Chapter Text
It was early November, nearing the eve of the Android revolution, and you were walking home from the store. You had two fabric bags grasped in your hands, full of the ingredients for the treat you were bringing to the graduation party. You were smiling, a headphone in with your favorite music playing, bopping your head to the beat. You were happy, truly happy for the first time in a long time. You had worked so hard to graduate, to get your degree. In the last year, you had put even more effort in, because you learned that the Androids you would be fixing, were alive. You wanted to help, so you did your best to graduate with good grades and high spirits.
You had come so far, and finally, you got what you wanted. You had to lose everything to get here, but deep down you knew it was worth it. You smiled again at the thought of the party. You weren't particularly close with anyone in your class, but you got along with everyone. You also loved to bake. Anything and everything, simply because it was so calming. You look up to the sky as you pass a group of people. made up of humans and androids. You were glad that integration was getting better for them, especially because in a month from now, it would be a year since the President had signed into law, the Android Equality Act. Detroit was the epicenter of Android kind. They had hospitals, they had upgrade stores, where they could get software updates, and physical upgrades to make life more enjoyable, and had schools where they could learn things their programming hadn't let them originally. Mixed colleges, and churches, and they had places that served Thirium based foods. You were glad things were going better.
The snow had started to fall as you got closer to your little apartment. It was getting a little darker out, and you realized you needed to get home a little quicker than the pace you were at was letting you. You were just about to move faster when a voice had called you from the alley. You slowed to a stop and peered down the dark alleyway. You hesitated and then stepped down. You had just wanted to help. It was a mistake you would never make again.
You had known from the moment you woke up in the terribly carved out basement, that you would not make it out the same. The walls had been lined with cells made of thick metal bars, each with a toilet. The walls themselves had tiles that were crooked and gray. The floor was just rock. The center of the room had a large operating table that looked like it was straight out of the android repair center you worked with during your last two years of school. There were large metal cabinets on the far side, and computers and IV stands sat sporadically around the center table.
The last thing you really noticed was the people in the other cells. A woman with dark eyes and hair was slumped in the cells across from you. Next to you was a woman with blue hair, cropped close to her head. She was watching you with tender eyes. At the far end of the cells on the opposite wall, a small man was curled in on himself. You were each dressed in a thin gown that was reminiscent of a hospital gown, especially with how cold it was. You said nothing that first time you woke to the gray room, fearing whatever answers you would get to your questions.
There was a day, sometime after your arrival, long after you had met the Man-That-Served-Meals, that you woke to a scream. On this day, you could barely see, the lights had been dimmed to make it difficult, why, you could not fathom at that moment. You could see the shapes of two people, one that you could tell was the Man-That-Served-Meals from his slick, bald head shining with the little light in the room, and the other person was bigger than him. From your viewpoint, you could only guess what was happening, but the sounds of a struggle and her screams gave you enough context. Blue, the name you gave the woman who was in the cell beside yours, began to rattle on the bars with extreme intensity. Her yelling seemed to catch the attention of one of the men, but only for a moment, and it wasn’t enough time for the struggling woman to free herself.
“For fucks’ sake, shut up!” The other man yelled, and the sound of a slap echoed across the small room. It went silent, and the silence scared you. The two men seemed to be satisfied with whatever they had been trying to do, and in the dim light, you could make out the scene of her being dragged out, not even being given the courtesy of being kept from further harm.
You tried not to sleep that night, afraid they would take you away. Your fear of the unknown was worse than your fear of staying locked away.
The small man, with his grey eyes and pale skin, was taken next. They did the same as they had done the last time, dimming the room and waiting until you were all resting. The man had put up a bigger fight, screaming and hitting, and he bit one of the men. You yelped when he had hit the floor just after. When the men had left, Blue had offered her hand wordlessly, grasping yours tightly. You said nothing, just needing one another’s company.
The Man-That-Served-Meals came for you a few meals after. You had expected to be taken out of the room, but when the other man did not appear after him, your fear had dimmed slightly. It was only moments later when he had pulled a syringe, with a needle that promised terrible things, did you scream out in fear.
You did not feel it when your body hit the floor, out cold.
You awoke some immeasurable time later, your body aching, and your arms chained. Blue whispered to you that you would be okay and that she would get you out of that terrible place. You were stuck in the opposite corner of the cell, unable to reach her, and barely able to reach the toilet. You cried.
The Man-That-Served-Meals came to you like that often, not even batting an eye at you when Blue would scream at him, telling him to get his filthy hands off of you. And each time when you woke, body aching with every breath, she apologized with tears in her eyes and promises on her breath. Part of you kept trying to believe.
The men came for her one day too, not even bothering to dim the lights. She kicked and thrashed and screamed. Her hands tore into their skin, and the scratches on her face bled blue. Her eyes were filled with fury, and at the last moment, as they pressed her into the floor, trying to make her compliant, she looked at you.
“Just hold on,” she said, her voice soft. And when her eyes closed, you feared that was the last time you would see the soft, honey eyes, and so you cried.
You barely kept track of time, only whatever meals you had been given. At some point, long after the Man-Who-Served-Meals had stopped drugging you to sleep, you heard yelling upstairs. Your eyes had closed, trying to better hear the sounds, but they stopped soon after. Only the sound of yelling and two sets of quick thumps. Those disappeared moments later, and you were left in silence.
You were thirsty, and the water in the tank of the toilet tasted terrible. Part of you wished someone would find you, and another part wished you would just die already. It had been a long while, and you wished for the end. Your stomach grumbled, and you hung your head. It was sometime later, when the power had gone out, and you screamed. You were alone for sure.