[Detroit] No Paradise

After receiving the message from the bionic man working in the bar, Marcus immediately set off from Jericho to the marked location.

Although Joshua only said that there was something urgent and didn't say what it was, Marcus still left everything in his hands to find him without hesitation.The weapons that Joshua provided them played a vital role in the last operation, allowing them to complete the operation with zero casualties in Jericho. Not only that, Joshua helped them too much, this favor It must be answered no matter what.

Less than 500 meters away from the location marked on the map, Marcus walked quickly in the wind and snow.

Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly saw a figure standing on the side of the road, who seemed to be looking at him too, Marcus turned his head to look, and stopped in his tracks.

RK800?

This model that specialized in hunting abnormal bionics just stood there quietly. He had obviously seen Marcus, but he didn't make any movement.

His body seemed to be drenched in water, and it had already frozen into frost in the wind and snow at this moment, which made him look like he had just crawled out of an ice cave.

"Connor?" Marcus tentatively called his name.

Connor put his hand on the pistol behind his waist, and he put his hand down after a while.

——Not now, he couldn't stop Marcus, someone had to save Joshua.

This thought conflicted with his mission, the LED light flashed red quickly, and eventually he turned around and walked away like he never saw Marcus.

Marcus looked at his back, his walking posture seemed to be particularly stiff, and his steps were fast, as if he was escaping from something.

"What exactly happened here?"

When I saw Connor last time, he still looked like he would never give up until he brought himself to justice. Why did he ignore him as if he didn't know someone this time?

Marcus was very confused, but he didn't stop calling Connor, but continued to walk towards Joshua's position.

……

The marked location is among a bunch of abandoned houses, these houses are very dilapidated, some have been completely destroyed, and some seem to be intact.Marcus walked quickly in the path between the houses, the blood stains on the ground and walls made him frown.

Where did these bloodstains come from?

He quickly came to the abandoned house where Joshua was, and there were even footprints at the door.The snow was falling hard, and the footprints would be covered quickly, which could only mean that someone had passed by here only a few minutes ago.

Marcus repeatedly confirmed that the location of the GPS signal transmission was here, and then walked into the yard.

The door of the house was not closed, and the scene inside the door could be vaguely seen from the outside.The fire in the fireplace was beeping and beeping, making the room flickering.

Marcus walked into the door and saw Joshua at a glance.

He was standing not far away leaning against the wall, his eyes slightly closed, his body was drenched as if he had just been exposed to a heavy rain, and the icy cold water continued to flow down his face.There was a bandage on the right arm, which was also soaked in water. Red blood was oozing from the white bandage, mixing with the water and dripping to the ground.

Unaware of Marcus' entry, he seemed to be in a half-dream state, standing motionless against the wall.

Marcus walked up to him, reached out to help him, touched his bare skin, and was startled.

He has a high fever.

Joshua, who was touched by someone, opened his eyes. There was no spirit in those eyes, and the eye sockets were flushed.With some difficulty, he raised his eyes to look at Marcus. Those originally bright eyes lost focus, and his vision was blurred. After looking for a while, he said, "Ma...Marcus?"

The voice was hoarse and terrible, and Marcus asked in a somewhat hasty tone: "This...what the hell is going on, Joshua? What happened?"

It seemed that he was so seriously ill that he might faint at any time. Where did he get the strength to support him to stand here motionless?

Joshua felt that Marcus' voice seemed to be coming from far away in the sky, and he couldn't hear it clearly at all, and could only vaguely see his mouth opening and closing.

He is no stranger to this feeling, he knows that his body has reached its limit, even a child can easily knock him down at this moment.But he doesn't care.

"I...I give up, Marcus," he said.

"Give up what?" Marcus was startled.

"..." Joshua wanted to say something, but he felt as if something was strangling his throat, and he couldn't make a sound.

After a while, he finally closed his eyes, and slowly knelt down against the wall.

"Joshua!" Marcus quickly supported him.

"Oops, 39.6 degrees Celsius..." The scorching heat from the palm of his hand made Marcus dare not delay any longer. He immediately bent down and picked up Joshua on his back, and walked towards the door with big strides.

He trotted all the way to the road, stopped a taxi, decisively hacked the car's AI, and set the destination to an intersection near Jericho.

The taxi quickly set off towards the destination. Marcus frowned. Joshua needed antipyretics, but antipyretics were prescription drugs, and they couldn't be bought without a doctor's prescription.

Fortunately, there are medical androids in Jericho, so it shouldn't be a big problem to forge an electronic prescription.

He turned to look at Joshua who was lying on the seat with his eyes closed, sighed slightly, turned up the temperature of the air conditioner, then took off his coat and covered him.Taking care of patients, Marcus still has experience.

Humans are fragile machines after all.

……

Joshua felt like he had a long, long dream.

In the dream, he was quenched in a raging fire, and fell into a glacier while burning. His blood froze, his body temperature dissipated, and all he saw was a phantom of foam.

The moment he surfaced, the world stood still, leaving only a deep night. He stood alone on the glacier, as if he had no past and could not see the future.

Time seemed to have lost its meaning. He didn't know how long he had slept until he opened his eyes and saw a hand reaching out to him.

The vigilance habit he had developed over the years made Joshua's nerves tense in an instant, and he quickly reached out and grabbed the wrist of the forehead hand.

But he soon found that his hand couldn't exert any strength, and the wrist he was holding was very slender, like a woman's hand.

Even without much strength, Joshua did not let go of his hand. He frowned and adapted to the light, and found himself lying on a bed made of several boxes, with a soft blanket under his body, and a simple The stove was burning, providing warmth continuously.

He looked at the people around him, slightly taken aback.

He had seen countless people who were disabled due to war, and also seen all kinds of hideous and terrifying scars, but the appearance of this person really surprised him.

That cannot be called a whole person at all.

She looks like a completely scrapped android, with permanent scratches all over the skin layer, and the entire skull is lifted to reveal the biological components of the android brain and a large number of cables, hanging behind her head .

Her eyes had no whites, just pure black.But that piece of darkness does not give people a deep and dark feeling, but like a vast and boundless universe, mysterious and all-encompassing.

Seeing Joshua wake up, she nodded to him calmly: "Joshua, you're awake."

Joshua couldn't get over her special and terrifying appearance for a moment, and after a while, he realized that her wrist was still being tightly strangled by him, so he quickly let go.

"Sorry," he said.As soon as he opened his mouth, he realized that his voice was completely hoarse, and his voice was strange and unpleasant.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, I just want to see if your fever has subsided." The bionic man said.

"...Who are you?" Joshua asked.

"You can call me Lucy." After a pause, Lucy answered Joshua's next question before he could ask it: "This is Jericho."

Joshua frowned, recalling what happened before he fell asleep.

The back of Connor's resolute departure appeared in his mind unexpectedly, Joshua's breathing was stagnant, and the sudden headache made him unable to hold his forehead.

"Are you okay?" Lucy asked concerned.

"..." Joshua took a deep breath, let his mind clear, and tried not to think about things that gave him a headache, "Marcus brought me here?"

Lucy nodded: "You were in poor condition when you first came here, but don't worry, the fever has almost subsided." After a pause, she continued: "Your physique is very good."

"Are you looking after me?" Joshua asked.

Lucy shook her head: "I didn't do anything. Marcus did your treatment and most of the care. I just helped take care of you when he was not here."

"...Thank you. Where is Marcus?" Joshua wanted to get off the simple bed, but Lucy held his shoulders and pushed him back gently.

"You need to rest." Lucy said, her tone was very gentle, but there was an unquestionable determination, "Marcus and the rest of Jericho are in a meeting, and it will be a while. I will let him know Already woke up."

Joshua wanted to struggle again, but found that he really had no strength, and his right arm was in unbearable pain, so he didn't insist on getting out of bed, and sat down quietly.

"Lucy, you..." Joshua originally wanted to ask Lucy why she was like this, but when the words came to her lips, she felt that this question was inappropriate, so she swallowed it back abruptly.

Seeing Joshua's hesitation and hesitation, Lucy quickly understood what Joshua wanted to say. She smiled and said gently: "I was scrapped before. But I was lucky to survive. "

"...You must have had a hard time." Joshua said.

A bionic person who was destroyed like this escaped from the fate of being scrapped and came to Jericho. I am afraid that only she knows how many hardships and dangers there are.

"The sufferings of the past will only make us stronger, Joshua." Lucy said, "I have also gained a lot of things that ordinary people cannot understand from those experiences, and I have seen things that ordinary people cannot see."

Joshua wanted to say something, but Lucy said first, "Why don't you talk about yourself."

"……Myself?"

"You look...lost." Lucy's eyes without whites looked at Joshua, which seemed to contain the wisdom of the entire universe.

Joshua was silent.

"You had a strong, courageous, proud soul," Lucy continued, "but now I see the other side of it, confusion, vulnerability, fear, avoidance... You waver between two worlds, and now , you are starting to feel tired."

"..." Joshua frowned, he didn't want to hear those words, but he had to admit that he was really like a wimp now.

"I saw some things that happened to you." Lucy said softly, "I also saw some shadows of the future."

Joshua raised his head and looked at her. He subconsciously wanted to ask what the future would be like, but he hesitated the moment he asked.

He suddenly dreaded the answer.

After a while, he sighed.

"Probably I was wrong from the beginning." He said softly, "He's right... I'm just a selfish person, and I never know what I want. Now things have come to this point... It's impossible Only myself to blame."

Lucy was silent for a while, then turned around and added some dry firewood to the stove, and the fire burned more vigorously immediately.

"The past can't be changed, but the future is unpredictable. The direction has been pointed, Joshua, you just need to follow that path."

Joshua was startled: "Which way?"

Lucy smiled, didn't say anything more, and changed the topic: "Marcus and the others have finished their meeting, and he is rushing over here."

Seeing that Lucy seemed unwilling to explain that sentence that sounded like a godsend, Joshua didn't ask any more questions.After Lucy finished adding to the fire, she nodded to Joshua and walked out of the room.

Marcus came soon, he strode into the room, he was obviously relieved when he saw Joshua: "Joshua, are you okay?"

Joshua nodded, and smiled reluctantly at Marcus: "Thank you, Marcus. Without you, I might just..."

Probably died in that room.

Marcus walked up to Joshua and patted him on the shoulder lightly: "You don't have to thank me, everything will be fine. I asked North and the others to help prepare more food and water. The medical androids here Trying to get some disinfection tools, the wound on your right arm is a little inflamed."

"..." Joshua was dumbfounded. He suddenly realized that Jericho is a place full of bionics, and there must be no survival resources that humans need here. "This... seems to be too much trouble for you."

He didn't like this feeling of being taken care of, and immediately wanted to leave.

"Don't talk about trouble," Marcus said. "You are a friend of Jericho, and you are my friend."

When human beings are most vulnerable, they must hope to have friends by their side, even for people like Joshua who seem to care nothing.

Joshua looked into Marcus's strange eyes, his face was serious and concerned, without any adulteration.

He suddenly realized that the connection he had established with these abnormal bionics was far more than simple acquaintance and mutual assistance.

"Although the environment here is not very good, but you are now in a wanted state, and you are not in good health, it will be dangerous to go out." Seeing that Joshua was silent, Marcus continued to persuade.

Joshua sighed: "Thank you, Marcus. I'll stay here."

Only then did Marcus nodded in satisfaction, hesitated for a moment, and asked suddenly: "After we separated that day, after all..."

What happened to make Joshua what he is now?It stands to reason that Connor should not be strong enough to cause Joshua to be injured so badly. Besides, he saw Connor when he was looking for Joshua, and the latter's attitude was really strange.

What Marcus couldn't understand the most was the weird relationship between Joshua and Connor. They didn't look like friends or enemies, but they seemed very familiar.In connection with what Joshua said to him when he was drunk a few days ago, a somewhat unbelievable idea gradually appeared in Marcus's software.

"You and Connor...you..." Marcus hesitated, but finally he couldn't speak.

The question seemed too offensive, and if the answer was no, it would surely arouse Joshua's dissatisfaction and even anger.

Joshua raised his head and glanced at Marcus, was silent for a while, and said, "...these are not important anymore."

He looked like he didn't want to mention it at all, and it was difficult for Marcus to continue asking.

Joshua suddenly remembered something and asked, "Is Simon back?"

Marcus nodded: "Just came back, he was arguing with North Josh and the others just now that he wanted to see you, but I kicked him out."

When human beings are sick, they need to rest. What does it look like when a large group of people come running in.

Joshua smiled: "It's okay, you let them come, I'm pretty boring by myself, so let's make it lively."

I always like to think wildly when I am alone, it is better to have someone to talk with.

As soon as he finished speaking, North walked in directly from the door, and said as he walked, "I said Joshua wouldn't mind this kind of thing, and Marcus just likes to think about these things."

Josh, who was following her, said disapprovingly: "Marcus' consideration is also reasonable, human beings are very fragile."

Nuo Si stared, this guy just likes to argue with himself, doesn't he? "Then don't come in."

Walking at the end of Simon's black line, he was always caught in the middle of these two guys who never agreed: "Don't say a few words, Marcus and Joshua are here."

Marcus: "...have you guys been standing outside the door the whole time?"

North coughed lightly, and looked away: "Anyway, there is nothing to do for the time being."

Simon walked directly in front of Joshua, and was silent for a while, as if trying to organize his words, hesitating for a long time but still didn't know how to speak.Facing this human being who almost sacrificed himself to save him, in the end he only said one sentence: "...Thank you, Joshua."

Joshua smiled and said, "It's all trivial, as long as you're fine."

"Thank you for the weapons, Joshua." Noth stepped forward and said, "That Gatling is quite exciting."

Joshua was a little surprised: "You used Gatling?"

That kind of weapon with heavy firepower and lethality is extremely destructive when used.

Josh had a black line: "Don't listen to her nonsense, we only brought some portable ones when we went out to operate. The casualties in the last operation were much less than we expected, thanks to your weapons, thank you, Joe Shuya."

It was also a first for Joshua to be surrounded by a group of people saying thank you.When he was young, what he experienced the most was a group of parents surrounded him, you complained to his father, and your child beat my child again.Later, when I went to the mercenary team, those bandits didn't like to say thank you.So the word "thank you" is even a little strange to Joshua.

This made him feel a little better, and he smiled: "You guys saved me this time, it's even."

"You don't look...in a good mood?" North sensitively caught the slight reluctance in Joshua's smile.

Both Simon and Josh were taken aback, they didn't see it at all.Marcus sighed secretly, a woman's intuition is really scary.

Joshua froze for a moment: "Well... After all, I don't feel well."

"You can tell us what you need at any time." North frowned, with some worry in her eyes. "Joshua, I have always believed that human beings are the same - they will only treat us as objects, hurt and use them at will. I didn't change my mind until I met you. Maybe Josh is not fully immersed In his dream of peace, there are humans who are willing to accept us and treat us as living beings. So you don’t need to be polite to us, just treat this place as your own home.”

Josh: "..." Can't you talk well?Why do you have to step on him by the way!

North's words were intended to comfort Joshua, but Joshua felt as if he had been slapped hard on the face, which was simply a wonderful irony.

Treat bionics as living beings?He may not even know whether his friendship with these abnormal bionics in Jericho is based on his knowledge of their life, or just out of his selfish desire to turn Connor into an abnormal bionic.

After all, his purpose of helping Marcus in the first place was just to let Marcus transform Connor, and he just wanted to be with Connor if he wanted the bionic man to be free.

Help a race be liberated?Joshua's attitude towards this has always been negative, and he even opposed Marcus' peaceful thoughts, advocating him to use violence.

He himself was unaware of this for a long time, until Connor exposed him mercilessly with a flat tone, and he realized that those actions that he once thought were selfless and fearless, those actions that were reasonable to him How self-deceiving is what he should do.

He suddenly felt a splitting headache, couldn't help but groaned, and hugged his head.

The four bionics were startled, and Nuo Si was even more at a loss, not knowing what he said wrong.Marcus quickly helped Joshua to lie down, and then threw Simon, North and Josh all out.

"Joshua?" Marcus touched Joshua's forehead. The fever has almost subsided, but Joshua still looks very bad.

"..." Joshua opened his eyes, looked at Marcus steadfastly, and said after a while, "I'm sorry, Marcus."

Marcus froze for a moment: "Why do you have to apologize?"

"..." Joshua opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything.

Marcus looked into Joshua's tired and sick eyes, walked up to him and took his hand gently.

"No matter what happens, Joshua," he said, "you will always be our friend. You risked your life to help us, and we will help you when you are in trouble."

After finishing speaking, he stood up and took two steps back: "You need to rest more, so I won't disturb you for now."

Joshua watched Marcus walk out of the room, his eyes moved to the simple stove with jumping flames, lying there motionless, as if he had lost his soul.

The author has something to say:

Joshua: What the hell am I doing here?Doubt life.jpg

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