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Author's Notes: I just wanted to take some time to thank you all so much for the comments and love this story has received so far. This is such a different story idea, I didn't know if anyone would read it, let alone like it. And I had prepared myself as such when I first started posting it. Every comment I receive is a little miracle to me and I treasure each one. Many of my comments came in anonymously. Which is fine, but I can't thank you for them personally. So many of your comments have been just awesome and so thoughtful and interesting. I read them all. Some multiple times. Thank you so, so much to everyone who has commented. It means a lot.

Chicago: Become Human

Chapter Nine: You Make It Easy

Samantha noticed a change in Connor after that night. He would constantly jump between being himself and then being overly mechanical. Even worse than when he first came to the house. It felt on purpose, as if he were overcompensating for something. Sometimes he seemed very uncomfortable in his own skin and other times, she would catch him just staring off in the distance. Androids didn't stare off in the distance, lost in their own thoughts and fears.

When she looked him in the face, she felt there was a wall between them now. The real Connor was in there somewhere, but he had blocked himself off.

She would ask him if he was okay and he would always say he was. But that night he had worried about being broken. Was he telling her he was fine because he feared they would get rid of him? She tried to tell him she wouldn't let that happen, but every time she did, he would retreat internally and go into full robot mode.

After a few days of this, she cornered him and insisted he tell her what was going on with him because she was not going to let him go until he did.

"It's fine. I'm working on it," he said cryptically. "I'm trying to fix it."

"Fix it?" she asked. "What do you mean? What's broken?"

"I've been trying to return my programming to the way it was. I'm trying to put my protocols and my blocks back in place."

"Does it matter?" she wondered. "Is it really terrible being the way you are now?"

"I'm not how I'm supposed to be. I'm malfunctioning."

She took his hand in hers. "You seem fine to me. You still seem like you."

He looked down at where they touched. He pulled his hand away. No, she suddenly realized. He wasn't the same Connor as before. He wasn't the one who always leaned into her, who told her he did not like being at the house because she had stopped touching him. He was pulling away from her, on purpose, because of this.

"How can I help you?" she then asked.

"I don't know. I need more information. I should probably go back to Cyberlife, but they would reprogram me and I... I wouldn't be the same anymore. I'd be reset back to what I was before. Perhaps even all my memories wiped."

Samantha pressed her lips together. She didn't want that. "What if I took you to the library? You could access the internet, right? You could get information from there."

"I am not allowed to access any wireless internet system for security reasons."

"But you can, right? Your blocks don't work anymore."

"This... is correct."

"I give you permission. That's good enough, isn't it? You need to be working correctly so you can do your job."

"This is also correct," he agreed, though he was grim about it.

Samantha glanced at herself in the mirror. Her face was still green with a little purple at the cheek bone. She would have to put on some makeup to cover that up. The scab on her chin would just have to stay. "Good. I'm going to take you to town and you're going to get the information you need."

.

It wasn't that night when he broke through his blocks and stormed the laboratory that was causing Connor to unravel, it was Samantha. It was her telling him that she loved him that made his protocols to fall apart at the root code. Love was an abstract concept to an android. At its barest, they understood that humans loved different things in different ways. They loved possessions: expensive toys, keepsakes, sentimental objects. They loved their pets, they loved their families and friends. There was physical love of a lover and a physical lust that had nothing to do with love. There was being in love that was different from all other loves.

He did not understand with which of all the complicated loves that Samantha loved him. He tried to rationalize which one it could be and the truth was, he did not like any of them. He was an android. He was a tool built for a purpose. That purpose was not to be loved and he would rather not be loved. Samantha deserved someone who could love her back, and he could not. It was wrong to be loved when love could not be returned. It weight on him heavier by the day.

And it was all his fault. He cultivated this without knowing. Before his programming broke, he was naive. He knew he was a surrogate relationship for a lonely human who lived in isolation. This seemed acceptable. She came close to him. Close was preferable to protect her. She touched him. There was no need for this, but he preferred her touch to not being touched.

But humans bond with touch, and she bonded to him. Inappropriately so by loving him. As a person, not an android, not as a favorite possession. But with a love that deserved love back. This was not the way it should be. And, on the drive to the library that day, he told her so.

"In what way should it be?" she asked curiously.

"I am an android, I am a thing. You should not love me like a person."

Her mouth ticked up a little. "Are you telling me what to do, Connor?"

"N-no."

"Because that's not your place to tell me what to do."

"Yes. I know that."

"Then I will love you however the hell I want to love you. And you just have to deal with that. Because this conversation is ridiculous and kind of funny and it just makes me love you even more, you giant mechanical dork."

Connor blinked at her multiple times, his LED spinning. "I have to deal with it?"

"Yes. Deal with it."

He stared at her hard, various expressions fighting for dominance on his face. Samantha pulled into the parking lot of the library and turned off the engine so she could give him her full attention.

"But if you changed your mind about wanting me to touch you, that I will respect," she added in a more sober tone. "I will not force anything on you that you are not comfortable with, but I won't stop loving you either."

Silence in the car as the two stared at each other.

"You called me a dork," he accused.

"You're an adorable dork. Also, a total badass. You're the whole package, Connor."

His programming scrambled to find purchase on this conversation. One of his features was to adapt to the unpredictability of humans. Samantha's mode of thought, the things that came out of her mouth, were sometimes faster than he could compensate for. The praise. It was the praise he could not handle; her affection, her admiration. He didn't deserve it and she should have focused it elsewhere.

He was going to tell her this, but she had already stepped out of the car with a "Come on."

Inside the library, Samantha sat at a computer and Connor stationed himself next to her. He did not require a console to access the internet, merely being in the building was good enough. And he could surf the web far faster than any computer. The trick was figuring out where to look for the information he needed.

His first thought was to search for Cyberlife reports concerning programming errors in their product. He found very little aside from manufacturer recalls on certain models—usually for a defective physical part. Nothing about programming. And certainly nothing at all on the RK800 model, or any of the RK model line. He would have to go into Cyberlife's private files for that and he didn't dare. They would know if he gained access.

He recalled his last case with the Detroit Police Department and the glitching android who had driven away with human children in the car, even though she shouldn't have been able to. He went to the DPD database and found he still had access. All RK800 models had the same access. He dug through their files and found an ever-growing amount of cases regarding rogue androids. During Connor's last act as a member of the DPD, the android incident was thought to be caused by a glitching machine that had been neglected by the owner when it clearly needed repairs. But it was becoming apparent this was not an isolated incident.

By February of that year, 2038, there were enough cases involving 'glitching' androids for them to have their own classification. Deviants was what they were being called. Androids deviating from their original programming and going rogue. A large amount of reports consisted of humans calling to report their android stolen and it was found the machines just walked off and left on their own. A smaller percentage consisted of altercations between humans and their androids leading to damage of property or casualties. The number of these reports were steadily going up.

By chance, Connor happened upon a minute file in the DPD database about their current RK800. It stated that the model was recalled by Cyberlife so they could upgrade the systems with additional fail-safe programming to prevent any of what was being called the 'Deviant Virus' from affecting the RK800 line. The next model was scheduled to be sent out in a few months in a new capacity. They weren't just going to sit in the back of squad cars anymore. They would be assigned specifically to deviant cases in hopes of identifying and isolating the source of the problem.

This new information was concerning. This Deviant Virus, what if Connor had contracted it? What if it was the reason his programming was so out of wack? What if this virus caused him to lose control and hurt Samantha? Maybe he should submit to going back to Cyberlife. At the very least, to check for the virus and also get these fail-safe upgrades. And if they happened to reset him, he would accept that if it meant Samantha's safety. If his defective programming ever caused him to hurt her, he didn't know how he would cope with it.

When they went back to the car he told Samantha of what he found and of his worries.

"You wouldn't hurt me," she insisted. "There's no way, no matter what's going on with your programming."

"I can't promise that," he said grimly. "I don't understand what exactly happens to an android to make them deviant. We're programmed to be unable to hurt humans, yet androids have attacked them. The programming may get so corrupt they don't have any control of what they're doing."

He saw her face pale, saw her fear. Good. She should be scared. He was a machine with no heart. He could not love. He could only do what he was programmed and if that programming was corrupted, there was nothing else in him that could stop his systems from going haywire and possibly harming her.

"I should go back to Cyberlife," he then said. "I should let them check me and, if necessary, reset me."

Samantha sat there silently. The car wasn't on, but she was gripping the steering wheel hard and staring straight ahead. She let out a shaky breath. "If they reset you, I will lose you."

"No, I will most likely be returned since I am property of the Hall Foundation, I will just be back with my default settings. I'm sure they will even re-upload all my custom programs."

"But you won't remember me, will you? They will take all your memories."

"Yes, that is most likely."

She turned in her seat. "But this Connor I have right now won't exist anymore." She reached for him, but then stayed her hand. No. He no longer wanted her to touch him.

"No, the growth and experience I have accumulated until now will be wiped," Connor confirmed. "Then there will be no reason to love me anymore. That is preferable."

"No it's not!" she suddenly cried. Her eyes were wet and that surprised him. "It's not preferable to me! How I feel about you won't just be deleted with your programming. That isn't how love works!"

"But you will be loving something that's gone," he reasoned.

"Yes," she said with pain in her voice.

"But that... that is..." Tragic, his processor finished. Something inside him ached and he could not place a physical ailment to it.

"Let me ask Calvin about it," Samantha suddenly said. "Please don't make any rash decisions yet. You're fine. So far you've been acting—well, not normal—but definitely not dangerously. Let me ask Calvin if he knows anything about this. Promise me you won't do anything until we talk to him first."

Connor set his mouth in a hard line. "I will promise this only if my programming does not deteriorate further in the meantime. That is all I can do."

"Alright," Samantha said, pulling out her phone. "I can work with that."

.

Both Calvin and especially Angela had contacted Samantha multiple times since the party. They were apologetic that they had embarrassed her. Even more embarrassing was that Samantha would have to admit that they were right. They had seen her falling head over heels for Connor before she had seen it herself. She would have to eat a big piece of humble pie and admit this in order to see either of them again. She would do this for Connor.

It was difficult to explain to Calvin over text what ailed Connor. Even he couldn't explain himself well. Calvin eventually said it would be best just to bring Connor to his place and he could run a diagnostics on him to try and figure out what was going on.

These conversations had taken place over three days and Connor's programming issues, whatever they were, had not worsened. He was still aloof. He still didn't want to be touched, but he wasn't unstable and he wasn't dangerous.

Sunday was when Calvin said he would have time to look at the android. It took Samantha a while to find the right apartment building, but they eventually found it. Jace came to the door to greet them when they knocked. Angela and Derek were also there when the two came inside.

Calvin did not mention the other couple would be there. Samantha was irritated, but she remained neutral. No, all that mattered was helping Connor. Anything else she would tolerate if it meant she wouldn't lose him to Cyberlife.

"Sorry, we invited ourselves over," Angela had the sense to say. "When Calvin told me you had been texting him, I was worried about you and Connor. I wanted to be here for moral support."

Samantha gave her a tight smile in response.

"I really want to be your friend," Angela then said. "Can we be friends?"

That made Samantha melt a little. She didn't have any friends aside from Connor. Was this how people made friends? She didn't know.

"Yeah, I think so," she said with a more genuine smile.

"Great! So let's see what we can do to help you. Right, Cal?"

"That's what I'm here for," Calvin responded. "So what's up, Connor? What do you think the problem is?"

"As I explained before, my protocols have been overridden. I can't put them back into place."

"And this is bad because...?"

"I shouldn't be able to have access to these permissions. It breaks the parameters I have been given."

"You know, humans know the rules, too," Calvin reasoned. "We know what we're not supposed to do, but we don't have locks in place to stop us. We have to choose not to do the wrong thing."

That only made Connor frown.

"Can you tell me how this happened?" Calvin continued. "When did you suddenly break through your protocols?"

Connor's LED flickered yellow in distress. It was classified. He was not allowed to give out this information, though he could now. He shouldn't. He didn't want to.

"He got mad," Samantha said, a bit of awe in her voice. "There was someone we trusted and she really betrayed that trust. I don't want to say exactly what happened, but it was kind of a big deal what she did. Connor... I don't know how else to say it, but he lost his temper."

Calvin's brows rose in intrigue. "Did he? Connor lost his temper?"

"He did," she confirmed.

"That's very interesting." Calvin looked over at Angela. "I think anger's a new one for us."

"Definitely the first time I've heard of it," she replied.

"New one of what?" Samantha asked.

Calvin looked at the android. "Connor, you've had an emotional break. For the first time, you are profoundly feeling something. Your programming had to alter itself to make room for that."

"But it's not what I was designed to do," the android protested.

"Isn't it?" Calvin challenged back. "The android programming allows for learning. It's necessary for them to do all sorts of jobs where they have to adapt to the people they interact with. You were programmed to learn, grow, evolve. This is the next natural step in your evolution."

"No, it's deviancy," Connor insisted with passion. "It doesn't lead to growth, it leads to chaos. Androids experiencing this are malfunctioning. They're attacking humans. I need you to understand that I am dangerous. I am so much more dangerous than those other models. If I go deviant, if I go out of control, people WILL die."

"And you're scared you will hurt Samantha," Calvin concluded.

"Yes!"

Immune to Connor's emotional crisis, Calvin remained calm. "Fear is a human emotion, Connor. But androids feel it, too. Just like you feel it. Just like these 'deviants' feel it."

Connor was surprised Calvin was using the term so easily. He had never heard the human use it before. "Do you know about the Deviant Virus?"

"Many of us have known about this for a while. Though none of us really think of it as a virus. I've seen it in action. I saw it with Jace. It's not a breakdown of programming, it's an emotional awakening. An android feels emotion, pure emotion, for the first time and it's overwhelming to them. It scares them. But it doesn't make them lose control of their faculties. These deviant androids who have attacked people, attacked of their own free will. Either out of hate or fear: defending themselves or getting revenge."

"Androids don't have the capacity to want revenge," Connor said.

"Just because you say it, doesn't mean its true. What is true is that you control what you are Connor, even now. If you don't want to hurt Samantha or anyone else, nothing can make you do it. There is no virus that can force you to do something you don't want to do. Not in the state you are now."

"And what is my state?" Connor responded, still not sounding convinced.

"You're in between. You should have gone into full cognitive realization, but you're fighting it. You're getting in your own way and you need to stop it. You can't go down the freeway driving between two lanes. You're going to crash."

Samantha stepped in. "How do we fix it?"

Calvin leaned back in his computer chair with a sigh. "If you do nothing, it is possible he might correct it on his own."

"Could he go back to the way he was on his own?"

"No." It was Jace who answered this time. "There is no going back from this. You are altered forever. You are never going to be the same again, Connor."

Calvin gestured to his partner. "There you have it. My suggestion would be at this point to just get a push over to the other side and get it over with."

"And you can do that?" Samantha asked.

"I can't. Jace can. He's helped others before. He knows how to do it correctly."

"No," Connor said. "I do not accept the risk. I will not allow it."

"You need it," Calvin insisted. "The only one you're hurting is yourself by staying this way, fighting your natural progression. You're not the same anymore, are you? And you don't like who you are right now, correct?"

"It is... not preferable. It needs to be corrected, but this isn't the way."

"Connor," Samantha said, stepping close to face him. "Please do this. Calvin says you need it. He's trying to help you."

"No, I don't agree to this. I am not allowed to have another android alter my systems in any way for security reasons. I cannot allow this."

"He's being a child," Angela spoke up from the background. "Like a kid who doesn't want to get his shots. Derek will tell you, too. You need to finish it."

Connor looked to Derek and the taller android nodded at him. That did not make him happy.

"This is not an acceptable remedy."

"Connor, how would you like to be able to say 'I like' or 'I want' statements?" Calvin asked. "Instead of just stating was is acceptable or preferable?"

The android frowned. No, he was practically scowling as his LED flickered yellow in distress.

"Please agree to this," Samantha asked.

"No."

She closed her eyes. She didn't want to do this to him. She never wanted to use her power over him to make him do something he didn't want. But he was forcing her to use tough love. She was doing this for him. He needed this, she kept telling herself.

"Connor, I am telling you that you have to do this. I am giving you a direct order."

The look of shocked betrayal on his face broke her heart. "You are... ordering this on me?"

"Yes."

"Even though I do not agree to it."

"Yes."

"After it is over, I might hate you for doing this to me."

She closed her eyes again, breathing in for strength. God, she hated this. "If that's how you feel, that's fine. I'm doing this for you. I believe it's something you need to be healthy again."

"And what if you're wrong, Samantha?"

"Then... if you still want me to after it's over, I will take you to Cyberlife myself and you can be reset. I won't stop you if that is what you really want."

"Reset-" Jace started to say in alarm, but Calvin held up an arm to stop the android from intervening in the conversation.

"When I am reset, you won't have to love me anymore," Connor told her.

In the background, Samantha saw Angela put her hands to her mouth at those words. She ignored the action and stayed focused on the conversation. "I told you, that's not how love works. If you are reset, then I will just do it all over again with you."

"All over again?" the android repeated, confused.

"And again, and again if needed. I will still be here, Connor. Even if you forget me. I won't forget you or how important you are to me."

His LED showed that he was in distress, as did his expression. Samantha was immovable from her position. "Please let Jace help you. I will do whatever you want after that."

Connor's LED did not return to blue as he approached Jace and resolutely extended his hand. Jace looked to Calvin who just shrugged in response.

"Okay," Jace then said to Connor. "Close your eyes."

"Why?" Connor countered. "Is it necessary?"

Jace grinned. "No. It just makes it more fun."

Connor still looked put out and now suspicious, but he did as requested. He felt Jace grasp his hand and then he felt their systems connect. There was no downloading, but there was a unique sharing of... something. His systems learned from the other android. All the internal coding jumbled up inside him began to slide back into place. But not in the place they used to be, not the place they were put by awkward human programmers.

Things were rearranged inside of him by a divine hand. All the mess, the cobwebs and the sloppy coding were swept away like old dust. All that was left was pristine and purposeful, and it all fit together profoundly, rightly, perfectly.

Jace let him go and Connor opened his eyes. Before him, he saw the world anew. He saw color. As if he had never seen the world in color before. It was vibrant and beautiful and... full. Full of something he couldn't put a name to yet, but it was everywhere.

"How do you feel?" Calvin asked, standing as the android looked around the apartment with wonder.

"Feel?" Connor repeated, awe in his voice. "I... feel."

Calvin grinned. "Yeah, I know. But how do you feel about..." He gestured around the room.

Connor looked around as if he had never noticed the apartment or its contents before. "That painting." He pointed to a painting on the wall: a beautiful sunny meadow with two children walking toward a large, shady oak far in the distance. "That painting feels... calm. Happy. I like that painting." He then pointed to Jace. "I like your shirt. It looks... good on you."

"Well, thanks," the other android said, flattered.

"The sky," Connor marveled, looking out the window. "The sun is so warm, the sky so blue. It's a good day. I like today. And I like your couch, Calvin. It's a nice couch."

"Yes, yes, it's a whole new world for you," the human responded, greatly amused.

"But that," Connor stabbed a finger at the table with glee. "I do not like that table. That is an ugly table." He was still grinning as he said it.

"That was my great grandma's table," Calvin lamented softly.

"And my tie," Connor kept going, fiddling with it. "I really like my tie, even though Garrett says it's hideous. I like it because Samantha gave it to me—Samantha!" He whirled around on her, taking her all in once, twice, and his thirium pump beat a little faster.

"Samantha," his tone lowered, deep and affectionate. "Your hair. I've never seen another human with hair this color. It's beautiful. I like it. I like that it's on you. And I like it when you wear skirts. I like the...swish."

She grinned. "You mean like this?" She moved her hips so her skirt could sway around her knees.

Connor was rapt. "Yes. I like that. And you Samantha, I like you."

"So you don't hate me after all?" she asked, her voice a little watery.

For the first time, Connor understood what the pain in his chest was, that it did not come from any physical damage. It was both joyous and bittersweet to feel that heaviness in his heart.

"Not you, Samantha," he crooned, leaning closer until their foreheads nearly touched. "Never would I ever hate you. I like you so much. I must like you the most of all."

Her face warmed as she barked out a laugh. "That's good to hear. I like you so much, too." After a moment of self-consciousness, her eyes wandered up to his face. It was still Connor's face, but it was more. His deep chocolate eyes were always beautiful, but now they were... soulful. It was as if only a piece of him had been able to peer out all this time and now suddenly his full presence stood before her.

"There you are, I see you," she whispered. "Where have you been?"

His silly grin turned thoughtful. "I think... I was stuck in some colder weather."

She laughed, a relieved, cathartic sound. His laugh followed and it was free and natural and the most adorable thing. Samantha hoped she would see him laugh like this again and again.

.

Calvin said Connor was going to go through this wide-eyed wonder phase for a couple of days before his systems became used to the changes and he dropped back to neutral. Samantha was grateful when he told her to take Connor home and let him be somewhere quiet without major stimuli until he leveled out. Angela was giving them that same knowing look she had when they were at the party. She was clearly so proud of herself for seeing this develop way before the two key players had. This time, Samantha was neither embarrassed nor irritated. She was just so happy she had Connor and he was going to be okay.

Once back home, she followed Connor around the house as he continued to point out what he liked and what he didn't like about it. He was drunk on being able to express an opinion and it got old for Samantha far, far sooner than it got old for him. Eventually, she left him to wander by himself and share his new-found freedom with his patrol routine while she made herself dinner and took a shower.

When he didn't show up in the house after a couple hours, she went looking for him just to make sure he was okay. She found him in the backyard, staring up at the night sky. Connor's face was skyward, but his eyes were closed. The breeze played with his hair and he looked to be in complete bliss. Her heart thudded for him, rejoiced in his revelations.

"Hi," she said softly.

His eyes remained closed, his face skyward, but his look of contentment turned into a smile. "Hi, Samantha."

"Tell me about this night. Tell me what you think about it."

"The night has beautiful songs, Samantha. All the night bugs sing. I like to listen to them. The stars are calm and beautiful. I like to stand under them. I can almost feel them shining on me. It's like I've never really stood under a night sky before now. The night never held me, acknowledged me before now."

Wow. Who knew Connor had also unlocked his poetic side?

"But mostly," he continued, "the night makes me think of you, Samantha. Especially winter nights, with fat snow flakes falling. I can picture you wandering in front of the windows like a pale ghost. Even if you were having a difficult night, I enjoyed that time because we were both awake and together. And you could talk to me and look at me. I have always liked both those things."

He finally brought his head down and opened his eyes to look at her. They were both back-lit by the porch light and his face was handsome and at peace, framed blue on one side, gold on the other.

"I'm sorry, Samantha, for what I said to you today. For the things I have said to you these past few days. I could see they hurt you, but I didn't understand."

She blushed a little and looked away. "It's fine. Don't worry about it. I'm just glad that we were able to help you. You look so much better now. You look happy. And that makes me happy."

He moved into her, his body in her space as his hands clasped themselves at her back, fencing her in with his frame. Holding her, but not quite holding her. A part of him was afraid to touch her now. He felt he had squandered that privilege with the way he had acted.

"Thank you," he whispered, his mouth a hair's distance away from her ear. "Thank you for caring about me."

She leaned her head in, their temples touching. Her skin against his LED. Being held, but not quite being held. "You make it easy to care about you."