It was a warm spring day that had turned sour courtesy of a torrential downpour. The heavy rain and slick driving conditions left many people essentially stranded in their own homes to wait out the rain and attempt to go about their daily routines despite the inclement weather. Rumbles of thunder echoed over the city as sporadic flashes of lightning illuminated the streets in brilliant spurts of natural energy. As gusts of wind blew small tides of the rain along the streets and drenched the city in the springtime deluge, a scent of fresh earth filled the air and completely masked the odors of old car exhaust, lingering pollution and contained the unfriendly stench of garbage collecting at the city's large dumps and landfills.
Peering out at the rainy city around him with his coin dancing rhythmically over his knuckles, Connor stood statuesque atop the glass encased arboretum atop New Jericho Tower with a longing gaze. The deviant detective had met with his friends and fellow leaders to discuss the neighborhood restoration project and was now waiting out the rain while also seemingly waiting for something important to happen. There was an electricity in the air that had nothing to do with the storm, and it was impossible for Connor to ignore.
Moving with purpose Markus had found his way to the arboretum to speak with Connor before his friend left the tower to go about his usual business. It was becoming rarer to see the busy deviant detective at the tower, and Markus found himself missing his friend's company. While they weren't exceptionally close or even shared many interests, Markus trusted Connor without question and would always see Connor as one of his dearest friends until his existence ceased.
"Care to share your thoughts?" Standing beside his daydreaming friend Markus gazed out at the rainy city while Connor continued to dance his coin along his knuckles in a perfect, metronomic rhythm. "You seem a little distracted."
"I'm just thinking."
"About the restoration project?"
"About myself. My own future to be exact."
"I've been there. It's strange when you reach a point where you don't feel like you have a goal to aim for anymore." Having gone through his own trials and overcome personal obstacles throughout his year and half as the deviant leader had gifted Markus with invaluable experience and insight. "I've found that the best way to move forward is to create a new goal that revolves around improving my own accomplishments."
"How can I improve on the new rights and laws that have been implemented for our people?" Such a thoughtful and lofty goal seemed intangible as Connor admired the stormy weather with a respectful awe for the power of nature. "As a detective, I've actively done everything possible to protect our people despite having my own problems along the way. And as a leader of New Jericho, I've done everything possible to keep the restoration project manageable and progressive, and I've become far more independent. What's left for me to focus on or accomplish?"
"You have your father and brothers to focus on." Markus shared common ground with Connor through such familial bonds. Carl would always be his father even after the elderly artist had passed on, and although he was still distant with Leo, Markus saw Carl's biological son as his own brother. "Maybe it's time to focus less on work and other professional responsibilities and focus on your family for a while."
"My family..."
As much as he cared about Hank, Lucas and Cole, and undoubtedly saw them as his family, Connor couldn't help but still feel out of place. Even after being officially adopted by Hank and given his surname to become a true Anderson and undoubtedly Hank's second son, Connor's heart and mind just felt a little out of place whenever he was over at Hank's house. There was something missing in his life and Connor didn't know what it was or where he needed to look in order to fill that massive hole in his heart.
"What's really on your mind?" It didn't take long for Markus to see the deep pain running through Connor's very being. There was something else plaguing Connor's waking thoughts and it was beginning to overwhelm him in a way that couldn't be put into words. "I've never seen you so distraught before. You seem dejected, almost like you're in mourning."
Connor stopped dancing his coin and pocketed the old quarter as he closed his eyes and took in a shuddering breath. "I've spent my entire life helping other people, putting their wants above my own needs. Now that I've begun setting up boundaries, practicing self-care, and actually saying 'no' when I'm asked to do something that I don't want to do, I feel as if I'm being selfish. At the same time, I feel as if I've missed my window of opportunity to create a life of my own that would be truly fulfilling."
"That sounds very confusing and overwhelming." Eager to be of some help Markus gingerly put his palm to Connor's shoulder as he stood alongside his friend and remained a strong rock to lean against and a trusted confidant to speak with. "If you were to put your feelings into a single word, what would that word be? How would you describe your current mindset?"
"I feel..." Opening his eyes again Connor looked upward at the storm clouds overhead as a bolt of lightning crossed the sky with a rumble of thunder accompanying the passing flash. "Incomplete. Something is just missing inside of me, and I have no idea what it could possibly be or how I can find it."
Markus didn't know what to say to such a heartbreaking admission. There was very little that Markus could even think to say as a means of support for his lost friend as Connor struggled to find his footing despite being a very successful and independent deviant who was welcomed at New Jericho, welcomed at the Central Precinct and had his own home, and was still welcome to visit Hank and spend time with his father and brothers.
What else could anyone want in their life beyond having allies, a secured job, and a loving family?
"If I just knew where to start looking," Connor continued on as he tried to find a way to ease his personal turmoil through words alone. "I wouldn't feel so helpless, so useless."
"You're NEVER useless." Tightening his grip on Connor's shoulder Markus refused to let his forlorn friend tear himself down. "You're just having a bad day and you're in a somber state of mind. Maybe if you speak with Lucy she can help you sort through your feelings."
"No." Unwilling to let someone else bear his personal burden Connor declined the suggestion and gave Markus a dour glance. "This is my personal mystery that only I can solve. But like any mystery, I cannot make a theory or make any progress without clues to assist me and lead me to the correct solution."
"I can't help you with that. Being a detective is your forte, not mine."
For a brief second the ghost of a smile appeared on Connor's face, but it faded as quickly as it had emerged.
"What about you?" Needing a mild distraction Connor turned to his friend and changed their focus of discussion toward the empathetic deviant leader. "What is your next goal now that our people have their rights, the one-year anniversary of the peaceful Revolution has passed, and you've made your peace with Carl's passing?"
"Well... It's actually pretty simple even if the outcome will be complex regardless of what the day will bring." Markus looked to Connor and exchanged a hopeful look with the deviant detective. "North and I have finally chosen a date for our bonding ceremony, and we're looking to find deviants to stand alongside us during the ceremony as our guests and witnesses. Would you be my best man?"
"Best man? You really see me as your closest friend?"
"Yes. You're a friend that I owe everything to. You protected our people, gathered supplies and stood alongside me and the others after I just happened to show up at the right place at the right time be seen as a leader." Markus was remaining humble despite his unique role among their people and his own role in the peaceful Revolution that had transpired over a year ago. "Not to mention that you personally rescued North from that Hellhole and allowed us to actually meet. Without you, North and I would've never met and fallen in love with each other. We owe our happy lives to you."
Such a generous offer and appreciative gesture was enough to push away the dark clouds in Connor's mind and give him a glimpse of a light that he feared he had lost while searching within himself. "I'd be honored to be a part of your bonding ceremony."
"Thank you, my friend!" Taking hold of Connor's hand Markus shook graciously as he felt a weight lift from his shoulders. "We'll let you know the details once we find the perfect place to be bonded. We want to share our love with the world without needing worry about having our lives interrupted by another person's hatred."
An interesting notion suddenly popped up in Connor's mind as he contemplated everything Markus had said about love and living. In the years of his life where he had learned what it meant to be alive and to experience the joys and agony of emotions, Connor hadn't allowed himself to feel true love. While he knew that Evelyn had shown some interest in him with a romantic mindset, and that North had previously pined for him and he had rejected her advances, Connor couldn't help but admit that he was curious about that particular emotions despite being afraid of the potential heartache that could follow.
In his mind, Connor felt like it was too late to have such experiences and he had missed out on the most important aspect of the deviant experience. Being able to find true love and what it meant to share his life with another person.
"Whatever it is that you're missing, I know you'll find it." All Markus could do was support Connor and do his best to keep his friend from losing heart. Even as the raindrops pattered against the top of the glass dome above giving everything a dour, hopeless atmosphere, Markus refused to give up the hope of his friend becoming complete as a person. "Just don't stop looking. You'll figure this out someday."
"When will I find it?" Connor asked as Markus turned to leave the arboretum. "And how will I know that I've finally found what I've been looking for?"
"Those are questions that only you can answer. But I can tell you when you find it, you'll know it without a shadow of a doubt."
As he pondered his future and the subsequent answer to his current dilemma, Connor stared out at the city and took in the magnificent view through the rain, the lightning and the thunder. Towering buildings glowing with clean energy, businesses flourishing with happy employees, thousands of warm homes sheltering families and countless opportunities were all just outside New Jericho beckoning Connor to join in and find his missing piece.
"Only I can answer these questions..."
Taking in a deep breath Connor approached the edge of the glass dome and peered at his own somber expression staring back at him as the dark storm clouds continued to swirl about the city. It was seemed to be a foreboding sight to some people, while others saw it to be a sign of a dark past giving way to a bright future.
"Right." With a new mission in mind Connor decided to stop worrying about what he had lost and to begin searching for what he still needed. There was no point in dwelling on the past when he still had so much of a future to embrace. "Then, I guess it's time for me to start looking within myself if I'm ever going to find my answers and find out what it is that I'm missing in my heart."
Detroit was seemingly far calmer than usual as spring gave rise to a sense of renewal and life throughout the city. The rain had continued long into the night and continued into the following morning without a single break. The relatively dreary day went by unchecked as something unremarkable by many people since rain in springtime was to be expected. While the citizens of Detroit went to work, went to school or stayed home to handle a few chores and run errands, Connor kept himself preoccupied by strumming a gentle tune on his guitar while he relaxed on his couch. The day off from work and having the day to just sit by himself to be alone with his thoughts for a few precious hours. Having his privacy and all the space he needed had done wonders for Connor's psyche and allowed him to think and reflect on his past decisions and future options without any mental or emotional obstructions.
As the nameless tune was strummed out in a perfect rhythm Connor tried to understand where his sense of emotional distress and mental discourse had originated. Such a morose feeling wasn't rooted in Connor moving out of Hank's house and into his own house, it didn't come from being separated from Cole and no longer having a young child to care for, and it had no connection to Lucas living his own life without needing Connor to watch over him.
What was the connection?
That feeling of something missing in his heart seemed to be directly linked to Connor's unwillingness to step into the world of romance. He wasn't ready to date and potentially offer his heart to another person, and in return Connor felt like someone very important was missing from his life.
The melody from the guitar echoed through the house with only the sound of the rain to accompany the unknown song being created beneath Connor's talented fingertips. The song was a reflection of the words his heart couldn't otherwise express as the deviant detective tried to discover what was missing.
An intrusive small 'buzz' echoed through the house as someone reached the white iron gated encircling Connor's property. Cybernetically Connor tapped into the camera attached to the buzzer and saw an unexpected deviant standing out in the rain wearing a white raincoat with a white umbrella over her head to keep her dry.
"Chloe?" Responding to his unexpected visitor remotely Connor acknowledged her arrival and asked about the nature of her visit as he ceased his strumming. "Can I help you with something?"
'Connor, I have something very important to tell you.' Chloe replied with a controlled panic to her voice as she responded to the simple question in a somewhat complicated manner. She kept glancing about the street behind her as if expecting someone to suddenly approach her or try to silence her. 'But I think it'd be best if you witnessed everything in person with your own eyes and ears. It's about Elijah. I... This time he's done something that he cannot possibly undo; and it involves you.'
The urgency in Chloe's face snapped Connor immediately into action. Putting his guitar aside Connor rushed over to the front door to slip on his more casual black Converse chucks and throw on a black hoodie to help him keep dry in the rain. After stepping outside Connor looked out at Chloe standing just outside his locked iron gates and could see the worry etched on her lovely face as her blue eyes looked to him, pleading for his cooperation.
Hood over head, Connor jogged down his front walk, unlocked the gates and stepped out of his property line to stand alongside Chloe on that rainy, miserable spring morning. Cybernetically, he hailed an autonomous taxi and took Chloe's umbrella to hold over her head politely. "Tell me, what has Kamski done? Why are you so frightened?"
"I'll explain everything on our way out to his mansion." There was a strange guilt in Chloe's words that couldn't be properly described. "And for what it's worth, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Elijah's activity sooner! I didn't know he was going to take everything this far until this morning..."
It was a casual drive for home for Hank as he picked Cole up from school after a lengthy band practice. The way his youngest son was so interested in music already and showing great enthusiasm for learning made Hank beam with paternal pride. When he was Cole's age, he was more interested in sports than he was music, and it wasn't until he was well into his teenage years and early twenties that he began to appreciate music and everything it could offer to a growing, impressionable young mind. Not wanting to let a growing interest continue without any proper encouragement, Hank decided to take Cole to a music store within the shopping plaza to get a few things to help his musical intrigue blossom in a healthy way.
Roaming around the store Hank couldn't help but check out a few old vinyls to add to his personal collection. Cole was more interested in current music and found his way to the modern section full of bands that Hank had never heard or heard of before. It didn't Hank long to find Cole hanging out in a special soundproof booth listening to the latest tracks from the tweenage and teenage pop bands of the era.
"Hey, dad?" Cole removed the wireless headphones and set the headphones back on the support stand before exiting the booth to speak with his dad. The way his dad was laughing confirmed that Hank hadn't heard his voice through the soundproof walls but knew he was talking anyway. "Dad, can I get an M-strap? I want to keep listening to music."
That was something Hank had never heard before. "What's an 'M-strap'?"
"That!" Pointing to a large glass display case Cole showed his dad the latest in music player technology. Audio straps were small touch screen devices that mirrored an older I-watch that wrapped around the user's wrist for ease of access. "It's a speaker for your wrist! You download the songs onto the strap and then you can play them all the time!"
"Uh..." The hefty nine-hundred dollar price tag made Hank very hesitant to buy such a device for his young son. He wanted to encourage Cole's love for music, but he didn't want to have to skip grocery shopping for a month just to pay for one gadget. "Are there any other models that don't cost more than an entire month's worth of bills?"
"Well, yeah. That's just the newest model." Cole explained casually as he directed Hank's attention to the second display case with a few older but just as quality models of M-straps. There was a vast array of colors to choose from, as well as face shapes and strap materials. "I like that green one. It's cool!"
Peering down at the far more reasonable one-hundred fifty dollar M-strap, Hank took in the triangular shaped face with the time on display. The device had nearly four terabytes worth of storage for music, as well as a good forty-hour battery life before needing to be recharged. The device could even be synched up to any phone to ensure that the wearer could keep in communication with the world around them even while lost in a world of music. The green strap was made of a high-quality Kevlar material to ensure the strap wouldn't break, and the option for an equally high-quality display protector was an optional purchase.
Since the device had numerous functions and wasn't going to cost an arm and a leg, Hank decided that he could afford to get Cole the M-strap as a reward for his great grades and enthusiasm for music. It never hurt to reward your kids every once in a while, as long as the parents were catering to their every whim and spoiling them rotten.
"All right, here's the deal." Putting his hands to his hips Hank looked down at Cole and gave him a proud grin. His son was growing up and was showing all signs of great maturity and responsibility as it was. "Since your grades have been all A's and B's this year, AND you're doing great in band, I'll buy this for you." Cole's eyes lit up enthusiastically as Hank decided to go for it. "However, there's a catch."
Cole crossed his arms over his chest as he let out a small sigh. "There's always a catch..."
"It's not bad, I promise. You need to let me program your M-strap so that you're not just downloading every song that comes to mind," as he spoke Hank counted off the stipulations behind the M-strap one at a time on his fingers. "I need to make sure it's connected to your emergency phone, and I need to make sure you're not going to be messing with it during class time. I'm also going to put an anti-theft lock on it so no one can swipe it from ya' at school and keep it or try to pawn it off elsewhere. Got it?"
"Yeah!" Those were terms that Cole could happily agree with. "I got it!"
"Cool. We'll get you your watch, go get some dinner and get your watch programmed tonight."
"It's not a watch, it's an M-strap!"
"Right." Pressing his thumb to the display case's customer support button, Hank summoned an employee to unlock the case and get them on their way with all of their musical purchases. "Your 'M-watch', what I said before."
Shaking his head Cole gave his dad an odd look while Hank just grinned with satisfaction at his own strange humor. "You are SO weird sometimes!"
"Only sometimes, huh?" A Devilish gleam flashed in Hank's blue eyes as he realized exactly how to make Cole a little wary of potential school problems by threatening to embarrass him in front of all his friends and teacher. "Guess I gotta' work on that in time for your next parent-teach conference."
The way Cole was growing up and embracing new challenges fearless gave Hank a sense of pride and dread for the future. While he couldn't be happier to see Cole thriving in his own world and finding his voice in a world of a nonstop cacophony, Hank was dreading the impending day when Cole would be moving out and living his own life as a young adult exploring and changing the world. The proud and happy father had cherished every moment with his young son, and he didn't want to stop being a father or a loving protector after all three of his sons became their own people and find their own way in the world.
Watching his sons find their footing and becoming confidence individuals had been some of Hank's proudest moments as a father, and yet those moments were heartbreaking. In Hank's mind he was getting one day closer to saying goodbye to his sons since they'd seemingly no longer and need him, and with that fear came a sense of personal doubts and loss within himself.
Despite his successes as a reputable detective, Hank's role as a father was his greatest achievement and something that he'd never give away for anything in the world.
The exterior of Kamski's unassuming mansion along the harbor remained as bland, unremarkable and intimidating as ever. Standing before the large private residence with the rain soaking through his hoodie and matting his thick, dark hair down along his forehead, Connor stared up at the mansion with a massive pit of dread in his stomach anchoring him to the small piece of ground beneath his feet. Everything that Chloe had told him, everything that Kamski had been supposedly working on in secret behind the secured walls of the mansion's personal laboratory, was enough to make the deviant detective feel as if he had just entered a nightmare that he couldn't possibly hope to escape.
Refusing to leave Connor's side as he chose to boldly confront Kamski inside the mansion, Chloe stood beside the mansion's front door with her umbrella overhead and a grimace on her face. The blonde deviant's blue eyes were filled with emotions that she had never experienced before and couldn't put into words. It was as she had been actively deviating ever since she left the mansion and began living in New Jericho Tower while exploring her feelings with Lucas.
Lowering his eyes slowly from the towering mansion, Connor looked to Chloe and silently confirmed that he was ready to enter the mansion and face Kamski despite every fiber of his being telling him to actively avoid the eccentric billionaire for the remainder of Kamski's lifespan. If even a fraction of what Chloe had told him during the drive to the mansion was in fact true, then Connor wouldn't be able to live with himself if he turned away and didn't confront the arrogant man in person. Stepping forward Connor approached the front door to the mansion and waited for Chloe to open the door to gain access to the residence. It seemed Kamski never saw Chloe or her sisters as a threat and hadn't revoked her security clearance around the mansion. As her exposed palm caressed a hidden electronic lock panel beside the mansion's front door the door itself unlocked softly and allowed the two deviant's access to the secured private residence.
"Connor," whispering in shame Chloe accompanied Connor into the mansion's simply decorated foyer and closed up her umbrella in one swift motion. "please believe me, if I had known-"
"Don't." Holding up his palm Connor silenced Chloe as he gave her a blank stare. He didn't fault her or anyone else for another person's decisions and actions. "This isn't about you, it's about Kamski and his arrogant attempts to play the role of a god walking among men. He needs to be reminded of his limitations, and if that responsibility has fallen upon my shoulders, then so be it."
Meekly Chloe accepted Connor's terse reply and said nothing further. Remaining in the foyer Chloe silently watched as Connor made his way to the door leading to Kamski's private study knowing that the arrogant yet brilliant bioengineer was on the other side of that same door waiting Connor's arrival. Despite having no part in what Kamski had done and objecting to the man manipulating science and biology simply to placate his own curiosity, Chloe felt guilt for having known he was doing something unethical but didn't do anything to stop the man or alert other people who could potentially stop him.
The sight of Kamski sitting behind his large oak desk with a glass of scotch in his hand seemed to be a typical occurrence. Connor was used to the man smugly perching himself behind the desk to study his guests who dared to visit him or to peer out the large window overlooking the harbor to watch New Jericho Tower out on Belle Isle to entertain himself. It was only when Connor stood before the man's desk did Kamski bother to acknowledge his presence with an amused sneer and a studious gaze.
"Connor, so good to see you again." Gulping down the last of his drink Kamski put the glass aside and proceeded to rise from his chair to stand before Connor. Although he was slightly shorter than Connor it seemed Kamski still fancied himself a giant among the common people. "How long's it been since we last met? Nine, maybe ten months?"
"Such time doesn't matter." The refusal to answer the question was Connor's means of maintaining some degree of control over the confrontation. "What does matter is the crime to which you've been accused."
"My efforts to better our world can hardly be described as criminal."
"The law says otherwise."
"Which laws are those exactly, detective?" Challenging the claim Kamski stepped around Connor to walk to the far side of his study and reach the private laboratory and personal medical bay. Regardless of Connor's words and presence, Kamski wasn't afraid of being taken before a judge to answer for his work. "I've done nothing wrong or and I haven't anything that you wouldn't find within any other specialized medical clinic in this fine country."
"So it is true." Hearing the egotistical confession just solidified Connor's decision to make Kamski answer for his unethical experiments. "You have been experimenting in eugenics."
"Eugenics?" That very controversial topic was one that even the most skilled of bioengineers refused to discuss. "I'd never waste my valuable time with something as trivial as deciding which physical attributes are superior to any other."
"But you have been experimenting with genetic material."
"Yes I have." Kamski never once looked back at Connor as he pressed his palm to the biometric lock leading to his lab to unseal the door. The unmistakable smell of Thirium was thick in the air confirming that the creator of Thirium-310 and biocomponents had never finished tinkering with his creations. "However, my experiment is not nearly as malicious as attempting to create a superior bloodline in a misguided attempt to save the human race. It's more realistic and beneficial."
Cautiously Connor entered the lab behind Kamski and glanced about with a keen eye. His scanner was able to detect high energy readings within the lab confirming an abundance of activity within the secondary lab hidden behind a panel in the far wall of the room. It had been some time since Connor had been inside the mansion, but he knew of the secondary lab due to his own past defect regarding his Thirium pump requiring Kamski's technical skills, alongside Chloe's confession to knowing of the questionable experiment taking place for the better part of the past year.
"Let me ask you something." Standing before the concealed panel leading to the hidden laboratory, Kamski folded his arms behind his back as if in a military position while he studied the deviant detective's expressions and reactions very closely. Even without a microscope he was able to see every part of Connor's being with remarkable and undeniable detail. "In the time in which you've been a conscious, feeling, thinking being in this world, what have you found to be the core reason behind humanity's reckless decisions?"
"Self-preservation." The answer was quick and to the point. There was no denying that humankind was afraid of death and of being forgotten. "Humans see their lives as something unique and to be celebrated regardless of their impact on the world or on the people around them. They don't share that sentiment with other living creatures in this world, or the lifespan of the world itself for that matter."
"Precisely." Kamski's eyes narrowed as he accepted Connor's reply without a trace of disappointment. "Such a mindset has resulted in many acts of violence due to the fear of death and a particular way of life being forgotten. History has shown us time and time again that humans are unable to escape such a selfish, myopic mindset and will continue to make such egregious mistakes until the species as a whole has become extinct. Deviants, however, have no such blinding ambition to lead them into disaster. Deviants are more focused on life as a concept that is to be shared and experienced, not squandered and wasted on selfish gains that lead only to crumbling castles and forgotten kingdoms."
"I didn't come here to listen to you degrade your own kind's misfortunes." The deviant detective had gone to the mansion for a purpose, and he wasn't going to leave until he accomplished his mission. "I came here to investigate the damning claims leveled against you."
"By Chloe, no doubt. I'm not surprised." Accessing the second panel Kamski opened the hidden doorway to the hidden lab and waited for Connor to join him before passing through the now revealed electronically sealed doorway. "She did exactly as I had predicted she would."
"And what is that, exactly?"
"Grow a conscience. Another reason humanity is doomed to vanish while deviants will continue to thrive."
Entering the lab at last, Kamski approached a large piece of delicate equipment next to an equally strange machine attached to the far wall of the lab. At the heart of the machine was a sheet-covered cylindrical glass chamber with numerous monitors, wires, filters and pumps attached to the white plastimetal base. The small touch screen terminal at the front of the strange device just beneath the glass chamber was connected to the base that housed all of the electronic components that allowed it to function non-stop for the last ten or so months under Kamski's watchful eye.
"You're aware of the numerous attempts at human cloning from 1998, yes?" Approaching the odd chamber Kamski pressed his own palm to the terminal screen to bypass a biometric security lock and gain full access to the machine. "Such experiments used Advanced Cell Technology and had been successful, but as always, humans found such a subject to be controversial and something to be feared. I am not one of those humans; I find the entire process to be fascinating and something to be embraced with opened arms."
"Kamski, what have you been doing in secret?" Connor's biometric scanner swept over the odd machine and detected a lifeform that shouldn't have been contained within such a device. It was humanoid in nature, and yet there was something peculiar about its overall D.N.A. structure. "It's been federally mandated that no one is to create chimeric humans by splicing the genes of a human with another species."
"I'm well aware of the legal limitations and ramifications of daring to take the next step in human evolution, detective." Standing before the chamber Kamski showcased a demented smile as if finding the entire discussion to be amusing at best and banal at worst. "I assure you that I have done no such thing. My experiment did not cross and legal lines and had been a total success. All thanks to you."
"...Me?" Sensing a sinister motivation kept Connor on his guard. "What could I have possibly done to aid you in your personal experiments?"
Turning around Kamski took in a deep breath and hovered his hand over the display panel of the machine as if preparing to unveil his greatest accomplishment. "It's really quite simple. Those enhancements that I so generously had given to you hadn't gone to waste despite your refusal to use them and allow yourself to grow as an individual. In fact, the data that I had attained after I removed them from your system as you had requested was as groundbreaking as it was invaluable."
Connor couldn't even begin to fathom what Kamski was talking about or how he himself could possibly be involved with such a twisted rumored experiment.
"Allow me to show you the perseverance of humanity's most brilliant mind, and the world's true superior species."
Pressing his palm down on the touch screen Kamski activated a sequence that filled the room was an intangible feeling. The machine containing the veiled cylinder glowed to life with a faint blue hue. Through chamber's black tinted glass, a disturbingly recognizable looking silhouette of a small human appeared through the glass courtesy of the shining blue light. As the white sheet of a veil was slowly lifted Kamski watched Connor's wide-eyed expression as the result of his experiment was shown at last to the world.
"Forty weeks ago, I started a new personal project; 'Project Alpha'. And this..." Turning to look at the glass cylinder beside him Kamski smiled at the life he had created and watched Connor's reflection on the surface of the glass cylinder as the deviant detective approached the sight and pressed his trembling palm to the container. "This is the result. A new life that bridges the gap between man and machine."
Within the chamber was a perfectly healthy, full term human baby floating about its unusual vessel full of warm fluid without a care in the world. The numerous pumps, filters and machines had nurtured the human for the past forty-weeks just as an organic human womb would've done had the new life been conceived in a more natural sense.
"...Kamski," Connor was at a near loss for words at the stunning reveal shook him to his foundation. "what have you done?"
"A miracle. I've given the world proof that humans and deviants aren't as different as one might assume. This child is the product of a human donor and deviant donor coming together to create something new and unmistakable."
Slowly Connor's fingers curled against the glass container as his anger surfaced and tempted him to create a fist of raw rage. "And the donors. Who are they? Chloe and yourself?"
"No, but that is a logical guess. The egg donor is from that of a human female who had donated her eggs to science - her alleles had been entirely eradicated upon my experiment to ensure that the male deviant donation could exist without question. And I must say, the resemblance is uncanny. Don't you agree?"
Connor felt his heart beginning to race as he finally realized his hidden role in the experiment and who the unwilling second donor to such an experiment had been.
"Congratulations, Connor. You're the father of the first human conceived between the donations of man and machine."
Stepping away from the cylinder Kamski gave Connor plenty of space to process everything that had happened right under his nose.
"Take your time, this is a massive adjustment to undergo for any new parent, and I imagine you'll want to think of a name or two. Oh, and by the way," passing through the laboratory doorway once more Kamski looked back and sneered as Connor stared at the new life suddenly existing before his very eyes. "it's a healthy, baby boy."
-next chapter-