Nick. He would like to be called Nick.

Connor wondered if that was the same name the deviant had chosen in the original time line. Wondered if he had chosen any name at all, really, before Cyberlife had come and collected him. Would he have chosen the same name? Or would he have chosen something different, maybe something else that would characterise him in a different way?

Connor would never know. He had never bothered to find out Nick's name the first time around. Hadn't really wanted to, still a machine through and through without even the tiniest bit of emotions in his core.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Nick," he finally greeted the other android after he had chosen his name. "My name's Connor."

"I know that," Nick replied, eying Connor as if he wasn't quite sure if Connor was quite sane.

"I guess you do," Connor admitted a little bit embarrassed. "I just thought that maybe a re-introduction under less hostile circumstances would be in order." He sent the other android a loop-sided grin.

If it wasn't beneath her, Amanda would probably face-palmed by now, but the old woman possessed too much poise for such a plebeian gesture. Besides, she wasn't visible right now, anyway.

"We should get going," Connor urged. Nick snapped to attention.

"Where to?" he asked as he followed Connor.

"There's a back entrance for important witnesses and such," he told the deviant as they made their way through the empty corridors of the precinct. "It isn't guarded and there are no cameras."

"And then?" Nick wanted to know.

"I'll tell you everything once we get there," Connor promised him. He could see that this answer didn't particular please Nick as his stress level didn't come down, but while most officers were at home or out, there was still the chance that they would come upon a lonely straggler who had decided to finish his paperwork during the night shift.

They needed to be silent and cautious and while Connor had more than enough processing power to simultaneously hold a conversation with Nick and scan their surroundings for threats, it didn't mean that they should. Anyone could hear them.

For once, luck was on his side, though, for they met not a single soul on their way towards the back entrance. When they arrived at the nondescript door, it was a simple thing for Connor to hack its security and make it open for them, allowing them to step on the deserted back alley it led to.

A few rats scuttled off as the light from the doorway scared them away and every now and then the light of the cars that drove by on the main street would illuminate the back alley before it fell into half-darkness again.

"Like I said, you need to go to Jericho," Connor repeated. "Everything you might need, you'll get there." Nick still looked a little bit suspicious, but at least he didn't voice it out any longer.

"How do I get there?" he just wanted to know. Connor extended his hand, letting his synthetic skin recede, an obvious invitation to interface. For a moment it looked like Nick would refuse, but before it became awkward, he, too, let his synthetic skin flow back and grasped Connor's offered hand. Within milliseconds Connor had transferred all directions on how to reach Jericho to the other android.

"I wish I could give you something else to wear," Connor informed him as he took in the ragged state of Nick's clothing. He could have scrounged something up from the precinct – there were certainly enough clothes lying around – but he hadn't thought about it before and now it was too late.

"No one will care," Nick replied. "They certainly didn't when Ortiz had had another go at me and still made me bring out the trash." He said it so casually, as if the cruel treatment by the hands of his owner, was simply a state of things you casually mentioned like traffic or the weather. And for him it probably was: Nick just knew nothing else.

"I keep to the back alleys," Nick added.

"I have to ask one last thing," Connor quietly spoke. Nick raised an eyebrow, beckoning for him to explain further.

"Please do not tell anyone at Jericho who helped you." Connor could just force his way into Nick's memory and alter or delete everything pertaining him, but it was violation that Connor just wasn't willing to commit. Not anymore. Keeping his secret was important, no doubt, but he wasn't willing to do everything to keep it up. Besides, even if Nick told them, it wasn't as if they could make the connection from deviant working for the DCPD to Hunter.

It was a purely emotionally driven decision, but for once Amanda kept quiet, which surprised Connor. Maybe his mentor just knew which fights to pick and which not.

"Why?" Nick wanted to know.

"Because it's less dangerous for everyone involved," Connor tried to explain without really explaining anything at all. "I just prefer to keep my work in the shadows."

"What if someone wants to know?"

"There's an android at Jericho called Daniel; him you can tell. Anyone else you tell that you escaped on your own," Connor suggested. "Just…please." A few moments of silence.

"Alright. I won't tell anyone that you helped me as long as it doesn't get me into trouble." Connor's mood brightened up instantly.

"Thank you," he told Nick earnestly.

"I hope I won't regret that," the other android muttered as he stepped into the middle of the street and slowly walked away.

"Take care!" Connor called after him.

For a short moment, Nick halted in his steps, but the he moved on and vanished around the corner.

It was still raining outside.

Nick had the feeling that it was always raining in Detroit. His database was saying something different, but he couldn't quite remember the last time it had been really sunny outside. It had rained when he had finally snapped and killed Ortiz, it had rained when the police had come and arrested him, it had probably rained while he had been interrogated at the police precinct and now it was raining while he made his way towards the coordinates the Cyberlife detective had given him.

Nick didn't quite know what to make of the guy.

He had such an earnest demeanour, such a honest expression that for a short moment Nick had forgotten the panic and fear he had felt when the other android had climbed up into the attic and discovered him.

It seemed to Nick that all he had felt since he had deviated was fear. Fear of being killed by Ortiz, fear of being found by the police, fear of being interrogated, fear of being handed over to Cyberlife, fear of being deactivated. And, of course, hatred: Hatred at Ortiz, for being the one who had tortured him for so long, hatred at the Cyberlife detective who had betrayed him to the humans, hatred at Cyberlife and hatred at himself, for allowing himself to be weak and being fearful.

It was so cold. Nick knew that most humans thought hate burned, fierce and bright and unquenchable, but as he had experienced first-hand, it wasn't true: Hate was cold. It cooled down your processors, slowed down your thirium pump, slid into every of your processes like an insidious worm and didn't let go. It was always there, in the background processes and influenced everything you did.

Nick had been cold for so long that the slow thawing of his mind came so unexpected. Even though it was raining, the water soaking through his clothes until he was completely drenched, he could feel the small kindling of hope in himself. The deviant hunter had saved him and had shown him that there were others like him, who had escaped humanities shackles, who would welcome him.

But Nick had only been a deviant for barely a day and for all of it the coldness had clung to him like a cloak, whispering into his mind and lending him strength when hope couldn't. When he hadn't even known what hope was. It had been hate that had made Nick strong enough – hate and fear so cold that it might as well feel like ice – not hope; no never hope.

So, as Nick stumbled through the dimly-lit back alley, the rain washing away all the dirt and trash down the drain and the lights of the city blurred behind the veil of water the heavens unleashed on the earth, the small flame of hope slowly turned blue as Nick thought about how unfair it was that he had to flee from the humans just for existing. That the other deviants had to hide, fearful of ever being found by their tormentors. He mentally bristled at the fact that he had to hide in the shadows, creeping through back alleys to get to a small semblance of security.

It should be the humans covering in front of them, like Ortiz had covered in front of him, fear clouding his eyes as he lifted his arms in a fruitless attempt to defend himself. Oh, how good it had felt to finally pay him back, stab by stab, for every abuse Nick had suffered. He didn't have enough data yet, but he had never felt more…alive as when he had felt the life seep out of Ortiz disgusting body. The elation, the thrill, the joy…

What if he would never feel this way again?

The thought made Nick shudder.

He needed more data. He needed to know if he could feel it again, if he could reproduce the Feeling.

"Hey, man, gotta coin for a poor fella?"

Nick startled when a voice suddenly came from a heap of cardboard and trash. Then his ocular sensors showed him that there was a human lying underneath all of it: Male, unkempt, his mouth full of broken teeth, his skin saggy and yellow.

Nick didn't say anything.

"Aw, come on, man," the man continued sluggishly. "Just a lil' bit for poor ol' me?"

He was disgusting, Nick thought, just as Ortiz had been. Not like androids, who were always ethereal, always composed, always elegant and so full of grace. How could the humans ever thought that they should command them, when they were nothing but trash themselves?

The man wiggled around, probably trying to get up, but it looked more like a fish squirming on the land.

Nick noticed a broken beer bottle lying next to the man, its sharp edges glistening in the rain.

He needed more data.

He picked up the bottle.

"Hey, man, that's mine!" the man on the ground complained, trying to reach for the bottle, but he didn't quite reach it.

Nick stabbed him in the thigh. The man let out a wail of pain, but Nick didn't care. He analysed his processed and noted that the Feeling hadn't appeared. Disappointing. Maybe one stab wasn't enough? A hypothesis worth testing.

This time he cut into the other leg. Another exclamation of pain, but again, not the feeling. There was something missing, something lacking, but Nick didn't know what and that made him angry.

"Why can't I feel it?" he screamed the man who was still wailing in pain. "Why?!" Another stab, this time in the man's stomach. "Why?!" Another. "Why?!" Another. "Why?!"

Nick could feel the flesh tearing under his onslaught, could feel the warm blood on his fingers, could feel the man's muscles contort in a desperate attempt to keep his body together. He saw him coughing up blood, saw the fear in his eyes, the desperate plead to stop.

But Nick didn't stop, not even for a second. Because as he looked into the man's eyes, he finally felt again like he had felt when he had killed Ortiz. The Feeling was back.

He laughed. This was what it meant to feel alive. To feel invincible, to feel free. He watched the life bleed from the man's eyes – a man he didn't know, a man who may have committed a crime, who may have been an angel – and he felt victorious.

Alive. Alive.

He was alive and he was proving it to the rest of the world. How could this be wrong if it meant that he was alive? How could anyone fault him for that?

Alive. Alive. Alive.

rA9 had delivered him from his existence as slave and now Nick was worshipping Them by showing Them that he was alive and relishing it. He would drown the world in blood to show that he was alive.

After what felt like an eternity, the man stopped moving, his eyes staring unseeingly at Nick. The android stabbed him a few additional times, but the Feeling wouldn't come back. Pity.

Nick looked down on his hands, his right one still clutching the bottle. They were blood-soaked, but the rain was already doing his job washing it off. Thankfully, his dark Cyberlife uniform he was still wearing wouldn't show any evidence of what he had done. For a short moment the water turned dark, washing the blood down the drain.

He stood up, staggering as his processors tried to keep up with all the data he had just received. It seemed that it had been a wise decision to collect more data, he realised as he collected himself. Now he knew how he could experience the Feeling whenever he wanted. Whenever he needed.

But he needed to leave, before someone found him and he was brought back to the cold cells in the police precinct. He walked out the back alley onto the next street where shiny lights illuminated the ground.

Oomph. He had walked into someone. An AX400 and to his surprise a small child clutching the android's hand, both soaked to the bones.

"Is that blood?" the girl exclaimed, pointing at the red substance that the rain hadn't yet to managed to wash off. Fear shot through Nick.

"Please, don't call anyone," he begged. "I had to defend myself. He attacked me and now I'm just trying to get away." The AX400's expression softened.

"Don't worry, we won't call anyone," she assured him. "We're on the run, too."

"You are?" Nick was surprised. Though, he probably should have guessed, because no human would allow an android to wander through this part of town at night with their child without even an umbrella. "You're deviant, too?" The AX400 nodded.

"I'm Kara," she introduced herself. "And that's Alice."

"She's human," Nick pointed out.

"She has nowhere else to go."

"Kara's protecting me," the girl proclaimed proudly. There was obviously some kind of bond between these two, so Nick refrained from telling Kara that she should just ditch the girl. But as Nick looked at the human girl, he felt something else beside his usual hate for them. Curiosity.

Human children were precious. Nick couldn't help but wonder if the Feeling would be more intense with a human child instead of a homeless beggar. If it would feel the same or if it would be something else – something more. He could feel the anticipation course through his synthetic veins.

He needed to stay close to them, he decided. Usually human children were well protected and their disappearance would be noticed, something Nick didn't need, but the AX400 had already done his job for him. She would bear the brunt of the humans' anger.

"You look lost," he remarked.

"We are."

"Maybe if we stick together we can get ourselves out of this situation," Nick suggested. "We're stronger as a group."

Kara's shoulders sagged in relief. "That's so nice of you."

"No, I must thank you," Nick insisted. "I'm no longer alone."

"I know how that feels." Kara gifted him with a small smile. She looked down at the human girl and finally noticed how the it was shivering.

"Alice, you're freezing cold," she exclaimed.

"I'm okay, " Alice tried to insist. "I'm not so cold." Both androids knew that she was lying, but before either of them could say something, a garbage android had walked up to them.

"You look lost," he observed.

"We have nowhere to go," Kara explained.

"I know someone who can help you," the WR600 told her and extended his arm, an obvious invitation to interface. After a split-second of hesitation, Kara reciprocated the gesture and the two interfaced.

"But, that's on the other side of town," Kara stammered as she dissolved the connection. "We need a place for tonight!" But the WR600 had already jumped on his garbage truck and was driving away. "Come on, Alice, Nick."

She took the human girl at her hand and – obviously expecting Nick to follow her – led them out from under the bus station and towards a veiled fence that protected an abandoned lot, filled with a broken down car and other trash.

With a short push, the gate fell open and the three of them entered the area.

"An abandoned house," Kara spoke, pointing towards the house at their left. "At least we'd be out of the rain." Nick couldn't quite find it himself to agree with her. He didn't escape Ortiz only to end up in a place similar as his. Apparently, the human girl thought the same.

"Kara, I don't like this place," she said, clutching the hand of the AX400.

"I know," Kara replied, smiling down on the small human. "But, it's just for one night and no one will look for us here." She turned to Nick. "Do you see any way we can get through this fence?" The male android scanned the area and was about to deny the question when he noticed a wire cutter poking out from behind a cardboard.

"We could use this," he suggested as he picked up the tool. He cut a hole through the fence, barely wide enough to get them through and beckoned for the other two to go through first.

"Are you alright?" Alice asked, worry in her voice.

"Yes, it's just a scratch," Kara assured the girl. "Be careful, though." She griped the fence and pulled it up, so that Alice would be able to crawl through it. Nick followed her.

He didn't really care about the girl, but if she was too afraid, she might catch someone's attention, so Nick looked down on her and said: "Don't worry, we're just having a look." The girl didn't seem to find that very assuring, but Kara sent him a thankful smile.

They walked around the house until they stood in front of the door. It was looked.

"How do we get in there?" Nick pondered aloud.

"I don't know," Kara admitted. "Wait, where's Alice?"

"I thought you had her!" Nick exclaimed, but Kara had already run around the corner. When Nick caught up with her, the sight that greeted him was a terrified Alice pressed against the wall with a menacing looking WR600 brandishing a knife at the girl.

"Wait! What are you doing?" Kara shouted. The WR600 turned towards them and Nick nearly flinched back when he saw the deep facial scar that marred the androids' face. It looked horrible and already Nick could feel the familiar cold settle in his veins. He could take a guess as to where the WR600 had gotten them from.

"Visitors... Ralph doesn't like visitors! They're nasty! They may hurt Ralph!" the WR600 muttered. Deviancy had obviously taken a toll on the stability of his processors.

"Look, I'm an android too," Nick spoke, trying to project calm as he allowed his skin to recede from his hand, showing the white chassis underneath. Kara did the same. "You have nothing to be afraid of. All we want is a place to spend the night."

"Visitors are dangerous," Ralph told her. "Look what they did to Ralph." He tilted his head so that they all could get a better look at the scars that covered the whole left side of his face.

"Listen, we really need some help. It would be so kind of you, if you'd let us stay." Nick didn't believe that Kara's nice words would sway the obviously deranged android, but at least the human girl used her chance to get away from the WR600 and covered behind Kara's back.

Typical human, always expecting someone else to do the work.

"You must excuse Ralph," the android started to mutter. "Ralph still finds it difficult to control himself. Sometimes his fear makes him do things he regrets. Ralph has seen some hard times." He pointed at his scars. "He's just so scared the humans will get him again. You can stay if you want. Ralph won't hurt you."

Nick seriously doubted that. But maybe Ralph would kill the human girl.

He frowned. No, that wouldn't do. If Ralph killed the girl then Nick wouldn't get the Feeling. He needed to protect her from the other android, at least until he got the chance.

"Okay. We'll just stay the night," Kara decided for all of them.

All of a sudden, Ralph's whole demeanour changed. Gone was the intimidating android, instead he was replaced by an overly enthusiastic, grinning fool.

"Come on! Come! Come! Come on! This way!" He beckoned for them to follow him and so they did.

"Ralph has lived here since he ran away," Ralph chatted away as he led them inside. "Ralph never goes outside, so no one knows he lives here. Humans come in to squat from time to time, but you know, Ralph just hides 'til they leave. Come on!"

The inside of the house, was an upgrade to Ortiz, mainly because the man himself wasn't there and didn't spread his disgusting odour around. Otherwise, it was nearly the same. Broken down furniture, wallpaper peeling off the wall and stains of questionable origin on the ceiling.

"You can make yourself at home here. Ralph is gonna go into the other room. He would like to stay with you, but he has things to do." And then the WR600 had already vanished.

"It's just for one night, Alice. We'll find a better place tomorrow," Kara assured her human girl. Alice didn't reply anything. "Right. Let's see where you can sleep. Sit down, and I'll start a fire."

"I'm gonna talk with our host a little bit," Nick told Kara. He really didn't want to wait around until she had made everything comfy for the girl. That sounded quite boring, really.

"Do you think that's wise?" Kara questioned, worry flickering in her eyes.

Nick just shrugged. "Better get a feel for the guy, before he turns on us."

"Just…be careful, alright?" Nick just nodded and stepped into the room into which Ralph had vanished. It had been a kitchen once, but every piece of furniture was long gone, leaving behind only the white tiles on the wall, covered in black markings.

Alive. rA9.

"Do you know what it means?" Nick asked Ralph, who was standing in the corner, etching new symbols into the wall with his knife. He hoped that maybe the other android would know what it meant, could maybe even give him an answer.

"What?"

"Those symbols. Why are you writing that?"

"I don't know. I don't know." And then he continued his work.

Nick could feel anger and disappointment flooding his processor. How dare this broken piece of metal keep him from his answers? His hands balled into fists and he wanted to do nothing more than to just smash Ralph's head against the tiles, but he held himself back.

Ralph was an android. They were the same species.

So, instead Nick walked out of the room, back to Kara and Alice. By now the android had managed to get a fire going and even prepared a small resting place for the human girl who was warming herself in front of the flames.

"Why didn't he ever love me? Why was he always so upset with me? All I wanted was a life like other girls. Maybe I did something wrong? Maybe I wasn't good enough? That's why he was always so angry. I just wanted us to be a family. I just wanted him to love me. Why couldn't we just be happy?"

Something stirred within Nick's mind, but he terminated the process before it could infect him further. Why couldn't the girl just go to sleep and leave them be with her incessant chatter?

"I don't know."

"You'll never leave me, right? Promise you'll never go!"

"I promise."

Alice turned towards Nick. "You promise, too?"

Startled, Nick looked at her. "You barely know me."

"You helped us," Alice pointed out. "You're nice; you feel nice. Kara protects me, but she needs someone to protect her, too."

There was a high probability that the girl would break out into hysterics should Nick deny her request. Besides, it wasn't as if he was planning to go anywhere else, at least until he got the Feeling from Alice, so he had no problem to say. "I promise."

"Will we be together forever?"

"Forever. You've got to sleep. Sleep tight, Alice."