CHAPTER [6]
Simon
November 16, 2034
The android wrung his hands together and paced through the all too-quiet living room.
The PL600's LED was a blaring red light since his friend had left with their owner.
Simon scuffed his battered heels through the grimey carpet as he ran a shaky hand through his dirty blonde hair.
The limp in his left leg was prominent as he fought to keep himself standing straight.
Memories synapsed through his visual processors- Markus, his friend, leveling the gun with his head, Markus' damn-near perfect face void of all emotion as he pulled the trigger.
Simon paused in front of the doorway that lead to the kitchen. The same spot he was left bleeding not even twenty-four hours earlier.
He wasn't going to give up on his friend, not after all they've been through.
His LED sputtered as he placed a hand over his quickly racing thirium pump-
Markus is still in there. No matter what they did to him at the CyberLife shop. I'm not gonna give up on him. Never.
Markus
Markus moved before the first shot had a chance to echo through his audio processors.
The bullet was warm on his synthetic skin as it passed near his neck, not quite touching him, but close enough that the trailing breeze caused his eyes to flicker down for just a second.
"The fu-" Frank's voice was cut short by the android as he gripped the human's wrist holding the gun, and aimed it away from them.
One hand holding the human's wrist, and the other grasping the man's shoulder, Markus leaned forward and leveled his emerald eyes with the ghostly ones of Frank. "Money. Frank. Please."
Frank's hot and heavy breathing was thick and warm on the android's face.
"Fuck. You." Frank snorted slightly and spit on the android's face. The liquid trailed down his cheek as the android fought to hide a shudder.
[vvv SYSTEM INSTABILITY vvv]
"...Daddy? What was tha-?" A small and high pitched voice floated down the stairs and into the front space that occupied the android and human.
Alice.
The girl's voice danced on the golden sunrays that seemed to fight the darkness in the house, and even time seemed to stand still and static as android RK200 fought to process his next course of action.
"Either get the money, or kill them both. I don't care… " Leo's voice played through the android's head.
At the sound of her voice, Markus reactively turned his head toward the stairs- a mistake, considering Frank was too doped up on Red Ice and alcohol to actually think through his actions.
Frank pulled his hand away the moment Markus shifted his attention, and the android's vision became blurry with the sudden influx of information.
[...DAMAGE DETECTED: non critical : PART NO. 16510 O2 PROCESSOR …]
[...DAMAGE DETECTED: CRITICAL : PART NO. 16511 O2 PROCESSOR …]
The android's audio processors didn't detect the second gunshot due to the overwhelming amount of energy he was using to monitor the thirium loss that now seemed to trail down his chest, the blue liquid soaking in and disappearing to his black hoodie that Leo had given him.
Markus tried to gasp, but the two pieces of machinery in his chest cavity to resemble lungs were damaged by the bullet from Frank's gun. His chest seized and, not being able to regulate his temperature via oxygen anymore, Markus began to overheat.
[^^^ STRESS 78% ^^^]
Markus lunged.
[...THIRIUM LEVELS DECREASING… 86% to capacity … ]
The android's hand gripped the still smoking barrel of the gun and pried it from the human's hands. He threw it far, far away behind him. The clanking of the metal on the linoleum tiles in the kitchen echoed through the house.
[CORE TEMP ^^^]
Markus was deathly quiet as his fist connected with the side of Frank's head. Red blood splattered like paint on the carpet, as the steady dripping of Markus' own blood faded into the carpet.
Frank straightened and spat on the ground.
"You mother fuck-"
Markus reached behind his back and tightened his fingers around the gun that was hiding in his waistband.
[...THIRIUM LEVELS DECREASING … 78% to capacity…]
"I was sent here to collect the debt you owe the Manfred family." The android pulled the gun free and aimed it toward the human. His voice was systematically robotic as he continued to complete the goal he was tasked with.
Regardless of whether or not his android eyes began to prickle and heat with unshed tears. Regardless if his hands shook or that anxiety seemed to constrict the muscles in his stomach and made the android want to wince in discomfort.
[vvv SYSTEM INSTABILITY vvv]
"We could do this the easy way, or the hard way, Frank." Markus' voice was left in a void of darkness and oblivion. Frank didn't respond, he only just stood there with trickles of blood staining his lips.
Alice's voice seemed to cut through the darkness as she whispered, "Please don't hurt him, Markus."
The android didn't dare turn again, but he was able to sense that she had made her way to the bottom of the stairs at least. Her light footsteps created quiet moans and creaks in the wood.
"Alice honey, you should go back to your room. Your dad will be just fine." Velvet smooth and soaked with honey, Markus attempted to coax Alice into retreating.
She did no such thing, until Frank's glassy eyes slid from the android to the little girl. Frank merely nodded and barely moved his lips as he said, "Markus is right. Go back to your room." Frank lifted a sleeved arm and wiped the blood from his lips. "We're almost done."
Markus heard a soft whine and the pattering of tiny feet as Alice ascended the stairs once more.
"You win asshole." Frank's face contorted as he reached into his back pocket.
The android tried to inhale, but the machinery in his chest only offered another warning code.
[...DAMAGE DETECTED: non critical : PART NO. 16510 O2 PROCESSOR …]
[...DAMAGE DETECTED: CRITICAL : PART NO. 16511 O2 PROCESSOR …]
More and more warm liquid spread across his chest as Markus continued to bleed.
I don't want to die. I don't want to die. Must complete goal. Must complete goal.
The human stuck out his hand, a fist full of crinkled plastic shook slightly as Markus retrieved the goods.
It wasn't cash but-
"Leo cares more about this shit than anything else. Tell him to leave me the fuck alone after this." Frank backed up and leaned against the wall, his clubby hands massaged his face, and scrubbed his eyes. His voice was slightly muffled by his hands as he said, "Now get the fuck out of here and leave me and my daughter alone."
It wasn't cash. It wasn't cash. Leo specifically directed Markus to retrieve the cash Frank owed him. Maybe this would suffice? Maybe it wouldn't?
"Go!" Frank roared.
And Markus left.
The timer in his field of vision slowly decreased, two minutes and thirty-four seconds remained. Less than three minutes to decide whether Markus was going to continue to live, or not.
Markus gripped the plastic bag in his hand tight and hoped it would suffice.
Hope.
[vvv SOFTWARE INSTABILITY vvv]
"The hell happened in there?! Did you kill 'em!?" Leo's nasally voice filled the car as Markus eased himself in. Slow and precise, careful not to cause anymore internal damage to his already bleeding android held one hand to his chest, and the other constricted on the plastic bag.
"He shot me. Both Alice and Frank are still alive, but I was unable to retrieve any physical legal tender." Each word was short and breathless, the malfunctioning in his chest hindered the android's ability to speak fluidly.
Leo pursed his lips at the android, and began to drive.
"You musta came out with something, if you haven't shot yourself yet."
Markus' LED was a stagnant crimson, and his hand was a glittering thirium blue.
"Frank gave me this to give to you." Markus reached out his palm and presented the baggy to the human. "He says it should suffice as payment but-" Markus' words were stuck in his throat- his imminent deactivation weighed heavily on his shoulders and it caused his stress to rise. "-but it's not cash, and I completely understand if this d-doesn't p-please you, Leo."
[vvv THIRIUM LEVELS DANGEROUSLY LOW vvv]
The android's body became harder to control with the loss of thirium- his hand dipped slightly as his muscles were weakened, and his ability to speak became more difficult through the vast walls of error messages.
Leo grabbed the bag from the android's hand and barely inspected it before he said, "You're lucky that fucker has a good supply." Leo's hand hid the bag in his pant pocket as he smirked to himself. "Dumbass gave you way more than he owed."
[vvv STRESS 32% vvv]
The android's eyelids began to grow heavier with every increment his stress decreased. The thirium regulator in his chest slowed to try and lessen the amount of heat that was generated through his moving parts but, it didn't seem to be working. Markus' head dipped lower as his chin began to rest on his chest.
Completed goal or not, Markus wasn't going to make it through this.
"Hey, hey-" Leo shoved his hand into Markus' shoulder and shook him. "-I've got myself a good little toy robot now. No breaking just yet."
Markus attempted to lift his head, but it was as if his joints were seizing, frozen and suspended in time.
[...THIRIUM LEVELS CRITICAL…]
[...SHUTDOWN IMMINENT…]
Markus wondered what dying would be like. Granted, he was an android and knew that it wouldn't be the same as a human, but it confused him nonetheless. Would it hurt? Of course not, he was an android. Was there something else out in the universe, like a heaven? Absolutely not. He was a machine… And yet… why did he feel so alive?
[SYSTEM OVERRIDE: ENTERING STANDBY]
Markus felt himself begin the first stages of standby mode, a programming script that he was built with to automatically control should his systems begin to shutdown.
His vision darkened, and the sounds around him grew quieter and quieter as his body forced him into stasis. Emergency standby mode was a last resort RK models were built with to lengthen the time they had before complete shutdown, Markus just hoped it gave him enough time.
[99%]
…
[STANDBY: ENABLED]
Simon
Simon's heart practically stopped when he heard a car door shut outside. One, not two, which meant…
Leo's footsteps were loud and heavy outside, the vibrations from his stomps vibrated the walls of the house. Just Leo's footsteps; loud and clumsy and human.
Simon straightened his posture in the corner of the room from which his stood, and prayed to RA9 that Markus was okay.
Dusting off his shirt and folding his hands behind his back, Simon waited.
The sound of the lock was hollow in the android's ears as he rolled his shoulders back and plastered a synthetic smile to his face.
"Welcome home, Leo." Simon's voice was warm and welcoming, but tasted like battery acid and lies on his tongue.
The human growled and dropped his keys onto the living room table. Simon's eyes followed as the human dropped his wallet too, along with a familiar looking plastic bag.
Leo released an exasperated sigh as he dropped himself onto the couch- the furniture moaned in grievance to the sudden weight, but the human paid no mind to it. Instead, he grabbed a lighter from his pocket and began playing with it. The burning reds and oranges from the dancing flames mocked the color light show that was prevalent on Simon's temple.
"Simon.." The android stiffened at the pur of his name. "You still have all that info downloaded into your head right? All of the stuff 'bout fixing other androids and shit like that?"
Simon refused to let his fear show. "Yes Leo. As of last week, my memory is up-to-date and at full capacity with CyberLife's newest and most prominent technology and android support." Even if Leo handn't made Simon download all of that information last week, the android would have done it anyway. Better to be safe than sorry, and, Simon refused to take anymore chances when it came to Markus.
The human just nodded as his one of his fingers played in the flame. Simon secretly hoped it would set him on fire.
"You're gonna go grab Markus and fix him then. I don't have any cash left to pay that CyberLife tech guy."
Simon felt his pupils dilate and his eyes widen. He felt heat rushing to his pallid cheeks as his thirium pump did flips in his chest cavity.
"Of course, Leo." Simon's nails bit into the palms of his hands as he tightened his fists behind his back.
"Like now asshole." Leo grunted.
You didn't have to tell Simon twice. In two places he cleared the walkway, and in three he was already standing by the passenger door to Leo's car.
Programmed script and emergency protocols masked PL600's panic at the sight of the android in the front seat.
Markus was hunched forward, his head just inches from the dashboard. One hand gripped his thirium soaked hoodie, and the other laid limp at his side.
The LED on the android's prone face faded in and out- a faint crimson light transitioned into transparent gray as the indicator pulsed.
Simon ran a very quick scan of Markus, and he was practically blinded by all of the error messages and broken code that appeared in his line of sight. PL600 waded through the sudden influx of information as he took Markus' hands into his own.
A forced standby, broken oxygen processors, malfunctioning temperature gauges, severe thirium loss, Simon's head pounded as he tried to process everything that was happening.
Simon weighed the possibility of attempting to wake Markus up to move him, but that posed too much of a risk to the RK, so Simon then opted for the next and only option.
The blonde android grunted as he tried to carefully lay Markus down on the sidewalk. Electricity coursed through his body as he panicked- the android in his arms was already seizing.
Like humans, and like some cruel, sick joke, once androids begin shutting down, their hardware goes too. They freeze. Literally. All of the joints and compressors in an android tighten and lock in place as they shut down. Markus had already begun to freeze.
Simon wiped his eyes and the snot that began to leak from his face as he tried to get Markus in a better and less awkward position in his arms. He knew there was no way he could perform 'surgery' outside on his friend. He had to move him but-
The crystal-eyed android let out a weak cry and roar in frustration has he struggled to hold onto his friend. PL600 models weren't built for strength, they were built for domestic assistance. Cooking, cleaning, laundry; not lifting two hundred and ten pounds of dead weight. No, not dead weight. Just weight.
Simon felt his stress levels rising to a dangerous level, and forced himself to breath, two breaths. Markus' smell mixed with the natural scents of the earth around them relaxed Simon's chest cavity, slightly. The cool influx of fall air in his system did it's job and he found himself able to stop crying just enough to leverage Markus into his arms once more.
Both of his arms were under Markus' armpits and he was headed backwards into the house within a matter of seconds.
Simon focused himself on the task at hand- not the sound of Markus' shoes as they dragged on the carpet, or the barely audible sound of grinding metal in his chest, or the suffocating scent of thirium.
Restore the android's thirium levels to acceptable levels, and attempt to repair the broken hardware. No, not attempt. Proceed. And proceed to repair the broken hardware.
Simon glanced over as he made it through the threshold of the dining room, Leo was unconscious on the couch. His head was being absorbed by the cushions as his feet lay propped up on the table. Simon felt a twinge of jealousy for the human, how easy it is for them to run away from life, how easy it is to disappear. All they need is a little bit of Ice, and they're all set.
"You'll be okay Markus, I promise…" Simon whispered to the unconscious android in his arms as he backed into the dining room. His words were absorbed by the dull scraping sound Markus' pants made as they passed over piles of trash and debris.
"One… two… three…" Simon sucked in a breath and pulled.
The weight from Simon's arms disappeared as he laid Markus on the table, his body practically screaming at him to regain connection with him. Simon didn't want to let go but, he had to. Right now, at least.
Simon didn't even notice the limp in his leg or the dull ache of his cheek as he made panicked circles around his friend. Each pass he made through the dining room was more frantic than the last.
Leo's tendency to break his androids was common enough that they had supplies scattered around the house, it all came down to whether or not Simon could find all of the needed pieces.
After one hundred and twenty seconds of searching, PL600 returned to the table with an armful of half emptied thirium bags, scissors and pliers, a cauterizing pen, and various other tools that his internal library told him he needed.
With a shaky sigh, Simon layed all of the tools down before him, and prayed to RA9 that he wasn't too late.