Survivor - Connor x OC

Castle

Halsey - Castle

Taylor slid in her earbuds and hit play on her phone, closing her eyes for a brief second as the music started pounding in her ears. She tightened the laces on her shoes and stood, then shifted her eyes to the handgun resting on the counter. Checking the safety, she slid the gun into the back of her pants and pulled her jacket down over it. She had calculated the safest route in the neighborhood for her run, but even the safest route in Detroit could still be dangerous.

With the music playing in her head, she set off. The rhythmic pace of her feet hitting the concrete soothed her nerves. The exhaustion in her bones was forgotten momentarily in the high of the run. She was circling back onto her street, clicking her music off, when she realized her feet on the sidewalk weren't alone.

She pulled the gun as she turned, coming face to face with the shocked face of an android. Or, she thought he was an android. He didn't have an LED, but it was something in his stance as he raised his hands in surrender, his eyes wide and focused on the barrel of the gun.

"Who are you?" She demanded, her voice still breathless from running. The light was dim. It was early morning still, the sun not even visible over the horizon, streetlights illuminating the sidewalk in broken orbs of light. She had stopped under one of them, the yellow light surrounding her in a glowing halo. The male slowly stepped forward into the light, hands still raised, so that she could see his face.

"I didn't mean to frighten you." He said, his tone conciliatory. His eyes kept shifting nervously between the gun and her face, and she realized one of them was blue, the other green. "My name is Markus."

"Still doesn't explain who you are." Taylor said in return, her gun still trained on his chest. "Or why you're following me."

"I met an android" Markus said. He stopped looking at the gun and stared directly into her eyes. "He said that you saved him. You let him escape."

She narrowed her eyes at him but said nothing. He had to be an android. There was something intense and sad about his eyes, but she was wondering if it was just an effect of the mismatched colors.

"I did some research on you. Not the first time you've helped an android, is it?"

"Anyone with an internet connection could have figured that out. What do you want?"

"I'm an android." She sighed, not realizing until that moment how relieved that made her. "I am here to ask for your help."

Taylor lowered the gun a fraction. "With what?"

"The revolution."

______

Taylor took a deep breath in and released it slowly, trying to block out the cacophony of noise around her. She could already feel the heat of the lights on her skin, a bead of sweat forming along her hairline. Her blonde locks had been braided over her right shoulder, but one errant lock kept falling into her left eye. She compulsively reached up and pushed it back.

"We're on in 30 seconds." She folded her hands in her lap and straightened her posture. Her eyes fell on the man sitting across from her at the desk. Michael Brinkley was studying his prompts, ignoring both her and the makeup woman dabbing powder across his forehead. "3... 2... 1."

"Good morning, America! Today we have an exclusive interview with elusive social media influencer and android supporter Taylor Kolbeck." Taylor plastered on a smile as the cameras focused on her, looking straight into the lens.

"I'm not sure daily posting on social media qualifies me as elusive, Michael." She joked, watching him try not to grimace as he laughed with her. She knew he despised her. He'd made it obvious in the brief introduction they'd had upon her arrival. "I am happy to be here, though."