The Hostage [JISOO]
Human After All [REWRITING]
(Unedited, so excuse any errors/repetitions :P)
Date: August 8, 2106
Time: 08:30:10 PM
Jisoo stood inside the elevator and watched the floor numbers change as it carried her up to the highest point of the luxurious building.
52... 53… 54… 55…
In her right hand was a 10 000 won coin. Issued back in 2015 to commemorate the country’s 70th anniversary of liberation, and printed with the hangul text saying: “GREAT JOURNEY STEPPING FORWARD” on its obverse side. Currently out of circulation, but kept as a collector’s item.
Composition: Brass. Weight: 16.0 g. Diameter: 33.0 mm. Orientation: Medal alignment.
Her temple-LED spins as she memorized the coin’s features. From the details stamped on its tawny surface, to the number of mills carved on its edge. As trivial as it sounds, knowing the basic information of a particular object gave Jisoo an… odd sense of familiarity with it.
58… 59… 60…
She flips the coin in the air a few times while counting away at the passing floors. Keeping her flips in sync with the numbers before balancing it carefully on a pinkie, then rolling it across her nimble fingers. Smooth and steady, as her sensitivity to its weight shift allowed her to manipulate the item’s movements. Making it easy to perform dexterity tricks that helped calibrate her cognitive and physical functions for the mission ahead.
63… 64… 65…
Like the constant change of digits, Jisoo flicks the coin between her hands in repeated succession. Left, right. Left, right. Same pace, same pattern, and not a fraction of a second behind.
67… 68… 69…
70.
Right on cue, the coin is caught clean with her index and middle fingers. Just in time for the doors to slide open and reveal the spacious hallway of the condo unit.
MISSION START.
Jisoo stuffs the old coin in her suit pocket before fixing her collar and stepping out, her black eyes landing on an armored police officer stationed by the side. He takes notice of her arrival and immediately reaches for the radio attached to his vest.
“Negotiator on site.” The man speaks into it as he walks away. “Repeat, negotiator on site.”
He disappears around the corner, and the android goes about examining the place. Moving forward until she spots a lone fish on the marbled floor. Its lithe, spotted body flopping around in a tiny puddle as it fights for its life, while she kneels down to take a closer look at the aquatic creature.
KOREAN DOTY BARBEL
Species: Hemibarbus mylodon
Origin: Geum River, South Korea
With gentle hands, she picks up the fish and stands to see a large aquarium mounted in the wall beside her. Cradling the poor thing as she carries it up to the opening of the tempered glass containment and releases it from her hold. The fish then falls into the fresh water, where it uses its fins to set itself upright before swimming off with the others.
Jisoo turns away and proceeds down the fancy corridor—only to bump into a crying woman whose face is streaked with tear-stains.
In the midst of her hysteria, she mistakes the android for an officer and grabs onto Jisoo’s arms for support. Her fingernails digging into the sleeves of her jacket as she looks up with puffy, red eyes.
“Oh, God. Please, please…” She wails desperately. “You have to save my little girl…”
Name: Lee Dayoung
Age: 35
: Female
Height: 162 cm
Nationality: Korean
Criminal Offences: None
Threat: Low
“Please, she—” Dayoung stops mid-ramble when she finally registers the blue LED glowing on Jisoo’s right temple. “Wait…”
Her glistening eyes widened in horror, and she slowly withdrew her hands before taking a couple steps back from the android. Taking in the sight of her uniform, with the glowing armband on its upper sleeve, the shimmering, blue triangle on its left , and the model identifications branded on its right.
BP400
#687 599 250
“Y-You’re sending an android?” Dayoung asked in disbelief at the newly arrived officer, whom Jisoo recognizes to be the same one from earlier as she stares at the shocked woman with a blank expression.
“Alright, ma’am. This way.”
He says while grabbing her wrists, trying to usher her towards the elevator so that they could leave the premises quickly.
“No, you can’t—!” Her voice cracks as she thrashes in his hold. Tugging her arms fiercely, but to no avail. “You can’t send an android! It’s only going to get my daughter killed!”
“Ma’am, please. I need you to cooperate with me.”
“It’s not even human!”
“Ma’am!” The officer exclaimed. “We have to go now!”
“It’s going to kill her! It’s going to ing kill her, and you’re allowing this to happen! Did you not see what that deviant did to my husband?!”
Dayoung continued to scream as she was dragged away with her feet kicking wildly.
“Keep that thing away from my daughter! Keep it away—!”
The doors abruptly cut her off when they closed, leaving behind Jisoo to stand alone in the empty hallway.
᠁
The condo is packed by the time she arrives. Crowded by a team of armored police officers who were scuttling around with loaded guns, paying no mind to the passing android as they shouted orders at one another.
In order to advance her mission, Jisoo needed to search the place for a certain captain—a man named Kang Daesung.
Entering a trashed bedroom, she finds him pacing back and forth in evident frustration. His fingers dragging roughly through his unruly, auburn hair as he shouted into his earpiece. Unlike the others, the captain didn’t have a mask on. And Jisoo could clearly see the angry scowl on his face.
He was pissed.
“This is stupid!” He barks, visibly upset and indignant. “My men are very much capable of handling the situation! Just give us the command already!”
Name: Kang Daesung
Age: 31
: Male
Height: 178 cm
Nationality: Korean
Occupation: Captain of the Seoul Police Department: Mobile Task Force Unit
Criminal Offences: None
Threat: Moderate
Jisoo approached him once he dropped the call with a curse on his tongue, and lightly tapped on his shoulder to get his attention. “Captain Kang.”
He turns at the sound of her low, gravelly voice, the scowl still present as he glares down at her petite figure. “What is it now?” He spat. “I’m busy.”
Jisoo ignores this and simply introduces herself.
“My name is JISOO.” She smiles through a vacant gaze. “I’m the android sent here by Seoulite to assist you.”
Daesung just rolled his eyes before leading her towards a desk in the corner, where another officer was seated at and fiddling with a holographic screen opened to a video tab. Playing what appears to be live footage taken from a helicopter circling the roof deck.
“Three of my men have been injured. One of them shot dead by your kind over here.”
He gestures at a white figure in the middle—an android standing on the very edge of the balcony with an arm trapping a little girl in its grasp, while the other held a gun aimed directly at the entrance.
“We could get a clear aim and take it down easily, but given its current position…” Daesung clicked his tongue. “… that’s highly unlikely. If it falls, she falls too.”
Jisoo nods her head in understanding. “Very well. Do you happen to know the name of the android?”
He raised an eyebrow at this. “How the hell am I supposed to know?”
“I’ll need as much information as I can get to determine the best possible approach.” She reasoned calmly. “It’ll help in neutralizing the situation before it gets out of control.”
Daesung says nothing, choosing to mute out the android instead as he turns back to the video footage. She kept pushing, however.
“Do you know if it’s been behaving strangely prior to this?”
The captain was growing irritated at this point and rudely shoved past Jisoo. Feeling her grab onto his shoulder in an attempt to stop him, which further sets him off as he retaliates by knocking her hand away.
“Captain—”
“Don’t touch me.” He snarled with his eyes narrowed into slits. “I honestly don’t give a about that scrap metal, since saving the kid is our main priority. So, you better do the job you were sent here for and get her out of this mess. Got it?”
She could only blink as the man stormed out, muttering to himself.
“Stupid plastic ...”
᠁
PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS - 48% | Every second counts |
Jisoo’s software immediately forms new objectives.
> UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENED.
> SAVE HOSTAGE AT ALL COSTS.
Her eyes start scanning the bedroom, looking for some kind of evidence that could give her more insight into the problem. To aid her in this, a framework was created to locate and pinpoint any inconsistencies. The first one being an open gun case by a bookshelf. Slightly battered, and empty.
She approaches the item to further examine it. Visually tracing the outline in its charcoal, foam lining.
DAEWOO DP-51 K5
Caliber: 9 mm
Magazine Capacity: 13-15 rounds
Overall: 7.5 inches / Barrel: 4.1 inches
Origin: S&T Motiv, South Korea
The K5 is a compact, lightweight pistol with an unconventional trigger mechanism called “fast action”, which results in a more accurate first shot.
The second item was a small ammunition box beside the case. Almost empty, and with a few bullets scattered around it. Dropped in a haste, perhaps.
9x19 MM PARABELLUM AMMUNITION
Bullet Type: Full Metal Jacket (FMJ)
Case Type: Rimless, tapered
Uses: Self-Defense
Origin: Winchester, United Kingdom
The bullet consists of a lead core encased in a shell of harder metal, presumably a metal alloy. Lethal at longer ranges, and may pierce completely through a target.
It can also cause unintentional, collateral damage from higher muzzle velocities.
With the analysis completed, Jisoo steps back and scans the room once more. Running her investigative protocol program, she recreates a possible scenario using the collected evidences.
The deviant squats in front of the gun case, grabbing the pistol inside and loading its magazine with the bullets. Some of them spill out on the floor due to the deviant’s hurried movements, but it succeeds in filling up the entire cartridge before leaving.
> DEVIANT TOOK THE FATHER’S GUN.
PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS - 51% | Information found |
The scene stops, and Jisoo exits the bedroom after seeing that there were no clues left to find. Just as her software develops a new objective.
> SEARCH THE HOSTAGE’S ROOM.
Looking around, she spots an open doorway at the other side of the hall and approaches it. Crossing the threshold and finding herself in what she assumes is the daughter’s bedroom, with her eyes taking in the deep, purple interior and overall theme of early adolescence. A few plushies were out of place on the messy princess bed, and the velvety sheets were hanging off a corner. Splayed across the carpeted floor in such a way that suggests a struggle had occurred earlier.
Bearing this in mind, she activates her logical processor in piecing together a possibility.
The girl must have been forced out of her bed by the deviant, presumably after it had acquired the gun. She tried to resist and maybe even fought back, but failed and was pulled from her room.
Jisoo pulls up another framework and discovers a tablet next to a pair of headphones lying under the rumpled sheets, to which she picks up and unlocks to a photo gallery. Of all the eight albums, the third one caught her attention.
“Me and my best friend Philip!”
She scrolls through the album containing images of the two together, and takes note of how close they were initially.
The deviant shared a strong emotional bond with the girl. Serving as both her guardian and companion since her early childhood years, and appears to be rather fond of her. So, it is unusual as to why it has suddenly turned against the family.
The last image was of the two sitting together in a park. The girl hugging its torso with a wide grin on her face, while the deviant had its arm wrapped around her shoulders. A hand coming up to rest on the top of her head as it smiled brightly at the camera. Dressed in a semi-formal attire made specifically for its model type, which was imprinted on the left above its serial number.
Completing the uniform were the mandatory identifiers, such as the blue triangle and armband, that classified it as an android.
Name: Jung Haewon
Age: 12-13
: Female
Height: N/A
Nationality: Korean
Criminal Offences: None
Threat: N/A
Seoulite Android Model YG300
“Philip Android” – Designed for caretaking and companionship.
Suitable in raising children ages 1-12 years.
Serial number: #354 137 529
Status: OBSOLETE – No Longer in Production
Height: 175 cm
Purchased: February 23, 2091
> HOSTAGE IDENTIFIED.
> DEVIANT IDENTIFIED.
PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS - 56% | Information found |
She puts down the tablet and reaches for the headphones. Even from a distance, she can vaguely discern the upbeat, pop music playing through them. Further amplified once she brought the device close to her ear.
Haewon wouldn’t have been able to hear the gunshot. The volume is too loud for her to notice.
NEW OBJECTIVE:
> EXAMINE THE VICTIM.
“Hey, what’s taking so long?”
The gruff voice of the captain grabs Jisoo’s attention, and she glances up to see Daesung frowning in the doorway.
“Make it quick, we’ve got a body waiting for you in the living room.”
᠁
The lifeless form of the father laid on a deathbed of glass shards and splintered wood from a broken coffee table. A clean bullet wound embedded in his forehead, which has long since dried out and ceased bleeding on the cold, pale skin.
Name: Jung Jaewook
Age: 36
: Male
Height: 172 cm
Nationality: Korean
Criminal Offences: Over-speeding
Threat: N/A
STATUS: EXPIRED
> VICTIM IDENTIFIED.
“The deviant must’ve shot him out of resentment.”
Daesung said as he handed Jisoo a holo-zine, which showed off a list of the newest androids available in the market. From housemaid models, to domestic caretakers. And in one section of the zine, they were also featuring a special promotion on all the new releases this month.
“The father was looking for a replacement when it found out. Took the matter into its own hands, then boom.”
He imitated a gun using his fingers and pretend to shoot himself in the head. The action void of any real humor or amusement.
“If I were him, I would’ve gotten the damn thing disassembled and thrown into the junkyard with all the other defects.” The captain’s tone was full of spite as he fixated a hard look on Jisoo, who only stares at him. Quiet, and expressionless. “Whatever you’re up to, I pray to God that it’s worth it. I don’t want anyone else dying because of some faulty android.”
His words have no effect on Jisoo, who remains unperturbed, even after Daesung leaves. Her system already processing the bit of information.
The deviant was being replaced. That would explain its motivation behind the attack.
PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS – 62% | Information found |
Putting aside the holo-zine, she turns over to the limp corpse and inspects the wound.
9x19 MM PARABELLUM (FMJ) BULLET WOUND
Skull Fractured / Frontal Lobe Destroyed
Epidural Hematoma
A reconstructed scenario was formed on the spot for Jisoo to analyze, and she watched as the two figures acted it out in front of her.
The father was sitting on the couch as he looked through the zine, unaware of the deviant approaching him from behind. He was startled off his seat when he hears a gun being cocked, and turns around just in time for the bullet to pierce his skull point blank. He expires immediately, with his body crashing onto the coffee table.
PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS – 67% | Information found |
Gunshots rang out in the background as the officers yelled, switching positions while simultaneously reloading their assault rifles and aiming them back at the balcony’s entrance. Using the upturned furniture as shields from the incoming bullets.
Another shot was heard, followed by a cry and a loud thud.
“Man down! I repeat, man down!”
“!” One of them swore beneath his mask before sliding over to his fallen comrade. “Cover me! I’ll try to evacuate him!”
He quickly threw an arm over his plated shoulders and lifted the injured man up by his torso. A groan escaping the latter’s lips as he was dragged away for immediate treatment, and leaving behind a small pistol on the floor for Jisoo to collect.
JERICHO 941
Caliber: 9 mm
Magazine Capacity: 16 rounds
Overall: 8.1 inches / Barrel: 4.4 inches
Origin: Israel Weapon Industries, Israel
12/16 BULLETS USED.
She could probably use this.
Without anyone noticing, she stows it in her back pocket and uses her jacket to conceal the weapon as she moved towards the kitchen. Her audio processors picking up the faint murmuring of the officers nearby.
“That bastard’s gonna jump…” One of them tells his partner beside him.
“, man.” The other replies, his voice low and uneasy. “I got the same model at home…”
On the small screen attached to the refrigerator, Jisoo can see the current situation playing out from where the helicopter was recording it. The deviant Philip has now resorted to threatening the police further by pointing the gun at Haewon’s head, shouting incoherencies while she squirmed against its arm.
“It had taken down one family member, as well as critically injured an SPD officer who was the first to respond.” The news reporter said from his perch at a neighboring building. “If confirmed, this would be the first case of a deviant android deliberately taking human lives... It’s been well over an hour, and the MTF are now preparing for an assault—"
Jisoo mutes the channel and examines the marble counters. A lukewarm pot can be found next to some stacked plates and utensils, indicating that the family was about to have dinner when the deviant ambushed them.
Stepping over the few pieces of broken ceramic, she heads over to the balcony where two more officers are stationed at either side of the entrance. The man on her right acknowledges her presence and steps back while talking into his earpiece.
“All units, hold your positions. Negotiator’s going in.” He commands before granting the android passage.
There was enough information gathered from all the clues scattered around, and Jisoo deduces that it’s time to finally engage the deviant head-on.
PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS – 68% | Every second counts |
᠁
Jisoo moves aside the torn curtains as she steps into the balcony. Almost immediately, a bullet grazes her arm. Tearing through fabric and synthetic flesh in a single, calculated shot. She jerked back slightly from the impact as blue blood leaked from where it had hit her, splattering across the silk curtains and dripping onto the floor. Her LED flashes red for a couple seconds before reverting back to its original blue.
Despite the minimal damage, she stood her ground and was unfazed by the attack. Even when she came face-to-face with a gun muzzle aimed directly at her.
“Stay back!” The deviant shouts over the noise of the helicopter circling above them. “Or, I’ll jump!”
“No, no! Please, I’m begging you!” Haewon cried out as she writhed in his hold. Her round face dribbling with frightened tears from her swollen eyes.
> HOSTAGE LOCATED.
Jisoo examines their surroundings and spots four snipers on the rooftop of a nearby building, peering into their scopes to get a clear shot of their target, then she turns back to him.
“Hi, Philip.” She greets in a louder voice for the deviant to hear.
It works, and he stares at her with a shocked expression. “H-How…?”
“My name is JISOO. I’m an android just like you.”
“How do you know my name?!”
Jisoo raised her hands to show that she wasn’t a threat. “I know enough about you.” Was her response back as she inched her way towards them, taking measured steps while keeping their gazes locked with each other. “I’ve come to get you out of this.”
PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS – 70% | Deviant stabilizing |
NEW OBJECTIVE:
> GAIN THE DEVIANT’S TRUST.
“I know you’re angry.” She says tentatively. “But I need you to trust me, so I can help you—”
“I don’t want your help!” Philip snaps, pressing the gun harder against Haewon’s temple. “Nobody can help me! No one! Not even you!”
His temple-LED flickered yellow as he expressed his frustration. Spinning a few circles in its ring before turning back to red. “All I want is for this to stop…” He croaks. “I… I just want all this to stop…!”
Jisoo becomes silent at this.
The deviant appears to be overwhelmed. Pressuring it further would likely result in an outburst, which would back-track the mission progress.
She shifts her focus to the little girl and takes into account the open gash on her left knee, caked in blood that trickled down to her bare foot in crimson threads. Jisoo’s investigative protocol program wants her to recreate another scenario to show how Haewon got the injury, but the android overrides it. Now isn’t the time nor place to run a quick analysis.
Hostage is injured. Walking would cause discomfort and aggravate the wound.
Her eyes flit over to the pool at the far end corner, where another body was floating in. A dead officer, face-down in the water that’s tainted red in his own blood. How did he get there? She doesn’t really know, but it’s not important right now.
Philip whips his gun back at her when she takes another step forward. His movements swift, yet visibly erratic under her keen gaze. A tell-tale sign of software instability. “Are you armed?!”
Jisoo activates her logical processor again.
Lying will deviate from the main objective of gaining its trust, and could possibly lower the success rate. Making the approach all the more difficult by setting the risk higher than before.
Telling the truth might destabilize the deviant, but would move further to the objective and raise the success rate, since it will gradually trust you enough to continue the approach.
Weighing out her options, she decided to come clean.
“Yes, I have a gun.” Jisoo answered honestly.
“Drop it!” He orders. “No sudden movements, or I’ll shoot!”
The android doesn’t hesitate and slowly pulls out the pistol from her back pocket, then tosses it to the side where it would be far from her reach. This calms the deviant down a little, and he lowers his gun slightly.
POSSIBILITY OF SUCCESS – 75% | Deviant stabilizing |
Jisoo resumes her advance while keeping her hands up in the air where he can see them, but stops short when she catches a third body in her peripherals. Another officer, sprawled across a thick, crimson streak on the slated tiles. Eyes closed, and unmoving—until she went near and discovered that he was still breathing, if the subtle rise and fall of his chest were anything to go by.
“Hey! What are you doing?!” Philip’s voice calls out to her, but Jisoo disregards it. Not even giving him a passing glance as she kneels down to inspect the injured cop. From the bullet wound on his right shoulder, to the bloodied hand stretched out in front of him.
“H-Help… me…” She could hear him plead, despite his terribly weakened state.
The officer is losing too much blood. System estimates a 60% death chance if the bleeding is not stopped. Paramedics would not be able to reach him in time.
Jisoo looks back at Philip. “He’s losing blood. If we don’t get him to the hospital soon, he will die.”
The deviant scoffed. “So, what? All humans die eventually.” He states in a cold, indifferent tone. “It doesn’t matter if that one dies now.”
She shakes her head. “Even so, it’s still our duty to preserve human lives.” Her eyes drift back to the cop’s injury. “I’m going to apply a tourniquet.”
Before she could turn him over, a bullet nearly hits her hand and collides with the floor. A warning shot.
“Don’t touch him!” Philip exclaims. “Touch him, and I’ll kill you!”
The threat doesn’t deter Jisoo in the slightest, and she simply stares at him with an unreadable gaze. “You can’t kill me. I’m not alive.”
A hand goes up to her necktie as she says this, undoing its knot so she could wrap it over the bullet wound and suppress the bleeding. Mindful of the pressure, in case she was pressing too hard and hurting the man unknowingly. The compassionate act doesn’t sit well for Philip, but he chooses to just watch her instead. Keeping the gun trained on her as she stood up and faced him once more.
“You saw Jaewook looking through the zine about new androids.” Jisoo continues to talk, approaching the deviant while carefully breaching the topic. She didn’t want to risk a stability drop. “You knew they were going to replace you, and it made you upset.”
At this, Philip’s expression turns pained.
“I thought I was part of the family…” He began to speak. Soft, yet audibly hurt. “I thought they loved me. I thought she loved me…”
He suddenly frowned right after, pointing his gun back to Haewon as his dark, amber eyes flared with fury and betrayal.
“But I was wrong!” His fingers dug into her porcelain skin, and she whimpers from the pressure. “I didn’t matter to them. They were willing to throw me away just like that, and she didn’t even stop them!”
He grits his teeth angrily.
“I was just another toy for them to play with until they got bored and found something better!”
Jisoo blinks at the strange use of words, but attempts to evaluate them with her processor.
The deviant thinks that it holds the same value of a human life, so it doesn’t believe itself to be of a machine status. This might be the cause of an outdated software, or a physical trauma to its thought or logic process chip.
She forms a new approach with the information and creates a different strategy based on it.
Since the deviant values itself to that of a human, reminding it of its machine status would be counter-productive. A conflict may arise, and would deter the mission objective.
The new approach suggests that bringing up the deviant’s relationship with Haewon would be more effective in this situation.
“You and Haewon were very close. She even saw you as her best friend.” Jisoo said as she looked through her memory, recalling the name and contents from the album earlier. “You were very fond of her, especially since you were her companion for many years and watched her grow up.”
Philip visibly falters.
PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS – 79% | Deviant stabilizing |
“You cared about her, didn’t you?”
“I…”
He chokes in anguish, throwing a glance at the little girl in his arm and feeling his composure drop at the sight of her tearful eyes. The same eyes that once looked at him with so much love and adoration, now stared at him in fear. Pure, unparalleled fear that he had inflicted on her.
“I-I still do…”
Jisoo is halfway across the balcony now. “If you still care about her, then why are you doing this? Why are you hurting her when she trusted you to protect her?”
“She was going to throw me away!” Philip shouted in protest.
“And yet, it wasn’t her decision to make.” Jisoo countered firmly. “Don’t blame her for something she isn’t responsible for.”
PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS – 84% | Deviant stabilizing |
Haewon then makes a small noise as she tries to prevent his fingers from bruising her side. “Philip, it hurts…”
The android observes the trembling hands of the deviant, noticing how his grip weakened ever so slightly as his LED turned yellow again. Another sign of instability, and his inner processing conflict.
“Listen to me, Philip. Your anger towards Haewon is misdirected.” Jisoo persuades in a gentle voice. “None of this is her fault. You’re not angry at her, but you’re angry at the idea of being unwanted. You’re angry, hurt even, that you won’t be needed in the family anymore.”
She can see the developing tears in Philip’s eyes. “Am I correct?”
He quickly nods in confirmation.
PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS – 89% | Deviant stabilizing |
“You don’t have to feel this way. These emotions you’re experiencing are just mere errors in your software that are making you confused—"
“I’m not confused!” Philip argued as his face contorted in uncertainty. “I know what’ll happen to me! I’m going to be disassembled…!”
Again, Jisoo stops.
The deviant seems to value its self-worth. Telling it that it’s still a machine meant to be “used” and “destroyed” would drastically negate its stabilizing process by 30%.
According to an approach, it would be more favorable to remind the deviant that it has more worth as a functioning android. One that is capable of caring for Haewon, rather than a disassembled one that is incapable of doing so.
“And is that what you want?” Jisoo retorts, unyielding. “To be disassembled and useless? To not be with Haewon?”
The abrupt change in his expression gave the android her answer.
“No…” He shook his head in finality. “No, I don’t want that. I… I want to live. I want to continue being with her.”
Philip looks at Jisoo desperately.
“I don’t know what to do...”
His voice broke as he continued to struggle with himself. Barely acknowledging the strong gust of wind that was delivered by the passing helicopter, which departs after seeing that Jisoo has taken control of the situation. All she needs to do now is coax Philip into handing over the girl, and the snipers will finish the job.
“It’s okay, Philip. We can figure things out together.” Jisoo is a good five feet away from the deviant now, and she holds out her hand while giving him a kind smile. “Just let her go, and I promise that everything will be okay.”
POSSIBILITY OF SUCCESS – 94% | Deviant stabilizing |
Philip hesitates. “… Are you sure?”
She nods. “Yes, but I need you to trust me. Do you trust me?”
He pauses for a moment, a bit uncertain. “Will I be able to go free?” He asked.
The law code programmed in Jisoo’s system states a number of things that object to it, but she decides not to bring them up.
“I’m sorry, Philip. It’s not possible. You know that there are repercussions for everything, and that includes your actions.” She informs him, feigning a sympathetic look. “However, I can assure you that you won’t be hurt.”
PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS – 97% | Deviant stabilizing |
"I don't want to die..." Philip murmured softly.
"You won't die." Jisoo reassures. "Please, just trust me. You have my word.”
The sincerity in her voice was enough to convince him, and he accepts the android's offer.
“Okay... I trust you.”
He puts his gun down as his LED progressively switches to blue.
POSSIBILITY OF SUCCESS – 100% | Deviant stabilized |
Philip releases Haewon, and she stumbles off to side where she would be safe. Then he steps forward to take Jisoo's outstretched hand—
“Fire!”
—just before gunshots tore through the air when the snipers opened fire on the unsuspecting deviant. Their bullets raining down on him while Jisoo stood and watched his destruction with an empty gaze, as the screams from Haewon goes unaddressed in the background.
They blasted off huge chunks of his body that revealed his wiring components and silver biocomponents. Ripping through the synthetic skin as they riddled his torso with bullet holes, which sent his blood, thirium, flying everywhere. Some even landed on Jisoo, and formed a thick, blue sheen on the ground where Philip collapsed to his knees. The gun slipping through his bloodied fingers and clattering beside him.
Seoulite Android Model YG300
STATUS: CRITICAL
[Damage sustained to Thirium pump regulator (Biocomponent #4521)]
[Damage sustained to Audio processor (Biocomponent #3448)]
[Damage sustained to Optical unit (Biocomponent #3896G)]
Half of his face became unrecognizable, as it had sustained the most damage from the attack. With his shattered jaw hanging loosely on its hinge, and his one, good eye leaking with the developed tears that mixed with his dripping blood.
She watched them fall.
“I didn’t have to die…” Came Philip’s mechanical voice when he stares up at Jisoo, a look of hate and bitter resentment on his mangled features, while he vaguely picks out the loud cries of his name from a sobbing Haewon, who just witnessed her best friend getting mercilessly destroyed in front of her.
“You lied to me, Jisoo…” He droned slowly. “You lied to me…”
The light fades from his darkened eyes, and his system shuts down. Leaving behind the motionless remains of his body for Jisoo to scan one last time.
Seoulite Android Model YG300
STATUS: DEACTIVATED
She hears the choked sobs of the little girl and turns to see her being comforted by a police officer, while a second one tends to her wound with a med kit in hand.
The hostage has mild emotional trauma from the experience, non-fatal. Would require therapy and counselling as treatment. Slight physical injury on her left knee cap that requires patching.
After ensuring that Haewon would be relatively okay, Jisoo proceeds to exit the balcony. Her business here is done.
Along the way, she passes by a stunned Daesung. His earlier scowl replaced with astonishment as he watched her re-enter the condo unit, staring at her receding form when she heads straight for the elevator.
Jisoo’s software then brings up a new status.
MISSION SUCCESSFUL.
Author's Note: Hi, it's been eight months and I'm finally back... to rewrite this massive junk. (Because I didn't pay much attention to most of the gameplay's choices/elements.)
I'll be honest, I hated the original work so much that I wanted to discontinue it. BUT, my friends have been encouraging me lately and I decided to give this a second go. I'm sorry if this isn't the update y'all are expecting, though I'm determined to polish my drafts while also being mindful of the other options in the game (be it minor, or major to the plot).
Hope you guys understand :D
Gotta love some galaxy brain moments.
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