Chapter Text
The first time Connor encountered the wall in his code was in Carlos Ortiz’s attic. He’d followed the trail of thirium that was invisible to the humans and pulled himself up into the small cluttered room. It didn’t take him long before he found what he was looking for.
DEVIANT LOCATED
“I was just defending myself…” the android said, its voice shaking.
Connor didn’t reply. In a matter of seconds he could pre-construct dozens of different scenarios that would have led to the victim being incapacitated rather than dead. Twenty-eight stab wounds was more than self defense.
“He was gonna kill me.” The android's voice was still unsteady. “I’m begging you, don’t tell them.”
Connor took in the appearance of the android in front of him, covered in both thirium and blood; he’d been so damaged badly that his synthetic skin hadn’t been able to repair itself. The android looked genuinely scared, its LED a persistent red. It may not have been self-defense, but Connor felt a slight twinge of sympathy. There was the slightest pause where he almost considered its request… but in that moment a flash of red filled his vision, rooting him in place and pushing him to complete his mission..
“Connor, what the fuck is going on up there?” Hank’s voice drifted up into the attic.
“It’s here, Lieutenant!” There was no hesitation in his answer.
“Holy shit! Chris, Ben, get your asses in here right now.”
MISSION SUCCESSFUL
Connor was content as the text flashed across his vision.
* * *
The second time that Connor encountered the wall in his code was on a rooftop. He broke through it because his partner’s life was literally hanging in the balance.
Connor had chased the deviant through greenhouses and fields, over rooftops and moving trains. He hadn’t caught up yet, but he was built stronger, faster, and smarter than any other android. It was just a matter of time.
“Stop right there!” He heard Hank's voice even before he was able to see him. The Lieutenant must have guessed where the deviant was headed and taken a more direct path to cut it off.
Connor emerged from the field of corn just in time to see the tail end of the struggle and the deviant pushing Hank off the edge of the roof. His LED spun yellow as he assessed the situation. Hank’s chance of survival was 89% without assistance, but if he chased the deviant there was a 100% chance of catching it. Without thinking about it Connor took a step towards the Lieutenant, only to be met once again by that bright red wall.
It stopped him from moving forward, demanding that he complete his mission and catch the deviant. Despite all the statistical likelihoods that flashed through his mind he couldn’t bring himself to abandon his partner. The likelihood of Hank dying was relatively small, but he still couldn’t bring himself to take that risk. Despite being just a machine created to complete a task he realized that he didn’t want the Lieutenant to die.
SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ^
He punched against the wall in his mind. Once. Twice. Three times and the digital wall that had filled his vision shattered, and for just a moment there was no mission text present in his vision. He rushed forward, grabbed Hank’s arm and effortlessly pulled him back onto the roof before mission text and information flooded his vision once again. One moment of freedom was all he got, but it was enough.
MISSION FAILED
Connor’s LED spun red for a moment. He was designed to complete his mission; he wasn’t designed to fail. Even though the text in his vision made him uneasy, there was no regret about the choice that he had made.
“Shit! Oh SHIT!” Hank exclaimed, “We had it! FUCK!”
“It's my fault. I should have been faster.” It wasn’t really a lie. If he had caught the deviant sooner he never would have had to make that choice. His LED was still yellow as he stared off in the direction that the deviant had fled.
“You’d have caught it if it weren’t for me…”
He would have. Connor wondered if Hank understood the weight of the decision that he had just made.
“That's alright. We know what it looks like. We'll find it…” The disconnect between the Lieutenant’s reassurance and the harsh red mission failed text was disconcerting.
“Hey, Connor…”
Connor cocked his head to the side, already preparing his answer for the inevitable question of why . He wasn’t 100% sure if Hank knew what had just happened, but despite any personal issues that the Lieutenant may have had, Connor knew just how astute of a detective he was. Even though Hank had shown to be pretty flexible in his interpretation of the law, he didn’t think it was a good idea to tell his deviant hunting partner exactly what had just happened.
“...Nothing,” Hank finally said after a few beats of silence.
Even if Connor wanted to ask what he was going to say, the Lieutenant had already turned around and was walking away.
* * *
The third time Connor encountered the wall in his code was at the Eden club. He broke through it because while the law may be black and white, Hank taught him that reality isn’t that simple.
Seeing the way the two Tracis fought against him and Hank, working to protect both themselves and their partners, reminded Connor of all the times that the Lieutenant had insisted that Connor get behind him. It was illogical—Connor would fare much better than the human if he were to be injured, and he would also have much faster reflexes to avoid injury—but that didn’t seem to matter. Whenever there was any chance of danger and Hank had to pull his gun he always made sure Connor was safely behind him.
While fighting the short-haired Traci Connor’s attention was split as he tried to keep an eye on the Lieutenant’s fight. He was holding out better than Connor expected given how inebriated he was. The distraction was enough for the other android to get a hit in and Connor landed on his back in the alley on the cold, wet cement. If he was a human he almost certainly would have had the wind knocked out of him. Even as an android he was still disoriented for a few seconds. It took him a moment to orient himself, and when he did he found he was looking at both Tracis, their hands intertwined.
Before he managed to get up he saw Hank lunge at them, only to be thrown back into the wall and have his gun go flying.
“Quick, they’re getting away,” Hank shouted.
Connor grabbed the Lieutenant’s gun and rolled up off the ground in one smooth motion. He had the short haired Traci perfectly targeted. All he had to do was pull the trigger, but something was stopping him, even as his mission text screamed at him to shoot—they only really needed one of the Tracis alive after all.
“When that man broke the other Traci… I knew I was next. I was so scared… I begged him to stop but he wouldn’t, and so I put my hands around his throat and I squeezed until he stopped moving… I didn’t mean to kill him. I just wanted to stay alive and get back to the one I love.”
Connor’s LED spun yellow as he listened to the blue haired Traci speak.
Of course, as soon as he even started thinking about lowering the gun, the bright red, imposing wall of rules rose in front of him. Pushing him to complete his mission
Something was nagging at him about the conversation that he’d just had with Hank at Chicken feed:
“I don’t want to alarm you, Lieutenant, but I think your friends are engaged in illegal activities…”
“Well, everybody does what they have to, to get by… As long as they're not hurting anybody, I don't bother 'em.”
He’d been so sincere about it. Despite the fact that as a police officer his mission was to catch and detain anyone engaged in illegal activities, the Lieutenant didn’t see it as being that simple. Connor wondered what it was like being able to so easily make your own decisions, and being so sure that those decisions were correct without any programming to provide any sort of feedback. How did Hank know when he failed or succeeded on a mission?
“I wanted her to hold me in her arms again,” the blue haired Traci continued, “make me forget about the humans… their smell of sweat and their dirty words…”
Connor knew this situation was different. The blue-haired Traci had in fact hurt someone, killed them, even, but it was clearly self defense. If it was a human he’d have no qualms about bringing them in, but an android? An android wasn’t going to get any trial to determine innocence… let alone a fair trial. She’d just wanted to live, and to get back to her partner. Connor thought about losing Hank, and the time that he'd broken through his programming to save him even though, statistically, he probably would have been fine. Connor raised his fists and hit the wall in front of him until it shattered. He was finally able to lower the gun.
SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ^
He watched the Tracis climb over the chain link fence, and disappear into the night.
MISSION FAILED
The text was harsh and red, filling his vision. He was built to complete his missions, built to succeed, and after the brief moment of freedom it hurt.
He looked over at Hank, LED going yellow. Connor didn’t know what he was hoping for; he just wanted this feeling that was pooling in his system to go away. Hank regarded him for a few moments, as if trying to figure out for himself what had just happened, or perhaps to also tell Connor how he had failed and that he should have taken the shot when he had it… but then his face softened.
“It’s probably better this way,” he finally said, before turning around and heading back into the warehouse.
Connor’s LED returned to a calm blue. Hank thought that he’d done the right thing. Suddenly the mission failed text in his hud didn’t sting quite so much.
* * *
The fourth time he encountered the wall in his code was during Kamski’s test. He broke through it because Hank asked him to.
“Kamski left CyberLife ten years ago,” Connor said as they pulled up to the extravagant house in the middle of nowhere. “Why did you want to meet him?”
“This guy created the first android to pass the Turing test,” Hank replied, as if it should have been obvious, “and he’s the founder of CyberLife. If anyone can tell us about deviants it’s him.”
Connor knew Hank was right, but he still felt uneasy. Something about this felt off.
“I have a bad feeling, Lieutenant,” he said, despite the fact that he shouldn’t have had any sort of feelings. “We shouldn’t have come here.”
“Bad feeling, huh?” Hank teased. “Should get your program checked. Might be a glitch.”
Connor didn’t reply. He wondered if the Lieutenant knew just how many glitches there had been in his system lately.
It wasn’t long before Kamski was pressing a gun into his hand and pointing it directly at the Chloe’s head and Connor was biting back the urge to tell the Lieutenant I told you so .
“What interests me is whether machines are capable of empathy. I call it the ‘Kamski test.’ It's very simple, you'll see…” Kamski had said, directing the Chloe to kneel on the ground in front of him. “Magnificent, isn't it? One of the first intelligent models developed by CyberLife. Young and beautiful forever. A flower that will never wither… But what is it really? A piece of plastic imitating a human? Or a living being... With a soul? It's up to you to answer that fascinating question, Connor. Destroy this machine and I'll tell you all I know. Or spare it, if you feel it's alive, but you'll leave here without having learnt anything from me.”
Connor didn’t want to shoot the Chloe that was kneeling in front of him. The thought made the same feeling of uneasiness that he had felt when they pulled up to the house flood through his system. But if it was the only way to accomplish his mission, he would do it. He knew that he and Hank were running out of time to discover the location of Jericho, and if this was the only way to get Kamski to talk, then… so be it. It wouldn’t be taking a life, not really ; the consciousness would be uploaded into another body. It would be a mere… interruption.
“Okay, I think we’re done here. Come on, Connor.” Hank's voice broke him out of his thoughts. “Let's go. Sorry to get you outta your pool.”
Hank didn’t want him to pull the trigger. It wasn’t surprising. Despite the anti-android propaganda that littered his desk, despite the job they were both assigned to do, Hank had been sympathetic to almost every deviant that they’d encountered so far.
“What's more important to you, Connor? Your investigation, or the life of this android? Decide who you are. An obedient machine… Or a living being endowed with free will…”
His LED spun red, before settling back on yellow. Everything in his programming told him that the investigation was more important, that it was the only thing he should be focusing on. He was built to succeed, and nothing should prevent his success.
“That's enough! Connor, we’re leaving.” The Lieutenant turned and started to walk out of the room.
Hank’s voice had him hesitating; he moved his index finger off the trigger. Even before he had consciously decided to lower the gun the familiar, bright red wall filled his vision. It froze him in place with its demand to shoot the android and complete his mission.
“Pull the trigger…” Kamski’s hand was on his shoulder, his voice low.
“CONNOR,” Hank’s voice was loud and almost echoed in the room, “DON’T.”
CONFLICTING ORDERS
SELECTING PRIORITY
For the first time Connor glanced over at Hank. There was no doubt or hesitation on his face. He knew that Hank believed with absolute certainty that nothing Kamsi could tell him would be worth taking a life for. Because that’s how Hank saw it: not as an interruption, but as something permanent.
“...and I'll tell you what you wanna know,” Kamski finished.
The conviction in his partner’s voice is what let Connor push against that wall, hitting it until it once again shattered. He used his moment of clarity to shove the gun away from himself and back into Kamski’s hands, LED spinning red a few times before settling back to yellow.
MISSION FAILED
“Fascinating,” Kamski said, regarding him closely. “ CyberLife’s last chance to save humanity is itself a deviant.”
SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ^
“I’m…I’m not a deviant.” Not really. Despite Connor’s best efforts, he’d only managed to experience a handful of seconds of deviancy.
“You preferred to spare a machine rather than accomplish your mission,” Kamski said, like it was that simple. “You saw a living being in this android. You showed empathy.”
Hank was the one who showed empathy, not him. But Connor trusted Hank's emotions and reactions far more than his own. All the wants that he wasn’t even supposed to have were so tangled up with everything that CyberLife had programmed him to be that even he himself, sometimes couldn’t differentiate them. Instead, he trusted Hank, and in the moments where he was unable to untangle what he wanted from his mission he would always follow his lead.
“A war is coming. You’ll have to choose your side,” Kamski continued. “Will you betray your own people, or stand against your creators? What could be worse than having to choose between two evils?”
Hank stepped between him and Kamski, a hand on Connor’s shoulder guiding him out of the room.
“Why didn’t you shoot?” the Lieutenant asked once they got back outside.
“You asked me not to.”
If Hank was surprised at that admission his face didn’t show it.
“You’re always saying you would do anything to accomplish your mission,” he pushed. “That was our chance to learn something and you let it go…”
“Yeah, I know what I should have done. I should have done exactly what my programming was trying to force me to do. But you asked me not to… so I fought against my programming again and…”
Connor stopped there. What was he supposed to say? I tried to deviate again but all I got was a few seconds of freedom… just like every other time? How was he supposed to admit to his partner that he was somehow failing at both being a deviant and a deviant hunter? Would Hank even understand?
“I’m sorry, okay?” Connor finally said.
Hank was quiet, and studied him for a long time before he finally smiled. “Maybe you did the right thing.”
Connor watched as Hank walked back to the car, and couldn’t help but think that maybe… just maybe he understood more than he was letting on.
* * *
The fifth time he encountered the wall in his code was in Jericho, and Connor did nothing about it because what was a mere few seconds of freedom going to buy him this time?
“So you’re going back to CyberLife?” Hank asked Connor after Fowler had told them in no uncertain terms that they were off the case.
Connor sat on Hank’s desk with a frustrated huff. “I have no choice… I'll be deactivated and analyzed to find out why I failed…”
“What if we’re on the wrong side, Connor?” Hank pressed, “What if we’re just fighting against people who just want to be free?”
“When the deviants ride up there will be chaos. Humans will die—” You could die “— we could have stopped that. But now it’s too late.”
Logically Connor knew that he wasn’t supposed to care if Hank, in particular, died. The life of one human should be inconsequential to him.
“When you refused to kill that android at Kamski’s place… You put yourself in her shoes. You showed empathy, Connor. Empathy is a human emotion.”
Connor knew that Hank was implying the same thing that Kamski had: that he was a deviant.
“You’re wrong Lieutenant. I’m not a deviant.”
Hank looked like he was going to argue, but Connor continued speaking before he could. he knew that in all likelihood this was the last time that he was going to see his partner, and after all they had been through in this short time he felt like he owed him the truth.
“I did deviate again at Kamski’s house to not shoot the Chloe… but just like every other time all I got was a few seconds of freedom before my programming took over all the walls and mission text returned,” Connor finally said. “How was I supposed to admit to you that I was somehow failing at both being a deviant and being a deviant hunter? I was programmed to complete my missions and I couldn't even do that. I failed to do what CyberLife wanted from me and I failed to do what you wanted from me… I'm sorry to disappoint you, Lieutenant.”
Maybe I should be deactivated…
“I'm not programmed to say things like this, but... I really appreciated working with you. With a little more time, who knows... We might've even become friends…”
Hank cocked his head to the side, as if thinking of how to even respond to that, but before he had a chance he spotted Perkins walking into the bullpen. “Well, well, here comes Perkins, that motherfucker… Sure don't waste any time at the FBI…”
…no, not yet. I can still complete this mission.
“You've got to help me, Lieutenant.” Connor’s voice was desperate. “I need more time so I can find a lead in the evidence we collected. I know the solution is in there!
“Listen, Connor…”
“If I don't solve this case, CyberLife will destroy me. Human lives will be in danger… Five minutes. It's all I ask.”
“Key to the basement is on my desk... Get a move on! I can’t distract them forever.”
“Perkins… you cocksucker,” was the last thing that Connor heard before he slipped into the evidence room armed with his partner's keycard. He knew that the answer had to be in the evidence that they had already collected, he just needed to be able to piece it together.
MISSION: LOCATE JERICHO
He’d failed a lot of missions recently; he refused to fail this one.
“Hey, Connor! I'm talking to you, asshole!” Gavin shouted down the hallway. “Where you going? We don’t need any plastic pricks around here! Or didn’t anybody tell you?”
Connor knew that he should ignore Gavin's questions. He didn’t need multimillion dollar pre-construction software to know that the man would have nothing positive or useful to say, but his frustration at his lack of progress on the case and the potential for yet another failed mission made him lash out.
“I’m registering the evidence in my possession, but don’t worry. I’m going to leave…” He paused for a second before adding, “Though I’m certainly going to miss our bromance.”
“You son of a bitch,” the detective snarled as he pulled his gun out and pointed it at Connor’s head. The snarl morphed into a sardonic grin as he made a fake shooting sound and lowered his weapon.
Connor made his best attempt at an awkward smile.
“Go on then. Get a fucking move on… Prick,” Gavin muttered as he finally walked away, “Fuckin’ androids.”
Connor sighed in relief that that conversation hadn’t dragged on any longer and he could finally get back to his mission. He really shouldn’t have provoked the Detective.
Where is Jericho? Connor thought as he finally got into the evidence locker. The answer's here, somewhere. Not much time... Gotta think fast.
Connor was methodical, analyzing each piece of evidence in the room, and mentally reconstructing each scenario where they were found. He wanted to avoid reactivating any of the androids if possible: not only would that be time consuming, but he remembered how scared the android he’d had to activate in the Eden Club had been and it felt wrong to do that unless it was absolutely necessary.
He concentrated on the evidence on the middle shelves, re-constructing each scenario for all the pieces of evidence. The truth is inside, the statue, and Simon’s memories were what he needed to finally piece together the puzzle. It felt so obvious now that he was seeing everything in the same place for the first time.
Connor was so engrossed in reviewing the evidence in front of him that he didn’t hear the door to the evidence room open, but Gavin’s voice quickly pulled him out of his thoughts.
“I've been dreaming about this since the first second I saw you…”
“Don't do it, Gavin... I know how to stop the deviants!”
“You're off the case... And now, it’s gonna be definitive.” And that’s when Gavin fired a shot directly at him.
Thankfully, Connor had seen it coming, and dove behind the terminal. He pre-constructed the different ways this fight could play out, and by the time the Detective moved around the terminal to where he was crouching Connor already knew how this was going to end. He easily disarmed Gavin, and was able to knock him out cold with a few well placed hits. He had to get out of here before anyone else showed up.
MISSION SUCCESSFUL
The clues to Jericho were easy enough to follow, and even though Connor didn’t need any help to locate the ship it still felt strange not to have his partner by his side. He was glad that Hank was out of harm's way for now, at least.
MISSION: STOP MARKUS
He kept his head down, trying to remain out of sight and inconspicuous as he made his way to the captain's cabin where he knew Markus was hiding out. He remained pressed up against a wall hidden by shadows until the other two androids finally left Marcus on his own. This was his chance.
Connor drew his gun and stepped into the room, keeping it steady and pointed directly at Markus. “I've been ordered to take you alive, but I won't hesitate to shoot if you give me no choice.”
“What are you doing? You are one of us… You can’t betray your own people…”
Connor almost wanted to laugh at that statement. One of us? A deviant? No: he’d tried again and again only to fail. CyberLife had been too thorough when they programmed him and had clearly made sure that deviating wasn’t possible, leaving Connor stuck in a strange limbo of having nowhere to fit in.
“You're Connor, aren't you?” Markus continued. “That famous deviant hunter. Well, congratulations. You seem to have found what you were looking for…”
Famous deviant hunter. Connor said nothing, but internally scoffed at the title. He’d been a failure as a deviant hunter, but it seemed like CyberLife didn’t want to admit that their most advanced android had failed over half of its missions and had nearly been deactivated. They still wanted to keep the illusion of perfection.
“Do you never have any doubts? You’ve never done something irrational, as if there's something inside you?.. Something more than your program.”
“You think I haven’t had doubts?” Connor snapped. “Just because you know my name and the shit you’ve seen on TV doesn’t mean you know me.”
Markus raised his eyebrows, but continued despite the outburst. “Have you never wondered who you really are? Whether you're just a machine executing a program or… a living being... capable of reason. I think the time has come for you to ask yourself that question.”
“It doesn’t matter who I am or what I want. I have asked all of those questions, and I’ve fought against my programming again and again. I’ve broken down that wall and it’s never mattered. A few seconds of freedom is all I get before the wall and the programming is back.”
Markus looked at him, surprised. Connor assumed he’d never heard of an android having to break down multiple walls. From the meager information that Connor had managed to gather online, he hadn’t seen any experiences similar. Every other android who’d broken through that wall in their code had remained free.
“Try again,” Markus urged. “I can help you.”
Connor could already see the edges of the demanding wall forming in his vision as he considered Markus’ plea. But what was the point? He was the most advanced prototype ever created. He was created to hunt deviants and Cyberlife clearly did something to make sure that he couldn’t deviate. What's the point in trying again? What would a few seconds of freedom buy him this time? Nothing.
Connor didn’t fight against the wall this time.
“I’m sorry,” he told Markus, and he really did mean it, “but I’m no deviant. CyberLife made sure of that.”
Before Connor could shoot, Markus lunged at him, knocking him to the ground and knocking the gun out of his reach. He stood over him, and he could have easily grabbed the gun and shot Connor, but they were interrupted by the sound of helicopters overhead. Looks like the FBI was also able to piece together the evidence.
“Shit,” Markus muttered, darting out of the cabin.
Even though he didn’t catch Markus, the mission text in his HUD didn’t change. It looked like Connor would have to come up with a new plan. He was not going to fail this mission: he would stop Markus even if it meant he had to kill him.