𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐎𝐃𝐄

Chapter 7

The police station was brightly lit with obnoxiously fluorescent bulbs that dotted the high ceilings. Officers walked past your cell without even a glance in your direction. The two that had taken you into custody were the only exceptions; occasionally throwing sneers and hateful looks your way from their desks.

The sheer sleeves of your formal gown did little to block out the coolness of the room. Your bare feet thumped against the linoleum flooring in a rhythmless song. A nervous habit. Your hair had fallen from your updo and framed your face in thick, awkward strands. The aftermath of your meltdown was evident on your face in the makeup that smeared over your eyes and down your cheeks. In an everyday situation, you would have felt embarrassed. Maybe even ashamed. But you were more concerned with bigger, more imperative issues.

"Oh, Markus," You mumbled, crossing your arms over your chest and leaning over onto your knees. A part of you wanted to believe that the events at Carl's house had been just another one of your horrible dreams but you knew by the thirium that stained the skirt of your dress that it was no more of a dream than you were a free android. You'd attempted to phone Richard several times already but to no avail. Opal must be a very entertaining guest, you supposed.

As soon as you arrived at the station all of three hours ago, you were taken straight to an interrogation room and handcuffed to the table they had seated you at. The room was cold and catching yourself in the reflection of the two-way mirror sent a shiver down your spine. Flecks of blue blood were scattered across your face and you did your best to wipe them away before the door clicked open and who else but Connor walked in.

Saying nothing, he took a seat across from you and folded his arms over the table. "Hello, (Y/N)," he greeted. You would have glared if you hadn't wasted all of your energy crying over your now deceased friend. This was the second time this year that a loved one had died violently in front of you.

"The deviant was close to you, yes? I know this might seem difficult but you need to give us information in order to better understand your case."

After you said nothing, he clenched his jaw and raised his arm, letting the skin fade away to a white, porcelain looking metal. With a pseudo-confident look, he turned to you and reached forward. "We have ways to extract information if necessary." You knew he was gesturing toward probing you and pulled back against your restraints. Raising an eyebrow, he leaned back and fell into his original position. You took a shaky breath. "Yes. M-Markus and I were close."

"Had it shown signs of deviancy in the past?"

A beat passed and you debated saying anything at all. Connor sighed. "This is your last chance before I resort to force."

"No," You growled, finally regaining enough energy to outwardly express how you felt. "This was the first time I'd seen him use his free will to disobey orders." You put extra emphasis on the pronouns. You hated how humans always referred to androids as if they were objects. Apparently, Connor was no exception.

He nodded, eyes trained on the table. "What role did you play in the hospitalization of Leo Manfred?" Your eyes lit up for just a moment as he said these words. "You mean Leo isn't dead?" As much as you hated his guts, you didn't like the idea of him-or anyone else-dying. 

"Not yet. Answer the question, (Y/N)," Connor ordered.

"Leo attacked me and Markus intervened. He was just trying to protect me." You explained. While you knew Leo wasn't going to be punished for roughing up an android and that clearing up the story wasn't going to bring Markus back, it felt good to let someone know what really happened. Despite this, Connor squinted in disbelief. "Why do I feel like that isn't the truth?" He asked.