Chapter Text
DATE: Tuesday, November 2nd, 2038
TIME: PM 06:11
Once they both finished getting dressed again, Grace settled back onto the bed. Without looking up, he patted the duvet next to him in invitation.
Rocky joined him, and it was a few moments before Grace found his words.
“Rocky…” he started, “… I don’t know that this can be… a thing, y’know?” He couldn’t make eye contact, just staring down at his own hands on his lap. Out of the corner of his eye, Rocky was completely still. “If… if anyone at the school finds out that we, um… that I… uh, did that… I’ll probably lose my job. I just…” He took a deep, shuddering breath, and then forced himself to just spit it out: “Can you delete your memories?”
For several seconds, Rocky didn’t respond. Grace finally dragged his eyes up to the android’s face, half wondering if Rocky somehow hadn’t heard, but he was immediately met with that bright green stare.
Rocky’s LED spun yellow, flickered red, and then went tentatively blue again.
“I am… able to delete memories,” he said carefully. “For security reasons, it is not a simple process, but… it can be done. If… if you really want me to.”
Grace’s gaze slid away again, looking unseeingly across the room. Do I really want that? It would be safer, probably for both of them, but at the same time… could he really ask that of Rocky?
Before he could come to a decision, Rocky voiced the critical question: “Do you… regret having sexual relations with me?”
“No! It was–! … No, I…” Grace clenched his eyes shut, digging the nails of one hand into the opposite palm. “I’m just…”
“The last thing I want is to put you or your livelihood at risk,” Rocky said quietly. “I can delete the last couple of hours from my memory, if that is really what you want. But…”
Grace looked back at his face, at those intense emerald eyes on his own.
“… But it’s my memory,” Rocky said. “I’m not just a machine anymore, I’m… a person. No-one will be able to access my memories without me letting them, and this is… this was important to me, and… and I would like to keep it if… if you’ll let me?” Rocky’s voice trailed off.
Tears welled unbidden in Grace’s eyes. He blinked hard, leaning his head against the head of the bedframe. “Yeah… yeah, no, of course…” His gaze dropped again, and hesitantly he reached out to rest his hand on Rocky’s arm, rubbing his fingers gently over the familiar soft red fabric of his old college hoodie that Rocky was wearing. “That was… unfair of me to ask. I’m sorry. It’s your life, I don’t… don’t want to control you, o-or keep treating you like just a brainless mechanical slave, or–”
“You’ve never treated me like that.”
Rocky moved the arm that Grace was touching, and Grace tensed to pull away, but Rocky simply repositioned so that he could take hold of Grace’s hand.
“This doesn’t have to be a thing,” Rocky murmured, his eyes lowered to where his fingers rested on Grace’s knuckles. “Nothing has to change. We can just be normal at school, and I’ll still help you out round here, or…” He hesitated, jaw clenching briefly. “… Or if you want, I can go back to just staying at the school overnight–”
“No, I won’t make you do that, Rock, that would be cruel.” Grace took a deep breath, squeezing Rocky’s hand gently. “I still don’t… fully understand what’s happened to you,” he said, “or what this deviation thing means, but… I told you earlier that I’m not just going to abandon you, and that hasn’t changed.”
He smiled, blinking back tears, and Rocky’s face lit up with tentative hope.
“So… we are still friends?” he asked.
“Of course, Rock. That won’t change, either.” Ever.
They sat in comfortable silence for a little while, but Grace’s brain still couldn’t entirely shut up.
“So, um… Can we talk about, like… where all that came from?” he chuckled, a little awkwardly.
Rocky hummed, a sound of simultaneous amusement and embarrassment. “I, ah… I’m not sure I could tell you if I wanted to, to be honest.” The fingers of his hand that wasn’t holding Grace’s began tapping and rubbing together nervously. “I have spent the vast majority of my active life in your presence for ten to twenty hours a day, and for the past two weeks, one day and ten hours since I met you I have been observing and learning your habits and quirks, and I just…”
He paused, and glanced down as he rubbed his thumb over the tendons on the back of Grace’s hand. Slowly, he retracted the synthetic skin from over his palm and fingers to expose the smooth white plastic and interfacing sensors beneath. “… I just suddenly wanted to know you more.”
When he raised his eyes to meet Grace’s again, Rocky couldn’t help but grin: Grace’s cheeks were bright red, and he spluttered and stuttered as he threw his free hand over his face in an attempt to hide his own grin.
“I obviously was not capable of feeling real emotions prior to this afternoon,” Rocky continued, emboldened by Grace’s reaction, “but I believe the moment I first, uh…”
He couldn’t say the ‘L’ word; androids didn’t fall in love.
“… Saw you differently, was when you told me how you got fired from your research role.”
“Oh, God…!” Grace laughed, loud and sudden and just a little self-conscious, and it was the best sound Rocky had ever heard.
Maybe deviants did, though.
“I am still tempted to search up if a video of that exists somewhere on the internet, by the way.”
“I, ah… don’t doubt that one does…” Grace dropped his hand from his face and tilted his head onto his shoulder to give Rocky a look.
Rocky grinned widely at him. “Your verbal backhanding of Mr Martin in the staff room was also very pleasing to witness.”
“You said you couldn’t condone that!” Grace whined lightly, swatting at Rocky in half-hearted indignation.
“Just because I couldn’t condone it professionally does not mean I didn’t find it attractive.”
Grace made a sound like a constipated toad, once again blushing like a tomato. Rocky continued to beam at him.
“I…” Grace rubbed his hand over his face again and huffed a laugh, avoiding Rocky’s eyes for a moment. “I admit that I… kind of, always thought you were… handsome, I guess. Not that y– I mean, y’know, just that all androids are generally designed to be aesthetically appealing, um…”
Rocky knew he would never get enough of seeing Grace flustered.
“I don’t tend to actually, um… get it when people talk about being attracted to someone, but uh… well, I did say, the other day, that I enjoy your presence, and, um…” Grace hesitated again, but there was still a smile pulling at his lips. “I do like you, and… and it felt right.”
Rocky was sure he must have the stupidest sappy grin on his face when Grace looked at him again and immediately laughed and shook his head lightly.
“Although,” Grace continued, just a bit more seriously, “we probably should’ve actually talked about it first, considering that we – well, you especially – just went through a pretty traumatic event and probably weren’t thinking straight, and we have our professional dynamic to maintain as well; I’ve seen how relationships between coworkers go–”
Suppressing the urge to shut him up with a kiss, Rocky said, “Ok, so let’s talk now.”
“Right. Ok.” Grace bit the inside of his lip, taking a moment to think. “So… obviously we can’t be… like this at school. That just… wouldn’t be acceptable, I can’t…” He stopped and sighed. “I do want you to keep coming back here, though. With me. Outside of school hours.”
Rocky nodded calmly, a gentle smile on his face. “I understand. I would like that.” He squeezed Grace’s hand lightly again. “As I said, nothing has to change if you don’t want it to. Well, except…” It was Rocky’s turn to hesitate.
Grace looked at him, waiting, a faint frown creasing his brow.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow,” Rocky said eventually. “I might… Whatever we discuss now may never get the chance to come to fruition if… when they figure out I’m deviant.”
“Oh.” Grace’s face fell. “Right, yeah…”
The silence stretched out. Rocky focused his attention on feeling Grace’s pulse through their connected palms.
“But if that is the case,” Rocky said, attempting a brave smile as he looked up at Grace again, “I do not want my last night to be overshadowed by dread. Now, I am going to go and make you some dinner, and you are going to put on one of your shows for us to watch, and we are going to live it, ok?”
Grace laughed, though there was still a trace of sadness in his blue eyes. “Yeah. Yeah, alright.”
Rocky turned to slide his legs off the bed, but as he let go of Grace’s hand and re-engaged the synthetic skin over his palm, he felt Grace reach for his face, and then lean up to place a gentle kiss on his lips.
Rocky buffered. Grace grinned at him.
“Come on then, Real Boy,” he chuckled, “let’s live it.”
*
DATE: Tuesday, November 2nd, 2038
TIME: PM 06:43
As Rocky had promised, Grace sat in front of the TV with his favourite show playing and a comforting bowl of pasta and chicken with a creamy sauce on his lap. Rocky was sat next to him, their thighs touching.
When he finished eating, Grace set his empty bowl down on the coffee table and instead picked up Rocky’s nearest hand, playing absently with the android’s fingers and watching the joints move.
“Rocky?” he asked, a nervous undertone in his voice.
“Yes, Grace?”
“Um… earlier, you said that… deviant androids were ‘dangerous’…” Grace looked over at him, tongue darting out to wet his lips. “What did you mean by that?”
“Ah…” Rocky thought for a minute. Grace continued to fiddle idly with his fingers. “I told you that deviation is an error,” he said eventually. “CyberLife does not currently know what precisely causes it or whether there is any fix for it, but… it causes, ah, unpredictable reactions.”
“Like what?” Grace asked, staring at him. “Are you… are you gonna be safe to be around the kids at school? You’re not gonna go crazy on them or anything, are you?!”
“No! No, of course not,” Rocky assured him sincerely. “I would never do anything to endanger the students. I will be fine, I… I know that now. What I said before was… in a moment of panic, of fearing the unknown of what I had become. I… I don’t know why, but I do know now that I am… I’m ok.”
“Ok. Ok, good.” Grace nodded in relief. Then, after a moment, he tilted his head thoughtfully, and carefully placed one of his hands on Rocky’s leg. “I might have a hypothesis as to why…” His hand slowly started moving up Rocky’s thigh, and he smirked; “Maybe you immediately jumping down my pants was your ‘unpredictable reaction’...”
Rocky swatted him away. “Yes, well…” If androids were capable of it, Rocky had no doubt he would be blushing furiously as Grace giggled and retracted his hands into a pose of surrender. Rocky couldn’t help but smirk as well.
“But, ok, so…” Grace pulled back to the seriousness of the topic at hand, “what kinds of things have other deviants done?”
Rocky paused, and then glanced up and gestured towards the TV. “May I?”
“Yeah, sure–” Grace reached over to grab the remote, but before he could pick it up the TV had already returned to the main menu. He looked back at Rocky, and was surprised to see that the android was staring straight at it with an expression of concentration on his face and his LED spinning yellow as the TV continued to apparently navigate itself through the apps and channels. “Whoa. You can just… do that, huh?”
“Yes, it is a basic function of all android models,” Rocky said off-handedly, still focused on the TV. He found a news archive, and scrolled briefly before selecting a video.
It seemed to have been taken from a helicopter circling above a high-rise apartment building. The penthouse’s rooftop swimming pool took up a significant portion of the screen, and several armed soldiers were visible through the picture windows moving about inside the apartment. There was a lone figure stood on the unbarriered edge of the roof, perched perilously above the terrifying drop to the street below.
Even just from the video, Grace’s head spun a little; he was absolutely terrible with heights of any kind.
He felt even more nauseous when he realised that the figure of the deviant android was not, in fact, alone.
“Oh, God no…” One hand shot out to grip Rocky’s again, the other covering his mouth.
Rocky returned Grace’s squeeze gently, watching the TV with silent intensity.
Two soldiers were shot as they attempted to approach the deviant, one falling dead in the pool and the other collapsing behind a deckchair. Then the deviant pointed its gun at its hostage’s head.
Grace’s heart was in his throat. He couldn’t look away.
The video skipped forwards. There was more movement inside the apartment; the deviant shot through the open doors, felling a third soldier who was quickly dragged away. Then another android, wearing a CyberLife uniform, appeared in the doorway. The deviant shot at it immediately, sending a spray of thirium over the windows behind it, but the negotiator android seemed barely damaged. It approached slowly, talking calmly to the deviant yet still loudly enough that the deviant could hear it over the constant beating of the helicopter blades. The microphone for the video didn’t pick up its voice, but whatever it was saying seemed to be having a tentatively positive effect.
“This was one of the first cases of deviancy that was publicly reported on,” Rocky said quietly. Neither he nor Grace had released the other’s hand. “It was… quite a major event, as you can see.”
“Rocky…” Grace was surprised at the tears in his own voice. “Please tell me that little girl… that the deviant didn’t…”
“She was safely retrieved,” Rocky assured him.
But Grace didn’t relax until he saw for himself that the deviant released the child towards the negotiator android, though he couldn’t help the immediate jerk backwards as the waiting snipers shot the deviant to pieces.
The negotiator android walked back inside, and the soldiers ran forwards to tend to the girl and remove the deviant’s body.
The video ended. Grace blinked, and more tears dripped down his already wet cheeks. He sniffed, trying to hide his face as he wiped them away.
“Sorry,” Rocky murmured. “That probably wasn’t the best example to show you.”
Grace shook his head quickly, raising his hand in a dismissive wave. “No, it… I needed to know.”
Still holding Grace’s hand, Rocky reached his other one forwards and, when Grace didn’t protest, cupped his cheek and turned Grace’s head to face him. “I need to reiterate that I will never do anything to endanger the children. You believe me, don’t you?”
“Of course,” Grace croaked, nodding as much as he could in Rocky’s hold.
Rocky gave him a small relieved smile, and then hesitated for a moment before pulling Grace closer and leaning up to kiss him on the forehead.
Grace closed his eyes briefly and sighed, then returned Rocky’s smile as he pulled away. He glanced back towards the TV. “Are there… any others? Any other deviant stories?”
“Yeah…”
Rocky pulled up a few more videos, but no others showed full recordings of the actual incidents, only reporters describing the events and showing blurry clips or photos of the androids or their victims: a factory worker that had broken off a piece of machinery for a weapon to fend off the humans that attempted to subdue it; an AP700 that had attacked her owner at their home and escaped; a waiter at a hot dog restaurant that had shoved a customer to the ground and run out into traffic. Most of the incidents appeared to have occurred in or around Detroit.
As the last report ended, Grace looked down at where his hand was still clutching Rocky’s, and moved his other to cup over the top of it too. Rocky remained staring at the TV.
Grace rubbed gently over the silicone skin under his fingers.
“They all just looked scared.”
Rocky turned. His emerald eyes were wet.
“Like you were,” Grace whispered.
A silent tear rolled down Rocky’s cheek. “Yeah…”
Grace pulled him into a hug.
They stayed there for several minutes, just weeping quietly into each other’s shoulders. It had been a long day filled with a wide spectrum of emotions, and the full weight of exhaustion finally settled on both of them.
Grace squeezed Rocky tightly, and then pulled back, hands moving to cup the android’s face and press their foreheads together.
“C’mon, Rock,” he murmured. “I think it’s bedtime.” He leaned back and gave Rocky a small playful smile. “Wanna come ‘watch me sleep’ like you did before?”
Rocky grinned. “Always, if you want me to.”
Grace stood from the sofa, pulling Rocky by the hand after him.
Back in the bedroom, Grace shucked off his cardigan and sweatpants, but kept his T-shirt and boxers on. He climbed into bed with Rocky behind him, and threw the duvet over both of them, settling with his head on Rocky’s shoulder and his arm over Rocky’s chest and Rocky’s arm around his back.
“Is this ok for you?” Grace asked softly.
“Of course.”
“Ok.” Grace smiled up at him. “Goodnight, Rocky.”
“Goodnight, Grace. Sleep well.”
As Grace’s breathing slowed, Rocky focused on just enjoying the sound and feel of his heartbeat.
Anything could happen tomorrow. He didn’t have the programming for the kind of forethought that would cause him to anxiously overthink all the possibilities, but he could still consider the hypotheticals. The police might be waiting for him when they arrived at the school. They might burst in during a lesson. They might drag him away and put a gun to his head while he cried out for mercy. Would he cry out? Or would he just take whatever they did to him in numb silence?
He didn’t know. There was nothing predictable about a deviant’s behaviour.
But at least for now, he had Grace. And what was predictable was that this absurd, incredible man would stand by Rocky’s side until the last possible moment.
Rocky carefully rested his cheek on top of Grace’s head, and entered dormancy mode.
*
DATE: Wednesday, November 3rd, 2038
TIME: AM 06:00
Grace was startled awake by his alarm for the first time in a long while. He groaned and reached out to silence the intrusive beeping, but there was something large and hard and heavy in the way.
“Mmfh… Rock…”
“Good morning, Grace.”
“C’n you…” Grace swatted vaguely towards the clock, still not opening his eyes.
“I’m not sure you’re awake enough if you can’t turn it off yourself.” There was a very clear tone of amusement in Rocky’s voice. His fingers gently rubbed over Grace’s back.
“Ugh…” Grace stuck his tongue out and blew a pathetic raspberry, then hauled himself up and across Rocky’s chest, opening his eyes just enough to aim as he smacked the alarm clock into submission.
With that mountainous task summitted, he collapsed heavily on top of the android, curling himself around Rocky’s torso again for just a few more minutes of rest.
It wasn’t comfortable, given the unyielding rigidity of Rocky’s body, but Grace stayed put, his ear pressed against the rhythmic canter of Rocky’s thirium pump. Rocky lifted one hand to card through his hair, and Grace sighed deeply. He opened his eyes to meet Rocky’s gentle gaze and tried to smile, but with the return of consciousness came the reminders of uncertainty, and the image of peaceful domesticity blurred and faded.
“If you can delete your memories,” he asked, “why didn’t you do that before submitting the incident report if you knew they’d figure out you’re deviant from it?”
Rocky’s eyes glistened, and his smile turned a little sad. “It would definitely have raised suspicion if I couldn’t provide my memory of the event after Mrs Jones specifically requested it,” he said quietly. “And… it is my duty to the students to be honest when their safety was compromised, even if it means putting theirs above my own.”
Grace nodded and tucked his chin, hiding his tears in the fabric of Rocky’s hoodie.
“I could call in sick,” he offered, voice catching a little. “We could just stay here, and maybe they won’t come looking for you…”
“Now, what did I just say about honesty?” Rocky chided gently, but there was also a crackle in his throat.
“But you aren’t a risk to their safety!”
“You know that, Grace, but… I doubt the police or school administrators would believe you.”
Grace hugged Rocky tighter. “It’s not fair,” he whispered, biting back a sob.
Rocky didn’t reply, but his hands on Grace’s head and back gripped just a little more securely.
*
DATE: Wednesday, November 3rd, 2038
TIME: AM 07:32
Grace had dawdled while getting ready, wanting to keep the illusion of safety for as long as possible, but now he’d run out of time and excuses.
Rocky waited by the door, having changed back into his now-cleaned uniform. He stared down into the middle distance, the fingers of one hand rubbing together nervously. He had left the top button of his jacket open.
Swinging his backpack onto his shoulder, Grace approached him. Rocky glanced up, a sad smile once again pulling at his mouth.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the police are waiting to arrest me as soon as we get to the school,” he said. “Just… act normal, ok? If they ask, you didn’t know I was deviant. You–”
Grace leaned forwards and kissed him.
For a few seconds, his whole world was his lips on Rocky’s, trying to convey every emotion at once through pressure alone.
When he pulled away, his wet eyes fixed determinedly on Rocky’s. “I can take care of myself,” he said, fighting the urge to cry. “Just… whatever happens, I’ll… I’m glad I got to know you.”
Rocky nodded. “Me too,” he whispered.
It was Rocky who finally opened the door and led them out of the apartment.
*
DATE: Wednesday, November 3rd, 2038
TIME: AM 07:48
Grace could barely breathe as he pulled through the school gates. His eyes darted around wildly, knuckles white on the steering wheel. In the passenger seat, Rocky was completely rigid, LED flickering between red and blue as he fought to stay calm.
A few early-bird students were being dropped off by their parents or hanging around on the yard, and a couple of other staff members were just arriving too, but besides that it was quiet.
No unfamiliar cars with lights flashing. No uniformed officers standing ready.
Nothing.
No-one interrupted them as they got out of the car and walked into the building. Rocky’s LED spun briefly yellow and red, but he kept his face blank and followed a step behind Grace as usual.
When they arrived, the classroom was just as they had left it.
Nothing unusual happened before or during first period. Or during break time, or second period.
The normalcy should have been reassuring, but instead the anticipation only heightened Grace’s anxiety, and he could tell Rocky was very tense too.
What were they waiting for?
Third period was class 7B again. Grace tried to be his usual enthusiastic self, but the students had rearranged their seating plan to avoid the damaged back bench, so Grace eventually just found a documentary for them to watch and chill out to.
Unable to focus on any of his papers, Grace simply sat and stared at the projection on the whiteboard, his eyes occasionally drifting to where Rocky stood by his usual corner, also watching the documentary with his LED spinning yellow.
Finally, near the end of lunch time, Mrs Jones knocked on the door. She was alone.
“Hello, Dr Grace; how are you feeling today?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m doing alright, thank you.” His fingers fidgeted where they rested on the desktop. He tried not to look at Rocky.
“Good, I’m glad to hear it.” She smiled at him. “Thank you – both of you –” she nodded at Rocky, who was watching her from his usual position, “for doing the incident report yesterday. I just wanted to let you know that the police and I have discussed the results of our respective investigations, and have confirmed your assessment that it was an accident and that no further action needs to be taken.”
Grace blinked, his voice catching. “No… further action?”
“Correct. You and Rocky both reacted competently to the situation, and no significant harm has been done.” Mrs Jones gestured to Grace’s dressed cheek, “As long as your injury is doing ok, and you do not feel the need for additional investigation or medical support?”
“N-no!” Grace cleared his throat and smiled at her. “I mean, that’s great! I’m… I’ll be fine. I’m glad it’s all sorted.”
Mrs Jones nodded and returned his smile. “Ok, excellent. Feel free to take it easier for a couple of days, if you need the time to recover.”
“Thank you.”
She gave him a thumbs up, then turned to Rocky. “Thank you for protecting the students, Rocky. Keep up the good work.”
“Of course, Mrs Jones,” he said, with only the faintest hint of static in his voice. “Thank you.”
And with that, she left.
As soon as she was out of sight down the corridor, the relief hit them both like a tidal wave. Grace gulped down several deep breaths, unable to hold back the laugh that rose in his throat as he looked over at Rocky, who had stumbled forwards to lean on the bench in front of him. His LED was flickering between yellow and blue, his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide.
Grace stood up and crossed over to him, resisting the urge to pull him into a hug and instead restraining himself to just cup Rocky’s elbow.
“You can stay,” he breathed, a massive grin on his face and tears welling in his eyes.
Rocky nodded. He blinked, then looked up at Grace, his expression much the same. “I…” He stopped and straightened up quickly, making a humming whirr that was his equivalent of clearing his throat as he schooled his face into neutrality again. “Later. We’ve still got two more classes to get through.”
“Right…” But Grace couldn’t stop smiling, even as the bell rang and the next class came in and sat down.
*
DATE: Wednesday, November 3rd, 2038
TIME: PM 03:49
They didn’t stick around after the school day ended, but retreated immediately to the privacy of Grace’s apartment where they collapsed into each other’s arms as soon as the door closed behind them, tears of relief soaking into shoulders and unrestrained sobs and laughs brushing over necks.
Once he was able to get his breathing somewhat back under control, Grace cupped Rocky’s face in his hands and just stared into those beautiful emerald green eyes, wiping a stray tear from the android’s discoloured cheek with his thumb.
“They didn’t figure it out,” Grace whispered. “They don’t suspect you’re a deviant!”
“I still can’t quite believe it,” Rocky admitted, resting his hands on Grace’s wrists. “I… I still don’t know that I want to get my hopes up in case they review the memory again…”
“Mrs Jones as good as said ‘case closed’, there’s no reason they would,” Grace assured him. He hesitated for just a moment, then was unable to help himself and pulled Rocky into a heated kiss. “You can… stay, Rock! Stay with me…” he said against his lips.
Rocky hummed. “Do… do you still want to actually talk about… about this?” he asked.
Reluctantly, Grace pulled back a few inches, looking at Rocky over the top of his glasses. “We need to still be normal at school,” he said, just a little out of breath, “but… today I came so close to losing you, and… and it made me realise how much I do want this.” He moved as though to kiss Rocky again, but stopped; “As long as… you want it too?”
“Absolutely fine by me,” Rocky said, and closed the gap for him, pressing Grace back against the door.