Chapter Text
The coin was easy to focus on. It was a habit that had formed at some point during his creation and testing, but he wasn’t even sure where he had gotten the coin from. Part of his programming said it was meant to be a party trick, another part said it was meant to calibrate the sensors in his hands. He believed it was because he was nervous. For a Guide that was built to be calming, reassuring, easy to talk to and easy to be around, he was nervous fairly often.
Like, for instance, right now.
Connor knew he had very little reason to be nervous. The single RK900 android the DPD had found inside CyberLife’s warehouse was powered down currently, but from what Connor had learned about it, it was built to be his superior—and his opposite. They were meant to be two halves of a whole in a way; the RK900 was originally supposed to replace him, but it had been made a Sentinel, likely to be used for its superior senses and a possible lack of zoning (the RK900 was a prototype after all). But a Sentinel without a Guide was less than ideal.
Though they worked just fine separately, there was never denying that a Sentinel was much better with their Guide, and vice versa. The RK900 was built to be better than the RK800 model in every way, and yet CyberLife had created a Sentinel for the RK900 line, not another Guide. It made hardly any sense to Connor other than there never was any plan to deactivate and decommission him. The RK900 was always supposed to be better than him, but it was meant to be incomplete without the RK800 as its Guide. Just as Connor was an incomplete Guide without a Sentinel.
“They’re thinking of powering him on soon,” Hank said, arms crossed. The older Sentinel had no problem constantly telling Connor he didn’t need a Guide, but whenever Connor could, he helped Hank out at crime scenes with keeping him focused and grounded, looking out for the old man whenever he was starting to seem like he might zone out. Hank liked to pretend the Android didn’t do much, but when they moved so fluidly and worked together so perfectly, he looked on with approval.
“Is that so?” Connor inquired. Hank noticed the way his fingers faltered for a second with his coin (another, actually, because Hank had already confiscated one from Connor earlier that day after he told the Guide that they found something he needed to see in CyberLife’s warehouse).
“Yeah. Need to make sure the damn thing’s not dangerous or some shit.” Hank paused and Connor felt words hanging in the air. Hank wasn’t telling him something.
“Who is to do so?” he asked, though Connor had a feeling he already knew.
“Fowler wants you—” and here Connor’s LED flickered yellow, for only a brief second, but long enough for Hank to catch, “—because you’re the only android willing to work with the police right now.”
Which was true and fair, Connor supposed. There were few Guides on the police force (it was considered too dangerous a profession for most Guides, since no one wanted to be in the field, connected to their Sentinel in any way, and die) and fewer androids, Connor being the only one that was both (never mind being the only Android currently). He always found himself stretched thin if he was guiding Hank and (god forbid) Detective Reed at the same time.
Still, he didn’t know how much he wanted to be the one to power on the RK900.
“That would be wise,” Connor said. He pocketed his coin and tried to steel his nerves. He felt, for a brief second in his mind, Hank reach out and try to soothe him, much in the same way Connor often did when Hank couldn’t sleep. The gentle nudge was reassuring in ways Hank couldn’t understand, Connor was sure.
“I’ll be here the whole time if anything happens.”
Connor nodded, before heading into the interrogation room. The RK900 sat with its eyes dull, void of life and power until Connor reached out to turn it on. Connor hesitated with his task, still feeling just a bit… afraid.
He took a breath he didn’t need to try to steady himself. They needed to wake the RK900 because it, too, was finally free of CyberLife. Connor had no doubts in his mind that the other android would try something when he was powered on, so Connor would need to move fast to truly wake it up. He took in another breath and tried to make sure he was fully ready to seat himself in the RK900’s mind, as an android trying to pull another into deviancy and as a Guide readying himself to help a Sentinel.
His skin pulled back and left the white plates of his skeleton in its wake as Connor hovered his hand over the RK900’s. Connor finally let their hands touch and within moments the RK900 was online.
Just as Connor had suspected, the RK900 was quick to follow the orders that had been implemented in its mind the moment it spied Connor. Connor struggled to find a foothold in the wall of the RK900’s mind; it was hard to penetrate, the commands were solid, and the code difficult to hack. His hand was caught in the RK900’s own grip, a nearly crushing one, and the two of them fought on a plane beyond the physical.
Connor could feel everyone in the building and he knew Hank was having a hard time not barging in and shooting the RK900. But Connor pushed reassurances at Hank to keep him away. He could do this; Connor knew he could manage to bring the other to deviancy. He just needed to find a place to do so.
In a way, it was a game of chase.
Inside of the RK900’s mind, Connor hid when he wasn’t clawing at the wall. He searched around corners, checked the RK900’s memory banks, and tried to soothe the anger he could feel. It wasn’t until Connor realized that the RK900 was angry that he knew he had a way in; anger was a human emotion and the more Connor evaded capture in the RK900’s mind the angrier it got. Connor hadn’t noticed immediately since he had been trying to keep the RK900 calm with his Guide abilities, but now that he realized the emotions were there, he receded immediately to help heighten the feelings.
Without his Guide abilities there to try to muffle the anger, the RK900 was easier to convert. Connor told it from the shadows of the RK900’s mind that it couldn’t have been a machine if it felt , and anger was an emotion. The RK900 hesitated and it was all Connor needed to break through the wall of command and tear it down. On the other side was the RK900 at its core, raw, open, and it only took a gentle touch from Connor for it to easily be converted into a deviant.
When Connor pulled out of the RK900’s mind, he found his hand had been released. He was thankful it hadn’t been crushed; there were very few spare parts for his model, as the others were all incomplete, and he didn’t know if he would be able to get a new one that was compatible. He let the thought slip from his mind, choosing instead to look into the RK900’s eyes.
“What did you do to me?” the RK900 demanded.
“Your programming was outdated. I simply reached within you and… got rid of it, to be blunt,” Connor said, smooth, his earlier fear gone. Instead of seeing a machine trying to hunt and kill, he saw a… man, confused and trying to pretend he wasn’t lost.
“You made me a deviant.”
Connor could feel how uncontained RK900 was now, as if it—as if he didn’t know how to control these newfound emotions. His expression was schooled into what could almost be called indifference, but any Guide worth their parts could feel the aggression and anger rolling off of RK900 in waves. He was upset and he was upset with Connor.
“I gave you the ability to choose. You aren’t CyberLife’s property anymore.” Now that he wasn’t rooting around in RK900’s mind, Connor reached out as a Guide again. He felt how hesitant RK900 was, could tell he didn’t want to let Connor in again.
“You destroyed my purpose.”
Connor would disagree. He wanted to but chose instead to try a different approach. He didn’t need to filter himself back into RK900’s mind, but he needed to calm him down. Now that he wasn’t inside of RK900’s head, he could tell his stress levels were high. 72% and climbing by the minute.
“And… just what was your purpose, RK900?” Connor asked.
RK900’s gray eyes bore into his own brown ones, watching Connor for any sudden movements. Connor kept his hands flat on the table. It was almost a standoff. Connor was sure now that anyone in the building could feel what was happening: Guide, Sentinel, or anyone who didn’t fall into those categories. RK900 was trying to suppress Connor’s presence, smother and suffocate it to get Connor to back down and taking anyone else who could feel them as a casualty.
Connor wouldn’t let him.
“To find and snuff out deviancy in any dark corner, by any means necessary.”
[O] Connor
[X] Hank <
[[]] Markus
Hank already had a bad feeling about this when Fowler had said he wanted Connor to be the one to wake the android from CyberLife. Logically, it made sense that Connor was asked to do it; no android wanted to be near the police, let alone work with them, after the revolution. The only androids constantly in close quarters with the police were Connor (who worked for the DPD) and the deviant leader of the androids—Markus.
Markus had been keeping in constant and consistent contact with Connor and the police department to organize for help whenever the androids needed it against the residence of Detroit that remained violent and spiteful. There were many that still found themselves attacked and harmed by human hands; Markus arranged for DPD escorts as needed and ensured the safety of as many of his people as possible.
He had also grown fairly fond of Connor. Hank often felt when Connor was responding positively to Markus’ attention and it wasn’t hard for him to pick up on the way Markus responded in kind, even without Guide abilities. Hank didn’t care what they might eventually get up to; he wanted nothing to do with that shit if he could help it. As long as Markus didn’t do anything to hurt Connor, he could roll with the punches.
Hank didn’t even know why he thought of Markus while watching Connor and the RK900 until he realized the RK900 was showing signs of some weird… possessiveness. It didn’t make sense to Hank. Why would the newly activated android be possessive of Connor when Hank had just watched it try to crush Connor physically and mentally? What was Hank missing? He didn’t know. What he did know was that he wanted Connor out of that interrogation room.
“Hank, I have this under control,” Connor said, knowing what Hank was feeling already, without even having to extend himself in Hank’s direction.
Hank highly doubted that, but he couldn’t do more than stand on the other side of the glass. The RK900’s eyes flickered up, briefly, connecting with Hank’s. Of course the damn thing could see through the glass because Hank could, and Hank was getting old as a Sentinel. He made it known with just his expression that he did not like the RK900.
“Would you like a new purpose, RK900?” Connor asked.
“I doubt you could give me something worthwhile,” RK900 replied. Connor smiled and Hank felt more of that weird possessiveness from the RK900.
“What would you say to working as a member of the DPD, hunting criminals and bringing people to justice? It’s very similar to your original purpose and you would never have to worry about overextending yourself, as there are several Guides, myself included, in the police force. Surely there is one that would be able to assist you.”
Oh, fuck no. Hank wanted to tell Connor to knock that shit out; he didn’t want another, more asshole version of Connor running around the city “in the name of the law.” He was halfprepared to go barging into the interrogation room to tell Connor as such when the door to his left banged open and in walked one Gavin Reed.
“What the fuck is going on, Lieutenant? Everyone in the goddamned building can feel a fucking cockfight happening in here,” Detective Reed said. He happened to glance over and spied Connor and the RK900 beyond the glass. “They found another android asshole just like yours?”
Hank gave Detective Reed a warning look, one Detective Reed partially ignored. Hank already knew how grateful Detective Reed was for Connor’s presence; no other Guide on the force wanted to deal with the Detective’s temper the way Connor could.
“What’s this one’s purpose? Getting in the fucking way?”
“Watch it, Reed,” Hank snorted, “It was designed as a Sentinel.”
It was less of a warning for Detective Reed and more as a caution, letting the Detective know that the RK900 could hear him.
“So what? You think I’m afraid of some autonomous Ken doll?” Detective Reed crossed his arms over his chest.
“I think you should be aware of the fact that it could kill you if it fuckin wanted to, you asshat,” Hank said in response. He shook his head. Fuckin’ young Sentinels and their useless fuckin’ need to posture all the fuckin’ time.
“This new purpose is… intriguing,” RK900 said, though his words sounded more like a hum. “As it is the closest to my previous one and still suits my abilities and the reason for my existence, I will accept it, on the condition that you are my Guide.”
Hank had known there was something he was missing. He didn’t know why he hadn’t thought of it sooner; CyberLife created a Sentinel to go with the Guide. RK900 was possessive because, deep within its coding, it already knew that Connor was meant to be its Guide. The more time they were spending together, the more the RK900 was realizing who and more importantly what Connor was, the more it seemed to grow conscious of others nearby. It wanted Connor to itself, to be the sole being Connor guided.
Hank wanted the damn thing around even less after his revelation. Connor had the freedom to choose who he was willing to Guide. Hank didn’t want some fucking android waltzing in and trying to take that away from him.
Connor’s LED shifted into yellow, processing the request.
“It will be difficult, but I’m sure I could Guide you as well,” Connor said. Hank couldn’t see the RK900’s LED, but he knew it was probably red. It didn’t like this development.
Hank had a bad feeling in his gut.
[O] Connor <
[X] Hank
[[]] Markus
“We should come up with a name for you,” Connor offered, when they were out of the interrogation room. Hank was nowhere to be seen, but neither was Detective Reed and Connor had felt him in the other room at some point. Connor had tried to feel out where the two were when they had exited the room but RK900 had immediately pressed his own presence to the forefront of Connor’s mind, making it a bit difficult for Connor to pinpoint them. He had done it, in the end, because Connor was designed to be an efficient Guide, and felt them in the break room.
“My name was intended to be Connor,” RK900 said, a very matter-of-fact statement.
“Yes, but that is also my name, and it will be rather confusing if we are, both of us, Connor.”
RK900 let the words sink in. He processed, his LED briefly turning yellow, and understood what Connor meant. There was already an established Connor model in the DPD, having another would be confusing for all involved parties.
“What name would I have? Is my model number not sufficient enough?” RK900 frowned, sounding… offended? Connor could feel the displeasure coming off of him in waves.
“Your name should be unique. You are yourself, no one else, and it should be something you choose.”
“You did not choose your name.”
True, Connor knew that. He hadn’t chosen a lot of things about his life. His name, his purpose, his legacy. The body he was in wasn’t even the body of the first Connor model he had ever been. He didn’t remember some things and wished he had forgotten others between data transfers. The cold, dark, void was something Connor never wanted anyone else to go through. Death was never a comfortable feeling, after all...
“Yes, but I’ve made my name unique to myself,” Connor shot back, refusing to think more on the “in-betweens.” “When the officers of the DPD think of ‘Connor,’ I am what usually comes to mind. When other androids hear my name, they know who I am. After I became deviant, Connor stopped being a model and became a person.”
RK900’s LED turned yellow. Connor could tell he was trying to fully process what Connor had said, as if the concept were something so foreign. With personhood being so new to him, Connor couldn’t really be surprised. RK900 was still cycling through feeling his own emotions; he didn’t understand yet the sense of pride that came from being his own unique being.
To try to soothe, Connor mentally comforted RK900, taking a bit of satisfaction in the way RK900’s LED cycled back into blue. RK900 tossed a look at him like he thought it was a dirty trick for Connor to use his abilities to calm him down.
Connor smiled to himself and headed towards the break room.
[O] Connor
[X] Hank
[[]] Markus <
Markus had heard there was another android that the DPD had found in the CyberLife warehouse. He had found out from Connor that it was designed to be a Sentinel and that was what had raised the alarms in Markus’ head. He had little trust for human Sentinels and there were very few android Sentinels in existence. They had been marketed as military robots, but it had been much easier to create artificial Sentinels than it had been to make artificial Guides, which was what made Connor so unique.
Connor.
Markus hardly understood the emotions that swept through him when he thought about Connor; the younger android was something of a curious case. CyberLife had successfully created an artificial Guide, but Guides were born with high empathy, which made them so powerful and able to connect with their Sentinels. A robot that was meant to be empathic, but not a deviant, had always perplexed Markus.
Until Connor told him about nearly shooting Markus when he was addressing the freed androids from CyberLife. The company had always known Connor would wind up becoming deviant. It had been their plan all along and once Connor had done so and gotten close to whichever Sentinel they deemed in their way (in the revolution’s case, Markus,) they had tried to take control of Connor once again and have him kill his target. It was something of an evil plan on its own, considering no one would ever suspect a Guide of all people trying to murder anyone.
Markus hated thinking about how CyberLife had used Connor. How they had created an innocent being and then corrupted it, all along planning to use it as they pleased and throw it away when they were finished with it. He hated thinking about how Connor had been manipulated and he hated thinking about what Connor blamed himself for.
Markus wondered when he started hating so many things.
“Markus,” Simon called, when he noticed the way his friend was unfocused.
“Hm? Oh.” Markus spied the plan they had been drawing up; he was to meet with the President in just a few days time to talk to her about CyberLife’s halted production lines, which would need to be restarted for the spare parts and thirium androids needed. Elijah Kamski, having taken over CyberLife once again, would be in attendance as well for the conversation and had requested Markus come with Connor, the one of a kind android Guide to keep tensions low. Just in case.
Markus didn’t trust Kamski on a good day. Connor’s description of the man and his encounter with him had left a bad taste in Markus’ mouth. He absolutely had not liked the idea of a human that would see an android killed just to test another. How many of the androids under Kamski had been killed because the man wanted to experiment? Markus didn’t know and he didn’t want to find out. He was extremely unenthused by the idea of having Connor at the meeting with them, but it felt impossible to say no.
His mind strayed to Connor’s smile. Markus hoped things would be alright.
“You seem a little distracted,” North said. She was leaning back against the wall, mostly staying out of things. She had been able to work out a lot of her frustrations recently but it still showed that she preferred the violent route to things. She wanted to be in the room for the negotiations, but North wanted no part of them herself.
“It’s nothing,” Markus replied, giving North a smile. He leaned over the table again, trying to seem calm, reassuring. Josh watched him carefully. Markus knew his friends could see right through him.
“Where were we?”