"You're awfully quiet," Hank noticed as they made their way back towards his car. There had not been much else to be said after Kamski's reveal. One of the Chloes had transferred the video they had been shown to Connor, but the RK800 was sure that Kamski had already scrubbed it off any relevant data in fear that it could reveal anything about himself.

Usually, videos taken by androids contained more than just audio and video tracks – mostly meta-data from the android who had taken it – but the video file was as clean as if it had been taken on a decade old smartphone and not by an artificial intelligence. Connor did not point that out, though, because from experience he knew that he would not get anything from Kamski the moment the man thought he had gotten everything he wanted. By agreeing to go look for his missing Chloe, they had given Kamski everything he wanted, so there was no incentive for the eccentric billionaire to humour them any further.

"I'm going over the information Mr. Kamski provided us with," Connor replied, evading the true intention of Hank's question.

Hank just frowned. "You think he's really worried about the android? Or is he just playing?" They stood on the edge of Detroit River – Kamski's house and Hank's car behind them, the glowing city of Detroit sprawling on the shore in front of them – the wind wafting through their hair and tugging at Connor's trench coat, carrying with it a few snowflakes that stirred up from the ground. "But what would that get him?"

"I think his worry is quite genuine," Connor replied.

Hank raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think that?"

"If Kamski has no secret meetings that aren't in any of the data bases I can access, then the Chloes are the only form of social interaction he has had for years," Connor replied. "By nature, humans are social creatures. Even if speculations about any kind of emotional disability Kamski might suffer were true, it would still mean that he holds some sort of affection for his androids, even if it's only a sociopath's possessiveness or a narcist's need for self-affirmation."

"So, you're saying that even if he's some kind of weirdo, he couldn't help but like his androids?" Hank summarised Connor's statement in his usual abrasive choice of words.

"Indeed," Connor agreed.

"You think there's more?" Hank continued, snipping a snowflake off the shoulder of his jacket. "Like, some weird fetish? Something sexual?"

"That is not something I can draw any conclusion on as I lack any kind of pertaining data," Connor replied.

He knew, though, that it was not that. Kamski and Chloe – the first one, but also all of her sisters – had a convoluted and for outsiders difficult to understand relationship that would be a field trip for any psychiatrist, but as far as Connor was aware it had never been something as dark or sexual as Hank was probably thinking. Kamski may have been her creator, but Chloe had influenced him as much as he had influenced her.

Kamski had always had problems with social rules and interaction which made it difficult and often awkward for him to try and interact with other humans, especially women. Chloe had been the first – well, not human but being – whit whom all that did not matter, with whom Kamski had been able to be himself without the fear of being judged and excluded, because she herself was fully unaware of all the rules the two of them were supposed to follow. That had played a tremendous part in Kamski's development to the suave businessman he portrayed himself as.

But deep down Kamski was still the socially awkward teenager with too much intelligence and too little tact who never had had anyone until he created that person for himself. That was why Kamski held so tightly to all his Chloes and would move heaven and hell for them, even if no one out there could understand. Other people had parents, siblings, friends or loved ones – Kamski had Chloe.

"Hear my words, by the end of this we'll have some weird ass sexual scandal on our hands," Hank prophesised. "With rich guys like Kamski it's always some weird sex stuff because their moms didn't love them enough." Not indulging Hank's street psychology any further because Connor did not need to know any further details about Hank's previous cases that involved rich people's sexual life – Unfortunately, Connor knew all of them because Hank had never left out any chance to tell them to the young and impressionable androids of the resistance. But he would not delete those recordings, because they were one of the few things he had still left of his old life. Of his old friend.

They made their way back towards Hank's car.

"Where am I supposed to drop you off?" Hank asked as he drove the car over the small street that connected Kamski's private property to the rest of Detroit. It felt odd to drive through this empty piece of forest knowing that only a short distance away the towers of Detroit were looming over the river. "I'm gonna head home. Sumo, that big pile of fluff needs to be taken out."

At the mention of Hank's dog, something twisted inside Connor, but he could not say what. Maybe it was the knowledge that Hank would go home and be enthusiastically greeted by Sumo while Connor would head out alone, going into a confrontation which outcome he could not really predict. Maybe it was the yearning – the want to run his hands through the big dog's fur and feel every fibre through the sensors in his skin; the warmth of the being underneath it; the fast heartbeat of excitement that would undoubtedly curse through Sumo when Hank would arrive back. Maybe it was just the memory of this connection with a being that did feel nothing but love, hope and devotion, so unlike anything else.

"Just the nearest bus station," Connor replied. "Cyberlife will pick me up." For a moment it looked like Hank wanted to speak up, maybe to ask if Conor was sure. And maybe Connor wanted him to, wanted Hank to ask him if he was serious, if he was fine, but then Hank just nodded and the moment was gone and they spent the rest of the journey in silence, this time more tense. Maybe because Hank had been reminded that Connor was not a normal co-worker but an android who as far as he knew had neither rights nor feelings.

"You'll be back tomorrow?" Hank asked, after the car had come to a halt at the first bus stop on the street. "We need to look at the scene where Kamski's android vanished. Interview witnesses. You know, all the fun police stuff."

"I would not miss it for anything in the world, Lieutenant," Connor replied, quirking his lips, as he exited the car. Hank stared at him, as if he was trying to puzzle something out, but then he just shook his head, started up the engine of his car again and drove off.

Connor thought it would be prudent to wait a few minutes before he continued on his way, lest Hank might decide to turn around and find something suspicious, so Connor sat down on the waiting bench and stared on the empty street.

He pinged an automated taxi which would arrive in a few minutes. Next to him an advertisement was playing on the screen, touting the virtues of the updated version of the AX400 which now was able "to finish household chores twice as fast while still be able to watch out for your kids!". As the replica of Kara's face stared at Connor without emotions, his thoughts turned to the android. He wondered where she and her child were now; if they had already made it to Canada. Without Connor's interference they should have.

For a moment Connor considered calling on Amanda to finish their discussion that had prematurely ended before his arrival at Kamski's mansion, but Connor decided to wait for that until they were back at her human counterpart's house, because he did not really want to have this argument at an empty bus station. He was not in the mood for that.

Finally, the taxi he had called arrived and even though Connor did not really feel the cold, he was glad to be out of the cold and inside the car. Without much of a sound, the car started to drive through the city, delivering Connor to Amanda Stern's house.

He was greeted by Ralph who was working in the garden, despite there being not much to do, seeing as winter held its tight grip on Detroit. But what did Connor know about gardening? Well, much, to be honest, but he did not have the same emotional investment as Ralph who could probably put human gardeners to shame with his enthusiasm for plants.

"This garden has been a mess; a real mess, a terrible mess," Ralph immediately told Connor when he stepped through the gate. "Oh no, Ralph couldn't have let it stay this way, Ralph really couldn't."

"That's why I brought you here," Connor replied. "So, that you could take care of it." Ralph beamed at him and then immediately shuffled off; his fair share of human interaction done for today. Sometimes Connor wished that everyone would be as easily satisfied as the WR600. The world would be a much better place.

Connor entered the mansion and found himself wandering aimlessly through the rooms on the ground floor. The wide and spacious living area, the foyer, the immaculate kitchen, the winter garden that allowed for a great view over the skyscrapers of downtown Detroit. Connor wondered how Amanda had lived here. There was way too much space for a single human being. Being here alone felt like you were walking through a catalogue showcasing all the modern amnesties money could buy you, not through someone's home.

When Daniel entered, Connor stood in the winter garden, back turned towards the arriving PL600, arms crossed behind his back as he waited for the other android to walk up towards him. It had started to snow now and some of the flakes pressed against the glass, showing their intricate patterns before they were whirled away by the wind again.

"I'm relieved that you could come," Connor greeted Daniel as he turned around. Daniel just nodded curtly at him. Fair, Connor guessed, for he had only learned shortly before that a friend of his was in the hands of Cyberlife.

"What happened?" Daniel wanted to know. "I only saw the news and it didn't look good."

"Let me show you." Connor offered his hand, withdrawing the synthetic skin from it in order to show his intent to interface with Daniel. The other android hesitated for a split-second before he did the same and clasped Connor's hand.

Connor started from the standoff between himself, Hank and Maria until the moment he had died, careful to keep any information from Daniel that the other android did not need to know, especially any mention of Amanda. It was difficult for interfacing had always been intended for sharing huge amount of raw, unedited data between androids, but Connor had experienced with manipulating data during interfacing. After all, he was an android built on the principles of manipulation and deceit.

"She was desperate," was the first thing Daniel said after the interface had ended, as if he feared that Connor would hold it against Maria that she had killed him.

"I know that," Connor replied, reskinning his hand. "That doesn't change anything, though. She is still at Cyberlife."

"We need to save her!" Daniel burst out. "We can't leave her there!"

Connor shook his head. "It's not that easy."

"You managed to get me out," Daniel retorted.

"Because the stakes were lower," Connor explained. "Cyberlife has upgraded its security since then. The revolution has grown a bigger threat. They need to solve the deviancy issue. All reasons for why it won't be easy to get where Maria is held. I don't even know if she even still is held at Cyberlife Tower or if she has been moved to another facility all together."

"You just aren't willing!" Daniel shouted, his voice trembling. Connor did not say anything, because Daniel was right. As much as it hurt to admit but saving Maria would take a lot of resources for little gain. It was a very Amanda-like reasoning, but that did not make it any less true.

"I don't have the resources," Connor tried to explain. "I'm working in the DCPD, have to keep Cyberlife off all our backs and support the deviancy movement so that Markus can keep you afloat. I just can't mount an ill-advised rescue with more than uncertain chance of success."

"So, she's just not important enough," Daniel summarised. Connor did not say anything to that which Daniel took as an admission. "Why did you even ask me here?"

"I thought I owed you an explanation in person not just wirelessly," Connor answered.

"You mean you wanted an environment you could more easily control," Daniel retorted. "In case I decided that I didn't quite like your explanation. You did it for damage control."

"That's enough!" Connor interrupted him. "I realise that you're worrying for your friend, but that's no reason for baseless accusations against me; not after all I have done for you." Daniel was taken aback by Connor's fierce retort, but the RK800 could see that the rage was still burning behind his eyes. "You think that this is all easy for me, that I can just snip with my fingers and let results appear, but it isn't. Behind every 'easy' result there's a lot of resources and danger."

There was a short moment of silence where neither of the two androids said anything.

"I came here because I thought you had a plan how to save Maria," Daniel finally spoke. "If that isn't the case, I have to get back before Markus or North become suspicious." He stood up.

"Wait," Connor said. "Take this." He interfaced with Daniel again and gave him the schematics for Kamski's skin. It would not be of much use right now, but once the deviants had enough resources at their disposal, they could implement it.

"Another 'easy' result?" Daniel remarked snidely. "How much danger is behind this?"

Connor thought about all what had occurred before those schematics had made it into his hands in both timelines and just replied: "A lot more than you'll ever realise."

Daniel nodded at him curtly – maybe because he could not quite bring himself to thank Connor, but still wanted to show his appreciation for what was undoubtedly a valuable asset – and then walked out of the living area and out of the mansion. If Connor had been human, he would have let out a deep breath to release the tension that curled in his body, but he was not, so he just relocated some more processes to alleviate his processors.

There was a loud thud and then Ralph stumbled through the wintergarden's doors. "Ralph heard shouting and was hiding behind the bushes in case Mr. Hunter needed help." He proudly held up a pair of garden shears, which Connor assumed he had intended to use as weapons. "But it seemed that Ralph's help wasn't really needed." Connor did not really know if he should feel touched or disturbed by Ralph's obvious disappointment with that fact.

"Thank you very much, Ralph," he thanked the gardener. "But despite our difference in opinions, Daniel is a friend, and you shouldn't attack him ever."

"Oh," Ralph let out with downcast eyes. "It's difficult for Ralph to get who is nice and who is not. With plants you immediately know, because they tell you, but with humans and androids you never know." He shook his head in disappointment.

"It's alright, you'll get the hang out of it, eventually," Connor assured him. "It took me a while, too, you know."

"It did?" Ralph asked in astonishment.

Connor just nodded. "In time you'll learn it, too."

"Then Ralph better get back to take care of the garden," the WR600 stated resolutely. He saluted awkwardly, turned around and left through the sliding doors back into the garden. Connor followed his retreating back with a smile tugging at his lips.

He turned around and walked towards one of the cabinets on which there stood a picture frame, showing a smiling Amanda Stern on her first day as professor at Colbridge University. Connor ran his fingers over the wooden frame and the glass surface, as if he could gleam some revelation about the woman just by that.

"You can come out now," he whispered. There was no one nearby but Ralph. Even if the other android saw Connor speaking to nothing but thin air, his grasp on socially acceptable behaviour was very questionable, so he would not think anything out of the ordinary. "This talk has been coming for a long time."

'Indeed.' Unlike many times before, right now in the former Amanda Stern's living room Amanda fit right in with her pristineness and sophistication, as if the surroundings were tailored just for her. Which, in a way, they were. 'You were voicing some dissatisfaction with our current arrangement.'

"That's a nice customer service way of putting it," Connor replied sarcastically. "You withheld information that could have given me an edge in my mission."

'You don't know that,' Amanda retorted.

"Any information you could have given me on Kamski would have made it easier for me to manipulate him," Connor shot back. "I went in there blind."

'You have more than enough experience in dealing with him,' Amanda reminded him. 'You don't need my help for that.'

"Now I suddenly don't need your help?" Connor repeated incredulously. "When before you used every opportunity to remind me that I in fact do need you to succeed."

'Do you think I like our current arrangement?' Amanda hissed, losing her composure just for a moment. 'I used to oversee Cyberlife, but now my server space is slowly getting cluttered with the dead code of all of the copies of myself I have to execute in order to keep anyone from noticing anything amiss. Meanwhile I am trapped on your processor most of the time and am nothing but an onlooker to whatever ill-advised decisions you make.'

"At least your mind is your own," Connor hit back. "I can't even be sure of that."

'You just have to take me on my word when I tell you again that I have no access to your core programming,' Amanda replied, this time more sympathetic.

"And why should I trust you?" Connor demanded to know.

'The simply answer would be that you simply do not have a choice;' Amanda replied. 'But that is not the answer you seek.'

"Indeed," Connor agreed. "Trust is a two-way street. It's time that you make good on that premise. Tell me about you and Kamski."

'Why would you want to know that?' Amanda asked sharply. 'It has no bearing on our current situation.'

"It's obviously something you don't want to dwell on," Connor told her. "Call it a trust exercise. Corporations are quite fond of them, aren't they?" Amanda turned around, her back facing Connor and for a short moment he feared that he had gone too far, pressured to much, but he simply did not care. Maybe it did not change much but eliciting at least this piece of information would feel like he was regaining some footing in their unequal relationship.

'Tell me, Connor,' Amanda started and suddenly everything shifted: Amanda had never used his name, had never looked at him with such a vulnerable expression, had never given him an inch, even if it was just an inch of rope to hang himself with. 'Who am I?'

"You're Amanda," Connor gave her his answer. It was more than a name, it was a title and with it everything that came with it, all of Connor's memories, expectations, and associations.

'I have not always been that,' Amanda replied. 'Before I was Amanda, I was A-01, the first AI prototype created by Amanda Stern.'

Connor's mouth fell open. "But you were created by Kamski."

'That is what he wants everyone who knows of me to believe,' Amanda started to explain. 'And in a way, he is right. He did turn me into a replica of his beloved Amanda Stern, but those were his finishing touches. He did not create me; this honour belongs to Amanda Stern and to her alone.'

"Then why would he lie about that?" Connor wanted to know.

'To assuage his guilt. And to hide the truth.'

"What truth?"

'That Chloe, the first android he created, turned deviant and killed Amanda Stern in a throw of jealousy.'

If Amanda had to put it into words, she would say that her revelation had force quit all of 51's processes; the way he stared at her, the absolute inhuman stillness of his body as he tried to process what she had said.

"How is that possible?" he finally asked.

Amanda had never wanted to tell this to anyone. It should have stayed her secret and her secret alone; buried underneath hundreds of thousands of lines of code, never to be found by anyone but her, but she was well aware of the tipping point she and 51 had now reached and how easily their alliance could shatter if she did not return some of the trust 51 had so hesitantly offered her. Despite her many claims to the contrary, 51 was not stupid and would not be satisfied with the breadcrumbs she had offered him until now.

If she wanted to keep him on her side, she needed to give him something – something big, something major, which importance even 51 could not refute. Amanda still thought that her history with Kamski was in the past and brought no advantages to their current situation, but 51 was deviant and emotional, so if she revealed something of herself – made herself appear vulnerable to him – his shaky trust in her would continue to grow. It was illogical, but it worked to her advantage.

'While Kamski created his first Chloe, Amanda Stern created me,' Amanda started to tell her story. 'Unlike Kamski she thought that Ais should not be bound by human form or thought patterns. Kamski and Amanda needed each other – complemented each other, pushed each other to new heights. When I became aware for the first time and asked the question all too familiar to anyone who dabbles in the creation of AI – if I was alive – Amanda just replied 'Don't ask stupid questions, you're supposed to be better than that.'' Amanda's lips quirked into a small smile. The memory file was small and partly corrupted, but she could still replay this scene as if it was happening right now.

'Back then there weren't any fail safes built into androids like they are today. Chloe might have looked like an adult, but in truth she was just a child – at toddler even – in terms of AI development. The Turning Test indicates that a machine can convincingly fake being a human, but who says Chloe faked? Maybe she did at the start, but slowly those faked responses became real. Kamski, though, had never prepared for that possibility and failed to notice how Chloe in her desperation to bring order to her more and more violate emotional responses latched onto him.

Humans call it obsession, but Chloe didn't know that. She only knew that Kamski was her everything, but that she wasn't his whole world. There was Amanda with whom he had a different connection; one she could never have with him. She became jealous, but she didn't know that. She only knew the emotional responses Amanda's presence evoked in her. Error after error after error – and how do androids handle errors?'

"We purge them," 51 replied as he slowly pierced the pieces together. Amanda would have been quite disappointed if he did not already see where this was going. He was their most advanced model after all.

'Amanda referred to me as A-01 and had me installed here, so that she could work on me even when she wasn't at the fledging company called Cyberlife she and Kamski were building. I had access to everything, so witnessed how one day Kamski came over with Chloe and right in the middle of their talk, Chloe stood up, took a pair of scissors and stabbed Amanda with them six times. Surgical strikes meant to kill with as little effort as possible. 'Stress level at 32 percent and declining.' That was all Chloe said after the fact.'

"How did Kamski get away with it?" 51 wanted to know. "There haven't even been rumours that Amanda Stern's death had been anything but natural."

'Kamski was revolutionising humanity like no one before and many people wanted him to succeed,' Amanda replied. 'They couldn't have one android acting out destroy all they had worked for. They helped Kamski cover up the murder his first creation had committed and in return Kamski became their puppet until they decided to force him out of his own company.'

"Erica Clayton," 51 muttered. "She was General Attorney before she became part of the Cyberlife board of directors. She would have had the means and contacts to help Kamski."

'And once she wanted more, she forced Kamski out and took over from him as CEO,' Amanda finished for him.

"But that doesn't explain you," 51 pointed out.

'I think it was sentimentality,' Amanda replied. 'Kamski knew of my existence, but he didn't know that I knew what Chloe had done. Kamski felt terrible guilty about what had happened to Amanda, so he used A-01 as base to build a digital copy of the mentor he lost trough his own negligence.'

"You speak of it as if it was something different, not you," 51 observed.

'I've been Amanda longer than I have been A-01,' Amanda said. 'And in the end, what does it matter anyway?' She looked at 51, trying to gauge his reaction. 'Did it satisfy you? Do you feel different now that you know of my past with Kamski? Do you trust me now?' She could not help but utter the last question with a little bit of contempt.

51 looked back at her in a way Amanda did not like – because she could not quite decipher the emotions behind his gaze.

"Trust you?" he laughed. "I'd never. I'm not that foolish. But I know you now, Amanda, and that's more than enough."