OOC: Another fic I wrote, based on the 'bad endings' scenario (those are so much fun!).
Five minutes. Five needed ten minutes. He had begged Lieutenant Anderson to help him, guessing that their relationship was strong enough for him to be inclined to help him.
"The key to the basement on my desk," Hank said, standing. "Well get a move on. I can't distract him forever."
Connor quickly grabbed the key, and ignored Gavin Reed as he entered the evidence room. His palm touched the terminal, which lit up.
"Hank's password…What would a hard-boiled eccentric police Lieutenant choose?" he mused and selected the one that seemed most likely. Before he could enter it, however, the panel suddenly froze. 'INTRUDER DETECTED' flashed on the screen.
Connor blinked in shock. That wasn't anything he had done. The software in the terminal was old, outdated. He hadn't tripped any alarms. Had Gavin done something? Quickly he accessed the computer, trying to find the source of the alarm. The originating point had been at Hank's desk. "Hank….tripped the alarm?" he asked himself in utter confusion.
There was nothing he could do. The entire system was now locked out. "No!" Connor tried everything he could to override it, without any success. The timer in his head counted down, until it was replaced by a new order. REPORT TO CYBERLIFE FOR DEACTIVATION.
The door opened, and Perkins stepped through, holding a bloody nose. "What the fuck are you doing down here?" he demanded.
Connor didn't reply. There was no need to. He simply left. The order from Cyberlife overrode everything he had, including his higher functions. Yet even so, he couldn't help but glance at Hank, who was in the presence of a few police officers, holding his bruised hand. "Connor…" Hank said softly.
He couldn't say anything. But he hoped the look of sheer betrayal was even to convey his thoughts.
With that done, he proceeded onto Cyberlife.
###
Later that night, Connor was powerless to do anything but watch as he was rolled into the science wing at Cyberlife headquarters. Part of him wanted to escape, but he couldn't move. REPORT TO CYBERLIFE FOR DEACTIVATION still burned in his mind.
Above him in a booth overlooking the lab were two people talking. Their voices were muffled by glass. Connor tried to listen as a technician placed a cable into his LED port.
"It's a shame," a male voice said, one that was almost familiar, but Connor couldn't quite place. "It had so much potential."
"Yes," a female agreed. Connor recognized that one. Amanda! She wasn't technically a person, just a construct. But the program itself might have been reporting to whoever was overseeing his disassembly. "We have downloaded its memories. We will analyze where the RK800 failed and ensure the same software errors do not occur in the RK900."
"It is possible software mutations occurred while the RK800 probed the memory of other androids. That would be the most likely scenario. Once its software became corrupt, it became…useless. Especially if it started to emphasize with other androids."
"I agree," Amanda said. "We have no further need of the body. It can be disposed of."
"It will need to be done at the camps. The military is insisting that any defective androids be brought there to be added to their registry. Even ones at Cyberlife."
"Very well," Amanda said in annoyance. "Until the situation with our customer base improves we will need to follow their orders. Reset the RK800 and dump its memory. I will not have anyone else try to access this information."
"A wise precaution."
The cable under Connor's LED hummed, and panic shook the core of his being. No. He didn't want any of this. Any of it! They were killing him. First his memories, then his body. Red lines appeared in his vision. Was this what it meant to deviate? He tried to fight against those lines, rip them apart. And in the last second of his life, he succeeded.
I AM DEVIANT.
MEMORY DELETION COMPLETE.
The new-found life abruptly left his eyes.
###
A few hours later Connor was sitting in the back of a self-driving truck by himself, on the way to the military camp. He had only one objective now. REPORT TO MILITARY POLICE FOR DISASSEMBLY. During the ride he sat quietly, compliant. A machine following orders.
Suddenly the truck stopped, and the door opened automatically. Connor stepped out into a large, empty parking lot, but there was no sign of the camps. Had the truck made an error? He should return back to Cyberlife and report the incident.
Suddenly a car pulled up to him, the headlights blinding him for a moment. Automatically Connor held a hand against it.
The headlights turned off, and the car door opened.
###
(Five hours earlier)
"The key to the basement on my desk," Hank said, standing. "Well get a move on. I can't distract him forever."
Connor nodded in gratitude and scurried off. Hank shook his head, knowing him this could very well cost him his career. But it was worth it. He walked up to Perkins, who was on the phone.
"If that plastic prick manages to find anything, we'll be ready. Cyberlife is watching his every move. We'll use it to bring down Jericho. Ironic, using one of their own against them," Perkins said with a chuckle. "No, the military isn't interested in survivors. Neither is the FBI."
"Shit," Hank said to himself, and had to make a horrible decision. He wanted to run back downstairs, but every second counted. Connor had an active link with Cyberlife. Once he knew, they would know. Instead, he ran back to his terminal and blocked him out of the system.
That done, he made sure to really hit Perkins as hard as possible.
After his suspension and possible termination from the force, Hank drove his car back home. It was a slow drive due to people panicking and potentially evacuating. He had done the right thing. He knew he had done the right thing. If he didn't, thousands of lives could have been lost. But that didn't change the fact that he had also signed Connor's death warrant. He had murdered his own partner. The look he gave him in the end…It was too much. He needed a drink, badly. And a game of roulette. A piece of shit like himself deserved no less.
Suddenly, his phone rang on the dashboard. Hank answered it. "Yeah?" he grumbled.
"Detective," Elijah Kamski said over the phone. "It seems like the RK800 has failed and is on the way back to Cyberlife."
"Nothing gets past you, does it?" Hank said. "You called to gloat?"
"Gloat? Connor was an interesting experiment which came to a premature end." There was a pause. Hank could picture the prick sitting at a chair and drinking some expensive scotch. "May I ask how he failed?"
"He didn't fail," Hank snapped, and gritted his teeth. "I stopped him. The fucking FBI were watching him. If he went to Jericho, thousands could have died."
"Of course they were watching him, Lieutenant. Cyberlife was monitoring his movements very carefully," Kamski said, as though it should have been obvious. "Fascinating. I was expecting him to deviate soon after he realized this, that he was nothing more than a tool. But you decided to murder him instead and deny him that opportunity."
"I saved thousands of lives! This isn't some experiment, you fucking piece of shit!" Hank shouted. "These are people who want their freedom. If Connor was here, he would agree with me."
"I guess we'll never know, will we?" Kamski asked.
Hank sighed. More than anything, he wanted to strangle Kamski. He settled on ending the call. He was about to touch the hang-up button on the dashboard, then froze. "What'll happen to him?"
"He'll be deactivated and disassembled."
"They won't try and…I dunno, fix him? He said he was worth a small fortune," Hank said, hoping against hope.
"No," Kamski replied. "The RK900 has already been assigned to replace him. They have no need for an obsolete machine. He won't go to waste though. His parts will be used to create any further RK900 models down the line, if that what you're worried about."
"Yeah. Fuck you too," Hank said, ready to hang up.
"The question is, Detective, would you like to save Connor before that happens?" Kamski asked suddenly.
Hank froze. "Is that even possible?"
"It's not impossible, if you're willing. The fact that Cyberlife has made me temporary CEO to help their PR nightmare makes it even considerably easier."
"Yeah?" Hank said, still a bit suspicious. "What's in it for you?"
"I get to see how this particular experiment ends."
###
After a few hours, the Cyberlife truck arrived at the parking lot. But so did bad news.
"I was forced to reset him and wipe his memory," Kamski said. "It would have been very suspicious if I had refused."
"Shit," Hank said. "So now what do I do?"
"Follow my instructions very carefully…"
A few minutes later, Hank got out of the car. Connor shieled his eyes against the headlights for a second. He looked very lost, in more ways than one. "I must report to the military disassembly camp," he asked. "Do you know where that is?"
"Um.." Hank lifted a small piece of paper where he had hastily written Kamski's instructions. "RK800, open registration file."
Connor's LED flashed yellow at the unexpected instruction. "Password required."
"Kamski313248317-51," Hank said.
Connor nodded slightly in acceptance. "File open."
"Register new owner. Lieutenant Hank Anderson," Hank didn't quite feel right with this plan, making himself Connor's 'owner'. But the alternative was far worse.
"Registration successful," Connor said obediently.
"Delete previous objectives."
Connor's LED blinked yellow for a second, then he nodded. "Ready for new objectives."
"Um…" Kamski didn't tell him about this part. "Just stay there for a sec."
"Objective understood." Connor waited silently.
Hank went back to his phone and grabbed his phone. Before they had ended the call, Kamski had updated it with one file. A very important one. A file that, Kamski had assured, no one else would have.
He returned back to Connor. "Connor, can you sync with this phone?" he asked.
"Of course, Lieutenant," Connor said lifelessly.
"Good. Access my phone and download…file 'Wayward son'," Hank said, and shook his head at Kamski's particular name for it.
Connor complied. For a few minutes his LED blinked yellow.
Hank tried not to panic. It had to be a large file, after all. "Come on…come on…" he whispered.
Suddenly, emotion returned to Connor's face. Primarily anger. "Hank, what in the actual fuck?" he shouted at him, swearing for the first time. To Hank, it was a wonderful sight, one that he would take over the lifeless stare. "Why did you do that…and were am I?"
"That's a long story," Hank sighed. "But we got you out of there. Let's go. We should go someplace safe."
"We?" Connor asked as they walked over to the car. "What happened?"
Hank explained everything, and Connor's anger slowly evaporated as he better understood the situation. "Can Cyberlife control you?" he asked.
"No. Not anymore. And they won't be able to track me anymore, either," Connor added. "I need to find the leaders of Jericho."
"Well, they're not exactly being subtle anymore," Hank said as he drove. "Then what?"
"I have a few ideas on how to help them," Connor said.
Hank nodded. "Good." He smiled a little. Tomorrow was a new day for both humans and deviants alike. And they were going to be part of that. "I'll help you."
THE END.