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WHO: York and you!
WHERE: City Fountain
WHAT: York's returned from his canon update
WHEN: Early-ish March
WARNINGS: References to death camps as Recall Center No.5

^{[ooc: the canon update can be found here]}

The last thing he remembers is turning away from the framed view of the Cyberlife androids, waiting their turn out in snow like military units ready to be shipped away. In this case, shipped to deactivation. To death. He and his older brother had gotten caught up in the chaos preceding being here and now--

The cold is gone. Maybe this was part of it? York waits for his programming to shut down, for the inevitable wipe of his system that those before them went through. But it doesn't come. The android opens his eyes with apprehension, looking around.

Standing before the fountain is York, but it doesn't look like York. Instead, all of his human features defining him and his clothes are gone and there stands a white and grey doll. There's damage to the hardware of his abdomen, and there's some at his jawline.

He wasn't in the camp.

"Duncan?!" he calls out, starting to look around with frantic movements. It doesn't even matter that he's in his full android form, where is his brother?! "DUNCAN?!" The other memories try to trickle in, but his programming is going too fast, making his chest glow a radiant red before he breaks out into a run.

"DUNCAN!!"

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York's not paying attention because if he was, he'd be watching Mini on all fours. He's never really seen the guy do that before, but his system is running in a simulated panic mode because his brother's missing. Two worlds of memories are clashing, making it worse as he keeps his pace heading towards the greenhouse.

Well. He would have if there wasn't a sudden attachment of Mini on his leg.

"I HAVE TO FIND MY BROTHER!" He shouts, voice shrill and breaking at the edges.

Alright, that's not going to work. Mini will have to keep going. So he takes his position and does his best to climb up onto York's shoulder. Hopefully his weight keeps the guy off balance.

"Ah'm right here. And I ain't see any one else at the fountain. Just us."

Climbing up does a better job, and York's balance is off kilter easy. He stumbles to a stop, nearly falling. Instead, his knees hit the pavement and he catches his upper body on his hands. "My brother—— Duncan—— the recall center—— we wer͘è go̶̡͡nn̡͜a——"

His voice only gets like this when he's super stressed. That LED hasn't stopped circulating red but he doesn't know what to do now. He's in Temba - he remembers - but what about his brother? What about Duncan?!

"I c̛̛͢an̡͠'͟͡t̵͘͠ ͠ļea̴̛͡ve͠ ̵̕͡h͢͝im̕ liḱe ͏t̡h͏̸a͜t—"

Mini jumps down and quickly turns around to catch York in a hug. A big one. A firm one.

"Ah know, York. But we can't do much about it."

The firm pressure around him is stabilizing, reminding him of the brother that's missing. He's not in the recall center, and for now, he had to trust that Duncan was safe. For now, for now, for now. His system keeps going a little haywire on the inside, the stress of home heavier now than it was with the destruction of Jericho.

Finally, he wraps his arms tight around Mini to keep him there, as if the little guy was actually gonna run off. (Mini would never he bets).

"S̡̨͞cared̷̡́-̸̛͟"

"Fear is a reasonable thing to be feeling right now."

Reeve's voice comes from behind York, having finally caught up. The man comes down to kneel behind the unfamiliar looking form of the one he had taken as his son, wrapping his arms around York as well.

"I am sorry. I am so sorry for what happened to you."

Sure he doesn't know what it was, but he also didn't care.

Each moment that passes with Mini, is another moment that keeps him in the present. No snow, no tall fences, no armed military. He knows if he was human, York probably would've emptied his stomach by now from the stress.

The android startles at Reeve's voice, turning on heel and knee to look at him. "R̶e̶e̶͢v̵ȩ̴͞—" Then arms are around him, holding him tight. He looks almost nothing like the human form of York that Reeve knows, just a bare android.

"The҉y ̢͘were̸̢͢ ̶̶̛h̴̨urt̸in҉͢g ͝us.̷̶͜ Pư͜t̶͠ting ̛us ̢̧in͏̕͏ ̵̴̛a̡ ch̴̢̛a̕͟͞m͜͠b̧e̸̸r ̨͞to ̸d͞eact̷̕͜i̴̡va̷͜͠t́͡e̢͢ us. Į͢ ͞don̴҉'̢̧̀t k̵͜n̡̢ǫ̛w ̴́҉if͠͝ D̶un͠c͝͝an̕͞ ͘ma͝d̀͢è ̶̧̨it̷́͢, I d̕on͞'̶̢͜t——̛́͟" The more he speaks, the more scrambled it gets. York's still stressed, still too scared to take the fry out of his voice.

Oh York. His sweet, scared son. Reeve just hugs him tighter and lets the android talk it out as much as he wants.

"If I could carry you both away from there," he says as York's voice gets too broken, "I would. I would take you to my home and you, me, and Richie, we would build a better world. Your brother and you would have a hundred little siblings to tease and I'd always have work for you if you wanted it."

York would talk it out more, but it's just mechanical whirring and whining as his system gets overloaded. He knows Duncan would like Reeve and Richie, would probably thrive with the others in the greenhouse and figure out how to get some new stuff to grow in there. They'd be safer here in Temba than they would in Detroit.

He knows Reeve would save all the androids in Detroit if he had the power. For now, he had the power to keep York safe and that's all that mattered right now. "Y̢͡ou̢̢ ̛̀͡wo̕͏͜ul̛d͞ lik̵̨͢e͜͡ ̴̀͝D̀͝u̷̵nca̸n͟. ̷̸̨B̢o̴͘͠ţ͜h ͏͞o͜͢f͘͢ ̵͠҉yo̸̧͜ų̧̛ w͏́́ò̸͢ul̴͞d."

"I know I would. Because if he's that important to you, he's that important to me. I would love him like a son."

Though that isn't something they can see here. That isn't something they can have. So Reeve will do his best to keep York safe for Duncan.

Very important. Duncan had been the one to find York all that time ago when he was attacked in the park, and to put him back together. To go with him and get trapped into the recall center.

"I w̕͟͞á͜nt̵́͝ ̀͡tǫ ̷̵go h̶̨͜o̶̧͢m̛e̸̕͠," he cracks out, with arms tight around Mini. Leaning into Reeve. Most of his family was right here. "T̶o ́̀th͠͝e ̀͢hot̵̷̕e͠l."

Well, that was something Reeve could offer. He just wished he had the strength to carry both of his sons.

"Then we will go. As a family."

And he was going to renovate the room next to theirs, just in case one day Duncan arrived as well. Just in case they needed more space.

York moves, carefully until he's standing up. "I̡ ͘won'͝t run̵ awa҉y ͜ag͠a͏in͏," since now he understood he was in Temba and not back in Detroit. "I̴ ̴w̴as ͞so scared."

The broken and stressed vocal chords are sounding better, with the android becoming more settled. He's still in his doll phase, and looks at his hands. "I... I don't have my h̴͜͞o͘od̷͟i̢͡e."

"You'd be welcome to if you wanted. You know I'd never stop you."

But he does release York so he can stand. Then he takes the coat from his own shoulders to wrap around York.

"It's already to be afraid when you have been through something horrible. And it looks like you have been."

It looks like York had a lot of who he chose to be stripped from him.

York's hands fist into the coat, and he pulls it tighter around him. It covers his damaged abdomen plates.

"T͞h̀ere ̕i͡s ҉a re̷claim c̢enter͜.̵ Dun̷c̕an ̴and͘ I en̢d͘e̷d u͝p͏ ͞roun̴ded́ u͢p҉ ̨wit͡h͠ ̷the C̕ybe͏rlife and͞ro͞i̵ds,̸ deśṕit̨e us ̕sayin̨g ͏we were͠ Cy͠be͞rlif͢e." Now he just pushes his arms through the sleeves and holds it closed that way while they walk. T҉hey h͟a̛d̴ ҉us̶ al̕l ̕l̀ined ͏u̢p, w̡it͜h ̷e͘veryth͠in̨g w̴e ҉h͠ad̨ tąken̡ ͏until w̛e all loo̵ked li͡ke̢ t́his.͞ ͏We̕ w͞er͡e͞ next to go̧ in͏. To b̷̴e͝҉ dȩac͏ţ҉̧i҉vated--"

But he was safe now. He was in Temba, in a little pocket dimension where time in Detroit stood waiting for him to return. As they walk, York presses himself against Reeve to siphon some of his warmth, and for the physical presence of the man he came to recognize as a father figure.

And now he was safe and his brother wasn't. Reeve would sob for the other if it wasn't clear that he needed to be strong. But he does let the youth stand closer.

"Would that I were there. I'd bolt the bastards. You're people and that isn't fair."

Duncan was frozen in a moment back home, waiting for his brother to come back from the pocket universe he had been taken to.

"You'd have to be careful. They all have weapons themselves, but all the androids were lined up like military squads. I imagine we would've attracted lightning a lot easier than the guards."

He holds tighter to Reeve's hand, and gestures out with the other for Mini to take the other. "I still have clothes in our room, right? I don't wanna look like me if all I have is your coat to cover with."

"Magic doesn't quite work like that. I can direct it a lot more specifically, force it to take the path I want," Reeve countered. So yes, he could take out guards. "And if that failed, I've got fire."

Though really, bolt spells were useful when there was tech around that just had to be dealt with. Better on machines too to stop bad processes.

"I didn't get rid of a single thing of yours, York. It's all precious to me."

"I'd trust you to not hit us." 'Us', meaning not just Duncan and York, but all the Cyberlife androids as well. They were all important, to York, whether he knew them or not. York makes sure to keep close, and tries to keep his system calm so his voice doesn't break again.

He glances at the guy, then back down to the road as they walk. "Good, I'd hate being like this because looking normal is gonna be awkward for everyone if I didn't have anything to wear. Even if I am missing some parts." Or that there were parts broken, like his abdomen area.

That's good. To know he's so trusted by someone so precious to him. But more than that, he's concerned about the here and now.

"I wanted to ask about that. But I do not wish to pry. And if there are things that are broken, we will try and fix them."

"Don't bother. Just parts that I can keep covered up with a shirt or my hoodie," York shrugs nonchalantly. "You know how some humans have disabilities that come later in life and they've grown accustomed to them so that it becomes their normal? That's what my broken parts are like. They aren't terrible, like the state I've seen Jerries in back home."

He looks up at Reeve, then back on the road before them where the hotel sits, waiting for them. "Humans are broken, Reeve. Androids aren't much different in that regard."

"If that is your decision, I will not press it."

It is one thing to offer assistance. It's another to force one's own opinion of 'proper' onto another. Reeve knows the line there.

"And yes, there will be clothes to be had. Your hoodie among them."

Though humans being broken is no shock. He just sighs and nods.

Reeve was better than most humans York knew of from home. Here in Temba he was treated like the human he looked like, instead of a second class appliance like they were in Detroit.

"As long as the hoodie is there, along with you, I guess it’ll be okay." York gives a little smirk at that. He’s starting to feel better, more at home now that his system remembers being here. Being safe here.

Reeve doesn't even come from a world with smart appliances. He wouldn't think about it the comparison at all.

"You'll always have a home with me," Reeve assures him. "Just tell me how to help you today."

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