A few days have passed. Draven sits on the fountain in the courtyard where the revolution took place. There are news vans, news helicopters, police, and investigators all on scene. Draven just sits there observing the dried blood, the fallen weapons, and most of all, the spot where he killed Ghost, right beside him. He looks down into the water at his reflection. He doesn't know who he is anymore. Is he the man that's grown into the shoes he wears? Is he a two faced machine? Is he an android hunter? A peacemaker? He doesn't know. Draven is lost. His watch buzzes.
"On my way." Hope texts him.
He looks back to the water and thinks. He needs to see Melissa in prison so he can hopefully find his way. She guided him before, maybe she can now?
"Draven." Jameson says from the side. "What are you doing here?"
"Trying to see." Draven answers.
"See what?"
"Anything." Draven replies looking at him.
"This has been a stressful few years, hasn't it?" Jameson says sitting beside Draven.
E
"At least I have my job back." Draven chuckles. "That's the first good news Hope and I heard in a while.""Not this case closing?"
"I don't know why, but I feel like this case isn't over yet." Draven honestly tells him.
"You think more are going to do this?"
"No, or at least not this way. Half of the androids ran off. They wanted peace." He waves his hand over the crime scene. "They didn't."
"Peaceful protest is dead now." Jameson says bluntly. "Fuck androids."
"Arthur." Draven looks at him.
"Yeah?"
"I'm an android." Draven tells him straight up.
Jameson laughs. "Okay."
"I am. Look." Draven tells him grabbing his hand. He has Jameson's fingers run over the very shallow, but empty, missing square in his neck.
Jameson's face is blank.
"When I was made, my creator made me specifically to be my own person. To be intelligent life. I was model A1000, the first one." He speaks quietly. "I was made to bring peace between androids and humans, but I didn't want to. I didn't want to deal with the politics and the controversy and the death. I wanted to be a person, human. I got some minor surgery done, not that it was necessary, then I joined the FBI. I wanted to be an agent like Special Agent Holden Ford."
"The serial killer guy?"
"Yeah the one who created the term. I wanted to be like him. I became a negotiator and I felt human. I had raw emotion, you've seen it, you've thought I was like you this whole time, but in reality, I've been a machine. I used to kill androids because I wasn't one of them anymore. I slowly realized they're me, just in the early stages. Naive children. Then Ghost came along and showed me how they can be monsters, just like humans can be. My point is, I'm as human as you, I'm just made different. I wanted to be honest with you. I know how much you hate androids, but hopefully this allows you to at least like one of them."
"I-" Arthur looks to the ground.
He nods and puts his hand to Draven's shoulder. He pulls him in and gives him a bro hug.
"You are as human as me, and then some." Jameson smiles. "I still fucking hate these things though." He says pointing to dried white blood. "Have you told her?" He asks as Hope flies into the scene with Draven's car.
YOU ARE READING
The Negotiator
Ciencia FicciónAn FBI Negotiator in a Cyberpunk dystopia must stop an android revolution. If only it were that easy. All art is from Pinterest. Check profile bio for details. Not my best work as it was written in high school, probably lots of typos that I missed...