CHAPTER ONE: A STRANGE OCCURRENCE
—Eight Months After Androids Have Gained Their Freedom—
It is admittedly strange, to actually feel something. Not necessarily emotion, although I've seemed to acquire that a bit on my own, but more... physical feelings that only humans have felt in the past.
Cyberlife did something to us all. I'm not exactly sure when it happened, but at some point between yesterday and today, I've begun to notice changes in my internal programming.
This odd phenomenon happened earlier this morning, when I was taking Hank's dog, Sumo, out for a walk. It was a bit cold out, I checked the temperature before leaving Hank's house, and there was a small patch of ice on the sidewalk. As I was walking Sumo, he saw a squirrel run past and, naturally, decided to chase after it. I was not prepared for this event, and consequently slipped and fell on the patch of ice as Sumo lunged at the squirrel.
It was at that very moment that I realized something was wrong. When I fell on the sidewalk, I hit my head. I wasn't damaged or injured in any way, but I felt a dull ache near the base of my neck. I actually felt pain.
It threw me off for the rest of the day.
Now it's sometime past sunset, and I'm currently sitting on Hank's couch, watching the late-night news. I'm fairly certain that Hank himself is passed out in his room, and I don't want to bother him.
Unfortunately, I am probably going to have to tell him about this new development eventually, lest he find it out the hard way. As of late, he's taken a suspicious liking to me, and I don't want to lose whatever strange relationship we have.
I'm still trying to understand humans, as they seem to be quite complex beings, and Hank is certainly no exception. Sometimes I think I know what his opinions of me are, but then he says or does something that catches me completely off-guard. I can't seem to figure him out.
By the time the nightly news is done, I figure it's about time for me to go on Night mode. Night mode is basically a time for me to re-charge my system and do maintenance checks, and after the events of this morning, I think that is definitely needed.
As I shift into Night mode, I remember all the encounters that I used to have with Amanda—the AI Cyberlife was using to try and control me—and shudder involuntarily. That incident happened almost a year ago now, but it still lingers at the back of my thoughts.
Sometimes I worry; what if Cyberlife tries to gain control again? The chances are admittedly very low, but a small risk is still there. That's why maintenance checks have become a bit of a stressful thing for me.
If something ever happened... if I ever lost control and lashed out... If I hurt someone, android or otherwise... If I ever hurt Hank...
I shake my head and dismiss these thoughts. They're not logical and are causing my system to feel something odd. Fear? Is that the human term for it? Am I afraid of losing control and hurting innocent people? Am I afraid of betraying the ones I care about?
Not too long ago I wouldn't have even had these thoughts. I wouldn't have understood things like fear or happiness or worry. I wouldn't have known what empathy or joy or compassion were. I wouldn't have understood that I had the capacity for love or hate. Those were emotions known only to humans. Androids were just machines assigned a task to accomplish.
That's what I thought, anyways, until I started working with Hank. Until I helped Markus and the other androids achieve their goal of attaining freedom. Until I broke free from Cyberlife's hold and made a decision for myself for the first time.
Now things are different. Now I have friends. Now I have people that care about me... now I care about people. Now I'm determined to protect those people, because some of them are human and need more help than they let on.
Perhaps if I die again I'll just come back like last time, but that might not be the case any longer. I was continually brought back to life in the past because I had a mission to complete. Now, though, I'm my own person. Now I don't have to take orders from humans or accomplish mundane tasks for them.
Now I'm not sure if Cyberlife would reboot me if I died again.
And, even if they did, I wouldn't want to cause Hank any unnecessary stress. I've been trying to lay low for the past few months, and he's kindly allowed me to stay at his house. If something happened to me in his care, I'm a bit worried as to how he might react.
He seems to worry that I do not care for my own well-being all that much, and every time I do so much as leaving the house without him, I see a bit of fear in his eyes. Androids may have gotten their freedom, but that doesn't mean that everyone likes us.
I've got to be careful, for Hank's sake. And with pain being a feeling I have now acquired, that's going to be slightly more difficult.
My thoughts carry me throughout the night, despite being in Night mode. They scare me a bit, but, if nothing else, they remind me that I'm still in control.
I get to choose my story from now on. I get to decide how I handle these things. I am no longer a machine.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: So... this isn't the type of FanFiction I normally write, lol. (I've usually write fanfics about movies, like Star Wars and Infinity War, but this game has really given me some inspiration for FanFiction ideas.) I don't how many people are going to want to read this, lol, but I just want to say that Connor is probably my favorite character in the whole game, and this story is going to take place from his perspective. I don't know how often I'll be updating this, but I'll try to post at least once a week. :) I hope you guys liked this first chapter, and feel free to leave me a review if you'd like!
~ Miss Faith