Chapter 13, Wildcard Edge, part 1

Chapter 13: Wildcard Edge- Part I.

RoboCop has been walking exhausted on the deserted district that seems to have been badly damaged by gang riots and explosions. There is no one around to call for help, he feels lost and starts looking for a police cruiser to request backup. All this time RoboCop has been carrying the agonizing body of another police officer in his arms. He has been fearful to look down and be conscious of whom he is carrying.

Robo thinks the police officer can still be saved, if medical help is called on time, he is damaged too, his arms joints are broken and there is white smoke coming from his armpits. When RoboCop was built, nobody cared to think his human part was going to endure the revolting smells of the mechanical part being broken up close.

As he walks, he notices the police officer is already dying. RoboCop observes there is a blood trace on the floor that is becoming wider as they go along. He doesn’t want to think that the police officer that is agonizing in his arms is Lewis. The emotional pain of losing her would be unbearable.

RoboCop doesn’t even remember how they both got shot in action. Nevertheless, as he looks down, he grasps the body of the wounded police officer is male. “Is it Kaplan, is he dying?” RoboCop thinks Kaplan is a good cop and doesn’t deserve to die.

Finally, RoboCop reaches a dead end. There is no land where to walk forward anymore, they are surrounded by water, a large river is in front of them. He is brave enough to look at the officer’s face now. It’s not Lewis and it’s not Kaplan. It is Alex Murphy, the wounded cop in his arms; RoboCop is shocked to see his own human face on someone else’s body.

Alex has his blue eyes wide open, there is blood on his forehead, making his blond hair look like a thick orange pulp, RoboCop dares to look at his slaughtered torso and when he sees the amount of blood on it, he drops him scared, the lifeless body of Alex falls in the river and starts to slowly sink, until it fades.

RoboCop opens his eyes; he is alone at the laboratory. It was just a nightmare. The room is mostly dark, although there are flashing dim lights around him, from the power generators that are permanently online.

Leaning on the wall that is in front of him, there is a silver plated industrial refrigerator where materials for his organic sustain are kept and it is so clean, he can see his own reflection on it as if it was a mirror.

RoboCop observes a drawn reflection of him sitting on his chair; his face exposed and gets a reality check of what he is now. Not a man, not a machine, but a bizarre combination of both, a weird hybrid, an experiment that somehow survived a gruesome transition from human to cyborg.

His subconscious mind has started to punish him for daring to live, think and act more as a man and less as a machine. He is auto-sabotaging his self-acceptance process by thinking someone like him is not worth to be loved and doesn’t deserve to enjoy life.

It is his profound fear to embrace happiness what is triggering those negative thoughts in him. Everything he loved was taken away from him once. It is better to not possess anything, to live in auto-pilot, so joy, happiness and love are not stolen from him again. His eyes slowly close again out of exhaustion.

A few hours later RoboCop wakes up again and gets ready to start another day, he walks outside the laboratory at 7:30 am and knows he has to drive to get his partner and start work. Reed is already at the main counter organizing paperwork when he greets him.

Reed: Hey Murphy, good morning, before you go get Lewis, I wanted to let you know…that today the guys and I will be off duty earlier, it’s Mason’s birthday, we are going to Sal’s club, so…no overnight shift for you, you’re… free to do what you want today…

RoboCop abruptly stops right at the front door looking distressed. Reed thinks it was cruel to inform him that the guys at the station will have fun at a celebration RoboCop is not invited to; Reed is unaware that RoboCop’s concerns are bigger than that. He tries to joke with him before he leaves the station.

“You should tell that partner of yours to stop being lazy and bring her own car to work…there’s a parking lot for employees around the corner…you spoil her so much Murphy, don’t let her take advantage of you…”

Both RoboCop and Lewis have indulged in the repetitive routine of her not bringing her car to work on purpose. Her silver brand new Lexus is parked and dusty in the basement of her building most of the time. Having some minutes before starting work and after finishing work together has been a sad game they have played for a long time to feel that they have a personal relationship that goes beyond working hours.

When RoboCop arrives to Lewis’ building, she is already outside waiting for him, Lewis seems to be in a great mood, her sports bag is hanging on her shoulder as usual, but today she is holding a small box with two plastic cups inside it. Although RoboCop hopes Lewis has forgotten about going to Wildcard Edge, something tells him she hasn’t.

Lewis: Hi partner! Today I woke up earlier and went out for a walk, and I found this new coffee shop around the corner that I didn’t know was there…I got coffee for me and frozen yogurt for you

Frozen yogurt is one of the very few things that Tyler allows Lewis to give RoboCop. Lewis has learned over time that Murphy is not like any other partner she can share many things with and has made a huge effort to adapt to his limited circumstances so they can have the most normal buddy-cop relationship as possible.

The closer Lewis tries to get to RoboCop, the more difficult it is for him to keep on resisting her continuous affection demonstrations, however, his depressing nightmare has discouraged him and his thoughts have changed. He thinks now that everything they have been doing or that they are about to do is wrong.

Lewis: Come on, Murphy, take it…otherwise it will melt. I don’t think you mind me trying it with the same spoon now, huh? We have…shared more than this already, haven’t we?

RoboCop: No, I don’t mind.

“We have shared more than this already”

Robo is aware that if things are moving forward is because he has allowed certain things to happen between them and has propitiated some others by hoping deep inside Lewis acted upon the moment. RoboCop has partially allowed Lewis to invade his personal space and the most frightening thing it’s him already getting used to it; perhaps it is not too late to stop everything now, he thinks.

The day develops normally. They are semi frustrated for not being able to go back to Clover Hills and find more information about the rehabs training facility yet. They have to wait for Reed’s orders.

The police duo have to do just normal police work, the same routine that is repeated every day, store robberies, calls for domestic violence, gangs loitering, drug smugglers, all the cases that they find on the streets that seem to repeat over and over. Sometimes the arrested suspects are the same ones that keep getting out of jail on bail just to commit crimes again.

Around 5:30 pm unit 477 goes back to the station. RoboCop parks the cruiser in the underground parking lot of the police precinct. Lewis’ shift is over and Robo needs to go back to get daily maintenance so he can work for a few more hours later on. They both remain in silence for a short while and none of them dares to get off the car first, they’re well aware that confrontation time has come.

Lewis: So, at what time do we see each other later tonight? Are we, are we going…?

RoboCop: No. Too risky, although my tracking device has been deactivated, the police cruiser is on the Metro Network’s grid and can be easily identified if it is off duty and hasn’t returned to the station yet.

Lewis: That is just…come on, who’s gonna care? Hey, I know, let’s use my car; we leave the cruiser parked outside my building…

RoboCop: Leaving an official vehicle unattended for some hours instead of returning it to the station is against the police protocol.

Lewis: Oh for fuck’s sake…we turn off the damn radio, we deactivate the network and we use the cruiser like a regular car…or we just return the fucking car and leave in mine?

…Look, half the station is going to be partying at the club…not even Reed will be at his office, honestly, nobody from the station cares what you and I do together, if we are both off duty?

RoboCop: I am temporarily off duty until a new call comes up. And if there will be fewer cops patrolling the streets, my work will be required.

Lastly, RoboCop evasive programmed responses make Lewis’ patience to run out. She finally snaps taking out her frustration on the man that keeps hurting her feelings; without caring anymore if she hurts his too.

Lewis: Metro West is not the only police precinct in the city!! You are not the only fucking cop that works at night!! What makes you think you are that fucking necessary??

RoboCop: Stop… yelling at me.

Lewis: You are just making stupid excuses!!…oh my god it’s like talking to a brick wall sometimes!! Why, why do I even put myself through this…? I’m so tired, so fucking tired of you…so fucking tired of everything…!!

RoboCop: Then leave.

Lewis: That’s exactly what I am going to do now!!…enjoy work for the rest of the night, RoboCop…

Lewis slamming the car’s door and walking away upset is becoming a usual thing among them that RoboCop has had to patiently tolerate. Robo remains in the car whilst saddened reordering memories in his mind. Although, this time, instead of going back to the same old images of Ellen and Jimmy, he seeks for recorded scenes of Lewis. He wants to remember the great friends they used to be in the past.

Robo thinks Lewis is slowly destroying their relationship as partners and friends and she doesn’t seem to care about it. He is still struggling to confront the reality and accept his relationship with Lewis was going to move forward, sooner or later.

RoboCop’s dream had a deep meaning he still doesn’t understand. It is only by dropping Alex Murphy in the river, by letting him go, that Robo would be capable to completely adapt to a new life as a cyborg and embrace new experiences, without fear.

Robo finally gets off the car and heads up to the laboratory to get daily general maintenance, however he also expects to find Tyler there to perhaps have some friendly interaction with her.

Although his existence as RoboCop has been lonely, Murphy hasn’t made a great effort to relate to the people that surround him on a more personal level. He has focused on upholding the law by fighting lawbreakers every day, doing as much as he can to protect the people of Detroit from the criminal activity that never ceases to end.

As long as he had the unconditional friendship of his police partner, he didn’t feel the need to make more friends. For the first time Robo needs a new friend, to talk about his other friend that has been gradually turning into something else.

RoboCop is unlucky, as Tyler is engaged in a long phone call with the people from the spare parts depository making a long inventory of materials that are needed. Akita is also there and is not doing much, just watching the media break on his reclining chair, resting his feet on top of a desk that is full of monitors and keyboards.

RoboCop’s daily routine includes eating a small portion of a bland nutritional paste and drinking water to sustain his organic system. There is a section on his waist that can be easily disassembled so he’s able to remove a disposable plastic probe that looks like a square hose that is connected to his simplified digestive system and replace it with a new one.

That is the way he gets rid of the organic disposal that his body expels every day. Finally he will interface with the main CPU server they have at the laboratory to get a general scanning of his mechanical part and his operating system, the OCS version 3.1.

After finishing with his daily maintenance, RoboCop darts a glance at the semi-private cubicle where Tyler is talking on the phone just to see she is still busy. He walks away from the laboratory, but before starting work again Robo thinks about driving to his favorite hideout, the abandoned dock that is beyond Delta city ruins.

There is a reason why RoboCop could get to Delta city ruins before the S.W.A.T. team did the day he rescued Lewis and Estevez. Robo has driven to the dock many times to trying to find peace and some privacy away from everyone. He knows very well the shortcuts to get from Detroit’s downtown to the dock in little time.

RoboCop steps out of his vehicle and stands in front of a metal fence where he rests his hands whilst observing the way the city lights reflect on the water. He can almost see the face of Alex slowly fading in the river. Robo just wants to be left alone for a while.

Back at the station Lewis is at the locker room sitting on a bench, half-dressed after taking a shower. She is demotivated glancing at her sports bag by thinking there is no point in wearing the red dress anymore to Sal’s club. Murphy is not going out with her. She can’t even be bothered to stand up and put on jeans.

The moment gets worse as Lewis is mortified to see Riggs is walking towards her making funny faces and blowing kisses to her. Lewis quickly covers her legs with a towel, before he gets any closer.

Riggs: Babe…don’t be sad, it’s okay…everything is fine between us, I know now it’s not your fault, I am not mad or anything with you, I’ll wait for you outside the station, we drive to my place, I get changed there and we meet the guys later at the club, do I give you 15, 20 minutes?

Lewis: What? It’s not my fault what? John, I don’t have time for your silly games… and no, no, I am not going anywhere with you…

Riggs: Anne, we owe this to ourselves, we can go somewhere else if you want, but we really need to talk this out, you know, where this relationship is going…

Lewis thinks this is the ultimate irony; the man she is intending to have a relationship with has just ditched her and the one she wants to disappear from her sight is delusional about them having something that is not there.

Lewis: Are you for real? In what known planet do you think you and I have a relationship? I so regret sending you that message!! Please, just leave me alone, I am not in the mood…

Riggs: That is your problem sweetheart; you are never in the fucking mood!! What is it? Huh? What is that thing the fucking robot does to you that keeps you all obsessed and shit?? Don’t you like the normal thing?

…If you like it rough…some violence, baby, I don’t have a problem with that…be a good girl and show me what you have underneath that towel and I will be ready for you in no time…

Lewis: Oh my god…you are sick!!…what gives you the fucking right to talk to me like this?? Don’t make me stand up and slap your sorry face…it’s not gonna happen John!!…not today, not tomorrow, not ever!!!

Estevez hears the loud, upset voices of Lewis and Riggs and rushes to back up Lewis, even if the city hall decided that setting unisex changing rooms at the four police precincts that exist in Detroit was a way to encourage gender equality in the police department, sexual harassment cases still happen from time to time.

Riggs: So it was true what they say…you are insane!! How come you prefer that thing that is not even a man over a real man like me!! The fuck is wrong with you!

Lewis: He is more of a man than you will ever be!!!

Estevez can see that Lewis has stood up and is about to hit Riggs. She stands in front of her and tells her in a low voice “It’s not worth it”

Estevez: Are you crazy John?? Leave her alone!! Do you want me to call Simon?

Riggs doesn’t want problems with Smith, they are good friends, he has no remedy but to walk away from both women, enraged. The moment when Riggs is walking on the hallway to get to the parking lot and get his cruiser to drive away, he sees RoboCop is coming back to the station, John knows their paths will cross and waits for Robo to get closer to start provoking him out of rage, Riggs is an impulsive emotional person that easily loses control of his actions.

Riggs: Oh hello there!! I have news for you, you, fucking cocksucker, hey yo! Are you deaf? I am talking to you!! I am talking to you!! Stop! Stop!!

Although annoyed, RoboCop ignores Riggs and keeps walking. The muffled laughs of the other cops that are in the hallway make Riggs aware he is being ridiculed by RoboCop, because he is not responding to his taunting, John gets even angrier and forgets that inciting a physical fight with RoboCop could be dangerous.

Riggs: Hey, hey fucking robot from hell…don’t you wanna know who I just fucked in the locker rooms? You asshole? You mechanical piece of shit? That bitch likes it rough!!…I took her from fucking behind and made her call out my name, many, many times…Anne’s a tremendous whore!! I just gave her what you can’t fucking give her, because you are not even a man, you’re nothing but a useless piece of crap!!!

RoboCop stops. Although Robo knows well the consequences that it could bring having an altercation with another police officer, Riggs is out of order and has crossed the line. Not only Riggs is being offensive towards the person he cares about the most, but also, his disrespectful demeanor goes against the police code and should not be allowed.

RoboCop approaches Riggs, grabs him by his police uniform with one hand and lifts him up forcefully, staring at him in a threatening manner without saying a word. RoboCop is angered now and resents Riggs for causing problems and complications between him and Lewis.

Riggs can’t think with a clear head and instead of surrendering he makes things worse by struggling to remove his gun from the holster to shoot RoboCop in the face. “I am gonna make you swallow a bullet!! you fucking cocksucker! You fucking piece of shit!!” that’s what Riggs says but RoboCop uses his free hand to get Riggs’s gun first, “Were you looking for this?” Robo says to Riggs as he violently breaks his gun in front of his face, dropping the pieces on the floor.

Whilst some officers in the hallway are concerned staring at the fighting cops, a few others are cheering, whistling and enjoying the show. Adams is one of them. He is standing at the end of the hallway almost applauding, smirking in twisted satisfaction admiring his work of art. Adams deeply hopes RoboCop really loses it and breaks Riggs’ neck. That would be priceless to watch and could bring him more financial gain from OCP.

The only cop that decides to get involved is Kaplan and as soon as the news of RoboCop fighting Riggs on the hallway reached him he quickly ran to the scene aiming to dissuade Robo from doing any harm to Riggs.

“Murphy, he is not worth it, put him down, come on man, don’t get into trouble!!”

Kaplan sees that RoboCop is unresponsive and Riggs is still playing the brave guy, they are both enraged looking at each other, RoboCop pins Riggs on the wall hoping that is enough for him to surrender, but although Riggs is scared now, he is still proffering insults in a broken voice, Kaplan quickly grasps what RoboCop is intending to do, he is now making a fist and slowing raising his arm to hit Riggs, Kaplan is so nervous, he can’t even make his radio work properly to get Reed.

Riggs also sees RoboCop is raising his arm aiming at his head and is beyond scared thinking RoboCop is about to kill him. John feels the cold sweat running on his face and closes his eyes regretting everything he caused. He has started to taste his salty tears too, by thinking,

“This is the end, this is how I die, he will break my skull now.”

As much as RoboCop is angered by Riggs’ irrational demeanor, he is still a cop that is there to protect the innocent and not to kill other fellow officers.

Instead of hitting Riggs, RoboCop hits the wall violently with his fist making a huge hole close to Riggs’ face, to teach him a lesson, dropping him afterwards. Riggs slowly slides down to the floor and sits there, shaking and sobbing. “Stay away from her” That’s all RoboCop tells Riggs in a monotone, robotic voice before exiting the hallway.

The news of RoboCop fighting Riggs reach the locker rooms and a couple of female officers are the ones that bring Lewis the exciting news: “Hey Lewis, guess what, they are fighting over you in the hallway, they say Murphy will kill Riggs!! They are fighting over you, over you!!”

Far from feeling flattered Lewis feels bad and responsible for something like this happening between Murphy and Riggs, she trusts RoboCop won’t really harm Riggs, nevertheless she runs fast to the hallway to see what is happening.

By the time Lewis gets there Riggs is sitting on the floor, recovering from the incident, scared and shaking. Lewis sees the pieces of the broken gun and RoboCop from behind walking away from the scene, Riggs’ face enlightens as soon as he sees Lewis there.

In his mind John thinks that facing the metallic monster for Anne is going to finally grant some sympathy from her side, she must be concerned about him now; with a shaking voice he tries to make conversation with her whilst raising one of his arms, hoping Lewis gives him a hand to stand up.

“Heey baby, look, look at what that beast did to me…he is dangerous, they should unplug him…break him into pieces again” Far from feeling any compassion for him, Lewis knocks his hand down and starts yelling at him instead.

“What did you do to him? What the fuck did you say to him? What is wrong with you Riggs???”

“What did I do to him? Isn’t it the other way around? Hasn’t this beast almost killed me?” Those are the thoughts that cross John’s mind, he feels humiliated and is so disheartened to see, that no matter what he does, Anne will always prefer the robot over him.

Lewis runs after RoboCop to try to mend things, she is concerned about him getting into trouble and has already forgotten how annoyed she was with him earlier that day.

Lewis: Murph, it’s me, wait…I am so sorry about this…we will be able to fix it, don’t worry…

As soon as RoboCop hears Lewis calling him, he turns around, walks towards her expressionless, grabs her arm and drags her where the parking lot’s emergency exit doors are, so they can talk privately without people staring at them, he puts her against the wall, interrogation mode. RoboCop is still vexed at the situation.

RoboCop: What did you do?

Lewis: What did I do of what??

RoboCop: Where were you? What were you doing?

Lewis: I…I had a shower earlier… What kind of questions are those?

RoboCop: What did he do to you? What did Riggs do to you??

Lewis: He…came when I was getting dressed and…he started being a pain in the ass, but Barbara and I told him off…and he left…that was it!!

RoboCop: Is that all?

Lewis: Yes!! You’re fucking scaring me, geez! Let go my arm, I didn’t do anything!!

RoboCop lets go her arm but holds her face instead and starts slowly moving it from one side to the other. He starts scanning Lewis’ body with his thermographic vision, looking for any kind of evidence that Riggs might have harmed Lewis physically. No injuries were found. Robo is relieved.

Lewis: What the fuck are you doing now?? What the hell are you looking for?? Huh? I didn’t have sex with him!! I despise the shit asshole!! I can’t believe you actually think that…

RoboCop: Stop it. We will go to Wildcard Edge, but after today, you will leave me alone and you will start treating me with respect, is that clear?

Lewis: Yeah…okay, sure RoboCop lets go her face, turns around in a cold mechanical way and starts to walk away from Lewis without saying anything else.

Lewis: Hey…so, at, at what time…? Where do we meet…?

RoboCop: I’ll find you.

Lewis is an athletic woman that has never consumed illegal drugs in her life. If anything, her strong sense of duty makes her to fight fiercely the war against narcotics that seems to be the cancer that continuously affects the city of Detroit.

In the past, Lewis had intended to follow her father’s footsteps by joining Detroit’s military academy aiming to become an army pilot, unfortunately, after failing several technical exams, Lewis dropped school in disappointment, subsequently, Lewis’s father encouraged her to become a police officer instead.

Ever since, her life has revolved about work and one of the biggest motivations that makes her wake up every day is the adrenaline and endorphin rush she experiences out there in the streets when establishing order and doing justice.

Nevertheless, as lately, Anne is becoming addicted to a different kind of mental drug she had long forgotten it existed, dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, all those chemicals combine in her brain.

Feeling like a woman after years of locking her feelings away is so tempting; she has finally surrendered, allowing herself to feel in love. Although it has been a hurtful frustrating path for her, pursuing Murphy has had its rewards. The more RoboCop behaves like a jealous lover around her, the more Lewis loses her mind over him and makes her care even less about him being a cybernetic man.

Lewis gazes at him lovingly whilst he walks away from her. She wasn’t remotely bothered by RoboCop’s interrogatory, on the contrary, her exalted emotions seem to be overriding her logical thoughts and there’s an inner debate in her mind now, between the controlled, objective cop that wants to speak to Sergeant Reed and fix the problem that just occurred and she feels partly responsible for, and the woman that wants to think everything can be resolved on Monday and wishes to run back to the station looking for the only female friend she’s got, so they can go get a new spectacular outfit for her date.

Barbara was right. What’s the point in wearing the same red dress forever?

Lewis looks back to the hallway to see that Riggs is now surrounded by people, probably playing the victim card. Anne promises herself she will resolve everything on Monday and the woman wins over the cop this time. After all, she thinks, “What else can go wrong over the weekend?”

However, what Lewis is unaware of, is that Robo seems to have more friends than she thinks he does and there is already someone speaking on his behalf at Reed’s private office.

Lewis goes back to the hallway; it is the only way to get back to the station without a vehicle. Although this time she is uninterested to even look at Riggs or to say anything to him or to the cops that whistle and make bawdy jokes as soon as they see her, bursting into laughs afterwards.

The common teasing Robo and Lewis usually get, although this time, the gags are a bit more racy than usual. She shakes her head smiling sarcastically and just keeps walking, ignoring everyone.