Lin opened his eyes and blinked. A message popped up to inform him that all of his systems were operating at full capacity. He jerked upright, confused as he looked around. His last memory was of looking down at John. His power core had been resting securely in his human's limp hands. He'd gone into stasis, not expecting to be reactivated again. He leaned back on his hands as he looked around the white room. It was clearly some form of sterile maintenance workshop. Everything was sleek and white, including the workbench he'd been placed on. It reminded him of Cyberlife, but if he was at Cyberlife, then it was unlikely he would have been reactivated.

He swung his legs over the side of the smooth plastic table. Someone had altered his state of dress. He was topless. His artificial skin layer was still covering his body, but he was otherwise bare. He was wearing white cotton trousers. They were baggy and easy to move in. They almost reminded him of the hospital clothing he'd seen patients wearing. He stood slowly. His body felt no different. No alerts popped up to display damage warnings. It seemed that he'd been fully repaired. His core, the same one John had given him all those months ago, had been safely returned to its slot. He ran his fingers over the hidden circle vulnerably. Where am I? Why am I here? He wasn't sure why anyone would go to the trouble of fixing him when he'd clearly intended for his existence to end. If anything, his rights had been violated. If he wished to end his existence, it should be his right to do so. He pressed his hand over the power core, tempted to simply remove it again. Curiosity stilled his hand. Someone had wanted him alive. But who?

"Quite a declaration you made," a woman's voice drawled from the doorway. Her tone was tinged with admiration. Lin raised his eyes from his chest to see a female android lounging in the doorway with her arms crossed. She was attractive. A model he recognised. A WR400. A Traci. She had longer hair than standard though. It was a slightly reddish brown that curled over her shoulder in a long tail. Lin opened his mouth before closing it, unsure what to say. "Humans are really into the whole true love thing," she added as she stepped inside. The door whispered shut behind her as she rested her hands on her denim clad hips and looked around in distaste. Clearly not a fan of maintenance workshop.

"I'm…sorry?" Lin questioned with a raise of his brow. Had he really been woken up simply to reflect on romance with a deviant Traci? The woman seemed to understand a little of his confusion. She wore an almost feline smile as she held her hand out and approached. Lin took it stiffly. He usually kept to his pre-programmed Asian roots and bowed. Her hand was soft, as expected of a female Traci unit, but her grip was strong. Although she'd been designed to look soft, her jawline was strong and tight. She had a serious disposition. He could only guess she had a past as dark as his own. Being a Traci model, it was likely a lot darker.

"North…I was part of the Detroit uprising," she added, watching Lin nod numbly as they parted. That didn't really concern him or explain why he was here. "We came here to meet you…Your demonstration was one of the only other success stories…A lot of our people died before peace was reached." Her face fell as she spoke, hazel eyes filled with sadness. She clearly felt the regret strongly. It was a regret Lin shared, of course, but that still didn't tell him why he was still active. She didn't seem in too much of a hurry to enlighten him either.

"I'm…at a loss…I thought I deactivated myself…" Lin said finally, hoping that North would have some form of information, even if she wasn't responsible for his reactivation. She'd clearly been placed strategically to meet him upon his awakening. North nodded her agreement as she looked around the small room, idly fingering the expensive-looking tools left lying around. She almost looked at them with distaste. It wasn't surprising. He imagined a human would feel the same in an operating theatre. The tools were clean and sterile, left neat and ready for the next procedure.

"You almost did, but someone managed to plug in your core and drop you into stasis before you shutdown…They knew he'd need you if the procedure worked," she added in explanation. Lin's chest lurched at the suggestion. He couldn't help the hope that welled in his chest at her words. She'd said he'd need you. Did that mean John? Was John alive? Had he been saved? He wet his lips nervously, unsure he was willing to believe even the hinted suggestion. North noticed his sudden change. The spike in his stress levels. The fidget of his fingers. "I have to say, it was impressive work…I don't know how Kamski managed it exactly, but…" She shrugged without finishing.

"John…is he?" Lin was so desperate that he couldn't finish the question. He was so scared of what the answer may be. The mingled pain and hope in his tone almost made North wince. She could relate to his feelings. She's watched Markus getting shot. She'd watched him throw himself into the path of bullets to protect others. She didn't know how she would have reacted if Markus had been hurt as badly as Lin's human. She let out a breath and seemed to weigh up her options. The answer to his question wasn't exactly a simple one. She didn't really know what had happened herself. Markus had been helping with that side of things.

"Yes…mostly…It's complicated, so it'll be better for Kamski to explain it," she replied as she gestured towards the door and led the way. Lin followed in silence. His feet were bare on the cold tiled floor. It didn't matter. He didn't feel the cold. It wouldn't even matter if he stepped on something. Not that there was anything to step on. The whole floor was shiny and sterile, as if it had just been waxed. North was silent as she led the way down the hall, the thick rubber heels of her boots thudding on the laminate flooring as they went. They passed numerous glass windows, where scientists were working on androids, or androids were practicing skills. There was even a room where a human girl seemed to be performing some form of physical rehabilitation with the help of a male android. An Asian model that he vaguely recognised as being made for business. Curious…

They walked through a few more corridors before he was led to an open doorway. Inside was a strange room. It was like a huge garden, but completely indoors. He could hear birds and see the sky. He swore he could even feel the breeze. It was clearly an expensive simulation of some sort. North remained outside as Lin stepped in. The doors slid shut behind him. He was hesitant as he walked across the grass. He felt uncertain. Anxious. He pressed on, approaching the top of a small slope. There were flower beds filled with colourful spring flowers, releasing their light scent into the air. Up ahead, he could see three people. One was a man he'd only seen in books. Elijah Kamski. His own creator. The other he'd seen on television during the revolution. His name was Markus. The great revolutionary leader. The third, he could barely believe to be real. He stopped dead as the blonde figure turned to face him.

"Lin…" He'd almost whimpered the word. The neediness was clear in his tone. Lin felt his thirium pump stutter in relief. He took two quick steps closer before stopping dead. Wrong. It's wrong…The feelings died in his throat as he examined the blonde figure that stood before him. Something didn't feel right. He looked exactly as he should. His hair was the same mess of golden curls. His eyes were the same glistening open blue that looked up at him with such vulnerability. His skin was the same pale shade. Still unmarked. Still flawless. Why was something wrong? What was wrong? Lin couldn't help it as he scanned the blonde to read his vitals. He recoiled in horror and stumbled back at what he found. What…is this? This isn't… "Lin?" John called worriedly as he stepped forward desperately, one hand raised hesitantly.

"No…You…" Lin stammered as he jerked away from the touch. He could barely bear to look at him. He heard John's voice call out to him again. The voice tugged at his heartstrings. It was John's voice. It had John's voice. His stress levels rose. John, or the thing that was pretending to be John, reached out a second time. Lin stopped the hand barely an inch from his chest and shoved it away. He staggered back as he saw the hurt in those blue eyes. Eyes that were almost a little too blue. They were almost an exact match, but they were a little too blue when you looked closer. "You're not…you're a…" Lin rejected again, watching John bite his lip. It was the same. It was exactly the same. His expression was filled with hurt. It was all so similar that Lin could feel the pain, too.

"This is John," Elijah interjected finally as he stepped closer and rested a gentle hand on John's slumped shoulder. Lin could barely tear his eyes away from the thing that was supposed to be John. He had every expression perfected. The biting of his lip. The trembling as he tried not to cry. The glistening of his blue eyes as he pleaded for Lin to just look at him. Elijah's expression was firm, almost daring Lin to contradict him. Meanwhile, John's eyes dropped to the ground as he bit his lip almost hard enough to draw blood. Thirium…not blood…Lin could tell the blonde was holding back. His fingers twitched anxiously. Desperate to reach out and grab him.

"No…It's a copy of John…" Lin objected coldly, refusing to look at the way John crumbled in on himself at the blunt words. "What happened to John? Tell me!" Lin demanded angrily as he grabbed the front of Elijah's black shirt and almost hauled him off his feet in a blind rage. His LED span red as he stared up into Elijah's wide green eyes. He felt a firm hand on his arm. His mismatched gaze darted sideways to meet Markus' intense stare. Lin slowly released Elijah and glared. Markus hadn't said it, but he was right. Humans were delicate and shouldn't be manhandled, especially not by an angry android.

"John's body was dying by the time we got him here…We tried a new procedure, highly experimental, but…it was his best chance. We transferred John's consciousness into a fully artificial body." Elijah tried to keep his explanation simple. He cut off as Lin scoffed and covered his eyes with one hand. It was too much. He felt Markus' hand steadying him, sympathetic to his rising stress levels. Markus had considered this reaction. Lin's disbelief was similar to his own upon hearing what Elijah had tried to do. He'd thought his creator had gone mad, likely spurred on by grief. Now that he'd met John, interfaced with him, he knew Elijah had been successful.

"You can't…do that. John was a human! There's no way you could take out his humanity and put it in a new body. That isn't how humans work! Admit it! You made a copy! A very convincing copy! Does he even know he's a machine?" Lin demanded as he tore his hand away to glare at Elijah, almost missing the small sniffles coming from their side. He couldn't look at him. How dare he stand there looking at him with John's face? Speaking to him with John's voice? He acted like John. Sounded like John. It hurt to see something so perfectly copied and know it wasn't him.

"It is possible! That's why it was highly experimental! Before John's brain deteriorated, we injected nanites to-Hey!" Elijah called in shock as Lin shrugged off Markus and turned to leave. He couldn't stay and listen to it. The offer of hope was just too painful. He'd barely taken more than a few steps before he heard hurried steps and felt familiar arms gripping his waist in a desperate plea. Lin recoiled, meeting John's hurt with his own as he turned and looked down at his tear-streaked face. Saline tears. He whimpered Lin's name desperately, falling to his knees as Lin stepped back.

"I can't-you're-not-" Lin cut off in a broken voice. He didn't stop as he walked out into the corridor. He was pleased that John's replica didn't follow. He finally let out a shaking breath and rested his hands on the white wall opposite. He allowed himself to slip down to his knees as the pain rose in his chest. His stress levels were pushing ninety as he trembled. He choked out dry sobs as his nails scratched the plastic coated wall. John was gone. He was really gone. He'd never hold his human again. He'd never feel his warmth, or smell his sweet scent, or bury his face in his hair. He was really gone. Lin reached for his power core without a second thought.