Ohhhhhhh boi. So itās been a hot minute since Iāve played or watched DBH in ANY capacity. So hopefully Iāll remember things and this wonāt turn out too bad. š
Grace wheeled his bike through the downpour. He was cold and wet and all he wanted to do was go home and take a nice long shower that was hot enough to possibly boil his skin. At least heād remembered to grab his raincoat before heading out to the school this morning. Sure, the weather this morning had said that there was a good chance of rain this afternoon but heād thought that it was going to be more of a sprinkle or a light rain. Not whatever this raining-cats-and-dogs BS that was happening.
Another wave to icy rain started pounding down even harder. Which then prompted Grace to take shelter under a ratty awning in front of an equally abandoned looking storefront. He shivers as he looks both ways down the road. He hadnāt meant to but heād somehow wandered himself into a rougher part of the neighborhood. Hopefully he didnāt run into any criminals. That really would just absolutely ruin an already bad day even more.
As he waited for the rain to lighten up a bit, a small flash of light caught his eye. What was that? Grace stared in the general direction that heād thought heād seen the light come from. It was an alleyway, overflowing with all manner of trash and broken things. Looking just as neglected and abandoned as the rest of the buildings surrounding it.
This time he was able to pinpoint it to a smaller general area. There was a group of dumpsters there. Two of them with their lids flipped open whereas the others were closed.
Cautiously, Grace walked over to the group of dumpsters. All the while still searching for that light heād seen. It was still pouring like no oneās business but Grace didnāt mind anymore. He propped his bike against the opposite wall of the alley. The light flashed again and Grace peeked inside of the dumpster it came from.
What he saw made him pull in a sudden deep breath. Which then in turn made him double over hacking and coughing due to the overwhelming smell of wet rot. But once heād regained at least a bit of his breathing capabilities, Grace looked back into the dumpster. There, half covered in wet and moldy cardboard, was an android. It was in rough shape. The artificial skin on the left side of its face had been shredded and the mechanisms under it had been partially crushed. Rendering some of the biocomponents inert until replacements could be obtained and switched out. Which was nothing, considering that the androidās left arm had been completely severed at the elbow. Blue blood was still visible seeing as it nearly covered the androidās body and was matted in its black hair.
Which meant that whatever had damaged it and whoever had dumped it here, had done so within the last few hours. Otherwise the blue blood wouldāve evaporated by the time Grace had discovered the mangled ābodyā in the dumpster.
āHolyā¦ā Grace started, eyes wide. He stared at the badly damaged android for a second longer before taking a step back and pulling out his phone.
He searched his recent conversations to find his group chat with Rocky and Ilyukhina. When he finally found it his hands were starting to shake. Whether from the oncoming adrenaline crash or the cold of the rain finally soaking him to the bone, Grace didnāt know.
Me: I think I mightāve found a project for you both. Itās pretty damaged. Not sure if itās worth the time and effort to fix though.
Rocky: Grace. Where are you?
Ilyukhina: Pics or it doesnāt exist.
Grace gave a bit of a huff before he stepped back up to the edge of the dumpster with the android in it. He took a slightly blurry picture then stepped back. Ick, that smell was not getting any better the longer he stood here. He sent the picture to the group chat. Which had both of his very smart engineer friends responding immediately.
Ilyukhina: HOW DID YOU FIND?!? THAT MODEL NOT ON MARKET YET?!?!????
Ilyukhina: Fucken take me too!!!!!
Rocky: Pick up angry Russian then android and Grace. Give address.
Me: Oh, so the android takes precedence over me? I see how it is. Maybe I wonāt give you the address and just walk the rest of the way home.
Ilyukhina: NO!! ABSOLUTELY NO!!!
Rocky: Grace stay. Give address or Rocky will tell Adrian.
Grace gulps a little. If Rocky made good on his threat, then Adrian would mother hen him into next month. He absentmindedly notes that the rain has mostly let up and was now the sprinkle that heād expected before. Before he could really think about it, Grace sent a pin of his location to the group chat.
Ilyukhina: how did you get there? What were you even doing in that part of town?
Rocky: Dangerous. No move. Stay.
Me: Iām not a dog. I will go where I please.
Me: But it is getting dark and I donāt want to be out here any longer than I have to be. So I guess Iāll just stay here and wait for you guys instead.
It took them about half an hour before they found Grace in that dingy and garbage filled alley. But Grace couldnāt help the wave of relief that he felt when Rockyās big work truck rolled up to the mouth of the alley. Ilyukhina was in the passenger seat with a wide grin on her face. As soon as Rocky parked, Ilyukhina kept out of the truck cab and sprinted to Grace. Where she gave him little to no time to brace for impact before she scooped him up in a crushing hug and spun him around once.
āCanāt believe!ā She shouted before putting Grace back down. Their raincoats squeaking as the fabric is rubbed together from the water still on Graceās yellow one. āYou find android!! Not even on shelf! Not release until summer!ā
Grace laughs nervously. āYeah. Not sure how I managed to do that.ā He jumps a bit as a loud noise comes from the dumpster.
When he looks over to the dumpster in question. He finds Rocky trying his hardest to get into it. But ultimately failing due to his shorter than average height.
āYou- Do you need some help there buddy?ā Grace asks.
āWould be helpful.ā Rocky responds flatly as he gives Grace an unimpressed expression.
Before he could do anything, Ilyukhina jumps at the opportunity. Which he meant literally. Because as soon as Rocky finished his sentence, Ilyukhina was easily jumping over the lip of the dumpster to stand among the trash. She easily slipped her arms under the android and heaved it up. Rocky was waiting there as she swung the androidās limp form over the edge of the dumpster and into waiting hands.
The two of them work together and get the damaged android into the bed of Rockyās truck. Theyāre both now covered in slowly fading blue blood. Ilyukhina goes back into the dumpster and roots around for a minute. While she does that, Rocky loads up Graceās bike into the bed of his truck as well. Grace had just opened the back passenger door to get it when Ilyukhina let out something of a victory screech.
āFound!ā She yells into the deep twilight. āNow can go. Letās go.ā
Sheās cradling something close to her chest. When she got closer, Grace could vaguely tell that it was the missing severed arm and hand that the android had been missing. She gets into the passenger seat and straps in.
Rocky gives her an approving nod before starting up his truck and driving away. Grace stares out of the window as the scenery whips past. He wonders just how the android had gotten so damaged. Now that he was thinking about it. The damage looked like it had been done on purpose.
A pit settled in his stomach and made him feel a bit queasy. At least now it was in Rocky and Ilyukhinaās hands. All he wanted to do was go home, take a stupidly hot shower, eat a warm meal, and forget about the android that heād found.
Yeah, that sounded like a good plan.
O-O Did I do it? Did I actually write something decent? Not sure. I feel like I need to edit this a bit more before I post it on ao3. Yāall can find my ao3 username on my profile. Iāll update this post with a link whenever I manage to edit and post this to ao3. I do have a few more ideas for what happens next but idk. Itās a pain to type this much on my phone. >~< Anyways, thanx for reading! ^w^
