Chapter 14 – The plan

July 2039

It had been three days and there was still no sign of Laure's friends anywhere. She had only made a small bit of progress with Conan. Laure didn't know why she gave him a name, it just felt like the normal thing to do. She continued to talk to him and tell him stories of the outside world as he had never seen it before. She told him that she could show him if he let her. When she talked about him being free or enjoying an almost human life, his LED would turn yellow and would spin rapidly. He wouldn't reply, but she knew she was still making progress.

XXX

Connor remembered the base very well, this was where Hank had come to get him to bring him home after Markus' peaceful demonstration. He even remembered the corner where he used to always be. Both him and Hank walked inside and followed the other deviants. Markus was standing on the platform in front of everybody. He started speaking and the room went silent. All listened to their leader as he explained the plan.

They needed a team to wait in front of the tower while another one would wait to climb on the back side. Markus would send one android in disguise to reach the top floor and throw down ropes and harness for the climbers. When they would infiltrate the tower, they would send a signal to the team in front who would charge in. Markus had been clear on this; no weapon was to be used.

For his part, Connor was to follow Markus and get Laure out of the tower. If they were lucky, they could outnumber the androids. Connor had a microphone connected to Hank's, so they could talk back and forth about what was happening outside. That way, if Vincent was to order an attack, they would know.

XXX

"I made a very bad decision, you know… The decision I made will probably get my friends killed. If only I had been smarter about all of this. I should have realized that Vincent wasn't that dumb. I messed up…" Laure said sadly as she sat on the floor, her back against the wall.

"You look like my friend, a bit different yeah, but you still look like him. You know him, his name's Connor. He's nice, kind, he loves dogs. Do you like dogs? I figure you'd be more of a cat person. I don't know why," she continued.

"I miss him… I probably won't be able to see him again because you will kill him, right? Poor Hank, he's going to be so sad when he hears that you killed his adopted son…" Laure kept talking without realizing the expression on the RK900's face. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you as well, Conan. Really, I'm sorry…"

"Laure isn't?" Conan suddenly asked, his voice sounding a little less cold.

"Yeah," she replied without looking up.

She heard the door crack open a few seconds later and finally looked up. The RK900 stared at her for a moment before telling her to stand up. She did as told and looked at him with a curious look on her face.

"I'll help you," he whispered as he looked down at her.

Laure had done it. The RK900 had deviated. He was free, and he would help her. She smiled at him and nodded.

"So, what do we do?" She asked quickly.

"We should wait. If your friend arrives, Mr. Graves will tell me," Conan explained.

Laure nodded slowly.

"Go back outside and close the door without locking it, it'll be less suspicious," she told him.

The android nodded before doing exactly that.

XXX

Vincent Graves looked at the cameras with an evil smile on his face.

"Sir, we have spotted a group of deviants near the tower," a guard told him.

"Great, tell the other guards to do nothing. Let them in and send the RK900 to the 42nd floor," Vincent replied without moving. "Also, tell the RK900 to bring the girl with it, they won't attack if she's in danger."

The guard nodded before sending the message. Vincent smiled as he opened the cells cameras.

"Let them think they won, then attack," Vincent whispered to himself.

XXX

Conan turned to Laure before opening the door. Laure walked out slowly and followed the android to the floor 42. They walked inside and waited. Laure smiled as she saw the deviants pass through the windows. Fortunately, the bodies had been taken to the junkyard and the deviants couldn't know what had been there a few hours prior.

Laure waited patiently while they entered the room and scattered around. She felt her heart skip a beat when familiar brown eyes stared back into her blue ones. She ran to Connor and hugged with tightly.

"Laure…" he whispered in her hair as he held close to him.

"God, I missed you," she whispered back.

They moved away from each other with a smile and Laure walked toward Markus to give him a hug as well.

"You guys need to be very careful, Vincent knows of the plan, there are no cameras here, but he's probably already outside waiting," she explained.

Markus nodded as he sent a message to his troops. Laure looked around for Connor for a minute before finding him staring at Conan. Laure walked to them and put her hand on Connor's back.

"He's with us, don't worry," she said.

Connor simply nodded as he turned to Laure and gave her a smile. Once everybody was warned about the threat, they made their way outside. The RK900 and Laure in front.

As they had thought, Vincent was standing in front of them with an evil grin on his face.

"RK900, good job," he said. "Now shoot him."

The android stayed there without moving.

"You fucking android. Do as I say!" he shouted.

He didn't move. Suddenly deviants were surrounding him from all side. Vincent looked around quickly and noticed the TS300s all scattered around the deviants. Laure smiled. Vincent's programming wasn't the best apparently.

"RK900! You will-" Vincent shouted before being cut.

"My name. Is. Conan." The android said loudly. "And these people are my friends!"

"Traitor!"

Conan ran towards Vincent to stop him, but it was already too late. Before anybody could understand what had happened, three gunshots had already been fired. They only understood who had shot when both fell on the ground. Vincent still had his eyes open, but they were empty. Blood was quickly dripping from his skull.

"No…" Laure whispered as she kneeled next to Conan.

He was blinking rapidly, and his LED was bright red. She held his head while looking at his cold blue eyes.

"Th… thank you… Laure…" he said as his mechanical voice broke at every word.

"Thank you, Conan," Laure replied.

"You… were… a great… friend…"

"I'm sorry," Laure said as tears fell from her eyes.

"No… I… am happy… Thank…. yo-…" the last word was cut has he shut down.

Laure sighed as she closed his eyes. She gently let his head touch the ground and stood up. Connor was right next to her as she turned around. She slowly put her arms around him and nuzzled her head in his neck. He softly rubbed her back with one hand while the other one stroked her hair gently.

"It's over," Connor whispered.

Connor didn't know what to tell her. Markus could see that.

"Stay with her, I'll go see if everything's okay," Markus said in his head.

"Alright, thank you," Connor replied the same way.

Connor kept holding Laure in his arms. His shirt was getting a little bit wet because of her crying, but he didn't care. He didn't really know what to do, but he knew that she needed someone to hold in this moment and he could be that someone. They stayed a moment without moving before Connor heard Hank in his ear. He opened the microphone with one hand and spoke softly.

"We found her Hank. She's fine," Connor said.

"Good but is everybody else alright? There's nothing going on in the news, it's as if you guys didn't do anything," Hank explained.

"Vincent's dead and the androids are now free," Connor explained back. "Markus went to see if everything is alright on the lower levels.

"Alright, good. Talk to you later then," Hank said closing the connection.

Connor looked down at Laure and smiled.

"Are you alright?" he asked softly.

She let him go and nodded. They smiled at each other while keeping eye contact. Connor felt the familiar warmth travel through his entire body. He noticed how Laure licked her lips and look at his own subtly before looking back at his eyes.

"Connor…" she whispered.

"Yes?"

"Everything's under control. We won," Markus announced as he walked towards them. Laure sighed as she closed her eyes.

"Laure?" Connor asked.

"It's nothing, don't worry," she said as she walked towards Markus.

She gave him a smile and nodded once. They had won, it was over. For now, at least. She noticed that Joel was in the back, talking with other androids and she smirked. She walked to him and tapped on his shoulder. He gave her a giant smile.

"I helped my people," he stated.

"You sure did, good job kid," she said softly.

XXX

"The TS300 androids lead by Vincent Graves has been saved by the deviant leader, also known as Markus. People are talking about really giving androids the rights they deserve. The real question is: is humanity really ready for that?"

Hank sighed as he closed the television.

"They just can't get the memo, can they?" he said.

"We are talking about humans, Hank. It's not the first time it happens," she smiled as she petted Sumo's back.

"Dinner's ready," Connor suddenly said as he arrived from the kitchen with two plates and gave one to Laure and Hank with a smile.

Hank smirked as he took a bite out of the burger. Connor waited nervously for Hank to make a comment on his cooking. His hand reached for the coin in his pocket but stopped when Hank looked up at him.

"Damn, son. You could put Gary out of business…" Hank sighed as he took another bite.

Laure started laughing as she took a bite. She moved to the side on the couch to give Connor a place and kept eating in silence while he sat down next to her. He smiled as she rested her head on his shoulder.