Runaway||DETROIT: BECOME HUMAN

Chapter One

"Did that door just lock behind us?"

"...yup."

Markus sighed while 900—now known as Conrad and occasionally referred to as nines, attempted to open the metal door by ramming his shoulder into it, but it didn't budge. He punched it, hard; which ended up being a stupid decision as it scraped his knuckles to the point it exposed the flawless white beneath the synthetic skin. It wasn't obvious, as it hadn't damaged his entire hand.

"It's not going to open if you punch it, you know," Markus deadpanned, not missing how Conrad stuck his tongue out at him before walking to his side. Markus looked up at the taller man, seeing him inspect the damage done to his hand with a pout.

At the junkyard: Conrad's hair was combed back with a tiny lock refusing to stay in place. But without the effort to keep it neat, it was curly and dishevelled; which suited him much better. It made him look less stern, and seemed to soften his eyes. Markus thought he looked better with the messy hair.

"We can only go forward. Let's just hope this place doesn't collapse on our heads," Markus muttered. Conrad cringed at the thought of that.

Their footsteps echoed off the walls and created an unsettling air to the large, cold room. They started walking across a metal pathway, taking slow and careful steps to ensure it didn't collapse beneath them.

Of course, that was pointless, as it chose to collapse anyway; much to Conrad's distain. As they fell, time seemed to slow and there was an almost dramatic feel to the entire situation as they wondered how far down the ground was; only to be abruptly interrupted as they both made contact with a rusted metal beam; falling from there to the ground below.

A muffled groan came from Conrad, who had pretty much face-planted. He scrambled to his feet, helping Markus up as he noticed a part of his grey shirt dampen with what he assumed could only be Thirium. Markus pointed the flashlight around them as they found themselves surrounded by androids.

Conrad locked eyes with a blonde android who had a tiny smile on his face; and he seemed to be the leader of the android group. On his left was a taller man with dark skin and a purple shirt, and a woman with tied-back hair and a hardened gaze stood to his right.

"Welcome to Jericho."

Conrad looked around at the surrounding androids, seeing a few more hanging back in the distance.

"Who are you?" Markus asked, shuffling closer to Conrad.

"I'm Simon, this is Josh, and this is North." Conrad looked between the three of them, able to tell at least a tiny bit of their personalities just by the way they stood and the way they looked at him and Markus.

"...I'm Markus, this is Conrad. How many of you are there?" Markus took his turn looking around, seeing quite a few androids, but not a lot compared to what he expected.

"There are nineteen of us still in working order, the others were damaged escaping their masters." North spoke up, her gaze only on Markus.

"Many are killed trying to find Jericho. Humans have little pity for our kind," Josh added.

"Yeah, I noticed that." Conrad muttered, before he remembered the clues that had brought them to Jericho in the first place.

"You know only an android could find the signs, didn't you?" Conrad asked with a grin, slightly impressed.

"If you could see the clues that means one of us trusted you enough to give you the key," Simon explained. Conrad and Markus thought back to the android in the junkyard. He must have been one of the deviants.