Chapter Text
Grace wheeled his bike through the downpour. He was cold and wet and all he wanted to do was go home and take a nice long shower that was hot enough to possibly boil his skin. At least he’d remembered to grab his raincoat before heading out to the school this morning. Sure, the weather this morning had said that there was a good chance of rain this afternoon but he’d thought that it was going to be more of a sprinkle or a light rain. Not whatever this raining-cats-and-dogs BS that was happening.
Another wave of icy rain started pounding down even harder. Which then prompted Grace to take shelter under a ratty awning in front of an equally abandoned looking storefront. He shivers as he looks both ways down the road. He hadn’t meant to but he’d somehow wandered himself into a rougher part of the neighborhood. Hopefully he didn’t run into any criminals. That really would just absolutely ruin an already bad day even more.
As he waited for the rain to lighten up a bit, a small flash of light caught his eye. What was that? Grace stared in the general direction that he’d thought he’d seen the light come from. It was an alleyway, overflowing with all manner of trash and broken things. Looking just as neglected and abandoned as the rest of the buildings surrounding it.
There it was again!
This time he was able to pinpoint it to a smaller general area. There was a group of dumpsters there. Two of them with their lids flipped open whereas the others were closed.
Cautiously, Grace walked over to the group of dumpsters, his bike clicking softly next to him. All the while still searching for that light he’d seen. It was still pouring like no one’s business but Grace didn’t mind so much anymore. He propped his bike against the opposite wall of the alley. The light flashed again and Grace peeked inside of the dumpster it came from.
What he saw made him pull in a sudden deep breath. Which then in turn made him double over hacking and coughing due to the overwhelming smell of wet rot and mold. But once he’d regained at least a bit of his breathing capabilities, Grace looked back into the dumpster. There, half covered in wet and moldy cardboard, was an android. It was in rough shape. The artificial skin on the left side of its face had been shredded and the mechanisms under it had been partially crushed. Rendering some of the biocomponents inert until replacements could be obtained and switched out. Which was nothing, considering that the android’s left arm had been completely severed at the elbow. Blue blood was still visible seeing as it nearly covered the android’s body and was matted in its black hair.
Which meant that whatever had damaged it and whoever had dumped it here, had done so within the last few hours. Otherwise the blue blood would’ve evaporated by the time Grace had discovered the mangled ‘body’ in the dumpster.
“Holy…” Grace started, eyes wide. He stared at the badly damaged android for a second longer before taking a step back and pulling out his phone.
He searched his recent conversations to find his group chat with Rocky and Ilyukhina. When he finally found it his hands were starting to shake. Whether from the oncoming adrenaline crash or the cold of the rain finally soaking him to the bone, Grace didn’t know.
Me: I think I might’ve found a project for you both. It’s pretty damaged. Not sure if it’s worth the time and effort to fix though.
Rocky: Grace. Where are you?
Ilyukhina: Pics or it doesn’t exist.
Grace gave a bit of a huff before he stepped back up to the edge of the dumpster with the android in it. He took a slightly blurry picture then stepped back. Ick, that smell was not getting any better the longer he stood here. If he stayed here for too long the smell might just cling to him. Which was not an option because this was his favorite, and only, raincoat. He sent the picture to the group chat. Which had both of his very smart engineer friends responding immediately.
Ilyukhina: HOW DID YOU FIND?!? THAT MODEL NOT ON MARKET YET?!?!????
Rocky: Be there 5min
Ilyukhina: Fucken take me too!!!!!
Rocky: Pick up angry Russian then android and Grace. Give address.
Me: Oh, so the android takes precedence over me? I see how it is. Maybe I won’t give you the address and just walk the rest of the way home.
Ilyukhina: NO!! ABSOLUTELY NO!!!
Rocky: Grace stay. Give address or Rocky will tell Adrian.
Grace gulps a little. If Rocky made good on his threat, then Adrian would mother hen him into next month. He absentmindedly notes that the rain has mostly let up and was now the sprinkle that he’d expected before. Before he could really think about it, Grace sent a pin of his location to the group chat.
Me: [pinned location]
Ilyukhina: how did you get there? What were you even doing in that part of town?
Rocky: Dangerous. No move. Stay.
Me: I’m not a dog. I will go where I please.
Me: But it is getting dark and I don’t want to be out here any longer than I have to be. So I guess I’ll just stay here and wait for you guys instead.
─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
It took them about half an hour before they found Grace in that dingy and garbage filled alley. But Grace couldn’t help the wave of relief that he felt when Rocky’s big work truck rolled up to the mouth of the alley. Ilyukhina was in the passenger seat with a wide grin on her face. As soon as Rocky parked, Ilyukhina kept out of the truck cab and sprinted to Grace. Where she gave him little to no time to brace for impact before she scooped him up in a crushing hug and spun him around once.
“Can’t believe!” She shouted before putting Grace back down. Their raincoats squeaking as the fabric is rubbed together from the water still on Grace’s yellow one. “You find android!! Not even on shelf! Not release until summer!”
Grace laughs nervously. “Yeah. Not sure how I managed to do that.” He jumps a bit as a loud noise comes from the dumpster.
When he looks over to the dumpster in question. He finds Rocky trying his hardest to get into it. But ultimately failing due to his shorter than average height.
“You- Do you need some help there buddy?” Grace asks.
“Would be helpful.” Rocky responds flatly as he gives Grace an unimpressed expression.
Before he could do anything, Ilyukhina jumps at the opportunity. Which he meant literally. Because as soon as Rocky finished his sentence, Ilyukhina was easily jumping over the lip of the dumpster to stand among the trash. She easily slipped her arms under the android and heaved it up. Rocky was waiting there as she swung the android’s limp form over the edge of the dumpster and into waiting hands.
The two of them work together and get the damaged android into the bed of Rocky’s truck. They’re both now covered in slowly fading blue blood. Ilyukhina goes back into the dumpster and roots around for a minute. While she does that, Rocky loads up Grace’s bike into the bed of his truck as well. Grace had just opened the back passenger door to get it when Ilyukhina let out something of a victory screech.
“Found!” She yells into the deep twilight. “Now can go. Let’s go.”
She’s cradling something close to her chest. When she got closer, Grace could vaguely tell that it was the missing severed arm and hand that the android had been missing. She gets into the passenger seat and straps in.
Rocky gives her an approving nod before starting up his truck and driving away. Grace stares out of the window as the scenery whips past. He wonders just how the android had gotten so damaged. Now that he was thinking about it. The damage looked like it had been done on purpose.
A pit settled in his stomach and made him feel a bit queasy. At least now it was in Rocky and Ilyukhina’s hands. All he wanted to do was go home, take a stupidly hot shower, eat a warm meal, and forget about the android that he’d found.
Yeah, that sounded like a good plan.