Detroit: Rebirth

Seeing Sound

Markus looked around him. Sure enough, there were more people like this old man. Some are singers alike, others are painters with old brushes and paint, scribbling on a canvas, desperately trying to earn a living for themselves through selling their artwork. The android recalled that the reason the atmosphere of this part of the district was unlike any other place he had been was partly because of them. 

He analyzed the change his master had given him. Taking the amount of money he gave to the two people he saw by the district's entrance out of the equation, he noted that he was able to give a small amount of change to a few of them. So he went, and passed the change to three people in the alley, one of them being the old man with  the red beanie.

"Look at me." the man chuckled to himself. "I lost my damn career due to androids and yet here I am, being helped by one."

Markus shrugged off the comment as he handed the money to him. The man reluctantly accepted.

"You're just being ordered to give money to us folks by yer master or somethin'..but thanks. I still hate ya for stealing my job, though." he grumbled.

Markus tilted his head in slight confusion before heading on his way. 

--"Humans will harbor hate and disdain for those they believed had wronged them. That feeling can grow to the point where they will harbor said hate towards others as well."-- his master's words ring in his mind. 

-It all started with just one person. Why would someone let their feelings get ahead of them like that?- Markus wondered as he headed to the bus station. He looked behind him. The three homeless people were silent, picking up on their business as usual. But even so..

..a scowl remains present on their faces.

Suddenly, something, or someone, shoved Markus onto the ground. His LED was flickering a bright yellow as he struggled to see what, or who, had hit him.

"Looks like someone needs to be taught a lesson!" a raspy voice shouted, inviting others of their group to join. They were once holding up signs made of construction paper and cardboard, and were carrying the plastic megaphones found in sports events. Soon, a crowd of people gathered to see the commotion.

"Look at this nasty mother-fucker." a woman taunted. "Stealing our jobs yet it can't even stand up!"

"Hey look, we got one of those tin cans over here!"

Markus tried to stand up, but was kicked on his side. Dropping his box of paints, his knees buckled and he stumbled. He can feel his stress levels going up as they continue to harass and taunt him.

A grown man grabbed Markus and lifted the collar of his shirt, bringing the android to eye level.

"Now you listen here, little shit." he grumbled. "It's your fault that we've all lost our jobs!"

Markus tried to push him away, but he was shoved back on the ground, the man pinning him down and gripping hard onto his neck. The android could feel the rush of thirium to his head as the vessels in his neck were pressured.

He noticed that the man was also holding something on his non-dominant hand, hidden behind his back. 

"All of this is YOUR FAULT! YA HEAR THAT, TIN CAN? HUH?! ALL OF THIS IS YOUR FAULT!!! YOUR! FAULT!" he shouted. Markus scrambled for a way out, and clawed at the man in self-defense. Suddenly, the man pulled something out from behind him. Markus' jade eyes met with a sharp, small sheen of metal.

Markus froze. He stared at the object with fear as it approached him, aimed right at his face. Time began to slow down for him, as if it wants to play a cruel game with the android.

Markus' LED went from a distressed yellow to a blaring red. It flickers so quickly that you'd swear there was a red lightning storm inside his head. 

It grew closer, and closer. He could feel it's cold aura about to connect with his synthetic skin.

-STRESS LEVEL: 78%-82%-89%...-

Suddenly, he felt the weight on top of him being lifted. Using this chance, he quickly got up, retrieved his box of paints that he dropped, and quickly averted the crowd.

"You damage that android, and you'll be fined for vandalizing someone's property, ya hear me?" he heard a security officer said as he restrained the man. Markus stood afar, watching the scene. He couldn't look at the man that attacked him any longer, so he quickly left, averting any eye contact with anyone that he passed by.

.

What..was that? he thought. He clutched his chest, strangling the fabric of his uniform as he watched the view from the bus window. Buildings whizzed past as quickly as a bee buzzed from one flower to another. He couldn't stop thinking about the attack. He couldn't stop thinking about how the man nearly ripped his face apart with a dagger. He couldn't stop thinking..

..about how he felt during that moment.

The pumps of thirium rushing to his head, his desperate attempts to free himself from the man's clutches, the fear that instilled in his mind at that very spot in time.

Fear and desperation.

He felt all of it, a mess of emotions clouded in his mind, like droplets of paint mixing together in a cup of water forming a murky color.