Detroit: Become Human - Darkened Skies (Reed900)

Chapter Thirty-Eight

// Hi, please read the author's note! Thank you! //

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The darkness of night rippled throughout the land. A grey-black cloak smeared with stormy clouds clung overhead, speckled with stars that had been dimmed and almost completely muted by the mist. Thunder rumbled in the distance, a soft disturbance that was enough to make anyone stir with frustration or unease. A cold gail swept through the forest, rippling the leaves and disturbing the way they dappled the dimmed light, and left a shudder down the spines of all who dared to be outdoors.

This evening had the energy of a bad omen but it was ignored by the people dwelling within the mansion, within the shelter, turning blind eye to the night outside. To them, both days and nights were dark, in one way or the other. Why should it all matter?

The hallway in the basement of the mansion split off into a medical wing, but also a large, empty room. There was barely any light and the only sound that could be heard was the occasional drip of water which echoed louder than would be expected.

Footsteps could then be heard. A single pair, and confident and stride, walked through the eerie room. At the furthest end, a box was placed.

"What are you doing in here?"

A voice piped from the entrance of the place, making the figure disposing of the box turn and look at the source of the new sound. They waved their hand dismissively towards the person who had entered the room and questioned their motions. They paused and quickly straightened their posture and turned towards the single entrance of the room, the light from outside the door pouring in and revealing their face.

"Wha- Nines?"

Nines stood tall, shadows shrouding him, yet also adding a mysterious impact to the already questionable scene. His face held an unreadable feeling, but it was certainly far from content, but nor was it angry. This emotion was new, pushing against the grain, and it threw Gavin into a mini mental turmoil as usually he could predict his partner's state of emotion. Normally, Gavin could decipher what he was feeling just by looking at him; it was one of his sharpest skills. And he did not have many of those.

"Wow, you caught me!" Nines exclaimed in a sing-song tone after a moment of silence, his face molding into a fairly surprised and even pleased. This was even more unsettling than the previous look, the sudden chippiness, the change of pace that counters the usual monotonousness. "Good job Gavin."

"You don't usually act like this," Gavin said, concern evident in his voice, taking a cautious step into the room.

"Oh." His voice dropped, lower than usual. "I'm sorry. Didn't realise I cant be different. Wow. So sorry. So sad."

Gavin's heart sank as the sarcasm holding slithers of sinisterness contrasted anything that his boyfriend has ever said, or any way that he has ever acted. My god, is this even him? Gavin thought to himself, a pit starting to stir in his stomach as he stared onwards. I'm probably just dreaming, right? Right? God, let this just be a dream. What the fuck is even going on?

"Nines, what is going on here?" Gavin took a few steps forward, right towards Nines, moving against his instincts that were screaming at him in protest and telling him to flee. He needed to know what was happening. He stopped to leave a good amount of distance between himself and the robot.

"What's in the box?"

"Oh, nothing important, don't you sweat it."

"Are you an imposter? Because you're acting real fucking suspicious right now."

"Nice Among Us reference," Nines said flatly.

"You never pick up on reference sources immediately, you always need a moment to search them up!" Gavin yelled, raising a hand and pointing accusingly. "A tiny moment sure, but still longer than that!" He started walking towards Nines again, this time his once tentative steps stripped of all hesitance and instead replaced with ire-filled stomps. He stopped once he was right in front of Nines and he stared up at him with a scowl, chest almost against chest, barely any space between the two. Nines had moved the box at Gavin's approach and it was now resting against his hip with an iron grip.