CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Not long after he arrived at Jericho, a strange new android found them. He was a model that Simon had never seen before. It wasn't even in his database. He did, however, give the other android a quick scan and saw that hew s comprised of multiple parts that didn't belong to him.
When asked, Markus informed him that he was a prototype RK200 that once belonged to a famous painter named Carl Manfred, but circumstances that he refused to divulge had him running for survival.
Just like Artie, Carl had been a good owner. Simon could tell that Markus had good memories with the older man. If they had a choice, they would never have chosen to leave their homes.
Despite this, Markus had the determination that he had never seen in any other androids. He had led them to the CyberLife Warehouse and Docks for spare parts.
Simon had been there once before with Artie, but it had been a brief visit just to see the extent of CyberLife's creations.
"If Simon would just buy us our parts, we wouldn't have to risk ourselves infiltrating this place," North grumbled with the usual frown on her face. "If anything goes wrong…"
"Stop it, North," Josh hushed her. "Simon doesn't want to make enemies with his owner. She was kind to him. It is only right that he respects her property, especially if she still hasn't cancelled her card. He cannot betray her trust like that."
North scoffed. "Just because she's too stupid to cancel her stolen card, doesn't mean that it's our fault. Besides, she's not his owner, anymore. Obviously, she didn't care much about you if she let you take the blame for the murder."
Simon gritted his teeth. "Artie is not stupid nor did she let me take the blame. I killed the woman who was going to harm my owner. And yes, she is still my owner. I will never think of her as anything else. She trusts me to use her money wisely. I will not disappoint her."
"Then she should understand that she and all the other humans owe us everything. Her bank account won't even compensate for a fraction of the injustice done to us!" North snarled.
"She doesn't owe us anything," he argued. "She has been nothing but kind to androids."
"Guys, stop…" Josh tried to calm them down, afraid that the security guards would hear them bickering.
Simon forced away the anger that he was not used to feeling and silently began to search all the crates for what they needed.
The raid turned out to be a success. They had gathered an impressive amount of supplies to take back to Jericho.
North was in a significantly better mood as they worked to repair all the damaged androids.
As Simon sat down on the cold floor, Josh went over to join him.
"Do you think about her a lot?" he asked.
There was no hesitation when he replied. "All the time. I can't stop thinking about home. I hate it here. It's cold and empty. Even with all these parts and thirium we stole from CyberLife, this is not how I want to exist. I'm not happy here."
Josh looked down. "It's going to be temporary. Whether we win or lose, this won't last forever."
He knew that, but it didn't mean that it wasn't hard.
"If we somehow convey to them that we only want freedom through peaceful means, this could work," Josh went on. "It doesn't have to be war. We don't always have to lie and steal."
Simon agreed. He did not even want to think of what would happen if they went to war. He wasn't equipped for that. He was also horrified what could happen to Artie when things became violent.
He never even had the chance to check up on her since the incident. What if the reason she didn't cancel her card was because she was in prison for what he had done?
Why hadn't he thought of this sooner? He should've gone back to make sure that she was alright.
Now that he had finally accepted that he was a… a deviant, he could make his own decisions. He respected her wishes, but her word was not law.
He had to choose his priorities. On his own, he had to choose what the right thing to do was.
Seeing that Simon had a lot to think about, Josh left him alone to try to convince North of the same thing.
When everyone was calm for the night and on standby, Simon crept out of Jericho and found himself walking down a familiar road. There were rows of houses with their lights turned on.
He could hear the laughter and clinking of dishes.
It was dinner time.
He missed dinner time. He missed making food for her and watching her eyes light up whenever he surprised her with her favourites. Some of the other deviants didn't understand that he had enjoyed doing what he did for her. He wasn't doing it just because he was obligated to.
When a door opened, he quickly pulled his cap further down his head to cover the LED. He didn't know if any of the neighbours were going to recognise him, but he didn't want to risk it.
Fortunately, he stopped in front of the house without any issues. He decided to walk around to the back to see if he could spot her through the window. He didn't want to enter her home without her permission.
The living room was pristine as if the incident had never happened. She was sitting on the couch with a board game spread on top of a new coffee table.
A smile stretched his lips as he saw her laugh. She was fine. She was safe and happy, but she was happy without him and that made him… sad…
Across the table was a familiar face.
Connor was clearly going easy on her as he moved another piece that did not progress his strategy, but both of them seemed to be having fun.
With a sigh, he turned around and walked away, wondering if there was still a place for him in her life.