Chapter 18
By the next day, Markus had finally arrived at his destination. Or at least, somewhat near it. Begrudgingly, he stepped out of the rented self-driving vehicle into the dark cold woods of Gardiner, New York. It took him a little longer than he expected, but now that he stands in front of the large dense woods he wishes to go back to Detroit.
Unlike the time he went on a small hike with Connor, this time the woods added a spooky effect on him. Markus' advanced android hearing allowed him to hear the distant owls hooting into the night and the wolves that ran in packs occasionally barking at each other, as well as the constant breaking branch that reminded Markus that he wasn't alone in the woods.
Not too long ago had he received a message from Gavin (who surprisingly was also worried about his partner) that there was a prison break one state back – the only prisoner who escaped with a suspect that succeeded the infiltration was a certain RK900.
So not only was he to find Connor in these woods, but also a murderous Jacob. And Markus was not looking forward to any of it.
Taking a glance at the holographic directions in his head, Markus took a deep breath and started to walk deeper into the forbidden feeling woods. He would have been more mesmerized by the small peeks of moonlight shining down through the leaves, but he felt too tense to pay attention to anything else. His mission was to drag Connor back to Detroit to fix him before his system updates destroyed his central processing unit.
And, quoting his friend, Markus will always accomplish his mission.
"AHHHH!" Markus jumped about two feet in the air, hearing the distant blood-curdling scream in the distance. Feeling adrenaline kick in a moment later, the android sprinted through the forest with a clouded mind, his only thought and fear merged as he hoped that the scream hadn't anything to do with who he was looking for.
After another minute or so later, the deviant leader stumbled upon a long-abandoned cottage that looked like it hadn't been used in years.
But the muffled shouts of indescribable words inside said otherwise.
Cautiously, Markus approached the cabin, being careful not to reveal his presence from the potentially creaky steps when he climbed the porch. Now that he was closer, he could understand what was said inside.
"YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME! You are nothing without her, and you know it. What does she have to say now? Where is Amanda now?!" A sinister distorted laugh rang horrifically through Markus' ears. He winced, his artificial heart quickened at a sickening speed when the deviant recognized the voice just on the other side.
"You should be careful, Connor. Your emotions are distracting you from our visitor outside," another voice spoke, catching Markus off guard. Just then, the door he was standing in swung open and he was looking down the barrel of a revolver.
"Get inside," the android demanded. Markus' eyes snapped up to stare at his friend, but he raised an eyebrow to see Connor wearing sunglasses in the dead of night. The RK800 didn't seem pleased to see the RK200 disobeying his order, so he shot his hand out to drag the android inside. Usually, Markus was able to at least plant his feet and stay his ground, but now Connor's strength was unreal – he dragged him like a ragdoll into the house, slamming the door behind them.
"Connor, what are you doing?" Markus calmly questioned, keeping his body tense as the gun was still on him.
"What do you think? He's going to kill us, that's what," Jake, who was also in the room, spoke sarcastically. Markus glanced at the RK900 momentarily, noting how damaged it was while tied to a chair, before returning his gaze to Connor. "And here I thought deviants were smart."
"Connor, you need to put the gun down and talk to me," Markus continued, as collected as ever. "You don't need to do this, this isn't you."
There was a pause as Connor tilted his head. "... And who are you to keep me from accomplishing my mission?" His distorted voice powerfully vocalized through the room. "You are an obstacle. If you don't leave now, I'll have no choice but to eliminate you as well."
"You're going to kill us either way," Jake refuted. Only to receive a bullet to the thigh in response. The RK900 didn't look at all phased by the damage, which took Markus by surprise. Then who's screaming did he hear? Jake looked back at Markus. "Go talk to him, he's your friend isn't he?"
"What does it matter to you?" Markus couldn't help but glare at him.
"I can't feel pain, but that doesn't mean I cannot prefer to be undamaged. I am the last RK900 in existence and I'd be pleased to keep it that way if you don't mind," he scoffed.
"ENOUGH!" Connor shouted, twitching his head to the side as sparks of electricity came from near his eyes, which made him groan in response. Markus frowned in worry, seeing the RK800 even angrier after the reaction. "You will tell me who you are or you'll perish!"
Markus felt his Thirium pump skip a beat. He was too late. Connor doesn't remember him, just like Kamski had said. A depressed cloud loomed over him, making his demeanor change from confident to somber.
"I'm your best friend, Connor," Markus whispered as he took a step forward. "Don't you remember?"
The electricity flickered out again, more violently than the last time. Connor let out a strangled growl before he pulled the trigger. It sliced right through Markus' side, which caused him to yelp and double over in pain.
"SHUT UP!" Connor roared as he let out another shot but toward the opposite wall this time. Both Markus and Jake looked confused as more calculated bullets were fired in the direction no one was standing in. "Leave me alone!"
"Connor, you have to calm down!" Markus huffed through the pain to worry at the distressed deviant. "There's no one here but us."
"He's not going to listen to you, you need to neutralize the threat!" Jake asserted.
"I'm not going to kill him!" Markus snapped back.
"Then you want him to kill us?! There's only kill or be killed, deviant! Choose one or the other!" Jacob shouted when Connor became more frantic. "Do something NOW!"
And Markus did – but not in the way Jake wanted. The deviant leader rushed forward and disarmed Connor from his gun, which had no more bullets left, then tackled him to the floor. By such unwelcome force, the sunglasses hit the floor and Markus found himself starring in the deep dark beading eyes looking at him. Markus flinched, startled, but it gave Connor enough time to regain his bearing and push him off with a powerful kick.
Markus was sent through the wall into the next room, groaning when he felt the burning agony of his bullet wound and cuts splintered into his back. Connor was beyond furious now, his completely black eyes would have darkened if they weren't so dark already. Just as the RK800 was about to march up to him, the wooden door burst open. Everyone paused to look at the intruders.
Who happened to be none other than Gavin and, miraculously, Hank.
"Stand down, Connor, don't make me shoot," Hank warned, pointing his pistol at his friend's back. He widened his eyes when the RK800 turned around and stared at him.
"The fuck? What's up with your eyes?!" Gavin exclaimed before him. Connor didn't answer, he just continued to twitch and glare at Hank.
"Connor, do you hear me?" Hank spoke calmly and evenly, in case he made the android even angrier. But he only snarled in response. "Please, son, you need to let us help you."
"Son? I'm not your son!" Connor gritted out. Little did he know, it made Hank's heart squeeze. "You have no relation to me, human! Now I advise you to leave."
Gavin glanced at Markus while Hank continued to distract the rogue deviant. The deviant leader was still stuck in the debris but was quietly watching the interaction. When the two made eye contact, Gavin discreetly removed something from his pocket as he shuffled closer to the wall before he tossed the object to Markus, which landed on his lap.
"When Markus told me that you were out here, I had to go see myself," Hank stated as he kept his pistol on the deviant. "I went to Kamski and he told me everything was wrong with you. Why did you do it, Connor? Why hurt yourself for revenge? It isn't right and you know it!"
"Revenge?! It killed-killed," Connor began twitching again, more sparks flying out of his head. He then gripped his hair, not once has his L.E.D switched from an angry red. "LEAVE ME ALONE! LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Hank, along with everyone else, was spooked as they watched the deviant drive himself insane.
"YOU ARE NOT HERE! YOU'RE DEAD! DEAD! WHY CAN'T YOU LEAVE ME ALONE?!" Connor suddenly charged forward before anyone had the time to react. A split second later, Hank was being strangled by his powerful grip. The human dropped his gun to use both hands in an attempt to pry off the chokehold.
Markus decided to use this time to rush up and handcuff Connor with a special set of cuffs. At once, the RK800 froze and his hand dropped from Hank's neck. He tried to move, but he felt his limbs were too heavy to lift. It was like he hadn't slept for weeks and his battery life was below ideal. His black eyes flickered momentarily but stayed the same.
"Power neutralizing handcuffs," Hank revealed to the confused few, coughing a few times and massaging his neck. "Kamski said we'll need 'em."
"I've never seen the Tinman like this," Gavin, clearly horrified, took a step to the exhausted deviant. "Are sure it's not more than a system bug? 'Cause he looked like he'd seen a ghost."
"I don't think he knew I was still up and kickin'," Hank admitted with a heavy sigh. He glanced at Jake, who was quietly on stasis mode. "Bring it to the backup, take it away. I don't ever want to see that fucker again, you hear me?"
"You got it." Gavin obediently nodded before walking over and dragging the RK900 away (making sure to punch him once) to the other police officers outside. Hank then turned to Markus, who had been staring at Connor with a saddened look.
"Penny for your thoughts or whatever?"
Markus let out a shaky breath, blinking back fresh tears as he finally looked away. "I… I couldn't-" He shook his head and cleared his throat. "Elijah told me that there was a chance that Connor's CPU may be damaged permanently. And I was too late. If I was here earlier, if there weren't any distractions, I would have prevented this. And now he won't remember us or anyone and-!"
"Hey hey hey. It's okay, take a breather," Hank soothed the revolution leader by placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Markus furiously wiped his tears away and bit his lip to prevent any noise from escaping his mouth. "It's ain't your fault, you couldn't have done anything. But have some faith and hope for Connor, maybe he can still be salvaged. He'll get through this, we have to trust him."
Markus looked doubtful but felt a little better. So he nodded. The two of them guided the submissive android to the back of Hank's car while they set themselves upfront.
The drive was long and quiet, the two up front continuously glancing at the passive RK800 sitting in the back seat. His completely dark eyes stared straight ahead, almost into nothingness. Markus noted how his L.E.D has yet to change from red and wondered how long it has been like that.
Hank, however, was thinking about how Connor reacted when he first saw the man. He expected a reaction but not so… that. He doesn't even know how to describe it but it sure left an impression on him. What Gavin said was close to what he was thinking, it did seem like Connor had seen a ghost. But he also knew for a fact after Markus told him everything that went down, it didn't make sense why Connor would suddenly freak out and start shooting to the corner of the room. Did he see a ghost or was it all just in his head?
Hank nor Markus didn't know, but they did wonder what was going on inside of Connor's head.
TBC...
