"Damn thing is broken. Takes it twice as long to complete orders and I'll be damned if it hasn't broken more parts than it's salvaged recently" Tony's voice could be heard thru the thin walls of the store. "I want a replacement and I want it here now" Lynn could hear Tony pacing just outside the door of her work room. The lights were off, leaving her alone with just a hint of light from the crack under the door. Maybe she had been a bit slower in her work recently, her work performance had decreased by at least ten percent since the incident a couple of weeks ago. As far as breaking parts, she couldn't understand it but she had developed a slight tremor is her hands. This had unfortunately lead to her dropping and damaging a few pieces, Tony had described as "worth more than her whole existence". "I don't care, that's not my problem! Just get me a new one so I can do my job!" Tony had been making phone calls to replace her all week. From the sounds of things, Tony was starting to make progress in his mission.
Lynn scanned over the room. Traces of thirium from the run away android still lingered on the floor as well as on her clothes. She still had flashes remembering the androids desperate screams for help, which only served to make the tremors in her hands worse. She held her hand up to examine it, her diagnostic scans had all come back normal. Nothing should be wrong. "Dammit!" She put her hand down quickly and closed her eyes just as Tony came barging into the room. The lights snapped on. She heard Tony grumbling to himself, swearing a few more times before she heard "Get the hell up! You might be an outdated piece of garbage but we still got work to do". She opened her eyes and attempted to greet Tony with a friendly smile "Good morning Tony" he whirled on her "You know what's a good morning?" he stalked closer to her until he was in her face yelling "Not having to explain to my boss why our production value is down for the week!". His face was flushed red with fury, the look on his face showed nothing but hatred.
In the shop, the bell signaling someone had entered rang. Tony took a step back and sucked in a deep breath, attempting to compose himself. Thru clenched teeth Tony snarled out "Get the androids in the basement processed and try not to break anything while you do it". Lynn watched Tony as he marched out of the small room and greeted the customers with a delightful "How are you doing today?". Thirium was pumping thru Lynn so hard it felt like she was going to shut down. Fear had not had a place in her life before a few weeks ago, now she experienced it almost daily with Tony. He had never hit her before but she doubted he would hesitate if she gave him any reason. Strengthening her resolve she readied herself for the days work. She would not give Tony any more reason to replace her, no reason to harm her.
Processing was not a difficult job but it was a lengthy one. When Lynn returned from the basement, the sky had grown dark outside the shop. Tony was pleasantly chatting with a couple by the counter, smiling and commenting on how nice it was to have their business. Lynn took the opportunity to clean up the shop, sweeping the floor and cleaning up a couple of stray boxes. "I will say it's very unusual, I've never had one like it in here before" Lynn was wiping down a window and listening to bits of Tony's conversation. "Well you know how it is. It seemed like nice practice for the future but we think it's more practically to get an upgraded model" The gentleman smiled down at his wife. Listening to them talk about replacing their android like that, it made Lynn slightly uneasy. The couple thanked Tony again and made their way out of the shop. Lynn followed them and turned off the open sign as well as locked the doors. "Damn this project is gonna take forever" Tony was back to his normal self, now that the customers had left and the shop was closed for the night. "I wouldn't even consider starting it tonight but our inventory ships tomorrow and thanks to you, butter fingers, we need this to make our quota" This was a good chance to show Tony she didn't need to be replaced. "Do not worry Tony, I will make sure to do my best" He scoffed "If this week is a reflection of your best, I will be here all night"
Tony made his way to the work room with Lynn following behind him. She was readying herself to do the best work she had ever done but what she saw on her table made her stop cold. In the time she had been at the shop she had seen androids of all shapes and sizes on her table, in varying degree of disrepair. This one however was something she had never seen. There sitting on her table, was a little boy. A little boy with short brown hair and an LED on the side of his face, that marked him as an android but nothing else made him look any different from a normal child. His eyes lifted to meet Lynn's. This was the first time she had ever had an android on her table that wasn't damaged in the slightest. His face was stained with tears and he looked terrified. Terrified of her. His legs dangled off the side of her table and he sat stiff and rigged, almost like he expected to be attacked at any moment.
Tony, who was completely oblivious to Lynn's hesitation at the door, picked up the file on the android. "Not perfect working order. A few wires loose and a bit of a blue blood leak. It would have shut down sooner or later anyway" Tony continued on talking about the little boy as if each word didn't make him curl further in on himself. "Total salvage job, take it apart, collect every piece for scrap" Tony looked up at Lynn with a bored expression, as if he had just asked her to organize the boxes on the shelf, not take apart a child. When Lynn didn't move Tony snapped his fingers "Hey! You hear me tin can? Let's get going, I wanna go home sometime tonight".
Lynn moved to the supply cabinet and retrieved her apron and gloves, her eyes never left the boy. He was shaking and dissolving more into silent sobs. Tony sat in his chair and leaned back, swinging his feet up onto the desk. Lynn felt stiff in her movements, every step she took was a struggle. She stood in front the boy now. Looking up at Lynn tears ran freely down his face, his eyes begged her not to hurt him. To save him somehow. Lynn reached her hand up to his LED, as she had done hundreds of other times, to hundreds of other androids but instead of deactivating his skin, she put her hand on his cheek. Surprise showed on the boy's face and even a shadow of hope. Lynn had no idea what she was doing. Wasn't she supposed to be showing Tony he had no reason to replace her?
Tony spun around in his chair and saw Lynn standing with the boy, not disassembling him but comforting him. "What the hell are you doing?" Lynn heard the rising temper in Tony's voice but she couldn't tear her eyes from the boy's. "Deactivate it already, we don't have time for this" She hesitated and summoned all her courage and poured it into one single word. "No" Tony's face registered shock first, then instant fury. "No?! Did a machine just tell me no?!" Tony stalked over to her and violently grabbed a hold of her collar "When I tell you to do something, You do it!" Lynn didn't flinch or move, she just stared at him. Why did she let him do this to her? Why had she been disassembling her people for years? Because Tony said to? Not getting the reaction he had wanted Tony shoved Lynn back away from the table "Fine, I'll do it myself!". Tony grabbed for the boy and the boy screamed. Hearing the pure fear in his scream made something deep inside of Lynn snap. Before she could second guess herself, she leaped towards Tony and wrapped her arms around Tony's arm and tried to yank him away from the table. "leave him alone!"
If Tony was angry before, seeing his android lash out against him turned Tony homicidal. Tony released the boy and turned his attention to Lynn. With full force Tony backhanded Lynn so hard it sent her back, knocking over the table of tools with her. Lynn heard ringing and her optics we attempting to right her vision. She wiped her hand across her mouth, which came away wet with thirium. "Help me!" She looked up to see Tony wrestling the boy, attempting to reach his LED and deactivate him. She needed to stop him. She stumbled to her knees. Resting her hand on the ground to steady herself, her hand met something metal. It was one of her wrenches. A larger wrench mostly used on construction androids. Her fingers closed around the cold metal, it had weight to it. She rose and lifted the wrench, ready to strike. With a cry she swung the wrench down hard on Tony's head. With a sickening crack, Tony sank to the floor.
Nothing moved for several moments. Lynn still held the wrench high, the boy remained on the table in a defensive position and Tony, didn't get back up. With a shuttering sob Lynn let the Wrench clatter to the floor. What had she just done? She killed Tony, a human. Her hands covered her mouth trying to stifle the sobs that were forcing their way out her throat. She was panicking but she knew one thing, they couldn't stay here. Gulping down her panic she ran to the boy and helped him off the table "We have to leave". They skirted the room, avoiding the pool of red that was steadily growing on the floor and dashed out the front door.
Lynn was not the kind of android that made trips to the shop for her owner, she had barely left the shop in years. As such Lynn had no idea where they were going. They ran for blocks eventually coming to a bridge with a small fenced off area underneath. Lynn forced the old rusted gate open enough for her and the boy to fit inside. It wasn't exactly ideal, but she wasn't looking for ideal. She was looking for safe. The boy sat down on the ground, looking up at her expectedly. Lynn kneeled in front of him "Are you hurt?" he shook his head, but his face started to dissolve into tears again. He leaped at Lynn throwing his arms around her neck and crying. She was stunned, she had never been hugged before. Cautiously she wrapped her arms around the young child and held him moved them both so that they were against the wall and he was curled into her side, with her arm around him protectively. "What's your name?" She had never asked another android their name before. "My name is Sam" he sniffed and curled closer "Nice to meet you Sam, I'm Lynn"
