November 6th, 2038
AM 11:25:05
Rain pelleted the roof of your manually-operated car; an old thing from another life. A different plane of time where you were given the wind-up watch with hands on your wrist, maybe the last one in Detroit. That, and the heirloom revolver passed down from your closest family member, one with a recoil almost as unpredictable as you.
You were off the grid. No phone, no laptop; nothing but a pencil and a flip notebook in your lap, your fingers pushed through thumbholes on your sleeves as you drummed an eraser against paper. The hood of your thermal bunched behind your neck, almost forming a pillow. A steering wheel dug at your knees, your driver's side chair locked and pushed down behind you.
The seal of your window hovered just below your line of sight. You'd rolled it down, as your breath would make the glass foggy; and no android was going to miss that sure sign of a warm body. You needed to guarantee no one noticed you. You needed to be able to see outside...because this was a stake-out.
Detective Collins and Lieutenant Anderson were interviewing suspects across the street, their jackets slick and beaded with water. They dismissed their informants, rejoining near the edge of the sidewalk. Connor returned outside, the door to a supermarket shutting behind him.
You slid further down, reviewing your notes:
"1055 – Detective Collins and police arrive at location of sighting.
1115 – Police establish secure perimeter. Hints suspect is nearby.
1120 – Patrols begin. Officer Chris Miller trips on untied shoelaces. Looks around and pretends it didn't happen. It did.
1123 – Lieutenant Anderson arrives with the android you can't stop thinking about because you're an idiot and you-"
A noise broke through the gentle trickle of rain dripping between the gap of the roof and your window. A harsh screeching – like metal scrapping along concrete; fighting against rusted hinges. You looked up, your head rising only an inch.
The gate to an abandoned parking lot shuddered, a pair of careful hands closing it behind it's slim figure, topped with short hair. A little girl walked out with the woman.
Your eyes widened, and you hunkered down – pinning your side against your door. You couldn't see out of the window, but you heard their footsteps sloshing alongside the car.
"Come on Alice," The woman whispered, "Stay close to me..."
Their backs appeared in your side mirror, walking hastily down the street.
"1126 – Suspect sighted."
You flipped your notebook shut, stuffing it in your glove box and dropping your pencil on your floor mat. You opened your door, staying crouched as you exited the car – locking it up behind you with a flick of your thumb.
Your hands traced the outside, your fingertips curling around the trim as you peeked towards Anderson and the rest of them. They were all talking. Distracted.
You lifted your hood over your hat. You stood up straight, ignoring the agonizing tension in your stomach. You stuffed your wet hands in your pockets.
"1127 – Officer ID#5649 in pursuit."
You made the mental note, the deviant and child rushing along the edge of your view. You blew a soggy strand of hair away from your eyes, keeping your head down. The soles of your boots stuck to the ground and released slick noises, your wet footprints bleeding into the drenched cement.
"Fuck it's too cold for this rain-"
The AX400 took Alice's hand and snatched an umbrella from a holder, belonging to a store. The black plastic flared as two officers walked by – headed towards you.
You rolled your shoulder along a decorative column of a storefront, pressing your back to the bricks lining the glass. You rolled up your sleeve, watching clock hands tick by.
"5...4...3...2...1..."
The officers passed you without a second glance, and you stepped back down on the sidewalk, just in time to see the AX400 returning the umbrella. She reclaimed Alice's hand, and they kept moving.
"Alice doesn't seem to be resisting...It's like they fled Todd's together."
You played back the information from the report in your mind. An AX400 that showed "signs of aggression," in the past – put in the shop for repair multiple times, for multiple reasons. Clumsy reasons. Things androids don't do. Falling down stairs. Being assaulted by protestors, with no record of an insurance claim being filed. Hit by a vehicle. And when she ran, she kidnapped a little girl?
Things weren't adding up...and after meeting Todd, you had a strange suspicion there was more to the story. All you had to do was get her to talk. Gain her trust. Not get hurt again.
The AX400 looked behind her, and you turned your head; twisting your body to the side to avoid hitting someone. When you refocused your attention, you found her facing forward – the two of them walking much faster, right up until they dove under an overhang covering an ATM.
A pair of officers rounded the corner. Brown and Miller.
Rain trickled from the corners of Chris's police cap. He hooked his thumbs on his beltloops, pushing the flaps of his coat up with his elbows and locking his fingers on his hips.
"I don't know, man..." He looked up, "It's just, uhh-uhh..."
He started stammering, eyes darting between you and the officer in front of him.
Chris Miller: Great cop, horrible criminal. If he would ever be caught doing something wrong, he'd be fucked.
"Wherever this deviant is..." He gulped, focusing on Officer Brown, "If she doesn't want shit to catch up with her, she BETTER start running."
Chris stretched his neck, throwing his chin over his shoulder and giving you a "look."
You slowly turned around, your jacket sticking to the concrete wall you leaned on.
"1134 – Connor is headed straight for you and you're about to get busted."
His skin was glazed by the rain, his hair slightly frazzled as loose strands dripped. His jacket sagged; a heavy mantle shifting in unison with the broad shoulders it was hung upon. His white button-up was transparent as it clung to his chest, sculpted and hidden under a slick tie.
His brow was creased in a scowl, focused on his target. He turned to his side, slipping between two people walking in opposite directions. He gently pushed someone out of his way, his palm slipping from their shoulder.
"Shit, shit, shit –"
When he broke free from the sidewalk traffic, his fists bunched at his sides as his pursuit quickened.
Your chin snapped forward. The AX400 shuffled the little girl up the sidewalk, looking over her shoulder with fear twitching on her features.
She saw him, too.
"IT'S HERE!" Connor yelled, his arms lifting as his knees propelled him into a sprint, "Call it in!"
He rushed passed you, gone in a blur. Chris pulled his shoulder-mounted microphone up to his mouth, "This is Officer Miller, the deviant has been spotted. Android in pursuit-"
"Connor's on her?!" Hank shouted.
"Yes, sir! Looks like they're headed for the train station!"
"Ah, fuck..."
As if on cue, the train screeched overhead along the monorail. It came to a crawl, nearing the station only a few blocks up. Connor turned a sharp corner to the right.
The AX400 and little Alice weren't going to make it in time. They knew it. Connor knew it. You knew it.
You also knew this city a lot better than they did.
"If I were a deviant protecting a child, what would I do..."
You looked down an alley. A fence divider barred the outside edge of a sidewalk, running parallel to yours. You ran down the length of it as fast as your wounds would allow, weaving around trash cans and stray cats – your boots splashing water as they stomped through puddles. Your fingers latched between the steel links that built the fence, rattling as they halted your momentum.
"AUTOMATED CAR TRACK
VERY HIGH SPEEDS
NO PEDESTRIAN CROSSING!
!DANGER, DANGER!"
The holographic message glitched along the end of the muddy ramp below you. Two figures leapt over the guard rail...and stepped on to the highway.
"Goddamn it, NO!"
You pushed yourself off the fence, eyeing its jagged top.
Jump? Climb? Not a chance. Even if you weren't injured and could do it, you wouldn't survive the chase.
You looked to your right. A bridge mended the gap between each side of the highway, only one corner away.
There was a chance you'd make it in time. A chance you could cross it fast enough.
You made your decision, and you were on the run.