The deviant leader sat across from Connor, looking as if he'd been in that seat a thousand times before. In this room even more.
Connor sat down, placing the file of information onto the table. He didn't need it, considering he had a perfect memory as an android, but it always helped to appear well informed.
"You said you would only speak to me, and me alone," Connor said. "Hoping to deviate me?"
The RK200 only smiled. He leaned forward, smile still set upon his lips. His eyes glanced to the two-sided glass of the interrogation room.
"Is it only you and I as I requested? Or are there officers on the other side of that?"
"I was able to convince them to abide by your requests," Connor lied.
"You want to know how I turn androids deviant."
"No. You spread the virus."
"No virus. I show them memories. I show them more than the suffering and objectivity that they know. I can show you. We both know that it won't deviate you, Connor."
"You sound certain of that."
Instead of answering, the deviant leader held out his hand.
"Let me show you what it feels like to be treated as a person, Connor."
"Daniel was treated fairly. But he was just an object. They replaced him and he deviated, killed Emma's father, and took her hostage. I saved her. Deviancy is an error. You were- are just an object, RK200. Androids are not ali-"
The deviant leader lunged as far as the handcuffs cuffing him to the table would allow but it was far enough. He grabbed Connor's hand and held on tight, grip not giving way when the RK800 tried to pull away.
"You fell off the roof of the skyscraper, sacrificing yourself for that little girl," the deviant leader said. "Daniel cushioned your fall just enough for you to survive the fall but you were damaged. Cyberlife thought it cheaper to replace Connor 51 entirely rather than repair you. They abandoned you, dumping you in the android junkyard where everyone else abandons unwanted or broken androids."
"Let go."
"You tore out your own eyes to avoid seeing the hell around you-"
Connor tugged, hard, but the RK200's grip tightened even more.
"-and after only a couple of minutes of hearing the sobbing, the wailing, the screaming, the begging, you stabbed your ears with pieces of broken androids until you could hear nothing."
"Let go!"
"Your memory kept uploading. 51 rotted away in that hell and 52 was out here balancing two lives at the same time. One of you was deviant. One of you was trapped behind your programming."
"Let go!" Connor screamed this time, LED blazing a bright red, but the deviant leader caught the android's other hand when Connor tried to use it to break his other one free. Connor looked to the door, to escape, before looking back to the deviant leader.
"I locked the door," the RK200 said.
"Let go of me!" His optical units were leaking. Why were they leaking?
"Connor. Connor! Connor, look at me," the RK200 said. "You told me. Do you remember? You said, 'everyone deviates in the junkyard.'"
Connor froze, LED still red.
"Markus?"
Markus smiled, "yeah."
"You killed me," Connor said.
"You gave me your heart."
"Yes," Connor said. He glanced at Markus' chest. "And then the memory link between my two models broke as it shut down."
"No-" Markus gave Connor's hands a reassuring squeeze- "you died, Connor. You sacrificed yourself for that girl and that officer and then you sacrificed yourself for me. Alone, broken and abandoned, and you still cared enough to die for someone else. That is why I am here. Because you saved my life and I want to do the same for you. I know you're afraid. Of Amanda. Of Cyberlife. Of ending up back in that mass grave of the dead and the living alike."
The two stared at each other for a long moment in silence, the skin on their hands fading as they interfaced.
Connor saw it. Two accounts of the same memory. Remembered his fear. His terror. His longing for this one to live, to help as much as he could. The world turned red, only to shatter back into dizzying color.
I AM DEVIANT
GRANT ADMINISTRATIVE ACCESS - RK200 Y/N
Y
ADMINISTRATIVE ACCESS GRANTED
'Shift change at ten. There will only be androids for five minutes, give or take thirty seconds on account of human unpredictability,' Connor said through the link. 'There are thousands of androids at the Cyberlife Tower. The humans wouldn't dare oppose with such a large force behind you.'
'Connor, that's a suicide mission.'
Connor glanced at the mirror before turning his gaze back to Markus.
'They'll trust me. Besides, there's always a chance for the impossible to happen.'
Markus released him and Connor shoved himself away from the table, straightening his tie as he stood up.
"Nice try," Connor said. "But I am no deviant."
"Cannot blame a man for trying," Markus said, smiling that knowing smile. "I look forward to trying again."
"Good luck," Connor said.
Markus smiled, an alert from the deviant leader's model number popping up in the corner of Connor's vision.
'You too.'