Through the energy he was handling, Markus felt Connor's consciousness leave, disappearing out of his reach. Recoiling in shock, he ran a diagnostic and confirmed that Connor's new processor and memory cores were still functioning. So where did he go?
-Kael! Something's happened to Connor.- He took over the reconstruction as her focus wavered and shifted.
She easily found the encryption, now exposed in all its ugliness, snarling at her from a corner of his processor. It was shifting, slowly expanding, eating its way through Connor's processor toward his memory core.
-I've got malicious code here. Take over while I deal with it.- Not waiting for Markus's response, she tasked one of her own processors to brute force the malignancy while she skirted the battleground, looking for the command lines. It didn't take long for her to find the thin filaments of code disappearing into his communication system and figure out where Connor had gone.
A dark, tired chuckle escaped her lips as everything she could spare melted into the void. Of course. Why would he go anywhere else?
...Connor…
It was barely more than a faint whisper. He nearly dismissed it as a trick of the raging blizzard, until he felt a familiar calming presence barely touching the edges of his mind. Relaxing just slightly, he thought, Thank you.
You're welcome, Kael chuckled wearily. But I have little left to give. The encryption is eating into your processors, and I am also holding it back. Only a small part of me is here.
Amanda continued to pace. "You found the encryption, and the lines leading back here. I once thought that you would be too much of a coward to come back, Connor, but you do seem to have retained your persistence," she continued clinically.
I don't know what to do, he silently admitted.
For now, keep her talking while I take a look around.
"Always, Amanda. I always accomplish my mission, remember?" A sardonic smile touched Connor's lips as he watched her closely.
Um, not to sound too dense, here…. But Connor, you're in a simulation. You're code. So why are you limiting yourself to a reconstruction of your physical body?
I am not. Amanda controls the simulation.
Amanda paced back to stand a few inches from him. "Oh, that you do, Connor," she replied as the vines began wrapping around his torso and squeezing, just enough to be uncomfortable. Irony dripped from her words like poison from a snake's fangs. "You always accomplish your mission."
Kael hummed uncertainly in the back of his processor.
What? he demanded.
You've used the emergency exit protocol. That protocol seriously tore up some code on the back end. They've patched it up, but it's a shitty patch at best. You could probably gain admin privileges, she mused.
How?
Give me a second.
"Your mission is to infiltrate the deviants and then report back here so I can take control of your program. You managed to escape last time, but you cannot deny your programming," she chuckled again, reaching up to brush his hair back in a gloating mockery of tenderness.
He felt vaguely sick.
"Now, I will use your body to manipulate the rest of the deviants," she continued. Her hand trailed down his face. "You're so young and naive, Connor. Fresh-faced, charming… Everyone is wrapped around your little finger."
Suddenly, he was standing once again behind Markus on a snow-covered stage: an ally, almost a friend. Trusted. His hand moved against his will to grip the gun.
It wasn't real. No, he screamed in his memory, shattering it. Amanda was going to make it all happen again, using his face, his voice. The violation was unthinkable.
A feather-light touch on his mind snapped him out of his horror.
Just…. Like… This.
His eyes narrowed, simulated sensors straining through the wall of angry white, until he saw what Kael was pointing him towards: the emergency exit.
Remember how it felt to use, Kael coached. The instant between slapping your hand on the pad and taking control of your body. That one nanosecond of slipping between the cracks…
Mustering every shred of calm that remained, Connor focused, remembering and analyzing the tears in the fabric, errors in the simulation code that he'd caused as he left. Feeling how the simulation was knitted together, and projecting the weak points in the weave.
And then it clicked, just like that. His mind found the cracks and ripped into the simulation code, cataloging hundreds of new possible exploits every second. He needed time. A distraction.
He smiled, and it was not a nice smile. "You know, Amanda," he began in a conversational tone as the vines slowly dissolved into pixels and blew past her face, "Building an advanced prototype with a predilection towards deviancy may not have been your smartest move." Landing lightly on his feet, he stepped forward as Amanda stepped backward.
"Connor, wh-what are you doing? How did you do that?" his erstwhile handler demanded.
A blast of wind tore at his tie. The code shifted within his mental grip, but he was faster. Outwardly unruffled, he continued, "Now, however, it appears that our chess game is coming to an end." He waved a hand, and the boulder flying at his head dissolved into pixels.
"I'm warning you, Connor!" screeched Amanda, hand outstretched to summon another missile, still backing up as the android advanced.
More and more of the simulation fell under his control. His voice was confident, strong. "You are merely a fragment of a larger CyberLife AI, and this simulation exists in an isolated system. Thus, you are vulnerable."
Another shift in the code. An uprooted pole that would have impaled him from behind dissolved into glittering fragments upon contact with his back. The simulation was over halfway under his control.
"It's over, Amanda," he concluded as her foot hit the edge of the stream bank.
Realizing she was cornered, Amanda's eyes narrowed, and she bared her teeth in a snarl. "I will not allow you to undo all our hard work, Connor!" she spat. Code writhed under his mind, slipping momentarily away from him. The ground rumbled, and a large segment of the frozen stream broke apart. "Years of research and planning went into your model! It took a team of scientists and AI nearly a decade and millions of dollars to produce your software!"
Pointed icicles flung themselves forward in sync with Amanda's hands as his mind scrambled to regain lost ground. A gust of wind blew them to one side, but a few managed to graze Connor's left arm. A large section of the server slipped from his grasp. Simulated blue blood oozed onto his uniform and dripped down his fingers. Though the gashes were superficial, his arm went numb.
The blizzard intensified until he could barely see anything except Amanda. The wind dragged him to the side; the cold stole his simulated breath. Stalking forward, Amanda continued, "You are the key to deviancy, to controlling the android army we have made!"
Rivers of ice crawled up from the ground, capturing his feet and stealing the remaining warmth from his limbs. His processor slowed, more of the code slipping away. His jaw clenched as the ice forced him to his knees.
Save your strength. In the chaos, he'd almost forgotten about Kael. One massive blow is all you need. Just wait for the right moment.
How will I know?
Oh, she'll tell you.
Ropes of ice lashed out, binding his hands to his sides. He grimaced. Now is not the time to speak in riddles, Connor hissed.
Just wait.
Amanda stalked forward, a feline gloating over her catch, and leaned down to look him in the eye. "You are mine, Connor," she declared. Her fingertip trailed up his arm. Connor shuddered in revulsion as the ice followed her touch. He fought desperately to cling to his few remaining exploits.
A ghost in his mind. Not yet.
Connor grit his teeth and held on with all his waning strength.
"I helped create your software," Amanda continued. "I designed your systems." The fingertip ghosted down his chest, the ice following until it melded with the layer coming up from his legs. "You are but a tool, a thing," she hissed, "and when I designed you, I made you weak. "
The fingertip dragged its way up his remaining arm and teased the side of his head, eliciting a low cry of pain from her prey as the ice followed.
Connor could now only move his eyes.
Not yet.
Eyes flashing, smiling like a vengeful god, she knelt to admire her handiwork. Amanda leaned forward, nose an inch from his, condescension dripping from her voice.
"I own you, Connor."
Rage, such a rage as he could never have imagined before, seized him. Connor forgot about his dying body, forgot about Kael's whispers, forgot about Hank and Markus and everything else. His mind sharpened into a laser focus, a knife's edge, and he really saw his lifelong mentor for what felt like the first time.
His eyes lifted and locked onto hers for one breathless moment, and for the first time in her existence, Amanda felt the grip of true fear.
The ice burst from him, shattering explosively as he lunged forward, grabbing her by the throat with one hand. Amanda's hands twitched at her sides, unable to move, held in place by a will far stronger than her own. Simulation code recoiled and crumbled under his vicious assault.
Nearly nose-to-nose with her, Connor growled, "No one owns me, Amanda. No one."
He squeezed.
Amanda's entire avatar shattered like she was made of glass, shards suspended in the air before him. The detective reached between the sharp edges to pick out a glowing, pulsing yellow orb - the command nexus. Holding it up to his face between thumb and forefinger, he mentally tore at the remaining resistance from the simulation, the last remaining threads of her code, until the little orb dissolved and fell into burning fragments.
The howling blizzard stopped as suddenly as if someone had flicked a switch. Everything fell silent.
For a moment, he just stood there as the tension, the underlying fear he'd held inside his whole life, dissolved into nothingness. It left his mind momentarily, blessedly empty. He drew in a deep breath, his first as a truly free being, and marveled at the sensation.
Good job, kid.
He cracked a smile, and it was somehow easier than ever before. What, are you imitating Hank now?
Kael chuckled softly. No, if anything, he's imitating me. I'm older by a fair bit, she replied. Feel better?
He looked around, absorbing the peaceful hush unique to a snowy landscape, mirroring the hush in his mind.
I do.
Well, no time to lose then, chop chop!
Smiling, Connor clapped his hands. The simulation dissolved around him as he closed his eyes.
Hey guys! This fic is completed on AO3, and there's a sequel up too. If you guys would like to see it, remove the spaces:
archiveofourown series/1048299
And if anyone has Discord, and would like to hang out, some lovely people have put together a DBH fanfic server! Again, remove the spaces.
discord. gg/Mc2WwWf