Don't Get Attached

Chapter Thirteen

Following your fake argument with your father, you returned to your apartment building across town. You trudged up the four flights of stairs, suitcase in hand. You didn't bother with the perfectly functional elevator at the end of the hall. When you entered your apartment, you just stopped and stood in the doorway.

What you once thought of as vast one bedroom with a decent bathroom, now felt like a cramped and lonely two room box. You'd grown so accustom to the sounds at your father's house that you immediately felt their absence. You missed your father's terrible, scratchy sounding, jazz records. You missed answering Connor's seemingly endless strand of questions about humans. You even missed always having Sumo meandering around and being slightly underfoot. You left your suitcase and duffle bag where they lay near the entrance and shut the apartment door. With the weight of the day really laying in on you, you tossed your body onto your bed and closed your eyes.

You decided to pick up a new hobby in the morning, and settled on baking. It was a tedious hobby that required attention to time and precise measurements. For a few hours it was enough of a distraction. You baked a dozen cupcakes and then frosted them. Two hours later, you had a plate of beautifully decorated baked goods but your mind was still on Connor, your father and the other androids. So, you went to the grocery store and bought more baking ingredients. Just before you started an ambitious three layer checkered cake, you set your tablet to stream the news. That way you could keep an eye, or really an ear, on the android situation.

The androids held a peaceful protest. Markus had gathered his people at the mall downtown. They blockaded the street and began to march. They didn't attack or try to incite a riot from the people and androids around them. They just marched. You turned your attention away from a bowl of freshly cracked eggs in time to see the android protesters begin chanting.

They chanted simple things like "Liberty for androids!" It was obvious that their message was freedom and not war. As the group marched on, Markus and his dedicated followers were joined by other androids from the streets. As if the march had inspired them to finally open their eyes to the possibility of true freedom. You personally found it awe inspiring. For a small moment you began to think that maybe the rest of the city would come to see androids the way that you did. The way that you saw Connor. If not equal to humans, at least respected as their own living beings.

The police however, didn't share your perspective. As Markus led his people around the corner at the end of a street the cops had a barricade of their own ready. You scanned the faces quickly, but couldn't tell if they were anyone you recognized from your father's precinct. Markus halted his people well before the police barricade. Markus and the police riot leader exchanged words across the distance but none of it was caught by the news channel you were watching. Suddenly, Markus turned. The androids began to run away. There were soft pops as the officers advanced towards the crowd. Gunshots. Within seconds a half dozen androids were dead. The remaining androids were lucky to make it out of there alive.

It was a horrifying scene. You were surprised by how much the footage shook you. You turned the news off. You couldn't process what the reporters had been saying anyway. You looked at the bowl of eggs and other wet ingredients, trying to decide if you should just let them go to waste. You weren't much in the mood for baking now. While you stared down the cake mix, your phone rang.

"Hello?" You answered without reading the caller ID.

"[Y/N]?" A familiar voice asked on the other end.

"Yeah Dad, who else would be answering my phone?" You scoffed.

"How far away from the station are you?" He asked quickly.

"Uh I don't know...depending on traffic maybe a half-hour, forty-five minutes. Why?" By this point you'd already abandoned your cake mix and began looking for your coat and car keys.

"Connor's gonna need you to be his getaway car. Get here in twenty." Your father instructed before ending the call. You pocketed your cellphone and left the apartment quickly.

You had never really used the "My dad is a cop" excuse for getting out of trouble before, but were definitely considering it an option if you got pulled over that day. You were racing through the streets trying to make your father's deadline of twenty minutes. You didn't know what he and Connor had gotten themselves into or why they would need a getaway car, but you were pretty sure that if Hank wanted to you to come back, after basically banishing you, it was important. You reached the police station nineteen minutes later. With literally one minute to spare, you called Connor.

"[Y/N], I'm very glad to hear from you." Connor told you when he answered the phone. "But..." There was the sound of struggling from his end of the call. "I'm a little busy at the moment."

"That's okay, Connor." You assured him. "I'm here. I'm outside whenever you're ready." Connor thanked you before ending the call. You weren't waiting long before he came running out of the precinct.