From Your Wires to Your Core

Out of Focus

Two days later, after not much rest, it began. Reed had been dreading it. He hadn't had to sit in one of these lecture room set-ups since the academy. The majority of his actual job had been work based assessments and written assignments he could complete at home. He'd bought new notebooks for Connor's training. One for each class. He also had three pens, just in case. He was feeling jittery already as he entered early and found a seat on the far aisle where he wouldn't be bothered. He sat close to the back, but not in the last row. He didn't want to draw attention to himself like that. He was relieved when Tina showed up shortly after, carrying a second cup in her hand.

"Thought I'd find you here. Oh look, you saved me a spot!" she added almost teasingly as she slid into the plastic seat beside him. The chairs weren't great. They were large plastic hulks with metal supported armrests, one of which had a cheap flip table attached. Reed had his set up already, tapping his notebook impatiently with the end of his blue biro. He felt his heart rate pick up as more people gradually filed in. He recognised a lot of them. They were all people he used to see regularly when meeting up with AAL members. Some of them were like him, and had cut ties with the new direction the group had taken, but others, he was pretty sure, still went to meetings. They wouldn't be sacked without proof though, and they weren't paid members or anything. The AAL knew they had to hide that sort of thing for members with sensitive positions.

"This is such bullshit! As if I give a shit about integrating with these glorified hunks of metal!" a low male voice grumbled to his companion with a scoff. They were sitting somewhere behind Reed, and he couldn't help the way his own jaw tightened at those words. They were words he probably would have spoken himself not so long ago. Back before he'd watched the revolution unfold. Before blue had stained the snow. Before he'd watched humans beating defenceless androids mercilessly. Before he'd actually looked into Connor's warm hazel eyes and seen the life glittering back at him clear as day.

"Grin and bear it, man, just grin and bear it. We come in, we play nice, we write a few essays. Easy!" his friend replied haughtily, which was probably a view that a lot of the others in this room shared. Reed slipped a little lower in his seat, almost slumping. Tina distracted him with a little idle chit-chat until the room was full and the lecture began. Reed's leg bounced as he tapped his pen, trying hard to focus on the android speaking at the front. She'd been a domestic model before, but he couldn't think of a number. They'd been pretty common a couple years back as the hot new thing for suburban homes. She was telling them about...something. Reed winced, sighing in frustration. There was just too much.

There was light shining in from outside. Too bright. It caught his eyes as it glinted on the shiny silver frames of the chairs. The dim PowerPoint display was slightly out of focus. The fuzz of the lettering bothered Reed's eyes. He couldn't even make it clear when he squinted. People were talking quietly or scribbling notes with deafening scratches. There was constant movement at the corner of his eye. People tapped their feet and scraped their chairs. He looked around. So many people were watching the lecture, but many weren't even bothering to write notes. Tina was busy beside him, her deep brown eyes constantly darting between the board and her notebook. Reed looked at his own mostly blank page and cursed under his breath.

"Is there a problem, Detective?" the android asked in a clear voice. He could tell she was annoyed. Hell, he'd be annoyed, too. He just couldn't sit still and focus. Not for five minutes. Reed shook his head stiffly and waved her to continue, crossing his legs and hunkering lower in his seat . She gave him a small frown of something like disdain before continuing. He hadn't noticed that Connor had slipped into the room and was currently watching everyone. He was assessing them. Recording who was taking it seriously and who wasn't. His eyes were drawn to Reed more than once. He could tell something was off. It intrigued him. He seemed agitated.