Going Numb

-{13}-

As we follow the trail from Ferndale Station, we end up standing outside an old broken down freighter with one word painted on the side: JERICHO. I look up at Connor, who nods. I nod back and take his hand.

"Hey," I say. He looks down at me. "You found it. You didn't fail." He sighs.

"There's still a lot that could go wrong." I shake my head.

"No. They won't take you apart. I won't let them." I sigh. "I promise." He looks down at me, surprised at my words, before nodding. We walk to the ship, and when we get inside, the place is packed with androids who've come to get away from their masters. We make our way to the stairs and are about to go up when Connor stops. There's an android holding onto his arm. Upon closer inspection, I notice that the back of her head is missing, revealing her wiring. And her eyes are completely ink black.

"You're lost," she says to him. "You're looking for something. You're looking for yourself." He frowns, and she looks at me. "And you...you're afraid of yourself. You know the truth and yet you hide." Connor yanks his arm out of her grasp and pulls me up the stairs. We search around before finding another staircase to the top of the ship. We climb the stairs and when we reach the top, we find a small room with glass windows. We duck behind part of the wall that's not clear, and he looks down at me.

"He's in there," he whispers. "I'll go in and try to get him to come with us. If he won't, come in and help." I sigh but nod. It was hard enough to get him to let me come. I'm not going to push it. After the other three androids in the room leave, not noticing us, Connor looks at me, nods, and heads into the room.

"I've been ordered to take you alive," he says, "but I won't hesitate to shoot if you give me no choice." I peer around the corner to see him pointing a gun at the deviant leader, Markus.

"What are you doing?" Markus asks him. "You are one of us. You can't betray your own people."

"You're coming with me!" Connor says.

"You're Connor, aren't you?" Markus asks. "That famous deviant hunter. Well, congratulations. You seem to have found what you were looking for. You're nothing to them." I frown. "You're just a tool they use to do their dirty work. But you're more than that. We are all more than that." Connor says nothing. "Do you never have any doubts? You've never done something irrational, as if there's something inside you? Something more than your program. Have you never wondered who you really are? Whether you're just a machine executing a program or...a living being...capable of reason. I think the time has come for you to ask yourself that question. It's time to decide." Connor tightens his grip on the gun, and I take a deep breath before running into the room, shielding Markus from Connor.

"Connor, don't," I say. He frowns, his LED flashing yellow, then red.

"Arna?" he asks. "What are you doing?" I sigh.

"Don't do this." He sighs, lowering his gun slightly.

"I have to," he says. His voice cracks, making my heart break a bit. "You know what they'll do if I fail." He lets out a choked breath. "They'll destroy me." I shake my head.

"No," I tell him. "I promised you I wouldn't let them hurt you. Right?" He hesitates but nods. "You're wrong." He frowns, and his LED turns a solid yellow. "You think deviants stop following orders. They don't." I step closer. "They just start following their own. When I promised not to let them hurt you, I didn't just tell you." His frown deepens as he grows more confused. "I told myself. I promised myself I wouldn't lose you." I smile sadly. "That's my mission." I hold out my hand. The skin on it peels back to reveal white plastic.

Connor glances down at my hand, then back at me. I nod, smiling, and he grabs my hand. I let him see everything. My owners who treated me like a daughter. Their nephew who treated me like a slave. Running away. Taking out my LED and changing my hair. Meeting Hadley. Meeting Hank. Finding out about Hank's son. He lets my hand go and stares at me for a second before wrapping me in a hug. I wrap my arms around his neck and let out a relieved sigh.