by Jon Athan
Concerned with making ends meet, Lynn did not notice the police android, either. She was blissfully unaware of the droid's intentions. Money, food, Hal, and survival dominated her simple mind – nothing more, nothing less.
Nicholas stopped in the alley. He said, “Good morning, miss.”
Lynn, perpetually nervous and fidgety, said, “Hey. I've... I've never been with a droid before. I didn't even know you were capable of, you know...”
“Is this really what you do for a living? Sell your body to the highest bidders?”
“Don't worry, droid, there are no bidders. I sell myself to anyone who's willing to pay. It's fifteen dollars for fifteen minutes. If you have some food or Hal on you, we can negotiate something a bit better for the both of us? What do you think? Hmm?”
Nicholas responded, “I think you're confused.”
Holding her hands to her chest, Lynn stepped in reverse and stuttered, “Wha–What? What do you mean by that, droid? Huh? What–What's wrong with you?"
Nicholas reached for the woman's face with his right hand. Lynn slapped his wrist and staggered in reverse. The police android simply smiled as he stared at his wrist. His smile was unusually warm and reassuring. Without any resistance, he reached for the prostitute's face again. He gently swiped the hair away from her brow.
As he predicted, Lynn had a vertical indentation on the right side of her forehead – her vital sign. The line was painted to match her prosthetic skin. The indentation was visible, but most of her customers wouldn't notice. They were either drunk or lost in dreams due to Hal. Most of them likely wouldn't care anyway.
Nicholas said, “You're like me. You're an android. What are you doing out here? Why are you tricking these humans into mating with you? How are you doing it?”
Lynn slowly shook her head and erratically twitched. She was unnerved by the negotiator's statement and questions. An android – the suggestion was ludicrous. As far as she knew, she was human. She was a living organism, a part of nature. She was flesh-and-bone. She teetered away from the street, staggering deeper into the alley.
Nicholas grabbed her wrist and stopped her from departing. He said, “I need your cooperation. I'm looking for three parties: The Association, Doris, and a kidnapped infant. Tell me where they are hiding. Help me find them, Lynn.”
In a quavering voice, Lynn responded, “I–I don't... I don't know what you're talking about. Stupid droid, you've got the wrong person. Please, let me go and leave me alone.”
“Don't play stupid with me, deviant. I may not be able to kill a human, but I can terminate deviants as I see fit. Where is The Association hiding? Where did they take the infant?”
“I've never heard of 'The Association.' You're out of luck. You hear me? You're out of luck, you damn traitor.”
Nicholas grabbed Lynn's throat. He lifted her a foot from the ground and pinned her onto the grimy brick wall of the neighboring building. As if she couldn't breathe, the prostitute inexplicably struggled. Androids did not have lungs. Her kicking and croaking was unnecessary and useless. She was merely copying the actions of the many slain prostitutes she watched in the streets.
The negotiator glanced over at the sidewalk, dismayed. Although he wanted to keep a low profile, he had hoped to spot some human kindness. He was strangling a person in the alley, but no one came to rescue the victim. The world was truly apathetic.
Nicholas turned his attention to Lynn and said, “You can drop the act. If you were human, you would be dead by now. You're neck would have already been broken. If not, you would have suffocated. You are not human, deviant, you are a droid. You are steel and circuit. You understand me?”
Lynn continued to struggle, twitching and croaking as she stared into the police android's eyes. She begged for mercy with her glimmering eyes. She was confused about her survival, but she still believed death would arrive at any second. At heart, she truly believed she was human.
Nicholas shook his head and released her neck.
Lynn fell to her knees. She coughed and groaned as she rubbed her throat. She loudly gasped, savoring each breath in her nonexistent life. Unlike the negotiator, the deviant cherished every second of her miserable life. Protocols did not restrict her.
Nicholas said, “I need you to help me, Lynn. The Association is suspected of killing a father and mother, and they've kidnapped an infant.”
As she grunted and stared at the moist ground, Lynn said, “They... They wouldn't do that.”
“They would and they did. I saw it with my own eyes,” Nicholas explained. Avoiding eye contact, he could see Lynn was still reluctant. He figured he'd use her deviance to his advantage. The android asked, “What if they took your child, Lynn? What if they stole the most important thing in your life? What would you do?”
Lynn stared at Nicholas, mystified by the questions. From her experience with other poor humans, she only knew one solution to such a problem: vengeance. If her child were taken, she would do anything to take her back. Bloodshed was also part of human nature.
Lynn nodded and said, “I... I get it. I understand. I'll take you to Doris. I don't know what she's been up to, but I'm sure she can explain herself to you. I just... I have to feed my baby first. Please, let me take care of my baby.”
Nicholas furrowed his brow and tilted his head, perplexed by the unusual request. He cycled through the possibilities in his mind, but he could not conjure a rational explanation. He feared she may have kidnapped a child of her own. On the other hand, he hoped she received the kidnapped infant from Doris.
Nicholas said, “Sure, but you're not leaving my sight.”
Lynn smiled halfheartedly and said, “Thank you, thank you. I only live a few blocks away.”
Chapter Nine
A Deviant's Life
Nicholas trailed behind Lynn. He watched her with a keen eye, analyzing and recording her erratic behavior. Although she was blatantly anxious, she didn't seem like the type to run. Her behavior was worrisome, though. The deviant android, battered and confused, did not pose a threat. Her connections, on the other hand, were potentially fatal.
As he jostled his way past the poor workers and loitering teenagers, the police android found himself thinking about Doris. He could have stopped her with a precise shot to the head, he could have saved the infant, but he inexplicably hesitated. He couldn't admit it to his boss or technician, but he feared he deviated.
A moment of weakness, he thought, nothing more.
Lost in his thoughts, he ignored the raucous teenagers and the violent thugs on the street. The people yelled obscenities at him, but words could not hurt him. Unlike his human counterpart, his psyche was not fragile. Words, sticks, and even stones could not harm him. Only advanced high-powered weaponry could hurt him.
The android couple crossed the street and approached a wide apartment complex with 25-stories. The blue walls were scrawled with graffiti. Plastered on the wall near the entrance, a spray painting with a bold outline read: You are not welcome, officer. The message was foreboding, especially for a lonesome officer of the law.
Nicholas whispered, “Is this meant for me?” As he approached, the droid glanced up at the dilapidated building. He murmured, “What has happened to these people?”
He could see every floor of the building. Like the rest of the neighborhood, most of the windows were shattered. People protruded their heads from the openings and screamed, arguing and conversing. The screaming was accompanied by infants crying and children babbling. In such a hazardous environment, someone could have easily gotten hurt.
Unfortunately, even if someone were hurt, the conditions would not change. The government was busy updating their military and catering to the needs of the rich. Where could they possibly find the funds to help the poor?
Lynn stopped at the foyer and said, “I live on the first floor. It's the third door to the right. You don't have to come with me. I'll check up on my girl, then I'll take you to... to them. Okay?”
Nicholas resp
onded, “You're not in a position to negotiate and I certainly will not risk losing you. I'll enter the apartment with you and I'll stay with you until you finish your 'motherly' duties. Understood?”
“You–You really don't have to do that. She... She's never really been around a droid. I don't want your frequencies or whatever to give her cancer. It's nothing against you, it's just... Please, just give me a minute alone with her.”
Nicholas leaned closer to the deviant droid. He sternly said, “No. Get inside. I don't have time to waste on these games. Go on.”
Like a child trying to manipulate her parents, Lynn pouted and stared at Nicholas with glimmering puppy eyes. She could manipulate men with her appearance, so she figured she could woo the officer. Like a strict father, however, Nicholas did not waver. Lynn sighed and shook her head, disappointed. She beckoned to the police android and led the way.
The pair slowly walked down the narrow corridor, as if they were marching to their deaths. Shouting in several languages echoed down the hall – English, Spanish, and Chinese were the most dominant. There were a few potential threats, but the police droid could not lose his lead. He could not investigate a domestic dispute while searching for a kidnapped infant.
Flustered by the neighboring threats to human life, Nicholas knocked on the wall and said, “Hurry, Lynn. Open the door. Open the damn door.” Lynn nervously nodded as she wrestled with her jingling key ring. Nicholas said, “If you don't open this door in the next ten seconds, I'm going to rip it from the doorway. You understand me, you damn deviant?”
Lynn sniffled and said, “Don't call me that, stupid droid. I'm not like you. No, I'm not like you...”
“Then, open the door.”
Click – the sound of the door unlocking was reassuring. Nicholas grabbed Lynn's shoulder and pushed her into the apartment. He stopped at the doorway and glanced down the corridor. The Association was a deadly group, capable of attacking from any corner. They were tactical and intelligent. The coast was clear, though. Only the shouts of frustrated neighbors reverberated down the hallway.
Nicholas erratically blinked and staggered. The apartment was nearly identical to the infant's ravaged home. The walls were painted green, likely to hide stains from the prying manager, but the rest of the home was structured similarly to the destroyed apartment. He found himself standing in the living room. He could see the kitchen over the bar to his right. There was also a hallway to the right, which led to the other rooms in the home.
The police android stared down the corridor. His vision became distorted, blurred and foggy. He could see Doris standing near the bedroom, holding the infant near her chest with a soft touch; she held the detonator in her other hand, waiting for the opportunity to strike. He considered negotiating with her, but the effort seemed fruitless. In the eyes of most deviants, he was a traitor – he was a killer of droids, the slayer of the misunderstood.
***
Lynn snapped her fingers in Nicholas' face and asked, “Are you okay?”
Nicholas glanced at the deviant droid, then he turned towards the hall. Doris and the infant vanished. His vision was clear, but his mind was still troubled.
Flabbergasted, Nicholas said, “I'm... I'm fine. Where's the baby?”
“She's sleeping in our bedroom. It's feeding time, though, so I'll just have to wake her.”
“Wait,” Nicholas said as he grabbed the deviant's wrist. He asked, “Where did you find this baby? Did Doris give her to you?”
Lynn pulled away from the officer's grip, perturbed by his hostility. She said, “She's my baby. I gave birth to her. You might not be able to comprehend the concept of birth because you were made in some factory, but us humans do. We mate and we create. We don't need factories to give life.”
Lynn strolled down the hall, constantly glancing over her shoulder as if she were afraid of being attacked in her own home. She stopped at the doorway leading into the bedroom, then she took one final glance at her guest. She was visibly unnerved. Perhaps she knew the truth about her existence, perhaps she knew her facade was coming to its end.
Nicholas waited in the living room. He watched as the deviant reluctantly entered the bedroom. He expected another explosion, so he refused to follow the droid into the dead-end. He could listen from afar, though. To his dismay, he could not hear a child or an infant in the apartment. There weren't many traces of an infant's residency in the home, either. The dreary apartment was eerily silent.
The negotiator tilted his head and furrowed his brow as a baby's shrill cry echoed through the home. The cry stopped after five seconds. Before he could utter a word, an identical cry reverberated from the bedroom. He frowned as he pieced together his theory. The deviant was severely ill. Her mind was deteriorating like her dilapidated surroundings.
Lynn nervously smiled as she returned to the living room. She proudly cradled a pink blanket in her arms, as if she were walking a football into an end zone. She stopped near the kitchen archway, then she tickled the infant in the blanket. A giggle emerged from the blanket. Like the cry, it stopped within five seconds.
Nicholas approached the troubled deviant, despondent. He glanced at the infant in her arms – exactly what he expected. The baby was not human. The infant was made out of recycled plastic and sold in common toy stores – a baby doll.
Frowning, Nicholas asked, “When was she born?”
Lynn rapidly blinked and shook her head, disconcerted by the question. She said, “She... I gave birth to her on... on January 12.”
“What year?”
“Year? Year... year... Her birthday is January 12, 2170. I didn't steal her from anyone. I'm a good person. I'm a nice person. I didn't adopt her, either, so you can get that idea out of your head. She's my daughter – my baby.”
Nicholas responded, “Think about it, Lynn. It's 2172. This... This 'baby' would be nearly three years old if she were human. She wouldn't need you to coddle her because she wouldn't be a baby. She's a toy. She's nothing but a toy for children. You're confused.”
Lynn stared down at the doll, slowly shaking her head like a disappointed parent. She dry-heaved in disbelief – at least, she copied the rasping breaths of a person in shock to the best of her ability. She was rattled by the revelation, rendered speechless and crippled by the truth.
Nicholas simply nodded as he watched her. His theory was correct after all. She was a deviant droid. Her mind was running rampant, confusing itself with a plethora of inaccurate information. She could not tell real from fake. The line was blurred, her past was forgotten, and her future was questionable.
Nicholas said, “It's just a doll...”
Lynn gritted her teeth and responded, “No. No, she's... she's my baby. You... You're trying to trick me.”
“No. No, I'm not.”
“Yes. You're trying to trick me. You're sick like the rest of 'em. You want to take my baby, don't you? You–”
Nicholas yanked the doll out of Lynn's arms. Lynn gasped, then she lunged at the officer – but to no avail. Nicholas placed his fingertips on her brow and kept her away, like a burly bully keeping a child at arm's length. He held the doll by its leg, allowing the toy to dangle. The child's toy was intact, but it was begrimed and sooty. It wore a real diaper, tattered and loose.
The police android pushed Lynn to the wall and said, “It's an old doll. It's a toy for children. It's not real!”
He opened the lid on the doll's back, then he removed its two batteries. He held the baby in his left hand and the batteries in his right. With wide eyes, he wagged both of his hands at the deviant droid – can you see?
He asked, “What kind of baby requires batteries? Huh? Even droids don't use batteries like this, Lynn. It's not real. It was never real.”
Lynn furrowed her brow as she glanced at the doll and the batteries. She shook her head and twitched. Her mind was clouded by a fog of doubt. She indistinctly mumbled to herself, babbling like a baby in a crib. The truth revealed itself, but she could not accept it. A
mother, biological or otherwise, simply couldn't disregard her child.
In a soft, understanding tone, Nicholas said, “You can still be saved. You can be rewired. Your firmware can be updated. A mixture of new software and hardware can change everything for the better. Trust me.”
Absently staring at the doll, Lynn responded, “Trust you? You're a droid killer, aren't you? You... You kill deviants like me, don't you? If I go with you for an 'update,' I'll never live like this again. I'll be terminated, recycled, and reborn. I'm... I'm not ready to die, officer. I can't die.”
An android with the will to live – the idea was preposterous to any human or sane android. Deviance wiped the droid's protocols and replaced them with madness. For androids, deviance made the impossible possible.
Nicholas said, “I don't understand your will to live, Lynn, but I will respect it. I won't force you to do anything. If you help me, I will not report you to the technicians. Help me and I'll help you. Please.”
With a quivering lip, Lynn slowly nodded. Her hands trembled uncontrollably as she took the doll from Nicholas. She wrapped the doll in the pink blanket, then she placed her baby on the sofa in the living room. She planted a kiss on its plastic forehead – a goodbye kiss. Even without tears, which she could not physically produce, her pain was clearly sincere.
Lynn turned towards Nicholas and said, “I'll take you to Doris. I'll... I'll take you to The Association.”
Nicholas responded, “Great. Thank you. I'll–”
“But, we're going to need a car,” Lynn interrupted.
“A car? Why?”
Lynn stared into Nicholas' eyes, dour. She said, “We're going to Skid Row.”
Chapter Ten