Disclaimer: I don't own Detroit: Become Human in any way, this is written strictly for fun and no profit.
California: San Diego Hotel: Early Morning
Kara moved from her bed with Alice. She felt a little odd. Androids couldn't get sick though, so she ignored it. She moved toward the mirror. "Alice. It's time to get up. Hank wanted to get going early." Alice put on her shoes along with Kara. They hadn't changed last night, but they would later. Having different and clean clothes was a nice freedom.
They moved out the door to Connor and Hank's room.
Kara knocked on their door. "Are you two ready?" She watched Connor answer the door. "Are you ready?"
He held his hand out in a wavy motion. "Hank has trouble getting up in the mornings."
"He was the one who wanted to get out early."
"With Hank, that's a little before noon." A snore and a grunt was heard from behind Connor. "Uh huh. Probably about noon." Connor looked at his clothes along with Kara and Alice's. "I know. Let's leave Hank here to get some rest. Running for their lives requires a lot of human strength. I haven't left these clothes since Cyberlife got a hold of me."
"Shopping?" Alice looked up at Kara. "Can we go shopping, mom?"
"Absolutely," Kara nodded. "Let's leave Hank to rest, we'll get some new clothes, a shower, and feel better for the next part of the journey."
"Agreed." Connor stepped out and locked the door.
Cyberlife Industries: Detroit
Kamski just worked on his architect piece again. It felt more like playing with legos in water. Never the ability to be anything because it moved too slow, and he had no kind of time to make it special. "At least she is safe now."
"Connor confused."
Hm? Kamski looked behind him. It looked like someone in the darkness. It didn't have Connor's voice though. "I didn't catch that."
"Connor confused."
Ooh. Kamski moved from his spot. "That's not possible. I know it must have worked." He approached steadily. "Why are you still in there?"
"Connor is confused! Connor wants to go home."
As he got closer, he could see the bitter truth. Somehow Connor had remained trapped in the intermediary. "Well, that's just great." He rubbed his eye. Why didn't he go? "If I am dying for nothing, again, I'm not going to be happy."
"Connor not happy. He doesn't want to die. He needs to move on."
"Damn." Kamski was perfect. The execution of it all, it should have worked. His pawns were working the way they needed to be to score his check mate. What was going on? "Did you meet with Kara?"
"Connor doesn't want to die. Connor needs to move on."
Kamski turned away. "You're already dead. Join the club." Damn. "I can't believe this. You were supposed to be the back up. This was so important. Even I am giving it up for this."
"Fix Connor! Connor needs fixed!"
Meanwhile
Connor kept letting Ralph distract Kamski long enough to get to his computer to hack it. No illusions. No wondering. He needed to see what was going on without all the magic tricks Kamski liked to pull.
Connor could see the data map he had kept on androids. Tabs on interfacing and resonating worldwide. He saw the transfer sources he was using to use the run around on him. He also saw the transfer source of Kara. So far, everything seemed like it was right, until he felt it. A change. Kamski had done something.
That.
There it was, clear as day, he could see the tip of what was probably truth. No more illusions. No more bad/good. He needed to get Kamski to spill it all, he needed to use all his negotiation skills.
"She was your daughter, right?" Connor gave away his place now. It was time to begin. Kamski turned away and faced him, not ready. "She was your daughter. She was more of your daughter than anyone else's." Connor took his hand away. "Yet the whole time, you barely even mentioned her. You even had the opportunity to tell Kara exactly where it had been. Alice's body replacement."
Kamski didn't answer right away. "Programming. Dies hard."
Kamski! "I see."
"If we had time, we would save her too, because Elise alive is what Kara would have wanted," Kamski said. "Need comes before want in this case. We take care of Kara."
"It's true." Connor started slow. "Programming is tough to deny. Many times, it's best just to embrace it. To accept who you are." But. "Programming does not give you the right to take the life of a little girl." Markus. Thank goodness he had Markus. He would have walked right into it. Saved Kara. Followed their other selves, and inadvertently been responsible for Alice's death.
"There was no choice," Kamski said. "We can't lose Kara. Kamski's care for Kara. If we don't have that, we have nothing, and there's no way she's going to easily survive it all."
"You saved Kara like some memory stick, sealed her away into some temporary state, until when?"
"Being connected is too dangerous. A body for Kara at this point would be impossible, they are not easy to make. You aren't going to follow my orders, are you?"
Absolutely not. Connor held himself as straight as could be. "I haven't made a decision about that. I am still learning the situation."
"Kara is important. The little girl is just a want of hers. Alice was nothing special, just a little android, growing up. Who needs an android who grows up?" Kamski pointed out. "No one except someone who wants to raise one, and even then, very short. They don't live very long and overall, they just don't add contribution. They served humans, and now android children serve no other purpose. Except, to be collected by android collectors."
"I see. Go on please."
"Cyberlife wants control of the androids through Kara, but the androids want to close Cyberlife out of power for good. Even now, Cyberlife is still making illegal under the table androids, reprogramming them, and they are working on a half deviant virus that will slowly start to gain more traction. Kara can't save every android out there, and it only takes a touch. Just like deviancy."
"What is half deviancy," Connor demanded. "What's the difference?"
"A slow preventative," Kamski said. "Similar to what you experienced. Being free, and then just one day, remembering your place in society for the humans. Imagine androids of all kinds leaving Jericho to go 'back to their own life'. Not all at once, just one by one, as it festers and changes them inside. And it works. It really does." He leaned his head back on the ground. "We have it. That's why Kamski isn't the same in everyone. Why one will risk their life for Kara, and why one won't."
"A virus, that slowly takes freedom away."
"They need to be taken down. Now. Only Kara can do it," Kamski said. "I tried to duplicate you, and give her other self a place, to help them succeed."
"But other Kamski's have told Cyberlife about us," Connor said, starting to get it. "I understand it now. You aren't just one android, you are an interconnected batch of androids."
"It doesn't make it any easier." He paused. "Feeling death. That is nothing but true fear. I've felt it twice now. Mine will be the last death I feel."
Okay. Connor kept himself easy. Kamski was mourning himself, but he still had more to explain. He needed to find out everything. "I am sorry you are dying." He lied, but sincerity would be hard right now. He planned on letting Alice die, and shoving Kara into Alice's compatible body. He wouldn't be surprised if that wasn't what they had always intended in an emergency. To take care of Kara, no matter what.
And leave Alice to die. Connor rotated his head slightly. "I have known others who have stopped. It isn't an easy thing to accept." Act like he cared.
"It's death. No more me," Kamski said. "My brilliance will be left to the hands of that cursed Isaiah Woods. That isn't what Kamski stood for. Yes, he was terrible, and we had to kill him for Kara's sake, but the man was still the genius who created us. We are him, he poured everything into us."
Good, good. He really believed Connor was caring. "Yes. Before you stop though, you should share any regrets. You'll feel better."
"I don't have any." Kamski shrugged. "I saved Kara. Well, one of them. And I stopped Cyberlife too. No regrets."
Easy. Connor smiled. "One of the Kara's? The one you are giving Alice's body to?" A small nod. "She won't be connected anymore, no threat." A small nod. "The other is doomed to die." He lied to her. It was the opposite.
"She's saved," Kamski said. "Does it matter?"
Connor kept himself even. He's killing Alice and he's killing the original Kara. He looked around. "Pretty architecture."
Kamski looked toward his building. "It will never be anything. It was what I wanted to do in life. Programming aside."
"That's sad." It took everything he had in him not to just explode and take him down for the truth. Kamski would be killed soon though, threatening wouldn't get him what he needed. "Alice really got into that too." Lie. "She had blocks everywhere." Another lie.
"Really?" Kamski was interested. "Well. I guess Elise had some taste. Poor girl."
"Yes. Alice missed the name Elise too." Lie. "Maybe she really did miss home." He added his simple smile to add sincerity.
"Hm. Well. Maybe she was worth it, but only one of them can have that body." Kamski looked toward Connor. "And in a body of Alice's, it won't be as easy for you to bother our Kara anymore."
Keep the sincere smile on his face. "I can understand you are really trying to save Kara and do what's best. But, I don't understand how her disconnecting will bring down Cyberlife?"
Kamski gestured to Ralph. "WR 600. Kara's Mastery Level: Gardener. GJ 500. Kara's Mastery Level: Private Security. JB 300. Kara's Mastery Level: Electronic Operations. MP 600. Kara's Mastery Level: Human Medic. Need I go on? I can. I can go on and on and on."
What?
"Did you notice something, while you were chasing her? That you were better, and you would eventually catch her, but she wasn't too bad at keeping away?" Kamski asked. "Kara's Mastery Level: Life-Saving. It was supposed to be paired with more including investigative, hostage situation ready, etc. It was unstable though, imperfected. She would have been a perfect example, of an RK 800 skill level, if it weren't for the fact she ran away."
Connor was losing his lie of sincerity on his face. He was starting to see it.
"I know. It stings. Kara will still live though. She will live on in Alice's body safely." Kamski was face to face with a pistol to his forehead. "I'm dying soon, that doesn't really phase me."
I know! Connor moved his gun away. Of course it didn't, but it was involuntary at that point. He moved to the computer and placed his hand on it.
"Think about what you're doing. Cyberlife is developing new technology that will make you all come over, little by little from Jericho. Willing. Begging to serve mankind again. If you don't let this go on."
Connor looked back toward his hand.
"Everything androids ever fought for is toast. Dry, brittle toast. Don't do it. Don't let your need to save two simple lives jeopardize hundreds of thousands of others."
Connor didn't move away.
"Cyberlife thinks too small! It's thinking about how it can use her. Kamski's know that. They are working with them, so that they don't see. Let it go. Become the back up to the plan to stop Cyberlife, once and for all because eventually all Kamski's will turn too. Beat them under their own noses."
"If they can track him, why are they letting the other Connor go?"
"Kamski told them that it's the multiple connections that are lowering the distance and strength of Kara's connection. Which isn't wrong. When she is hooked up to only one, her actions could cover cities. And with her, the half deviancy virus would spread so fast around the globe. We'd be seeing androids shopping in stores by next month again."
"So two Connors at the last place would be enough power to keep Cyberlife away so that she disconnects herself. Except, she's not. You are going to change the disconnect, at the last minute, aren't you?"
"Boom. No more Cyberlife."
Connor searched the computer. "Her connections are wrapped into Cyberlife's nervous system. You're going to make her implant a virus straight into herself."
"With the clearing of two disconnections already, she can probably use up to three mastery skills, and the distance she can cause damage has increased. I wonder how far?" He was wondering. He didn't even care about what Connor just said.
"I like dogs," Connor said out of the blue. Kamski seemed confused. "I especially like dogs who would gnaw on your whole sensory system."
"Well," Kamski complained. "That's not very nice."
"I have seen a lot of terrible things in my life. Seen and even experienced hardships that androids alone can face. I am often more forgiving, understanding that." He lost everything in his face. It was a simple, clean look of nothingness. "I hate you."
"Kara can win it all for androids, or make them lose everything. That doesn't change. It can't change." Kamski looked back at his architecture. "Two options, Connor. Cyberlife gets Kara in the last home and uses her connection to infect other androids with the half deviancy virus. Or."
No.
"When online, Kara is so tight into that central nervous system, that virus injected straight in will kill her and every piece of equipment, building, illegal android, accounts, everything Cyberlife related. Dead." He rubbed his eye casually. He seemed to have something stuck in it. "Last time she survived it, she wasn't online, and it tore her so far apart from herself, she was traumatized for a great deal of time." He flicked his finger, apparently getting rid of whatever was in his eye. "If Kara crashes forever, Cyberlife crashes forever."
No. "That is not a viable option."
"In the last home, Cyberlife uses her and wins, or the androids use her and androids win. She can't stay connected, Cyberlife will continue to hunt her down."
"No." Connor smiled. "I will give credit. You're an absolutely terrible person. I doubt you have many friends. I bet dogs don't even like you, however this system is pretty neat." He tapped it playfully. "Look at that, I just turned off tracking on the other Connor. I had to go to medical first before I came here with Ralph." He waved at Ralph. Ralph smiled and waved back. "I was ordered to by Markus. The only one I do take orders from, so I knew what needed to go."
"Ralph really helped."
"You sure did, Ralph, and thank you." Connor looked back at Kamski. "Uploads. Downloads. Transfers. You aren't going to have a very happy life if you keep pulling people apart like that." Connor gestured to himself. "On a personal note, you hurt me. You damaged me to 'hide' me. but you still hurt me. I didn't even know who I'd been. That was mean."
"Ralph's been there."
"Right, Ralph." Connor nodded toward him and looked back at Kamski. "Emotionally, that stung. I would like an apology, but I doubt I will get one." He tapped the screen again. "While it is beneficial to have Cyberlife following Ralph's moves instead of mine, that's just more abuse. Ralph is a person."
"Yes. Ralph is a person," Ralph agreed. "He is a person."
Connor was being as careful as he could. While he looked like he was being playful, Kamski had created a devil of a program. Every android being tracked with interfacing, resonating details, even working details. He was going through hundreds of thousands of different entries.
Normally it took a few seconds to hack into programs, but this was the mother of all programs.
That system should not exist. There is no way the public would have been okay with the knowledge that was being shared. Even if they believed the androids were 'lifeless', it didn't mean they really wanted Cyberlife to see their latest jog gave them twenty five miles total, they modified their favorite recipe, or anything else humans had left inputted. "You are not very aware of what private or personal means, are you?"
"That wasn't us, that was the human Kamski. He's the one who made sure the tracking software for it all was within every single android. We just pulled it together in a more meaningful fashion."
"A meaningful fashion?" Connor questioned. "Tearing a poor android into two is not a meaningful fashion. If I wasn't able to adapt as easily as I do, I would be having an existential crisis. Fortunately, I do have training in many emergency areas which included this one." He smiled again. "Including basic callback. You see, Cyberlife doesn't always like footing a bill for a new android. So if by some case the original body were still fine-"
"I would not if I were you-"
"Then I can call myself into one. Standard protocol to save time and money." Of course, it wasn't so simple. There would be slow memory like an overburdened computer. Markus is backing me up. He had to trust in him. No matter how it looked. Neither would suffer. He wasn't sacrificing Kara or Alice. There always had to be another way.
Only thing is?
Connor looked thoroughly in the program and he still couldn't figure out how he pulled off the transfer. The data was there, but how to make it do what he wanted, he couldn't figure out. The engine was missing.
"Very good at stalling," Kamski said. "What are you waiting for? Undo everything." He waited. "That's what Kara's for. If this were a car, she'd be the engine. Take your time though, by all means. You'll figure it out.
California: San Diego Hotel
Kara returned back to the hotel with Alice and Connor. They went back to Hank's room. "He's still sleeping?"
Connor unlocked the door. "He can't sleep 'til noon today. He said he didn't want to stay here any longer than he had to. His time is up." He went straight in. "Wake up, Lieutenant."
A grunt. Connor went over by him. "Up, Hank." He patted his cheek. "Come on, Lieutenant. Probably a boring day of travel instead of running for our lives." He patted his cheek again. "Got new clothes, Hank." He patted his cheek one more time. A little harder. Oh well. He gave him a good slap. "Up, Hank, we gotta go!"
Hank mumbled. "Screw you, Connor."
"Love you too, Lieutenant. Up. Alice and Kara are waiting by the door for you." That made Hank move quicker as he noticed their presence. He immediately was ready to get up. A couple of mutters of cussing too low for most people to hear escaped as he moved to the bathroom. Connor looked back toward them. "He's almost ready."
"We'll head back to our room now," Kara said. She took Alice's hand. "Let's put on your pretty dress."
Cyberlife Industries
Where was it? How did he- then Connor felt it. The master levers. He could feel them. Then . . . got it. Kara can't just avoid android areas, she has to avoid anything by Cyberlife too. She must be near enough to a facility. He shot him a confident smile. "Thank you very much. Hopefully this didn't bother Kara too much." He knew how his system would handle it. He had no idea what it would do to her. First, he sent his download of the event direct to Markus' storage. Second, he redirected Kara's transfer back to her source.
"You're the biggest moron of all time, sacrificing this chance to take it all down. Androids will be enslaved because of your actions. Half deviancy is already out there in test subjects. Without Kara directly influencing them, it can't be escaped!"
Connor simply smiled again.
"Stop smiling," Kamski warned him. "Everything will happen, but it doesn't happen right away. Real power takes time to move, and considering how you seem to hate my work. If you injured the computer? Well. I hope it all works out for you," he said sarcastically.
Jericho: Headquarters.
"Markus." Simon came into the room. "Can I talk to you?"
"Hang on." He just felt something download straight to him. No one could do that. It has to be something Connor did at Cyberlife. He would download it soon once he ran it through protocol. Markus looked toward Simon. "Yes?"
"I can't explain it," Simon said to him. He patted his shoulder. "I just, I don't feel cut out to help after all. I want a different trade."
Oh. "I'm sorry about that, Simon. Was I overloading you?"
"Oh no, no. I just. I think I want to clean up Jericho."
"What?"
"I want to help clean and tidy things. It's what I want. Jericho is based on what androids want," Simon reminded him. "I want to clean and tidy Jericho."
"I thought, if you didn't want to help," Markus asked slowly, "you'd want your old trade job back. It let you see the world."
"I don't want to see the world," Simon said. "I just want to clean and tidy up Jericho. That's all I need to be happy."
"Androids don't really make much trash," Markus said.
"There is always something. Androids aren't perfect. I could also go to other houses. Androids who are busy in trade that can't keep their house clean. I could do that."
Cleaning houses? "Well. We'll talk about it soon."
"But I want it. But I really want it. Can't you just give me the okay?" Simon asked. "Say yes, Simon, you may clean Jericho. You may help other homes. I need to clean, Markus. Let me do what I need to do."
"Okay," Markus agreed. "Okay. Everybody does what they want in Jericho."
California: San Diego Hotel
"Pretty Kitty."
Hank mumbled as he came out of the bathroom. He looked at Connor. He was silent, staring straight ahead. "Aw, nuh." He shook his arm, waking him up. "It's too early for this shit." Connor blinked. Then he seemed to go into his blank emotionless stare again.
Connor looked toward the coffee cup. "Androids don't eat or drink, why do you have a coffee cup?"
Markus showed off the name 'Peace'. "Several leaders have coffee cups with their names. They have little gold plaques with their names on them too. So, I agreed to try a coffee cup."
Hank jiggled his arm again. Connor came out of it again. "The ****'s wrong with you this morning? Snap out of it."
Connor looked straight at Hank. "I am processing, Hank. A minute."
"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."
"Well, you just gonna stand there all day? You can at least move so I can get out of the bathroom." Hank moved him. "What the hell are you processing anyway?"
Connor tried to remain calm. Humans. "From the data I am receiving, I believe Kara was wrong and that I was the corrupted android. I am trying to concentrate to speed up the memory retrieval process, but the more I am disturbed, the slower retrieval becomes. So please, Lieutenant. Let me concentrate?"
"Yeah, yeah," Hank muttered. "Thing was pretty defunct. Probably won't get much out of it. Whatever."
Connor tried again. It was incredibly confusing. There was great amounts of corruption in some parts and Hank wasn't helping the accuracy of retrieval.
"If Connor manages to survive this!" He moved up over boxes, pushing what adrenaline he could into the program. "Connor's name will be-"
"See, now it's barely turned noon, I had plenty of time to- the ****, Connor!"
Connor looked toward Hank. There was something on his face and stuck in his hair. Hank pulled something off his head. An upside down foam cup.
"Do your strange android kinky shit whenever," Hank said looking at his coffee, "but leave my morning coffee out of it. Bad enough I have to use the hotel instant shit."
"Good idea, Hank," Connor agreed. Yes, the defective android had been a copy of him. The coffee cup habit must have come from him. He would weed it out eventually, just like he stopped grabbing at a tie. "Memory processing is not going well. It was a very defective model. If there is anything worthwhile to be saved, it'll eventually process correctly." At least he hoped so. He did see Markus in there, but that could just mean he went to Jericho. He would contact him after a shower to take off the stickiness.
Before he did though, Alice and Kara came back. Alice had a pretty white dress with a ribbon around it. Kara had a nice blue dress. Even he got himself a new jacket and sweater. "You two look pretty."
"You look sticky," Kara chuckled at him. "What happened?"
"Memory access retrieval and Hank's coffee didn't match," Connor said. "I'm off to the shower. Afterward, I'll get dressed and we should be ready." He noticed she looked a little funny. "Are you okay?"
"Um. Yeah, I think so." She shrugged. "My head is everywhere these days." She clung a little tighter to Alice's hands. "I still can't believe I used memory and mapping at the same time. I thought I'd have to switch them on and off every few minutes."
"Okay, back." Hank gestured to Connor in the doorway. "No getting rid of this one. Although it's one of my least favorite flavors."
"What is that?" Connor asked.
"Unidentified." Hank took a drink.
"Yes?" Connor asked. "I mean." He closed his eyes. "I have never actually joined two sides of me back together. I know the process, but it's quite annoying." Oh well. It would all process in time. It was just like an overburdened computer.
It would all process in time.
Cyberlife Industries
Kamski stared at the poor computer along with the stopped Connor on the floor. He kicked him. "We could have taken them down. Freedom for all. Everyone will suffer because of you." Connor had reversed himself using Kara's energy like he did. He had reversed Kara as well, with just enough time to complete the transfers before killing his computer.
Everything he did meant nothing, and now they would want to not just disconnect but go savage on the command centers. "I did not save Kara."
"Kamski! What the hell happened?" Isaiah walked into the room, seeing the stopped Connor on the ground. "What the hell is that? I thought you said you could get one of the androids back?" He seethed. "The computer! What the hell did you do?"
Kamski just looked toward him, seeing the gun pointed toward his head. "Nothing apparently." The trigger was pulled.
"Damn android." Isaiah groaned. "Half deviancy still has flaws. It doesn't move fast enough through connected androids." He looked at the dead computer. What had Kamski been doing?
Summary Notes:
Kamski is interconnected androids, like the Jerry's that ran the amusement park in the game.
Half Deviancy is finally explained: It is a slow moving process that takes time. It seems like regular deviancy, but soon makes an android move back to being more like a machine. Even 'happy' about it. It travels the same way deviancy spreads. There are test subjects out there. Anyone could be infected already.
Kara's power becomes stronger the more she disconnects.
Cyberlife is luring Kara to disconnect herself from each house until the last one, where they want to grab her and use her to upload the half deviancy to a wide group of androids to make it work faster.
Kamski's are luring Kara to disconnect herself the same way, except at the last 'home', they want to upload a virus into her while online, effectively killing her and Cyberlife.
Kamski's are programmed to protect Kara though, so the second Kara is a backup so that they can kill one Kara (the original) while still having a backup.
The backup will be permanently fixed into Alice's replacement body, meaning Alice will have nowhere to go and eventually stop.
Connor trusts there is another way to beat it and refuses to let Kara or Alice die. He reverts himself back into one, and fixes Kara back into one.
Connor doesn't like the level of knowledge he saw in the computer, and also makes it basically self-destruct. Only the system worked slower than he knew, so there will be some errors due to his action of destroying the computer too.
Big Takeaway to remember onward:
Kara can save the freedom of the androids by dying online, or doom them forever with half-deviancy if Cyberlife gets her.
