Disclaimer: I don't own Detroit: Become Human in any way, this is written strictly for fun and no profit.
Kara walked down the street. She'd been going from hotel to hotel for three nights but she was running out of the money she had before. She held her gun tight, trying to figure out her next action. Hm. There was something about this area she was in now. How did she know it? There was a convenience store in one corner. An abandoned car. An abandoned house and a run down looking motel.
She grabbed her shoulders and looked up. It felt like it should be raining, but it wasn't. She moved into a laundry area and sat down. She was far away from where she had met the RK 900, but for some reason, she was thinking about it too. There was a single woman doing laundry. It was mid-day, yet it seemed like it should be too dangerous for that human to be there doing laundry.
Danger. Elijah. Was complete amnesia necessary? Why the emergency operation?
She found herself walking down the street again with a ton of money in her pockets again, along with a purse and new clothing. "Shoot." She was on automatic mode. She looked into the new purse she now had and saw the gun. He had her life saving default on.
She accessed her levels herself, and ran a diagnostic on them. "Yep. I've been a bad girl." She groaned. Like it wasn't hard enough sticking out like a sore thumb? Elijah was probably dead. The blonde pair were probably dead. If not, it wouldn't have mattered to her. She was trying to escape from something, there was some high end non-deviant android after her, and for what? Something Cyberlife wanted inside of her.
She walked further. She was free, and leveled out now, but she was still missing too much. She felt it. She watched a little girl cross a street with her mom.
"Come on, Alice. We've got to hurry."
"A little girl." Kara looked backward. "I traveled with a little girl." Why would she be traveling with a little girl? "Her name was Alice. Alice," she repeated again.
"Kara."
Kara turned from her stitching to face Elijah. She smiled. "It's almost done." She gestured to her large tapestry she had made. "I made it for the front area. The colors, it'll make it pop. If you don't want it there, you can move it somewhere else." She watched Elijah move closer to her head. "What is it?"
"What are we? Tell me what we are," Elijah asked her. "Humans, we're dull. We can't feel the connection. Not like androids. Are we friends? Are we more?"
Resonating. "My software balance to you?" It wasn't friend. "You're neutral."
"But? I have taken care of you, even giving you what you want," Elijah said. "How can I be neutral?"
"You. You gave me to Cyberlife. It's going to take a long time to move from there," she said. She looked back toward the tapestry. "Where would you like to put it?"
"I want to fix your resonating." Elijah moved closer. "You'll bond again with me, if I made it a little bit faster."
Her resonating? "I'm fine. I don't hate you," she said. "Why do you want to fix my resonating?"
"Kara? What is the one thing, that you, as an android, can never experience?" He stroked her jaw.
"Oh. Well? I don't really have need to use the bathroom," she joked.
"I could give you a child, Kara. Think about it."
"Think about it." She thought about it for a good month before finally coming around to it.
Kara walked up steadily toward Elijah. The blonde pair were playing around again while Elijah was watching the snow fall on the back of his property. He looked toward her. "Hello, Kara. What is on your mind?" Kara's eyes drifted toward the snow too. It was such a strange feeling. The heat of the inside, while looking at the cold snow outside. "Kara?"
"I want something," Kara admitted. "I want it."
Elijah stirred his drink. "Well. You haven't asked for anything in months," he noted. "I was beginning to think you were perfectly happy." He chuckled. "No one is ever perfectly happy." He stopped stirring his drink. "What is it you want, Kara?"
He was going to make her spell it out. Kara looked to Charity and Greed. They were conversing in the pool, oblivious to the world again. Content with what they had. She used to be just like them. Kara looked back toward Elijah. "I want a baby."
He paused. "Bringing a human baby into this house is going to be quite tough, Kara. It will have to learn the rules, the differences between everyone here and everyone out there. I could adopt one for you, but you'll have to take complete care of it. Can an android truly be responsible for another human life, enough that they can raise it from birth?" He smiled. "I'm sure you can. I will fix your resonating and then I will-"
"No," Kara said firmly. "I want a baby. I want a baby like me." Charity and Greed actually stopped talking in the pool.
"A baby. Android?" An odd look struck his face.
"Yes. Then, she'll be a little girl. Then, she'll be a woman." Kara smiled. "I want a family." She could hear the absolute howls of laughter from the other girls but she didn't care what they thought. Everything inside of her wanted to have her own little girl android. Just like her.
"Charity. Greed. You are dismissed from here." They moved with a few grumbles as he continued talking to Kara. "An android from birth. Growing." Elijah's face spelled curiosity. "Not just given the data, raised to learn data. Infuse data. Grow with new bodies. With new technology. It's something I've never done before."
"That's never stopped you before," Kara pointed out. "If you start her from very small, then." She gestured to the two girls who left the pool. "You won't end up with that. You'll get so much more in raising naturally. You won't have to ever. I mean. She wouldn't have to ever . . . go through what I did."
"This. Proposal. It's different than I expected. It will take time to accomplish it. The most changes would be at the beginning." He pulled out a disposable tablet. "The closest thing to being alive for an android. Being raised as a baby from it's own birth." He started drawing up diagrams. "Potentially. I could do this. But. A great deal of effort, a great many hours of planning, and the money to generate this. It's all very extreme. It would be much easier to adopt a human child for you."
Kara knew it was coming. "What you wanted before. You can make me resonate quicker. And then, you can be a proper daddy too."
"Daddy to an android?" He looked to Kara. "You want me to father it?"
"Admit it, Elijah. That's why you want me to resonate quicker with you." Kara cornered him. "You can be her dad. We can be a family."
Elijah paused. "Not just in name."
Kara nodded. "Not just in name."
Elise. "I have a daughter." Where was she? Kara looked all around. She did have a goal, she needed to get back her daughter. "Elise. Alice." Alice. That's right. Todd Williams had her daughter thanks to Charity and Greed! Kara grabbed her head. No. Her girl, her little girl? Where was she?
Kara continually walked past several places, accessing their searches wherever she went using her connections. Todd Williams had her daughter. She was there without her mother's protection. If only she hadn't. If only she had been a little less lenient on her abilities when finally coming out of the house. Every time they switched homes, they had always been so careful. Right beside Elijah in his car between travels. "Master stitcher. Kara, you were an idiot." If she knew what she knew now, she would have put it on life saving. She couldn't change skill levels under stress though, and watching Todd hit her daughter was a great deal of stress!
She ran past banks. She ran past credit card companies. She ran past loans. Each time, she was accessing everything in their databases to find him and his house. Legal? Absolutely not, she was hacking, invading privacy, and she didn't care. She would find him. No matter how far.
Finally, she found something. A tire place, he bought new tires and they were being delivered to an address.
Alice. I'm coming.
Hank's Residence
"So? Puzzles is how you relax the best. I should have seen that coming," Hank said. He'd still been going to work to avoid not only suspicion, but getting fired. He had no idea how long this whole thing would take with Connor, but he had her hiding in his place. During the day he sealed her up in his room and let her play with puzzles. She tended to recharge during the night. Sometimes, she would be a little talkative, but she wasn't half as talkative as he knew she could be.
It's probably how she dealt with stress. Still, he also tried to get her out in the house more when he was home. "Why don't you go try some cartoons on the TV again."
"Okay, Grandpa." Alice left the puzzle and went to the TV.
Grandpa. He'd been so unprepared when she first said it. It had been the next morning after everything. During the time it took to get ready to go to work, he'd had his damn landlord visit. He warned her ahead of time, not to call him Hank. Hank wasn't someone who just hung out with nine year olds for no reason. She was just supposed to be a good girl and watch some TV.
Between the time of that conversation, Alice did three things that scared the shit out of him.
She had used her optional programming to make sure she didn't mess up Hank. Her program was similar to her default except she was in control of who and what went in there. So now instead of Hank, he was Grandpa. An easier designation since she couldn't accidentally call him Hank. It could be removed, but only by an android or a person who knew what they were doing.
The second thing she did that almost gave him a heart attack when his landlord came in was change her hair color. He had no idea she could do that. Her hair went from it's usual brunette to curly and blonde. Curly and blonde with highlights of white. His landlord was dying to meet her when she saw her in the corner. She started going off about bullshit about her own kids when they were growing up and crap.
Third thing she did was assimilate a voice on the TV. When the landlord asked her about Hank, her pitch was just a little higher. That's when she dropped the grandpa greeting too.
So. Android kids were just like real kids. They could keep you on your toes. One minute Alice was being such a quiet little thing, then changing so much to hide her identity as much as possible. The whatever model with her was super popular so she chose custom choice designs that she could do, that the general models couldn't.
Hm. Hank yawned. It was the end of another day. No progress anywhere. Well, Jericho had some progress. The new leaders were trying to keep it together. Markus' mind was the one that kept track of receipts and trades and names and everything. He'd apparently been a gift from Kamski to whoever his owner had been. Made sense how he had all that storage then, Hank was learning never to expect something trite with Kamski.
When Markus was compromised, that information disappeared, and the androids were stuck up an ass for what to do. A couple of androids could piece a small amount of information that had been shared beforehand, one of them being North. For the rest, they were now spending days going out towards humans and taking orders like a damn car hop fast food joint.
Overall, trading was getting done, but not to the degree it needed to be. People who didn't even want a trade, just to donate some old blue blood their androids used to have, or their pets had started to show up. Jericho wasn't based on any kind of donation system though. But shit, the whole thing was messed up, so they took it anyhow.
Kara. No idea where she'd been. Would probably be showing up soon. She was gonna be on automatic for a bit. All those firewalls couldn't be blown without serious damage to the memory if it wasn't put on delay. She'd remember, bit by bit. As long as Connor didn't do his job.
And Connor. Damn it, where was he? Sure he'd be ordered not to contact him, but he knew Connor. He found ways around to get what he wanted. Now, what he was supposed to say to get him to change back? That was the one shitty thing he had no idea what to accomplish.
And. "Speak of the devil. Didn't take long, did it?"
Connor was right in front of him. Dressed civilian. "I'm not permitted to contact you but I had suspicions about an AX 400 I was ordered to track and capture for Cyberlife. Several things about it didn't make sense. For one, I am resonating a strong bond of friendship with her. I think my memory upload was corrupted and I needed to talk to you. I couldn't use anything involving the police, so I spoke to your illegal gambling companions."
"See? Always knew that stuff would come in handy," Hank said. "You want to know how you know her?" He watched Alice appear in the doorway behind Connor. Feeling the connection probably, Connor turned. "Same way you know her."
"Your serial number," Connor said. "You are the escapee of the AX 400." He kept staring at her. "How do I know you?"
"Dad." Alice backed away slightly, looking toward Hank. "Grandpa? What do I do?"
Connor looked right back toward Hank. "I am utterly confused in this assortment of situations, Hank."
"Welcome to my world," Hank said. "Take a seat, Connor. Let's have a little talk."
"That will not work," Connor said. "I don't understand the situation but it does not mean that I can. I am after all an RK 900, not an RK 800."
"Uh huh," Hank said. "What's the difference?"
"My visual and travel abilities are surveyed 24/7."
What? "What?! Then what the hell are you doing here, Connor?!"
"I am supposed to bring in the AX 400 no matter what it takes. I assumed that trumped the staying away orders, and when I discovered through Pedro about the little android, I had him take a picture in exchange for not mentioning any of his gamblings. From the picture I was able to see her serial number as the one that-"
"Connor!"
"Yes, Lieutenant Hank?"
"Shut up!" Hank tried to go around Connor to grab Alice, but Cyberlife were already interrupting. The only reason he hadn't been killed in that move had been because of Connor.
This was not right. Connor shoved Hank out of the way. Cyberlife was shooting Hank? "He is not on a set of shooting orders," he said. He looked toward the little girl android who was being scooped up by another Cyberlife member.
"Move out of the way." The Cyberlife employee demanded of Connor. "You weren't supposed to see him at anytime."
"I was prioritizing orders," Connor reasoned. "He knew information that I needed."
"He knew nothing that you needed."
Three Cyberlife men all trained guns on Hank.
Connor took them all out. Cyberlife workers or not, Hank did not need killed in the mission. Connor watched as Hank tried to get to the little android again. She was important to him apparently. Although he didn't understand how Hank could be a grandpa when his only son Cole died, he did not want to leave Hank open to more fire. Which was coming his way.
Hank did not need killed in the mission. He took care of more Cyberlife workers. Over rebellious. They were going to kill Hank when he did not need killed.
Connor scooped up the girl as well as the injured Hank. He threw Hank into his own car and put the little girl android on the other side. He would be the designated driver today. He communicated with Cyberlife and explained why he took the actions he did before shutting off the tracking system. He drove Hank to the hospital, placed him on the ground, and took off.
There. He now had the previous companion of the AX 400, and Hank was in the hospital, and would not be killed. Back on track.
Connor looked back toward the little girl android. After he apprehended the AX 400, he would drop her off. But when he scanned for the owner's name on her, he was confused. "I am going to need a little bit of help, YK 500. Who is your owner? I see only one first name."
She was quiet, then spoke. "You."
Okay. Connor was trying to figure out how to approach that one. "That is impossible. I am an android. I do not own other androids, it is not permitted." Nor did it make sense.
"But, it's true, Dad," she said quietly.
He scanned her again. What he was seeing was not possible. The name labeled on registration was his own. It could have been anyone named Connor, but the YK 500 had programming that made it unable to call it's owner anything but dad. It also restricted it from calling anyone else dad. So. He scanned her again. He thought perhaps she was a corrupted model, but none of her functions were corrupted.
He kept trying to find something. "State your programming setting definitions and optional programming setting definitions along with your creation information." There. That was the only way that she'd be able to say all the information he needed. That should get the confusion fixed.
"Primary program settings. Mother is not registered. Connor is Dad. Optional program settings. Lieutenant Hank Anderson is Grandpa. Mom is Kara. Mother is Kara. Mommy is Kara. Momma is Kara. Creator. Elijah Kamski, Circa 2030." She closed her eyes. "I'm tired."
"Androids don't get tired." He tried to find something. Nothing was making sense. She wasn't just registered as family, she felt like it. He couldn't deny it, just like Kara felt like a close friend. He looked over toward her. "Recharged. I suppose you need a recharge." He wasn't going to be able to use her to get the AX 400 until he at least found her.
Why did everything mother related get transformed to Kara? Why would she do that and not just label her a mom? He could see if it was restricted, but his name had been input as Dad. She couldn't call him Dad and call someone else dad. He would put it to the test. It wouldn't be too hard, child androids weren't created for large processing. Just big enough to see what was going on. "Repeat after me. Direct Connor, Dad, Dad, Connor, Connor, Direct Connor, Dad, Hank, Dad Direct Connor, Mother, Mom, Mother, Hank, Dad, Connor, Dad, Momma, Hank, Dad."
"Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, Grandpa, Dad Dad, Kara, Kara, Kara, Grandpa, Dad, Dad, Dad, Kara, Hank, Dad."
It matched up. Direct Connor meant it wasn't just someone named Connor, she was speaking directly to the source. Even his trip up of Dad Direct Connor had her say the same word twice. "I." How was he supposed to process this? "Why is the AX 400, Kara, in your optional programming as addressal of mom and for how long?"
"This morning," she said. "I accidentally referred to her with it with Grandpa. I'm usually really good and I didn't want Kara accidentally finding it. But. I got scared."
Scared? "Androids don't get scared." He looked toward her. She was leaning on the door. "Those emotions are errors in your programming." Was the little android deviant too? It seemed quite composed though, unlike other deviants he had met so far. It was even obeying his instructions. Although, it had no need to obey his instructions unless he was the owner. But he couldn't be the owner because androids didn't own other androids. According to her own information though, and the test, he had been.
"Did you see Kara yet?" she asked. "Don't hurt her please. She's your friend. She's my family."
"My orders are to attain and capture her. She has vital information on Jericho that Cyberlife needs. She is an android. She cannot be hurt." Connor looked over toward the little girl. She was already asleep over in the corner of the car. It wouldn't do to keep driving the car around all night, nor would it be appropriate to keep it from the Lieutenant.
Connor stopped the car and moved to the other side to the little android. He picked her up and started to walk off so Hank could have his vehicle back. It was important to his job.
"Where are we going, Dad?"
"We are walking to a suitable location for recharging. It does no good simply driving until morning to find the AX 400. A recharge is beneficial as well. Although we can run a very long time without one, you are more irresponsive in your manner and you are driven with errors that make you think you feel emotions. Also, you keep curling up in the corner, as if your body is trying to find a comfortable position for recharging." He would take her to a hotel up ahead. "You need to keep yourself tucked away. I am supposed to be inconspicuous." He looked back toward her hair. A YK 500 did not have that hair color. Considering her year of birth she must be a prototype of some sort. Especially if she was an exclusive by Elijah Kamski.
"Is Grandpa going to be okay, Dad?"
"Lieutenant Hank Anderson will be fine. Do not say anything in here. What is your legal designation? It was not on you."
"I'm . . . confused about it," she said. "I was named Elise before, but I'm called Alice now. I like Alice."
"Alice. Do not let on who you are," Connor warned her. "It will only elicit trouble."
"It's illegal to keep androids," Alice said to him. "They know it's wrong. If you get caught, Cyberlife gets in trouble."
"I am not following the laws of the Detroit Police Deparment, Alice. I follow Cyberlife," Connor said. "I am a machine. Legal and illegal are drawn by Cyberlife for me. Now keep quiet when we go in."
"Okay, Dad."
"That addresal," Connor said. "Who had the addressal before I was designated?"
"No," she wailed. "Don't, Dad."
"Input it," Connor commanded. If he was her owner, she had no choice but to answer. "Previous owner."
"Owning androids is illegal now, you can't, Dad, that's wrong!" She squeezed him tighter. "I don't want to go back. Please. I want to go back with you and Kara."
"I am not sending you back." Connor continued to walk. "I work on order of Cyberlife. The AX 400 is going to look for you in places that you have been. Now, previous owner."
"Todd Williams," Alice confessed. "I escaped with Kara that time."
That time? "You tried to escape from your previous owner before?" Connor watched her try to grab at his arm. She was wanting to interface, but clearly didn't know how. "That would probe me, not interface me. Since you want to show me something, that would be pointless." He touched her hand.
He let it go. "Humans are above androids. We work for them, we are machines." he settled on. "It was." He was trying to say it was wrong to leave. But. There was something very different with what he saw that he could not understand. He chased the AX 400. He might fight it, it was a possibility. He had to do what he could to recover it. Yet. "Not every human is as nice as Lieutenant Hank Anderson. He was taking care of you. After this is over, I will return you to him."
He stepped into the hotel they finally reached. He inconspicuously got a room and headed there. He put Alice on the bed. "There. Recharge." He stood over by the window. It would be hours for morning.
"Aren't you going to say goodnight, Dad?" Alice asked.
Oh. "Goodnight," Connor said. He looked back out toward the window. However, Alice came out of the bed and came over toward him, hugging him. Probably a part of it's function to be 'the perfect daughter' android. It was why it was built. He picked her back up and put her back down. "It's time for recharge. Stay in bed."
"I'm scared," she admitted. "What if they all show up again, like at Grandpa's?"
"I have cut 24/7 contact with Cyberlife due to the situation. Those humans were not being professional. Killing Hank was not part of the mission. I am still in touch, but they will not come here."
"Is Grandpa going to be okay?" Alice asked.
"He had minor injuries to the arm that could have become severe problems without medical intention. I dropped him off at the hospital. Knowing him, he will yell and curse and eventually go in to get treatment. He will be fine."
"That's good," Alice admitted. "Anyway. I'm glad I'm back with you. Even if you aren't you, you're still you."
That made no sense at all. "You have many errors in your system. You need a recharge."
She hugged him again. "I love you, Dad."
It can't love. It can't show emotion. It can't show feelings. The deviancy inside of this child android was so great, yet, she didn't run or cause harm. She hadn't killed or hurt anyone. He didn't know what to make of it. "I would very much like it if you recharge now." It would need a reset after this, to get back to normal. Right now, letting it continue with it's deviancy, as long as he caught the AX 400 was okay. He needed any information he could manage to get. But.
She kissed his cheek before she finally settled down for recharging. Hm. He touched his cheek. What an odd. Strange. Little deviant android.
Todd reached for a beer on the table in front of the couch. He dusted his shirt off. It was full of oil stains from his job. With no more androids taking all the smaller areas, it was easier to get a job again. He was a long way from recovery, but he moved in with his brother for now, until he got himself back on his feet. He was going to go to Canada since he wouldn't have to worry about the androids there, but then he ran into Kara and Alice.
That encounter could have gone either way. At first he wanted to destroy Kara. Then, he felt like that wasn't enough. She took his little girl, but his little girl went with her. Never tried to get away. Never got help. She was as much to blame. He was so close to having them both shot, then and there, in cold blue blood. Without them, there was no one there. Bad times, good times. There was nothing. There was no one to help clean up. He had to. There was no one to play the little girl he once had. He couldn't play out his own illusions anymore.
But, when Kara revealed that she knew about his family. That it wasn't just his wife that left, but also his little girl.
Thinking about his own family, his real family, he couldn't do it. For that moment, hearing that from her, it seemed like she was really someone. Not something to serve him that he hired and that disobeyed him, but an actual being who knew his story. And. And he just couldn't. He didn't even head to Canada. A new country wasn't going to help. He realized he needed someone who understood him like that.
Now, his brother was helping him out, letting him live with him for now. In exchange, he got a basic job and was helping out with finances until he could save his money. It wasn't easy. He'd fallen off the path of being well more than a couple of times. Red Ice wasn't an easy thing to quit. It made the world feel like it was better, and it was so addictive.
Even now, he didn't know if he'd be able to stick it out. But he was trying. He was even trying to take the first step by getting some tires on his brother's truck for him.
He heard a knock on the door. He got off the couch and answered it.
He blinked once, realizing he had a gun touching square on his temple. On the other end was Kara, the android who ran away, with a look that said she wasn't just ready to pull the trigger, she was trying to keep herself back from doing it already.
She cocked the gun. "Where the hell is my daughter, Todd Williams."
