Conduit - Season 2

Ch. 20

Ezekiel double-checked to make sure the clip of ammo was loaded into three guns. He kept one, tucking it into the back of his jeans, before passing the other two to Frank and me. Frank looked over his gun and nodded. I did the same. These were the same weapons given to the 757s; not stun guns at all. Straight fatal, but who is to blame?

Clearing my throat, I looked at Victoria. She faced Lyons' front doors, peering out into the streets. Three individual groups—or, what I assumed them to be—chanted their hate to the sky. Their riot signs were burned at the corners, ruined by their own flames. As they shouted about android violence, the fear this supposed war would create, Victoria ran her finger over her bottom lip. "They're the ones creating a problem," she whispered.

I reached out and touched her arm. "Vicky."

She shook her head. "They took him. I know they did."

I agreed with her, but I wouldn't tell her that. I couldn't fuel her anger. Normally passive, she was the only one of us who didn't want a gun. I wanted to feel proud that she kept her peaceful composure, but I also knew if she planned to use her own hands, her fists, and the power surging through her body that was more damage than any bullet. I knew this because I built her to be this way.

"Whoever took him, we will find him and bring him home." I turned around her, so she looked at me and not the carnage outside. Violence fed violence, I needed to remain the sturdy rock she needed me to be. "Do you believe me?"

She looked into my eyes, and I was reminded of the day I found her. Tucked away in my family's storage, the only piece of the Garret legacy Lyons hadn't taken in their raid. I had opened the top to my grandfather's old trunk and saw a dormant Personal, so custom, so perfect in every way. When I powered her on and saw a bright red light coming from her eyes, I thought she was broken. Over a decade, I worked on her, I fixed her; I gave her every advancement Lyons installed into their newest androids.

But I knew now that the red light normally associated with malfunctions, with errors, had been rage. She was angry then, as she was now.

"Come on." My hand slid down from her shoulder to her hand, where I let my fingers press between hers. "We need to go, and we can't go that way."

Victoria bit her lip. "Through the garage, side door, and away from their eyes."

"Exactly." I turned back and looked at Frank and Ezekiel. We nodded silently, all in agreement.

***

As we pushed through the side door of Lyons building, thunder quietly roared in the distance. I glanced up at the darkening clouds, slowly gliding their way into the late morning sky. I expected small drops of rain to hit me, so I shielded my face in preparation. None fell; not yet.

Victoria took the lead, slowly walking down the alley. It looked like she listened to every echo her steps made. I knew it because I did the same, but the sound of us moving through the alley was drowned out by those in front of Lyons. The continuous shouts, the falling bottles or cracking windows, swallowed our movement.

Ezekiel passed by my left, pressing his hand through his hair as if to fix it. He glanced at me for a moment, then tongued his cheek and hurried ahead. Once beside Victoria, he focused on her. She looked at him. After a second, they nodded without saying a word.

"All right," I whispered before looking to my right at Frank. He followed my pace, looking ahead, but he rubbed his shoulder. I watched his mouth pull back with slight discomfort. I frowned, gently touching his arm. "Are you sure you're okay to do this?"

"I am." Frank nodded, not looking at me. "We said we'd do this, we'd do this together." He glanced at me with a small smile. "A little ache isn't going to hold me back."