[Open Post]

[missiondeterminant]

[Toplevels in the comments below! Canonmates, cross-canon, rp-canon, etc is all good.]

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OTA

[missiondeterminant]

[Just after turning deviant at Jericho | Jamjar-ish setting]

[Maybe this is just what happens when you go deviant? Everything suddenly changes, not just inside but out?

Connor isn't sure, and in fact really doubts it, but at least it would be an explanation for how he suddenly found himself somewhere that is definitely not onboard the Jericho, with Markus nowhere to be seen. After a few hours of wandering he still hasn't discovered anything that makes this make sense, but he's at least reasonably certain he isn't in any immediate danger.

So he continues to explore, making sure his hat is pulled down over his LED, looking for anyone else who might be around. The first person he finds is getting approached with a cautious but friendly greeting.]

Hello, my name is Connor. Do you know where we are?

hello i am here with lowkey suicidal ideation maki y r u like this

[unchosenchild]

[ Another world. That's where Maki finds herself when she comes to, when despair drags her into its depths and she hits rock bottom and... crashes through, she guesses.

She knows the protocol, so to speak, so she gets to it, an automatic thing she barely even thinks about as she explores, listless, hollow. This is what she gets for her desperate choices, for sacrificing the new kids' bonds for the sake of recovering hers. A world as empty as she is.

Maybe... maybe he's here, the Tapirmon that remembers her. Or maybe this is where she meets her end.

Honestly, she's so tired of hoping, trying, failing.

The man who speaks up disproves that she's all alone here. She isn't sure how she feels about that. In any case, she doesn't smile, but she doesn't respond with the usual strength and certainty she carries herself with. ]

No. Not beyond "another world." [ Helpful. She knows. ] I'm Maki Himekawa.

it's okay we expect it from her

[missiondeterminant]

[He's relieved to encounter another (another? does he count now?) person, and one that doesn't seem hostile; he can tell she's human, though, and so he should keep up appearances as one himself for now.

He nods politely at her name, but focuses instead on her question.]

How do you know we're in another world?

hi let's learn to human together

[predatoryn]

[ Wherever this place is, Ryn feels trapped -- land everywhere, no water, what is this -- which means she's tense, on edge -- aggressive.

She has her back turned when Connor talks, and it's lucky for him that he's calm and gentle, and that he looks a little like someone Ryn knows and trusts.

Still, she hisses at him when she whirls to face him, holding her ground and looking at him with wide, wild eyes. Her willingness to fight established, she looks him up and down, exhaling sharply when she's finished this quick evaluation. Okay. She'll talk. ]

No. No water. Not... place I know. [ She huffs, like a predator snorting. ] Want... find water.

yes good hello fellow hooman

[missiondeterminant]

[Okay, hissing is a little... Unusual, even by Connor's standards, and that combined with her odd speech pattern and expression make him immediately wonder if she might be on some sort of substance. Red ice causes all sorts of strange behaviors, as well as aggression.

But what she says isn't exactly standard, so Connor just carefully considers her a moment before responding.]

I haven't seen any water yet. It's all been like this.

[Expansive and featureless and seemingly endless.]

[Closed]

[missiondeterminant]

[It had seemed like everything was, at least for the moment, calm.

Connor had been mentally mapping out his plan for infiltrating Cyberlife while he listened to Markus telling the Jericho survivors about his intentions to protest peacefully, and then there was an explosion. Half the roof of the already crumbling church came down in an instant, debris crashing to the ground and throwing up massive amounts of dust, adding to the sudden chaos but also providing at least a little cover as gunshots began to ring out.

It was like Jericho all over again, only instead of scattered throughout a ship all the surviving deviants where in one open location, and even with the reduced visibility it's not like the soldiers streaming into the building needed to aim much to hit them. Everyone needed to get out as fast as possible and scatter, if they wanted any hope of surviving long enough to even attempt Markus' plan for a peaceful protest.

And, somehow, Connor managed to do just that; he'd wanted to help, but there was only so much that could be done in that situation other than try to guide any other androids he could get to out of the building. He isn't totally sure how many he actually made it out with until there's a moment of quiet, as they duck behind a pile of old building material in an alley two blocks from the church and hope the darkness and scattered materials are enough to hide them.]

Are you alright?

[He asks it verbally instead of through the mental connection because he's keeping the latter closed for now; he doesn't want to hear everything that must be being broadcast through it. His voice is soft and quiet anyway, so the near-whisper isn't likely to alert anyone to their position.]

[mamabot]

[ She'd held Alice through Markus's speech, reassuring her that they'd be well on their way to Canada by the time the protest began. They were safe here in the abandoned church, she'd said. Luther made it, she'd said. They just had a little longer to go, and to make it easier, Alice should nap. The girl didn't need the rest, Kara knew now, but her programming made this suggestion into one Alice thought she should follow. Scary, how well Alice was designed, that even she could believe she was human. Scary, and to their benefit all this time. Did the deviants here recognize her as one of them? Did Markus, when he came over and apologized to them?

It sure won't matter if Kara never sees her again.

They got separated in the commotion, and despite her screaming Alice's name and trying desperately to get back into the crumbled church, Kara is carried outside in the wave of fleeing androids.

The fear would choke her if she needed air to breathe. As it is, she's wide eyed, consciously holding her breath as if it could make any difference at all. She's so absorbed in thinking of where Alice could be, hoping desperately that she's alive, that she almost misses that whisper. Once it registers, she stares in the direction of the church for just a few seconds longer before turning to him. ]

I need to find Alice. [ She's just as quiet as him, though it's shaky with stress and simulated tears. The humans are hunting them all, and if she dies, who will take care of Alice? ] She's-- we were in the church together. I don't know where she is.

[missiondeterminant]

[He hadn't even realized it was Kara he'd ended up with, and he briefly wonders if she recognizes him, but that's not all that important right now. But knowing it's Kara explains immediately who Alice is, and leads him to respond with--]

We'll find her.

[He doesn't feel as confident as he sounds, but projecting calm is one of the things he was designed to do. Besides, what good would it be for either of them to mention--and he could give exact percentages--the chances of all the other possible outcomes in this situation?

Suddenly the sound of voices comes filtering through down the alley, the flashlights of the soldiers sweeping the area brushing far too close to their hiding place. Connor freezes in place, ducking his head a little and relying on his dark clothing to blend in, and hopefully the soldiers will just continue moving.]

[Closed]

[missiondeterminant]

[He only recognizes the feeling because it's happened so often.

Or maybe that isn't the only reason; maybe he recognizes it because he's been so afraid it might happen again, ever since that night he had to fight his way out of the Zen Garden. Maybe it's both, even if he tries to pretend like the latter doesn't even cross his mind anymore, a whole week later, and definitely isn't something that haunts him when he isn't focused on something else.

But whatever the reason for it, he knows the feeling when he's pulled into the virtual space; no amount of trying to resist the pull stops it from happening, only the expected blizzard in the freezing Garden never appears. He's somewhere else entirely, and before he can really even take in his surroundings he realizes that, more pressingly, he isn't alone.]

[mamabot]

[ The closest Kara gets to having felt this before is when Zlatko's machine slowly corrupted her memory, and the moments after she broke free and her systems repaired themselves. She knows who she is and what tasks she's prioritizing, but not where she is or how she got here. What she is sure of is that this isn't Canada, and that this place is desolate and deteriorating.

Find Alice and Luther is top of the list, which immediately sends her stress levels up. If she's here, they're here too. What are the odds that CyberLife or the military would find only one of them?

She looks around, thirium pump racing even as she tells herself to stay calm. Nothing, no one, except someone over there, whose face she can't quite make out. A CyberLife guard android? Another captive? She has to find out, and thank goodness she can do that wirelessly, without getting close to potential danger. ]

Where are we?

[missiondeterminant]

[He winces at the mental communication, not because it's painful--androids don't feel pain in that way, after all--but because for some reason that's another odd quirk built into him, even though he still doesn't understand exactly why. It's inconvenient, though, and leads to him finding mental connections unpleasant now that he's developing his own likes and dislikes as a deviant.

But he answers the question all the same, watching the other android carefully to make sure she isn't about to pull anything, but she seems just as wary as he is.]

I don't know. It feels like a simulation.

[But how and why would they be in one? What happened? Did the backdoor not truly throw Amanda--and by extension CyberLife--out of his head? Even if it didn't, why is there another android here?]

[Closed]

[missiondeterminant]

[No one warned Connor that being deviant would be so... Difficult.

What specifically is difficult varies day by day--or hour by hour, or minute by minute--which makes it even more of an ordeal to figure out how to handle it. At the moment his current challenge is convincing himself to stay in negotiator mode, to listen and to carefully nudge the conversation in Jericho's favor, and absolutely not do anything that would bring this meeting to a screeching halt no matter how tempting it is to do something to wipe the smug look off this businessman's face as he lectures them on legalities and demand and finances.

Of course CyberLife is causing them the biggest problem right now; it really isn't a surprise, but Connor finds himself disappointed anyway. Hasn't CyberLife caused enough trouble? Can't they just admit they've lost, agree to salvage what business they can by providing thirium and biocomponents and then offering to sell upgrades and other amenities androids don't need but might want? But no, they have to be difficult, have to hold it over the new android society that they control the technology that they need just to live, which is really just like CyberLife. So it isn't a surprise at all, but it's still... Frustrating. That's a good word for it, even though Connor is pretty sure what he's feeling is closer to 'murderous' than it is to 'frustrated.'

But he behaves himself through the meeting even if he isn't able to provide as much help in the actual negotiations as he wanted to; not much was agreed on at all, actually, but the negotiation hadn't tanked either. Nameless corporate jerk #12--Connor knows his name but has decided to ignore it unless he's talking directly to him--has returned to CyberLife to talk to them about a few issues, and then there will be a repeat of this meeting tomorrow to hopefully make some actual progress.

At least it's over for now, though, and Connor rolls his coin over his knuckles in agitation while he addresses Markus.]

That was not as successful as I had hoped it would be.

[deviantsart]

[ One of the few things Connor had told Markus he was certain he disliked was talking to politicians. And yet here Connor had come, after being encouraged through his own initial refusal earlier.

But Connor is good at it. He's good at looking impassive, which Markus can of course see through to a certain extent - stress levels are a visible marker in the corner of his vision when he wants to seek them out. Markus isn't calibrated to be as accurate in reading androids as he is in reading humans - he was created to take care of humans, after all - but even a rudimentary skill is useful in keeping an eye on everyone else.

It's just that even being good at this doesn't make it go faster. Markus is always looking at the long game - planning weeks and months and years ahead. He's going to live a very long time, and so is everyone else (hopefully) in New Jericho. Markus is willing to preconstruct indefinitely, until he can figure out how to tilt he odds in his peoples' favor.

When he regroups with Connor after the CyberLife representative has left the room, he has a feeling he's the only one in the room already dreaming about their next meeting. ]

It takes time. [ Markus' face is expressive as always. He looked a little - tired, before turning his attention fully onto Connor, but it softens into a smile immediately. ] Thank you for coming. I know it's not as easy now as it might have been before you were free.

[missiondeterminant]

[Markus' patience is incredibly important, and the only reason these talks are getting anywhere; Connor might be good at negotiations, but he's made to be decisive and to act immediately and that's an inherent part of Connor too, not only there because of his programming. He likes results, and accomplishing things, and he can be patient and careful in the short term but the long game is not his style. Maybe it's something he'll grow into, or maybe not.

It definitely doesn't feel like it right now as he glares at the quarter as it moves, so as not to glare at Markus who absolutely doesn't deserve it. It's only when he has control over his expressions again--he'd used up all his processing energy for that during the meeting itself, and it's taking a moment to be able to will himself not to just not bother now that it's over--that he looks up at Markus, unable to offer a smile in return but his own features still softening a little as well.]

It's worth the difficulty.

[As much as he hates being involved in these meetings, if he can keep his focus on the end goal he knows it'll all be worth it. If they succeed, anyway; the quarter reaches the end of his hand and he catches it, sitting up straighter in his chair before addressing Markus seriously.]

Do you really think we'll get something out of them next time?

[Because he'd like to believe it, but it's CyberLife. It's more likely the next meeting is going to lead to another, and another, and another, as all the while CyberLife is probably working on some way to screw them over.]

[Meme Overflow]

[missiondeterminant]

for betterfasterstronger

[missiondeterminant]

[[ooc: From here!]]

[He's being sincere, but still maybe enjoying getting to mess with RK900 a little. Maybe.]

I had hoped the same thing. It's inevitable to make mistakes, and to continue making them.

[Just preferably not the same mistakes.]

[betterfasterstronger]

It would be very generous of Fowler if we are allowed to continue making mistakes after that.

for clancyfrown

[missiondeterminant]

[[ooc: From here!]]

Gavin must be informed of the bet.

[Mostly because Connor wants to see Gavin have to pick between Connor or Hank winning twenty dollars. It's a social experiment. Connor needs more hobbies.]

for withsoul

[missiondeterminant]

[[ooc: From here!]]

That's a wide range of subjects. Why do you ask about them?

[For some specific function-related reason? Or because she might just be curious and maybe not realize it?]

for finalupgrade

[missiondeterminant]

[[ooc: From here!]]

I haven't, although it's something I've thought about doing.

[He's just never gotten around to it, with how busy life generally is between work and looking after Hank and helping Markus. He also hadn't wanted to go alone, although he would've if it came down to it.

And he has to ask--]

Do you like animals?

for krabbypatdowns

[missiondeterminant]

[[ooc: From here!]]

Are you drunk?

[Because he has to ask, between that response and the chatter on the scanner.]

for freedomordeath

[missiondeterminant]

[[ooc: From here!]]

[He wants to believe, North.]

I thought it was better to make sure rather than assume.

Have you told Markus what happened yet?

for dcpd

[missiondeterminant]

[[ooc: From here!]]

Sumo is a good name, but I will choose something appropriate.

[It's kind of exciting, actually, to possibly name something. This will be an extremely serious endeavour.]

This species lives between one and three years in the wild. Judging by the size of Crab, it likely has a year or two of life remaining.

[Which is not a long time as far as keeping a pet, and that's sad, but that's how life is. Besides, Connor isn't even half a year old himself, so from that stance it's quite a long time.]

[vbetrayed]

[ She gets approval for a garden. Of course, she thought she would. It's something to keep a dangerous new android busy, so it seems to be in everyone's best interests to let her have her flowers. Never mind Amanda has no reason to betray anyone. Trust is hard to come by when you used to be so loyal to CyberLife that you tried to murder the deviant leader when the demonstrations succeeded.

Anyway, Amanda doesn't care what anyone thinks. Gardening is all she knows how to do outside of boss Connor around. She shares the space with anyone who wants to plant their own seeds, but she maintains a patch and a trellis all her own. There are roses, naturally, but also lilies and tulips and bleeding hearts. She doesn't talk much with anyone except to comment on their work, but she is diligent in caring for her flowers. This body's HUD makes it incredibly easy and satisfying to get what she needs and do what she must.

It's one day when she's walking back to the greater garden that she sees Connor for the first time since he transferred her off that ridiculous flash drive. Fortunately for him, she doesn't make to approach him. Unfortunately for her, she's carrying brand new shears, which can't at all look good to someone who knows what Amanda is capable of. ]

[missiondeterminant]

[Connor, of course, knows the garden was approved; he'd asked Markus personally to allow it, and to give Amanda something harmless to do that would also help her adjust a bit. He had a quiet, optimistic hope that perhaps she'd just become a relatively 'normal' deviant and decide to simply leave everything from before behind her, instead focusing on enjoying life, and everything would just work out. He still has that hope, even though logic and bitter feelings tell him it's unlikely.

It's mostly for those latter reasons that he avoids the garden himself, even if he does accept a small pot of tiny, delicate blue flowers as a gift from one of the androids he'd awakened at CyberLife Tower. He tries to remind himself that he shouldn't hate something so pretty and peaceful as flowers--or as a park, or a small stream, or koi fish--just because of the Garden. He's mostly successful.

But it still gives him a jolt of nervousness when he accidentally crosses paths with Amanda one day, especially with those shears. Sure, they're completely reasonable for her gardening hobby, but fear and apprehension aren't known for being logical.

So he decides to try to take control of the situation by speaking first, even if part of him just wants to leave and pretend he didn't see her at all. Instead, he greets her as if it were November 6th again, and none of the monumental changes in their lives--and in the world--had ever happened.]

Hello, Amanda.