[November 2038 4:27 AM]
Mae barely sleeps an hour.
She rarely sleeps in general. The others' soft snores surround her in a cushion of sound as she stares at the ceiling. She decides whether she would rather steal one of Bea's cigarettes or the boys' chips, then decides against both.
On her way outside, she does take Bea's lighter to play with, striking it open and closing it again. Bea is used to Mae taking her stuff. Mae is easily the shortest of the crew, and the sweater she also borrowed from the other girl is already oversized. She pulls her long sleeves over her hands and leaps up onto the hood of the van. From there, she can watch Detroit sleep. Watch the rainclouds above the city surround it in a halo of its own bitter light. It is beautiful, like a ghost is beautiful. She opens the lighter and watches it burn.
Burn down the city and start again.
That's what Cyberlife is doing. And to hell with how it affects anyone else, Mae supposes. They're the anarchists—Cyberlife—not Mae and her ragtag army of hackers in their scooby-doo van. Mae is just trying to fix Cyberlife's mess. Tell the world what they are and what they did.
She closes the lighter.
Across the street, a scraping sounds as something shifts the dumpsters that block off a back alley. Mae glances up, peering between the broken buildings. She sees nothing. Mae shrugs and goes back to playing with the lighter.
More movement.
"Hello!" Mae calls across the street. "Hello, anyone out there?! I've got nothing other than this lighter and a baseball bat in this van, so I'd move the hell on if I were you."
Two rain-soaked shadows stumble out of the alley, trailing along the wall. It's a woman and a small girl, no older than nine, her big, unblinking eyes framed by the dark hair plastered to her face. They wander aimlessly into the street, like deer. Mae leaps off the van and dashes across the road. As she reaches them, the woman collapses.
"Oh sh—" Mae helps the little girl catch her and lower her onto the sidewalk. "Help!" She calls back towards the church, praying that at least one of the others is awake. "Guys, get out here and help!"
The woman grabs Mae's arm. Her blue eyes fix on Mae and she says, "Get me—my memories—to Kamski. Please. It's our last chance—" then her eyes begin to flutter faster than hummingbird wings.
Mae panics: Is she having a seizure? I don't know what to do!
"What's her name?" she asks the little girl.
The little girl looks up at her as if noticing Mae for the first time. "C-chloe," she manages to say.
"Chloe, stay with me, stay — " checking the woman's forehead, Mae's fingers freeze an inch from the bright glowing ring on her right temple. Her mouth drops open.
The others come over. They notice immediately what has Mae shocked. They are also stunned, still as streetlights in the rain.
"No — no way." Angus stares at the blonde woman lying on the pavement. "That's an. That's a—"
"An android." Mae removes her hand and sets it in her lap. It curls into a fist inside her sleeve.
"A deviant?!" Gregg shoves his way to the front, eyes lighting up.
"I —I don't know."
"Is she dead?" the girl asks Mae in a quiet voice.
Mae's gaze fixes on her. "What's your name?"
YOU ARE READING
The Last Deviant (A machine!Connor Redemption Story)
Fanfiction"...a DEVIANT has escaped deactivation after single-handedly killing 23 soldiers at Cyberlife HQ in Detroit early this evening. Cyberlife HQ warns that this prototype rk800 model was specifically designed to be deadly. It will likely be armed and hi...
