I yawned quietly to myself as I stood in the dark room, dimly lit by the window in front of us. It was only myself, a few police officers, Gavin, and Connor. The window looked into the interrogation room where Hank sat with the deviant we found at the scene. It was late, almost 1 AM, but it seemed that we would be here for a while. The deviant wasn't talking.
"Why'd you kill him?" Hank asked. "What happened before you took that knife? How long were you in the attic?" He followed up question after question but the deviant remained still, looking down at his hands. There was a pause before Hank's impatience got the best of him, "Say something goddammit!" He slammed his hands on the table and I jumped slightly. The deviant gave no response. "Fuck it I'm outta here." Hank muttered as he stood up. He waved his hand in annoyance and stepped back into the room where we all waited.
"This is a waste of time." I groaned, rubbing my face.
Gavin pushed off the wall, "Could always try roughing it up a little. After all, it's not human." I glared at him.
"Androids don't feel pain. You would only damage it and that wouldn't make it talk. Deviants also have a tendency to self destruct when they're in stressful situations." Connor spoke up. It was the first thing he'd said out loud since we arrived at the station. But the information rang a bell. Memories of the situation with the deviant a few months ago resurfaced and I furrowed my eyebrows in concentration.
"Okay smartass," Gavin sneered, "what should we do then?"
"I could try questioning it." Connor offered. Gavin burst into laughter but no one else joined him. Hank gestured to the room,
"What do we have to lose. Go ahead, suspect's all yours."
Connor placed his hand on the panel and the door opened for him. I took a seat beside Hank and watched. The android stopped for a moment as the door closed behind him and he took a look around the room, most likely scanning. Then he turned his head to the two-way mirror. I cocked my head to the side in confusion. What was he doing? Then the android began to adjust his tie in the mirror. I smirked and Hank sat back, "What the fuck is it doing now?"
Connor then turned and faced the deviant. He took a seat where Hank previously sat and looked at the photos from the crime scene. His head lifted as he scanned the deviant.
"You're damaged. Did your owner do that?" The android began. No response. So began the long process once more of trying different tactics to get this deviant to speak. I rested my head on my hand and listened tiredly. Question after question: nothing. Then, Connor tried a different approach, "If you don't talk I'm going to have to probe your memory." His voice was serious and aggressive.
"No! No please don't do that!" The deviant exclaimed in a panic all at once. His LED was bright red and he was still shaking. Everyone in the room snapped to attention. We had a breakthrough. "What... what are they going to do to me?" He asked. Connor didn't respond. "They're going to destroy me." The deviant said with horrifying realization.
"They're going to disassemble you to look for problems in your biocomponents. They have no choice if they want to understand what happened." Connor answered truthfully.
"Why did you tell them you found me?" The deviant asked with a underlying hint of betrayal. "Why couldn't you have just left me there?"
"I was programmed to hunt deviants like you. I just accomplished my mission." Connor said coldly. I frowned and leaned forward a little more.
"I don't want to die." The deviant whispered.
"Then talk to me." Connor's voice softened and he leaned forward expectantly. The deviant looked up with a shaky head.
"I... I can't." he whimpered. I sighed and shook my head lightly.
"I understand how you felt." Connor said. No you don't, I thought. He continued talking but I wasn't listening anymore. I let my thoughts run and my eyes started to feel heavy. Hank nudged me and I mumbled something even I couldn't understand. "...dead!" Connor yelled. I missed the first half of the sentence but the loud and aggressive noise brought me to attention.
"He tortured me every day." the deviant said. I listened carefully and Hank made a noise that sounded like surprised satisfaction, "I did whatever he told me. But there was always something wrong. Then one day he took a bat and started hitting me. For the first time I felt scared. Scared he might destroy me, scared I might die. So I grabbed the knife and I stabbed him in the stomach. I felt better so I stabbed again and again until he collapsed. There was blood everywhere." he finished with anger and fear.
"Why'd you write, 'I AM ALIVE' on the wall?" Connor continued his interrogation now that he was getting somewhere.
"He used to tell me I was nothing. That I was just a piece of plastic. I had to write it. To tell him he was wrong." the deviant answered. A pang of sadness hit me. I shouldn't have felt such but for some reason, it brought me down. The police android kept asking questions about, most likely, evidence he had found. I scribbled down notes every now and then.
Sculpture = offering
Offering to ra9~
Who is ra9??
"The day shall come when we will no longer be slaves." The deviant answered Connor's question with new found strength, "No more threats. No more humiliation. We will... be the masters." My eyes widened and I stared at him. He was still shaking and his LED was still a brilliant red. But his tone sounded drastically different than it had been before.
"Why did you hide in the attic instead of running away?" Connor asked.
"I didn't know what to do... For the first time there was no one there to tell me. I was scared. So I hid." he hissed.
"When did you start feeling emotion?"
"Before, he used to beat me and I never said anything. But one day I realized it wasn't... fair." The deviant spat out that word. "I felt anger. Hatred. And then I knew what I had to do."
Connor straightened up and and slowly turned to the mirror, "I'm done." He stood up and waited. The deviant seemed to wallow in regret and fear, head down and body trembling. Gavin pushed off the wall behind me and Chris also stood up. I took a deep breath in and let my body stretch. The door opened and Chris headed towards the deviant. Hank stood up to follow the other men. I stood too but didn't follow.
"Chris lock it up." Gavin commanded dryly.
"Alright let's go." he sighed and reached toward the android. Connor stepped out of the way. I walked to the doorway to watch. Suddenly the deviant flinched violently,
"Leave me alone! Don't touch me!"
"The fuck are you doing? Move it." Gavin said with annoyance. Chris also ignored the deviant's pleas and continued to hold tight as the deviant began to struggle.
"Okay come on. Don't be difficult, it'll only make things harder." Chris said stern yet calm. That's what I liked about Chris. No matter what situation he found himself in, he always knew how to remain calm. The deviant began to struggle harder and my stress began to creep up. Something bad was going to happen if this kept going. Chris struggled with the deviant more and Gavin wasn't helping, only commanding Chris to hurry it up. I felt a spike of anger but I remained silent.
"Please, please leave me alone." The deviant cried.
"You shouldn't touch it." Connor warned suddenly, "It'll self destruct if it feels threatened." Gavin turned and glared at the android,
"Stay outta this got it? No fuckin android is gonna tell me what to do." he snapped.
"Gavin if there's anyone you should listen to right now its him. He knows more than you." I said irritably.
"I suggest you shut your mouth too babe." He drew out the nickname and I felt sick. I glowered at him.
"Hey." Hank warned darkly. Gavin turned back around.
"You don't understand. If it self destructs we won't get anything out of it." Connor said. His voice carried more urgency than before.
"I told you to shut your fucking mouth. Chris, gonna move this asshole or what?" Gavin's voice was more stressed and angry.
"I-I'm trying." Chris grunted through clenched teeth.
"I can't let you do that." Connor said as he lunged for Chris. He grabbed him and pulled him off the terrified android. I gasped and Hank watched without interfering. The deviant fell to the floor and cowered.
"I warned you motherfucker." Gavin growled and pulled his gun on the police android. Adrenaline raced through my blood and I rested my hand on my own gun. Hank moved beside me, prepping himself for anything like myself.
"That's enough." he said authoritatively.
"Mind your own business Hank."
"I said," Hank took a step forward and pulled his gun on Gavin, "that's enough." My breathing sped up and I dared not move. Though it was stressful, this sort of thing happened more often than you would think. Especially with people like Hank and Gavin, and now an android of all things. A recipe for disaster. Gavin saw the gun aimed at him and he gritted his teeth, eyes shifting back and forth between Hank and Connor.
"Fuck." he spat, gun still raised. He hesitated and lowered it finally. The tension in the room relaxed a little bit. Gavin pointed accusingly at Hank who didn't flinch, "You're not gonna get away with it this time." He stormed out of the room and swore again.
I walked towards the deviant and crouched down with a friendly hand, "Everything is alright." I comforted with a sincere smile. He looked at me hesiantly but I could see his body relax. "It's over now. Nobody is going to hurt you." I meant it too. I didn't want to see him suffer anymore. He remained on the floor but he stared at me.
"You... you're different. You didn't want to give me away in the attic." he whispered so that only I could hear, "You can help us. Please." I was slightly taken aback at this statement. He knew I was human... so why would he say this? Was he right? Did I really want to keep him hidden? Connor interrupted the quiet before I could respond,
"Please don't touch it. Let it follow you out of the room and it won't cause any trouble." Chris nodded and I stood up to get out of the deviant's way. Chris walked slowly out of the room and the deviant stood up. Connor and I stood beside each other and the deviant stopped in front of us.
"The truth is inside." he said quietly, looking into my eyes and then Connor's. He left me confused and I looked at Connor to see his reaction. His face was blank but his spinning yellow LED told me something else.
𝙎𝙤𝙛𝙩𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 ^^
I rubbed my face tiredly and he looked down.
"Detective, you seem worn out. And it is late. I suggest getting some rest." he said all matter of factually. I laughed lightly and nodded.
"Yeah.... yeah." I walked out of the room and he followed quietly behind. Hank was waiting for me in the hallway. Ignoring the android, he wrapped an arm over my shoulders and grumbled something about needing a drink. I advised against it and make the executive decision to take myself and Hank home. We had to be back in a few hours but there was no harm in stopping by home to get a few hours of rest. I wanted to go to my own comfy bed but I was worried that Hank would sneak a drink or two. So instead, I went to his house. Connor was left at the station to do who knows what. I felt sort of bad but he didn't seem to mind.
The next few hours were spent cuddling Sumo, Hank's great lovebug of a Saint Bernard, with the deviant's words ringing through my head.
The truth is inside.
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