Thirium 310

Chapter 5

November 6, 2038
12:45am

How in the world am I going to get into the precinct without going unnoticed? How do I blend? And how do I bust a prisoner out? I need a plan.

Little by little the house starts to empty out. Human police officers head to placed they're needed, detectives leave, then the forensic scientists. As soon as everyone has left the reporters that were lurking outside leave as well. Now's my chance to leave.

I open the door to the attic and scan the area to make sure no one stayed behind. All clear. I hop down, landing on my feet. I head to the door and open it slightly, making sure no one can see me when I exit. The coast is clear, every single person is gone, except one.

An officer stands in front of his car. He was probably waiting for everyone to clear out before he left, probably the officer on patrol for the scene. Hm. . . He's alone. No one's around. It's dark. I think I just came up with an idea.

He's not paying attention to the house, so I open the door slightly and walk outside. I close the door quietly and crouch down as low as I can to walk. He won't notice me like this. I hope. I have a black sweater on so I should fade in with the shadows. I put the hood on my head and zip up the sweater, concealing my hair and face as much as possible, as well as my LED necklace. He can't get a good look at me.

I get closer to the officer, who's now on the phone. He won't notice. I wait until he gets off his phone to make my move, and when he does, I walk towards him. He notices me.

"Hello, uh. Are you alright?" he asks, concerned. I don't want to talk to him, I just want to get straight to the point. I hit the side of my hand to the pressure point in his neck, knocking him out cold. He falls to the ground. I'm too exposed here. I open the back door and carry the officer in, laying him down across the seat. I get into the drivers seat and drive off.

...

1:57am

I park the car in the precincts parking lot. I want them to find the officer. I don't want to kust leave him stuck in there like a prisoner. They'll never trace it back to me, I have to fingerprints. They're going to wonder what happened, the officer will tell them. But he won't be able to describe me. He didn't really see me.

I park at the back so no one will find him for a while, maybe not even until morning. I open the car door and step out, dressed completely in uniform; poilce uniform. Thankfully, the officer wasn't that large so it doesn't fit me too lose. The only problem is the name tag. I had to take his out since people in here know who he is. If they see me wearing his name, I'm busted for sure.

I'm just going to have to say I lost mine if anyone asks. I left the officer alone in the car in his underwear, not feeling any guilt. We all have to do what's necessary to get things done. I'm saving an androids life at the price of a mans pride. I'd say that's fine.

I walk in no questions asked. The receptionist doesn't even acknowledge me, nor does the scurity guard at the gate. They think I belong here. Suckers.

I walk straight to the back, not bothering to look if Gavin Reed is here. I know he has the shift tonight, but he might be out. Even if he is here, he couldn't possibly notice my. I hid my hair inside the coat of the uniform and I have that hat on my head.

I have to find a way out for Epizon. He can't just walk out with me. I have to check each room for windows, somehow. Suddenly, a woman in a pencil skirt and white blouse walks out of a room. She turns off the light and closes the door. She holds her purse with her, indicating that she's leaving the station. She doesn't even take one look at me.

As soon as she exits security, I walk into her room. Getting in is child's play. All I have to do is hack the lock. I observe the room. A window. That's the way out. I open the window, making it easier for Epizon to make a quick escape. He doesn't have to worry about anything.

As I exit the room, I leave the room unlocked too. I don't know if he knows how to hack. Or even if he can. Now, to get this android.

Epizon's in his cell, sitting and looking at the ground. I telepathcially talk to him. "Epizon, I'm here to get you out," I say. He looks up at me and lightly smiles. I look around making sure no one else is around but I only see another prisoner. He shouldn't be a problem.

I hack the scanner, opening the cell door. He walks out, unsure. "Go to the back. There's an open window in the third room, an office. It's secluded right now. So don't worry about them catching you in there, but be careful on the way," I inform him.
"What about you?" he asks.
"It's riskier if the two of us go the same way, I'll go through the front. I'll meet you in front of the restaurant across the street."  He nods in understanding and leaves.

I know the calculations, and there's a high chance he'll get away. That no one will see him. The precinct is pretty empty, everyone's busy. But it isn't until I see him turn the corner when I get worried. I fear he'll get caught.

I walk back towards the exit of the station. I have to get out of here. As I walk back I look at Gavin's desk. It isn't empty. He's there, sitting. Legs on his desk and his focus on his phone in front of him. I suddenly start walking faster, worried he'll turn and see me. Worried that his reaction now will be even worse than last time.

Something hits my shoulder. "I'm sorry," a voice says. I turn to look at who it belongs to. Connor.
"It's alright, no harm done," I say, turning to walk away.
"What's your name, I can't seem to get a scan on you. Maybe it's a malfunction," he thinks outloud.
"Uh I'm. . . officer Cairn. Laura Cairn. Pleased to meet you," I lie. "I have to go." I walk away from him and outside. Away from all that.

Connor saw me. He saw my face. Androids never forget a face. But he couldn't read me. Did CyberLife delete my data? Why would they do that if they're looking for me? Who cares, better for me. Thank goodness Connor didn't use his x-ray vision or he would have noticed I wasn't a human.

I get to the restaurant where Epizon already waits. He's safe. I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding. I've never encountered that much stress before and something tells me it's not going to get easier from here. "They interrogated me," Epizon says, shaking me out of my thoughts. "I told them everything. They weren't being that horrible to me."
"That's alright," I say. "They can know the truth."

Then a question pops in my head. "Who interrogated you?"
"Well at first it was an older man," he starts. Lieutenant Hank. "Then it was someone else. His name was Connor, I believe. He was an android. He pressured me, but he also reassured me...it was strange."

Makes sense. He was demonstrating the best strategy to obtain a confession. They wanted him to say he killed that man. Even if they didn't get a confession out of him, they would have destroyed him. "Don't worry about any of that anymore, you're free now," I tell him.

~~~

"I'm back!" I call out while entering the hold. Epizon trails behind me. I'm back in my normal clothes. I ditched the uniform in a garbage bin. Josh and Simon meet me in the middle of the room.

"Here," I say, handing Josh my bag. "Got some more things." He looks through it with satisfaction.
"Perfect. Thanks Celeste," he says. I smile at him in response.
"Who's this?" Simon asks.
"Ah, this is Epizon," I tell them. They each introduce themselves as well. Epizon won't tell him what he did, they'll never know. I gave him my word that I won't say anything either, he's completely safe here.

I turn to leave. He's in their capable hands now, I've done my part. A hand on my shoulder stops me and I look back. "Thank you," Epizon says. "Thank you so much."
"Of course," I tell him. "It's what I do."
"Do you mind me asking why?"

Because I'm the most advanced android made? Well at least I still think I am. No other android is equipped with what I have. Because no one has the ability to do what I can, nor are they brave enough to venture out to help others.

"I just want to help androids. Help our people," I say. And that's true too. I do. I want to protect our kind. We are alive but humans will never see that.
"Good," he starts. "Someone needs to."