1. Belongs: The univers and characters of Detroit Become Human belong to Quantic Dreams and David Cage.
2. Rating: "T" in general, but might be "M" for cursed words, graphics contents such as violence, injuries or sexual scenes.
3. Summary: As things seemed to be working out, Conrad discovers that he is prone to "blackouts". Worried that this could jeopardize the case and his relationship with Gavin, the android decides to talk to Jocelyn so she can study the matter. The results turn out to be more worrying than expected when the TA900 discovers that Conrad is actually corrupted by a code line which is, for Jocelyn, indecipherable. In a panic, Conrad leaves to seek Connor's help.
CHAPTER 19
" The Zen Garden "
When Conrad emerged from stasis, he was in his small room in New Jericho, lying in bed. He frowned as he sat up, rummaging through his memory, the LED circling yellow.
He didn't remember coming home last night. The last thing he remembered was walking Gavin outside to his house after the restaurant. He hadn't wanted to further upset the human by offering to stay for the night, having instead left him alone to relax and make peace with himself.
But then nothing more. And it wasn't the first time this had happened to him. He had already had a blackout on the night of February 26-27, before starting the Walkers investigation, another two evenings ago, before Jela's death on March 29, and one again the day before, the 30th, after having accompanied Gavin home. Two evenings in a row. And two concerning the Walkers case.
Conrad began to seriously be worried.
He then left his room, ready himslef for work, but made a first stop at the infirmary. The android knocked softly on the door, and saw Jocelyn turning to greet him.
"Someone is early today." Jocelyn smiled as she moved closer to him as she was playing with a wrench between her long fingers like doing a pentrick. "You usually come to see me in the evening." She looked at him suspiciously, stopping to play with her tool. "And you haven't come yesterday or the day before ... Am I to believe you don't love me anymore? "
"I come precisely about this ..."
The TA900 clapped a hand to her chest, looking falsely offended and hurt.
" I knew it ! Me who was crazy about you ... Ah… But yes it's true …" She smiled more tenderly. "You prefer your partner… Normal that you want to spend the night with him."
She gave him an amused wink, accompanied by a smile. She really liked teasing Conrad just to stimulate his emotions and make him more comfortable with his deviancy. It was a little game she enjoyed playing. They had affection for each other, but it didn't go beyond friendship.
"You'll create a hell of a misunderstanding one day Jocelyn ..." Conrad couldn't help but smile, then watched her hop up and sit on the table. "Gavin accepts his feelings since only yesterday ..."
" No waaay ?" She said really surprised. "Finally ! He frustrated me so much, and I don't even know him! "
Conrad nodded, deeply sympathizing with the famous frustration. But he wasn't there to talk about Gavin, and he walked over to sit down next to the TA900.
"I wanted to talk to you about something that worries me."
"I don't like the tone you use. "
"Because it's quite serious and worrying." Jocelyn was now looking at him seriously. "I have blackouts. I do things during these absences but cannot verify what because I can not find any data in my memory. "
"That's bad news ..." she said, narrowing her eyes. " How many times ? "
"I only noticed three, but there may have been more quiet ones. "
Jocelyn jumped off the auscultation table and turned to face Conrad for the deep scan, but found nothing abnormal. She expected to find a device jamming his internal memory, but there was no such thing.
"I'll have to inspect your memory, if you don't mind."
Conrad nodded, and stretched his arm towards her, retracting his synthetic skin. The TA900 did the same with her artificial coffee-colored skin, and grabbed Conrad's forearm, entering his memory. In a few seconds, she found a first blockage. A refusal of access to parts of his memory, corresponding to the dates of November 15, 2038, January 21, 2039, February 13, 2039, February 20, 2039, February 27, 2039, March 28, 2039 and, the last, March 30, 2039.
It was a lot of dates.
"You have seven dates that you can't access in your memory. They are encrypted and blocked by a code line that I can't modify, I wasn't designed for this task. "
Conrad then stiffened at this information. The thought of not being in control suddenly scared him, and the possibility that he had been hacked was very plausible.
It meant that someone or something controlled him, that he had been under their influence during those dates. What if he himself could not have access to this information ...
"I was hacked ..? "
"I don't think so ..." Jocelyn said, letting go of him gently. "You have no memory until November 15, 2038, which is encrypted. This means that you were activated that day, and by Cyberlife. "
"Cyberlife? Does that mean they were able to take control on those dates?" The RK900 asked almost in a panic.
"Conrad… This is not… hacking." Jocelyn looked at him suspiciously, stepping back. "You were created and initially activated as a deviant… but I believe you can be remotely controlled by Cyberlife to achieve their ends, and hide all of that behind that code line and encryption."
"W-What? No ... it's impossible, being deviant you can't be controlled by Cyberlife right ..? "
"You don't understand…" She looked him up and down, not knowing if she could trust him. "Your deviancy is a cover ... This code line, which is the hidden part of the iceberg, has been implanted since your activation. That was their goal from the start… They use you as a tool. "
Conrad thought his whole world was shattered. His stress level rose dramatically to worry him, and his diode pounded his purple temple.
He was… a tool ..? Controlled by Cyberlife ..? From the beginning.. ? Why would they do this? If his deviancy was a cover then… So he wasn't… real? Was this just Cyberlife's plan? Was this all a lie? Was he just a pawn in their game ? A puppet ?
Fear turned to panic suddenly at the realization of a detail. Was everything he felt was a lie too? Cyberlife was using him… against his will. What if he was here to hurt ..?
"I have to ask you to leave New Jericho Conrad… It's too risky to have a mole here. "
"B-But I'm not a mole ..!" He quickly lifted his head to look at her. "Please… I… I swear I don't know about anything ..! "
"I know that ..." she said with a sad smile. "This is the worst… You probably don't know anything… But that makes you someone even more dangerous… And… who knows… You might have been programmed to say these things ..? "
" No.. ! "
Conrad's diode pulsed, glowing with fear and panic. Not knowing what else to do, he stood up shakily, dodging Jocelyn as he left the hospital wing, and hurried out of New Jericho to go ...
He stopped on the sidewalk.
To go where exactly? He only had New Jericho, Gavin, and the police station, and it was out of the question for him to mix the human into that if he goes to Gavin's home. Fear began to twist his components, wondering if his feelings for the detective were real or implanted or even controlled by Cyberlife.
His stress level was at 76%, and the high temperature of his bio-components made him suffocate to ventilate. He absolutely had to talk to Connor, maybe he could find a solution. And at this hour, he must have been at the police station.
A few minutes after arriving by taxi, Conrad walked into the station and passed the front desk. The ST300, Eliana, eyed him worriedly as she noticed his red LED, but the RK900 decided to ignore her and rush into the open space in order to find his predecessor.
He quickly glanced at Gavin's office and was relieved to find that the detective wasn't there yet. Turning his head he spotted Hank at his desk, and Connor a little further away chatting with Leo, a PC200.
"Hi Conrad how ar-"
Hank watched as the android ignored him completely, the red LED, and headed off towards Connor. The lieutenant felt his blood rush through his veins at the thought that Conrad was not himself and could hurt his Connor. He then rose from his chair and followed Conrad before catching him within few meters of the RK800, turning him by the shoulder.
"Hey kid, what's the matter? "
Connor was caught by the scene and suddenly stopped his conversation with the PC200. Conrad turned to Hank, constrained by the hand resting on his shoulder, and looked at him, worry painted on his face.
"I need to talk to Connor. "
"Yeah, but see, I'm going to be suspicious right now. Your LED has been blinking red since you arrived. And I know it's not good. "
"I have to talk to Connor ..!" Conrad said, freeing himself from the lieutenant's grip and turning to the RK800 who was watching them. "Connor… I…" His eyelids twitched in stress. "Co ..."
Conrad clenched his fists in frustration, unable to speak out loud or telepathically because of his stress levels. Synthetic tears were about to fall and Connor moved closer to him worried, after scanning him and seeing the risks that could arise from his state of stress and panic.
"It's okay Hank, I got it" He glanced confidently at the human, who nodded. "Come Nines ..."
He gently put an arm behind his back inviting him to move and follow him. Conrad let himself be guided, and they found themselves in the observation room, behind the one-way mirror. Connor made him sit down in one of the chairs, and he crouched down in front of him, resting a hand on his right knee.
" Tell me. "
Conrad had no more ability to express himself verbally, but preferred to retract the synthetic skin of his hand and rest it on Connor's, which was resting on his knee.
Connor then received a flood of information going through the interface, everything concerning these blackouts, the dates, the encrypted data, the code, feeling on the way the RK900 distress, his panic, his fear, and this impression of not being anything other than a Cyberlife puppet.
Connor gently let go of his hand and looked at him. Conrad's LED was still red, but Connor lifted his chin up with his fingertips so that their eyes met.
"I'll help you Nines ..." The latter nodded softly. "And you don't have to worry… Maybe Cyberlife had a purpose in making you come out already deviant, but you, you've built your own life, your own identity, your own experiences… And that, that is not them. It's you, it's yours, you did it on your own initiative. You are not manipulated outside of these dates. Everything you have done outside, it comes from you and only from you. You are not their puppet …" Conrad's LED turned yellow again. "But… being deviant does not exempt you from not being able to be controlled by Cyberlife… not while you have this code line, not while you have the default mind palace."
Conrad looked at him confused, a little calmer though.
"The mind… palace ?" He managed to articulate.
"Yes, like the zen garden, you see? "
"I…" Conrad frowned. " No, I don't see. I don't know what the Zen garden is. "
"You… you've never been in your mind palace ? "
"I don't know what it is, no. "
"It's impossible, it's the virtual interface that allowed me to interact with Amanda, an AI from Cyberlife. You can't not have one either. Especially if Cyberlife controls you remotely, they must necessarily operate through the mind palace. Amanda has remotely controlled me once, when I was already deviant. And I almost killed Markus. "
"Isn't ..." Conrad frowned, digging through his lines of codes. "Isn't that famous code ... a firewall to prevent me from gaining access to my mind palace ? "
"That Cyberlife should have concealed their existence from you ... It's not impossible, no. Everything has to be inside. Your memories of those dates, Cyberlife's goals and the exact people behind it. "
Connor stood up, grabbed a chair, and took a seat facing Conrad. He stretched out his hand again, his skin retracted.
"Let me try to get inside. "
Conrad looked at his hand, then looked up at the person he considered his brother, his family. He grabs his hand.
" Be careful... "
" Don't worry about me." Connor smiles. "I will free you from them."
Connor closed his eyes for a few seconds. He was indeed confronted with this lines of code which seemed to block access to something. He simulated all the possible decryption keys, forcing restrictions, infiltrating Conrad's programmings deeper.
The latter had his eyes closed too, and certain maneuvers sometimes made him tremble. And after a few minutes, Connor finally came across the right combination, breaking the lines of code, breaking that encryption on the data that was hidden behind.
An environment started to load around him, showing, at first, only wireframes, then blocks without textures, which became a little more defined but still in low poly. After a few seconds, the environment finished loading, the 3D models were coated with high quality textures as well as a more detailed, close to reality topology. The lighting finished to build up, the simulated wind breeze kicked in, and he could even hear the water rushing in and the birds singing.
He could finally contemplate it. The zen garden.
It was, for now, the same one he had during the revolution. Connor really didn't like this place. It really brought back too many bad memories, and thinking about it gave him a cold sweaty feeling that his programmings could simulate perfectly in virtual reality. He had always felt more vulnerable in his mind palace because it was a reality for him. The virtual simulations were just as real to him as the real world was to humans. In the world outside, Connor almost feel safe in his body, like a shell. He hated the zen garden. That was why he had deleted it and built a new mind palace in a place that was none other than Hank's house. Smaller, more familiar, more reassuring, and more personal.
Connor took a step forward but felt a hand wrap around his wrist. He stopped dead and turned his head to finally see Conrad standing next to him.
"It's too risky Nines..."
" I must know... "
Connor looked at him but Conrad was determined to find out what Cyberlife had done with him and what they were up to. The RK800 nodded.
" Okay. I'm going to need your help anyway. This is your own mind palace, and you will need to materialize access to data that has been concealed, such as your memories for example. "
" I can't." Conrad said taking a step forward, his eyes scanning the garden. "I have no control over this place. This is not my mind palace Connor…" He turned to him. "It's definitely being controlled by someone else. "
" Indeed. "
Both RKs quickly turned at the hearing of a third voice. A few meters in front of them was a man who looked almost identical to them, but with silver eyes, white hair pulled back, arms tucked behind his back. His pupils seemed to be bright, and his outfit was impeccable, consisting of simple white pants and a long, closed jacket in a mixture of shiny white fabrics and latex, reaching up in a stiff collar to his chin.
" Who are you ? "
Conrad took a step towards him but the man laughed softly and smiled empathetically at him.
"No RK900, that's not how it works here." He took a step. "I'm the AI running this garden, and controlling you. And you're not supposed to come in here without my permission. "
The man glanced at Connor who was immediately banished from the zen garden, thrust back into the real world. Shaken by what had just happened, Connor immediately let go of Conrad's hand, who was still sitting in front of him, eyes closed, his LED red again. Connor's LED flashed the same color as he realized that Nines was alone in front of this AI they didn't know.
"Nines! "
Connor quickly sent an alert to Hank, and attempted to interface with his brother again, but the body of the android flatly denied him access, repeatedly rejecting him. He absolutely had to bring Nines back to him or it would be-
" Too late. "
Connor fixed his eyes on Conrad's now open ones. He looked at him impassively at first, before stretching a mean smile, which Connor immediately identified as that of the AI earlier in the zen Garden simulation.
"Let Nines come back. "
"Or what?" He got up to look over the RK800 and lean towards him. "You're gonna hurt me?" He smiled again. "Hurting me is hurting him..."
"I wouldn't hesitate if I have to. "
" Oh really ? Because this is your mission?" The AI laughed. "You are really pathetic Connor. You are just a failure. And Cyberlife hates failure." He leaned over to Connor again. "But since we're face to face ..." He grabbed him roughly by his tie as he pulled him against him. "I can finally take care of you. "
The AI then grabbed the gun from Connor's belt, but at the same time, the door to the observation room thudded open.
The RK900 quickly turned his head towards the wide open door, and saw two figures, one broad behind and the other in the frame, pointing something at him. The AI quickly used the facial recognition program to identify the one behind as Hank Anderson, and the other human, Gavin Reed. The AI quickly let go of Connor, ready to pounce on the new guests, but Gavin activated the taser in his hands.
The android shook from the electric shocks, eyes rolling revealing white orbs, and fell to the ground.
Gavin stood there in the doorway, his arms still outstretched in front of him, the taser hooked up to the android by the two cables, his chest heaving in adrenaline and the panic.
Hank rushed in, pushing Gavin in the process, to approach Connor.
"Are you alright son ?" The lieutenant said worriedly, inspecting the android from all angles. "Connor ? "
"Yes I ..." His LED turned yellow again. " I'm fine... "
Connor looked up at Gavin. The detective had just saved his life. He really thought the AI was about to pull the trigger and blow his head off. The RK800 gently pushed Hank away, retrieved his weapon which had fallen to the ground, and stood up to move closer to Gavin.
He gently lowered his arms, which were still outstretched straight ahead, hands gripping the taser. Gavin finally came out of his shock and began to shake.
"I-I killed… C-Conrad ..?"
He put his hand over his mouth as he realized he had shot Conrad, and hurriedly threw down his weapon as if he too had just been shot. Conrad was still on the floor, maybe he was even deactivated ? Panic gripped the detective. Deviant androids don't return when they are destroyed, aren't they ..?
He knew it, Grace had been.
"F-Fuck is he .. ? "
"No Gavin, calm down ..." Connor said putting a hand on his shoulder. "He's fine… You just neutralized him. For a few minutes. We should handcuff him to make sure he doesn't try anything when he wakes up. "
Gavin couldn't move, terrified that he'd hurt or damaged Conrad. Hank, seeing that Reed wasn't moving, decided to handcuff the RK900 himself. With Connor's help, the two exited the observation room carrying Conrad arm in arm. Gavin managed to follow them, worried what to do with him, and saw them stop in front of the cells. Gavin nodded and opened the glass door, resting his hand on the scanner on the wall.
Hank and Connor laid the android on the bunk, then stepped out. The RK800 locked the cell behind them.
Gavin then turned, clenched fists, to the RK800. He seemed to have regained his foothold in reality, and he was flushed with anger, about to explode.
"I'm on the verge of a ruptured aneurysm so you better explain me what happened ! Because this ! "He said pointing to the unconscious RK900 on the bunk in the cell" This wasn't Conrad ! He would never have tried to kill you ! So tell me that I shot another android that took Conrad's appearance thanks to a M.I.M.I.C, please ..! "
"Unfortunately…" Connor said, turning to face the cell window to look at his successor. "It's not another android wearing a M.I.M.I.C ... It's Conrad, but ..." he readjusted his tie. "He was controlled by another artificial intelligence. "
"What ? He was hacked ? "
" No." Connor took a deep breath as if to cheer himself up. "Cyberlife has controlled Conrad from the start. "
Gavin suddenly felt his blood run cold. It was… a fucking bad joke, it couldn't be… He had finally accepted the idea that he wanted to be with Conrad, it had taken him a fucking month to admit it and confide in it to the android. Conrad had promised him the day before that he would still be there. And now… Conrad was… ultimately controlled by Cyberlife from the beginning ..? Even when they ..?
Gavin suddenly felt his head spin and his body go numb. The beating of his heart echoed in his ears, and cold sweats slid in waves down his spine. He almost felt like about to throw up.
"Gavin." Connor looked at him. "I know what you are thinking and no, you are wrong. "
"I would be surprised if you knew what I'm thinking about..." the human said, swallowing hard.
" I know it… "
The RK800 glanced at Hank, silently asking for some privacy. The lieutenant then nodded and walked back to his office. Connor gave Gavin a small smile.
"There is something between you two ... but I won't say anything, I promised."
Gavin looked at him wide-eyed. Fucking God what does Connor knew exactly ? Their feelings for each other? That they kissed? Or worse, that they touched each other on the couch a month ago ? Panic began to resurface.
"What I meant, Gavin, is that Cyberlife isn't controlling Conrad all the time. It happened seven times. Eight if you count what happened in the observation room. But the rest of the time, he was in control, it was really him, with his own feelings ... "
"The… the night we interviewed Jela… was that him ..? And… last night ..? "
"I saw the dates, and the ones you're talking about were really him. Whatever happened those nights Gavin, it was him and only him. "
Gavin sighed loudly, deeply relieved to hear that. For a moment he had believed the script was going to repeat itself, that Conrad had been playing with him from the start, and that nothing he had said or done had been real. But everything had been sincere, true, genuine. Best of all, Connor didn't seem to know what had happened between them. God be praised.
But there was clearly another problem. Gavin turned to the glass to look at Conrad still unconscious, still handcuffed. Why was Cyberlife controlling him ..? Who was this AI? What had it made him do?
Gavin had to help Conrad. It was already his role as a policeman and a friend, but now it was much more important. They were together now, and Gavin had to help him. Because if Cyberlife took Conrad from him… he would go and blow up the tower and him with it.