"You're doing it again."
Markus hid a grin, keeping his face straight as he moved another piece on the chessboard. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
Carl laughed, mildly shaking his head as he looked through his lineup. He picked a piece and shucked it forward, knocking out one of Markus' pieces. "My boy, how long have we've known each other? Give this old man a challenge sometimes."
"I won the last game. Maybe I'm just getting tired."
"Tired my ass," Carl said with another chuckle, watching as Markus took out a knight. "You don't know what tired is until you're my age."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Phhh," the old painter huffed. "That's the difference between us, Markus. When you are my age, you will still be the same. Your body and mind won't break down as fast as a human's will. In a way, I envy you."
Markus made his move and then looked up to his father. Carl's tired eyes flicked across the chessboard, and then he reached forward to move his piece, dethroning Markus' queen and ending the game. He had regained his strength in the eight months since the revolution and was starting to look healthy once again, but he did seem more tired.
Markus always logged away Carl's condition with a new scan whenever he came to visit, helping him with anything he needed. Despite his complete autonomy and freedom as an individual, he never broke his dedication to Carl. It wasn't programming, it was love. It was Carl that awoke Markus, he knew. In the eleven years they had been together, Carl had always treated him as an equal, more than just a machine. In the end, it was Carl that made Markus believe that humans and androids could live together peacefully.
"Would you really want to live that long?" Markus asked, surprised at Carl's words.
Carl rolled back in his wheelchair, away from the chess game. His eyes went to the window, looking outside to the perfectly manicured lawn and courtyard of his home under the sun of a breezy summer day.
"Used to, I would say hell no," Carl said bluntly. "I've seen humanity at its best, and I've seen it at its worst. But it's only gone downhill within my lifetime, and it's hard to have faith in humanity anymore." He shook his head. "But now...I see there is hope. And it is because of you, Markus. Because of androids. How you chose to change this world in a way that humans have never been able to do. It makes me...curious...of what the future could be like. After all, you androids don't fight over petty issues involving skin color or which god to believe in. I believe wholeheartedly that you will be the ones to save this world."
Markus got out of his chair, walking around to the old painter. "Well, I guess we will see. What little we have right now is fragile and can crumble at any moment. We still have a long way to go."
"It won't get easier either," Carl stated, looking up at his android son. "But I know you will succeed, Markus."
"Hearing that come from you makes a world of difference," Markus replied, putting a hand to Carl's shoulder. Carl reached up and patted Markus' hand.
They heard the chime for the front doors opening, allowing an entry programmed into the security system. Markus thought that maybe it was Phillip returning from outside, but then recalled that he was upstairs.
The AP700 had been his replacement since the events that took place eight months ago. And although he was a deviant as well thanks to Markus, he was still dedicated to his serving of Carl. Markus was able to come visit Carl plenty, but his role within his people didn't allow him to stay here at all times, when Carl needed care 24/7. And so, Markus was thankful for Phillip to provide that, and they talked through mind messaging a lot concerning Carl's care.
"Hey Dad! Hey Markus."
The doors to the den opened and Leo Manfred entered with a few brown paper sacks. Carl spun in his wheelchair to face his son. He smiled as he watched Leo move to the dining table to set the bags down. Markus grabbed the painter's wheelchair and pushed him over to Leo.
"I was starting to think you got lost," Carl said, his tone playful.
Leo laughed, pulling some items out of the paper sacks, mostly food. Markus analyzed Leo, a quick scan he habitually ran with anyone he met up with for the day. He was still clean, had been clean off Red Ice for eight months now. He wore relaxed fit jeans, a blue shirt and boots.
In the eight months that had passed since Markus pushed Leo and sent him to the hospital, he had cleaned up and worked really hard at mending his relationship with his father. He came over every day to help take care of Carl. Markus was relieved. There was no more hostility between him and Leo, although Leo was still nervous with trying to bond with Markus at times. They were getting better though.
"Nah, just your typical overcrowded Detroit supermarket," Leo replied. "So, was thinking. Fish...I got salmon. Some steamed veggies on the side. Oh, and rice."
Carl shook his head. "You sure have been on a healthy food kick lately."
"We have to clean up your diet, Dad. Come on. It will be good, I promise."
"He is right. You have been eating too many carbs lately," Markus added.
Carl smacked Markus in the side. "Don't tag team me."
Leo pulled another item out of a bag. It was a bottle of scotch, and he walked it over to his father. "Well, picked this up for you."
Carl brightened, taking the bottle. "Ah, my favorite. Thank you, son. We can enjoy some of this after dinner."
Leo grinned. "You know it."
The doors to the den slid open once more and then Phillip entered. The AP700 android wore a white suit, his LED flashing blue as he came over to Markus, Carl, and Leo. He smiled in greeting, his hands clasped in front of him.
"Oh hello, Leo. I didn't hear you come in."
"Hey Phillip," Leo said, nodding his way. "Yeah, just got back from the supermarket."
Phillip turned to Carl. "Carl, it is time for your bath and dose of medication."
"Already?" Carl said, looking at his watch. "I guess you would know best, Phillip."
"If you go right now, you can be done in time for dinner," Markus stated, sparing Carl a smile.
"Yeah, yeah," Carl mumbled, nodding to Phillip. He handed the bottle of scotch to Markus.
The android caretaker took the handles of the wheelchair and guided Carl out of the den. Markus and Leo watched them go. Markus scratched his head.
"Holler if you need anything."
He sat the bottle of scotch down on the table. Leo was gathering up the items he bought for their dinner. He glanced at Markus.
"So, uh, you staying for awhile, Markus?" he asked.
Markus nodded. "Yeah, unless North or the others call for me."
"Great. Want to help me cook dinner?"
Markus twitched a smile. "Sure."
They moved into the large kitchen to start preparing dinner. Markus easily scanned through his memory to recall where all the kitchenware was located. Markus started cutting up the veggies while Leo worked at getting the rice water going as well as preparing the fish.
There was a long period of silence as the two men worked, then Leo broke in, clearing his throat.
"Uh, how ya been, anyway?"
Markus thought it over. "I've been alright. Taking one day at a time. Just never know what the day is going to hold with all that's been happening with the android rights movement."
"Yeah, I heard the former CEO of CyberLife took it back over. I guess there was a big fallout with all these changes. Makes sense I guess. I mean, no one is gonna buy androids anymore. So, what is he planning on doing with it now?"
Markus paused at cutting up a zucchini, thinking. "He's given a few interviews with his plans, but I've only been able to watch one. Carl seems to think that Kamski wants to turn CyberLife into a company dedicated to androids. Thirium replacement, recalibrations, repairs, that sort of stuff."
"So like healthcare for androids?" Leo asked.
Markus nodded. "Something like that, yes. Carl said Kamski's plans didn't stop there, but until we see what happens with the establishment of more android rights, those plans won't come to light. I, for one, am not quite sure what I believe his plans are."
"I met him one time at one of Dad's art things. He seemed...I don't know...creepy to me. You ever met him?"
Markus twitched his lips, finishing up with the vegetables. "Yeah, a few times. Was always real curious about me, asked Carl questions about my behavior and programming a lot. I guess because I was a prototype."
Markus scraped the cut-up veggies into a bowl just as he heard Leo start frying the fish. He took the bowl over to the steamer to dump it in.
"What about you, Leo? How have you been?" Markus asked.
Leo smiled, taking a moment to season the cooking salmon. "Good, good. Every day gets easier. Been focusing more on improving myself, ya know? It keeps me from getting that feeling of wanting to get high. I mean, I haven't felt that way in a long time, it's great. D-don't tell Dad, but...I've been taking piano lessons. Wanted to wait and surprise him."
"Really?" Markus smiled. "That's great. He will love that."
Leo rubbed the back of his head, laughing nervously, face flushing. "I hope so, cuz you know, I tried taking painting classes. And I was terrible at it. I did not get that artistic gene at all."
They finished up cooking dinner and setting the dining room table. Phillip messaged Markus by thought and told him that he and Carl would be returning downstairs shortly. While waiting at the table, Markus looked outside the window. The sun had started to set. All had been quiet from North, Simon, Josh, and even Connor. He took that as a good thing and relaxed.
"Hey, uh, Markus?"
Markus' two different colored eyes moved away from the outside scenery to Leo, who sat across from him at the dining room table.
"Yeah?"
"I've been meaning to tell you for a while, and well, I guess I keep backing out of it. But...I wanted to thank you...for what you did that night."
Markus knew immediately which night he was talking about. He didn't know what to say at first, thinking it over. He also wasn't sure what he was feeling either. It was something mixed between relief and guilt, and Markus didn't understand that blend very well.
"I regret it. I could have killed you."
Leo shook his head. "But you didn't. And now look at me. You saved my life in the end. You literally knocked some sense into me."
Markus chuckled softly at Leo's light words. "Well, you're welcome, if it means that much to you."
"It does," Leo answered truthfully. He fumbled with his fingers. "And I know I have said this a few times, but I am sorry, for how I acted towards you before."
"It's alright, Leo. All is forgiven."
Carl and Phillip entered the den then, Phillip rolling Carl over to the dining table where dinner awaited. Phillip put Carl in front of the table, and Leo got his father's plate and drink ready for him before sitting down to get his own. Phillip came around and sat next to Markus and the four visited while the humans ate their meal.
"Come on, what the fuck is this?"
"Hi, Hank." Ben Collins stepped over, holding his digital tablet with notes. He glanced at the lieutenant's ever shadowing partner. "Uh, Connor."
The RK800 nodded his way in greeting but didn't get a chance to voice anything before Lieutenant Hank Anderson cut to the chase.
"Is this really it? You ain't pulling my leg?" Hank grumbled, folding his arms and looking around the clothing store.
The veteran police officer chuckled, looking around himself, tapping the tablet against his side. "Sorry to disappoint you. The bodies are in the back, near the counter."
"I'm skipping a perfectly good burger for this? Couldn't Gavin get this? I'm sure he has nothing else better to do."
"Eh, you'll be outta here in no time, Hank. Simple case. Looks like a robbery gone wrong."
"Any witnesses, Officer Collins?" Connor asked, looking around the outlet store, his sensory units picking up anything that could be of use.
"No, not that we know of."
Connor stepped away from Hank's side, wanting to get to work. Hank heaved a sigh, smacking Ben lightly on the shoulder as he passed to follow Connor.
"You owe me a burger, Ben!"
"Heh, sure thing, Hank."
A couple other police officers were trudging around, and Hank got onto them while Connor went straight to the bodies. He kneeled down, noticing one was on top of the other. He analyzed the bodies, a red flag coming up in his matrix. [Robber was a WR600 android]
The past couple weeks had seen a spike in android-related crimes, causing Connor and Hank to have a load of work. And so Connor wasn't sure if he should be surprised or not with what he found.
The robber wore normal human clothes, but there was no blue blood around or any injuries to produce such. He had no LED, had probably torn it off in the android revolution months ago like several other deviants. He had very likely been a member of Jericho.
The woman his body slumped over was a human employee, mid-twenties. She was stabbed several times, Connor's coding coming up with a brand of pocket knife. He took a small sample of fresh blood from her clothing and analyzed it. [Victim was Elizabeth Hubb, age 24. Blood Type AB+]
He looked around their bodies, trying to reconstruct what exactly happened. All he was able to gather was that the WR600 had dragged her over the counter and they fell to the floor. The victim had a small fistful of the android's hair, probably from the struggle. Connor glanced around, no items in the store were disturbed or taken. The cash register hadn't even been touched.
"Whatcha got so far?" came Hank's voice behind him. "That the robber on top of her?"
Connor glanced at his partner from over his shoulder. "Not real sure it's a robbery. There would be no point for a WR600 to rob this store. It's women's clothing and the cash register doesn't contain much. Something else was the motive."
Hank half-smiled, crossing his arms. "That's why I leave the nitty-gritty to you. You know what's up."
"I am going to move the bodies. I have to see how the WR600...died," Connor said. He almost said shut down. He was eight months a deviant and still some old programming were old habits.
In the case for Connor, the advanced prototype, his abilities allowed him to be a valuable asset to the Detroit Police Department. In the aftermath of Detroit's evacuation, Captain Fowler and Kamski pulled strings to allow Connor to be employed and remain Hank's partner. For a machine that only knew control and completing his assigned missions, becoming deviant had left Connor lost and perplexed. He was thankful for Hank and being given his position back at the police station. It gave him a purpose, something he struggled with being a deviant.
Connor may have had a knack for adapting to human unpredictability, but he still needed help understanding emotions on a deeper level. The feelings and thoughts he would get as a deviant he could understand on a basic level most of the time, but it was Hank who helped him understand himself on a deeper horizon. And because of that, Connor was starting to be able to socialize a lot less...awkwardly.
The RK800 grabbed the shoulders of the dead WR600 and pulled it up off of the victim. The WR600's right hand was clenched just below his sternum, on his Thirium pump regulator. Upon further inspection after laying him down on his back, Connor immediately noticed the knife lodged within the cylindrical plug, destroying it. Some blue blood leaked from the cavity upon being moved. The victim didn't do this to her killer, the killer did this to himself after he she was dead.
Connor quickly reconstructed the event, seeing the outlines of the attack, the android dragging the victim across the counter, the struggle, their fall to the floor. He saw the android shaking her shoulders after she was dead and then he took the knife and stabbed it into his pump regulator to kill himself. [Not a robbery?]
Connor got to his feet, and Hank must have noticed his unease faster than Connor did himself. "What's wrong? You okay?"
"Huh? O-oh yeah," Connor rubbed his finger tips at his sides, his LED flashing yellow just for a moment before returning to blue. "This wasn't a robbery."
"What happened?" Hank was interested now, walking over to the prototype.
"He dragged her over the counter and killed her. Then he...shook her like he was trying to wake her up. After that he self-destructed. I don't understand the motive though. We must be missing something."
Hank looked down at the bodies, then his eyes went to the counter and skimmed across the clothing store.
"I'll talk to Ben, see if we can get the owner of the store down here. Maybe they will know something."
Connor nodded. "We should reactivate the WR600. He doesn't look majorly damaged beyond that destroyed pump regulator. I should be able to talk to him, figure out what happened. If anything, if I can get him reactivated and he won't talk, I can probe him."
"I'll get it sorted. C'mon, let's go get some lunch."
"But, shouldn't we?"
"Think you got the gist of it, son," Hank said. "Don't worry, we'll be back to finish up. We'll talk to the store owner first. It will take some time to get a replacement plug for that android to wake him up."
"Okay, Hank. But I do suggest a healthier lunch today. You already went over your total calorie intake for the day with that...whatever it was, you had this morning."
"It was a sausage egg and cheese Mcmuffin and it was fucking delicious. Breakfast for champions, I say."
"You ate two."
"So?"
Hank shoved Connor forward, rubbing the android's head playfully. "Jesus Christ, okay! I'll get something less, err, unhealthy alright?"
"Good." Connor smiled.