Aaand here we are my lovelies! This is the amount I've written so far (16 chapters). I promise I'll write more and try to keep on top of updating this story. Like I said, it's just been because of school and so many things going on in my life that this story has unfortunately taken a backseat when it comes to my priorities. There are tons of other stories I'm working on that I will try to post and start publishing - I've recently become obsessed new topics for writing such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe and a mobile romance visual novel called The Arcana (which I recommend everyone should check out!) and I'm penning out new ideas for stuff to write!
You should definitely check out my Bloodborne tale, I'm very proud of it! There are a bunch of other things I'm gonna try to write up, my problem is that I plan things for ages but never get round to actually writing them even though I have it planned almost word for word sometimes. I'm so, so sorry again that I haven't updated this in so long and keep everyone waiting for ages, I really will try to stay on top of things and edit this work, cause I started it two years and since then I've become a LOT better at writing so I'm not very satsified with the quality.
I'll go back and edit it (I won't delete anything however so don't worry about this story being taken down!) so this story may change slightly (only through changing descriptions of characters and actions and such, not plot-wise!), I definitely want to refine the story but I think the groundwork's laid out for me to improve it a lot. I care a lot about my readers and I want them to have the best quality I can give them!
Take care of yourselves, hopefully we'll meet again soon
EM
XoXo
XXX
11:22pm
Lily felt her hair stick to the back of her neck, it was slightly damp from the melted snow that had settled there when she had previously left Hank's car, but now it had collected moisture from the heated embarrassment she felt.
Unsurprisingly, she'd been feeling a lot of that lately.
Her partner was questioning the skeevy manager, Floyd, who was giving her the occasional perverted glance which made the lieutenant feel like he was imagining Lily in her underwear; something she was definitely uncomfortable with. Her eyes and thoughts wandered from the nerve-inducing conversation and to the room that they had been in a few minutes ago.
"Connor hasn't come out yet", she realised, crossing her arms. "What the heck is he doing in there?"
"You don't have any CCTV in here, huh?", Hank's voice distracted her from her thoughts, as the manager shook his head fervently.
"Nah, no way. I mean that's what people appreciate about Eden Club- they can come and go as they please, without a trace", Floyd's slimy voice acknowledged, eyeing Lily up again. She rolled her eyes, turning her back on him in distaste.
"Yeah but it makes our job ten times harder", she thought solemnly, believing she was beginning to understand what Captain Allen had meant all those months ago when he had told her how it felt to see work as just a chore. Hank noticed her glum face.
"Eh, but business is booming, right?", his question to the manager came out as more of a statement, but he playfully nudged Lily. She gave him a slightly strained smile, trying to bring up her own mood.
"Yeah, we can't complain", the manager shrugged. "Good thing about androids is they're up for whatever weird shit you want, and they can't get any diseases and… well, they won't squeal to anyone".
Lily found herself regrettably imagining how Connor would handle being one of the androids in this situation, as she finally spotted him emerging from the room where the dead Traci was. The RK-800 looked around the club, staring at one of the sex androids that was twirling around her shiny purple dance-pole.
"Huh, the more I learn about people the more I love my dog", Hank joked semi-seriously.
"Same here", Lily gave a half-hearted grin, turning back to the conversation. Floyd obviously understood there was little point in trying to make a self-deprecating joke about humanity, so he gave an awkward nod before making a quick exit; and "accidentally" bumping into Lily as he left. She was just about to angrily chastise the creeper as Detective Collins cut in.
"That club manager's a pain in the ass"
"And a creep", Lily kept her arms crossed in frustration.
"Yeah", Hank readily agreed, glancing to make sure the man had left.
"So, what happened here?", Ben asked, tapping something down on his tablet.
"We think there was another android in the room", she explained.
"Another android?"
"That's what Connor says", Hank confirmed, looking back at the RK-800 across the room who was staring with strange fascination at a Traci. "Hey listen, you got any painkillers? I've got a fucking headache", Hank groaned as Lily watched Connor reach out with one plastic arm and carefully touch a panel on the Traci's glass case.
"Sorry no, not on me right now", Collins shrugged apologetically with a yawn. "Let's just get this over and done with"
"Yeah, let's make this snappy, this place gives me the creeps", Lily nodded, as she felt something warm and soft brush against her.
"Excuse me lieutenant", Connor appeared beside her, with big shining eyes. "Can you come over here a second?"
"Found somethin', pal?", Hank asked, directing the android's attention away from Lily. He nodded before looking back at her, eyes focussed solely on her face as the RK-800 led the two lieutenants over to a purple glass tube.
"Can you rent this Traci?"
Hank's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
"For fuck's sake Connor we got more important shit to do! This ain't the time to start getting thirsty", Hank slapped his hand on his forehead in annoyance and Lily couldn't help but snigger. "Fucking androids and their priorities", he grumbled. The RK-800 gave an excuse of something about looking into the Traci's memory for evidence, only making Hank groan further, but eventually relenting to Connor's request.
"Wow, Hank. Didn't you know were getting thirsty too", she teased as the lieutenant swatted at her.
"Shuddup!", he grumbled, hesitantly approaching the futuristic green tube which contained the Traci. She was wearing neon-green metallic lingerie that made her shine in the club's fluorescent lighting like some kind of alien from outer space.
"This isn't gonna look good on my expense account", Hank groaned, reluctantly typing in his bank-card pin on the glass tube. The case slid open and the Traci stepped out proudly, her pale green eyes gleaming like she was under some lovesick spell.
"Follow me", the WR-400 cocked her hips and smoothly fluttered her eyelashes. "I'll take you to your room", she took hold of Hank's hand and began to lead him away to one of the private rooms.
"Yeah whatever", he said quickly, taking away his hand away a little rudely and turning to Connor. Behind him, the Traci pouted. "Ok so now what?". Connor moved towards the Traci, a serious expression on his face. He reached out one hand, his synthetic skin melting away to show the futuristic white plastic underneath as he carefully touched the Traci's arm. The two androids connected momentarily, their eyelids closing and flickering as LED's flashed bright yellow.
"What is he doing?", Hank mouthed to Lily, she shrugged her shoulders.
"It saw something", Connor's eyes snapped open mechanically, quickly searching and scanning around the club.
"What is it?", Lily and Hank both asked in unison.
"The deviant left the room!", Connor exclaimed, holding up his hand and displaying an image of a very pretty Traci with sapphire-coloured hair.
"Do you think she's still here?", Lily examined the hologram.
"Club Policy is to wipe the androids' memory every two hours, we've only got a few minutes if we can get another witness!"
"Well what are we waitin' for?", Hank rolled his eyes. "C'mon guys, hustle!", he chided as himself and Connor ran off to examine the Eden Club androids. Lily turned towards the Asian Traci who was still waiting expectantly.
"Am I no longer needed?", she asked, her pale-green eyes crestfallen.
"Um, I think we're good, thanks", Lily said awkwardly. The Traci nodded, beginning to walk away dejectedly.
"Hey wait!", she called out, gently touching the WR-400's shoulder. "What's your name?". The android stared at her blankly.
"My name…?", her head tilted to one side.
"Yeah", Lily smiled, before it sank in. "Oh… you don't have a name?", she asked, her eyes glimmering with sympathy. "What do people call you?"
"All sorts of things", the Traci looked at the ground, her olive-toned skin turning slightly blue. "But never a real name"
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to upset you", Lily gently brushed against the android's arm. "Do you want me to give you a name?"
The Traci's eyes lit up.
"Ok, erm… how about….", the lieutenant looked past to the Traci's plastic case. The android identification code was displayed on the top of her futuristic tube, and among the other numbers was the code "Z-0-3-Y".
"Zoey?", Lily absentmindedly spoke aloud.
"Zoey?", the Traci clasped her hands together and closed her eyes, savouring the word. "I love it! It's perfect!", she gushed happily. "Oh, thank you so much ma'am!"
"Just call me Lily", she beamed at the ecstatic female android.
"Than you so, so very much!", Zoey rushed forward and squeezed Lily tightly with her two strong arms.
"C-can't breathe!", Lily gasped, almost being held suspended in the air from the Traci's bear-hug; she kept forgetting how strong androids were!
"Sorry, sorry!", Zoey let go quickly, dropping Lily and nearly making her fall over.
"No problem", Lily grinned weakly, catching her breath in her lungs. "Glad to be of some help".
"I hope you find what you're looking for", Zoey nodded to Connor and Hank who were going through the memories of the other androids.
"Thanks", the lieutenant said gently, before saying goodbye as Zoey returned to her case- significantly happier than before.
"But I hope we don't", Lily thought to herself, thinking that if the deviants were really just fighting for their freedom, they were long-gone and had safely made it out of the City; away from the police force and the discrimination.
The last thing she wanted was more violence and bloodshed.
XXX
"I know where it went!", Connor opened his eyes and let go of the android cleaner's arm. He dashed towards the staff door, Lily and Hank in pursuit. The lead had made the trio run in, out, and all around Eden Club while trailing the blue-haired Traci. It all seemed like a wild-goose chase, until Connor had hopefully just found it
The staff entrance was a long, white-brick corridor, leading to a heavy door which read "CAUTION: MACHINERY IN-USE". As Connor was about to push open the door, Hank's voice stopped him short.
"Wait!", he ordered, putting himself at the front and unholstering his gun. "I'll take it from here", he said, cautiously opening the door and leading the trio inside. They were in the android workshop round the back of the Club.
"Connor?", Lily whispered to the android next to her.
"Stay close Lily, any of these androids could be deviants", he said protectively, his brown eyes becoming alert and scanning the area. She internally rolled her eyes; Hank being paranoid was enough, let alone Connor beginning to do too.
The room they had entered was a big engineering facility- mainly used for fixing, reprogramming and storing the club's androids when they weren't in use. Rows of HR-400 and WR-400 androids were lined in perfect rows around the sides of the huge chamber, and in the middle sat vast machines, cranes, boxes full spare android parts and other equipment. The trio split up, trying to cover as much space as possible as quickly as they could.
While her partners were examining the deactivated androids and machinery, Lily found one of the crates and peered inside, pulling something smooth and flimsy. In her hand, she held an Eden Club female uniform; panties and all.
"Urgh!", she dropped it instantly back into the box, and when glancing around to make sure no one had seen her, Lily noticed Connor was staring at something interesting.
"What did you find?", she asked, following his gaze. The RK-800 was examining a box of spare parts for the androids; a white plastic android arm was invisible from inside the crate. The detached limb looked more than a little bit freaky. "Does it bother you?", she asked, as Connor blinked quickly, turning away.
"It just reminds me of what I am, underneath", his caring voice suddenly solemn, not facing her.
"Connor", Lily's heart melted, reaching out to touch his shoulder gently. "Please don't think-"
"Thank you for your concern, Lily, but we've got more important things to worry about", he uncharacteristically cut her off, finally turning back to her. His eyes showed raw emotion in its purest form, but after a blink it was gone again and he regained his usual professional demeaner. Connor quickly busied himself with a trail of thirium on the ground, not wanting to say anything else. He didn't initially understand why seeing the robotic android components bothered him so much.
"I guess it's just another way of how we are different, and how I'll never…", he cut off his own thoughts, afraid of finishing that sentence.
Watching Lily talk to Hank, the way she spoke with ease, how she smiled, the fact that her eyes shone with constant compassion, it was all the more bitter reminders of how he'd never achieve to be the one she solely smiled for, or the person she spoke to with care and adoration.
Because try as he might, he'd never be human.
And he'd never be with her.
What was worse than that acknowledgement, was the realisation that Gavin was right; Connor and Lily lived in different worlds, and he'd never be able to make her happy or be with her like Gavin could. At least he had this time now as one of her partners, to soak in her smiles and her friendship, because he knew he'd never have this chance again. And even if all that could happen was for him to be just a protector, Connor was satisfied with that.
For now, at least.
*Software Instability: Corrupted Drive at 85%*
XXX
"Jesus Christ this is somethin' straight outta Alien", Hank wolf-whistled, marvelling at the complex machine used to wipe the android's memories. Lily stared at it too, finding an examination table where a silver-haired deactivated Traci was in the process of being dismantled; all sorts of wires and cables sticking out of her body.
"To Connor and all these poor androids, this must be like some torture machine", Lily could only feel worried for how the RK-800 was taking in all this. She still wasn't sure what she could do to help him, as she watched the android follow some invisible trail around the workshop.
He was burying himself in the case, something he always did whenever he didn't want to talk about something. Heck, she couldn't complain, she did it too whenever there was something on her mind; but the only thing that bothered her was the knowledge that Connor was clearly worrying about something- something that he wouldn't open up about. She definitely liked Connor-
"Wait", her eyes widened. She glanced back to the RK-800 taking in everything he did; the way he was intently scanning evidence curiously like an excitable child, his big puppy-dog brown eyes, even the little chocolate curl that hung out of place amongst his neatly-combed hair.
Lily didn't have to look at her own reflection to know she was blushing, and her lips had curled into a small smile.
"When did he start to mean so much to me?", she thought, trying to recall every meeting with him. She could remember the first time she had seen him smile, heard him laugh, even attempt a joke at his own expense, and it was all the more precious. Over the past few weeks she had begun to feel so warm, so happy around him…
Yes, she definitely liked Connor.
She absentmindedly wandered over to the rows of androids, looking at all the different faces that shared the identical blank expression.
Connor knew that Lily was on to him; he didn't tell her about how he felt seeing the dismantled androids simply because he just couldn't bear to worry her, but what else could he do? He didn't want to admit, but he found himself too concerned over her opinion and what she would think of him- despite his better judgement and especially his programming, Connor cared about her very much, and he didn't want to let his own problems affect her.
Examining the thirium trail, the RK-800 felt his eyes wander towards the younger lieutenant. As Lily looked up and down the aisles of Eden Club androids, a flash of vivid colour caught her eye. It was blue. Sapphire-blue.
"GAH!", Lily shouted as the blue-haired Traci shoved her violently, making the lieutenant fall backwards and narrowly miss having her skull caved-in from hitting the metal conveyer-belt.
"Lily!", Hank shouted, running forwards - gun in hand – and aiming at the deviant. "DON'T MOVE OR ELSE-" but before he could even finish, another Traci with short brown hair ran forward and attacked him, incapacitating the older lieutenant.
Connor raced forward; the sight of seeing his partners under attack made his blood pound through his ears and forget all concern for his own safety- protecting Lily and Hank was all that mattered now. He tackled the blue-haired Traci, managing to pin her to the floor but not before the other threw him off and hit him with a thick metal wrench stolen from a trolley.
Lily pushed the deviants off Connor, as one of them tripped her up and slammed her into the floor. She let out a loud gasp of pain, all the breath knocked out of her lungs. The brown-haired Traci lunged towards her, swiping a screwdriver off the nearby work bench and trying to stab Lily with it. The lieutenant managed to grab the deviant's arm, the screw-driver waving closer and closer until it was barely scraping past Lily's eye.
Connor managed to unpin himself from one of the Tracis, throwing the girl off himself so she knocked into the other deviant, freeing Lily from the iron-grip. He charged into the deviant, both androids' incredible strength matching the other's before Connor was able to overpower the female deviant, pushing her off a ledge which led to the outside alleyway, but she grabbed his grey tie, causing him to topple over as well.
XXX
Momentarily incapacitated, Connor was able to blearily look around him, as he saw Hank and Lily trying to fight the two robot women but having mixed results. One Traci punched Hank in the stomach, making him fall on the floor and knock the back of his skull on the frozen pavement.
"HANK!", Lily cried desperately, staring at her partner with wide-eyes. While she was briefly distracted, the other Traci punched her to the ground, and kicked her in the head with one stiletto heel.
"Lily!", Connor groaned, getting up off the floor and spotting the deviants trying to climb the fence. The RK-800 struggled with the two Tracis; his model made him one of the strongest androids designed by CyberLife, however there were two deviants and only one of him, and his human partners had both been rendered unconscious.
The younger lieutenant's mind was filled with the same numbness she had grown accustomed to; it was the very same painful, silent drowsiness she felt when taking her sedatives, except this time that was not the case.
"I need to stop hitting my head on shit", was her one thought. She turning her aching neck to the side, through her distorted vision she could see Hank slumped up against the dirty brick wall nearby. The sounds of a scuffle averted her attention to the entrance to the alley, where Connor was still fighting the deviants.
Connor; sweet, brave, kind Connor.
Lily supported her weight onto her arms, her blurred vision making out Connor being thrown against the alleyway wall. She felt a stab of pain and a shot of adrenaline go through her, at seeing him being attacked, before feeling the blood rushing through her head and falling to the floor again, struggling to remain awake. The android himself was struggling to win, all his artificial breath being squeezed out of him, as the brown-haired Traci strangled him brutally.
"No!", he thought, determined to fight. He needed to pull through. Shoving one deviant off him, he was smacked to the floor, but was able to roll away and grab Hank's discarded gun off the ground.
"STOP!", he shouted, aiming it at the two Traci's who froze in unison. The blue-haired deviant shied slightly behind the other, clearly afraid of the weapon.
With the two threats currently subdued, Connor quickly scrambled over towards Lily, never taking his eyes off the two deviants. Checking her person, he breathed out a sigh of relief, she was just coming to. He brushed his hand over her cheek with care, afraid he'd lose her if he ever let go.
"You care about her", a voice came from his right. Connor looked up, to see the blue-haired Traci looking between him and Lily in bewilderment. "Why?", she almost challenged him.
"I…", he didn't know what to say. "That's none of your business!", Connor's anger surprised himself, as he got to his feet, protectively keeping the deviants between himself and his friends.
"All humans are identical, the same disgusting monsters", the other Traci snarled maliciously. "All they do is use and abuse us, why are you so quick to protect them?", she gestured to Hank and Lily. Connor retorted back defensively, telling them to keep their distance as he threatened them with the weapon.
The fog in her head clearing, Lily managed to blearily wake up again, hearing voices and briefly watching the trio of androids.
"She doesn't care about you, you know", the Traci said matter-of-factly, pointing to Lily's figure on the ground behind Connor. "She's a human, she won't ever think of you as an equal"
"That's a lie!", Connor shouted defensively. He refused to listen to what they were saying. "What do you know about humans?"
"They're all the same; with their dirty words and disgusting stares", she said as if in a painful memory. "She won't ever care about you"
"Don't you dare!", he shouted, full of fury and sorrow he had never felt before, as he pointed the gun at the Traci's, clasping the trigger.
"CONNOR DON'T!", Lily cried, shakily getting to her knees and running between him and the Traci's after seeing what was about to happen. The RK-800's head immediately focussed on her, his anger replaced instantly with relief over her being okay and he lowered the gun.
"I'm alright", she told him, holding up her hands in reassurance before turning to face the Tracis. "Why did you do it?", she asked the androids, standing next to Connor. The blue-haired girl stepped forward, snow landing in her sapphire-hair.
"When that man broke the other Traci, I knew I was next", the blue-haired girl came forward, explaining the murder. "I didn't mean to kill him", she confessed. "I just wanted to live, to get back to the one I love", as the Traci spoke, the other took her hand comfortingly, squeezing it.
"Come on", the brown-haired deviant whispered tugging on her arm. The two scarpered quickly in escape, climbing the fence at the end of the alley. Connor moved forward, pointing the gun at the two Tracis.
"Don't", Lily breathed, pushing the weapon down. Connor looked confused. Hurt flashed across his face, before he lowered his hands, dropping the gun to the floor obediently.
The two Traci's nodded to the trio in gratitude, scrambling down the fence and running away hand-in-hand, the clacking of their high-heels fading away with each echoing step. Lily's eyes widened in understanding. "I wish… androids and humans really could be together, just like that". There was nothing she wanted more than to be free like that with Connor.
"A-are we just going to let them escape?", Connor asked in disbelief.
"Maybe it's better this way", Hank shrugged, for once taking a passive viewpoint with Deviants.
"I don't know what's sadder", Lily spoke softly, her eyes shining as she stared down into the end of the dark alleyway where the Tracis had escaped.
"What?", Hank asked. Lily turned to face him.
"If their love was too strong to be removed by the memory wipe, or if they fell in love with each other every time after they had their memories lost", she whispered.
"Who knows about Deviants or love?", Hank asked thoughtfully. "Both are complicated. I think it'd be best not to dwell on it too much, Lil", he took her shoulder gently.
"C'mon Connor, it's freezing out here. We're done"