Connor felt… odd. That was the best he could describe it. There wasn't one thing or other that was wrong, but at the same time, nothing felt right. He opened his eyes. Right away, he could identify his surroundings as Simon's lab in New Jericho, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out why he was there.

"Connor?"

He turned at the sound of his name to see Markus coming towards him. His stance seemed tentative, as though he wasn't sure how Connor would react to his presence. "Hello, Markus," he greeted. He paused, frowning at the sound of his own voice. It was much higher pitched then he was used to. Had his voice synthesizer been damaged?

Markus smiled, apparently unfazed by the difference, closing the distance between the two of them. "I'm glad you're awake," he said. "How are you feeling?"

"Odd," he admitted, still confused by how he sounded. Hank had thought his voice was goofy before, what would he think now?

"I imagine so," Markus admitted. "Do you remember what happened?"

What happened? Connor frowned in thought. The case. Getting shot. Memory files clicked into place. He could have sworn that kind of damage would have caused him to shut down. "I was damaged," he said, after a moment. "On a case."

Markus's smile turned sad. "It was a little more severe than that," he said.

Connor cocked his head to the side in confusion. The shift in weight was just enough to notice the resistance of the magnetic clamp at the small of his back. He was on an assembly hook, he realized. "How much more severe?" He was pretty sure he knew the answer before he asked.

The deviant leader winced slightly, and that was all the answer he really needed. If he had shut down, that meant in order for him to be here, he had to have been transferred to a new body. But he had been certain the others had been destroyed. He glanced down.

Oh…

That's why everything felt odd.

His limbs were far shorter than they should have been. Every part of him was disproportionately small in comparison to what he was accustomed to. He held out his hands in front of his face, observing the tiny digits wiggle in response to his prompting. He was definitely in control of this body, it was just… tiny.

"I was destroyed," he concluded, still staring at his fingers.

"Unfortunately," Markus confirmed, sadly. "You shut down only seconds after you were shot. We thought you were gone."

"Evidently not?" He prompted, looking up. He absently observed that the only reason he was eye level to the other android was due to being suspended from the hook.

"We found your server," Markus told him, moving to the computer on his right, and using it to prompt the magnetic arm to lower him to the ground. "We didn't have a body for you so… well..."

Connor's feet made contact with the floor and the magnet detached leaving him free to move. "You improvised," he concluded.

Markus turned back to him, his smile was tense. Connor didn't need to scan him to know he was stressed. "We did. There was no other option, your code was going to degrade. We needed to buy more time."

"That is understandable. My server was designed as a temporary transition and is not properly suited for long term storage." Connor looked at his hands again, still baffled at how small they were. "You used the child body?" He had seen Simon's project a few times and knew it was nearing completion. He never expected to get such a thorough tour of its functionality.

"It's only temporary," Markus assured him, prompting Connor to look up at him again. It was strange not being able to look him in the eye without craning his neck. "Simon is confident he can repair your other body, he just needs time. Well, time and…"

He glanced back up at his friend, noting the hesitation in his voice. "Ah," he acknowledged with a small nod. "My body has been admitted as evidence in the case and therefore cannot be repaired yet. Is that correct?"

"Unfortunately," Markus confirmed. "We will get it repaired as soon as possible."

It was...inconvenient, Connor admitted to himself. He took a tentative step forward, attempting to calibrate and adjust to his new height. The body responded accordingly, all functions were active, it just still felt strange, stiff almost. Like he was forced into a glove that was too small.

He knew that Markus was watching him, gauging his reaction, worried how he would adjust. He would admit he wasn't particularly fond of the situation, but that was hardly Markus's fault. He had only done what he could to save him, the last thing he wanted was his friend to be concerned.

"I believe the body is suitable." He said, trying to put him at ease. "It will certainly be preferable to return to my own, but this is workable for the time being."

He tripped as soon as he attempted to take another step and Markus rushed forward to help him up. "With some time to adjust, it would seem," he amended with a smile.

Markus guided him back to his feet with a slight chuckle. "I imagine it will be a lot to get used to." He remained crouched, maintaining eye contact with him. "There will likely be a lot to get used to on the software end as well," he warned. "This body doesn't have most of the sensors and programs you're used to."

Connor nodded, attempting to run a systems check, but even that seemed to be inoperable. "I suppose that is to be expected. This body is in the early prototyping stages. I should be happy it was able to accept my program at all."

"I must admit, you're taking this a lot better than I expected," Markus said standing back up. The hesitance he had displayed earlier had bled away now that he was convinced Connor wasn't overly distressed by the situation.

Connor just shrugged. "It's not the first time I've died," he said. Judging by Markus's expression that wasn't as comforting as he had intended it. "I was made to be adaptable," he amended. "I'll be ok."

"Alright, fair enough," he conceded with a shake of his head before gesturing to the dispensary's entrance. "Come on, I'm sure you want to see yourself."

"That would be nice," Connor agreed, somewhat eager to know what he looked like as a child. Without thinking, he reached up and took Markus's hand.

Markus stared down at their interlocked hands in surprise at the abnormal action. "Uh…"

Connor froze, realizing what he had just done. He blinked, then withdrew his hand slowly, face scrunching in confusion. "Apologies," he said. "I… am uncertain why I did that."

"It's alright," Markus assured him with a smile. "It's not like I mind, you just surprised me. Simon did warn me that you may experience more child-like impulses and emotions like this. I should have warned you."

Connor wasn't sure he liked the sound of that. "That will be… an inconvenient change," he admitted.

"I am confident in your adaptability," he told him. Markus took his hand back, giving it a squeeze for good measure. "Something tells me you'll be just fine. Who knows, maybe it'll even be good for you."

He frowned, glancing at their conjoined hands once again before looking up at the deviant leader. "Why do I get the feeling you are enjoying this?"

"Oh I am definitely enjoying this," Markus admitted unashamedly as they made their way out of the dispensary. "Not every day the infamous 'deviant hunter' is three feet tall."

"Three feet nine inches," Connor corrected. His voice sounded petulant even to him. This was going to get old fast.

Markus gave his hand another affectionate squeeze. "Alright, three foot nine," he agreed. His voice lowered, taking on a serious note. "I'm just happy you're alive," he said.

Connor didn't really have anything to say to that. He really couldn't fault him for missing him. He knew Markus cared about him. It would be foolish to believe his death had had no emotional effect. He hoped Hank was alright.

They made their way through the corridors and hallways that wound through New Jericho. They had to stop multiple times to allow Connor to pull at the hem of his pants so he wouldn't trip. Typical YK child androids were designed to be around nine years old. Since the clothing he was wearing was designed to fit one of them, they were unfortunately too big.

He was grateful it was still very early and activity was minimal. As the two of them reached more populated areas of the tower, Connor felt himself shrink behind the taller android. While he didn't doubt his safety here, especially being escorted by Markus himself, he wasn't particularly fond of the idea of anyone seeing him in this state.

If Markus noticed, he said nothing. He guided him along acting as though everything was normal, and avoiding questioning stares as they made their way to his private quarters. Once they stepped inside, North greeted them almost immediately.

"Connor!" She called excitedly, for once addressing him before her fiance. She reached down and pulled him into a tight hug, which he reciprocated happily.

"Hello, North," he responded with a smile.

Connor and North's friendship had started out rocky. She had initially been hesitant to trust him with his history as the deviant hunter. In addition, she had witnessed CyberLife attempting to resume control the night of the revolution. She had no reason to trust him.

He had decided to respond to this, by being completely open and honest with her. Connor had either told or shown North anything she wanted to know about his time as a machine, and it had proved to be effective.

A little too effective if you were to ask him. She had quickly gone from being suspicious of him, to being fiercely protective. While it was nice having her on his side, he could do without her throwing hands whenever someone spoke against him.

North pulled back from the hug, still smiling at him. "How are you doing?" She asked. "Everything feel alright?"

"It is an adjustment," Connor admitted. "But I'm alright."

"Good," North finally looked up to Markus. "You know, you didn't warn me he was going to be so cute," she scolded teasingly. "I've got half a mind to keep him."

Markus chuckled. "I'm pretty sure you would need to fight Lieutenant Anderson on that."

"I think I can take him," she countered with a confident smirk.

"Please don't," Connor piped up. He was about ninety percent sure North was joking, but any percentage was too high if there was a risk of the Lieutenant getting hurt.

Markus laughed again, before guiding him away from North and farther into the room. "Relax, Connor. She's not actually going to fight him," he assured him.

Connor glanced at North skeptically. She only smirked and shrugged in response which didn't really put him at ease, but he let the subject drop. He allowed Markus to lead him over to the full length mirror on the other side of the room, finally getting a look at his new body.

It… wasn't what he was expecting.

He looked like a tiny version of himself, he would acknowledge that, but he hadn't expected his own features to so closely resemble Cole. Had that always been the case? A dark corner of his mind began whispering that it was the only reason Hank kept him around.

"Well?" Markus asked, oblivious to Connor's musings. "What do you think?"

"I… look like…" he hesitated, not wanting to put a voice to his concerns. "Me," he finished. "I look like me, just small."

"That's the point," North agreed happily. "Simon used technology from models like me to make the body customizable. It picked up on the projected appearance in your code and made the right adjustments."

Markus nodded in agreement with her explanation. "It was meant to pick up traits from the 'parent' androids, sort of like genetics in humans. But since yours is the only consciousness, it took everything from your code."

Connor looked back down at his tiny hands. "I will admit, it is impressive."

"I'm sure Simon will be happy to hear that," Markus told him. He put a hand on Connor's head affectionately. "He's going to be up in a minute. He wants to run a couple of tests, make sure everything is working properly before we take you home."

Connor stared at his reflection again for a few moments, trying to settle on the features that made him unique. His eyes, the few freckles that speckled his face, the lock of hair that still refused to behave. He wondered if there was enough difference between himself and Hank's son.

He wondered if seeing him like this would be too much for Hank.