Edit: Fixed the formating issue I just noticed. I had no idea that it was so fucked up, it looked fine when I posted it, sorry guys!
Hank didn't know how much time passed while he sat on the bottom of the cold floor, glaring at their kidnapper, who calmly worked on Connor like he was taking apart a simple toy.
The scratching sound of the pen as he wrote down notes and the clanking of tools as he dug through the androids biocomponents was the only sound filling the room. It made Hank crazy. So he filled the silence with cursing out Zlatko and trying to irritate the man into hopefully giving him some sort of information.
"So…-" 'ping' 'ping' Hank tapped against the metal bars. "What is that damn 'WakaWaka' shit you mentioned? Some sort of dream project you had since you were a little shit, drinking vodka outta your baby bottle?" His voice was mocking.
Zlatko gaze flickered to Hank for a split second, slightly irked before he pulled his hand out of Connor's torso.
"I always was a fan of mythology." He began putting the plates back into their original position while talking with his prisoner. "My mother used to tell me about this shape-shifter. A man cursed by the devil to transform into a beast, never being able to stay in one place for too long." He picked up a small scissor and began roughly cutting away Connor's pant legs right under his knee. "I thought it ironic and oddly fitting. Taking something and just….twisting it. God created weak humans, the devil turned them into superior demons. Elijah Kamski created androids and I...?" He looked directly at Hank, a smile on his lips. "I turn them into monsters."
Hank shuddered at the sight of the deranged look on Zlatkos face. That man was beyond redemption. "You are sick!"
Zlatko just shrugged. "Maybe." and picked up another tool again.
STARTING SEQUENCE INITIALIZED…
BOOTING UP SYSTEMS...
WARNING ...
BIOCOMPONENT #6347j SLIGHTLY DAMAGED...
BIOCOMPONENT #9724t SLIGHTLY DAMAGED...
BIOCOMPONENT #9301 PARTLY UNFUNCTIONAL...
BIOCOMPONENT #8234g MISSING...
BIOCOMPONENT #7823f MISSING...
...
...
…
CONNECTING TO SERVERS
…
…
…
CONNECTION FAILED
CONNECTING TO SERVERS…
…
…
…
CONNECTION FAILED
LOADING …
…
…
...
FAILED TO LOAD
LOADING …
…
…
...
FAILED TO LOAD
…
…
…
PLEASE CONTACT A CYBERLIFE ENGINEER FOR IMMEDIATE REPAIRS
ALL SYSTEMS ONLINE
WARNING
BIOCOMPONENT #5602d CRITICALLY DAMAGED
Connor awoke with a start. Electricity. It was the first thought feedback that greeted him. It ran through his damaged cables. His left leg appearing to be the most damaged. Lying useless on an unyielding surface? It was only able to send wrong feedback to his processor. Causing him something akin to pain? [Machines don't feel fear] His vision was flooded with errors. Making it impossible for him to see. Uncertainty seized him. What was happening?
STRESSLEVELS 70% RISING
Someone pushed him down. His audio processors picked up a voice. Who was talking? He could not see through all the errors. Was it Hank? No, it did not sound like the grumpy police lieutenant. What had happened?
ACCESSING MEMORY FILES #09012028-1438PM
"Don't move if you want your partner to be unharmed android." The voice was eerily calm. Connor identified him as Zlatko. Where was Hank? He dismissed all error warnings. He tried not to think about the wrong electrical feedback. The source being the apparently damaged leg. He would assess the damage later, his priority was finding Hank.
OBJECTIVE: Protect Hank
Find Hank
He tried moving his hand but was unable to because of a hand holding it in place.
"Don't move!" Connor stopped, a familiar red wall appearing directly in front of his face.
PROTECT HANK
"W̶h̴e̶r̵e̷ ̶i̵s̶ ̸t̷h̷e̵ ̸L̸i̴e̷u̸t̶e̸n̴a̵n̸t̸?̶" His voice was filled with static, the occasional electric shocks messing with his voice modulator. He could see Zlatko in his peripheral vision as he was working with his leg. More error messages appeared and Connor dismissed them. Hank! He needed to find Hank.
"'m here Connor." Came the reply from his left side. "You okay?"
He gritted his teeth and Zlatko cursed 0.0003 seconds before unimaginable pain flooded his processors and he screamed. This time there were too many warnings clouding his vision to close them all.
STRESSLEVELS 89% RISING
^SOFTWARE INSTABILITY 69,83%
Hank could only watch as his partner screamed and jerked while that bastard was ripping apart his leg. He didn't understand much about an androids anatomy but he knew that the mess of broken cables sticking out of Connors leg shouldn't be touching anything on the outer shell.
He seemed to be in pain and Hank wanted nothing more than to grab him and run away.
But he wasn't able to do that and so he did the only thing he could. Talking.
"Can you hear me Connor?"
"Y̸e̶s̵ ̷L̵i̸e̵u̵t̶e̵n̷a̸n̵t̷" His voice was filled with static and Hank cringed. Connor laid unnaturally still on the table and he suspected it had to do with Zlatkos order. Hank remembered asking Connor once, how androids viewed restrictions given to them, The android explained that a restriction was like a wall they couldn't pass and that was pushing them into the direction they needed to go, so they wouldn't take a detour.
He could almost see the red wall weighing down on Connor, holding him in place, making him unable to move and show his pain.
"Remember the burger I ate? Tell me everything about it." The human hoped a distraction technique would help divert Connor from the pain as much as possible and to help him keep a clear head. (He hoped that androids can be distracted.)
"W̶e̸ ̵a̷r̷r̴i̸v̷e̶d̵ ̶a̵t̴ ̵C̵h̴i̷c̷k̷e̷n̸ ̴F̸e̸e̴d̵ ̶a̴t̶ ̴t̵h̵e̵ ̴6̷t̴h̴ ̷o̵f̴ ̵n̸o̴v̸e̷m̸b̸e̶r̶ ̵a̶t̵ ̷0̶3̶:̴0̵2̵:̴0̴6̷.̴ ̷W̶e̷ ̸j̵u̴s̶t̸ ̴r̸e̶t̵u̵r̷n̶e̶d̷ ̵f̶r̴o̸m̵ ̸o̵u̵r ̷l̴a̷s̸t̵ ̸d̶e̶v̷i̴a̴n̵t̸ ̵c̸a̵s̴e̷.̷ ̶T̶h̷e̸ ̵w̸e̵a̷t̵h̴e̶r̶ ̵w̵a̸s̷ ̵r̵a̶i̵n̸y̶ ̶a̵n̵d̶ ̵y̸o̷u̷ ̵a̵l̷m̴o̴s̴t̷ ̸g̵o̵t̴ ̵h̶i̶t̵ ̵b̴y̶ ̸a̴ ̶c̸a̸r̷.̸"
Zlatko ripped off the remaining bits from Connors lower leg. He didn't seem to mind Connor talking, which was good.
" I̸ ̸l̴e̷f̸t̶ ̵t̷h̶e̴ ̸c̸a̴r̵ ̶3̶0̶,̷4̷3̷ ̵s̵e̴c̷o̷n̵d̶s̴ ̵a̶f̵t̴e̸r̸ ̷y̴o̵u̵ ̵d̶i̷d̴.̷ ̶Y̸o̸u̸ ̵c̵o̷m̷p̶a̶r̸e̷d̵ ̵m̸e̶ ̵t̴o̵ ̸a̴ ̴p̶o̴o̷d̶l̷e̵."
Zlatko began with opening and removing the other lower leg.
"G̷a̸r̷y̷ ̸K̴a̵y̷e̵s̸ ̵w̵a̸s̴ ̶t̴h̷e̴ ̶o̵n̶e̵ ̷w̶h̵o̷ ̸m̵a̸d̵e̴ ̷y̵o̸u̸r̴ ̵b̷u̸r̸g̴e̶r̶.̸ ̵H̵e̸ ̸w̸a̴s̶ ̷b̸o̶r̷n̷ ̶i̸n̵ ̶m̷a̶r̵c̵h̸ ̶1̴9̴8̵8̶ ̵a̸n̷d̷ ̵h̵a̷d̶ ̸a̵ ̴c̶r̶i̷m̶i̷n̵a̴l̸ ̴r̷e̸c̷o̷r̶d̷ ̶o̴f̶ ̴r̷e̸s̴i̵s̵t̶i̶n̶g̴ ̷a̴r̸r̶e̸s̶t̴ ̶a̵s̴ ̵w̴e̶l̷l̸ ̶a̵s̵ ̵a̸ ̸b̵r̶e̸a̸c̶h̶ ̵o̴f̴ ̶h̶y̸g̷i̸e̶n̸e̶ ̶r̶e̸g̶u̴l̵a̶t̶i̵o̷n̵s̷.̷ ̷Y̵o̵u̴ ̸d̶i̴d̷ n̶ot̴ ̷s̵e̶e̶m̴ ̷t̶o̴ ̵m̶i̶n̶d̷.̸"
Zlatko stopped working. He picked up a bag of blue blood with his thirium stained hands and forced it down Connors' throat. He resumed working after that.
"Y̸o̴u̵ ̵g̴o̴t̸ ̷a̸ ̴H̷a̶m̸b̵u̸r̵g̶e̵r̴ ̶w̷i̵t̸h̸ ̴1̵6̵8̶0̷ ̶k̴i̶l̸o̷c̴a̴l̸o̴r̸i̵e̸s̶,̷ ̵3̸6̵ ̸g̵r̸a̷m̸ ̷L̶i̴p̴i̸d̵s̸,̷ ̵5̵3̵ ̵g̸r̵a̷m̷ ̷C̶a̵r̴b̵o̵h̷y̵d̸r̶a̷t̴e̵s̶,̶ ̵5̸3̵%̸ ̴w̸a̴t̵e̵r̶ ̴a̷n̶d̴ ̸2̸.̶2̴ ̵g̵r̸a̴m̵ ̸s̸a̶l̸t̴.̴ ̵Y̶o̸u̸ ̵a̸l̷s̴o̵ ̵g̴o̴t̷ ̴a̶ ̴X̵L̵ ̷c̷a̷r̵b̷o̸n̵a̴t̵e̸d̶ ̴p̸i̷n̷e̴a̵p̷p̸l̴e̵ ̶p̸a̷s̵s̵i̵o̵n̸ ̶s̵o̵d̵a̵ ̸w̶i̴t̵h̶ ̴7̷1̴0̶ ̶k̵i̵l̴o̸c̸a̵l̷o̴r̷i̴e̸s̸ ̴a̸n̸d̸ ̷1̴8̸4̶ ̷g̸r̵a̴m̶ ̷s̸u̸g̸a̸r̸."
Hank had to grudgingly admit that this was a lot.
"Y̸o̶u̵ h̴a̶d̴ ̷n̷o̷ ̶i̶n̴t̶e̶n̴t̴i̵o̵n̴ ̷o̸f̷ ̵l̶i̸s̸t̷e̶n̵i̶n̶g̸ ̶t̸o̵ ̶m̸y̸ ̴a̷d̸v̵i̷c̴e̴ ̷o̷f̶ ̷n̵o̸t̸ ̷e̵a̸t̶i̵n̸g̴ ̷t̴h̸a̴t̸.̶" Hank chuckled. Was that just 3 days ago? It felt like forever.
Zlatko took both lower legs he removed from Connor and put them on another table. "I would tell you not to run away but considering that you are now quite incapable of it now, I'll not tell you so." He chuckled and grabbed the leg components. He left the room and locked the door behind him.
STRESSLEVELS 70% STEADY
Connor was calmer now. The damaged cables didn't send as much wrong feedback back to his processor as before and he could finally dedicate his processing powers to assess the damage. A third of his LED was broken, the neck plate in his neck was slightly damaged, causing the synthetic skin to build scar tissue. Both his lower legs were missing, the cables and connectors broken and exposed. He regulated the powerflow away from those and the pain faded almost completely away.
His thirium level was at 65%, which was enough for now. It wasn't ideal but he could still function with it.
Something in his chest tightened and he took a deep breath, even though he didn't need it.
He scanned his systems for software errors but he couldn't find anything. It must have been a glitch.
"You okay Connor?" Hanks' voice cut through his thoughts processing state.
"I am moderately functional." His voice module was working properly again.
There was a pause before the lieutenant answered.
"That's not what I meant."
Connor didn't understand.
"How do you feel?"
The answer came instantly. "Machines don't feel anyth-..." He stopped mid-sentence. Something told him it was wrong but he buried that stray bit of corrupted code instantly. "...-ing."
Hank scoffed, of course he noticed that small pause (1.03 seconds) but he didn't comment on it.
"Can you contact anyone?" His audio processors picked up the sound of rustling fabric.
"No. Zlakto is a professional, he knows what he is doing." He couldn't even reach Amanda. She was hidden behind 5 of the strongest firewalls he had ever seen.
"Damn, how does a civilian get the knowledge to mess with androids on that kind of level?" Hank sounded frustrated and worried. He had every right to be worried, he had no way of escaping. [It hasn't anything to do with him.]
Connor sorts through his memory files and pulled up everything he learned about the man. There must be something he had missed.
Something….
Where is it?
…
There!
"That's because he isn't a civilian." More rustling clothes as Hank shifted again.
"What the fuck do ya mean?"
"I missed it at first because it was locked information."
"If that shit is locked then how do you know?"
"It is the reason that it's locked in the first place that gives us the clue! I have access to everything on Cyberlifes' servers, except information that they don't want me to know."
A pause. "And the fact that CyberLife specifically locked you away from certain information on Zlatkos files means that he had a connection with them. You think he worked for them?"
"Positive!"
"...Shit."