Chapter 23, The Prayer Part II

Chapter 23, The Prayer Part 2.

Another call for domestic violence ended up as an uncontrollably fire that started on the first floor of a four stories building. The law offender that had been put in jail more than once was out on bail just to go back home and physically abuse his wife and kid again.

This time, the alcoholic pyromaniac finally set his own home on fire, unfortunately he had slipped on the gasoline that was spread on the floor, fell down, hitting his head on the floor and died before the police officers that had responded the call could put him under arrest.

Kaplan and Mason had responded to the call and although the fire department is on its way, they seem to be desperate to get the woman and the child out of the place, the rest of the people that lived below their apartment had already evacuated the building.

However, after going down two floors the cops reach a dead end as the only wooden staircase that they can find is broken, it was already consumed by the fire and Mason thinks of jumping down the last two floors and then using a broken wooden plank to make a slide for Kaplan, the woman and the kid so the four of them can escape, there is smoke everywhere and the little kid has started to lose consciousness.

There is no time, Mason thinks, he knows he is the right man to do it, as he is younger and more athletic than Kaplan, he would not risk his partner’s safety.

Mason: Well, there you go, this is something they don’t teach you at the police academy

Kaplan: It’s two floors man…there should be another way

Mason: No there isn’t. If I don’t make it, please don’t fuck my wife…

Kaplan: Don’t be like that…who tells you I’m not doing that already?

Suddenly, the cops spot two glass bottles that break on the floor, they drop a liquid that starts to condense until it becomes a thick foam that starts to quickly dry, Mason thinks that the fire department is already there and feels relieved, he is more confident to jump now and although it hurts when his body hits the foam, he is not really injured and he quickly stands up to grab the wooden plank and make the slide.

His idea works and the woman, Kaplan and the kid can safely slide down to the foam too, but before the four of them can reach the door, a burnt piano that was on the floor above them breaks through and falls down to the ground, covering the entrance of the building.

However not everything is lost, as someone starts to move the piano to one side, even if it’s on flames.

“Fire doesn’t burn me” RoboCop is reminded of that conversation he had with Tyler months ago, when he was wondering how much sensation he could still feel on his robotic body.

He’s aware now, that his sensorial systems are temporarily shut down so he cannot feel physical pain for 30 minutes, if he hadn’t walked that path of physical self-discovery by daring to have an intimate relationship with Lewis, he wouldn’t know himself, the way he does now. Robo breaks the remaining pieces of the piano that were stuck in the door frame so Kaplan, Mason and the two civilians can run away from the building.

RoboCop walks away too and he cringes as he suddenly feels an electric shock that runs through his body, his sensorial systems were turned on all of sudden. The fire department is there and a very concerned fireman used a hose to throw a violent flow of water on Robo, to put out the fire. He was walking away from the building without noticing his forearms and his back were still on fire. A very wet, angry Robo looks back at the fireman that is now afraid of the mechanical officer’s reaction:

“I…I you were on fire…officer…I tried to save you…” RoboCop doesn’t say a word and keeps on walking towards his cruiser, Robo1. It was him the one that used Robo1’s extinguishers to create the foam. His new car is equipped with anti-flammable foam bottles and he is not really impressed by the fire department that came into the crime scene, late. Murphy thinks that if the fire department had been there on time, the four people he just saved wouldn’t have gone through so many struggles.

Furthermore, he remembers Lewis and he had been at that building before. That pyromaniac was a repeat offender and if Lewis had killed him the first time they put him under arrest none of these things would have happened, however, Lewis is a good police officer that follows the protocol even, if at times she could act impulsively by trying to take justice in her own hands.

RoboCop understands her now. He is more and more aware how faulty the legal system is, and how repeat offenders are back on the streets, easily, to keep committing crimes. Robo looks around and some units from Metro West are at the place too.

Riggs, Adams and Smith are next to a cruiser and they seem to have a private party among them and Robo instinctively removes his auto 9 pistol from his leg.

There is still so much commotion and no one notices he is aiming his gun at his own fellow officers now. He targets them now with his computerized vision. It would take him no more than a few seconds to terminate the three of them, what if they knew he can override Directive 4 now? It doesn’t work with OCP executives, but with other cops yes.

Every time they reinstall Directive 4 on his systems, his OCS becomes more resistant to it.

RoboCop is experiencing hatred for the first time, towards the ones he should be protecting instead. The man ruling over the machine cop that tells him, that despite their personal actions or how incompetent those three officers can be, they are still on the law side.

“I will be waiting for you” What if Lewis is waiting for him to resolve his situation so they can be together again. Robo knows the old man is not in Detroit anymore and he is now at Johnson’s mercy. He cannot make a mistake and let the CEO down. Or risk Reed’s investigation regarding the rehab’s illegal actions.

Robo trusts that once the old man comes back to Detroit and Johnson and the rehab team are brought to justice, he will have more freedom of action. Perhaps he’d be able to tell Lewis the truth by then.

Besides, if even if he was efficient enough to shoot the three men today or any other day, ballistics would easily find out the bullets came from his modified Beretta as no one but he can fire it.

Rationalizing his anger works and he slowly puts the gun down as he takes a deep breath out of frustration. Robo keeps walking towards his cruiser, an artificial intelligent mechanical device, the only friend that OCP allows him to have him now, he is not alone though as he can sense someone is following him.

Kaplan: Hey, partner, wait, I want to say thanks for what you just did…do you…remember who I am?

RoboCop: Officer Kaplan…

Kaplan: Yeah, you got it man. That is a nice car you’ve got there! Can you give me a ride back to the station?

RoboCop: No.

Kaplan: Sure…why would you want to give a ride to a fat ugly motherfucker like me huh?

Kaplan sees RoboCop keeps on walking and he is completely impassive to his comments. Kaplan remembers Robo used to semi react in the past, to his funny, friendly chitchat, at least, he was able to capture Robo’s attention, or make him slightly smile. Kaplan suspects they didn’t really erase Robo’s memory although it seems he has lost the power to make him listen to what he has to say.

Kaplan: I bet you only pick up chicks in that car…but on a second thought, perhaps, there is only one for you, right? And I am here, to talk about her…

RoboCop stops. Kaplan finally got his attention and now he knows he has a few minutes to let him know the alarming news before Robo gets in his cruiser and leaves.

Kaplan: Murphy, listen, Lewis is acting like some sort of solo avenger lately, she’s planning to take down those rapists from that shit hole strip club by herself, her undercover mission with Estevez failed…their snitch was killed, it was a poor young girl…

RoboCop: When?

Kaplan: I’m not sure man…but keep an eye on her, before she does something and gets suspended from the police force or even worse, the case file is F488 or 89 look for it on the Metro, you have fewer restrictions when accessing the police files of other cops I want to believe?

RoboCop: You are right.

Kaplan sighs relieved as he observes Robo getting in the cruiser and driving away from the place. He was able to provide him with important information regarding Lewis. Robo seems to be more conscious of his surroundings than what the rest of the people believe.

Not so far away from that crime scene, Mike walks out from a known Chinese food chain, carrying takeout food with him. It has started to rain and it will get dark soon, the man wants to go home and enjoy his dinner, since he doesn’t have a girlfriend anymore to share that food with.

“She’d have loved the rice balls I just got, she was always hungry” those are the thoughts that cross his mind, when suddenly, the known feeling of the cold canon of a gun poking his back: “Keep on walking” a female voice orders him.

Mike keeps nervously walking, finally he is guided to a no way street, he slowly turns around to find out it is a very angered female cop the one that is now pointing her gun to his head, she cocks the gun once and Mike thinks this is the end.

Mike: No…you have to put me under arrest don’t you? I haven’t done anything! I paid for this I swear! I didn’t do anything! I am not even armed!

Lewis: That’s exactly it! You fucking piece of shit! You didn’t do anything! You just let those fucking dogs have fun with her and then you ran away like the fucking coward you are! I’m going to blow your head off now…

Mike: You are taking it out on the wrong person! I tried to stop them! They knocked me down! Injected me too! I was in fucking ICU for two days! The next time they inject me…as little as the dose might be, I am gonna die…

Lewis: We know who they are…we have their DNA now, we just need you to declare…

Mike: You were not really planning to kill me weren’t you? You just wanted to scare the shit out of me…I am not like them! I protected her man…I gave her things, food…

Lewis comes closer to Mike and she puts her gun on Mike’s crotch, making him drop his food bags on the ground.

Lewis: Perhaps not, but I can still blow your balls away, would you like that? You think that putting your dick in Jade was protecting her, but in reality I can take you under arrest now for having sex with a minor…

Mike: I did not know how old she was! She was just, grateful…I tried to help her, the same way you did officer, I really liked her and I seriously miss her now!

Lewis walks back and keeps back her gun. She was intending to scare Mike and make him talk, the most important thing is to get the owner of the place under arrest for forcing his employees to provide sexual services. However she is also after her own personal revenge. Kaplan was right; Lewis is planning to take revenge in her own hands now.

Lewis: So, would you be willing to declare against Tiziano and Joseph? Against Mario Ferre the owner of the place?

Mike: I would declare against fucking Mario yes, if fucking Tiziano and Joey were dead…they are vicious…they can seek out your grandmother, rape her and chop her into pieces with no remorse, the girls fear them…I try to protect them as much as I can…I give them advice…

Lewis: And then you fuck them? You see, we are on the same page here, I am going to need your help, I need you to disable cameras, can you do that for me? Can you do it for Jade?

“In one week from now, they will try to tear us apart”

Bertha had gathered her team of rebels at the warehouse where they keep their weapons, to give them important news, all of them know that the Nuke for Christ gang and the Splatterpunks will have a confrontation in the territory that divides Cadillac Heights from clover Hills, as both gangs want the districts for themselves.

“Those fuckers, the rehabs will be there, but not to help us, but to fuck us up even more. They give weapons to those splatters…so they kill us like flies, they want them to do the dirty work, so there are less of us once they evict us from our homes…but we will fight back! We will resist!”

Bertha’s team of rebels consists of people from all ages, men and women that are tired of the harassment suffered by the rehabs and the criminal gangs that loiter around their homes and are willing to fight and even sacrifice their lives just to bring peace to their districts. They are demoralized though as they think Bertha has lost it and it is a suicide mission to resist the riots, most of them think, they will irremediably die the day the fight among criminal gangs take place.

“However, my friends, we will have help that day, I know you guys will complain…but a squad of police officers from Metro West will come to help us, all we need is to resist the riot. Keep yourselves safe at home, we will provide you firearms to protect your family”

The people in the room start protesting against the idea out loud, booing Bertha, whistling and making it difficult for her to calm the angry mob. Clover Hills is a no police zone and most of the rebels despise the police force for the zero help they have provided them over the years, some others, still think that the rehabs and the police belong to the same team and they should not be trusted.

In the middle of the noise, a young woman, attractive looking but of a slightly nerdy appearance raises up. Jimena Ramirez is the daughter of Sebastian Ramirez, Moreno’s half-brother. Sebastian is a car mechanic and his daughter has vast knowledge of mechanical engineering, they have both been in charge of giving maintenance to the vehicles used by Bertha’s group. Sebastian is seeking his personal revenge against the rebels too and he is Bertha’s closest sidekick.

“I don’t give a fuck about those idiots in blue, and I won’t risk any of my equipment for them, but I have seen RoboCop around, bringing down arsenal. So all of you, ungrateful pieces of shit, listen!! And shut up!! Those guns you are holding there, were brought by him!!”

Bertha is glad that Jimena put order and people seem to be finally paying attention.

Bertha: That is where I was heading at…look, you don’t have to like them or even help them, just let them do their work. But! As Jimena said, one of our priorities will be to look out for RoboCop’s back, he is a friend, so, you help him if you can…Sebastian, do we have Eduardo ready?

Sebastian looks mortified to the back of the warehouse where several vehicles are parked and there is a particular one, a crane that seems to have another vehicle or part of equipment assembled on top of it covered by plastic sheets.

Sebastian: Not quite yet, but it is functional…if we have to blow up that base…or protect a friend, Lalo will respond I am sure of it.

Bertha smiles satisfied and looks at her group one more time before dismissing them. She’s aware that her mission is suicidal and she won’t probably make it, however, avenging her husband’s death has become her life purpose now.

The night falls and Lewis is back at the police station, she seems to have temporary forgotten about her encounter with Mike as the policewoman is eager now to get to the files rooms as she wants to listen to a particular message. Lewis had gotten repaired Alana back earlier that day. However she hadn’t had the chance to check the status of her now reconstructed device.

Lewis proceeds to connect Alana to the one of the computers of the room, to be able to download all the information given to her by Crazy Al in a separate chip and upload it back to the phone. Some eternal minutes, until the download is complete, Lewis will be glad to speak to her artificial friend again.

Alana32: Good evening madam/sir, I am your safety assistant Alana32, what can I do for you?

Lewis: Geez…another one I have to guess if she remembers me or not…my name is Anne Lewis, does that remind you of something?

Alana32: I have in my database 1,003 files that relate to that name; do you want me to read them now?

Lewis thinks, if only it would be that easy for Murphy to remember her, to upload a new memory chip in his head and make him read all the memories of them he lost, the same way Alana is doing it now.

Alana32: Done. Database updated, is there anything else I can do for you Anne?

Lewis: There was…a second user uploaded in your systems, I would like to know if you can retrieve the last message, he sent to you before you were temporarily shut down.

Alana32: The OCP product known as RoboCop series number 001 is the second user activated for this device, there is an unread message from RoboCop 001, sent approximately three weeks ago. Would you like me to read it now?

Although the message is read by Alana’s robotic female voice, inside her head, Lewis can listen to RoboCop talking to her, one last time, before his memory was erased.

“You were right, we should leave Detroit. I am at the OCP research laboratory; bring the car and firearms”

Lewis obsessively replays the message, until she is so emotional affected by it, she turns off Alana and slides her away from her, her elbows on the desk, her fingers running through her messy hair; she is now suffering an anxiety episode by realizing RoboCop was asking for her help so they could have run away from Detroit together.

The night before, she felt it. Intuition, a hunch, perhaps the deep love she feels for Murphy made her broad her senses and perceive that something really bad was about to happen.

The hollowness inside her chest, she doesn’t know whether to cry or to start tearing the place apart. Desperation, she knows Robo is not far from her, just a few steps away from the files’ room.

What if she runs now towards his arms and plays the message to him? Would that make him remember? But there are cameras, and Tyler…she cannot be seen around him. Anne cannot risk Murphy’s safety anymore.

Lewis stands up, packs away her things and leaves the files’ rooms. Cecil that was observing from his cubicle, had been hesitating whether to approach Lewis to say something nice to her, but as usual his shyness stopped him from doing so.

Cecil feels great remorse now, he’s aware that he was blatantly manipulated by Smith and Vanessa and in reality; no one was interested in him as a person. He sadly checks the hour on his personal communicator and looks at the only photo Vanessa ever sent him, before she blocked him on all social networks and stopped talking to him.

The illusion, was good while it lasted, he thinks. Cecil doesn’t stop Lewis from walking away and he goes back to his isolated cubicle, to keep on working for the rest of the night.

Lewis resists the temptation to walk to RoboCop’s laboratory and goes to the practice shooting room instead. Lewis should be ready, as she has an important mission to fulfill on the next day. Grabbing her gun, gives her satisfaction and the feeling of empowerment as she shoots the targets makes her soothe her anxiety; it has always been that way.

Working as a police officer, using a firearm, has been an escape for a romantic sexual frustrated life. It has helped her to cope with the losses she has experienced in her life.

Captain Paul Lewis had retired from the military after serving the country for many years, and became a commercial pilot instead, after his wife putting pressure on him to quit his previous dangerous job.

In an unfortunate turn of events, Captain Lewis died flying a commercial plane to Europe due to an undetected malfunction in one of the plane’s engines. Most passengers died as well.

Lewis’ mother, Liz, was consumed by guilt and remorse developing a rare type of cancer afterwards and died just five years after her husband. People thought it was a romantic thing, Liz had died “out of love.”

However, for Anne and her two brothers, Steve and Phil, there wasn’t anything romantic in losing both parents in less than ten years. “Women are weak, they let their hearts rule their heads” Lewis has repeated that to herself for a long time.

Nevertheless and as she keeps shooting her targets, Lewis wants to convince herself she is not like her mother, it is difficult for her to accept she is falling apart for a man.

However everything Anne loves either dies or is taken away from her, the repressed memories of her parents, inundate her thoughts, “I want to be a cop and a stripper” The last words of Jade and the last images of her alive suddenly trigger another repressed memory in Anne’s mind:

The steel mill, a dark creepy, cold place, and a horrible afternoon she has tried to forget for a long time, Lewis is wearing her police uniform covered in dust, and she feels pain in the lower part of her back.

Lewis is on her knees mourning the loss of a police partner: Alex Murphy, is lying still on the ground, she can smell the blood and see the gunfire smoke coming out of his slaughtered body.

Many times as she has caressed RoboCop’s robotic armor some flashbacks come to mind, on how she knows certain parts of his human body are long gone, since she could see how badly damaged he was after the encounter with Boddicker and his gang.

Those unpleasant thoughts have made her have a closer affiliation to what RoboCop is now. A cyborg covered in plastic and metal, and even before she developed a romantic relationship with Murphy, Anne would find a strange type of pleasure just by being close to his body, to hold on to it, to be affectionate to it.

Lewis realizes now, she did that for him and for herself as well, perhaps to heal her own emotional wounds, and not having access to that anymore is making her lose her mind.

Suddenly she allows herself to feel sadness; anger and rage are usually caused by repressed sorrow, and she is relieved as she lets some tears roll down her eyes, the stress of the latest events, Murphy, Jade, her failed mission, the anxiety of listening to RoboCop’s last message.

“My love, my love, my love” is what she says out loud now, releasing the woman inside her that is suffering from love and Lewis has tried to suffocate for weeks.

Lewis walks away from the practice room and heads up to the laboratory, she is not there to disturb RoboCop or to cause more problems. She just stands outside the steel mesh door and observes him from afar. Robo seems peaceful as he sleeps on his chair. That gives her confidence her mission on the following day will be successful.

RoboCop awakes shortly after and despite the fact Lewis is gone, he notices an upcoming message on the Metro Network. He reads the message and it is Lewis the one trying to contact with him, on the TSAP, Robo thinks that Lewis will ask for his help to take down the rapists from the stripper club although when he reads the message, the context is quite different:

“I have missed you, my love” are the words that make him stand up and look everywhere for an interphone communicator to be able to respond to her. Robo is surprised, as there is an OCP interphone station inside the laboratory, he doesn’t remember when it was installed. He proceeds to use the eye recognition program to reply to her.

Their written conversation goes on for a few minutes and RoboCop finally steps out of the laboratory and gets Robo1, Lewis will be waiting for him at the dock.

By the time Robo arrives to the dock, it is dawn, however, there are beautiful colors painted in the sky, Lewis is already there, her cruiser parked and she is leaning on the fence that for a strange reason is not broken anymore.

Suddenly, the familiar feeling of approaching the woman that always smiles as she opens her arms waiting to be lifted up by his arms, the only one that has ever done that for him. An affectionate hug, a warm kiss, he had missed feeling the human skin of Lewis on his for weeks. The weight of her body, makes him feel he actually owns something, or someone.

It starts to rain and Robo is surprised as he can feel the rain drops on his back, perhaps he thinks, his sensorial systems are updated, after that fireman covering him with water against his will. Lewis asks him to be put down, they will go now, to Prisma city, away from Detroit, OCP and everyone.

Lewis holds his hand and starts dragging him, “Come on Murphy, we are going to be late!” That is what she tells him and he is confused as he looks back and sees both cruisers parked and wonders why Lewis wants to walk instead. Robo suddenly remembers that the dock is just a bridge away from Delta City ruins and the ruins lead to Prisma city in less than ten minutes. How come he had never noticed?

Lewis keeps repeating the same phrase as they both walk together towards the bridge. Robo sees there is no hope, as the bridge is broken and there is a cliff underneath it. Lewis keeps dragging him and he is confused by thinking why does Lewis want them to jump off a broken bridge, he might survive, although his body would be broken, but Lewis would not make it even if he covers her with his body.

Finally they both stop at the end of the bridge, holding hands, he can observe Lewis hair, moved by the wind. Music starts playing; however there isn’t anyone else around.

Robo opens his eyes, he never left the laboratory, he was asleep the whole time. There seems to be a late party at the dining room of the station, and music is playing, someone is having a baby, getting married or has been promoted. He, as usual, is excluded from the celebration.

Robo wonders if Lewis will be there celebrating a marriage or a pregnancy with the others someday and will eventually forget about him.

How will he remember then, the relationship he had with her in the past? There was once a woman, that was brave enough to adapt to his circumstances and defied OCP, but lost in the end and decided that he was too much of a hassle and walked away.

Robo will treasure the private moments he lived with her, but he is sadly aware that the sensations he developed, the physical mental training he was developing will fade with time and he will inevitably be locked in again in the machine, in a world of limited sensations. The electrical orgasms, the feeling of her skin on his, will fade away.

The following day seems like a normal day for Estevez and Lewis, Estevez is unaware Lewis is planning to leave her at the station after midday, filling reports in the meantime she will head up to the Strawberry and Melon club. Lewis has to act normally, so her partner doesn’t suspect or her own plan will go to waste.

Everything comes according to her plan and around 5:00 pm Lewis arrives to the club, music is playing and there are many customers having drinks and enjoying the show, almost nobody notices the presence of the police there. Lewis walks to the hallway towards the private office of Mario Ferre, she knows that in reality is not an office, but the recruitment place where the girls are forced to sign a document so they start prostituting themselves.

The cameras have been disabled and no one notices her presence. Lewis knocks on the door and she is glad to see both rapists are waiting for her there.

Tiziano: So a fucking cop, eh, we don’t usually make deals with you, but this is a special favor we are doing to Mike, you know, he is like a brother to us…

Lewis: I see, well, I am here because I am interested in the business. And some of my friends are too. We can offer police protection, if we get a share you know?

Joseph: I don’t like this man, It’s those cops that are always here, right…are those your friends?

“My friends” Riggs, Adams and Smith, The irony, Lewis thinks.

Lewis: Yes, they are, you see, we can be really generous we want a 50% participation in the business, we get you girls, police protection, no court of law and no questions.

Tiziano: 50 percent is too much, we can’t agree to that, we are the ones that train the girls, we take them to the clients, we do all the dirty work. You fucking cops can’t come here all of sudden and ask for half of the share, Mr. Ferre won’t like it

Joseph: she is surely fucking Mike and that loser probably promised her a lot of money, didn’t he, officer?

Lewis: Hey, we deserve the money, do you want me to take both of you under arrest for sexual assault? We have your fucking DNA at my precinct and I can make your lives a living hell…

Joseph: I knew this was a fucking trap man! Why did you even agree to see this bitch!

Lewis who was sitting on a desk, stands up and points her gun to both perpetrators, in reality, she is waiting for both of them to resist to the arrest.

Lewis: You are both under arrest, for the sexual assault and murder of Jade Brown, you have the right to remain silent…

Tiziano: Hey, let’s all of us, fucking calm down…

Tiziano knows very well they are cornered and although he raises his hands pretending to surrender, he rapidly takes a metallic bucket that was on top of a chair and throws it at Lewis, the bucket was full of small syringes, containing N2-14, Joseph thinks this is a good chance to pick up some syringes from the floor, Lewis loses her firearm as she tries to avoid the bucket hitting her head, she knows she is in danger now, as they will try to inject her and make her die of an overdose.

Lewis feels the adrenaline rush as she sees Joseph approaching her with a syringe in his hands “Let’s have fun with the bitch” is what he barely says when he is kicked in the face by Lewis.

Tiziano gets Lewis’ gun from the floor and tries to approach her from behind, he starts yelling at Joseph to bring a syringe, but the man is still on his knees, wiping the blood that came out from his nose, Lewis smiles as she feels the canon of her own gun on the back of her head.

“Strip, bitch, we want to see what you have to offer” is what Tiziano orders her, however, Lewis has other plans, she quickly removes another gun, from her radio holster, she turns around and fires a bullet that goes through Tiziano’s abdomen. The perp tries to fire back but realizes that Lewis’ gun has no bullets.

The policewoman guessed in advance she could lose her firearm if she was engaged into a physical fight with the men and she had taken out the bullets from it in advance and had hid a second charged gun in her radio holster.

Tiziano goes berserk as he realizes he has been shot and the gun he is holding is empty and tries to helplessly hit Lewis, she avoids the attacks and shoots at him for a second time, in his leg, making him fall on the ground “Inject her, kill the bitch!!” That is what Tiziano yells at his partner, Joseph managed to get Ferre’s .45 Colt revolver from a drawer and he is pointing at Lewis with one hand and holding a syringe with other, his face is still covered in blood and he is laughing hysterically “You won’t escape this one, bitch”

This is exactly what Lewis wanted. She could have requested for backup so the arrest would have been performed easily, but the more the perps resist to the arrest the best for her. Lewis is faster and shoots Joseph in the crotch, he drops the gun and starts to yell in agonizing pain “I surrender, I surrender call an ambulance, I don’t wanna die!”

The gunshot sounds are heard in the club and people have started to frenetically yell and leave the place. Mike is nervously taking care of the door, and counting time, Lewis had adviced him that if she didn’t get out of the room in 20 minutes, he should call the police from Metro West so they backed her up.

Two young men, waiters, run to Ferre’s office as they are willing to help Tiziano and Joseph, Mike points at them nervously with his Colt M1911 and orders them to leave:

“You have seen nothing! Nothing I say!”

What Lewis and Mike are unaware of is that backup from Metro West is already there, RoboCop has been standing in the dark alley that is in front of the club, waiting to get into action if he realizes Lewis can be endangered.

This time, RoboCop is able to track down Alana in stealth mode, thanks to his new vehicle that is parked next to him. He trusts in Lewis eliminating the perps and he will allow her to take her personal revenge as long as she doesn’t risk her life.

Robo is alert as he sees people getting out of the place now yelling and scared, one of the dancers gets out of the place too, in her work outfit and is blocked from getting to her car by two of her clients, the girl tries to reason with them, but the men are drunk and try to take advantage of the confusion and they start groping the dancer, against her will. RoboCop steps forward and aims his gun at the men:

“She said no, maybe you have a hearing problem!”

“It’s the robot cop, let’s go, let’s go” Robo lets the intoxicated men run away as he is more concerned about Lewis, the dancer takes advantage of the confusion and drives away, screeching the tires on the ground.

Lewis is still inside Ferre’s office, observing her work of art, in a senseless way:

Both rapists are on the floor now, begging for their lives, hoping to get arrested so they can get medical attention. The moment of questioning her work ethics has arrived and although she knows the police protocol has to follow, Lewis, knows, that those perpetrators don’t even deserve to go to jail.

Tiziano sees Lewis pointing her gun to his head, he is weak as he has been bleeding for at least ten minutes and tries to reason with the expressionless cop that seems to be looking at the void as she aims her gun at him.

“Please, officer, have mercy…I have a wife…two kids…don’t you believe in God?”

Lewis: There is no God. Or maybe I will go to hell when I die and I’ll see you there.

Lewis fires her gun to the end of her clip, until Tiziano’s body is lifeless, soaked in his own blood.

Joseph is now sobbing and praying in Italian, waiting for the end too, Lewis drops her gun as it has been emptied and grabs the .45 Colt instead.

“Shoot…shoot me in the head….” That is the last request from Joseph that Lewis complies with.

“Okay” That is what Lewis says as she fires a bullet that goes through Joseph’s right eye. Mike kicks the door down, as the twenty minutes are over and he thinks Lewis might need some help, although he is shocked to see his enemies terminated on the floor.

Lewis: What are you doing you stupid piece of shit??

Mike: You…you said, the 20 minutes…are over

Lewis: Right…let’s call Metro West so they clean up this mess.

RoboCop is notified by Robo1 that Lewis has just requested backup. He thinks to get inside the place now, to backup Lewis, he doesn’t care anymore what she might think if she deducts he has been following her.

However Robo stops as he sees troubled Lewis walking outside the club from the back door, she seems to be emotionally overwhelmed and doesn’t notice Robo is almost in front of her, in the alley where Robo1 is parked, although she hesitates for some seconds before she starts the engine and drives away. Almost as if she could have felt Murphy's presence.

Robo can be relieved now and as he keeps his auto9 in his leg compartment, he hears a familiar voice.

Kaplan: So it’s over eh. No need to intervene.

RoboCop: What are you doing here?

Kaplan: I sent you to watch over Lewis…and Reed sent me to watch over you. So I’m the nanny of the nanny…they didn’t do shit to you, did they?

RoboCop remains silent for a short while, although there is no point anymore to keep faking he is a mechanical zombie, he replies in a low tone of voice, that has a metallic echo.

RoboCop: How…did you know?

Kaplan: Well, I saw you pointing at those fuckers the day of the fire…I don’t blame you man, I’d have pulled the trigger too…then well, you are a pretty lame actor…Reed confirmed that to me, not that you are a shit actor, but you know what I mean.

RoboCop remains in silence and Kaplan dares to speak again:

“Tell her the truth, man, come on…look at what she just did…her real motivations to get a snitch in that club was to get Adams and Riggs…if you don’t kill them man…she will…”

RoboCop: Officer Lewis is a good police officer. I trust her.

Kaplan: Maybe so. But you can’t keep this charade forever. Talk to her man, away from the cameras and shit.

Kaplan walks towards the club aiming to restore the order, everything will happen now, as Lewis had envisioned it. Mario Ferre will be taken under arrest after Mike declares. The hidden prostitution network that operated in the club will be exposed and the responsible ones will be taken to justice. However Lewis’ first purpose is lost now, Adams is still a police officer and she could not prove how corrupt he really is.

The following day, Estevez is visibly upset driving a police van that is transporting police equipment from Metro South to Metro West, as Reed adviced his officers they should be prepared for the riot that will happen now in less than a week.

Lewis is in the passenger’s seat and has been trying to strike up a conversation with her very upset partner that resents her for not requesting her help the day before.

Suddenly the van stops and both cops step out of the vehicle, the van behind them stops too; Wilcox and Patel step down too, trying to assist Lewis and Estevez. Wilcox has little mechanical knowledge and messes up Estevez’s van even more. Patel is usually intolerant and makes the situation worse by yelling at Wilcox and making him lose his patience “I will, I promise you, ask to be reassigned with someone else after this”

Estevez has been trying to tell Wilcox it is the gas pump what is broken and there won’t be a way to move the vehicle and they all should wait for the crane service to come by. Lewis also knew what the failure was, however she doesn’t want to get involved, she just observes everyone in silence.

Finally the crane service arrives and a traffic patrol from Metro South is also there to assist them with the traffic. However another unit from Metro West is parked on the street across them.

Golden Robo1 also got the message. Lewis apathetic attitude suddenly dissipates as she observes her knight in shining armor is there.

Estevez approaches Lewis and encourages her to cross the street and leave with him

“Do you know why he is there? Because he misses you silly!! He might not know why…but he does…they cannot erase the memory of the heart eh, go, go with him”

Lewis: But Wilcox…and stupid Vanessa…

Estevez: They are arguing with the guys from the crane service, no one will notice…go, go…

Lewis: What if…he doesn’t allow me to get in the car with him..?

Estevez: What if he does?

Lewis walks nervously towards Robo’s cruiser, her heart is beating fast, Robo seems impassive, almost like an action figurine as she approaches Robo1, the passenger’s door is open and she gets in the luxurious car, waiting for any kind of reaction from him.

Robo doesn’t even look at her as he starts the engine. Lewis doesn’t know what to say or to do. She is reminded of the time he drove her to Zero Zone and how upset she was because he was not responding to her flirting and romantic approaches and all she wants now, is to ride in the car with him by hoping he at least remembers her name.

RoboCop and Lewis have a shared thought now: They both took for granted all the time they spent together every day. Now, they can’t even have that, as little as it was, riding in the car together seems a treasure for them now.

A strange new feeling of excitement as if they both are getting to know each other for the first time, as if this was their first date. After some silence minutes Lewis is the one that finally dares to speak. This is the first time they will speak after weeks of being separated.

Lewis: You…know who I am? Do you know my name?

RoboCop: Officer Anne Lewis

Lewis: Correct, right…so hey, Murphy…are they treating you right?

RoboCop: I get…the maintenance I need.

Lewis: And…how much of…do you remember? Of us…you know I…

RoboCop: Are you injured?

Lewis: What? No…no, this was just a mechanical failure…

RoboCop: Have you been? Has anyone harmed you lately?

Lewis: No. I am fine, thank you for your concern...

The rest of the ride, both cops remain in silence, deeply hoping the moment doesn’t end. Finally, RoboCop parks the car in the basement of the station.

Lewis knows she has a few minutes to say or to do something before she steps out of the car as they can’t be seen together. “Thanks” is what Lewis says.

Robo remains silent although he is wishing Lewis does something else. They are back to relive the tension moments, the fear of approaching each other and the desire of being close. Lewis hesitates for a short while and finally dares to put her hand on RoboCop’s right arm.

He doesn’t react, but doesn’t reject her either. Somehow that gives her confidence to keep moving her hand up to his chest caressing it in a subtle nervous way, until she reaches his face. Murphy closes his eyes.

The soothing sensation of her hand on his face heals his soul. Makes him forget the isolated machine he is now. Murphy’s face is not warm, but it is not cold either. Lewis had dismissed the lack of warm on her partner’s body for a long time. She doesn’t even care and even less now.

“Leave…” RoboCop orders her almost as a whisper. They should not be seen together. Lewis complies with his order and steps out of the car. Lewis feels her heart will pop out of her chest as she watches Robo driving away from her. It was so little what they could have that day, although at the same time, it was so much.

RoboCop leaves the station to work for more hours. He heads towards Cadillac Heights aiming to do surveillance and protect his new friends, the rebels. However, there is a red church that calls his attention. Robo steps out of the vehicle and walks towards it, without thinking.

He opens the wooden doors and realizes it is a catholic church; his heavy footsteps have an echo as he walks towards the altar. A crucified God seems unpleasant for him to look at, a religion based on a cruel event, he thinks. Repressed memories inundate his thoughts. Alex Murphy’s wedding, Robo had even forgotten those memories were still there, pixelated, and faulty, but he’s able to notice Ellen’s smiling face, her long dark hair covered by her veil.

A moment of happiness that doesn’t seem to belong to him anymore; Robo has become the audience in his own memories and he questions himself if he really is a man or just a machine that has the memories of a deceased man still stored in the organic part of his brain. His thoughts are interrupted by a friendly male voice.

“Hello son, I am here to listen to you, do you need a confession?”

RoboCop is disgusted to see that the friendly voice is nothing but a recording that comes out from a mechanical device. A programmed robot that is dressed as priest and doesn’t even have legs is installed on one of the pillars that each corner of the church has.

RoboCop: You…are not human, you are a robot…

Robot-priest: I am not a robot. I am programmed android model priest 7S2000, from Mecca bionics. Do you need to talk son? Our creator, God almighty is always listening

RoboCop: You were not created by God, neither was I. You and I are nothing but machines.

Robot-priest: Your voice sounds human enough to me. I was created by God, the same way everything that surrounds us is a beautiful creation of him. I can listen to your sins for 5 teracoins or Sparkle credits, OCP cards are also accepted, son. Let me heal your soul. For five teracoins…or Sparkle credits…OCP cards…

RoboCop ignores the android and walks away from it, the sad reality of Artificial Intelligence, programmed robots without real feelings or souls. The candles on the altar call his attention Robo wonders if his soul died the day Alex Murphy was pronounced dead.

Death is inevitable and he reorders in his mind the nightmares he has had of Lewis dying in his arms, she is so beautiful, she has a soul and a body that should not be torn by gunshots like his former one was.

The droid said his voice sounded enough human to him. Robo is unsure now if his voice is human, with technological enhancements or perhaps he just talks through a synthesizer.

Lewis has never asked or has been bothered by any of those things. Being more machine than a man presents him an advantage, the average man doesn’t have. He’s able to replay memories in the mechanical part of his brain, almost as if he was watching a movie inside his head:

“And I am so in love with you”

That human voice, he can remember.

Perhaps then, there is more inside his chest plate, than just wires and human bits, if someone like her, said those words to him. The man in him doesn’t want Anne to say those words to anyone else. Murphy doesn’t want any other man to feel the weight of her body on top of his.

However, he doesn’t want Lewis to die, even if he won’t have the chance to experience again her sweet breath in his mouth. Loving someone unconditionally, is wishing happiness to that person, even if they walk away with someone else.

Robo looks up to the crucifix and looks down to his mechanical hands. “Perhaps someone is listening” his friend Tyler said to him. RoboCop walks away from the church, to continue working for the rest of the night. That is what he was built for.

His silent prayer to a creator he is unsure he should even be talking to was:

“If I agree to keep on living like this, let her live”