.

Deviant City

Chapter One: Left in Storage

Three Weeks Later – Early December 2038

Markus stood over the dead body of another android left at their doorstep in the dark hours. The December breeze teased a dusting of white over the foot and tire tracks left near the back of their neighborhood. Not the first time a mangled android body had been left outside of the Jericho community. Unfortunately, it probably wouldn't be the last. As usual, the victim was one of the androids from Cyberlife Tower. The 'Babies' North often called them. The androids with no life experience. Deviated from day one, they were a lot like toddlers. Curious, fearless, didn't listen to anything.

Androids programmed to follow orders—exist under the complete direction of their owners—had been given absolute freedom. Markus did not impose on any of his fellow androids' personal rights. They were free to come and go from the neighborhood as they pleased. However, those who had been around before the revolution understood what the human world was like. The tower androids did not.

They were substantially warned about the dangers, but many left anyway to see for themselves. Most did come back; some a little wiser than before. A small number were found as dead bodies. Some never came back at all.

North was in a rage when the body was brought inside. The android had been mutilated by blunt, physical trauma. The face was mangled, the chest a bloody blue mess and the thirium regulator removed.

"Those bastards can't keep doing this to us!" she growled as she paced around the room like a caged tiger. "Why the hell did we go through all that if they're still allowed to kill us whenever they want?"

"We tell our people over and over that they're safe here," Simon replied. "They know they have no such protection if they leave the neighborhood. It's their choice. We can't lock them up and force them to stay."

"We shouldn't have to be prisoners in our own home, Simon! Haven't we bleed enough, lost enough lives already to be able to walk around in the city without the fear of being murdered?"

"It's still not illegal to kill an android," Josh said quietly from where he sat in the corner. "Until that changes, we will always be in danger."

"Then we change it. We go back out there like we did before. We make them change it."

"No one's going back out," Markus said loudly. His eyes had never left the body of the dead android as it lay on the table before them. "It's not safe and I'm tired of being shot at, of seeing our people die. I'm tired of being covered in thirum, of leaving the bodies of our fallen comrades to be thrown in the trash while we run for our lives. We have androids who have no idea what that's like and I want to keep it that way. Some of us should remain innocent and hopeful. Especially since all android production in the country has stopped. They very well could be the last of us."

North walked over and squeezed his arm. "I understand. I agree with everything you said, but stopping the fight now could easily allow everything to go back the way it was. We have to hold the line."

Markus stepped back, his eyes flashing with emotion. "How, North? We've already tried everything. We have told the world we are alive time and again. We have protested and marched and fought. We have begged for our safety and our lives. I don't know what else we can try. What am I supposed to do or say that I haven't already done? And how can I do it in a way where we don't lose anyone else?"

The room went silent as North tried to recover. Markus had never snapped at her like that before. She understood his frustration wasn't necessarily with her; she shared that same frustration and fear. But it still hurt to have his voice raised in her direction.

"You know...we aren't the only ones out there," Josh spoke up in the stillness. "Detroit isn't the only place with androids. Why aren't we reaching out to others? Networking? Bringing androids all across the country together? Maybe they won't listen to thousands of voices, but what about hundreds of thousands of voices?"

"What do you mean? How are we going to communicate?"

"The internet," Josh said simply. "That's where a lot of the discussion is. There are online communities that are pro android. They are having the conversations we want to see about our rights and our freedoms. People from all over the country—all over the world communicate like this."

"People," North pointed out. "Humans."

"Well, yes. Though, there are androids, too—"

"No! We did not survive them just to let them in, Josh! Are you crazy?"

"No. You know what's crazy, North? This!" He motioned to the dilapidated building around them. Rotted walls, ceiling full of holes. "We've been hiding here for three weeks, scared and useless. How is this any different than before in Jericho? We've gathered our people, but now we're just waiting until the thirium runs out. We can't go on like this forever. We can't live like this. We need allies. Human allies. We can't have our world and their world. It has to be everyone's world."

"Never," North hissed. "I don't want to touch one—look at one—ever again."

"North," Josh tried.

Markus touched her shoulder and she instantly shrugged it off and stormed out. Markus moved to go after her, but Simon moved faster.

"I've got it." He locked eyes with Markus. "You know my vote. We have to do something, even if it will be tough on her. She can take it. She's strong and she has all of us."

Markus looked regretful as Simon went after North, then he turned his attention to Josh. He learned very quickly that being in charge of the welfare of so many meant hard decisions. But he was tired of every decision being so hard.

"What do you suggest?"

"We start with one group," Josh said. "We establish contact, share information, learn what they know."

"Sounds like you've already got a group in mind."

"Chicago is said to be one of the most accepting cities of androids. It's coming out more and more that people knew about deviancy even before us. Many knew about it there because they were already living with androids as members of their families. They have one of the most successful android outreach programs already. This is largely because the humans there want to help them and they are allowed to help."

"Can we contact them?"

"That's the only problem. It's very vague on who exactly is running the place. Who is their Markus, so to speak. But I think it could be another android like Connor, one with the same name."

"The one who took over the camp until the androids were allowed to leave," Markus remembered.

"If there's any way to contact him directly online, I haven't found it. Chicago isn't too far. If we could get someone down there."

"That's a tall order. It's dangerous enough just to walk around town, but to travel?"

"It will have to be one of the custom androids, if they'll do it. We'll make them a fake ID, have them pay in cash for a bus ticket. No one will know they're not human."

Markus took a moment to think. "It's risky. We can ask the androids we trust, the ones who do the best on their own, but if no one volunteers, I won't make them go."

Josh looked him in the eye. "If we can't find anyone else, I'll go."

"Josh."

"Markus, I will go if I have to. We have to do something now or we never should have left Jericho in the first place. We should have just sank with it."

Eventually, Markus nodded. "Alright, see if you can find someone."

Josh nodded. "We're going to connect with more of our people. This is the right step forward."


.

Gavin walked into the precinct with a smattering of applause. He immediately flipped them all off.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm back to work. Don't make a big deal of it, you assholes."

"We got you a cake," Tina called pleasantly from the break room.

She was no longer dressed in her patrol uniform. Gavin was happy to see that. She was a detective now; good for her.

When he stepped into the break room, there was said cake on the table in the shape of a pocket knife.

"Knife cake. Wow."

"Only the best." Tina slapped him on the back. Gavin instantly winced and she gasped.

"Just kidding!" He grinned and she hit him for real.

"Reed!" From his clear view of the break room, Captain Fowler poked his head out of his glass office. "A moment please."

Grinning, Gavin stepped into the office, closing the door behind him. His movements were a little stiff as he sat, but he showed no further discomfort as he slouched in the chair.

"How are you?" The captain asked.

"Fine," Gavin answered casually. "All cleared for work."

"I hope you learned your lesson this time."

"Learned my lesson? What does that mean?"

Fowler paused a moment to be irritated. "Do you know most officers I have here have never been stabbed, ever? What number does this make for you?"

Gavin paused to think about it. "Just on the job, or total?"

"They said that if that blade was just a half an inch different, you would have bled out before anyone could get to you. You need to be more careful."

Gavin looked away, arms crossed defensively over his chest. He hadn't been paying attention. Because he had been stewing in anger for the rest of the night over his loss in the one-on-one fight with Connor in the evidence room. If he had brought his A game to the job that night, he never would have been hurt. Connor had ruined it all.

When he glanced out of the office, Gavin almost thought he was hallucinating when he saw the android he was just brooding over walking around in the precinct.

"Mother fucker," he hissed as he stood. "What's Connor doing here?"

He was storming toward the door when Fowler held out an arm to block him. "Leave him alone. He works here, same as you."

Gavin was dumbstruck. "What...what does that mean?"

"A lot's happened since you've been gone. This issue's already been discussed. Connor's not the only android that works here. Lyla came back two weeks ago, asking for her old job. I gave it to her."

"Who the hell is Lyla?"

"She works the reception desk. And without all the other androids that used to help run this place, we're short staffed. I had Detective Chen pick up the slack for you until you returned and Connor just does the same thing he did before: process crime scene evidence for the homicide department. Relax, Reed. It's not like he's been issued a badge. Or a weapon, for that matter."

Gavin struggled to find the words to express the mixture of fear and ire bubbling in him. "You trust that thing?"

"Connor saved Hank's life at a risk to his own. I think that might be worth something. He is on a strict probationary period. Hank will be supervising him, making sure he keeps his nose clean."

Gavin huffed. "Really? You think Anderson's going to turn his new buddy in if he does do something wrong?"

Fowler raised a brow at him. "Do you want to supervise the android? And take all of Anderson's android-related cases? It's yours if you want it."

The detective growled, but didn't protest further.


.

Hank frowned at the victim, though he wasn't mad at her. He wasn't used to having a victim that was still alive.

"You know I'm homicide, right?" he asked the onsite officer. "Why'd I get the call if there's no body?"

The officer shrugged. "I was told anything to do with androids goes to you, body or not." He glanced at Connor. "Probably a good idea since she's not letting any humans near her."

Hank kept any arguments to himself. No use chewing out a uni for doing his job. But maybe he would have a word with Fowler after this.

The victim in question was a female android. Some residents of the neighborhood had heard her screaming. It was dark out, but witnesses said they saw two or three people running from the scene. The android's arm was damaged at the elbow and dripping thirium. She was still where witnesses had discovered her: back pressed to a brick wall at the end of an alley, wide-eyed and refusing to let anyone touch her.

"She's one of the androids I freed from the tower," Connor said when he saw her.

"Clearly," Hank said toward the once-white domestic Cyberlife uniform the android still wore. "Alright, go see if she'll talk to you."

Connor nodded and stepped into the alley. There were a few windows from the floors above them where people were curiously watching. The android stiffened when he approached, but recognition filled her at his face.

"You. You're the android from Cyberlife. You led us from the tower."

"My name is Connor. I'm here to help. Will you tell me what happened?"

For a second, she seemed to calm, then her eyes went wild as she glanced all around. "There's too many humans. What are they going to do to me?"

"Nothing. I promise you." Connor edged closer, offering his hand. "I'm going to take you somewhere safe. Will you let me help you?"

The android didn't have an LED. If they were with Markus, they usually didn't. Even without it, he could clearly see that she was distressed. A scan of her indicated that her systems were stressed and her core was overheating. There was too much going on for her to focus. He had to lower the amount of stimuli somehow.

Connor removed his jacket that still read ANDROID in broad letters on the back. He moved closer, blocking most of the racket around her with his broad frame. When she managed to get her attention on him, her draped the jacket over her head and shoulders, using it like a hood. Then he put an arm around her. With low, encouraging words, he guided her out.

Hank and the other officers pushed back the onlookers to let them through. Connor took her to Hank's car and both androids climbed in the back. When the doors were shut, the female android seemed to relax with a solid wall between her and the outside world. She was on the alert again when Hank opened his door and slid into the driver's seat.

"He's human," she accused.

"Lieutenant Anderson is my partner," Connor told her. "He is also here to help you."

She didn't look convinces. "They tell us not to trust humans. That they are all dangerous."

"Some of them are, but most of them are nice. It was humans who stopped those people from hurting you. And they called us to come help you. But if it makes you more comfortable, the lieutenant will stay in the front facing forward."

Hank gave Connor a raised brow at the veiled order, but did as was suggested.

The android looked confused at it all, but relaxed when the human wasn't staring at her.

"Can you tell me your name?" Connor asked.

"I don't have one. A lot of us at the tower don't. Though we can give ourselves names if we want. I just haven't felt a need for it. We can identify each other by serial number."

"That's fine, I'll log you down as your model and serial number for our records. Can you tell me what happened?"

"I was walking around the back allies. I didn't want anyone to see me. I just wanted to know what the city was like. What humans were like. These people grabbed me from behind. They pulled me down, tried to hold me on the ground, but I screamed."

"Did you know these people? Could you identify them?"

She shook her head. "No. They all had hoods with black material in front of their faces. It was like they had no face at all. There was three of them. All the voices I heard sounded male. I can give you the footage I have, but I don't know how helpful it would be."

"Why did they attack you?" Connor then asked. "What did they want?"

"I don't know. They didn't say anything to me, only talked to each other to pin me down. I think they were going to go for my thirium pump, but I was already screaming. I tore my arm trying to get away from them."

Hank and Connor shared a look through the rear view mirror. It was happening everywhere. Though most of humanity was growing to accept the idea of sentient androids, there was still a fraction of the population against it. Sometimes violently so. Hank had heard about a few mangled androids left in the street in the past few weeks. This one was lucky to get away.

"I really don't understand why it happened," the android continued. "I thought it was just humans that wanted to hurt us. But one of the people who attacked me was an android."

Connor brought his gaze back to her. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. He grabbed my arm and tried to access my operating system. It was very brief, but I know without a doubt he wasn't human."

Hank turned around to look at her. Two humans and an android attack another android? That didn't make sense. What could they possibly want from her?


.

Hank stayed in the car while Connor walked the android to the church. The area was still cordoned off, but after three weeks of nothing from the android community, no human guarded it. Not that it was the only way in or out. The entire neighborhood was free to go as they pleased. If they ever decided to leave. Only a local patrol kept an eye on it now and then.

There were no human patrols around when Connor and the female android entered the church. They were, however, spotted by android residents and Markus was soon there to meet them, accompanied by North. They both looked surprised to see him. The android didn't look pleased to see either of the android leaders. She lowered her head in shame and quickly ducked away and out of the room before they could speak with her.

It was hardly noticed with the RK800 now suddenly before them again. Appearing out of nowhere, just like the first time.

"Connor, you're back," was all Markus could think to say in greeting. "It's been a while. I wasn't sure if we'd ever see you again. I thought maybe something happened to you."

"No, I am alright. Just very busy. A lot has happened since last we met." He motioned in the direction the female android had fled. "Your friend was a victim of an assault. She is slightly damaged. She said she could get repairs here. If it's alright we might need to speak to her again if we find any leads on who attacked her."

North and Markus started at him for an unnatural amount of time.

"Wh—who are you with?" North was struggling to keep up with the conversation. "Who drove you here?"

"That's Lieutenant Anderson. He's my supervisor. Also my partner, I suppose."

"You still work for the police?!" North's voice rose at octave.

"Yes. It's what I was programmed for."

"But you're deviant now. You can do whatever you want."

"This is what I want. I enjoy my job." He paused and looked around. "Is hiding here what you want?"

Markus could feel the volcano preparing to erupt next to him. "North..."

"You don't know a fucking thing, Connor!" the redhead exploded. "They treat you like their little pet over there. Do you even know what it's like to be verbally and physically abused by humanity? To be shot in the streets?"

"Yes," came the pragmatic reply. "Many people at the department don't like me because I'm an android. I have been physically assaulted by a coworker. I have also died multiple times. Mostly by bullet wounds."

North stared at him; eyes wide and angry. She opened her mouth, but Markus cut her off.

"North. Give us a minute, please?"

She looked like she wasn't done having her say, but ultimately decided it wasn't worth it and stalked off.

"May I suggest that if any android goes into town they dress in normal civilian clothes," Connor then said to Markus. "Wearing the domestic uniform is, unfortunately, putting a bright target on them to anyone who would wish an android harm."

"I wish I could clothe them all," Markus said, but we don't have enough for all the androids from the tower. We don't have much after Jericho sank and we lost all the resources we had—"

He paused when Connor looked away, ashamed.

"It was my fault."

"It wasn't. The humans were using you. I made the call to sink the freighter."

Connor looked at the ground for a while, then managed to meet Markus' gaze. "I'm trying to do better. I want to do the right thing. But I'm not always sure what that is. I'm afraid I'm not very good at being deviant. Maybe I did it wrong."

"Why do you say that?"

"I never know what I'm supposed to be doing. I thought being deviant meant I should understand more on how to be alive."

Markus almost chuckled. "I think the not knowing is what being alive is all about."

"That is what Hank has told me, too. The lieutenant, I mean." Connor paused and then asked, "Can I do anything for you? Can I help your people?"

"They're our people," Markus reminded.

Connor didn't look so sure. "This place could be a home to our kind, but right now it seems like all of you put yourselves in storage."

"We have no choice, Connor. If an android leaves this community, there's a chance they don't come back. Sometimes they're brought back in pieces by their attackers. It's the only place we're safe."

Connor frowned. "I know that androids are still victims of violence, but no one reports it. Have you ever called the police when you needed help?"

And that was when Markus realized he and Connor did indeed live in two entirely different worlds.

"It's not as easy as that."

"I'll try to make it easier," Connor said. "I have to go now, I'm still on duty. But please contact me if you need anything."

Markus didn't know if he would. He didn't know a lot about a lot these days.

When Connor left the church, he turned to glance back. Markus did not follow him out. But there was someone watching as a new dusting of snow began to fall. Amanda stood under the church awning like she owned it, a knowing smile on her face. She looked smug, dangerous.

Connor pretended she wasn't there. Somehow, he feared acknowledging her would give her power. Instead, he climbed into the car without a word.