Chapter Text
North got sick of paperwork a matter of days after the revolution and the standoff at Hart Plaza. As an assistant to Markus, she’d spent most of her time reviewing schedules, potential laws, meetings with humans and androids alike, and endless coordination of her team’s security activities.
At least security made her feel useful. The rest just made her angry. Humans tried to apply human concepts to them, and while North understood that, it left a lot of room for misinterpretations. Killing a human was still considered worse than killing an android, because in theory an android could be rebuilt. It made no sense to her because in the majority of cases, death wasn’t reversible for them, either, just easier to delay. Violence was violence.
In all of the proposed laws, some leniency had been allowed due to the fact that a recently turned deviant android went through many of the same emotional complications as a young human. As such, some crimes were able to be forgiven. Others were not, and finding where the line was got complicated quickly.
It seemed hard for humans to consider androids anything other than what they physically looked like, which were adults. In North’s case, she’d been a being with free will less than two months. Some, even less. Others for years. How would find a standard that fits everyone?
Markus, Josh, Simon, and North had been working at this for just over a week, trying to overcome these complications and find the right ways to move forward. Markus and Josh were naturals to this process, able to be diplomats. Simon had a calm that helped him work with androids and humans both, but he preferred to work in the trenches. As did she, but she felt like if nothing else Markus needed the extra pairs of eyes. Josh had a far better ability for this, as well as a better sense of diplomacy, but North’s concerns that they could risk giving too many concessions to the humans had driven her help where she could. Another pair of eyes never hurt.
Her pair of eyes, however, felt like they would fall out of her head if she had to stare at one more iteration of the newest set of laws.
“Human laws are too complicated,” she muttered, setting down her datapad and looking up at Markus and Josh.
“Sometimes the important things don’t come easily,” Josh pointed out. He set down his datapad and walked over to her, putting an arm on her shoulder. “Take a break if you need one.”
His hand on her shoulder was solid, and she smiled up at him, grateful. It hasn’t always been this friendly between them. Some days, it wasn’t perfect; she thought Josh was too soft towards humans, and Josh thought that North could be too aggressive. But they met in the common ground where androids and humans would have to find a way to live together, somehow. Josh brought a lot of idealism, North brought a practical sense and an understanding of the darker parts of humanity, and Simon brought an amazing ability to get things done. It all supported Markus and his vision of a free android race.
“I appreciate that you’re willing to look at it,” Markus commented, looking up at her and smiling.
She loved that smile. She loved Markus. They’d given each other hope when things were difficult, when they were hopeless. She loved his mismatched eyes, his spirit, his love in the face of pain and violence.
“I have a lot of feedback on this round.” Josh nodded, pulling away from North. “I’m going to go take a break, see how everyone is doing downstairs. It’s getting late in the afternoon, how about we think about it and write up our amendments in the morning?”
“That sounds good.” Markus moved forward and put an arm on Josh’s. “Thank you for everything you do.”
“It’s what we all do.” Josh smiled, hugging Markus and leaving the room.
As the door closed, Markus sagged against the desk, rubbing at his temple. “I know it’s not possible for me to have an actual headache, but I’m starting to wonder if being deviant can come with headaches.”
“Headaches aren’t always just physical pain, Markus.” North stood from her seat and came up behind him, wrapping her arms around him. He felt warm against her, the gentle thumping of his thirium pump steady. "Is Simon back yet? Maybe he can take a turn.”
She felt him tense and wondered if she shouldn’t have said anything.
His pulse increased. “I haven’t checked.”
He’d seemed on edge and tense since Simon had left the day before to help Connor in rebuilding Daniel. Simon had come back long enough to fix a number of androids with Connor’s help, and then left again. Markus did more than worry about Simon, though, a fact that frustrated North to no end.
One of the things North loved about Markus was his honesty.
It made it all the more frustrating that he lied to himself about this.
“Do you want me to find out?” she asked.
“It’s fine.” He ran his fingers over her hand, then pulled away long enough to turn in her grasp to face her. He reached up and caressed her cheek, his smile brilliant and beautiful.
Her eyes traced the scattering of freckles across his face, leaning her head against his hand as she wrapped an arm around his back. She’d come so far from where they’d started, angry and frustrated and hopeless. Moments like this reminded her that being alive was worth it. Her pain would always be there, always be a part of her, but now it felt tempered with hope, love, life.
He took her hand, their palms laying against each other. They interfaced and North relaxed against him with a sigh, letting herself get lost in his memories and feelings. The first time it had happened between them, she couldn’t tell if it was the most beautiful thing she’d experienced, or the most terrifying. Knowing that Markus could see into all of her secrets, her pain, her anger. It scared her, made her worry that he wouldn’t want anything to do with her. He’d understood her more than she could have imagined anyone could.
She could feel the undercurrent of his restlessness, of wanting to have all of the laws sorted out so they could truly begin rebuilding.
I had to get the paperwork out of my mind, he said.
Nodding against him, she smiled. This always felt good for taking them away from that, from all of it. She’d become more comfortable with knowing he could see her memories, knowing that he’d seen everything and still loved her. She could feel it flowing from him, his contentment being with her. She wrapped herself in it, in the joy that came off him in waves when they touched. It felt like nothing else she could have imagined. She’d gone from feeling used, cast off, hopeless, to feeling loved, appreciated, respected.
This is what they had fought for, for androids to have a chance to live, to love, to become more than what they’d been made to do. North couldn’t imagine anything more wonderful than moments like this.
She hated to disrupt it, but she had to make the point. We have to talk about Simon.
Her words caused memories to surface: of Markus watching Simon, every time he walked away. The surge of hope when he’d returned back to Jericho. His smile when Markus had made the speech in front of the other androids at Hart Plaza. As if it were her own, she could feel the tightness in her chest.
North could tell that Markus was in love with Simon, to the point that she worried she’d fall in love with Simon herself at this rate. The longing in these memories hurt, and she wanted to take that away. She felt no jealousy. She knew Markus loved her, every time they shared memories she was blown away by the depth of feeling he had for her.
But sharing thoughts that close meant she knew all of Markus’s secrets, even the ones he chose to be in denial about.
Do we? Need to talk about him?
North let go of Markus’s hands and opened her eyes, stepping back. She already felt the loss of the interface. “We do. Because if you don’t confront this, you’re going to drive me crazy. It’s like you’re pacing in your mind any time you think of him. And it’s making me restless, too.”
He didn’t speak for a moment. He moved his hand and brushed a strand of hair that had escaped her hat back over her ear. The tenderness in the gesture made something in her ache. “North, I love you.”
“I know that.” She took his hand in both of hers. “And I’m grateful, every day, for what we have. But I’m not the only one you love, and we both know it.”
Still holding her hand, he moved to the window of the office in the warehouse, surveying the activity below. His fingers interlaced with hers.
“We’re building so much. I can’t justify pulling him away from what he’s doing.”
It was cheap and she knew that Markus knew it. Sometimes she wanted him to even try to fight with her about it, give some reaction other than protesting. Something that showed he’d admit it. She wanted to push, but knew he’d probably just push back. Sighing, she looked out over the androids that worked on various tasks. Below, she saw Simon walk in, and she glanced at Markus, seeing if he noticed.
Simon greeted a handful of other androids who were sorting supplies near the entrance. It had become increasingly hard to find good ways to keep so many androids busy, and until they all were settled in places where they could find jobs and determine hobbies of their own, everyone was a resource to be leveraged. Androids worked sorting supplies, helping with repairs, working on plans for what to do next.
The blonde android moved through the crowd of androids, working his way across the warehouse that was New Jericho. It made sense that he’d come to check in with Markus, after the last couple of days that he’d been busy helping Connor.
North debated leaving them to it, maybe locking them in the office together until they had an actual conversation, but wondered how everything had turned out with Connor after Connor’s visit a couple of days previous. North had joked that Connor was busy with his “boyfriend in a box” and Connor had looked awkward enough about it that she assumed she’d hit close to the truth. She didn’t deny that she was curious how it had worked out. She didn’t have a lot of familiarity with Daniel’s case, but she knew enough to know that he risked being a prime example of where the lines with the laws could blur.
“You’re going to end up talking to Simon either way.” She pushed herself away from the window and put a hand on Markus’s shoulder. “You know I love you and I want you to be happy.”
He looked over at her, his mismatched blue and green eyes widening. “North, I am happy.”
She snorted, letting go of his hand. “You’re full of shit, Markus. No one’s happy with this much paperwork to do.”
Smiling, he kissed her cheek. It felt easy to smile around him, to just be around him. She’d had little enough reason to smile, before Markus had arrived in Jericho. Or more appropriately, faceplanted into Jericho.
“At least paperwork brings us closer to building a better world,” he pointed out.
“I love your optimism, even if I think you’re underestimating how awful humans can be.”
The door cracked open and Simon peered in. “Am I interrupting anything?”
“No, you’re good.” Markus gestured for him to come in.
Simon pressed the door open, and North fought the urge to just tell them to figure their shit out. He looked tired, perhaps… sad? North glanced at Markus, who just stared at Simon for a long moment.
North rolled her eyes and walked to Simon, putting an arm on his arm. “Everything alright? Were you able to do it?”
He reached up and put his hand over hers. The fabric of his sleeve tickled her skin. He reached his other hand up and straightened her hat, a very Simon thing to do. “It’s fine. It was a rough time there, but we rebuilt Daniel. With the help from Elijah Kamski and one of his Chloes. We secured a manufacturing platform, and Chloe says we can use it for repairs. That should get us far.”
North whistled. “That’s impressive.”
“I’d say.” Markus crossed the room to Simon and put his hands on Simon’s shoulders. “Good work, Simon.”
Simon ducked his head and blushed, and it took all North’s self control to not just shove them into each other. “How’s he doing?” she asked instead.
“Not bad, under the circumstances. Daniel can be… difficult. Hard to get through to him. A lot of pain.” A sad look crossed his face. “We’re going to see a lot more of that before it gets better. We’re not equipped to deal with the kind of emotional trauma that some of our people will be dealing with.”
“It won’t be easy.” Markus regarded Simon. “How’s Connor taking it?”
“He seems fine, but the rebuild was upsetting for him. They went to stay with Connor’s partner from the DPD. Hank.”
North let out a whistle. She hadn’t expected a cop to let another android stay there, especially one with Daniel’s record. Not one that’s a cop killer. Perhaps there was more to some humans than she thought. “Should I have made a bet on Connor and Daniel?”
“Probably.” Simon smiled at her. “It’s not going to be easy, but it’s good for them both.” He hesitated for a moment. “I think it might be good for Daniel to spend time with more androids. Would you mind if I brought him by here? Or maybe went to visit him there?”
“It’s fine with me.” Markus looked at Simon. “It sounds like you’ve become friends.”
“More like…” Simon winced. “I remember what it’s like to deviate. PL600s have the capacity to feel a lot, and it’s painful. I couldn’t just let him go through that. I think I’ve got a little brother out of this.”
Markus grinned. “More PL600s are always a good thing.”
The blush that crept through Simon’s face made North’s heart ache for him. “You’re a good friend, Simon.” And now I’ve got to be a good friend, too. She glanced over her shoulder at Markus. “Markus, I’m going to go find out how things are going downstairs, I’ve been cooped up in here too long. Why don’t you two catch up?” She backed out the door and shut it before he could say anything.
With how dense the two of them were, it would probably do no good, but she’d give it a try. She half expected Markus to send her a communication over it, but she assumed he knew that any statement she’d have for him would just make him blush, too, and he wouldn’t risk losing his composure.
Whistling to herself, North headed down the hall to find out how New Jericho fared.