Chapter 29

Early that same morning, Kara and Luther had returned to Simon's room with the parts.

"How did it go?" Simon asked. "I see you brought company."

He glanced past Kara and Luther to the man that Adam had brought in.

"Sorry, I know you don't really have accommodations," Kara said.

Simon gave a sullen smile.

"It's alright Kara."

"In other news, we got the parts."

"Good, follow me," he said before turning to the man. "Make yourself at home and if you need any help just talk to North or Lucy alright?"

The man nodded before Adam took him back.

Kara and Luther followed Simon who made his way to Markus' bedside.

North was cuddling up next to Markus looking quite comfy. Alice was nearby.

"Kara, you're back."

She ran up to Kara and embraced her.

"Were you a good girl?" she asked.

"Yeah, North was really nice to me."

Kara smiled.

"That's good."

She glanced at Simon who was staring coolly at North and Simon.

"Have you two seen Carl by any chance?" Simon asked.

Markus snorted.

"He's helping Josh polish his chess skills."

Simon walked away with Kara and Luther in tow.

Finally they caught Carl in the middle of playing a chess match with Josh.

"Carl, we found the parts."

"Good," he said before moving his rook. "Check."

Josh made a move with his king.

Carl moved his rook.

"That's checkmate."

"How?" Josh asked, baffled and irritated.

"It's a rather simple move. Sometimes the easier moves are made with the weakest pieces. You tend to overrely on your queen and bishops to make strong plays. When you should be saving those pieces for later."

Josh sighed cleaning up the pieces and the board off the crates they had set up.

Carl got up and examined the pieces in Kara and Luther's hands.

"You managed to snag some decent parts," he said. "Set them on the table and we'll see what I can do."

Kara and Luther set them on the table. Carl got straight to work disassembling them and re-calibrating the wires inside.

The two left him to his business leaving Simon and Carl with the parts.

Early the next morning, Carl finished looking at his handiwork.

"That should be good enough. We could adjust them later if they don't fit him anymore."

"Sounds good to me," Simon said.

The two headed back to Markus' bedside.

Carl noted how tense Simon's posture was as they were approaching Markus.

He didn't seem to be accompanied by his girlfriend when they arrived.

"So where did North go?" Carl asked curiously.

"I think she's still asleep in her room. She went to bed early yesterday."

Simon's shoulders relaxed.

"I see. I got good news," Carl said.

"That's relieving to hear," Markus said.

"We managed to procure you a pair of legs."

"How?"

Carl smiled.

"Let's just say your father was programmed with the knowledge to make prosthetic parts," he said.

Markus removed the covers and carefully maneuvered himself so that he was sitting with his both of his stumps hanging off the corner of the bed.

"When Leo said you and Elijah sabotaged that woman's business, what really happened? Did you two really kill her? Is that where you got all your money?"

Carl helped him put on the prosthetic legs. He glanced up at Markus.

"Where did that come from?"

"Leo said that woman's mother had been the previous CEO of Cyberlife. You knew exactly how to reconstruct an android's biocomponents. What am I supposed to think?"

"I didn't get the money from that. Before I worked at Cyberlife I got in an accident and was paralyzed from the waist down. I used to dabble in art at the time."

"You told me you never painted in your life," Markus said.

"To some extent that is true however despite what I said I am only a copy. Carl Manfred was a human. Carl Manfred died on November 10, 2023 at the age of 60 years old. We may have our similarities but we're two separate people. I've only been around for 28 years but I might has well have been around longer."

"What do you mean?"

"I may have been honest about the money but that doesn't mean we're innocent. What do they call murder by circumstance? Murder by association?"

"They don't call it murder."

"It might has well be," Carl huffed, his hands tensing around Markus' new legs.

He pulled away when he saw the grimace on his face.

"You can remove the strap here when you're through with them," Carl said.

"Let us know if they start hurting you and Carl can adjust them," Simon said.

Once the legs were fastened to Markus, Carl stood up.

"You shouldn't expect to walk right away though," he said. "You'll have to practice walking with those on. It might be best to walk with someone in case you fall."

"I can help," Simon said.

Markus frowned.

"I'm sure North wouldn't mind walking with me too."

Simon smiled smugly, his gleaming in challenge.

"Then we can take turns then. It's all for the best anyway," he said before he frowned looking away. "I'm a busy man."

Something about the way he said it sounded rancorous.

Despite everything he had said about Simon being easy to read, Markus was unsure what to make of his behavior.

Parts of it made it seem like Simon might like him like he hadn't been a last minute thought. Then there was times like these where Simon made him feel like trash, like he was merely an added inconvenience or annoyance.

It was at times like these that Markus wondered whether or not Simon had regretted saving them at all. He already felt useless, weak without his legs. What could he do? He couldn't even help his father fight those androids before they were kidnapped by those cannibals. Even staying here the only thing he had ever did was talk with people. Why did Simon even rescue him when his father was more useful to him than he ever was? Why couldn't he just be honest with him and just admit he regretted rescuing him? North had implied that it had been a spur of the moment kind of thing. There was no good reason why he was even here.

"If it's just an inconvenience to you, you needn't bother," Markus snapped. "I'm more than capable of walking by myself, doctor."

Simon stared at him coolly.

Markus carefully got up nearly stumbling backwards before Carl reached out to support his shoulder.

"Calm down, take it easy," Carl said.

Markus pushed at him and got to his feet holding onto the corners of his bed for support.. Pain briefly crossed his face but he grit his teeth.

"Are you in any pain?" His father asked.

"I'm fine," Markus replied defiantly glaring at Simon.

Sweat beaded down the corners of his face. The pain was excruciating.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm fine," he said.

"No, you're not," Carl said carefully pushing him back in a seated position. "Is it too tight?"

"No."

"He's suffering from phantom leg pain. Perhaps we should try this on another day," Simon suggested.

"I'm fine. I have to adjust to it one day," Markus said. "No point in prolonging my stay if I can't be useful somehow."

"Are you sure?" Carl asked putting a supportive hand on his shoulder.

Markus glanced at him staring at his eyes.

It was almost as if they weren't in this h-llhole.

"You shouldn't force yourself. Look there's always tomorrow," Simon said.

Markus sighed looking away from Carl to glance at Simon.

"I'm not waiting until tomorrow. The sooner I'm back on my feet, the sooner I can leave. It's clear I'm not welcome. I don't wish to encroach on your group if you don't want me around."

Simon's expression which had once harbored malice, now was an expression of schooled indifference.

Markus didn't know what to make of it.

'Though it's not really anything I should care about. What do I care about how he thinks?'

"You're right," he said. "That's probably for the best."

Neither relief nor happiness was present in his voice. Markus thought he would have one of the two if he truly disliked him as much as it seemed but he had been fooled by a lot less.

'Y'know Markus, I think Simon really likes you.'

He had thought at some point, his biological father had loved him even when the cool indifference, harsh scoldings and unjustly punishments said something else.

Markus glanced at Simon.

"You have a cute smile. You should do it more often."

"What?"

"Smile."

'It's probably better this way.'

Once Simon had left, Carl helped Markus to his feet.

"We should try to find a place with steady railing so you don't trip or fall."

Carl lead him to some stairs that lead up to an area with a large tv hung on the wall. Some cords were hanging off the sides.

"Oh there you are, Marco."

Markus whirled around.

"Hey North."

North glanced down where his prosthetic legs were.

"Nice legs."

"There were custom made," Carl said.

"How are they?" North asked.

"Uncomfortable," Markus said. "I'm not used to walking with legs again."

"Sounds like it'd be easy to pick it up. I mean you're not paralysed or anything," North said.

"He'll have to learn how to walk again with those new legs though," Carl said.

"Really?" She inquired curiously.

"One just doesn't retain the ability to walk after losing their legs," He said.

"Of course not," North snapped. "I knew that. So Marco want any help with that?"

"Are you sure it wouldn't bother you?"

North frowned.

"I wouldn't be asking if it bothered me," she said before letting out a sigh. " I'm not what you'd call a busy gal."

Markus smiled.

"That's good to hear."

North took Markus's hands before looking up at him with a smile on her face. He returned the smile.

"Will you be alright by yourself, Markus?" Carl asked.

"I should be fine."

"Alright, be careful. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

North's eyes followed him until he was some way away. She spoke once she determined he was gone.

"So what is all this really about?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Markus asked.

"You acted as if the thought of helping might have been a bother to me. You've never acted so concerned about it before," North explained. "Is something wrong?"

"Of course not," he said. "I don't want to sound ungrateful or anything. I just feel like I'm inconveniencing everyone. I'm useless dead weight at this point. Both Kara and Luther have been more useful but I can't do anything. To be honest I don't even think Simon likes having me around."

"Simon? What makes you think that?" North asked.

"I don't want to start anything between you two. You two are friends aren't you?"

"You can't really call what me and Simon have as friendship. It was more of a joining of common interests. If he did something to upset you, you should talk to someone about it and who better than me. Look at it this way, if he did something to hurt you, at least I could beat him up for you."

"Well there are times where I am unsure of what he thinks. Today I just got the impression that he thinks of me like an inconvenience. He offered to help me walk and then when I mentioned asking you for help, he said something that gave me the impression that it was something he didn't want to help with after all," Markus said. "I thought he might have enjoyed my company that maybe I was valuable in someway then he said that."

"You are valuable. If Simon can't see that than shame on him. I don't think you're a burden at all. Naive, yes, a burden, no. You wouldn't know how much you have changed because you weren't here before. Even if you're not involved with any leg work, your presence gives people hope. For the longest time since I've been here I've learned to hope again. I also see your effect on Solomon. You wouldn't know this but Solomon has always looked so lonely, even when I got him to talk about what happened, it didn't look like he really felt on the same page as the rest of us like he was in a world all his own," North said. "When you arrived, that was the first time I seen him look genuinely happy like he had someone he could call a friend."

Markus sighed.

"I suppose though I don't think I made that much of a difference."

"You made a difference to me."

Markus chuckled, a warm smile on his face glancing into her brown eyes.

"Thanks, that means a lot to me."

North glanced at him, her eyes narrowed and her lips curled into a frown.

"Are you sure? It doesn't seem to have made much of a difference,"

"I just got a lot on my mind," Markus said. "Carl was telling me something interesting earlier."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"My brother mentioned that my father and his friend might have killed the former CEO of Cyberlife and sabotaged the company. I didn't think anything of it before but with him making these new legs I questioned him. I had to know the truth."

"So did he?"

"No, from what he told me I don't think he did," Markus said.

"From what he told you?"

"Yeah, even though it was vague," he said. "He was still insistent that he was at fault though but what could he have done that was so wrong?"

"I don't know but that is an intriguing concept. Simon had been keeping tabs of Cyberlife's activities since the war maybe he might know something about the former CEO."

"Nah, I don't want to bother him more than I already do. I'll come across that information my own way," Markus said. "

"Listen Markus, don't let anything Simon says get you down alright," North said. "Don't let him get in the way of what you want even if you have to confront him about it."

"I'm not. I'm doing this for myself. For days I've been just laying in bed doing nothing while everyone's been working so hard. What good am I here? You can't really expect my presence to be enough."

North sighed.

"You don't have to prove yourself to anyone. If Simon can't understand that than pooey on him."

Markus chuckled.

"I'm glad we had this conversation."

"Me too. I can walk you back to bed if you'd like?"

Markus wrapped his arm around hers.

"If you insist."