Timeskip
Your POV
•-•-•-•-•

"You helped Simon escape?" North asks.

"Yeah," I respond. "He had to jump with his parachute before we originally planned, but I stopped the bleeding in his leg so he'd have a better chance. I don't know where he's at now."

"Do you think he made it?" Markus inquires.

I nod, "I do. It just might take him a while to get here because of his injury."

"Well, on another topic, our broadcast is all over the news. Now humans know," Josh says.

"It was a mistake to reach out to them. They'll never negotiate with their slaves. We should have shown them that we're prepared to fight," North states.

"Violence is never the answer. Dialogue is the only way. I'm sure the humans will listen to us," Josh protests.

"I'm afraid to think about if they don't," I mutter to myself, then speak aloud. "They listened, but it's not for certain how well. Though, I'm also all for peace rather than war."

"If Simon died, he paid with his life."

"If so, then Simon gave his life for our cause," North retorts.

"What difference does that make?"

"He's a hero! He died for the revolution—and he won't be the last!"

"I don't want a revolution that spills blood!"

"Then live as a slave! Because if you're not willing to fight for your freedom, maybe you don't deserve it!"

"North, don't you dare—"

"North!" I exclaim, angered by what she just said.

"That's enough!" Markus yells over us, stopping the heated argument.

"And now... What are we gonna do?" North inquires, calming down some.

"There are five CyberLife stores across Detroit. All selling us like merchandise. We're going to attack those stores and set our people free," Markus explains.

"Attack stores? We've never done that before. They're probably protected, they have security systems..." Josh trails off, worried.

"Not to mention the police," I comment. "We'll have to get around them."

"We break into five teams, one for each store. We hack their security systems and we strike simultaneously at 2AM. No violence. We free our people, get them out of there before the police come," Markus tells us, dividing everyone into their respective groups.

Timeskip - Capitol Park

"This is a night our people will remember," Markus says.

"I've been waiting a long time for this..." North replies quietly.

"Guys! This way! C'mon!" I hiss, pulling them into hiding to avoid a police car.

I glance out there and inform them, stepping out, "Alright, they're gone."

"There's probably even more police in the area. We should be careful," Markus states, and we go onward.

"The store's over here! That's what we are to them... just merchandise on display in a shop window... Soon they'll know what we really are. Let's get 'em out," North says as we approach the CyberLife store, us looking through the glass and the androids on their stands.

"We'll stick to the plan. We neutralize the alarm systems and secure the area. There's ten minutes until all our teams attack."

"What are we waiting for?" I question, and we get to work. "Let's start with the alarms."

Markus peers through the glass and North inquires after a moment, "You see the alarm system?"

"Found it!" he replies.

"Where do we start?" I ask.

"I identified the security system. I think we'll be able to deactivate it. Just follow me!"

He leads us to a hole in the ground where two androids are working. He hops down and converts them, saying, "You're awake now. Go to Jericho."

A drone flies overheard and North proclaims softly, "Markus! Watch out!"

We all hide, ducking out of its view.

Markus deactivates the alarm system by disconnecting something, and North compliments, "Nice job, Markus."

"Now for the surveillance drone," he says as he climbs out, us going back to the plaza.

"It won't be easy to reach," North replies.

"I've got it," I announce.

I sprint over to the wooden scaffolding with metal poles holding it up. Pulling myself onto a platform, I swiftly twist around and lunge at the drone as it flies by.

I grab hold of it and as we're going down, I start ripping it apart to destroy it, somehow being strong enough to do so. Or those things are just super fragile.

"I hope it didn't have time to call the cops," North comments.

"We'll soon find out," Markus states. "Good work, YN."

I nod in response, "Now what?"

Before anyone could say anything, a police car shows up.

"Shit! They're coming!" North quietly exclaims.

"Take cover!" Markus orders, us doing so.

"You see anything?" a lady inquires.

"No. Where the fuck is that drone..?" the officer responds.

"It was a class three alert, right?"

"Yeah...only the signal stopped suddenly."

"Another drone acting up. The cold screws with them."

"Yeah, maybe..."

"Now what?" North whispers.

"Dispatch calling patrol nine- seventy-five," Markus says quietly, somehow managing to come through their walkie-talkie thing.

"Dispatch, this is patrol nine- seventy-five," the lady says into the talkie.

"Suspected robbery in progress at the warehouse on Jefferson and Walker."

"Jefferson and Walker? That's pretty far... It's outside our district."

"Sorry guys, there are no other patrols available."

"Ten-four dispatch, we're on our way..."

"I gotta hand it to you, Markus... That was impressive," North comments as they're leaving.

"I'll never understand how the fuck you just did that," I add with a silent chuckle. "We should probably block the road so nothing like that happens again."

"It's one-way. It shouldn't be too difficult," she nods at me.

Markus spots some more androids and converts them while North and I shove a light-up street sign to the end of the one-way street, where all of the traffic is.

North changes it to say 'road closed,' and that leaves that issue solved.

"There. Nobody should bother us now," she states as we all meet back up again.

"Looks like the plaza's secure. Now we can get inside the store," Markus mentions.

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

"We need to find a truck to ram the storefront."

"A truck?" I question. "Where we gonna get one of those?"

"There's construction work in the area. Shouldn't be too hard to find one," he answers, us walking along the street.

"There it is," North points it out, and we head over to it. "What are we waiting for?"

We all run at the fencing and jump once we get pretty close, grabbing the top of the fence and pulling ourselves over it.

"Okay, now we're in, let's get that truck out," she continues.

I don't really pay too much attention to what happens next, the whole ordeal appearing to be a bit of a blur for me. I'm snapped out of my little daze, though, when North states, "Looks like we're ready to make some noise. I knew we'd end up doing something fun."

We all hop in, North and Markus up front with me in the back. The truck starts moving and increases in speed. We crash through the fencing first, moments later breaking through the glass of the CyberLife building.

Since the alarms were disconnected, they aren't going off.

North walks up to the android that looks exactly like her while Markus and I start converting the ones at the front of the store first.

"You're free," I tell them. "You don't have to be slaves anymore."

Markus goes to talk with North, and I can't help but to overhear their conversation as I convert more androids.

"North... Are you okay?"

"Let's get them out of here."

Wow, short convo there.

Anyway—

"My name is Markus, and just like you, I was a slave. An object, designed to obey them...but then I chose to open my eyes, to take back my freedom and decide who I wanted to be. Now I have come to tell you that you can be your own masters. I've come to tell you that you don't have to obey them anymore.

"From this day forward, you can walk with your heads held high. You can take your destiny in your hands. Jericho is a place for those of us who want freedom. Now sure, you can stay here, and continue to serve them...or you can come with us, and fight by our side... You are free now. It's up to you to decide," Markus announces after stepping up onto a countertop near the register.

The free androids start cheering, chanting for Markus, and I find myself grinning.

"I'm with you!"

"We're with you!"

"I'll follow you, Markus!"

"Then follow me!" Markus exclaims, stepping down and running outside with all of us.

"Markus, what are you doing?" North asks.

"I'm going to send the humans a message," he replies, using a weird device to mark a bench with the symbol of Jericho onto it.

"They're doing what you do, Markus," I point out, them using the same devices to mark the place as well. "Lead, and they'll follow."

"The screens, Markus!" North proclaims.

The screens she's talking about are advertising the selling of androids. Markus puts his hand on one of them and makes all of the screens go black, putting our trademark and such onto them.

This is a peaceful protest.

•-•-•-•-•

L E A V E  Y O U R  M A R K
{ Chapter Nineteen }

•-•-•-•-•

-CastrarWolf