CHAPTHER 2: PERSECUTION

Hank drove through the city's outskirts at 60 km/h, the car shuddering on the poorly paved streets, John and Sarah's heads banging on the ceiling a few times.

— "Goddamn you, Hank, that's the third time!" John yelled from the back seat, using all three seatbelts they had in the back.

— "Stop complaining... that damn android must be in some hole around here." Hank said, concentrating on the road while Sarah fiddled with a hologram of a detector developed by cyberlife that came from her watch.

—"Nothing so far..." she murmured, focused, and before John could continue to complain, she turned around and said- "Can you stop complaining and pay attention to the street?!"

John quieted down for a few minutes and said:

— "God damn it, fine..."

After a while, Hank sped over a speed bump until Sarah warned:

— "Hank, an android detected 300 meters from here to the northwest."

Making a sharp turn down the dark road, Hank followed the direction while John tried to see something around.

It was night, the streets dark and silent with only the sound of the detector, the tires on the rocky road and the rain beating on the car's roof.

Arriving at the location, an abandoned house that makes John let out a soft whistle.

— "I wonder how this android got here so fast...?" he wondered and Hank responded:

— "These things can run much better than us humans." he muttered before the three of them got out of the car.

After pulling out their guns, Sarah slowly opened the door to the old wooden house, which was already broken into. The house was in a deplorable state, it smelled of feces and was full of rats and roaches.

— "Damn, this place is disgusting..." Hank commented as John kicked a rat that was trying to bite his boot.

— "Now...where's that android..."

A loud bang came from the upper floor of the house, causing the three of them to be on high alert and go upstairs,

In the degraded corridor, there were three doors, making each one go into a room. Hank entered the bathroom, John entered what seemed to be a laundry room and Sarah entered the bedroom in the house.

The bathroom in the house was dark, there was a shower with a curtain in front of it, the toilet's drainage hole and the remains of the sink with a mirror on top, everything was in silence when the door creaked, making Hank jump and look behind him.

— God damnit... old wood-" Suddenly coming from behind the curtain, Hank fired and yelled- "I know you're in there!" He took a few steps forward and pulled the curtain open at once, his eyes fell on the decaying carcass of a rat.- "What the hell..."

In the bedroom, Sarah looked around, searching in the closet, under the bed, and even looking out the window to see if there was any sign of escape.

Suddenly, John called out to Sarah and Hank, who quickly went to the laundry room. The android was sitting there, with his knees against his chest in the corner of the wall, next to the remains of two washing machines.

— "Looks like we got you..." John said, cornering him while the android sobbed.

— "Please... I was just defending myself..." The three of them looked at the android in surprise. Michael, as his name was written on his shirt was missing one of his arms, his left eye leaking black fluid and blue blood, his hair was falling out and his skin was full of damage.- "He would hit me when I wasn't fast enough... you have to believe me... I implore you." When Sarah points the gun at Michael, the expression on the robot's face changes from despair and confusion to indignation.- "Wait... what are you?"

Sarah tightens her orange eyes and shoots, making blue blood splatter on the rotten wooden walls.

John and Hank look at her surprised.

— "Damn, Sarah..." Hank says and Sarah gives him a look.

— "What? Don't have pity for a deviant...do you?"

— "Of course not..." -He lies and John adds:

— "And if...he was actually innocent?" John questioned and Sarah said:

— "Don't be stupid! It's a damn android! Even if he was tortured he shouldn't fight back because he's a machine." Sarah shouted and John simply nodded his head.

— "You're right..." John sighed before pulling out a pocket knife to open the android's head.

— "What are you doing?" Both Sarah and Hank questioned in unison and John responded:

— "I'm checking to see if there's another of those strange SIM cards here... they might be useful."

Opening the Android's head, blue blood was sprayed onto Sarah and Hank's clothes and John's face.

— "Damn it... I just washed this crap yesterday..." Hank grumbled.

John locates the SIM card and pulls it out. The pin was damaged by Sarah's shot.

— "This might be a problem..." John commented and Sarah stated:

— "I doubt these things will be useful, but if they are we'll figure something out."

As they exited the house, Hank questioned:

— "I know our mission was to prevent him from killing anyone else... but why did you shoot?"

Sarah sighed tremulously and said:

— "I don't know what came over me... something just told me to shoot." She said while stammering a bit.- "Now i damaged one of the SIM cards that could have been useful for the investigation and I'm feeling guilty for having killed him..." The memories of Michael begging for his life passes through Sarah's mind.- "It felt so real" -She spoke tremulously before John tries to lighten the mood.

— "Come on Sarah, relax... it's just scrap metal, isn't it? It's not really alive... Besides, I bet we can recover the information from that SIM card."

He said trying to sound indifferent about the situation, Hank simply nodding in agreement as he threw the android's body into the trunk of the car.

— "Now we're talking... let's head to Jimmy's" Hank mumbled, getting into the driver's seat while Sarah and John got into the back seats.

On the way to Jimmy's, John consoled Sarah's guilty conscience in the back seat, Sarah simply resting her head on John's shoulder.

— "Let's just forget about it and drink some good pints of beer, alright?" John said gently as he pulled Sarah's face by the chin and gave her a brief kiss.

Hank, looking in the rearview mirror , muttered.

— "Damn you two, keep that mushy stuff for when you're alone." He scoffs despite not really minding.

After arriving at Jimmy's, Sarah's mood immediately lifts. The three of them sit at a table and order two bottles of beer.

"Fuck... I really needed this..." Says Sarah as she takes a gulp.

— "Don't even say..." -Says Hank as he downs his glass.

— "Hm...how about we get to know each other better, huh? We've been working together for four years now." John suggests and Sarah and Hank nod their heads.

— "Sarah...you, from your accent, aren't from here... where exactly are you from and how did you end up here?" Hank asks

— "I'm from South Africa and I moved here at 16 to finish my high school education." she says as she downs her glass. Sarah had dark skin, a long black braided hair that went down to her waist, and striking orange eyes that stood out, attracting the attention of several people in the bar.

— "I suppose you're used to getting attention then?" Hank teases and Sarah nods her head before continuing:

— "Wanting to follow in my father's footsteps, I wanted to be a police detective too... and I got where I am today. She says briefly, telling her story before Hank comments:

— "It makes sense... And what about you, John?"

— "Me? Since Sarah didn't want to explain her story, I'll explain mine in full. I was born and raised here in Detroid, and when I was younger I was a real delinquent and that's why I ended up in a government reeducation juvenile system...It was a kind of juvenile prison."

— "Wait...are you saying that one of the biggest idiots I know was once a delinquent?" Hank teases and John laughs a little, continuing.

— "Yeah... There at that juvenile prison, I was shown the reality of prisons and from that day on, I didn't want to follow the path of crime anymore. As a teenager, I worked as a model."

— "That makes sense... those green eyes and blonde hair of yours charm anyone..." Sarah teases and John continues.

— "As an adult, still marked by my days in prison, I wanted to work for justice and here I am today"

— “You were once a delinquent, a model and now a police detective huh? That's what I call a record…” Hank teases.

As the three of them conversed in the bar, someone entered the area. All the customers turned to see who had entered and the owner of the place shouted:

— "Hey! Do you not know how to read? Androids are not allowed here!"

The person just ignored the message and continued looking around the bar, scanning the faces and searching for someone specific.

— "What's that? A mad?" John whispers, joking when Sarah responds.

— "The owner mentioned something about androids..."

— "Shit...he's not hunting us or something... is he?," Hank whispered when the person stopped in front of their table. — "He is..."

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