Thirium 310

Chapter 8

November 6, 2038
5:32 pm

Jericho. I hesitate to go in but I promised Rupert I'd meet him here. Plus, it would be nice to see Simon, Josh and North again. I feel kind of bad, I just left North there alone. Well, I've left a lot of androids there alone. Picked them up, dropped them off and left. I just can't take it in there. I feel trapped, plus someone has to go into the outside world. No one else will.

As I enter the hold, Josh comes up to me. "Did you bring anything?"
"No 'hi, how are you Celeste?' first?" I roll my eyes.
"I'm sorry, but more androids are shutting down. We need parts."
"I know," I sigh. "Here." I give him my bag. "It's not much, but it's not nothing." He gives me a small smile.
"Thanks." He walks away to deliver the parts to whoever needs them.

I look around the room, searching for Rupert and spot him sitting on the ground, alone. One knee is up and he rests his arm on top of it. I walk up to him and place myself beside him. "Hey, you're okay," I say and give him a smile.
"And so are you." He returns a smile.
"Yep. I'm fine. Always am." I turn to face him. "What was with the pigeons?"
He shrugs. "I just thought they should be cared for too."
"That's sweet."
He smiles slightly, then looks around. "This place is kind of dull."
"I know, but here you're free and safe. The humans don't know about this place."
"Right, and you're here so it'll be fine."
I laugh. "I'm barely ever here. I have work to do, outside."
"Yeah sure, but you can come back now and see me," he says and takes my hand gently. I arch my eyebrows.
"What?" I laugh nervously.
"I like you. I've heard of the things you've done, seen the way you are. You're special. My rA9, you're the deviant defender. I'm so honored you came for me."

I move over away from him a little. "You barely know anything about me."
"I know enough," he counters
"Uh. . ." I don't know what to say to him. I've heard of androids who've fallen in love before, but I never thought of it. It's never been on my list of priorities. And it never will. "I'm sorry Rupert but I've got things I have to do. I can't stay." I get up but he keeps his grip on my hand.
"Wait," he says. I pull my hand away.
"I'm sorry. If you need anything, Josh and Simon are always willing to help." I walk away as he calls my name softly. That was unexpected.

"Someone likes you," North says as I sit with her on a crate. I shake my head.
"That was weird."
"I didn't hear anything, but you freaked out. Your face was great. You were all confused and panicked." She laughs.
"It's not funny."
"It's hilarious. You really aren't into relationships and stuff are you?"
"Of course not. There are more important things to do here," I say.
"You don't truly have friends either," she points out.
"I have Josh and Simon. . .and you."
"Josh and you always bicker. Simon, well. . .he's pretty quiet. Whenever you talk to them it's about Jericho and part and all saving androids stuff."
"Well, yeah. What else is there to talk about?"
"Do you even know each others backstories?" she asks. I think about it.
"Just Josh's. He told us when he got here. Simon's been here since before me, but he's been pretty private."
"But have you asked?"
"No."
"Exactly." She leans back against a pillar.
"Doesn't matter. We have our work to do."
"I heard you helped that guy anyway. He came in all cheery and chatty about you," she says.
I cringe. "Really? Ugh."
"What's his story?"

I explain to her what happened with Rupert and Connor. She stares at me wide eyed when I mention the deviant hunter. "The made an Android to hunt other androids?"
"Yep."
"Any some freaking reported him because he made noise?" I nod. "Stupid humans have to ruin everything for us. It would be better if they were all dead."
"North," I say wide eyed. "Not all humans are horrible." I think of Gavin. He's a jerk sure, but he didn't call me in.
"Right, sure. Hey did you see the new guy?"
"What new guy?"
"I think he's with Simon. His name is Markus. He got here on his own."
"Really? That barely ever happens," I say surprised. "I'm gonna go check him out." She nods and we both get up.

"Simon," I call, looking for him.
"Right here," he says. I follow the sound of his voice and find him with another android. Josh stands nearby, leaning against a pillar.
"You must be Markus," I say to the android. "I'm Celeste. I heard you got here on your own. I must say, I'm impressed. Not many androids have make it on their own."
"Then how do they get here? There's quite a few of them," he says.
"She helps them," Simon says, motioning to me. Markus looks at me.
"You do?"
"Yeah, I try."
"Don't be so modest. She's helped so many androids," North say.
"Not that many," I correct.
"Still."
"So you're the only one who leaves this place?" Markus asks.
"Pretty much."
"And you bring back the parts Josh has?"
"Yeah, I get as much as I can. It's never enough."
"Then lets go get some more."
"What do you mean?" Simon asks.
"I calculated the route to the CyberLife warehouse. We can go there and get things we need. With a few of us, we'd get more than just Celeste. Not that I'm degrading you," he says.
"No, don't worry. I get it," I say, in complete understanding
"I don't know," Simon says.
"Going to the warehouse? I'm in," North says.

Josh walks into our little huddle. "We can get caught. That place is crawling with guards. And we don't know how to fight," Josh says.
"We can steal things without fighting. We'll just have to be careful," Markus replies.
"I'm definitely in," I say. I look at Simon and Josh. "Think of how many parts and blue blood we can get with five of us."
"It's risky," Josh says.
"What's life without a little bit of risk? Come on for our people," I say.
"Alright, let's do this," Simon says. We all look at Josh, waiting for his answer.
"Okay, I'm in."