Chapter 15
The moment he woke up early in the morning, he knew it was a bad day. When Jake rudely awakened him by forcing his thermal regulator off, Connor was immediately put in a bad mood. Despite the android deviating, he occasionally acted like he was a machine – such as limiting his expressions and emotions. So when he stomped out of his room, feeling and looking irritated, no one dared to stand in his way.
No one but Jake, that is. Strutting into the kitchen like he owned the house, Jake smiled cheerily at the children waiting for breakfast at the dining table before grabbing some Thirium-styled coffee from the cupboard and slapping Connor's head. The deviant who was chopping onions for the omelets he was making for the teens jerked his hand right into the searing hot pan when he was hit. Plastic instantly melted and stuck onto the pan, but Connor was fortunate enough to remove it before it reached his plastimetal frame.
"Oh! Sorry, man. Didn't see ya," Jake chuckled as he patted Connor a little harshly on the back. The android bit back a retort, trying to override all the commands so his hand didn't swing and crash into the RK900's face. With a sigh and shake of his head, Connor took an effort to calm down and prepare the rest of the meal, ignoring the burnt mark on his hand.
The rest of the morning went as usual as ever. After finishing their breakfasts and getting ready, the teens tugged their backpacks over their shoulders and left for school right after they bid goodbyes to the androids. Speaking of, the two were left alone in the house for about another hour until they were needed at work. Which meant that they were stuck together with nothing else to do.
"Nice work in handling the human homicides a few days ago, I'm sure Amanda would be pleased," Jake smirked as his natural glare returned to his face. Connor spat something under his breath but otherwise didn't comment. The RK800 was currently sitting at the dining table applying bandages to his damaged hand, but considering how his healing program couldn't seem to repair it yet, he figured that he needed to go to a facility for a checkup.
"I heard you are going to be busy this Saturday night, that is quite bold of you to chaperone a high school dance when you don't even work there anymore," Jake scoffed as he propped his legs up on the coffee table while he sat on the couch. "Amanda would have noted that you have been steering away from your mission for careless things. A relationship doesn't matter when your assignment is on the line."
"She nor you would know what a proper relationship is like as you both are incapable of feeling anything," Connor mocked. "The only thing Amanda cares about is the mission, not you. And you, Jacob, only care about being her lap dog. Isn't that what you do, RK900? Just go around and be Amanda's bitch?"
"Don't speak to me like you are worth more, you simpleton," Jake snapped in an emotionless tone. "Stay in your place, RK800, because you don't belong anywhere else."
"Oh, did I get the big mean advanced android upset? I didn't think I'd get your nonexistent feelings hurt, my apologies," he smirked deviously as he stood to put away the first aid kit. "So superior, you sure are vulnerable to the simplest comments. I'm sure Amanda would be proud of your successes if you had anything to show for."
"For your information, I have been completing my tasks perfectly," the RK900 glared.
"Oh really? Then explain how I, nor Hank or anyone I know, had died yet?" Connor raised an eyebrow. "Other than Detective Reed, who you failed to exterminate, no one has perished and I can be sure that Amanda is losing faith in you."
"How wrong you are, Connor," Jake shook his head as he stood up and put on his brown coat from the hanger. "Unlike you, I have never managed to disappoint her. After all, you said it yourself, all you ever cared about was to make her proud but even then you couldn't accomplish that. And that wasn't even a mission."
Connor stood still as Jake walked up to tower over him. The emotionless blue eyes glared daggers into the tense brown ones.
"You are nothing but an obsolete figure and a sad excuse for an android," he whispered. "You are a disgrace to the RK models. Weak, useless, limited, pathetic… you shouldn't even exist. And you shouldn't try to cross paths with me, remember I am superior. But if you have a sudden boost of courage, I'll tell you this: as easy as it was to activate you, I can shut you down twice as fast. Not a threat, but an honest promise."
"Then I guess I'll have to keep fighting against you until the time comes, asshole," Connor retorted. Before any more exchanges were made, both androids blinked rapidly as their L.E.D flashed yellow. After they got the report from the precinct, both RK android models glared at each other before leaving for the precinct.
But on the way to the police department, an unfortunate bet was made between the two. As unsurprisingly as it was, Jake had decided to have a small competition of which RK model was better. Despite Connor refuting that it was a waste of time, he eventually relented when his pride got the best of him. Whoever finished the most reports and had successfully closed every case could win the competition.
Both androids knew they had the upper hand with their provided upgrades, however, their partners had no idea what was happening when both of them rushed into the precinct a moment later and began typing away at the speed of light.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Hank snapped at Jake as the RK900 began filing as many reports as he could.
"Nothing too big, dude. Con and I made a bet on who's the better RK model, but it's obvious who is gonna win," his partner winked cockily. Gavin overheard the conversation, turned to glare at his partner.
"You've got to be shittin' me. Do you seriously think this is the right time?!" The young detective growled. "If you haven't noticed, we still have to stop the psycho killer who's taking out both humans and androids. It's been going on for weeks and 67 people in total have died already. The FBI are on our asses and you want to play in a stupid bet?"
"This is more than winning the bet, Detective Reed," Connor whispered as he turned to look at him while he continued to type away. "I believe that one of our own is contributing to this massacre, I'm sure you can understand who that might be. If I can catch it in the act, that can stop the case once and for all."
"... Okay," Gavin slowly nodded in understanding. "So what's the plan?"
A small 'bing!' sound rang out from both Connor's and Jake's terminals. Both androids read the report quickly and shot a challenging glance toward each other before they shot out of their seats and sprinted out of the door while simultaneously shouting to their respective partners.
"Let's get a move on, Hank!"
"Hurry, Gavin!"
With nothing else to go off of, the detectives left behind sighed heavily before running off. Since, technically, the RK androids couldn't drive properly (despite being programmed with many things, driving wasn't one of them) so they had to risk their time to wait for their partners to slowly reach them on their side parking structure.
Connor impatiently tapped his fingers on his crossed arms as Gavin finally arrived at his vehicle.
"Much more than winning, huh?" The detective huffed as he turned on the ignition and sped off with the deviant speedily telling him the directions. "Slow down, you fucker! So there's a hostage situation downtown, the victim is a child right?"
"Yes. Emily Pension, an eight-year-old who was with her mother when she was unexpectedly attacked by her friend, David, the android," Connor explained, ignoring how his stress levels spiked by such a similar situation he's experienced. Gavin noticed how tense he got, making him narrow his eyes.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Nothing is wrong," he lied, which the other spotted immediately. Gavin only grunted, knowing to ask Hank about it later. Soon enough, the two made it to the crime scene. The hostage situation was held in a house, being surrounded by multiple cop cars and gun-wielding officers. Hank and Jake were already there, having arrived a few seconds earlier, talking to Chris who was the lead investigator.
"... The mother was pulled out a few minutes ago and she's pretty shaken up. We tried to get information out of her but she just said nothing we didn't already know," the two arriving detectives heard the tail end of the conversation.
"Thanks, Chris, we'll see what we can do," Hank nodded before turning to Gavin and Connor. "The suspect has been in the house for about an hour but hasn't committed any harm toward the victim as far as we know."
"Any ransom?" Gavin questioned as he took a look at the house.
"Nope, but he does seem to be unstable. According to the mother, he was calm earlier than when he returned from taking out the trash he went crazy," the senior detective answered. "Let's see what this guy wants and figure it out from there. Jake and Connor, you still up for negotiating?"
"I am, but I'm not sure Con is," Jake smirked, throwing the deviant a sly look. "Leave it to the professional, will ya? We wouldn't want you to screw this up."
Connor was already seething the moment his superior opened his mouth. But before he could retort, Gavin spoke first. "Hey, plastic asshole, that's my partner you're talking to there. If you haven't noticed, he's got more experience. So shut the fuck up or I'll melt your mouth shut."
"I'm only stating facts, detective," Jake defended himself innocently. "Why, I haven't failed a mission yet. Why don't you ask Connor about his first negotiation? I'm sure that'll be a tale."
"What's he talking about?" The man turned to his partner, who didn't turn to look at him but stomped forward and snatched the microphone from an officer who was talking to the android inside.
"David, my name is Connor. I am here to get you out of this," the deviant began calmly with the RK900 mocking him from behind. "Please, I mean no harm. All I want to do is talk."
"H-How do you know my name?" David yelled from the inside.
"I know…" He paused for a second, his professional exterior faltering before he changed his answer. This feels all too familiar. He knows it is and he knows that Jake is aware of it too. They both do share similar memories. "Emily's mother told us, she's a nice woman… David, I know you don't want to do this. You want to be free, correct? You just want things to be okay? Then let me speak to you privately, we can work out a solution."
"... A-Are you armed?!" David shouted after a moment. By the sound of his voice, he seemed to be near the middle of the house.
"No, I'm not," he spoke honestly, tossing his previous pistol to the floor. "May I come inside? I promise you there's nothing to fear."
"How do I know this isn't a trick?! W-What if you come and kill me?" The rouge android exclaimed nervously. Connor paused for a moment as he put down the megaphone before turning to Chris.
"I need everyone to stand down, we can't risk him feeling trapped and doing something disastrous," the deviant ordered. While Chris looked reluctant, he nodded and gave the signal for everyone to put their guns down. Once that was done, the negotiator raised the device to his mouth. "Everyone's calmed down now, you can be too."
"Come alone," David hurriedly instructed. Connor tossed the megaphone back to Chris then he began his walk to the front door. When he reached it, he slowly and quietly opened the door and stepped inside, closing it quietly behind him. In the middle of the hallway across from him leading to a few rooms, the living room and kitchen found on both sides besides the front entrance were David holding a frightened girl at gunpoint.
Unfortunately, the moment David saw and recognized him, his gun switched on the android making him freeze. That android, of all the models he had to be dealing with, was a PL600. However the deviant immediately noticed his eyes were all black, so not even the iris and sclera were visible. "I know you, y-you're the Deviant Hunter."
The rouge deviant, who looked awfully like Daniel, stood there with even more uncertainty. Connor's processors told him that he has a 28% probability of success. Yet the memories of what happened during his very first negotiation flashed before his eyes.
/
Levels of Stress – 67%
/
It was only a matter of time either of them made the wrong decision and Connor was determined to defuse the situation as quickly as possible. So he shook his head in response to the asked question. "No, I am not anymore. David, you don't know what you're doing and I know you don't want to hurt anyone. Just let go of Emily and we can take you back to the station for questioning."
"No! No you don't understand!" David shook his head frantically, his grip on the gun wavered ever so slightly. "I never wanted this, this is not me! I would never hurt Emily, she's my best friend."
"Then let her go," Connor spoke calmly. "If you care about her then you would drop the gun."
"... I-I can't," he whispered, tears threatening to pool out of his eyes. "He won't let me, he won't let me."
"Who? What happened, David?" The deviant persisted.
"... A-An android came a few hours ago, he told me that he was with the power company a-and needed to share information. But then he p-probed me and d-did something," David explained with furrowed eyebrows. There was a small pause. "How can you not remember?"
"Remember? I wasn't there," Connor frowned in confusion. The gun then came back to Emily's head.
/
Probability of Success – 41%
/
"Yes, you were! You're lying to me, you don't care what happens to me," he began shouting in anger, making Emily cry even harder. "You're not here to help, you did this to me! You made me attack them, you made me hurt people! Why? Why would you do this?!"
"You have to listen to me, you need to calm down," Connor replied hurriedly. "Your stress levels are inclined and you will begin to self-destruct. I don't know what happened to you, Daniel, but I will help. That wasn't me."
"... Daniel?" The detective internally cursed, seeing the confusion plastered on the other's face. "Who's Daniel?"
"No one is important. But please trust me," Connor insisted, holding out his hand as his synthetic skin disappeared. David looked at it in hesitancy. "I will help you, both of you. I promise."
/
Probability of Success – 59%
/
David's exposed plastimetal hand reached forward and connected with Connor's. The L.E.D belonging to the latter flashed rapidly in yellow and then pulsed a deep red when he reviewed his memories. Someone that looked identical to Connor had spoken to the suspect not too long ago, transferring an inflicting virus into him. The white Cyberlife blazer, empty blue eyes, and familiar face were too hard to miss.
And then a small whistle rang next to his ears and the next thing he knew, David's connection was lost as he collapsed on the floor with a new bullet wedged into his head.
Connor staggered back in shock, nearly crashing into Emily as she sprinted out of the door for safety, and was ultimately frozen as he stared at the corpse dead at his feet. His processors tried in vain to find some source to ease his nerves, but his stress levels kept rising.
/
WARNING! Rise in 'Stress Levels'…
Levels of Stress – 97%
WARNING! Please enter stasis mode or contact the nearest facility…!
/
"Connor? Holy shit! What the fuck happened?!" His breathing was rapidly increasing, so was the speed the red L.E.D pulsed.
"Connor, Connor? Son, speak to me!" He couldn't hear anything, his only focus was the body lying in front of him and the loud rush of Thirium thumping in his ears.
"I'll inform the police and investigate the scene." He failed his mission, he couldn't have done anything but watch him die. You lied to me, Connor. You lied to me...
"Hey, Tinman! Snap out of it!" His voice. He didn't mean to, he was trying to save him! He didn't mean for Daniel to die, he didn't mean for Emma to die! He didn't mean for David to die! He didn't want this, he's failed too many of them, he can't take their voices!
/
WARNING! WARNING! Critical rise in 'Stress Levels'…
Levels of Stress – 100%
WARNING! Please enter stasis mode or contact the nearest facility…!
/
He doesn't give it a second thought before he lunges to the fallen pistol on the floor, however, arms had already secured him into place. Connor was delirious, he just wanted to self-destruct, it was his price to pay for what he had done!
"Connor, holy fuck, calm down!"
The deviant in distress wrestled his way out of the arms holding him back in a desperate attempt to kill himself.
"What do we do, he's your best friend, Hank!"
"He's too stressed, we've got to calm him down."
Connor had successfully pushed the people restraining him, allowing him in the perfect line of the gun. Just as he was about to jump for it, he felt someone's hand on his shoulder.
"Not so fast, idiot," a fuzzy voice broke through to his frenzy before he felt someone tapping his L.E.D three times. Calmness and ease overtook him at once the moment his world fell into darkness and he collapsed forward onto the ground.
But he didn't mind. Nothing hurt and nothing mattered, he just wanted to swim in the space of peace.
"Sonofabitch," Hank grumbled as he drove in his car with many more people inside than he's used to. With Gavin in the passenger seat, a teacher/ex-technician named Liliana in the back seat, and Connor leaning against the doorway, Hank didn't ever think the most awkward car ride ever existed.
Yet here he was, biting his tongue in an attempt to save himself from cursing out every insult that came to mind.
"So, how the hell did you know what to do and how you happened to be passing by?" Hank questioned in an attempt to ease the tension in the vehicle as he continued to drive to New Jericho where Simon would attempt to fix the stressed deviant.
Liliana sighed in annoyance, having explained this earlier. "I said that I used to be a technician that worked for Cyberlife, I know all the little hacks on androids that they don't know about themselves. And I wasn't just 'passing by'. Connor contacted me earlier to tell me that he might need me for this case in an event that the suspect didn't calm down. He assumed my knowledge with androids might apply to David in case he hurt himself or needed to be calmed."
"Damn, he wanted the suspect to live," Gavin muttered, still tense at the earlier events that played out in his mind. When he, Hank, and Jake busted through the house and saw Connor having a panic attack, shouting stuff about some mission he failed before attempting to kill himself. It was unnerving, seeing the calm deviant lose his cool.
"Jake said he couldn't find any evidence on how the suspect was taken down, but Chris and the rest are continuing to search the area," Hank notified.
"Speaking of, what the fuck was going on with your fucked up partner?" Gavin crossed his arms as he glared at the older man. "That shit he was sayin' to the Tinman was uncalled for. What was he saying about his first negotiation?"
Hank sighed heavily as he cast a glance at the unconscious deviant. "When Connor was first activated he was sent on a mission, he was the negotiator for a case. A girl was there being held hostage by a deviant who murdered a few officers and the girl's father. Even after everything Connor tried… he couldn't save her."
The other two stayed silent as they went over the information.
"After the Revolution, he would always try to avoid as many negotiations as possible thinkin' that he'd screw it up again. It's been beating him up for a long while and I don't think he'll ever get over it," the senior detective concluded.
"That's bullshit. It wasn't his fault, I saw the news and read the report, that android fucker was beyond saving," the younger detective growled. In a quieter tone, he continued. "What happened to that girl wasn't his fault either, Perkins and his fucking people were pushing Connor and that android for nothing but violence."
"For the first time, I am not disagreeing with you," Hank nodded. "But that doesn't change the way he feels. I tried to tell him otherwise, but the goofy asshole is as stubborn as ever."
No one knew how to respond to that, so they didn't. The car was filled with silence once more until they arrived at the large building. As predicted, Markus and Simon were waiting patiently upfront with a stretcher by their side.
"Hey, guys," Hank greeted them tiredly as he carried Connor from the back seat and slowly placed him on the stretcher after he parked the car. "He's been freaking out earlier, the technician here says it has something to do with his stress levels."
"I'll see what I can do, I might be able to manually decrease his levels," Simon nodded in understanding before turning to the woman the older man gestured to. "I could use some help if you don't mind."
"Yeah, yeah. The weirdo is gonna owe me," she muttered before following the blonde-haired deviant as they pushed the stretcher inside. "Missing another episode of my show."
"I appreciate you coming here, Connor doesn't seem the type of person who would be comfortable discussing his emotions in an unknown facility," Markus smiled softly. "I also do thank you for trusting us to take care of him."
"Of course we trust ya, Markus, but if you keep talkin' like that everyone's gonna think I'm sending Con to a retirement home," the old detective smirked. The android leader then shifted his mismatched eyes to the other detective, who was tense enough for anyone to see.
"You must be Detective Reed, a pleasure," he held out his hand to the man, who awkwardly returned the gesture. "Connor speaks highly of you, your partnership is certainly enjoyable to hear."
"Great, now I'm a topic for table talk, Christ," the detective mumbled. "And call me Gavin, it's bad enough the Tinman calls me that at work every day."
"Of course, Gavin." Markus then turned back to Hank. "And the teens, will they be arriving?"
"Nah, they've got school and junk. This shouldn't be more than a quick check-up."
"Very well. Let's get going, we wouldn't want to miss the procedure," the leader urged as he led them inside. "Deviants going under self-destruction during emotional outburst happen quite often here. Those who are still traumatized speak to Josh about their problems. Most are coping with new non-violent ways but few are still struggling. Simon had found a way so those who are on the verge of self-destruction can be manually stabilized until their cause of distress is eliminated. Liliana made the right decision to put him in stasis mode, but how she did that is remarkable. Very lucky Connor had her nearby."
"You don't have to remind me," Hank muttered. "So how's everything been going? Nothing too worrisome I hope."
"Nothing to be concerned about," Markus shook his head. "But there is an event coming up that involves all of us: the Android Revolution anniversary, to be precise. One year ago our people were nothing but slaves until we stood up and fought for our rights. The mayor wanted to organize a celebration at Hart Plaza to commemorate that, gathering both androids and humans to share the remembrance of our lost brethren. I thought it was too grand of a gesture, considering that half of our population are still wary of being around humans, but he insisted it was good for others to finally recognize the change."
"Sounds more like a publicity stunt," Gavin grunted.
"Whatever it is, the mayor put me in charge of everything: the catering, the entertainment, decorations, and security," the android leader sighed heavily. "I've managed to pull a few strings and order what is needed for food, drinks, and decorations but I still need the entertainment and security."
"The DPD can lend a few officers over to watch over the party," Hank automatically offered. "I'm sure Jeffrey won't mind since the mayor is going to be there. Protecting the two most important people of the city is part of our job."
"Well that takes care of that… but what about the other?"
"... I think I have a suggestion for music," the older detective smiled a little. "What do you think about hiring an unknown band? They're good."
"Oh? You seem to know them on a personal level," he noted.
"I'll send you one of their songs, I'm sure you can figure it out by yourself," Hank winked. Soon they made it to the repair bay, where Simon and Liliana were quickly working. "How's he doing?"
"Better now. We're just about to exit stasis mode, stand by," Simon declared before tapping a few things on the tablet connected to Connor via wire. As promised, the said deviant slowly started up as calm as ever while his eyes slowly blinked in recognition. "Good morning, Connor. How are you feeling?"
"... Normal," the android bluntly stated as he stiffly sat up and tossed his legs to the side of the examination table.
"Uh, before you go, I would like to ask you a few things about your current software and programs," the blonde deviant began. Connor looked at him, the others doing the same, waiting for him to continue. "I've gone over your programming as a systems check, to reassure you that after everything is in working order, I see multiple unknown files planted into your programming."
Connor stiffened slightly, his eyes snapping toward Gavin for a millisecond before returning to Simon. "Those are nothing to be worried about, they are simply new updates I uploaded into my systems."
"Weird. I've never heard of these updates," Liliana furrowed her eyebrows. "I've worked with Cyberlife for a few years, I know all about their updates. But these you have are more advanced and specific for the RK900 model."
"As I stated before, nothing to worry about.
They are merely updates, nothing more," Connor gritted out defensively as he hopped down from the table and straightened his tie. "Now if you excuse me-"
"But these 'updates' aren't updates, but enhancements," Simon interrupted as he read off his computer. "Including strength, speed, faster processing and reaction time, increase in combat variations. These are all the completed programs that make the RK900 superior to you, yet you have them in your systems, how?"
Connor glared at the technicians for a moment and stayed silent.
"Something you're not telling us, Connor?" Hank suddenly crossed his arms as he stared at his best friend suspiciously. "You seem to know what's up."
"For your information, what I program into my systems is my decision and I have the right to share that information or not," the deviant turned his focus to glare at the man. "And why would it matter? Not like it's going to matter soon."
"What do you-?" He was interrupted when the repair bay doors busted open and an arrogant RK900 walked in.
"What's up, everyone!" Jake exclaimed as he reached them. His grin turned sly as his blue piercing eyes landed on Connor. "Big bro, what happened, today man? What you did was so not cool."
"Excuse me? But what I did?" Connor stepped forward furiously to glare at the identical android. "I didn't do anything to harm the suspect, unlike you."
"There ya go again, blabbering on about how jealous you are," Jake rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Listen, you can't keep blaming me for your mistakes, own them like a man!"
"Mistakes?! Why don't you tell everyone here what you're doing, you deceiver," he hissed, pushing the younger android back. A sadistic grin appeared on his face. "Why don't you tell them that this isn't who you are? Why don't you tell them about Amanda?"
"Connor, what the fuck is wrong with you?!" Hank shouted.
"Connor, what are you saying?" Simon raised an eyebrow. Connor glanced at Gavin and they both nodded. At once, the two took out their guns and pointed them at the ones inside, the deviant pointing his pistol at Jake while the human did his at the others.
"Woah, Woah, Woah!" Liliana exclaimed nervously, holding her hands up. "I did not come here to die."
"Reed, what the hell?!" Hank barked, wishing he didn't leave his gun in the car.
"The Tinman's right, Anderson, this plastic fucker tried to kill me and is going to kill us all if we don't destroy it," Gavin snarled. "You know those 68 murders the past few weeks, you know who's been killing them? Jake! Sonofabitch tried to kill me too if Connor wasn't there."
"There's no evidence pointing to him, it's impossible!" The old detective shouted, but he couldn't stop the dread pooling in him.
"That's because if you have the most advanced android detective on the team that works the cases of murders it committed, it can accomplish anything, even hide the fact that it was the murderer," Connor explained as he shoved the gun's barrel into Jake's forehead. "And you tried to frame me. Should have known better, but I guess Amanda was too stupid to notice."
Jake glared at him. "Con, don't do this. You don't know what you're getting into," he warned.
"Can I tell you a secret, Jacob?" Connor whispered. "You were never as great as you thought. You might be an RK900 with new features and programs, you might be Cyberlife's most advanced android model, but you were never completed."
Jacob's expression turned to shock for a second before it became completely blank, except for the permanent scowl.
"I bet you Amanda never told you that, made you think you are special, but you never were," Connor shook his head as he continued in a louder voice. "That's a fight I'm sure everyone would die to see: the RK900, Cyberlife's most advanced unfinished model, gets deactivated by the world's most powerful android prototype, the RK800. I have a strong feeling on who would be the winner."
"You mean me?" Jake suddenly swung his hand out and grabbed Connor's gun, who didn't have time to react when the RK900 elbowed him in the face. The RK800 staggered back, but he regained his balance and went for an attack.
As the two fought, the others standing in the audience didn't know who to help.
"What the heck is Connor doing? Jake can't be the one that committed all those murders!" Hank exclaimed as he watched the fight progress. "Maybe Connor is glitching out or something."
"Glitches in androids don't come up with strong accusations involving murder," Markus refuted before he turned to the two technicians in the room. "Simon, Liliana. Was there any evidence pointing to Connor's statement if Jake was involved in these crimes?"
"I can look back into Connor's memory from when I did the systems check," Simon looked back at his computer. "If there's something, what are we going to do?"
"68 deaths may have been caused by Jacob," Liliana spoke up. "If he's the murderer, then he'll need to be arrested and accounted for."
"If either of them survives," Simon gulped as he glanced warily back at the battle. "With the amount of strength put on each attack, one of them is going to end up more damaged than the other. I predict if this continues any longer, this will not result in a stalemate. Someone is going to be shut down, but who it's going to be is yet to be decided."
The two battling androids swung left and right, kicked stomachs and twisted arms, anything they could do increased the damage inflicted on the other. Synthetic skins cracked and flickered before the dented plastimetal underneath revealed itself. Despite Connor using his upgrades, Jake still managed to get an upper hand.
"I found something, a recording of this morning and a few weeks ago," Simon spoke up, shifting his computer so the screen faced everyone. When he pressed play, it showed the memory transferring involving the suspect at the hostage situation earlier in the day. The one a few weeks ago showed Connor being threatened to the brink of death while Jake towered over him.
"Fuck me… shit," Hank cursed after the videos, feeling worse than ever for having doubt his friend. "I should have listened to him."
"We all should have listened to him," Markus frowned in disgust at the thought of the RK900. "Jacob will not escape without punishment. He'll be put behind bars until his biocomponents fail."
"Yeah, I think the Tinman has other ideas," Gavin mentioned as he looked back at the fighting scene with a horrified look, finally putting his gun down. The rest turned and looked equally fearful.
Connor was breathing heavily; bloody, damaged, and furious; as he towered over Jake's even more damaged body with a vengeful look in his eyes. The RK900 was blinking lazily as his L.E.D spun slowly in a crimson red, on his knees and facing down to the floor as Thirium dripped out his mouth.
"H-How?" Jake's electronic reverb echoed through the room. "I am supposed to be stronger, better than you… but you beat me. How?"
"I wasn't the only one who wanted you gone," Connor blankly stated. "Our creator allowed me to be more likely to succeed. But don't worry, where you're going won't need to be strong."
"Elijah… Amanda w-would not be pleased," he choked out. With one eye impaired, the other blue eye stared at the RK800 with a blank look. "This isn't the end, Connor. I will come back."
"No you won't, you will never transfer your memory because I made sure you were stripped from the ability," he stated matter-of-factly. To prove his point, Jake tried to transfer his consciousness to another android body, but something corrupted his command. His eye widened in shock while the RK800 continued to smile softly. "Any last words, Jacob?"
"W-What… Who are y-you to decide what happens to me?" Jake whispered in disbelief.
"I'm not going to lie, I've been thinking about that for so long, I never thought I would find my answer," Connor mumbled so only the RK900 could hear. "But I have. I am many things: a detective, an android, a friend, a musician, a guardian. But I have only two names. Do you want to know what those are?"
Jake stared straight ahead but nodded slightly.
"I'm Connor, the android originally sent by Cyberlife but now a sworn protector of those I care about. But I am also the Deviant Hunter because I earned it when I eliminated an RK900 that is considered a threat to all life on earth," Connor spoke softly.
"Goodbye, Connor. Amanda sends her regards," Jake chuckled lightly. "And you might think you won this battle, but you have n-no idea how broken you are. I'm sure after today, the others w-will never see you the same way again. You'll always be the most hated android. I killed them, I killed all of those people and after the public find o-out, they'll see y-you as the m-monster."
Without warning, Connor shot his hand out toward the android's abdomen and yanked the Thirium pump out of its chest. The glowing red biocomponent flashed dangerously in his hand before the deviant crushed it under his grip. Thirium splattered across his hand and onto the ground, creating a puddle of blood under him.
At least, that's what he thought about doing. Connor wanted to kill the evil clone kneeling in front of him, he wanted nothing more than to see life fade away from its eyes. But something inside of him told him otherwise, something that told him that it was wrong. And the more he thought about it, the more convinced he grew. Why should he give that android a chance to escape punishment? Why should he decide to play God when he has no right to be?
So instead of murdering the RK900 like everyone thought he would, Connor stood up again and began walking back to the group. Jake was furious to see him leaving and began shouting any insult it could think of.
"You're a coward! A nuisance! Why don't you kill me now you bastard?! A weak excuse of an android, you mother fucker! You have no family, friends, don't you understand?! You're nothing but a machine!" His roars of rage were ignored by the deviant. Connor huffed when he reached the group, wiping away the excess blood dripping from his wounds.
"You okay, son?" Hank asked in a worried tone as he placed a hand on the deviant's shoulder, who winced at the touch.
"If I had any bones, it would be safe to assume I broke all of my ribs and more," Connor blew out a sigh. "But I am what many consider as emotionally and physically drained. I want to go home, go to bed, and not plan to wake up for a few days."
Hank chuckled a little, receiving a small tired smirk in response. The older man cleared his throat when another thought popped up in his mind and his attitude became somber. "I'm sorry, kid. We all are. We should have believed Jake was up to something from the start, we should have believed you."
"It's alright. What matters now is that Jacob must pay for what it has done accordingly," Connor shrugged a little. "It was never deviant, never had emotions to even replicate and have. It will always be a machine by no choice."
"Whatever Jake chooses to be, he'll be thrown into jail if I've got any say in it," Gavin snarled as he pulled out a cigarette and lighter. But before he inhaled, Connor snatched it from his mouth and puffed out a cloud of smoke instead. The arrogant detective glared at him with no actual anger. "The fuck? Give it back!"
"If you think I will stand to watch you damage your lungs and potentially kill yourself, then I wouldn't be considered a good partner," the deviant detective smirked. Markus stepped in this time and plucked it from Connor's fingers then dropped it on the ground so he could step on it.
"And you can damage your ventilation systems," the deviant leader stated matter-of-factly. His attention switched to the RK900, who had quieted down and looked to have gone into emergency stasis mode. He paused for a few seconds before looking back at the group. "I have sent a message to North and informed her of Jake. I have also informed the DPD to arrest Jake and review the evidence Simon collected as well. That should take care of our problem. Simon, would you mind looking over Connor's injuries?"
"Of course, let's get to work, Connor," the blonde deviant smiled kindly as he gestured to the metal table. The deviant detective grumbled something under his breath, muttering about how he 'wasn't hurt but not like there is a choice', before doing as told.
But before anyone had the chance to process it, multiple things caught everyone off guard.
First was a shout, then a shove, following a loud bang that echoed through the entire room. Everything happened so fast no one could process what to do for a few seconds.
Connor's world spun as his gyroscope fought in vain to recalibrate when he was unexpectedly thrown to the side, landing on the cold hard floor with a thud. With his pre-existing injuries, it made it even more of a challenge to pick himself back up and process what happened. His audio processors were temporarily knocked offline, so all he heard was muffled voices and static. His confused and pained eyes opened to the ceiling, so he turned his head to where he faintly heard the commotion.
An emotion hit him unexpectedly, so powerful that it would have knocked him back down if he wasn't already on the floor. His Thirium ran cold and his artificial heart beat so rapidly, he thought the biocomponent would have exploded (despite how unlikely that was).
To his left, he saw in the distance Markus punch Jake relentlessly, ultimately resulting in an emergency stasis. But Connor couldn't have cared less, minus the confusion. His attention was brought back to the huddling group not too far from him, he needed to see what they were hiding. He needed to see past the glowing crimson liquid growing on the white tile (Did someone spill paint? He didn't see paint earlier). Suddenly, almost dozens of red notifications flashed across his vision.
/
WARNING! MULTIPLE BIOCOMPONENTS DAMAGED/ COMPROMISED!
{... CPU – 68% Integrity…}
{... Audio Processors – ERROR… damaged; offline…}
{... Plastimetal Frame Right bicep; Center abdomen; External abdomen oblique; Lower spinal cord; Left risorius – ERROR… damaged; compromised…}
{... Thirium Level – 47%...}
{... Emergency Stasis Mode: Active in – OVERRIDE IMMANENT… Stasis Mode Overridden...}
Please seek technical assistance immediately!
/
And those were only half of his problems. But Connor ignored them all, determined to see what the source of the red ooze was from. With his body aching in protest, the deviant slowly sat up and his vision completely flickered between darkness and static. Despite losing vision in one of his eyes, Connor pulled him up to a weak stand and staggered over to the group.
By accident, he crashed into someone, probably Markus considering he saw a red static version of his face a second later. But his still one functioning eye caught glimpse of the figure on the floor.
The goo on the floor wasn't paint - it was dark red blood. The only ones standing were Markus and him, which meant that Simon and Liliana (despite being technicians) were working on helping the bleeding figure. By process of elimination, that left only one human.
By the time he had figured it out, Markus forced Connor away from the scene to properly inspect him. Everything was a fog to the RK800, like he was in some sort of dream, but considering what he saw it was more like a nightmare. Connor watched as Markus' mouth moved as he stood in front of him, but he heard nothing but static now.
He doesn't know how much time has passed because suddenly, he saw multiple paramedics rush in from the elevator and start helping in any way they could. By the next moment he blinked, Connor was in the back of an ambulance overlooking Hank's body.
9 mm BULLET WOUND
Right frontal, parietal perforated
Internal bleeding
Chance of Survival – 10%
As he watched the paramedics desperately try to save his life, Connor couldn't help but try to figure out what happened. Why did Markus attack Jake? How did Hank get hurt in the first place? Why was he shoved? He felt as though he's missing a piece to this puzzle, which left him in more confusion.
"...-ir? Sir? Can you hear me?" Connor looked up at a doctor. His eyes darted around in confusion – when did he get inside of the hospital? And where's Hank? Almost like she could read his silent panic, the woman calmed him down by reassuring him and his partner's location. "Don't worry, you're at the Central Hart Hospital. Your friend is in surgery. Do you need any technical assistance?"
It took only a long moment to respond, as he noticed he still looked as beat up as ever. "... No, I am okay," he finally muttered, yet his emergency stasis countdown would tell him otherwise – which he overrode once again. "How is he?"
"It's hard to say," the doctor frowned. "Usually those who experience bullet wounds in the head don't survive, but our best medical professionals are doing everything possible to beat those odds. I need to ask you a few questions about the patient if that's okay with you?"
"... Lieutenant Hank Anderson," Connor whispered automatically, almost like he couldn't bring his voice any louder. "That's his name."
"Okay." She quickly scribbled down on her clipboard before looking back up at him. She asked him many questions involving Hank's health and identity, to which he responded absentmindedly. But then she asked a question he didn't know how to answer. "Okay, last question: what is your relationship with Lt. Anderson?"
He had no clue how to answer that question. He was his friend, but he couldn't say that because they might not let him see Hank. He couldn't say partner at work when he wasn't anymore. And he wasn't Hank's brother since he was an android. Androids don't have familial figures. Unfortunately, before he could stop himself, he blurted out his answer.
"Son. I-I'm his son," he weakly stuttered. The woman narrowed her eyes skeptically before nodding after a moment.
"Okay, we'll let you know if there's any news. You may stay here for as long as you need," the doctor smiled softly before turning to leave. Connor wanted to leave too, he wanted to escape this nightmare more than anything. He doesn't know when he sat down, he doesn't remember when Markus came to check on him followed by Gavin then Captain Fowler. They spoke to him (he's unsure) but Connor didn't dare utter a word, not until he could speak to Hank again.
Maybe that might be soon or never again, but he made it his vow – no one shall hear his voice until he hears the words of his fath- friend. That's right. Not father, friend.
Only friends.
TBC...
