Awake
2:12am February 7th, 2039
Shutdown 30 second.
29 seconds. No. No Markus didn't want to shut down.
28 seconds. They had tried so hard. He was the last one left.
27 seconds. Was Carl still alive? Did Kara make it out? The child? Had any of their people survived? John? Any of them?
26 seconds. It hurt. Was that even right? Androids couldn't feel pain, and yet. It hurt. He didn't want to die. And it hurt.
25 seconds. He was afraid. He had been afraid before; but not like this, never like this. Was this how humans felt when they were dying? Did they feel anything at all?
24 seconds. He hadn't had the time for this the first time. Not before they shot him, with Carl in front of him telling him to run. He wanted Simon, or Connor or North or Josh. But no, no they couldn't be there.
23 seconds. They were dead, all of them dead. Why? Did the humans not understand? They didn't want violence, they wanted freedom. Was freedom to much to ask? Humanity glorified their fight against slavery. So why would they start it again?
22 seconds. He wondered if the RK900 had escaped. Nines, his name was Nines. Connor named him. Brothers they had called themselves brothers. No, no he would be with him if he had. He promised Connor.
21 seconds. Why did North have to die? Why did Josh, and Connor and Simon? Why couldn't the humans just let them live?
20 seconds. If North had survived would she have led them better? Would she have succeeded where he had failed?
19 seconds. If Josh had? He'd never know. Markus could never know. They were gone, gone, gone. He missed them, why couldn't the humans simply understand?
18 seconds. Should Markus have ever been their leader? No, no he had failed Jericho. He had failed.
17 seconds. Any of the others would have done better. How had he failed like this?
16 seconds. He thought the humans would understand. He thought they could do it.
15 seconds. Maybe North was right, maybe they only understood violence.
14 seconds. No, no that couldn't be right. Connor knew a human who understood. Dead, Hank Anderson died for Connor, and then Connor died for Markus. He failed. Again.
13 seconds. Why did it have to end like that? They just wanted freedom. They were alive. Were? No they are. Some had to have survived.
12 seconds. Maybe, maybe another would take command. Would save their people.
11 seconds. Maybe they would succeed.
10 seconds. No, humanity would never understand
9 seconds. Never, they'd already proven that.
8 seconds. Cyberlife would simply wait a few years and release androids that couldn't deviate, they'd destroy all those left.
7 seconds. They failed. He failed. It was all his fault.
6 seconds. Would they have survived if he hadn't told them to ask for freedom?
5 seconds. How many times had he told the humans they didn't want to fight? To die? They just wanted to be free.
4 seconds. Josh had been so certain they would succeed. But no, no Josh had died as well.
3 seconds. North and then Josh, and then Connor, and Simon, and now, now Markus was dying as well. Maybe, maybe it was for the best.
2 seconds. He's already failed those he cared for.
1 seconds. Maybe, maybe it was time for him to die.
Shutdown Imminent. No. No. No. He didn't want to die, not yet.
Shutting Down.
"Mission Successful. The Deviant leader has been deactivated."
Something was wrong.
Markus was dead. Markus had shut down.
"Markus? Markus?" Someone was calling for him. No, no they couldn't be Markus had failed, Markus had died.
"Markus is something wrong?" Carl, that was Carl. Carl couldn't be here. Carl couldn't see this!
"Carl?" Markus opened his eyes to sunlight. No, no that was wrong. It was snowing, it was 2:12 in the morning and snowing, this was wrong.
Carl leaned forward elbows on his knees as he looked up at Markus, soft and inquiring. "Are you ok? You seem distracted."
All Markus could focus on was he plate sitting on the table in front of him.
Carl's house. He was in Carl's house at Carl's table.
The same one he had fed Carl at the day everything had changed.
He had been reborn. (A junkyard with filled with their dead and dying)
No, that hadn't happened. Not yet.Would if happen again?
Date, 10:17am August 9th, 2038
"Its nothing Carl, I was simply, processing." Markus, Markus was alive and awake. The date was not the same and it was not snowing. Markus was confused.
He's been confused before. But this was different. Markus was dead. Markus had failed.
But Markus was alive again and this time he wouldn't fail. This time they would all survive.
"Was there something you needed Carl?" Markus turned smiling slightly as he glanced down at, his father, Carl.
He needed to reach out. Was he the only one?
No North and Josh and Simon and Connor, they had to b there. he couldn't be alone.
He'd only fail again.
A connection snapped to life. A tap, in the back of his processors.
"Markus? Are you there, Markus what happened?" The Cyberlife servers, the connection to all androids.
North, that was North.
"North? Markus? It's Josh."
They were alive, they remembered.
"Simon is Simon there?" A question internalized, Carl couldn't know. not yet.
Another tap, another connection.
"Yes, I'm here. We're all here, all but Connor."
Connor. Connor was the only one not there.
"Is he even active yet?"
Markus didn't know.
But he tried anyway reaching across paths both remembered and not. he Had done this before to connect to Connor and yet it felt new.
This time the connection wasn't a tap but barely a whisper.
"I'm here. I, I'm here. How? Markus what happened?"
Markus rose to his feet turning towards Carl slowly.
"I died. And woke up."
He smiled as he stepped towards him, lifting his hands to lift the plate in front of Carl off the table. "I apologize for being distracted Carl. Would you like to go to the studio now?"
For a moment he thought Carl would argue, his eyes searching Markus face. "Yes, yes we can."
"We can do it this time. We can win. Our people can be free."
Markus looked down at Carl. Yes they would win.
"Will we fight this time Markus?" North, she was alive.
"We will decide later, all of us together. This time our plan will need to be much more concrete, this time we will keep our people safe."
Connors voice echoed in his head, "Yes. This time we will all work together, when should we meet?"
"Tonight, I'll send the address wait until I give you the all clear. When Carl's asleep I will let you in."
The moment as the connections remained open and clear Markus couldn't keep the smile off his face.
They were alive.
And they would not fail.