"I am watchful. I am relied upon."
—-
On the edge of the great divide, there were no talks. There was only an exchange of bullets. Onslaught. A test to see who had superior firepower.
An argument comprised of last words, exchanged with murderers, and the murdered...
Until you, arrived.
By an overwhelming show of force, and the façade of throwing your support behind the supposed victor...the fighting had stopped. Both sides retreated behind their constructed borders.
The human military and their roadblocks. Extendable, portable walls strategically placed to provide cover, the American flag waving farther back behind them – guarded.
The android revolution and their claimed territory, marked with rows of sandbags. Markus stood at the head of that barricade, a digital flag planted at his side.
Pixels and floating particles waved at its human counterpart, a star-spangled banner with red and white stripes; symbolic pieces of stitched and projected ideologies buckling from a gust.
"He says thank you..." Connor mumbled, the two of you at the forefront of what was divine intervention, "He'd like to formulate a plan for 'our new numbers.'"
"Tell him this: I'm not here for you..."
A single man broke away from the human line; an act that, from your experience, came with great reprimand.
That rule didn't seem to apply to him. He walked with the stature of someone uneducated in what it meant to be confined by boundaries. It wasn't just that he was above the law...
He held himself as if he was, the law.
"...I'm here for him."
He who stood among the fallen, surrounded by the bodies of either party. He'd sent his people to their deaths, ordering they share their fate with another.
He held a loudspeaker to his mouth, your name resounding through the wintry haze.
"...I've come to talk to you."
Perkins.
"Come on, you have my word." He nodded at his soldiers, "They won't try anything."
Your eyes narrowed. Your fists clenched.
There was no one-way pane of glass to protect him, no interrogation room to hold you back. He was vulnerable. Desperate.
The human body count, the numbers of those lost...they were staggering compared to the androids that their cooled corpses kept company.
"Don't go..." Connor begged, "It's a trap. He wants to get you out in the open."
You flicked your thumb with your finger. Fought another tremor, another urge to fall into hibernation until this clusterfuck was over. That wasn't an option.
There may have been no known alternative, but if there was one, it wouldn't be discovered by submitting to discord wrought by miscommunication.
Enough souls had departed by its evil touch, for one night.
"I should hear what he has to say..."
Perkins was the last person you wanted to speak with...and still, if he was willing to talk, that meant there was a plotbrewing. A conspiracy. A declaration of something more than war.
"What if they kill you?" Connor blocked your view, "Did you think about that?"
"You said it yourself. There might be no coming back from this." You whispered, "That's just a chance I'm going to have to take."
The two of you looked out from over the barrier that'd been set as a perimeter. You'd seized it as your own, as your army's, the fluid nightmare that had pried the eyes of humanity open to wake them up.
"I'm unarmed," Perkins repeated your name, "I just want to talk. It won't take long."
You started towards the edge, but a strong grip stopped you.
"Please don't do this-" Connor pleaded, "I...I just have a bad feeling-"
He'd said that when you visited Elijah for the first time in years, too. Hank had said it might be a glitch. That he needed to get his program checked.
But those instincts, those indicators, were early warning systems of an android's true humanity.
His eyes searched yours for something to nullify his compounding bereavement. Eyes that'd evolved from glossed-over, mechanical parts to real facial features with micro-expressions and emotional back stories.
And as many times as you'd looked into them, they still left you breathless. It still hurt when you had to look away.
"I have to..." You reached up to give him a brief kiss, "You know I do."
You'd already taken too much time, because in the process of negotiations, every second counted.
You couldn't let Perkins see the hesitation. The ounce of fear that had you teetering on the border of a differentplatform than the one you'd given a speech on beneath the CyberLife Tower.
This was just another interrogation, the world as your witness. Another one of Perkins' underhanded attempts to get you to repent, playing the role of judge, jury, and executioner.
You were powerless against his crusade, the first few times.
"'Alas, only birds strayed and fatigued by flight...'"
Not anymore.
"'...Now let themselves be captured with our hand.'"
And never again.
...
Your boots landed in the tundra below, knees almost buckling under the weight.
Almost.
But they didn't.
Not even with a bullet wound that made your muscle fibers grow back in a new pattern. Or with aching joints from when that same arm carried a shield into battle.
Not even with a bruise on your stomach from when a gunshot had missed its mark. Or with a gash across your cheek from when a pistol of the same make tore into your flesh with its sights.
No matter how strait the gate, you would not fall.
No matter how charged with punishments, the scroll - you would not falter.
You rose slowly. Calculated and onlooking with procedural focus, your vision leveled with the battlefield.
You licked your lips, the cracks and cuts stinging from the cold. Took the first step towards resolution, alone and unwavering.
Elijah wasn't the only person pressing on along a dangerous adventure. Wasn't the only one that would have to forge a new path on their own.
Josh, North, and Markus stood watch from the sidelines, where the people you fought for lived as the battle for Detroit reached a new height.
You had nothing to protect you, this time around. Had no guarantee that you'd walk away from this alive...
But you had you, and that had been enough to get you here. To march the long mile, into the wind trying to push you back. To keep your head held high as society dragged your name through the mud, branding you a derelict. A treasonous degenerate.
A traitor.
You were strong enough to stare down an enemy that'd tried to imprison you when all you've ever wanted was to shed light on the truth.
Each painstaking stride brought you closer to doing just that...
Because monsters wore many faces. Some of them even looked like you.
But to catch one...to end, one...
You had to remain vigilant.
"I didn't expect to see you again after you ran to Jericho."
You had to choose your words carefully. Had to direct the conversation away from yourself, and back to what mattered.
"I didn't run. I was captured, and I broke free." You withheld a shiver, "But I didn't walk all this way to prove that to you."
"Oh, I know exactly why you're here."
He smirked at the ground. Crossed his hands behind his back, and shifted his weight before lifting his chin to look down upon you.
"You're here to support your little deviants."
"No, I'm not." You growled, "I'm here to stop the fighting."
You surveyed the mass extermination of men, women, and androids who'd done nothing but fight for what they believed in. Nothing but follow orders.
"I'm here to make both sides put down their guns, and talk."
"Well, you've accomplished one of those two things...But I'm not interested in discussing anything with Markus. Not after all the blood he's spilled."
"You're not innocent of that, either."
"He fired a rocket at one of my tanks."
You huffed through your nose, "And who brought the rocket, Perkins?"
"Irrelevant."
"So, what, then? What is relevant?"
He pursed his lips. Licked his teeth. Snickered under his breath, letting a puff of steam escape his mouth.
"That android, up there...the one who walked by your side. Who has been, walking by your side." His head turned to Connor, "You really seem to care about him."
Your gaze followed his to the lone alpha standing before his pack of wolves, fangs bared and ready to tear into the other packs of the jungle.
"You don't want him to die, do you?"
"You're making threats, now?" You fired.
"Not a threat. A proposal."
The two of you looked back to each other, then.
"In a few minutes, these troops will be ordered to charge. None of Markus's people will survive...and it will all be over."
His eyes went dark. His shoulders, rigid.
"That can all be avoided if you use that army of yours to convince him to stand down."
Perkins was nothing if not convincing. The prospect of peace was tempting, as was the enticement to succumb to his lies.
"You and Connor could both be free. You could both forget about this, you could...start a new life some place else, just the two of you..." He held his arms out, "His life, their lives, are in your hands..."
They collapsed against his sides.
"All you can do right now is decide whether you want to trust me or not."
Trust.
A firm belief in the reliability, truth, or strength of someone.
Perkins' strength lied in his absolute dedication in preserving balance. He'd been blessed with power, and took oaths to use that power to surgically remove the tumors of national insecurity.
But his obsession...his lack of perspective, was anything but reliable.
"Trust is something gained, not demanded, Perkins."
"And you're not in any position to be demanding much of anything."
"Aren't I?"
You stepped back, holding a hand out to the millions of CyberLife-branded androids in waiting.
"You have guns. Explosives. Tanks. Trained soldiers." You pointed your finger, leaning forward, "But what I have, what we have, is a purpose. A duty to carry out, and a message to deliver."
His patience was swept away by a strong breeze, piling up and collapsing like the snow drifts around you.
"You're not even one of them." His lips quivered, his brows creasing and smoothing over in nervous repetition, "You're human. They, are machines. Their kind killed your partner. How could you even-"
"They are just like us." You choked down the agony that came with his lack of understanding, and the mention of your best friend that'd died by a deviant's hands, "Some of them are misled. Some of them are impulsive. Some of them just need guidance...But make no mistake..."
You swallowed the lump stuck in your throat.
"All of them, are alive."
You regained control over your emotions, a skill that developed over time through stress testing; through trial and human error.
"You've spent so much energy chasing me, chasing them, that you allowed the real criminal to run rampant."
Fury and rage boiled inside you, reducing the somberness to vapor. It warmed you in the cold, chipping away at the frost nipping at your resilience.
"I've been dodging her left and right. That rogue AI. Amanda." You sneered, "The digital copy of the professor from Colridge."
You rolled your shoulders and sniffed, shaking your head in dismay.
"And while I was doing that, I stumbled upon an army large enough to run yours, and Jericho, into the ground."
His face dropped, his features falling flat. The realization hit him in a visible collision, the provoking and prodding finally making a full circle.
"You see, when a wolf is caught in a trap...it sometimes gnaws its own limb until it can escape." You grinned, "And when that very same wolf calls for help...It can attract some very unwanted attention."
His nose twitched, and he grit his teeth, "Even an apex predator can be outmaneuvered by smart prey."
"And you were."
His eyes narrowed, his hand jerking without warning. You reached for your gun, the army behind him pointing theirs at you in response.
His fingertips met an earpiece lodged on the side of his head. He held up a flat palm, easing your weapon down, and those under his command did the same.
"Yes," His voice broke, "I understand."
His hand lowered, swinging lifelessly at his side. He was emotionless, deadened.
Defeated.
"Congratulations..." He whispered, eyes still lost in another plain, "You just forced the President of the United States into submission. I've been given orders to stand down..."
And then they sharpened, the edges of his gaze held to your neck.
"You just signed humanity's death warrant. I hope you're proud."
Although you tried to come up with something prideful to say, words couldn't express the victory that'd been won. A culmination of your life's work, coming to a bittersweet end. You didn't know what came next...that would've scared you, before tonight.
"I've never been more proud to prove someone wrong in my entire, mortal life."
That uncertainty that once stood as a hindrance would now serve as a catalyst.
"Yeah?" He cocked his chin, stepping to the side, "Well you hold on to that feeling, because you've still committed crimes against the United States of America."
He bit his lip, his words coming in cursed whispers, "And while these machines will be granted some...some fakeversion of the freedom that our ancestors fought and DIED for-" He stabbed at you with a pointed finger, "You'll be rotting away in a prison cell."
You leaned in, bridging the space between you – getting close enough to smell his sweat and fear. You whispered a final message in parting, one that would keep him up at night every time he remembered how he was subjected to the same treatment that androids had undergone since their creation.
How he listened, and obeyed.
"You'll have to catch me, first-"
A bolt of electricity ripped a hole in the air as it was sent from the heavens, creating a channel for light to collapse and thunder to crack. A speeding sound, one that grew closer, and closer until it was muffled...stopping time along with it.
While not statistically impossible, it was still rare that lightning struck twice.
You'd gambled with those odds...claiming the winnings on bets placed against your life. Love always did have a price you were willing to pay, but your debt had reached its limit.
Those winnings wouldn't be enough.
And as the world caught fire under your wings, you realized you'd flown too close to the sun. You'd ignored warnings of how the oceans you divided would douse them; that with freedom, there came a terrible charge. As the heat began to rise, mixing with the frigid temperatures caught in a storm strong enough to strike you down, you fell into an Icarian dive.
Singed bits of fabric fluttered like molten feathers, dancing alongside the misaligned snow – their falling patterns disrupted by a man-made projectile.
You'd made Perkins red in the face before, but not like this. Not with a bullet planting itself in a new host, watered with fresh spurts of blood that stained his clothing – dripping from his chin.
"SNIPER!" The shout from his earpiece was deafening, "FALL BACK-"
Perkins fought the armed soldiers dragging him away like they were hauling him off to his death. He reached for you. Didn't listen when his men told him his life was in imminent danger.
The blizzard-masked battlefield teetered, blurred...and as the ringing in your ears reached a lost frequency that you could no longer hear, another set of hands caught you – yelling your name in a frenzied panic.
Come what may, you'd still managed to accomplish what you set out to do, all those years ago...
To give androids a shot at life, even if it meant that one would be taken against your own.
Behind the Scenes
(Links on AO3)
Beginning written to "Take it All" by Ruelle
Second half written to "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by LORDE
"Vigilo Confido" from XCOM