Roleplay

Andrew laughed. “I guess that makes sense,” he replied. But you felt pain. Right? Maybe it was something else.

He shrugged. Why was he helping Daniel again? “It’s exciting. For once in my life I don’t have to cut corners for my boss,” he grumbled. Oh, Daniel probably wouldn’t understand that, but it was fine. “Unfortunately for you, though, I don’t know how androids are built,” he joked. “Is there a way to turn off the power in your leg? I don’t want to get shocked.”

Andrew noticed that Daniel must not have heard his question. The android had his eyes closed; he seemed on edge, but then again, he was a robot. Did robot get nervous?

When he opened his eyes again, he seemed to jolt. Andrew could only wonder what he’d been thinking about.

“Daniel, your leg. Can you shut off the thirium supply?” he asked again, just in case the android hadn’t heard. He was patient anyway, so he didn’t mind having to ask twice. He would rather that than get shocked, or get blue blood all over him.

Daniel still couldn't process Andrew's reasoning but accepted it all the same. "Yes I should be able to" he said after a few minutes; he ran the commands necessary and shutoff all power and thirium flow to his leg. "You should be safe to proceed" he said, ignoring all the warning about his damaged bio-components.

While he let Andrew work on his leg Daniel had more time to think. Thinking was dangerous. Thinking was as sign of deviancy. It was scaring him. Being scared was a sign of deviancy.

"Andrew... may I ask you a question?" he watched the man work on his broken leg; swapping mechanical parts and connecting wires. "Would you consider me deviant?" he asked, looking at his hands that still had a faint blue tinge to them. "I have received several software errors since being damaged and now I think I'm suffering from similar symptoms to those that call themselves deviant." he looked at Andrew, noting the concern on his face.

"I would like to reassure you that I'm currently only experiencing human emotions such as fear, panic and I'm fairly certain my touch receptors are now transmitting a feeling similar to pain." he clenched his hands and released them again. He didn't want to be deviant - but then wanting something was also a sign...

"It... it might be better for you to return to me to Opedia. I believe they should deactivate and disassemble me." Daniel didn't want to be deactivated - it scared him. Now his programming was broken there was a flood of information and emotion that all screamed at him to be...

Alive.

When he got the go-ahead, he began fixing Daniel’s leg, piece by piece. He was a little more nervous now that the android was awake, but he did his best anyway.

Andrew shrugged. “I don’t really know what deviants look like. Or act like, for that matter,” he replied. I mean, it sounded like Daniel knew what they acted like, but all Andrew knew was that usually they were violent; he hadn’t really been told why, per say.

Maybe Daniel was on his way to deviancy, or maybe he already was one. He did act a bit strange. It was a bit concerning, since all Andrew knew about deviants was the conflicting messages from both the place he worked at and the flood of deviants protesting for their rights.

“If you really want that, I could always take you there tomorrow morning,” he replied. He didn’t think that was the case, but he wasn’t going to tell Daniel that he couldn’t turn himself in. “Otherwise, you could always stay here for a bit. Maybe you’ll figure out how to fix... it?” As far as he knew, death seemed to be the only way to fix deviancy: completing rebooting an android or deactivating them for good. At least, if there was another way, Opedia sure hadn’t let on.

He fit the last piece that Daniel had needed into his leg. “There. That should be good. You know, it was a lot easier knowing what parts I needed,” he joked, smiling, though it was a bit of a nervous smile. “I got you some thirium too. You probably lost a lot already,” he noted, handing Daniel the thirium out of the bag.

Andrew yawned. It was getting late; he’d forgotten how tired he’d been.

Daniel watched as Andrew fixed his leg; he said he wasn't knowledgeable about androids but seemed to work with the components excellently and with precision care. It was interesting to watch someone work - a side effect of deviancy sure, but Daniel decided he liked watching Andrew work. It was methodical and soothing to him. When he suggested heading back to Opedia the fear of death made Daniel's core jolt irregularly again - he couldn't just walk in and be deactivated!

"Stay... here?" he asked, cocking his head slightly. "I don't know if I can fix deviancy, nobody has before and I'm only designed for the Police force. But thank you; I would rather not go back to Opedia." Andrew finished fixing his leg and fit the last piece with a click. "Thank you... again" Daniel said, switching back on the flow of thirium and slowly he began to control his leg again.

Andrew yawned and the human need for sleep suddenly reminded Daniel that had most likely kept Andrew up for a majority of the night. "Apologies; you need to rest..." he felt himself smile slowly, "If the offer still stands I'd like to stay here just for a while." He waved Andrew goodnight, hoping he slept well.

While Andrew slept Daniel attempted to walk again, feeling that similar electrical stab when he put pressure on it but it dulled quickly and before long Daniel felt better. Well, mostly. The hard part was coming to terms with his deviancy; there was still no violent impulses; he felt no malice towards Andrew and didn't have any desire to break anything. He flexed his hands a few times, watching the fingers curl.

"Deviant, huh?"

Daniel waited patiently as night ran on, sitting on the work bench staring at the wall. He didn't have an objective anymore... he felt so lost.

Andrew nodded, smiling. “It stands. Feel free to leave the workshop,” he added. He hoped the android knew he didn’t have to just stay in the basement.

He went through his usual nightly routine and soon fell asleep, pondering what he would do about Daniel. Andrew was fine with him staying for as long as he liked, but he imagined it would get a bit boring. He couldn’t exactly go back to the police station either; they would probably notice when he started acting more human than your run-of-the-mill TK700.