You're Not Alone in This World

Chapter ζ

"10-80, I repeat, 10-80!"

Well, shit.

Andrea was in the middle of watching Markus' speech in the precinct break room when it happened. A bombing on national television. She could feel the tremor in the ground as soon as it went off. These anti-android protestors were getting braver by the day. There were a few officers at the scene but it proved to be unhelpful. These humans had no regard for life, android or human. It disgusted Andrea.

As she arrived on the scene, everything was chaotic. Debris and smoke were everywhere, first responders were trying to get people to safety, and some androids had already shut off. They must've been too close to the blast. The anti-android humans seemed to be celebrating a victory. Andrea's eyes zeroed in on them. She'd deal with them later. She had to get these people to safety first. She hauled an android to their feet, guiding them to where she saw some other officers take them.

"Andrea, we haven't been able to find Markus!" North yelled as soon as she saw her. She helped Andrea carry the android, setting her down by the curb to be taken care of by an android medic. "Those humans..." She seethed.

It wasn't surprising to Andrea that this was a coordinated attack. She looked through the smoke, narrowing her eyes at the all–too–happy humans. The other founders of Jericho were fine, just a bit dirty from the explosion. Markus was the only one missing. He was most likely going to be held captive as a trophy for a while until they decided to kill him.

Simon let out a breath, his eyes full of sadness. "If they kill him..."

"I know," Andrea whispered, squeezing his hand reassuringly. "He'll be safe. You have my word." She turned to run into the smoke.

Farther in the smoke, Andrea could see just how much devastation they caused. Parts of androids were strewn about, thirium still leaking. Hell, it was gushing. She pursed her lips. The sight was starting to get to her. Her gaze scanned her area each time she took a few steps further. She'd much rather just kill these assholes but that'd look horrible on her record. Maybe if she made it look like an accident? Her jaw clenched as she heard a few cheers. They were close by. Andrea glanced down at her gun which sat in her holster. A stun bullet was hardly good enough for them. She couldn't let them get away without a single scratch. Her fists began to glow a bright white as she inched closer. There was still a haze around them but Andrea could clearly see the silhouette of four humans and Markus. He had thirium running down his nose and a few patches of blue on his suit. Gunshot wounds.

Andrea took in a sharp breath through her nose. Anger was an emotion she didn't feel often. The seething, red-hot feeling of hating something with your entire being wasn't something she enjoyed. She might have even despised it. But in this instance, she couldn't help herself. Markus has done nothing but be peaceful even when his people were dying right before his eyes.

She couldn't help herself. Andrea tapped one of the men's shoulders and then punched him square in the jaw. He was knocked out in an instant. The other three turned to shoot at her. She hadn't expected the bullets to hurt. She blinked, glancing from the pool of purple starting at her shoulder to the guns they had. They seemed normal... Andrea blocked the other bullets with shields of moonlight. One man tried to punch her as she got closer but she used him as leverage to kick another in the throat. He took a gasp of air before he fell to the floor.

One vs. two.

Andrea threw one of them into the ground while she shot a beam of light to knock out the last man. They all looked thoroughly beaten, blood and bruises all over their faces. Exactly what they deserved. Andrea took a few deep breaths, lungs unphased by the smoke. She turned to Markus who had wide eyes.