̷N̷I̷N̷E

Rain slicked the air, slicked the storefronts, slicked the pavement at her feet.

Elodie had forgotten her umbrella in the car but wasn't about to ask for Hank to unlock it. She stood beneath the awning of the convenience store, arms to chest, hair stuck to her temple, reeds of seaweed. Nearby, Hank probed the scene's responding officer as Connor stood still as a statue beside the car. Thin droplets of water rolled down it's flat features, face expressionless, eyes closed.

She chewed on her bottom lip, anxiety nipping at her heels. Who was to say that Connor wasn't reporting back about the malware to Cyberlife. Could she really trust an android to lie? Maybe it wasn't strictly lying, but 'withholding the truth' wasn't an improvement beyond an attempt to appease her conscience. Perhaps it wasn't Connor she should be worrying about but herself. Her phone burned a hole through her pocket. She should call Elijah, because he would have the answer.

But her gut resisted. Usually she wouldn't care that Elijah possessed more knowledge than she did, but normality was a forgone concept. Elodie's hand stayed where it was, drifting loose in the flecked breeze.

"What are you going to do with those two?"

The comment roused her. She recognised the speaker from the previous night, wideset and soft eyed, his grey hair slicked back where Hank's hung limp.

"I'm not sure yet. Drinks are on me when I figure that one out."

Well, that was more cordial than she'd expected. Hank strode over just as Connor's eyes fluttered open. In spite of her worst fears, no sirens blared, no mechanical announcement to make a spectacle of her shame. Instead there was a signal, a nod, and the slightest of flickers behind the android's mechanical gaze. It seemed to say 'don't worry, your secret's safe'. She had no choice but to take it at face value.

"Took a little nap?" Hank said.

"Androids don't sleep," Connor replied.

"Yeah, because if they did, eggheads would've invented electric sheep already, huh."

Hank paused for affect but when neither laughed, he let out a frustrated huff and glared at Elodie, as if somehow this was her fault. It wasn't as though she hadn't understood the joke. In fact, it had given her a strange buzzing sensation, like a pinch to the synapses. Elodie brushed the sensation aside. There were more important things to focus on than an ancient novel.

Connor had scouted the area and surmised the AX400 couldn't have gone far. The runaway's obvious candidate for shelter was a grimy two-storey house, which stood out like a sore thumb, even among the squat surrounds. Domestic habitats tended to get snapped up and converted to spires of glass and steel, prime real estate for developers looking to erase the original footprint of Detroit's landscape. Her feet wet against the pavement, it occurred to her this transformation had been made possible by a domino effect she'd had a hand in collapsing.

The house was rounded by a chain link fence. Connor cut ahead, having spotted a hole. It crouched to study the serrated edge. Hank cast his eyes to the decrepit weatherboard façade.

"You're gonna tell me we've gotta head inside, aren't you?"

"I've identified blue blood," Connor said, "all signs indicate that this is where the AX400 fled to."

"I think I'm gonna take my chance in the rain. You with me?" He gestured to Elodie. She shook her head.

"I need to follow it. For my notes."

"Right, yeah. Well, knock yourself out. Just don't go letting it get ..." He pressed two fingers against his temple, pulled the trigger. She didn't return his crooked grin. "It's a real feat that you manage to have less humour than a fuckin' bot."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

They left Hank in the rain and scouted the perimeter. The yard was in disrepair, wind swept rubbish and rain soaked broken furniture littering the muddy ground. Elodie paced cautious in Connor's shadow. The android leaned down to inspect the window, attempting to peek past the grime to no avail. Elodie tugged at a loose thread in her windbreaker, watching it slowly unravel.

"Are you afraid?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

Elodie dropped her hand limp. The android's gaze was intense as it analysed the palpable shift in her demeanour, no doubt through the parts of her that could be codified into binary: the arc in heart rate, the dilation of pupils. Strangely, the thought that her fear could be measured into simple biochemical reactions began to calm her. What could be quantified could, in theory, be pacified with logic.

"Actually," she said, as if to interrupt herself, "I am. I'm afraid that what happened to you last night will happen again and that I won't have the capabilities to stop it. Because I'm ... I think I might be ill-equipped for this kind of work. In fact, I think I might be ill-equipped for everything in general."

Briefly she saw the circular LED on the side of Connor's forehead circle with yellow, paired with a quizzical expression. To both of their surprise, Elodie had managed to catch the android off-guard.

"Self-doubt is a unique aspect of the human experience." It finally began. "As an android, I haven't personally encountered it. I feel certain about every decision I make, because the algorithms in my system compute at a near instantaneous speed. In a way, you also have these too, but they're fine tuned to ... Other aspects that would not naturally occur to a machine. I think in black and white, where you think in colour."

A poetic android. She wondered if irony was one of those very blind spots. If they were, Connor didn't dwell on the matter. The android's face had grown soft, almost sympathetic.

"As I understand it, it isn't enough to tell you there's nothing wrong. When it comes to anxiety, everything is true. Everything anybody has ever thought. But suppose, for a second, that isn't the case. That you are capable. That thought becomes as real as the other."

Elodie blinked. She had heard his words before, no, seen them. They appeared in front of her, ink in serif font, her bitten nails skirting the edge of a page beneath cold, cold light. The feel of her deckchair, its sturdy arms, and the ache of her nose bridge, glasses pinching skin, eyes hollowed by fatigue.

Her muscles grew rigid for a moment, then subsided with the memory. She rubbed her temple.

Inside the house, a sound, a fist against wood and a raised voice, warped by the wind and rain. Connor's head snapped towards the source, the warmth gone in the snap of a finger.

"Anybody home?" It called out abruptly.

Whoever, or whatever, was inside moved.

Connor turned sharp and strode towards the door. It's hand positioned at the knob, the android motioned towards her. Elodie realised she was clutching her forearms, her skin bunching uncomfortable beneath her own grip. Yes, she was scared, but she had passed beyond the threshold where that mattered anymore. It was just like Connor had said, two things could be true: she could be afraid and she could overcome that fear. All she had to do was will herself.

Easier thought than done.

She slackened as he twisted the doorknob and followed after him. The heady scent of wood rot overwhelmed her nostrils, floorboards creaking underfoot. A lone WR600 stood at the centre of the room before a dining table. Connor's eyes swept the android with a level of disinterest, scanning the trash strewn room.

"WR600, is there anyone else present in the house?"

Elodie caught sight of the WR600's face as Connor began to pace the room. She knew the model well, it had been one of her first projects as an intern. It had been imperative that the WR600 had the necessary code to help maintain the android bees Elodie had developed. Perhaps it was this fact, that the project had been so close to home that made the warp of the android's skin, grizzled with disfigurement, cause a sickening drop in her stomach. WR600 twitched as she approached it, LED circling yellow in warning.

"No. Ralph is alone. Ralph is always alone."

Even from its sparing words, Ralph's tone was erratic. It stood too rigid, its arms held in front but not clasped, an odd stance, as though surrendering to an invisible pair of handcuffs. As Connor began to pace, analysing the area, Elodie circled the android.

Though she'd identified Ralph based on its appearance, it bore little resemblance to a factory model. Dressed in faded and torn rags, Ralph's outer façade was mottled in spots and whittled to its pearly android skin in others. Its knuckles, and the side of its face, were brutally scarred beyond anything Elodie had ever seen. The androids sent back for repair were typically the product of accidents or malfunctions. Deliberate mishandling of an android was hardly covered under a Cyberlife warranty, least of all one built for municipal services. Besides, one look at the central motherboard that tracked an android's jurisdiction would have indicated the WR600's absence. 

The city that had purchased them didn't care and neither did Cyberlife. What a miserable existence. She couldn't look at it any further.

"Seems like you had company, look around." Connor said. "The table is set for three."

Elodie put distance between herself and Ralph, pacing towards the far end of the living room, kicking a crumpled can out of the way with the toe of her sneaker. 

"Humans were here earlier." Ralph said, it's voice hiccupping on the word 'humans'. "Ralph hid, waited for them to leave."

"Did the humans leave the blue blood on the fence?" 

"That was Ralph. Ralph cut himself on the fence. Covered it up. With this fabric." Ralph began to fidget. "No other androids."

"You're stressed, Ralph. Makes me wonder how much of this story of yours is real."

"Only tells the truth. Only the truth."

"Thing is, I don't believe that. You're compromised. You've been hurt. Mayb—"

"Don't go in there." Ralph shouted, wheeling around to face Elodie.

Elodie froze, her hand on the door handle to the kitchen. Connor narrowed its eyes, dark with interest. Slowly, locked on Ralph, it began to pace towards the kitchen.

"Why shouldn't she?"

"Because it's not meant for humans. Stinking, filthy humans."

His words were coated in such thick malice that it took a moment for Elodie to even register they were directed towards her.

"Excuse me?" She said.

"Don't pretend that you didn't hear Ralph. Stinking. Filthy. Not meant for your kind."

"My ... kind?"

"Don't listen to it. Proceed."

Elodie bristled at the command but bid it anyway. Curiosity had sunk its claws deep into her skin. She pushed open the door, jerking back at the sight.

The kitchen was gutted, nothing but hints of rusted plumbing and broken tile. Just like the bathroom from the previous night's crime scene, the walls were carved in scrawls, Elodie caught sight of a bent knife on the remnant of a lone kitchen bench segment. She picked it up as her eyes scaled the walls.

'Ra9', over and over, small and then big, some ordered like tracks of code, others great masses of letters and numbers like the cloud of bees around a hive. They were the writings of a madman, though such a personification made her feel deeply uneasy. As far as she was aware, deviancy wasn't madness. Madness demanded humanity to stray from.

She turned and pushed past Connor, who had been hovering in the doorway, watching. Ralph's face contorted in anger as it caught side of her, shaking its head.

"Ralph said not to g—"

"What happened to you to hate humans so much?"

Elodie couldn't hold the words back, she'd been itching to say them. Outside she heard the sound of heavy footsteps. Hank was not so keen on staying out in the rain after all.

"Is that what ra9 is? Some sort of anti-human android declaration?"

"No," Ralph said sharply, "not meant for vermin eyes or vermin ears, for nasty visitors who enter unannounced."

"But whatever happened to you, that isn't the product of every human to ever exist. We're different. Some of us even made you. I made you."

She shivered. Her words didn't feel her own, they were tied to the kind of ego that her brother exerted. Something in her tone triggered the android. Ralph's eyes grew wild, though not from surprise. The android's LED flashed bright red. Without warning, Ralph let out a cry, of panic or anger she couldn't tell, charged towards her, arms flailing.

Elodie didn't realise she was still holding the knife until it was buried to the hilt in the android's chest cavity. Hot blue blood spurted across her wrist, coated her hands. She was face to face with Ralph, fear uncoiling in its sole clear eye. Something stuttered from the back of the android's throat, lost, as it slumped to the floor below. Elodie felt herself jerked down with its dead weight and loosened her grip on the knife's hilt.

She gasped and stared at her hands. Those blue, blue hands.

The front door swung open, banged against the wall, Hank towering in the doorway. Before he could manage a word, the nook beneath the stairs rustled. Out shot a woman, no, Elodie was mistaken, an android, hand clutched around that of a child. The pair darted for the door, a streak of movement.

"What're you doing? Grab them." Connor barked, but Hank stood motionless as the AX400 and its young companion slipped past the door frame.

"Oh yeah, because this is somehow my bad."

Connor made a grunt of annoyance and shoved him aside, disappearing from view. Wiping her hands on the front of her skirt, Elodie started after him.

"Yeah, wait, hold on. You alright, kid?"

"I'm fine, I'm perfectly fine." It was abundantly clear that Elodie was chanting the words to herself more than answering him. "Gotta keep up with Connor."

"Famous last words," Hank muttered, "fine, fine, go. I'll catch up. Ah, fuck, this is a pile of paperwork if ever I saw it."

Elodie found Connor on the main street, demanding an officer to point him in the direction of the runaways.

"They're headed to the subway." The officer said, dazed by the force of Connor's tone.

The android was off before she had time to recover. Elodie had thought she wouldn't fair much better than Hank when it came to maintaining pace with Connor after all those nights at the office with her back hunched over. Her hurried steps were easy as she pounded the pavement behind him, and to her surprise, her lungs expanded just enough to keep her breathing even.

Ahead, the backs of the runaways grew as they began to close the gap. The AX400 shot a panicked look in their direction, it's hand on the child's back, guiding it swiftly to make a sharp right into an alleyway. Connor picked up speed, his arms tearing the air as he kicked fully into gear, disappearing around the corner after them.

As she approached the lip of the alley, Elodie steeled herself. Something in her gut told her this wouldn't be easy.

Sure enough, when she turned to follow, the distant rumble of the highway greeted her, a filtered tunnel of noise. At the end of the alley, the AX400 cleared the top of a chain fence just as Connor's palms collided with the metal. As Elodie neared them, she saw the fear dancing bright on the AX400's damp features. It was only then that she saw the young girl by her side properly. Her eyes widened.

"Connor, wait."

Connor swung around, just as the two launched down the muddy slope, leading down to the highway. Annoyance twisted across its face. Elodie came to a stop.

"There's no waiting. I need to finish my mission."

"They'll never make it to the other side." Hank called out from behind. Puffing and red-faced from catching up, Hank doubled over to catch his breath. "She's got a fucking kid with her Connor, for Christ's sake, what're you gonna do when you catch them, huh? Arrest a child?"

"It's not a child." Elodie said, less to persuade Hank and more to reassure herself. "It's an android."

"Exactly. That's why I'm not any taking chances."

Connor shoved Hank roughly aside and scaled the fence. Hank, winded both by the action and the information Elodie had let slip, staggered backwards, shock radiating across his face.

Elodie knew she only had a few seconds to make her decision, staring at the back of Connor as the android slid down the muddy embankment. The lieutenant's wounded ego wouldn't persevere but the worm she'd squashed surely would if Connor ended back at Cyberlife.

"And what the fuck do you think you're doing?!"

Elodie had leapt up on the chain link fence before she had even realised just what she was doing. She felt Hank grab a fistful of her windbreaker, tugging her backwards.

"H-he can't be decommissioned! I can't let that happen!"

"Like hell you can't! Just order a new one!"

She had no time to explain, Connor was at the foot of the incline, seconds from entering the flood of cars zipping along the highway. In the distance, the howl of traffic bellowed up at her. 

Without a spare second to reconsider, she kicked backwards, her foot landing square against Hank's rest. Less from the force and more from shock, Hank gasped, his grip loosening just enough to allow Elodie the wriggle free. She scrambled up the rest of the fence, clearing it in a clean motion and sending her hurtling in Connor's wake.

Adrenaline coursed through her veins as she realised what she had set into motion. Her hands braced at her sides as she attempted to dig the palms of her heels against the soft earth. This was not a controlled motion, it was a freefall. She could feel the thrum of traffic from beneath, vibrating the ground and directly into her bones. Mud drove painful under her nails, fingers clawing like a wild animal. Just as the barrier below approached, Elodie found control.

She pulled herself up and jumped the low concrete wall. Elodie's feet met tarmac and she launched herself haphazard onto the highway.

The sound of a blaring horn filled her ears. If she had been a second sooner, she would have collided with the side of one of the cars whizzing by. She hadn't been thinking, hadn't been since she'd killed Ralph (was it killing?), powered on pure momentum. Now she was too aware of her limbs, her movements clunky as she attempted darted across the three-lane stretch to the highway's divider.

Connor was not having the same problem. It had manoeuvred with expert precision, threading the needle through traffic, now closing the gap. Elodie urged herself to follow as Connor leapt onto the highway's opposite flow. She could do this, had to do this.

Because everything is true. Everything anybody has ever thought.

Elodie hopped the final barrier and froze. Her vision flickered as the noise overwhelmed her, the blare of a truck horn filling her ears. Headlights, tyre's screaming, an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. The night of the accident overlaid against oncoming traffic. A gunshot sounded, Elodie clutched her head.

A gunshot? That wasn't right, not right at all. Why would there have been a gun? Why—

She inhaled viciously, the exertion of her lungs leaving her lightheaded. The headlights weren't a memory, they were coming right at her. She stood rigid, heavy, mind screaming for her to move but body unresponsive. It was an episode, full blown and unrelenting. 

Elodie braced for impact.

Something collided into her side and sent her sprawling. The ground beneath her was soupy, it must be her blood, the last sensation before she was wiped clean from the earth. But blood wasn't cold, and Elodie felt no pain, only the lasting tension in her limbs, her muscles pulled to shreds.

Elodie's eyes fluttered open. She found Connor, inches above her, damp with rain and confusion. A shallow waft of breath, hers or his, she could not tell. Swirling air in the shell of her ear, she heard the ocean: a symphonic tide.

"You saved me." She said, her brow knitting. "Why did you save me?"

"I don't know." He replied, and she believed each and every syllable.