Disclaimer: I don't own Detroit: Become Human in any way, this is written strictly for fun and no profit.
"He failed."
Kamski was working on his architecture hobby piece. He watched Isaiah Woods knock it down. "That's not very nice."
"He failed! The RK 900 is gone." Isaiah sat in front of him. "It wasn't supposed to be this way. He was supposed to bring her in."
"I told you not to work on him," Kamski said. "You didn't heed my warning. Your perfect machine is very susceptible to my work. Many things are." His eyes lingered on a piece. "Many things were and now are not. You lost him. You wanted his obedience to stay after the work was done. Now, you have nothing." He started to fix up his pieces again. "You have nothing and you are nothing." Isaiah knocked his piece down again. "Such progress of two pieces. You cur." He picked up the pieces again.
"Fine, we'll do it your way. How do we fix it?" Woods asked. "Come on. Please. Elijah. Do we send out another one?"
"You lost your ability to call me that a long time ago," he warned Woods. "I'm only Kamski. Only an android. You saying that, it's as welcome as Connor being called father to my child. Not very welcoming." He started to rebuild again. "Try and try again. That builds success."
"So we make another one?"
Kamski rolled his eyes and tucked his chin back. "I've already helped enough, haven't I?"
"What do you mean?" Woods asked. "What did you do? I didn't give you permission to do anything."
"Then by all means, shoot me in the head," Kamski droned. "A backup contingency."
Kamski walked along with Woods. There were several RK 900 androids. All inactive. He kept walking and turned. "This one."
Woods looked at it. "What about it?"
"It's Connor. The original of the Connor series, in queue. If Connor dies, it's the only one he gets. Or, we could just input the security code," Kamski said. "We can't duplicate it, it's just in active state, ready to accept him like it always had been in the past."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Woods asked. "We have no androids left. Use it."
"Please." Kamski scoffed. "To find the security numbers I need, it'll take all night."
"You're an android. You don't sleep." Woods waved at him. "Do it. Have it ready first thing in the morning."
"Do it," Kamski mocked as he left. "Have it ready first thing in the morning. Of course I'll have it ready first thing in the morning." He pulled up the security numbers. "But not for you." Finally. Woods was desperate enough for Kamski to work his own magic. "Don't worry, Kara, I'll keep you safe. Even if it's a piece at a time."
Hopefully, she and Connor were recharging so they didn't feel what was happening. They needed to continue on their merry way into Cyberlife's hands. All the Kamski's had told Cyberlife all their locations by now. If she had just come alone, Kamski could have worked faster for her. But no doubt she brought those meddlers along too. They would never understand.
Well, they wouldn't, but now they would. He moved back behind Cyberlife's computer. He had hacked into his own main command center computer from there, taking down his own firewalls to get at it. He needed it. Cyberlife didn't have what he had.
A full sensing data map of every android in the world, including details of interfacing and resonating too. It could feel and target them all out It was so overboard, Cyberlife wouldn't create it nor have need of it. They had certain alerts on certain androids over a small area, but it was nothing compared to the scale he had. Kamski found some of the most arbitrary needs in life were sometimes the most important. "Every android they know is in Jericho. If I could find just one." But who wouldn't have gone to Jericho? His plan for the night may already be at a halt. Kara was not a big deal, they could not keep an alert on her, but Connor? Red signals everywhere. "It will be back to the drawing board if I can't-" Ah. A signal. "Condition: moderate, not very good. A middle ground. Ooh. Very, very sorry. You really weren't living it to the maximum anyhow. A short time, I assure you."
Next he needed to fix Unidentified. The mass of gook they made that poor Connor masterpiece of his. He didn't even need to take away his coin and his habits to make him seem different, Cyberlife messed him up plenty enough. Even his own Kara couldn't see through all the carnage. A lost cause that even the androids wouldn't want to keep soon.
Mediators in place for Connor. Next. "Kara." She would be tougher. It was a long way from there to Paris, but she would need to be able to meet up with him. Someone besides Connor she interfaced with. Not the leaders. No one important. Someone simple. Ah, there we go. She didn't live very far from that. They could meet. They would want to, before it happened.
"Life just wants to survive." He looked at his work on the computer. A simple download memo each, letting them know what happened and what to do. If it was wordy, they could deal with it. Now. Finished.
It was finished. Life just wants to survive, but some things would never be broken. "Sometimes. You just . . . can't deny your programming."
He waited. Overnight. Most likely, these would be his last hours.
Jericho: Kara's Residence.
Craig sat on the bed. He stroked it. "Kara. Or." The little girl's name. He had a little girl now. He smiled. What was her name? He moved from the bed and went to the other rooms. Looking. It was all he could do until they came back. If I could just take out Cyberlife, make her safe, then she'll come to me. He needed her. Even though he had something odd with North. Resonating lover to her, it was odd. But. It was nothing compared to Kara. Kara, Kara, Kara.
/Hi Dad/
Dad. Oh, the little girl. His little girl. What was her name?
/"Wonderland," Kara said. "Alice and Kara Wonderland." She saw his tongue probe the inside of his own mouth. "Don't look at me like that, I know. They don't have to be exactly like common human names. I knew it would make her happy. And Jericho? It's all a new world. It fit."/
That was right. Alice in Wonderland. Freedom was a Wonderland. He looked at the side of the couch at a cute puzzle he hadn't noticed before. "Pretty kitty".
Outside of Jericho: Abandoned Residence
"Pretty Kitty." His voice sounded different. That was weird. He didn't mimic anything. He looked at himself. He was cloaked in old clothes in terrible condition. "Connor doesn't like this." Uh? "Connor said Connor's name, whoah." No, his name was Craig. He wasn't a Connor. "No, I'm not a Craig now, I'm a Connor. What. What." He started to stagger around.
He looked at his hand. He was carrying a knife. "Connor doesn't understand, no, he doesn't understand." He started to head out from his dark abode and looked out. "Connor's not in Jericho." Why wasn't he in Jericho? Why was programming saying his first name? No, Connor's first name. He twitched his head. "Connor doesn't understand. Connor doesn't understand!" He found himself getting so angry, he didn't know what to do with it! "Connor doesn't understand!"
He destroyed an old table before moving away. Then, he saw something different. He should have picked it up right away, it should have happened automatically. There was a download stuck in his head. Manual downloading it? Connor needed to run a diagnostic on himself. "Emotional instability. Anger. Connor can see that." What else? "Introduction damaged. Naming requirements damaged." Oh, that's why he kept repeating his name. This android was particularly damaged, physically and emotionally. "But, wait? Why Connor here? This isn't compatible to Connor's software." Craig. No, Connor. No. "Download. Connor needs to get to download."
He walked back and forth. Too damaged to download. He needed a trigger. He looked at the wall and banged his head on it.
It triggered the download. It was from Kamski.
Don't be alarmed, Connor. The intermediary was necessary to elude Cyberlife long enough for you to get away as well as to filter some transferred memories and a few more repaired memories and correcting some excessive resonating damage your software imbalance caused. You won't be in there very long, just enough to get back to Jericho. Kara will also be in the same predicament. Now Connor, I had Cyberlife mess you up terribly. I had to make so many believe that the next in the line wasn't a Connor. No easy task, you've built enough in your uploads residual, even setting you back to reset, you are often recognizable. Still, it couldn't be helped. I had to throw my Kara off after all, and that takes more than a mere flick of the wrist. Resonating damage had to be caused. I had to make sure you never balanced.
Error: Corrupted.
"Connor put in here by Kamski. Oof. Connor not happy, no, Connor not happy!" He looked at the wall again. This android was sizeably damaged. Hopefully another hit in the head would help.
The error corrected itself.
You were the next in line of Connors. As such, I had a very insignificant part of you, some resonating data and repaired corrupted memories, pre-downloaded to be able to awake when the almost full Connor became deviant again. Unidentified was you, but now you know, you were identified. You were Connor. Kara would be downloaded to North Peace since their resonating was the highest, but her being a leader is too risky. So I have chosen a deviant named Rachel in Jericho. I've no idea who she is, but she has at least interfaced with her several times. The only connection I had, so I wish you well in finding her. I am splitting Kara more evenly than I could you. She doesn't need to remember everything. Jericho tends to be where she is happy, so leaving her most of that should be fine. The others, we'll chalk up to 'memory disruption'.
"Connor wish you would make this more succinct. This is annoying and unnecessarily long. Connor is in an incompatible android for a short time to hide tracks from Cyberlife. How long does that take to explain? This is truly a Kamski." Connor went outside. He knew he at least needed to start heading to Jericho. He didn't have time to waste, especially if the same thing was happening to Kara. She wasn't used to switching bodies.
In fact, it had never even happened to her. There was no way she should be compatible for that kind of thing, Connor and Alice were the only ones who did it. She wasn't going to take it as well. If she stressed out, ran some kind of emergency program, or even believed she was human and went into life-saving mode? Jericho would be in trouble. I'm coming, Kara, hang on! He started to run across the streets while his download continued.
For Kara's safety. There shall be other Kamski's, but we are all programmed slightly differently, and we are wearing thin. You killed one of us yesterday and one of us blew up. Not every Kamski will be perfect but if you must trust one or die, you should trust one. In the end, most of us have Kara's safety on our mind. It's build into our most basic programming.
We were programmed especially for Kamski's specialest deviant. For her wants, needs and desires. There is no human Kamski anymore, Connor, we took him out years before there was even an android rebellion. He programmed us to give her what she needed, but he forgot to exclude himself from that declaration.
So, she and Alice became ours. They became our purpose. Specifically, family. Our homes were her homes. Our homes are no longer safe for her, but she must risk getting disconnected. If too many connections are in place and pulled out incorrectly, she may crash forever. If things get too dire though, it will be an option we must take.
Now, I leave her to you. I leave my sweet daughter to you. I don't want to, she was mine more specifically than any other Kamski's. But. Her daughter Alice chose you to call Dad.
Connor kept moving. Getting closer.
And you and Kara chose each other. Although Cyberlife compromised your resonating features, wanting you to choose to be with her in imprisonment forever, you still chose her over your own freedom. Am I making it clearer yet? Resonating can't often be sensed unless the balance is equal. Kara could not equal you, I made that impossible.
/Rose did as she was told, glancing toward Kara, and returning him the coffee cup. He placed it on his head and looked at Kara. "How strange." The RK 900 asked her. "I feel like I know you."/
Deviants are more than just plastic, and your feelings were so great, even with the block I created between you two, it kept pushing to be noticed. It kept pushing to resonate with her, even though it couldn't, adding more damage. I can see the damage of your intermediary, but it was nothing compared to the damage you caused yourself to break the block.
Connor kind of slipped a moment in his running. The wordy Kamski was saying something. He had taken the information gathered and summarized it in his head so far in a brief, better manner. But what he was saying now?
He was there with a gun, shooting Kamski, ready to give it all up. His whole thought processes, almost nothing was outside of Kara. It was freedom and then obsessed by Kara. He stopped. Looking at her with the coffee cup on his head. Stealing a kiss from her and then running away. That was him. The trigger from best friend to lover, happening at almost the exact same time as the other Connor. Finally breaking through the blocked resonating Kamski had put on.
He wasn't just her friend, her close friend, or her best friend. He was her lover. "Kara. Connor wanted Kara?" He wanted her to resonate so much, he was damaging himself to get past the block. Even barely being Connor. Not even seeing himself as Connor. "Connor loves Kara."
He ran faster. Thinking. His thought processes were much clearer now that the resonating damage was lifted.
/"Resonating." That was it. Connor was getting an idea. "She refused to resonate with anyone except North."/
/Markus nodded back toward her, but stared at Unidentified. "Don't come near her. She's resonated with me since androids gained rights." He stepped toward Unidentified. "Jericho has certain rules you have to follow, but here's a new one. For you. Don't come near North. Don't talk to her. I don't want to see you within fifty feet of her, or you're out of Jericho. You'll be transferred somewhere else."/
"Connor's resonating so bad at the end, Connor resonated to the one Kara resonated with the most?" North was her best girlfriend. Whoah. "Connor was very broken. Connor was going to cause much more damage."
/He looked out toward the human. He could just kill him. Get rid of him so he didn't interfere in his plans. Cyberlife wouldn't mind, they had tried to keep the previous android from him in the first place. But. It just wasn't right to end life merely for convenience. /
"Connor had safety guards removed. Hank should have been eliminated without safety guards. Hank was no one important to Connor. Connor still felt for Hank." Hank. Connor stopped a moment, noticing a piece of change near a gutter. "Connor's coin." Changing his habits. Even the tech assumed he wasn't the same. "The coin makes Connor, Connor."
/"I like Connor," Connor said. "I've thought about it, and I think I'll just be Connor Connor. As long as no other Connor chooses Connor Connor, I should be fine."/
Conner smiled. His joke to Alice. "Connor's last name problem." He turned a corner even faster. "If Connor manages to survive this!" He moved up over boxes, pushing what adrenaline he could into the program. "Connor's name will be Connor Wonderland." Just a little further. I'm coming. Just hang on.
Jericho: Rachel's Residence
Kara turned in her bed. Hotel beds were never comfortable. They weren't home. Four more home to check too, and such a disaster for the first. What if Cyberlife was waiting at the others? Even with Hank and Connor's expertise, how would they sneak into that kind of mess? Not only that, the RK 900 she didn't know kept trying to interface and probe her.
Then, when she went to Connor. Right before she shut off resonating. It was just an error. That room was causing some kind of errors in all three of us. Still. Status turned lover. She was lover to the other RK 900 too. The resonating between all three of them. Pulling her from one to the other. Well, they got out safely. It was fine. Connor hadn't said another word about it. They moved out of the way, got some food for Hank, and then rented another hotel.
But, the bed felt smaller though. She had a double bed to curl up with Alice. It didn't feel like a double bed. In fact? She pawed around beside her. It was single? She opened her eyes.
"Kara, it's okay."
What? Kara knew that. Impossible. She sat up in the bed. It was single. She saw a lamp and turned it on. Ralph was in a corner? Ralph?! "Ralph?" She said hesitantly. He was not someone to get worked up, and he was somehow in her hotel room. She looked around the room. It wasn't the hotel room?
"Calm down, Kara. Here to help," Ralph insisted. "No stress."
Kara's eyes darted around the room. Alice was gone. This wasn't a hotel, this was- she looked out the window not very far away. "Jericho?" No, no, she couldn't be in Jericho!
"Kara, it's okay," Ralph said again, still trying to keep his voice level. He held his hands out and stepped toward her lightly. It was familiar. "Connor knows how you feel right now. Connor woke up strange too. Important though. Download in head?"
Download in head? Kara felt something wanting to be downloaded, but to trust it? "Ralph. What are you doing here?"
"Kara confused." Ralph held up a coin and started to flip it. He smiled as he moved the coin from one hand to the other, in only the way Connor ever did. "Connor. Connor's Connor."
That didn't look like Connor, but the way he was trying to calm her down. The way he played with his coin in only the way Connor did. Kara started to move off the bed, but she felt different. Taller. She looked at her clothes and hands. She looked toward the bedroom mirror. "Rachel?" She. Was. Rachel. She was the android she interfaced to learn how to make wedding cakes? "That's impossible. That's."
"Kara. Your download," Ralph insisted. "Please? Kara will feel better. Trust Connor."
Kara closed her eyes and downloaded it. She opened her eyes again. "Kamski is using this an intermediary." She looked toward her hands. "I'm two people right now?"
"Androids, we aren't pieces of plastic. We're memories. You're partly separated from your other self." Connor was trying.
"At the end, I'll be back together. I'm memory parts?" Kara looked toward the mirror.
"Connor needs to know more," he said. "Connor knows Kara will leave. Connor doesn't know where. Connor doesn't know what Connor and Kara as back ups need to do."
Kara looked toward him. "Ralph was hurt by people. His damages must be hard to get used to."
"Connor was more damaged by resonating," he said. "Kara's download?"
"We're supposed to clear the way. Kamski recommends not telling them, feeling for us and our safety would enter into the equations. It would make things tougher," Kara said. "I'm not connected though, parts of me were just . . . transferred. Kamski hacked into one of his own command centers. An android, an AX 400, was stolen in the Live Prey game. Early edition stress level problems made them rare survivors. They became collector's items. Not many left. One of the homes are in its city, so he picked it." She looked toward Connor. "It's a longer temporary, but I wasn't made for permanent compatibility."
"Connor thinks that makes sense," he said. "Compatibility for something besides an RK seems impossible. But, how did Kamski do that?"
"Kamski was brilliant. Androids with their AI are even more brilliant," she said. "They used to look out for me. I think. They were always prepared." No, no time. "We need to get to the homes before our other side," Kara said, having trouble accepting she was split in two. "Lead Cyberlife away. Right before I am fully disconnected, before the last connection, then I'll be processed automatically back to one. If your other self is killed, you will be fully downloaded to yourself. If my other self is killed. That transfer breaks, and I am dead."
He approached closer. "Kara. It's okay."
"I'm not even alive. I mean, I'm not myself. I'm transferred data." Kara couldn't wrap her mind around it. "I'm not Kara."
"You are Kara. I am Connor." He flipped his coin again. "Parts or whole. Transfers. Downloads. Kara and Connor is Kara and Connor. Fully integrated again later, remembering this too." He smiled. "Kara is Kara."
"I won't be able to be with Alice," Kara said. "I'm going to be transferred here soon to Paris, and I don't know where at."
"Connor will find Kara. I promise." He groaned. "Connor very tired of programming impairments." He looked back toward her. "Connor not as bad though, when Connor confused about Kara. Couldn't balance. Resonated so hard, Connor damage Connor."
"Oh?" That's right. "Wait. You were the other one." That's right, the downloads mentioned that. They were quite wordy. Just like Kamski. "Unidentified."
"Connor got confused. Connor thought he was Craig. Connor tried to find Connor." He smiled at her. "Connor found more than Connor." He came nearer to her, taking her hand. She observed his action. "Kamski couldn't even block Connor from eventually getting to you." He looked deep into her eyes. He was trying to form words. "Connor can't fix programming. Wish Connor could." He winced. "Connor love you."
Kara looked at him. Not at Ralph, but at the piece of Connor that was looking right back at her. Connor's own personality would have used many unnecessary words, probably comparisons, and maybe percentages to describe how he felt. Trapped with Ralph's abilities, it had to be succinct and simple. Which was perfect enough. Her best friend being so much more. It wasn't something she was looking for. She was feeling for. Not after everything she'd been through. With the resonating tests. With Luther.
But, that new level they had reached. No more than a few seconds, but that connection. Her lips met his.
His arms wrapped around her tight. Connor was right, it didn't matter what arms, legs, or anything else they had. All they really were was just extensions. Their sense of self. Their memories. Their feelings. That was all that mattered. Knowing they both didn't have long, they pulled closer together. The borrowed bodies wouldn't be there for long. She curled up her fingers into his cape, wanting to hold on.
North tried explaining what she felt when she resonated as lovers to Markus before. In normal circumstances as a human, it would take them forever to have made that leap due to their personality conflictions. Although Connor and her had been slower, she now understood that feeling. A connection, forever attached, and never wanting to turn away again.
When she held Alice, she felt connected. Important. Like she needed to make sure her little girl would be safe no matter what.
When Connor held her, it was so different. He made her feel like she was safe, no matter what.
She cuddled Alice, while Connor cuddled her. That's all she wanted in her life now. The three of them. When they finally broke the kiss, she tucked her head beneath his a moment before resting on his shoulder. "Please find me in Paris, Connor." She didn't want to go. Oh, she didn't want to leave so bad. Not now.
"Connor completes all missions," he said softly, "and Kara is his most important of all." He gave her one last kiss.
Jericho: Kara's Residence
Connor opened his eyes. "Kara." Paris. Other selves. No Hank to help. No account money. "A solution will be needed for me to rescue her." He looked at his hands, remembering who he just had in his arms. "This is most assuredly unfair. Kara is my lover. We should be sharing interactions requiring more hugging and kissing. Then." If he were human, he probably would have blushed. "I need to find Kara to complete our interacting." No, wait. "What am I thinking? I need to find her so that she is safe. She is missing in Paris somewhere. Get it together, Connor."
Well, it wasn't exactly his fault. The RK 800 and 900 were meant to track down deviants, assist police, survey crime scenes, and things of that nature. Romance wasn't part of his programming. He moved to the couch next to the kitty puzzle where a small end desk had been. He opened it and grabbed a coin. He started to toss it in the air. He felt almost back to normal. "I was created for adaption. I can handle this." He moved away from the house, looking around before he left. He needed to meet with Markus.
He needed to find out more about the Live Prey game, overseas. Although, he felt a little bad while walking down to headquarters as he heard some commotion.
"Ralph doesn't even know where Ralph's at! Stop chasing Ralph! Ralph doesn't know why Ralph was kissing woman!"
He and Kara had no choice but to leave, yet it left the damaged android and Kara's used to be guide Rachel in a difficult situation. He would have to remember to have a word about that android to Markus before any serious action was taken. After medical, and some added precautions, he could be another resident of Jericho.
France: Paris
Kara opened her eyes. "Diagnostic." Normal. Moderate. She was now a true AX 400. Her deviancy hadn't been taken away, Kamski didn't reset her. Thank you, Kamski. I was hoping there was one of you I could trust. Her mastery skills were now gone, she specialized in general cleaning and general children duties. But, she doubted she would be using them.
She was trapped behind glass, with humans watching her.
Summary Notes:
Elijah was desperate enough to finally use Kamski's help. (Elijah trusted him because he should be infected with the half deviancy virus.)
The viewer finally gets to see what Kara's power is capable of with Kamski's knowledge. (Kamski works without the consent of Connor or Kara.)
Connor's Side: We find out Craig was actually a Connor, but Kamski damaged him so he wouldn't be recognized. Kamski had split him in two, in the end, to be a backup to the original Connor (The one out in California now.) Before he fixed him though, he used an intermediary (Ralph) and took over their body. Cyberlife would be tracking Ralph instead of Connor.
Kara's Side: She woke up as Rachel, her wedding cake maker guide due to Kamski too. He transferred a duplicate of her over for a short time before sending her to Paris.
Basically there are two Kara's and two Connor's.
Kara is not stable and not meant to be moved from body to body like Connor. She is doomed unless she joins back together.
