The Broken Citadel

Prologue

Tuesday, 26th october
2:44am
5302
Ngc-4565

"i thought i might find you up here.. "

Aeryn always seemed to know damien better than Damien knew himself,  and if it hadn't been for the gentle creaking of ever so weathered apartment stairs, the weary eyes android never would have heard the other coming. Damien turned his head sideways with a fleeting chuckle from pale coloured lips, mismatched eyes meeting with the silvery grey hues of Aéryn volt, the only man that he could really put his trust into these days, offering him a weak yet still somewhat genuine smile before turning his once diverted attention back out to the view displayed before him. It was a dazzling display of a darkened blue,  cyan streaked night sky scattered with seemingly thousands of glittering, golden ringed stars. City lights gently flickered in and out of life, fleeting glimpses of passing traffic and dimly lit streetlights carried out into the far off distance before fading beyond viewpoint, seemingly lost into the vast expanse that was the surrounding universe. It was a scene that damien had always held a significant soft spot for, focus fixated straight ahead even as he listened to volt approach his side, before lowering himself into a semi comfortable position on the apartment complex rooftop where he had initially discovered his evidently exhausted companion. Aeryn, The taller,  profusely older mechanical male had never been one to often stop and appreciate the smaller details in existence,  but even he could understand damiens love for the nightscape, the still heavily armored officer lifting his head towards the sky to allow the wind to properly skim his face before releasing a brief,  content exhale which had obviously been held in his chest for an elongated period of time due to how pleasant it felt to discard.

"is it just me... Or are we not doing enough out there?"
Damiens abrupt inquiry visibly caught Aeryn off guard, averting his gaze from the starlit sky above to allow himself to properly give damien himself a thorough once over, being able to intake every singular detail of his face since his scuffed, visored helmet sat comfortably against his left shin on the ground  below. He looked damaged, beyond his still healing disfigurement from a few years prior, the worrisome sleep deprivation being so prevalent that it seemed to edge itself into every possible cease that was present on his dirtied face. Now,  damien had always been a presentable male, and had never been one to outwardly show any signs of wear and tear if it was possible to conceal it, so his current state was deeply concerning. With no immediate reply from volt,  damien turned to him almost expectedly, as of course,  he was looking for input. Input that Aeryn was not entirely sure how to give.
"There's only so much we can do.. " was the reply that volt eventually opted to offer to the smaller android,  which in return,  earned a small yet forcibly amused soft bout of laughter. Damien knew all too well that his partner was indeed correct. Things had never been easy around here,  and there was only so much that the two of them could do to change that. The citadel was a gruelling place to reside for anyone. Not just the two of them, yet the current plan for improvement was not exactly turning out as hoped or as expected.
"You know what i meant, Aeryn. Doesn't it scare you,  hm? The deterioration,  that is? We made progress at some point in the past, yeah, but now it just.. Seems to be going down the drain. Then there's Victor.. He's merely growing more paranoid by the second."

This was sadly true, and Aéryn knew it. It was becoming increasingly difficult to remain in line  around Victor, considering his constantly increasing suspicion of the stability of his founded society was nothing short of sky high. He was becoming frighteningly obsessive in his means of maintaining his security and physical defence measures and systems.
"Aéryn... I'm starting to think he knows.. -"
Damiens audible worried statement was abruptly cut short by a sudden, firm hand which was rested upon his shoulder,  volt having reached out to grasp ahold of him in order to gain his attention, the taller man's gaze unsettlingly stern yet still somewhat gentle.
"how could he know?"
Volt had a point.
It was unlikely that Victor would have any knowledge of either of their doings, yet matter how hard damien tried,  he could never seem to push the petrifying thought from his mind. It was a thought that kept him awake at night for hours on end, hence why Aéryn had a tendency to discover him where the two of them were now placed, lost in his own thoughts and imagination. He'd always been a dreamer, Damien, and Aeryn couldn't stand it from time to time,  because the smaller androids thoughts tended to run away with him from time to time,  and it was not uncommon for him to find himself endlessly pondering possibilities that were extremely unlikely to happen.
"He doesn't look at me like he used to.. He looks at me like he's.. Frightened. Like I've betrayed him."

It didn't take long for damien to register the verbal error that he'd just made, and it caused him to cringe, exhaling a heavy breath as he brought up his hands in order to rest his head in them, and although he shouldn't have,  volt laughed, giving the other man a brief pat on the shoulder before retracting his hand and letting it rest back at his side.
"let me break the news to you,  kid.. You have betrayed him. But you shouldn't feel bad about it. There's a real special place in hell for people like him, and you're helping put him there."
That was the difference between the two of them. Aeryn never hesitated to speak his mind, regardless of whether he knew what consequences it would have,  if any, whereas damien was careful with his words. He was a sensitive man, and if plagued him in more ways than one. The android knew that his gift to be able to feel genuine emotion was was a power to be appreciated, but from time to time, he contemplated whether he had been gifted or burdened with his ability. An ability that a good portion of the citadel population had been forcibly stripped of a long time ago. Aeryn, though, never seemed to harbour the same dilemma,  yet damien knew that volt had been left to fend for himself for so long that he'd never had any choice other than to push down what he felt. Yet he had pushed it down for so long that that he'd lost his grip on his emotions altogether,  and he'd never been able to pick them back up again after that. Volt was cold. He was reliable,  yes,  trustworthy,  absolutely, but he was empty. A damaged void of a man with little to no ability to sympathize with the predicaments of others. By no fault of his own. His time in the citadel had molded his personality and shaped it this way, something that didn't ever seem to cross volts mind,  but it bothered damien. It was unfair. This bleak,  cruel society was unfair.

With no response from the visibly guilty damien,  aéryn took it upon himself to break the silence between the two of them, only to have the words that hadn't even left his lips shoved away by a sudden break in damiens posture,  the android lifting his head from his hands and raking his fingers gently through his hair, the initially silent second officer turning his head so damaged eyes could meet with Aéryns, almost reading his thoughts.
"i don't feel guilty,  Aeryn. I don't know exactly how i feel,  and that's part of the problem,  but it... It isn't guilt."
Either damien was lying through his teeth,  or Aeryn had the wrong end of the stick.
"Things aren't getting any better around here,  are they? Not even you could deny that. It's all moving so slowly and i just... I wish it would end."
Aeryn could, of course, understand how damien felt, although it wasn't in his nature to offer any words of reassurance. Well, not ones that he knew would help, anyway.
"what's your point, Bryans-?" volt eventually asked, arching a brow at the unsettled smaller man, brows creased into a look of mixed confusion, concern and an odd sense of intrigue. Damien could speak intensely from time to time, and in those moments even Aeryn knew to listen to what he had to say, as the words would probably never be repeated. You either listened, or remained uninformed.
"My point is that i don't wanna live like this.. No one does. The others might not have the capability to realise it, but they dont want to live a manipulated life. A controlled existence. They don't want to live under the thumb of a man who's able to twist their thoughts and feelings for his own satisfaction... I.. I don't either. Aeryn i.. Don't want to die, but i don't want to live like this anymore.. I don't know how much longer i can tolerate it.. "

Damien was unsure as to how the older man would react to his sudden outburst of bottled up thoughts which had been trapped inside his mechanical brain for a good few months now, an almost ashamed expression now plastered over his features as his head dipped back towards the floor, eyes refusing to lift to meet the gaze of volt, who clearly hadn't expected such a display of.... Anger. Was it anger? He wasn't sure. But he could tell it had been pent up for quite the extended amount of time.
Although when he did finally offer an answer, but wasn't what damien had been waiting for.
"son.. Look at me.. " came Aéryns usual deep, gravelly tone of voice, although as damien gingerly lifted his head to oblige, he was met with volts hands on his face, gentle fingers scraping across his cheeks to ensure that bryans's attention was captured, which it was.
His smile was almost bizarre looking, considering Aeryn was never usually one to smile, but it was so pleasant to see a genuine sliver of emotion in the aged man's face that damien wouldn't have dared to mention it, mismatched eyes staring almost apprehensively back at aeryn himself.
Volt could tell he was frightened. And it was no surprise. Their current situation was fear inducing for anyone involved. Not just them. Yet it was manageable. And volt knew it.

"it ain't gonna be like this forever, kid.. It ain't easy, i know, but you've got spirit in you. Spirit that can change things i probably never could. You're a good man, damien, and I'm proud of you. You just gotta hang in there. Stick with me, kid, and we'll change the world. I promise."