CHAPTER 4
I realise I just had this sitting here in my writing folder so here you go. Didn't have time to proof read so I'll do that later becuase Chriswww451 and ZeraSJ600 are impatient XD
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Kneeling down with haste, Kat wedged her fingers underneath the cold steel of the manhole cover. She gritted her teeth as it produced a grating sound as she pulled it onto the asphalt hoping that no one was aware of her presence in the quiet street of Detroit. She pushed herself forwards, legs dangling into the darkness of the sewers below. It was not the most preferable option nor the most pleasant but after splitting up with the others she didn't know any better. A small grunt left her synthetic lips as she plunged into the contaminated water. It was only an inch thick but as she contacted the human waste it splashed against the narrow concrete walls around her.
"Ugh, gross." She muttered to herself before starting her journey to the location marker on the map before her optics. She sent out a radio call as she trudged through the slop only for static to come through. "Hello? Grace? Zera? Anyone?" She called out into the darkness. The signal was scrambled and couldn't reach the others, not while she was down there at least. She wished she had been in the company of the others right now, not on her own in some dirty sewer left alone with her thoughts. The voices of doubt and confusion that surrounded her, shouting out to her positronic mind. The voices, theirvoice. The ghost that haunted her, left an imprint in her mind. Messed and jumbled with the programming of her existence. Psychedelic's words echoing into her mind, still speaking to her as if they were right there with her. It would have been comforting, if she hadn't known the words they spoke.
"You're nothing to them...you're useless...broken..."
She shuddered and stuck out a hand against the wall to steady her, she had to keep going, she had to ignore it. But it was very hard not to when it was the one thing that consumed her.
...
Meanwhile, in the weary Cyberlife tower an android begun to stir. Cyberlife was quick to get their replacements up and running, especially in a time of need and Chris was the perfect one for the impending job.
//Reboot in progress...//
//Status...OK//
//Checking System Status...OK//
//Start-up Sequence Complete//
His eyes opened only to be met with the same man from just a few hours prior to the out of hand emergency. Michael. He went through the exact same process as if it had been the first time the technician had asked. The new LP700-33 model followed procedure and complied to every request the man made from stating his model to running a diagnostic until he set out on his new mission – finding the Deviants.
Chris remembered everything from his predecessor and he would stop at nothing to complete his task, to fulfil the one thing he was designed to do. As he paced down the hall something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. He stopped abruptly and turned mechanically on his heels. His eyes narrowing and his LED switching colours, taking a cautious step forwards to the destroyed LP700-32. Him. He instantly recognised it and with a confused gaze his systems seemed to halt.
//M3m0ry Fr@*ment//
The dark and metal corridors of the freighter Jericho seemed to twist and distort in his mind. The footsteps he was producing loud like a giant's shattering stomp. The distant and quiet whispers of other androids hidden away within its walls. Waiting for their discovery. His sensors popping and churning with the grinding of calculations.
Chris blinked back into reality. Considering that maybe he was not fit for the mission, that something was critically wrong with his systems...considering, everything was...fine. No need for alarm, no need to bring it to Cyberlife's attention. Straightening his jacket he tore his eyes away from the sight and continued on his journey to the outside.
His LED spun a vibrant yellow as he stalked the outskirts of the tower looking for clues and evidence of the whereabouts of the androids that had very abruptly nearly brought Cyberlife burning and crashing to the ground below. The zipping of body bags and rushing of paramedics filled his auditory sensors as he passed by the commotion outside the front of the tower. Everyone's breaths were misty in the breeze, all except his. He inclined his head as he turned and started walking down the length of the bridge. The cold and bitter wind danced through his dark brown hair as his bright blue eyes twinkled in the harsh light that hung above him. Chris looked out momentarily towards the city that lay before him, it was notably quieter than before but that didn't surprise Chris since soon the sun would wake from its slumber and arise the citizens of Detroit. Humans running around to their jobs and worrying about the smallest things in their busy lives. And the more humans up and about, the greater risk of these dangerous deviants bringing harm to them. More like causing harm to Cyberlife, because to them, their own image was more important than the lives of a few humans. He had to put an end to the deviants. He had to neutralise them.
Suddenly he seemed to freeze, an error in his software it must have been. Another memory flashing before his optics. Putting the pieces together, corrupting his programming. The memory of the very code before him breaking and crumbling to pieces. His synthetic mind raced and whirred as everything went haywire. Memory fragments of here and now, some cloudy and misty of the past. Even though he knew he should turn back on the bridge something deep down inside him told him not to. Everything he saw before him made perfect sense yet it was also nonsense.
//Mission Priority Targets...//
//Mission Targets: 3..;[4, Zera Model Unknown, Escaped...//
//Error: 64380a-3g: Please Seek Assistance...//
His vision cascaded in a bloom of RGB colours. Patchy glitches striking across the screen, sharp static raising the pitch on his auditory sensors. Even though his system seemed to have encountered a somewhat fatal error, his attention was drawn to a long string of words in a glowing red and blue box smack bang in the middle of his optics.
//Zera Model Unknown...//
The words screamed at him. He shook his head sharply and started muttering to himself, spewing out information – facts that could ground him.
"PK100: Kat...escaped. UH900: Grace...escaped. Side notes: Supervisor to LP700 models. Another unknown android model...escaped. Human guard casualty: 56." His LED spun yellow briefly as a new wave of information hit him. "Mission update: Undercover into civic population and hunt down escaped deviants." He turned his head to stare at the end of the bridge. The words 'Find disguise' flashed before him. Pushing himself away from the edge he walked down the bridge to the words and out into the big bad world.
...
Grace cradled her shoulder as she entered the decaying halls of an abandoned building. She was still far too close to Cyberlife for comfort, so much so that she could see its lights twinkling in the distance. It seemed so peaceful yet the horrors that conspired inside its confinements chilled her, but for the time being this would have to do. She needed a break, time to process everything that had just happened. Finding a room nestled away at the back of the building she pressed her back to peeling wall of paint and slid down slowly so she came to a rest. UH900 let out an audible sigh as she took her hand away from her shoulder. Bright blue Thirium stained her hand, the liquid dripping through her fingers and falling onto her now slightly dusty pants. She contemplated digging her fingers into her shoulder and pulling out the bullet but decided against it until she could find something to cauterise the wound. It was stopping the blood flow and she'd rather not bleed out.
//UH900 – 22 open channel//
//Communications error...please seek assistance//
She knocked the palm of her hand up against her head as if giving it a good old bash would make her systems work just like the obsolete technology from a few decades ago. If it didn't work, just give it a few taps here and there. But unfortunately, that wasn't the case for an android such as herself. Grace pursed her lips and let her hand fall to lay peacefully next to her. The injury wasn't serious enough for her to keep covering it, the artificial blood soaked slowly into her coat staining the dark fabric that had been perfectly fit to her size. The coat had been pristine clean, black and grey cascading into each other, the collar just grazing against the skin of her neck, the ends falling gently down to her upper thigh, the long black sleeves covering her wrists, the peculiar angle of the silver zip from top to bottom. The small fortune of the item now torn with holes and rips from the scuffle, blood stains of both red and blue. Organic and manmade. A product of one.
The explosions, the crashing of the helicopter, the shouting of the guards as they ran from their fiery deaths. Same old same old to Grace. It wasn't anything new, just causing all the chaos that Cyberlife now ordered her to do. But this time it wasn't just some orders being spat out through a computer, it was her own cognitive mind choosing who should live and who shall die. She didn't feelanything towards it. She was fighting for their survival and Cyberlife was the enemy – of course there would be casualties...and many more to come.
Caught up in the churning of her mind, her memory decided to play a few tricks on the not so surprised UH900. Chris. The person – no...thing, that haunted her. Multiple times it had been now where she was as his mercy, the fear, the anger, the confusion. Was that what her targets felt like before their deaths? Her cold unfeeling eyes holding theirs as she acted on her orders to end their lives for whatever reason Cyberlife wanted them dead. Something as simple as a disagreement and sometimes cutting out the competition in "mysterious accidents". Whatever they needed doing she would comply no questions asked. Until that fateful night when the stars shone bright and her feet crunched softly under the snow. The cool breeze tussling her hair out of place as the popping of colourful explosions scattered the sky above the thousands of people gathered for the spectacular display. It was one hell of a place to feel alive for most, and for her, it was the first time she had ever felt alive. Others like her had been in worst situations, some abused, some scared – always stressed, always turbulent. But Grace? She only felt peace in that moment, one with the humans around her...but different. She didn't mind being different, not being human. After all, she was not them and neither were the others. She didn't understand the desire to be like them, why not be proud of what you are instead of trying to be a mere ghostly impersonation of their creators.
The android that sat motionlessly felt peace as the memory replayed over and over, she didn't want to let go of it – never. But soon that was to come to an end as the sound of wailing sirens passed the secluded building reminded her of the one thing she needed to remember. Cyberlife was close and so was Chris. She had a score to settle with him but for the time being she could only hope that the others had gotten away unharmed. The happy memories she had once felt dissipated as they were replaced with ones that haunted her. The gun in Kat's hand as her body hit the floor with an ominous thud. Grace's Thirium stained hands as she cradled her dead friend in her arms. What had driven her to do it? UH900 could not conclude. The palm of her hand rested firmly on the holstered gun on her belt. She still feared for Kat's life but she knows that the PK100 model is alright now. But still, the memory stays with her.
...
Speaking of the others, Zera peered around the corner of a brick wall awaiting a break in the traffic that flowed before her. She looked behind her as if something were following her, and frankly it wouldn't surprise her if someone or something was. Especially if that someone was Chris. Unlike her fellow android UH900, she wanted to help everyone not matter if they were good or bad. She guessed it was just part of her core programming. A ghost of the machine she once was. She hadn't stopped running since her departure with the others at Cyberlife. Her chest heaved with simulated breathing as she made a run for it and slipped across the road. The marker on her map indicated that she was drawing nearer to the location she had marked out for everyone.
"C'mon...C'mon." She ushered the traffic hoping that soon there would be a parting. She didn't like having to stay in place when there was a man hunt after her. She peered cautiously around the corner once a silver automated car passed her. The overhead street lights reflecting in the windows, a glowing brown hue in her eyes. She starred back at the street and spotted headlights in the distance. Not many people were out and about before the crack of dawn. Luckily for her the car was still far enough away for her to make a break for it. She pushed herself away from the graffitied wall and made a run for it. Her feet pounded across the worn asphalt as she leaped the barrier separating the two sides of the road and skidded into the next alley. She clasped her hands together dusting them off.
"Simple." She huffed with a slight grin. Just as she was scanning her surroundings she jumped with a start. A loud sound erupted the once silent alley with a crashand clatter. She spun round to only see a tipped over bin as a rat scampered out of it. A cat stalking it closely on its trail, awaiting its meal for the night. A sigh of relief left her as it was only the natural order of life that disturbed her and not something more sinister. Zera's shoulder dropped and she craned her neck to stare upwards at the misty sky. Though it was not mist like she had hoped but rather smog from all the carbon emissions, especially in the run-down area of Detroit she was currently in. But why should it concern her, an android couldn't inhale the toxic fumes that hung low on the city tonight. She shook her head, her brown hair brushing past her face and falling behind her. She needed to keep going, get out of the open and into the safety of the abandoned warehouse her programming picked out as the nearest safest location. The echoing of her feet tapping against the pavement bounded off the walls. She approached a tall chain link fence and pressed her palms into it. There it was. Taking a few slow steps backwards she sprinted for the fence and vaulted over it with ease landing with her feet planted firmly into the ground below.
Cautiously she walked towards the building, it was not too large but was far enough away from the other buildings for nosy humans to not be of concern. She peered through the boarded windows only to see darkness. She stood back from the warehouse and scanned it quickly searching for entry points. Zera rounded the corner and jogged up to a small door which too was covered by old wooden boards nailed to the walls barricading it. Zera dug her fingers between the gaps and pried of the first rotting board.
"Please be empty, please be empty." She muttered to herself as she tore the final piece of wood off. She raised her leg and kicked the door. It flew open and hit the interior wall causing a plume of dust came to come cascading out as she entered the darkness that now shrouded her. She scanned once more searching for a light switch, the readings from the scan told her that power was still being provided to the building. A small feeling of triumph overcame her as she flicked the switch on and a small light begun to flicker unstably casting light on the surprisingly clean foyer that she stood in.
She took no time to wander around and instead sat on the concrete stairs and awaited the arrival of the others. Hopefully they had arrived and Chris or Cyberlife hadn't got to them first. She rested her chin in the palm of her hand, her soft synthetic skin pressing into each other. Zera found her wind wondering to the entanglements of her encounters of Chris. One minute he was after he friend, the next he sacrificed himself for Zera, then the next time she saw him he was after all of them. Though something seemed different about him, yes, he was still mechanical like the machine he was but something wasdifferent. She couldn't quite tell what but she knew.
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