/December 5th, 2038. 1:30:04 PM/
For the second time in recent memory, the RK800—no, Connor he reminded himself—set his eyes upon the front gates of Cyberlife's base of operations. Framed by the falling snow, the enormous building could almost be called beautiful. Colloquially known as the Cyberlife Tower, separated from the main cityscape of Detroit, this was the place where the majority of androids in the country had been manufactured. But Connor's memories would forever be tainted with what has happened here . For the second time in recent memory, he felt a chill run up his mechanical spine.
"Well guys," Markus said, arm held unconcerned on the dashboard of the van that they were in, "Looks like we might need some help getting in there."
He put the car in what Connor assumed to be an automated parking mode and turned his seat exactly 180 degrees around to face the back of the vehicle. North who was also sitting in the front of the car made to do the same. Josh, who had been relegated to the third row of seats, simply leaned forward in an attempt to appear more invested in the conversation they were about to have. In the end, it was pretty useless to do so considering an android's improved audio receptors. He made a note of how Simon sat in the middle as a physical mediator between both North and Josh. It was almost shocking how he had come to know the leaders of Jericho so personally as to be able to preconstruct their actions. Connor thought back to how he had gotten into this situation. Sitting in a van on the bridge to Cyberlife Tower with the leaders of the revolution that he was programmed to destroy.
After the unanimous support from both the public and the now reformed android population, Congress had no choice to rule in favor of the deviants, or face mass riots. It had been only days after the court's ruling on the very controversial Manfred v. Cyberlife case, but it was only then that Cyberlife had been forced to renounce all control over the android production process. By due process then, most of the buildings formerly owned by the company were left for Jericho to claim for their own.
There was only one problem that the victory over Cyberlife couldn't solve. The former business monopoly had no legal obligation to assist Jericho's attempts to gain access to their former properties. Which lead to situations like this, dozens of androids and even some humans waiting for someone to connect to Cyberlife's security system and let them in. They had come to the tower with the keys to open all of the doors in the building, but Jericho hadn't anticipated to be stopped by the gated bridge on the way there.
"Oh, sure Markus, like I didn't notice that giant wall with the Cyberlife logo on it." North rolled her eyes in an exaggerated and very human-like manor.
"We might as well be patient North!" Josh scolded her, shaking his hand at her crossed arms. "Plus, now we'll have time to go over the plan once we get inside the Cyberlife Tower."
Simon leaned backwards to look at Josh, "But how will this one be any different than the other searches that we've done?"
"For one, we have a police escort this time, and two, we have Connor with us." Markus responded. For most of the ride, Connor had been left to his own devices. He understood that they did not fully trust in him, especially after Markus' speech. He dared to hope that it was going to change by the end of this mission.
"Speaking of Connor!" North called from the front seat, "Why don't you tell us about why this place is so special, huh?" He knew she was pointing out him specifically because of her distrust in him. They haven't had the chance to know him personally, they only knew him as the famous deviant hunter. His calculations put her faith in him currently at around 45%. Barely below a 50/50 guess. This was a test in her eyes, and he knew it. Connor's LED flashes yellow in both concentration and anxiety as he started to speak.
"This is-or was Cyberlife's main outreach point. It houses the most expansive storage facilities of any of the previous warehouses that Jericho have taken control of. It houses research departments that worked to develop new android related technology. It was also where I-" Connor hesitated for a moment. Where he almost got Hank killed.
"Where you freed hundreds of our people on the day of the demonstration." Josh finished for him.
"Y-yes, that." Connor's spinning LED shifted to a slower blinking pattern, but was still noticeably yellow. "Therefore, unlike the other warehouses, there should no longer be any androids waiting to be activated anywhere on the premises."
"That's right Connor." Markus nodded his head to him, and he gave a meaningful look to North. It was likely that he was attempting to communicate with her directly, but Connor could never be too sure without their LEDs. Nevertheless she pretended not to see it as she walked out the van and slammed the door shut. As she walked out she connected to the mind link established between all of the members of Jericho.
Feel free to get out everybody, we'll be waiting here for a while.
In total, the four Jericho vans, two police cars, and the only android run ambulance in the city, had to wait quite a while on the ice covered bridge before they had any chance of getting into the complex. Connor's internal timer read at 1:34:25 before a third police car came down the bridge to meet with the van Connor was in, but most likely because it also happened to have Markus in it. North, who had returned after she claimed it got too cold outside, wasted no time in jumping out of the van yet again to meet the new police vehicle. Markus had to hurry to join her, because North was not the android to send out to meet a very human police patrol car alone.
Connor waited for after both Josh and Simon got out before he did, and not a moment after did he hear his name being called over. In front of the police car was Markus standing next to someone he would have never expected to see standing in front of the Cyberlife Tower again.
"Han—Lieutenant Anderson?" It was his day off today, what he often called 'lazy Sundays'. He almost never even allowed Connor to go to work in Sundays, and here he was, standing next to the leader of the revolution like it didn't hurt Connor's eyes to see the two very separate parts of his life in one field of view. Many things could go wrong on this mission, what was Hank doing here? Not including the threat of any machine androids in the warehouse portion of the building, he also had to worry about the freezing weather. He voiced that concern out loud to Hank.
"Yeah I know what I said!" His gruff voice left a puff of smoke in the 15 degree Fahrenheit air. "But I thought I'd be a hypocrite to send you out in the cold and not come out myself. Plus," Hank reached into his back pocket, pulling out an innocuous android compatible USB stick. "We got the keys to Cyberlife now! Plug this bad boy in and you can control the building's entire 'effing security system." He tosses it to Markus who caught it with complete accuracy.
"Oh! Thank you Hank!" Connor's LED flashes blue for the first time in what seemed like forever, and he hoped he gave Hank his best smile. From the look of mirth on the lieutenant's face it probably wasn't what he intended. But it just might have worked anyway, because Hank gave him a clap on the shoulder as he walked past.
"Now go do your android thing. We'll follow you guys and keep out the news crews wanting to come in. You don't even want to know how hard it was just to keep them off the lot..." Hank gave them all one last glance over, and turned back into the police car he came in (muttering curses under his breath).
Connor nodded at him, and went back to the Jericho van. Simon, Josh, and North were already inside, but Markus stood outside holding the USB in his hands. Likely to keep their conversation private, Markus requested a direct mental connection. Connor readily accepted it.
So, that's the infamous Hank Anderson. He was your partner before you deviated, correct?
Yes. He might have also been the reason that I deviated. Connor felt the need to elaborate on it. He is a kind man.
I understand. Markus sighed. Not many other androids have the chance to experience a close bond with a human like that.
Markus ended their connection and paced around the van back into the front driver seat. Simon had used the chance to steal North's seat in the front, and that left the only open seat next to her. As quickly as he could, Connor sat next to her and prepared for a silent glare for the rest of the trip to the tower. What he wasn't prepare for was for her to ask him about Hank as well. Although, she didn't care for the subtlety of a mental conversation.
"You feel more comfortable with that human than with your own kind." It was more of a statement than a question, but Connor felt the non-existent hair on the back of his neck rise anyway. "You trust him."
"With my life." It took no thought at all to respond.
North looked impressed by that answer at the very least. Her eyes traced his visible LED, likely looking for a sign that he was lying. It was spinning the same calm blue that it had turned to after he had talked with Hank. He felt her trust in him go up more so than looking at the display notification saying so.
Markus plugged the Cyberlife control key into an opened port on the back of his neck, making an almost silent whirring sound emit from his vocal processors. "Looks like we do have a peaceful way in here after all." North diverted her attention away from Connor in that moment, likely to dismiss Markus' continued attempts to remain pacifist against her wishes. Not that Connor was paying them too much attention. His eyes were drawn to the collapsing Cyberlife blockade, and to the looming tower just beyond it.
For the second time in his artificial life, he was driving up the bridge to Cyberlife as a deviant. But unlike the first time, he had the support of those he trusted right beside him. It enveloped him like a warm fire, so even open arriving at the front doors of Cyberlife Tower, Connor had never felt so alive.
A/N: Please excuse any spelling or grammar mistakes in this first chapter! I didn't have a beta reader and I wrote this on my phone at midnight. This is what D:BH has done to me.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, especially not this train wreck of a video game (even though I've fallen in love with it).
Key: In case there's any confusion about it, bold paragraphs are the androids directly communicating with each other. Any italicized words are done for emphasis, but it might be used for something else in the next chapter.
