Chapter Text
“I’ve been ordered to take you alive,” a voice said. Markus slowly turned around, brow furrowed.
“But I won’t hesitate to shoot if you give me no choice.”
“What are you doing?” Markus took slow steps forwards, eyes on the gun in the man’s hands.
”You are one of us... You can’t betray your own people.” There was a flicker of something on the android’s face.
Program Instability
It quickly disappeared as he spoke again.
“You’re coming with me,” he said, louder this time. Markus slowed to a halt in front of him.
“You’re Connor, aren’t you?” Connor’s eyes narrowed, ever so slightly.
”That famous deviant hunter.” Markus gave him a once over, tilting his head to the side.
”Well, congratulations. You seem to have found what you were looking for.” Connor said nothing, jaw tightening as Markus grew even closer.
”Do you never have any doubts? You’ve never done something... irrational, as if there’s something inside you?”
Program Instability
“Something more than your program?” Markus suddenly wished he could see Connor’s LED, wondered if it would be glowing red in the dark of Jericho.
Connor’s finger fell to the trigger.
“Markus, what-” Josh was standing in one of the doorless entrances, and his mouth stayed open at the scene before him. Connor, eyes wide, turned to look at Josh.
Markus made his move, clearing the rest of the way across the room to Connor and grabbing one of his arms.
Connor glanced back and Markus nearly flinched. Connor’s eyes were dilated and seem to pull him in.
Program Instability
Josh moved before it was too late and grabbed Connor’s other arm, the two men wrestling the gun out of his hands.
”Okay. What now?” Markus looked at Josh, who was breathing heavily.
”Take his gun with you... I can handle him for now, but I need you to get North and tell her to get up here and bring something to restrain him.” Josh nodded and slowly let go of Connor, putting the gun in his pocket and standing up. He backed out, eyes on Connor the whole time.
After he was gone, the room was silent.
Connor was unmoving, not struggling in Markus’ grip as he sat him down on the floor.
Markus sighed. He looked at Connor’s blank face, showing no emotion.
Connor tilted his head, glancing from Markus to the doorway.
North walked into the room with spare strips of metal in her hands. She gave them to Markus and took over the job of holding Connor down while he bent the metal pieces into makeshift handcuffs.
As Markus worked, North stared at Connor. The android avoided her gaze.
”This is the deviant hunter?”
”Hm?” Markus looked over at North.
”Oh, yes.” North gritted her teeth and pulled a gun out, standing up and aiming it at Connor’s head at nearly point blank.
Connor looked at her from his seated position on the floor and blinked, expression still unmoving. Markus frowned.
”North, what are you doing?” North looked at Markus with wide eyes.
”Are you fucking kidding me? He’s a danger to our entire cause!” Connor saw down the barrel of the gun and tilted his head.
”North, please put the gun down,” Markus said, finishing the work on Connor’s restraints and standing up.
”He isn’t going to hurt anyone now, okay? Josh took his gun and he’s surrounded by people who would take him down immediately.” North continued staring at Connor.
”North? North.” Markus put a hand on her shoulder. After a few moments, North sighed, slowly lowering her gun.
”Whatever.”
Josh walked back into the room and the three deviants stood around Connor, who was looking up at Markus.
”Take his coat and hat off,” Markus instructed, making eye contact with Connor.
Josh crouched down and started to pull Connor’s coat off, ripping through it where it couldn’t be removed due to the restraints. He set the cloth aside.
North’s jaw was set in a scowl as she ripped his hat off, his flickering blue LED becoming visible for them.
Connor had been wearing his uniform under his disguise. The electric-blue triangles on his front and back made North’s eyes narrow further.
”Fucking CyberLife. I hope you’re happy, Connor, because you’ve just become a prisoner of war,” she growled. Josh looked at Markus with widened eyes and a stutter.
”M-Markus-”
”This isn’t a war, North. It’s a protest.” North stepped towards him, stepping over Connor’s legs.
”Yeah? What about Simon, huh? Was he just a casualty from a protest, or was he killed by humans?” Connor’s LED flickered yellow for a brief moment, mind palace showing images of the dead android from the radio tower.
”Simon’s death was a huge loss to all of us, but that doesn’t mean killing humans left and right is at all what we should be doing! If anything, it’s more proof that-”
”You’re just afraid of a confrontation! You don’t have enough of a spine to lead a revolution that will succeed! Oh, I’m sorry, you thought your little fucking symbols on park benches and your chants about equality were actually making a difference?” Markus took a step back, shoulders tensed.
“The humans don’t fucking want ‘equality,’ they want slaves they can control,” North hissed, fists clenched by her sides. Markus took another step backwards.
”North, please, I’m doing the best I can and we-” North gritted her teeth.
”No, there is no ‘we,’ fuck you. Either we actually do something, or I’m going to do this all by myself.”
Markus nodded slowly.
”I... We have a plan to act soon, you know that. I can- I can try to make some compromises with you, but we should do it, ah...” Markus tilted his head towards Connor.
”...In a place where less people are listening in. Alright?” North slowly unclenched her fists, taking deep breaths.
”Yeah. Fine, just- I don’t want to be around this fucking thing, we need to keep him somewhere.”
Josh spoke up, eyes wide.
Connor looked at him, a bar appearing in his mind palace.
48% - LEVEL OF STRESS
“I- I can look for a place to keep him,” Josh said quickly, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet.
Markus nodded, and North took a step towards Josh.
”Yeah, just don’t take him yet, I want to ask him a few... questions.” Josh nodded and sprinted out of the room.
”I thought you didn’t want to be around him,” Markus said softly. North rolled her eyes.
”I don’t, but getting something out of him would be helpful. I just don’t like how he’s...” North looked down at Connor, who had been scanning the room but immediately locked eyes with her.
”...Always watching. It creeps me the hell out. It’s not- Not even androids do that.” Markus crouched down, arms resting on his knees.
”So, is there anything you want to tell us?” Connor continued staring at North.
”You must be aware that I was designed to interrogate others myself, and that I’m familiar with most- if not all- methods of interrogation, yes?” North’s muscles tensed up and she reached for her gun but Markus shook his head, sighing.
”No, he- he isn’t afraid of death, North.” North stared up at the ceiling, crossing her arms, biting the inside of her mouth.
”I know, but there’s no point in keeping him alive, he’s not going to tell us anything. He’s no good as a hostage either because I’m sure CyberLife can make as many RK800s as they like.” Connor’s LED flickered.
“If anything, we can use him for spare parts,” Markus said, standing up and looking at North, brow furrowed.
North shrugged, reaching down to pick Connor up by the back of his shirt collar. She got him into a standing position and let go, pulling her gun out again to point at his head.
”I’m sure Josh has found a place by now,” she laughed, LED going yellow for a few seconds.
Silence.
”So, uhh... How should we do this, Markus? Should we be discreet, should we tell Jericho who he is, or...” Markus headed for the exit.
”I’m not sure that we should tell them. It could incite a panic.” North nodded, but Connor saw her hands tighten around her gun.
”So... no gun? Just walk him through?” Markus shrugged, looking back at the two as North walked Connor forward.
”Sure,” Markus said, pulling off his coat.
He put it on Connor, hiding his bound arms and uniform as well as it could, though the sleeves lay flat. North raised an eyebrow and Markus shrugged again.
”He’ll be fine without a hat.”
North put her gun away and took steps forward as Markus met Josh at the bottom in the main area.
Connor walked in front of her, head still held at it’s normal level, no slouching visible. North frowned.
Markus patted Josh’s arm and the man walked away, North and Connor approaching.
”Alright, Josh found an unused room, I’ll take you guys there.” They made their way through the crowd, Connor looking at the faces of the androids around them from between Markus and North.
Finally, in a less crowded area, Markus reached for a rusty door, turning the handle slowly as it made horrible screeching noises. The door opened and creaked as it did so, a dark room the size of a small storage closet lit with some light from the fires of the main room and holes in the building. Markus moved out of the way after pulling his coat off of Connor’s shoulders and North pushed Connor inside the room, smirking as he tripped slightly on wooden planks by the entrance.
North followed him and inspected the place herself.
”Yep. No holes or other doors, it’s good.” Markus nodded and North made her way out, shooting Connor a wide smile as she shut the door, turning the wheel back to lock it.
With a loud noise, Connor was plunged into darkness.