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: Needing more informations regarding 1K, Gavin and Conrad head to Cyberlife Tower to speak with Elijah Kamski. Although elusive and somewhat manipulative, the creator ended up providing the detectives with new leads. Conrad learns more about who he is, the RK Project, and the potential culprit of this whole story.
CHAPTER 21
" From Mother To Son "
A week had passed since the incident at the station, and despite their research on the RK1000, Conrad and Gavin had found nothing about it. The AI, aka 1K, hadn't manifested itself in any way. It was for this reason that today the two police officers stood in front of the large Cyberlife tower. They were here to speak to Elijah Kamski again for more informations, and this time he had better not lie or be evasive.
Connor and Hank had taken care of their previous interview, but Conrad wanted to meet this man in person in order to get his own idea of the character. He was the one who had been invaded by the RK1000's AI, so he knew it better than anyone yet. Only Conrad could talk about 1K, and he hoped to have some concrete answers.
Guided by an M320, Gavin and Conrad took the elevator to the 42nd floor. The new androids made the two policemen quite uneasy. Conrad because he couldn't interface or communicate wirelessly with them, and Gavin because he still saw puppets being exploited by humans.
They both sighed at the same time as the doors closed, the M320 staying outside the elevator.
"Luckily there's a fucking elevator ..!" Gavin joked, glancing at Conrad. "Do you see us climbing up the stairs?" "
"I don't see you climbing up the stairs, actually. "
"Hey ..! I do my best to be in good shape ..! I give all I have at the gym ..! "
"You can't lift 20kg on each arm."
"Let me tell you that I'm not a cyborg myself ! And the strength of arms and legs is completely different. Then I don't climb the stairs on my hands. "
"I would like to see that." Said the android, smiling.
They gave each other an half-amused and half-knowing looks as the elevator continued to go up. When the doors opened again on the 42nd floor, another M320 was waiting for them. Conrad thought then that these android models were assigned to each floor, designed for hospitality like the ST300. The inability to be able to interact with them disturbed him greatly. But it was no different for Gavin, who couldn't interact with anyone like that either. Besides Conrad.
They then walked along the long white corridors, pristine, in a very minimalist, futuristic and refined design. There were a few benches with sometimes organic shapes and others more geometric. A few plants sat here and there, just to give a little life and colour to this place devoid of personality.
Gavin preferred to walk on the side of the wall, where the doors followed one after the other, because on the other side of the corridor, the wall was nothing but glass, giving a bird's eye view of the interior of the Cyberlife tower, and on the gigantic statue of a humanoid at its heart.
He wasn't particularly afraid of height, but on the 42nd floor who wouldn't be ? He had done his best not to think about it when they were in the elevator, too, all in glass.
He hated the opposing design in that strength / fragility that Cyberlife brought into the architecture in their tower. Who, sane enough, felt comfortable working in such a place?
"We've arrived detectives," said the M320, stopping outside a door. "I'll let you in. You are expected. "
"Thank you very much ..." Conrad thought briefly. "Do you have a name? "
"I am an M320, number 313-122-181-74. "
Conrad gave a small tight smile, which the other android couldn't understand but which continued to smile like she was the happiest in the world.
She was just a machine. Just a number. She had no personality. Like this place.
" We thank you. "
Conrad pushed open the door, followed by Gavin who gave the android one last look who greeted them with a jovial smile, and the door closed.
" Scary... "
"I sympathize." Conrad said, nodding his head. "She may be as well-designed and realistic as we are, but the lack of the ability to communicate with her as with Connor, for example, is extremely disturbing. "
"She's a robot, she has nothing to do with you or Connor. It gives me shivers. "
"There's something uncanny about her, even to me. "
" I agree.. ! "
"Detectives ..! "
Conrad and Gavin immediately stopped their discussion and watched the man exit an adjacent room. Elijah Kamski in all his splendor as a rich scientist and pretentious narcissistic genius, came to greet them as if they were long-time friends, when neither of the two detectives had yet met him in person.
Kamksi wore simple black jeans with a t-shirt of the same colour but with a print of a neon blue octopus tangling in its tentacles. Still with his hair tied back in a man bun on the top of his head, he walked over to them, his arms behind his back. A posture rather similar to one of Conrad, which was his default posture.
"Who am I speaking to? "
"Detective Reed," said the concerned, showing his badge. "And this is Conrad, my partner. "
"Android detective." Conrad clarified, showing his badge as well.
"Oh my…" Kamski smirked in fascination. "You are the RK900 that disappeared last November ..."
Conrad frowned, his LED flashing briefly yellow before glancing confusedly at his teammate, who looked at him the same way.
"We come to have answers. And considering what you just said just now, "Gavin said, staring at Kamski. "You seem to know essential things. "
"Are you looking for answers on the RK900?"
"Conrad." Gavin corrected. "His name is Conrad. "
"Funny," the other human smirked as he took turns looking at them. "A name similar to Connor's. "
" We work together." Conrad said, remaining stoic. "And we come to ask you questions on another subject. Only, it will be necessary to answer questions concerning me to answer the others. "
"I feel like it's going to be entertaining. "
Kamksi seemed to take this interview as a game, and Gavin was already beginning to lose patience and wanted to stick his fist in his face.
The Cyberlife director turned around to walk to the next room, where he had arrived from earlier. He asked the detectives to follow him, and once through the door they found themselves in a large room with matte black tiled floors, with a breathtaking view of Detroit, through its large glass walls. More glass and more glass, Gavin thought.
A large, white pile rug sat to the left, surrounded by individual low-seat white armchairs, probably created by a designer, accompanied by a small, also very low, shiny metal table. To the right was an islet with an asymmetrical wooden geometric figure, probably art, Gavin thought, not very receptive to such objects. A large white humanoid statue, wrapped in a black voronoi-style pattern, was also near this islet. It seemed to glow a neon blue, which reminded Gavin when Conrad began to turn blue in embarrassment.
At the back of the room, a section of the wall was covered with large convex gold and faceted tiles. A large dark solid wood table was located just in front, which could seat ten people. Looking up a little, they could immediately notice the atypical lighting of the room, which was a set of neon lights assembled to form triangles, looking more like an origami pattern.
What a big pretentious man, Gavin thought, looking around the room. He hated it when people strutted around and surrounded themselves with expensive and supposedly artistic things.
Conrad brushed his human's hand to bring him back to him. Kamski had invited them to sit in that little living room to the left, and Gavin was standing there in the middle of the room, almost dumbfounded. He blamed himself for a few moments for being so distracted and for having led the little genius to believe that he was fascinated by his decoration. He hated it on the contrary.
He shook his head and joined Conrad near the living room, and Gavin had to make a phenomenal effort to hide his surprise when he took a seat in the chair that was far too low for him, and thought he had fallen backwards.
Nonetheless, Conrad had noticed his micro-expressions, as well as his heart skipping a beat and then accelerating sharply. But he didn't mention it.
"So ..." Kamski began. "How can I help you, detectives?"
"We will start from the beginning." Conrad said as he sat down in the chair next to Gavin. "What happened after the Revolution concerning me? "
Kamski smirked and crossed his legs in his chair, facing them.
"There were twenty RK900 units." He began. "The RK800 was just a prototype, useful for finding deviants. The RK900s were already in production since the end of October 2038. "
"So when Connor was activated in early august 2038, did you already have plans to replace him?" Gavin frowned, finding the idea just abominable.
" Indeed. The RK800 was only a testing phase for the real model, the RK900, to be released. We needed to improve on the latest bugs based on Connor's experiences, and his choices."
"So ..." Conrad said, putting things in order in his head. "Whenever Connor got destroyed, or made bad or good choices, was it to make me better? "
"Like everything on this planet, Conrad, we learn from our mistakes and we evolve. To become better, we have to go through failures. "
"Connor is not a failure. "
"Connor is a prototype," Kamski reminded again. "He was created to be a failure, and to be replaced. "
Conrad didn't like the turn of this conversation. He didn't care that Kamski beat around the bush on him, but he couldn't accept him saying that his brother was a failure. He was anything but that.
"But to come back to the main question," Kamski continued when he saw Conrad's LED turning yellow, "we ultimately weren't allowed to put the androids we owned both in factories and shops. "
"But Conrad is here." Gavin said crossing his arms over his chest. " An explanation ? "
"After the revolution, we lost a lot of androids." Kamski glanced at Conrad. "The RK800 Connor came to free over a thousand androids, so by the time we checked our losses, we didn't immediately notice that one of our RK900s was missing."
"I was activated on November 15, so shortly after the November revolution. I'm also part of the RK project, and you know as well as I do that RKs are not mixed with other androids, because ... we were part of a project that was confidential. "
Kamski narrowed his eyes, surprised Conrad knew so much about RK projects. But he smirked, not wanting to show his surprise.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Kamski said as neutral as possible. "We don't have confidential projects. "
Now Conrad was one of Cyberlife's most advanced androids, and there was no way he could lie or hide anything from him. He could see the man's heart rate quickening in front of him, as well as slight muscle spasms, showing his nervousness. Conrad leaned forward, leaning on his knees, interweaving his fingers in front of his chin.
"Listen Mr. Kamski," Conrad began.
"You can call me Elijah. "
"I will call you Mr. Kamski." Conrad said cooler. "We are not friends. And other than this code called RA9 that you created and that I own, you have no connection with me." He looked at him straight in the eye. "You weren't at Cyberlife when I was created, just like Connor. We know, you and I, that you are not the RK project manager. So maybe I can accept the idea that you weren't exactly aware of the purpose of the RK Project, but you must know that it was confidential and accessible to only a handful of people. "
Elijah made a small annoyed pout as he settled himself back into his chair. He was tense, but eventually he relaxed his shoulders, realizing that he obviously couldn't hide anything from the android in front of him.
" Very well." Elijah said, nodding his head. "I'll tell you everything. "
"This is essential for our investigation." Gavin took over. "Knowing what happened to Conrad, and why he was released will help us to understand the rest. "
"It all sounds a bit complex to me, I have to admit." Kamski said looking at the two detectives. "It sounds like a thrilling story, but… I don't know if I can be 100% helpful to you. "
"If you already answer our questions, then it will make a big difference. "
Elijah nodded, then raised his hand as if to call out to a waiter. An android then entered the room, and Conrad could identify immediately who it was.
The RT600, first model, named Chloé. An android like him. And she had come in with a black tray on her hand, with two glasses and two bottles: water and bourbon. She set the tray down on the small coffee table between them, glanced at the detectives, and sat up.
"Thanks Chloe. "
She nodded and left the room. Kamksi leaned forward grabbing the bottle of bourbon and offered to Gavin, who declined. He didn't drink during his working hours. With a case as important as this, there was no way he missed even a small detail.
Kamski then poured himself instead, and poured Gavin some water before sitting up with his own glass in his hands.
"Yes." Kamski said crossing his legs again. "The RK project is indeed classified confidential for reasons that I cannot say. "
"We know the RKs were a private Cyberlife militia to hunt down deviants. "
"I see…" He pursed his lips. "Well I guess we don't have any secrets from each other then. "
"Who was in charge of the RK project? "
"Professor Stern. "
"Do you mean Amanda Stern?" Conrad asked, tilting his head to the side. "She is believed to be dead in 2027."
"Indeed, but it was her who initiated the project with the aim of simply making androids detectives, with skills soldiers and even super-men. It was about broadening our horizons in sendding the androids to different branches of the police, armies, and as you can imagine… "he paused. "I added my personal touch to it as well. "
"The RA9 code ..." Gavin narrowed his eyes.
"The code was designed to go unnoticed by programmers who were not in the know, neither in Quality Control, nor in the Operator. This is why over the course of the creation of the RKs, the AIs have been reimplanted in new models, improved, keeping the good points of the previous RKs and integrating them into the following ones. "
"What was the first RK to have had the RA9 code?"
"It was an RK300, but it wasn't very efficient. By relocating his AI to those after, the code followed. And so on. "
"So it was… thanks to the RK300 that Connor and I were able to become deviant ..? "
"In a way. "
"But you didn't mention the RK200, Markus. "
Elijah smiled quietly.
"The RK200 that I gave my dear friend Carl Manfred had nothing to do with the RK project as Amanda understood it. Technically, he was the first of the RKs to be programmed with RA9, also with skills that you have today Conrad, like pre-contruction software, but… "He pursed his lips. "I was so proud of the result, that I faked a failure in his programmings, so he could be canceled from the project. "
"So you purposely failed your tests to give Markus to your friend as a gift?" Gavin said in shock, still having his arms crossed over his chest.
"Take it as you mean it. I was the CEO, I did what I wanted. "
Gavin couldn't believe his ears. But in a way, he was glad it had turned out this way, as Markus was a determined, persevering android, had he been an RK detective he probably would have wreaked havoc.
Fortunately, he had made a peaceful revolution, and that he was a thoughtful and lenient person. Without that, Chris Miller would have died last November.
"Who took over the project following Amanda Stern's deth ?" Gavin asked, still not very confident.
"After her death, her son took over. I resigned the following year. "
"What was his name?" Conrad asked, adding this new information to the case.
"Michael Stern. I didn't really follow his work after my resignation, but before that I created an AI in honour of his mother, which was implanted in the following RKs, notably 700 and 800. After I quit… I know that the RK project had changed its focus. Having cases of deviancy after my departure, Carter Ward, the new CEO asked Stern to use his RK to investigate. And this is where things got ... maybe got out of hand. "
Gavin narrowed his eyes at the same time as Conrad, who had his LED circling yellow. Kamski was cooperative, and they weren't going to complain, but there was no way for him to let this matter stand. A lot of information had come to clear up their questions, both about the investigation and about Conrad's condition.
They had to learn more. It was essential.
"He wanted to keep the property rights to his mother's works and made backups on an external driver to Cyberlife's. Especially on the last projects which had been carried out just before the revolution: the launch of the RK900. This is where normally, Conrad, you would had come in to replace Connor. It was inevitable, failure or no failure. He was a prototype, he was meant to be replaced. "
"So you are implying that I am the finished product of the RKs? The final version? "
" It's exact. "
" But that's not the case. "
Gavin glared at Kamski, but Kamski looked at him slightly confused. Perhaps Conrad was meant to be the last type of RK, the point was that there was now an RK1000 out there somewhere.
"How's that's not the case, detective? "
"I'm not the last in the serie." Conrad said. " I will explain to you." He settled down properly, ready for his long speech. "The RK project had been in the hands of Michael Stern since February 2027. Seeing Cyberlife hit the wall because of the android revolution of November 2038, Stern transferred the project to a personal server and driver in order to keep control and have his rights on his mother's property." Kamski nodded, as if to approve his words. "Only, he wanted to keep an android in order to always be able to work with his AI in hardware. He therefore chose a model from the last existing series, the RK900. He took one without Cyberlife's permission, resulting in one of them missing. Cyberlife destroyed all the others as well as the other androids that weren't implanted with an AI because of the new law, which was released in late December 2038. Meanwhile, Stern activated the RK900 he had stolen, with the original AI in it, which had been shaped by the experiences, successes and failures of previous RKs. "
Kamski had his head bowed slightly forward but his eyes raised in Conrad's direction. He was aware of certain things, such as the fact that Stern had stolen the RK Project, but he had no idea that he was responsible for the missing of the RK900 that was now in front of him.
"Stern made a copy of that AI, and improved it." Conrad said, still seriously challenging his deductions. "With only one android on hand, he implemented the second AI with the previous one. Since the new one was illegal, he hid it behind a line of code so that it wasn't easily detected, both by an outside source and by the RK900 itself. "
Elijah bit his lip nervously before leaning forward, leaning on his knees, fists placed under his chin. An improved RK900 AI, which was probably not deviant, and which wasn't under Cyberlife's control. Kamski suddenly felt nervous. This AI was a time bomb, and Cyberlife clearly didn't need another scandal, even though Stern had strangely resigned after the revolution.
End to end, it wasn't that strange anymore, after all ...
"He agreed with his mother that deviant androids were flawed, that they could be unpredictable and dangerous, that they were just a computer virus. "
Conrad paused. They weren't really wrong there. RA9 was originally a code to cause deviancy and software instabilities to make androids aware and awake, but the code could be transmitted by simple transfers. Conrad had seen it in Connor's memories. That was what he had done with the androids in the Cyberlife warehouse. Even though deviancy was a virus, they were still alive. And Conrad didn't want to lose that awareness. He had no memories of being a machine, and he might never have been one, but one thing was for sure, he never wanted to be like that.
"That's why he made the RK900 deviant so that he could gain the others deviants trust, so that the hidden AI would then take over punctually and intercept them like all good RKs." Conrad shook his head gently. Gavin didn't like the term either, but that was what they were originally created for, unfortunately. "Stern created an RK1000 in my own head, and hid it right under my nose for months. I only realized it after several reports of blackouts on specific dates, when the AI was taking over. I managed to get rid of the RK1000 only seven days ago, it still exists on another server. Chances are it can be implanted back into another android, only dedicated to receiving its AI. Stern feels no guilt or remorse about getting rid of the deviant androids to this day. We have to find him and stop him, because he is the one giving orders to the RK1000, because he's not deviant. If we stop Stern, we stop 1K. If we stop them, there will be no more deviant androids killings caused by other androids. Because between deviants, we feel no need to destroy ourselves. "
"We need to know where Michael Stern is." Gavin said, still tense. "And quickly. We need your cooperation. "
Kamski was flabbergasted. There was an RK1000 in the wild, under the control of an anti-deviancy psychopath. But it wasn't for ethics, or out of empathy that he would cooperate, but simply to prevent public opinion from thinking that this scandal, if discovered, could be connected to Cyberlife. Whereas it was Stern, and only Stern, responsible.
"Very well." Elijah said standing up. "I will to give you everything I can have on him so you can stop him. If you need anything else, don't hesitate. I will help you if you stop this impostor. "
Gavin and Conrad got up at the same time and nodded. Kamski gave them all the informations in his possession and transferred it to Conrad.
The two detectives then left Cyberlife. A big breakthrough had taken place today, and they now had new cards to play in their favour.