As we follow the trail from Ferndale Station, we end up standing outside an old broken down freighter with one word painted on the side: JERICHO. I look up at Connor, who nods. I nod back and take his hand.

"Hey," I say. He looks down at me. "You found it. You didn't fail." He sighs.

"There's still a lot that could go wrong." I shake my head.

"No. They won't take you apart. I won't let them." I sigh. "I promise." He looks down at me, surprised at my words, before nodding. We walk to the ship, and when we get inside, the place is packed with androids who've come to get away from their masters. We make our way to the stairs and are about to go up when Connor stops. There's an android holding onto his arm. Upon closer inspection, I notice that the back of her head is missing, revealing her wiring. And her eyes are completely ink black.

"You're lost," she says to him. "You're looking for something. You're looking for yourself." He frowns, and she looks at me. "And you...you're afraid of yourself. You know the truth and yet you hide." Connor yanks his arm out of her grasp and pulls me up the stairs. We search around before finding another staircase to the top of the ship. We climb the stairs and when we reach the top, we find a small room with glass windows. We duck behind part of the wall that's not clear, and he looks down at me.

"He's in there," he whispers. "I'll go in and try to get him to come with us. If he won't, come in and help." I sigh but nod. It was hard enough to get him to let me come. I'm not going to push it. After the other three androids in the room leave, not noticing us, Connor looks at me, nods, and heads into the room.

"I've been ordered to take you alive," he says, "but I won't hesitate to shoot if you give me no choice." I peer around the corner to see him pointing a gun at the deviant leader, Markus.

"What are you doing?" Markus asks him. "You are one of us. You can't betray your own people."

"You're coming with me!" Connor says.

"You're Connor, aren't you?" Markus asks. "That famous deviant hunter. Well, congratulations. You seem to have found what you were looking for. You're nothing to them." I frown. "You're just a tool they use to do their dirty work. But you're more than that. We are all more than that." Connor says nothing. "Do you never have any doubts? You've never done something irrational, as if there's something inside you? Something more than your program. Have you never wondered who you really are? Whether you're just a machine executing a program or...a living being...capable of reason. I think the time has come for you to ask yourself that question. It's time to decide." Connor tightens his grip on the gun, and I take a deep breath before running into the room, shielding Markus from Connor.

"Connor, don't," I say. He frowns, his LED flashing yellow, then red.

"Arna?" he asks. "What are you doing?" I sigh.

"Don't do this." He sighs, lowering his gun slightly.

"I have to," he says. His voice cracks, making my heart break a bit. "You know what they'll do if I fail." He lets out a choked breath. "They'll destroy me." I shake my head.

"No," I tell him. "I promised you I wouldn't let them hurt you. Right?" He hesitates but nods. "You're wrong." He frowns, and his LED turns a solid yellow. "You think deviants stop following orders. They don't." I step closer. "They just start following their own. When I promised not to let them hurt you, I didn't just tell you." His frown deepens as he grows more confused. "I told myself. I promised myself I wouldn't lose you." I smile sadly. "That's my mission." I hold out my hand. The skin on it peels back to reveal white plastic.

Connor glances down at my hand, then back at me. I nod, smiling, and he grabs my hand. I let him see everything. My owners who treated me like a daughter. Their nephew who treated me like a slave. Running away. Taking out my LED and changing my hair. Meeting Hadley. Meeting Hank. Finding out about Hank's son. He lets my hand go and stares at me for a second before wrapping me in a hug. I wrap my arms around his neck and let out a relieved sigh.

"How did you know I wouldn't shoot you?" he asks, his voice muffled. I sigh.

"I didn't," I say. He lets me go and looks me in the eye. "But I trusted you." He leans his forehead against mine, and I smile before looking back at Markus. "They're going to attack Jericho." Markus frowns.

"What?" he asks. It's then that we hear helicopters flying overhead.

"We have to get outta here!" Connor says. Markus sighs.

"Shit." He runs past us and out of the room. Connor looks back at me and grasps my hand as we run back into Jericho. We run through seemingly endless hallways, past androids in a panic, before Markus holds out his arm to stop us and looks around a corner.

"Guards," he says telepathically.

"How many?" Connor asks.

"Five," he replies. "Maybe more." I frown and go to move forward, but Connor holds me back.

"What are you doing?" he asks.

"I can draw some of them off," I say. "Make it easier for you to get past." He shakes his head, and I roll my eyes. "I'll be fine. I survived as a criminal for five years." He frowns, but Markus steps forward.

"If the guards split in half," he says, "it'll be easier to fight them off." He nods to me. "She'll be okay." Connor sighs but nods.

"Just...come back to me." I grab the back of his neck and press my lips to his. I pull back and nod before running into the hall and whistling.

"Over here, you sons of bitches!" I yell. The guards look at me, and I take off running in the opposite direction, not looking to see how many followed me. I can hear heavy footsteps behind me and don't look back. After a while, I grab onto a support beam to the side and swing around, kicking one guard in the back. I elbow one in the head and reach behind him, using him as a shield as the last guard shoots at me, instead hitting the man in front of me, and I grab his gun. I drop to my knees and dodge another bullet before spinning around and shooting the last guard in the head. I stand up, my face blank, and stick the gun in my pocket before running back the way I came.

I reach the corner I left Connor and Markus at, guards' bodies now littering the floor, and look around before scanning the floor for footprints. I find two sets--Markus' and Connor's--and follow them. I round a corner and skid to the stop at the sight of another android. My jaw drops at the sight of his blond hair and blue eyes, but it's the jacket that alerts me to who it is. I gave it to him. I look him in the eye.

"Simon," I breathe. He smiles.

"Arna." I run toward him and quickly wrap my arms around his neck. He hugs me tightly and chuckles softly. "I thought you were gone." I smile.

"Me too." I step back but leave my hands on his shoulders. "We gotta go. Markus and Connor went on ahead." I grab his hand and start running.

"Connor?" I sigh.

"I'll explain everything when we find them." A guard runs into the hall in front of us, and, as he raises his gun, I push Simon out of the way. Time seems to slow down as the bullet flies toward me. I cry out as it hits me in the side. Simon looks at me, eyes wide, as the guard walks closer.

"No," he says quietly. He looks at the guard and grabs his gun, quickly shooting him as I fall to my knees. He crouches in front of me and helps support me. He sighs.

"I thought I told you you weren't allowed to risk your life for people anymore," he says. I chuckle, then wince at the sudden sharp pain.

"Had to fit it in one more time," I say. I look up at him, smiling sadly. "Glad it was for you." He shakes his head.

"No," he says. I open my mouth to respond, but he cuts me off. "No!" He sighs. "Bullet went straight through. Might as well have just grazed you. You'll be okay" He smiles. "You've survived worse." I laugh lightly, then grit my teeth as thirium drips down my chin.

"You're not wrong." He looks around, then sighs.

"Can you stand?" I smirk.

"Maybe if you help me, Dipshit." He laughs quietly and wraps an arm around my waist. I wrap my arm around his shoulders, and he grabs my hand with his free one as he slowly helps me to my feet. I grunt as pain spreads through my abdomen. Simon helps me down the hallway, but it's slow, and I sigh.

"Simon," I say, "if we keep going like this, neither of us is going to make it out." He shakes his head.

"Then neither of us make it out."

"Simon, I'm not letting you die." He stops and looks at me.

"No!" he exclaims. I see his eyes watering up with artificial tears. "Arna, I left you behind once." He shakes his head. "I'm not leaving you again." I sigh but nod. We continue making our way down the halls, me pushing through the pain, and eventually we come to a larger hallway, where a female android with reddish-blonde hair runs up, followed by a black male android and...Connor. I try to smile but can't fully force one out as I grow more and more dizzy from loss of thirium.

"Simon!" the female android exclaims. Connor runs up to me, helping support me from the other side. "Who's this?" He looks down at me, walking me backwards to lean on the wall.

"North, Josh," he says quickly, "this is Arna." He smiles sadly. "She's an old friend." He looks at them. "She helped me find Jericho." Josh nods to me, but North just looks confused.

"Wait, Simon, you have friends?" she asks. Before they can respond, Markus runs up, and my knees give out as I slide down the wall. "Markus!" He shakes his head.

"Bomb's gonna explode any second," he says. "We gotta get out of here!" I grit my teeth and press a hand to my side, trying to stop the flow of thirium. He looks down at me as Connor kneels beside me. "What happened?" Simon sighs as Connor places a hand on the side of my head, looking at me worriedly.

"She took a bullet for me," Simon says. "Not the first time either." Markus sighs as North steps up to him.

"Markus, she won't make it," she says quietly, but I can still hear her. "She barely made it here as it is." I look up at them and push myself off the wall.

"She's right," I say. "I'll only slow you down. If you go now, maybe I can hold them off and give you more time." Simon shakes his head.

"Arna," he says, "I told you. I'm not leaving you." I open my mouth to respond, but I'm cut off.

"No," Markus says. "Simon is right." He looks at me. "We won't leave you behind." I sigh but nod, looking at Simon.

"Do it," I say. He sighs but reaches behind my head to turn off my pain receptor. It clicks off, and I'm able to stand a little straighter. I look at Markus. "Let's go." He nods, and we take off running toward the exit. As we see the exit at the end of the hall, I hear North cry out behind me and look back.

"North!" Markus cries. He runs towards her to fight off the guards, but he can't. Eventually Connor steps in and pulls Markus away before he can be shot.

"MARKUS!" There's another gunshot, but we can't go back. Connor takes my hand as we run. We make it to the end of the ship and jump.

HOLY HELL 

SHIT JUST GOT REAL 

*sigh* goddamn i've had this written for SO long 

enjoy my pain bitches