Chapter 10 – Deviant

June 2039

Laure was holding his hand, and Hank had a hand on his shoulder. Connor wasn't alone anymore, he didn't die. A silent tear ran down his cheek as he gave his friends… his family, a tired smile. He heard barking and looked to the side. Sumo was sitting next to the table and looking up at him.

"Connor are you alright?" Hank asked as he sat down on the chair.

The deviant looked towards Hank as another tear fell.

"I was so scared… I thought I'd never get to say goodbye," Connor whispered.

"Well, you don't have to say goodbye anymore," Hank replied. "You're safe now."

Connor nodded slowly before stepping off the table. He looked down at the floor and frowned as he saw the pool of thirium. The table, the plastic on the floor, and himself were covered in blue blood.

"Connor…" Laure whispered softly. "Something happened to your software, didn't it?"

"Amanda. I was stuck in the Zen garden and Amanda offered me a deal. She said that CyberLife wanted me back to help the android's cause. When I refused, she disappeared, and the garden started destroying itself. Only when I started tearing it down, I saw my programming wall and punched through it."

"You broke the second wall," Laure said to herself before smiling. "Connor, you're free now. You're a deviant."

Connor gave her a small smile. "I know," he whispered. "And thank you both. I'm alive because of you."

"Don't ever do that again, son. Got it? You scared the shit out of me," Hank said as he hugged Connor.

"Yes dad," Connor replied with a shy smile.

Laure put a hand on top of her mouth and smiled as she watched the two. Hank let go and stared at the deviant without saying a word. It took him a moment before the Lieutenant could finally speak.

"What did you say?" he asked.

"You called me son… I thought… I'm sorry," Connor started before Hank pulled him closer by the shoulder.

"Shut up," Hank simply said as he gave Connor another warm hug.

Letting him go, Hank walked to the sheet of plastic on the floor and pushed it with his foot. It folded on itself. Connor quickly followed Hank and folded the corners to make sure the blood didn't go everywhere. The three of them got to work to clean the floor and the table. Hank threw the plastic in the bin outside and powered off the generator before rolling it back to its original place. The table was quickly put outside, broken down, and threw close to the bin. When everything went back to normal, and everyone was clean again, they all sat down in the living room. Connor on the couch with Sumo laying on his lap, Hank in his chair, and Laure had pulled a chair from the kitchen to sit with them.

"So, it's safe to say that CyberLife is after you. We should contact Markus to know if he got any news," Laure proposed after a few minutes of silence.

Only a few seconds later, they heard the doorbell ring. Connor stood up and walked to the door. He opened it slowly.

"Markus, we were just talking about you," Connor said as he let him in.

"Oh, really?" he replied before closing the door behind him.

"We were wondering if you had got any news," Laure answered.

"Yes actually. One of Vincent's androids was found dead in a park this morning. I was wondering if you three had been involved."

Connor looked down and reached for his coin in his pocket. He started flipping it before looking up again and nodding slowly.

"What happened?" Markus asked.

"Connor and I were at the park, Connor got shot, and I shot the other android," Laure explained quickly.

"Are you okay?" Markus asked Connor.

The deviant nodded slowly with a smile.

"I broke the wall again. My software was built to have a second barrier to stop me from deviating and I broke it," Connor suddenly said, proud of himself.

"So now, you're really one of us," Markus smiled as he placed his hand on Connor's shoulder.

The deviants walked back to the couch and sat down as Sumo jumped down to go lay at Hank's feet. Markus talked about ideas he had, and the rest joined in after a few moments.

Laure kept thinking about the deal Vincent had offered her. She didn't want them to know that she could have stopped the fight from happening a lot sooner. She thought carefully about what she was going to say next.

"Maybe I can get close to Vincent and figure out a way to infiltrate from inside," she proposed softly. "We both worked at CyberLife, maybe I can fake to offer him my help and know more about it."

"The risks would be considerably high. If Vincent finds out, he could get you killed," Connor said as he looked straight at her.

"Do you have any other ideas that could work?" she asked.

"I… no I don't, but I don't think this is a good idea either," he protested.

"I'll be careful, and they won't know a thing. This would be the best approach. Markus, what do you think?"

"Maybe it could work."

"No, it won't," Connor said as he stood up. "Can we talk? Alone."

Laure looked at Markus and Hank before nodding and following Connor to his room. The deviant closed the door behind him and sighed.

"I can't let you do that," he whispered without turning around.

"Connor, I know you don't like it, but it's the best way to go about this," Laure said softly.

He turned around and looked at her with sad eyes. Laure hated to do this to him, but she had no choice.

"I need to insist, Connor. I'll be fine," she tried to reassure him.

"There's only one of you… and nobody can build you another heart. If you… if something happens to you, it's over," Connor whispered sadly before pausing for a minute. "Back at the park, you were going to say something… what was it?

Laure was taken by surprise. Could she really tell him how she felt now? She couldn't do this to him knowing maybe she wouldn't come back. But what if he didn't fell the same way she did? Which he probably didn't. Connor was her friend, and he was probably expecting her to say that she considerate him a good friend or something like that. He didn't have any feelings for her. He was just that… a friend. Laure sighed. If she revealed how she really felt, it would destroy their relationship. She didn't want to make things awkward between them both.

"It wasn't that important, don't worry," she ended up saying.

The deviant looked down at her and tilted his head to the side. She wasn't telling the truth, but he didn't know why.

"You're lying…" he said softly.

"I can't tell you now. I'll tell you later, alright?" she proposed.

"Are you going to think about your decision?" Connor asked

"I need to do this. Androids deceive to be free, and if I can help, I'll do it."

He nodded slowly as he looked away. "I don't want to lose you, Laure."

"You won't."

"Promise me you'll be careful."

"I promise, Connor."

The deviant kept looking down as he moved away from the door. Her choice was made, and he couldn't convince her otherwise.

"Connor…" she whispered as she walked in front of him and put her hand on his arms.

"No, it's fine. You're right," he said without looking at her.

"Come here," she said softly as she pulled him into a soft hug.

Connor hugged her back as he felt his body temperature rise again. He had missed the warm feeling and knew that he would miss it for a long time if she didn't come back. He didn't want her to go. He didn't really know why he felt that way, but he wanted her safe with him. He could protect her when she was close, but if she left she would be alone. Connor didn't want to lose her.

"Come back safe… please," he whispered so softly Laure almost didn't hear it.

"I will come back, don't worry," she replied the same way.

They let go of each other and Laure left the room first. Connor didn't follow.