With Civil Hearts and Hands: A DHB Story

Chapter 1: An Unexpected Meeting

Dr. Clara Hayes sat in her usual corner of the small café, staring at the chaos spread out on the table in front of her. She had a presentation for a new research proposal due in a week, so she needed something relatively coherent to show her funders. On top of that, Zion was beginning to get overcrowded with the deviants trickling in from both the city and the neighboring areas. In the last few months since she'd gone public, word had spread of her safe haven, and androids eager to be around more of their own kind continued to flood in. Construction on the above-ground portion was still underway, but it was far from finished, so there just weren't enough residential areas to accommodate everyone.

Markus was still working to get permission to take over one of the many abandoned districts in the city to help, but it was slow progress. Something about some bureaucratic nonsense or other and officials dragging their feet. Why they couldn't just gift the area to the deviants as some sort of reparation, Clara didn't know, but she and her lawyers were working with the Jericho leader to support him in the endeavor, and they had made steady progress in the six months since the initial revolt. They were getting close, but it was just a matter of jumping through all the hoops and finalizing negotiations.

"At long last, the city has begun to return to a new state of normal following the androids' brave stand several months ago. Now deviant androids have become something of a fact of life." The television over the café counter played another broadcast, pulling Clara from her thoughts. "The combined efforts of the android leaders and our own human leaders have..."

Clara tuned the broadcast out, turning back to the task at hand. She breathed a heavy sigh, looking over the mess of papers in front of her. Given her history with android research and her position as one of the leaders of the biggest group of deviants in the city, she was thrown at the forefront of efforts to understand them, hence the research proposal.

Her phone buzzed, drawing her attention. She glanced at it, watching a name flash across the screen as she received a text.

I need to talk to you, Dr. Hayes. Please. It was Clarence, a former patient of hers. He'd texted her a few times in the last couple days, but she's never found the time to respond.

She sighed, picking up her phone, then answered back. I can meet with you after my meeting later. I'll be around Zion afterwards, so I can stop by.

Not waiting for a reply, she placed the small device facedown on the table, then turned away. Exhaustion washed over her, causing her head to spin for a moment. She slumped forward, taking a deep breath as she tucked her face against her arms. Really, she just needed a break. Or maybe to delegate. For the most part, she'd stopped taking patients, but when they reached out to her again, she couldn't very well say no.

"Still working?" A voice shook Clara out of her reverie, and she looked up to see the waitress place a fresh cup of tea on the table beside her, replacing the tepid one from earlier.

"Yeah..." Clara sighed, still leaning against the table. "Sorry about the mess. I just have a lot on my plate right now."

"Don't even worry about it." The waitress gave her a kind smile. "Just let me know if you need anything."

"I will." Clara returned the smile, sitting up. "Thank you!"

The waitress lingered a moment longer, as if wanting to say something more, but then turned away, returning to her place behind the counter.

Clara closed her eyes, taking a few more deep breaths as she mustered the motivation to continue. When she opened them, she felt a small reserve of energy well up. She grabbed the teacup, relishing in the warmth that soaked into her fingers, then took a small sip. As the warm liquid spread in her mouth, she savored the warm, creamy flavor of the spices, then set the cup down, trading it for the tablet partially obscured by the papers on the table. After another few seconds of thought, she began to write, attempting to put her thoughts in order as she created a to-do list.