hunger ; detroit: become human

seventeen

Valeria

Night of November 10th, 2038 - 10:52 PM

The drive to the CyberLife Tower was a long and dreadful one. Valeria could feel her arm and leg slowly leaking blue blood, though it wasn't enough to worry her. It was just a strange feeling, knowing that two bullets had been lodged inside of her, and now they were resting on the floor of the car. She had been laying on her back in the back seat, staring up at the ceiling as the impostor RK800 drove through the empty streets of Detroit. Her thoughts drifted to Connor, to the kiss they shared outside the church, to the way his hand felt against hers. If she never saw him again, if she were to die away from him, at least she knew that he wanted to be with her, that he wanted her. It was all she could ask for.

"Get her out of the back seat and come with me."

Valeria hadn't even noticed the car had stopped moving. She could hear the doors opening and closing, and she closed her eyes as Hank pulled her out of the car as gently as he could. He adjusted her in his arms again, mindful of her injured arm and leg, and began to follow the android inside. They had entered through the back of the building, with the impostor RK800 leading them into an elevator that began to descend to sub level forty nine. Valeria opened her eyes and read the directory on the elevator wall: sub level forty nine was the warehouse. The ride down was slow, painfully slow, and she couldn't say a word. All she could do was focus on the rhythmic beat of her Thirium pump to try and calm her nerves. If they were going to the warehouse, she might see Connor. And if she saw Connor, she and Hank might be able to take down the impostor before he even had a chance, because then it would be three against one. The elevator slowed to a stop, and the doors slid open, which meant Hank was marched out with Valeria still in his arms. It was just the three of them, and hundreds, maybe even thousands, of AP700 model androids, all male and all identical.

"We'll wait right here," the impostor RK800 said, pointing to the crowd of androids. Holding Valeria close, Hank grumbled as he moved to stand amongst the androids, with the RK800 following them. It was quiet for a while as they stood there, until a few guards who had also been stationed down in the warehouse stepped out to surround the other elevator on the other side of the room. Valeria could just see it, and inside, there was a single person standing. Connor.

As the elevator came to a stop, and the doors slid open, Valeria couldn't see anything, she could only hear gunshots and grunts that didn't sound anything like Connor's. From the way Hank's grip on her tightened, then slackened, she got the sense that Connor wasn't dead on the ground. At least that was some relief. Footsteps echoed along the tiled floor for a few seconds, then came to a stop. It was then that the impostor RK800 nudged Hank, pulling out his pistol and forcing him to move out onto the floor.

"Easy, fuckin' piece of shit..." Hank muttered, holding Valeria close to his chest as the pistol was aimed at them both.

"Step back, Connor! And I'll spare them," the impostor RK800 said.

"Sorry, Connor... This bastard's your spittin' image," Hank said.

"Put her down," the impostor RK800 said, using the pistol to motion to Valeria.

"Absolutely not, she can't stand on her own," Hank said, but the impostor grabbed her arm.

"I said to put her down!" He yanked Valeria from Hank's arms and onto the ground, and when she made contact with the floor, blue blood spilled onto it from her injuries. She groaned softly, lifting her head a bit to look at Connor, who gazed back at her with his hand still gripping the forearm of a dormant android, his jaw slack.