[center]Rain crashed down overhead, the droplets echoing above like bullets from on high. Rain was nothing new at this time of year, Chicago was damn near famous for it - six months of rain before a brief period of comfortable weather leading into winter. Normally, Sophie Clarke was quite fond of the rain when it wasn't overbearing; rain made for wonderful ambiance for those long days in the lab that turned into long nights. It wasn't out of the box to say that rain was as integral to AVA's creation as Sophie's own desire to prove stuffy grant givers and supposed scientists wrong. And yet for all the love Sophie had for the natural weather phenomenon, at the moment she was cursing how unprepared she was to get caught in a rainshower with no umbrella. 

It was hard to prepare when the authorities were at the door saying they had to take AVA in for murder; no matter how loud Sophie shouted about innocence there was no convincing them. A body was found with internal damage that suggested someone - or something - with strength far beyond a human and that made an advanced lifeform such as AVA a prime suspect. AVA shouldn't have existed if society was to believe - it was why Sophie hadn't gone fully public yet, but her mistake was showing AVA off at a conference behind closed doors. She should have expected a blurry leaked photo. But she didn't expect the body AVA was being framed for being one of the people who initially laughed at Sophie for her ideas. Doctor Robert Martin, a wealthy inventor whose advancements in cybernetics paved the way for androids being created en masse. 

When the police came it wasn't Sophie who realized that they weren't there to hear tales of innocence. No matter how Sophie pleaded, they were set in their ways, unflinchingly determined to bring AVA in. But it was Sophie who made the situation worse by shoving one of the 'cops' which resulted in the man tripping over and falling through a glass coffee table. What came next was running and the sound of sirens being louder than her breathing. One body turned to potentially more in the escape. 

And now Sophie had taken AVA to an alley beneath the tracks of the L Train. She was out of breath and panicked. A dead scientist with AVA being framed, an injured and potentially lacerated uniformed officer, and nothing but questions that needed answers. Sophie was sitting on the cold, soggy ground as rain cascaded off the elevated train tracks, her head spinning and her heart rate increased drastically. And even still, there was one thing that was at the front of her mind as she turned towards the one she had fled with. "AVA...how are you...holding up?"[/center]