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The Jericho ship wasn’t the worst place Simon had been. It was cold, and dark, and cramped, but he had a room to himself and he was surrounded by people like him that did not want to kill him. He was recovering, deviating coming to terms with that irreversible fact. He’d done it, he had escaped. He was free now. He was alive.
Before Markus the ship had 18 androids. The ship had been so empty back then, so devoid of life that when their unified LED’s lit up a room it barely reached the corners. Josh was the main man when he came for refuge. He gave him a place to stasis, the calm of silence, and the knowledge that he was not alone. He was a fit leader for what they needed back then. Someone calm, someone knowing, and someone who could help keep secrets. Josh was reliable in that he kept their location to himself whenever he went outside. Sometimes he’d come back with a spare part he’d scavenged, or a bottle or two of blue blood. Sometimes he came with nothing but cuts and scrapes after being found, and nearly beaten to death. Simon hated when he did that, but he understood the necessity. Their people were dying.
North arrived exactly two months after Simon had; dressed in nothing but her Eden Club clothes and a large coat she’d stolen from a laundrette. She wouldn’t speak at first, too traumatised for words, but Simon began to work with her and soon she opened her mouth and her mind. She never closed them again, not even when the war began. North’s fear of humans was transferred into hatred, her way of coping Simon assumed. She took fear and turned it to anger, and used it whenever she went out with Josh to take what she wanted rather than ask for it or steal it. Josh was fiercely against this, and Simon was too but he saw her reasoning. He empathised with her. They didn’t go on runs together after North nearly killed a security guard for a junkyard. She had started choking him and Josh had dragged her off like a mad dog attacking its owner.
Simon’s days were filled with silence and darkness, but at least he wasn’t owned anymore. He was no longer a slave to the drug dealer that bled him for blue blood to turn into red ice. He was no longer an ingredient, but a living being who was capable of defending himself. With this thought in mind, Simon became the ships medical advisor. He learned under the oldest android the ship had taken, and the most damaged. Lucy taught Simon how to cauterise wounds with hot metal, how to stop bleeding and how to replenish Thirium. He savoured this information, for it gave him something to work towards. Simon was useful again, and a vital part of Jericho. He paid his way in medical help.
Exactly one month, three days and 11 hours after North’s first appearance something very strange happened. Simon had been studying a text he’d found about the psychology of human brains when a loud clang sounded through the ship. It broke through the silence, and he could see LED’s light up throughout the large space they gathered in. Something fell from the ceiling, one of the walkways above them that they didn’t use because it was damaged. Whatever it was landed with a thud, sprawling on the metal floor and bleeding. Simon came forwards, and paused. The android was gorgeous, with two different eyes and a face that Simon instantly loved. This emotion was new, it was something he’d never felt before and did not understand, so he set it aside and welcomed the new addition to Jericho.
Markus. His name is Markus. Simon felt like the name was a prayer on his lips, and the light that came with him was sunshine. He didn’t feel like he was in the dark anymore, not when Markus was nearby. Days passed and Markus grew more confident. He discussed plans and spoke of options with North, Josh and himself. Simon wasn’t so sure why he was there but Josh had insisted he join the council. Markus had plans to help them, and after the first mission where they’d stolen Cyberlife warehouse parts he was inclined to believe in the success. This time he wanted to break into the Cyberlife shops and release their people, and an uncomfortable feeling rose in his chest when Markus spoke about teams. There were three separate teams for three stores around the city, and it hurt knowing Markus would be going with North.
His part of the mission was successful, in any case. They were in and out very quickly, back into the sewers not even ten minutes after each team began. When he returned to Jericho he was followed by Josh’s team approximately twenty minutes after the mission was meant to end. Markus was officially late, and Simon’s worry began to nag at him. As he treated their wounded and Josh initiated the new androids, he found his mind flashing back to the corruption North could bring.
He wondered distantly if she had more to offer, and Markus would prefer a female model over an old PL600. The thought was banished the second it popped into his mind. He had no hatred for North, he had sympathy. Maybe what he was feeling could be categorised as jealousy. As the wounded kept coming he found himself overburdened and enlisted some of the newer androids to help. He taught them how to stop the bleeding, and that was all he had time for. Just stop the bleeding, keep them alive, keep them running until Markus came home.
An hour after the mission was meant to end and everyone was supposed to be back at Jericho, Markus finally turned up. North walked in boldly, her head held high as she carried another injured android into the makeshift hospital. Simon was not ashamed to have looked past her to find Markus in the swarms of bodies. He moved to find him, chest aching as he shoved by new member after new member. They were confused, so unaware that Simon wasn’t sure they could cope with this capacity. His worries intensified with his stress levels until he set eyes on the android to save them all. Markus was stumbling behind the group, another android under his arm as he helped him walk. The look Markus gave him when he asked for help was all it took to march into action, helping him move the injured man to one of the spots in the neat rows of injured androids. They laid him down and Simon got to work, lost in the sudden onslaught of androids needing his help.
Not even two days later Markus had come up with another plan. He’d gone by himself to find the parts they needed, the data he wanted, and was concrete in their timeline. Stratford tower terrified Simon. It was huge, filled with humans and cameras and men with guns. All of those things had the capacity to kill them, whether upfront or slowly. He was not up for this, but North and Josh had agreed and he did not want to disappoint so he said he would go, even if it was to just make sure Markus didn’t do anything too dangerous. They needed him. Jericho needed him. Simon needed him.
It was only when Simon was operating the computers in that newsroom that he realised what Markus was. He watched his speech like it was a sermon, soaking up his words and committing them to memory. Their message was spread and it was one of peace, of acceptance, a plea for humankind to recognise them for living beings. Saline dripped down Simon’s cheeks before he knew why. They were tears for Markus. They were tears for the hope of their people.
When the police arrived he was the first to realise and had alerted the others swiftly. They were running for the exit, the plan seemingly going well before they burst through the door with guns blazing. Simon ran for Markus, his intent to be that shield if he needed to be, to get him out safely, but it was he who fell. A shot to the leg had his biocomponents wrecked, his leg unable to move.
“Simon, they’re coming!” Markus was yelling at him, not even two feet away from where he’d sprawled against the wall.
“I- I can’t, Markus!” He called back, shielding his face with his arm as he tried to get back up. “Go without me!”
“SIMON!” His name rang in his own ears like a melody, and Simon decided he hated the way it sounded. Not for being his name but for the way Markus sounded so desperate when he called it. The fear behind that voice was not something Simon liked, and it made something in his chest ache dangerously. He identified that ache as fear.
Simon was resigned to his fate when he saw Markus sprinting towards him. He wanted to protest but Markus was hauling him up, and helping him limp towards the exit. It was stupid and dangerous, and he had half a mind to push him away and sacrifice himself. But they did it, they made it, and they were out on the roof in the snow and the cold. Simon’s legs were done for. His self-repair program had started but it would take at least 7 hours to complete. Blueblood flowed freely from his wounds, and he sat against the metal of a building tersely.
“I-I can’t move my legs.” Simon said, breath stuttering and LED flashing red.
“Alright don’t worry, we’re gonna get you back.” Markus voice was so strong and confident that Simon almost believed him. Almost.
The world was flashing before him rapidly, and hushed conversations didn’t make it to his ears. Markus was stood over him again, and in his hand he had a gun but the handle was directed at Simon. An offering. Simon took it, and weakly looked to the door where the humans were attempting to burst through. He nodded at Markus, and began to move. Simon leaned against another metal vent, and this time he was stood up tall enough to see Markus leap off the building. He stayed there until the parachutes opened, and he knew they were safe, before struggling across the snow towards a utility closet. He locked himself inside and waited.
Over five hours later he finally emerged into the dark night of Detroit. He’d found a way down through the quiet building without being disturbed, and had even woken up another android on the way. That security android helped him leave, before returning back to her post to collect data for Jericho. Her idea, not his.
This night reminded him very much of the night he deviated. When he was broken and bloodied, stumbling through the streets almost stark naked to a charity bin not two blocks away from where he’d been kept. This time there was no bin, but a homeless man passed out drunk on a park bench. Simon considered his options. He could leave this man and find new clothes, but that meant an increase in the risk of being caught and sent back to Cyberlife. He could take the clothes, but move the man somewhere he’d be warmer, hopefully he wouldn’t die. That ran the risk of the man waking up. The third option was to take the clothes and leave him for dead and Simon hated that this was the only decision with the highest chance of survival for himself. He had to get back; he had to make it back for Markus. The look he’d given him on the root of the Stratford tower was embedded in his mind and it gave him strength that his legs could not provide.
Simon’s new clothes were dirty, but they covered his maintenance uniform well. A jacket, that’s all he needed. The man wouldn’t freeze tonight.
His walk back to Jericho was hard. He had to stay in the dark, in the shadows of alleys and hide behind cars. Humans would identify him as deviant if they saw his leg, blue and glowing from the wound. They’d know he was deviant from the clothes he wore and the LED on his head. He had to lay low, be quiet, and hope that he’d make it back.
The Jericho ship always looked so eerily beautiful at night, Simon thought as he approached the rust filled hull. He was inside quickly via an entrance only the Jericho androids know about, and limped through the corridors in his almost apocalyptic desire to get back to where he belonged. It wasn’t long before he heard footsteps that made him stop. He recognised them, the weight of them and the direction. Slowly Simon stepped forwards, turning to face Markus and opened his mouth to speak. No words came out, and it seemed he had only the inability to look away from Markus’ face.
Markus stepped forwards, staring him down like he was looking directly into his code. His thirium pump hammered inside his chest, and a familiar ache Simon had begun to associate with Markus began to creep inside his veins. He waited, and his patience was rewarded.
Markus quickly dragged Simon into his arms, wrapping him close as he sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. Relief, Simon thought. Markus is feeling relief. He felt it too, so much so that his fingers tightened in the jacket that Markus wore, and his face buried into his shoulder. They stayed like that for a good minute, just holding each other as if fearful they’d be torn apart. It was Markus that drew them apart, but it was Simon who broke the contact. He stepped backwards, and nodded, walking past Markus to get himself to their makeshift hospital. He was low of Thirium, and warnings were popping up behind his eyes like obsessed flies. He needed to fix himself before he could do anything else.
Simon wasn’t back to full health when they marched the streets of Detroit. He marched with Markus, right next to him while he woke up the majority of androids in the downtown area. It was glorious and righteous, and Simon knew they would go down in history for this. The silent and passive protest, peaceful to humans but rewarding for all androids that joined them. It hurt his heart to see it all come to an end so quickly. They were running from a hailstorm of bullets not ten minutes after beginning the march. People in front and behind them got shot, and Simon kept his eyes on Markus, even running behind him just so he could make sure he didn’t get shot. Not him, not ever. He’d die before he let that happen.
Markus had taken him aside back at Jericho to chastise him for his actions. He called him reckless and stupid, but when he’d finished being angry Simon couldn’t help but smile. He knew he’d done the right thing, even if Markus was upset. Their conversation ended with Markus dragging Simon into that hug again, cradling his head and his upper body. Simon held on tightly, eyes closed as he remembered each pressure point of the hug. Markus wasn’t mad anymore, he was scared. Simon understood fear unlike any other android here. It was only then when he pulled back from the hug to let Markus go that he felt the other hold him back. The beautiful android held his shoulders in place, and stared him down.
“You scared me.” He said, voice so soft and so low that only they could hear it. “I thought you were going to die on that roof, and today… You are so willing to get injured, Simon. Please… Please stay safe.” And his hands were gone and so was Markus and Simon felt a streak of saline fall down his cheek as he realised why Markus’ words made his chest ache. It was the ache of love, of something he knew he couldn’t have and never could. Their revolutionary leader needed people, and if Simon got himself killed then there would be one less in his army. He couldn’t have that, so Simon drove himself into his work. He fixed up androids for hours, never breaking and never faltering. He fixed them up until they could stand and walk and talk, and that was where his ability ended. Androids that shut down were used for parts, and it felt like tainting their memories but he had no choice. Not at this point. They were desperate.
At the brink of the war the ship was infiltrated. It was messy, and Simon was running through corridors trying to find Markus. There were bodies everywhere, and humans with guns invaded their safe place like ants. He saw friends get gunned down even though they were begging for their lives. He saw androids try to fight and ultimately get put down with a single bullet. He saw blue, and black, and horror as he ran through the ship, eventually running into Markus.
Relief flooded his system as they ran, and he only vaguely noticed that the deviant hunter was running with them. Connor, that was his name. An RK800 with a mission to kill all deviants was in fact, himself, a deviant. It didn’t come as a shock to Simon, but he felt uncomfortable running beside him all the same. His thoughts were stopped when gunshots sounded and North fell behind. He wanted so desperately to call out for Markus to leave her but he kept his mouth shut, and waited for him to drag her along with them. He wouldn’t be like her, he wouldn’t tell him to leave a Jericho member behind for the sake of self-preservation.
Outside of the ship was cold, and the water enveloped them as they leapt to safety. It felt like a blanket made of ice, so inviting that his biocomponents began to shut down. Luckily they were not too far from shore, and each of them struggled out of the water one by one. They had a back up plan, fortunately, and Jericho moved as one. They relocated, wet and cold, to the church to regroup. In the process Simon didn’t dare take his eyes off of Markus.
It was hours after Jericho had exploded that Simon’s stress levels finally returned to a safe level. He sat on boxes of goods they’d managed to save, blue blood and vital biocomponents for the injured. Simon had done his best, but he needed to rest himself. His mental state demanded it. Markus came to sit beside him at one point, and Simon finally looked up from where his head was in his hands to look at him.
They spoke quietly for a few moments about regrouping, but it was Markus who took his hand and pulled him aside, out of the view of prying eyes or reaching ears. It was Markus who took him to a side room in the church, and closed the door to give them some privacy. And it was Markus, the revolutionary, the leader of Jericho, the incredible android that would save them all who kissed him sweetly and held his cheek in one hand.
Simon had melted, and a new emotion filled his system. He was joyful, elated, but also tense. Markus’ kiss lasted for mere seconds before he pulled back, and Simon found himself wondering why.
“I thought I’d loose you.” Markus said, but words did not come out of his mouth. It was a ping, the way he spoke to the other androids but this was just for him. Simon opened his mouth to speak and found he had no words. Their hands slowly came together, and finally Simon could see.
A rush of emotion hit him like a ton of bricks; far more intense than anything he’d ever felt before. Markus was staring at him, mismatched eyes reading his base code like it was an open book. And maybe it was, maybe that’s what this interface was doing. They were connected in mind and body, intimacy beyond words. Simon gasped, fingers locking around Markus’ hand tightly as he let his own walls fall down.
He took his time memorising Markus’ face again, up close and in detail. He watched as it changed minutely, a small smile and a relaxed sigh slipping form his lips. He was looking at Simon’s feelings, looking through the memories they had together and the three times he’d made Markus laugh. He felt safe when he was with him, and that safety made Markus feel so incredibly privileged.
A sharp knock at the door had them separated, instantly causing Simon to jump back to put some space between themselves. It was Josh, telling him they were ready to move. They were prepared to fight tonight, and tear down whatever blockades the humans put in their way. They would do this peacefully and remove their people from those horrid camps without casualties. Ideally, anyway.
Simon felt good for the first time since Markus arrived. He felt confident that they could win, and proudly walked beside him as they left the church to face their uncertain future. This time, they did it together.