“The family is the test of freedom; because the family is the only thing that the free man makes for himself and by himself.” — Gilbert K. Chesterton

Detroit: Become Human

Kara Part 2 – The Ties That Bind

Kara awakens on the floor after successfully interrupting Zlatko’s memory wipe. Panicked, confused and terrified she’s frantic to find Alice and to get her to safety. The last thing she can remember is Zlatko telling his android Luther to bring the girl upstairs.

As Kara begins to head towards the stairs out of the basement, she discovers a group of disfigured and abused androids in the basement. They tell her Zlatko has deformed and defaced them for his own amusement and they beg her to set them free. Kara leaves the door to their enclosure open before darting off to find Alice.

When she reaches the main floor, Kara overhears Zlatko telling Luther that he will be up in ten minutes to deal with the kid. With only a short amount of time left she hurries upstairs avoiding detection and discovers Alice crying and alone on the floor in one of the bedrooms. Kara calls to her and Alice is overjoyed she remembers her. Kara holds onto her tightly and asks, “How could I ever forget you?”

With no time to spare Kara takes Alice by the hand and attempts to leave but it’s too late. Zlatko hollers to Luther to bring the kid. With nowhere to run, they hide in a closet and pray they aren’t found. Luther yells out that the girl is missing and Zlatko orders him to find her. Manoeuver room by room while avoiding their pursuers, Kara and Alice try to escape unnoticed. Alarmingly Zlatko spots them and with shotgun in hand, he opens fire.

Dodging shotgun fire they burst out the back door and find themselves trapped as Zlatko closes in. He tells Kara that dreams always end in tears as he raises his shotgun but before he can shoot Luther steps in between them. Zlatko warns him to move but he doesn’t, not this time and he rips the shotgun away from him. The mutilated androids from the basement have now escaped into the yard and overwhelm Zlatko. Luther looks at Kara and tells her, “I didn’t want to hurt you. He programed me to obey him. When I saw the little one risk her life to save you, it was like opening my eyes for the first time, finally I could see.”

Kara has accepted Luther’s offer to bring them to someone who can get them over the border into Canada. After stealing Zlatko’s car, they are on their way until the car breaks down. Stranded in the middle of nowhere on a desolate highway they must find shelter for the night. The snow and the cold are too much for Alice and she needs somewhere warm and safe.

Kara spots an abandoned amusement park off the side of the road and decides to look for a place there to spend the night. Most of the buildings are dilapidated and offer very little shelter from the exposure but eventually Kara finds a place where they can settle in for at least the night.

After getting a fire going and putting Alice to bed, Kara and Luther sit down and get to know one another. She asks what he will do once he reaches Canada and he tells her he hasn’t thought of it, that he’s never been free and doesn’t even really know what that means yet. She asks him if he remembers anything form before Zlatko and he says no. “It doesn’t matter though, it wasn’t really me.” He asks her if she’s ever noticed anything about Alice. Confused, Kara says, “No, what do you mean?” The conversation’s interrupted when strangers appear outside and begin kicking and banging at the doors and windows.

Suddenly a mob of androids crashes through the windows and doors. Kara and Luther move to protect Alice but the androids tell them they mean no harm. They were simply worried about who might be inside and were trying to protect themselves. When they see Alice, they are overjoyed. They introduce themselves as Jerry and explain they were park employees long before it shut down. They go on to say how they haven’t seen a little one in years. They tell Kara they have something outside she and Alice must see. Hesitantly Kara follows the Jerry’s who bring them to an old merry-go-round. After powering it up everyone stands back and watches as Alice enjoys the ride. Kara says this is the first time she’s seen Alice smile.

The next morning they reach their destination, an old farmhouse where Luther says a woman named Rose can help them cross the border. Kara finds a young man near the back of the house cutting wood but he doesn’t want to help and tells her to go away. Just then, a woman exits from a large said and introduces herself as Rose and says she can help. She invites the androids into her home.

Inside Rose and Kara sit and talk. Rose asks why a deviant is wandering out in the snow with a little girl. Kara explains about Todd and how he used to beat Alice and that one day she just snapped. After she just knew, she had to protect Alice. Kara wonders why Rose would help them and Rose talks about the history of slavery and how her people survived because of others who helped them. Rose’s son Adam is angry. He doesn’t want the androids in their home. He’s scared they’ll be caught and that his mother will be taken away.

Rose leaves to go see about finding help crossing the border. While she is gone, a police officer stops by to check the area. He claims there have been reports about androids nearby. Alice and Rose’s son Adam are able to keep him satisfied that there aren’t any androids in the house and after a quick walk through the officer leaves.

That evening Rose drives them back into Detroit. She tells them a man named Markus can help them get into Canada. She drops them a few blocks away and gives Kara some money. She explains that Markus is in an old container ship docked nearby and the ships name is Jericho.

Kara, Alice and Luther are so close to freedom. It’s just a short distance until they reach Jericho. It won’t be long and they can all rest easy.

To be continued...

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