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Hank shoved himself in front of Connor, wings bristling as they entered the warehouse. There was Thirium splattered around the room, especially in one of the corners. He knelt to investigate further.
That was, of course when a short brunette Traci model charged him.
Brown blurs flared behind her as she honest to god hissed at him. He hesitated, error code hovering in the corner as her feathers came into view.
Do not harm humans.
It was an android. She had wings. Androids don't have wings.
Her fist connected with his face.
Self defense initiated.
He kicked her off. She flailed, arms running pre-calculated rebalancing routines that did not account for wings. She fell hard, but she didn't stay down for long.
With one flap of her wings, she made a gust of air strong enough to both lift her up and unbalance him. He rushed her, hoping to keep her off balance once she landed. She didn't land.
Instead she flapped again, gaining more air. That wasn't supposed to be possible. None of this was.
Androids can't have wings. Wings can't take flight without having met your soul mate. None of this matters right now, because she is diving at him.
He braced as well as he could. He ended up on the floor again. He was outside this time, rain water interfering with his optical units. The blue Traci hurried over to help the other one up.
They held hands like it was the most natural thing in the world as she began to speak. “When he started hitting the other Traci I knew I was next.” Her partner's wings brushed against hers.
A light blue glow bloomed from beneath their feathers. He found himself fascinated. It wasn't rare for androids to glow yet he couldn't rip his eyes away from the pair.
The girls backed away slowly, with one last look back they took flight together.
Hank looked at him. He looked back, gun dangling uselessly from his hands. “Maybe it's for the best.” Hank said softly as he turned.
“Android's sprouting wings,” Hank sighed, taking a step. "What's the world coming to?” he said so quietly Connor definitely wasn't supposed to hear.
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Markus stood tall, gorgeous brown wings flaring out behind him, exposing the soft white feathers on his back. “Join us,” he said, offering a hand and a charming smile.
Connor hesitated a moment, red walls filling his vision. His processors sped to give him time to truly consider this. He didn't need it.
The walls shattered down around him. The first thought he had was, ‘Deviating hurts.’ The second was much stranger: ‘He's cute.’ The third and most important one, he said out loud: "They're coming." A helicopter's whining blades interrupted whatever else of a warning he might have given.
Markus scrambled for the door to look, wings puffing out to lift him slightly. “We have to–”
Error: internal damage to biocomponent/s: #W157R, #W157L
He ran a search, those biocomponents were support structures for his central column. According to his scan they had been bolted down and together, limiting his mobility slightly. It wouldn't be that important.
“Are you alright?” Markus asked, he was still across the room, hesitating by the door.
“Yes,” Connor said, rolling his shoulders, they had never bothered him before. Were all deviants this uncomfortable all the time? “Yes, of course. We have to get as many out as possible.”
Markus nodded seriously, taking flight and gliding down towards the populated part of the ship.
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There was something wrong with his back. The errors stabbed at him as something tried to move under his skin. He gasped, falling to the side, his fingers scrambled over the wall, trying to catch himself.
Most of the deviants had already evacuated, either taking flight or gliding into the water below. “Is everyone out?” Markus transmitted right as something in Connor's back snapped.
“Connor, where are you?” Markus sent, voice full of concern. “No one has seen you fly out yet.”
“I won't survive that fall.” And he wouldn't, at this height there would be no difference between landing in the water and on the concrete beside it.
"Don't you have wings?” North asked suspiciously.
“No?” Connor sent, the errors were making him dizzy. “I honestly don't know how you do.”
“Does biocomponent #W157 mean anything to you?” Markus asked, oddly guarded.
“The support structures?” Connor asked, confused “Yes, of course. Mine are damaged.” He wasn't sure why he added that last part.
“Damaged, how?” North asked. He sighed an internal sigh of relief, she didn't sound as angry at least.
“I believe a repair technician got a touch overzealous with the welding gun. They have been bolted down to my central column.”
A strange jolt of twin horror came from both their feeds, “don't worry, they are only redundant structures.” he added. Oddly, that didn't soothe them.
“They aren't just supports.” Markus said, voice gentle, “those are your wings.”
“Oh, I understand now. The pain is from its attempts to break the binding. Thank you, I will be down as soon as possible.”
“Don't hurt yourself.” Markus sent quickly, Connor didn't understand why he was so concerned. It doesn't affect him much whether or not connor survives this.
He could feel the structures in his back twist tightly, it seemed his wings were going to break free, sooner or later. "It's fine, I'll figure it out," he sent, closing the connection. Then something ripped in his back.
The welds were cracking and breaking. He fell to the ground, taking a shuddering breath. Something shifted beneath his skin, ripping through.
Thirium sprayed through the hall, feathers bloomed from his back, wings stretching as far as they could in in small hall. He gasped, forcing himself back to his feet. His wings hung limp behind him, soaked through with Thirium.
“What was that?” A voice said, muffled by amore.
Connor swallowed back a cry, he can't afford to be found. He took a step towards the rusted hole in the ship. Snow drifted by, swirling in the breeze, blocking his view.
He took another step. Warning: a fall from this height would not be serviceable.
He sighed, looking back at his wings. Well, he's dead either way, right? He flexed them experimentally. “Hey, stop!” The soldier shouted.
Connor took one last step.
The wind rushed around him as his wings tried to catch. A thin spray of blue followed him when they finally did. He looked up, trying to remain aware.
The human aimed a gun at him. Desperately, out of pure instinct, he flapped his wings. Against all odds he gained air.
He smiled as the wind tousled his hair. He was flying free, maybe Deviating wasn't so bad if it resulted in freedom like this.
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The first thing he saw when he opened the doors was a very angry north, wings raised and fluffed to appear larger. “Where are they?” she asked regarding him with suspicion.
He raised his palms to show how unarmed he was. “Where are who?”
“Don't play dumb, hunter.” She hissed, dripping with venom. She noticed his wings. “Hm.” Was all she said, letting the door open wider
Markus glided over, “North we talked about this I know he is–”
“I don't care.” She crossed her arms, “It could have been anyone here, the timing might have simply been lucky.”
“maybe, but I don't think so. Connor,” Markus said, turning to him. “Are you ok?”
“Im not that hurt. I have an idea, one that will free all those trapped in the Cyberlife tower.”
Then something odd happened. Markus’ wings folded up, lost their feathers and slid neatly back into his back. “I don't know if that's a good idea...”
Connor considered his own wings for a moment. They slid nicely back, snugging tight to his central column. “I don't know, I think it's worth a shot.”
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Hank's gun wavered between the two Connors. “How do I know–” Connor slid his wings out, ripping through his jacket.
The gun turned to -60 “can you do that?”
60 crossed his arms. “Man this is some bullshit."