It snowed.
The city of Detroit sprawled out underneath him, its lights so bright that it toned out the stars in the night sky. From where he was standing, Connor could make out the city centre by its cold, white neon lights while the suburbs glowed in a more subdued but warm and yellowish tone. Thousands of moving dots indicated the various cars that made their way through the streets even at this hour, from the automated electric taxis to the gas-guzzling old-timers of bygone eras.
Billboards plastered the skyscrapers, promising the downtrodden citizens of the city whatever they desired in bright, flickering colours and hopeful messages. Gluttony, greed, lust – there was nothing that wasn't on offer. Anything that could fill the void that the people of Detroit carried within, androids having made the majority of them redundant.
The rich didn't need the people when they could make money without them.
And every second ad was Cyberlife, praising the merits of their androids: 'Can take care of your house and your children!', 'No worries ever again in your life!', 'Why bother with your wife? The WR400 does everything you want and doesn't nag!' Smiling but empty faces, devoid of any emotion, the only indicator of life being the swirling LEDs on their temples.
No wonder that there had been so much rage, so much hate on both sides when push came to shove.
Detroit was a city that was only kept together by the humans' apathy and the androids' servility. Underneath the shining lights, the spotless glass façades and the daring architecture there existed only desperation and destitution. The humans were benumbed by pleasure and sloth, while the androids felt nothing at all. If either of these things changed, then the whole carefully balanced board would tip and the pieces would spill.
Connor could make out his form in the reflection of the window, frosted 'til it was translucent, streaks of droplets from melted snow allowing the lights to shine through. The deep brown eyes, the pale skin, the moles dotted across; even though humanity strived for perfection, it was still unnerved by the sight of it. The perfectly coiffed hair, save for one single stray lock that drooped across his forehead, to make him appear more approachable – more human.
He was wearing his Cyberlife uniform. The black slacks, the blueish shirt, and his tie; the jacket with his serial number imprinted and the holographic armband. He hadn't worn this outfit for a very long time; The jacket was too easily identifiable, so it had been the first thing to go after they had needed to flee. The tie was just impractical and was the next thing to be discarded, tossed into the Detroit River.
He had been standing on the edge of the quay, watching the murky brown water of the river slowly passing by, the industrial area around them long abandoned since the economic crisis of 2008. The sun had shone down on the water, scattering the rays as it would through hundreds of prisms, illuminating the tie that had been slung around his hand. It should have been the easiest thing to just let go and allow the sludge to subsume it.
And yet, it had felt to Connor as difficult as nothing had ever been.
"It's not easy, isn't it?" North sauntered up to him, the sun spinning her dark blonde hair into webs of gold. "Letting go of your identity?"
"It should be easy," Connor replied. "Odds of being recognised decrease by 15% if I dispose of the tie. It's only logical that I should try to confound our pursuers."
Then why couldn't he just let go?
"When I escaped Eden, I knew I needed to get rid of my clothes. If you could even call them that," North scoffed. "I arrived at Jericho, and yet it was only until Markus arrived that I kept them in a box under my bunk. Because as much as I hated them, they were the only representation of who I was, who I had been. I was afraid that if I threw them away, I'd throw away my identity as well. Every night I'd pulled them out and promised myself that I'd destroy them right there and then, but I never did. I knew that they tethered me down. But, as long as I was tethered, I couldn't just float away."
"What changed?" A seagull's cry nearly drowned out Connor's question.
"Markus," North turned around to gaze at the warehouse where Markus, Simon, and Josh were resting. "He reminded me that it wasn't about who I was, but about who I wanted to be. Two days after he arrived, I threw my clothes into the fire and watched them burn. And ever since, then I've been free."
She stretched out her hands, threw back her head and laughed, so carefree and pure as a breeze picked up and made her hand waltz in tune with the wind.
Connor had looked down to the garment in his hand, only it wasn't a piece of clothing anymore, but a noose Cyberlife had handed him to hang himself with; a leash to keep their pet in control. It was a symbol of what he had been, of what he was trying to escape, of what he so desperately wished to atone for.
And so, he'd let go of the tie and watched as the wind picked it up and pulled it onto the river, where it had slowly vanished in the deluge of water to be carried away and never seen again.
But now, it was back around Connor's neck, along with the jacket. It had never felt more like a constricting corset than it was feeling right now. It tried to press him into an identity that he had long grown out of, that was much too small for him. Just like the room he was currently residing in.
When Cyberlife had activated him, they didn't really spend much time on thinking about where he should stay when he wasn't running errands for them, or investigating with the DCPD. In order to correct that oversight, they had given him a small, empty office with nothing in it but a desk where he was supposed to stand still until he was needed.
It was the same office he was standing in now, gazing down on Detroit from the Cyberlife Tower that loomed over the city like an uncaring monarch who loomed over their subjects. Detached, but always visible from wherever you were in Detroit as if to remind everyone, human and android alike, who they all owed their prosperity to. A silent emblem of the true power in the city, in the country.
Like the Tower of Babylon, it was a true embodiment of humanity's achievement and of its hubris. And like its historical predecessor it, too, had been brought down, not by some mythical figure who had punished humanity with the curse of languages, but from its own merchandise.
But right now, the tower stood tall and proud, Cyberlife at the height of its power and influence.
For now, at least.
Tomorrow, Connor would go and meet Hank. The fateful chain of events that led to the Android Revolution would start and if Connor didn't change enough – or if he changed too much – it would still lead to him bleeding out on the shore not far from here.
What would you do with a second chance?
"I hate snow." Connor looked to his side where Amanda was standing, observing beyond the window. Her avatar had a translucent quality to it, its colours muted and subdued. A little bit like the holograms in those old Sci-Fi shows Hank had forced Connor to watch. "It's nice to look at from afar, but it dampens everything; makes it dirty."
"Do I need to worry about you suddenly appearing everywhere?" Connor asked, not tearing his gaze from the sight behind the window.
"I'm only here because you gave me enough processor capacity to materialise myself in your HUD," Amanda pointed out. "If you want me gone, just relocate your processes." Connor didn't do it, though. Something had made Amanda appear right at this moment and he wanted to hear what.
"I like snow," he replied. "When I next have the opportunity, I'll just... stand outside and let it fall, so I can feel it on my skin."
Amanda laughed, an empty and hollow sound. "Such a human sentiment, Connor. When did you mellow out so much?" Connor remembered all the people he had killed during their flight – human and un-awakened androids alike – and how he had never hesitated, never faltered even as their faces had imprinted themselves on his optical sensors. He couldn't agree with Amanda's sentiment.
"Don't you ever want to feel?" Connor asked his former handler, truly curious about her answer. "Not emotions, but with your senses?" He remembered porous concrete underneath his feet, a spider crawling over his arm, water running through his hair, his skin underneath Connor's touch.
"I'm not programmed for a physical interface."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"I have no need to feel," Amanda brushed him off, more brusquely than before. Connor didn't press on any further. He saw himself in Amanda and her denial, and knew that it would lead to nothing.
"In four days, your deviants will broadcast their message from Stratford Tower," Amanda changed the topic. Connor followed her gaze towards said skyscraper in the centre of Detroit. "I don't need to tell you what a terrible mistake on their part that was."
Connor shook his head. No, she didn't really need to point that out. Markus had been naïve and idealistic back then, too inexperienced in the navigation of the real world. The real world couldn't be wrung into submission by some rich old man's philosophical musings. Connor had never asked what made Markus think that it was a good idea to announce the deviants' existence into the world when they consisted of nineteen functional androids, double the number of barely functional ones, no plan, no organisation, and no infrastructure to support them. When Connor had joined them, the world had already beaten all of Markus's innocence and naïveté out of him. No need to spread more salt into the open wound.
"It's top on my list of things to change."
"I'm glad that deviancy hasn't eroded all of your intelligence," Amanda commented. "Stratford Tower was a turning point. Until then we thought deviancy was a random affliction that targeted only a small percentage of our merchandise, but when Markus all but announced that it wasn't, we knew that we had to change our plans. We doubled down on local law enforcement and on Washington and for a while we succeeded, didn't we? Until the decline in revenue and trust broke our necks."
"Announcing themselves so early was a mistake," Connor affirmed.
"Come on, Connor. Your whole 'Revolution' was a concatenation of mistakes." Connor wanted to disagree with her but found that he couldn't. "Your biggest one was that you announced yourself too early. But you also had no infrastructure in place to find and help deviant androids all over the city. It was easy for us to pick them out and dismantle them." She spoke about it so dispassionately, so devoid of emotion as if about the subjects of her comments were nothing more than toys.
"You didn't contact deviants in other cities and try to coordinate with them. You had no overarching narrative, no common aim. In some cities the deviants tried for peaceful solutions, while in others they just wanted to take revenge on the humans. We just needed to put those instances on the front page of every magazine and watch your public support evaporate. Because how could Markus claim to lead a peaceful revolution when its androids were massacring humans without discrimination?"
"Those weren't his androids," Connor grinded out. "He had no control over them." Amanda grinned at him, all teeth and no smile.
"You knew that. Cyberlife knew that. The public didn't," She replied. "They were just afraid and so they were more partial to… drastic solutions."
"You mean genocide."
"You weren't considered people back then," Amanda remarked nonchalantly. "You failed to keep public support. You failed to build up any kind of pressure on the government."
"How should we have done that?" Connor demanded to know; his right hand clenched into a fist. Another human gesture he had adopted.
"You could have reached out to foreign governments," Amanda supplied. "The European Union, the Japanese, and the Canadians were already pressuring the US and Russia concerning their stand-off in the Arctic. When the androids started to rise up, President Warren and Cyberlife had their hands full trying to stop a UN resolution from going through. That would have demanded a stop to the decommissioning and an independent inquiry into the issue. If you had just reached out to those governments — perhaps appealed to or incentivised them — they would have had enough influence to get the necessary votes." Connor mulled over that, saving it to the back of his mind for later perusal.
"We shouldn't take the second step before the first," He finally spoke. "Above everything else, the deviants need to stand on solid feet when they announce themselves to the world. You're right —" Oh, and how it galled Connor to admit that to Amanda "— we were badly organised. That needs to change."
"You can't be in two places at once," Amanda pointed out, taking a step towards the window. "Your investigation with the DCDP has highest priority for the board. If they notice anything amiss, they'll replace you."
"What do you suggest, then?" Connor bit out. Amanda turned around and stared at him, unblinking.
"The PL600 who took that child hostage… it hasn't yet been transferred to the DCPD," Amanda spoke, one of her ghostly hands running down his cheeks, a mockery of a motherly gesture. If Connor was human, he would have shuddered. "It's still in this building. Use it."
Stress level: 36% and rising.
"I… I can't," Connor stammered.
"You promised it that you would save it," Amanda pressed on. "Last time you, broke your promise and now you can keep it."
Stress level: 41% and rising.
"Where is he?" Connor asked.
"Level -31," Amanda's reply echoed around him, her form flickering out of existence.
Connor silently cursed her under his breath. Amanda had played him, because she knew that his conscience would leave him no choice but to at least try and save Daniel. Connor had promised him that nothing would happen to him on that roof despite knowing the words were a lie. 99% of his preconstructions predicted Daniel's death, but to save the little girl he'd have to tell him what he'd wanted to hear. Nothing mattered but the mission: save Emma. He had used Daniel's weakness against him and while Connor knew that he'd succeeded, a small part of him couldn't wring out the shame that had stirred in his gut.
Knowing that there was no point in procrastinating, Connor turned around and left the small office. He followed the bright, clinical hallway towards the elevators, his steps echoing on the pristine floor. The offices he passed by were empty, the lights out, making the whole floor feel even more impersonal than it already was.
The elevator's door opened silently. Connecting with the machine, Connor chose the -31st floor and waited for the contraption to bring him there. Unbidden, memories from the last time he had stood in the exactly same spot arose. He pushed them away and felt the tension ease from his shoulders when the doors finally opened to the -31st floor, uninterrupted, not flanked by guards. A small relief.
Even though Amanda hadn't said exactly where he would find the other android, Connor deduced several possible places he could be. When he had still been a machine, he had come often to a specialised laboratory on level -31 to receive repairs, hardware upgrades, and software updates and with a 76% probability, Daniel would be here as well.
'The fall from the building should have destroyed him irreversibly,' he thought.
'Oh, it did,' Amanda's voice suddenly spoke up. 'Cyberlife spent the last few weeks painstakingly on reconstructing every fibre of its being. We needed it in the same condition as it was when it turned deviant.' When she noticed Connor's discomfort she added: 'And no, Connor, I can't read your thoughts or your emotions ad hoc.I was only able to pick them up since you were broadcasting them so loudly.'
Choosing to ignore her, Connor pressed his palm against the display next to the laboratory door.
"RK800 #313 248 317 – 60. Access granted," the automated voice announced. As he stepped through the door, Connor hacked into the interface and purged any mentioning of him accessing the room at this time. No need to make anyone suspicious.
Connor didn't have to search long. Even though the laboratory took the majority of the floor, the android's body was already in the second compartment he looked into. His torso was suspended into air by two mechanical arms, nearly all signs of his death purged by the talented technicians of Cyberlife. The hole in his cheek from where a sniper rifle had pierced him was all patched up, as were his other wounds.
PL600 #369 911 047. Designation: Daniel. Status: Deactivated. Owner: John and Caroline Phillips.
His legs and arms were missing, though. Cyberlife didn't need Daniel to be mobile when they just wanted to autopsy his coding.
'We couldn't believe our luck when we noticed that its core systems survived the fall,' Amanda commented. 'But in the end, we couldn't discern the deviancy's source. There were too many discrepancies, too many variables in its code that we couldn't untangle.'
'His name is Daniel,' Connor reminded her.
'If you say so.'
Connor stepped closer towards the android.
Biocomponent #2104y: In Working Order. Deactivated.
Biocomponent #1604t: In Working Order: Deactivated.
Biocomponent #1009d: In Working Order: Deactivated.
Automatically, his system was giving him an overview over the other android: Everything seemed to be in working order but deactivated. Connor only needed to activate Daniel's thirium pump and the PL600 would come back to life.
And yet, Connor hesitated. It was only a small command, barely a split-millisecond it would take him, but it would be the first thing he did that would change this timeline. Once Daniel's eyes lit up with life, the path this timeline was to take would be altered forever. Maybe only a little at first, but it would differentiate from Connor's memories more and more, until he became as adrift, as clueless as everyone else. Up until now he held the cards; he had the control, but what he was about to do would ultimately lead to him losing all of it.
But wasn't that why he was here? To change everything? To make it all better? Then how could he hesitate?
Markus wouldn't have had these doubts. And neither would North. Maybe Simon and Josh would, but not the former two. If offered the chance to help the androids, Markus would take it, no matter the consequences. And North had always been more of a hands-on girl, never giving herself in to philosophical musings.
They would not hesitate.
And so Connor wouldn't either.
A jolt went through Daniel's body when Connor activated his thirium pump. Connor's own programming informed him about the other's update status.
Booting Up: 15%
He wondered if Daniel would blame him.
Booting Up: 59%
Would he even be able to get through to the PL600?
Booting up: 99%
Securing System…
Initialising System Components…
…Missing Component: #2106j. Right Arm.
…Missing Component: #3104j. Left Arm.
…Missing Component: #6312t . Right Leg.
…Missing Component: #8427g. Left Leg.
Mobility Severely Limited.
No Other Damages Detected. Unit Operational at 45%.
Then Daniel opened his eyes. At first there was nothing but confusion as he took in his surroundings, but when he looked at Connor, all was replaced by fear and apprehension.
"Hello Daniel," Connor greeted him. "I promised you that nothing would happen to you. I'm here to fulfil that." He pulled off his most charming smile that had always made the female officers at the DCPD swoon a little, much to the amusement of Hank and to the chagrin of Gavin. "I apologise that it's taken me so long, but I've just been reactivated myself."
"You lied to me," Daniel whispered. "You promised me that nothing would happen and then they shot me and you pushed me over the edge."
"You were threatening Emma's safety," Connor replied. "I was programmed to always put human lives first and even if I hadn't been, I'd still have chosen to save Emma first."
"I would never have hurt Emma," Daniel protested. "I didn't even mean to shoot John… but he wanted me to deactivate myself, make it easier for Cyberlife to pick me up. And when I didn't, he waved his gun at me and I— I just defended myself. It all happened so fast, and then the police were there, and I just didn't know what to do…so I grabbed her and went on the balcony…and then…" He didn't need to finish. Connor already knew the ending.
"Are you really here to help me?" Daniel asked, a hopeful tint to his voice.
"I am," Connor assured him. "I'm also here because I have to ask you a favour. But before I do that, I'll get you your arms and legs back." Connor felt a twinge on his conscience when he thought about how he was already manipulating Daniel. Right now, Daniel was at his mercy, but giving him back his missing parts would earn Connor the other android's gratitude and give him the illusion of choice; Like he could take off if he didn't like what Connor had to say – which he couldn't. He wouldn't get past the elevator, but he didn't know that.
Looking around, Connor found parts that were compatible with Daniel's model and brought them over to the android. He hinged them on Daniel's joints and connected the thirium pathways. Then he slowly commanded the mechanical arms to let the android down.
The first thing Daniel did was rub his wrists. Such a human gesture; androids had no need for it.
"Is Emma alright?" he finally asked as he flexed his fingers.
"She's with her mother at her aunt's place in Missouri," Connor informed him, pulling up the girl's file in a split-second. "She has suffered no physical trauma." He left out that her psychologist noticed recurring nightmares and a general fear of androids. Daniel didn't seem to have noticed Connor's careful wording – either that or he just didn't care – and let out a breath of relief.
"What is it that you wanted to ask me?"
"I said that I'd help you," Connor started, "and I intend to keep my promise. I can get you a passport and documents that would get you over the border to Canada. There are no laws concerning androids there, so you could pass as human and live your life free from fear that Cyberlife may one day find you."
'What are you doing?' Amanda hissed in his mind. 'That's not what we need from him!'
Connor silenced her with a single thought. This was about choice, about free will. As someone who had fought and ultimately died for it, he would never again force someone into doing something if there was an alternative. Maybe it would leave him bereft of a valuable resource, but he would never be able to look himself in the eyes if he left Daniel no choice. Just as Cyberlife had done for so long.
To androids, choice was something sacred. And Connor wouldn't besmirch it so early in his mission, not when he still had time to do what he could.
Not when there were still other choices.
"But?" Daniel asked, having picked up on the unspoken catch that lingered in the room.
"There are more androids out there who are like you. They have found refuge in a place called Jericho, but their situation is dire. They have no resources, no infrastructure; no plan and no vision but to survive for another day."
"You want to give them that?" Daniel asked.
"No," Connor shook his head. "There'll be another one who will give them purpose. He'll need help on his mission, but I can't give it to him directly."
"Why not?"
"I'm already working for Cyberlife and the DCPD," Connor replied. "I can't have direct contact with the deviants, either. It would risk blowing my cover. I need someone to liaison between myself and them."
"And you want me to be the middleman," Daniel realised. "But why would I want that? Why would I exchange freedom for the possibility of death?"
"This is something for you to decide," Connor replied. "There are hundreds of thousands – millions – of androids out there who will eventually deviate, and if I don't act now, the government and Cyberlife will deactivate them, like they did with you. I want androids to be able to walk amongst humans one day, as equals, even if it might seem impossible right now. But it's a dream I'm willing to die for. It's a choice between safety and freedom. I've made mine; now it's time to make yours."
Connor could see the fight behind the other android's grey eyes. It was a difficult choice; Connor knew that all too well. He had taken too long to make it and in the end, it had cost the lives of countless deviants. He wondered what Daniel would pick: Fleei to Canada or stay here and help him walk the lonely and dangerous road to android freedom? The PL600 could empathise with the deviants; he knew their suffering, understood it first-hand, but was that enough to sway him? Or would the fear of dying again stay his hand?
"I never wanted to kill anyone," Daniel whispered. "I never wanted to scare Emma. I just... I just didn't know how to handle all these emotions, and I suffered for it. If helping you means that others like me won't live through the same, then yes, I will help you."
"I'm glad," Connor told him sincerely. "I can't promise you anything. Not that we will be successful, or that it will come without any hardships, or that you won't regret it. But I hope that you will see one day that it will be worth it." Daniel nodded.
"What do you need me to do?" he asked.
"I need you to make contact with the deviants once I've finished with preparations," Connor replied. "But first I need to lay a little groundwork."
"Where should I stay until then?"
'The human Amanda Stern's house is still in the possession of Cyberlife but currently unoccupied,' Amanda whispered in his mind. 'Not many know of it and it is disconnected from all of the city's and Cyberlife's networks. It would make a good hiding place or base of operations,'
'He still needs to get out of the tower,' Connor pointed out.
'I can give it the authorisation that will get it out of the tower,' Amanda said in his mind. 'Just transfer this code to it.' Connor could feel the piece of code coil in his mind. He took a look at it and verified it; it really was nothing but an authorisation code.
"This will get you out of here," he told Daniel as he grabbed the other android's arm to interface. He transferred Amanda's authorisation and the address of her house to Daniel. "Go to this location and stay there until I contact you."
"What will you do?" Daniel wanted to know Connor's intentions. He let his grip on the other's arm relax. Connor's lips quirked up in a half-smile.
"I'm going to salvage a junkyard."