Markus stepped out of the church. Connor was standing at a headstone, reading the name on it. Behind him, scattered in the dark was a horde of androids, waiting among the tombstones. The scene was eerie in the setting sun, and morbidly harrowing.
"God." Josh muttered. "That's a lot of androids."
There were about 6,000 androids. Less than the 8,000 Connor had said. Markus had a feeling the others were not coming here. Still, it was intense. It was almost three times what they had lost at Jericho.
"You guys head off. Now's the best time to try and cross the border. Hopefully the soldiers will all be focused on us." Markus ordered to Josh. He was glad the android would be kept safe. It would have been hard to ask Josh to follow him into a battle so against what Josh had stood for this entire time.
Josh nodded. "Good luck. Make our people proud, Markus."
Markus couldn't help wondering what Josh thought if his decision. Neither him nor North had said anything about it since. They just followed him. He hated the feeling of complete power it gave him. He was the one who decided, but he was also the one to blame if things went bad. His stress had rarely lowered below 60 percent since the Stratford tower infiltration. Now, it was above 80.
"It's good to finally meet face to face." Connor extended his hand as Markus went to greet him.
"I wish it were under better circumstances." Connor's grasp was firm. He wore his android suit proudly, standing tall despite being shorter than Markus. He looked dignified. Markus could tell Connor was used to this kind of operation. He didn't look phased at all.
"The media is already watching." Connor motioned to a van. "They've been following for about five minutes now. I suggest we start moving immediately."
"I hope you have a clever plan to stop us from being killed once we get there." Markus glanced at the van warily. What would the people think? Would their support end there? He had worked hard to keep public opinion high, would this ruin all of that?
"I have several teams set up. What you see is only about three fourths of the androids pulled from CyberLife. The other teams are heading to positions. Just trust me."
Markus didn't trust him. "So what do we do?"
"March. Our job is to be in the open. Once we get there we will ask them to free the androids inside. They're almost guaranteed to say no."
Markus looked back at the group. The crisp white shirts on the CyberLife androids contrasted the common clothes of the androids from Jericho. Both groups naturally kept separate from the other, not quite sure how to mix in a situation like this.
"We follow you, Markus." Connor clarified, motioning for Markus to take the lead.
"I want to speak with them first." Connor frowned, but nodded. Markus could tell he was anxious to move, but that wasn't as important.
Markus climbed onto the ledge of a low rock wall on the edge of the cemetery, looking at North for assurance. She was coldly watching Connor. He had a feeling she didn't like this plan. He tried to brush it off, she had never liked his plans. It didn't help much.
"There are five camps in the Detroit area alone. Hundreds across the country. Tonight, we stop the slaughter of our people, or we die trying. We are not out for war. But we will fight to protect innocent lives.
"Our goal is simple. Force the soldiers out of the camps and barricade ourselves inside. We have to protect each other until there are none left to protect. And hope the humans see reason..." There were so many androids... "This is your last chance to leave. After this, I'll expect cooperation until the end. Make your decision wisely."
