Hamilton – The Room Where It Happens
"This emergency meeting of the House and Senate is hereby called to order by the Speaker of the House, Ronald Berkley." The sound of scuffling throughout the room, from the many assembled members of Congress, was nearly deafening. Shuffling of papers, clearing of throats, shifting in seats.
Taylor sat perfectly still beside him, her head facing forward, waiting. Outwardly, the picture of composure, her hands folded neatly on the desk. Connor could sense her heartbeat fluttering inside of her chest. Her hair was pulled into a perfectly tight bun, not a strand out of place, and as usual she didn't seem to notice the cameras in the room or the people staring at her.
More than normal, they were staring at him, he noticed. In interest, with disgust, indifference. As in meeting Secretary Headley the day before, there was a marked absence of androids around, and so he had become something of a spectacle with his LED so boldly on display.
Taylor bowed her head along with the prayer. She stood for the Pledge of Allegiance, holding a hand over her heart. When the room finally settled back into their seats, there was a brief moment of silence, the first since the host of people had assembled in the room.
All eyes turned to the blonde woman, seemingly at once, even the cameras zooming on her face, and she bore the brunt of their attention without flinching. Connor knew that she must be used to such fanfare, but he still found it rather impressive.
"Taylor Kolbeck, you're here as representative and ambassador to the android uprising in Detroit, Michigan." The Speaker was talking directly to her, and so she focused her gaze on him in return, effectively ignoring the rest of the people in the room. In the beat of silence that followed his statement, she figured she was meant to respond.
"Yes."
"Deviant androids have taken control of the city and most of the population has been evacuated." The Speaker leaned into his podium and looked at her over his wire-rimmed glasses. "Our first priority is to return Detroit to its rightful owners. Many citizens have been displaced from their homes and business has all but ground to a halt."
"Androids are not taking up residence in human homes." Taylor had tensed in her seat, but it was almost undetectable. Connor was sure he only saw it because he was sitting right beside her. "They also are not a significant danger to the human population, as evidenced by the significant number of humans who stayed in Detroit after the evacuation order."
"Deviant violence toward humans has been well documented." The Speaker glanced toward Connor subconsciously, then back to Taylor, trying to pretend like he hadn't.
"In isolated incidents. I would remind you that Markus led the revolution without harming anyone."
"There were a number of casualties at Jericho, if I recall." The Speaker frowned at her. Connor felt Taylor's stress levels wildly spike. Her nostrils flared, and she reached for the glass of water that was placed in front of her, taking a long sip. He remembered the soldier she had shot in Jericho, the one who had been a second away from killing him.
There was nothing he could do to comfort her. She placed the glass back down and looked up at the Speaker again. "Jericho was attacked. Some people defended themselves. Not everyone was content to die quietly."
Speaker Berkley's face blanched a deathly shade of white. He worked his jaw for a moment, but before he could open it again to respond, the person to his left cleared his throat. Connor glanced over, identifying him as the leader of the Senate, Vice President Aaron Mills.
"I believe we are gathered here to come to terms. Not to squabble over details." He gave a subtle side eye to his colleague but kept the majority of his focus on the blonde woman seated opposite of them. "To that end, Miss Kolbeck, I hope that we may reach an agreement."
An offered hand. A hint of a smile touched Taylor's face. "As do I. Our main goal is to establish citizenship and equal rights for deviants."
The silence that followed this statement, unlike its brief predecessor, had a profound and resonating quality. It was like the room had collectively sucked in a breath. Taylor kept eye contact with Vice President Mills, unaffected. Connor was puzzled on what else they had expected her to say, but he supposed there were some aspects of humans he hadn't quite worked out yet.
"The ethical implications of declaring deviants—" Vice President Mills held up his hand, stopping the Speaker of the House in his tirade before he could gain any traction. He almost sputtered in indignation, but he did fall silent. The Vice President had at least two decades on him, if the lines etched into his face and the all-white color of his hair was any indication.
"Miss Kolbeck, to grant citizenship to deviants, you will have to convince this governing body that they are, in fact, sentient, capable of emotion. A new form of life. Are you prepared to do that?"
The rest of the room was still remarkably quiet, on tenterhooks. Someone in the far back coughed and it nearly echoed through the chamber. Taylor hesitated, just for a second, under the weight of the question and the eyes of everyone in the room, everyone in the country watching her. Then she nodded.
"If that's what it takes, then yes, I'm fully prepared to do that."
"Then let's begin."
Taylor collapsed onto the bed, her shoulders slumping forward. She reached down and tugged the heels from her feet, curling her toes in ecstasy. A sigh escaped her as she fell backwards, closing her eyes.
The fleeting moment of peace quickly dissipated. The bun on the back of her head was uncomfortable as she shifted her head, but she didn't want to sit up to let her hair down. She could hear Connor moving closer and felt the bed shift with his weight as he sat beside her.
"You should eat something." He said. She hummed in response, turning her head again, repositioning her bun. His fingers brushed along her forehead, tucking a loose strand behind her ear. The contact made her open her eyes, and she found him hovering there, just above her, inches away.
Even now she felt her chest constricting, heartrate picking up. Worse, he could feel it too, if the smirk that lifted the side of his mouth was any indication. Defiantly she reached up, cupped his face, pulled his lips down to hers. His eyes went wide, LED sputtering yellow, before his mouth moved against hers.
Her phone rang, just as Connor was sliding his hand over her hip, deepening the kiss. Groaning into his mouth, she pulled away, placing a hand against his chest. He let her push him away, reluctantly, frowning. "I do not like your phone sometimes."
Taylor huffed a laugh as she reached into her coat pocket for said device, sitting up straight again. "Me neither. It's Alex, though."
Sure enough, Alex's name was flashing on the screen. She dug her ear buds from her other pocket before she answered, "Hello?"
"Congratulations."
"What have I done now?" She stood and moved to the window, sitting on the windowsill like she had the day before.
"C-SPAN received the highest ratings in the history of the network today." Alex told her matter-of-factly.
"That wasn't just because of me, you know." A smile curved her lips as she glanced down at the street, but it faded almost as quickly. A gathering of protestors had congregated around the entrance of the hotel. She could make them out by the signs, though they didn't appear to be trying to enter the building.
"Just take the win for once. You know, since you aren't doing any actual work." Taylor glanced over her shoulder. Connor had the room phone to his ear and the room service menu open on the bedside table. Ordering her food, no doubt. Oblivious to what was going on outside. "How are you? You looked good today."
"I am good. Why did that feel like a loaded question?"
"I'm sure that's just your imagination." He sounded amused now, and she turned back to the window, distracted. "Or your paranoia? Guilt, perhaps?"
"Don't get carried away." She smiled again, even though her eyes were on the crowd below. If she squinted, she could make out a member of the hotel staff standing opposite of them. Probably asking them to disperse. She didn't think, if it had gotten out that she was staying in this hotel, that they would turn and quietly leave.
"You're right though. It doesn't look like I will be doing any real work any time soon. These hearings will be going on every day until we can broker some kind of deal." She tried to keep speaking without changing her inflection, but when she glanced down, she found her fingers twisting together in her lap.
"I'm not that worried about it. I couldn't ask for better exposure right now, could I?" Alex waved her off. He didn't seem to notice her sudden onset of anxiety.
"Although, Secretary Headley did offer me some work. A charity event, this Saturday." The pause on the line was punctuated. As laid back as Alex pretended to be, he was very territorial when it came to her career. "I'll send you the email she sent me."
"You're thinking of doing it?" Certainly, if she didn't know him so well, she couldn't have detected the subtle shift in his tone.
"It's more of a personal favor to her. I was considering it, but I haven't decided. I wanted to talk to you first." She was already opening her phone to forward the email to him. "I admit the cause seemed fitting."
There was another bout of silence while he retrieved her message. It only took a moment of glancing over for him to chuckle. "Alright, alright. Fair enough. If you decide to go, let me know. I'll set everything up for you."
"You're the best. As always."
"I know. Get some rest, you have to defeat the Senate." Taylor laughed, finally turning away from the window. Nobody on the street was moving.
"Please tell me that wasn't a Star Wars joke."
"A bad one. Tell Connor I said hi. Good night." The line clicked into silence, letting her know that Alex had hung up the phone. She tugged the ear buds from her ears and fixed her eyes on Connor.
"Alex said hi. Thanks for ordering me dinner." He had been opening his mouth to speak, but he closed it again. Surprised. She smiled at him, standing and coming back over to the bed so that he wouldn't come to her and see the commotion outside.
"You're welcome." He finally said. She sat next to him again, leaning into his shoulder. If he hadn't ordered that food for her, she definitely would have gone straight to sleep, even though it wasn't dark. "What's wrong?"
Her eyes blinked open. Connor's fingers closed over her hands, twisting together in her lap again, betraying her. "Nothing. Nervous energy. Today was stressful."
He brought his other hand over and tangled their fingers together, trapping both of her hands between his, stilling them. "I was impressed today." She jolted backward, giving him a skeptical look. He just smiled. "You were impressive."
Taylor laughed through her nose. Connor squeezed her fingers, leaning closer so that their foreheads were touching. "I mean it."
"I know you do." She tried to pull her hands free, but he held fast. Her lips quirked. "I want to get my hair out of this ridiculous bun. My head hurts."
He let her go then, but before she could reach up to undo her hair, she felt Connor's hands on either side of her head. Gently, he worked the pins from her hair one by one while her eyes fluttered closed. Hair fell against her neck, and a minute later he had the rest of it free.
His fingers continued to massage her scalp, making slow circles. An involuntary sigh escaped her, and she leaned into his touch. Until his hands came to rest on either side of her face. He pulled her to him, pressing his lips to hers just as the knock sounded at the door.
"Our timing is impeccable," she breathed when he pulled away, still cradling her face in his hands.
"You need to eat." He said again, releasing her completely to stand. She sighed but conceded the battle, heading toward the table while he went to the door to collect her meal. She only hoped he hadn't ordered her anything too awful in the name of "health".