Requested by tumblr anon: Please can you write a oneshot where reader is the Cyberlife employee who was tasked with activating Connor for the first time and testing him to make sure he's working properly? Like asking him questions and testing his reflexes stuff like that? :) I will love you forever 3
In this chapter, it takes place pre-game and the reader is an employee at Cyberlife who helped to create Connor. This is the first chapter in which the reader is not a detective at the precinct! xD Hope you all still enjoy it! It's also a longer chapter than normal ;)
Assessment
The RK800 prototype lay motionless on the cool metal surface. It had yet to be activated as you were still making adjustments to the wiring in its abdomen, ensuring that everything was in working order before you attempted to power the android on, lest it were to short-circuit after all the fiddling you had done to connect the irritating cables.
Admittedly, you were being quite impatient - you were rather excited to activate the prototype so you could see how lifelike the android was. You had helped to create it, after all, it was only natural that the RK800 opening its eyes for the first time would be an exhilarating event.
Your job was to test it, from its reflexes to its processor, to make sure it was completely in working order, and you were honoured to be the first one that would get to speak to it, especially since the lab was quiet - vacant except for you - and you could give the android your full attention.
A soft little mewl from below the metal table reminded you that you weren't entirely alone in the room; your feline lab partner loused in her comfortable bed, keeping you company as you worked.
"Almost done, Lilo", you spoke to the little sandy-coloured cat. "Try not to scratch this one when it wakes up", you chuckled, remembering the last android you'd been working on - it hadn't quite gotten off on the right foot with the assertive cat, and had ended up with nicks all over its synthetic skin.
You carefully fastened the smaller wires, taking a step back to examine the android's body from head to toe - its form was bare apart from the certified Cyberlife black briefs that all male-model androids wore, which were incredibly fitting, and your eyes drifted carefully over its synthetic skin, taking in every realistic mark and blemish, before settling on its moderately muscular torso.
A smile reached your lips as you quirked an eyebrow - you weren't sure why you and your team had been instructed to build it so physically attractive, but you weren't exactly complaining; it was pleasant to look at, even its face was perfectly sculpted. Soft hair and kissable lips - if it was human, you'd be all over it.
You cleared your throat slightly, pushing back the blush threatening to form on your cheeks, and prepared to activate the android for the first time. You picked up the main power cables and attached them together, spotting the illuminated LED on the side of the RK800's head begin to flicker as it initialised for the first time. Closing the panel in its abdomen, you gazed at the android's face and waited for its system to fully turn on.
RK800's LED turned blue; it drew breath into its artificial lungs, and its eyes twitched and opened, blinking momentarily, revealing a couple of warm but intense brown eyes - so striking that your breath caught in your throat. You hadn't seen the android with its eyes open until now.
It was awake. He was awake.
"Hello", you greeted the android with a smile as his gaze flickered back and forth briefly before settling on you.
"Hello", the android responded, looking at you curiously in a way that only made your smile widen. The RK800's lips were slightly parted, his eyebrows raised as he examined your face, likely scanning for information such as your name, date of birth and occupation - which implied a certain extent of independence. You hadn't had to ask him to scan your face, his programming had pushed him to indulge his curiosity and act on it instead of waiting for you to introduce yourself.
You smiled wider still when the android spoke your name.
"Very good", you remarked, "can you sit up for me, please?" You took a step back as the android immediately pushed himself into a sitting position, swinging his legs over the edge of the metal table. He placed his hands on his thighs and waited for further instructions.
You glanced down as Lilo scrambled out from below the table, letting out a soft mrr as she scuttled away from her bed, clearly a little skittish at the sudden appearance of a new 'person' in the room. The cat crossed the lab and snuck below your work desk, giving a nervous glimpse back at the android over her shoulder - scrutinising and judging.
Lilo was always so wary of new androids.
The RK800's gaze followed the feline closely, and he cocked his head ever so slightly.
"Don't mind Lilo, she's just nervous around strangers", you told the android with a shake of your head, and the RK800 looked back to you and blinked. It was somewhat endearing, especially the way he tilted his head inquisitively. "Now, RK800, register your name. Connor."
The blue LED in his head flashed once, indicating acknowledgement, and the android gave a subdued smile, "My name is Connor."
There were no abnormalities in the android's behaviour thus far, everything seemed in working order, but naturally you still had a lot of tests to carry out just to confirm it. You crossed the room and grabbed your data pad from your desk, placing it on a pile of neatly folded clothes before carrying them all back over to Connor.
You set the attire down on the table beside him and picked up the data pad, regarding it with a cursory glance to check the list of experiments you needed to carry out. "Connor, can you dress yourself for me?" You asked, indicating the garments beside him.
"Yes. Of course", Connor replied, sliding off the table to carry out your request. He began with the socks, then the jeans, coiling the belt and buckling it up before he grabbed the dress shirt and shrugged it on, buttoning it with precise and accurate hand movements, and tucked it into the waistband of his trousers; the tie was next and he looped it with expertise, his fingers moving with dexterous elegance - he finished with the jacket, and you watched with satisfaction as he smoothed it out with his hands, dragging his palms down his front.
When he looked at you again, he seemed to be waiting for approval.
You licked your lip as your mouth curled upwards and approached him, taking his tie in your hands to tighten it just a tad; he watched your rectification with a critical gaze, perhaps making a mental note to always ensure his tie was sufficiently tight.
"Wonderful", you said, scribbling down a note on your data pad - 'despite his tiny blunder with the tie, Connor understands the importance of presentation, evident by the way he checked that his shirt and jacket were unwrinkled.'
"Close your eyes, Connor", you told the android, who promptly followed the order, "I'm going to touch different parts of your body and I want you to tell me whether you can feel it or not", you explained, waiting for the android to nod in understanding before you proceeded.
You raised your hand and tapped a finger against his nose, "Do you feel that?"
"Yes, I feel that."
You brushed two fingers across his neck, just below his left ear, "And that?"
"Yes." He answered immediately.
You continued, dragging a finger down the middle of his neck, prodding his sternum, patting his head, pinching the cartilage of his ear, grazing your fingertips against his wrist - each time he responded affirmative, he was able to feel everything. You were curious to know whether you could trick the android.
"Do you feel that?" you asked, without touching him, and Connor's lips parted, his eyebrows knitting together in disconcertion.
"...No." He answered hesitantly.
"That's alright", you assured him, "because I didn't touch you. You can open your eyes now." Connor did so, staring wordlessly at you as you wrote down another note - 'contact sensors below synthetic skin are working faultlessly.'
Out of the corner of your eye, you watched as Lilo leapt onto your desk and observed the android from her new vantage point, her tail flicking back and forth restlessly - a signal that you knew meant she was tense. Connor turned his head at the movement, staring at the cat with a neutral expression.
You rose an eyebrow and inquisitively asked, "Do you like cats, Connor?" Generally, whenever you'd asked this question to androids in the past, they responded indifferently or told you that they had no opinion of the animal, but the RK800 surprised you.
"I like cats." Connor replied, his lips curling in a modest smile. Then, unprompted, he moved and began walking towards the agitated cat sitting on your desk.
"Connor", you spoke sharply, your voice chastising, and the android froze, "Come back. We aren't finished", you explained a little more softly, and he slowly returned to his spot in front of you, the smile replaced once again with neutrality.
You eyed the android for a moment, surprised to find that you regretted raising your voice and forcing the contentment from his face. You had to remind yourself that he was just a machine - his desire to approach the cat likely spanned from his need to investigate as opposed to divergence from his programming and given commands. It was nothing to worry about.
"Okay, just a moment, Connor", you said, stepping away from the android to retrieve another data pad, "I would like to test your elocution", you explained, handing the data pad to him. Connor took it, his eyes sweeping across the digital notepad as he read the contents on the page. "Would you read some of these passages out loud?"
Connor's gaze flickered transiently to you before falling to the excerpts in front of him, "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?" His brown eyes looked to you for approval for the second time that day.
"Good, Connor. Keep going, please."
The android nodded and resumed relaying the excerpts, "One-One was a racehorse, Two-Two was one too. When One-One won one race, Two-Two won one too." His speech was perfect, strong and eloquent - it was very appealing to listen to.
"And another."
"If a dog chews shoes, whose shoes does he choose?" Connor recited, and then inclined his head, looking purposely at you, "I like dogs as much as I like cats. Do you have a dog?"
You blinked, frowning as his mind seemed to wander from his instructions, "That's… irrelevant, Connor. Why did you feel the need to ask that?" you enquired, trying to conceive an explanation for why the android's attention seemed to easily sway.
"I am just curious", he answered, "and I would like to know more about you."
You narrowed your gaze slightly, eyeing the android with reservation, "Is that so?"
Connor imitated your thin stare, squinting momentarily before going on to explain himself, "Yes. My programming insists that I gather as much information on my surroundings and the humans around me as possible, therefore I can compare statistics and learn more easily about human behaviour, which is vital for my capabilities of adapting to unpredictability."
You silently let out a breath, finding that Connor's reasoning made sense, so you gave the android a nod and an apologetic look, "Alright. Let me get my tests out the way, and after that you can ask me as many questions as you want. How's that sound?"
Connor's expression smoothed out and he gave you a faint smile, "That is fine."
"Lovely", you spoke, "your articulation is spot on, by the way. I'm impressed." It wasn't particularly unusual for an android to have perfectly clear patterns of speech, but you felt compelled to commend Connor, and to your delight, he seemed to preen under the praise.
You made a quick note on your data pad - 'Connor responds very positively to commendation - this is a convenient and necessary feature as it will help RK800 to form favourable relationships with its human partner.' It was important that Connor would adjust to the conduct of whichever human he was partnered with in his mission; having a more human reaction to acclamation would definitely aid in shaping an affable alliance.
The next process you needed to assess was Connor's hand-eye coordination, so you retrieved a soft ball - about the size of a tennis ball - and put several metres of distance between the android and yourself.
"I want you to catch this ball, Connor." You held up the spherical object before tossing it in an overarm throw towards the android. His eyes followed it as it flew through the air and he caught it with ease in his right hand; he threw it back with his right hand as well and you caught the ball with a slight fumble.
Interesting, you thought. All androids were ambidextrous, but it always fascinated you to think about what equations went through their processors to determine which hand to use for specific tasks.
When you threw the ball again, you deliberately aimed several feet above his head; the android appeared to calculate the force of your throw and the trajectory just a fraction of a second after it left your hand, and took a few quick and meticulous steps back to catch the object with precision, once again in his right hand.
He returned the ball to you, emulating your overarm throw, and you floundered as you reached to catch it, letting out a soft noise of exasperation as you didn't quite manage to seize the object and it fell to the floor, rolling away under your desk.
Lilo was quick to assume possession of the ball, immediately beginning to bat it around with her paw as if it was an agitated mouse.
"I'm sorry", Connor apologetically stated, speaking your name with a hint of a frown on his face, "Did I throw the ball with too much power?"
His remorseful apology was very sweet and it made you feel oddly warm; you were quick to remedy his apparent dejection, "No, you did fine, Connor. I'm just not as good a catch as you are", your lips formed a grin, and your words placated him.
You continued the final few tests, which included having Connor analyse a petri dish of blue blood to tell you the model and serial number of the android it belonged to; he dipped his fingers into the thirium and licked it tentatively - the gesture made you fluster involuntarily and you fought to get your head out of the gutter - and proceeded to recite the correct information to you.
When all you assessments had been completed, you asked him one final question, "Connor, can you tell me what your mission is?"
"To locate and hunt deviants", the android responded impartially, and you nodded your head, concluding your evaluation with a victorious hum.
"Alright, we're all done", you gave the android a pleasant smile, "I'm just going to revise my notes on my computer. Feel free to have a look around the lab, but if you pick anything up, please place it back down where you found it", you instructed, and began taking a few steps towards your desk, "After I'm done, we should have time for a little chat - if you still want to know anything about me, that is", you winked at Connor and appreciated the way he cocked his head engagingly.
As you considered your jottings, you kept a sneaky eye on the android to observe his behaviour when given vague orders - the first thing Connor did was walk straight towards the cat who was now lazing around on one of the counter surfaces across the room. Lilo perked up at the sound of footsteps, checking to see who was approaching her, and when she saw that it was Connor, she immediately jumped up and fled, escaping his path to hide below one of the tables.
Connor paused in his step, watching Lilo run away, before he advanced towards her again, this time more slowly.
Again, the cat bolted away, but only after she let out a warning hiss, urging the android to stay away lest he wanted to meet the sharp ends of Lilo's claws. You were intrigued by Connor's insistence to interact with the cat, but the android appeared to understand the feline's behaviour in that she felt threatened, and chose not to bother her again.
Instead, Connor proceeded to inspect and scan a series of framed photographs on the wall, examining them closely to determine the names of each individual pictured in the images - they were all shots of group photos with yourself and your team, along with lab workers dating back several years.
He paused on one photo in particular. "Why are you holding hands with this man?"
You looked over at him in surprise, caught off-guard by the question, and cleared your throat; he was scrutinising a picture that was taken seven years ago when you were nothing more than a trainee at Cyberlife; the picture depicted you and five other lab assistants, all of which were quite young, and one of which was your boyfriend at the time.
"Uhm… because I liked him", you murmured gingerly, raising an eyebrow.
"Are you in a relationship with him?" Connor enquired curiously, and you let out a soft laugh, somewhat taken aback by the android's question.
"Not anymore. We were together at the time of the photo, but we broke up two years later, he quit his job and moved out of Michigan. He's married with a kid now", you explained nonchalantly. Connor tilted his head at the picture before swiftly moving on, resuming his perusal of items in the lab.
He glimpsed over the counters and cupboards filled with spare biocomponents and thirium packs, then glanced fleetingly at the clock on the wall and helpfully apprised, "Your clock is two minutes and twelve seconds slow", before he chose to investigate the whiteboard on the wall, reading over various notes and messages left by some of your colleagues.
Connor reached for the whiteboard marker and wrote something on the available space; you quirked an eyebrow as you watched him. One of your coworkers had written a riddle on the board - it was just a fun little thing that the group of you tended to do whenever you were feeling bored, leaving each other conundrums and brain-teasers - and none of you had figured it out just yet.
What is no sooner spoken than broken?
Connor departed from the whiteboard, allowing you to see the answer he had written, in perfect Cyberlife Sans font, 'Silence.'
Yeah, you thought, that makes sense. Connor clearly had superior processing power when compared to the so-called geniuses that made up your team. You admired the android's cleverness - even if Connor was programmed to figure things out, it was still fortifying to witness such intellect at work.
The android continued his exploration of the lab for roughly fifteen minutes, until he ostensibly grew bored and made his way to your desk. Lilo had, at some point, situated herself in your lap, and grew tense when Connor drew near; the android regarded her with a quizzical stare, perhaps wondering what he had done to offend her, but he otherwise didn't attempt to pester her.
You kept your eyes on your computer, wholly aware that the android was staring at you for a good two minutes; you read over a couple of emails while scratching behind Lilo's ears to help make her less anxious, and after a while, Connor turned his gaze to the contents of your work station.
He took his time picking up everything on your desk to examine it; a framed photo of your parents, a tube of hand moisturiser, a pack of chewing gum, a pair of reading glasses - which he endearingly tried on, and looked rather handsome doing it - a bottle of water, an unsolved Rubik's cube - which of course he had no problem solving in less than five seconds - and finally, a packet of cat treats.
Connor read the text on the packaging before giving Lilo a comprehensive glance, "May I feed Lilo a treat?" the android asked you, and you smiled with amusement, offering an affirming nod.
The sound of the packaging being opened roused Lilo from her lounging and her ears perked up, she cautiously climbed out of your lap and onto the desk, keeping her head low and her body poised to abscond should she need to. Connor held out a single treat on his palm in order to entice the cat closer.
It took a lot for Lilo to become comfortable with strangers, so it surprised you when she tentatively approached Connor's outstretched hand, sniffing briefly at his fingers before quickly snatching the treat away from him. It made you laugh, which in turn made Connor smile, and Lilo made herself comfortable below the desk as she devoured the tasty little nibble.
"I think she likes you", you remarked as you finished up your work on the computer; you rose from your desk and moved to stand before the android, "I'm finished with my work now… if you have any questions you want to ask, then go ahead."
"What made you want to work at Cyberlife?" Connor wasted no time in asking away, pinning you with his pretty brown eyes.
You weren't sure where to begin - there were many reasons that made you want to work at the company, "Well… hmm. When I was young, I was obsessed with sci-fi movies, especially ones that centered around artificial intelligence - I guess I've always been interested in androids even before they were created as they are today. I find them intriguing… I find you intriguing", you admitted with a smile, and Connor's LED flickered as his eyes dipped fleetingly to your lips, "so when I heard about Elijah Kamski creating the first android to pass the Turing test, I knew I had to be a part of this company… and I'm so glad I followed that aspiration."
"I see", Connor replied. "I have another question. Have you had any personal experience with deviants?"
You bit your lip as a trickle of discomfort filtered through you - you had had personal experience with a deviant android, and it had been inconceivably draining on your emotions; you had worked on building and testing androids for the better part of seven years now, and in all your time spent interacting with the them, you have never seen them as anything more than machines - until the day you met the deviant known as Oliver.
"Yeah… just one. His name was Oliver, an LM100 model. He was brought in and it was my job to try and figure out if there were any palpable faults in his design or whether the problem arose from software issues, so I spent a lot of time with him, carefully examining all his components and even asking him questions to try and understand how his processor was functioning and fabricating what seemed to be real, genuine emotions. I gained his trust, and even came to see him as… a friend", Connor's face betrayed nothing as he continued to listen to you, but you still felt silly admitting that you had come to care for the android, "but eventually, my superior decided I wasn't making good enough progress. He said I wasn't going the right way about studying the android, so he demanded that Oliver was to be transferred to somebody who actually knew what they were doing", you murmured the last part bitterly, shaking your head with irritation.
Connor must have sensed you were troubled beyond what you had told him, because he urged you on, "What happened?"
You breathed a sigh, "Oliver didn't take kindly to being removed from my care. The day after my job was taken over, he self-destructed", you winced at the recollection of hearing about the android's unfortunate fate, "he managed to escape his confinement, somehow made his way to the roof without alerting anybody… and he jumped. Cyberlife is a damn big building… there was no part of him that was salvageable."
The memory of the incident left you simultaneously disheartened and bewildered; you simply couldn't understand why the android had chosen to leap to his death, knowing he would never come back, especially when he'd shown signs of fear at the thought of being deactivated even for short periods of time.
"Empathising with an android is irrational. We are machines, incapable of feeling emotions - we can only emulate them", Connor spoke then, likely intending to pacify your sorrow, but no matter how many times you had been told that exact sentiment, it didn't resonate with you.
You felt for deviants.
It had to remain a secret, if anybody at Cyberlife knew that you saw androids as people, your reputation would suffer and you could even be taken off your projects.
You gave the RK800 a sad smile, "You have a lot to learn about humans, Connor. We are irrational, and that's what makes us human. We're ridiculously flagrant with our emotions and we have the potential to empathise with completely inanimate objects, let alone androids", you gave a somewhat embarrassed snort, "Once, when I was ten years old, I had a houseplant that I cared for - I treated it like it was my child, gave it a name - Sally - and talked to it whenever I watered it, as if it could listen. Well, I was so consumed with making sure it had enough water that I accidentally overwatered it and it died. I actually cried because of that."
You weren't sure what led you to admit that to the android, and you felt your cheeks redden with humiliation and tried to laugh it off.
Connor cocked his head at you, but there was an indication of acknowledgement in his eyes; you assumed he was logging and storing away the information you were giving him - it made sense, anything he knew about the droll subject of human psychology could aid him in working alongside his future partner.
"Oh", you exclaimed suddenly, "before I forget-", you leaned across your desk and plucked up a silver coin, holding it out to the android as it glinted under the strong ceiling lights. "This is for you. A gift from me, if you'd like."
Connor took the coin, examining it carefully; he rubbed his fingertip across the face of the quarter, inadvertently polishing it as he inspected the small engravings.
"Call it your calibration coin, use it to sharpen your physical and cognitive functions", you told him. As he thoroughly scanned the gift, you found yourself looking over the subtle movements in his face - the quirk of an eyebrow, the realistic flare of his nostrils, the twitch of his lips, and particularly the way his eyes took in every small detail of the object - he looked so human. He was the most advanced android yet created by Cyberlife, but it still blew you away how easily you could forget the being before you was comprised of plastic, metal and silicon.
Connor gave the coin an experimental flip, catching it effortlessly between two fingers, before he rolled it across his knuckles three times, and promptly flicked it to his other hand in a way that looked almost as if it had levitated.
The android smiled at you, his gaze seeming to light up, and you took note of the fact that his eyes wrinkled in the corners much like that of a human; he placed the coin in his inner jacket pocket and then immediately took your hand in his own.
"Thank you", the level of sincerity that flowed through his words, especially when he spoke your name, produced a pleasant tingle down your spine, and you stared down at the soft grip he had on your hand. You didn't believe it was a gesture that should have correlated with any of his objectives.
"Why are you doing that?" you asked him tentatively, trying not to sound apprehensive.
Connor inclined his head and blinked, "Because I like you", he answered, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, and to your dismay, you felt your face become hot.
That definitely wasn't programmed into him; he may have misconstrued your earlier exchange regarding the hand-holding from the photograph he had pointed out - you certainly hoped so, at least. You were supposed to report any unusual behaviour and you were at least ninety percent sure his action constituted as unusual; if Connor was found to be defective, he'd be decommissioned in a heartbeat.
You'd spent so long helping to create him, and after the two hours of evaluation, you didn't want to see him taken apart.
"I like you too, Connor", you told him, forcing your tone and expression to remain as impartial as you could make it, and squeezed his hand ever so briefly before pulling it away. You grabbed his arm and turned him around, nudging him towards the metal surface he had woken up on. "I need you to go lie down, now."
The android gave you an inquisitive look over his shoulder, but followed your order without question. You moved to shut down your computer, trying to calm your whirring thoughts as you imagined the possibilities that would ensue if anybody was to become aware of Connor's tender gesture. Nobody needed to know.
Out of the corner of your eye, you saw the RK800 pause as he reached the table, and you turned to watch Lilo slink out from below the surface; the feline glided between Connor's legs and rubbed herself against his ankles, the revelatory noise of her purring suggesting she was completely content with his presence.
Connor knelt down on one knee and proceeded to stroke her, much to the cat's delight.
You released an inaudible sigh. There was only one other android that Lilo had ever enjoyed the company of, and that was Oliver - the deviant.
There was a chance that Connor's friendliness and affection responses were up too high, in which case you could easily dial it down and remove the probability of him displaying such behaviour, but there was also the prospect that his actions were the result of unforeseen deviancy.
The thought troubled you, but you chose not to dwell on it. You'd take a look at his components in the morning - it was far too late now.
Booting down your terminal, you made your way back to the metal table the android had situated himself upon and gave Connor an apologetic smile, "I'm going to deactivate you for the time being, okay? The next time you wake, you will meet my colleague, Dr. Evett, to partake in your hand-to-hand combat tests and an evaluation of your accuracy with a weapon."
Connor's LED flickered temporarily yellow and he nodded, "Understood", he stated. You dipped your head in approval and your eyes went to the android's mid-section; with slightly fidgety fingers, you pulled his jacket aside and unbuttoned his shirt so that you could reach the power cable in his abdomen panel.
You opened it up, a slight tremor in your wrists, and reached for the main cable.
"Will I see you again?" Connor enquired suddenly before you had the chance to disconnect the wires; you stemmed the troublesome feeling bubbling in your stomach and forced a smile onto your face.
"Yes, of course."
The android smiled and you swallowed around the lump in your throat as you disengaged Connor's power supply; the LED on his head flashed red before turning grey and his smile quickly diminished, his features falling into a neutral position as his eyes fell shut.
You heaved a sigh of despondency, "I won't let you end up like Oliver", you murmured softly, and gently caressed the soft hair on the android's head.
Notes: Thank you so much for reading! Please leave me a review, it'll make my day! Requests are still closed at this time :)