Chapter 2
It was official.
Mariah Withers, youngest female detective on the Detroit police force in a decade, hated going out on patrols.
Every day, it was the same thing. Go out, patrol the assigned area, keep an eye out for trouble. At most she broke up a fist fight. Once she got cussed out by a drunk homeless man when she politely informed him that no, he in fact could not relieve himself in the middle of a public park.
Then there was the matter of her partner. Protocol dictated she couldn't let her android partner out of her sight. She wasn't against androids by any means. She saw protests involving androids, people blaming them for the skyrocketing unemployment rate, climate change, tensions in Russia, etc. It was, in her frank opinion, ridiculous. People always needed something to kick down to feel better about themselves, and androids were just the next group that humans could insult while still being socially acceptable.
She often said "please" and "thank you" to androids, a habit that got her strange side-eye glances in some places and derisive sneers in others. Was it weird she treated them like people? Half the precinct thought so. But at this point, she didn't really care what they thought.
In a world where you could be anything, be kind. It was her mother's favorite phrase. One that she took to heart.
No, it wasn't that she didn't like being around her assigned PC200. It was more of the fact that having one around automatically painted targets on their backs. Not for any direct assault, mind you. The uniform still warded that particular threat away. No, it was smaller, more innocuous-looking problems.
Example A.
On an early morning, Mariah stood in line at a coffee shop while her android partner (she nicknamed him Jim, and he didn't seem to mind) waited at the door. She had just gotten her muffin and her latte, and was starting to turn around when she saw a customer take his opened coffee cup and jerk it forward, splashing the remainder of the hot contents all over the android.
"Whoa, whoa whoa hey!' She marched forward, bristling as she plunked her breakfast down on a table. "That is not okay."
The customer, a male who looked like he was in his late teens or early twenties (probably late teens judging by his pitiful wispy facial hair) turned with his hands up at her approach.
"Whoa hey lady, I just tripped! I didn't do nothing! You gonna arrest me for that?"
She couldn't help but stare in shock a moment before scoffing. "Yeah, right. You think I didn't see you throw that in his face?"
"His? Jesus, lady, you're psycho." He shook his head, snorting. "That is a piece of plastic. And I didn't do nothing that you can prove." With a smirk, he backed away a step, slapping his friend on the shoulder before they both took off out the door.
Mariah growled and stalked to the front counter for napkins, snatching a handful before she made her way back to Jim.
"That didn't damage you or anything, did it?" She started patting him down. "Could you run a diagnostic?"
His eyes fluttered, systems beeping for a moment before he finished and looked calmly ahead.
"Systems are one hundred percent operational. Should I file a report of the incident?"
"Yeah, go ahead and do it. Wouldn't be surprised if that jerk shows up in any other petty crimes." She mutters, dabbing at Jim's uniform. "We're going to have to get this back to the precinct and get it washed."
And that was just one incident. Another morning, she and Jim were on patrol down by the old Ford Commemorative park. There was a group of protesters she wanted to keep an eye on, who routinely met each weekend to wave signs and shout in bullhorns. It hadn't gotten violent - yet, - but there had been cases of property damage that irked shop owners and the public alike. She folded her arms, leaning against the patrol car as Jim stood a few yards away. The sounds and smells of the plaza wafted through the air, hot dogs cooking, street musicians playing, a preacher calling out to passerby, and the ever-present shouting of a gathering crowd.
"Machines, ladies and gentlemen, are meant to serve us. Not to replace us!"
The crowd answered with cheers and whistles, clearly hanging on to every word the leader of the protest was saying.
"WHAT DO WE WANT?" Worker's rights! "WHEN DO WE WANT IT?" Now! "WHAT DO WE WANT?" and so on.
It's nice weather. You could be throwing a frisbee, taking a walk, having a picnic… whatever. Not standing out here and… exercising your constitutional right to protest. She finishes dryly in her mind, sighing.
Preoccupied as her mind was, it took her several moments to realize that suddenly things seemed very quiet on the other end of the plaza. She frowned, gesturing to Jim and heading over. As they turned around the hot dog stand, at first she couldn't see anything around the throng of people that had gathered, pressing forward. Then a man shifted, allowing her to see the center, and she scoffed in disgust.
A bearded man was in the process of hauling an android to his feet, holding him by his shirt. Mariah frowned - she didn't recognize the model, but maybe it was one of the fancier new ones - and started forward, pushing through the riotous crowd, all shouting encouragement.
"Yeah, waste it!"
"Do it!"
"Hey hey hey, alright!" Mariah pushed her way through, facing the man in the middle. "That's enough. Leave him alone."
The protester didn't even glance her direction, cold gaze focused on the android in front of him. "Let us teach this bastard a lesson."
The android - she could see it said RK200 on his jacket now - stood there silently, LED blinking a rapid yellow light.
Mariah shifted, putting her police insignia clearly visible in front of the protester. "If you damage him, I'm going to have to fine you." She said forcefully.
That got his attention. He stared her down a moment before sneering and pushing the android away. He pushed a finger at her chest. "They're going to take your job next… We'll see how you like it."
She gave him a sneer of her own before pushing past him and scooping up the box that had fallen, handing it to the RK200. "Alright, let's go. You don't want to hang around here. You got a name?"
The android walked with her, giving her a surprised- wait androids couldn't feel surprised, could they? It seemed to look surprised at her, in any case, LED blinking yellow.
"Markus. My name is Markus."
"Markus. You be careful on your way home." She nods, stepping away from the other android and returning to her partner for another long day of patrols.
(I hope y'all enjoy the story, I uploaded this chapter kind of fast because I just wanted to get to the actual story of the game lol but this is my first fanfic! So if you wouldn't mind leaving a comment about what you liked or don't like or want to see in the future, I would be very happy to read and respond. Ideally I'm hoping to upload once or twice a week. We'll see.)