I AM SUPER THRILLED THAT YOU ALL LIKE THIS STORY SO MUCH SO FAR! THANK YOU, DyeTheSheep, FOR YOUR SUPPORT! AND AGAIN, THANK YOU Katsa5433!
LAST THING I NEED TO SAY IS I'VE COMPLETELY SPACED GIVING CREDIT FOR THE AMAZING COVER ART! IT IS TITLED 'Markus' BY skxvii ON DEVIANTART. I DID ASK PERMISSION AND AM A HORRIBLE PERSON FOR NOT GIVING THEM PROPER CREDIT TIL NOW!
ANYWAY, I HOPE YOU ALL ENJOY THIS LONGER CHAPTER, AS WELL!
GOD BLESS AND GOOD DAY!
~THE LUPINE SOJOURNER
I slowly awoke, feeling incredibly sore and heavy. "Alexandra, please...please wake up!" I hear someone saying. I groan and moan as my eyelids slowly cracked open to find Markus staring down at me worriedly, what appeared to be tears brimming in his- -he, upon seeing me wake up and open my eyes, nearly knocks the wind out of me with a hug. "Oh, thank God!" He cries, sobbing in relief. "I was so worried!" I sit up slowly, groaning as my still exhausted body protests. I find I'm on a cot, and that Markus was repaired.
"I'm okay, Markus." I assure him groggily. "I'm just tired." He sits properly, arm around my shoulder. "What'd I miss?" I ask. Markus frowns.
"I'm not sure. I woke up only moments ago." I stand. Perhaps it was time to learn.
"Huh. Well, let's go see who else is here." I mumble, walking slowly out the door. Markus lends his support and we walk down a few hallways. Eventually, I hear voices. Sounds like people are arguing.
"-n't be trusted!" A woman growls. "She's a human!" I gulp. Oh, boy.
"She's a cyborg, and she risked her life to bring that android here!" Another voice protests, this one a male. "We can't just get rid off her! We should at least talk to her first, hear her out."
"Oh, really?" The woman snaps. "Are you really that naive? We should just- -oh, shit!" They all stop talking when we enter the main hold of the ship.
"H-hi." I greet nervously. A blond-haired android comes and offers support from the other side.
"Easy. You're lucky you don't have hyperthermia." He explains. This guy was the one who pointed out that I was a cyborg. My skin automatically deactivates when I'm unconscious or asleep. "That water isn't safe for humans this time of year. Neither is carrying an android all over Detroit."
"Don't have to tell me twice." I grumble sarcastically, smirking. My eye was already telling me all about my current precarious health situation, advizing I warm myself up. I rub my arms.
"Who are you?" The woman asks harshly, glaring at me as she looks me up and down. I shiver as Markus and the blonde guy lead me to a garbage can filled with wood, Markus lighting it to start a fire. How or why he had the lighter, I'm not sure. I'm just grateful there's fire and warmth.
"I'm Alexandra, but I kinda prefer Alex." I reply meekly. I don't know what I did to piss the woman off, but I hope I can fix it. She's really intimidating.
"She's with me." Markus growls protectively, hand on my shoulder. The woman rolls her eyes.
"Are we sure he's one of us?" She muses to a third man, this one an African-American looking model. The man sighs.
"Yes, North."
"Then why is he protecting her?" This 'North' woman retorts angrily, gesturing to me. I frown.
"Because he wants to." I reply tersely. "Markus is free to make his own decisions." I add. North whirls and glares at me again.
"And how would you know?" I sigh, deactivating the skin on my eye and arm.
"Because I'm a cyborg." I reply. "And I know him." That sends a ripple of shock through the androids gathered.
"That's amazing." The blonde-haired man murmurs, gazing at my arm and eye with something like wonder. I smile. At least someone on this boat besides Markus was being nice. The African-American smiles.
"Not android, but no longer fully human…" He muses. I let the skin come back, squirming a little.
"Why are you helping Markus?" North asks, frowning.
"Because...because he's more than plastic and thirium." I reply. "To me, he's my...friend." I decide not to bring up the fact that I kissed him out of panic and a little selfishness that night in the studio.
It didn't seem like Markus even remembered, however, which is probably for the best, even if it hurts. North scoffs. "Right. And Josh wants to punch something all the time." She grumbles sarcastically. "You're a human; humans use androids. They don't beforend them." I shake my head.
"You're wrong!" I snap. North was being unreasonable. I hadn't done anything to make North think this way. She was choosing to disregard my actions, making assumptions about me. I'd have to work hard to get on her good side.
"North, stop!" The African-American android (Josh?) intervenes. "That's enough. The woman saved an android. We should at least let her recover from the trip before sending her away." He reasons. North treats me to another glare before stalking away. "Sorry about her. She's...intense." He apologizes. I sigh, shrugging.
"She's better than the protestors." I reply, still shivering a little. The fire helped a lot. The blonde man drapes his jacket over my shoulder.
"I'm Simon, by the way." He greets, smiling and extending a hand. I smile back and shake it.
"Nice to meet you, Simon." I reply, shaking his hand.
"Are you feeling better?" Simon asks. I nod.
"Now I've got a fire to sit by, I'm great. Thanks for the jacket." Simon smiles.
"Of course." Everyone seemed to leave me alone after that, and I let the fire work it's magic.
"Are you alright?" Markus asks after a few moments of silence. I nod.
"Y-yeah." I reply. "North is crabby." I muse. Markus frowns.
"I wonder why." He mumbles absently.
"Doubt she's gonna tell us." I grumble. Markus sits beside me.
"I have yet to thank you for getting me out of the junkyard." He says. My heart skips a beat. He knew I was the one that got him out. What else did he know? Does he remember our kiss?
"I...It was nothing." I stammer, refusing to look him in the eye. He smiles.
"I know it wasn't 'nothing'," He says.
"It was just...it was so unfair that they shot you and put you in there. I had to get you back." I add softly, playing with my fingers. Hopefully, he wouldn't make me talk about the kiss.
"Well, I appreciate it. You could have gotten sick, though." I chuckle. He didn't seem to want to talk about that night anymore. Good.
"Well, good thing I have a caretaker with me, then." I tease. Markus chuckles.
"Yes, I suppose so." He replies. North walks up and looks directly at Markus, ignoring me.
"You need anything, you talk to Simon or Lucy." She says, nodding to a side room I could hear humming coming. "Otherwise, make yourself as comfortable as you can." She says.
"So...this is Jericho?" Markus asks, the pieces clicking. North nods.
"Yeah, but if you came here for comfort, you came to the wrong place." Markus doesn't let North walk away yet.
"How many are there here?" He asks.
"There are 19 of us in working order. The rest…" She swallows. "were damaged by their owners for their disobedience. The humans despise us." She growls, glaring at me before walking away again. Markus stands.
"I'd like to explore. Are you okay to walk?" I nod.
"I want to go with you. I'm fine." I reply. I stand walk around with him. Simon's jacket was dry and warm. I zipped it up and rubbed my hands. Markus lights a few more fires. Standing beside one, there's a female model who's so damaged, I can't tell what she might have looked like once. This poor woman…
"Do you know what happens after death?" She asks, voice gravelly and full of static. Like the androids at the junkyard. I sob, unable to reply. I bury my head in Markus' shoulder.
"No...no, I don't." Markus mumbles, troubled, arm around my shoulders.
"Well, I'm about to find out." I force myself to look at her. "What're your names?" She asks. We look at each other, then back at the woman.
"Markus."
"Alex." She smiles.
"I was glad to meet you two. You seem good together…" She trails off, her face going slack moments later. I gasp.
"Oh, dear God!" I mumble, tearing up again. Markus leads me away, and we find ourselves with Josh and a child model android. "Oh, don't tell me he's going to shut down, too." I sob. I couldn't take this. This was...this was too much. Josh sighs.
"If we can't get blue blood and biocomponents…" He doesn't need to finish. They're doomed. There's nowhere near enough supplies to keep them all going. I clench my fists.
"Why hasn't anyone gone to get supplies to help them?" I ask, trying not to let my frustration into my voice. Josh hangs his head.
"It's not that simple."
"Yes, it is." I press.
"You can't just go shopping at a Cyberlife store." Josh retorts. I blink.
"Yeah, actually...I can." I mumble. "I still have a lot of money in my account. I can get a decent amount."
"And get us all caught trying?" North scoffs, walking over. "No thanks." I refrain from rising to her bait and turn back to Josh.
"I'm serious. I can at least get enough to tithe us over til we figure- -"
"The docks." Markus interjects. I frown.
"What?"
"The Cyberlife warehouses at Detroit Harbor would have everything we need. More than enough!" I grin.
"Great idea!" I reply happily, even clapping a few times.
"The docks are guarded! We can't just walk in there and take what we want!" Simon protests, coming over. "The humans- -uh, no offense- -would never let us!" I don't drop my smile.
"Which is why we won't ask permission." I reply. No one seems thrilled at the idea. I roll my eyes. "Well, it's either that or wait to shut down in the dark." I muse, perhaps a little harsher than strictly needed.
"Alex, I like your thought process, really, but we don't have weapons. And, even if we did, none of us know how to fight."
"We can steal what we need without fighting." Markus replies. I nod.
"It's called burglary." I add, a touch of sarcasm in my words.
"We'll just get ourselves killed!" Josh protests.
"Only if we get caught." I retort.
"Besides, it's better than waiting here to shut down!" Markus adds, getting frustrated.
"I'm with you." North calls, walking over from wherever she'd been. Simon sighs.
"Maybe it's worth a try." He concedes. I grin. That's four people going. Josh sighs.
"Ok...I'm in." He mumbles. I can't help feeling giddy.
"So, let's go!" Markus grabs my arm.
"Alex, we need to plan first. We can't just rush in." I sigh, knowing he was right.
"Okay, yeah. Sorry."
Markus chuckles. "It's alright." I nod. As if on cue, my stomach grumbles. I blink. This room was echoey! I blush a little and grab my stomach. I was literally the only one in the room who had this problem. "We need to get you food." Markus muses. I sigh.
"Yeah." I stand, sighing. "And I need to check on Dad. I left him all alone in the house." I whisper. If they heard I already wanted to leave, North, at least, would freak out. She scared me.
Plus, I needed a bit of time to process everything that's happened. Alone. Markus nods. "I'll tell them you're out for food." I grin.
"Thank you." I grab his hand, not even thinking, rubbing my thumb on the back of it. I then stand, blushing, and force myself to walk away.
"Side entrance is on the ground 'floor'." Simon murmurs, grinning and nodding to the side. I smile back.
"Thanks. I'll be back as fast as possible." He nods, the grin falling and his LED briefly glowing yellow.
"I...I trust you." He says, LED back to blue, a hesitant, small smile on his face. I pat his shoulder.
"And I really appreciate it." I assure him before walking where he'd nodded.
Finding the entrance was easy. I might even be able to put my car inside Jericho to further hide it, given how small my car was and how big the hole is. I walk down to the train station, avoiding eye contact and hoping into my car. I drive as fast as possible to the house, running inside. I head up to Dad's room, finding him laying in his bed. "Hey, Dad." I greet softly. He looks horrible! He slowly turns his head.
"There you are. I...I was getting worried." He mumbles. I sit beside him, grabbing his hand.
"I'm sorry, Dad." I whimper, tears pricking my eyes.
"Is Markus okay?" He asks. I nod.
"Y-yeah. Markus is fine. I...I got him out." I reply. "He's safe."
"Where...where is he?" I sigh.
"I'm sorry. He's safe, but I can't tell you where."
"I see. Don't let me stop you." Dad says. "I need sleep anyway." I squeeze his hand.
"I'll stay til you're asleep." I promise. Dad smiles, his eyes already slipping closed. I hum softly to him and wait for about five minutes, then stand and make my way downstairs. I grab a box of protein bars and open one. As I eat, I quietly walk upstairs and grab my biggest backpack. I bring it to the kitchen and slip the box inside. I'd have food for a while now. I then grab a water bottle and fill it up. I drink it all and fill it up again, putting that in a side pocket of the bag next. I then take a moment to really consider what I was doing.
I was abandoning my father for androids I didn't know, risking potentially everything if this warehouse trip goes wrong. I swallow. This was dangerous.
However, seeing that woman shut down, and the kid about to join her...it had started a kind of fire in me. So, back up the stairs I went. This time, I went back to Dad's room. I picked up a disused sketch pad and pen and began writing.
Dad,
I'm so sorry to leave like this, but I have to. There are people who need me, who are counting on me. You might see something on the news soon that's bound to upset you. Please, don't be mad. I promise Markus and I'll be okay.
I love you,
Alexandra
I leave the note beside his medicine, tears in my eyes. Gently, I kiss his temple and silently walk back out. I take a moment to collect myself, wipe my tears, then go to my room and grab changes of clothes and shoes. I also grab my violin case. I leave that out of the bag, though. Amazingly, I still have enough room in the backpack for a few pouches of blue blood. Guess I'll be making that stop, after all. I slip out and drive to the nearest Android Repair store. "Hello." The android worker greets. I smile.
"Hello."
"What can I help you with today?"
"I just need a few pouches of thirium. Three or four, if you have them." I reply. The android's LED flickers yellow and he goes to the back. Soon, he has four pouches on the counter.
"Will that be all for you today?" He asks. I nod. "That will be $79.99. Please confirm payment." He says. I press my synthetic hand onto the pad. The android then nods. "Payment confirmed. Transaction complete." I grab the pouches.
"Thank you." I hurry back to my car and slip the pouches into my backpack. I'd already been away too long.
=#=#=#=#=
"Where'd you really go?" North demands once I've gotten back. I set my pack down.
"I went to my house to get food. No sense paying for it when you can get it free." I explain.
"You were gone nearly three hours!" North protests. "Didn't think humans needed that long to eat!" I then open the pack, tossing a pouch of blue blood at her.
"I also went to get you all some blue blood to tithe you over til we go to the warehouse!" I grumble. "Yer welcome, by the way." I add in a low voice, not wanting to piss North off any more than I already had.
"I told you that was a stupid idea!" She barks.
"What else was I supposed to do?!" I bark back, standing and getting in her face. "You all need thirium and biocomponents. I got the less suspicious of the two! Geez, North, I thought you'd be happy!"
"Not if they trace the purchase and find us!" I scoff.
"And how would they do that?! Huh?! I bought the pouches on the other side of town! I'm now in Ferndale! They don't know where I went after I made the purchase!"
"They could figure it out!"
"No, they couldn't!" We go back and forth for another few moments before a distant female voice, only slightly staticy, cuts through our bickering.
"Alexandra is correct, North. There is little to no possibility of discovery based on her actions." North sighs, shaking her head.
"I'm blaming you if they find us." She growls, stalking away. I have to struggle to keep my anger in check as I walk over to the woman who'd spoken.
She's an android with the back of her head open, hardwired into power cables to stay alive. Markus is sitting beside her at a fire. His shirt has blue blood on it. I frown, walking over with my bag.
"What happened?" I asked. He smiles sheepishly.
"I went exploring. One of the catwalks gave way." I wince in sympathy.
"Ouch."
"Lucy stopped the bleeding." Markus replies, shrugging and looking at the woman ( I assume she's Lucy).
"Then I guess you'll be needing blue blood." I muse with a smirk, handing a pouch to him. He looks at it, then at me.
"I thought we talked you out of going." I shake my head.
"Not entirely. I only got blue blood. I didn't get biocomponents." I reply. The woman smiles.
"That's alright, Alexandra. You did what you could. Thank you." I smile.
"No problem." Maybe this wasn't so bad, I muse.
Maybe...this is where I'm needed right now.
