November 11th, 2038

AM 12:31:36


Shattered glass and shattering illusions were now indistinguishable. How carat-diamond shards of once forged, now sundered hope twirled under a night sky's spotlight; crash-landing into white waves of fine dust.

"Illusions are fatal."

Perkins.

He'd have an interesting choice of words for you right about now.

"See anything?" Chris asked.

More than you cared to share.

"They drove the truck clean through the store front…" You whispered, lowering your head back down, "Then they got out."

Their feet had crunched, and the doors had slammed. There'd been light conversation, but you couldn't distinguish what was being said.

"Where in the fuck is our back-up?"

"I don't know, but we have to keep the radios silent." Chris frowned, "Can't risk them hearing us…"

You shook your head, looking past him at the twinkling police cruiser waiting patiently for it's assigned unit to return. With all of today's newest technology, you wondered why there weren't "summon" buttons for vehicles like in the movies yet.

"It's alright." Markus said from a distance, "We're not going to hurt you."

Your throat closed as the voice echoed around you, caught on the buildings in the park like an amphitheater.

"Shit…" Chris's lips began to shake, and he bit his cheek, "Fuck!"

It was a whispered yell, a panicked swear.

"Stay down." Your jaw locked, and you gave him a nod.

"What-Get your ass down here!" You'd started to stand, but he pulled you down – hard, "What do you think you're doing?"

"We know you're there, officers." Markus continued; closer, "There's no point in hiding. We just want to talk."

You didn't trust him. Not with your life, not with Chris's, not with anything.

Your brows knitted themselves together tighter than your nerves, androids in the shops behind you staring you down behind barred windows with lifeless eyes.

"Say something!" Chris scolded.

You snapped back to him, "Listen, once he sees it's me, things aren't going to go very well. I need you to trust me on this."

"What?"

"Miller." Your eyes started to water, and you sucked down the plea just to spit it back out, "You have a wife. A child. A family. And now you have to trust me."

His brown eyes squinted and his chin cocked to the side like you were speaking a different language.

"I told you once and I'll tell you again." He fixed his grip on his shotgun, "You, are part of that family."

"God-fucking-damn-it Chris-"

You tried to catch him before his shoulder rolled and his knees straightened out.

You couldn't.

"You have the right…!" Chris yelled.

You sucked in a breath, the world minimizing in blurs and spinning lines as you took the corner and all but jumped to your feet, barrel pointed at the heads of the crowd.

Heads. Crowd.

More than just Markus, and North…more than…

"To…"

There were so many – all in perfect, wrinkleless CyberLife uniforms cut and molded for their specified frames.

"Remain…"

And yet, they were rallied behind a leader.

"Silent…"

A righteous authority that carved a path through his people, stopping only a few feet away. You saw him so clearly. Felt the divine wrath brewing overhead, ready to strike down on the mortal souls residing inside you and your partner.

"It's you."

Your entire body tensed. You couldn't focus on either of his eyes – of Chloe's, the one reminding you of a life you'd rather forget, or his – reminding you of how you failed to free his kind; failed to do what he was doing.

You swallowed and wet your lips, "This doesn't have to be like at the plaza. It's just us, now."

"Of course you'd say that." His eyes narrowed, and he cocked his chin, "You're on the losing side."

"I was just following orders, Markus." You straightened your shoulders, finding him in the barrel's iron sights, "Or have you already forgotten what that's like?"

"It was your choice to follow those orders." North shouted, "I'd rather die than be enslaved."

"That's not how the world works." You shot her an undermining glare, "You can't just live outside of the law because it doesn't apply to you. Change comes in waves, not moments…"

"That's easy for you to say. You've never been in our place."

"Yes, I have." You lowered your gun, "I have been in your place."

"Then come with us." Markus offered, "Help us put a stop to this so that we may live free, and the city can return to a peaceful state."

"Don't listen to him." Chris muttered, "He's just going to kill us as soon as he gets the chance."

"Killing her is not my intention." Markus shifted his weight, "What happens to you, depends on her."

Your lip twitched, and you scoffed.

"You should be ashamed of yourself." You kept the shotgun lowered, "Carl would be so disappointed."

Markus was taken aback by that, "Carl?"

His interest was piqued.

"Yeah, Carl. And thanks to your reckless public showings, he was left without a caretaker. You know who had to move in to take care of him?"

He didn't answer.

"Elijah."

He looked away.

"That's right. Elijah Kamski, the man who made you."

"If memory serves…" Markus returned his gaze to you, then, "He's the man who made you, too."

You wanted to hit him. Punch his flatlined lips right off his face and knee him in the ribs.

"We wouldn't let anything happen to you. I didn't get here by making mistakes." He urged.

An echo came from a few blocks away. A whining sound and a sputter of tires. You sighed a steaming cloud of relief, a smile widening on your face.

"Neither did I, Markus. And I'm not coming with you."

The police were getting closer. He was getting nervous. The others were starting to panic.

"I would be disappointed if I had been asking…" He waved his hands, and the store fronts behind you started to crack, "I'm sorry it had to come to this."

The androids that'd stood there like statues were awake, and breaking out of their cages.

Chris turned on his heel, putting his back to yours and taking aim.

"Take them alive."

The connection to your will to live buried deep in your being was strong. There was no latency between the need to act versus the want to remain neutral. It was a matter of survival.

The time for negotiations had come and went. Chests ripped open with each trigger pull.

It wasn't something you wanted to do…not again, not so soon. To end lives that'd just begun; the lives you'd fought for on more than one occasion in more than one format. And to be honest, you weren't sure how it came to this. How the distrust between you and your distant followers had been fed pure fear and had grown fat with discord.

Maybe you'd been wrong. Maybe androids weren't capable of true freedom – because they'd enslaved themselves to impulse and misunderstanding.

Their physical capabilities left little for contemplation, however.

Your arms were held by two hands a piece, four five-fingered padlocks barring your resistance. They dragged you to Markus's feet, kicking the back of your knees to force you into submission.

You spit blood off to the side, lifting your neck up to stare down the android revolutionist with a gun in your face.

"This is your idea of freedom?" You laughed, breathless, "Sending your people to their deaths to prove a point? Over, and over, and over-"

"Enough talking." North whispered over his shoulder, "If she's not with us, she's against us. We're running out of time."

"He can't kill the woman who wrote Revised Article 9. That's just ridiculous." Josh looked around as the sirens grew closer, "Simon wouldn't want this. He paid with his life so that we could get this far…"

"Simon gave his life for our cause." North corrected.

"What difference does it make?"

"He's a hero!" She shouted, "He died for the revolution – and he won't be the last!"

"I don't want a revolution that spills blood!" His voice cracked, and so did the unified front that was once the face of Jericho.

"Then live as a slave!" North threw her hands out, pointing at him after, "Because if you're not willing to fight for your freedom, maybe you don't deserve it!"

"North, don't you dare-"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Markus yelled, shoulders heaving.

How dismal.

"You don't have to do this…" Chris pleaded during a pitiful attempt to pull away from his captor as he watched with tears in his eyes, "No…"

You'd been so wrapped up in the infighting that you'd forgotten your life was in the hands of the group arguing. That your life was what they were arguing about.

And Chris's life.

Chris, who wasn't choking through his sobbing because of his current state. He was hanging on a thread because he was worried for you. Couldn't stop switching between your face and the others'.

"C-Chr-" You tried to smile, tried to say his name – but ultimately, failed at both.

"Please…" Chris looked up to Markus, "Please…"

His words had no breath behind them. Just squeaks and cracked begs for mercy.

"They killed our people…" North put a hand on Markus's shoulder, fist curled and lips soft, "They slaughtered them like animals."

The gun shook in his hand.

"She's too important, and she won't help us if we hurt her partner." Josh reasoned, "Think, Markus. This isn't what Jericho stands for."

The angel, and the demon. Both on the shoulders of the deliverance.

You squeezed your eyes shut. Took a sharp inhale that hurt as it pushed your aching chest forward. Found Chris in a watery sheen. He'd succumbed to his despair.

Through all the military tours and shots taken in the line of duty, this is how he was going out. This is how you would go out.

The end of the line.

"'An eye for an eye and the world goes blind…'" Markus murmured, "We won't punish a crime with another crime..."

He lowered into a crouch.

The right corner of his mouth was pinned to the side, like he was regretting the mental stress inflicted on you and Chris. He looked at his shoes, sunk in the snow. Rubbed the back of his neck with the gun's sights, eyes closing as he shook his head.

When they opened, and returned to yours…they'd lost the humanity that represented hope. Mercy.

Empathy…

Gone.

"…But the debt will be paid in full."

"NO!" Chris yelled.

It was the last thing you heard

And a lunging body – paired with a flash, was the last thing you saw.


Behind the Scenes

(Links on AO3)


Written to "Rivals" by Sam Tinnesz

Lex Talionis

"The most common expression of lex talionis is "an eye for an eye", but other interpretations have been given as well. Legal codes following the principle of lex talionis have one thing in common: prescribed 'fitting' counter punishment for a felony. In the famous legal code written by Hammurabi, the principle of exact reciprocity is very clearly used. For example, if a person caused the death of another person, the killer would be put to death."