AN: Sorry for not updating. I struggled with this chapter and nailing the flow of the movement down. Stuff like this is my kryptonite and I fucking hate that I have a kryptonite. Let me know if it sounds weird anywhere, maybe I can fix it.

About an hour later…

She's gonna get herself killed and I'm gonna be at fault because I let her. Hank thought. But it was too late to retreat. Kara was already walking up to the CyberLife building, teary-eyed and damaged, ready to beg to be let in.

Meanwhile, Hank was sneaking about the loading area, waiting for the scheduled truck to roll in so he could use it for cover and get into the building. Hank's path was dangerous, but not as dangerous as Kara's was.

She was slowly dragging her feet towards the main entrance, hands in the air, doing the best acting of her life. And it wasn't enough that the guards could shoot her if they decided she bothered them. To make it more realistic, Kara damaged her thirium pump regulator to almost complete shutdown. Her time was ticking, and quite quickly.

'Please...' she cried out weakly. The guards looked at her curiously. One of them contacted the general to ask what to do.

'Please...' Kara's voice distorted. 'I don't want to shut down. I don't… I don't want to be a deviant any more.'

She broke down into sobbing and stopped right in front of the guards.

'I don't want to feel… I hate these emotions… I want to be a machine… a machin-' her voice died and she collapsed. A guard caught her.

'Bring her in. The general wants to take a look.'

If Hank would've seen her, he would have been impressed. A shame that he had his own problems. The truck wasn't coming. The road it was supposed to take was empty. Not a sound, not a truck. Hank was growing anxious, his hiding spot wasn't the best and they could find him as soon as they looked around hard enough.

But it seemed that the truck being late was very unusual. The guards were more jittery, whispering among themselves, and Hank deduced they were human.

'Go check if its held up somewhere on the road.'

Two of them nodded and walked off. Only one guard remained and Hank thought he wouldn't get a better chance.

He quietly used cover to get around the guard, who was staring at the road where his companions disappeared. Hank was two steps away when the man turned around and, fuelled by panic, Hank jumped on the guard. He didn't have time to pull out his gun as Hank wound up and punched the guard's helmet. The body under him stopped moving and Hank shook his hand, regretting hitting him so hard as the force of the punch stayed as pure, stinging pain.

He didn't revel in this small victory and quickly found the key card he needed to get into the building.

The storage room he entered was filled with boxes, stacked so high he couldn't even see the exit. He couldn't see a single wall, he couldn't even begin to understand which way he should go to get out of this. The only indicator for him were voices coming from around the corner.

'What's with the delay? Can you go check on them?'

Panic flooded Hank's senses and he ran to the corner opposite. Just in time to miss the guard.

He peered over and watched the man as he turned and left through the door Hank entered.

Hank ran to the hallway the guard came from, looked to see if it was empty and walked to the next corner. The hall beyond it was longer and Hank finally saw a wall. It was an arc that divided the room into two parts, the one he was in the smaller one.

That's probably why it was so crowded.

Hank cautiously made his way to the edge of the boxes and looked in to the larger area. It was swarming with guards.

Hank slipped into the nook between the wall and the boxes, as he noticed a few of the men coming over to him. They walked past and Hank thought how the hell am I going to get out of this one? He considered the possibility of going in guns blazing, but he had no idea how well trained these men are. He thought of sneaking past the guards to the door, but with how the boxes were digging into his ribs in this wide space, he decided against it.

That left him with one possibility. A distraction.

Hank squeezed out of the "narrow" nook and went back to the small hallway. He noticed that there were two entrances to this part of the room, so the plan was to attract all of the guards to one half of the room while he escaped through the other.

Hank stopped at the same corner he hid from the guard and picked one of the middle boxes. He grabbed its edges and pulled, but only a tiny bit moved. It was ridiculous for the amount of effort Hank put in. He pushed the top boxes back to the wall and pulled the box he chose. The top crates tilted.

I'm gonna have to be quick.

Hank pulled again and the tower of boxes wobbled, but didn't fall. He tugged more and the crates came crashing down as Hank tumbled out of their way. Almost instantly shouts of distress reached Hank's ears. He slowly got up.

I'm too old for this shit.

He ran down the hallway as fast as he could, and suddenly got a boost as he was pushed to the ground. He turned his head and saw the guard that went to check on the delivery, the door to outside half open. Without thinking Hank kicked and the man went down. Hank quickly got up and grabbed his skull, then bashed it into the wall. He was still conscious and managed to let out a shout before Hank bashed his head again and knocked him out.

Even better Hank thought as the other guards were calling out to him. He ran in the opposite direction and slowed only when he heard that the patrols were moving boxes aside. Hank peered over the edge of the wall and saw one remaining guard, gun in hand, hesitant on following his comrades into the hallway. Hank couldn't pass him without being seen. He needed to knock him out.

Hank walked back and scanned the boxes for something heavy. Blue blood blue blood blue blood… leg component!

He took the leg out and approached the corner. The guard was still there. Hank stepped out and threw the leg. The guard went down without a sound and Hank started to wonder what kind of light material their helmets were made of.

He didn't dwell on it and left the storage room for the staff hall. Fortunately, it was empty and quiet. As he was speedily walking, he heard commotion behind one of the doors. He opened it and looked in curiously.

The door lead to the receptionist's desk in the main lobby of the building, where Hank saw Kara being dragged to the elevators. She looked like she was shut down and Hank marvelled at her masterful acting. He quietly closed the door and went on.

Hank came up on the last door in the hall and was about to open it, but he heard voices beyond it. He put his ear to it and made out three muffled voices. Too many.

He left the door alone and instead went through the second to last one. It was a server room.

It was full of blocks with drawers where machinery was placed. These blocks were situated along every wall of the rectangular room and a wall of them in the very middle. Hank walked through the blocks of machinery, looking at the high tech that probably cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to build. It looked far too advanced for the little hacking device Hank brought with him. But he had no choice. Going deeper into CyberLife would mean getting back out will be nigh impossible.

Plus, Kara may find something, maybe even Connor himself, if Hank fails.

He took out the black disc he was given and put it against the wall of server blocks. He held it in place as it glowed and the black coating on it ran down the metal. The color covered the framing completely, engulfing the blue glow and replacing it with a more sinister black. Hank was patiently waiting for it to finish its job when a sound sent chills down his spine.

The door opening and footsteps walking inside.

Hank could only judge who it was by the weight of their footsteps and they were too heavy to be an android's or even a simple human's.

He panicked. He couldn't take the disc and run, it wasn't done with its work. Hank wouldn't get anything out of this whole ordeal if he left now.

He looked around for anything to stop the slowly approaching guard. The only thing he noticed was a small box of metal parts next to a server block. Not enough to knock him out… but maybe the guard didn't know Hank was here.

He took a metal plate from the box and threw it over the server block. The clank of the metal made the guard stop and change direction. Hank could almost feel his movement.

Just from the sound he could tell the guard was coming up on the corner. Hank quickly grabbed a wire and threw it to his side of the hall. He stopped again. It seemed like he wasn't moving, but then Hank heard the sound of his gear shifting. He was trying to be stealthy!

Hank picked up a wrench and lobbed it straight into the server block at the end of the hallway. The guard paused, his gear shifted again, it was quiet for a moment, then it made a sound as if he was turning and walked on. He was onto Hank.

At this moment, he regretted throwing that wrench.

He stepped back as far as he could, ready to pounce. The guard stopped for a brief moment, then took a wide step into the open. At least, that's what Hank thought he did since all he could see was the tip of his gun. Hank was going on a whim when he kicked and it showed. Instead of hitting the guard Hank's leg simply rammed itself into the server block at full force. He yelped and the guard stepped forward, pointing the gun at Hank. Just when he was about to shoot, Hank lifted the barrel up and the bullets missed. He grabbed the gun and threw a kick that sent the guard sprawling on the floor. The assault rifle was a two-handed weapon and Hank didn't have that at the moment since his right hand was glued to the disc. An idea struck him. He leaned on the server block, pressing down on the disc and keeping it in place with his shoulder. The guard didn't make a move as Hank was pointing the gun right at his chest.

'You human?' Hank suddenly asked.

The guard was silent, then gave a slow nod.

'You believe that androids are alive?'

'They weren't programmed to kill hundreds of people, that's for sure.'

'As if we didn't kill just as many of theirs.'

It was quiet. Seemed like no one heard the gunshot.

'This is exactly what people feared years ago when intelligent AI was just a possibility in the future. Machines exterminating humans.'

'They are only defending their lives! If the roles were switched, humans would do the same things.'

'I'm glad you were always too important to be replaced by a machine that's more efficient, but people like you are one in a million. Everyone's been hurt by androids and their hostility proves what's been obvious all this time. They are a threat and have to be destroyed.'

'They-'

'Do they know you're on their side?'

Hank narrowed his eyes.

'So far I'm the only human allowed in Jericho.'

The guard chuckled.

'You can place a bomb right in their home and they don't even realize it.'

'I am not-'

'Get out of here. Run back to Jericho, back to your precious androids. Fuck, I'll help you. But take a very good look at what they do and how they operate, not just deviants either. Check the main purpose of androids. You might start to look at them different.'

Hank hesitated and the guard pulled out his gun and shot the server block Hank was leaning against.

'What the hell!' Hank shouted as the black coating was sucked back into the disc. The guard threw the pistol into the hallway behind Hank.

'CyberLife isn't the villain. They're merely the first ones to think of the idea.'

Hank pocketed the disc, grumbling about a ruined mission, all while staring furiously at the guard.

'So do you want my help?'

'How do I know you won't kill me?'

'Because that wouldn't fix the issue. You will die thinking androids are saints, never knowing the truth. I want you to at least realize that there is more to them than what meets the eye.'

Hank thought about the possibilities he had. Get out through the same way he got here? The guards are probably up by now, searching for an intruder. It would be difficult. Besides that, what option did he have?

Hank lowered the gun, cursing himself mentally.

Why do I trust people that will betray me first chance they get?