Machine Learning (Captain Allen and DPD SWAT POV)

The Few, The Proud

"We Quell the Storm, and Ride the Thunder."

The cold wind tore at my face and filled my open wounds with something fresh and chilling. I stood on the top of the building, looking over the city that was on its way to collapse. A perfect vantage point to watch chaos carry itself out. Couldn't blame the sniper for picking it.

The sky was turning colors, but the few stars that'd shown up were still there, watching over us. I watched them back.

"Talk to me, guys."

Talend. Fassi. Rodriguez. Royal. So many others. I pressed my palms flat on the ledge, my handprints melting into the snow.

What would they say? What would they do? Would they be proud of what I've done, what I've accomplished, or how I chose to uphold their legacy? Would they be ashamed? Would they have regrets? I had so many questions for them. New questions. Different from the ones I could've asked, and chose not to. So many things I'd wanted to say, and hear in return, and I'd run out of time. Just like that police officer. Connor's first love. Connor's first loss. What things did she want to say, and hear, but couldn't? What about him? Where did he go, what was he planning? So many questions.

A strong grip rocked my left shoulder.

"Stressed?" Liam squeezed and let go, taking to my side.

I took a deep breath, and let the steam push out of my nose, "Our jobs are about to get a lot harder."

Ambulances, firetrucks, and police vehicles let their sirens echo through the streets, their lights highlighting pockets of dark and damp buildings in the distance like distress beacons dotted all over Detroit. Flares thrown up into the night that had a moving target. Too many people in need, not enough people to help.

"Our job was easy before?" He asked.

I cocked my chin toward him. Sucked my teeth to get something stale unstuck from behind my gums, and wetted my dry mouth. I pushed myself up, straightening my posture, looking at him.

"No. But this?" I looped a thumb in my vest's strap, nodding towards the city, "These are our own people turning against each other. They-"

"Also nothin' we haven't dealt with before. 2021 wasn't that long ago."

"We didn't have robots rise against in 2021."

"You're just lookin' for a reason to mark this as a hopeless situation, huh?" Liam stroked his beard, "That's not the David Allen I know. What about you, Greenie?"

I turned my head, and Chris Grenier was knelt over doing something with his wrist computer.

He perked up, looking over his shoulder, "What about what, now?"

"Nothing." I half-shouted, half groaned, "Ignore him."

Liam snickered at me, "Yeah, see? Even you know it's true."

"It just...who would've known that night would've set all this in motion?"

"Us." He crossed his arms, "We did, because we also knew that Emma's hostage situation wasn't what set all this in motion. All this horseshit with androids and their independence n' freedoms started back with the original BLTs."

The mentioning of them brought back sour memories. The most recent one that haunted me was Akane warning me that her associate was about to leak all my involvement to the world, and I had to think of which parts I wanted omitted to try and salvage what little privacy and peace of mind I'd have left.