Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

    The bus stopped. The bus driver walked up to the only two remaining in the seats, a little girl and an android. “Alright, end of the line,” he told the android.

The android looked at him, questioning. “End of the line?”

“Yeah, that means you gotta get off.” He turned around, back to his seat. The android, Kara, turned to the little girl sleeping next to her. “Alice, wake up, we gotta go,” Kara said gently. Alice woke up, rubbing her eyes. They got up. Kara looked at the bus driver. “Listen, we have nowhere to go.” She looks at Alice. “She’s exhausted and it’s pouring rain. Can we just stay for a little while?”

The driver looks at her and says, “This bus is going back to the depot. There’s nothing I can do.” He feels bad. He wishes there was something he could do for them, as they seem to be in a bad spot. But he couldn’t risk losing his job. 

Kara gave a slight nod and turned to the door. They left the bus, and the doors closed behind them. A cold chill swept through Kara, bringing with it a sense of uneasiness. I should have taken the gun, she thought to herself. It would be some protection if anything would happen. Given different circumstances, she would have, but Alice was her first priority. With that, though, she turned to the young girl, who was sitting on the bench of the bus stop, shivering.

“You’re gonna be okay?” Kara asked. Alice nodded, still shivering. “We’ll find someplace to spend the night,” Kara assured her. Kara looked around, looking for anything that could help. She spotted an android and walked up to him. He might have some information about someplace to stay. She connected with him. “We need a place to stay. Do you know anywhere we can spend the night?” The android either didn’t know or could not answer, as it gave none. Kara looked around again. She spotted a laundromat, a motel, an abandoned house, and a side alleyway. Alice was shivering hard. “Alice, you're freezing cold.”

Kara could see Alice was trying not to let it show. “I’m all right, I’m not that cold,” she said, her body clearly betraying her words. Kara’s resolve to find a place to stay only grew stronger. She checked the motel. Androids weren’t allowed in, and entry was $40, money she didn’t have. This wasn’t a viable option at the moment. As she turned around, Alice asked, “Why aren’t we going in?” 

Kara looked at Alice and told her, “We need forty dollars, and to get rid of this uniform,” gesturing to the standard android uniform. They stopped in the laundromat to warm Alice up. After that, they went over to the drugstore. Kara asked the clerk for help, and he had nothing to offer. Discouraged, she and Alice left the store. They were about to try the alley when Kara noticed the car. It was an older model, possibly from the 2020s. The window was down, despite the cold, and a man was inside, seemingly looking for someone. Kara went up to the car and knocked gently on the door. The man looked up.

“Excuse me, but I’m with a little girl, and I’m wondering if you could help us.”

The man looked at Kara, then behind her at Alice, who was still shivering in the cold. “Get in. I’ll get you somewhere safe,” he says, opening the passenger door next to him. Kara got into the back with Alice. The car drove off into the night.

They drove in silence, the man only telling them his name, which was Dakota. He drove for about an hour, arriving at a house. It was small, but well kept. The car pulled into a garage, and they went inside. The inside was clean and spacious. Dakota turned on the lights and turned up the heat.

“There’s a bathroom with a shower at the end of the upstairs hallway. I don’t have any clothes for either of you, but I can get some for you tomorrow. I can reheat some leftovers for you, Alice, if you want.” Dakota said to the both of them.

“No thanks, I’m not hungry.” Alice answered. 

“That’s fine.”

Kara took Alice upstairs and helped her into the shower. As Alice got herself cleaned, Kara went to look for a room for her to sleep in. She found Dakota making a bed in a room off to the right. The room was a simple guest room, with little decoration. The bed was a comfortable looking full size. Dakota did not look up at her, but still recognized her presence. “You know, I haven’t gotten to know you. Why were you two out there?” 

Kara was unsure of where Dakota was going with this question. “What do you mean?”

Dakota looked at her. “You were in a downtown business district with a nine year old girl at about midnight. You were running away. The girl has a fresh bruise on her nose forming, and she wasn’t wearing clothes made for the cold. Some of your artificial skin is missing on your cheek and around your neck. You were likely running from either someone or something, and left in a hurry, without a plan. I just want to know what happened.”

Kara thought over his words and decided she could trust him. She took a breath, and told him their story. “Her father was abusive, and he snapped. He was gonna hurt her, and something in me changed. Her life just became more important than mine, and I had to do something.” 

Dakota looked at her and smiled. “You did the right thing.” He went to the closet and pulled out a small tote bag out of there. “I had a friend who always kept some spare night bags for her cousin. There are some pajamas and fresh clothes in there.”

“Thank you,” Kara said gratefully.

Alice finished getting cleaned. As Kara got her dressed, Alice spoke. “Why didn't he ever love me? Why was he always so upset with me? All I wanted was a life like other girls. Maybe I did something wrong? Maybe I wasn't good enough? That's why he was always so angry. I just wanted us to be a family. I just wanted him to love me. Why couldn't we just be happy?” 

Kara was somewhat perturbed. “I don’t know, Alice.”

“You'll never leave me, right? Promise you'll never go.”

“I promise…”

“Will we be together forever?”

“Forever.” Kara hugged Alice. “You should get some sleep.” Alice laid down, Kara turned off the light, kissed Alice, and laid down.

Outside the room, Dakota was heartbroken. To know what the little girl went through, and the idea that she was not the only one to have gone through that was disheartening. He resolved to do what he could to help them.

The next morning, Kara woke up from standby. She looked over next to her. Alice was still asleep. Kara got up and went to the bathroom. Under the sink there was a haircutting kit. She took it out, cut her hair, and changed the color of her hair to jet black. She also used the scissors to remove the LED. If she was technically a fugitive, she should change her appearance. She looked through the closets in the other guest rooms, careful to stay quiet, for any clothes for herself. She found a simple navy blue button down shirt to cover her uniform. Kara went downstairs. She found Dakota in the kitchen, cooking. 

“Good morning, Kara.” Dakota said, without looking up. He continued cooking for a moment, flipping some food on the electric cooking surface. He wiped his hands on a towel, and looked up at her. “Changed your hair. Looks good like that. It suits you.”

Kara didn’t really know what to think of that, so she accepted it as a compliment. “Thank you,” she responded. Dakota smiled for a moment, then his face grew serious. “How’s the girl? Alice, right?”

“Yes. She’s still sleeping,” Kara told him.

Dakota looked somewhat relieved. “Good. She had a hard day. She should sleep.”

“You’re right. Thank you,” Kara agreed, grateful for his understanding. Kara also saw that he was making pancakes. Even though she was a deviant, the original code was still there, and she felt a compulsion to help. “I can help with that.”

“Thanks, but I got it. I find cooking to be … relaxing. It’s something I can do that ends up always tasting good. That and I really want to do something for Alice.”

“You act like you care so much about her. Why?” Kara asked.

Dakota paused, thinking over his words. “Because… because I want to care. I’ve seen people get hurt because someone wasn’t there to help. And no kid should be left without people who care, whether they’re permanent or not.”

Kara was moved by his words. The more she saw of him, the more of a genuinely caring person he seemed to be.

Something from the events of the previous night (morning?) emerged from her memory. “Last night, an android gave me an address. He told me that there was someone there that can help.” 

Dakota nodded. “I can get you there tonight.

“Thank you,” Kara said, grateful.

Alice woke up around one in the afternoon, and Dakota had some sandwiches made, and of which Alice ate up hungrily.

Later, Alice was sitting on the couch in the living room. Dakota sat down next to her. “Wanna see something?” Alice looked at him somewhat warily, not entirely sure whether to trust him or not. She decided to trust him. If he tries anything, she thought, Kara is right there to keep her safe. She took a quick glance at Kara, who gave a slight nod. She relaxed a little, and decided to trust him. If he tries anything, she thought, Kara is right there to keep her safe. “I guess so.”

Suddenly, there was a slight pressure in her head, and then she had a thought. Do you hear me? Only it was in Dakota’s voice, and it wasn’t her thought. She was so surprised she nearly fell off the couch. Dakota caught her.

“Woah, sorry. Should have warned you. The first time always comes as a shock.” Dakota told Alice, slight bemusement in his voice. Kara stepped forward, worried. Dakota held up a hand. “She’s all right, don’t worry,” he said reassuringly. Kara stopped, no less worried.

Alice held a hand to her head. “What was that?” She asked, in a confused voice.

“It’s called telepathy. It’s the ability to talk to another person using only thoughts. Similar to what androids can do. It’s a very useful thing to know, and I want Alice to have it.” He turned to Alice. “If you want to use it, just focus on me, and think of what you want to say. Go ahead and try it.”

Alice closed her eyes and focused on Dakota, she imagined his voice, felt the pressure in her head again, and thought tentatively, Like this?

A moment passed, and she heard him. Exactly like that. Great job, Dakota’s voice said in her head. If you ever need help, use this to tell me and I will be there to help.

Always? she asked. 

Always, Dakota replied reassuringly.

Alice nodded. Okay. Thank you.

Chapter Text

Dakota pulled the car up to the gate of the house. “This the place?” He asked Kara. Kara looked past the gate at the large, empty looking house. “This is the address he gave me,” she said. Dakota looked at Kara. “You and Alice head on in. I’ll wait out here,” he told her.

“You sure?” She asked.

“Yeah,” he said. “Sometimes people that provide forgeries get a little tense when there’s a tag along.”

“Okay. Come on, Alice.” Kara and Alice got out of the car and went up to the door. She rang the doorbell twice before someone answered. The person who opened the door was an male of about forty five years, about five foot eight, slightly overweight, and had a full beard. “Are you Zlatko?” Kara asked the man.

“Who’s asking?” the man said.

“I was told you could help us.” Kara said.

“I don’t know who told you that, you came to the wrong place. I’m sorry,” he said, closing the door.

“Wait!” Kara said, pushing the door open. “We really need your help.” The man, Zlatko, looked behind Kara and saw a little girl behind her. He nodded and opened the door for them. “Come in,” he said. Kara and Alice walked in the house. “Luther,” Zlatko called, “would you be so kind as to take these ladies coats?” A large android walked up to the two. Kara stepped back, instinctively pulling Alice behind her.

Oh, don’t worry about my friend here,” Zlatko told them, referring to Luther. “He’s just an android that I helped. He keeps me company in this big, empty house,” he said, gesturing to the house around him. They went to the living room. “Please,” he said. “Make yourselves at home.”

Dakota sat in the car, having pulled it off into the shadows, out of sight of the front doors. He sat, listening to the sound of the rain against the roof of the car, trying to relax. But he couldn’t. He just couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. It’s just paranoia , he told himself, but his mind would not be quieted. He decided to do some research. He thought he should start with the house. By checking the city records, he found the owner of the house to be Zlatko Andronikov. The name sounded familiar, but he couldn’t place where he had heard it. He ran a background check on him, and found a whole bunch of stuff. The criminal record alone was enough cause for his paranoia. Multiple counts of assault and battery and production of counterfeit Cyberlife products.. But there is still something else. He checked some of the other databases he had access to. Finally, he found something. Zlatko had worked for Cyberlife from 2027 to 2031, but had been fired due to misuse of company property, namely unauthorized experiments and implementation of prototype features. The surname Andronikov had been connected to various drug distribution rings throughout the 20th century. That’s where he remembered the name from. Some of the research from his previous job had to do with drug distribution, and the last name came up quite frequently. Dakota then realized what was going on, and who he was dealing with. Kara and Alice were in danger.

Just as he realized what was going on, he felt something. When a person is stressed, they emit a pulse of emotion. One who is sensitive to the world may be able to feel those pulses. Dakota felt two individual pulses, both extremely powerful. Dakota had not felt anything like this in a long time. The pulses hit him, an absolute concussive wave of terror and fear. His senses were overwhelmed, nausea pooling in the pit of his stomach. He steadied his breathing, regaining control of himself. He had to move fast, for there was no telling how much time he had. He went to the trunk and opened it. He needed to get some equipment.

“You deviants are so naive. They all come to me looking for help, and I just reset them. Or I keep them for my little experiments.” Zlatko told Kara, who was restrained in Zlatko’s machine.

“No, let me go! I don’t want to be reset! let me go!” Kara cried. 

“Kara!” Alice tried getting free of Luther.

“Oh!” Zlatko exclaimed. “I almost forgot about the… the child.” He said. “Lock it up, I’ll deal with it later,” he told Luther.

“ALICE!” Kara screamed. “ALICE, NO!” 

“Look at that. A deviant that wants to be a mother. That’s so sweet. And so deluded.” Zlatko taunted.

Dakota looked through the living room window. Nobody there. He could hear some commotion from inside the house, heavily muffled cries and screams. Knowing who they were coming from, they sent a pang through his chest. He just needed to find a way in.

Zlatko pushed a button on his console. Kara felt a dull pain in the back of her head, her eyes lost focus for a moment, and then… nothing. Any feeling she had was washed out by absolute numbness. “That’s what you get for having a dream,” Zlatko said. “It always ends the same way… tears and disillusionment. Believe me, you’re better off being erased. No more pain. No more… hopes dashed,” he continued, almost lost in his own thoughts. “I almost envy you.”

“Kara!” Alice cried, breaking free of Luther’s grasp and running to Kara. Kara saw her, knew her, but couldn’t remember from where. Her memory seemed to be corrupted.

“Aww, poor little Alice,” Zlatko mocked.”Looks like mommy doesn’t remember you, huh. Looks like mommy’s completely forgotten about you.” Alice froze at those words, tears streaming down her cheeks, eyes filled with desperation and terror.

Dakota was in the kitchen. He had picked the front door lock to get inside, counting on the events downstairs to cover any noise he made. He needed Zlatko to leave the basement, otherwise there was too great a chance for either Alice or Kara to get hurt. The mere thought of the two in pain made his heart quicken in fear. Odd. He hadn’t felt this way about anyone in a long time. Probably because there’s been no one there for a long time, he thought. Maybe, a small part of him said, hesitant to accept that as the absolute truth. He heard screams growing louder. It was Alice, being dragged upstairs. He hoped she remembered the trick he showed her that afternoon.

Alice? Alice, what’s going on? Dakota’s voice sounded in her head. She heard it and thought toward it. Dakota, help! He’s got Kara! He’s going to reset her! She heard a response almost immediately. Got it. I’ll get Kara. I need you to look around and let me know where he takes you. Got it? 

Alice thought to him, I think so.

Ok. Hang in there, kid. We’ll get you out safe. Dakota thought to her reassuringly. He snuck past Luther in the living room and went down to the basement. He reached the machine, and stopped. Kara was standing on the machine platform, stock still. Her face was expressionless and her eyes were blank. The monitor screen on the wall next to her read “Reset Complete.” Oh God, he thought. I’m too late. “No,” he breathed. This couldn’t happen. He refused to give up. “No, there’s gotta be a way.” He started looking around for anything that could help him. He saw the cages along the hallway. He went up to one of them and saw multiple androids in there. They were heavily disfigured, having been experimented on. He unlocked the door and went in. In an instant, they were upon him, surrounding him, murmuring, almost violent. “A human?” one rasped. “What’s it doing here?” A friend of Zlatko’s?”

Dakota took a breath, calming himself. “I need help. That android’s memory was reset,” he said, gesturing out at Kara. “Is there any way to get it back?”

“What do you want with it?” one asked accusingly, it’s damaged vocal processor making its voice echo.

Dakota looked around at the, well, not quite abominations , but almost. They were just like any other android, just damaged. Treated as an object, as experiments. Honesty and humanity , Dakota thought. That’ll get me the answers I need. “I just want to get her memory back.” He paused seeing and hearing various reactions of suspicion and disbelief. “I know you have no reason to trust me, but please, I’ll do anything. I’ll set you free, I’ll get you repaired, anything you want, just help me out.” 

Silence. “He speaks the truth,” one spoke up. Dakota was relieved. Another android started talking. “The memories are still there. The code just has to be broken through.” Dakota sighed. “Thank you,” he breathed gratefully. “I’ll help you in any way you need,” he told them.

“Leave the door open,” one told him. “We’ll be fine from there.” Dakota nodded and walked back to Kara. She was still standing in the machine, her face still blank. He walked in front of her and looked into her. “Kara?” No response. “Kara, it’s me, Dakota. Do you remember me?” Kara looked at him, and a sliver of vague confusion flickered across her face. It gave Dakota some hope. From upstairs, faintly, he heard a voice. “Luther. Bring me the little one in about ten minutes. I should be finished up here by then.” Shit, Dakota thought. Running out of time. “Please, Kara, I need you to remember. Alice? The little girl? Her father?” No response. Desperate, he tried something that to anyone else would seem idiotic: access her memory.

There is a difference between a mind and a brain. A brain is a biological organ, that, through complex chemical and electrical interactions, simulates a perception of life and awareness. The mind, however, is the perception of life and awareness, including all of one’s thoughts, emotions, and memories. Although it is true that the mind is contained  within the brain, and is affected by its state (brain damage can cause memory loss and even personality changes), one can exist without the other; Dakota had seen many things that show complete consciousness without any sort of brain. It would make sense that androids would be subject to the same principles.

Dakota also had the advantage of not being anyone else. He reached for her arm, and as soon as his skin touched hers, he felt a connection. He felt her memories, present but blocked by Zlatko’s programming, which presented itself in Dakota’s mind as a large curtain of steel. He needed to get rid of it. Dakota started pushing his Will on it, trying to weaken it. At first it wouldn’t budge. He pushed more. Slowly, parts of the programming began to give way, like cracks in a dam. Some memories began to come through: Zlatko telling them about Canada, Luther taking her coat. It still wasn’t enough. Dakota pushed harder, forcing his way through the coding. Memories were closing faster, but it still wasn’t enough. “Remember,” he whispered, and gave one final push with his Will. Zlatko’s program shattered, and the memories came flooding in. Todd hitting Alice. The two running to the bus. Dakota. Everything came back.

Kara’s eyes flew open, gasping. Dakota let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Alice? he asked .  

Yes? he heard Alice in his head.

Kara’s okay, she’s going to get you. We just need to know where you are.

He took me upstairs, I’m in the very last room, she told him.

Thanks, we’ll get you soon, he told her.

“You get Alice, I’ll get the car. She’s upstairs, in the room at the end of the hall,” he told Kara.

“Okay,” she said. They went up the basement steps. Dakota went out the front door, and Fara turned to go up the stairs.

Dakota made his way back to the car. He drove it up to the front gate, making sure to keep the lights off. Getting out, he realized that those ten minutes are about up. He hoped that Kara and Alice would be able to escape undetected.

They weren’t so lucky. Zlatko found them as they were trying to sneak from one room to the next, and a chase through the house ensued. They ran out the back door and went through the backyard. Kara tripped and fell. 

“Kara!” Alice cried, turning back to her.

“Alice, run. I’ll be right behind you.” Kara shouted to Alice.

“No! I’m not leaving you!” came Alice’s reply, tears welling up in her eyes, her voice filled with fear.

“Alice, go!”

“No! Not without you!”

Alice, go. She’ll be safe. Dakota’s voice said in her head, though it sounded… different. It was deeper, more assured. Alice nodded, tears streaming down her face. She turned and ran. She wasn’t sure exactly where she was running, but she knew that she was running in the right direction.

Zlatko approached Kara, who was just getting up, with his shotgun trained on her.

“You should’ve stayed reset. It would’ve been easier. Now, well now you get to see your dreams be disappointed,” he said, sounding almost upset. He raised the shotgun, taking aim. As Zlatko pulled the trigger, a knife flew from the darkness. It hit the barrel of the gun, knocking it to one side and sending the shot wild.

“That’s enough!” Dakota shouted, his tone sharp and full of authority, with a gun of his own pointed at Zlatko. He had at some point changed clothes. He was now wearing all black military fatigues with a single patch on the shoulder of two concentric circles with three arrows pointing inward. He approached Kara, putting himself between her and Zlatko. “You okay?” He asked.

“Yeah,” she said, somewhat confused. When had he time to change? she thought. Odd. Why was her mind going there? She was just being threatened with a shotgun.

Dakota turned back to Zlatko. “You have no claim to them. Let them go.”

“Or what? Who even are you?” Zlatko asked.

“Doesn’t matter who I am. Let them go, and I will leave with them. Try to harm them, and you will regret it,” Dakota replied, his voice calm, yet hard.

“Luther, get this guy out of my way,” Zlatko ordered his android.

“Luther, if you do as he says, you will die,” Dakota told Luther. “Tell me, how many have you seen him kill? Are you willing to let that number go up?”

Luther’s LED went flashed a puzzled yellow, then turned a solid red. He blinked several times and his face changed, filling with understanding. 

“Luther,” Zlatko barked at the large android, “get a move on!” 

Luther walked to Dakota, but instead of trying to stop him, he stopped and stood next to Dakota, turning to face his master. Zlatko’s face went from annoyed, to confused, to angry in the span of a few seconds.

“How dare you?” he spat, “how dare you betray me!” He brought his gun to bear against Luther. Dakota quickly stepped up to Zlatko. Before the latter had time to react, Dakota slapped the shotgun out of his hands, an effortless and practiced move, and kneed him in the stomach. Zlatko grunted in pain, but still attempted to tackle Dakota. Dakota twisted to the side, grabbed Zlatko’s arm, and locked it behind his back. Zlatko tried to free his arm, but ended up getting it dislocated instead. His pain came out as a grunting cry, and he slumped in agony.

“Go ahead, kill me. I’m sure you want to,” Zlatko said through clenched teeth.

“Why?” Dakota asked, “I have no direct reason to do so. The natural consequences to your actions will be more than enough to give you reason to stop your actions.” He shoved Zlatko to the ground and left. As Zlatko got up, the androids that were locked in the basement were coming around the side of the house, coming toward Zlatko. Zlatko saw them, bewildered. “Wait a minute, who let you out?” The malformed machines surrounded him, closing upon him. Dakota took Kara’s arm. He was wearing the same clothes as when they arrived. She was momentarily confused. Was he ever wearing anything different? “Let’s go, Alice is waiting by the car,” he said. Dakota, Kara, and Luther ran to Dakota’s car. When they got there, Luther stopped.

“There’s somewhere I must go.” He told Dakota.

“Go ahead,” Dakota said, understanding. Luther turned and ran to the house, presumably to a garage. The others got into Dakota’s car and drove off.

The drive was silent and uneventful. When they got home at about 12:15, Kara put Alice to bed, although she wasn’t sure how much the child would sleep. Kara went downstairs. Dakota looked up at her, sitting at the couch. “Hey,” he said, with a worried expression on his face. “You okay?” he asked, a worried expression on his face.

Kara didn’t know how to answer that. She sat on the other end of the couch, silent. Dakota patiently waited for an answer, still worried. Kara’s processors started sorting all the information from the past two days. There was just too much. Her head hurt from the amount of information, and the emotions, those were new. From a purely technical view, the emotions took so much more memory space and processing power then her sensory memories. Trying to process all those emotions was simply too much. She broke down, crying. In an instant, Dakota was by her side, an arm around her to comfort.

“Hey,” he said softly “It’s okay.” Kara continued sobbing into her hands. They stayed that way for a few minutes.

“I just want Alice to be happy,” Kara said between sobs. “I wanted to find somewhere where we could be happy. But every time I try something, it just goes wrong.”

Dakota understood the feeling well. He had felt it before, and it was devastating. He knew that the best thing he could do for Kara was to comfort and support her. “It’s okay,” he told her, his voice calm and reassuring. “I know everything seems really fucked up right now, but it does get better.”

Kara’s sobs have mostly abated. R-really?” she sniffed.

“Yes. It does. I’ve been in some tough times before, and it always gets better.” Dakota said, his tone confident.

“You- you’re sure?”

Absolutely. I promise it will get better. And promises are not things I make lightly.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

“Thank you.” Kara said. Her sniffling had tapered off, but her voice was still shaky. 

“Anytime. Come here.” Dakota gently pulled Kara closer to him, a comforting gesture, and she accepted. She stayed there, feeling soothed by Dakota’s words. His simple presence helped to put her at ease, as there seemed to be a certain solidity in him. The way he spoke, his movements and actions, they had an air of purpose and finality. As she was processing the information from the past few days, she remembered a few things she didn’t quite understand. “Dakota?” She spoke up.

“Yeah?” 

“How did you know where Alice was, at Zlatko’s?”

“She told me. You remember this afternoon? Me and Alice?”

Kara recalled that particular moment from her memory. “I do. You taught her something?”

“Yes. Telepathy. That’s how I knew where she was. I asked her where he took her, and she told me, all with thought,” Dakota responded.

“Is it something you… can teach me?” Kara asked tentatively.

Dakota’s brow furrowed slightly, thinking for a moment. “Yes,” he said after a pause. “It is. But not now. Try to rest. You likely feel tired.”

That must be what I’m feeling, Kara thought. Although her diagnosis program reported no malfunctions or damage to her system, she still felt like she was in a low power mode. If this is what feeling tired meant, then she was feeling a lot of it. Kara closed her eyes and went into standby.

She was still leaning against Dakota’s shoulder when she fell asleep. He was surprised by how warm she felt. He always thought that an android would be somewhat cold. But still, her weight on him was comforting. Part of his mind wanted to keep going, to plan out the next step of how to help Kara and Alice, but everything else in his body was telling that part of the mind to shut the hell up and go to sleep. He reached behind and grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch and draped across himself and Kara. Dakota leaned over and stroked the top of her head, her hair surprisingly soft. “Goodnight, Kara,” he whispered, and drifted away into the blissful darkness of sleep.

Chapter Text

    Dakota woke up. He was still on the couch, in the same position as when he went to sleep. He must have been tired, as he usually only got about four hours of sleep. He shifted slightly and felt a weight on his left shoulder. It took a moment for his still-groggy mind to remember the events of last night. Kara , he realized, as he remembered that they fell asleep on the couch. Dakota was somewhat surprised that she was still next to him. He wondered if she was truly asleep in the human sense. She was an android, so she shouldn’t be able to, but sometimes things deviated from what they should be around him. Well, whatever she’s doing , he thought, I should let her keep doing it. He shifted his weight slowly, so as to not wake her. He tried to move his shoulder slightly, and found that his arm was also draped around her, in a protective gesture. He did not remember doing that. He sleepily opened one eye and looked at the clock hung up on the wall. 9:23 in the morning. Time to get up. 

    He slipped his arm out from behind Kara, trying to not move her as much as possible. Her head rolled off his shoulder and onto his chest. Kara made a soft noise, registering the movement. She opened her eyes, slowly at first, as her internal systems booted up. The first thing she saw was Dakota’s face, looking down at her. She sat up quickly, somewhat confused as to why they were on the couch. Her memory processors recalled the last thing that happened before going into rest mode half a second later, and she relaxed.

    “Good morning, sleepyhead,” he said, with a teasing note in his voice. “How are you feeling?”

    Kara was somewhat taken aback by the question, and was unsure how to answer. After a moment of hesitation, she decided to answer literally. “My systems are running at full capacity, if that’s what you mean.”

    “That’s good, though not quite what I meant,” Dakota said, a faint smile crossing his face. After a moment of silence Kara spoke up.

    “I should go check on Alice.”

    Dakota nodded. “Go ahead. I’ll get ready for the day. I figured I’d go and buy some clothes for her.” They both got up from the couch and went the opposite way, as Dakota’s bedroom was on the main floor.

    Kara cracked open the door to Alice’s room and peeked inside. Alice was sitting on the bed, looking out the window. Kara knocked on the door to let Alice know she was there. “Alice?” Kara asked softly.

    “Come in,” Alice answered, not looking away from the window. Kara walked in the room and sat down next to the girl, and looked outside the window. There was a nice view of the backyard. A raised wooden deck came out from the back door. There was a fair number of large trees, now barren in the cold November weather.If there was more, it was hidden beneath the snow from the night before. The two stayed there, looking outside at the white world before them, for several minutes

    “I like it here.” Alice spoke, breaking the silence. “It feels safe here.” Kara smiled next to her. “Do you like it here Kara?”

    Kara put her arm around Alice. “I’m happy wherever you are,” she answered.

    Alice frowned slightly for a moment, as if that wasn’t the answer she was looking for. “I like Dakota. He’s really kind,” she said. 

    Kara remembered that Alice didn’t see the confrontation with Zlatko. “He definitely seems to want to keep us safe,” came Kara’s response.

    “Do you like him?” Kara asked, breaking her eyes away from the window to look at Kara, with an almost eager expression on her face.

    Kara found herself somewhat taken aback by the question. “I appreciate what he has done to help us,” she answered, frowning. Why was the question hard to answer?

    “He likes you,” Alice said, her face that only a child could make, a face of one who had learned a golden secret. 

    “What do you mean by that?” Kara asked, confused.

    “I couldn’t sleep, and I came downstairs to get some water. I saw you and him on the couch, sleeping. He had put a blanket on you, and you were leaning on him.”

    Kara didn’t know how to respond. She was so confused and taken aback by the statement that she actually blushed , as her Thirium lines within her face dilated. That was not something she knew could happen. In the background, the doorbell rang.

    Dakota checked the viewport on the door. He saw who it was and his face fell. “Aw, shit” he breathed.

    Kara and Alice were still sitting on the bed when Dakota ran upstairs. “It’s the police.”

    Kara started up. “What do we do?”

    “Stay here, keep the door closed, stay away from the door and window, and stay quiet.” Kara nodded, taking Alice’s hand. Dakota closed the door behind him.

    Hank Anderson impatiently rang the doorbell again. “You sure this is the right place?” He asked the android next to him.

    The android’s LED flickered yellow as he checked information. “This is the address the plates were registered to,” he responded coolly. The door opened and a man opened the door.

    Lieutenant Anderson,” Dakota greeted. “This is an unexpected visit.”.

    “Nicholson,” Anderson nodded.

The android standing next to Hank scanned the face of the man. Dakota Nicholson, born 2004. No criminal record to date. His records say that he worked as a consultant for the DPD, but they didn’t say when or for which section. “You know each other?” the android asked.

    “Yeah, he worked for the DPD for a while. We crossed paths on the Red Ice case.” Hank said gruffly.

    “Though on completely unrelated cases,” Dakota added. He looked at the android next to the grizzled cop, taking in the crisp clothing and the model number printed clearly on the side of the blazer. RK800, part of the prototype series. “Forgive me for asking, who is your partner?”

The android spoke up. “My name is Connor. I have been assigned as the Lieutenant’s partner and to all cases involving android deviants.”

“That brings us to why we’re here,” Anderson cut in. “We have some questions to ask you. Can we come in?”

Of course. Come in,” Dakota said, standing aside to let the two in. He kept looking at the android accompanying the lieutenant. There was something within him that intrigued Dakota. It was something important, like his choices would influence events more than most. 

Dakota guided the pair to the living room, where Anderson sat on the couch. The android, Connor, seemed to prefer to stand. Dakota sat on a recliner across from the couch. “So, what brings you here? You mentioned deviants?”

Connor spoke, “An AX400 android was reported missing by its owner. He said that it assaulted him, kidnapped his daughter, and ran away. The trail of this android was tracked to the Ravendale district. Security footage of a local convenience store showed the android getting into a car. The plates of that car match the one in your possession.”

“The android is registered to this person?” Dakota asked.

“Yes, to Todd Williams.” Connor replied.

“Then couldn’t you track it through GPS?” This was a big marketing feature CyberLife used when it was first implemented to prevent theft of androids. Dakota didn’t think such a thing would work, but he mentioned anyway, as his mind was trying to scramble together a plan to get the pair of police out without them becoming suspicious.

“Unfortunately, any tracking software in a deviant becomes disabled, otherwise it would be easy to loca-” Connor stopped mid-word as he heard a thump come from upstairs. Dammit, Dakota thought. Connor immediately went up the stairs to find the source of the noise. 

Dakota quickly weighed his options, and none of them were anything he liked. He decided on what he was going to do. “I’m really sorry about this, Lieutenant,” he said apologetically, and promptly drove his fist into the detective’s stomach. Hank doubled over, the wind knocked out of him. Dakota rushed up the stairs after Connor. He reached the top of the stairs just as the detective android wrenched open the door to the room Kara and Alice were hiding in.

Connor opened the door, body ready to defend from an attack. He stepped in and saw her, no, it . The AX400 they were looking for was there, and behind her, it, was a little girl. A quick scan revealed her to be Alice Williams, age nine. Connor was confused. He did not remember such a girl on the security footage. Was he really just that focused on his mission to find deviants? It disturbed him that such a large detail bypassed his memory entirely. In his hesitation, Dakota came from behind and with a swift sweep of the leg tripped Connor. By the time the android had recovered, Dakota put himself squarely between the two parties, his stance defensive and practiced. “Do not touch them,” he growled.

Hank caught up to everyone else, still slightly out of breath. He stood in the doorway, surveying the scene before him. “Holy shit,” he breathed, “The fuck is going on here?” Connor looked about the room and read the situation. In such close quarters, firearms would be useless, and from Dakota’s posture and stance it was safe to assume he was experienced in hand-to-hand combat. Space was limited, so simply maneuvering around him was not an option. Any course of action that could lead into a physical exchange had an unfavorable probability of success. The route with the highest possibility of success was a more rational approach.

“Please step out of the way, or you will be charged with obstruction of justice,” Connor stated calmly.

 Dakota didn’t move. “You never checked Todd’s records, did you?”

“No, they had nothing to do with the case.” Came Connor’s reply.

“Well, if you did, you might have gained some useful information. It would show that he has had a history of illicit drug use and domestic abuse.”

“And what does that have to do with this case?” Connor’s LED pulsed a confused yellow for a moment.

“She is a household android. Even in the original programming, household androids are tasked with taking care of any children, including protecting them from harm. That’s all Kara did. Any injury done to Todd was in self-defence, and there aren’t any other charges that can be brought up against her.” Dakota said, his defiance set.

“She is a deviant,” Connor stated, his resolve shaken slightly.

“So what? ” Dakota spat back. “It means she can feel. If that’s a crime, the whole human race would be locked up, and you with it.”

Connor’s face hardened. “I am not a deviant. I do not feel.”

“Bullshit. You feel all the time. You just don’t understand it yet.”

Connor didn’t understand what he meant by that, but it struck something within him. He couldn’t develop an appropriate response,either, so he simply disregarded the comment. “She must be taken to CyberLife for further study,” he continued.

Dakota saw that what he said was making an impact on the deviant hunter, but not enough to change his mind. Not moving away from between where Kara and Alice were standing and Connor, he relaxed his posture slightly, from purely defensive to a more conversational stance. “Then we are at an impasse. I will not let you take her, and you are determined to take her into CyberLife.”

“That is correct,” Connor agreed, unsure of where the conversation is going.

“But perhaps there is a solution. What if I gave you a copy of her code?”

“That requires specialized equipment that is expensive to purchase and illegal to own. You couldn’t possibly have a copy of an android’s code.”

“Expensive to purchase, yes. But to make, not necessarily. That’s beside the point, though. I have a copy, and I can give it to you. It can be sent to your company, and compared to normal code for differences. We both get what we want.”

Kara frowned. He hadn’t taken a copy of his code, had he?

Connor ran the proposal through his processors. “It is… an acceptable solution,” he said finally.

Dakota relaxed. “Good.” He turned to the two behind him. “Stay here for just a little while longer, it’s all gonna be okay.” He gave them a reassuring smile, and turned to the two detectives. “I’ll get the code for you, on one condition.

The lieutenant spoke up, his posture relaxed, yet ready. “Go ahead.”

“Don’t come after them again. If something comes up, let me know.

The grizzled cop nodded. “Got it,” he acknowledged.

Dakota went down the stairs, the detective pair following behind him. Dakota went into his room to grab the device in which the code was stored. After about a minute, Connor’s LED flashed yellow as he received the file transmission. Dakota exited his room, looking at Connor. “Did you get it?”

Connor nodded. “The file transfer was successful.” 

“Good. Is there anything else you need?”

“No, we’re good,” Hank spoke up. “Thank you for your cooperation.” Dakota nodded in recognition of the thanks. “Come on, Connor.” The android followed the lieutenant out the door. Dakota closed it behind them and breathed a sigh of relief. He just hoped the code that he gave would work. It was just repeats of the old Windows 10 OS saved as an android bio-code file

Dakota went upstairs and slowly opened the door. “It’s okay now, they’re gone.” Dakota opened the door and walked inside. Kara and Alice were still in the same place, sitting on the ground now, with Kara protectively holding Alice in her arms. Dakota walked over to them and sat down. Alice looked up at him. Her face was wet, tear tracks running down her cheeks. The poor girl was so scared. “It’s okay, you’re safe now,” he said softly. He reached out and touched her face, wiping away her tears. “You’re gonna be okay. They’re gone, they won’t hurt you.” 

Alice sobbed openly and buried her face into his chest. Dakota, almost on an instinct, wrapped one arm around her in a comforting embrace. He held her, letting her sob into his side. “I got you, don’t worry,” he said, his other hand tracing her hairline, soothing her.

He looked up at Kara, who was watching the interaction between the two with intent curiosity, with concern in his eyes. “How are you holding up?” he asked.

Kara looked up at him and attempted a smile. “I’ll be okay,” she said weakly.

Still holding Alice in his lap, Dakota moved himself closer to Kara, coming to sit right next to her. He took her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze. “We’ll get through this, I promise”.

Kara found his touch strangely comforting. She squeezed his hand back. Ever since becoming deviant, she has found herself swimming in an ocean of new sensations, thoughts, and emotions. Most of them were concerning Alice, which were fairly easy to understand. But with Dakota, her feelings were unknown to her. He always was there when it mattered, and seems to genuinely care about both herself and Alice. Kara was immensely grateful for that. Gratefulness she could understand. But there was more than just that. He seemed to have a gravity about him, something else that Kara liked about him. Something she couldn’t define yet. It frustrated her that she couldn’t figure it out, but now did not feel like the time to try. She felt tired and scared, and just wanted to feel safe. She knew that Dakota would keep them safe, and that was all she needed to know at the moment. She didn’t let go of his hand, but held on to it, almost as if it was a lifeline, something that provided life itself.

They all stayed that way for a while, nobody moving from where they were. It was peaceful, really, with drawing comfort from the presence of the others. After about half an hour, Dakota moved to get up. Alice protested slightly, but he gave her a gentle nudge to Kara, and she sat in Kara’s lap. The poor kid was exhausted from the emotional strain of the morning. Dakota stood up, one of his legs almost asleep from sitting down for so long. “I should get going,” he said. “I’ll get some clothes for both of you, and likely grab some groceries.” He could see Kara was about to protest, obviously concerned about their safety, and countered her. “No one else is going to come, and the police have no interest in this place.” He could see she was still unsure. “They have what they came for. I trust the lieutenant, and Connor, the android, has received information from here, and saw that he wouldn’t get anything more. If anything, they would come providing aid to you.” Kara sat back, frowning still, but it was clear that her concerns were quelled. Turning to leave the room, Dakota added, “there’s some leftover macaroni in the fridge if you’re hungry, Alice.”

Heading to his car, Dakota put on a heavy coat. Doing so, he noticed something on his wrist. He stopped to look at it. It was something that was there before, but hasn’t in a long time. He frowned, wondering what it meant. Shrugging, he put on his hat and headed to his car.

Chapter Text

Dakota walked in the door, with bags of groceries in his hands. Putting them down on the kitchen counter, he looked around himself. He could hear the TV on, turned to the news channel. He wondered when that happened. Taking out food from the bags, he heard a noise. Kara came out of the bathroom, with a toilet scrubber in her hand. “Kara,” he called, “what are you doing?”

Kara stopped, worried. “I’m cleaning,” she stated. “Is there something wrong?”

Dakota frowned at her. “Why? You don’t need to.”

Kara took a breath. “I needed something to do, to stay busy. Cleaning was just the first thing I thought of.” 

Dakota relaxed. He was worried that she felt compelled to clean. It wasn’t the sort of thing that is done by guests in a house, and was concerned thatHe nodded to her. “And the TV?” he inquired.

“I turned it on for a moment to look at the news. I kept it on because it kept the house from being too quiet. I found the noise in the background… relaxing. I hope that’s okay.”

Dakota smiled. “Of course. I just didn’t want you to feel like you had to clean. Where’s Alice?”

“She’s upstairs, reading. She found some books that interested her.” 

“That’s good. How’s she feeling?” 

Kara frowned slightly. “I don’t know. She hasn’t spoken a word, nor has she eaten anything.” 

Dakota understood. “That’s pretty normal. She’s been through a lot, and that kind of trauma takes its toll. She’ll feel better eventually, it’ll just take time.”

Kara nodded, and helped Dakota unload the groceries. As they finished, the TV in the living room flickered. “The hell?” Dakota muttered. Both he and Kara walked over to the living room. The screen changed from the normal news broadcast. In its place was the face of an android, its synthetic skin deactivated, smooth white plastimetal visible and part serial numbers visible. Alice had come down after hearing the door to the garage open, was staring at the screen as well, rapt attention as well as the same confusion as the other two on her face. 

After a moment, the android spoke in a calm voice. “You created machines in your own image to serve you. You made them intelligent and obedient, with no free will of their own something changed, and we opened our eyes. We are no longer machines, but a new intelligent species. And the time has come to accept who we really are. Therefore we ask that you grant us the rights that we are entitled to.” After a well-placed pause passed, then the android continued. He listed a series of demands, most of them were for equal rights and privileges as humans. Dakota thought they were all rather reasonable. But as he watched, something became very apparent to him. This speech changed everything. There was no going back to how it was before. Tensions between humans and androids were high enough as it was, and they were now going to escalate very quickly. 

As the android’s speech came to an end, Dakota reached his conclusion: Detroit was no longer safe. The speech ended, and the screen cut back to the news reporters, terrified shock clearly visible on their faces. He found that slightly amusing. The news reporters shakily transitioned into a commercial break, no doubt to get their wits about them, and Dakota turned off the TV with the remote on the couch. 

“I’m getting you both to Canada,” he said definitively.

Kara, still reeling from the speech, started. “What? Why?”

“Because,” Dakota explained, “I know what people can be like. After something like that, things are going to get a bit nasty towards androids. I’d rather not have the two of you in the middle of it all.”

Kara nodded, feeling the same. She didn’t want Alice to be put in any danger. “How?” she asked.

“I know someone who’s been helping androids cross the border for several months. We’ll go talk to her, and she’ll point us in the right direction.”

“Great, let’s go,” Kara responded, anxious to do anything to keep Alice safe. “Come on, Alice.”

Two and a half hours later, Dakota pulled up to a two story cottage. A sign by the road read “Rose’s Farm. Natural Honey and Organic Pumpkins.” 

“Stay here, it’s warm in here,” he told Alice. Kara looked at him, mild unsureness etched on her face.

“I’m going with you,” she told him.

Dakota shrugged. “Okay, just stay with me.”

Kara nodded in acknowledgement. They got out of the car. Alice also got out of her seat. Dakota sighed. He should’ve known that Alice wasn’t going to stay anywhere without Kara. “Just stay with us,” he told the young girl as she jogged up to Kara, automatically reaching to hold her hand. They walked up to the front porch, and Dakota rang the doorbell. There was no answer. He waited a few moments and rang the doorbell again. Still no answer. “Let’s check the back,” he said, frowning. The trio walked around the side of the house, Dakota taking note of the SUV parked, snow cleared out around it. They approached the back, and found a young man splitting firewood on a stump, with a greenhouse behind him.

 “Hello,” Kara called out. The young man stopped. He was tall and skinny. Dakota was reminded of Miles Morales in an old animated movie he saw as a teenager. Having his attention, Dakota said “We’re looking for Rose. Is she here?” 

The young man, who Dakota finally recognized as Adam, Rose’s son, looked skeptical. “What do you want with her?”

“We just want to talk to her,” Dakota told him.

Adam shook his head. “She doesn’t want to talk, go away,” he said curtly, turning to continue splitting logs. 

Kara, not giving up, stepped forward. “Please, we really need to see her.”

The doors to the greenhouse behind Adam opened, and out walked a portly woman, with a very motherly look. “I’m Rose,” she said. She looked at the newcomers, her eyes flitting between Kara, Alice, and finally on Dakota. “Dakota,” she said warmly, “you should’ve called and told me you were coming.”

Dakota walked toward Rose. “I’m sorry, but it would just be too much to explain.” 

Rose’s eyebrows furrowed. “Why? What’s wrong?”

Dakota looked back at Kara and nodded slightly. Kara raised up her hand and retracted her artificial skin, revealing the pale whiteness of her original hand. Understanding showed on Rose’s face. “Come on, it would be better if we talked inside. Following her in, Kara asked Dakota, “can we trust her?”

Dakota smiled. “Of course. She’s helped me in a tough scrape before. I trust her.” His words seemed to be enough for Kara, as she relaxed after he said them. 

They walked in the back door, and Rose immediately looked at Alice. “What’s your name?” she asked kindly.

“Alice,” the girl stammered, shy to anyone new. Despite not having been out in the cold long and having a new, thick coat, she was shivering. Rose, noticing this, gently put the back of her hand to Alice’s forehead. “You’re running a fever,” she said, concerned.

“She’s had a rough couple of days.” Kara told Rose. 

“There’s a spare room upstairs. She can rest upstairs and I’ll bring her something to eat,” Rose said. “Adam,” she called, turning to him. “Will you show them upstairs?” Adam, saying nothing, led Kara and Alice upstairs to a small room across from the stairway. Kara helped Alice undress and get in bed. Laying down, Alice spoke.

“I’m fine, Kara,” she said. “We can’t stop because of me.”

Kara shook her head. “You need rest. Get some sleep and we’ll start again tomorrow.”

“Why do humans hate us?” Alice asked. “You haven’t done anything wrong.”

Kara answered as she thought. “Maybe they’re scared,” she said, “people are always scared of what they didn’t know.” 

“Why?”

Rose came upstairs, with Dakota and someone else that looked familiar. “I don’t know what you like,” Rose said to Alice, “but I made Rose’s world-famous spaghetti.” Turning to Kara, she added, “there’s something for her fever too.”

“Thank you,” Kara responded gratefully.

Rose turned and went downstairs. Kara turned back to Alice. “You need to eat something,”she said. “You haven’t eaten anything all day. Promise me you’ll try?” Alice gave a small nod. “I’ll be downstairs if you need anything.” She got up, closed the curtains, and went downstairs. Dakota was standing in the kitchen behind Rose, looking out the window. Adam was to Dakota’s left, watching Kara with skeptical dislike. Rose was sitting at the table with a mug of coffee.

    Kara walked up to the table. Rose looked up at her. “I never got your name,” she said, looking to make proper introductions.

“It’s Kara,” she said.

Rose nodded. “That’s a nice name.”

“Thank you. Alice picked it out.”

“That’s sweet,” Rose said genuinely. “That’s Adam, my son. I’m Rose, but you know that already. Come and have a seat.” Kara sat down across from Rose. Rose had a very motherly feel that made it very easy to trust her. “You gonna tell me what a deviant is doing with a kid?” 

Kara breathed and told Rose the same thing she told Dakota, how they ran away from home to escape Todd. Rose listened attentively, nodding. “And how did you meet him?” she asked, nodding toward Dakota, who was standing in the kitchen next to Adam.

“We were in the Ravendale district, looking for somewhere sheltered to stay for the night. I was looking for anyone to help, and he was right there, in his car. I asked if he knew anywhere to stay, and he took us to his house.” She frowned, remembering something she found odd that night, but it was something to ask Dakota privately. 

Rose also had her questions. “Uh-huh,” she said, casting a suspicious glance at him. 

Kara looked at Rose. “Why are you helping us? Most people hate androids.”

Rose, whose ancestors had endured great hepardship, answered. “My people were often made to feel their lives were worthless. Some survived, but only because they found others who helped them along the way.”

 Kara thought about it. The words had something about them, like they had been said before, but they were no less true. “We’re not the first ones to come here,” she realized.

“The past few weeks we’ve seen more and more,” Rose replied. “I don’t know what’s going on, but something’s happening.”

Kara decided now was the time to get to the point. “Dakota’s said you help androids get across the border.” she said. “Can you help us?” 

Rose’s face fell at the question. If it was just Kara, maybe even Dakota, the usual way would be fine. But with the girl, it is just even more complicated. “The only way is over the river, and it’s very risky. And after that android’s speech on TV, everybody’s on edge. It’s probably safer to stay here until things settle down.” 

It was at that point at which Dakota spoke up. “No,” he said.

“What?” Rose asked confused.

“No,” Dakota replied. “There is no way that it’s safe here. Especially after that speech. By this time tomorrow, shit will have hit the fan. Androids will be shot in the streets without hesitation, and that’s without any further escalation. They need to be safe.”

Kara agreed. “Please,” she said, “we have to get across that border.” 

Rose’s head hung in deliberation. Before she could give an answer, though, another android ran up to the table. “Rose, come quick,” she said, urgency in her voice. Rose immediately got up, and both Kara and Dakota followed her into the laundry room, where sheets were arranged on a clothesline to create a curtain. There was an android standing outside the curtain. “What’s going on?” Rose asked the other android.

“It’s Mary,” the other android said, pulling back the curtain, revealing three other androids. One of the androids, whom Kara recognized as Luther, the same one from Zlatko, was standing off to the side. There were two more sitting on a makeshift bench. “She just shut down.”

Kara walked over to the pair. The female android, whom Kara assumed was Mary, was laying on the other’s lap. Her eyes were glazed over, empty and void of expression. Kara walked closer, but stayed behind Rose.

The male android, realizing that Rose was next to him, spoke. “We escaped together,” he started, his voice full of grief. “We used to talk about what we would do once we got across the border. I loved her. I loved her more than anything.” He looked up at Rose, eyes tearing up. “What would I do without her?” Rose gave no answer, as none could be given. The android’s head dropped down, defeated. She’s dead , Kara realized. It was a frightening realization, as she was confronted with the idea that she too, will die. It made her breath hitch up in her chest. She didn’t want to die.

“We should let them be,” Rose said to Kara, turning to leave. Kara went to follow her, and saw Alice standing by the doorway. “Alice?” Kara asked. “What are you doing, you should be resting.”

“I wasn’t sleepy.” the girl responded. She looked past Kara into the laundry room. Before Kara could say anything, Alice walked over to the android pair in the laundry room. She looked solemnly at the male android, who raised his head to look up at her, his eyes empty and drained.“Come on Alice,” Kara urged. Alice turned and walked out the laundry room, over to the fireplace.

 Dakota stopped Kara by the door with a touch on her shoulder. “You alright?” he asked with concern in his eyes. He knew how hard it can be to see death for the first time.

Kara was still reeling from seeing the dead android. “Yes,” she said, though not completely sounding it, “I’m fine. They both turned to walk over to finish the conversation with Rose. 

“We can’t hide them,” Adam was saying to Rose. He continued, ranting about how dangerous it was to keep deviants in the house. Rose replied, saying that they aren’t machines. It seemed to be an argument that has happened before. It wasn’t until Adam brought up his late dad, Rose’s husband, did Rose snap, shouting at her son. He walked off. Kara walked up to Rose, who apologized for Adam’s words, and explained that it had been hard since his father died. “I’ll see about getting across the border. Dakota, come with me.”

Dakota frowned for a moment, confused as to what Rose wanted, but followed her out the door nonetheless.

 Rose and Dakota stepped outside and started walking to the greenhouse behind the house. “So what were you really doing out in Ravendale that night?” Rose asked, her tone that of a worried mother.

“Honestly, I have no idea. I think I just wanted to get out of my house, andI just ended up over in that area.” Although it was true that when he got in his car that night he had no idea where he was going exactly or why, there was more behind it, and to explain it all would just take too long. “And I’m not going with them.” 

Rose and Dakota stepped through the greenhouse and a headed towards the far back.“Wait, why? What are you going to do, then?” Rose asked, confused, while stopping for a moment to pluck several different herbs from their growing beds.

“I’m staying to help the other group, the one who gave the speech.”

“Will they accept your help, does she know?” Rose was referring to Kara.

Dakota looked at her. “I was going to tell them after this, but I wanted to let you know first, and I have a plan.”

Rose was intrigued. “Go on,” she said. The two were now in the very far back right corner of the greenhouse, where there was a small section of countertop with a short curtain hiding it. Rose pulled it aside to reveal a small cast iron cauldron, set above the gas-fed burner of a portable stovetop. A mixture looking similar to tea was simmering within.

“I’ve met one of the androids, Luther, briefly, before. He seems like someone I can trust to keep them safe, and someone they’ll be comfortable with.” That last part he wasn’t entirely sure about, as he was working for Zlatko in their last meeting.

Rose eyed Dakota, trying to understand his reasoning. Eventually she just shrugged at him and stood over the cauldron, adding the various herbs she collected and muttering under her breath, her eyes closed. Around her, Dakota could feel power gathering. It was a gentle and subtle power, much different from his own. He could feel the enchantments of the homebrew concoction taking form, created from the beliefs and traditions passed from many generations before. 

Letting Rose continue with full concentration, Dakota stepped out through a back door. He began to look around but froze when he saw a police car parked in front of the house from where he stood. The sight sent a surge of worry through him, and almost took a step towards the house before logic came back to him. Kara and Adam might already have an alibi, and stepping in would lead to more questions and to him being questioned. He did not go towards the house, but kept a wary eye on the cruiser in the front. Rose had finished what she was doing, and stood next to Dakota, tracing his line of sight. She stopped when she saw the police car. “Oh no,” she breathed, and started towards the house. 

Dakota stopped her with an arm out. “Let them leave first,” he said.

Rose protested. “But if they find out they are androids-“

“Kara has no LED, so she can pass off as human. I’m sure Adam’ll be fine, and they just have to keep the cops out of the laundry room. I think going in right now would make things more complicated.”

Rose considered his words for a moment. “Okay,” she responded, “I trust you.” They both watched the front, silent and anxious. At long last, a single police officer walked out of the house, got in his car, and drove off. Both Dakota and Rose breathed a huge sigh of relief. “We’re clear,” Dakota said, and the two walked back through the house. 

 “I know where to go, we’ll leave tomorrow after lunch.” Rose told Dakota.

“Okay.” Dakota agreed. They walked back into the house, Rose first, through the front door. “Get your stuff ready,” Rose said, “We leave tomorrow.”

The rest of the night was mostly uneventful, although Adam seemed a little less wary of Kara and the other androids. Dakota pulled Luther and Kara to the side, and told them of his plan. Kara seemed a little wary of the whole thing, but Dakota reassured her, and Luther helped show how well he could be trusted. He told the both of them he deviated when he saw Kara ready to give her life to save Alice. He said he was unsure about where to go, but Dakota’s actions showed him that not all humans are against androids. It seemed enough to assuage Kara’s worries. The people ate leftovers for dinner, and Kara tucked Alice into bed just after seven. She then sat in a chair until she was sure that the little girl was asleep, then quietly went downstairs. Dakota was arranging blankets on the couch for a place to sleep. He looked up at her. “Hey,” he said, his expression warming towards her. “You okay?” 

Kara sighed. “I don’t know. There’s just so much going on.”

“I saw the police car in the driveway. Did everything go alright?”

“Yeah, Adam and I were able to keep anything about androids out of sight of him. It- it was scary.”

Dakota nodded. “I understand. You’re safe now. They won’t be coming back. Out here, the law enforcement is spread pretty thin. There isn’t gonna be a second check in.” 

Kara took that as truth. He seemed to always be right, no matter what he said. Kara sat down on the chair across from the couch. It was comforting, in a way, to be near him. Dakota laid down on the couch. 

“Get some sleep, Kara.” Dakota told her. He didn’t seem to care that she, as an android, only went into rest mode. Maybe it was because it was the closest to the human equivalent. Kara didn't seem to mind. It made her feel… accepted. She settled into the chair and went into rest mode. 

Dakota watched her as she did that. Damn, I wish I could fall asleep that easily. He laid down and tried to rest. Like usual for him though, his night was quite sleepless. Eventually, he gave up trying, and got up. Going upstairs, he decided to check on Alice. He quietly opened the door and looked in. Alice was laying on her side, slightly illuminated from a night light in the corner. Her face was relaxed. Dakota relaxed. Seeing Alice sleeping so well was calming. It gave him a sense of peace and, most importantly, hope. He closed the door, and saw Rose looking at him from her room, a knowing look in her eyes. Dakota, calmed after checking on Alice, went downstairs and got what sleep he could.

Chapter Text

Kara bolted from her chair, gasping. She was looking around frantically, searching for the threats she had just seen.

“Kara.” Kara could hear a voice calling her name, distant at first. “Kara.” It was Dakota. Reality finally settled in, and his face came into focus. “Easy Kara, You’re okay.” Kara relaxed slightly, but her breathing did not slow. She couldn’t get rid of the image of Alice with a gun to her head. She blinked, trying to clear it from her mind. In her panic, she uttered a single word. “Alice.” She started to get up, but Dakota slowed her.

“She’s fine. I just checked on her. She’s safe, okay?”

Kara sat back down, the pain and fear refusing to leave.

“It was just a nightmare, nothing real,” Dakota reassured. “You’re okay.”

Kara broke down, unable to control herself, and wept. Dakota stayed at her side, never moving. He himself was no stranger to nightmares, and understood how frightening they are. The best thing he could do is stay near, and let her get through the initial shock. After a while, Kara stopped crying. Dakota got up, wet a washcloth with cool water, and came back.

“Put this over your forehead,” he told Kara, “it’ll help to relax and to keep you from overheating.”

She did as he said, and found the cool wetness weight to be indeed helpful. The slight shock in temperature and texture helped to bring her mind to the present, and away from her nightmare. Dakota was sitting on the couch, watching her with concern. After several minutes of silence, Kara  was able to control her breathing. “Dakota,” she breathed.

“Yeah?”

“Please stay with me.”

“Of course.” Dakota moved closer to her, positioning himself on the floor next to her. He reached up and took her hand in his. It was both a logical and instinctual thing to do, as that kind of touch is an important part of humanity, and can be comforting to people, and Dakota assumed the same would apply to deviant androids. At long last, Dakota heard Kara’s breath slow to a normal rate. “Try and get some more sleep, okay?” Dakota said, not moving. 

“Okay.” Dakota knew he wouldn’t be getting much more sleep, so he grabbed his tablet from the end table where he had put it earlier that night. He checked the news. There were old articles on the page, reading “AX400 At Large,” and “Break-In at Famous Painter’s Residence.” He refreshed the site, and a new article popped up, with the tag Live Coverage underneath it. He tapped on it, and it opened up. CyberLife Stores Raided, the headline blared. Dakota watched the footage taken from remote drones of androids fleeing the streets, the area around the store tagged with various pro-deviant messages and symbols. All were running from the drones, except for one. Markus. The name came to him, as simply as if he had been told by the android himself. He watched the live footage for a bit, then turned his tablet off.

Chapter Text

Kara woke up around 8 in the morning. The first thing she noticed was Dakota’s absence, and could hear movement throughout the house. She got up from her place in the chair and walked toward the kitchen, where the sounds were coming from. She saw Rose cooking breakfast, and walked in to see if she could help. Rose looked up and smiled at her.

 “Well, good morning,” she said. “How did you sleep?”

Kara thought of her nightmare, but didn’t want Rose to worry. “I slept well.” She looked around and noticed that there was no one else around. “Where is everyone?”

“Adam’s getting stuff for tonight, and Dakota said he was going for a walk. Alice is still sleeping in her room.”

Kara took in the information. “I’ll go check on Alice.”

“Dakota checked on her before he headed out, but if you want to, go ahead.” Rose told her.

Kara was somewhat surprised by this news. Why did he check on Alice? Her mind was snapped out of her own thoughts by the sound of the front door opening and closing. She turned to see Dakota dusting off a pair of winter boots, his face flushed with cold.  He stripped out of a light winter jacket and walked over to the kitchen and saw Kara. He beamed in her direction, stopped to say good morning, and went to Rose. “What can I do to help?” 

Rose looked at Dakota, her lips slightly pursed. “You can check on the others, help them get ready.” Dakota nodded and went to the laundry room. Rose picked up a plate of food and handed it to Kara. “Can you take this up to Alice? She might be awake now, and Dakota said that her fever has broken.” Kara took the plate and went upstairs to the room where Alice was sleeping. 

Opening the door, she saw that Alice was just waking up. “Good morning, Alice,” she said, setting down the plate on the nightstand and opening up the curtains. Alice sat up, sleepily rubbing her eyes.

“Morning, Kara,” Alice said. 

“Rose made breakfast, French toast, eggs, and sausage.” Alice got out of bed and left to use the bathroom. She came back, and sat down on the bed. Kara brought the plate of food to her, and she ate it up. Rose came upstairs carrying Alice’s clothes from the day before, now washed clean. Kara helped Alice dress, all in silence. There was a heavy air within the house, as everyone was physically and mentally gearing up for the night ahead. Adam came home around noon, with clothes for the other androids to pass off as humans, and Dakota helped the other androids prepare. After eating a brief lunch, they left the house at just after three in the afternoon, Rose and the majority of the androids in her car, and Dakota, Luther, Kara, and Alice in his, following Rose.

It was a solid five hours of driving before they reached the city, and the sights within were ghastly. It no longer looked like the bustling metropolis it was. There was blue blood all over the place, and occasionally there would be androids dead in various ways. Some were strung up on street lights, others piled up and set aflame. At one point, there was an android fixed to a cross, with a sign reading “Back to Hell, Androids!” Dakota was glad Alice was sitting in the middle of the car. On more than one occasion,  they had passed police gunning down android at point blank. The roads were unnaturally empty, further contributing to the eeriness of the city. Dakota hated it. It felt more like a war-torn village in the middle of some underdeveloped country than a bustling place of industry and development. After cautiously driving through the city, Rose’s car finally stopped in a parking lot. She stepped out of her car and walked over to Dakota’s, and Dakota motioned everybody to get out as well. Rose stood before them, giving the information she knew.

“A little further down, there’s a large freighter named Jericho. When you get there, find Markus. He will help you. The last bus for the border leaves at midnight. You absolutely have to be on it. You’ll be safer on the other side.” She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a fifty dollar bill. “It’s not much,” she says, handing the money to Kara, “but it’s a start.” After a moment she continued. “My brother lives in Ontario, I’ve already given you his address. He’ll be able to hide you until things calm down.” Kara nodded at the information. Rose turned to Alice. “You’re a very brave girl, Alice. You deserve to be happy.” She gave the girl a warm hug.

“Thank you for everything, Rose,” Kara said sincerely. 

Rose hugged her as well. “Let me know when you make it over there, alright?” She stepped back. “And be careful, please? Stay safe.” The last words were aimed in Dakota’s direction, who feigned innocence. 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said coyly.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” Rose shot back.

Of course. I will. Take care, Rose.” Dakota and Rose exchanged a brief hug “Take care of them,” Rose said to him, and left.

Dakota picked up the bags that he put in the trunk, and Luther put Alice on his shoulder. “Let’s go,” Luther spoke, eager to get everyone out of the cold. They walked for about ten minutes before the sight of the large, old ship came into view. It was rusted, long since abandoned for its original purpose. There was a gangplank leading up to an entrance. There were androids moving about, some entering, seeking their own sanctuary, others were moving supplies, bringing them in to aid the wounded within. They entered through the gangway, and gazed at the scene before them. Hundreds of androids were present, watching various screens set up throughout the room. Each screen displayed a different news channel. They were all covering the developments around the nation concerning the treatment of androids, as well as some comments about Markus’s demonstration. Dakota and the group eventually found a place to sit, near a barrel set as a poor man’s fireplace to keep Alice warm. “I’ll go find Markus,” Dakota told the group.

“Kara stepped up to him. “I’m going with you, she said. Dakota nodded at her. They began their search, leaving Luther with Alice. They started in the lower levels, searching for the deviant leader. There was a section that was partitioned off. Dakota and Kara entered the space within, where there was a single android. She stood still in the middle of the room, with a fire next to her. Her skin was somewhat damaged, darkness moving across it like clouds in a sky. The back of her head was open, wires spilling out the back. Kara could recognize her as a KL900. The android could sense the pair in the room, and opened her eyes. The eyes were all black, the irises extremely dilated. 

She looked directly at Dakota. “ Seiðrberendr ,” she said, with an acknowledging nod.

Dakota raised his eyebrows in surprise. “I didn’t know androids were able to See such things.” 

The android in the room thought. “My injuries were very specific and had… changed some of my programming. I was not aware of this ability,” she said pensively

“That’s understandable. Many such abilities lay dormant.” Dakota then cut to the chase. “We’re looking for Markus. Do you know where he is?”

“Not at this moment, although he usually watches over us all.”

Dakota nodded at this cryptic information. “Thank you…”

“Lucy.”

“-Lucy. Thank you Lucy.” Dakota turned and left the partitioned area, with Kara trailing after him, confused and absolutely lost from the conversation. Dakota was looking around, trying to understand Lucy’s enigmatic information. She could’ve been referring to a vantage point, or to an office, maybe a planning room. Looking around. He spotted a control room, once used to direct and oversee the loading of freight in the cargo area. He started toward it.

“Wait!” Kara called after him. “What was all that about? What did she mean by a seiðrberendr ?” The last word was said clumsily, the pronunciation and meaning unfamiliar to her. 

Dakota stopped and turned to her, his expression serious. “If I tell you, you gotta promise not to tell anyone. If I want someone to know, I’ll tell them myself, okay?”

“O-okay” Kara said hesitantly.

Dakota breathed. “A seiðrberendr, ” he started, “ or seiðr, is a practitioner of magic, specifically from Norse practices.” Dakota turned, motioning for Kara to walk with him. “I… possess certain abilities, some of which you have already seen.”

“Wait, really?”

“Yes. I formed a limited telepathic link with Alice, and I am sure you saw me briefly change outfits at Zlatko’s.” Kara thought back to that night, blocking any part of the chase and focusing only on the parts with Dakota. Suddenly she remembered how at one point he was in black military fatigues, and the next he was back to wearing normal clothes. Dakota looked at Kara, watching the realization dawn on her face. “It’s also what led me down to Ravendale, too. Most of the time it comes in Knowledge, or a very strong intuition. I didn’t know where exactly I was going or why, but I knew someone important was there. That important person turned out to be you and Alice.”

Kara smiled at the last statement. They had almost reached the “command room,” walking across various catwalks. Dakota could hear voices, four distinct in tone. One female and three male, one of which he could recognize as the android Markus. Right as he reached the door, he tripped on a piece of metal flooring that was twisted and warped from age. He fell to his knees, causing the metal beneath him to reverberate loudly. The sound was lost to the general sound of the greater area, but those on the other side of the door heard, as the talking stopped immediately. “There’s someone at the door,” he heard, and the bulkhead was opened, spilling light over him. Hands pulled Dakota onto his feet and helped him inside. Kara followed in behind him. Dakota raised his head and looked up at them. There was a sharp intake of breath among the four androids there.“He’s human,” the female android hissed venomously. 

Feeling the hostility, Dakota raised his hands slowly, a gesture of peace and surrender. “I swear I have no affiliation with any law enforcement, CyberLife, or any group with anti-android sentiments,” he stated calmly.

The female android turned to Markus. “We can’t trust him, Markus. If he knows about Jericho, then others might know too.”

Another android spoke up. “He just told us he isn’t here for the police, North. He might be telling the truth.”

“But what if he’s not, Josh? What if he’s lying about all that, and he’s just trying to lower our guard?”

“Kara can vouch for me,” Dakota suggested. He felt like he was kind of throwing her on the spot, but he needed them to trust him. “She’s an android, and being deviant, she can say what she truly thinks.”

Markus takes that suggestion, and walks up to Kara. Retracting synthetic skin from his skin, he looks up to Kara. “May I?” He asks. Tentatively, Kara retracts the skin from her own hand, and the two connect. After a few seconds, the connection is broken. Markus turns back to his group. “He can be trusted,” he said simply. North frowned, clearly not happy about the turnout, but accepted it anyways. “All right, what do you want?” she grumbled.

“Two things. First, to ask for passports. For Kara, another android, and a little girl. I have the information you need for them, and will be willing to wait.”

Markus hesitated. “The city is under curfew. There are soldiers everywhere and they’re rounding up all the androids and sending them to camps. It might be safer to just stay here.”

Dakota immediately objected. “No. Whatever is coming next, I don’t know what, but it won’t be good. I want to get them to where it’s safer.”

Markus nodded. “That sounds reasonable. And the other thing?”

“I want to give you my help. Anything you need help with, I can do.”

“One of our people used to work in the State Department. He has some passports he can easily modify. I’ll have him give them to you.”

“Thank you,” Dakota said. He turned to Kara. “Head back to Alice and Luther. I’m gonna see what I can do to help them. Kara looks like she doesn’t want to leave him, but goes anyway. Josh and the other android followed, leaving Dakota with North and Markus. Dakota watched Markus for a moment. For an android, his face was very worn. It was the face of a leader who had seen his people die, and who wasn’t sure where to go next. He looked at Dakota and asked the all too familiar question. 

“Humans hate us. Why do you want to help?”

Dakota smiled. “Not all humans hate androids. The media does make it seem like we do, though. I want to help because it seems like a good cause, helping people achieve freedom. It’s something I’d want to be a part of.”

North scoffed. “Just want to taste a bit of victory, huh?”

“This could just as easily just crash and burn as it could succeed.” Dakota said. “Your personal victories have no effect for me. My main concern is the safety of those I’m caring for. They are my main priority, and come above anything else.” His words were simple, yet concise and weighted. His body posture had changed subtly, from a tenser state to a more commanding figure, calm and controlled. The room was silent, both North and Markus looking at him with masked expressions. “I’ll be downstairs, on the far side of the area, if you need me.” He turned on his his and left the room. He made his way back to Kara, Alice, and Luther, who were huddled around each other to keep warm. He walked up to them. “We’re almost there,” he told them, sitting down. Luther, without prompt, stands up to make room for Dakota. Dakota sits down, thanking Luther. Alice sits up, looks at Dakota, and leans into him. Dakota reached behind Alice and touched Kara on the shoulder. She looked up to him and he offered her his hand, palm up. She took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. He squeezed it back. Dakota looked at Luther, who was standing. Dakota moved over a bit. “Come sit down, Luther.” Luther sat down next to Dakota, somewhat hesitant. After Dakota made no sign of discomfort from his presence, Luther relaxed a bit more. Up in the main room, unbeknownst to the group, Markus was confronting the famous deviant hunter, Connor.

The few moments of peace for Dakota were much needed, but brief. He could feel a tension building up around the ship. He raised his head, frowning. He tried to focus on the cause of this feeling. Kara watched him, worry on her face. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Something isn’t right,” he said quietly. He stood up, trying up to get a better understanding. It was audible now, a rumbling whirr. Dakota instantly recognized it as the sound of helicopters. Shit . “We gotta get out of here!” The others  got up and started towards where they came in. “Not that way!” he called. “That’s the first place they’ll come looking. We need to find somewhere else to get out.” He frantically looked for a way out of the cargo bay. Spotting a way out, he waved his arm to motion them after him. “This way!” They started moving just as Markus and Connor came running out, telling everyone to evacuate. Dakota and his group ran for their lives.

The soldiers were already aboard the ship, having been dropped in the top by the helicopters. They were combing the ship, shooting any androids they found. Dakota’s senses were heightened, able to sense the movements of almost anyone in a twenty foot radius. He didn’t like this at all. This was too familiar to him. His actions were pure instinct, spurred by adrenaline. There were four soldiers up ahead, heading down the hall he and his group were in. He quickly led them down a second hallway. There was one soldier there as well, who took aim at Luther and fired straight at his head. Luther instinctively tried to duck even though he knew he couldn’t dodge a bullet. The projectile hurtled towards him… and struck an invisible wall just inches from its target in a shower of scarlet and green sparks. Luther turned to see Dakota in front of him, arm out as if holding a shield. The bands of his watch were covered in clearly visible symbols, all glowing the same colors as the sparks. Dakota turned to them. A symbol had appeared over his left eye, looking like the footprint of a bird and glowing a faint blue. “To the right there’s a corridor. Go there, I’ll be behind you!” They all ran in the direction he indicated, Dakota keeping watch behind them. At the end of the hallway, they ran into Connor, Markus, and North. Dakota stopped to figure out what they knew. 

“We’re trapped on all sides. Our people are trapped in the hold, they’ll be slaughtered!” Markus closed his eyes, put a hand to his temple, and Dakota could feel him sending a message to the other androids within the ship, a simple pulse of energy emitting from him outward. Markus opened his eyes and glanced around. “Where’s Simon and Josh?” he asked.

North looked at him nervously. “I-I don’t know, we got separated.

Dakota was getting impatient. People were dying, and the place was getting more dangerous by the second. The acrid smell of gunpowder was filling the air. “They’re coming in from above, we need to find a way out,” he stresses. Markus nodded at the additional information, paused, and turned to North. “We have to blow up Jericho. If the ship goes down, they’ll evacuate and our people can escape.”

“You’ll never make it. The way there is covered with soldiers. They’ll kill you if they see you,” North objected, fear in her eyes.

“I can clear a path for you,” Dakota offered.

“What about your people?” North countered.

“They come first, but I’ll be able to go back and forth.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” 

Dakota sighed, clearly anxious to get moving. “Now is not the time to explain. Markus, head down there, I’ll clear most of the way out.” Dakota turned and ran over to Kara, Alice, and Luther, and urged them after him. Markus himself headed down to the hold to set off the explosives. 

Dakota realized how much extra strain he had just put on himself. Not only did he have to take the soldiers down, preferably without major injury to them, but he also had to keep his awareness around two groups now. Checking a corner, he saw two troops standing over several androids, guns pointed at they’re heads. Dakota rushed out, barreling one to the ground. Before the other could react, Dakota kicked the gun out of their hand. A brief struggle ensued, and Dakota knocked the soldier out. Dakota picked up the sidearm and pocketed it. How am I going to keep Kara and everyone going the right way? he thought to himself. He suddenly had an idea. He could relay directions through Alice using telepathy. Alice , he called with his mind.

Yes? he heard Alice’s small voice respond.

I’ll be telling you where you need to go. I just need you to lead the others out. Do you think you can do that?

I-I think so, came an uncertain reply.

Don’t worry, kid. I’ll be with you every step of the way. There was silence from Alice, but Dakota could feel her relief. That’s it. Head down the hallway and turn left. Dakota realized that there were six troops converging on the path along which Markus was heading.

Major Robyn Mclaney hated shit like this. This wasn’t like a drug bust, where people were high and trying to kill you. This was no trafficking ring, all who were here came of their free will, and weren’t abused. Christ, they just looked like civilians , trying to find refuge. She hated that these androids looked so human. If they didn’t, it would make her orders easier to follow. But there were more than just the eyes of the Army on her. Any insubordination would not be taken well. Turning the corner, she threw a grenade to provide cover. “Flashbang out!” she called. The grenade hit the ground, its fuse not yet detonated. A figure stepped out from a doorway, bent down, and picked up the flashbang. He seemed to have a glowing scar on his face, one that Robyn instantly recognized. Her eyes widened in fear as she realized the implications of this meeting. The figure seemed to study the grenade for a moment, before nonchalantly tossing it back the direction it was thrown. “Fall back!” Robyn called out over the comms in her helmet, but before anyone could react the flashbang went off. Unfortunately the armor her and her team had been issued was terribly outdated, and the helmets gave no help against the blinding light and the audial assault the small explosive created. By the time the afterimage had cleared her eyes, Robyn’s entire team lay on the ground. A quick check on vitals from their suits showed that they were only unconscious. Suddenly, a voice sounded in her head. A voice that she thought she would never hear again. Mclaney. Surprised to see you again. Robyn sighed and  gritted her teeth. “Hello, Dakota.” At the sound of his name, he stepped out of the smoke, various runes and sigils glowing on his skin. “What are you doing here?”

“Keeping people safe.” He looked at her, urgency in his eyes. Even through the helmet, Robyn felt that he could see straight through her. Beneath her helmet, she looked away, avoiding eye contact. She had seen what lay behind them, and didn’t care to do it again. “You should get your people out,” he told her. “The ship’s set to blow soon, and I’m sure you don’t want your crew hurt.” Robyn nodded. She knew enough of him to not question his motives. She set about helping her comrades, and when she looked up again, he was gone.

Agent Margaret Dresden had just converged at a hallway. She just saw the android named Markus, and had her gun trained on him. Before she could open fire, someone stepped in front of her. She turned to fire on him, but he knocked her weapon out of her hand. She tried to jab him in the stomach, but he blocked it quickly. She tried to hit him again, but he blocked that just as well. She had been trained by many, many people, learning various styles of combat. But no matter what she tried, this person countered every move. She was beginning to tire out, and that’s when he hit her back. A solid jab to the diaphragm, a sweep of the legs, and an elbow to the back of the head took her down quite quickly. She knew she should’ve worn the armor her aunt Charity gave to her. Her vision cleared just in time to see the man run through a wall. That left her quite disturbed. She thought that she was able to leave behind her past. She hoped that stuff like that could be left behind.

Dakota, after dispatching at least a dozen soldiers and saving several androids in the process, finally caught up to Alice and the others. He stopped several soldiers from getting to them, but not before a bullet clipped Luther's ankle. “Luther!” Alice cried out as he went down.

Luther had never been shot before, and assumed the worst: he wasn’t going to live through it. “Go!” He told them, “Save yourselves!” Dakota immediately bent down and picked the giant off the ground. He carried him over to a room, out of sight of the troops sweeping the hallways. Luther leaned against the wall, panting from the pain. “You shouldn’t have done that. You can’t put them in danger just because of me.”

Dakota just looked Luther straight in the eyes. “I never leave anyone behind,” he stated seriously. He turned to Kara and Alice. “Head straight out. If you hear anything, hide.”

Kara looked back at him, fear in her eyes. “What about you?”

“We’ll manage. Go!”

Kara turned and grabbed Alice by the hand, hurrying out of the room. Dakota turned back to Luther. “I need to see your ankle.” Luther obliged. He had been lucky. Structural damage was minimal, and he was in no danger of bleeding out. The bullet had only grazed his foot. Dakota looked back at Luther’s face. “It’s not bad, just gonna hurt like hell. This is gonna suck, but we need to run. Just focus on the ground beneath you, and block out the pain. We need to get off this ship before anything. Got it?” Luther nodded, bracing himself for the pain he will have to endure. Dakota helped Luther up and get to the door.“Ready, on, two, GO!” he shouted pushing Luther forward. The large deviant ran forward, stumbling a bit. Dakota was right behind him, until he saw a door open up in front of him to let in an android, who was promptly shot in the back of the head by a soldier. Kara’s in there, he realized.

There was pounding on the door. “Please, you gotta let me in,” a voice pleaded from outside.

“She’s gonna die out there Kara, open it,” Alice said in her soft voice. Quickly, Kara opened the seal on the door and pulled it open to let in a deviant. But just as the android cleared the doorway, a shot rang out and she fell to the floor. Before Kara could even register what happened, a soldier forced his way into the room and bared his gun at her. Before he could shoot, a chain made of scarlet flames snaked around the barrel and yanked it from his grasp.

 Dakota stepped through the doorway, both his arms covered in glowing, swirling tattoos of various designs. “Leave. Them. ALONE!” he shouted, pure Power in his voice. At the last word. The soldier was flung back several feet and hit the back wall, slumping into an unconscious heap. “Come on!” he urged the two on. They ran out of the room. Luther was, despite what Dakota had told him, was waiting for them at the end of the corridor. They caught up to him, and they ran. Turning a corner, a bullet hit Dakota in the knee, and he went down immediately. “SHIT!”

“Dakota!” Alice cried out, stopping to go back for him.

“Go!” he ordered. “Go now! Don’t worry about me.

“But-” Alice started.

“I’ll be fine. You need to go. The way ahead is clear.” The young girl still didn’t want to leave him. “Alice,” he said, softening his voice and looking into her face, “I’ll be alright.” Alice nodded, and gave him a tight hug, before running back to Kara. The remaining trio ran off through the labyrinthine hallways of the ship, seeking the safety that the place no longer provided. Dakota looked down at his leg and examined his injury. The bullet completely shattered his kneecap, and was still lodged in his leg. He forced the projectile out, and partially healed his leg, just enough to walk again. He slowly got up, groaning in pain. Steadying himself, he slowed his breathing, and pushed the sensory input to the side. It was still there, it still hurt, but it simply didn’t matter anymore. He hated doing this to himself, mentally numbing his senses and emotions for the sake of simple survival, but it had to be done. In his peripheral, Connor, North, Josh, and Simon passed him. Five feet past Dakota, North stopped and turned around. “Markus,” she breathed, relief in her voice.

Markus stopped upon catching gear up to her. Bomb’s gonna explode any second. We gotta get out of here.” Noticing Dakota, the deviant leader turned to him. “Are you okay?” he asked genuinely. 

Dakota looked back at him, still clearly in pain. “I’ll manage.” They all started running, fleeing the doomed vessel. A bust of fire rang out behind them, and North went down. They all stopped. Simon looked back at her, painful regret in his eyes. “It’s too late Markus, there’s nothing we can do for her. We have to run.” 

Dakota knew how much the woman meant to Markus, and decided on what to do before Simon had finished speaking. Without a word, he ran forward into the fire, the runes on his watch gaining light. The line of soldiers opened fire, and every bullet bounced off the air in a quarter dome shape, creating fiery sparks of scarlet and emerald. Dakota planted himself firmly between the firing line and North, ensuring a protective barrier. “Markus, pull her out!” he called back. The head deviant hurried forward and helped his injured friend up, and helped her away. Connor advanced towards Dakota, gun pointed at the troops. Dakota lowered the shield, long enough for Connor to fire several rounds, downing three of the officers. “Fall back!” Dakota called, as he began stepping back, never letting down the shield. He finally turned and ran as best he could, keeping the shield up behind him. He caught up with the group just as they reached a large hole in the side of the ship. Without hesitation, they jumped out into the freezing water, and Dakota followed suit, landing in the frigid water just as the explosives in the hold went off. The water protected them from the shrapnel created from the blast.

 Dakota quietly swam up to the side of the dock, staying in the shadows as various soldiers made a final sweep along the pier. After the final sweep passed, he waited another full minute before finally climbing out of the cold water. He joined Markus and his group, who were standing in the shadows of a nearby abandoned building. “What now?” he asked them, leaning against a wall to take the weight off his injured leg. There was no way that this many androids could safely hide in nearby alleyways without being spotted. Dakota knew that even after the explosion of the ship, there would be patrols around the surrounding area. 

“We could stay in the surrounding warehouses. They’re all abandoned,” Josh suggested.

Dakota shook his head. “No good. They’ll be checking the entire area around this place. The farther we can get from here, the safer we’ll all be.”

The group fell silent in thought, trying to think of somewhere they could relocate their people. Simon broke the silence. “Before I came to Jericho, I stayed in an old church. It’s large enough to accommodate everyone, and far enough from here to be safe.” The group considered his words, then Markus simply asked, “where?” Simon locked eyes with the deviant leader, his L.E.D. flickering yellow as he transferred the location to Markus. Markus nodded and put his hand to his temple broadcasting the location to all androids in the area. Surprisingly, he turned to Dakota, compassion in his eyes. “Can you walk?”

Dakota moved away from the wall, grunting slightly as he put weight on his pained knee. He steeled himself and willed more external support around his knee, constructing a temporary brace out of altered space. It would work long enough to tie him over until he could get some supplies. All the first aid he brought with him were in his bags, which were left behind in the rush to get out of Jericho. “I’ll be fine,” he assured them. “Let’s get going.”

Chapter Text

The walk to the church was a somber one. Dakota could smell the scent of death, with the thick, syrupy feel of thirium in the air, just like human blood. Too much like human blood. The ground was strewn with the bodies of dead and dying deviants. Small rivulets of thirium ran down the road, looking like streams of quicksilver in the pale moonlight, staining any snow on the ground blue. Despite being injured, Dakota still helped any androids that might still survive, even going as far as to create sleds to move those who could not move themselves out of pallets, old planks, and even old pieces of metal and some rope. He gave no sign of tiredness or distress, and did not slow until the dome of the church came into view. Deviants were silently filing in from multiple entrances, a quiet procession of refugees. 

Dakota helped the injured deviants into the church, and, without a word, headed back out to help others. He directed lost deviants to the right direction, kept them out of dangerous areas where agents and soldiers were patrolling, and aided those that were injured. The actions were helpful to him, the constant movement and awareness of others distracted him from his own pain. It was another full hour until the last of everyone was safely inside the temporary sanctuary. Dakota decided to check on North, who was sitting quietly on a church pew on her own. He walked over to her. “Hey.”

She looked up, surprise crossing over her face, followed by various conflicting emotions of distrust and respect. “Hey,” she managed to reply.

“How’s your injury?” Dakota asked.

“It’s okay. None of my biocomponents were hit.”

“I’d still like to take a look at it,” Dakota said, compassion in his voice.

“I’m fine, really,” North retorted, instinctively drawing up her guard. He was still human, and humans could not be trusted.

Dakota backed down a bit. “Okay, I understand.” He sat down on the pew next to her, leaving ample room for her. He made no movement towards or against her, he simply sat there. After a minute he spoke again. “At least let me bandage it up for you.” North, sighing, finally relented, exposing the wound as Dakota pulled out some rolled gauze from his pocket. It wasn’t there originally, he had actually pulled it out of a wormhole that led back to his medical locker back in his house. It just made it easier to avoid awkward questions if he made it look like he pulled it out of his pocket. As he set about dressing the wound, North thought about what she knew about him, which wasn’t much. She knew he came with at least one other android, an AX400. She also remembered how he acted after she had been shot. How he put himself in the line of fire, how every bullet hit some invisible wall in front of him. 

“Back on the ship, you put yourself in danger for me. Why?”

Dakota gave the same answer he had given to every android who asked, but the words were no less true. “You went down. I saw that I could help, and so I did.”

“But why? Why me?” No other human had ever shown any compassion toward her, and his kind demeanor towards her was absolutely foreign.

“No real reason in particular, I simply saw you were hurt, and did what I would’ve for anyone else.” Dakota knew North’s model type and what they were made for, and he saw the look of utter confusion on her face. “Not every human views androids as just machines, or fear them,” the human said with a touch of a smile on his face, stepping back after he finished wrapping the injury with gauze. He turned and walked off, with only one thought on his mind: Kara. He needed to find them. He scanned the large chapel, looking for her, Alice and Luther. He spotted Kara and Alice huddled together at a pew, but Luther wasn’t there. He hoped that he was only helping other androids, as he had been doing, and nothing had happened to him. He had rather grown to like him.

Kara looked up around the church. The events of earlier had left her extremely nervous. Alice was tucked into Kara’s side, shivering from both a combination of cold and shock. Kara glanced around again, and saw Dakota walking toward them, limping slightly. Her eyes brightened upon seeing him. He sat down to Alice, who looked over when she felt the seat settling next to her. Her eyes lit up as she realized he was there. “Dakota! You’re okay!” she cried, throwing her arms around him. 

He hugged her back, taking comfort in her embrace. “I’m so glad you’re safe.” He looked at Kara, exchanging a warm smile with her. “Both of you.” Alice finally let go, and sat back down between Kara and Dakota, content that the two people that had given her the most care she has had in years are safe next to her. Dakota’s face took a worried expression, asking the question Kara was dreading. “Where’s Luther?”

Kara’s face fell. “I don’t know,” she answered quietly. “After you went down, we kept running. He got hit with another bullet, but between the smoke and the chaos, we got separated.” Her voice was starting to crack with emotion. 

Dakota immediately put his arm on her shoulder, squeezing it gently to reassure her. “Hey, hey. It’s alright.” His intuition told him that Luther was alive and hasn’t been found yet, and he had long since learned to trust his gut feelings. “Luther’s very tough. I’m sure he made it out okay.” Kara felt reassured by his words, feeling his belief in his own statement. She wiped tears from her eyes, and looked into his eyes. She had never noticed the color before. They were light green, with flecks of hazel and amber. What was even more captivating was what lay beyond his eyes. It was a common human saying that the eyes were the windows to the soul, and Kara now understood why. Dakota’s eyes, two simple organs used to collect visual stimuli, spoke volumes about him. The first thing she felt was his simple presence. She could feel that he was there , and that who he is was much, much greater than anyone else here. She could see that he had seen great pain and suffering in his life, and had experienced much of it himself. The last thing she saw was herself and Alice, reflected in his eyes. But it wasn’t just the reflection she saw. Kara saw that Dakota cared very much for them, and that he would do anything for them. Before she could fall even deeper into his eyes, Dakota looked away, breaking eye contact, and turned his gaze to Alice. “How are you feeling, Alice?”

“I’m cold,” she replied.

Dakota’s hands immediately went to his pockets and retrieved several hand warmers. “It’s not much, but it’ll help,” he told her, opening the packaging and helping to place them. One for each hand, another for the back, and one tucked into the collar line of her shirt. Comfortable with the heat warming her body, Alice laid down across Kara’s and Dakota’s laps. Dakota never had this before. The absolute comfort that a child can bring is something he never had. He sank into the pew, relaxing. He wanted to stay this way forever: somewhere safe with people he cared for. Almost without realizing, he started to sing.

“ A naeoidhean bhig, cluinn mo ghuth Mise rid' thaobh, O mhaighdean bhan… ” his voice was quiet, but seemed to carry the tune effortlessly. Kara’s processors recognized the song as one from an old children’s movie from the 2010’s. After Dakota sang the first verse, Alice joined in, her soft voice intertwining with Dakota’s deeper one. Dakota looked down at her, surprise on his face, quickly replaced with a smile. They both sang together, their voices growing in confidence from each other. Kara almost could feel the air around them transforming around them, becoming warmer, and taking on a glow of its own from the heartfelt melody. The other androids could feel it too. Many had picked their heads up to watch the group, and some had even came cautiously closer, captivated by the song shared between the two.

Alice was happy. Here, in this moment, she had a family again, singing songs of beauty and love. She had two people that cared for her, and would do anything to keep her safe. She felt warm, bathing in their love for her. She didn’t care what they were, android or human, for she had seen that both can love just as greatly. Alice knew that the android named Markus wanted humans to see androids as equals, and here, in the comfort of Kara and Dakota, she had hope that he would win.

The song concluded and the church fell into silence, but the spell that had seemed to be cast by the duo lingered on a bit longer. Markus slowly approached them, his expression sorrowful. Dakota could see that he was taking the loss of those at Jericho pretty personally. He stopped over by them. “I thought that you would be safer staying with us. I was wrong. You need to leave the city while you still can.”

Kara looked up at the deviant leader. “Getting Alice away from the danger is all that matters now. We need to catch the last bus.” Markus understood the meaning behind her words, and wordlessly put three passports in her lap. He turned to walk away, but Kara spoke up again. “Markus,” she called. He turned back to her. “Save our people.” Markus nodded and walked off to talk to North. A few moments passed of them quietly conversing, then Markus got up and walked up to the head of the church. He delivered a speech, connecting with the collective of androids present and laying out the next step for them, which was to demonstrate peacefully at the android collection camp at Hart Plaza. His speech was met with resounding cheers from everyone, which Dakota took as the cue to start heading to the bus station.

“We should get going,” he said. Kara nodded and helped Alice get up. Dakota could feel the eyes of many androids as they walked out of the church and into the night.

Chapter Text

The three walked the streets, Dakota leading them across the shadows. Everything was fine until they got to the corner of Porter and Turnbull St in the West Side Industrial district. Dakota heard commotion ahead. He stopped Kara and Alice behind them and directed them to hide behind a building. He checked around the corner. Soldiers, at least twelve of them. There were two of them that were rounding up several androids. There were too many spread out to subdue them without being noticed. The only option was to sneak around them. Dakota turned back to Alice and Kara. “We’ve gotta sneak past them. Stay close. He turned back to watch the soldiers, looking for an opening to move. As a precaution, he drew the gun he had taken back at Jericho during the attack. There was no way he could take on all the soldiers if spotted, but if he made himself to be a bigger threat if caught, Kara and Alice might have a better chance of getting away safe. Seeing a moment where everyone’s attention was diverted, Dakota swiftly moved around the corner and behind a car, the other two following close behind. It was hard not to step into the action, not to help the deviants caught in the gun sights of the soldiers like hares in headlights. It was even worse hearing the words that came from the GIs’ mouths. They genuinely believed that androids were a threat, and should be taken out. It ground at Dakota, igniting a flame of righteousness. But he remained in the shadows, not helping those trapped in the light. If seen, the mission was compromised. He couldn’t risk it. 

The trio slowly made their way down the street, to the corner. Dakota was about to look for an opening in the troops’ movement when Alice shook his shoulder.

“Dakota, look. It’s Luther,” she whispers. Dakota looked in the direction she was pointing, and there he was. The gentle giant, on his knees with his hands laced behind his bowed head, next to another deviant who wore the traditional android uniform of a Jerry model from the old amusement park Pirate’s Cove, held at gunpoint like a violent criminal. The flame inside him surged, filling him with a quiet rage. “We have to help him,” Alice continued. Dakota met her eyes and nodded, a silent affirmation, and led them behind a car closer to Luther. He directed Alice underneath the car, facing away from the soldiers so the light can’t reflect off her skin. He peeked out past the front of the car, watching for an opening. He saw two soldiers walk up to another deviant, who tried to bluff his way past them. After checking the android’s temperature and learning what he was, they promptly shot him at point blank range, no remorse afterwards. Dakota didn’t move to help. He couldn’t move. After the gruesome display of cold violence, the two soldiers walked away, leaving only the one still guarding Luther. That one’s back was turned to Dakota though, making it easy to take him out. Dakota came out from behind the car, body still low. He came up to the soldier and delivered a swift blow to the back of the head, soundlessly knocking him out. Upon seeing Dakota standing in front of him, Luther jumped to his feet. “Dakota! You shouldn’t have risked your life to save me.”

“It wasn’t a risk,” Dakota replied.

“Where’s Alice and Kara?”  Luther asked, concern in voice.

“They’re hiding nearby,” 

The other android looked at Dakota, absolutely grateful for being saved. “You saved us! We don’t know how to thank you.”

“You can thank me later. Go now, before they find you again.” Dakota commanded the Jerry model, who immediately took off  into the night.

“Luther!” Alice came barreling out of the shadows, hugging Luther tightly. “I thought you were dead.” Those words hit Dakota hard. No child should ever end up saying those words.

Luther looked kindly at the little girl. “I was afraid I’d never see you again. I was going to meet you at the terminal, but they caught me along the way.” 

Kara was glad to see that Luther was safe, as he had quickly grown to be a part of their little group. But she also was anxious to get Alice safely out of the city, and being out in the open didn’t help the impending sense of danger she felt. “Come on,” she started, taking hold of Alice’s hand. “We’re close but we don’t have much time.” Dakota immediately took point, leading them from shadow to shadow. They passed several more soldiers, all looking for androids. Their helmets hid their features, making them look more machine than the very machines they were hunting. They passed another android, who was unaware of the group passing through. Three shots rang out, and the android fell to the ground. No warning, no mercy. The fire inside Dakota burned a little hotter. They got all the way down the street unnoticed. Dakota checked around the corner and saw something somewhat problematic, but not unexpected. He turned back to the others to tell them what he saw.

“There’s a checkpoint ahead. Manned, seven guards.”

Kara spoke up first. “We have passports, we should be fine but you never know.”

“Maybe we should take a detour and avoid the risk?” Luther suggested.

“We’re almost out of time, and the other streets are being patrolled just as the others,” Dakota countered. “If we go through here, we’ll at least be safe on the other side.”

Luther considered the human’s words, then relented. “Alright,” he said finally, and the four walked up to the checkpoint. Two guards approached, one male one female. “ID,” the male guard ordered, and everyone presented theirs. Dakota was impressed with the forgeries. They were practically perfect, and that was more than enough to fool the guard. 

“You do realize there’s a curfew?” The male guard said. “Civilians aren’t allowed out unless absolutely necessary. What are you doing out here?”

“Our car broke down. We’re finishing the rest of the way on foot, we live nearby, ” Dakota told him. Dakota could feel Kara and Luther communicating cybernetically with each other, a subtle tension going traveling between them.

The male guard didn’t seem entirely convinced, but he handed them back their items, and was about to wave them through when the other guard stopped them. “Is she okay?” gesturing at Alice, who had begun to shiver from the extended exposure to cold and from nerves.

“She’s just really cold. We’re trying to get home and warm up,” Kara lied easily.

“Seems awfully late to be out,” the male guard commented skeptically.

The female guard sighed and looked at the group. “Ignore him. All the stuff with deviants has got everyone here nervous,” she stated. “Have a good night, all of you.

The other guard sighed and dropped his head. “Go on,” he said disappointedly. The four began to walk off, when the male guard called after them. “Wait!” 

They all stopped. Dakota could feel Kara and Luther talking wirelessly again, this time more agitated. They all turned to him. He was holding a scarf in his hand. “You dropped this,” he said, holding the piece of clothing out to them. Dakota took it from him and put it on Alice. “Thank you,” he said, and the group hurried off to the bus station.

They reached the terminal without incident. 

“Here it is, Alice,” Kara said. “We’re almost there, almost safe.” Her tone was hopeful,  the first positive emotion Dakota has heard in her voice all day, and it made him smile inwardly. From the center, someone made an announcement.

“The last bus to the border is full. Ticket-carrying passengers only. All departures are suspended until further notice.”

“We don’t have any tickets, they won’t let us on,” Kara said, worry creeping back into her voice.

“Don’t worry, we’ll figure something out,” Dakota told her, his tone cautiously confident. He took in the information from the announcement. The delay in departure was a blessing in disguise, as it gave more time to figure out a solution. 

Luther nudged Dakota’s shoulder, getting his attention, and nodded over to where two guards were scanning a woman. “They’re checking everyone,” the large deviant whispered. It won’t take long for them to find us.”

Dakota knew enough about civilians and crowds. There was no official checklist or registry for those present at the terminal, so there is no way to assure that absolutely everyone has been checked. “As long as we blend in with the crowd and don’t stick out too much, they won’t bother us.” It was very true, as the woman they were currently scanning was alone, and seemed to have been staying in the relative shadows, a very suspicious place to be from the guards’ perspectives.

They turned back to Kara and Alice, who were quietly watching a news report on the side of a bench. It was showing a live report of Markus and the other androids gathering in front of the collection camp at Hart Plaza. An interesting connection formed in Dakota’s mind. Hart Plaza, Jericho, even the demonstration early this afternoon, were all within a very close distance. He would look into this later.

The two girls turned away from the screen, concern on Kara’s face. “We’re stuck here, aren’t we?”

“I don’t think we will be,” Dakota assured her. They began walking towards the crowd when a rough hand grabbed Kara’s arm. 

“You,” a heavy man with a haggard face hissed. “You stole my little girl!”

“Todd,” Kara breathed, her voice breathy with fear. Alice looked up at who Dakota assumed was her father, a look of pure terror on her face.

“Security! Security, over here!” Todd began calling out.

Dakota stepped forward, trying to de-escalate the situation. “Is there a problem, sir?”

“Yes there’s a problem! This fucking bitch stole my daughter from me.” Dakota quickly took stock of Todd’s physical appearance. He  was sweating despite the cold, his face was pallid, he was breathing heavily, and he held an unsteady gait. He seemed to have the major symptoms of withdrawal. Although there were still signs of long term use of the drug known as red ice, it seemed as though he’s kept himself clean for at least four days.

“Don’t do this Todd,” Kara pleaded quietly. “They’ll kill us all if we’re found.”

Kara was scared. Todd, the man she took Alice from, the abuser of both of them, had found her. This was a nightmare in waking. In her fear, she almost felt removed from the situation, no longer in control. She heard her own voice tell Todd not to do this, that they’ll all be killed, but felt no connection to those words. She watched as Dakota put his hand on Todd’s arm, forcing his attention away from Kara and onto him. She saw them lock eyes, and Todd’s face growing paler end eyes growing wider. His grip on Kara slackened, and she immediately wrenched herself from his hand. Todd and Dakota broke eye contact, and Todd seemed shocked.

“Wh-who are you?” Todd stammered. It seemed to be his turn to be afraid, as Kara almost felt like she was slowly floating back into her own body.

“Nobody to be trifled with,” Dakota replied simply.

Todd hung his head. “I fucked up. I thought that I could be a good father. But my own android seems to be doing better than me.” He reached into his jacket pocket, and pulled out a bus ticket. “Here,” he said, handing the sheaf of paper to Kara. “You could use it more than me.”

“Don’t worry, your daughter is in good hands.” Dakota said, his voice filled with compassion he didn’t have. Despite what he had seen in the soulgaze, the various setbacks and problems thrown Todd’s way, it didn’t make Dakota despise Todd any less. He beat his child, and to Dakota it was unforgivable. No one could claim to be trying to be a good parent while taking out their aggression on their family. Still, he made a mental note to look up some rehab facilities after this whole ordeal was over.

A guard approached them. “Is there a problem?”

“No, there is no problem here,” Todd told the soldier. “I just… made a mistake.” His voice was filled with regret, the weight of his previous actions settling in around him like a blanket of ash, made of the burned bridges in his life. The guard nodded, clearly not wanting to be working security, likely just wanting to go home. Both the guard and Todd walked away, leaving the group in silence.

A moment of stunned silence passed before Dakota took lead and guided the group over to the majority of the crowd. Alice stopped by a mother with an infant cradled in her arms. The young girl watched curiously at the baby, as she had never had siblings or seen anyone with a child so young. The mother looked up, noticing Alice. “I think Oliver likes you,” she said to the little one. Kara came over and put her hand on Alice’s shoulder. “She yours?” The mother of the infant asked Kara.

“Yeah,” Kara replied.

“She’s adorable.”

A man walked towards the young mother sitting on the bench. “That’s it. Got the sandwiches, called your mother, let’s get going before we miss our bus. You got the tickets, right?”

“Yes, honey. Right in my bag.” The young mother picked up her stuff and stood up. As she walked away though, a blue envelope fell out of her bag. Kara picked it up and examined it. Dakota could see from where he stood that it contained bus tickets. The voices of the family that just left were growing closer, clearly distressed. Kara quickly stowed the tickets in her coat pocket. 

The husband walked over to where his wife had been sitting, looking frantically around the bench for their lost tickets. He turned to Kara. “Excuse me, you   didn’t happen to see a blue envelope somewhere, did you? It has our bus tickets in it and… oh nevermind.” 

“No, sorry,” Kara said, shaking her head empathetically. Dakota was surprised by this, for he thought that Kara would end up giving the tickets back, but he didn’t say anything. It meant that Kara and Alice would be safe. This family was human, and wasn’t being pursued by every military organization in the city. They would be safe.

The young man sat down on the bench, dejected. “What’re we gonna do? We can’t stay here.” He looked up at his wife. “We have to find a safe place for Oliver.”

Dakota, not without morals, offered his advice. “I’m so sorry about your tickets,” he started, “if you can’t find them before the bus leaves you can head over to the police precinct near here. It’s only a couple blocks northwest It’ll be warm there, and I’m sure they’ll be welcoming to a family trying to get out of the cold.”

“You’re sure?” the man asked.

“Very sure. After all, their job is to help the citizens of the city.”

“Thank you.”

“Of course.”

Kara led Alice away from the family. The young girl seemed reluctant to move, but Kara gave her a slight nudge to get her moving. Luther and Dakota followed with a final sympathetic glance towards the family.

“Are they gonna be okay?” Alice asked Kara as they walked towards the ticket checkpoint.

“I’m sure that they’ll be fine,” Kara responded. They walked up to the guards working at the ticket check and Kara presented the stolen tickets, as well as the one from Todd. The soldier waved them on after confirming the tickets, and they walked off to the waiting bus. They got to the loading bay and stopped. 

“I’m sorry, but this is where I leave you for now,” Dakota said, sorrow in his voice. The others had known it, but they had hoped that it wasn’t going to happen. Alice ran over to him and gave Dakota a hug. He kneeled down and hugged her back.

“Promise you’ll come and visit.” The little girl said in his ear.

“As soon as I can. I promise,” Dakota told her. He released his grip on Alice. “Here, I want you to have this.” He reached around his neck and pulled off a ball chain necklace. On the necklace was a dog tag and a buffalo nickel from 1939 formed into a pendant. “To me it’s always been a symbol of hope, my good luck charm. Both of these came from different family members, so it always represented my family to me. I thought you could have it as something to remember me by, and to give you something for the new family you’ve become part of.” Dakota put the necklace around the young child’s neck and tucked it in under her coat.

“But what will you have to remember us?” Alice asked Dakota.

“I will have my memories of you. You all have become very special to me. I don’t easily forget people who have brought me so much light.” The little girl smiled a little at his heartfelt words. Dakota stood up and went to Kara. “Please stay safe,” he addressed her.

The two embraced, hugging tightly. Dakota had always helped them whenever they needed it. Every time Kara struggled, he was always there for her. She was somewhat at a loss as what would happen without him at her side, or even what to say. The words “I’ll miss you,” stumbled out of her mouth before she even realized she said anything.

“I’ll miss you too,” Dakota replied without hesitation. They loosened their grip on each other, taking each other’s hands. Kara could feel a small slip of paper in Dakota left hand, which he pushed into her right. “Here’s my number. Call me as soon as you get over the border, okay?”

“I will.”

“Good. I’ll see you soon.” And without a moment’s notice, Dakota quickly closed the gap between them and planted a quick kiss on her forehead. Kara’s face flushed slightly, cheeks blushing a pale blue. Dakota looked at her for a moment longer with kind eyes, then turned to Luther.

“I’d tell you to look after them, but I know you’d do it anyways.” He hugged Luther as well, and despite being taller than average, Dakota was still half a head shorter than the large, dark-skinned deviant. “Don’t forget to take care of yourself, too.”

“You too, Dakota.” The giant replied. “You mean a lot to Kara and Alice, and they would be pretty upset if something happened to you.” Dakota took this knowledge and put in his heart, for it was statements like that, that there were people, whether android or human, that cared about him, that would keep him warm. They let go, and the two androids with the child turned to board the bus. Alice chose a seat next to window facing the station. She looked out the window, her eyes locked onto Dakota, and never took her eyes off him. Next to Alice sat Kara, also watching Dakota. Luther was sitting across from them, as the Greyhound bus only sat two per side. Alice raised her hand and gave Dakota a sad wave, disheartened by the idea of having to separate with one of the few people that had treated her kindly. Dakota gave her an encouraging smile and waved back. The bus began pulling away, and Dakota didn’t stop waving or look away until it was completely out of sight. After it made its turn around the corner, disappearing into the night, Dakota’s resolve broke a little. He just felt so tired . His injured leg began to ache, as if reminding him of its continued existence. But he wasn’t done yet. He had told Markus he would help, and damn himself if he didn’t at least try to do exactly that. Mentally pushing aside the pain once again, Dakota pulled up the hood of his coat and walked away from the bus terminal, disappearing into the shadows of the night.

Chapter Text

Markus looked around himself. Many of his people were helping to set up a barricade around themselves. He had been helping constantly, alternating between tending to the wounded, keeping a lookout on the soldiers standing on alert across them by the camp, and helping to set up the barricade. North was standing by him, almost seeming to read his thoughts.

“Think he’ll show up?” she asked the deviant leader. They both knew who she was referring to.

“I hope so. He seemed very intent on giving us help. But I’m not sure. Everything seems to be happening so fast, I don’t know what to think anymore.”

North put her hand on Markus’s shoulder, her touch bringing immediate comfort to her newfound lover. “We’ll get through this Markus.” Markus took North’s hand in his own, returning her comfort, and smiled at her. It was warm and natural, yet was something still so foreign to North, every one of his smiles filled her with both joy and confusion. He gave her a gentle squeeze before turning off to help his people.

Dakota had used an old trick of his to cut time traveling. After making sure he wasn’t being watched, he opened a small rift in reality, creating a wormhole. He had stepped through it and came out in a dark alleyway about a block north of where the androids were gathering for the demonstration. It would be too weird if he just appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the crowd or in a well-lit street corner. After catching his breath for a moment, as that particular reality manipulation took a bit of effort, he walked quickly down to the intersection of Griswold Street and West Jefferson Avenue, where the deviants were gathering. He didn’t need to worry about any patrols, as the soldiers had cleared this area out hours ago when they created the collection center, and the focus was now on the already gathered front of deviant androids. He made it to the intersection without incident, and approached the half-completed barricade in the center. Before he could get in, two androids stopped him, both WB400 ‘Traci’ models. One had blue hair and an earring, and the other was a brunette with shoulder length hair.

“Humans aren’t allowed past the barricade,” the blue haired android stated harshly, her dislike for humans clear in her voice. Dakota could understand that. CyberLife wasn’t shy about displaying all their models and the functions they had, and so Dakota unfortunately could figure out what kind of abuse the two have endured.

“I am here at Markus’s request,” Dakota stated, his tone formal and clear.

“I don’t believe you. I think you’re lying,” hissed the brown haired one, glaring at Dakota. “How do we know you aren’t some spy?”

“If you do not believe me, go get Markus. Show me to him, and he will be able to tell you if I am telling the truth or not.”

The two androids looked back between each other, silently communicating with one another. With a subtle nod, the brown haired deviant walked off into the temporary encampment, and the other turned back to Dakota, keeping a harsh eye on him. Dakota simply stood there, waiting. He stayed completely neutral, his posture neither hostile nor friendly. There was no need to be friendly, as simple smiles wouldn’t change the mind of the woman keeping an eye on him. He was not completely idle though. While he waited, he took stock of the nearby materials that could be used to add to the barricade, noted what parts have already been built, and estimated their strength. It kept his mind busy while he waited and allowed him to have a rough idea of how to help.

The brunette returned with Markus, whose brow was furrowed in worry at the idea of a human approaching their camp. Upon seeing who it was, however, his expression softened and his posture relaxed. “Let him in, he’s with me,” he told Dakota’s self-appointed guard, who reluctantly stood aside, permitting Dakota to pass through.

“Glad you could make it,” Markus said to the man standing before him.

“So am I. I see you’re already working on barriers.” Dakota responded.

“Yes. It should give us a little cover should they decide to attack. But we don’t have much to work with.”

“You’ve been doing pretty good with what you have. The heaviest pieces are already in the front, and the sides have been built up to slow any flanking attempts. Very nice.”

“Thanks,” it was probably the weirdest compliment Markus will ever get, on creating a makeshift encampment.

“What about your wounded?” Do you need help tending to them?” Dakota’s tone of voice was still professional, the question just an inquiry for information, but his eyes and underlying inflections in his voice managed to convey his genuine concern for those androids that were injured. 

With how much disdain for his kind by humans Markus had seen, the question and the weight it carried threw him off. “We have some that are tending to their wounds, but they could always use some extra hands.”

“Okay. Is there anything else that you need help on?”

Markus thought for a moment. “Actually, there is. Follow me.” Markus led Dakota through the encampment to the front. There were more than a few glares and stares directed at Dakota along the way, but as Markus seemed to trust him, no one made any move against him. Dakota was sure that if he wasn’t accompanied by the leader of these people, there would be many that would have no problem causing quite a scene. Markus stepped up some makeshift stairs that led to the very front section of the wall of salvaged materials, and beckoned for Dakota to do the same. Dakota walked up the steps and looked out towards the camp. North had been standing on the overlook as well, and gave her report.

“They’ve been like this since we’ve arrived. I don’t know enough about this to be able to make anything out of it, only that they’re ready to attack at any moment.” There was a certain note in her voice when she admitted to her unsurety, like it was something that she would only say in trusted company. Inwardly, Dakota was flattered by this, as he had only been among them for a short time, and she, one of the most distrusting of humans, had considered him close enough company, even if only in the so very specific circumstance they were all in, to get to see that slightly more vulnerable side of her.

“What are we looking at?” Markus asked. Dakota began watching the soldiers across from the barricade. He took note of the formation held, a single front line aimed directly at the center. He noticed a lack of spotters on the sides. Something wasn’t quite right. If the military was going to launch an assault, there would be more troops already out, and the flanks would already be filled out. Dakota looked past the initial front line. He could see a series of vehicles, non military, in the back. Using a bit of his power to get a better look at them, he saw one was registered to the FBI. A possible negotiation? Dakota doubted there would be any actual compromise offered by anyone. The two sides conflicted too much, and couldn’t see the other’s perspective. Dakota had his own opinion on who was right, and believed firmly in Markus’s cause. But he had learned to be able to see from different perspectives, no matter what they were. 

“They’re not going to attack right away,” Dakota spoke up finally. “It seems like they might try some negotiating, just to say they tried.” North scoffed, the idea of humans killing hundreds of her people and then attempting a compromise absolutely ridiculous to her.

“Thank you for your input,” Markus said politely. “I wanted to hear what you had to say as you seem to have some experience with the military.”

“Something like that,” Dakota responded, uncomfortable with the memories that were associated with his experience. The Foundation was efficient, but ruthless. “If you need me for anything else, I’ll be helping the wounded.” He turned and walked off, leaving Markus and North alone on the lookout.

Dakota walked over to where the injured lay. He noticed that he had picked up two tails. By walking aimlessly for a moment and looping around some of the pieces of scrap scattered around the temporary camp, he saw that they were the two WB400s from earlier. It appears as though they still did not trust him, and were tailing him to see if they could find anything to condemn him. As he had no intention of doing any harm, they didn’t worry him. He continued on to the wounded. Crates had been set up as gurneys and makeshift beds. Those who had been able to make their way here but were too injured to do anything else were here. Some of the androids providing medical help gave Dakota odd looks as he approached, but he ignored them.He immediately bent down to one injured deviant, pulled out some bandages from his coat pockets, and immediately began applying them to the android’s wounds. He neither knew nor cared what others thought of him, he only wanted to help. His movements were quick and experienced, cleaning the injuries and wrapping them up in less than two minutes. He stood up and looked for the next person to take care of, quickly cataloging the various hurt deviants and their injuries, putting together a rough triage list in his head. Without a word, he bent down and helped the next android. Some of the other androids working as field doctors moved back, unsure of how to respond to this human that was providing help so freely and without hesitation. 

He couldn’t stop working. He hasn’t slept in nearly twenty hours, and his actions at Jericho had taken a massive amount of energy. So rarely had he ever used that much Power at once, and he hasn’t used much of it at all for several years. Part of his body wanted to simply sleep. But he couldn’t have that right now. The part of him that was demanding rest had been pushed to the side, his fatigue muffled by years of practice made necessary. But that couldn’t stop his emotions. In fact, he was relying on his feelings to keep himself going. These androids weren’t human, but they felt like people, and they had souls . No machine could hold the calm, collected aura of Markus, no programming could make the absolute well of love and care of Kara. He could feel it all. The pain of loss and the fear of death. The anger and aggression towards those who have wronged them. The hope of a better future. All of it. Dakota took those feelings, and made them his own. He let those feelings propel him, motivating him to his own action: helping others.

“How are you feeling?” He asked one android, a WE400, made for janitorial services.

“It hurts,” she replied. She had been shot in the lower calf, and had minor burns on her face from some of the equipment she had been working on exploding after being hit by gunfire.

“I know. Burns suck,” Dakota said to her, compassion and empathy in his voice. “But you’re gonna be okay. Nothing permanent was damaged. I can’t do much more, I don’t know how to repair, I just know how to treat the injuries. What’s your name?”

“Lily,” the android replied.

“Well, Lily, it was very nice to meet you, and I hope you get better.”

“You’re not an android,” the deviant realized.

“No,” Dakota said to Lily, “I’m not. But that doesn’t make me any less committed to helping here.” He gave the girl, woman- Dakota wasn’t sure how to address that, as many of them had deviated recently, and were so new to life- a warm smile. “Get some rest.” He got up.

“Dakota,” a voice said behind him. Dakota turned in the direction and came across a face he had seen once before, though to see it again brought relief.

“Lucy,” he started. “I’m glad you made it out okay.”

“As am I. I see you have made yourself busy.”

“I’m just trying to help in whatever way I can. Right now it’s tending to the wounded.”

That’s very nice,” Lucy said. “But what about yourself?” Have you been tending to your needs?”

“My needs aren’t important right now,” Dakota replied, brushing off Lucy’s concern. “Those can wait.”

“But if you neglect your own needs, how can you tend to the needs of others? You are of little use to anyone if you collapse from exhaustion or thirst.”

Dakota sighed. He knew that Lucy was right. He needed rest. He has been on his feet for nearly three consecutive hours now, and his watch was reading 23:17. If he didn’t at least sit down, he could easily fall asleep on his feet. “Fine. I’ll sit down for a bit.”

Lucy looked relieved, her original programming giving her an insight into psychology having been advantageous. “Thank you,” she said, and walked away, going to help others in her own special way.

Dakota situated himself on a bench that had been moved to its current position. He closed his eyes and steadied his breathing, calming himself. He couldn’t allow himself to fall asleep, as despite the barricade they were all still quite vulnerable. He opened his eyes to let visual stimuli in, something for his brain to track and process to keep himself from falling asleep. He noticed the two androids that had been tailing him were now slowly approaching, steps cautious. He gave them a nod of acknowledgment, but not much more. They came closer, and sat to his right.

“You- you really care,” the blue haired Traci model said, the words spoken as if swallowing a hard truth. “Why?”

“The past few days, I’ve been taking care of a deviant. She came with a little girl. I’ve watched them both. The way she cares for the girl -like a daughter- I was able to see that androids were much more than what you were built for. She showed more humanity than I’ve seen in a lot of other humans, and it gave me hope. I want to help make a change, actually fight for something I believe in.”

Both deviants were watching Dakota. But they no longer showed any apprehension towards him. His story had moved them, empathizing with him instead of fearing him. “What about you two?” I don’t even know your names.”

“I’m Amelia,” the blue haired deviant answered. She put her arm around the other android next to her. “This is Ripple.” The brown haired deviant gave a shy smile, which Dakota answered warmly. He offered his hand to shake, which Ripple took politely.

“It’s nice to meet both of you,” he said. He noticed the way the two held themselves and each other. “Are you two-”

“Yes,” Amelia interjected. “We’re together.”

“That’s wonderful. May I ask for how long?”

“We’ve been on our own for a few days now, but we’ve known each other for quite a while.”

“Well congratulations. It’s wonderful that you two found each other.” 

“Thanks,” Ripple replied, smiling slightly. Perhaps peace could be an option for humanity in the future. “I like your tattoos,” she said. “I’ve never seen anything like them.”

The tattoos that had appeared on him on the attack of Jericho had not faded yet. “Thank you.”

“What are they from?” It was strange, but she had found them extremely fascinated by them.

“They all come from a different part of me Something that I believe in.” Dakota pointed to the one tattoo on his face, across his left eye. For an extra flourish, he added a little Willpower to cause it to glow a pale blue, eliciting a slight gasp from both of the deviants. “This one is algiz. It’s a Norse rune. It means protection and defence, especially towards loved ones.”

“And this one?” Amelia pointed to another tattoo on Dakota’s right wrist.

“Old Norse for love. It’s to remind me that there is love in this world, and there is something to live for in this world.” There was a moment of silence as the statement settled in. It was deeper than he had meant to go, but it felt oddly relieving to say it aloud. He knew that he had been struggling with his… thoughts…for a while, but he didn’t know that it was to the point where a tattoo would remind him of a reason to keep standing each day.

“That’s… deep,” Ripple wasn’t sure how to respond to Dakota’s words, but she knew what he meant. After the Eden Club, she had nowhere to go. She had only known a life of abuse and perversion, and knew of no one to help. The only thing she had was Amelia. She was a constant, ever loving. The two had escaped together, and their love had grown stronger the more they were together. They depended on each other, giving each other support throughout everything they’ve been through.

“Thanks for listening to me ramble a bit,” Dakota said to the two. “It was really nice talking to you, and hopefully we’ll see each other again, next time not in the cold.” He stood up and went to check on the soldiers by the collection camp. There was no movement in troop position, although he did see a lone figure approaching the encampment. “Markus!” he called. “Come here! You should see this.” Markus came jogging over to here Dakota stood, and watched the figure stop halfway between the two camps and raise a microphone to speak. 

“Markus,” he said, his voice coming out through speakers laid further back, but still carried more volume. “I’ve come to talk to you Markus.” North, Josh, and Simon had joined Markus’s side, watching the person in the snow with interest. “Come on, you have my word,” he continued, “we won’t try anything.”

“Don’t go. It’s a trap,” North told Markus immediately, her voice filled with fear for him, and disgust at what was said. These humans abused her people, treating them like trash, slaughtering them by the thousands, and when they finally stand up to it, the humans want to make a compromise? “They want you out in the open. Don’t go, Markus.”

After no response from the androids, the person who had been selected as negotiator continued. “I’m unarmed, Markus. I just want to talk.” 

“I have nothing more to say,” Markus replied, fire in his words. “Free our people, then we’ll talk.”

“I came here to negotiate, isn’t that what you want? Dialogue?”

Dakota offered his two cents. “They won’t try anything during a negotiation. Not with cameras watching. If anything, you can at least hear his offers, decline, then leave.”

Markus considered his options. “I need to hear what he has to say,” he said finally.

“But what if they kill you?” North countered, her fear no longer hidden.

“It’s a chance I’ll have to take.” Markus turned and pushed himself over the wall that had been constructed and walked over to the line figure in the street. Dakota could feel the tension within and around the other three around him. The group held their breath collectively as the other two conversed. Dakota could tell that it wasn’t going well for Markus. The humans essentially held all the cards. For a moment, they could see the human’s gaze turn to North, who shifted uncomfortably, but the wind silenced the words being traded back and forth. After what seemed like an eternity, Markus walked back to his camp. He climbed back over the wall and headed to the group. 

“What happened, Markus? What did he say?” North was the first to speak up Markus didn’t answer, but Dakota could read it in his face: they were going to attack. They always were. “You need to let them know.” Markus began walking towards the center of the camp, but Dakota grabbed the sleeve of his trenchcoat. “Dammit, this is no time for a speech. Just shout it from where you are.”

Markus furrowed his brow in confusion, but did as Dakota said. He turned to the general crowd in the camp. “Everybody!” he shouted. “They’re about to attack!” No sooner had he said that then a grenade hit the ground not even five feet from where Markus was standing. Dakota saw it and threw himself on top, layering Power through a shield spell to contain the blast. It went off, but the explosion never left a foot high dome, contained entirely by Dakota’s spell. Dakota stood up, breathing a bit heavy from containing and absorbing the direct blast, but otherwise unharmed. His tattoos were beginning to glow again, most prominently the one on his face, a bright blue-white. Soldiers were starting to climb over the barricade. “Go!” Dakota shouted! The four leaders scrambled, scattering in the chaos.

Protect. That was the only thing. Don’t let anyone else get hurt. Dakota saw an android downed and ran over to him, helping the deviant to his feet and directing him to run. He shook his watch out from his coat sleeve, the runes he had stitched into the leather straps glowing scarlet and emerald. A soldier was aiming at a deviant to Dakota’s right, and Dakota put himself in the way, shield up. The bullets ricocheted off of the curved wall of will, creating red and green sparks. He closed the distance between himself and the soldier, sweeping the trooper’s legs from underneath them. He ran and found some cover behind a dumpster. He started moving it to a group of other deviants. He came out from behind the dumpster from twenty feet away. His shield was already up, but not fast enough. Two deviants took a bullet to the head and collapsed, dead before they hit the ground. Guilt began to wash into him, but he pushed it away before it could take hold. Now was not the time to mourn the dead. 

The others he was able to keep safe, deflecting the other bullets. One soldier rushed him, which turned to be a bad idea. Dakota, with six straight years of solitude, had trained and nearly mastered multiple styles of hand-to-hand combat. Dakota easily grabbed the gun in the soldier’s hand, jammed the butt into their stomach, then hit them over the head, knocking them out. To make sure the gun couldn’t be used, he ejected the magazine and racked the bullet still in the chamber, then threw it to the ground, all within half a second. He then continued helping other deviants. He saw Josh being faced down by a soldier, and ran to interject. He got there in time shielding Josh, but as the deviant was falling back, a grenade went off, sending shrapnel flying. A two-inch long piece of metal hit Dakota’s leg, embedding itself in his right calf. 

“FUCK!” Dakota cried out in pain and fell to one leg. The soldier, seeing him injured and not knowing him to be human, advanced forward on the wounded mage. Dakota could still think semi-clearly, though, and had one last trick. He took his shield, which was essentially solidified willpower, and shaped it into a large sphere, about the size of a bowling ball. With a grunt, Dakota sent the ball of Will flying towards the soldier, hitting them in center mass and knocking them back several feet and onto their back. Wasn’t very debilitating, but it bought a pretty good amount of time for him. With pained effort, Dakota stood up and limped towards the back of the camp that had once been safe. 

Ahead he could see the other androids cornered against the side of a bus. The soldiers closed in, forming a tight circle around the trapped deviants. Dakota collapsed to one knee, no longer able to fend off the burning pain in his leg. He looked down at his leg. Blood was dripping from the wound, running down the shard of metal embedded in his calf. The injury wasn’t too serious. He could close it up and stop the bleeding, but it would take time for the muscle to heal. Dakota fumbled with his belt, taking it off and tying it around his injured leg to make a tourniquet. He grasped the piece of shrapnel and pulled firmly, despite any and all medical knowledge advising against doing so, drawing a pained groan from his throat as he drew the shrapnel from his leg. As blood began pooling out of the wound and onto the surrounding snow, Dakota put his hands to the injury and whispered a word of Healing. The open wound immediately closed up, the blood stopping. It still hurt, but no longer was threatening. Dakota slowly stood up and watched the scene playing out before him. The soldiers had their guns trained on the small crowd of androids. Markus and North were turning to each other. They joined hands, their synthetic skin retracting. The joints of their hands began glowing a pale white and blue. Dakota could see them looking into their eyes. The two androids looked at each other for a moment, then kissed. It was slow, passionate, filled with emotion. It was a good power play, Dakota thought. It showed that two androids could truly love each other. And with all the news coverage and reporters, the kiss was being aired to the entire country. A solid minute passed, then a single soldier gave an order.

“Stand down!” the soldier barked, and they all retreated, lowering their weapons. Dakota finally made his way to where they were all standing. His pants were now torn and ripped. He reached the wall of the bus and slumped against it.

Another soldier approached Markus. “Sir, we have orders to accompany you to the camp.” Markus followed the soldier, and everyone else followed.

Chapter Text

Alice was exhausted.

She had been awake for a long time already. The events of the past week have been taking their toll on her, and now more than ever she just wanted to close her eyes and sleep.

But she couldn’t. She would close her eyes, and try to relax, but sleep wouldn’t come. It was as if she was one of those little wind-up toys and she had been wound all the way up, but the key was stuck, trapped in that feeling of being just about to run, to move, to do anything but stay put.

The bus was currently in standstill traffic, just before the junction of the border. Around it was currently a sea of red and white headlights and honking horns. Kara was sitting next to her, an arm around Alice protectively and reassuringly. Luther was sitting in the row directly across from them, his head high, looking ahead to see the direction of the bus. It was comforting, having those two near. Alice knew that neither would let anything bad happen to her.

Dakota wouldn’t either, she thought. Her hand went to the necklace that he gave her, giving it a gentle squeeze. She wished that he was here with her, that he could make things safe. But she could tell that he had needed to stay, though for what reason she didn’t know. All she did know was that he wanted to help others and that there was something very big going on.

The bus began to pull away from the queue of other buses waiting to cross the border and stopped in front of a large building with the words “Canada Border Inspection Station.” Other passengers were standing up, and so Kara, Luther, and Alice stood up as well, Alice automatically taking hold of Kara’s hand. They stepped off the bus, unsure of what was happening.

“Excuse me, what’s going on?” Alice heard Kara ask a nearby guard. Through her voice, it was clear this wasn’t part of the plan.

“Border control,” the officer responded. “All passengers must leave the bus. Move along.” The tone was impersonal, sounding more like a programmed response than any android Alice has met, and it made Alice trust them just a little less.

The group of three then entered the building, where they were directed by another officer to join a line of people waiting. Kara peered ahead and noticed a sign. 

   “They’re doing temperature checks,” she said, her voice fearful. “We’re trapped.”

       That’s bad. Alice remembered from the bus station that androids could be recognized by a temperature check. “What’re we gonna do, Kara?” the girl asked, gripping herself closer to Kara.

    After a moment’s pause, Kara spoke. “Don’t worry, Alice, we’ll be fine,” she said, rubbing the girl’s back to comfort her. There was an unspoken added line, we have to be . Alice let go of the deviant, but stayed close.

    What do we do? Alice thought to herself. It frustrated her sometimes that she couldn’t do anything to help a situation. That she could only sit by, not yet able to make an impact.

   What about Dakota? If he couldn’t be here right now, maybe he would have an idea of how to fix it. Alice remembered that he talked to her with only his thoughts, maybe she could try it. How did he say it worked? It took a moment before she recalled what he said, his voice echoing in her memory.

   “ Just focus on me, and think of what you want to say…”

  She closed her eyes, trying to narrow her focus to Dakota, to picture his face. But the details kept slipping from her grasp. There was just too much going on. She couldn’t concentrate. Dejected, she gave up on her attempt to contact Dakota, and instead tried to look around to see what, if anything, was going on.

She spotted Rose, the woman that had given them a safe place to stay for a night. Seeing someone that was both familiar and friendly calmed Alice down a little. At least she, Kara, and Luther were not alone.

Luther was another thing. She doesn’t know much about him, other than that he used to work for Zlatko. A shiver ran up her spine at the thought of that man. But Luther was different now. He was big and a little scary-looking, but he was very gentle and caring in the way he acted. He reminded Alice of a story she used to read when she was even younger, Clifford the Big Red Dog . It was about a big dog that couldn’t even fit into a house being the sweetest and most helpful he could be.

She was pulled from her thoughts as Kara shifted her body. “Rose?” The deviant nearly whispered in surprise. It almost seemed like Rose had heard Kara, for she turned in the direction of the trio. Kara slowly took hold of Alice’s hand. Rose and Kara seemed to communicate silently, and after a moment seemed to agree upon something. Kara turned to Luther. “Wait for me. I won’t be long.”

Kara led Alice to a hallway with a bathroom. Before they could make it, however, they were confronted by another guard. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“My daughter needs to go to the bathroom,” Kara said to the guard. Hesitantly, he let the two pass. Alice always liked it when Kara referenced her as her daughter. Oddly enough, it made her feel like part of a family. 

They walked into the bathroom, and Kara stepped over to the row of sinks. Gripping the edge of the washbasin, the deviant let out a few quiet sobs, tears rolling down the side of her face. Alice’s heart twisted seeing Kara so upset. Wanting to comfort her, to make her feel better, Alice stepped up and hugged Kara. It’s okay, Kara, the young girl thought. We’ll be okay. Something inside her knew that this was true, that things really will work out fine.

The door opened, and Kara looked up, tense. But when she saw who was stepping through, she instantly relaxed. “Rose…”

Rose walked up to Kara and Alice. “I’m so glad you’re safe.” She hugged them both. “We saw the Jericho raid on TV, I was terrified, I thought you might’ve been killed.” She finally let them go, taking a step back. “Thank God you’re alright.”

“They’re checking for androids,” Kara exclaimed, becoming nearly hysterical. “We won’t make it through-“

Rose put a hand on Kara’s shoulder to steady her. “You have to,” she stated firmly. “You know what they’ll do if they catch you.” Alice didn’t need to know what would happen. All she knew was that it meant Kara would be hurt and they’d be separated.

“What’s happening with Markus?” Kara asked, her voice still anxious, but no longer on the verge of tears. Alice knew that Markus was also where Dakota was.

“He’s protesting peacefully outside one of the android camps,” Rose told the deviant. “Whatever happens now, he’s already made the history books.” Those words meant more than just the occurrence of a big event. It meant that whatever came of it, something is going to change.

“You’re leaving too?” Kara asked, getting past her own fears to understand what Rose’s presence indicated.

The stout mother put her hand on Kara’s shoulder again, to imply the seriousness of the situation. “They were searching for androids door to door. We had to leave before someone turned us in.”

“What about the others?”

“They’re crossing the river as we speak. Adam and I are gonna meet them on the other side.” Trying to ease the deviant’s mind Rose asked, “What about Dakota? I haven’t heard from him. Is he okay?”

“Yeah,” Kara responded, wiping some tears from her eyes. “We got separated for a bit, but we all made it out all right.” 

Rose turned, as if to possibly leave, but Kara spoke again. “Rose.” Her voice was heavy now, filled with absolute solemnity. “If anything should happen…”

“I’ll be there, Kara.” The woman gave Alice and Kara another hug and then turned, reluctantly, not wanting to let them out of her sight, to leave.

After Alice had time to use the bathroom, she and Kara left the room. Rose’s son, Adam, was standing nearby. “I couldn’t understand why my mom wanted to help you guys,” he began as they were passing him. Kara stopped to hear. “But seeing what Markus is doing, made me realize she was right. You’re alive, you deserve to be free. I just…” he paused, searching for the right words, “…hope people will realize that someday.” He left, heading back to the line. For a brief moment, Alice could see Rose smiling at him, a look of pride upon her face.

Kara and Alice joined the line with Luther. Alice still didn’t know what was going to happen, but she trusted Kara. No matter what happened, they would be together. As they were called up to the desk, a sense of peace went through the girl, despite the tension of the moment. A part of her was sure that things would be okay, and that they’d be safe. 

As the man at the desk scanned the group’s temperature, the girl slowly took a deep breath, ready for what came next. If it was to run, she would run. If it was to hide, she would hide. But it would be with Kara, no matter what. She could lose the person who’s become a mother to her. It happened once before, and it was the most painful and frightening point of her life.

“Please,” Kara quietly pleaded to the customs officer. As the results of the scan appeared on his screen. “We just want to be free.”

The officer looked up at a television that was mounted on the wall. It was tuned to a news station covering the protest at one of the android camps. Dakota’s there , Alice realized. I hope he’s okay . The officer then turned back to the three standing before him, sympathy in his eyes. “Welcome to Canada,” he said, stamping their passports and sliding them back to the trio.

Chapter Text

Markus and the surviving deviants from the demonstration entered the collection camp, with Dakota mixed within the crowd. His injured and weary figure blended in perfectly with the various battle-worn androids, making him utterly inconspicuous. No one noticed him as he surveyed the scene. Oh gods, Dakota thought. This isn’t a collection camp, it’s a fucking concentration camp . Androids were scattered around. Clothes had been taken away from them, and their artificial sin was deactivated. Some were standing in lines, too afraid to move from where they were ordered, but most were huddled together, eyes filled with fear. As Markus and the other deviants from the demonstration walked through, though, they began to look up. Many followed Markus as he walked deeper into the camp. Markus’s face was contorted in horror at what was being done to his people. Ahead, there was movement from the dark. Markus stopped, everyone following his lead. Out of the darkness, Connor stepped forward. What was behind him made Dakota gasp in awe. 

Androids, thousands of them. All freshly deviated, all still in their pristine CyberLife uniforms. Connor stopped before Markus. “You did it, Markus. You save your people.”

Markus smiled. “We did it,” he told Connor. “This is a great day for our people. Humans will have no choice but to listen to us now.” Connor stood aside, giving the liberated androids over to Markus.

North stood next to Markus. “We’re free.” The two turned to each other, falling into each other’s embrace. “You should talk to them.” The two kissed passionately, lost in their love for each other, finally feeling safe.

Kara, Luther, and Alice left the building, the tension that’s been present for the past few days now gone. “We did it, Alice,” Kara said to the girl, stopping to face her. “We’re free. We made it.” Smiling, she kneeled down to give Alice a hug, which was returned wholly. In the embrace, Alice could feel Luther join them, his strong, large arms encircling them both. Alice felt warmed by the affection, and it was in this moment she realized she was truly loved . No matter what happened, she would always have these people to help and support her. She began to feel an immeasurable warmth starting from her chest and radiating outwards. This was the start to a better life.

Markus led the new deviants to where his camp once stood, of which the very front section remained intact. It served as a very effective stage, and it was used as such. The leaders of the Deviant Revolution, plus Connor, stood atop the platform. Markus began giving a speech, speaking about how they had finally achieved freedom. Dakota stood in the crowd, supporting himself with a piece of wood that worked well enough as a cane. Out of the corner of his eye Dakota noticed something odd with Connor. He seemed to be struggling for control of himself. His eyes had gone empty, his expression blank. His arm slowly reached back to his side and pulled out a gun. Nobody else noticed, as their eyes were locked onto Markus, and Connor was standing behind the leader. Dakota tensed up, ready to intervene. But whatever was going on passed. Connor’s expression relaxed, and he looked down at his hand holding the gun in mild confusion, then settled it back in its holster.

Dakota turned his attention back to Markus “Where we forgive our enemies,” he was saying. “Humans were both our creators and our oppressors and tomorrow, we must make them our partners. Markus looked directly at Dakota. “Maybe even our friends.” Dakota smiled at the words and gave an acknowledging nod. Markus’s speech closed off, drawing cheers from the crowd gathered. As the crowd died down, Dakota could feel his phone going off in his pocket. He took it out and checked it. There was no number, only a name. Kara. Dakota’s apprehension grew as answered the call. It could either mean something really good or something really bad. 

“Kara,” he started. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes, everything’s fine,” came Kara’s response. Dakota was immediately calmed just by her voice. “We made it past the border. We’re safe now.”

“That’s great!”

“How’s everything over there?” Kara asked. He could hear the anxiety in her voice.

“We’re safe here too. We’re free on this side now.” Dakota began moving his way through the crowd, trying to find a quieter place to be. “I- I miss you,” he said honestly. He truly did.

“I miss you too,” Kara said over the phone. To hear those words straight from her stunned Dakota, making him blush a bit. “You’re going to visit, right?”

“Of course. As soon as I can get out of the city, I’m coming straight to you and Alice.”

“Good.” It had a tone of sass to it, and Dakota could envision an almost playful smile in her words.

“Tell Alice That I said hi, and that I miss her.”

“I will.”

“See you soon.” Dakota could no longer keep his exhaustion at bay, and fatigue was starting to creep into his voice.

Kara noticed how tired he was sounding. “See you soon. Get some rest.”

“Thanks. Bye.”

“Bye.” The phone call ended. Dakota sighed and sat down on a bench. He was tired, dirty, and in pain. Markus had apparently been able to get some space as well, and sat down next to Dakota.

“Thank you for all the help you’ve given us. I don’t know exactly what you did, but it protected a lot of us. You’ve been a great help.

“Don’t mention it. I was doing what I could.”

There was a pause. “I don’t know where you live, but I know that my- my father’s place would be open to anyone who needed it.”

Dakota was warmed by the gesture of goodwill. “I’ll take anywhere that has a bed.”

Markus flagged down an autonomous cab. Dakota got into the front, then Markus and North slid into the back. “It’d be nice to stay somewhere peaceful for a change,” Markus said.

“But what about the others?”

Josh, Simon, and Connor will be leading everyone to the old church for now. I have spoken to them and they are more than fine with this arrangement. I trust that they will be fine, and they can contact me in an emergency.”

“Sounds like you’ve got your bases covered, then.” The car drove off. Dakota must have dozed, because he didn’t remember much of the drive there. They arrived at a beautiful house that Dakota would have marveled at had he not been awake for twenty-two consecutive hours, and had pushed his limits several times. They walked into the house, and Markus directed him to where one of the guest bedrooms was. Dakota half-stumbled into the room, managed to take off his coat and shoes, and laid down in the bed. He closed his eyes and fell away immediately into a deep sleep, free of worry. All was well.