November 10th, 2038

PM 02:25:41


"Ye may kill for yourselves, and your mates, and your cubs as they need and ye can;
But kill not for pleasure of killing, and seven times never kill man."


A tranquil mind in harrowing times is the most coveted form of transcendence. To not share the same fears as others, and have your worries misplaced so that you remained unpredictable.

That wasn't you.

[CPT] DALLEN: "Calvary, you are to charge and replace the wall. All boots on the ground – rally at my position. Converge on me, Roman Formation!"

The horses had charged, and the riot had been pushed back behind the park's established perimeter held by recycled police officers, Gavin included, that once babysat the media and civilian bystanders. The tear gas had evacuated them. The humans, had fled.

Those who suffered the human condition, had not.

Now, there was a different wall. A different formation.

A dissimilar set of orders that rolled off a shaken voice, however tranquil the mind that dictated the words.

[CPT] DALLEN: "Riflemen, ready up."

19 shield-bearers that no longer had the immediate concern of humane disorder took to a knee…

And the 20th, well...

You needed some convincing.

CMILLER: "Come on, partner…"

He patted your shoulder, his eyes on your HUD, comforting.

CMILLER: "It's just a precaution."

Your worries had been misplaced – misdirected, to the android with caramel skin and mismatching eyes; one of which came from Chloe. They held no emotion; no concern. He just waited.

He waited alongside North, and Josh. A blue-haired Traci, holding hands with a woman. A man wearing a cape of sorts with a tattered face, a Thirium-colored scar splitting his cheek. Another man in a grey military jacket with patches along his sleeves…

The same patches on his comrade's cape…and the insignias were familiar.

You'd seen it somewhere before, but couldn't remember where.

You cocked your head, squinting at the pair as you planted your knee and the end of your shield in the thin layer of snow.

The stock of Chris's gun leveled with the top of your head.

"Something doesn't feel right…" You murmured.

CMILLER: "You noticed?"

A light breeze swept a glittering curtain across the divide; flakes of ice reflecting red and blue lights from the trucks humming behind you. The pumping helicopter blades circling overhead switched direction, its tail throwing a shadow over the glistening wall of steel aimed at Jericho.

LMILLER: "Captain, I've got a clean shot on the leader. Want me to take 'im out?"

[CPT] DALLEN: "We're waiting on orders from-"

CENTRAL: "All units, repeat, all units, I am opening a channel for the Commander. Patching through. Over."

[CPT] DALLEN: "Hmph…speak of the devil."

The lot of you held your breath, and a cough came through the comms.

Liera was holding a gun over Mayumi's head to your right. She cracked her neck, the nose of her weapon jostling up and down – but only in controlled increments.

LLASTIMOSA: "Guess we're having too much fun if he's getting involved…"

[CPT] DALLEN: "Quiet."

Her shoulders bounced in a huff – not that you could see her face.

[CDR] AMARTELLO: "This is Commander Martello to all units involved in Operation Para Bellum. Due to heavy scrutiny from the public involving violent actions taken against civilians in the field, you are to neutralize all immediate threats and return to Central Station, double time."

Chatter erupted along the line, quickly subdued by another broadcast.

[CDR] AMARTELLO: "I understand you felt as though you had to do what was necessary, and that will be a conversation had between Captain Allen and I at a later date. Know that the rest of Michigan's task forces are with you in spirit, and remember…"

He sighed, and smacked his lips.

[CDR] AMARTELLO: "The nation…the world, is watching."

A notification flashed on your screen.

[TRANSMISSION ENDED]

And it didn't take long for a new one to take its place.

AMAYUMI: "Captain, we can't just kill unarmed protestors because those rioting assholes thought we were too hard on them."

CGRENIER: "They threw a Molotov at us for crying out loud!"

JCOOPER: "Killing the androids won't rectify anything. We haven't even talked to them yet!"

STALON: "He's not even here, he doesn't-"

[CPT] DALLEN: "I said…quiet."

A horse snorted, a saddle jingled, and crunching boots approached from the back. The shadow of Chris's rifle disappeared, and a gentle hand landed on your shoulder.

[CPT] DALLEN: "Hold your position, Officer."

You looked up at him with a nod, gulping before turning back to Markus and the others. Captain Allen held a box-shaped microphone that was strapped to his uniform up to his concealed mouth.

[CPT] DALLEN: "You are to disperse immediately…" His voice trailed off, "Or there will, be consequences."

"We came here to demonstrate peacefully," Markus answered, "And to tell humans that we are living beings."

He didn't even hesitate. Didn't take a second to formulate a response. With someone of his stature, in his current position, he probably didn't need, or couldn't afford, the extra time.

"All we want is to live free."

Allen let out a sigh, so strong that you heard it through his helmet.

He, hesitated.

[CPT] DALLEN: "This is an illegal gathering. Disperse immediately, or we will open fire…"

"We're not looking for confrontation," Markus smirked, holding up his hands and easing them forward, "We've done no harm, we have no intention of doing any…" That confident smirk dissolved into resilience, and his brows creased, "But know that we are not going anywhere, until we have secured our freedom."

There was a stale taste in your mouth. A certain dryness that made you want to catch one of the soft flurries to wet it.

A delicate twinkle had you looking off in the distance – a small tree with lights dancing on each decorated limb. It matched the warm white from the LED snowflakes plastered under street lights and above shop windows; contrasting the blue strips strung along the side of the Woodland Avenue bridge.

CMILLER: "Tell me, Captain…"

You shot a brief look behind you, your brows pinching. Chris didn't sound like himself.

CMILLER: "…Have you ever decorated a Christmas tree with your daughter?"

An odd question at a time where the tipping point began to pick a side, and the needle started to fall. A moment where an army of androids refused to budge, and you'd just received orders to make them…to charge.

You gulped.

All things considered, maybe it wasn't that odd of a question at all.

[CPT] DALLEN: "Not as many as I'd have liked to…there was a time where a soldier's life was all I knew."

His voice was low and crisp, like they were sharing final goodbyes.

It made you nervous.

CMILLER: "…I would have liked to have decorated a tree with my son."

The past-tense had your skin prickle. Had you double-checking the date and time on your HUD, because the last you saw – the lot of you were still in the here and now.

"You will."

You didn't look at them. Didn't need to see the looks they were giving you, because you felt it. Heard the renewed conviction in Allen's demeanor, and the strength in Chris's soul.

[CPT] DALLEN: "I repeat: This is an illegal gathering. If you do not disperse immediately, we, will, shoot."

A decision point at point blank.

[CPT] DALLEN: "Come on, you idiots…"

He didn't want to open fire, or carry out the orders from Michigan's SWAT Commander, Adriano Martello. He felt it too. This all felt wrong.

STALON: "Captain, this is going against the Commander's direct orders-"

[CPT] DALLEN: "Yeah – I know what I'm doing, Talon. Now shut your mouth and fall in line."

He smacked his lips in the mic, holding it closer to his helmet.

[CPT] DALLEN: "This, is your last, chance…Disperse immediately, or you will all be killed!"

He was trying to scare them, because a heeded warning hadn't been enough.

But Markus just watched.

As humane as androids were, or acted, deviants had yet to master the art of communication skills. A critical component of human survival, and the dictating factor of human instincts.

To feel someone watching; to have that sixth sense epiphany when specialized gaze-detection cells in your brain started to wake up, and the warning anchor dropping in your stomach when you made eye contact with the assailant.

Markus raised his hand. Drilled into the faces hidden by smoke and black mirrors. Looked to the side as Josh tried to talk him down.

But that feeling…that feeling of intense gaze, never went away.

Maybe it wasn't him you were detecting.

"David!"

The man in the military coat stepped forward, a cap hiding his face from the sun beating down in a vain attempt to warm the cold battlefield.

"Rupert, don't-" Markus spat, but his follower ignored him.

[CPT] DALLEN: "M-Marco…?"

He too broke away from his collected species, just in front of the line of shields.

LLASTIMOSA: "Captain, it's a trap-"

Allen silenced her with a hand held behind him, and a pair of fingers clicked his visor open.

The steps he took were slow and cautious, like even he knew what he was doing was stupid and went against his survival instincts.

"I thought you were dead. And then I heard about the security breach at the Tower…What you did…"

The android responsible for releasing Revised Article 9. The war veteran Captain Allen had spoken so highly of, and was so saddened by the mere utterance of his name…

"Humans." The android wearing the cape with Marco's symbol on it shuddered, "Ralph doesn't like humans. They're dangerous!" He twitched, "They may hurt Rupert!"

Captain Allen froze. His head toggled between Marco and the man named Ralph, holding his hands out, "…Tom?"

"He is Ralph, now. We all have different names than before…A lot of things are different, 'Captain' Allen."

Allen looked at the ground before cocking his chin to the side, "How many others survived the…incident, in Africa?"

A flicker of light caught your attention. A distant, faint twinkle.

A touch of color out of place. A shadow that didn't match with its surroundings. A shape that wasn't where it was supposed to be.

LMILLER: "Hate to break up this little reunion, Cap, but we've got a disturbance about six and a half klicks north. Somethin' in the window, near the roof. Can't get a good angle."

Allen closed his visor, looking up to the misaligning details and back to Rupert.

"This was a trap…"

"No, I-"

He took a step back, drawing the rifle slung around his chest, "And you two helped him."

"You must excuse Ralph."

The mangled android shouted across the divide, gaining the attention of his people – Markus included.

"Sometimes his fear makes him do things he regrets…"

Your eyes switched left and right, fingers aching from the tightening grip around your shield's handle. Sweat collected into the fabric band around your forehead, dripping down your cheeks and neck.

"Captain Allen needs help."

CMILLER: "Don't you dare-"

You were the third person in this act of defiance that would ignore the warnings to hold position; to not break the line or hint at a divided front.

But, as the saying went…

LLASTIMOSA: "What are you doing?!"

United, We Stand.

CMILLER: "Get back here!"

And Divided, We Ambush.

LLASTIMOSA: "Close th…g...p-"

A good idea, in theory…if you were the one doing the ambushing.

The shields behind you closed, and you were on your own; subjected to white noise, fragmented pixels, and artifact lines screen-tearing through your HUD.

The static interference wasn't enough to hide Allen's outline through pink specs and green pops. You pushed through it, gritting your teeth as a migraine replaced any amount of fervent determination.

Someone was trying to communicate with you.

Someone who's voice was soothing and fatal as it faded in, when Liera's faded out. The same person who'd you once known, but went by a different name, now.

An RK800, serial number #313 248 317…dash fifty-two.

RK800 #313 248 317 – 52: "…Yo… o…ce told m…that an idea, cannot be killed."

Your pulse banged against your armor, and echoed back from the inside of your newly-welded riot shield, sent to you by CyberLife.

A company that created and dispersed an artificial intelligence program that knew how to find the kinks, and make cracks.

You stumbled through the darkness, lost in a maze of twisted trees and danger…

Up there, on that high-rise…your focus followed the beacon of Morse code signaled by flashes of light, guiding your way through the maelstrom caught between safe harbors.

As tranquil as you tried to render your mind, even while landing on your back with the white sky as a flag planted black…

Another message reinforced these harrowing times.

RK800 #313 248 317 – 52: "…I still disagree."

You were a survivor.

A smart prey that'd practiced a certain skill at any and all expense just to keep your lungs full of oxygen and your fire, alive…

But so, was Amanda.


Behind the Scenes:

(Links on AO3)


Commander Adriano Martello named after "Maestro," from R6.

"Para Bellum" was the DLC Maestro was released in.

Glaz quote taken from R6 in reference to the sniper spotting.

Conversation between Captain Allen and Chris regarding the Christmas tree inspired by the opening cutscene of Assassin's Creed: Odyssey.

Roman Formation

Maximum Range of a Sniper Rifle

Gaze-Detection

Chapter written to "Survivor," by 2WEI