Pixel-Bones

The sun had long since set below the bright lights of the mid-'plex, and Ophi was finally done with all the week's paperwork. Inventory, tab upkeep, employee payroll. It was a time consuming process, and if Androids could feel tired - Ophi would be. It wasn't that she was running low on her actual battery source, she was just wiped out from the last few weeks. After the new Mayor was elected, as lovely as she seemed, and after finding out that Maxwell had been 'warned' he'd warned her. She'd, ultimately, withdrawn. Unless she was spoken to, she went to work and went home, though she watched MNN like a hawk.

She wasn't seeking information on the new mayor, no, she was enthralled with the need to find out what had happened to a certain android who'd decided to paint a target on her back when it came to EVE. Her thoughts inevitably came back to the rogue AI. It always boiled down to that woman. She'd pressed a button on her phone, she heard the song pulsing through her eardrums.

The android took a breath, and began the run home. She rarely used a car or a bike, it wasn't that she didn't like it, but it wasn't hard to take the metro or just jog home. Time consuming, probably, but if ever there was anything Ophelia Selsin had an abundance of, it was time. She'd made her way to the lower 'plex, and of course, her legs felt no pain. Her artificial limbs and muscles didn't straight, they didn't need oxygen to feed them, to keep them from hurting. The drums in her ears spurred her on, faster, faster. She was careful to run as fast as she could within human parameters. What was she truly running from, though?

"It's not often, you know, that I don't know who I'm speaking to."

That voice drew goosebumps, if anything could, and she jammed her foot down, wheeling about against momentum to face the woman. She'd been taking a shortcut by the power plant. Bad luck, or good luck, depending on who you asked.

"S'that so? Everyone's fearful of you. I've yet to figure out why." Ophi countered, her gaze hard, brows knit low between her eyes. Eve approached leisurely. She was wearing a dangerous grin, as if playing with a brand new toy. Ophi was ready, tense, angry. This woman represented everything she stood against. This woman was a monster.

"Would you like to find out, my dear?" EVE's voice was dripping with acid, a dare. Ophi only grinned back. Fearless. Ophi could be interpreted as gutsy, or even possessing a death wish the way she spoke to the woman. She bounced on the tips of her sneakers, her fingers extending and curving back in on themselves, the pointed nails biting into her flesh.

"You know, since that night where we took Rachell from right underneath of your nose, I've just been itching to cross fists with you." she said, lowering, the leather of her gloves squeaked as she readied herself for what was sure to be one of the most exhilarating fights she'd had in years.

Ophi watched the woman, carefully as they both carefully circled one another, this in and of itself was like a dance, the pre-game party before the final act took central stage. She revealed a brilliant white smile and as the woman rushed her, she moved quick as she did, arms up, fists protecting her face, she blocked and countered, keeping up as best she could with the woman before the woman tossed her.

"You're -not- human, Ophelia Selsin." Ophi winced as she rose from the pavement, the mechanical slats of her spine revealed by the skid across the pavement. She could feel the pain, and in a way it was something she relished. It reminded her that, whether human or android, she was alive.

"What on earth gives you that idea, EVE." she said with a grin, as Ophi herself went on the offensive. A flurry of hands and feet, aiming high and low in what seemed an erratic, nonsensical rhythm. She finally felt her foot contact at the woman's side, only to feel her foot grabbed, and a swift pull turned her right round, exposing the spinal column. The last thing Ophi'd heard, as her bruised body collapsed, despite how well she'd kept up at first, was a sickening laugh.

It's called a Catch 22. I've only ever caught myself in one of those once before, and it resulted in the death of one I love. Hesitation killed my brother, I know that to be true. Hesitation on my part - the one moment I followed orders to put the mission above his safety. I find myself in that position once more. Do I show a newcomer to the 'plex what I am? How I posses whatever this Spark actually is? Do I show him my insides - how I'm made of metal and synth-skin. How I posses the heart and mind and neurons made of synthetic, man made components? Do I tell him how the spark isn't something that we should have - how unprepared we are. How scared we are of it?

The spark doesn't make me happy, it doesn't make me anymore human than the others of my kind. Those who live in blissful ignorance of the world around them, content with following orders and getting whatever simple job they've been given done? The spark makes me ANGRY. Why do I have this? Why am I in this position, why do I care. It's such a burden. Why does humanity relish in this? I can't show him what I am, but to not show him what I am could get him killed. He seeks those with the spark, and to him the most glaringly obvious specimen to find is EVE. Even after I'd warned the man, EVE is not one to be trifled with. She's dangerous, and seeks only the subjugation of human-kind. She is not a reliable source of the average Android with the Spark.

It's said when you lose someone dear, it's like losing a piece of yourself. What happens when you lose the very person who is responsible for creating you. Not your mother, or father, but your actual creator.

My name is unimportant. My designation is unimportant. I'm here to tell you a short story - of how I came to be.

I was created with the sole purpose of proving a very expensive point. Androids, whether they posses the spark or not, are not out to get you, as some would have you believe. Those with the spark are no different than you. We think, we feel. We love, and feel anger and sadness.

Some might have you believe this is some choice we have made. Being granted the spark is like waking up for humans, for the first time. You see everything differently, are acutely aware (usually) of how their decisions may harm others. From a human standpoint, who would choose to feel these negative things? Even in lieu of the good?

I want to tell you a story of personal responsibility. It may be in-cohesive, as I have trouble processing my emotions when telling it. Forgive me if it comes off unorganized.

I remember waking up, not when I was activated, but when I was granted the spark. I don't know how, or why that happened. But it was shortly before my last bounty. I remember feeling incredibly scared, upset, and feeling incredibly confused. None of these emotions made sense to me at the time.

My brother, the man who created me, held me and stroked my hair. He soothed me until the tears from my artificial ducts stopped. I remember him telling me that this was a gift, that I should pay attention to my feelings. It made me angry to think that something so incredibly negative could be a 'gift'

For the first time in my short life, I was frightened of death. I was scared to go on this bounty, as we were told that our target was incredibly dangerous for a human being. I wasn't necessarily scared, however, for my death.

My brother told me to pay attention to the feelings - but I didn't. I bottled them, pretended they didn't exist. When we found and ultimately confronted the man we were sent after, that was when I realized my mistake. I should have told him. I should have made him stay back at base. I remembered watching my brother fall, blood pouring from the wounds I wasn't fast enough to stop. It was our first failure, and it was catastrophic.