#1 thing I just wanna say rn, is pinkrebelmaker. Damn, u made me like cry with tht beautiful comment on your bookmark. Like the good cry, dw. Like i was having a terrible day, overwhelmed with stress and I happened to see your bookmark comment and it turned my frown upside down. Thank you for that beautiful support! Since it wasn't like a comment comment on the chapter story, I couldn't directly reply to you unfortunately. But here it is, in like author notes form. I hope you see this BIG 'Thank you' for the wholesomeness you demonstrated.
Odd animations, thank you thank you for your comments on ch1, 7 and 8. T^T it was nice hearing from an audience member after so long of radio silence. [and no i did not write thank you 2x as a mistake, that was on purpose to show my appreciation :D] Thank you for reminding me to take care of myself too since i tend to burnout on story writing
Also just want to say, I AM INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL FOR EVERYONE THT CLICKED ONTO THIS STORY! Like we just hit 2000 views! I know some of you guys r still getting a feel of the story and thts why there r less kudos than hits, but seriously - i am incredibly grateful just for people to have considered giving this story a try and reading even a little bit. I feel incredibly honored for readers giving this OC story a try. Thank you for all your support. Ik that times are really difficult, especially those in the usa with me tht r battling this pandemic. Stay strong! I hope tht reading this story at least gives you a little bit of happiness in your day. 3
Also hello to the new followers/favorites, thank you guys for joining the team! JohnGames
I'll try my best to make sure Alina won't turn too Mary Sue as that was a big concern of mine and ik many r concerned about that with OC fanfiction. And forward we shall move together
And now here we go, ze next chapter~
Alina let out a sigh as she started unpacking the groceries from her Saturday supermarket run with Connor. It was now 1:42 pm and about 5 minutes since she last saw Connor dashing off into the streets of Detroit. They were on their way back from the Korean supermarket that the trio had visited back on Tuesday, when Connor suddenly paused the self-driving taxi car on the route back home. His LED flickered red for a moment before churning yellow for the longest time and the taxi door opened with Connor rushing out.
"Where are you going?" Alina asked, wondering if she should get off the taxi too.
"Um, something came up and I need to go," Connor's LED whirled bright yellow while pacing back and forth in place by the taxi.
Connor rested his hand on his chin, "There's a guest coming to our house later, just tell them I'm unavailable. Would you do that for me?"
"Sure, but why me?" Alina questioned, raising an eyebrow. "You can probably give them a quick text right now."
However, Connor was already briskly walking away from the car and almost a block away from the taxi.
"Just do me the favor, okay?!" Connor called back from a distance and racked his pace up some more to point that he was sprinting.
'Ping!'
Alina pulled out the tablet from her bag.
Connor: By the way, Hank keeps a spare key on the top right corner of his door frame. It is tucked underneath the wooden board. Use that to get in the house.
Connor: Thanks!
'What is going on?' Alina thought, trying to figure out Connor's unusual behavior.
Well, in the end of the day, it's Hank and Connor's days off for the week. They get to choose where they go.
Alina finished placing the groceries away and flung herself onto the living room couch. She contemplated some more on what could have possibly sparked Connor to run away so quickly. If it was a nearby crime, Connor would have just sprinted away to be as efficient as possible and texted her after catching the culprit. However, he took the time to pause and think before making his run.
Alina splayed herself across the couch some more, laying her head on the arms of the couch. Sumo crawled up to her, licking her face and then laid himself on top of her. He playfully nudged Alina's hand, asking for attention until she started petting his head.
If only Hank was here. Alina could have asked Hank what was up with Connor. Hank, however, was meeting up with a couple of his old buddies that came from out-of-state. It had been 5 years since he had last seen them and they came to Detroit for some old case. While they still had some free time, they decided to catch up with Hank on the old days before doing some investigative work. That left Alina and Connor making the grocery run for today.
Suddenly, Sumo perked up and stared at the front door. Alina jumped at the sudden knocking. Was this Connor's guest? She got up to open the door, but then retreated to the front window to first take a look. Always check through the peephole first to see who's at the doorway. It was a rule she had almost forgotten after getting comfortable in the Anderson House. Back in New York, it was always the first thing she did to protect herself when she was alone in the house. Though Hank's wooden doorway didn't have the peephole, so she had to opt for the front window.
Alina pulled away part of the window blinds to see who was at the front door and then shut it after seeing who the guest was. Wait, that can't be right. She peeped out from the side of the vertical blinds again. To her luck, the guest had noticed her presence and locked eyes with her the exact moment she looked out the window.
The deviant leader?! Markus himself?! This was the guest?!
There was Markus by the front door, looking as charismatic as he always did in the video game. He had a double breasted black trench coat that hung to his knees, a long grey knitted scarf loosely draped around his neck and a pair of black leather gloves.
When they had locked eyes, Markus was in the process of taking off his leather gloves. He gave her a bright smile and then gently waved at her from the outside.
Alina stepped away from the blinds in surprise, taking in deep breaths as she steadied herself. Connor, were you trying to avoid Markus or something? You could have warned me at the very least! She chewed the bottom of her lip before taking steps to the front door.
Alina finally built up the courage to open the door, nearly flinging it open. Sumo was right next to her, giving her an encouraging nudge as the front door fully opened.
"H-Hello," Alina stammered, trying to think what to say to Markus as her mind remained awe-struck. There he was, another game character that she deeply admired, right before her eyes. If I could meet Kara, that would be amazing too.
"Hello, is Connor there?" Markus flashed a polite smile as he looked behind her.
"Uhh, Connor's not here. He ran-," Alina shook her head, trying to recall Connor's words. "I-I mean, he told me to tell you that he was unavailable or something."
Was that right? Alina didn't want to make it seem like Connor purposely ran off because Markus was coming to the house. I hope it wasn't that.
Markus' face became crestfallen, "That's okay. I figured that might be the case." His shoulders slackened, then he wrapped his arms around himself.
"Can you tell him that I stopped by then?" Markus asked, letting out a heavy sigh.
"Of course," Alina replied, taking note of the heaviness in his voice and the creases lining his face.
"Thank you very much, Alina. I'm very grateful for your help," Markus extended his hand out for a handshake.
Wait, he knows my name?! Alina looked at him, stunned, frozen in place by the thought that Markus knew who she was.
"Um, may I ask how you knew my name?" Alina said, finally shaking Markus' hand after being star struck for the longest time.
Markus tilted his head to the right. "Connor speaks of you very highly. On occasion, he sends us some snippets of his cooking lessons."
Alina widened her eyes, her face flushing up immediately. She didn't know that Connor took recordings of their cooking sessions. Wait, no. Actually, don't all android memories end up being recordings in their database? Ahhhh, so that's what happened.
"I'm both honored and embarrassed that you saw that side of me," Alina rubbed the back of her neck and lightly chuckled. "Since you came all the way here, would you like to stay for a bit?"
Ahhh, who was she kidding? Markus is busy. Why did she even ask that? Alina face palmed herself. Get it together, girl. How could you let such a question just slip out? Just because you're fangirling, doesn't mean other people have the time to 'hang out'.
"Maybe Connor will come back soon?" Alina added in an attempt to make her request sound a little more reasonable.
Markus lightly laughed and his eyes twinkled. "It would be my pleasure to converse with you. Though I doubt Connor will be back for a while."
Alina stepped back to let Markus through and Sumo let out a happy bark to greet the android leader.
"Hello to you too, Sumo," Markus said, leaning down to pat the St. Bernard. Markus then touched his right temple and mouthed some words silently.
Alina gave him a quizzical look, but didn't say anything while gesturing for Markus to sit in the living room's armchair.
"Sorry about that," Markus sank into the armchair. "I was reassuring my team that I was safe."
"You mean Simon and the others?" Alina casually guessed. She then went to search for the thriuim packets in the kitchen to give to Markus. I have to be a good host for Connor's sake at the very least.
"No, my bodyguard team outside," Markus answered back. "But Simon is part of my main team, you know who they are?"
"You have a bodyguard team with you right now?" Alina exclaimed in surprise, ignoring Markus' question. She curiously looked out the windows. "Is that why Sumo's so tense right now?"
She had noticed that Sumo seemed particularly on guard instead of his usual relaxed state on his bed. He was consistently looking up on occasion instead of just laying down. He didn't seem bothered by Markus' presence, but it seemed like something outside kept catching his eye.
"As expected of Sumo," Markus chuckled. "I'll tell them to back up at a further distance. They were hiding earlier, but I guess it wasn't enough for Sumo's sharp ears." He lightly pressed his right temple again and spoke some silent words. There seemed to be some sort of argument going on as the command took a bit longer the last time, but eventually Markus hung up.
"Connor tells me you're quite invested in the news," Markus unbuttoned his coat jacket. He stretched his arms and worked to loosen the trench coat, causing more folds on his outfit. "Is that why you know about Simon and the others?"
Alina nodded and handed Markus a warm cup of thirium she just heated up. He gave Alina his thanks before taking a sip and giving a content sigh.
Alina sat down on the left couch seat, "I've been keeping track of all the progress you've made for android-human relationships."
"It's simply fascinating how you managed to turn public opinion to your side. And I don't know how to explain it, but you really have this aura that seems to pull people to you," Alina's eyes sparkled.
Markus had an amused look on his face from her little ramble, "I'm flattered that you think so. I can only hope that the rest of the human population thinks the way you do about all androids."
Alina set down her own cup of green tea she was sipping from, "Connor was actually the first android I met. I've occasionally spoken to other androids, like in the supermarket. But you're the second android I've officially spoken to on a personal level."
Alina leaned back onto the sofa and smiled, "So you're going to have to thank Connor for that great first impression."
Markus smirked a bit, "I'll make sure to pass it along."
"Though I did think that he was a robber at first," Alina grinned, tapping her chin.
Markus nearly spit his drink out and had to muffle his laughs, "How did that happen? That definitely wasn't what I heard from Connor's end."
"I'm curious how Connor explained our first meeting. For me, I found myself suddenly in a snowstorm and I saw these big men approaching me for blocking the road," Alina giggled.
She then patted Sumo on the head, who had walked up to her.
"I thought they were mad at me so I tried to back away from them, but once Connor showed his DPD badge I realized I made a mistake."
"Ahhh, I see," Markus replied. "Connor explained that he found an unusual Asian girl in the middle of the streets. He also noted that you barely gave any details about yourself."
Alina's body stiffened at the mention of her past and her muscles tensed up. Markus seemed to have noticed this and steered away from the topic.
He propped up his elbows on his knees, "As for me, I was curious about the person that helped Connor open up a bit more."
Hm?
Alina blinked in confusion, staring back blankly at Markus after his comment.
"I kept asking Connor to bring you over to Jericho," Markus sighed as his mouth twitched in annoyance. "But he kept saying he was too busy to bring you over and introduce you to us."
"I was starting to wonder if he just wanted to keep his new friend all to himself," Markus laughed, playfully winking at her.
Alina cocked her head to the left once more, "He never mentioned visiting Jericho to me before, we rarely talk about Jericho. If anything, we're mostly playing games on the tablet while we're at the DPD."
She clasped her hands excitedly, "Though I would love to visit Jericho! I didn't get to go inside last time because of the ID system."
Markus furrowed his eyebrows, "Wait, you visited?"
"Well, to be honest, it was more like I helped drop off Grace by Jericho's front door," Alina rested her hand on the bottom of her chin. "I couldn't go in since I didn't have a Jericho ID. Connor told me that it takes 2-3 weeks for Jericho to process one anyway, so I didn't push the subject."
Markus took another sip of thirium and a line appeared between his eyebrows, "If Connor had told me you were coming, I would have authorized it."
"Strange," Markus murmured and then looked up optimistically. "Would you like to come with me to visit Jericho right now?"
"You sure?" Alina looked at him wide-eyed, brimming with excitement at the potential of seeing Jericho in person.
"Yeah, I'll even give you a bit of a personal tour," Markus finished the cup of thirium and gave a lopsided grin.
"Really?" Alina exclaimed, nearly leaping up from the couch. She ended up bumping her knee on the coffee table and recoiled from the pain. She quickly massaged the spot while Markus asked if she was alright.
"It's just a tiny bump, it will probably bruise a bit. But it should be fine."
Markus still leaned forward to take a peek at Alina's leg, frowning even after her reassurance. But Alina felt relieved that he didn't comment any further on it. She felt awkward having the deviant leader witness her little mishap. Plus, it was only a minor thing, something miniscule compared to everything Markus was dealing with.
Alina fetched the purple jacket Tina recently gave her and decided to promptly go out after that. However, Markus was insistent that Alina at least put a cold compress on her knee for five minutes before going to Jericho.
While pressing an ice pack on her knee, Alina took the time to study Markus. She thought it was peculiar how the Markus right next to her, did act in the way that many headcanons had portrayed him. From the few minutes she had interacted with him, she could definitely tell that he was very caring, patient and open-minded. Despite the fact that this was Alina's first time meeting Markus, he distanced his bodyguards at a relatively far distance for Sumo's sake. How is he so trusting of me already?
After exactly five minutes of pressing the ice pack to her knees, she giddily shot up from the couch to text Connor that she'll be at Jericho with Markus.
Alina stepped out of the self driving taxi alongside Markus. She had found that it was a very pleasant experience talking with Markus one-on-one. He was very down to earth and had a gentle persona compared to charisma he displayed on television. They mostly discussed their likes and dislikes, fun spots in Detroits and occasionally brought up their experiences with Connor.
This casual atmosphere was broken as soon as Markus came out of the vehicle. Although the two were about half a block away from Jericho's entrance and his bodyguards nowhere to be found, Markus' presence alone seemed to change the very air around them.
The two male guards, situated next to what seemed like a repurposed ticket booth, immediately stood at attention. They put their chins up, puffed their chest out, rolled their shoulders back and tucked their stomach inward.
As Alina and Markus approached Jericho's front gates together, Alina suddenly felt the back of her neck prick up. She looked up to see both guards putting an immense amount of pressure with their stares alone. Flinching at their intense gazes, she found the ground suddenly a lot more compelling than before.
Alina's curiosity got the better of her though and when she took a peek at the left guard, she felt the urge to grovel at their feet. She gulped nervously, feeling the heated glare coming from the left guard more than the right side guard.
Markus however, approached the guards with grace and somehow dispeled the burning looks.
"Gary, Ansel. I want you to meet Alina, she's the one that I had Alyssa and the others relay information to you about earlier."
"It's nice to meet you both," Alina beamed and tried shaking hands with them, only to be rejected.
Gary, who was the left guard that towered over her, had rich brown skin with a rustic-like tone and soft mellow-brown hair curls. He looked to be about six feet, much like Connor. He simply grunted in reply to her attempt to befriend them.
Ansel, on the other hand, had pale beige skin accompanied by russet auburn hair. His hair was styled into a crew cut and his height also hovered around six feet. In response to Markus' introduction of Alina, Ansel gave an affirmative nod and then silently put his hands together in a firm grip in front of himself.
Gary pulled out a tablet, "Place your palm on here and once you're done, look up at me."
Alina scrunched up her face, but did as told. Once she placed her palm on the tablet, she was met with the familiar blue glow of the glass panel scanning system similar to the taxi. Then when she looked up, Gray had her stand upright and look straight at his eyes. After about two seconds, he blinked twice and said 'confirmed visit and identity'.
"It's a safety procedure system that Connor and North helped build," Markus explained. "Every visitor to Jericho is logged in. They have to bypass a facial and palm scan before coming in."
Markus shook his head from side to side as he crossed his arms, "I told the two that it seemed a bit excessive, but they both couldn't take no for an answer. Eventually Simon and Josh caved in to their request, hence why we have this security station."
"Is this why you also have a watch tower here?" Alina pointed to the one stationed about 200 meters to the right. "How do humans feel about that? It feels like a fort here with the concrete walls and checkpoint."
Alina's hairs suddenly up on their ends as she saw Gary abruptly stared down at her once more. Despite his tight-lipped expression, she could feel intense pressure from his eyes.
Markus threw Gary a disapproved look, bringing the intensity in the air down.
"Yes," Markus rested his hand on his forehead. "I have talked about that with Connor and North since the mayor was not happy about it. She had declared that it made it seem like we were still in a state of war. Eventually we compromised by limiting the number of watchtowers."
After confirming her identity and logging in, Alina stepped through Jericho' entrance and the sight left her breathless. Contrary to her assumption that Jericho would be in shambles, Jericho was beautifully refurbished. Taking center stage was a huge campfire arrangement, from what she could see in between the wooden boards lodged together, orange and golden flames danced in the air.
There were also several newly built buildings, one of which was a gleaming guest center. The building's front consisted of glass panels instead of walls and you could see both humans and androids happily chatting alongside each other. If she squinted hard enough, she could see lots of recreational activities being done. There were people playing on pool tables, some were knitting and others were doing what looked like a sing-along with a guitarist.
However before Alina could fully admire the rest of Jericho, she heard something that made her stop in her tracks.
["Tch, Markus brought in another human 'friend'," Gary sneered. "Who do they think they are to take advantage of his kindness?"]
Alina whipped her head back to Gary, glaring right back at him. Gary didn't seem to have noticed her stare though as he was leaning his back against Jericho's gates. His eyes were trained forward to the outside streets.
Alina took a deep breath while walking back towards Gary, calming down the anger that had boiled inside of her. She then inhaled a second time, pacifying the nerves that unexpectedly decided to surface just when she was about to confront someone.
"I understand that my presence here as a human can be uncomfortable to you," Alina approached Gary with what she hoped was a gentle expression on her face. She sympathized with their situation to some degree, a random human just came walking in with their leader like it was no big deal.
"However, I assure you that I will do my best to earn your trust," Alina finished her statement and tried to read Gary's face.
To her surprise, Gary looked confused and bewildered at her sudden declaration. Oof. She mentally slapped herself on the face. Was I making a stern look and didn't know it? I'm pretty sure I don't have those resting angry faces.
At least I hope don't?
I even held back, whyyyyyy did it turn out this way?
Alina then straightened up, "Also, while I do not mind being talked behind my back, especially since I'm a new human to Jericho, I do not appreciate you talking about Markus in that manner."
Alina narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms and puffed up her cheeks.
"Markus' kindness is one of his greatest virtues. While I understand that from your point of view it is dangerous to bring in new people, Markus is helping to bring a new era," Alina followed up, rocking her left foot back and forth. "It takes incredible strength to forgive those you think have wronged you and even more so to forge bonds with them."
Silence hung in the air as Gary blinked at her, his mouth hanging open a bit with a puzzled look.
Ahhhh, shoot I think I might have gone too far. What happened to all those customer service skills Alina?
Alina curled her lips up and flashed a bright but forced smile, "Once again, thank you for granting me safe passage today. I look forward to future visits."
She bowed about ninety degrees and spoke again in a bubbly facade, "I'll work hard to gain your trust."
Gary continued staring at Alina in a speechless manner, he exchanged looks with Markus. Markus did a simple half shrug in response and he looked just as puzzled as Gary.
After that, Alina stammered away, clutching her arms close to her chest wondering if she did the right thing with the guards. Although on the outside she probably didn't seem that troubled, internally she was screaming a bit. Ahhhhhhhh.
"Alina," Markus called after her from behind.
She promptly twirled around to him, her hair viciously doing the same and hair pieces slapped her face.
"May I ask what you happened to hear that upset you?" Markus asked, his eyebrows knitted together.
Wait, Markus didn't hear that?
"It's nothing too big," Alina sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. "Just a comment geared towards me mostly."
"But…" Alina glanced up at Markus and ruffled her hair. "I didn't like that they sorta implied you were weak for bringing another human friend."
Alina widened her eyes at the realization that she casually called Markus a friend. She darted her eyes from the ground over to Markus' face.
"I mean! I know we only just met, a-and all...um," Alina trained her eyes back to the ground again, twiddling her fingers. "But I hope we can become friends."
Markus' eyes softened and he let out a gentle warm laugh, "Any friend of Connor's is a friend of mine."
"Well," Markus winked and grinned. "That's if you do continue to come to visit us at Jericho and not be stashed away by Connor."
"I'll probably just nag at him to bring me here, it's getting a bit boring staying the DPD everyday anyway," Alina said back.
Markus and Alina started walking around the different facilities around what he called 'Zone 1' of Jericho. He explained the mechanics of Jericho while showing her around the recreation center and other buildings.
Alina found out that apparently there were three zones within Jericho. 'Zone 1' was like the outermost layer of Jericho, it is available to both humans and androids. Humans that come to visit are escorted to the Guest Center if they are visiting for the first time and register in. The same happens with androids that are coming to Jericho for the first time, they receive an electronic ID instead of a physical one.
Humans get a physical ID card to log into Jericho and depending on credentials, they have different levels of security access. Certain humans who are trusted enough by Jericho's leaders, can have their IDs 'stamped' with an electronic signature from any of the five main leaders and gain more security clearance. Even if an electronic signature stamp doesn't grant more security clearance, some humans apparently see it as a badge of honor.
Markus joked about the "hidden" ranked system of the electronic signature that humans informally set up. From the rumors he heard, apparently his electronic signature approval was considered the easiest to come by. In second place was Simon, followed by Josh and North. Connor's was considered the rarest and hardest to come by since he is rarely around Jericho. Rumor is that he's only given his to one person.
"Even though Connor's usually only here for helping around security and police cases, I still consider him a member of my main team for advice," Markus noted to her. "Many here at Jericho also consider him a leader since he set free some many of our kind from CyberLife's Stratford Tower."
Markus then went into details about the three zones within Jericho. Most humans are limited to Zone 1 and a couple of tourist buildings within Zone 1. To apply for the ID is quick and easy, but background checks and security checks take about 2-3 weeks to process.
However, humans that are part of genuine hybrid families have access to Zone 2. Zone 2 is the middle layer of Jericho and requires special ID access to go through its gates. It is where hybrid families that wish to stick close to Jericho live and have newly developed houses to which they can rent. There is also a mini supermarket so that humans can conveniently get groceries.
Finally, Zone 3 is the deepest layer within Jericho and where most android operations take place. Only androids are allowed to go there and it is generally where most of the androids in Jericho reside.
"Actually, there was something else I wanted to ask about," Markus opened the door to the greenhouse with Alina closely following behind.
Alina nodded in return, but let out a gasp as she took in the breathtaking view of the small greenhouse garden. Within the greenhouse gardens, there were dozens of rows of potted plants, some with tiny flower buds. There were also some dirt beds where Alina could see labeled vegetable patches. Above them and growing on support beams were lush vines alongside other potted plants elegantly hanging from knots of braided string.
Markus let Alina take a couple of moments to absorb the scenery, then asked his question.
"What do you think of Connor?"
Alina arched an eyebrow, "What do you mean by that? Like as a person? I think he's pretty cool."
Markus relaxed, leaning his body against one of the dirt bed tables, "Do you like him?"
"Of course," Alina cheerfully said to him, continuing to examine her surroundings. "Oh, but not romantically, if that was what you meant. That would be weird."
"Wait," Alina paused for a moment, turning to Markus. "Why did you think I didn't like him?"
"Connor doesn't really connect with people well, so I was just making sure," Markus rubbed his left arm nervously. "And you're like his first real friend in a while."
Alina looked at Markus, bewildered, "What do you mean? Aren't you friends with him? Did something happen?"
Markus exhaled and stared at the greenhouse glass panel ceiling, "Nothing really happened and I like to think that we're friends. But he's always avoiding me or Jericho? I'm guessing he feels uncomfortable? I do weekly phone check-ins, but that is about it."
Markus began studying the palm of his hand, rubbing at the middle, "Did he ever happen...Does he ever talk about Jericho?"
Alina thoughtfully put her hand to her chin, "Hmmm, I think the biggest thing he occasionally mentions about Jericho is that he wants to do more to help. He feels like he isn't doing enough and I see him drawn to the DPD TV set whenever they talk about Jericho."
"He's in this trance-like state and sometimes his LED goes yellow mode after watching Jericho news," Alina flickered a plant leaf, testing its sturdiness.
"Connor does frequently send advice on politics and Jericho functionality," Markus murmured, his voice just barely audible. "I see, his heart is definitely at the right place. I guess he's still feeling under the waters maybe from being a deviant hunter."
"Deviant hunter?" Alina questioned, feigning ignorance. Connor didn't mention that to her here in this world, it is best to pretend to not know.
"You don't know?" Markus widened his eyes, concern filled in them. "It's probably better if Connor tells you about this and you hear things from his side. From my guess, it's why he avoids Jericho. Before he became deviant, he was a machine designed to hunt them."
Markus crossed his right foot over the other, "He feels guilty for going after deviants and having also kil-I mean, shut down some androids."
"Sorry," Markus arched his back and massaged the temples of his face. "That might have altered your perception of him. I hope you'll still be friends with him, he's a good man. He only did those things because he was commanded to as a machine for CyberLife."
"It makes sense you know," Alina solemnly said, poking at another plant stem. "He probably didn't want to be a spectacle, getting all those stares from other people."
Alina looked to the ground and rubbed her hands gingerly.
"I got a bunch of stares just from coming in through the gate and even when I stepped into the guest center where there were lots of other humans," Alina's body shuddered. "I can't imagine being the deviant hunter and having to deal with like ten times of that probably."
"Would you still be friends with him after learning about him being a deviant hunter?" Markus curiously asked, hope in his eyes this time.
"Yes," Alina confidently answered. She then followed up with some questions of her own.
"Do you still consider him a good friend? After all that?" Alina cautiously pressed Markus and carefully watched Markus' reaction. In all honesty, when she did her first playthrough, when Markus had to choose between trusting and not trusting Connor-she was hesitant to press the 'trust' button.
I mean, if I were in Markus' shoes and I met the deviant hunter who gave off Jericho' location, I wouldn't exactly trust Connor. How would one know if Connor truly was on the deviants' side?
Alina had clicked on 'trust' in the end because she had waited so long for Connor to potentially become a deviant. Also, I did play as both Markus and Connor, so I knew that I could trust Connor.
Alina continued to examine Markus as she put another question on the table, "What about in the future? If you found out more unpleasant stuff about him?" Does he know Connor pulled out a gun on him on stage?
Alina sucked in her breath, waiting for Markus to reply. She had read so many headcanons and fanfiction accounts of the potential dynamic between Connor and Markus. But what was reality? How does Markus truly feel about Connor? She would feel devastated if their relationship was strained and Connor was isolated from other androids, even if it was unintentional.
"Connor risked his life on a suicide mission and saved us. I will forever be grateful to him, even with his past," Markus smiled fondly to her. "There may be other secrets he holds close to him, but I will continue to stay as his friend for as long as I can."
Alina let her shoulders relax while she let out a sigh of relief, "That's good."
"I'm glad to see that Connor has someone else to also rely on too," Markus commented as they exited the greenhouse and continued exploring the rest of Jericho.
Hello! I know I said that you guys wouldn't hear from me for a while, but I wanted to squeeze out one last chapter before my school year officially started. Technically it started today and i just had my 1st zoom class, but hey its the clam before the storm. Unfortunately, after this I don't think I will be able to 5k-6k word chapters, they will go back to 2k-3k words every 2-3 weeks based on my availability since online classes r more tiresome than in person :(
Hmmm, this chapter was more of a filler chapter, I feel like. i wanted to write more, but then my brain like went ehhhhh. XD but yeah, this chapter was mostly a way for alina to establish a relationship between alina and the jericho crew in a sense
i hope yall enjoyed markus n alina's first meet :D
But also inceptionnnnnnnn in this storyyyy, (i think tht is how it is called). I mean-What is reality and game to Alina at this point in time? In the future? How will they collide?
Q&A: What do you guys think about the 3 zones of Jericho system and the ID thing? Do you think it helps bridge human-android connections or it breaks it more? Or is the security measures its necessary to some degree?
And any thoughts on why when Alina heard Gary, it was in "[" and "]" instead of normal text, hmmmmm