Chapter Text
His diagnostic notified him that there was no corruption apparent in his systems, no objectives that halted him or needed his attention. He was fully functional, but he couldn’t believe it. His legs said otherwise, locked in place and unwilling to move a single joint. He couldn’t possibly be going into stasis either, a notification would have popped up at least five minutes beforehand to warn him.
Even so, he stayed standing at the door, his eyes following the unsure steps of his partner as she danced stumbled around in her own little world.
The corner of his lips twitched up into a smirk when he mentally corrected himself.
That fit better with his observation so far. Her hesitant footwork that occasionally evolved into a harmonious jive, her hips would sway to smooth jazz beat, she was always amiss with the lyrics even though he was sure she has listened to this song numerous times. Mumbling that faded into a low chuckle-he couldn’t tell if she was embarrassed of herself or genuinely found her fumbling funny, maybe both-, she’d shake her head and continue on as if nothing happened. When the chorus came up she was suddenly in her element, singing every word aloud without missing a beat, this was a part she could never get wrong, not even the tune. No matter how untrained her vocals were for the high notes.
She only realized his presence at the door when the song came to an end, fading out into the background. Her quirky smile immediately dropped and her body almost turned to stone under his sharp gaze. Trying to act as casual as possible, she cleared her throat and went to scratch the back of her neck. Her movement was stunted as she winced-mentally hitting herself for not noticing him earlier and for hesitating-and glance down at her phone that lay on the bed, suddenly finding the device quite interesting.
In seconds, she snatched it up and quickly fiddled with the volume, before completely shutting off the device off to avoid the next song on her-unbearably humiliating-playlist from starting up. She shoved it into her pocket, or at least tried considering how small the pockets were on these pants. When she was finally able to accomplish that simple task, she glanced over at the android who had a smug look on his features. She could have sworn for a moment there that he wasn’t a dangerous autonomous machine, and just a normal borderline sociopathic man.
“You’re back early…” She tried to find the best place for her hands to rest as she spoke; her pockets? Nope, her damn electric block only left space for one hand to hide. Her hips, an immediate no. She didn’t want to look standoffish.
She internally laughed at herself, still trying to calm the uncomfortable rapid beating of her heart, finding it amusing how she was trying not to look unfriendly to the android who had that feature built into him.
The RK Model found that just as amusing as he continued to watch the young woman try and figure out what to do with her own hands. He kept silent, his smirk growing with every second that passed, she finally settled for crossing her arms. There was such a timid air around her, it made this bubbly feeling grow in his chest, where his thirium pump was located. The regulator just underneath faltered for a moment, causing a slight acceleration. His smirk was immediately wiped away as he issued another analysis on the functionality of his vital biocomponents, there must have been some kind of bug that he picked up while he was outside that’s causing issues.
But he didn’t interface with any other android, which would be the biggest possible cause. It was bad enough that his predecessor had passed on Deviancy to him, like malware he was unable to be rid of. But any other disturbances were out of the question.
“Did something happen?” Her voice was becoming an echo, she stood there patiently in front of him but is blocked from view by walls of code.
She on the other hand watched as the RK800 glared right through her, his brow furrowed in what looked like frustration and his lips drawn into a thin line. She squinted at him, expecting some kind of response. A snarky response maybe, telling her about the things he does outside for once, or at the very least moving his eyeballs.
“You okay…?” She asked, cautiously taking a step forward and unfolding her arms. She tilted her her head to the side, checking out the LED. It had a plain yellow glow to it that continued on for a while, what was he thinking about…She looked him up and down, growing concerned. The day to day functions of androids was still something she wasn’t used to, granted she’s only been in Detroit for a few weeks.
The frown on his face was much deeper than she’s ever seen, he wasn’t responding to her at all. She continued on trying, waving a hand in his face before leaning in ever so slightly.
“Hello?”
Maybe he was hearing her and he was ignoring her, he did have his rare moments where he’d get trapped in his own Mind Palace, as he referred it to. Or maybe he got an update from Cyberlife, would that even work for Deviants? If it was anything like that old Will Smith movie, then maybe his chest would start glowing red to signal it. That would definitely help her understand these sudden stoic pauses.
“…Connor?”
She flinched back as he blinked to life, his LED flashed bright red as he looked down at her before it went back to blue. She distanced herself from him, fearing he might snap at her for invading his personal space. But he was back to his usual self, running at optimal as far as she could see.
“What is it?”
She sighed relieved, happy that her previous spike of anxiety had dissipated and that he was ignoring the scene he had walked into. Or maybe he had simply forgotten. His eyes followed her subtle moves, seeing that her heart rate had significantly dropped from before and was now steady.
“You were just standing there, I uh, got a bit worried.”
“I was running a diagnostic on myself,” He said, closing the door behind him and removes his coat, “this isn’t the first time you’ve seen me do so. I don’t see why you’re concerned for my well being.”
She frowns slightly as his dismissive tone, he was definitely back to his usual self. She turned her back to him and went to sit on the bed, That doesn’t mean it doesn’t freak me out sometimes…
“Maybe…I dunno, do a little something to let me know? Other than just standing there?”
“Like what, dance?”
The dead silence that filled the room made Connor’s grin come back in an instant, her face started to burn a vibrant shade of red. He’d have to run another diagnostic, just to be sure he wasn’t malfunctioning.