After it was all over ...
It was needless to say the World was different. But not just the society, but the Earth. The snow crunching beneath his shoes felt different. The air brushing strands of hair gently over his forehead felt electrified. It was the only way to describe ...
For the first time in what felt like ages, optimism rung through the rally of the newly free. So much he wasn’t used to, it was so foreign; he didn’t know how to respond.
So, when Markus suggested checking the dump, for he knew survivors suffered down there by being a witness himself, Connor offered to help on a whim. He needed something to do. A task to accomplish. Something he was used to.
The dump was a grizzly sight. Warranting grimaces from those who decided to come help. Connor was careful to avoid stepping on parts or pieces, but with the ground littered with the fallen so, there was no warning when limbs would reach in desperation for one of his own appendages.
Uncovering body after body, some shutting down right on the spot, he was certain he was feeling a bit less optimistic than the rest of the rescue team.
But, suddenly it were as though something drew his attention somewhere behind him. No one stood there, no one had even ventured there yet, but he had the sense to glance and caught sight of something bright yellow, smudged in the dirt.
Such vibrant color was unusual among the masses of mud coated androids, so he took a few steps closer and the sight of a tuft of blonde hair set him off.
The android from the rooftop ... The one he’d been connected to when he shot himself. The one he’d reactivated in the evidence room to trick into finding the location of Jericho.
His brow furrowed as he took a step closer, and another, and another, until he was right upon him and kneeling beside him.
Something approaching a dawning horror was creeping up the Android’s back, flashing a neutral LED to a shifting yellow as he extended a hand to Simon’s shoulder and gently rolled him onto his back.
He wasn’t entirely sure what he was expecting. Of course, he met lifeless eyes, a blank expression, the evidence of one who had been deactivated because Connor had deactivated him himself. A dislodged thirium pump regulator, easily twisted out from the hole embedded in his chest.
His eyes lifted, and for the briefest moment, he stepped away, eyes scanning for an irreparable PL600 with a compatible regulator.
It took some digging, for most were too destroyed, or lost their power far too long ago. But one PL600′s body remained in low power mode as its head was nowhere to be found. Such would be nigh irreparable, along with the missing limbs, torn torso, and lost thirium. So, he pulled the regulator from what remained of the carcass before returning.
With careful fingers, he peeled through Simon’s damaged, exposed wiring to place the regulator in its compatible port, remaining crouched ...
