(thank you for 1.02k reads <3)
d e t r o i t — 2 0 3 8
It took an invisibility cloak and hard work to get no one to notice Simon with me going down the elevator.
There was a close call, with some old dude almost bumping into the android.
Yes, an invisibility cloak — that was the parcel I wrote the Minister for, since Nana’s best friend, Granddad Harry has possession of one. I asked her to ask him if I could borrow it.
I knew Nana was going to accept my request. She trusted me enough to send me to Detroit, and now I’ll go and fight for the androids’ freedom, which she understood quite perfectly.
Simon and I got to the parking area safely, and I wondered how to get him into my car without anyone noticing an invisible android going in.
Shit.
I made sure no one was looking when I turned to the android. “Simon.”
“Yes?” he whispered almost inaudibly.
“I need you to go to the passenger seat of my car as soon as I open the driver’s seat. Act fast, alright?”
He muttered a small ‘okay’ as we were nearing my car.
Opening it, I felt the invisibility cloak brush my hand before I went in. I closed the car door beside me, and Simon removed the cloak.
We both breathed out sighs, and I put a hand on the steering wheel.
“So, where is Jericho?”
________
“Turn right there, and see that huge freighter? That’s Jericho.”
I find somewhere unnoticeable, and I park the car there. Simon and I get out.
The invisibility cloak was inside my coat pocket, which had an extension charm so it fit perfectly, without any hassle.
“Here, I’ll show you the way,” Simon leads me to the entrance, and through dark hallways.
I have to cast a lumos and hold my wand up to light our way.
Simon, though, seemed like he knew every inch of the ship. He guides me through the walk, pointing out loose flooring and fragile ceilings.
I made a point to myself that omce this is all over, I’ll help fix Jericho up.
I made small changes, though, shooting a random reparo to a broken wall or a loose door.
“Wait,” Simon holds up a hand in front of me, stopping me in my tracks.
He was looking straight, and I followed his sight.
An android on the far end of the room was walking towards us, head down in thought.
He didn’t seem to notice we were here.
“It’s Markus,” Simon states.
Markus, like, their leader? The one that made the broadcast in Stratford Tower?
I took a few steps backward, since the people here probably assumed Simon was dead because they left him at the rooftop.
Markus finally saw Simon standing there, and he looked at him in pure shock before engulfing him in a hug.
I leaned on the wall, smiling a little as the two reunited.
If I didn’t knew who they were, I would’ve mistaken them for brothers if I saw them.
“Simon, we thought you were dead,” Markus told him, breaking free from the hug.
Simon pointed to me, and I straightened up as Markus shot me a stare. I felt nervous.
“She saved me, Markus.”
One look at me, and Jericho’s leader already knew.
“You’re human.”
I nod. “Yes... But I’m not on the side of my kind.”
“She’s what?”
A female android and a male android turns the corner. Simon stands beside me while the three of them are in front of us.
“Simon!” The two newly arrived deviants hug Simon, and take their place back next to Markus.
“I— How—?” The tall, dark-skinned male android asks, referring to Simon.
“Her,” He says, gesturing to me. “She saved me from the humans.”
The female android let out a gasp. “But you’re human, you can’t possibly be on our side!”
“I am,” I tell all of them. “I know it’s hard to believe, and I know you won’t trust me, but there are others who believe in your cause, too.”
“I trust her,” Simon said. “She helped me. If it weren’t for her, I would be dead right now.”
I shot him a small smile.
“What’s your name?” Markus asked.
“Florentine Scamander.”
“I believe Simon,” The leader says. “And I trust you, Florentine.”
The other two androids shot a look at Markus, but then softened when they looked at me.
“Thank you for helping our friend,” The tall one says.
The female android nods. “And for believing in our cause.”
“I’m Josh.”
“North.”
I smiled at them, and Markus nodded at me.
“Welcome to Jericho.”
________
“This is suicide. We'll all be killed! Please, Markus. It's not too late to change your mind,” North pleads.
We were at the mall, and no, we weren’t going to go shopping.
After all the introductions and explanations earlier, Markus revealed that he had a plan to talk to the humans.
And he was going to execute it here.
“You don't understand,” Josh tells North. “We're finally gonna show them who we really are. This place will go down in history!”
“We'll be killed on the spot!”
“She’s right,” I tell them. “They won’t hesistate to shoot if given the reason to.”
Josh shook his head. “That's a risk I'm prepared to take if it means freedom for our people.”
“Markus, please don't do this,” North tried to convince Markus one more time.
But the leader stayed determined. “They'll understand. We'll make them understand. This is the only way.”
“There're androids here who could join us,” Simon states, and I look around, seeing androids everywhere. “The more we are, the stronger our message.”
Markus starts to walk to an android designed to be a janitor, and removes his synthetic skin, holds the android on the arm, and converts him.
“You’re free.”
This continues on the inside of the mall, and then we go outside to see more androids to convert.
“You don’t have to obey them,” Markus tells another android he converted. More and more are joining the ranks.
He converts two service androids. “I need to block the street.”
The two androids obliged, driving a service truck on the middle of the street, blocking it from any more cars to enter.
Little by little, we slowly march down the road. So many more androids are being converted by Markus in a single wave of a hand.
“This is bizarre,” I tell Simon who was standing beside me.
He smiles. “I know.”
There were hundreds of us now... thousands, maybe.
I hear the reactions of people nearby.
“I've never seen anything like it...”
“What's going on?”
“Equal rights for androids!”
“We're with you all the way!”
I’m glad that some people were waking up, too.
A police went to the middle of a road in an attempt to stop us.
“Hey! Disperse! DISPERSE IMMEDIATELY! THAT'S AN ORDER!”
But he was only one, and there were so many of us.
He then proceeds to call someone over the phone. Probably the DPD.
“Jesus fuckin' Christ... Dispatch, this is patrol 457. I gotta lot of androids down here... I dunno... Hundreds? Thousands? They're marching... Yeah, they're marching down the street. Fuck if I know!”
The androids started to cheer.
“WE ARE ALIVE!”
“EQUAL RIGHTS!”
“LIBERTY FOR ANDROIDS!”
At some point, I started to join in, too.
At the end of the road, the police cars start to arrive.
Markus spoke. “We came here to demonstrate peacefully and tell humans that we are living beings. All we want is to live free.”
The SWAT were on their heels, having their guns trained on us.
“This is an illegal gathering. Disperse immediately or we will open fire.”
We stood our ground.
“We're not looking for confrontation. We've done no harm, we have no intention of doing any. But know that we are not going anywhere until we have secured our freedom. ”
“I repeat: this is an illegal gathering. If you do not disperse immediately, we. Will. Shoot.”
Fuck.
North turned to Markus. “Markus, they're gonna kill us. We have to attack! There's more of us, we can take them!”
“If we attack, we'll start a war. We have to show them we're not violent. We should just stand our ground, even if it means dying here.” Josh states, and I nod in agreement.
“And dying here won't solve anything,” Simon said.
“Markus, we need to go, now, before it's too late,” I say, trying to convince him.
The policeman pulled up the voice amplifier again. “This is your last chance! Disperse immediately or you will all be killed!”
Markus shook his head. “We have to show them we won't back down. We stay right here.”
Josh looked pleased about Markus’ decision, but Simon’s and North’s expressions were otherwise.
“DISPERSE! THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE!”
“We have to make a statement. We have to stay put, no matter what.” Josh says.
We can all be killed here. There are tons of guns trained on us, and once they start to shoot, it will end downhill.
North wanted to attack. “Please, Markus. We can't let them slaughter us without fighting back!”
Markus was silent.
And then he stepped forward. Alone.
Was he sacrificing himself? No!
“Markus, what the—” I say, until the police start firing. A bullet hit Markus.
“Shit!” I yell as the androids disperse, falling back to Jericho as per Markus’ orders earlier.
“We have to go!” Josh tells us.
Simon thought otherwise, as he ran to save Markus. He helped him up and was moving as fast as he could towards us.
I ran towards them, and put Markus’ other arm around my shoulders.
They’ll kill us if we’re left here!
“Simon, Markus! Hold my arm!” I tell them.
Simon looked at me for a second, but realized what I was about to do and nodded. Markus did the same.
I told North and Josh to do the same as them, too.
“What?” Josh said. “You want us to—”
“Just trust me!”
And as soon as they held my arm, I apparated us five back to Jericho.