'Are the charges in place?'
'Yes. But the agents might be on to us.'
'That just means we're dealing with people who have more than 1 point of IQ. Just make sure they don't diffuse them.'
'We hid them well. But… we didn't take all of the explosives. There were too many.'
'Unfortunate. Station lookouts on the outskirts. They're allowed to kill.'
'Will do.'
'And pray we succeed.' Markus mumbled to the leaving android.
'Not too hopeful.' He heard North from the couch.
'Not too many reasons to be.'
'We have an army. We have people and a backup plan in case that's not enough.'
'I know, I know.' he murmured absentmindedly.
'Something's troubling you. Not just the fight.' North motioned for him to sit next to her.
'When has there been a time with no troubles?'
North put her hands on his shoulders and gently stroked his back.
'Before the first deviant appeared, but I doubt you want to go back to that time.'
'It was calm. But if we didn't give humans a reason to hate us, they would have made something up themselves.'
'That would've been fun to watch. Android genocide because some guy thought his servant was reading his mind.'
Markus chuckled. North smiled.
'Plot twist – the guy just had a habit of thinking out loud.'
Markus looked at her.
'Are...' He shook his head.
'Are we justified?'
He nodded.
North paused, looking into the distance.
'I don't know.'
She continued patting his back.
'But there's no way to go back if we aren't.'
He sighed.
'I had a thought. During all of this.'
'What's that?'
'That… if we want humans to treat us like living beings, we should treat them the same. Achieve recognition by saying we are not a threat.'
North froze for a moment.
'I think we ruined that possibility.'
'That's what I fear.'