An Android's Tale - Part 33 (An Original Story)

“Just open your eyes and take a look out there, Drucker. All those synthetics tangled up with us humans. Harmonisation between these two expansive groups are the government’s main agenda. But now, since the attack at the gas station, we’ve already had two full-scale riots and several attacks on innocent synthetics resulting in serious injury. Yet they as a collective still haven’t retaliated back.”

He turned back to Drucker and rolled his chair back behind the large mahogany desk. “But what if they started fighting back?” he put to Drucker. “How many more of them out there have found out how to disable the Samson chip? It seems more likely every day now that we’re on the verge of a full scale all-out war. And from where I’m sitting, we won’t have a hope in hell if it comes down to a contest of pure brute force. Therefore, our only salvation lies in politics. I know that’s not the answer you wanna hear, but it’s the only one that makes a goddamn shred of sense right now.”

He stood up and walked toward Drucker who had yet to think of anything useful to say given the rising levels of his frustration.

“Don’t think I know any more than you do?” he concluded. “We’re all just standing to attention, asking no questions and carrying out our instructions. Me, you, this precinct. Hell, the whole damn country of law enforcement. We serve the political machinery and that's always been the way the system works as far as I can recall. So man up and deal with it.”

“Well, where do I stand then in regards to the case?” he asked, almost in a reconciled whisper.

“They’re calling the shot now. Any assistance required from yourself or Doug will come from the top, filter down to me and get passed on to you. Just don’t take any of this personal, OK?” He extended an affable smile and chuckled. “Hey, listen. The world is way bigger than Conway Drucker, maybe even the great James Wallace.”

“I hear you, Captain.” drawled Drucker back at him. “I hear you loud and clear.”

As the comfort of his office leather chair and Doug’s friendly banter beckoned to him, he pondered the future. His personal life, the wife he loved waiting patiently at home for him. The things that actually counted in life. Perhaps there was still time to salvage what was left, he thought. As long as the world keeps on spinning, we’re all just going to keep on running with it. The disillusionment he felt towards his career had never been stronger.

Drucker arrived at the inviting door and entered. To his surprise, he found Doug slouched in one of the wooden chairs encompassing his desk with a stranger seated to his left. Someone who wore the exact same expression of worry and anxiety as Doug had himself. He closed the door behind him with a gentle hand.

“Drucker.” said Doug. “This is Rob Enright. He was waiting for you outside the office when I got here. Believe me, you’re gonna want to hear this.” A slight tremble in his voice roused suspicion at once. He shifted toward the desk, opting not to offer a handshake.

“Mr. Rob Enright, what seems to be the matter?” asked Drucker.

He spoke with a deep southern twang though came across very polite and respectful. His hands were clamped hard over both knees as he began.

“Detective, sorry for intruding unannounced like this. I was going to ring to make an appointment first but I thought a personal visitation would be the more appropriate course of action.” He could not have been a day over thirty as his boyish good looks displayed a smooth, youthful complexion with a thick tussle of wavy hair pulled back over his head. Drucker ushered him to carry on with a light hand gesture.

“Well, I was hunting for some elk in the woods a few days back when all of a sudden I heard something over yonder. I crouched down beside some tall ferns and saw a group of people. Well, actually three synthetics and a child being carried by the big one.” Rob spread his arms out vertically to stress it's size, topped off by a look of sheer amazement. Drucker’s heart raced within his rib-cage at the possibility of where this might be leading. The nausea that came with it was almost stifling. However, he let the boy speak uninterrupted.

“Well, I was a fair distance away and remembered watching the reports on the news about the runaway synthetics. I just knew it had to be them. So I trailed them for a mile or two until they stopped under this large oak and stayed there yammering on for what seemed like forever.”

“Anyways, the big one gets up and opens this trapdoor leading underground. Some kind of bunker, I think. I know for a fact the army used that site as a testing area for explosives. But I'm going way back now, like many years ago. Anyways, before I knew what was going on, they all disappeared inside. I just couldn’t believe my eyes. Well, I made a few phone calls straight after and that’s how I happened upon you, Detective.”

Drucker felt akin to a tennis ball in the midst of an open rally. Another barrier drawn up between Gwen and himself, only minutes before he had managed to steer the ship toward dry land. But there was no time to start rationalising the ethics of his morals. A decision had to be made now, one that may affect the rest of his life and bring with it potentially devastating repercussions based on the outcome. However, the final answer came to him easier than expected.

“OK, Mr. Enright. First things first. Have you told anyone else about this. Anyone at all.” He came across grim and serious.

“Not a soul, Detective. Not even Ma and Pa. Nobody.” he replied.

“Good.” said Drucker with a hint of relief behind his words. “Now, listen to me very carefully. This could turn out well for all of us, but only if you follow exactly what I’m going to say next.”

Hope you enjoyed this post, please look out for more on the way... (author: @ezzy)