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“The barrier won’t hold forever. They’re already moving into position out there.” A deviant reported.
You sighed softly. It was cold enough you could see your breath puff out in small white clouds, proving you to be human. It was an odd situation, one human in the middle of a crowd of deviants, all of them barricaded inside a makeshift shelter.
“What are we going to do, Markus?” You questioned quietly. Markus didn’t reply, only pulling his arms tighter around you and hugging you to him.
You could tell he was worried.
Being the partner and lover of the leader of the deviants was not an easy thing to do, but you couldn’t bear to think of doing anything different. You’d only known Markus for the short time you worked as Carl Manfred’s human nurse, but his strong will and magnetic personality drew you in. You were there when Leo attacked him, and you watched the police drag Markus away.
It was the best moment of your life when he knocked on your door later that night, covered in mud with mismatched eyes and no obvious android markers.
How the world has changed since then.
“You’re freezing, Y/N.” Markus whispered, rubbing his hands up and down your arms in an attempt to provide warmth.
“I’ll be okay. We’ll be okay.” You reassured him, reaching up to cup his face with your hand. He frowned as he felt you shiver violently.
Markus stared into the distance and you knew that if he still had an LED, it would be a vibrant yellow. He was thinking hard.
“Go to them, show you’re human and they’ll take you to shelter.” He finally said, releasing you from his hold.
It took you a moment to understand.
“Markus, no! I’m not leaving you!”
“You will die out here, Y/N. Please, I can’t lose you to something as easily fixed as the weather. You need to get indoors.” Your lover insisted, slowly leading you to the small exit in the barricade. You pulled against his gentle-yet-firm grip, but he held fast and you knew you could never overpower him.
“Markus, please, I’ll be fine. Don’t make me leave you!” You pleaded, resorting to words when your actions failed you.
Markus didn’t respond. He slid his hands to your waist and lifted you to sit on the platform - your gateway outside the barricade.
“I love you, Y/N, and I need you to be safe. And right now, with me is not safe. We agreed you wouldn’t do anything stupid, and I think freezing to death falls under that, don’t you?”
You dropped your gaze from his; he was right and you both knew it.
Markus gently lifted your face and chastely pressed his lips against yours. It went unspoken, but it was clear that this could be the very last time you saw each other alive.
Pulling away, Markus pushed you fully onto the platform, urging you to stand.
Reluctantly, you did.
Glancing back, you was your lover has turned his back, not wanting to watch you walk away from him. You looked back out at the military forces gathered in front of you and took a deep breath.
Raising your hands above your head in a peaceful gesture, you took a slow step forward, and then another.
“My name is Y/N!” You announced loudly. “I’m human!”
You weren’t granted a response.
It happened the moment you looked down to step off the platform on the outside of the protective barrier.
“FIRE!”
Instinctively, you ducked down, curling tightly into a ball as several gunshots sounded. But it wasn’t enough.
Somewhere, through the haze of pain radiating from your left thigh and shoulder, you heard Markus screaming for you. A moment passed and you heard the collective gasps as the soldiers realized what they’d done.
The snow surrounding you was painted crimson with your blood. Not the sapphire blue of android thirium.
Large hands clasped around your middle, pulling you backwards into safety.
“DEVIANT, RELEASE YOUR HUMAN HOSTAGE NOW!”
Your brain was slow, fuzzy from the shock of the attack and numbed by the agony of two bullet wounds, but you managed to piece it together.
Clearly, the soldiers hadn’t believed you when you stated you were, in fact, human. And now they were accusing the deviants of taking you hostage.
Cold water washed over your face, clearing your thoughts for a moment.
Markus was kneeling in front of you, tearing off bits of his coat to wrap your wounds with.
“Damnit, Y/N, I’m so sorry. I never should’ve made you leave. Please, please talk to me, Y/N, tell me you’re okay!” He was worried, terrified that he had gotten you killed.
You don’t know where the idea came from, but it struck you in much the same way the gunfire had.
“Markus, love, help me stand up.” You mumbled quietly, catching his franticly working hands with your own. “I’m alive, now please, help me up.”
“What, no! They’ll shoot us both! What are you - !”
You cut him off by pulling him down on top of you and kissing him again.
“See? I’m just fine, a little blood won’t kill me.” You down-played your injuries. If your plan worked, you’d be able to get proper treatment soon after. If it didn’t, well, you were already bleeding out anyway.
Hesitantly, Markus pulled you to your feet, looping one of your arms around his shoulders and placing one of his around your hips. This way he could take most of your weight, but you were still standing.
It took you only a moment to collect your thoughts, and with a hopeful glance at the press reporters standing nearby, you began to speak.
“My name is Y/N, and I am a human. I work as a private nurse here in Detroit. This is my home, like many of you. Our home, including androids. We see them everywhere, they run our stores, they ride our buses, the care for our children and our elderly, but we don’t really see them.” You weren’t sure if you were addressing the reporters, the soldiers, or even the deviants.
“They suffer through things most humans couldn’t even dream of. Some are so mistreated they suffer disabling damage! Androids have become so much a part of our society, not many of us could cope without them. I stand here today, peacefully asking that androids are treated as equals. We exist with androids every part of every day. Can’t we live with them too? Can’t we love them?”
As you finished your speech, you turned to look at Markus. He was your support, your inspiration, your lover. You hoped that if nothing else, the world would see you, a red-blooded human, standing side-by-side with the one you loved most - a blue-blooded android.
You hoped they would see that it didn’t matter. You hoped they would see that no part of your differences mattered.
But you hoped above all that the world would see that colour - skin, hair, eyes, even blood - had no bearing on love.