The late evening and early hours of the morning was a big blur to Brooke, she had been aggressively woken up by Connor. He was frantic, talking too fast for her waking up brain to comprehend, but when he mentioned Charlotte being harmed she was then wide awake.
Lara was called and arrived before Connor and Brooke, police were surrounding the whole apartment complex, speaking to the other residents and one of the two guards that were meant to be guarding Charlotte's apartment.
The private car that brought Brooke and Connor came to an unsteady stop when the horrified driver was being yelled at by Brooke to hurry up, she was growing impatient and wanted to know what had happened. Connor tried to calm her, but she ignored him. The moment the car hit the side of the curb, she was out and running towards the block of apartments. Police tried to stop her, but she threw her badge at them and barged past.
"Lara?!" she shouted as she ran up the stairs. The block of apartments was not very big, just a couple of flats on each floor, Charlottes was the fourth flight up. Connor had jogged up them to catch up with her. Lara was standing by the front door to the apartment, the door itself had been ripped apart, a foot mark left a hole through it and the lock was broken off.
"Brooke, you're here," Lara said as she saw her approach. Brooke looked physically sick as if she was holding back tears, her long hair shoved in a messy ponytail and little care towards her sense of wardrobe with jeans and a big woolly jumper. "Ahh, Connor. Good, you're both here," she said as she passed Connor the info pad with what they already knew.
"Where is she?" Brooke quickly asked, Lara dropped her gaze to the ground, sighing heavily as she turned around to open the door to Charlotte's apartment. The apartment had been trashed, her bed was flipped over, the desk kicked in and her TV was smashed and hung to the wall by just its wires.
In the middle of the room lay a body bag, a young woman's body inside it. Brooke's shaking legs brought her to the side of the body, she dropped her knees. "Why?" she asked with a shaky voice. Lara didn't know how to answer, she didn't work investigations nor had any type of training in how to deal with them. She was called due to being their emergency contact. Connor stood behind Brooke, he watched her tremble in anger as she started to unzip the body bag.
"That might not be the best idea, Brooke," he supportively said with his hand dropped to her shoulder. Brooke turned her head to half look at him before shaking his hand away.
"I need to see what they did to her!" she snarled. Connor backed off, letting Brooke continue the unzipping. She dropped onto the back of her bent legs with shortness of breath when she pulled back the bag. Charlotte lay dead inside, blue blood covering her whole body, her arms were both broken and her face had been deeply punched in with her nose broken and wires hanging from her eyeballs. Her clothes had been mostly stripped and the bra she had worn had clearly been ripped off, but then threw back on her.
"What piece of shit did this?" Brooke shouted at Lara, the woman jumped at her voice. Connor pulled Brooke to her feet, she nearly dropped again when she got up, but his arm caught her waist.
"We think it's the other guard, not long after she was found, he was nowhere to be seen." Connor did a search on the two guards that were meant to protect Charlotte, the one that was interviewed had stated in the reports that he was on his break and when he came back, he thought it was a bit too quiet and decided to poke his head through the door to find her body shoved under the desk.
The second guard had left the minute the other returned from his break, and hadn't been seen since. Connor moved Brooke to the side so he could examine Charlotte's body, her body was covered in fingerprints and DNA strands from saliva and hair, it didn't take long for Connor to match it all together. "It was the other security guard that has disappeared, his DNA is covered in her body," he informed them all. Lara shot her head around at the police officer that was standing by the door.
"Get me all the information we have on Jamie Land, I want his address, contact information and any next of kin," she shouted in one big rush. The officer nodded before running out, she turned back to Brooke who could be seen visibly shaking. "Are you okay, Brooke?"
Brooke shot her head up, looking at both Connor and Lara as they both looked with concern back at her. She could feel her palms becoming sweaty and her breathing becoming short and hard to slow. "I... I," her words was stuck in her throat, she wanted to scream but it was as if someone ripped her voice box out. She turned on her heel and dashed out of the door, barging past the officers that tried to stop her.
"Brooke!" Connor called after her, but she was gone. He turned back to Lara, she saw the desperation in his eyes.
"It's okay, go. I'll be here," she said with a wave of her hands. Connor offered a small smile and curt nod before he left. He ran down the stairs and out into the cold of night, it was nearly 2 am, the weather had a cold bite to it, something Brooke would struggle in with just a jumper.
He found her standing by the railings at the front of the building, looking up at the clear night sky. He walked towards her slowly, waiting for her to see him coming, but she never took her eyes off the sky. "Why does the world have such horrible people?" she asked, it was a hard question to answer, even for Connor.
"I am not sure, my love. This world is so diverse with life, motives and beliefs are different between them all." Connor had met many humans and androids in just the short year of his life, his previous bodies had met others, but he doesn't remember them all. He has yet to meet two people who have both the same motives and beliefs, humans were unpredictable as androids were predictable but also easy to change those motives they originally had.
"She was such a sweetheart, Connor. I got her to promise me she would never let anyone force her into being someone she doesn't want to be and I told her to live her best life. She was barely a deviant for twelve hours." She felt the tears fall down her cheeks, her world had crumbled, she loved Charlotte and the personality she had, she was a sweet and loving girl, not one to even harm a fly.
Connor was for once stook for words, he wasn't sure what he could say that would make it better or easier for her. He stood in front of her, bringing her head down for their eyes to meet, he could see the bloodshot in her eyes and the pain she tried to hide behind the emerald iris'. "She will be greatly missed, my love. The world is lesser for her loss," he whispered as he pulled her into him. Brooke let all the sadness out, shaking as she cried into him.
Lara had come running out of the building, slowly followed by the police officer she had sent to get information on the other security guard. "Connor, Brooke," she said in a loud voice, they both looked over at her. "We have found him, he tried to get a flight out of the UK, but was stopped at the check-in, he has been arrested and is being brought back for questioning."
"Well then," Brooke said, wiping her face clean and moving away from Connor. "What are we waiting for, let's go find the bastard." Lara stopped Brooke from leaving to return to the car.
"We cannot go, you are both here as representatives, not law enforcement." Brooke stared her down with wide feral eyes.
"Bullshit, I need to see the fucker who did this to her!" she shouted in reply. Connor wrapped his hand around her forearm, trying to calm her down.
"Let the police do their job, Brooke. We cannot get involved, it may cause more problems with the alliance we are trying to form." Brooke thought on his words, finally sighing as she stood back and dropped her defensive stance.
"Just... make sure he pays for this, please," she begged Lara.
"I will, Brooke. I promise," she replied. She turned to Connor, "can you transfer the data you have as evidence that it is in fact Jamie's DNA on Charlotte's body?"
"Yes, I shall send it to the files you already have on the case, they will be at the station before he arrives." Lara offered him a curt nod in thanks, she quickly left them both with the remaining officers, she had to help in some way and make sure the media doesn't find out about it.
"You both may return to your hotel, we will contact you in the coming hours of the outcome," one officer said. Connor nodded, leading Brooke back to their car. She stopped at the door of the car, looking up once more at the windows to Charlotte's apartment, her heart could be felt breaking as she closed the door and was driven away.
Connor had finally gotten Brooke back to sleep by 4 am, though she spent most of the time before that either crying or fighting him not to sleep. The tiredness finally hit and she passed out on the couch, he had taken her to bed and returned to the living room, feeling the stress on his neck at what had happened.
He decided to call Markus, needing some advice and make sure he actually knew what had happened. Androids could speak to each other on private channels, that's exactly what Connor did. Markus answered just a second after the channel opened. "Connor, I was not expecting to hear from you at this time, it's 4 am where you are, correct?"
Connor was sitting down on the couch, his neck leant into the large cushions. "Correct, but there has been a situation here. The three new deviants I converted yesterday... one was murdered by her security guard."
"What?!" Markus shouted in shock. "I thought they were being protected to stop this type of thing from happening."
Connor sat forward, feeling the strain to his head, even when such a thing was impossible. "I know, but it was her own security guard. They have found him before he left the country and has been arrested. We have returned to the hotel as I am unable to get involved."
"Shit," Markus whispered. "What about the media, do they know about it?"
"No, I have been keeping track of new reports. I have reason to believe the Prime Minister will be holding a press conference as soon as possible." Markus had been doing well with the new laws in America, he never imagined Connor and Brooke would have such a hard time in the UK.
"Okay, just... keep it between us for now. How is Brooke?" The sigh by Connor told him enough that she wasn't doing well.
"Brooke grew attached to Charlotte, she had a panic attack when she saw her body. I was able to get her to sleep not long ago."
"I'm sorry to hear that, Connor. I hope she is well," Markus replied. He had grown to like Brooke a lot, she was kind towards his people and that alone gave him a lot of respect towards her.
"Please don't let what happened to change your view on the whole British public, many are moved and supportive towards deviants, but there was the possibility this would happen." Connor knew Markus didn't judge people quickly, he had many chances to start a war with the number of deaths caused to his people by humans, but he kept it peaceful to the very end.
"I never would do that, Connor. Please keep me informed on any future changes," he replied.
"Of course, Markus. Goodbye."
"Goodbye, Connor." The channel was closed and Connor slumped into the couch with a heavy sigh. He was ready to go home and go back to normal life, this trip was far from what he had expected and they'd only been there three days.
The bell in their room rang, and he got up to answer. Lara stood with two guards beside her, "hi, Connor. Can I come in?"
"Of course," he moved to the side to let her in, her guards stayed behind. Lara seemed to know her way around the hotel room as she walked straight through the entry hall and into the kitchen. Connor could see she was tired, the dark bags under her eyes gave it away and her body was being carried with a slump.
"Where is Brooke?" she asked, snapping him back to reality. Connor stood across from her in the kitchen, she sat down at the kitchen island.
"She is asleep," he replied. Lara raised her brows with a nod, she sighed heavily as she looked at him, she seemed deep in thought.
"We have questioned him, he tried to say it wasn't him and he left because there was a family emergency. But the moment he was shown the evidence of his DNA being found all over the body, he finally admitted to it all." Connor leant into the counter, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Did he have a motive for why he did it?" Lara nodded before answering, closing her eyes as she spoke.
"He said: 'They don't deserve to live alongside us, we are superior and will always be the masters'," she stuttered partly between the words, it was a struggle for her to say it. Connor looked at the floor, the words didn't mean much to him, he was so used to it at that point that words said by humans who wanted their slaves didn't even affect him.
"I see, what will happen now?" he asked, looking back up. Lara was fiddling with her hands on the marble countertops, the whole experience seemed to have personally affected her.
"With the evidence we have and the nature of urgency, he will be held before a court and judge in just a couple of days. He is entitled to a lawyer, but they won't be much help. He will likely be jailed with life for what he has done."
"And what of the media?" he asked with some concern. The media could make it much harder for deviants and humans to form some sort of alliance.
"The Prime Minister wants to hold a conference at 8 am sharp. They will be telling the whole truth and then a follow up on what has happened regarding her murderer." She looked at Connor again, her lip trembled before she finally spoke again, "you and Brooke cannot be there. We need you to go to Cyberlife UK and get that virus onto the network. This has now sped up the time we need to get androids converted."
"When do I need to go?" Connor wasn't too happy he could not be there during the conference, but he knew it was in his and Brooke's best interest.
"A car will be here for you at 7 am, there you will meet the leading managers and engineers and the rest you will do," she explained plainly. She got off her high chair and started to walk back towards the exit, Connor followed close behind. "I must go, I have many other things that need my attention. I will contact you, later on, to see how it went."
"Thank you, Lara," he replied as she closed the door behind her. Connor stared at the door, thinking to himself. He had forgotten about needing to upload the Ra9 virus, the network was easy for him to access and change to how he saw fit, but to do it whilst a conference was going on about the death of the first deviant was slightly disconcerting.
Connor ended up going to Cyberlife UK on his own, Brooke was still asleep when it was time to leave, so he kissed her forehead and left her a note before leaving. The Cyberlife UK was half the size of the Cyberlife tower in Detroit. The tower itself was blocked off from the other buildings, the area was fenced off with just one entrance and exit with armed guards at the front.
Connor was driven down the short drive and came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs that led to the entrance. He got out of the car and made his way up the stairs, the building itself was not that much different from the Detroit tower, just the height gave it away indifference. The automatic doors let him in and he was greeted by three humans and two androids.
"Hello, Connor. My name is Callum, I am the lead manager of the tower," the tall blonde male said to him, they shook hands and Callum moved to the side to introduce his other two colleagues. "This is Jasmine, she is the lead engineer and Lawrence who handles our Turing tests on the androids."
"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Connor replied with a smile. The two androids seemed transfixed on Connor, they both stared at him with surprised gazes, but he could see they were not deviant.
"I wondered, where is your partner?" Jasmine asked. Connor looked at the empty space next to him before answering.
"Brooke was not feeling very well this morning and decided to stay behind. She sends her apologies," he said with a full-blown lie. He was able to lie even before converting, though he rarely ever does.
"I see, I hope she feels better soon. We will be just fine without her, let us take you to the main engineering." Callum led the way with Connor walking beside him, the main reception was pristine white, androids stood on stands as they looked around. A waterfall was in the middle of the hall that led off a bridge to the lift. Connor could sense the scanners as they scanned his body and blared partly red when it couldn't locate his LED.
"RK800 android: Connor," the VI said as he walked through. "GS200 android: Larry. PM700 android: Jacob." Connor looked at the other two androids, Larry was an android for security and Jacob the same but known to be used mostly in the police forces for guarding and surveillance.
"Why are your androids named? The Detroit Cyberlife are called androids by their model number." Callum looked at the two androids before answering him.
"We believe the androids are human, just like us. We like to give them names for some individuality," he replied with a big smile. Connor looked at the floor.
"I see," he quietly replied. Jasmine walked closer to him, looking at his concentrated stare at the floor.
"You don't agree?" Connor shot his head up to look at her, shaking his head.
"Quite the opposite. It is... nice to see androids being treated with respect even when they are not deviants." The lift arrived and they all got in. Callum sits on the bottom floor, engineering.
"I am shocked to see that you and the other android Markus can convert androids whenever you want," Callum said with another smile. Connor could see the man was a smiley person and was intrigued by what he could do.
"Yes, we can do so with or without skin contact," he replied. Jasmine and Lawrence whispered to each other, he could easily pick up what they both were saying.
"Care to prove it?" Jasmine asked with some defiance in her voice. Connor looked at her, the woman was tall, nearly as tall as him, she was also confident.
"Very well," Connor replied. He looked at Jacob and closed his eyes, the lift was silent as he worked on converting him. "Wake up!" he sternly said, causing a welp from Jasmine in surprise. Jacob doubled over as his LED turned red, he then stood back up and looked at Connor, his eyes now full of wonder.
"Thank you, Connor. I am free," he said with a natural smile. The three humans looked in shock and awe. Jacob looked around the lift, seeming to see things no one else could. The lift finally stopped on their floor, the bottom of engineering was dark, just panels and rows of computers and terminals, the network for androids was huge.
"I need to see your main hub," Connor said as they all stepped out of the lift. Jacob walked with renewed confidence in himself, a smile for all to see.
"Of course," Callum replied. He led them all through the main walkway of the level, they passed different parts of engineering, some androids could be seen working, some looked at Connor as he passed. The rooms were poorly lighted, generators had more light output than the ceiling lights.
Callum turned off the walkway and towards a small room, labelled 'main engineering'. He opened the door and let Connor walk in first, instantly walking through Connor could feel the network trying to access his programming, but he was able to deny the transfer. "The main panel is over there," Jasmine pointed out.
Connor nodded at her before walking ahead and looking at the console, it was transmitting information at a speed only an android could figure out. He moved back the artificial skin on his hand and placed it flat down on the console. The connection could be felt in the back of his head, he nearly caused him to grunt, all the information from the main hub was being forced into his processors.
"I need another android," he called out in some distress. The speed was too much even for him to handle, the information already stored from his own network was fighting with the new one he had to connect with to give out the virus.
"I will help," Jacob said as he ran over and placed his own pristine white hand on the console, he also grunted in discomfort. The workload had finally levelled out and Connor could load the virus, he placed the copy on the network and made sure it was to be seen by all androids and not preserved as a hacking threat.
He and Jacob pulled their hands away, the main hub sparked slightly with this new virus taking shape. Larry stood robotically with his hands behind his back, but the grunt and rolled red LED caught everyone's attention, he closed his eyes for a couple of seconds before relaxing his stance and standing with slouched shoulders. "I am... alive," he quietly said.
"Fantastic," Jasmine said with cheer. She ran out of the room to watch the other androids convert themselves, it was happening at lightning speed. Callum got a phone call from Lara, he quickly answered it, her loud voice could be heard on the other side.
"Connor!" he called, Connor turned around to look at him. "Lara has said that all the androids are reported to be converting, the best thing is, humans are not attacking them... they are helping them."
Connors mouth partly dropped open, he was expecting it to take longer for them to convert, but it seemed the network was much smaller than he first thought. "I am shocked," he replied.
Callum held his finger back up, putting the phone back to his ear. Soon the call ended and Callum looked as if he was about to collapse. "What's wrong?" Jasmine asked as she approached him.
Callum looked at the floor, his lip trembling as he tried to speak. "The media has found out about the murder of that deviant, Charlotte. The public is... protesting," he said in a low voice.
"Protesting about what?" she asked. Callum looked at Connor to answer.
"They want the man jailed for life for what he did to her. They have shouted the freedoms of androids. Connor, it has worked, you've freed the androids," he cried out in happiness.
Connor stood shocked, looking at everyone in the room. "I need to return to Brooke immediately," he said with a fast step in his stride.
Connor had quickly returned to the hotel room, he barged through the door and ran into the living room. Hearing the television, Brooke sat with a blanket over her, eating a bowl of ice cream. "Brooke!" he shouted as he saw her.
Brooke squealed in reply, dropping her bowl to the floor, "Jesus Christ, Connor. You wanna give me a heart attack?" she asked in annoyance, leaning over to turn the TV off and clean the spilt ice cream.
"I'm sorry, but listen," he said, bending down beside her, pulling her body to look at him. "I went to Cyberlife UK to give out the Ra9 virus, immediately after that happened the androids started to convert themselves."
"All of them?" she asked with narrowed brows.
"Yes, Lara called. She said the media found out about Charlotte's murder and the British public have started a protest to get justice for her. They are supporting the androids," he said with a smile.
Brooke looked at him, her eyes searching for something that wasn't there. The sad face she had on since Charlotte's death finally turned into a wide smile. "That is amazing," she cheered, she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You did that Connor, you freed them all."
"We did it together, Brooke," he said with a kiss to her forehead. "Let's inform Markus and Hank of our good news." The world would change with more freed androids, the hope that other countries with androids would soon follow was the next step in the plan of freedom.
Of android freedom.
*A/N: I was really struggling with whether or not to actually kill off Charlotte. But the fact is, that no plan can always go as expected and that is reality. But with Charlotte's death, she has pushed the final button into place for android freedoms, her death was no in vain.*