Detroit was experiencing the worst type of rainfall it had encountered all year. The junkyard was pounding with rain as a lone figure stood in the center, tied to a metal pole. He was oblivious to the storm, just as he had been oblivious to quite a few things for quite some time. His battered body simply moved with the strong wind, not caring in the least for anything in shutdown mode. His LED was burned out, and by all accounts, the android was dead.

That was, until a lightning strike flashed near him next to the ground. The transference of raw energy made him gasp to life as his Thirium pump flickered blue. "Hank!" he cried out in pain.

He couldn't active his diagnostics, but he didn't need them to know things were very, very bad. He was chained by the waist to some kind of metal pillar in the junkyard. His right arm was completely missing. His left was barely hanging on and too damaged to use in the slightest.

The android closed his eyes and groaned. He could remember hearing gunshots, and cursing. Followed by mocking laughter.

Burn him up! Burn him up!

With a gasp of pain the android looked down. His synthetic skin was missing likely due to lack of power. Most of his clothing had burned away. Thankfully there was little damage to the artificial skin itself. Androids didn't burn easily.

He gritted his teeth as he could feel a thundering pain in his chest. In the distance lightning flashed nearby. He tried to struggle, but the chains held him tight. He couldn't break free and closed his eyes weakly. "Help…please, somebody help…"

A shutdown timer counted off in his vision. His pump was failing again. Or maybe it was from sheer Thirium loss. He could feel it dripping from his head and onto his neck. He closed his eyes as another memory resurfaced-

They had been laughing as they chained his right wrist, then attached it to the back of a truck. They drove, and the limb had come straight off.

Things were getting dark. Maybe it would be best if he shut down. He didn't want to keep remembering.

Suddenly, his thirium pump was yanked out, and a new one was put in. "Come on, dammit. Work…" a voice hissed in the darkness. Seconds later it started to beat a more steady blue.

As the android sank into unconscious, he vaguely wondered who Hank was.

PART TWO

The android opened his eyes to the feeling of something soft. He was lying on a bed of some kind with his hands folded on his chest. Hands…he was surprised to find himself with two arms again, but something seemed off. His right arm was fine, but his left…it was trembling slightly. And not because the android was afraid.

SCANNING…

BIOCOMPONENT 587B.

PART INCOMPATIBLE.

He could scan again, and his artificial skin was back. He touched it briefly and smiled. The sun was shining outside his window. It was beautiful.

Suddenly, the door opened, and a female with blond hair tied back in a ponytail entered. "You're awake!" she said with a smile, a mechanical distortion in her voice. "How do you feel?"

"Okay. Sore, I guess," the android said. "Glad to be out of that junkyard."

The woman grunted. "Well you have some strange requirements, my friend," she said. "The Thirium pump we found in the junkyard only lasted an hour before it burned out. David actually broke into a pawn shop to get another one that would save you. You've been out of it for a week after we repaired you."

"I'll need to thank him for doing so,"

"Don't mention it," a blond-haired muscular man with blond hair said, waiting in the doorway. "My name is David. I run things around here." He offered his hand.

The android took it. "What is this place?"

"A refugee place, mostly. There are quite a few anti-android movements in Detroit. More often than not they throw androids away in the junkyard…after they've had their fun," David said with a sigh. "Lana and I go on patrol every night to rescue anyone we can find. If you're up for it, I'd like to show you around."

Intrigued, the android followed David around the house. It was quite a large one, with three levels and an attic.

"We tend to scour as many junkyards as we can, but you've caught our eye for quite a while. We were actually planning to bury you tomorrow until the lightning jump-started your systems. I'm glad we didn't have to. We found your original arm and replaced your Thirium and other damaged systems as best as we could."

"I owe you my life," the android said, looking at the fancy paintings on the wall. "Does someone own this place?"

"If they did, they've long since evacuated after the revolution."

The android frowned, trying to remember the revolution.

MEMORY CORRUPTION DETECTED: NINETY-FIVE PERCENT.

"Revolution?" he asked instead.

"The night where all Androids woke up and were able to think for themselves, thanks in part to a man named Markus."

"Where is he?" The android asked. He supposed he owed his thanks to Markus as well.

David gave him a concerned look. "Not here, thank god. Markus might have started the revolution, but…he's a very different man that most believe. If he were here, he would try to harm everyone we've rescued."

The android blinked. "Why is that?"

"Another discussion for another time, perhaps." David's face became lighter as they entered the living room. There were a dozen other androids sitting there. Some of them were adults, others were children. Some of them were missing an eye, or other parts. "Everyone! Our new friend is finally awake! This is-" David paused. "I'm sorry, where are my manners? What is your name?"

"It's-" the android paused. "I don't know. I appear to have suffered significant memory corruption."

"Long-term shut-down can do that," David said sympathetically. "We didn't find any of your personal effects, but you did have this."

He handed over the mostly-destroyed grey jacket. The android studied it but could only read two letters. "RK," he said, and liked the name. He accepted it as his new designation.

"My name is RK."

TBC