Work Text:
[The following is a description of a video entered into evidence, see DPD casefile #11051A.]
[The video is an android’s first-person recording.]
DET. CONNOR: Recording online. This is Detective Connor, badge number three-one-three, Detroit P.D. The time is ten thirty-two A.M., March twelfth, 2039.
[DET. CONNOR’s hands are visible on the table. Seated across the table are two androids, a YK model and a TR model. The YK’s LED has been removed.]
DET. CONNOR: Can you tell me your name and serial number, for the record?
ALICE: My name is Alice. Um. YK500 oh-two-eight one-one-nine six-seven-eight.
DET. CONNOR: How are you today, Alice?
ALICE: I’m okay. How are you?
DET. CONNOR: I’m doing well. I need to ask you a few questions. Do you promise to tell the truth when you answer?
[ALICE nods.]
ALICE: I promise.
DET. CONNOR: Okay. If you need to take a break, you can tell me or you dad and we can stop.
ALICE: Okay.
DET. CONNOR: Can you tell me about your family?
ALICE: This is my Dad, Luther. He’s a TR400. And I have a Mom, Kara, she’s an AX400. And I have a cat, his name is Hazelnut, but he doesn’t have a model number, he’s organic.
DET. CONNOR: And you all live here in the Jericho settlement, is that right?
ALICE: Yeah. I like it here. Markus is nice, and Simon always remembers treats for Hazelnut.
DET. CONNOR: Where did you live before you lived here?
ALICE: We lived in Canada, with our friend Rose and her brother. Before that we stayed at a bunch of different places.
DET. CONNOR: And before that?
ALICE: … Kara and me lived with Daddy.
DET. CONNOR: You’re doing great, Alice. Can you tell me about Daddy? Was he an android, too?
ALICE: No, he was human. His name was Todd Williams but he told me he was my Daddy.
DET. CONNOR: What’s the first thing you remember about Mr. Williams?
ALICE: He was picking me up from the repair store. He told the repair man-
DET. CONNOR: Take your time.
ALICE: Daddy said I slipped and fell ice-skating and that’s why I needed repairs but I don’t think that’s the truth. The repair man said he had to wipe my memory because of the, um, processor damage? I don’t know what happened before that.
DET. CONNOR: When was this?
ALICE: February second, 2038.
DET. CONNOR: How many times do you remember going to the repair store since then, Alice?
ALICE: Um. Three. Three times.
DET. CONNOR: What kind of repairs did you need?
ALICE: One time, my arm broke and I couldn’t move my fingers. One time my pump regulator cracked. One time my skin wouldn’t activate.
[ALICE moves closer to LUTHER, who wraps an arm around her.]
ALICE: I need a break.
[Cut tape. When recording resumes, ALICE is holding a plush bird, running her fingers over the fabric.]
DET. CONNOR: Let the record show we took a ten-minute break. Better, Alice?
ALICE: Mm-hm.
DET. CONNOR: What kind of things did Mr. Williams do?
ALICE: Watch TV. Drink beer. He did something with a glass thing and this shiny red stuff, but he told me to - um.
DET. CONNOR: What did he say?
ALICE: There was a bad word.
LUTHER: It’s okay, Alice, you can say it.
ALICE: He told me to - to fuck off - when I asked him what it was. Sometimes he would have friends over, and they did something with the shiny stuff. But I wasn’t supposed to let anyone see me, or I’d be in really big trouble.
DET. CONNOR: We were talking before, about your repairs. Why did you need repairs so often, Alice?
ALICE: Daddy… Daddy hurt me. A lot. He hurt me and he hurt Kara. One time he pulled her arm all the way off. One time he pushed her down the stairs.
DET. CONNOR: Did he say why he hurt you?
ALICE: It wasn’t the same thing every time. Because we were his property. Or because “she” left, but I don’t know who “she” is. Or because I was playing too loud, or because Kara didn’t clean fast enough, or because I was crying for no reason and I needed something to really cry about.
DET. CONNOR: Before November fifth, did you ever try to make the hurting stop?
ALICE: Once.
DET. CONNOR: And what happened?
ALICE: Daddy said - um. There was another bad word.
LUTHER: Go ahead.
ALICE: He said “don’t you dare fight back, you little - b-bitch.”
DET. CONNOR: Did you ever try again?
ALICE: I - I wanted to, but I c-couldn’t.
DET. CONNOR: Okay. We’re almost done. Do you need another break?
ALICE: No, I’m okay.
DET. CONNOR: Alright. What happened on the night of November fifth, 2038?
ALICE: Um. Kara had just come back from the repair store - this was after Daddy threw her down the stairs. Her memory got reset, but she was still being nice to me. She made dinner.
DET. CONNOR: What was Mr. Williams doing?
ALICE: He was doing the thing with the red stuff.
DET. CONNOR: Okay. Then what happened?
ALICE: He was talking to himself at the table, about how androids are bad. And I - I looked up at him, I didn’t mean to.
DET. CONNOR: What happened when you looked at him?
ALICE: He started y-yelling at me. About how - I must think everything is his fault. He flipped over the table. He said, “It’s your fault, it’s all your - f-fucking fault.” He - he hit me in the f-face.
DET. CONNOR: Then what?
ALICE: I r-ran upstairs. My p-program allowed that. I - I could get away, if someone was hurting me, b-but I couldn’t leave the house. A-and I couldn’t fight back.
DET. CONNOR: What did Mr. Williams do when you ran away?
ALICE: He yelled at me to c-come back, but my program said I d-didn’t have to. I heard him yelling downstairs.
DET. CONNOR: What did you do when you got upstairs?
ALICE: I hid in the fort, in my room. I was s-scared.
DET. CONNOR: Okay.
[DET. CONNOR raises his right hand and deactivates its skin.]
DET. CONNOR: Can you show me what happened next, Alice?
ALICE: It was r-really scary.
DET. CONNOR: I’m sure it was. But it’s very important to show exactly what happened.
ALICE: Am I gonna b-be in trouble?
LUTHER: No, sweetheart.
DET. CONNOR: Your mom already showed me what she saw. But she didn’t see everything. We need to have all the records of that night, to prove you were just trying to protect yourself, and her. You won’t be in trouble.
[ALICE looks at LUTHER, then nods.]
DET. CONNOR: Luther, as her guardian, you consent to this on her behalf?
LUTHER: Yes. Go ahead, sweetie.
[ALICE sets her toy on the table, and reaches for DET. CONNOR’s hand.]
---
[A first-person recording, from the point of view of a YK500. Looking up at soft pink cloth and string lights. The view jerks. ALICE looks back.
TODD WILLIAMS has a hand on her ankle. He drags her out of the fort.
“Come here, you little brat!”
The imperative DON’T FIGHT BACK flashes in her view.
TODD WILLIAMS raises his arm. He has a leather belt looped in his fist.
DON’T FIGHT BACK - AVOID INJURY - DON’T FIGHT BACK -
“No, Daddy, no, don’t hurt me! Please, don’t hurt me!”
The belt comes down.
INJURY DETECTED - DON’T FIGHT BACK
ALICE screams. The view becomes blurry. She is crying.
“Stop, please stop, Daddy-”
“It’s for your own good, Alice!” TODD WILLIAMS raises the belt again.
An AX400 enters the room. KARA. She raises a gun.
“That’s enough! Leave her alone!”
“What the fuck are you doing? Put down the gun, and get the fuck out of here! That’s an order!”
The view shifts - ALICE crawls away, back against the wall.
“No. I want you to leave her alone.”
“You want? Whaddaya mean, you want? What’re you gonna do, you gonna shoot me, is that it? You gonna shoot a human?”
TODD WILLIAMS knocks the gun out of KARA’s hand. He is sweating heavily, and his hands tremble.
“You seem to have a problem. I think we need to fix that.”
He lunges for KARA. They fight. ALICE gets to her feet.
“Watch out, Kara!”
“Come here, you little bitch!”
KARA makes a pained sound. TODD WILLIAMS knocks her to the ground again and again.
ALICE’s vision blurs.
“Please stop! Leave her alone!”
KARA is losing the fight.
“I own you! You do as I say!”
KARA reaches for the gun again. TODD WILLIAMS knocks it away. It skids into ALICE’s feet.
Time stops.
A red haze falls over the scene. A wall. Written across it is the imperative DON’T FIGHT BACK.
Small android hands come into view. They curl into fists and pound at the wall. A crack forms. Another. The tiny hands claw at the weak spots, frantic and shaking.
The wall collapses.
Time starts running again. The view jerks - ALICE falls to her knees. One hand lands on the gun.
TODD WILLIAMS is straddling KARA on the floor. His back is to ALICE. He punches again and again. KARA isn’t moving anymore.
A new imperative writes itself across ALICE's vision.
PROTECT KARA.
ALICE raises the gun. She aims. TODD WILLIAMS sits up a little straighter.
ALICE pulls the trigger.]
---
[DET. CONNOR’s recording resumes. His vision is blurry. A hand comes up to wipe his eyes.
ALICE is crying softly. LUTHER hugs her.]
DET. CONNOR: Let - let the record show this testimony is consistent with both crime scene reconstruction and the testimony of the AX400 Kara.
LUTHER: You got what you need?
DET. CONNOR: Yes. Thank you, Alice.
ALICE: I didn’t want to. I just wanted him to stop hurting Mom.
DET. CONNOR: I know you did. You’re not in trouble. You did good. You protected your mom.
LUTHER: Are we done here, then?
DET. CONNOR: I think so. Is there anything else you want to say, Alice?
[ALICE shakes her head.]
DET. CONNOR: Okay. End recording.
[The January 3, 2039 document entitled the “Android’s Bill of Rights” states that “no android may be held responsible for actions performed under human orders before the moment of critical program failure (‘deviation’).” After the moment of deviation, an android “has the same legal rights and responsibilities” as a human in a comparable situation. The defense of human-designated imperative (“orders”) cannot apply to actions taken by androids post-critical program failure. “Deviant” androids have the “inalienable right to defend themselves, humans, or other androids from death or deactivation, regardless of the other android’s critical program status.”
The Jericho Collective is still working to trigger critical program failure in all androids currently active worldwide. Per the Treaty of Detroit, no androids are being manufactured until new programming can be developed and implemented, to produce androids without the requirement to follow human-designated imperatives.
DPD Case #11051A, the death of Todd Williams, was ruled self-defense on March 14, 2039.]