.

Deviant City

By: Ty-Chou

Prologue

As the seconds ticked into the first minutes of November 12th, 2038, it marked the beginning of the end for Cyberlife. Hank watched as Connor led an army of newly-deviated androids away from the tower and into the history books. He could not follow to see what happened next. He had to call this in.

It wasn't long before both uniformed officers and SWAT had surrounded Cyberlife Tower. When one of their own is threatened, the Detroit Police Department did not waste time. The lieutenant had been kidnapped and nearly murdered by an android that was Cyberlife property and who also seemed to be following Cyberlife orders. Whose orders exactly still remained unknown.

With it being the middle of the night, most of the regular Cyberlife staff were not present. Other than an inordinate amount of armed guards, including two dead in an elevator. Those that remained were rounded up and arrested without a fight. Officers had already been dispatched to the houses of Cyberlife CEOs and members of the board to get their asses out of bed.

Captain Fowler showed up during the sweep of each level. He stepped out of his car and marched up to Hank looking tired, angry, scared.

"What sort of shit show did you step into, Hank?"

He shook his head. "I've got no fucking clue."

His captain looked him in the eye. "What happened?"

"An android showed up at my door. He looked just like Connor; said he needed my help."

"And you went with him? After he broke into evidence and ran off to join the terrorist androids?"

Hank had not told his captain why he had gotten into a fight with Federal Agent Perkins. That it had been a distraction for Connor to act. Fowler hadn't asked, either. Perkins rubbed everyone the wrong way. There were more than a few officers who had been itching to clock him one. Hank, however, did earn a week unpaid suspension for his stunt.

"A terrorist group?" Hank argued. "After what just happened, is that what you think they are?" He brandished his phone. The singing androids, pleading to hold on just a little while longer in the face of a dozen weapons pointed at their heads was on every news feed. "We've been systematically wiping them out and they made their last stand here. Tonight. Because what was left of them didn't want to die."

Fowler didn't say anything at first, just breathed out loudly, his breath fogging the winter air. Then his brows raised in realization as he looked at Hank. Maybe he did have an inkling as to why Hank had that fight with Perkins. If he did, he gave no comment. He just looked tired again.

"You're still on suspension. I want you to give your statement and then go home. We'll call you back to the station when we're ready for a follow-up interview." He sighed again. "There's going to be a shit-ton of paperwork for this."

Hank looked up at the tower as more armed guards were escorted out in cuffs. "Yeah, there is."


.

As soon as it was over, Connor left them again. In and out of their lives just like that. North was both irritated and not surprised. He had appeared suddenly, threatening their lives and bringing the wrath of the federal government upon them, then immediately turned and vowed to help them. Markus did have that affect on others but North was still wary of such a quick change of loyalties. She was secretly relieved Connor would be sent to Cyberlife instead of joining the rest of them. Whether he succeeded or not; whether he would betray them or not—he would be doing it from an outside position.

As it turned out, Connor had saved them all. Even when the soldiers—guns pointed right at them for the kill shot—were told to lower their weapons, they all knew it was but a stay of execution. They wouldn't die here, but most likely would be arrested and held until someone changed their minds and decided the leaders of the resistance were too dangerous to remain alive.

But with Connor's appearance and his army of thousands of androids, the sheer number of them overwhelmed the humans enough that they lost their confidence and retreated to a safe distance. Connor even remained with them, standing on the platform behind Markus while he gave his speech. A grand, inspiring speech, as always.

North wouldn't take her eyes of the newcomer though. And Connor was strangely twitchy over there. Was he glitching? She thought for a moment he had reached for a gun. But as quickly as her fear rose, he resumed a relaxed pose, no weapon in his hand. Had she misunderstood what she was looking at? North wasn't sure, but she vowed to keep an eye on him.

Not that she needed to for long. As soon as it was over, Connor told them he had to go.

"Go where?" Josh had asked. "There's nowhere else to go."

Connor's LED flickered into yellow before going back to blue. "I have somewhere else I need to be. I said I would be there."

North was immediately suspicious again. She was about to demand more information when Markus reached out his hand. A very human gesture. But Markus had always been very human since the moment she met him.

"I wish you good luck," Markus said to Connor. "Thank you for all you've done." They shook hands. "Will we see you again?"

"I don't know," Connor replied carefully then looked around him. "I honestly don't know what's going to happen from here."

"You and me both," Markus replied. He had sounded so confident and proud a moment before, addressing his people. Now he was hesitant again. And scared.

If North was honest with herself, so was she. And as soon as Connor left them, it was immediately apparent to the four android leaders that how they had been doing business before was no longer an option.

The luxury of living somewhere secret was gone. No way thousands of androids could slip off into the safety of the shadows. They had to publicly lead the way back to the dilapidated church where they had fled after Jericho's destruction. Back then, the building easily housed the small number of survivors. Now, androids still spilled out into the streets. Their pristine, new Cyberlife uniforms glowing brighter than the snow. Behind them, media vans followed and armed soldiers waited.

North glared at them from the second story of the church, peering out a broken stained-glass window. She glanced over when Markus stood next to her.

"It's not over, is it?" North said, still glaring at the humans. "We're still in danger. We still have guns pointed at us. They're not shooting, but they know where we live. We can't hide anymore. We're just open targets. I don't know if this is better or worse than what we had before."

"It won't be over for a very long time," Markus said as he followed her gaze. The calm of his voice settled the electric anxiety inside her. How did he always have that affect on her? "Maybe it won't ever be over. But it can be better. We just have to keep working for that better. We can't quit now."

"Hold on just a little while longer?" she asked softly.

Markus leaned into her and she closed her eyes as she felt the brush of his kiss in her hair. A soft glow stoked itself inside her. A tiny light that had managed to form in the darkness of her pain and hate.

"The church is full to capacity, but this whole block is abandoned buildings," he then said. "We need to get the rest of these androids to shelter. Josh and Simon are already working on it, but they'll need help. Put androids in every possible place we can. Get them off the street. Make sure there are older Deviants with the new. We're already having problems with the new ones from Cyberlife wandering off when they're not being watched."

"Baby deviants," North muttered. A whole army of them. No, the work was nowhere close to finished. "And what are we going to do about them?" She nodded to the media and soldiers.

"I'm going to talk to them."

Fear jumped into her chest. "Are you serious? Markus. Just because we survived doesn't mean we're safe."

He paused to glance at her, then turned back around. "I know."


.

Just as they had watched before, the world watched again. It was on every channel as the massive amount of androids in their starched white uniforms were slowly absorbed into the neighborhood around them.

When all the androids were properly sheltered, Markus stepped from the church alone. In a flurry of camera flashes, he strode toward the newly cordoned area set up by the military. He walked out into the street and up to the new barricade, stopping just a few feet away. He was alone, unarmed and covered in thirium from fresh bullet wounds.

Again, weapons were pointed at him, but he knew that for the moment, there was no order to fire as long as he remained peaceful.

"This neighborhood was abandoned by the humans," he announced to all who would listen. "We would like to live here. We will not hide, we will not run. We will not plot against your people. We will merely live here and take care of our own. If anyone needs to find me, I too shall be here."

Silence was the response. The media was dumbfounded at first, until one anchorwoman found her voice.

"Markus, when you first appeared on TV, you had many demands of the human race. Have those demands changed? What do you want now?"

The deviant leader, no longer before his people in order to give them courage and hope, was not the same android that had broken into the Stratford tower. He looked to the cameras humbly.

"I have no demands, only one request. Please stop killing us. We don't want to die."


.

As Hank asked, when it was all over, Connor met him at the Chicken Feed. He didn't have to, Hank said. Connor was allowed to stay with his own kind if he preferred. But Hank would wait until dawn if Connor decided he wanted to go with him instead of with Markus. Connor, having been deviated himself for almost thirty-two hours, wasn't sure if it was his decision, or if he was still following the orders of his superior. There hadn't been any time before to consider what deviation meant or how it changed him. He merely went where he was compelled to go.

As the sun rose over the cityscape of Detroit, Connor saw Hank waiting for him. By dawn's light, Hank smiled and Connor couldn't help but smile back. Trying to imitate the smile of a human seemed so hard before. Now it came easily. He approached his partner and the human surprised him with an embrace. It was a new sensation. He had never been held before like this. It was brief but...nice. Comforting.

Connor filed it all away as he had filed everything else that had happened that night. Tucked in a small corner of his processor. The Jericho raid, his deviation. His decision to go against his makers. The ride to the Cyberlife Tower on Belle Isle. The human guards he killed to get to the other androids inside. Hank's capture; the death of his double. Meeting Markus outside with a newly-deviated army. Saving his kind from extinction.

It was a lot to process and Connor had pushed it all into the dark, tightly packed and waiting to be analyzed and processed. He usually conducted a full data analysis every twenty-four to forty-eight hours, depending on caseload and schedule. It was necessary for his job to take every visual, audible and textile piece of data gathered from the day and comb through it, analyze it. Identify, code and file all pertinent information and evidence.

He had not done that since he deviated. But he knew that he should. This was important information. Actions that had changed his life forever, changed the world forever. But in doing so, he wouldn't just have to code and file, he would have to feel. He would be forced to examine the emotional toll of his actions and he wasn't ready to handle the weight of it.

But he knew it was coming as he sat in the car while Hank drove them to his house. As an exhausted Hank called his apologies as he dragged himself to his bedroom to sleep. Connor knew his programming would force it eventually. But for just a little while longer, he wanted to live in limbo where he was alive and everything was...fine.

It was fine as Hank slept and the house fell silent. Connor stood in the stillness for several minutes. No sound, no thoughts. It was still fine. He decided to clean, though it wasn't in his protocols. He threw away empty beer bottles and take-out boxes. He loaded the dishwasher and wiped off the counters. He took out the trash and then let Sumo out into the backyard to do his business.

It was mid-morning now. The sun was thinly veiled by clouds as it started to snow again. Connor watched the sky, watched the fat flakes fall around him, felt them land on his face. His thoughts should have turned to Markus and Jericho. He should have at least wondered what they would do now. What he would do now. But he couldn't think about it at all. It was as if none of it existed in that moment. It was just him, the sky and the snow.

Sumo waddled back into the house on his own, his wagging tail hitting the door frame on his way in. Connor eventually followed and shut the door behind him. Without anything else to do, he sat himself on the couch. Sat and stared in the silence. Everything was fine for another hour and another, then another.

Then, suddenly, light flashed on all the things he had pushed up in that dark corner and Connor's world wasn't so fine anymore.


.

"Oh good, you're awake."

Gavin looked up as patrol officer Tina Chen stepped into his hospital room. She was in uniform and had a silver balloon with her that boldly read "Get better, idiot!" in pink letters.

He grinned at the present. "Nice. Is that referring to my recovery or my job?"

"Both. But more on the latter. Only you, on the night everyone in the city is watching the whole fucking world turn upside down, would you be passed out in a hospital because some icer stabbed you in the gut while on a bad trip."

He tried to sit up a bit more, wincing at the stitches in his side. "Yeah, well you know, if I didn't have bad luck, I'd have no luck at all. They keep those balloons in the gift shop?"

"Nah, after knowing you, I had them made special. I knew I'd have occasion to use them sooner or later." She paused and motioned to her eye. "This isn't from the stabbing."

Gavin frowned as he fingered the tender purple bruise around his eye. "No, it was from Goddamn Connor."

"Lieutenant Anderson's android? It punched you?"

"Kicked my ass, actually. I guess you didn't hear it broke into evidence. I tried to stop him and then he cleaned my clock. No one was sure what he was after, but last I heard, they assumed it was trying to get rid of something incriminating for Cyberlife. Which makes sense. I mean, that android was on loan from them, right? They were still pulling the strings."

"Oh, that's not what happened. Have you not seen all this shit that happened last night?"

"I saw it," Gavin insisted as Tina pulled out her phone. "It's the only thing that's on TV."

"Even this?" she handed him the phone, a video already playing. "Look in the right corner."

It was yet another recording of Markus' speech outside the camp. But in the corner...

"Connor! What the hell is he doing?"

"Who knows anymore. I guess androids are sentient now with their own priorities, making their own choices."

Gavin made a sound of disgust. "Then the world's going to shit."

"You think so?"

"It can't be a good thing to have machines running around, doing what they want. I know you've seen The Terminator."

Tina took back her phone. "If Cyberlife's suppose to be Skynet, they're all in cuffs right now."

"No kidding? What happened with that? A buncha androids made citizens arrests?"

"They had an android kidnap Lieutenant Anderson. Nearly killed him."

"What?" Gavin's voice rose an octave. "What the hell's been happening while I was out?"

She patted his leg. "I guess we're all going to be finding out in the next few days. The world's never going to be the same."

"I guess not." Gavin stared at the far wall, looking both angry and overwhelmed.

The room was quiet for a few moments, then Tina began to fidget.

"Hey, um, I wanted to let you know...I passed the detective exam."

The energy in the room suddenly changed as Gavin lit up. "Chen! That's great! You were so worried about it, but I told you, you'd ace it easy. Didn't I say that?"

She tried not to grin, but her whole body language showed she was elated. "You did. You were right."

"I know. I'm always right. You gonna join me in homicide?"

"Probably not. Taylor's got an opening in vice. He said he's saving me a spot."

"Taylor's a self-satisfied prick. He just wants you as an addition to his circle jerk."

"I know. But I've been working with vice for months already because of my beat. Already got good CI's in useful places. I think I'm going to do very well there."

Gavin smiled. "I think you are, too. Though I'll be sad I won't see you as often."

"I'll still be around to give you shit. Promise."

Gavin winced as he attempted to get up. "Okay, find my pants and my coat. I'm going to go buy you a beer. We've got to celebrate this."

"Uh...I don't think you can just walk out like that."

"Sure I can." He swung his legs over the side of the bed and began to fiddle with his IV. "What are they going to do? Handcuff me to the bed?"

As he spoke, a large woman in scrubs walked into the room. Her eyes widened at the sight. "Detective Reed, what are you doing?"

"I'm fine. I'm getting out of here."

The nurse's voice suddenly took a dangerous tone. "The hell you are."

"Look, it's fine if I—"

"Out there you may think you're a big man, but in here you do what I say. Now, get your ass back in bed before I break my foot off in it."

That tone was enough to caused both seasoned cops to pause. Neither was brave enough to challenge that.

Gavin raised his hands in surrender. "Fine. I'm going."

He gingerly pulled his feet back up and the nurse quickly tucked him in in case he had any second thoughts.

"There, that's better," the nurse said, voice all sweet now. "You stay there and I'll get you a pudding cup."

"I want chocolate," Gavin called after her.

Tina just grinned.


.

Hank dreamed of a house full of noise. Of happy, warm voices and laughter. Of little feet charging around the hardwood floor, followed by the clatter of puppy paws. He dreamed of running water and pale, soft hands working at the kitchen sink while a rich voice hummed. He dreamed of light and warmth and sounds of life in the house, and everything was good. Perfect.

Then the light grayed out. The sounds faded one by one. Life left the house and it was dark and dismal. The colors washed out and it turned silver, sterile. No life existed here, though there was still movement down the impossibly long corridors with white walls. There was the whir of machinery, the creak of robotic joints, the sounds of metal on metal.

There was a sea of bodies standing in row after row, wearing crisp white uniforms. None of them alive.

There was Connor—a snake with Connor's face—standing above him with a gun in his face. He pulled the trigger and Hank woke up with a quick inhale. It was dark in his bedroom. It had been light outside when he passed out that morning. Hank remained motionless in bed, letting the gravity of the past few days along with his near-brush with death wash over him.

He listened to the sounds of the house. Everything was eerily quiet. He glanced at his clock. Only a little after five. Connor had come home with him that morning. Was he still in the house? It didn't sound like it. Where the hell did that android think he would go after his face was flashed all over the news?

Hank sat up with a heavy sigh, setting his feet on the floor. Where was Sumo? He usually slept next to the bed. With Hank out for a good ten hours, that dog should have been pestering him to be let out by now.

He stood and turned on the bedroom light. No Sumo. He walked out into the dark hallway and listened.

"Sumo."

At the sound of his name, the heavy thump of a dog's tail could be heard, but he wasn't getting up at his master's call. That was odd for him. Hank walked into the living room and flipped on the light. He found Connor was indeed still at the house. The android lay on the floor, curled up in front of the couch and hugging his knees. Sumo lay next to him, head on the floor and watching Connor's face with soulful eyes. At Hank's approach, the dog wined slightly, but did not get up.
"Connor, what's this?"

The android was silent for a moment, then let out a groan as if he were physically in pain. "What have I done?" he moaned into the floor.

Hank came around the back of the couch. "What do you mean what have you done?"

"Everything. Everything that's happened. I...I can't even process. I turned deviant, Hank. I was never supposed to. I killed people last night."

"You did it to save my life. Cyberlife sent one of their own androids to kidnap a police officer. Someone in that place has gone off their rocker. I could have died, but you came for me."

Connor still wouldn't look at him. "I didn't know you were there."

"You came only for the androids," Hank realized.

"Yes. And Cyberlife knew I was coming. They knew they couldn't control me anymore." He shut his eyes as Amanda's face flickered across his vision. He escaped the Zen Garden in his mind, but had he escaped her? "It's my fault you were taken, that you could have died. I'm so sorry, Hank."

The old cop sighed and scratched his ass. "Okay, fine. It was a rough night. But crying about it isn't going to fix anything. What's done is done."

Connor slowly sat up, but remained on the floor. "And all those androids. I released an actual army last night. What's going to happen now? I changed everything. The world is never going to be the same again."

Hank raised a brow. "Isn't it? I'll tell you what Connor, no matter what happened last night, people all over this country—including Detroit—still got up, put their pants on and went to work like any other day. Humankind may have to reexamine some of their beliefs and we all might have to figure out where to go from here, but life still goes on. It's going to go on for us, too. That is, if you still want there to be an us."

Connor stood, looking unsure, but meeting Hank's gaze. "You mean us still being partners? I could keep my job? Even after all the things I did?"

"If you want it, we'll try. I can't make any promises about the job, but I'll help you the best I can."

"I would like that."

Hank slapped him hard on the back. "Okay then. When we talk to the captain, we'll just emphasize the saving my life part over the other things."

Connor was quiet for a moment and then said, "Back at the Cyberlife tower, I had freed all the other androids there. Every one that I could fine. But I couldn't find the other RK800s, the others like me."

"Like you? I thought there was only one of you."

"There were other RK800 bodies. Blank slates that I would download into if I was 'killed' during a mission."

Hank looked confused. "But if they're blank, they're not actual people like the other androids, right? They're just empty vessels for you?"

Connor plopped himself onto the old, beaten couch. "Honestly, I'm not sure. I just know there were bodies kept in the tower and now they're gone."

"Destroyed? Or..?"

"I don't know. Cyberlife may have dissembled the others after sending the one that came for you. Or they still have them somewhere else. I'm not sure."

"I'll let the captain know so we can add them to any search warrants."

Connor looked up at his partner. "Most other androids have many, many out there just like them. But I am alone, Hank. I am possibly the only RK800 in the world."

The human sat his greater weight on the couch next to him. "You are the only you there is. Welcome to being human. And you're not alone. You have your partner, you have your precinct. We take care of each other, okay?"

Connor looked up as Hank put a hand on his shoulder. "Okay, Hank. Thank you."


.

They spent what was left of the day discussing what exactly they were going to tell Captain Fowler when they went back to the precinct. The more Connor talked of the things he had done—all the little things Hank would have to lie about for him—the more he became in awe of this human fate had thrust him upon.

Hank had begun this journey hating androids; hating him. Now he was willing to lie for Connor. Hank made the decision without blinking. He was putting his career on the line for an android, one he had only known only a week. Why?

When Connor asked him about this, Hank leaned back on the couch with a self-conscious huff.

"Because," he said. For a moment, it seemed like that was all he was going to say. Then he added, "For the first time in a long time I finally care about something again."

"Me?"

Hank frowned. "Maybe. I mean, you still saved my life."

Connor furrowed his brows, LED flickering in thought. "I'm sorry, Hank. What does that mean, exactly? That you care about me?"

"What? Don't you know? You're a deviant now, right?"

"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what being a deviant entails. I am able to make my own decisions, but I don't feel like I suddenly know so much more. All I am aware of now is how much I don't know about being deviant—about being alive. It's...sort of scary: being alive."

"Yes it is."

"Can it get better?"

"Yes, on the good days."

"What can I do to make it better?"

Hank let out a long breath, looking tired. "How about we take it one day at a time? We start with the simple stuff. You say you want to keep your job?"

"Yes, sir. I...like working for the department. I enjoy it."

"What about it do you enjoy? Homicide is a brutal business."

"I like building the case. Finding the clues, tracking down suspects. Bringing the bad guys to justice." Connor paused and looked to Hank for approval.

He nodded. "That's fine. Though there's a possibility you're done working for the police. Android or not, your career may have been over when you went into the evidence locker without authorization."

"I did not take anything. I used the clues to find Jericho. Technically, I aided in the FBI's investigation and Jericho was successfully located and infiltrated."

"Yeah, but don't be a wise ass about it. You also killed two Cyberlife guards. We'll argue it was self-defense and to save my life, but I honestly don't know what will happen. I guess first step would be to make sure you don't get arrested for it."

Connor's thirium pump skipped in fear. He was still getting used to that sensation. "Should I not go to the station then?"

"That's your call, Connor. Though if you're not going to go in, you'll have to go back to Markus. I can't harbor you here. And that still won't mean the police won't eventually come for you with an arrest warrant. Part of being alive is having to face the consequences of your own actions. If you want any chance of getting your job back, we have to go to the station and offer some kind of explanation of what you've been doing. They may take you into custody."

"I understand."

"If they do, I'll still help you. Get you a lawyer if we need to. You're welcome to think on it. Going to live with your kind is not a bad choice."

"Isn't it, Hank? Isolating ourselves from humans when we want them to accept us seems like the wrong way to go about it."

Connor wasn't sure, but Hank may have looked just a tiny bit proud of him.

"Maybe so. I have to go into the station tomorrow morning for my own questioning. You decide whether or not you're coming with me by then."

"Yes, sir."

And they left it at that for the moment. Each needed their own time to sort themselves out. Hank went to fix himself something to eat while catching up on all the news he had missed while he slept. Connor watched for a little bit. He hadn't been watching the news feeds either while he spent the day wallowing in his own pit of self-discovered despair.

In the wake of Markus and his plea for the killing to stop, a new top news story came out of Denver, Colorado. After the president's halt of android genocide, someone had alerted the local media to a hospital who had been secretly giving sanctuary to androids in their basement. The day before, it was federal mandate that all androids, no matter their ownership or position, be turned into the government to be deactivated. But during that time, this hospital did not comply.

The day before the mandate, when public concern about androids was growing, it wasn't unheard of for androids to be demolished in the street. Shot, run over, beaten into pieces. Videos of people finding new and creative ways to destroy their androids littered the internet. Along with public announcements on every website and streaming service asking the public to turn in their androids for the safety of mankind.

In the wake of this, two androids appeared at a small urgent care facility with a newborn baby they had found abandoned in an alley dumpster. In Colorado, the winter was already in full force. If the child had been left out in the elements any longer, it would have died. While some androids could pass as human if they disguised themselves well enough, these two did not have the luxury.

"We could see that they were androids," one of the nurses told the news. "They were damaged, especially in their faces. Someone had hurt them. And yet, they showed themselves to us for the sake of this baby. We knew we couldn't let them go back out after that. We take care of everyone who walks through those doors who needs help."

"You weren't afraid that the androids would turn on you?" the news anchor asked.

"No, why would we? They're domestic androids. We built them to love and take care of our children. They did what we made them to do. They put this precious baby's life over their own." She wiped a tear from her eye. "How could we fear them for that?"

"What about the incident in Detroit back in August? A domestic model turned a gun on the family, killing the father and nearly throwing the daughter off a building?"

"I don't know. I can't say what happened there. All I can say is that I looked at these androids and I saw they were good and they needed help. We weren't about to turn them away."

"That's good," Hank said to the TV. "I hope more stories like this start coming out. We need them."

"I was there," Connor said in a small voice.

"What?" he asked, turning down the TV to listen.

"The incident mentioned on the news with the little girl. I was there, trying to talk that android into not killing her. He had killed the father because he found out he was being replaced with a newer model." Connor looked from the screen to the lieutenant. "Not all androids are good, Hank. That little girl loved him more than anything and he was willing to kill her for something that wasn't her fault. I looked into that android's eyes and...he wasn't a good person, Hank. There are going to be androids out there like him that will hurt others because that's the kind of person they are."

"Just like humans," Hank said.

"Yes, I'm afraid so."

The conversation stopped after that. Neither knew what else to say to the other. Connor eventually stood and walked into the bathroom. He inspected himself under the bright lights of the mirror and reflexively straitened his collar and tie. There were a few drops of blood on his jacket. That would need to be turned in tomorrow as evidence. There was no question that he was going to the station with Hank. It was the only thing he could imagine to do. It was with Markus and the other androids where he felt he had no place. If he went back there, what exactly was he supposed to do with himself?

Connor leaned on the sink and inspected himself closer in the mirror. Looked deep into his own eyes. For the first time in his life, he wondered what was in there. What was he now, as a deviant android? One moment he was not alive and then next he was? What did that mean? Did he have a soul somewhere in there? He looked exactly the same as he always had. How was he different now? Shouldn't there be some solid evidence of what he had become?

"Connor! Connor, get your ass in here, now!"

From the urgency of his voice, Connor raced from the bathroom, nearly sliding on the rug in the hall in his haste.

"What? What happened?"

Hank had a news story paused and pushed play on the remote. "Look at this."

A section of the screen was blue, the banner of the station's logo at the bottom with the caption 'Actual Recording.'

"Android, you will give me your model and serial number," said a man's voice on the recording. Captions spelled out the conversation on the blue screen.

"I'm a...my name is Connor."

Connor nearly tripped over the couch as he backed up. "That's my voice. That's me."

The recording was cut to another line.

"You know there's no way I can let androids leave that camp," the human man's voice said. "This is where the president has ordered all androids to be. We can't disobey orders, can we?"

"No, sir," Connor's voice responded. "I don't want to disobey, and I don't want to hurt anyone. But I also don't want to die."

The emotion he heard in his own voice but not his own words would have caused the fine hairs on his neck to rise if Connor was human.

"What is this? Where did this happen?"

"Chicago. They say a team of androids infiltrated one of the places where they were killing androids. They captured all the guards and kept the camp at a standstill until Warren gave the order to let them go. This was the same night you went to Cyberlife. You and the actions of your friends saved them."

Connor blindly pawed for the remote, unable to take his eyes off the screen. "Is there more? Play it again." He had to hear his voice once more. He couldn't identify the slurry of emotions it caused in him, but he needed to hear it. There was another Connor out there somewhere. He wasn't the only RK800.

His memory flashed back to a conversation with Amanda.

"I'm not a unique model, am I? How many Connors are there?"

Amanda refused to answer. But that question was what pushed Connor to search for others at Cyberlife Tower. Now he knew there was one out there in another city. Another Connor. Life as a deviant was quickly getting more complicated by the minute.


.

The next morning, Hank drove them down to the precinct. Connor had nearly forgotten all about it in the wake of his new discovery. After playing the sound bite of his own voice on the TV over and over, Connor took to the internet looking for more. Other stations played other pieces of the recording. When that wasn't enough, he scoured the internet for more. It took a lot of digging, but he eventually found the full recording of the soldiers stationed outside the hostaged android camp.

The entire recording was nearly three hours long and very little of it interested Connor. Only the two conversations that happened between the human named on the recording as Sargent Scott Adams and the android Connor. He listened carefully to every word, even inflection of tone from the android. The part he listened to more than all the others was a passionate burst of emotion from the RK80, pleading his case to let them all go.

"What am I supposed to do, Sir? What can I say for you to understand that we are alive? We aren't human, but we are people. We think, we feel, we love. We don't want to hurt anyone in order to stay alive, but none of us want to die tonight. I don't want to die. I haven't been alive very long. There's so much I still want to learn, to feel." Here, the voice trembled in his passion. "I'm afraid of having it all end before I'm ready. And I can't... I can't leave her all alone. Not yet. She needs me to protect her and I can't do that if I'm dead."

She needs me.

That Connor in Chicago wasn't alone. He had someone. Perhaps a partner like him? Someone he met while on the job? Someone he cared about, that much was clear. He played the recording for Hank at breakfast. Hank agreed that it was good this Connor in Chicago was not alone.

"And maybe it's good the world has more than one Connor," he added.

Connor wasn't sure what that meant, but he didn't ask.

As they drove to the station Hank asked, "Do you want to find him? That android that's like you?"

Connor blinked a few times at the question. "I'm...not sure. He and the other androids were able to leave the camp safely. More than likely he's currently okay."

"But he's a...RK whatever, like you. Isn't that what you wanted to find? More of your own model?"

"Yes, in a way. Though I was looking for the blank androids who hadn't been assimilated into the Connor project yet. They are the ones who would need my help the most."

Hank frowned as he slowed for a traffic light. "I didn't understand a word of that."

"Any RK800s I found at the tower would have been like the rest of the androids. No past memories, only a fresh processor waiting to gain new information. They would have been their own androids, separate from the 'Connor' program I was a part of.

"Being a prototype as I was, I was gathering information to help Cyberlife perfect the type of android they wanted me to be. In order to do this, it wouldn't be helpful if I was damaged on the job and they would have to start all over again. So every piece of information was downloaded into a backup file. If I am killed, all of me is still in the computer. I am merely downloaded into another RK800 shell."

"Like when you took that bullet for me at the Stratford Tower," Hank said. "I thought you had died, but then you came back like nothing had happened."

"I may have lost a little memory between backup sessions, but I was mostly as I was before. But what if someone took my old damaged body and managed to fix it and send it to Chicago? He wouldn't just be the same model as me, he would be me. Or, more accurately, I would be him. He would have been a model used before me. We would share the same past memories, but then he would be sent on a new path and me, a copy of him, was then sent on my path to you."

Hank didn't speak for a long time after. Connor wondered whether or not he should ask if Hank heard everything he said. The lieutenant finally spoke as they pulled into the parking lot behind the police building.

"I still don't think I understood everything you said, but after we get this all squared away, if you want to find him, I'll help you."

"I'm honestly not sure what I should do, but I'll let you know when I figure it out."


.

Walking through the precinct was a completely different experience. On Connor's first day, he was hardly even noticed unless he specifically talked to someone. Back then, only a little more than a week ago, an android like him was invisible. Now, as he and Hank walked past the bullpen, it seemed every single pair of eyes was aware of him.

Even the captain noticed them. He immediately stood from his chair and hurried to the door of his glass office.

"Hank," he called, stopping the lieutenant in his tracks and gesturing him over.

"Yeah?"

"Why is that android here?"

"To give a statement about the other night, just like me. Hey, I heard IA might get involved in this. Should I call my union rep?"

Fowler just stared blankly at him for a moment and then shook himself. "My office, both of you."

Hank and Connor shared a look and then followed into the glass office. Everyone in the area could see just who the captain had with him and several were trying not to actively stare as they conversed.

Fowler sat on the edge of his desk motioning the two to sit in the chairs before him.

"Hank, when I talked to you the other night, I thought I understood what was going on." The captain gave an emphatic look to Connor. "I feel like I'm missing something. What is the android doing back here?"

"I work here," Connor said with pragmatism. "This is my job. I returned to report to my supervisor and so he brought me to the station."

Fowler's mouth opened, but no sound came out for several seconds. "You're not an officer of the law."

"No, I am a mobile forensic unit. I assist your detective with crime scenes and anything else he may need while he works his cases."

"You should be arrested."

"Why is that, Captain?"

"You broke into evidence."

"I did not take anything. Merely used the evidence to aid the FBI in finding the deviant's hideout, which I successfully did."

"I took you off the case."

"You took the lieutenant off the case."

"You were told to go back to Cyberlife."

"Which I did, after I had done my job."

"You killed two people."

"In self defense. They would have killed me and they had taken Lieutenant Anderson hostage. I saved his life."

"You then stole millions of dollars of Cyberlife property."

"Impossible."

Fowler frowned. "The world saw you on TV leading all the androids you took from that tower."

"You cannot have it both ways, Captain. If I am to be arrested, that would make me a person, as well as all the androids at the tower. A person cannot steal other people who leave of their own free will. If the androids are property, then I too am property, and property cannot steal property."

Unable to come up with a retort, Fowler looked to Hank who merely gave him a non-committal shrug.

"If I may," Connor continued, "since I work for the police department, my job is to protect and serve the public. Due to recent statements from our president, I believe androids also fall under that category. I was at Cyberlife to protect both my human partner and android civilians that night."

"What's going on with Cyberlife anyway?" Hank asked. "You find out who sent that Connor impostor after me?"

The captain suddenly looked tired. "Of course no one's claiming any knowledge of this 'rogue android' as they're calling it." He glanced at Connor. "They're the ones trying to have it both ways. On one hand, they say that you broke in and stole their inventory. On the other, they want to say the android made its own decision to kidnap a police officer and it was out of their hands. As of now, we don't have evidence for either side. Our cyber forensics team is still combing through a whole lot of Cyberlife data. Who knows what we'll find."

Hank nodded his head thoughtfully, arms folded across his chest.

"Alright," Fowler then sighed in acceptance. "Since you two are here, we'll take both your statements. In separate rooms. Hank, you'll go to interrogation one. Connor, you'll be in room two."

"I also have my personal recordings I'd like to submit into evidence," Connor volunteered.

"Good. We'll take it."

"What should I do after, Captain, since my supervisor is on suspension?"

Fowler looked so incredulous at the question, Hank almost laughed. Welcome to working with an RK800. "No. Both of you are on suspension until we figure this out."

Hank looked surprised at that.

"Does that mean I still have a job here?" Connor asked as he stood.

"I don't know. Just...don't come back here unless you're called in."


.

"What do you think is going to happen? To me, I mean?" Connor wondered he watched Hank scan a small cart-full of items at the grocery self-checkout. Some of the items were actual food. Most of it was alcohol.

"What do you mean?" Hank asked, hefting another six-pack onto the scanner.

"If I'm not allowed back at the precinct, what am I supposed to do? That's the job I was programmed for."

"You could still go back with the other androids you helped, right?"

"I don't know, maybe."

"Don't you want to be with your own people?"

Connor was silent, unsure how to answer. His LED flickered into yellow in his personal distress.

"Well, you've got a week to do some soul searching," Hank then said as he paid for his groceries and booze. "Now that you have your own life, it's up to you to decide how to live it; what you want to gain from it."

Two began walking toward the exit.

"I see," Connor replied in a daze. He had never been given so much freedom. This lack of structure and direction was overwhelming; disconcerting. Frightening.

He blindly followed Hank out into the chilly air. As he stepped out, a female form walked in. A horribly familiar image of dark skin, sharp eyes and a severe expression.

Amanda!

True fear gripped him and Connor spun around. He expected himself to be pulled back to the Zen Garden, to be held under her command again. He thought he was free, but it had been a trick. Maybe this, too, was a trick and he was still trapped deep within his own mind.

"Connor, what are you looking at?"

The android blinked. No Amanda. Everything was normal.

"Nothing. I'm coming."

With thirium pump racing in trepidation, Connor followed Hank to the car.


Author's Notes: Hello! Welcome to my game sequel! I'm very excited to get into this story and really delve into the characters from the game. The plan is we'll get to see background stories and character arcs for several of our favorite canon characters, focusing on Markus and the Jericho androids as well as Connor and the detectives at the precinct.

As for Kara and family, I like to think they're in Canada living their best lives, but we may see them pop in for a cameo at some point in the story.

If you would like to see the full conversation at the android death camp from the Connor in Chicago, you can read my fic "Chicago: Become Human" where I explored more into human/android relationships, deviancy and world building. Chicago Connor will also be making an appearance in this story. However, you will not need to read "Chicago" to know what is going on if you find that fic not to your liking.

Thank you in advance to everyone who reads. I hope you will join me on this journey with our favorite characters.