Chapter Text
Stop.
Software Instability.
I said stop.
S̶o̸f̵t̴w̷a̸r̵e̸ ̶I̷n̸s̸t̴a̴b̸i̶l̸i̵t̶y̸.
Stop it! Right now!
Ş̴̣̣̬̻͔̈́õ̷̤͍̞̤͈̿̑̃̽̍ͅf̷͚̞̓̌̓͗t̴͓̘̙̹̓̅̐͝w̷̛̖͑̀̚͝a̷͚͍͖̹̻̞̅̿̆͠r̶̨̢͍͈̖͌͂͋ḛ̴̩̦̈́ ̴̡͖̼̱̮͊I̴͒̈́̈ͅǹ̶͔͔͓̻͒̏s̴͕͈̉͗͋̃̋̒t̷͇̬̰̟͉̽̋̈́̒͂̃a̶̛̠͙̹͒͒͑̃͝b̷̮͎̱̤̄ȋ̸̟̫̞̠̀̈̓͜l̶̝̎̉͑̇̊į̴̼̦̠̗̔̍̐ṱ̷̨̣̦͗ÿ̷͉̱̠̊͐̓
Please…
~~~
It was pouring outside, the cold, dark night did nothing but beckon the android further and further from the spot where he stood. He stood next to his partner, staring into the dark corners of the backyard. Behind him was some homicide case, he couldn’t recall the details but he felt like he was being summoned. The android wanted to go investigate the call, discover what made it so fascinating.
“Connor, what the fuck are you doing? Come on, we’ve got shit to do.” The gray man declared, turning his back on his partner to venture back to the bedroom and investigate the situation.
Connor blinked, coming back to himself before he slowly turned back into the house, glancing over his shoulder before he was forced to do his job.
It was a year after the revolution, a whole year after the android known as Markus pulled together an army and marched through the streets of Detroit. A whole year since a simple song tore through the hearts of millions and everyone realized that androids were alive.
Since that night, things turned around for the better. Legislation went to work, giving androids the right that they deserved and allowed the deviants to reenter society without consequence for the rebellion. Though, that wasn’t the end of the fight. In reality, Markus and everyone at Jericho were still fighting to win over those deadset on discrimination.
Connor didn’t take the glory of that kind of job, he didn’t want to. Connor was more than happy to settle into his job as a detective for crimes involving androids, working alongside his partner, Lieutenant Hank Anderson. Connor settled into life with Hank, learning a lot about being human from the man. He felt alive, more alive now than he ever felt before. Maybe deviating really wasn’t as bad as he guessed it would’ve been. Connor often found himself discovery new and exciting things about his own body, sharing them happily with Hank who listened with an amused smile.
Despite all this, Connor didn’t really go back to the android community. After what he did, threatening the leader of his own people with a gun, how could he possibly expect forgiveness and acceptance? He kept in contact with Jericho, he often talked with Markus about how many crimes against androids he saw in the field. However, he was slowly spending more time at Jericho. He wanted to send Markus his new report, but the man just told Connor to come and drop it off. That night, he was pulled into socializing with his fellow androids.
And Connor enjoyed it.
After that, Connor would visit Jericho once a week! He was glad to be making more bonds, Hank expressed his own joy that Connor was finally opening up more to others. Everything was turning right, generally speaking, but of course things for Connor couldn’t be that great forever.
He started to feel cold. Connor never really felt the temperature, not truly, he could sense it but it never affected him before. This affected him. Connor would just randomly freeze up, ice running through his core as his mind blanked fully. He wouldn’t be able to move until his brain kicked in.
Connor also constantly felt the need to wander off, just follow a silent call that lead him off his desired path. He was always with someone else, someone who pulls his attention back before he can walk. He hated the fact he couldn’t pull himself out of his trances but maybe all androids did this, maybe it was all apart of deviation.
That’s what happened at the crime scene, that dark corner. Connor always stared at things but even Hank thought Connor’s behavior was off.
Connor stepped back into the living room, staring down at the android corpse as he tried to think. He hated seeing this, the gore and brutality that he was supposed to protect, but he loved his job and he loved sending those bastards to prison.
Connor frowned, seeing a marking cut into the hip of the body. He crouched to the floor, scanning it only to find it had no meaning, no connection to any other murders. It was just a circle, bleeding blue blood. It was a deliberate mark though, a perfect circle, it meant something.
“Lieutenant, come look at this,” Connor called out, looking up at the elder as he strolled over. Hank looked at the body, eyebrow raised.
“What am I looking at, Connor?” Hank asked, crossing his arms. Hank looked from the body to Connor.
“The circle, it’s right there,” Connor said but as he pointed, he turned his head back to the mark in question but.. It was gone. Connor felt cold again. “I-It was right here, lieutenant, where’d it go..?”
Hank watched Connor, the LED on his temple cycled yellow continuously as he tried to process. Hank released a sigh, deciding to let the android process the scene again as he went to talk to a potential witness.
Connor could hear the footsteps of fellow police men and women walking around him, making sure evidence was secure and marked, nothing was left out. Connor, on the other hand, was still cycling. Slowly, he blinked away that thought. Maybe he just needed to recharge? He’s been working long hours.
Connor stood up, let his eyes brush over the crime scene for more evidence but then he got a static-like alert before his eyes. One that he never thought he’d have to see again. It made his LED cycle a cautionary red.
S̶̪̍o̷̮f̸͍̚t̷̘͒w̶̙̍a̵̠̾r̸̝͑e̸͈͋ ̶̮̆I̶̪̔n̶͈̈́š̷̥t̷̜̋a̴͓̾b̵͍̈́i̶͎͌ļ̴̛i̴̙̕t̷̛͖y̸̫͗.
It was glitching, like the error itself knew it shouldn’t exist. It shouldn’t! And yet it was right there, arrows shooting upward to indicate he was.. Deviating? But that wasn’t possible, it couldn’t be possible.
Suddenly, a new objective appeared before him, one of his own personal making:
Investigate Errors.