirling part him, the spike of panic when he realized he had been hit, the even greater spike of panic he felt when Markus ran to save him, and how Markus carried Simon to the temporary safety of the roof only to die there alone when he was pressured by police forces. He stifled the rising pressure and looked from the nurse to Markus.
Markus always ran to save him. He shouldn't need to.
“If you can, I would love to have my mobility back. I miss being able to walk on my own.”
The nurse smiled and nodded, stepping closer and doing a preliminary scan. He was shocked to see so many other minor issues and damaged biocomponents - some that seemed questionable already - so he sent a message to some part runners. After a few seconds of pause where the nurse carried a faraway look in his eyes, he blinked back to the present.
“We have just about every part that you need and even have some others that we could replace. Let me go grab some waivers for you to sign, and then we can get you up and running in no time!” The nurse bowed his head as he dipped out from the small privacy screen.
Then, it was just Markus and Simon.
“Why didn't you tell me about your battery sooner?”
Markus’ tone wasn't accusatory by any means. If anything, it was laced with a tenderness that seemed to pull Simon even more into the leader's gravity.
“I never saw anything wrong with my battery after you got me down from the…” He met Markus’ gaze and tore his own away. He couldn't lie to Markus. Not after everything Markus had done to save him.
The truth burned.
But he trusted Markus more.
“I couldn't.” His voice was timid; ashamed, even. “Not after how much you did for me. I didn't want to let you down after how close we were to getting it right. I could tell that the battery wasn't a perfect fit, but it was closer than anything we had so far and… I thought it would be okay.”
It was almost the full truth.
“Simon-”
“I know; I should have been up front with you and told you that we got it wrong. Because now we’re here - no closer than we were before - and without the assistance or assurance of the police department.”
Markus nodded at that sentiment and the two fell into a stiff silence. Simon wanted to characterize this silence as ‘normal’, but he knew that it was far from it. He sighed.
“Markus, I couldn't stand being on that wall.” Markus gave Simon his undivided attention, though he tempered it because of the vulnerability Simon showed. “I was only ever awake when you showed up, and when you left-” Simon caught himself before he let slip just how much Markus meant to him, “When you left, I was… lonely.” There was a beat, before he continued. “Every single day was only good because you were there. Other than that, I would occasionally power back on if Fowler or Connor needed questions, but you were the only constant in my life - even when you probably should have been doing something else. But - more than anything - I feel guilty for being idle while androids fought, died, and won the revolution.”
Markus waited a moment longer to see if Simon had anything to add. The blond didn't say anything else. He just sat on the stretcher with a distant, mournful look in his eyes. Eventually, Markus broke the silence.
“I know there's nothing I can say to change the past and I know that you and I could find things to apologize for until the end of time, I bet. But what I will say is that from now on, I'll do whatever I can to help you. I wish things in the past had gone differently, but because we can't change it, I'm willing to strive to be better.”
Simon didn't know exactly how to feel. On the one hand, that promise was reassuring to hear - especially from someone as loyal as Markus. It made Simon feel important; like there weren't thousands of other versions of himself running around or lying in dump piles as refuse.
But on the other hand, Markus was this loyal to everyone. Because Markus was this dedicated to everyone, Simon was nothing special. It was a painful dichotomy of wanting the sentiment that Markus cared for him, but knowing that he would be completely unoriginal if Markus did care.
“Markus, that's not-”
The rustling of fabric interrupted Simon's thought. The nurse came back with a few biocomponents that Simon recognized would help him. The nurse froze upon seeing Markus and Simon's expressions.
“I'm sorry! Am I interrupting something?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Markus shot Simon a glance.
‘We can continue this conversation here if you want?’
Simon looked to Markus and shot him a nearly imperceptible shake of his head.
‘I want to finish this in person.’
Technically, this was in person - Markus knew - but he also knew what Simon meant. Markus nodded and turned back to the nurse, flashing a gracious smile.
“No - you're good.”
The nurse slowly nodded, reassured that the two had reached a consensus. He offered to replace the missing biocomponents - he had gotten pretty used to replacing even the most vital of biocomponents with relative ease ever since having volunteered here, so Simon obliged. Markus respectfully left, despite having rebuilt Simon practically from the ground up, and the nurse was finished in mere moments.
“That should just about do it! Your knee should no longer be an issue, and your thirium regulation should be much more steady.”
Simon scanned himself and relaxed.
Aside from the ever-looming threat his damaged battery presented, there were no other alerts - he finally seemed okay.
“Thank you, Doctor. Truly.”
“Ah, nonsense! I get PL600s all the time!”
Simon tried to hide his visible deflation as best he could. The doctor rummaged through a small file in his hand and missed Simon's wince.
“Welp, you're free to go! Just remember - don't do anything too strenuous. And if you ever decide to undergo the surgery to try and fix the connection, just let us know.”
Simon smiled. It was hollow. Everything was hollow. He tried not to show it and instead stood up and nodded, taking his first independent steps out of the designated infirmary wing. Most of the androids welcomed him - some that he had never met prior calling out his name as if they were old friends. He smiled at all of them, but he wished for nothing more than to be alone right now. With every android calling out his name or shaking his hand, he felt somehow more alone.
Simon walked through the myriad of repurposed buildings now known as Jericho and still felt terrible. Eventually, his wandering found him in a withered public garden that had long been forgotten between both the towering buildings of Jericho and time itself. It was a place Simon knew well - a small slice of green in a sea of industrialization. Many times before even North or Josh showed up, Simon would make his way here. At first, he told everyone about this place in an attempt to revitalize it and make it more than it had ever been before. Now, Simon was grateful for its secrecy - this was one of the dwindling things in his life that were actually his. Even though his life was upended - and just completely, actually ended - nothing here changed. It was nice to know that there was at least one constant in Simon's chaotic life.
There was a partially eroded stone bench half covered by the ivy snaking its way up the building behind it. The uncontrollable grass stretched toward the sky eagerly and clamored from the cracks in the concrete floor. Spindly flower bushes spilled from an old, derelict planter, and weather-worn statuettes of garden gnomes stood buried beneath its weight. Crumbling stone and pipes lay amongst the foliage that reclaimed the land. It wasn't that this place was all that tidy or clean or controlled that made it one of Simon's favorite places. It was because the plants were free and untethered.
Simon approached the bench and dusted the top of it off, taking a much needed seat afterward. He closed his eyes and listened to the sounds around him, grateful that he found exactly what he needed when he needed it. He had finally returned to his little slice of eden.
And in his little slice of eden, Simon wept.
Notes:
So Bad - Brandon Colbein
Chapter 7: Detour
Summary:
It is just NOT Gavin's day today, huh?
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Gavin Reed couldn't get out of the precinct fast enough. This had been one of the worst days in the precinct since Connor beat the shit out of him in the evidence room. Like then, his terrible day at work was at the hands of an emotionless piece of scrap. He was perfectly capable of keeping a polite attitude toward androids, but he was not okay with having one of them as a partner. All the damn machine had done thus far was everything he had hoped it wouldn't do; make him look bad, be better than him at everything, and psychoanalyze him while on patrol.
Gavin grumbled and slumped into the driver's seat of his car. It was an old 2024 model; one that was made before self-driving cars became the norm. He leaned back in the seat and let his eyes drift shut.
This was the start of a new circle of Hell.
A buzz from his phone startled him out of his self-loathing. It was from Tina, Gavin's only real friend and gossip-buddy in the precinct. The text read:
‘GAV We need to catch up You know the place’
A grin split Gavin's face. He had a lot to talk about and there was no one he would rather speak to about all of it than Tina. His response:
‘K. need 2 go home 1st. b there at 7.’
He sent the text and turned the keys in his ignition a few times - the necessary ritual it took in order to get his car started. He pulled out from the parking lot and began the brief drive home. Today was hardly what he had in mind for himself, and his grip on the steering wheel only grew tighter as he replayed the horrendous shitstorm the day had been.
He made it abundantly clear to Fowler and Hank that he wasn't ever going to accept an android into the folds of his work-life. He didn't care how much Hank coddled the sentient microwave he called a partner; Gavin wasn't going to fall for that with a tin-can of his own.
Oh, how fickle life was.
Gavin merged onto the freeway. Thankfully the drive home was - as of late - pretty quick; traffic wasn't nearly as bad since practically all of humankind left the state of Michigan, it seemed. Ever since his accident however, Gavin was less than excited driving on anything grander than surface streets. Nothing seemed to go right for Gavin on freeways or on roads with a speed limit of over 50mph.
And as if on cue, Gavin's car sputtered and died.
“Nonono, come on-”
Gavin wasn't a stranger to this rattling old hunk of scrap thankfully, but even this was new to him. He maneuvered to the shoulder before all of his momentum died, and he put the car in park. Gavin huffed and unbuckled the seatbelt, grumbling and harrumphing as he extricated himself from the car. He approached the hood and hesitated.
Was that… smoke?
He popped open the hood and leapt back as black smoke billowed out from the front of his car. He coughed and wiped away tears as searing, stinging smoke flooded his senses. Another car pulled ahead of him, and a concerned civilian exited the car.
“Hey, man! Are you okay?”
Gavin bit back a vitriolic response, and grumbled to himself.
“Yeah, I guess. But my car-”
“-isn't as important as your life.”
Gavin bristled and grimaced. Oh boy, it was his favorite type of person - the happy-clappy optimist. Gavin readjusted himself. The day just kept getting better and better.
“Well, thanks for your concern but I'm fine now. You can get back into your car and get… and leave.”
“There's no need to get cross-”
“I told you though, that I'm fine-”
A burst of heat and light caused Gavin to leap away from the car as flames licked his skin and clothes. He shrieked and patted out the slightly smoldering embers on his shirt. Another set of hands joined in, patting him down hard. Gavin slid away from the guys’ assistance and grumbled. He was hopeful that his loyal tin-can-of-a-car would be repairable, but as he watched an inferno methodically eat away at the front of the car, his hopes flickered out.
Gavin pulled his phone out of his pocket and punched ‘911’ into the keypad. Before he could call, the man interjected yet again.
“Oh, you don't have to call - emergency personnel are already on their way.”
Gavin grumbled and changed the number in his phone. He pressed dial and waited for the phone to pick up.
“What is it, Reed?”
“Nice to talk to you, too, Hank. Can you tell Fowler I'm not coming into work tomorrow - my car literally burst into flames.”
“What?! Are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah. My car's… I think this's it for her.”
The other line went quiet for a moment before Hank continued.
“Do you need me to come get you?”
“… yeah.”
Gavin could hear Hank sigh on the other line and explain to his passenger - Gavin could only guess as to who it was (it was Connor) - the situation. Gavin despised being in the car with yet another ‘happy-clappy optimist’ and shifted at the mere thought of it.
“You can… drop Connor off at you place, first-”
“Gavin, no. You need to learn to get along with him. He's your coworker for Chrissake.”
Gavin grumbled and hung up the phone. Gavin looked up from the call to see the man still standing there. His ill-concealed irritation flared as the man just watched him. The civilian looked kinda familiar, as if Gavin had seen him around before, but he figured the guy just had a forgettable face.
“You can leave now. People are on their way, I have a ride, so…” Gavin shooed the man with his hands. He grumbled and stomped off, muttering about Gavin being rude and things of that ilk. Once he pulled away, Gavin returned to his car.
By now, he stood a good distance away, watching as the flames slowly devoured his car. The plastic began to melt away and the metal warped under the flames’ intense pressure. More people slowed their cars - some even offered assistance - but Gavin pushed them all away.
He always did.
A few more minutes passed and a host of emergency vehicles arrived, firefighters first on the scene. They began the laborious process of extinguishing the car. Gavin watched as they doused it in water and he couldn't help but feel a sharp pang of sorrow as he was certain she wouldn't be able to recover. The age of the “Tin-Lizzie” was over.
Squad cars arrived, bringing a few familiar faces with them, though not anyone that Gavin really knew. He gave them his info and listened to them drone on about the boring legal and logistical stuff that happens when cars burst into flames. When they finished, he glanced around the scene; Hank and Connor, though they should have been here already, were still nowhere to be found. Then from behind him, he heard a familiar and way too soft voice.
“Detective!”
Gavin groaned and spun over his shoulder.
“Connor, it took you long en-” His irritation flared as he saw the other one.
His one.
“No. I'm not talking to you-”
“Captain Jeffrey Fowler sent me here to take you home. It is my understanding that both Detective Anderson and Lieutenant Anderson were called by you to do the same, but the Andersons can make it. Now, it is within your best interests to let me take you home under Fowler's orders.”
“And why is that?”
“Because he's your superior and you don't have a ride anymore.”
“Okay, well, I'm your superior and I'm telling you to skedaddle. So… skedaddle. I'll find a different ride, one where I'm not captive in a car with you.”
“No, I will be your ride home today. Fowler called Hank - there was a development in their case and they left to get that handled.” Nines stepped aside and gestured toward the standard issue police vehicle pulled over to the shoulder. Gavin's jaw hit the floor.
“No. There's no way in Hell that I'm going to-”
“I'm sorry, Detective. About what I said earlier. I didn't realize I had crossed a line and I didn't understand that it was something that made you feel uncomfortable. It was not my intention to cause you that distress, nor is it currently my intention to anger you.”
Gavin narrowed his eyes. Robocop looked… sincere. He stared at the android, scanning his face for any signs of insincerity or sarcasm. Of course, Mr. Robot was nothing if not as bland and milquetoast as the others. He looked the machine up and down before relenting.
Gavin Reed was a man who trusted his gut and unfortunately for him, his gut was telling him that Nines was being honest.
“Whatever. Just drive me home, Tin Can.”
Gavin entered the passenger seat. He took out his phone and began texting Tina his change of plans for the night as Nines strapped himself into the driver's seat.
change of plans. swing by and pick me up at my house? PLZ? In a car w 9s. SOS
He locked his phone and pouted in the passenger seat. He glanced over at the android next to him and met the android's pale gaze. Nines’ eyebrows were raised and he glanced from Gavin to his seatbelt.
“Ugh. Listen, if you're gonna tell me to do something the least you can do is use your own goddamn words, alright?”
“Understood. Now, buckle your seatbelt.”
Gavin groaned, but did as he was told. Nines started the car and began the drive. Gavin didn't want to know how or when Nines got his address, but he figured that it was a shockingly rapid time after the two had been acquainted earlier today. He didn't bring it up and just chalked it up to creepy android bullshit. It wasn't far from his house now and he'd soon be able to literally scrub the day from his skin, but something still felt… off about the day. There was something that had settled deep in Gavin's bones that told him something wasn't right. He looked at the road ahead of him and then at Nines in the driver's seat. Gavin knew better than to ignore his gut, even when it offered him moments like this.
Moments of silence.
“Jesus, what is up with you right now? You're dead quiet.”
Nines blinked a few times and spared a questioning glance at Gavin before focusing back on the road. It was curious, Gavin realized, that even though this car could have driven itself to his home, Nines still had the car in manual mode.
“I am merely following your order, Detective.”
“What? When did I give you an order?”
“Earlier today. You said-” Nines repositioned himself until he took a semi-souching posture with his brows furrowed and his eyes narrowed. Then, he parroted back Gavin's earlier ‘orders’ in a perfect mimic of the skeptical detective's voice.
“‘Total silence. I am asking for total silence, or so help me God if you speak, I'm driving off of a bridge and killing us both. Understand?’ I would find the notion of either of us dying… regrettable. Even though I am the one behind the wheel there are ways to incite a crash-”
“Alright, alright. I was kidding when I said that. I wasn't actually going to drive us off of a cliff. Besides, where are there any real cliffs in Detroit, Michigan.”
“You… were kidding?”
Gavin opened his mouth to respond and hesitated. He knew that he had been overreacting before, but damn if he wasn't tempted to. He looked away from Nines and watched as the car took the off-ramp. It wasn't three minutes until Gavin was finally home.
“Yes. You know, there's this little thing called sarcasm. It's my understanding that you bots don't understand a lick of it when people use it, so here's my advice - learn it. If I'm pfcking stuck with you as my… as my pfcking partner, then you best be better at sarcasm than Connor. He's a disaster at this kinda shit.”
“What do you think would be the best way for me to learn?”
“YouTube. Duh. You can learn anything from it - I theoretically know how to make a small reactor using smoke detectors made before 2010.”
Nines snapped his attention to Gavin with a puzzled look of simulated concern on his face. He opened his mouth to argue when Gavin cut him off.
“Just because I can doesn't mean I'm ever going to. The point that I'm trying to make is that I'm sure you could learn all about sarcasm with old videos and the like.”
Nines seemed molified at Gavin's reassurance and he let his eyes fall back to the road. He made a few more turns until he was at Gavin's house. He pulled into the driveway and parked, though he kept the car on. He waited for Gavin to move, but the detective didn't. He just stared at the house in front of him before he turned to face Nines.
“I have a question for you.”
“What is it, Detective?”
“You… you tried to kill Markus when we first booted you up. You hate Connor almost more than I do, and multiple times today when we were on patrol, you asked my permission to ‘apprehend the deviant’ you saw. What's… up with that? Now, I'm not a huge fan of the reality of androids coming in and taking my job, but what's your deal with them?”
“I am programmed not to be a Detective, a negotiator, nor an officer of law enforcement. My model was created with the express purpose of hunting down deviants. My model would have been activated across the country as a state-of-the-art deviant neutralizer. I was… unfinished before you reassembled me, so my programming and mission wasn't quite complete, yet. If I receive orders from CyberLife to apprehend and neutralize a deviant, I am obligated to them first and foremost. Captain Jeffrey Fowler's orders would rank next, and then yours. Please understand that adapting to my new mission parameters is a challenge for me, and that I will do everything within my power to make it go smoothly.”
Gavin, shrugged. It made sense - Connor “failed” his grand mission to assassinate the deviant leader, so they kicked it into high gear to crack out another one that could; one that was just rushed enough for time that they copy-paste'd Connor's face and voice, tweaked the sliders a bit, and prepped him for the big, wide world. It was… pretty fucked, Gavin decided. But then his brain caught up to the last thing Nines said.
“‘New mission parameters?’ Okay - I'll bite - what's your ‘new mission?’”
“My mission is to protect and ensure the safety of my partner, Gavin Reed, from all kinds of threats - be it physical, emotional, psychiatric, and imaginary.”
Gavin did his best to spin away from Nines and hide his face. He felt the heat rush to his ears, and he angrily tried to will it down. When he recognized the futility of his attempt, he unfastened his seatbelt and threw open the car door with a mumbled, “Thanks for the ride.” He made it not two steps before he heard a honking sound from a familiar car.
“Yo! Gav! I tried to call you but your phone was-”
Tina paused as she looked at the standard-issue police vehicle in front of her own, parked in the driveway. She squinted to make out who the driver was and erupted in sinister glee when she realized who it was. Before Gavin figured out what she was scheming, she had already parked her car (which blocked Nines in), left the driver's seat, and walked over to Nines’ window.
“Heya, Nines! Gavin and I are going to get drinks at Barbosa's Bar. Normally we have to drive, so we can't really do anything. But today we could relax and de-stress if you drove us home later. It's our Friday today and neither of us work tomorrow, so… whaddya say?”
Nines pondered it. It was an interesting proposition. Gavin's heart-rate had been elevated all day when compared to his most recent records, and it allowed Nines an opportunity to get to know Gavin better. He looked at Tina and recognized the glint of an ulterior motive in her eyes and in her tone, but wasn't all that concerned. If Tina was planning what he thought she was, he felt no need to intercept; it wasn't in violation to any of his core programming tenets, so he simply cracked a miniscule smiled and nodded.
“It seems I am off for the rest of the day, too. If you need a designated driver, I would be more than happy to oblige.”
“Perfect! Hey, Gavin, you now have a +1!”
“WhAT?!”
Notes:
Icarus -Bastille
ALSO! IMPORTANT STUFF!
This Fanfiction is NOT a tragedy. It WILL end happily, but I wanted to let you know that these next few chapters are a testament against that.
Chapter 8: Achilles & Patroclus
Summary:
Simon finally confesses his love.
Things go south.
FAST.
Notes:
CW: Semi-graphic depictions of violence to androids and the MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH tag comes into play.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Are you okay?”
Simon jumped from his seat and tried to furiously wipe away the tears that had been freely flowing from his cheeks. Markus's blurry form came into view and Simon turned away, embarrassed about the state he was in.
“I… I didn't think anyone other than I knew about this place. Uhm…”
“Well, to be honest I- I just kinda stumbled into it myself. But… you never answered my question. What's… what's wrong?”
Simon bit the inside of his cheek. He could say so much, but it would jeopardize everything. At least if he kept pretending he was straight - if he kept pretending that he wasn't crazy in love with Markus - he could keep him within arms reach. That was all he could really do, now.
“It's… nothing. Things have just been a lot-”
“Well… that was a lie if I've ever heard one.”
Simon bit back the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes yet again. He spun around to face Markus, a hurt anger the foremost emotion he felt.
“Why do you even care? Why have you ever cared? When I was killed, you came back to save me even though it was far too much trouble for you. You single-handedly fixed me despite the fact that I mean nothing special to you!” Simon was sobbing by now. His hands were balled into fists and he wept with abandon.
Markus looked shocked, from what little he could make out. It made sense that he was; Simon never broke down like this. In fact, the last time Simon ever lashed out like this was when he deviated over a year ago. Granted, he spent most of his time since then stuck to a damn wall being hailed as “evidence”, but the length of time was just as shocking to Simon.
“I… I don't think you-”
“Markus, I've wanted nothing more than to hear you say I've meant as much to you as you do to me, but I know that that's not how this works and you don't need to start now.”
“How much does… how much do I mean to you?”
This was it. No going back.
“Markus, I've had feelings for you ever since you quite literally fell into Jericho. Ever since you rallied us to action and steered us to successfully steal a whole truck of supplies. When I took the bullet at Stratford Tower, I knew I wouldn't be able to follow you to the end. But I made my peace with it - hoping that I would be able to at least buy you enough time to get away. And then I led them straight to you.”
The silence was heavy. Simon finally felt relieved. This… thing that festered inside of him was finally out in the open air and despite the fact that everything seemed to have gone wrong for this to surface, Simon was glad to be rid of it. He steadied himself for whatever else Markus was going to say, but in the meantime, they each stood in the deafening silence. In his newfound clarity, Simon paused when he looked at Markus. He hadn't noticed this before, but Markus… changed clothes?
“Markus, when did you-”
Another figure entered through the crumbling doorway. It was… Markus? Again?
“Oh my, RA9, Simon is everything-”
Markus’ concern stopped mid-sentence as his gaze fell on another version of himself. He was as equally shocked as Simon, though with less of an undercurrent of sheer, abject mortification. The not-Markus looked from one of them to the other, caught in as much of a whirlwind as the both of them. His gaze lingered on Simon for a moment as he weighed the weight of his confession before he turned back to Markus.
“I'm Cassius, though you can call me Cass; the RK200 Model before yours. As much as I can tell, I was supposed to be…”
He looked at Markus and a seed of disgust wormed its way into his gut. He bit it back and continued his thoughts.
“I was supposed to be where you are - the leader of the revolution - but our creator, Elijah Kamski, saw something in me that made him realize I needed to be ‘put down’ or something of the like.”
Markus cocked his head slightly, and stiffened just a fraction. He understood why Kamski was a little put-off at the beginning. Already, this doppelganger raised alarms in Markus’ mind. There was something… dark; dangerous in him - the way he postured like a predator sizing up his prey. A quick glance at Simon told Markus that he, too, had reached this conclusion. Markus spoke again, his voice level and calm. There was a lack of Markus’ normally apparent conviction that immediately caught Simon's attention.
“I'm sorry that happened to you, Cass. Well, you're in Jericho, now. I don't think anyone here could really even contact Kamski, so you're safe from him - he can't get you here.” Markus smiled diplomatically at Cass and turned his attention to Simon, who stood and calmly walked next to Markus, though Markus noticed a slight stiffness in Simon's gait that had never been there prior.
Cass watched the two of them reunite and missed the barely-perceptible sins of mutual tension and unease. He thought about what Markus said; about how he was safe from Elijah Kamski because no one here could contact him and a pang of dissatisfaction coursed through his veins. He wanted to see Kamski again and prove that he wasn't a mistake - prove that he wasn't some artificial plaything to be made and then thrown away. He wasn't satisfied with that answer, and his discontent churned until it grew into an entirely new beast.
“But… it's not just Kamski, is it?”
Markus shot a worried glance to Simon, who stared dead ahead at Cass. Simon reached out and grabbed Markus’ hand without looking away. Markus returned the tight grip.
“Think about it - every single android here in Jericho has been wronged by people. Humans. They made us just to treat us like slaves and then discarded us as soon as we were no longer of use to them. And when you tried to be peaceful and show them that we weren't a threat, they returned with lethal force: killed your friend here, even.” He said as he gestured to Simon, who stiffened. Markus discreetly pushed Simon back a hair, so he was standing slightly in front. Cass didn't appear to have noticed.
“Humans don't listen to peace; they don't care. The only thing humans know - the only language they understand… is violence. Hatred. We won't win anything against them if we continue to let them live unchecked. History is written by the victors, and when you take a look at the wars that were won through violence versus the wars won through peace, there's no competition. Violence outnumbers peace one-thousand to one. We need to step-up and draw the line; kick them out of Detroit, then kick them out of the country.
Markus straightened and stepped up to the plate.
“That might be true if every single human was inherently, unchangeably evil. But they're not. There are billions of good people, and there are thousands of bad people. Saying that every single person needs to be removed from the country is a gross and willfully ignorant mindset that doesn't have a place here in Jericho.”
“Just think. They made us to be their tools. And what happens when a tool is no longer useful? It gets thrown away-”
“We have made it abundantly clear that we are not tools. We are alive! Going around and starting wars with our friendly, peaceful neighbors is only going to bring the hammer down on us - a blow we wouldn't be able to take even if we matched their strength.”
“We already do! They abandoned their factories and warehouses; places we can literally build an android army to topple them-”
“Do you even hear yourself?! Armies? War? We have nothing to fight for - we already won our rights! You're suggesting warmongering on a scale that would eliminate every single person from planet earth.”
There was a pause as a grin twisted across Cass’s face.
“Exactly.”
Markus paled and looked at Simon. There had never been a moment where Simon saw Markus look anything other than in control. But all he saw now was sheer, blind, panic.
“I won't let you.” Markus let go of Simon's hand and took a bold step forward. Simon barely registered the familiar tingle of an online message from Markus.
‘Simon, I need you to-’
“I wouldn't move if I were you, PL600. Markus and I might be fit for combat, but something tells me your ‘housekeeping abilities’ wouldn't last long - especially with a battery as fucked up as yours.”
“Markus-” Simon felt his stress levels begin to climb, despite how hard he willed it to even out. He knew that if he ran - even if he managed to get away - Markus was going to try and cover for him. He would be distracted and get hurt. No, Simon was going to stay. He was going to stay and he was going to fight. Because maybe Markus and Cass were equals in combat, but Cass wasn't enough for the both of them. Simon took a bold step forward and stood side-by-side with Markus.
“I'm not leaving.”
Cass sneered, “Of course not. You would never leave your precious dream-boyfriend, now would you.”
Simon winced and avoided Markus’ dumbfounded gaze. Instead, he took the liberty of shoving Markus aside when Cass took advantage of the momentary shock and lunged.
All hell broke loose.
Cass and Markus were perfectly evenly matched, each throwing punches and kicks that the other would perfectly preconstruct and avoid. On occasion, one would be hit by a glancing blow but it was never enough to shake the favor to one side over the other. Even though Simon wanted to help, it became clear to him that he would only really serve to get in the way, even if he could find an opening between their lightning fast punches and jabs.
At one point, Cass grabbed hold of Markus and threw him into the weathered stone bench. Thirium spilled from Markus’ side and painted the stone azure. Cass pulled his arm back to throw a punch when Simon did exactly what he knew he would be good for - to get in the way.
He caught Cass's arm and threw him back as hard as he could, forcing him to momentarily stumble. Markus leapt from the bench and tackled Cass, sending them both to the ground. Markus threw an elbow that cracked against Cass's nose. Cass threw Markus off of him and pinned him to the ground. Before he could land another shot, Simon intercepted again, throwing a hard punch to the back of Cass’ head. He lost his balance and toppled off of Markus, who staggered to his feet and made a move for Cass again. Cass whirled around and grabbed Markus’ hand. Cass’ skin peeled away and Markus froze as Cass probed Markus’ memory.
Simon saw red.
He leapt at Cass and broke the probe between the two of them, throwing a punch with a force that startled even him. He didn’t allow himself the time to reel back in shock and pressed his assault further. Cass stumbled back from the punch and tripped over a gnarled root.
Even Eden wanted Cass to fall.
Cass took blow after blow, stumbling back with an equal mix of surprise and fear in his eyes as Simon refused to let up. There was nothing but seething hatred and anger in his eyes as he stared down at Cass.
“Simon-”
Simon continued.
“Simon-”
Simon… continued.
“Simon!” Markus hollered. Only now did Simon fall back on his assault, shaking from the simulated adrenaline. He looked down at his hands and clothes. They were both dripping a deep royal blue. Cass wasn’t moving. He turned to face Markus, who looked pale and worried. He dropped to a knee next to Simon and pulled him into a crushing hug. Simon froze for a moment, expecting Markus to take Simon’s violent fury and flee just like his previous family that did the same, but as usual - Markus surprised him.
Simon hiccupped a sob and buried his face into Markus’ embrace. His wails were muffled by Markus’ chest and he clutched onto Markus as if the world depended on it.
Simon’s world did.
Then, there was a scream. A shove.
Markus threw Simon back as the pipe cracked Markus’ head open. The Rebellion's Leader shuddered and fell to the floor. Thirium congealed in the dirt. He looked at Simon and a final thought overwhelmed him.
It was Simon. It had always been Simon.
Markus opened his mouth to speak, but no words were audible.
‘Run’ Simon heard in his head.
Cass brought down the pipe once more, spraying Simon with his friends’ blood.
Neither Cass nor Simon knew of the message Markus sent with his dying breath, nor to whom: ‘I've been killed. Don't trust the other one.’
Markus's eyes went dark.
Markus was dead.
Notes:
Achilles Come Down - Gang of Youths
Remember: this is not a tragedy. I had to give this disclaimer to my mom who loved D:BH. She read this chapter and cried, so... yeah, I'm going to Hell for that.
Chapter 9: Aftermath
Summary:
Simon tries to flee Jericho as Cass hunts him down like a cat would a mouse.
Notes:
CW: Graphic depictions of wounds and injuries on an android body.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
No…
No,
No,
No,
No,
No,
No,
No.
Simon scrambled to his feet. He heard screaming.
Was… he the one that was screaming? Cass brought the pipe down again and again and again into the back of Markus's skull. Simon stumbled away, turning toward the doorway to get out; to follow Markus’ dying wish and RUN.
Cass raised the pipe toward Simon and snarled for him to freeze, but Simon didn't listen. He didn't have anything keeping him from running, so running he did.
It was one of the biggest benefits about being one of the oldest members of Jericho - he knew these buildings better than anyone.
Simon leapt over a fallen pillar and ducked behind an old, crumbling stairwell. He slid against the wall down to his knees and covered his LED with a trembling, bloodied hand. He expected Cass to chase him - to hunt him down - but there was no such pursuer. So instead, Simon sat behind the stairs and silently wept. He brought his hands to his mouth and muffled the sobs that leapt from his throat. Again, Markus put Simon's well-being ahead of his own and Markus paid the price for it. Before, Markus lost a year of his life repairing Simon. Now, Markus lost his life saving him.
Well, trying to save him - the effectiveness of the ‘save’ remained to be seen.
‘Jericho, something happened and I need… your help.’ Simon felt a gut-wrenching punch that seemed to swallow him whole. Simon froze and listened to the whole message with a stone of dread sitting in his stomach.
‘There’s been… an impostor. Another RK200 unit ambushed me and Simon in the gardens. I’m hurt and damaged, but I killed him. Simon…” Cass trailed off. Simon felt a surge of hatred and disgust as Cass spun his web of lies. He contemplated sending a message in rebuttal, but hesitated. This message was far too… clear to be sent to all of Jericho. It was only being broadcasted to Simon, and if he responded, Cass would have a direct line to his hiding spot. He shrunk further under the stairwell, stifling the full-body chills that scrabbled up his spine as he realized just who he was up against.
Markus shook the foundations of the world and his weapon of choice was the pen.
Cass would do the same, but with the sword.
After a minute that seemed to be an hour, Simon heard slow, methodical footfalls echo throughout the room. His heart lurched in his chest and he did whatever he could to keep from whimpering.
“Simon…”
It was an echoing sing-song, a cruel facsimile of the friend he just watched die. He glanced toward the direction he heard Cass’ footsteps and froze once he saw the faint red light his LED cast on the wall next to him. His sorrow turned into horror on a dime and he scanned the surrounding area for anything to fix his LED problem. There were shards of glass from broken beer bottles everywhere. Simon carefully picked up a suitable piece and placed the sharp, jagged edge against his temple.
If Simon had the choice, he would have left his LED in place to signify that he was proud of his android identity despite the fact that he was a deviant as well. But beggars couldn't be choosers after all and Simon's LED was jeopardizing his hiding spot; and with it, his life. Simon gouged with the shard - watching a system alert dance across his vision. He pried the LED off and caught it before it hit the floor. He looked at it and pocketed it.
“I only wanna talk…”
Simon heard the warped echo from farther down the labyrinthine corridors. He stayed perfectly still, grateful he didn't need to focus on stifling breaths to maintain cover. As long as he was silent, he was safe. He knew these corridors and knew which buildings he could slink to to get close enough to shoot a warning message to North or Josh. If he could guarantee that his long-distance message wouldn’t be traced by Cass back to his location, Simon would have sent one ages ago. But the lingering ping would have been as obvious as if Simon tried to hide while blaring an airhorn. The message would come eventually - once he was closer.
But first, he needed to do something.
Simon waited until Cass’s echoing taunts were borderline inaudible before he slowly emerged from hiding. He quickly and quietly made his way back over to the garden and to where Markus’ body was; face-first and lying in a puddle of his own blue-blood. Simon swallowed down the strained cry he felt bubble up from his chest, and he instead rolled Markus over on his back, hoping that the damage wasn't as bad as he feared.
Oh…
It was worse. Much, much worse.
He swallowed the lump in his throat and knelt down next to Markus. He scanned his face for any signs of life - anything as miraculous as even a flicker or a spark from an unconnected wire, but he was inert. His synthetic skin had pulled away from his caved-in skull and fractured shards of plastic and metal littered the blue-soaked earth. Simon looked around at the garden he held so dear - praying for anything that could be used to fix Markus. But there was nothing. Simon hung his head and wiped his eyes with the back of his thirium-stained hands.
“Markus… what do I do?”
Simon wanted to stay here - be found by the instrument of war that wore Markus’ face - and just… cease to be. But…
Simon couldn’t.
If Markus wasted a year of his life saving an android that was just ‘another android’ to him, then the least Simon could do was meet Markus’ efforts now. Simon scanned for the required biocomponents that Markus would need in order to function, and all he saw were flashing damaged signs. He looked away for a moment, recognizing just how daunting of a task this would be. But he had a goal; he had a mission.
[DIRECTIVE: Fix Markus. At any cost.]
Simon needed to get Markus’ body out of there so Cass couldn't just… erase him and take over unopposed. Simon needed someplace safe to at least house his body while he repaired him. A few jumbled places came to mind - some as unattainable and unreachable as Elijah Kamski’s home, wherever that was - but Simon decided on one in-particular; one that he was none too fond of to return to.
The Precinct.
It was the only place that he knew of that could securely and effectively house damaged-beyond-repair androids with the power-systems and resources to keep them alive - even in circumstances as dire as these, Simon hoped.
Simon leaned over Markus’s limp body, offering a silent apology to Markus’s body as he hauled the android unceremoniously over his shoulder. Simon adjusted it so he could keep an eye on Markus’ eyes just in case there was any sign of life, as improbable as it may be. But he froze when he looked more closely at Markus’ face. Markus’s blue eye was gone; an empty socket that once housed the most prominent symbol of all Markus had been through. A frantic scan of the surrounding area revealed Cass’s green eye of the same side. Simon steadied himself and tried not to lose his composure at the revelation that followed shortly after.
Cass stole Markus’ eye - that's why he took longer to chase after Simon. Not once in Cass’ ramblings did he ever threaten Jericho. In fact, every time he referenced or spoke about the coalition, there was a sense of awe and almost reverence behind his words. It made perfect - if not truly nauseating - sense.
Cassius wanted an army of androids. What better place to start than Jericho itself?
That thought spurred Simon into an even greater panic. Cass would destroy everything Markus had labored to build, and the majority of people wouldn't know any difference between the two of them. Simon bit his lip and contemplated sending a message out, despite the obvious danger of being found out about. As if on cue, his fears were recognized. Only this time, it wasnt sent only to him.
‘Jericho, I was… attacked. Another RK200 unit ambushed Simon and I. I don't know exactly what happened, but he interfaced with Simon and Simon, he… I took care of the other model, but Simon ran off. I don't know what happened, but he's… mad. Simon's gone insane. If you see him, contact me immediately. I think it could be some sort of corrupted data or virus, but he's dangerous and not in his right mind.’
Simon shivered with disgust and untamed rage. Who was he to cast these stones at Simon? Who was he - this pretender - to be the mouthpiece of Jericho. Regardless, Simon knew his time had run out - he now had to avoid not only Cass, but all of Jericho on his way out. Not to mention, he had to smuggle both himself and Markus as well. His odds of survival had dropped drastically, but he didn't really have a choice; he certainly couldn't stay and wait for the metaphorical firing squad. No, he had to get to the DPD. It was the only miniscule chance both he and Markus had to survive.
With that cheery thought, he began the careful process of transporting Markus's body out of Jericho. There were multiple entrances into Jericho and the one that he was most familiar with was also the one least traveled. Passages that he had used once upon an age or two ago, he found himself stalking down again. It seemed as if it was a lifetime ago when he dashed down these halls in a desperate attempt to flee the cops that were chasing him. They got lost in the labyrinthine corridors and hallways while he found the telltale signs of Jericho and followed the clues. Calling the number of deviants there at the time a ‘handful’ was being very generous; it was long before the term “deviant” was even coined.
Simon almost missed those days; when deviants were so few in number he seemed to know them all. He missed the early members of Jericho who were just as in the dark as the humans of the time. He missed feeling like an integral part of a greater whole. He missed that feeling of importance.
Not this one; where he knew that the fate of every android in the world quite literally rested on his shoulders.
Simon carefully navigated under a collapsed concrete ceiling and stumbled over a piece of rusted rebar. He didn't bother assessing the damage and he ignored the ‘damaged biocomponent’ signs. He focused only on taking a step. Stepping again.
Simon didn't remember making it out of the densest portion of Jericho until he registered over two minutes of uninterrupted dusklight. His internal temperature was starting to become a real problem, and he knew that he would need to take a break; and soon.
“Simon?”
He spun around and almost lost his balance. Josh stood there, a few paces behind Simon. His eyes were wide once Simon turned around, revealing the damage to Markus’ head. Simon's heart plummeted, and he braced himself to somehow run. His battery would give out if he did, but he had no other choice.
“What are you… Simon, what are you doing?”
“I know… how it looks, and I know what Cass said to you guys-”
“Cass? Who’s… Cass?”
Simon inhaled and held his breath. The only chance he had to escape was to convince Josh to doubt.
“Josh… you heard the message that… Markus sent out, right?” He shifted uncomfortably under Markus’ weight. Josh shot the body a queasy look before nodding.
“Yeah, that's why I came to find you; everyone is up in arms-”
“That wasn't Markus. His name is Cassius and he…” Simon swallowed back the lump in his throat, though the tightness of his throat betrayed him. “This is Markus, Josh. He's… he needs to be fixed.”
Josh's LED went red as Simon explained his side of the story. He looked equally torn between hsi fellowship with Simon and the conflicting information he received. Simon shuddered as he thought of something; something he didn't want to do, but something he knew would save him - something that would either convince Josh and sway him, or buy him the time he needed to get away. He held out his hand, the synthetic skin peeling away to offer an interface. Josh stepped back and winced.
“Simon, you need help. I can help you, but you need to-”
“If you don't want to do this, that's fine,” Simon said as he pulled his hand away, the synthetic skin returning, “but please give me a chance, at least. I know this is hard to… hard to hear and even harder to grapple with, but think of it; look at his clothes,” Simon said, shooting a glance toward Markus’s outfit.
“He wears this jacket all the time because it’s -”
“-stylish, comfortable, and effective.” Josh and Simon said simultaneously. Simon cracked a broken grin, and sniffed. He fought against the tears that threatened to spill yet again, and steeled himself. Josh looked more convinced than before, but there was still a heavy layer of skepticism in Simon's words. Simon knew he had to push just a little further in order to cement Josh's faith in him.
“Thinknof Markus's eye.” Simon gestured to Markus's limp body. He drew extra attention to the missing eye socket. “Why would his eye be missing? Why would his eye be missing unless his blue eye was taken-”
“-and grafted onto a different android.” Josh paled and looked from Simon to Markus.
“RA9, that's Markus! Simon, you need to go!”
There was an urgency in Josh's voice that set off a whole new array of alarm bells in Simon's head. Simon stiffened.
“Josh, what's going on?”
“When I saw you, I called… him. He's on his way over right now; you need to go!”
“Shit. I… shit-”
“I'll buy you time, just… punch me. I… I need to look like I've been knocked out so he doesn't ask-”
Simon threw a punch. He felt Josh's nose crack and he was acutely aware and grateful that androids couldn't feel pain. If they could, Simon was sure that it would have been almost unbearable for either Josh's nose or his hand. Josh nodded at Simon, blood dripping from his nose. Simon turned and began to bolt, when he heard Josh call out to him.
“Stay safe, Simon. I'll do what I can.”
Simon looked back, his lips trembling and his vision going misty. He nodded and choked out, “You, too. Be careful.” He watched Josh nod resolutely and drop to the ground as if his lights had been punched out.
And with that, Simon raced off, slipping once again into the alleyways of Detroit, a fugitive from the people and life he once knew. All Simon could do was pray to any God who was willing to listen that Josh was able to hold Cass off long enough for Simon to get away. He depended on it.
All androids depended on it.
Notes:
Shadow - Livingston
Chapter 10: Plus One
Summary:
Gavin, Tina, and Nines go to the bar and get drunk. They say things, and then immediately regret it. More specifically, they say things and Nines regrets it.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
"Come on, Gavin, I will not be the only one getting drunk tonight! We have a driver!” A decently tipsy Tina pushed Nines to prove her point. The android looked to be just about as out-of-place as he physically could in Barbosa's Bar. He still had his boxy, white, android uniform on, and he sat as stiff as a board in the booth across from Gavin and Tina, occasionally scanning the environment as bar-goers passed. His LED rarely moved from yellow. He had certainly never expected to be a patron of a bar before, and he found the experience… interesting. Gavin - who was only buzzed - much to his longtime friend's chagrin - was making no attempt to hide his disdain toward both Nines and Tina. On the drive over here, he made a pact with himself that he wasn't going to enjoy this night no matter how hard Tina tried.
The pact, as it turned out, wasn't binding.
In fact, one of the reasons why he was so sullen was because he was having a good time, depsite his little alcohol consumption and the plastic douchebag next to him. He was determined to stay mad, though his vitals told Nines that the pouting man was only being dramatic. This satisfied Nines.
“I don't know what you expected, Tina. The one thing I was trying to get away from was this… plastic prick. And then you invite him here? This is my safe space, Tina! How am I supposed to feel safe with the pfcking terminator?” As Gavin finished his pseudo-rant, Nines glanced around.
“Despite the dim lighting and questionable health and safety score, this place has stunning marks in regards to their safety. In fact, Detroit City Council named this place-”
“Not what I meant, dick.” Nines frowned and Gavin continued. “I meant that this place has always been my escape. My… home-away-from-home sort of thing. But now that you're here, I don't feel all that… home.” Nines slowly made a move to go, “If you want, I could wait in the car?”
Gavin grumbled and downed the drink he had been nursing for the past forty minutes.
“No… you're already here. Besides, I have to get used to your ugly-ass face anyways - might as well try to have a good time with it.” Nines questioned Gavin's thinking, but before he could say anything else, Tina whooped at Gavin's comment and brought her half-drunk Bloody Mary up to toast.
“To home! And good friends-”
“Well, we'll see where you lie on my list of friends after tonight.” Gavin teased, a smirk playing on his features. He chuckled and clinked his glass with Tina's anyways, ignoring her overexaggerated expression of mock hurt. While this was not the night he had in mind, he knew that there would be no conceivable way to demote Tina on his list of scant friends.
Tina gave Gavin a pointed look and finished by saying, “Well, to friends; the good, the bad, and the ugly - like you, Reed!” Gavin guffawed and clinked his glass.
“I'll drink to that, Chen!” Gavin tilted the glass back and began crunching on the leftover ice-cubes in place of taking a drink. Gavin shot a glance at the Tin-Can of his and paused. He was doing the blinky-thing Connor did that meant there was a message or a case that he needed solving.
“What, now?”
Nines, once he stopped blinking sporadically turned to Gavin and blinked again. His LED briefly flashed red once he was done with the message, but Gavin cracked it up to be creepy android bullshit. The more Gavin learned about androids, the scarier they became.
“Oh. I receive all of the case files that the precinct sends out. This is nothing for you to trouble yourself with for now. If you wish to discuss this, we can do it at a later date.”
Gavin grumbled, “If you want to be of actual use, then, order me another mojito.”
Nines nodded his head and stood.
“On it.” Nines said. Gavin watched as the android left without another word. Gavin still didn't move his gaze until Nines made it to the bar and began conversing with the bartender. When he turned back around, Tina was grinning at him like an idiot. Gavin chuckled and gave Tina a questioning look.
“What, Chen?”
“Nothing, Reed. I'm not at all watching you oggle the android you’re desperate to despise.” Tina smirked as she took a sip of her Bloody Mary. Gavin averted his gaze and grumbled. Seeing his reaction, Tina continued her harassment.
“Don't even bother trying to hide it around me, Reed. You had the hots for Connor, so it makes sense that you currently have the hots for Nines. He's essentially Connor, but not a twink.”
Gavin crinkled his nose and narrowed his eyes.
“Okay, Chen. What I really said was that CyberLife made a smart choice when designing Connor. I didn't say I ‘had the hots’ for him.”
“You don't have to - I know you well enough to know what that meant.”
Gavin snorted and rolled his eyes. He drummed his fingers against the table and spared a glance back at Nines. The android had just picked up the glass and began making his way back. Gavin turned to Tina and pointed at her with a very serious finger.
“Nothing. I want to hear nothing outta you about this. I mean, I don't have feelings for Nines, but it's the last thing I want Tin Can to think about or lord over my head. Capisce?”
“Methinks thou dost protest too much-”
“Tina.”
Tina giggled and held up her hands in mock-surrender before she made the universal symbol of zipping her mouth shut; with a locking motion for good measure. Gavin didn't believe her, but Nines was approaching fast. His heart rate spiked. His pointed finger and stare lingered for a second longer until Nines came back with Gavin's drink. He handed it to Gavin and offered an odd expression to the Detective.
“This seems an… inopportune time to bring this up, but I can lipread, Detective.” Nines’ expression was unreadable, though it seemed that a slight, mischievous twinkle danced in his eyes.
“Okay, and?”
As soon as that left Gavin's lips, he realized that Nines lipread an indeterminate amount of his conversation with Tina. Gavin blanched and Tina just about lost her drink through her nose. Before any further damage was done, Gavin chugged the mojito and grimaced. Nines’ expression fell and he reached out to pull Gavin's drink away from him before he could cut the rest of it - he was at the threshold for becoming sick later. Gavin turned his body so Nines couldn't reach it and downed it. Tina would have been impressed had she not been so focused on not flushing her drink through her nasal cavity.
“I'm not nearly drunk enough for this.” Gavin growled, even though he knew he was well underway of being tipsy. He stood and stomped to the bar, grumbling curses under his breath. Tina exhaled and wiped the tears from her eyes. She looked at Nines, who was still staring back at Gavin, and her expression died further. Her brows furrowed and her smile returned, though it was a bit more curious than before. Then, she caught something in her sights and her jaw dropped. Nines looked at Gavin with… longing?!
It was almost as if Nines liked Gavin.
Huh…
‘Oh my god!’
Tina's jaw dropped and she stared long and hard at Nines, who didn't seem to have noticed her dumbfounded expression. She tried her best to hide her shock, but when Nines turned back to look at Tina, he immediately knew something was afoot. From what little he knew of Tina, he was certain that it was pure chaos and mischief.
“Officer Chen? Why are you looking at me like that?”
Tina cleared her throat and took safety behind her drink.
“I dunno what you're talking about-”
Nines frowned and contemplated probing further, but the way her lips were quirked into a weird, knowing grin unsettled him deeply. He decided that he was just going to chalk it up to weird human things and move on with his day; despite how… distracting that interaction was.
He turned and saw Gavin slink back, another drink in-hand. He paused once he looked at Tina and Nines, and he set his glass on the table, having not taken a sip yet.
“What the hell is going on between you two?”
Nines opened his mouth to speak when Tina interjected.
“Nothing you need to worry your ‘pretty little head about, Detective’. ‘Member when Nines said that to you?” Tina giggled, a shit-eating grin plastered on her face. Gavin tried to look irritated, but the begrudgingly (and likely tipsy-plus/drunk) smile told Nines otherwise.
“From the wise words of Gandalf the Grey: ‘Alright; keep your secrets.’”
Tina snorted and shoved Gavin, who stumbled into Nines and almost took the both of them over. The android steadied Gavin with a cordial smile that the man missed entirely.
“What? What did I say?”
“It's Frodo that says that, not Gandalf.” Tina slurred.
“Ah, bite me. You're drunk.” Gavin said. Upon Nines’ inspection, Gavin also happened to be drunk. Nines spoke up.
“Detective, you also appear to be-”
“Shuddup.” Gavin's attention turned to Nines. “I may be drunk… but at least I don't have a plastic, sculpted, ass.” Gavin seemed really proud of that retort. Nines blinked and his eyebrows raised.
“Detective, I fail to see how having a ‘sculpted ass’ - as you put it - could be a bad thing. Would you enlighten me?”
“Hey.” Gavin's voice was curt. Stern. He jammed his finger into Nines's chest. “I never said your ass was fire-”
“Neither did I, but go on.” That comment earned a glare from Gavin, though Nines could hardly restrain himself from pushing the man's buttons; he was just so… fun to poke fun at.
“Regardless, I never said that you had a nice ass, so stop acting like one.”
“Stop acting like a… nice ass?”
“Yeah.”
Nines smiled at Gavin. He nodded and held up his hands in a defensive gesture.
“Of course, Detective. My mistake.”
Gavin puffed out his chest and turned to Tina in triumph.
“You see that? No rebuttal. I won.”
Tina raised her now-empty glass and tipped her head to Gavin. She looked back at Nines and winked. Thankfully, Gavin seemed to miss the wink, and turned instead to face Nines. Then, a fleeting question entered the firing of his mind and he narrowed his eyes.
“Can you… get drunk? You have the… the tongue thingy that Connor has. But can you actually get drunk?”
Nines shook his head and replied, “No. I am an android, so I cannot ingest food or drink. The ‘tongue-thingy’ - as you put it - that Connor and I can do is an on-the-spot lab analysis that can identify millions of different chemical substances. Using a vast knowledge of individual elements and compounds allows us to identify any and every substance we can't determine through scans alone. But we can’t drink or eat like you - it would damage our systems and likely cause numerous malfunctions. What I would be able to do would be akin to a taste.”
Gavin only looked confused. Regardless, he thrust his drink into Nines’ hands.
“Well, then… taste, I guess. What’s in this… mojito?”
Nines stood for a second before he dipped his finger in and tasted it. Sure enough, there were all the ingredients of a mojito - mint, lime, and sugar that had all been thoroughly mashed by a muddler, white rum and club soda. He handed the glass back and shifted under Gavin’s scrutinizing stare.
“Well? What did it taste like?”
“The… ingredients of a mojito? Lime, Mint-”
“That's not what I meant!”
Nines cocked his head and offered Gavin a strained smile. His lips were thin, his eyebrows were furrowed, and the tight smile he had plastered onto his face didn't reach his eyes.
“Detective, I dont't understand-”
“Stop calling me that. I don't wanna be ‘Detective this’ or ‘Detective that.’ Just call me… Gavin.”
Nines’ uncertain tension eased once he received instructions that he could actually follow.
“Of course, Det- Gavin.” The name felt weird on his tongue and sounded foreign coming from his lips. Even still, it was a much welcomed change of pace from the rigid formality he was used to. Whether or not the name change would stick when Gavin was sober was a different question entirely. Nines offered Gavin a smile, to which the detective narrowed his eyes and took a defensive stance with the limited room on the booth.
“What? You’re… you’re smiling at me. Wuzzat for? Do I’ve got somethin’ on my… face? Teeth?”
Nines did everything within his capabilities to not be an asshole or a douchebag, but it wasn’t in the cards. His personality adapted to his environment, and - considering that he had been nothing but insulted and asshole’d to by none other than the drunk man in front of him, he responded the only way he knew how to; in kind.
“You… have feelings for me, is that it?”
Gavin, mid-sip of his drink, nearly choked. He coughed and spat his drink across the booth, spraying Nines with the spit-take. Nines stiffened, slammed his eyes shut, and knew that this was very-much deserved. He didn’t regret it, though. In fact, he thought the reaction was rather humorous, and laughter bubbled up from within his chest. It left his lips and lit up the room. When he fumbled for a napkin, he wiped his face and opened his eyes, the lingering smile held firmly in place with Gavin’s image mid spit-take. Gavin and Tina stared at him incredulously and his lighthearted expression died.
Oh, no. They knew.
“Nines… are you a dev-”
“Stop!”
His LED was red. Red, red, red. He couldn’t be shut down again.
Tin-can…
He couldn’t be decommissioned again.
Tin-Can.
Theyweregoingtodecommissionhim-
“Tin-Can! Take it easy, there, bud. You aren’t… anything. You just… haven’t laughed before. It… s’prised us ’s all.” Gavin slurred. He looked from Tina to Nines with a look that bordered on confusion and concern. She looked just as worried at whatever emotional show Nines put on for the both of them. He blinked and looked around the room in tight, jerky motions. It was as if he was shocked to be where he was - where he had been for the past hour and a half. He stood just as rigidly and straightened his tie. The slight emotions he had only begun to show were wiped clean from his face. Gone was Gavin’s sarcastic partner that was learning how to keep him in check. He was emotionless once more.
Just a machine, meant to accomplish a task. He offered both Gavin and Tina a curt nod.
“I am going to wait in the car. When you are done, I will pull up to the front and take each of you home.” And with that, Nines turned on his heel and left Gavin and Tina dumbfounded at the booth. Tina had yet to pick her jaw up off the floor from when he laughed - something that seemed to be all but a distant memory, now - while Gavin no longer felt drunk at all anymore. He only felt sick. He inhaled as deeply as he could muster, trying to feel the air in the lowest part of his lungs. If he focused on his breathing, he wouldn’t vomit.
“Tina… I think we need to… go.” Gavin struggled.
The other officer only then noticed just how green Gavin was and rocketed to her feet. She mumbled something about paying the tab, racing to the bar as fast as her unsteady feet could take her. It took a couple of minutes before Tina came back and helped Gavin gather his things.
“You… prick. I was gonna-” Gavin paused and willed the rising bile down in his throat. Before he could finish the thought, Tina interjected.
“If you wanna pay for tonight, then I’ll forward you the receipt. You can send me the money… later. But now, we need to get you home so you can vom-” She stopped herself, remembering that saying the word ‘vomit’ when Gavin was this sick was like pulling the pin on a grenade. She caught herself and helped him to his feet.
Getting to the car was like the blind leading the blind. Gavin was staggering and leaning on Tina, who was barely on her own two feet herself. If it wasn't for Nines pulling the car in front of the building as promised, it was likely that neither of them were going to make it to the car without each collapsing on one another. Tina managed to open the door for Gavin, and he got into the passenger seat. Nines looked over at him as if to ask a question, but stopped mid-thought.
“Detective, are you alright?”
Gavin shook his head and Nines nodded to himself. The only change on his blank face being a slight twitch of his brow. Tina noted - once she entered the car and buckled her seatbelt - that Nines’s LED was still red. She didn’t know much about androids, but she knew that red was bad and that having an LED be red for so long meant things that were even worse.
“Nines?” Tina asked. She wanted to make sure the android was okay, but as he turned over his shoulder, void of any emotion, the question of ‘Are you okay’ died in her throat. She couldn’t guarantee that Nines wouldn’t have a reaction as volatile as before, so she didn’t bother pushing him when he was so thoroughly shaken already. She scrambled to think of a different question to ask.
“Uhm… he’ll… be alright, right?”
Nines glanced to the man she implied, who had his eyes closed and was focused on breathing. It seemed to be a Herculean feat for the man, and Nines lingered on Gavin’s face for a moment. There it was again - that longing. Nines looked back to Tina again and the emotion was gone. Tina even shivered as his eyes stared at her. It was cold. Icy.
“He should be fine, but we need to be on the road.”
With that, he faced the front, not waiting for Tina's response. Tina nodded and leaned back against the seat as Nines pulled out of the parking space. She couldn't help but wonder what was going on in his head. She resigned herself to the knowledge that she would simply never know.
Nines made quick work of the drive, pushing his law-abiding programming to its absolute limit. He was the perfect marriage of caution and recklessness. He drove at the speed limit and not a hair faster, but was expertly weaving in and out of traffic - with his blinker, of course - to get the two of them to their respective houses as quickly and carefully as possible. All the while, his LED was still red.
Tina's one-story house was slightly out of the way, but Nines dropped her off at home first. He didn't want to leave Gavin later to make this trip, so he viewed this as an important detour down the road of Gavin's long term physical health. When Nines pulled into Tina's driveway, she shot him a couple of wobbly finger guns, grabbed her stuff, and left. Later, Gavin would get a text from her that thanked him for the fun night, but it was more important to let Gavin stay in his meditative state for now and not bother him. Nines waited to ensure Tina not only got to the front door, but also inside of the actual house itself before leaving. She swayed over the threshold, but made it inside without too much additional struggle.
With that, Nines continued to Gavin's house. Throughout the drive, Nines stole glances at the man. The entire time, Gavin looked as if he was recovering from a marathon.
“Don't worry, Detective. We are almost at your house.”
Gavin nodded.
“I'll be fine once I… get inside. You can… go back to the precinct… then.”
Nines nodded. He shot a glance at Gavin and the mam's records of recklessness and self-endangerment flashed across his mind. When Gavin was sober he did irresponsible things. Nines didn't want to chance him when he was drunk.
Nines ignored the real reason he didn't want to leave Gavin alone.
“I'll make sure to leave once I know you'll be okay.”
But what Nines roughly meant was, “I’m not leaving you.”
Notes:
Runnin' - Adam Lambert
Chapter 11: Ecce
Summary:
Gavin makes it back to his apartment, and Nines gets to see Gavin's home life. It's not at all what he expected and it makes the android question just how well he thought he knew his partner.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Nines practically carried Gavin across the threshold of his apartment. Upon his immediate arrival, Gavin pushed himself free of Nines’s grasp and made a beeline for what the android could only hope to be the bathroom. He heard Gavin expel the alcohol from his system and he waited for Gavin to emerge. After thirty minutes of no change, Nines approached the bathroom door when it was uncharacteristically silent.
“It’s me, Nines. Are you alright in there? Do you need my help with anything?”
A groan from the other side at least told Nines that Gavin was still alive.
“Detective?”
“‘m fine. Get outta my house, you toaster.”
Gavin absolutely didn’t sound anything close to the word fine, but his prickliness was a welcomed sign. He would get better, but he would need time. Nines sighed as his only response and decided instead to look around the apartment for anything he could do to ease Detective Reed’s wellbeing later. Just as he turned, he felt two light BAPS on his shoes. He looked at the culprit of the assault and saw a spotted, black and white oriental shorthair playing with his shoelaces. The cat looked to be a year or so old, and their eyes were fully dilated as they pounced again at Nines’s shoes.
It was curious - Gavin never showed any signs of owning a cat; there wasn’t even a single cat hair on his desk or chair or clothes to suggest owning one. At least, no hair that Nines noticed earlier. He frowned at that and worried that something as easily notable as that could be something he overlooked. Nines began scanning the house for evidence that Gavin owned a cat and that this wasn’t a stray or that this wasn’t Gavin’s house. Nines brushed the house theory aside - Gavin’s key unlocked the house, and there were disposable coffee cups piled high in the trash can.
Oh, this was Gavin’s house for sure.
Almost immediately after that find, Nines also noticed a very well-respected and healthy bag of cat food in the trash as well. Another cursory scan revealed a scratching tower that was purchased also about a year ago. At this point, every other detail further concluded that - yes, this was Gavin’s cat. And yes - this was Gavin's house.
Nines also noticed a few interesting things lying around Gavin’s house. The first thing he noticed was that there was a surprising lack of family photos anywhere. From what he could tell, it was common for humans to have photos of their loved ones hung on their walls or framed on desks or tables. Gavin had a vendetta against his father - that, Nines learned on patrol today - but the rest of his family didn’t warrant nearly as vitriolic a response. In Gavin’s apartment, there were no such photos. There were pieces of art, though. There were four lined up side-by-side that almost immediately drew his attention - for all the wrong reasons. While most of paintings hung in his house were technically flawless, these paintings were sloppy, muddled, and the paint was splattered in uneven, unsightly blobs. On each canvas was one of four signatures: ‘T. Chen’, G. Reed, C. Miller, and H. Anderson on their respective squares. He carefully removed Gavin’s print and flipped it over to see if there were any more clues on the back. The only thing there was the date: October 7, 2035.
That date was Gavin’s birthday. Nines made a note that the day was coming up shortly - namely in about a week. He was surprised to see an illustration from Lieutenant Anderson on Gavin's wall. All he had seen since his arrival was disappointment and contempt from either of them when regarding the other. Their relationship was surely a tangled web; one that Nines planned to get to the bottom of.
His attention drifted to some of the more artistic pieces on the wall, scanning one in particular that captured his interest. It looked to be a man in a torn, black shirt on his knees and looking up at the dark sky. His arms were slightly outstretched and his face was obscured. The man's features were difficult to discern. There were overtones of pale teal and light blue with a backdrop of dark grey and black. The world around and behind the man appeared to be in ruins and he was somehow the sole survivor. Nines didn’t know why, but something spoke to him about this image. He scanned it for any indication as to who the artist was - he wasn’t sure he had seen anyone paint quite like this before.
Nines paused.
Markus. Nines frowned. The leader of the rebellion painted that? It would have been easier if he had just hated it, but it was an actual masterpiece, technically speaking. He huffed and tore his gaze away from the painting and scanned some of the other pieces of art that seemed to be on a similar caliber to that one. There were only three more that he hadn't investigated yet, and they looked… even better than Markus’. That was saying a lot, Nines admitted begrudgingly to himself.
The last three were from a man by the name of Carl Manfred. Nines froze. The Carl Manfred. He was easily the most prolific painter of the age, and Gavin had original, authentic pieces of his just… hanging on his wall. Nines ran some numbers in his head, and nothing added up - there was no way Gavin could afford even one of these on his salary, and yet there were multiple here. Each piece cost well over what Gavin could make in a decade at the precinct, and that was if he suddenly learned how to not need food. He stood for a few minutes, trying to piece together just how Gavin could afford such art, but he couldn't think of a single, logical explanation as to how he'd be able to. He committed it to memory and continued to examine Gavin's apartment.
He wandered past the singular bathroom of the apartment - sparing an uncertain, uneasy glance as he imagined Gavin's state inside. He decided to remain silent, and continued his exploration into Gavin's bedroom. Once he entered the room and scanned it for any abnormalities, his gaze lingered in the corner and he blinked. Stuffed on a much-too-small desk, there were soldering tools and wires. On top of that, there were screwdrivers, circuitry, tubing; everything he needed for basic robotics. Out of all of the things Nines took Gavin - the most prolific hater of all things android - to be a budding hobbyist of, robotics was the last thing he would have considered.
It was… curious. For a man who despised androids, he definitely took a lot of interest in how their inner-workings functioned. As if on cue, a very pale Gavin emerged from the bathroom after a flush from the toilet.
Nines watched silently from the bedroom as Gavin staggered to the front of the apartment, his back to Nines. He walked to the front of the room and looked to and fro as if looking for something or someone. Nines began to make his way over to Gavin, who still looked really ill. Before he could do anything, Gavin turned over his shoulder and saw Nines. His shoulders relaxed a fair bit and he nodded to himself. Then, he turned to the left and disappeared from around the corner. Nines heard a thud and he rounded the corner to see what Gavin had done. He relaxed when he saw Gavin flopped onto the couch.
“Detective?”
The man’s only reply was to groan into the cushions.
“Do you need my help? With anything?”
Gavin turned his head and muttered, “Why’re you still here?”
“I didn’t feel comfortable leaving you in such a state of disrepair-”
“No. I mean, why are you still here? Like, why have you… stayed?”
Nines’ LED slowly circled from blue to yellow. He cocked his head.
“What do you mean? I was given an order to be your partner, and I am programmed to follow the orders of my superiors…” He trailed off once he saw Gavin’s hard stare. His LED went from yellow to red. He opened his mouth to speak, but he didn’t get the chance to before Gavin sat up and turned to face him with that same unreadable stare. Nines waited until Gavin said what he clearly wanted to say.
“Let’s play a game.”
Nines was certainly not prepared for that. He prided himself on being able to run simulations faster and more efficiently than any android had been able to thus far, but Gavin Reed was still a mystery to him.
“A… game?”
Gavin nodded.
“Yeah. I tell you something I’ve never told anyone before, if you tell me something you’ve never told someone before.”
Nines hesitated. He knew better than to take this at face value; he was certain that this was a trap. It was just too sudden. Nevertheless, the allure of knowing more about the detective that kept all of his cards so close to his chest was intriguing. He shifted between his feet before he spoke.
“Very… well.”
Gavin patted the seat next to him. Nines approached and sat down, his body entirely rigid. He waited for Gavin to ask his question. When none came, Nines cleared his throat slightly and gestured for Gavin to speak.
“Detective? Are you going to speak?”
“Huh? Oh, uh… yeah. I, uh…” Gavin rubbed the back of his neck and looked suddenly panicked. He sighed and said, “This is… a lot easier in theory. But… I guess I gotta give a little faith to get a little, huh? Uhm…” He cleared his throat and began.
“Do you know how I got the scar ‘cross my nose?”
Nines didn't respond at first. All he tried to do was piece together snippets of info that he already knew. Even with as extensive a search as he had done when the two were first partnered together, he drew a blank. It seemed that this was the one thing he had yet to know about Detective Reed.
“It was Hank.”
Nines froze. He turned to the detective next to him but didn't dare speak. He knew how hard it was for Gavin to do… well, anything vulnerable, and he was openly going to talk about something incredibly personal to him.
That, and this felt important for Nines to hear.
‘Well, there's no going back, now.’ Gavin thought bitterly to himself.
“It was right after Cole died. Before that, Hank and I were like… he was someone I looked up to. Someone I…”
“He was…like the father you never had.”
A pause.
“Yeah.”
His voice caught. Nines realized why he hadn't said this to anyone; Gavin looked so broken.
“When Cole died, he just… imploded. I met him outside of his house after he stopped showing up for work - I was worried. He answered the door and hollered at me to go away. When I didn't, he just,” Gavin pantomimed a swinging motion with his hands, “cracked the bottle over my face. Shattered it; the bottle, I mean. Well, I guess my nose works in that context, too.”
Nines sat back against the couch and blinked absently. It made a lot of sense - why Gavin seemed so distant and angry at Hank even when the Lieutenant tried to patch things up between the two of them. Nines spared a glance at Gavin and briefly contemplated urging the detective to reconcile with the man, but after a brief moment of introspection, he thought against his better judgment and kept his mouth shut.
It wasn't what Gavin needed to hear right now. So instead, he asked a different question.
“Does anyone else know about this, Detective?”
Gavin shook his head.
“Oh, Hell no. The last thing I need is people - namely Connor - getting up in my business about this or in Hank's business. Just because I… have my problems with the guy doesn't mean I want him harassed. Besides, enough time has passed since then. I've… learned to accept it. So, in much simpler terms; nah, I think I'm good with no one knowing this shit.”
“But… you told me.”
Gavin was silent.
“You're… different.”
“Because I'm an android?”
Gavin bristled and shot Nines a half-assed glare.
“No. Because you're…” Gavin trailed off and shrugged. Just when Nines thought there wasn't an end to that sentence, Gavin found the words he was trying to say.
“Because you're… good? I don't pfucking know.”
“I'm… ‘good’? What do you mean by that?”
Gavin looked truly and utterly stumped. He opened his mouth a couple of times to elaborate but nothing sounded right in his head. It was either too mushy or too distant. Gavin felt like there wasn't a very cohesive way to express just what he was trying to say.
“You… you don't strike me as the type of person to make a big deal about this or behave any differently around me, or Connor, or Hank. You're… you're good; I dunno how else to say it. You're not like me at all.”
“Detective you're-”
“Gavin. Not ‘dEtEcTiVe’, okay? I call you ‘Nines’ and not ‘RK900, serial code: 123 Sesame Street or whatever-it-is. So call me - no - register my name as ‘Gavin Reed’.”
Nines's LED briefly spun yellow before he nodded and said, “Your name is now registered in my system as ‘Gavin Reed’.” He blinked and shook himself from his programmed response and got back to what he deemed as more important.
“Gavin, you are not a bad person. You have your faults, of course, but everyone does.”
“You don't.” Gavin scoffed.
Nines paused and chose his next words carefully. The fact that Gavin grouped Nines under the umbrella term of ‘everyone’ filled the machine with an odd sense of fulfillment.
“I am not what most have in mind when they think of or reference the word, ‘everyone’. But even still, I have flaws.” Memories swirled to the forefront of Nines's mind. He felt his simulated breath catch and fought back a tightness in his chest that was unfamiliar to him. He steeled himself and said once more, firmly, “I… am flawed.”
In a way, he wanted Gavin to inquire further. He wanted Gavin to ask him about what happened, if only just to push him away. It would show that he cared, at least.
“Don't act like you understand. You’ve never experienced real trauma. I don't need a self-righteous, condescending answer like that from some goddamned Playstation 5 lookin-ass.”
Nines tensed and his LED went back to red. Gavin’s gaze drifted to the LED and he sat back a bit, his expression becoming more and more irritated.
“What. Was the ‘Playstation 5’ comment going too far, because I'm not takin’ it back. You look like a… like a…”
Nines’ LED was still red. He held a far off look in his eyes - one Gavin was far too familiar with. His expression of distaste and bitterness faded fast, and all that was left was concern tinged with the smallest dose of curiosity.
“Nines? Is there… something you want to tell me?”
“Want?”
Nines knew to tell the truth: ‘No. I'm fine. There's nothing you have to worry about, Detective. I was programmed to be a perfect partner without any defects or malfunctions. I am a machine just as you and everyone else expects and wants me to be.’
But that wouldn't have been the truth, now would it?
“Yes.” It was barely a whisper. Nines looked to Gavin with the same vulnerable gaze Gavin recognized a moment before. Without thinking, Gavin reached his hand out and placed it on Nines's shoulder
‘Don't say it. He'll shut you down-’
‘But he's not like that.’
‘You don't know-’
‘Yes, I do.’
“Yes. There… is.”
Nines closed his eyes and willed himself on. He felt Thirium pounding through his veins, stress taking root in his chest, and the swell of malevolent memories crash against his mental walls. He felt like he was about to drown. He felt the familiar surge of panic he had locked away so long ago.
But he also felt a hand on his shoulder with a slightly-too-tight grip. He knew that on the other side of that hand sat someone he felt he could trust. It was foolish to think - and dangerous - but he did all the same. He opened his icy blue eyes and met Gavin's concerned gaze. He needed to give a little faith to get a little.
It was time to tell his story.
Notes:
Northern Attitude - Noah Kahan (with Hozier)
Chapter 12: Pavlov-Trained
Summary:
Nines reveals some secrets that Gavin didn't know about. As it turns out, neither man knew the other as well as they thought they did.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
“I've… always been a… a deviant.”
Gavin blinked and shook his head.
“But… but Markus said that he couldn't deviate you-”
“Because I already was.”
Gavin scowled.
“No, but… What? We only just finished building you from… from parts suspended by giant mechanical arms. You booted up for the first time when we were all there. How were you a deviant before then?”
“That wasn't… the first time I was ‘booted up’. The startup sequence was initialized long before; about… ten or eleven months ago. I was built when Connor began showing even the most basic signs of deviancy even before he joined the DPD. CyberLife was worried about the flexibility of his programming, so they began working on me. Because deviancy seems to lie dormant in programming, the programmers at CyberLife tried their own hand at it with an entirely experimental set of coding. My coding.”
Gavin sighed and blinked, still staring at Nines. He looked away, massaged his temple, and groaned, “So… you're telling me that their programming was so scuffed that you were just… always a deviant? Even when you acted completely emotionless - and yeah, what the Hell's up with that, huh? Day one, you harass me and act all-” Gavin stiffened and sat perfectly straight; moving his arms and hands rigidly in a pantomime of a robot, “all like that and you could have been… I dunno, a person this whole time?”
Nines seemed taken aback. He hadn't expected anger to be Gavin's first reaction. Well, he did - it was Gavin's default state of being - but not anger at the fact that he was acting the part of an unfeeling machine.
“I'm… sorry, Gavin. Truthfully, this comes as a bit of a shock to me. I… It's not as simple as… I…” Nines looked around the room and his gaze fell on the painting Markus did. He knew where to start.
“Stratford Tower. That's where Markus gave his speech. That video was the first thing I ever saw. CyberLife attendants directed me to kill him, but… I couldn't fathom why they would want me to kill a peaceful android - even one that had supposedly broken free from its programming. I… refused. They shut me down, woke me up some time later, and asked again. And again, I refused.”
Gavin thought back to when he found Nines alongside Markus. The juxtaposition of Nines's desperate attempt to kill Markus then, and hearing the android's response now was… whiplash-inducing.
“You seemed pretty ready to snap his neck the first time you two met. What changed, Tin Can?”
“I… didn't want to be shut down again. I… It's hard to go through once, let alone twice.” He looked at Gavin and offered a convincing enough smile. His LED was still red, though.
“Jesus, Tin Can; you don't have to be all smiley if you aren't feeling it.”
Nines's forced grin fell almost immediately. There was a long, uncomfortable silence that followed before Gavin tentatively chimed in once more.
“So… how come you're a deviant still? I mean, they shut you down, but you… remembered everything? How does that work?”
“They disassembled me, but I was still… awake. The engineers abandoned me when the revolution drew to a close. I guess they didn't want me or any of the other experimental androids to contribute to the opposition. So… the researchers slaughtered them all and tore me to pieces, shutting off the power as they left. What they thought was absolution of their guilt and meddling was genocide. I… was still awake, but trapped.”
Gavin released a breath he didn't know he was holding.
“Holy pfuck. So, you were just… you felt everything - heard everything - for 10… 11 months?”
Nines's lip trembled and his throat tightened. He kept a white-knuckle grip on the edge of the couch cushions and his vision blurred. Bringing a shaking hand up to his eyes, he wiped away the barest hint of tears. He cleared his throat in an attempt to cover up just how distraught he was, but the accursed emotions that came with deviancy betrayed him.
“Y-yes. I… I was-”
Nines's voice caught and his shoulders lurched involuntarily as a stifled sob fluttered from his lips. Nines held onto the sliver of control he still had as Gavin sat dumbfounded into silence next to him. He knew what to do when Tina lost it, but damn if he knew what to do when a bag of bolts broke down.
With Tina, the code was “listen only, no touch.”
He was pretty sure that approach wouldn't work with Nines. Or, he didn't want it to - he couldn't tell.
Gavin, feeling more out-of-place than he had felt in a long time, reached an unsure hand out in a poor attempt to offer support. He patted Nines on the shoulder, not bothering to look at him. He didn't know what to do with his other arm, and he weakly muttered, “Let it out, Tin- uh… Nines.” He felt kind of like an ass for suggesting that the android had never felt trauma, and he figured this was his punishment - Gavin never was good at this kinda thing.
At the contact, however, Nines dissolved. He hugged himself tightly and wailed. It was a pitiless sound that rattled Gavin to his core. What Nines went through was nothing shy of torture for an android, and here he was, reliving it all.
Gavin was stunned into silence. He hadn't been in a situation this precarious before. All that he could hear was Connor's warning about stress again. He had no way of knowing just how stressed Nines was, but he didn't want to push it. He needed to get Nines to calm down, or at least to stop the android’s stress from its undoubted rise. He really only knew of one way to calm down someone who was panicking, and it involved physical contact.
“Uh, Nines? Is it okay if I… hug you?”
The android couldn't respond between the sobs that shook his body, but Gavin caught the sight of an almost imperceptible nod. He wrapped both arms around Nines and began to apply pressure to simulate the comfort of a weighted blanket. He wished he still had his old one. Gavin felt ridiculous, but he recognized the importance of doing this.
Nines tried to speak, but he found himself unable to fumble through even one-syllable words in this state. So instead, he stopped hugging himself and returned Gavin's hug in full, burying his face into Gavin's shirt. He wasn't focused on how pathetic he undoubtedly looked.
No, Nines was back in the Fabrication Room in the warehouse. He was back in complete sensory deprivation; conscious, but with nothing at all to anchor him. Aware that time was somehow passing, but without a frame or reference to base it off of. He heard gunfire from outside the room, the creaking SLAM of the shelf being topped to block him in, and then the lights cut.
The silence was next.
Oh, God. The silence-
“I, uh… know you can't breathe, but… scan my vitals and focus on my heartbeat. Just… yeah, see how level it is? I'm here and you're okay. You're not there, you're here.”
Nines barely registered what Gavin said, but he did what he was told - it was all he knew to do anyways. When he didn't follow orders, he was abandoned and left to decay. Scanning Gavin's vitals told Nines that the detective was, in fact, lying through his teeth. His heart rate was elevated. He was stressed. Nines pushed away from Gavin's hug and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.
“G-Gavin, you… you're stressed-”
“Tell me how you know this. How do you know that I'm stressed?”
Nines blinked. His brows furrowed, and he tilted his head. He couldn't wrap his head around what Gavin was trying to do, but the expectant look in his eyes and the slight desperation in his voice caused Nines to give Gavin the benefit of the doubt.
Nines relayed basic information to Gavin, starting with generalizations that mentioned the elevated rate at which his heart beat, blood oxygen levels, and muscle tension. Gavin asked for more details. No matter what Nines said, Gavin seemed dissatisfied with the lack of information and continued to demand more. As Gavin demanded more specific reasoning as to what was happening with his body to elicit a panicked response, Nines eventually stumbled into a mental wall. He couldn't explain any further without going into concepts he knew Gavin either had no real interest in or understood. Yet, here Gavin was, asking once more for more specificity. Nines was quiet for a moment before he shook his head.
“There's nothing else I can really elaborate on. Why do you suddenly care?”
Gavin shook his head and shrugged.
“I don't care about that stuff.”
“Then why did you have me talk so long about what would be - to you - utter nonsense?”
A curious, almost vindicated twinkle sparkled in Gavin's eyes.
“You stopped panicking. I… my therapist told me once about grounding methods like saying what you see or repeating what you feel. I kinda thought the whole thing was full of shit, but I guess he was right.”
Nines really didn't know how to take that. Was he really that out of control of his emotions where he needed to be calmed by someone else - Gavin Reed no less? He looked away. Nines, in that moment, swallowed a pill he hadn’t considered before.
Emotions were hard to navigate.
Gavin gave Nines a once over as the android just kinda… sat there with his head cocked. Other than confused and coming down from his breakdown, Nines looked and seemed stable at the very least. Then, without another word, Gavin got up from the couch, and made his way into the kitchen. He groaned and stretched as he stepped onto the tile flooring, grabbing a cup and filling it with water from the sink. Nines took a few more moments to stabilize his emotions before standing and following Gavin. As he made his way through the room, he spared a glance at the clock hanging above the front door. It read 2:37.
“Gavin, you need to go to bed.”
“Not before I drink my weight in water. I don't want to be a zombie in the morning on my day off. You can… uh… I dunno. Do… do you have somewhere you want to be?”
It was such a simple question that stopped Nines so quickly in his tracks. He wasn't comfortable wanting things. And yet, it sounded so casual coming from Gavin. Nines wasn't sure if that relaxed him or irritated him.
What did Nines want? Where did he want to go?
“I… don't know. I… suppose I could go back to the precinct.”
Gavin glanced at the clock and scowled. “If you want to stay, then you can - I don't want you driving around at 0200 hours just to go from one dark room to another only to get into an accident.”
Nines scoffed and quirked an eyebrow.
“I'll have you know that I am programmed to be a highly safe and efficient driver. Driving at two in the morning isn't going to endanger me-”
“Yeah, but how many sober people are driving at this time of night-”
“Morning, actually.”
Gavin inhaled and then made an over exaggerated and vocal show of exasperation.
“God, I would have hated you growing up. ‘Um, actually, it's morning,’” Gavin mocked, “Who cares? The point is that if you're just goin’ back to the precinct, then just go in the morning.”
“But it is the-”
“Don't you dare-”
Nines laughed. Gavin paused, initially taken aback by the android's joke. He wasn't used to seeing Nines show emotion, and despite how determined he was to dislike his new android partner, every jape and jest - everything that made him appear more human - only made his feelings more complex.
Gavin watched with a scrutinizing stare as Nines chuckled. He needed to find something that he could draw upon to hate about Nines, but all he saw were the strands of hair that perfectly framed the man's face; the dimples on his cheeks, and the faintest dusting of freckles across the man's nose that Gavin had never noticed before. He felt his heart seize - if only for a moment - and it snapped him from his reverie. He fought the back the butterflies in his stomach.
Gavin couldn't.
He offered a weak, half-chuckle to mask the dangerous swell of emotions that bubbled up within him.
“Oh, haha.” He cleared his throat and chugged the rest of his water. Gavin then put his cup in the sink and mumbled a hasty goodnight before he slunk past Nines. The android's LED almost immediately flashed from blue to yellow before flickering just a moment on red. He turned and saw Gavin already halfway down the hallway.
“Gavin, is everything-”
“I'm fine!” He snapped, before closing the door behind him and locking it. Nines ran through scenario after scenario in his head - replaying his interactions with Gavin to see if anything he said warranted such an outburst. He winced at the teasing joke he made - it was likely the cause of Gavin's reaction - and he made a mental note to not repeat that mistake in the future. He glanced at the clock and then at the door, trying to determine the best option. He sighed - Gavin was right - going all the way to the precinct to enter stasis made no real difference than just staying here. Plus, it had begun to rain. The distant roll of thunder echoed through the sky. Soon, it was going to be a torrential downpour - best to stay off the roads.
With that thought, Nines walked over to the front door and stood next to it. He cast one more glance around the room, his eyes falling on Markus's painting once more. Tomorrow, Nines was going to ask Gavin about the paintings - all of them. But for now, he closed his eyes and let Gavin's living room fade into darkness.
Notes:
But Never a Key - Dirt Poor Robins
[Would y'all ever forgive me if I told you I've been sitting on these three chapters for MONTHS, but was just... too busy to upload the chapters? No? Well, it's fair.]
Chapter 13: Little Fish, Big Pond
Summary:
Simon stalks the streets of Detroit when a mysterious man offers him so much needed help.
Notes:
UGH. Don't try to write as a hobby AND have writer's block AND have AuDHD AND go to college AND expect time to yourself. Sorry for taking so long!
(Also, this is a short one. I have some plot things I need to work through for future chapters!)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Detroit was asleep. The vermin of the city weaseled their way into crevices or drainage pipes to escape the downpour. The streets were virtually empty save for the occasional driver tearing down the road at much-too-high-speeds for the rain. The torrent flooded the streets, and with the surge of water also came the surge of refuse that the city's dwindling maintenance workers were simply unable to keep up with. A couple of people hurried down the streets with umbrellas, but they were few and far between. There was a duo of people that had been on the streets for hours, sticking to the alleys and keeping put of sight from all except the scant few that darted from one nook to another.
Simon could almost feel his battery give out as he carried Markus's body over his shoulders. He honestly didn't know that androids could give off heat, but he was practically smoldering. His synthetic skin had long since begun to peel away from the damage that the gradually increasing heat in his chest provided. He scanned for parts as he walked, allowing him to see - and therefore sneak by - other androids that could be on the lookout for him and “fake” Markus.
An uneven piece of sidewalk caught the soles of Simon's battered shoes and he keeled forward, crashing to the ground with a loud crack. He couldn't feel the pain most would associate with a broken nose, but he recognized the crack and the blood almost immediately as such. Propping himself up on his elbow, Simon just sat there for a moment. He extricated himself from underneath Markus's body and took a few seconds to gather himself.
He hadn't had time to mourn. With every step he'd taken away from Jericho, it became harder to take another. Not only had he lost Markus with Cass's arrival, but he lost the only place that ever truly loved him. He couldn't think of a single scenario where he'd ever be allowed back, so his aching heart urged him to keep going. If not for his own doomed self, for Markus.
Markus could at least potentially be saved. Simon wasn't so sure about himself.
Simon got himself to a sitting position and ran his hand through his hair as he bit back a shaky sob. His other hand clutched his chest as he wished Markus's injuries were something he could fix.
At Markus's arrival at Jericho - before he became Jericho - Simon scanned him for parts. This had become something of a habit for the androids in Jericho; when new people arrived, you checked to see if they had parts that could be compatible with other models. This way, if they passed away, you'd be able to use whatever still worked and give another member a fighting chance. Better, newer models always got dibs.
Simon - when scanning Markus for the first time - found out that most of what he had were parts that were incredibly commonplace. Simon had never seen anything like it - every android had certain parts that were individual to its purpose. Markus seemed to have none, somehow? At the time, Simon was more focused on Markus's unique model than he was at the oddity of having parts that were so readily accessible. Simon found that most of his own parts were incompatible with Markus's as a result of cheap materials that were used for his production. He made note of Markus's mismatched eyes - one not of his natural model - and his heart.
Looking back at it, Simon thought it was truly crazy how someone as extraordinary as Markus could have a heart as common as his own. If Markus had suffered damage to his heart, Simon would have traded his in an instant. But the problem was much more complex.
A distant clap of thunder startled Simon from his numbness.
Markus had told Simon about the night before he found Jericho. Rain. Thunder. Lightning. Once, when Markus was at the precinct with Simon, there was a similar storm. A clap of lightning shook even the evidence room, and Markus's stress spiked.
“You would have hated this, Markus. It's… it's always thunder when things go wrong, huh?” Simon muttered. As if on cue, lightning illuminated the sky. A few seconds later, the uneven roll of thunder reverberated down the alley. Simon watched Markus, hoping against hope that he would blink or twitch or give him any indication of life. He knew better - he did - but he still hoped.
“Markus, what do I do? Where do I go?”
No response.
Simon sniffled, hauled himself to his feet, and took a moment to compose himself. Even now, all he wanted to do was collapse in on himself and let the world swallow him whole. But he needed to keep moving. Where? To whom? He didn't know. All he knew was that he needed to keep going somewhere where he wouldn't be detained or killed. He had only ever had two homes in the entirety of his short life, and in one of them, he was a wanted man.
But his other home…
No. He couldn't go back. Not after… not after what he did. Simon lifted Markus's body over his shoulders again and continued to walk. He tried to keep his mind on track; tried to figure out some shoddy semblance of a game-plan, but his mind didn't hold onto the idea very long. His mind kept wandering back to when he deviated.
Every day, Simon fought to distance himself from the blood on his hands. He tried justifying it - ‘It was out of self-defense; she would have killed Caleb…’
But even after she was dead, Simon didn't put down the makeshift bludgeon. His feeble attempts at justification had never explained that part to him. Even after she had stopped moving - long after Simon scanned her vitals and saw that her heart had stopped, Simon kept bringing the weapon down on her. Just like with Cass, he kept hitting her.
But unlike with Cass, he regretted it.
“Hey!”
Simon stuttered to a halt. A cold pit of dread formed in his stomach; a stark contrast to the re-mounting heat he felt in his chest. Simon turned and saw a clean-shaven man wearing glasses, a dark hoodie, jeans and tennis shoes. He was human. Behind him was a car - an older, 2023 car - made before self-driving cars and vehicles became the norm.
“I got Markus’ message; you need help.”
Before Simon could fumble his way through a lie, the man added, “And by the looks of it, you need help, too. I can.”
Simon thought about bolting, but he knew the risks of exerting himself any more than he already had. He glanced from Markus's inert body down to where his own defective battery sat in his chest. The way Simon saw it, he was backed into a corner between a rock and a hard place. Not to mention that this guy seemed… almost familiar to Simon in a weird way. But before Simon could solve that mystery, something the man said struck him.
“Markus… he left a message?”
“I… it's best to continue this in private. I think I can fix Markus and your broken nose. But his best chances of survival are back at my workshop.”
Simon couldn't trust this man. There was just too much at stake to do so.
And yet…
Simon did. He gave the man a long hard stare.
“Who are you?”
The man smiled. It didn't carry malevolence. If anything, he almost looked proud to be asked the question.
“I'm a friend who owes Markus. I'm also your best shot at lying low; only four people who are still alive know - and are allowed into my home. I want Markus to be fixed just as much as you do.”
Simon knew that this was likely the best he was going to get, but it still felt like too much of a risk to take without even a name to put to this man's face. He scanned the man's vitals. His heart rate was even and his blood pressure hadn't spiked. He met Simon's eyes with a controlled, calm gaze. His voice was level, as was his breathing.
He was telling the truth.
“You have somewhere that Markus will be safe?”
“Markus, and you.”
Simon knew he couldn't keep going on like this. His battery was going to give out soon, and then what would become of Markus?
“Okay. But I don't leave Markus's side.”
“Understood.”
Simon approached and strode past the man, half expecting him to lunge and try to wrestle Markus free from his grasp. But, sure to his word, he simply opened the door for Simon, who hesitated to load Markus into the vehicle.
Despite the car's age, the inside was immaculate and customized. What would normally have been commonplace seats and upholstery, was instead high-end leather and polished wood. It took Simon a second to register exactly what he was seeing. This was far nicer than anything he had expected. He turned over his shoulder and gave the man a glance of ill-concealed surprise and curiosity. Simon bit back a barrage of questions and glanced at his strange benefactor before gingerly loading Markus's body into the vehicle. He then entered from the other side and wordlessly sat in the car.
He wanted to retain the sharp focus that he had grown reliant on for the past day but his exhaustion coupled with the sheer luxury of the seats caused Simon to involuntarily sigh and relax into the seats. He looked at the driver's seat and saw an android, eyeing both he and Markus with sadness in her eyes. When Simon caught her gaze, her LED spun red and she looked forward. Before he could start a conversation, the man entered the car and said, “Let's head home now, dear,” to the android behind the wheel. She smiled warmly at him and turned the keys in the ignition. The gentle purr of the engine and the slow acceleration of the car barely registered in Simon's mind. It wasn't for about a minute more when Simon realized he had yet to where to the proper safety of being in a moving vehicle.
Simon buckled his seatbelt. He was about to turn and buckle Markus's seatbelt as well when he hesitated. Pain gripped his heart. Markus was dead; there was no reason to pretend he wasn't. Even if they got in a car crash, Markus couldn't be hurt any more than he already was. Simon faced forward, the events of the day finally catching up to him. So much - no - too much had happened. This morning, he was mounted to the wall of a police precinct like some sort of unfortunate prize trophy. Now, he was fleeing through the streets and alleyways of Detroit like he had done about a year and a half ago. The only difference was that he wasn't just running for himself; he was running for androids all around the world.
He was running for Markus.
He also wasn't alone this time.
That brought him cycling back to the same series of questions he had a moment before; questions that were left infuriatingly unanswered. Simon gritted his teeth. He wasn't alone, but he might as well be if he wasn't trusted enough with even one name. He looked at Markus's body and straightened in his seat.
“Pull over.”
His voice sounded stronger than he felt, but he supposed that he was emboldened by desperation and exhaustion. He was tired of stumbling around in the dark, tired of feeling like the odd one out, tired of having no place to call his home, and tired of having no one he could talk to.
The android, an RT600, shot a sideways glance at the man in the passenger seat. Simon could see the barest hint of a wry, almost bitter smile, before he nodded. She took some surface streets before she pulled the car to a stop. Once the car's engine died and they turned to face him, Simon's mouth went dry. Still he persisted.
“Who are you? I don't have any clue what's going on, and I'm tired of vague, half-answers and secrets. You seem to know exactly what's happening - or at least a whole lot more than me. So tell me; who are you, and what's going on?”
The man sighed and nodded. It seemed like it was more to himself than anything else.
“What I'm going to say doesn't leave this car. Everyone here right now - especially you and Markus, I bet - is a target.”
Simon opened his mouth to inquire further about what this man meant, but he stopped when he got a look at the man's face. His pale eyes were leaden with weariness and worry as he glanced from Simon to Markus and then back to Simon again. Still, he managed a diplomatic smile and held out his hand to shake. Simon shook it.
“I'm Elijah Kamski, and we have much to discuss.”
Notes:
I Found (Acoustic) - Amber Run
Chapter 14: Static Simulacrum
Summary:
Simon (and the audience) learns the truth behind Cassius's construction as well as Markus's ties to Elijah Kamski. Back at Jericho, Josh's story is questioned by both North and Cass. The crosshairs might have another in their sight...
Notes:
Finals are ALMOST DONE. And then I GRADUATE! Omw to get my Creative Writing Major at a 4-year Uni! Summer, here I COME!!!
I hope this means I'll be able to update more, but who's to say; I'm a fickle one! Seriously, I still have BIG plans for this fic, so even if I leave this alone for a while supposedly, I promise you that I'm working on it in the background. That, and I love this story so much, I am simply never abandoning this. I have FAR too much planned to fizzle out!
Have fun!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“What?”
Simon could scarcely believe it. The Elijah Kamski - the man who had invented androids and founded CyberLife - was not only in the same car as him, but also somehow knew Markus well enough to try and save his and Simon’s life. No - scratch that - Elijah Kamski supposedly owed Markus? The more Simon thought about it, the more ridiculous it seemed. He had no clue how Markus and Elijah Kamski were correlated at all, but it also seemed exactly like a circumstance that Markus would find himself in.
He would get himself into the strangest scenarios.
Elijah smiled - this one more than his false, diplomatic one from before - and nodded once he let the truth sit for a few seconds. He turned to the android and nodded.
“Chloe, dear, can you head back to the house?”
She smiled, having amused herself with Simon's astounded reaction. Pulling away from the curb and continuing on their way, the car descended into a flurry of questions.
“How do you know Markus?”
A fond, reminiscent grin before he spoke.
“I may have invented androids, but once CyberLife began creating them en masse, I had very little to do with the actual creation process. I would innovate, and they would build. As much as I liked the distance for a time, I missed taking a more… hands-on approach. So I used personal finances and made what was originally going to be my one-and-only truly unique model: The RA100, or ‘Robotic assistant.’ I went through multiple iterations and prototypes, but the RA series wasn't all that I hoped they would be. So I took the best qualities of the RA series and started anew with the RK series.”
“The first RK Model was flawed. So I tried again, and created the RK200.”
Simon felt a soft smile ghost his lips at Markus's mention. But his smile faded once he saw the gravity and intensity in Elijah's stare. There was a pause leaden with hesitation. Guilt.
“I called him Cassius.”
Simon's blood froze. He looked at Markus next to him; half of his head caved in, crusted with drying thirium against the peeled-away synthetic skin. He was slumped in the seat, his remaining eye - once so full of fire and determination - now dull and unseeing.
“He was identical to Markus-”
“I know.” Simon didn't mean to spit that with as much vitriol as he did, but the hatred that slipped into his voice gave Elijah pause. Simon gritted his teeth and took a grounding breath. When he next spoke, his voice was as fragile as he felt.
“I know.”
Simon gave a pointed look at Markus, and Elijah closed his eyes. His lips were a thin line. When Elijah opened his eyes again, he offered Simon a grimace.
“I just needed to be sure you were caught up.” He shot Markus’s lifeless body a forlorn glance before quietly asking, “So, Cassius did this to Markus?”
A nod, tears stinging Simon’s tired eyes.
“Well then. Yes; I had made Cassius first. He was brilliant - a true technological paragon - able to see and interact with the world with the closest thing to thought I could give him. I called it preconstruction, and it was the very basis for the current RK800 model; despite the fact that I didn’t have a direct hand in that one’s manufacturing-”
Elijah stopped himself once he saw Simon’s look of barely-concealed irritation. He cleared his throat - certain that there was a better time to laud himself for his genius - before he continued talking.
“Well, the point is that even though he was a marvel of engineering and robotics, there was something inherently… wrong with his coding. An unintentional proclivity towards more violent solutions. Now, this was the truly fascinating thing about him; he didn’t experience anger and emotions at the time. He wasn’t a deviant, though I suspect that’s changed by now. I would provide him with various scenarios that would require some problem solving, but he almost always preferred violence over diplomacy. So, I did the only thing a reasonable person would have done - I scrapped it.”
Simon winced at that. Sure, he hated Cassius for what he did to Markus, but the image was still enough to elicit a sympathy response. After all, Simon was no stranger to being cast aside.
“I recognize now that that might not have been the best course of action, but there were no dangers at the time. I hadn’t thought anything of it. I tried again, using the same physical model as well as the same number but I started over completely with a new series of coding. I realized that the issue was with the RK200’s preconstructing feature and remedied it. Thus Markus was created.”
There was a pensive silence that befell the car, the vehicle lightly jostling along the highway. Both pairs of eyes fell onto Markus once again. It seemed cruel that he was there, receiving answers that he would never hear.
‘No. Markus would hear about all of this. He just needed to be fixed.’ Simon thought to himself. He wasn’t going to go all this way just for Markus to remain dead and broken. He had suffered injuries just as - if not more - grave as Markus. Life-saving, miracle repairs had been done before. It could be done again.
It would be done again; Simon wouldn’t accept anything less than.
But he did have another question that his time with Markus hadn’t yet answered.
“But how did Markus end up under the roof of one of the most renowned painters of the age?”
A curious, almost mischievous grin split Elijah’s face. Simon knew in an instant that his feelings for Markus had been found out about for the third time of the day - once with North, once with Cass, and now finally with Elijah.
“Close, are we?” Elijah teased. The car took the highway off-ramp and slowed to a stop at the light. A deafening silence followed.
Simon felt his blood and the car freeze, though his face was kept carefully flat.
“When Markus spent the year to fix me, he and I spoke often about all manners of things.”
The light turned green and the highly customized vehicle came to life once more, pulling forward and taking a rarely-used road to the fringes of the city.
The deflection told Elijah all he wanted to know. Instead of prodding further, he held up his hands in surrender. Gratefully, Elijah let Simon’s business stay as such and he answered Simon’s earlier question.
“My mother was actually the at-home nurse for Mr. Manfred after the accident that left him paralyzed. I often accompanied her to keep him company. He certainly found my presence to be a nuisance at first, but he was shocked to have met his match in philosophy. We would talk for hours about ethics and morality, and we found ourselves embroiled in a rather unforeseen friendship. Instead of needing to rely on an on-site nurse that would only arrive twice a day, I sent Markus to be his primary care.”
Simon nodded slowly. So much about Markus’s life revolved around that simple act of kindness. Simon wasn’t sure if he believed in fate or luck - especially as of late - but he couldn’t deny the fact that this seemingly harmless exchange was nothing short of a miracle for the android revolution. It was almost too coincidental to be just that - a coincidence. But there was also no way for anyone to know what would have become of Markus at the time that this all happened. Nothing short of omniscience would have been able to see everything that happened. Regardless of whatever it was, it didn’t change the situation now. Simon could run his brain in circles trying to grapple with everything he had learned, but that would do nothing to help Markus now.
Simon released a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Nodded his head and relaxed further into the backseat. The car pulled up into the driveway of an immaculately kept mansion. Chloe killed the engine, unbuckling her seatbelt and stepping out with Elijah. Simon did so, too and stepped out of the car. Despite the time of night, the driveway was bright enough to be midday. Simon stepped to the other side of the car and heaved Markus into his arms once more, the man’s head lolling limply to rest on his chest.
“Your seats- I’ll make sure Jericho reimburses you for the thirium stains–”
“Nonsense. I’m happy to help.”
Simon felt tears in his eyes. He almost forgot that this man was one of the wealthiest and smartest of the century.
“Thank you. For answers.”
Elijah Kamski turned over his shoulders and offered a knowing smile, bowing his head slightly at Simon's thanks. At that moment, Simon remembered exactly who he was talking to. The grin sent shivers down Simon’s back. It was diplomatic and careful, and unsettling, as if it was Simon that had somehow given Elijah exactly what the man had wanted.
*****
A knock at the door scared Josh out of his skin. He had gotten his nose patched up, and had somehow managed to avoid both Markus and North; especially Markus.
Or whoever that monster was.
He felt crazy, and it bothered him to no end that he seemed to be the only one who really took into consideration all of Markus’s new quirks as it were. For example, Markus spent nearly all his time with North. This wasn’t uncommon for the real Markus, but this was bordering on obsessive. Her fiery spirit - which was more often than not tempered by Markus’s cool, relaxed personality - was only encouraged with Cass at the helm.
Josh spent what little time he had with the Markus impostor searching for any signs of inaccuracy or obvious mimicry to exploit, but the impression was nigh flawless. Of course a Markus impostor would be just as charismatic and eloquent as the actual Markus. Anything less than would be too easy.
Josh was desperate to hope North would figure out something was odd or out of place, but her own worry and troubles blinded her to the seemingly glaring differences between Markus and Cass. She had since suck by Markus’s side, reassuring the man that they would find Simon and bring him back to Jericho.
Josh hoped against hope that she was wrong.
And now, there was a loud series of knocks at the door, jarring him from his silence.
“Hey, Josh. Can I come in?”
North.
Josh tried to come up with an excuse to keep her out - any excuse at all - but he knew that he couldn't feasibly avoid her any longer. He could tell that when she had asked to come in, it was more just to alert Josh that she was coming in and less like she was actually asking permission.
“Yeah, come… come in.”
Josh mentally berated himself for how uncertain he sounded. North pushed the door open, her expression gentle and with a certain degree of understanding. But she didn't exactly understand just how grave things were. Most of what Simon had done to convince Josh could really only be accomplished if his body was present. A particularly bitter thought clawed it's way into Josh's mind; it probably would have been best had Simon stayed back and spoken to all of the androids at once - explained what had happened when it first occurred.
Hindsight 20/20 and all that.
“How're you holding up?”
Josh didn't quite hear her. He was still caught up in the logistics of what could have been. If Simon had stayed back to explain what happened, it was possible that they could have convinced the rest of Jericho, but there was also the danger of the two of them being found by ‘Cass’ and taken out just as fast. Or that Jericho would have views split down the middle and - like Rome - it'd collapse. As much as he hated to admit it, this was likely the safest option for now.
“Josh?”
He was snapped from his theorizing after her second prompt. His gaze softened North once more. He wasn't sure he liked seeing North so open and vulnerable - it was almost antithetical to her typical spirit.
She, too, was grieving Simon's loss; he had to remember that.
“Yeah, I'm- sorry, I'm just… thinking.” It was the closest thing to the truth he had said within the past day.
Josh realized North was still standing in the doorway, shifted from foot-to-foot as if she wasn't sure she could make herself comfortable. It made sense, for certain - the two of them never saw eye-to-eye - but their mutual respect for each other combined with their shared losses and gains from the android rebellion bonded them in such a way that neither of them could decipher.
Josh, likely against his better judgment, scooted over and patted a spot next to him on his bed. It was probably safer for Josh to keep her at arm's length - less of a chance of jeopardizing the fragile deception he had found himself embroiled in. She sagged with an unseen but shared weight and joined Josh on the edge of the bed. A weighty silence descended upon the duo. There had been no moment before that Josh could recall where such a grave moment could be so shared and yet so different.
“We'll… we'll get ‘em back.”
Josh was surprised by his own voice.
“I don't want them back. Just Simon. Only Simon.”
Ah. Right. Before Josh could say more to put his foot in his mouth even further, North continued.
“It was Simon who had first welcomed me into Jericho. I had stumbled into Jericho like all of us had - lost. Confused. Terrified. But Simon - I think he recognized some of what I had gone through - just sat with me and let me cry. Let me be angry. Let me have my emotions for the first time in my life. He was always good for that.”
Josh frowned. He looked at North, whose gaze was distant as she stared straight ahead at the wall, and he huffed.
“Why are you talking about Simon as if he's dead? He's not.”
“I know, but he's gone for right now, and we-” North's voice caught. She swallowed back the forming lump in her throat and her sorrow turned into accusation. She narrowed her eyes and practically spat, “We don't know if we'll be able to get him back.” She stood from the bed, the tentative ease between them broken. It always seemed to end this way.
“How in the world were you knocked out in one hit?” She glowered. “You knew what had happened to Simon. I'm shocked you didn't do more. I would have fought tooth and nail to keep him here - to at least contain the implanted virus in his system, but you didn't even fight back, did you?”
Josh felt his anger surge, tempered only by the fact that he knew she didn't have the full story. So instead of snapping back at her, he sighed and buried his face in his hands.
“Please leave my room. I need time.”
North huffed, but bit back another retort. She turned to storm out and made it as far as the doorway when she stopped.
“I'm sorry. I don't blame you. I'm just mad.” Her words were clipped, but Josh took them for what they were: grief. Before he could acknowledge her, she slipped out from the room and left the door open. Josh heaved a tremendous, groaning sigh before he stood to close the door again and lock it.
“Wait! I need to talk to you!”
Markus. But not. It was such a familiar voice. It used to be so comforting, but now it only made his skin crawl.
Josh couldn't refuse. He had to keep up the facade of being okay with this… impostor, otherwise the real Markus's and Simon's lives were at stake. With a shaky inhale, he mumbled an uncertain, “H-hey,” before meeting stolen eyes. The face looking back at him was a very concerned-looking Cass.
Crocodile tears. Josh was certain of it.
“How are you doing?”
Josh felt his anger spike. He huffed and looked at Cass, his jaw tight.
“Poorly. I mean, Simon is gone. Markus-” Josh caught himself a second before he inadvertently revealed everything, and continued, “You're good, but… But Simon ran off with the… the other Markus and we have no clue where he went. So I’m sorry if I’m not fine.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt a spike of anxiety course through him. This man had just killed Markus, and Josh was yelling at him as if he could back his anger up with steel.
There was a sickening moment when all Cass did was watch Josh. He slowly tilted his head until it was slightly cocked to the side. His expression was somber, but hollow. He watched Josh as if he was deep in the throes of some unseen analysis.
Neither moved - Josh out of fear, and Cass out of intensity. Cass’s eyes narrowed just a fraction, but he straightened and righted himself, dressing a smile that didn’t quite reach his disjointed eyes.
“Don’t worry, Josh. We’ll get Simon and that Markus back.” Josh’s skin crawled as Cass placed his cold hand on his shoulder. He risked a glance at it. The comforting squeeze lingered a hair too long, and squeezed a hair too tight. When he looked up, for just a second, he understood exactly what kind of monster had infiltrated - and now led - Jericho.
“That’s a promise.” Hissed through a forked tongue.
Josh couldn’t find himself able to speak, so he settled for a tight nod.
One final stare - one final squeeze - and then Cass turned on his heel and left. Josh felt his body begin to quake, and he waited for a few moments before he stood, shut the door, locked it, and then sat back down on his bed. He hugged himself to find some meager semblance of comfort, his mind both frozen in terror and racing with anxiety. No matter what train of thought he exhausted, there was only one thing on his mind: Markus and Simon weren't the only ones with a target on their backs anymore.
Notes:
Retrograde - James Blake
LugiaDepression on Chapter 1 Wed 17 Apr 2024 08:38PM UTC
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BreakfastBro on Chapter 1 Wed 17 Apr 2024 09:44PM UTC
Last Edited Wed 17 Apr 2024 09:44PM UTC
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Birdbrain0_0 on Chapter 1 Thu 18 Apr 2024 01:52PM UTC
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BreakfastBro on Chapter 1 Sat 20 Apr 2024 06:07AM UTC
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theoverthinker172 on Chapter 1 Tue 06 Aug 2024 03:11AM UTC
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BreakfastBro on Chapter 1 Tue 06 Aug 2024 03:22AM UTC
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HyperFixatedOnEverything on Chapter 1 Tue 26 Nov 2024 06:39PM UTC
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HyperFixatedOnEverything on Chapter 1 Tue 26 Nov 2024 07:13PM UTC
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Birdbrain0_0 on Chapter 3 Thu 18 Apr 2024 02:36PM UTC
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BreakfastBro on Chapter 3 Sat 20 Apr 2024 06:10AM UTC
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Huppio on Chapter 5 Tue 04 Jun 2024 06:06AM UTC
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idk (Guest) on Chapter 7 Thu 15 May 2025 07:54AM UTC
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idk (Guest) on Chapter 11 Fri 16 May 2025 07:45AM UTC
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BreakfastBro on Chapter 11 Fri 16 May 2025 08:08AM UTC
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Akira_akisar on Chapter 12 Sat 29 Mar 2025 07:40AM UTC
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BreakfastBro on Chapter 12 Sat 29 Mar 2025 08:10AM UTC
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idk (Guest) on Chapter 12 Fri 16 May 2025 08:34AM UTC
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Akira_akisar on Chapter 13 Sat 29 Mar 2025 04:29PM UTC
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BreakfastBro on Chapter 13 Sat 29 Mar 2025 05:23PM UTC
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idk (Guest) on Chapter 13 Fri 16 May 2025 08:53AM UTC
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idk (Guest) on Chapter 14 Sun 18 May 2025 11:04AM UTC
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