Chapter Text
Connor remained on the small working bench, stretching out his new leg. He was only in black shorts, the rest of his body being exposed as he was worked on. He looked down at his leg, the synthetic skin turning back to a skin tone as his body accepted the bio component. He audible heard Hank sigh in relief from the sidelines. He glanced at the Lieutenant, seeing him occupying himself by watching the news on the monitor.
To say this was unorthodox would be an understatement. Often, he’d be sent directly to Cyberlife headquarters to either be repaired or replaced. Knowing that, Hank had practically kept Connor in his home for the past few days until he spoke with some officers. Connor was lucky that he had began to grow on them, minus Gavin, as they connected them with one of the repair engineers that worked in a Cyberlife store. When Connor was worried about how much these repairs would cost, Hank brushed by the question...so probably a lot.
Connor now had a left arm and his right arm had been repaired as well, even though there were some minor fractures that still could be seen, mainly in his hand. The markings on his chest along with the other burns on his body were still present. Those couldn’t be repaired unless his entire torso would be removed and more work to be done. It didn’t bother Connor and didn’t limit his functionality.
The only thing that they were having problems with repairing was his eye. As he was a special prototype, it wasn’t as easy as replacing an arm and a leg. The damaged eye had been removed, leaving the socket empty and awaiting a new component. And so, the worker went into the back room again, attempting to search for a functional optical unit. This left Connor and Hank alone once again.
Hank crossed his arms, “Cyberlife contacted you yet?”
“N-No,” Connor responded. “I haven’t reported back either. All things considered, they would’ve contacted Captain Fowler by now if there was an issue.”
Hank nodded but seemed to be able to tell the android wasn’t telling the whole truth. Which he wasn't...mostly. Cyberlife, if they had any problem with his model, would contact the Captain for a recall and replacement. But that’s the thing, Connor knew they should’ve done that by now. Amanda had to have known that he had…
Connor grimaced while thinking to himself, “ I’m not a deviant. I was only following the Lieutenant’s orders to keep him alive and going with would help learn more about the other deviants. I am not a deviant.”
“Hey, Connor, can you not look like your going to explode?” Hank grumbled. “You look like your gonna make a hole in that wall by staring at it.”
Connor immediately straightened up, caught off guard by Hank. “Y-yes. Of course, Lieutenant.”
His answer seemed to not please the older man, who grumbled and looked away. Things were normal between them again but there was an air of uncertainty, although thankfully not as tense as they had been before. Connor could tell that at some point during his stay, Hank had wanted to talk about what had happened. It was in the RK800’s best interest if he were to consult with him, as Hank’s emotional state always affected their progress at times.
Then why didn’t Connor want to talk about it?
His skin itched, his ears felt like they were burning, he felt his thirium pump faster whenever he even thought about talking to Ha-the Lieutenant. But the urge to express whatever had been done to him. Yes, that must be it. Zlatko had to have done something to him while he had fallen into stasis...even if that doesn't add up with anything that man had been doing prior.
Connor stood shakilly, still getting used to the new limb. Hank saw this and opened the bag he had brought with them. He pulled out Connor’s Cyberlife jacket, which had a bit of a mark on the back from when he had been shocked. Not like Connor could just stroll back and ask for a new one. Hank also pulled out jeans, still wearing a price tag.
“Still can’t believe that the ‘state of the art prototype android’ wears blue jeans,'' Hank chuckled while Connor took the clothes.
Connor gave a slight smile, “I could say the same about you, Lieutenant. I don’t believe that your attire is a spitting image of an esteemed Lieutenant.”
The room fell silent and Connor felt the same symptoms from before. Why did he say that? Sure he teased the man before but it was so blatant and at such a bad time why did he-
Hank gives a hearty laugh, shaking his head slightly. Connor was tossed for a loop, his LED circling yellow as he watched Hank wipe his eyes.
“Well, they didn’t give you good pants but they did give you the most sarcastic responses, you plastic asshole”, He shook his head. “Can’t believe this is how far technology has come.”
Connor smiled slightly, relieved that he hadn’t worsened the situation. He put on his clothes, taking his time with buttoning up his dress short. While he began putting on his black tie, Hank raised a brow and pointed at him.
“You miss buttoned your shirt, Connor.” Hank pointed out.
Connor looked down and sure enough, the shirt was slanted slightly, one button at the bottom not being buttoned correctly. Connor quickly fumbled with the buttons, attempting to quickly fix the error.
“Seems like you really need that eye then,” Hank mused. “I was just gonna ask if you really needed it since the guys havin’ so much trouble finding one that works.”
“Yes, of course,” Connor replied quickly, trying to cover up the issue. “Besides, as the one to negotiate situations- my appearance would have a large impact on how we accomplish our mission. I doubt my eye looking like this would help.”
Hank shrugged, “maybe so. I kinda got used to it so I forgot you do look like you were ripped straight out of a terminator movie.”
Connor tilted his head, not getting the reference, but Hank just waved his head dismissively. Before he could reflect more, the worker came back in with a small box in hand.
“Didn’t think I’d find anything so I just grabbed all the spare optical units we have,” he put the box on a table beside the bench. “Beside, it can scan them and see if we have any that will work for it.”
Connor immediately scanned the different units, and thankfully there was one that registered as functional. VX500 model’s eye was the only one that seemed to work, so Connor took it gently in his hand. It was a blue color and it wouldn’t really match with his brown one, not that Connor cared. He only hoped that it wouldn’t bring attention to himself. He inhaled before jamming the unit into the socket, seeing Hank cringe in the corner of his vision. He blinked rapidly, his vision becoming whole again. He heard the man and Hank talk amongst themselves, hearing Lieutenant ask if he would be alright and other various questions. He took a moment to do something that he had feared to do for the past few days. He closed his eyes.
When he opened them, he felt excruciating pain in his head. He clutched his forehead, groaning loudly. He looked up, only being able to look out of one eye. He looked around the area where he and Amanda would meet, no longer recognizing the place. The presiteen white pathways were cracked and broken, falling into the water which was now a pitch black color. The trees were corroded and dying, all the plants were dead.
Across the black water was the only thing that was alive- the crimson roses that Amanda would tend to. They spilled from the podium, falling into the water below. Connor took a fearful step back, hearing Amanda’s voice ring through the area.
“Find them, Connor. Deal with this mess. This is your last chance”
Connor opened his mouth but no words came out. There was a faint hue behind him, a light blue coming from behind him. He turned slightly, seeing the one structure that seemed to be untouched by the darkness.
It was a large structure, a big white arch with a short podium in the center. There was a blue light coming from it that had a handprint on it. He had seen the structure multiple times but never considered what it could be. Or what it could mean. He inched closer, his hand subconsciously reaching out and-
“Connor!”
He was ripped from where he was, opening his eyes and seeing Hank. Hank shook his shoulders slightly.
“Can you hear me, Son?”, Hank asked sternly and Connor nodded despite being dazed. Hank sighed, “You might wanna see this.”
Connor looked and saw the worker, staring up fearfully at the monitor. He also stood slowly, his eyes were drawn to the monitor. A skinless android stood there, blue and green eyes focused to the camera. He seemed to have been talking for a while, the Rk800 catching only the ending.
“This message is the hope of people,” The android spoke camly. “you gave us life. Now is the time you give us freedom.”
The screen went black. Connor took a step back, some crushing feeling in his chest distracting him. He turned to Hank, who had the same grim look on his face.
They had pushed their way through the store, Connor being aware of all of the android’s LEDs flashing from yellow to red, the humans’ backing away from them with uncertain expressions. He was vaguely aware of how harshly he had thrown opened the car door, hardly noticed the way Hank had tried to reach out to him.
“Relax, Connor,” Hank said as he entered the driver’s seat. “I’m sure that we can-”
He leaned forward, avoiding Hank’s gaze, “Lieutenant, this is a terrorist attack. We need to go now”.
“We haven’t been called yet,” Hank glared at him. “And we aren’t going till we have a talk.”
Connor gripped his pants, “There is nothing to talk about. We have a job, I have a mission. I suggest we-”
He was cut off as Hank rolled down the window, dropping the keys right outside. The android glared back at him, going to step out before Hank locked the door. Hank leaned back, smiling slightly.
“You are being very immature, Lieutenant”, Connor sighed.
Hank scoffed, “says the one who is throwing a tantrum.”
Connor’s mouth opened to argue but he shut it, his jaw clenched tightly. What is this? Is he really this upset- no machine can get upset, why is he feeling like this? He didn’t notice his hands trembling by his side or how his teeth were grinding together in frustration. He felt Hank’s gaze bare into him and it only filled him with more shame. He is a machine. He is a machine. He is a machine. He is a-
He was cut off by Hank’s quick movements surprised him and he jolted, back a bit- the memories of Zlatko coming back into his mind. Hank moved forward again, more cautious of the distressed android. He slowly wrapped his arm around him, pulling the RK800’s head onto Hank’s shoulder. It was familiar to Connor and more than anything, it was comforting. He shuddered a bit as Hank turned up the music, drowning out everything. It made everything disappear, Connor’s chest feeling more light.
“I’m a deviant…” , Connor whispered to himself. As if he needed to confirmation about something he already knew was true.
He felt Hank stiffen slightly before relaxing. Connor hardly noticed until Hank turn the music.
“So uh,” Hank cleared his throat. “Feel better?”
Connor leaned off of him, adjusting his tie. He gave a curt nod and Hank chuckled.
“No need to be embarrassed, son. After everything, we all need a break.”
Connor smiled, “vacation sounds nice. From what I’ve heard about it”
“Yeah, yeah it’s good,” his nose crinkles in disgust. “Until you blow all of your money on shit tourist traps. Not to mention the plane rides”
He goes quiet and Hank looks thoughtfully at Connor. He then elbows him with a playful smile. He turns on the engine and begins to drive. Connor smiled at Hank as they drove, looking ahead at the road.
Connor exited the car when they reached Starford tower, his synthetic hair blowing slightly in the cold wind. He felt slight shivers as the icy wing nipped at his skin, his suit feeling lighter than it usually had. He was going to solve this case, make everything go back to normal.
Connor knew that wasn’t true. A line had been crossed.
One that he couldn't come back from.
And for once in his entire existence, Connor was unsure of what would come next. But when he turned and saw Hank stumbling on the curb and muttering multiple swears about the snow...Connor felt comforted. He knew that there's a high probability that what the future held could destroy him, could torment him for the emotions he now felt. All it took was one glance at the Lieutenant to soothe his worries. And in that split moment, he felt like he wasn't drowning in doubt.
He was ready for the worst.
To be continued...