There was a gun in Connor's hand.

There was a gun in his hand and it was pointed straight at a girl's head.

No…

Not a girl.

An android.

An android that simply looked like a girl.

This thing in front of him wasn't alive…

Was it?

Connor shook his head, trying to rid his processor of such an irrational thought.

But he didn't have thoughts.

Connor was a machine.

He had programming to tell him what to do, so he could not have thoughts of his own.

Therefore, Connor was not alive.

He is not alive.

So why did he feel… scared?

STRESS LEVELS 59%^

"Destroy this machine and I'll tell you all I know," Kamski said, reminding Connor of his mission, "Or spare it if you feel it's alive but you'll leave here without having learnt anything from me".

Connor needed to finish is the mission, and he would do anything to accomplish said mission, that was what he was made to do.

So why, with the slightest tremble of his hand, did he feel so conflicted?

"Okay, I think we're done here," Hank said, clearly shaken by the task set out in front of his partner, "Come on Connor, let's go. Sorry to get out of your pool".

Yes… Connor wanted to go.

But he was a machine, therefore he could not want.

"What's more important to you, Connor? Your investigation of the life of this android?" Kamski continued, now standing beside the android her wanted Connor to shoot.

Moments before Connor admitted that the RT600 was, to his own words, really pretty.

But Connor was a machine, therefore he had no concept of beauty.

STRESS LEVELS 62%^

"Decide who you are".

Who I am? Connor found himself thinking.

"An obedient machine".

That is who I am, he thought.

"Or a living being… endowed with free will".

That is who I wish to be.

He stopped that thought in its tracks, adjusting the grip on the gun given to him.

He knew the signs of deviancy and refused to let it take him over.

So why did it feel like the wrong thing to do?

But Connor was a machine, therefore he could not feel.

"That's enough!" Hank snapped, "Connor, we're leaving".

Kamski grabbed his shoulder and whispered, "Pull the trigger- and I'll tell you all I know".

That was Connor's Order.

Hank yelled back, "Connor, don't,".

That was Connor's desire.

His LED flashed yellow.

STRESS LEVELS 70%^

They needed this for the investigation, but Connor didn't want to kill this girl in order to gain information.

But androids were not alive, therefore they could not be killed.

But it still felt wrong….

But Connor was a machine…

He could not feel….

But he did.

Connor's LED turned red.

STRESS LEVELS 88%^

This was his choice, his choice and his alone. Connor's eyes looked towards Hank's, but Hank was waiting for him to make his choice.

Connor didn't want to shoot.

He took a step back.

"No," he said.

WARNING

CONFLICTING ORDERS FROM LT. ANDERSON AND ELIJAH KAMSKI

SHOOT

DON'T SHOOT

"No, I won't shoot".

WARNING

CONFLICTING ORDERS FROM CYBERLIFE

-SHOOT ANDROID

-GAIN INFORMATION

"I don't want to shoot!" he said again, closing his eyes in discomfort, his LED continuing to burn an angry red.

STRESS LEVELS 90%^

|Shoot the android, Connor| Amanda's voice rang in his head, |Do what needs to be done to complete your mission|

Connor moved his hands to his temples and covered his ears as if to trying to drown out the voice already in his head.

"Connor?" Hank said, alarmed at both the vocal answer to Kamski's request, and at the behavior that followed, "Connor what's wrong". The older man tried to step forward to aid his partner who inched closer to the pool's edge, but Kamski stopped him, placing a hand on his chest and forbidding him to proceed.

"Watch," was all he said, utterly fascinated by the RK800.

Connor was unaware to all of this.

"I don't want to shoot!".

But Connor was a machine and he had ordered.

-SHOOT ANDROID

-GAIN INFORMATION

|Shoot the android, Connor| Amanda continued, Don't and you will be deactivated and destroyed|

He took a step back.

Connor didn't want to be deactivated… he didn't want to die.

But Connor was a machine.

He could not die.

The thought of deactivation terrified him.

But Connor was a machine.

Machines can't feel fear.

So why did he?

STRESS REACHED CRITICAL LEVEL

There had to be another way.

"I won't shoot her!".

Connor refused to shoot.

"I won't shoot her!"

The voices grew louder.

His voice grew louder.

His hands were shaking.

His eyes were shut.

His LED was a solid red.

His thirium pump was working hard.

His stress was shooting through the roof.

"I WON'T KILL HER!" Connor yelled, taking another step back, "I WON'T KI-".

His words were cut off when he realized there was no floor to catch his next step back, and he felt himself begin to fall back into the pool behind him.

"Connor!" Hank yelled the second his partner hit the water, but once again Kamski stopped him, the other ST200s leaving the pool as the RK800 began to flail around.

"Leave him," he said, "he must do this for himself".

So Hank sat tight, watching anxiously and wondering if the android even knew how to swim.

Connor did not.

Androids could not swim, not to the extent of humans that is.

They could get wet, tolerate the rain and even shower if they so pleased.

But they could not get water in their precious bi-components.

That is a death sentence.

And Connor did not want death.

But there was a red wall of code preventing him from reaching the surface, the large red text read: SHOOT CHLOE

Connor punches the wall, refusing to do as it says.

Already feeling the pressure the water had on his bi-components, Connor's lungs screamed for air.

But Connor doesn't breath because he is not alive.

He punches the wall again.

He wants to be alive.

So he punches the wall again.

And again…

And again

Until…

It shatters, and he is free.

Connor's feet touch the floor of the pool and he uses it to push himself up towards the surface, and the second his face broke through the water, he gasped for air he did not need.

"Shit, Connor!" Hank said, Kamski finally allowing the older man to rush up and help the android out of the blood red water.

Connor is coughing and gasping as he was pulled out of the water, clutching onto the lieutenant's coat like his life depended on it, in which it did. His face was wet, hiding the tears the android did not know he could produce.

"Hang on son, hang on, hang on! We're gonna save you, hang on! Here, here," Hank continued, pulling Connor into his lap as the android did his best to expel the water his systems had taken in. He simply curled up, shaking and shivering as the older man brushed away the synthetic hair that clung to his face and forehead.

"Fascinating" Kamski said, walking up to the man and android, "Absolutely fascinating. Cyberlife's last chance to save humanity… is itself a deviant"

"Aye, fuck off would you," Hank snapped when he got too close, "Kid nearly drowned cause of your fucked up game, you sick fuck".

Kamski took no offense, looking towards the RT600 he'd wanted to be shot. "Chloe, be a doll and get our guest a towel," he said, waving her off.

"Yes, Elijah," she says.

Connor is numb to this all, his mind focused on the large words that once again obscured his vision:

I AM DEVIANT

His breathing was still harsh, even though he didn't really need to breathe. Hank was helping too, Connor could feel his hands on him, doing their best to provide comfort. He was warm as well, and the android found the sensation very grounding… it made him feel safe.

"Just take it easy, kid," Hank told him, pulling a large towel over him once the blonde haired RT600 handed it to him, "Thank you, sweetheart".

"You treat these machines as your equals," Kamski cuts in, "You see a living being in them".

"Who's to say they're not?" the lieutenant replies, tapping on the shaking android as a signal to stand up, "Come on, Connor, let's go home".

He nodded, glad to be out of this odd nightmarish situation.

"Home," he repeated blankly, sounding almost shell-shocked.

Perhaps he was.

The world he once knew was turned on its head.

He became the very thing he'd been created to hunt.

With the help of his superior, Connor got to his feet, still clinging onto Hank's coat… not wanting to let go. Hank meant safety and Connor wanted to be safe.

He wanted to leave, leave and never think about this incident again, forget it ever happened.

Silently, Kamski took a step forward, placing a hand on the android's shoulder, causing him to unintentionally flinch.

"A war is coming," he said, "You'll have to choose your side".

Connor blinked, his LED flashing yellow as he processed the words spoken to him.

"Will you betray your own people or stand up against your creators?".

He didn't want either…

Both will result in people getting hurt.

And Connor didn't want anyone to get hurt.

He had empathy.

And empathy was a human emotion.

"What can be worse than having to choose between two evils?".

Hank pushed Kamski's hand away, and tugged Connor towards the door, "Let's get outta here…".

As they left, the shivering android could hear Kamski calling out to him one last time, offering some last sage words of advice.

"By the way," he says, "I always leave an emergency exit in my programs… but considering you passed the test, I doubt you'd be needing it".

And with that, the door slams, and Hank and Connor stand out in the snow.

Immediately, Connor felt cold so he pulled the towel the RT600 had given him closer to his slim form, subconsciously shivering. Hank put a protective arm around the shorter android's shoulder and lead him back to his car, hoping to warm his partner up before he froze to death.

"You okay, Connor?" He asked, "You're never this quiet".

The android blinked, suddenly aware of the question he was asked.

Him, Hank was asking about Him, not his bi-components.

"I… am not sure," he said, not bothering to check his internal statistics for the first time.

"Hank?" Connor continues, allowing the lieutenant to open the door and sit him in the passenger seat.

"Yeah?".

Connor blinked again.

"I think I'm a deviant".

The grizzled cop simply chuckled.

"No shit, Sherlock".