Stay alive, Gavin. Stay alive.
Stay alive, please.
The door shut behind Gavin. He stared into the shadows of the barely lit room - he couldn't see anything, anyone. A dusty scent hit his nose, mixed in with what smells like sour thirium of some sort. The swamping darkness cloaking the room hid Gavin's company, making them unseeable, like a black swan on the darkest lake during a moonless night.
Where are they?
Gavin began to hope that he was alone after all, but he knew that was a reach. There was no way Elijah would let him out of his promise this easily, especially considering Gavin was doing this for Kamski's experimentation. He looked down and straightened up his spine before brushing a spec of dust off of his android coat.
"Maybe I'm alone," Gavin mumbled to himself.
"You're never alone."
A voice came from above scared the absolute shit out of Gavin, and he darted forward with a shrill yelp of fear. He looked up to see an android with half a face and an arm coming out from the centre of its chest dangling from the ceiling and looking at him creepily. He could barely make out the figure due to the lack of light in the room, but the dimmed bulbs were enough to make out the figure. At the sight of it, horrible memories started to invade Gavin's mind - memories of the tunnel. It took his all to not drop to his knees and just panic.
"Don't be scared, friend!" it said, voice slightly distorted.
Fuck this. Fuck this. Fuck this. Fuuuuuck thiiiiis.
"I am not your friend," Gavin said coldly, a slight tremble in the middle of his words.
"All androids that come in here want to be friends."
For fuck's sake! I gotta befriend this fuck to not be found out? Ugh… there's not much of a choice.
Gavin formed himself to push back his immense fear, at least so it wouldn't show on his surface. He forced a smile. "Ah, heh, yes, of course…"
"It's such a shame that mister Kamski hasn't brightened our lights for tonight," the android said. "He would usually have that done by now."
Elijah has purposefully left the lights low? Maybe there's a heart in there after all.
"Were going to have fun tonight, friend! Tell me, what is your name?" The mutant asked.
"Er, Gavin," Gavin replied, who did you think it would be?
"Er Gavin? That's a strange name!"
"It's Gavin. I hesitated."
"Why would you hesitate, Gavin?" the android asked. "Androids don't hesitate."
Not a deviant, isn't it? Shit. Elijah, what did you do? How did you code it?
"This one does. It's a part of my coding to act more human."
Gavin watched the android detach itself from the ceiling after he spoke, and it dropped down on it's leg.
"Well, Gavin, we are all looking forward to getting to know you tonight! Now come with me."
Before Gavin could reply, three hands grabbed onto him. He forced himself to not kick or yelp as the android started dragging him to another part of the room.
Nines was pacing inside his cage. He was trying his best to remain calm, but how could he when he knew that his boyfriend was trapped alone with murdering machines?
"He'll be alright," Connor said, as if he could read Nines' thoughts. Nines stopped pacing and looked over at Connor.
"I am just nervous. I know Gavin, yet... I do not know if he can hold up this act all night."
"He should be fine," Connor said.
"But Connor, he's Gavin," Nines said. "He is unpredictable. There's no way to be sure if he'll be okay."
"Don't worry about it, Nines," Connor said, putting his hand on Nines' shoulder. "You have to have faith in Gavin."
"Right." Nines looked away from Connor and out of his cage. "In this house, Elijah probably has unlimited food and thirium, while back at Verum not everyone gets a good portion of their rations."
"It's a shame we can't get it," Connor said.
Nines looked back over at Connor. "Not unless we convince Elijah to let us out."
"Do you really think he'd agree?"
"There's only one way to find out."
Gavin was thrown onto the floor in a corner, and as he was, the lights became brighter. Damn it, Elijah!
The android looked up. "Tonight, master didn't turn on the lights to the complete brightness," it mused.
"Okay." Gavin was quick to change the subject so it didn't try to connect that with his presence. "What is your name?"
"My name is 7-G 4763251, but it is easier to call me Seven."
"Well, okay, Seven, my name is G-" Nope. Human name wouldn't be a great move. "- Er, GV200."
"Welcome, GV200, we are going to be the best of friends! Our other friends are on the way, look around!"
Gavin looked up and saw multiple androids crawling and dragging themselves across the floor towards him. He froze up and his eyes widened as he stared at them with wide eyes. "I-I…"
"You're not afraid of our friends, are you?" Seven asked, looking at Gavin as the other mutants began to chant.
"New friend, new friend, new friend…"
The first wave reached Gavin and stroked his legs and arms, and one hauled itself up onto his lap. Gavin forced himself to not flinch at the touch as he stared at the mutant in front of him. Its body was grey, and its where its eyes were meant to be were nothing but black sockets with thirium tears streaming down its cheeks.
"How do you see?" Gavin choked out.
"I have minimal vision left," it responded. Its voice was silky smooth, like a feather with honey trickled gently over it. It leaned in closer. "You seem different. Let's play some games, GV200."
I didn't tell this one my name… Gavin thought.
What have I gotten myself into?
"Get over here, Kamski!" Nines yelled, reaching through the bars and slamming his fists against the thick class. His face was hardened by anger, a rage coursing through Nines that packed power into his punch.
Connor looked at Nines cautiously and took a step back. "Nines, are you feeling alright? You aren't being overpowered by the virus, are you?"
Nines stopped and looked at Connor, his face softening as he did so. "No, no, I'm quite alright, Connor. I am just enraged that Kamski is endangering Gavin's life, and I'm taking out that anger on the glass."
"I see," Connor replied. "Keep doing it. If you keep on causing a big racket, hopefully it'll draw Elijah close to us soon."
"That's the plan," Nines replied before continuing to pound his fists against the glass. "Come on Elijah, get over here! I know you can hear me! Come on!"
Nines saw a shadow getting closer, and he straightened up, but it was just a Chloe model. He huffed and slumped before straightening his spine again. "Chloe, come here," he said.
She looked up. She heard him.
"Chloe, come here," Nines repeated.
Chloe approached the glass with clear hesitance. "What do you need, RK900?" she asked.
"I need to speak with Elijah," Nines answered.
"Okay. I'll get him." She turned and hurried away, as if afraid that Nines would somehow attack her, even with the metal bars and the glass in the way.
"It would usually be Gavin resorting to antics such as making a lot of noise, but it is times like these that we should idolise him," Nines said. "I can't wait to get him back. If Gavin doesn't survive the night, I'll never forgive Elijah. I'll never forgive myself."
Against his will, Nines' eyes filled up with synthetic tears. They may not technically be true tears, but the emotions that had caused them were undeniably real. Connor silently walked up to Nines and wrapped his arms around him, offering his brotherly figure comfort.
"He'll get out of there, Nines," Connor said. "I know it Gavin may be a rat, but he's smart."
"I hope he's smart enough." Nines took a deep breath - yes, breathing was fake, but it still helped his deviated calm self - and gently removed Connor's arms from his own body, breaking the hug.
"What do you want, RK900?"
Elijah Kamski's muffled voice caught Nines' attention, and he raised his head and looked over at his creator. "Elijah. We wanted to know if we could be let out. We are not prisoners, are we? We are simply waiting for Gavin to complete his night with your mutant- oh, my apologies, I meant experimental androids. I wanted to see if we could have our own room for the night. This cage is unsettling and makes me feel like we are being put down to the level of the other androids here. We shouldn't be imprisoned. Connor and I are in perfectly good condition, and some of your advanced ever androids, but of course you know that."
Elijah's expression turned into one of consideration, and then deep pondering, as if he was trying to think of every outcome to allowing the androids to stay in one of his guest rooms.
"Okay. I'll let you stay in a guest bedroom," Elijah eventually agreed, "But if you try to go rescue Gavin, believe me when I say it won't go well. It may possibly just end up in his death if you try." Elijah's threat sent a shiver up Nines' spine. No, not threat - promise.
"We would never dream of betraying your trust, Elijah," Nines replied coolly.
"Good. Let's hope you live up to that promise." Elijah tilted his head and a faint smirk rose to his lips. He disappeared from Nines' view, and not longer after he did, half of the bars disconnected from the rest as the floor opened up. Nines and Connor watched as the floor swallowed the centre section of the bars that were previously surrounding them. Elijah went to the door and opened it, and with that, Nines and Connor walked free.
"Lead us to where we can stay," Nines said.
He had the urge to attack Elijah, but he held back. He wouldn't attack with Simon and the Chloe androids still somewhere inside of the house. Plus, considering that there were bars that sunk into the floor, who knows what other hidden tech Elijah could have lying around?
Elijah silently turned, beckoning the RK models with a flick of his hand. Connor glanced at Nines before walking forward and following him, with Nines walking closely behind him.
"I never noticed all of… This the day that I came here with Hank," Connor said.
"It's not like I share the fact that I keep android experiments in my basement," Elijah replied. "If you had spread that, it would not look good for me. Besides, you were at my home investigating deviants. This all has nothing to do with that. It is simply a… Way to pass the time."
And create dangerous creatures that harmed Gavin and Connor, Nines thought, but he knew better than to say that out loud. "Alright."
Elijah led the two androids out of the laboratory and into a bedroom. There were two single beds, fancy curtains, a wardrobe, an ensuite bathroom, and a large mirror. On some parts of the walls there were divine paintings that were pleasing to the eye, and Nines spent a moment too long looking at the artworks that were alive with colour.
"I call dibs on this bed!" Connor said, flinging himself at one of the beds.
Nines smiled at Connor before looking at Kamski. "Why do you have guest bedrooms anyway? From what I gather, you tend to be a private person."
"That doesn't stop me from having the occasional family or friends over to visit," Elijah said. "Besides, I had a couple of spare rooms, so why not furnish them and put them to good use?"
"I suppose," Nines said.
"Settle in well. You have a long night ahead of you, I know you both would be so extremely worried about Gavin," Elijah said.
He said that so condescendingly, Nines thought, a sour tang left in his mouth from Elijah's words. Does this man not care for any life apart from his own? His brother, one of the last humans ever, could die tonight!
After Elijah turned and left the room, closing the door behind him, Nines looked at Connor. He didn't trust that there was no sort of hidden microphone, so instead, Nines connected himself to Connor's mind and talked to him telepathically.
'We should go as soon as you're ready', Nines communicated.
Connor looked up. 'Okay,' he responded. 'I'm ready when you are.'
The games that Gavin had to play were literal games, but the creepiness of the androids and their looming threat by simply existing gave Gavin a sinister feel. Duck, duck, goose had never felt so goose, goose, goose. They were nothing but ducks, anointed one-by-one. The dreadful tap of the shoulder down the ever shrinking line as an android's steps draw nearer, and its hand reaches to Gavin, will that immortal word escape its lips... "goose."
At some point, Gavin had seen a dried splatter of blood on the wall, and viewing that had made him force himself to choke back a terrified cry. Blood has been spilt here. People have probably died in here. It just confirmed again that it was not safe.
"Are you okay, GV200?"
Gavin felt a hand land on his shoulder, and a shiver went up his spine. He plastered a smile on his face and looked up at the android. "Yes, I'm fine." Any human could see that Gavin's happiness was fake, simply a masquerade. But these creatures are not human. The android smiled back and turned away from him.
As it left, Gavin estimated that only about an hour had passed, and he had no way of telling when sunrise was, or when his brother would let him out. The poorly kept room was chilly, and he had to presume that he couldn't sleep for the night. At least the androids had stopped playing games, because that had just made them even more creepy.
God, I want to sleep so bad, but this place is so fucking terrifying and as soon as I hit the hay I'll be torn to shreds.
Gavin sat down in a corner after making sure there was no blood on the floor or walls surrounding him. There was not, but there was a questionable smell. He tried not to think about it, just like he just had to try not to think about any part of his current situation.
Hah. As if that would work.
"God, I wish Nines was with me," Gavin mumbled to himself.
Multiple androids scattered throughout the room looked at Gavin.
"Nines? That is a familiar name," one said. "Who is Nines?"
Fuck! I forgot he was involved with this, she could have met Nines before!
"Uhh.. It's the name of… A book I'm reading," Gavin said carefully.
"Why are you reading a book?" another mutant asked.
"I… Just want to know what it is like to read, nothing more than that," Gavin answered.
Fuck, I hope I'm saying the right things, he thought.
"Okay," the android said with a shrug. Gavin suppressed a relieved sigh. They fell for it.
How long can I keep this up?
'There is bound to be food in the garage', Nines communicated to Connor as he walked down a hallway. 'We just need to locate it.'
'That shouldn't be too hard', Connor responded. 'As soon as we find it, it should be easy to get the food.'
'Connor, we didn't bring bags with us.'
They turned a corner and kept walking.
'There should be some in the garage.'
'Humans would not-'
'I know what I'm talking about,' Connor insisted. 'I just know. Elijah's rich, right? And considering the state of the world, he'd want an extra supply of food just in case androids decide to stop supplying for him.'
'You're right. To the garage, then.'
Connor, having some vague knowledge of the setup of Elijah's home, took the lead. He walked in front of Nines and navigated their way through the mansion.
'This house seems a lot bigger on the inside than the outside,' Nines commented.
'I agree, it comes from the abstract design I think.'
Nines didn't reply. Instead, he saw a camera and within a blink of an eye, it was looping a minute before they entered the hallway.
'Stop, I need to deal with these cameras,' Nines suddenly communicated. Connor halted and looked at Nines, who had shut his eyes. Nines connected himself to Elijah's home network and used his internet connection to trace then hack all of the cameras, and then looped them all to screens where there was no one around. He also set it to return to normal in half an hour to avoid causing any suspicion.
'Alright, the cameras have been dealt with but we only have half an hour,' Nines updated Connor. 'We should get a move on immediately.'
Connor quickly returned to walking with Nines following closely behind. Another corner was turned and there, right there, was a screen door that led to what was obviously a garage - but a Chloe stood in the way.
"Shit," Connor breathed. He knew better than to communicate telepathically, just in case Chloe managed to pick it up.
"She should move soon," Nines replied. He was eight. Two minutes after Nines spoke, Chloe turned and went on her way in the opposite direction of where Nines and Connor were. Both androids, relieved, moved forward and went to the door. They opened it and slipped inside, carefully shutting it behind them.
"Fridge, there," Connor said, pointing. The fridge was twice the size of a normal fridge, and beside it there was a standard sized one. Nines quickly walked up to it and opened the main fridge with Connor opening the smaller one. Both fridges in their entirety were stocked up to the brim with a large assortment of foods.
"The humans won't have to ration for weeks with all of this," Connor said, excitement in his eyes.
"We need to figure out how to get all of this out, bags in here won't be enough." Nines looked over at the two cars inside of the garage. Connor looked over to where Nines' gaze was fixated on.
"Nines, stealing an entire car from him isn't a good-"
"We get Gavin and we go," Nines said sharply. "We may not be able to go and free him ourselves, but with enough influence, we can convince a Chloe to get him out for us. This made Connor's eyes flood with alarm.
"Nines, you cannot seriously be considering taking control of her mind. Look at where that got you!" Connor protested.
"We have to," Nines argued. "We have to save Gavin."
"Nines-"
"This is the best way. For all we know, he could be already dead!"
Nines had to choke back tears in order to yell that, but emotion still leaked into his voice. The sudden yelling seemed to stun Connor, and he stared at Nines before giving a tentative nod.
"We'll do it your way, then," Connor said.
Nines looked satisfied, and with Connor looking closely enough, he thought he saw Nines's eyes slightly darken. "Good."
To that one Guest who commented- Hi for some reason I cant reply to your comments but! They really do make my day and you reminded me that I needed to update the fic here, lol. Thank you for your kind comments, they made my day! I barely get comments as you could probably see so that made me super happy!