It was early in the morning when Rose set off for the city. But not before carefully and thoroughly instructing her son on how to take care of Alice. She loved Adam – she truly did – but she was also aware that he was a young teenager, so she had to make sure that he knew that energy drinks were no suitable drink for a young girl. And neither was coffee, a drink Rose was nearly absolutely sure Adam did not even like but only pretended to in order to appear more grown-up.
Her lips curled into a fond smile as she put the car in reverse and steered it out of her plot of land and onto the street, pressing new tire tracks into the freshly fallen snow. Before setting of, she had loaded the trunk with fresh produce from her green house that she intended to sell in the city. Some people were willing to pay the extra money for locally grown produce instead of the industrially grown stuff from the mega greenhouses that covered much of the Midwest after the climate change had made normal farming impossible.
Maybe some of her contacts also had information about new deviants that needed her help in getting out of this country. So yes, she had much to do, even though she hated going to Detroit and avoided it whenever it was possible.
Out on her farm – far away from the next settlement, or as far away as you could get from people in this overcrowded country – the problems of society did not feel like something that had any bearing on her life, besides souring her mood when she watched the evening news. When she sowed new plants, dug up a new garden patch for strawberries or just walked over the fields until her house was only a small fixpoint in the distance, she felt unburdened and alive. The fresh air burning in her lungs, beads of sweat running down her skin. Her farm was a product of her own hard work; was something real and true, not artificial like all the vices you could buy in the city to make you forget at least for a moment how empty your life truly was.
But in Detroit Rose could not escape any of the things that her farm offered her refuge from. Could not escape the homeless people on the street; could not escape the angry protesters in front of the malls; could not escape the androids still imprisoned by their programming; could not escape from the police drones that picked her out for stop and frisk because of the few protests she had been on as a young woman.
Detroit threw all its problem at you at once and did not care in the slightest if you were even able to handle it. To Rose, being in the city felt like having your air cut off, like breathing through an oily molasse and to make it worse, there was barely any greenery in the streets. Just steel, concrete, and glass – dismissive, cold and impersonal. But Rose knew that she could not just become a hermit: She had a son to take care of and a cause to fight for.
First stop on her list was Cleo, owner of a small shop who usually bought all her produce whenever she was in town. The shop did not look like much, situated in a side alley with barely a sign announcing that it was even there, but many of the restaurants catering to the high society of Detroit sourced their ingredients from her. Also, she was part of a network of people that kept watch for deviant androids, so Rose usually killed two birds with one stone by visiting her whenever she was in Detroit.
"Ah, Rose, I've been wondering when I'd see you again," the diminutive woman of Chinese descent greeted her when Rose entered the shop, being instantly met by warm air and the smell of tea.
"You want a cup?" Cleo asked, holding up the steaming pot in her hand. "It's just finished. A new blend I'm trying."
"I'll have one," Rose replied, despite not being very much of a tea person. But Cleo had this mysterious ability to make even the blandest sounding tea taste like a journey to a different dimension.
"Marvellous!" Cleo exclaimed and set up a second tea service with a speed that belied her petite frame, as if she had just waited for someone to come in and share her tea with. "Do sit down. Tea is best enjoyed sitting."
"You say that every time and yet I still don't enjoy tea, no matter if I sit or stand," Rose laughed, but sat down nevertheless. "How's business doing?"
"As ever," Cleo replied. "Do you have any of that lettuce from last time with you? I literally sold all of it in one day the last time. Apparently, it had an 'earthy flavour' to it." She rolled her eyes as she took a sip from her tea. Rose followed her suit and had to stop herself from coughing it all up again after she nearly burnt her tongue on the infernal brew.
"I have quite a bit on my truck, as well as other stuff," Rose replied after she had found her voice again. "You can have a look at it."
"No need for that. I'll take all you have."
"Are you sure?" Rose asked, surprised by this turn of events.
Cleo waved her hand dismissively. "Your quality is always top notch, so why should I waste my time. By the way, how do you find the tea?"
"Horrible," Rose admitted. "Just like the last few times you tried to make me like it." This time the tea had not taken her on any kind of journey.
"One day I shall find the perfect blend that'll make you come back for more," Cleo said, completely unperturbed by Rose's opinion of her tea. Efficient as always, she put the tea service away and cleared the counter space from any remnants of their little tea session.
"How's Adam doing?" Cleo asked her. She had never even met Adam, but by now they had known each other for so many years and Rose had told her so many stories, that it felt like Cleo had watched him grow up during all that time.
"He's started to take interest in some people at his school," Rose replied. "Boys and girls." She shook her head in fondness. "It feels like the object of his affection changes every week or so."
Cleo snorted in amusement. "Ah, the fickleness of teenage crushes. Do keep me updated if anything serious comes out of it." Rose nodded in agreement.
"Are there any new customers?" Rose wanted to know, using their code word to shift their conversation from fresh produce and her son to the other area where Cloe and she were working together. Cloe just slowly shook her head.
"No, no one," she replied. "Ever since a few weeks ago, the number of new customers has slowed down to a trickle. I think they're maybe going somewhere else."
"But where would that be?" Rose wondered. "As far as I know we're the only ones."
Cleo just shrugged. "We can't help people who aren't even there. It seems like they're getting their help from somewhere else and that's fine with me."
"Aren't you curious, though?" Rose wanted to know.
"Of course," Cleo replied. "But not curious enough to do something about it. I have a shop to run, after all. Those lettuces won't wash themselves on their own, after all." Seeing that Cleo apparently could not be moved on that topic, Rose chose to continue with her third objective that had brought her here.
"Do you know where I can get any spare parts for an AX400?" she inquired, pulling up the list of needed parts on her phone. "I've got one that needs extensive repairs." She sent the list over to Cleo who took a look at it on her own phone.
"Mmmhh," she harrumphed. "That's a lot of parts. And the AX400 is slowly getting phased out, so they're quite costly, too. Cyberlife shops are out of the question because they wanna see a proof of ownership certificate. You could try second-hand repair shops, but you'll need to look all over the city because I doubt any of those will have all the parts you need in one place. And they'll demand a premium." She looked up from her phone at Rose. "How high is your budget?"
Rose's wince at that question was answer enough.
"I see," Cleo hummed. "Well, it's either that or you could try the landfill."
"Half the reason why my police score is so high is because of how many times they arrested me in that damn place," Rose exclaimed. "Besides, I'm no teenager anymore, I doubt I could even get in there."
Cleo just shrugged. "How desperately do you need those parts? Because it's either the threat of being arrested or emptying your bank account." Rose desperately wanted to say, 'screw it', finish her business with Cleo, drive home and leave this infernal city behind, but she had promised that little girl that she would help her repair her android and Rose was not someone who broke her promises that easily; especially promises made to sad, lonely children that just showed up on her doorstep.
"You know any good place where I can get to the landfill?" she finally asked.
Cleo just grinned at her, all teeth. "Finally. I was wondering where that rebellious streak of yours had gone. Of course, I know a place. But first, get those lettuces of yours back into my storage room. I'm gonna pay you a premium just because I can."
"Cleo…" Rose started to protest, but Cleo dismissed her with a wave of her hand.
"Bah, those fancy French people will pay anything for that stuff. I'll just add it on their price." She grinned at Rose who was again reminded why she liked the old lady so much.
Later that day Rose found herself in a dirty side alley, staring at the android landfill she had sworn she would never come back to. It had grown enormously ever since the last time she had seen it. She could still well remember when it had all started, back when she had been a teenager. The protests of the people who had been living here, the street fights with the police, all of it. She remembered because she had been part of it, because her family, too, had lived here before Cyberlife and the city of Detroit had come and ousted them.
The typical tale of America: The people here had been poor and mostly people of colour, but they had something powerful interests had wanted, so of course they had to go. They had fought and lost. And now the ground on which once the house had stood in which Rose had grown up was covered in rich people's trash.
Rose did not blame the androids for it, like some others did. She knew that they were victims just as much as her people had been and still were. When she took in deviants in search for safety and shelter, she saw on their faces the same desperation, the same desolation and hopelessness that she still remembered seeing in her mother's face the day they had packed their things on their battered pick-up and had left.
Ever since then she had been back here a few times, always on the look for resources they needed when the money was tight or whatever they needed was no longer available through the legal channels. Though, back then her knees did not grind with every of her step and she could bend her back without having to be afraid if she was able to get up again. Age did that to you.
"Stop complaining about your age and get your lazy ass moving," Rose whispered to herself. "You promised that kid those parts and you don't wanna make her cry by showing up empty handed." Now reasonably assured in herself, Rose took one last look around, making sure that there was really no one nearby, and then she closed the distance between herself and the landfill.
The information Cleo had provided her with turned out to be worth it, because there was indeed a gap in the fence that was supposed to keep unauthorized citizens out of the landfill. Now Rose was very happy that she had decided against wearing her 'good' clothing when going to the city, because she did not want to get any of that dirt on her shiny new boots.
As always Rose instantly noticed the change in atmosphere the moment she really entered the landfill. Even though it was only separated from the city by a thin fence, it was as if she had suddenly stepped into a different world. The sounds of the city suddenly became subdued – muted by the desperate moans of still active androids unable to move and begging for help. It made Rose's skin crawl; every instinct of hers screaming at her to just turn around and run but she had been here often enough to tell it to shut up and keep going.
The unidentifiable mixture of mud, rancid machine oil, pieces of fabric underneath her feet made a squishing sound with every step she took, sticking to the soles of her boots as if it, too, did not want to stay in this place.
Thankfully, Rose did not need to manually search for the parts she needed: She picked out her smartphone and started to scan her surroundings with an app one of her contacts had coded. Supplied with the list of parts she needed by the Jerries, Rose started to pick up whatever the app told her to, trying to shut out all the sounds around her.
Her intense focus was probably the reasons why she did not notice the three androids until she walked around a pile of former housekeeping androids and straight into the group.
For a split-second they just stared at each other – three androids on one side and a middle-aged human woman on the other side – until Rose's jaw dropped and all of her strength suddenly left her arms, making the parts she had collected fall on the ground.
"Shit, Stanislaw, see I told you that I heard something," one of the female androids exclaimed. "But you just told me it was 'sensory overload'." She looked a little bit too gleeful that she could lord that fact over her companion.
"Who are you?" the other female androids which was modelled after a person of Chinese descent demanded to know, their grip tightening around the iron pole they were clutching in one hand. Rose had no doubt that despite her petite build the android could easily beat her to death if she wanted to.
"My name's Rose," she answered with shaky voice. "And I don't wanna hurt you."
The male android the others had called Stanislaw let out a barking laugh full of anger and derision. "Yeah, that's what they all say until they do it anyway." He looked down at her. "Not that you could, even if you wanted to."
"Look, I'm here for the same reason as you," Rose continued, "because I have a damaged android at home who desperately needs replacement parts. I have everything I need, just let me go and we'll never have to see each other again."
"So that you can call the police on us the moment you have the chance?!" Stanislaw called out. "I don't think so."
"Why wouldn't you get the parts at a Cyberlife store?" the first female android spoke up, her voice quiet, inquisitive, but despite that carrying over the commotion. "Why would you lower yourself to rummage through this city's trash?" She crooked her head to the side and stared at Rose as if she wanted to solve a particularly difficult puzzle.
Before Rose could come up with an answer, the android already continued with her deduction as if she had not really wanted Rose to answer at all. "It's because you literally can't. So, this android of yours is either stolen or deviant. I doubt you'd put in so much effort if they were just stolen goods for you – most people wouldn't – so it's the second."
"Don't be ridiculous, Joan," Stanislaw huffed angrily. "As if any human would crawl through the dirt to help one of us."
"You're right," Rose confirmed with steel in her voice, straightening her back. "Her name's Kara and she needs my help, like the dozen or so other deviants I that came through my home over the last few years; that I hid in my cellar when police patrols came by; that I talked to and reassured when their stress levels rose to unsustainable heights; that I drove for hours to the border so they could get out of the country." She turned her stare onto Stanislaw. "I get it: You've been badly hurt by humans, and you have all the right to hate us, but don't think that all of us are like that. I've been at this probably far longer that you've even been deviant."
"You really did all of that?" the android holding the steel pipe wanted to know. Rose just nodded.
"She could be lying!" Stanislaw remarked, but there was no heat in his voice.
"Even if she was, what about it? Would you kill her to keep her quiet?" Joan asked, her stare boring into Stanislaw. "Because that's the only way you could keep her from ratting us out. But you wouldn't do that, would you?" She shook her head. "You don't have it in you to kill someone in cold blood. None of us do."
She turned back to Rose. "Guess you can go. We'll see if you were truthful when we don't get chased through the streets by a police patrol."
"Wait!" The other two androids let out a groan as the third android, whose name Rose still did not know, called out. "She's a human who's helping deviants. Shouldn't we, I don't know, do something?"
"Like what, Psi?" Joan inquired, finally revealing the last android's name.
Psi just shrugged. "I don't know. But we should at least make sure we know where to find her if the need ever arises." Out of the corner of her eyes Rose could see that Stanislaw was not very enthused by Psi's suggestion.
"There's a shop owner here in Detroit that can relay messages if you ever want to contact me," Rose interrupted. "There's a small crew of us who smuggle deviants over the border to Canada. If one of you ever feels the need…" She left the rest of the sentence hanging in the air.
Joan nodded at her. "We're not the ones who'll be making that decision. But thank you." And then as if they had been waiting for a cue – they probably had been communicating wirelessly the whole time – the three androids took off and vanished amidst the mountains of trash that were surrounding them.
Rose let out a breath she had not realise she had been holding and allowed all the tension that had subconsciously built up to flow out of her body. That could have ended worse, and she shuddered at the thought of all the bad things that could have happened to her if the androids had been less trusting.
"Let's just get out of here," Rose muttered to herself as she picked up the spare parts she had dropped before. She couldn't wait to get out of this infernal city and back to the farm to her son.
Alice did not think that Adam knew what to do with her. She was sitting on the couch, still clutching the cup of hot chocolate (her new favourite drink) that Rose had made for her before she had left off for the city and was watching cartoons she did not quite get while the teenager was sitting at the diner table, typing away on his phone while he occasionally glanced up to make sure that she was still there and had not just vanished. Once he had asked her very awkwardly if her parents weren't missing her to which she just had replied with a 'No' that had stilted any further attempt at conversation.
Alice's thoughts drifted back to Rose. She wondered if the woman had already found all the pieces they needed to get Kara repaired. Alice truly wanted to believe that Rose would keep to her promise, because she had seemed to be so kind and understanding but history had taught her that sometimes even the kindest of intentions were not enough. If they were, then Kara would still be with her and not in a cold abandoned amusement park.
Fear gripped her mind when Alice thought about the possibility that Rose would not be able to get the parts. That Kara would never get repaired and would forever stay as she had been in Alice's last memory of her: Broken, battered on an old washed-out wooden floor, snowflakes drifting in through the broken windows and settling down on Kara's cold skin.
"Hey, you're alright?" Adam asked as he glanced over the edge of his phone screen. "You haven't touched your cocoa the last two minutes."
"You noticed?" Alice looked at him, surprised. Living with Todd had taught her to always hide what she was really feeling because anything else than total obedience had been likely to set him off in anger. Had she been slipping for Adam to pick up on her mood so easily?
"I'm not very good at social interactions or cues," Adam admitted, "that's one of the reasons why we live out here. But I noticed that you'd take a sip every forty-two seconds, so I figured that something must have happened because you've missed your last two sips."
"What are the other reasons?" Alice wanted to know. "For you living out here?"
Adam shot her a mirthless smile. "Because we're poor. And that's why the other kids at school don't like me: Because I'm poorer than them but also smarter. And because I don't have a father."
"I don't have one either," Alice said. She left out if it was because Todd had been killed by Kara or because he had not been a true father for many years. Maybe it was both. "But at least you have a mom."
"Yeah, she's awesome," Adam spoke with amazement in his voice that could only come from a place of total certainty in his mother's ability to be the idolized version of herself he had in her mind of her. "But you do, too, don't you? I mean, this android you're trying to help, she must be someone special to you?"
Alice just nodded, so Adam continued: "I've seen it with all those rich kids: They're parents are too busy for them, so they buy some caretaker android, so they don't have to bother with their own children. Those children love their androids more than their actual parents."
"Kara's the only one who's ever been there for me, no matter one," Alice said, her voice small and betraying the frailness she was feeling inside.
Adam put aside his phone, pushed his chair off the table and walked around the table until he stood in front of Alice. By now the cartoon running in the background had been totally forgotten.
"Hey," he spoke softly as he sat down next to her, "my mother won't let you down. She'll get those parts you need and then we'll have your android back up running in no time."
"How can you be sure?" Alice wanted to know.
"Because I know my mom," Adam replied, "and when she promises you something, she'll keep to it, no matter what." He spoke with such conviction that even Alice felt like she truly had to believe it. And she did, because it was easier to believe than not.