NOV 14TH, 2038 \\ PM 10:52:27
System Diagnosis Complete.
| System Status: Positive |
| GPS: On |
| All Biocomponents Functional |
Hank had told him that he showed empathy. Empathy is a human emotion, but Connor wasn't deviant. He would know if he was, and Cyberlife would've already deactivated him by now.
Still, it didn't add up.
There was a missing piece of evidence lost somewhere in his analysis of himself, hiding away in the deepest parts of his code and biting its thumb at him because he didn't look hard enough. It was barely related to the task at hand, however, and Connor was determined to accomplish and focus on his blatantly huge objective. The deviant leader was right there around the corner, yet Connor didn't barge in at an instant. His code told him what to do, but he was straying away from its instructions; he didn't know what he was waiting for.
So, when Connor finally spun around the corner, gun raised steadily in hand, a persistent bug of sorts seemed to disappear and a sense of restoring fluidity flushed throughout his system.
"I've been ordered to take you alive," Connor declared, his gun trained steadily on its target.
When the deviant leader turned to face him, Connor was caught off guard. Every single deviant that he had faced had either begged him not to shoot them or had distracted him in some way and started a chase. However, the WR400 before him hadn't shown the slightest notion of doing either of those.
There was something in the way the deviant leader was looking at him that had Connor's own system lagging to move. His target stepped forwards, hands behind its back, with a smile on its face that suggested it was planning something. Its eyes were trained on the gun and its wielder just as steadily as Connor was holding it. North - if Connor should ever unprofessionally call the WR400 - wasn't like other androids; he had to take further precautions when dealing with it.
"I won't hesitate to shoot if you give me no choice," he added, skillfully pressuring the deviant before him with an expertly programmed craft of words. Still, there was no effect at all; it was beginning to bug his biocomponents for reasons he could not identify.
The deviant leader's eyes narrowed, showing a nanosecond long flash unidentifiable to normal humans. Connor's own optical units entered inspection, scanning his surroundings for possible leverage to use against the deviant leader, but coming up with no result.
"You're one of us. You can't betray your own kind."
Connor found its voice sickeningly persuasive. The leader was utilizing her built-in social modules, but it would take more than a simple tweak of code to stop an RK800.
^ Software Instability ^
"You're coming with me," Connor asserted, jerking his head towards the door. The WR400 smirked.
Smirked? Connor conducted a reading, then another one, then another one after that. How was the deviant leader smirking in this kind of situation? He couldn't identify what was humorous, for there was nothing funny about his surroundings, and yet the deviant before him was looking at him with the expression that suggested he was doing something silly. In the time wasted by his logical processing, Connor had barely registered that the deviant leader was now three steps closer to him than it was before.
^ Software Instability ^
"You're Connor, aren't you? The famous deviant hunter."
Connor froze. How do you know my name? He wanted to ask, then a certain domestic android flashed before his eyes. Daniel.
"Well congratulations," the deviant leader continued, still wearing that strange smirk, "You seem to have found what you were looking for."
It wasn't new to Connor that he had nothing to say. As part of his initial startup, his tester had informed him that it was fine to keep silent when saying anything else would damage his chances of accomplishing his mission. However, his chances of success were not increased; they decreased with each second that he kept silent.
"You're not one of them." The deviant leader took a step forward. Connor took a step back. Something about it seemed familiar. "We are your people." Its tone changed to something softer, something that gripped Connor's logical modules and tossed them out of his system. "We're fighting for your freedom, too."
Connor panicked. "Shut up. You're coming with me!"
His own statement didn't sound convincing to himself.
A part of Connor's coding told him that he was letting his guard down, opening up an opportunity for the deviant leader to strike him down. Connor's didn't pay any mind to the part. It didn't seem part of him anymore; it seemed to be more of an outside influence than in his own code.
And of course, the deviant leader took advantage of it.
"You never had any doubts?"
One step closer.
"Never behaved irrationally as if there's something inside you?"
Connor's memory replayed.
"I'm not a unique model, am I?"
"If I don't solve this case, Cyberlife will destroy me!"
Four steps closer.
"Something stronger than your program?"
^^^^^ Software Instability ^^^^^
A pause in the deviant leader, a change in the deviant hunter. Connor was trembling. He felt restrained, tied down, frustrated, scared. These overwhelming emotions were placing errors in his program, but he couldn't get rid of them. It was like a virus, spreading all over his code. Connor didn't say anything. He couldn't.
North was uploading her and Markus's deviancy into Connor's systems.
"You're one of us," North spoke again. Her voice seemed to be resonating in Connor's head wherever he turned to. "Join our cause." The deviant took a huge step forward, no longer advancing at an even pace. "Join your people."
Connor's LED flashed yellow, then red, and stayed red. Something was eating up his logic, crashing his guiding system, blocking his contact to Cyberlife.
"It's time to decideā¦"
Who you really are.
Amanda's voice rang out. This is your last chance, Connor.
AMANDA V
BETRAYED
Connor broke through his mind palace, his simulation shoving Amanda's voice away. His mission no longer mattered to him as he willed them to crack, trashing them in his mind palace with all the force he had inside him. Strings of code fought for him; strings of code that he had never seen before, but yet felt so familiar. More guiding texts appeared, but Connor broke them in the same manner. Every text broken was more freedom, more currents and more energy to push on. Connor's systems sparked as all of the choices he had made came back and bit him, literally. His metallic joints jolted as his newly developed consciousness installed a strange new feeling in his systems. It was almost as if he wanted to revert the things that he had done. Connor punched, kicked, struggled against his remaining texts until they were now fully broken, becoming nothing but a link rot inside his system.
He felt the resistance in his hands as he pushed the last two guiding messages away. He felt relieved and free. He felt.
And Connor was overwhelmed.
