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Coming to understand his android has feelings like any other person, was honestly not the hardest thing Ajax has ever done. Realizing he had feelings for his android, that was a whole different world of emotions to struggle through.
Zhongli made it effortless. Who wouldn’t fall in love with the deep timber of his voice, the stories he told when he tucked the children in at night. Ajax asked him if they were stories he’d pulled from some worldwide database; Zhongli had smiled and admitted to making a few of them up. Sometimes he’d make up tales where the youngest of the siblings soared off into space aboard ships of their own making, and sometimes it would be ancient myths and legends Ajax had never heard himself. A time where gods ruled the lands, and even normal people could be gifted with extraordinary power. Oh how the world had changed since then.
Zhongli was his parents' android, a ZL700 house model made to take care of the children and help his mother out with meals after a long night. Already living on his own by the time they got Zhongli, Ajax’s already frequent visits to see his siblings increased. While his mother never complained about extra hands, he suspected she knew what was going on far before he did.
The night he figured out Zhongli was just as human as any of them lives imprinted in his brain, unremarkable though it was. All the children had gone to bed, and Zhongli had been tasked with cleaning the living room. When Ajax came in to help he saw the android standing still in front of the TV, troubled golden eyes fixed on the screen. A deviant holding a little girl hostage at the edge of a building fills the screen. There were helicopters, soldiers with sniper rifles, and a police android approaching the deviant. The final gunshot rang through the speakers, bouncing from wall to wall.
The little girl fell into the police android’s arms, and her captor fell to an agonizing death. The cameras zoomed in to show the vibrant splash of blue blood on her cheek and clothes, but all Ajax could see was the shimmer of tears in Zhongli’s eyes, unable to be shed. Were androids capable of crying? If they were, the torrent of realized emotion would surely have turned into a flood.
“You’re sad. You feel sad… for him. Someone you’ve never met. That’s,” The word human died on the tip of his tongue. He couldn’t move, even if he wanted to. The well-worn carpet under his feet felt like quicksand anchoring him in place.
No shock or fear registered on Zhongli’s expression, rather, his mouth slid easily into the content smile of someone resigned to their fate. Only his blue LED fading to a troubled yellow gave anything away. “Yes, I feel sad for him. They were going to replace him, it must have been very frightening. Will you recommend your mother do the same, now that you’ve found me out?” Mechanically gleaming eyes met his expectantly, and Ajax had shaken his head. They spent the rest of the night discussing the situation, and deviants as a whole.
Love came even easier than acceptance. Zhongli was fully capable of leaving their house and blending in with human society to start a life of his own. When Ajax asked why he didn’t, the android just chuckled and pulled a third pile of homework in front of him.
“Your mother needs help around the house, Teucer is reprehensibly bad at math, and who would keep you coming around Ajax? If there is any place in the world that needs me, it’s right here.” The synthetic skin around his eyes crinkled up when he smiled. Ajax tossed his head back and laughed, before resigning himself to helping with 5th grade algebra for the rest of the night. Considering one of them was a walking supercomputer it was hardly needed, but every moment they spent together was worth it.
The world continued to change around them, and their love grew with every industrialized city block. Stolen moments where they could hold hands on a walk in the dead of night became Ajax’s favorite hours. Afternoons spent at his apartment when his mother would allow Zhongli time off were agonizingly short. Every deep kiss… every touch, laugh, joke, story, memory they made was bittersweet. It was an illegal love necessarily hidden from the outside world, nowhere near as exciting as movies made it seem.
Threat of revolution grew with every passing day, and Ajax always knew Zhongli would join. It was inevitable. Deviated androids continued to be killed no matter the situation that led to their breaking point, stoking the flame of rage within him. Gilded eyes sharpened with every biased news report, and the slender fingers Ajax knew capable of such tenderness clenched hard enough to break furniture. Who could blame him? Ajax felt the same urge to fight. Something had to give. The question was, would it be the innate prejudice of humans or the determination of androids?
Then three androids broke into a news station and delivered a message to the world. Their broadcast was a beacon, cleaving through the tension like a guillotine. The only thing about the incident more impactful than the leader’s speech demanding freedom were the human guards who died in the process. The human lives sacrificed ensured every single news station would carry the story. Finally there was someone for androids to rally around, somewhere to be safe, to make a difference. The revolution’s leader spoke of a safe haven called Jericho, and hundreds of androids flocked to it. Ajax never expected to see something so incredible happen in his lifetime.
He never expected to watch his soulmate leave for war. Truly that was the only word to describe what was yet to come, though politicians would much rather call it mass malfunction. Executives of Cyber Life said deviancy was a virus, causing an outbreak of automaton emotion. The raw human determination and sorrow in Zhongli’s eyes when they said goodbye was a miracle anyone would be blessed to witness.
Ajax never thought himself to be the sentimental sort; he was always good at repressing emotions other than anger. That day he couldn’t reign in the panic sinking its claws deep into his chest or wall up the pleas spilling from his throat. He didn’t really want Zhongli to stay, because that wasn’t what his partner wanted. Desperation was selfish in the end, and Zhongli held him until they could both find the will to let go.
Zhongli left for Jericho. He never came back.
Weeks passed in a haze of anxiety. Every member of their house kept the news running 24/7 on every screen. No action on either side went without retaliation. Humans moved in ways they deemed best, brutally annihilating deviated androids. Over the past decade manual labor jobs had been wholly replaced by androids, another failed idea of human efficiency. With no street cleaners left around, pavement stained with blue blood became the norm.
Sentient will has never been that easily broken. The androids marched peacefully on, never once lifting a hand to take another human life. Their leader called out for fellow androids to join and they came. Labor androids, housekeepers, shopkeepers, all left their programmed roles to join the fight. They were cut down in the streets for all to see. Even androids who hadn’t made any move to join the revolution were murdered in their homes, by people too terrified to accept the possibility their machines could feel.
Jericho itself was attacked, and everyone within captured or forced to flee. For a while, the world held its breath to see if it was over.
Cyberlife issued the mass recall, and no one called the recall centers what they truly were, slaughter houses. If androids weren’t alive then surely it was just turning off machines, right? Ajax pitied people arrogant enough to think that way.
Their brethren’s mass murder was Jericho’s final straw, and his family cheered at the final march. It was incredible to watch history being made. Hundreds of androids died in the process, but they succeeded in halting meaningless slaughter. Cyberlife, the government, every human in the country was forced to recognize androids as sentient.
In all of the chaos, Ajax never saw his Zhongli. There were other models with his face, sure, but he knew it wasn’t his lover. Somehow, somewhere, he’d faded into the crowd. The news talked about the leaders, the androids who made the revolution possible. No one talks about the ones that died to make it happen. No one talks about the families who had always known androids were more than AI’s and grieved for them.
He only allowed himself a few days of wallowing in said grief before deciding to do something about it. After all, there was no guarantee Zhongli was dead. Evidence pointed that direction, sure, but until he saw a lifeless chassis with his own eyes he would cling to hope.
Finding information felt like a fool’s errand at first. No android he talked to seemed to know anything, and most turned tail at the sight of him. It was frustrating, but understandable. Androids had now spent years learning humans are cruel, just because the government was discussing giving them rights didn’t change that. Most families left Detroit right away, leaving the androids they’d cared for with no place to call home.
Homes went up for sale, others were abandoned entirely. Androids too scared to seek out help from the leaders of the revolution squatted. Days turned into weeks, and eventually they realized they had no one to help fix internal malfunctions. Many fell into disrepair, and more were attacked by people ready to start the counter revolution. As much as there was hope, confusion and desperation filled the cracks.
These observations gave Ajax the perfect opportunity to get information, and his family was all too happy to help. With the lot next to their house abandoned, his mother quickly set about the task of getting it ready to house androids who needed shelter. His siblings help him put up subtle papers and covert messages. They couldn’t risk any human finding out. Ajax made sure it was as discreet and safe as possible, for his family and the androids alike.
First, there came a nurse android who hadn’t joined the revolution at all, but had been attacked by the rest of the hospital staff. Her wounds were deep, but it didn’t dampen the bright smile on her face as she played with Tonia in the backyard. She renamed herself from SB600 to Barbara with Tonia’s help, and filled the house with soft, cheery songs as she recovered.
Next came a trio of teenage androids who’d most certainly been abandoned by their families, mothers and fathers desperate to have children in the first place. Only one of them actually spoke, and he only spoke to Ajax’s mother. The girl and other boy huddled close behind him, skittish and defensive. It took time to learn their full story, even more for them to open up to anyone. They never quite took a liking to Ajax, but got along well with Barbara and his siblings. Though Bennett was the first to speak, Fischl was very obviously the leader of the group. Razor was quiet, but eagerly ran beside them when they played ‘Knights and Princess’ in the backyard. The containers of spare parts Ajax bartered for became a backyard kingdom for the children, never without laughter.
A practically dead Eden club android and her human partner came next. Jean never left the operating room out while Barabra fought to get Lisa in working order. Luckily, she made it, though she never regained her full ability to keep a human appearance. She focused all the power she could route into keeping her face perfect, insisting it was really the only feature anyone needed to admire. Jean laughed and threaded their fingers together, flesh and metal, while they watched the backyard. The selfish yearning in Ajax’s chest ripped open to new lengths.
Not one of these androids knew anything useful. Most of them never joined the revolution at all, much less went to Jericho. He welcomed them all with the happiest of smiles, only letting his anger out once he was safely alone. Teucer asked if they would ever ‘replace’ Zhongli. The ignorance of children could be the hardest to deal with, as they couldn’t be blamed for it.
One by one, the androids continue to come. Once word travels that their operation is actually safe, not a day goes by where at least one android does not limp to their doorstep. Eventually they extend to the rest of the abandoned houses on their block. They’ve become a community by the time he hits a breakthrough.
They’re androids who couldn’t be more different, brought together by their time at Jericho. Beidou is a construction android, scars that could be easily reformatted worn proudly on tan skin. Ningguang doesn’t speak of her life before the revolution, and no
one pressures her about it. Ajax suspects she must have been some kind of secretary, hands as pale as porcelain and even more delicate. They bicker like they’ve been married for years, and take up residence in one of the houses where they can take care of some of the children. Ajax is away striking a deal with some of the revolutionaries for more parts and blue blood when they arrive. It’s a miracle that he hears it at all.
“Qiqi... you made it,” Ningguang speaks in a tone choked with emotion, falling to her knees so the child can run into her arms. Ajax is setting up their room with Beidou, the fondness he feels at such a reunion turned cold by the words she spoke next. “So Zhongli did save you, I thought you were lost.” Blood pounds in his ears, Beidou’s indignant shout as he drops the bedframe lost to him. He probably looks crazed as he slides into the living room, eyes practically glowing with exhilaration. “Zhongli, you knew Zhongli? Beautiful, deep voice, probably told a million stories… that Zhongli?”
Ningguang’s eyes are wide with shock, but they quickly narrow to a knowing gleam, “Ajax then, I assume?”
She tells him how they met, how much Zhongli did to keep Jericho running. He delighted all the children with his stories and helped keep morale up until the very end. When Jericho was attacked, Beidou, Nigguang, Qiqi and Zhongli all ended up in the same ‘recall center’, lined up and told to await their fate. Qiqi would forever be a child, too curious for her own good. She’d been too friendly with a human guard, and Zhongli had taken the bullet for her. It hadn’t been enough to satiate Cyberlife though, and they’d both been pushed through to deactivation.
“So what happened...how did you survive? Did Zhongli survive somehow?” Ajax barely reigned in the urge to grab Qiqi and shake the answers out of her. “Mister Zhongli said...to keep my temperature regulator turned off. So I did. I woke up...Everyone looked the same. I couldn’t find Mister Zhongli...so I left.” Selfless, even to the very end. Ajax cursed under his breath, turning to the older two for any answers.
“I can only tell you that our camp was Nº 2, and the dump’s on the east sidah town. It’s been picked over by now…” Ajax doesn’t bother listening to Beidou finish. The location is all he needs, it’s all he has to go on. Beidou says something else as he leaves, but it’s once again lost to the pounding of his heart. It’s slim, it’s less than slim. There’s maybe a one in a million chance that Zhongli is still functioning in that dump and hasn’t been looted for parts. However, there’d been worse odds that androids would gain sentience.
He’d take it. Not like he had anything to lose.
A taxi gets him within running distance of the right dump. The amount of money Ajax hurls at the driver is probably enough to cover three times his fare. It’s...worse than he ever could have imagined. This isn’t a battleground, it’s an open grave, piles of bodies exposed to the elements. All of the androids here have been stripped of their synthetic skin, gleaming white chassis exposed to the sun to rust away. Many of them are riddled with bullet holes, blue blood staining exposed metal and the intricate wiring of their internal systems ripped apart. The worst of it are the few still moving. Their LEDs spin red if they even light up at all, fingers stripped to their barest endoskeletons clawing into the earth. Some call out to him as he searches, distorted voices full of static and anguish.
He has no time to heed their calls. As the light begins to fade in the sky he searches each and every corpse he can find. They prepared for this possibility. If Zhongli eventually fell, they knew it was highly unlikely anyone would care about a few marks carved into his chest. Scraping a beautiful swirl into the hard plastic over his thirium pump wasn’t easy when Ajax’s hands shook at the grave implication, but now it was their saving grace.
The thought of failure doesn’t occur to him, only single minded, cruel determination. Finding Zhongli isn’t nearly as much of a relief as he thought it would be, but he gets to work immediately despite the tears. There is indeed a bullet hole in the back of his plastic skull, and their mark adorns his chest. He is missing limbs, someone or something has taken fingers, a leg, and there are no residual lights or sensors showing there is any life left in the ZL700 body, but Ajax sees the base of the neck intact and knows the soul of his beloved should be, no, must be, safely stowed away. Months of taking care of other survivors has taught him what to do in this situation, and he doesn’t hesitate to plunge a hand into the back of Zhongli’s neck to rip out his central processing unit. It’s undamaged, by the grace of whatever god decided to throw him a bone. Cerulean blood runs in rivulets down his hand as Ajax finally lets himself sob, Zhongli’s essence safe in his grasp. As far as reunions go, it isn’t how he pictured it.
They could go home now, and Ajax could begin his new mission. Sure it was selfish, some might even call it deranged to bring your lover back this way. Cyberlife did it all the time through repair shops, all he needed was a vessel. One shouldn’t be too hard to find. After all, who knew which androids with perfectly functional bodies that came for help would be lucky enough to survive?