The streets around here were so unlike anything Markus had ever known in his life.

Desolate. Dilapidated. Bedraggled.

Back with Carl the street they had lived in had been…well, different than that. Most of the neighbours had been a little bit reclusive, but you greeted each other when you met on the street, exchanged some words and even gave each other tips about gardening. The grass between the street and the sidewalk was cut with surgical precision, not a single blade out of place. Every street light was in working order, enabling you to even walk the street at night without the fear of hidden dangers.

But even more than the tidiness of the street there had also been a sense of community: There was their slightly eccentric neighbour – an sixty-two-years old, former actress – who had always asked Markus to mow heir lawn, even though their were specialised androids who could do it much better and faster than him, but she had insisted. She would offer him lemonade (even though he didn't need to drink), cookies (same) and pay him twenty Dollars a hour. Sometimes it oh so happened that she would spill something on his shirt and he needed to take it off for it to dry.

Until today, Markus firmly thought that the woman didn't believe that he was an android. Even though he and Carl had told her several times. Android or not, she would tell him, he still should buy himself something nice from the money. And keep up with whatever body regime he was doing, because if she was thirty years younger she would totally "hit that ass".

Carl had laughed a lot while Markus had been left quite confused and embarrassed (even though he hadn't known at that time what that was).

The other neighbours on the street, too, had never been hostile towards him. Most of them had just ignored him, not out of malice, but simply in the way you wouldn't pay attention to your household appliances either. But there were some who would help him if they saw him struggling with carrying Carl's groceries up the driveway or would greet him on the street.

It was so unlike where they were currently.

Most of the former inhabitants of this city quarter had long ago just packed up and left, forced out by a long string of one recession after another. They had left behind houses that had slowly fallen victim to decay over time: Broken windows that had never been replaced, unroofed housetops that had never been repaired, graffiti and other smearings that had never been painted over. Stray dogs and cats were wandering through the ruins; big, glistening eyes that stared back at them from the darkness.

There were countless cracks in the asphalt, street lights that were only flickering, subsuming the street in a state of half-darkness. When the people left, the city had stopped to bother with repair work and just left the quarter to its own devices.

And looming in the background where the illuminated skyscrapers of downtown Detroit, calling to the people here like sirens, promising a paradise they could never reach.

"Tell me again, why we're doing this here in a residential neighbourhood when the truck also passes through perfectly uninhabited industrial areas?" North complained from where she was sitting in one of the chairs that were still left in the ground-level living room of the empty house they were currently occupying.

"They may be uninhabited, but they're not empty," Daniel replied evenly. Markus admired his stoicism when it came to North's more or less hidden barbs. "Most of the companies there have security androids and drones that patrol the streets." He stepped near a window, the light from outside faintly illuminating his silhouette. "Here, on the other hand, no one bothers. Not even the police. There's only squatters and drug junkies around here and even if they saw us, they would never call the police."

It had been Markus idea when they had come up with a plan. He had remembered a passionate speech of Carl's about the abandonment of the outer districts of Detroit and the people there and how City Hall and the police were just giving up those areas to gangs and other criminals because no one of importance lived there.

"Makes me wonder why Cyberlife jumps through all these hoops to get their transport out of the city," Simon spoke up. "Why not just have a heavy police escort accompany the truck to the city borders?"

"Because Cyberlife's paranoid," Daniel answered. "Not only about their own employees, but also about their competition, the police, foreign spies and practically everyone they think could be after their intellectual property."

Intellectual property. He meant androids. By now Markus couldn't even be bothered to express his rage at the way androids were threatened in this society. He was so exhausted and if he allowed his emotions to surface at every injustice, he wouldn't get anything done. He would keep his rage, his indignation, his hurt and his wrath inside and preserve them for a time when he would really need them.

"What a sad way to live," Josh commented solemnly. "Not even being able to trust your own species."

"They're humans," North snorted derisively. "What did you expect?"

"Please don't start with that topic again," Simon interjected. "You can have your philosophical discussions with Josh once we're back at Jericho." North looked like she wanted to murder Simon for even implying that she partook in something even remotely related to 'philosophical discussions', but then a sickening sweet smile appeared on her face which only made Simon gulp in fear.

Markus, meanwhile, just enjoyed watching his friends bicker amongst themselves.

Their plan was pretty simple: Every Cyberlife truck was equipped with a GPS system that constantly sent their location to their headquarters. In order for them to steal the truck, they first needed to disengage that system.

Luckily for them, North had experience in disabling Cyberlife's GPS systems. Eden Club had had all of their androids equipped with a sensor in case on of their clients decided to steal their merchandise and "take it for a ride themselves". After she escaped Eden Cub she had been forced to be constantly on the move and dodge Cyberlife patrols until she finally managed to manually override the GPS tracker.

Now North was pretty sure that she would be able to override the truck's GPS system as well and have Cyberlife believe that it was still merrily on its way to Chicago while in reality it had long been raided by them.

Markus looked back at Daniel, who was the only one, beside North, who didn't wear a beanie to hide his LED. The reason was simple: He had cut it out.

"What is the knife for?" Markus had asked him shortly before they were to depart for their mission.

Calmly, Daniel had explained to him that he intended to cut his LED out so that he would be able to better pass off as a human in the outside world and that it would probably be for the best if they all did the same. And then he had proceeded to do just so: A series of small cuts and the LED was dangling off his sleeve, ripped off with one abrupt yank.

North had followed suit enthusiastically, impatient to get rid of the last thing tying her to what she had been and was trying to escape. Markus, Simon and Josh, meanwhile, hadn't been able to bring themselves to remove the LED.

Markus didn't know what the other androids' reasons where, but he just knew that he didn't want to hide who he was. He was aware that it was irrational and maybe even dangerous, but he was here because he was fighting for their right to be irrational. He was an android and there was nothing shameful – nothing to hide – about that. He knew that neither Daniel nor North were ashamed of what they were, but Markus wanted the world to know who and what he was.

He was an android.

He was a slave. He was a thing. And no matter what the world did to him, he would stand up again and again to escape those definitions.

One day, all of them would be able to wear their LEDs with pride. One day.

Daniel had accepted his decision without comment and for that Markus was glad.

"It's coming," Simon announced. And, indeed, there was a white truck turning the corner towards the street with the house they were hiding in. Nothing indicated that Cyberlife had anything to do with the vehicle: Just a non-descript white truck like you saw on Detroit's street a hundred times a day, without even the company's logo.

"Are you sure that this is the right one?" Josh asked, scepticism clear on his expression.

"I'm sure," Daniel replied.

No one else spoke, as the tension in the room suddenly manifolded. Even though Markus tried to calm himself down by reminding himself that this was just an automated truck and not some heavily guarded transporter that housed the president or something, but still, he couldn't help but watch his stress level rising.

What if Cyberlife somehow knew about them? What if there weren't supplies waiting for them but a whole platoon of heavily armed guards?

"Now," North spoke as the truck was nearly next to their hiding spot. As fast as they could, they heaved themselves through the broken windows and ran towards the truck. They knew from Daniel's plans that here was a connection between the driver's cabin and the cargo area at the back of the truck, so they just needed to somehow get into the driver's cabin before anyone noticed them.

Simon was the first to reach the driver's door. He interfaced with the machine for a few seconds (that still felt like hours to Markus) before the door fell open with a click.

"Wow, they didn't really expect anyone," Simon commented and sprang into the vehicle, followed by North, Josh, Daniel and Markus as the last one. He pulled the door shut. Instantly, his core temperature dropped and his stress levels sank. The most public part of their heist was behind them.

"North, can you hack the GPS system on that thing?" he turned towards the blonde.

"On it, boss," she replied cheekily and kneeled down next to the main console of the truck. Josh, Simon and Daniel, meanwhile were already in the cargo hold, inspecting their loot.

"There's several canisters of thirium here!" Simon exclaimed.

"And spare parts!" Josh added. "Nothing big like limbs, but optical units, wires, sound and audio units, processors…" Markus could hear the excitement in their voices. He, too, couldn't help but feel a little bit giddy now that they actually had something they could use to help the androids back at Jericho.

"I'm in!" North proclaimed. "I've uploaded my custom program. The only thing Cyberlife is going to see is this sweet baby driving all the way to Chicago. And when they realise that it never made it, it'll be far too late."

"Good work," Markus complimented her. North just lifted her hand for a high-five. Markus, too relieved that they weren't dead yet, didn't have the strength to resist and gave it to her.

Their moment of happiness was short-lived, though, for when they drove past the next junction, a police car suddenly lined up behind them.

"You said there wouldn't be police around here!" North hissed at him. For the first time, Markus saw Daniel's serene façade crack as his eyes darted around panickily while he bit down on his lips.

"I thought there wouldn't be!" he hissed back. He looked around as if he was searching for an escape for them, but the police car was too close already. They wouldn't make it.

"In the back!" Daniel barked at them as he sat down on the driver's seat. "Hide!" North looked like she wanted to protest, but before she could even open her mouth, Markus snatched her back. As fast as they could, the four androids hid between the crates that were stored in the back of the truck.

Not a second too late for the next moment the truck stopped. Markus could hear the window on the driver's side lowering.

"Good evening, sirs," Daniel spoke, sounding much more collected than he had just a few seconds before.

"Good evening," a woman was greeting him back. Probably one of the police officers. "Is there a problem?"

"No," Daniel replied. "Any reason there should be?"

"Well," the voice of the second police officer belonged to a man. "You see, usually there isn't much traffic around here, so when we saw the truck we were wondering…" He left the rest of the sentence hanging in the air.

Daniel laughed. It sounded so natural. "I see what you mean. Well, I'm supposed to get this thing to Chicago and I thought I cold take a short cut to get to the I-94 a little bit faster, but Detroit changed quite a bit since the last time I've been here and now I'm just looking to get out of here."

"What is he talking about?" Simon whispered.

"He's trying to get them off our backs," Josh replied.

"You're off quite a bit," the male officer replied. "Here, allow us to escort you to the next ramp. I'll drive ahead and my colleague will sit with you until we reach the Interstate."

"Thank you so much, officers." Daniel even managed to sound grateful, even though he had to be anything but. Markus was definitely more than a little bit terrified. He knew that if push came to shove, they could probably overpower the two officers, but while they were outnumbered, they had weapons. There was no way of telling how a fight would turn out.

They could hear a door opening and closing. Next to him he could feel North tense up. Then the truck started moving.

"It's not that often that you see a human trucker," the female officer remarked. "Most transports are either automated or driven by androids."

"My boss doesn't want androids driving his trucks," Daniel replied. "And he doesn't trust the automated ones. What if one's hacked by some pimply teenager who makes off with all the wares?" The officer laughed.

"Smart one," she replied. "Not to spook you, but androids aren't trustworthy. You wouldn't believe how many have gone rogue and hurt their owners the last few months alone."

"Really?" Daniel exclaimed, feigning horror.

"Yep," the officer confirmed. The truck turned around a corner. "First they steal our jobs and now they're coming after us. I've even heard that the city centre precinct got a new Cyberlife prototype that's supposed to replace a detective."

"No!"

"Yes! Soon you'll be the only one with a job around here. My father was a trucker, too, but one day the company fired all drivers and replaced them with androids. Now he's just sitting at home, drinking beer after beer, because who would hire a sixty-something old man who's done nothing but driving his whole live?" She laughed, an ugly and bitter sound.

"I've got a friend who worked as a private tutor," Daniel told her. "Until people started using androids to teach their children because they don't want to get paid."

"Makes you wonder, doesn't it? What's even the point of us humans anymore, when there's nothing left for us to do?"

Daniel was saved from giving an answer, because apparently they had reached their destination.

"Just up there and you'll be on the I-94," the officer told him.

"Thank you again," Daniel told her. "And also give my gratitude to your colleague."

"Keep fighting the good fight! As long as you still got your job there's still some hope for the rest of us." Then the door slammed shut and silence descended over them.

"Don't come out," Daniel ordered them as he continued to drive on. "They're still looking." So, they stayed hidden between the crates, the only indication that they were now on the Interstate the slow acceleration of the truck.

"Now."

"That was close," Simon commented as they made their way into the driver's cab.

"Yeah, we were lucky that you PL600 have so trustworthy faces," North threw in, a small smile tugging on her lips.

"We need to get off the next exit," Josh reminded them. "We don't really want to leave Detroit."

"Don't worry," Daniel assured him. "I've already mapped out the shortest way to get back to Jericho."

"Great," North said neutrally. "You two!" She pointed at Simon and Josh who looked back at her with wide eyes. "You're helping me take inventory of all the stuff in here so that we can start distribute it the moment we reach Jericho." Neither of them was brave enough to object her, so with a little bit of grumbling they followed North into the back of the truck. Markus, meanwhile, took the passenger seat.

"They, too, suffer under the current conditions, do they?" he wondered out loud. "I don't want to excuse their despicable behaviour, but if we understand where it comes from it gets easier to change things, doesn't it?"

"There are only a few people who profit from the current situation," Daniel agreed with him. "But as it as is with most systems, those who profit are usually those in power and therefore have no real drive to change the status quo."

"Then why are they directing all their anger and hate at us?" Markus asked out loud.

"Because it's easier to kick down than to lift up," Daniel replied. "Besides, the fact remains that we are not human." Before Markus could protest, he already continued. "We can be equal to humans or like humans, but we will never be them. If you really want humans and androids to live peacefully together, you need to think of a way to bridge that alienness."

Markus mulled over that question for the rest of the ride. Daniel took the next exit and then it was a slow drive through the backstreets of Detroit back to Jericho, always careful that no one was following them.

When they reached Jericho, they parked the truck in one of the empty warehouses that stood right next to the pier where the ship was moored. Lucy and a few other androids were already waiting for them. They instantly started to help the team unloading the truck and bringing the supplies into the ship while Lucy joined up with Markus.

"You came back," she said, as serenely as always, her black eyes sucking in the ambient light like black holes. "And you brought hope for our people."

"It won't last long," Markus sighed. "There are so many injured here and we plan to get even more. It'd be a wonder if it's even enough for all androids we currently have."

"Sometimes it isn't about the results, but about the action itself," Lucy remarked. "You've shown that there's something we can do against an seemingly invincible oppressor. Most are aware that this is only a first step amidst many, but you've revealed that there are at least steps we could take. That there is a way forward for all of us." She smiled at him. "Hope is such a precious gift."

"I want to give them more than hope," Markus replied as he watched a TR400 lift a heavy crate filled with thirium cannisters. "I want to give them a life without fear. Without hate. They deserve that."

"You will," Lucy spoke, full of conviction.

"How can you be so sure of that?"

Lucy looked at him, her eyes so full of wisdom and an emotion Markus couldn't put into words. "Because you gifted me hope when I had nothing." And before Markus could reply anything, she was already stepping away, back towards the Jericho.

Not wanting to stand around and just watch, Markus shook his head and walked towards the truck, ready to do his share of the work.

It took the androids about half-an-hour to get everything into Jericho's cargo hold where Lucy and other androids with medical and semi-medical background started to dispense the supplies to those who needed them. Nearly every android needed thirium, some more, some less. There were androids with short-circuited wiring, others who couldn't speak anymore or whose audio units had given out on them.

And with every android that was helped, Markus could feel the mood rising. It was as if the desperation and the hopelessness that had permeated the very atmosphere down here were slowly driven back and replaced by – not joy – but cautious hopefulness.

"We made it." Markus turned around to see North standing next to him. Apparently, she had used the time he had been observing to climb up to join him on the platform.

She laughed. "I feel like I could conquer the world."

"Better refrain from that, at least until we got a plan," Markus gently reminded her.

"I've been here for four weeks, three days and eleven hours," North started, "and all this time it was as if we were all waiting until we would need to shut down. It was dying in instalments, even if I didn't want to admit it." She sighed. "But ever since you arrived, I dared to hope that you would lead us somewhere better. And you did. Maybe it only seems small to you, but for many of us it means the world. Come what might, but you'll have me at your side. Josh and Simon, too, but let's be real, there of no use in a real fight."

Markus cracked a smile. "I'd be honoured to have you."