Work Text:
15 August, 2039. By all means a normal date. Nothing special happened on 15 August, nothing out of the ordinary. Not unless you count a PL600 android dangling a helpless young child off a ledge on the 70th story and holding her hostage. Besides that, no. Nothing ever happened on 15 August.
That's what Daniel told himself. 15 August was just a usual day for him, and if he acted slightly more snappy on that date for absolutely no reason, who was going to call him out?
As he combed his hair while staring at the mirror, his eyes tried not to trace the line of melted plastic on the side of his face that was due to- nope. Nope, not today.
When he exited the pristine bathroom, he was greeted with the familiar sight of Sixty flipping blue pancakes on the stove. Androids didn't require food but those pancakes were a routine amid the tangled mess known as life. They both found that it helped ground them to reality. Sitting down and having breakfast together was a reminder that yes, the revolution was over and yes, today was a new day. Smelling the sizzling Thirum based butter usually helped to calm Daniel's frayed nerves. As he was a household model, he was equipped with olfactory sensors to judge if the food he was cooking was suitable for human consumption.
Now, the smell just reminded him of the butter chicken he made before he chanced upon that tablet and that godforsaken confirmation page.
Daniel's eyes met Sixty's and the RK-800 visibly brightened up.
"Morning, Dan."
Fuck, that smell was drudging up memories he wished to never relieve again.
"Breakfast's ready-"
Striding past the dining table, he grabbed his coat off the peg a little more forcefully than usual.
"Not hungry. Going to work."
The front door shut with the force that could nearly count as a slam. If Daniel stayed a little longer, he would have seen Sixty's face fall.
The commute to work was not remarkable. He tried to put on his best smile and opened the glass doors of KinderTots Preschool for Androids and Humans. Instantly, the kids flooded him, all begging for either a hug or a high five. Now this, this was something he could distract himself with.
After surviving the stampede of children, one of his colleagues, Adam, pulled him aside. Adam was another PL600 but he was one of the first prototypes, thus his facial structure was slightly different than his counterparts.
"Yo Dan, we gotta a new child today. Naomi," the other android said while gesturing to a little girl with long brown hair tied into a ponytail. The sour feeling from earlier crashed back with the intensity and speed of a tsunami.
So much for a distraction.
---
"Dan-"
"Don't fucking talk to me Six."
Daniel yanked his coat forcefully onto the peg, causing a small tear in the seams. He huffed away to their room, only for his arm to be grasped by the newer android. He flinched and wrenched it away.
"Don't touch me!"
"Look, I get that today is a shitty day for you-"
"Today is a normal day, what the fuck do you mean," he clenched his teeth and his voice ran cold.
"You can't run away from your past forever-
”-Daniel!
My name's Connor!”
The helicopters whirred noisily above him. Fuck, that noise made so hard to concentrate. So hard to remember to not let his grip on Emma go slack.
The Negotiator used saccharine words on him. Said that he “just wanted to talk”. That he won’t be decommissioned, no, they just wanted to chat.
He trusted Connor. Trusted his lies.
“Don’t you dare even mention about my past, Connor!”
“I’m not Con!”
Right, that wasn’t the shit head known as RK800 313 248 317-51. It was his beloved boyfriend who unfortunately shared the same face as his mortal enemy. It didn’t stop the next words from spilling out of his mouth.
“Yeah, you’re not Connor because you tried to kill him.”
Sixty reeled back in a mixture of shock and hurt. His eyes turned wet and tears threatened to spill out. Daniel realised the huge mistake he made. Hewished that he could swallow his words whole. but it was too late. Sixty’s expression morphed into one of hatred. Cold, chocolate eyes bore through Daniel.
“I tried to kill him when I was a machine. You killed a man and held his daughter hostage when you were alive.”
The words were spat out like venom. And like venom, they seared into Daniel’s skin.
Funny thing was, Sixty was right. He was a deviant. He had free will, and he chose to murder an innocent man. He chose to traumatise a little girl forever.
That just made the words slice deeper.
Sixty slapped a hand to his mouth and gasped once he hurled that statement out.
“I’m sorry, Dan. I-”
“No, you’re correct.”
“Dan, listen to me-”
“I SAID, YOU’RE CORRECT!”
A pin could have dropped in their apartment and the sound would have rang loud and clear.
“Y’know what? You are right. You don’t deserve a murderer like me. I’ll… I’ll just leave.”
“Dan, please don’t!”
“I’m sorry for fucking your life up, Six. I really am.”
With that, he grabbed his coat once again and this time slammed the door into the tear stained face of his ex-boyfriend.
He walked. He walked aimlessly around Detroit, hoping the crisp night air would allow him to process the raging storm in his head. Several times, he received calls from “Six <3”. Several times, he rejected them. Soon, they stopped coming.
It was all his fault. Sixty was right. He couldn’t keep running away from his problems, from his past forever. In the heat of the moment, he was just too blind and deaf to see and listen to one of the only good things he had in his life. Sixty asked him to stay, didn’t he? And he had left. Like the great person he was. He had left both of his families in heartbreak.
And now, he wasn’t sure if he could find a new one.