Halsey - Castle
Taylor slid in her earbuds and hit play on her phone, closing her eyes for a brief second as the music started pounding in her ears. She tightened the laces on her shoes and stood, then shifted her eyes to the handgun resting on the counter. Checking the safety, she slid the gun into the back of her pants and pulled her jacket down over it. She had calculated the safest route in the neighborhood for her run, but even the safest route in Detroit could still be dangerous.
With the music playing in her head, she set off. The rhythmic pace of her feet hitting the concrete soothed her nerves. The exhaustion in her bones was forgotten momentarily in the high of the run. She was circling back onto her street, clicking her music off, when she realized her feet on the sidewalk weren't alone.
She pulled the gun as she turned, coming face to face with the shocked face of an android. Or, she thought he was an android. He didn't have an LED, but it was something in his stance as he raised his hands in surrender, his eyes wide and focused on the barrel of the gun.
"Who are you?" She demanded, her voice still breathless from running. The light was dim. It was early morning still, the sun not even visible over the horizon, streetlights illuminating the sidewalk in broken orbs of light. She had stopped under one of them, the yellow light surrounding her in a glowing halo. The male slowly stepped forward into the light, hands still raised, so that she could see his face.
"I didn't mean to frighten you." He said, his tone conciliatory. His eyes kept shifting nervously between the gun and her face, and she realized one of them was blue, the other green. "My name is Markus."
"Still doesn't explain who you are." Taylor said in return, her gun still trained on his chest. "Or why you're following me."
"I met an android" Markus said. He stopped looking at the gun and stared directly into her eyes. "He said that you saved him. You let him escape."
She narrowed her eyes at him but said nothing. He had to be an android. There was something intense and sad about his eyes, but she was wondering if it was just an effect of the mismatched colors.
"I did some research on you. Not the first time you've helped an android, is it?"
"Anyone with an internet connection could have figured that out. What do you want?"
"I'm an android." She sighed, not realizing until that moment how relieved that made her. "I am here to ask for your help."
Taylor lowered the gun a fraction. "With what?"
"The revolution."
Taylor took a deep breath in and released it slowly, trying to block out the cacophony of noise around her. She could already feel the heat of the lights on her skin, a bead of sweat forming along her hairline. Her blonde locks had been braided over her right shoulder, but one errant lock kept falling into her left eye. She compulsively reached up and pushed it back.
"We're on in 30 seconds." She folded her hands in her lap and straightened her posture. Her eyes fell on the man sitting across from her at the desk. Michael Brinkley was studying his prompts, ignoring both her and the makeup woman dabbing powder across his forehead. "3... 2... 1."
"Good morning, America! Today we have an exclusive interview with elusive social media influencer and android supporter Taylor Kolbeck." Taylor plastered on a smile as the cameras focused on her, looking straight into the lens.
"I'm not sure daily posting on social media qualifies me as elusive, Michael." She joked, watching him try not to grimace as he laughed with her. She knew he despised her. He'd made it obvious in the brief introduction they'd had upon her arrival. "I am happy to be here, though."
"Let me officially welcome you to Detroit. You are here investigating deviant cases with Detroit PD, correct?" He fixed her with his steel grey eyes, cutting right to the quick. But she had played this game before and wasn't about to let him win.
"I believe you mean welcome back. I was born and raised in Detroit." She smiled again and let the pause linger for a second before continuing, "But you're right, I am here working with DPD. I've already met so many great men and women who dedicate their lives to protecting the people of Detroit."
"That's wonderful to hear. I'm sure they've welcomed you with open arms." They shared another smile, more like a baring of teeth, before the real questions began, "Some of your fanbase is a little confused about this though. You've been an extremely outspoken supporter of android rights since the very beginning. Isn't this a betrayal of everything you've stood for thus far?"
"I can understand how some people might interpret it that way." Taylor nodded, her face a mask of understanding. "But my stance on equal rights for androids has not changed. Deviant androids are people who can think, feel, and decide for themselves."
"And yet you're working with the Detroit police to imprison these freethinking deviants?" Michael feigned a look of shock, his eyebrows raised, the lines in his forehead becoming prominent despite the layer of makeup plastered there.
"When humans commit crimes, we also imprison them." She responded congenially with a shrug.
"So you're only working with the police to go after criminals?" He asked, a tone of skepticism in his voice now. He was good at this, she conceded. Still not winning.
"That is my intention. I think it is important to understand why deviants are committing these crimes. What do they have in common? What situations are they in when they become violent? If androids are going to receive the support of the people, these are things we have to know." She tried her best to sound neutral, like she could be on either side, but Michael could see right through her.
"What have you found?" He asked doing a splendid job of replicating real interest. She smiled at him sweetly.
"I'm afraid I'm bound by contract not to discuss details of the investigation." Taylor gave him an apologetic shrug, but he was ready for her.
"The local news reported a deviant that you helped capture just a couple of days ago. He confessed to murder, if those stories are true." She felt the blood draining from her face. Michael smirked at her, knowing he had at least won this round. "Would you like to offer some insight in to why an android would murder an innocent man in his own home?"
"I think you and I might have to debate on the meaning of innocent." He leaned in, eyes flashing as his eyebrows raised in surprise. A shark smelling blood in the water.
"So he deserved to be murdered?" He asked neutrally, as if he was really asking her opinion. And maybe he was. The color that had left her face now came back with a vengeance, the heat crawling up her neck, bead of sweat rolling down her temple. The light was glaring down in her face.
"I suppose that would have been up to the jury, had he been allowed a trial." She swallowed, her mouth as dry as the Mojave. Her tongue felt like sandpaper against the roof of her mouth. "Unfortunately, androids are not allowed to defend themselves in the court of law."
It was a weak recovery, but it took a little of the wind out of Michael's sails. She took a deep breath in her nose and waited for his next question. "Then you do believe that deviant androids should be made into full U.S. citizens?"
"Absolutely." She responded without hesitation, knowing he was baiting her again. She braced herself for the other shoe to drop.
"What would you say to the many people whose entire income and wellbeing rely on the CyberLife company? Factory workers, shareholders, thousands of families displaced in an instant with the loss of android production?" He raised his eyebrows at her again, the condescension apparent as he looked at her.
Her hands curled into fists beneath the table, but she didn't avert her gaze. Her blue eyes bored into his steely grey as she stared him down, and her face suddenly broke into another smile that was one beat away from a snarl. "I suppose I would say the same thing that I imagine our ancestors said when they finally freed the slaves. Find something else to do."
There was a silence after her statement so profound that she could hear Michael's breathing. His nostrils flared, and the rage she could see burning in his eyes made her heart stutter for a moment, before he suddenly turned to the camera with his news anchor smile. "We'll be right back after these messages with more from Taylor Kolbeck."
He continued smiling until the man behind the camera held up a hand and the camera lights faded off. In a second, he was on his feet, looming over her. "You agreed not to—"
She rose from her chair, matching his glare. "I. Lied. You brought me on this show to bait me and make me look like an idiot."
"You are a vapid, useless little girl who is only famous for looking pretty in pictures." His voice was a growl, red splotches covering his face.
"And I'm still worth more than you," she snarled in return. He sputtered, and she narrowed her eyes as she pointed a finger into his chest. "If you thought I would come here and keep my mouth shut then you don't know shit about me."
"Uh, guys, we're back in thirty seconds," The cameraman was leaning to the side to peer at them from around the camera, his eyes jumping between the two of them uncertainly. Taylor glanced around, realizing the entire room was staring, some with their jaws open. She was trembling in fury, but for a moment she felt a touch of embarrassment.
"I'm not." She spun on her heel and walked out, brushing past several crew members as she headed for the exit and ignoring the scrambling behind her as they rushed to prepare to go back live without her.