hunger ; detroit: become human

sixteen

Valeria

Night of November 10th, 2038 - 9:48 PM

It had taken some convincing, but Valeria had finally been able to leave the church. Markus had wanted to keep all of his people in one place, to prepare for the march in Hart Plaza, but she was adamant she leave. It was just two hours until the march, and she hadn't seen or heard from Connor in the last twenty four hours. Keeping her head down as she walked, Valeria pulled out her cellphone and scrolled through her contacts. As she reached her house, she fumbled with her keys in her other hand as her thumb hovered over the name in her contacts. She finally unlocked the front door and pressed on the name, locking the door behind her after she went inside. The phone rang as she walked to her bedroom, going to the closet to pull out a clean outfit, and then there was a voice on the other end.

"The fuck do you want?" Gavin asked.

"To say goodbye," she said, setting her phone down and putting it on speaker. She pulled off her jacket and top, tossing them into her laundry basket with a shaky sigh.

"Goodbye? What the fuck do you mean?"

"You heard the news, Gav. They're rounding up androids left and right and destroying them. The... The deviants are holding a freedom march tonight, and if this is it, I wanted to say goodbye," she said, pulling on a clean shirt.

"So what? You're tellin' me you're gonna go down there and lay down your life for a bunch of fuckin' androids?"

"Gavin fucking Reed! Would you stop lying to yourself for one second?!" she snapped, pulling her river soaked boots off and throwing them against the wall. "You know damn well what I mean. Stop sitting in denial!"

The line was silent on the other end, and she shook her head, grabbing a clean pair of jeans from her dresser. As she pulled off her old jeans, now stiff with river water, she heard a sigh come from the other end.

"You're really goin' out there, Val?" Gavin asked, his voice the softest she'd ever heard it be.

"Yeah, I am. I can't hide forever. And I have to stop being afraid of being what I really am," she said, pulling on her new jeans. "And so do you."

"I'm not afraid of what you really are. I guess... I guess I'm just afraid of what this means. If you die out there..."

"Then you can say you knew me when. You and Chris and Tina, you can remember me however you want. As a liar, as a fake, as a deviant who wanted to survive, whatever you want. But I want you to promise me one thing."

"And what's that, Val?"

"That no matter what happens tonight, whether we win, or we die and they issue out brand new shiny obediant androids in the next few years, you'll quit your fuckin' whining and stop seeing androids as lesser. Because we're not."

Again, silence. She ran a hand through her hair as she pulled off her socks and replaced them with clean ones, then grabbed a dry pair of shoes. She pulled them on and tied the laces, flexing her legs a bit before she heard a groan on the other end of the phone.

"I really hate you sometimes, Val. But... I'll try, okay? I'm not making any promises. Just... Just come back, okay? Can't imagine work without you, if you even still have a job when this is all over," he said, and she smiled softly.

"Even if I didn't, you couldn't get rid of me that easily. I'd miss Ripper too much," she said, and Gavin scoffed on the other end.

"I knew you only liked me for my cat."