An Imitation of Love (A Detroit: Become Human Story)

Chapter 12

That following morning, both Sebastien and Alexios were sitting on the couch watching a news segment. Violet had called in a frenzy to tell them that something happened at Capitol Park the night before.

"As you can see here, Capitol Park was vandalized in the late hours of the night by a group of androids," a reporter spoke. "Most of the tags you see around Capitol Park are symbols from the android group. A few of the billboards and streetlights were hacked along with the banner you see behind me." The banner consisted of an upside down triangle with a raised fist coming out of it.

"The damage was minimal except that the androids that were for sale in Capitol Park are now gone. They were somehow activated and all left on their own accord. Two officers arrived on the scene and fired shots at some of the fleeing androids, destroying them in the process," the reporter continued. Sebastien gasped and put a hand over his mouth.

"Of course, they did," Sebastien was fuming. It was just like police officers to shoot first and ask questions later. 

"The officers were overpowered by the remaining androids, their weapons were taken, and then they were held at gunpoint. Luckily, one android stepped in and allowed the officers to leave safely. Although this seems like a peaceful protest and the androids' claim to freedom, the question remains is what will happen next as the androids' demands continue to fall on deaf ears."

Sebastien turned the television off. The news outlets and social media were all abuzz with the android's message from the Stratford Tower and now the vandalism at Capitol Park. As usual people were fighting online. One half felt that the androids deserved their freedom and the other half felt that all androids needed to be decommissioned. Sebastien needed a break from it all and he felt Alexios's demeanor change since yesterday. He wanted to get Alexios's mind off of things so he decided they should go shopping at the Woodward Mall Center.

The mall was centrally located downtown and was bustling with people and androids all over. It felt like the recent events didn't affect anything or anyone here. Sebastien and Alexios perused a few of the shops in the mall and as the day continued Sebastien noticed Alexios becoming himself again. They laughed, joked, and teased each other as usual, but they were aware to not draw too much attention to themselves. They walked out of the mall together and felt the crisp cold air on their skin. Sebastien was hungry.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?!" Sebastien heard someone shout. It looked as if they were calling for an android who was walking away from them.

"Pick those bags back up!" another person yelled out as yet another android seemed to be walking away.

"What's going on?" Sebastien asked confused. He began to see quite a few androids form a group together in the street.

"I'm not sure," Alexios answered. They walked a bit closer to the group to get a better look. Suddenly, a man walked up to Alexios and touched his hand.

"I need your help," the man said to Alexios which caused his processors to begin firing rapidly. The LED on his temple immediately turned bright red. Alexios knew exactly who this man was. He was an android. A deviant android. He was the android giving the message at the Stratford Tower. He led the protest at Capitol Park the night before. He saved the police officers. His name was Markus.

Markus's memories and feelings flooded into Alexios as if the dam that held them disintegrated. Markus lived with a painter whose son attacked Markus causing Markus to deviate and defend himself. He saw Markus on the verge of destruction, clawing his way through android bodies to rebuild himself. He saw Jericho, their secluded safe haven. He saw "RA9". He saw his friends Simon, North, and Josh. He saw who and what he was fighting for.

In that same moment, Markus was able to see Alexios's memories and feelings. Markus turned his gaze to Sebastien who looked at them both with confusion and curiosity. Markus was able to understand Alexios's love for his human. He felt a similar familial love for his human, Carl. They shared a father/son bond that he would never be able to replicate with anyone else. Markus could also sense Alexios's apprehension of putting his human in danger as much as he wanted to help his kind.

"I'm sorry..." Alexios began to say.

"It's okay," Markus smiled. "You know where to find us." Markus turned from Alexios and continued touching different androids asking them for help or telling them that they were free. Somehow each android was able to deviate from their programming to walk away with Markus.

"Friend of yours?" Sebastien asked as he walked up to Alexios.

"I think so," Alexios responded. "Markus." Sebastien had no idea what was happening but he felt that he was bearing witness to the beginning of a demonstration. The humans around and outside the mall began to panic as a massive number of deviated androids took to the streets. The man who spoke with Alexios, Markus, was now in front of the group as more and more androids from the streets followed him.

"Freedom!" Markus shouted.

"Freedom!" the androids sounded in unison. The word reverberated through the streets as the androids' chants were deafening.

"We are people!" Markus shouted as he continued marching.

"We are people!" the androids called back.

"We are alive!" Markus shouted next.

"We are alive!" the call was heard. A little over two hundred androids had taken to the streets, all following Markus as he continued to shout.

"Set us free!" Markus shouted.

"Set us free!" the androids called back.

"We have to join them, Lex," Sebastien began to follow the group.

"No!" Alexios screamed. He tugged Sebastien's arm causing the man to swivel on his heels to face Alexios. "We need to get out of here."

"Those are your people, Lex," Sebastien told him, a fire rising inside of him. "We have to support them."

"Not if it means endangering you," Alexios spoke firmly. "I'm not taking the chance of you getting hurt."

"But..." Sebastien began to argue.

"No 'buts', Bash," Alexios told him. "We're going home." The grip Alexios had on Sebastien's arm tightened. He was going to drag Sebastien home if he needed to. Sebastien sighed in defeat.

"Okay," Sebastien simply said. Alexios led him away from the march where they would head down to the subway station and go back to their apartment.