missiondeterminant | [Open Post]

[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.]

[ 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?

[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?]

[ That voice is familiar, and even though recognizing him sends Kara's stress levels shooting up, the uncertainty in what he says is comforting. Still, if she runs, he's going to come after her. That's his job, his mission. And if CyberLife still wants her silenced -- maybe they do, just to prove a point, or to try and regain control over their product -- then maybe they found a way to wirelessly sync her and the deviant hunter in a virtual setting, where her capture means immediate shutdown. ]

Don't play dumb. You know exactly what this is.

I'm alive. You can't take me back.

[ She stands and stares at him for a few seconds, looking more certain than she feels, and then takes off down the street.

The problem is that the skyscraper on her right begins to crumble, and she's too focused on getting away from Connor to notice it. ]

[Connor's processing is split between taking in his surroundings, listening to Kara, and doing a deep scan to see if he can find an active data transfer that would explain how they could be here; if this isn't in just his head, and it really is a simulation, then they must be connected to a server somewhere. If he can find how they're connected, then maybe he can undo it.

He's also using some processing power to deliberately avoid thinking about, if this is a simulation, what his physical form might be doing right now. He was at the police station, and surely Amanda--or anyone else--wouldn't be using him to do any harm there, so he probably has time, but likely not that much of it. Would anyone notice it wasn't him before he could do any damage?

...He's supposed to not be thinking about this, and yet that isn't working out so well, and will his attention split so many ways he hears Kara's words but doesn't have a chance to really react before she's already running. Suddenly, every task other than his deep scan close out, refocusing processing power into his pursuit programming. Time for a chase, even if part of Connor is very aware this is stupid and she shouldn't be running.

But he's not about to let the only other person who seems to be here get too far; they need to work together on this, for both their sakes, so he's after her in a moment. His scanners do, though, pick up on the crumbling building, and fortunately the street is a straight, open path that allows him to gain ground on Kara very quickly.

Connor reaches out to grab her around the shoulders, almost like a repeat of that moment on the freeway, before trying to drag them out of the path of the rapidly crumbling building.]

We need to move!

[In other words, could you not cause any more trouble for like five seconds.]

[ Excuse you she hasn't been causing trouble she has been protecting a child how dare you.

In any case, once his warning registers, her audio processing unit picks up the sound of oncoming debris, and she gives up fighting him. Kara follows along with his pull, because she needs to live if she hopes to get back home.

The debris falls right onto where she'd been when he grabbed her; she lets herself feel the relief that washes over her. ]

I don't understand.

[ Her processor is going a mile a minute, recalling everything she knows about Connor, every time she's so much as glimpsed him. The last time she saw him was in a shot of Markus's speech to their people after the successful demomstration. Connor had been standing there, and Kara had wondered why he was there. Had he switched sides, or was he just biding his time for the chance to kill all the deviants? If it was the latter, then... why this similation? Why an abandoned Detroit? It'd be easier to just kidnap her family and force Kara's hand. ]

You're not doing this?

Edited (how do i even manage such typos) 2018-07-24 15:42 (UTC)

[Well, one crisis averted, though it still leaves plenty of questions about how and why the skyscraper is crumbling so badly, but that's low priority on the list of issues. He cautiously lets go of Kara, since she seems to be being more reasonable at the moment, and it's at the same time that his deep scan finishes. No results.]

No, I'm not doing this.

[He answers, frustration lacing into his words as his stress levels take a sharp turn upward. If there's no external connection, then this is either in his head or he's been blocked from viewing the network, and neither answer is a good one. In fact, they're both terrifying.

He looks at Kara, trying to keep his expression neutral and failing; his eyes clearly give away that the situation is probably very bad.]

Can you detect any external data transfer to your systems?

[ That attitude is completely unnecessary, and in fact is sends a strange shock through her system to suddenly have her adolescent engagement program kick into gear. Lucky for them both, his question helps her put it on standby and do a scan of her own.

Her LED isn't there anymore to spin yellow, but her eyes half-close, and she blinks a few times kn rapid succession. Soon enough, she finishes and shakes her head. ]

No. I'm cut off... it's like there's nothing here. Just us. [ ...cold fear slides through her artificial veins. ] We have to get out of here.

[Excuse you Kara the attitude is totally necessary; this is all horrible and he's stuck here with someone who thinks he's the cause of this. Or did, anyway, as she seems to believe him now, although that's just in time for Connor to wonder if it maybe really is his fault. Even if he's not doing it, what are the chances this is about him in some way?

He needs to stop thinking about this for now, even though Kara's response is not encouraging either. She's right; they need to get out of here, and if not out of the simulation--because surely that's what this is--then out of the open street.

But where are they going to go?]

The police station shouldn't be far.

[He says it as he realizes it, suggesting the idea both because it's familiar and because he knows the equipment in it. Getting to a computer might help them.]

We can see if there's anything there.

[ At this point she's working off the assumption that Connor is not in fact causing this. It doesn't make sense to drag out her capture if that were his intent. Something else is at work here, something bigger than both of them, and the only conclusion Kara can arrive at is that CyberLife is behind this as some twisted form of punishment.

All she wanted was to be free, to give Alice a happy life with her and Luther. Why is she here? Why with the android who nearly got her killed?

Dwelling won't answer her questions, though, so she nods and follows him, at his side, ready to grab him if something happens. Suddenly, she doesn't want to be separated from him. He's built to fight, and she's... she's built to clean and be sweet and docile. She can survive on her own in the real world, but a simulation presents too many unknowns.

Something she can do for them, though, is scan for safety hazards. In this desolate cyberscape Detroit, there aren't people or animals or moving cars, but there are street lights that could blow out and shower them with glass, and manhole covers that could pop up under pressure, and fire hydrants that could burst to life. Her HUD shows every hazard possible, enough to give an overprotective parent fits (or to comfort them, if that's what they want their AX400 to do). She'd never feared this much for Alice, but suddenly she's afraid for herself and for the deviant hunter--

Whose name she should really get. ]

My name is Kara. [ She says it quietly, coming up a little closer, wishing Luther were here to guard her other side. ] I've been deviant for two weeks, though sometkmes it feels like I always have been.

[ The wordy introduction is meant to calm them both a little, distracting from the excess levels of stress and tension, but also, she's nervous. ]

[Connor leads the way down the familiar and yet somehow unfamiliar streets, directing them both toward the police station, attention focused primarily on getting there, keeping track of Kara, and trying to look once more for anything unusual in his system. A manual search instead of a scan will take longer, but it's more thorough and gives him something to work on instead of uselessly worrying.

However it's all very distracting, and so it takes a moment before he's able to respond to her sudden introduction; he glances toward her, LED continuing its yellow flickering while he searches.]

Connor.

[He doesn't provide any information on his own deviancy, both because he doesn't necessarily want to and because he doesn't exactly know how. The line between his programming and deviancy has been weak at best for his entire existence--he remembers clearly, now that he knows how to identify it, the fear and concern that he often felt even early on in his mission--and then with what Amanda told him...

Is he really even deviant at all? Has he always been? Is there any difference, really, for him?

But alright, she said she'd been deviant for two weeks, so--]

Did you become deviant just before the revolution?

[And just before they encountered each other?]

[ Kara has no idea about Amanda or how different Connor's pre-deviancy life was. All she knows is her own experience, so that's what she goes off of. ]

Yes. My... my old owner, he ordered me not to move while he went to beat his daughter. I'd seen how much it scared her before when he got angry, so... I fought against his order. I had to.

[ It seemed... so easy to make the choice. So logical. So natural. Just how many times did Todd break her for disobeying? Was she ever owned by anyone before him? How did that go? She has so many questions, but right now, the most important thing is to get out of here. ]

Did they want you to arrest Alice too?

[Connor is quiet, thinking that over as they walk, sorting out logic versus emotion in regards to what she said, and also the best choice for answering her question. He decides to do the latter before asking about the rest of what she said, voice back to calm and factual as he slips easily into detective mode.]

There was no mention of Alice in the report; I didn't know about her until I encountered you both. If I had successfully arrested you, Alice would've been observed for signs of deviancy and, if deemed to be functioning properly, would've been released.

[As far as he's aware, anyway. There would be no reason to detain a functional android once it had been assessed, although Connor supposes CyberLife may have wanted it--her--anyway. Fortunately, it never came to that.]

The report mentioned your owner was found dead, and you were the suspect. I presume you did kill him, although it was a case of self-defense, not murder.

[He glances toward her again, briefly, as they reach the next block over from the police station.]

[ Kara imagines they wouldn't have had to wait long to find out about Alice's deviancy. Handing Kara the key to the music box, letting her in on the truth about her "accident" a few weeks prior, choosing to run away with her-- Alice became deviant before Kara did, Kara believes. She'd just assumed Alice's emotions were there because she was human, but no. She was a person, yes, but not human.

She doesn't ask what CyberLife would've done to her; she doesn't want to know. ]

I shot him. [ Her voice is steady now that she's had time away from the event, but she doesn't sound proud. ] He started attacking me when I stood up to him. He was gonna kill me, and he would've killed Alice after that. I couldn't-- I wasn't gonna let him touch her.

And I wasn't gonna let you touch her either. I was so afraid. [ But that's over now. Kara sighs shakily, even though she doesn't need to. ] I'm glad she's not here.

[ The last thing Alice needs is to be in this... this nightmare. Kara half expects screeching demons and fairy tale monsters to appear out of nowhere and try to rip them apart.

She shudders, and then she sees the station. ] What are you hoping to find there? [ And how can she help? ]

[Connor thinks pride would've been warranted, honestly. Now that he's deviant, when he looks back on the cases he'd investigated during the revolution he feels a complex mix of emotions he can only partially identify; anger and sadness are both in there, but mixed with others that are harder to define. Revulsion, maybe, contempt... Others as well, most directed toward the 'victims' that he really doesn't feel deserve such a title. They weren't victims. They'd just been stopped from causing any more harm by the actual victims in the situation.

This sounds like yet another case of that, and he's glad this person is no longer out there. Good riddance. He's not sure why so many humans--especially adult male humans--are so terrible, but for all Lieutenant Anderson's faults Connor can see now just how fortunate he was to end up with him as his partner. That was even with the initial violence and threats and the incident in the park.

He lets the topic die for both their sakes as they reach the precinct, leading the way past the silent parking lot filled with empty squad cars.]

I want to use the computers here; we may be blocked from detecting external connections, but it's possible they aren't. Even if they are, the station is filled with useful equipment and relatively safe.

[Hopefully. If this is a simulation then it's entirely possible none of that is true, but it's worth a try; more than that, though, the place is familiar to Connor, and familiarity is comforting.

But as he steps into the building it's clear it's just as affected by the desolation and destruction as the streets have been. Windows are broken, shattered glass all over the floor in the otherwise deserted lobby, and Connor ignores it in favor of heading toward the bullpen. He passes through the gate and the damaged doors and--

The place is a disaster, desks overturned and electronics smashed, almost like a tornado had gone through the building. But although it's just as devoid of life as everywhere else had been, it isn't devoid of people; androids, specifically, or more specifically parts of androids. Limbs and biocomponents and everything else were scattered haphazardly throughout the debris, thirium sprayed around like it's a mess up haunted house for androids.

Connor, who is used to crime scenes, is still somewhat stunned by the scene, stopping in place and just trying to take it all in. So many points of evidence flag in his mind palace for investigation, but he just... It doesn't make sense; why is this here? What happened? What's going on in this simulation, and why are he and Kara a part of this?

What's the point?

He's silent for several seconds, trying to process as well as control his emotional reaction, before suddenly moving to step in front of Kara and survey the room more carefully, eyes narrowed in focus.]

If someone or something did this, it might still be here.

[So be on guard.]

[ The sight that greets them makes her feel off-balance-- woozy, like a kid might say. Similar to how she felt when she thought about Todd's lifeless body in the days following her and Alice's escape. Except this is worse because it's people like them. It's androids torn apart.

Kara steadies herself against a desk, hand next to a drying puddle of thirium. She hears what he says and puts her sensors on alert, listening for anything that might tip them off to danger.

But nothing prepares her for the cold, long, slender fingers that make a grab for her wrist. Kara jumps, yanking back her arm, bumping into Connor as she gasps and pulls away. In the dim lighting, she makes out a humanoid form with reflective, unnaturally smooth skin. In its right temple is an LED spinning bright red.

Its mechanical voice tells them they belong to CyberLife. ]

[Connor whirls at Kara's sudden movement, catching her as he bumps back into him and using her momentum to pull her behind him again, stepping toward the android in the same motion and reaching out immediately to grab its arm. In a moment he slams as much emotion as possible through the connection, more than enough that it should shock the android into deviancy.

But it doesn't. The android doesn't even flinch, only twisting its arm enough to grab Connor's in return, the connection suddenly going both ways and Connor's LED lights up red; he can tell something is being transferred but no more detail than that, eyelids fluttering rapidly and artificial muscles twitching from the connection, unaware as the android grabs his shirt and pins him back against one of the bloody desks.

He could definitely use some assistance, and at least the android seems to have forgotten about Kara temporarily.]

[ Never having seen deviancy be spread by touch, Kara takes what Connor does as him fighting their attacker. The reverse, though, almost makes her panic. If it's overpowering Connor, then it's extremely dangerous; and Kara may not be built for combat, but she's not going to just stand by and do nothing.

Its weight is forward to keep Connor pinned, so Kara comes at it from the side, slamming into it with her shoulder. It gets thrown off balance; she kicks it hard enough to knock it to the floor. In the few seconds that gives them, she glances at Connor to check if he's okay. ]

[He's stunned for a few seconds after the connection is broken, sinking automatically to the ground as his processing power is diverted from his limbs to figuring out where he is and what's going on, but it soon passes and he comes back to full awareness pretty much all at once.

Kara's knocked down the other android but it's already getting up, and Connor lurches to his feet as well in time for his passive scanner to realize the three of them aren't the only things moving. Another mostly intact android is approaching from the other side of the bullpen, and a few limbs here and there are beginning to move as well. It's... Horrifying in a way Connor doesn't quite have the ability to describe or even register, so all that really stands out to him at the moment is that they need to leave. Coming here was a mistake.]

We need to run.

[It's laced with urgency, his tone going quieter instead of louder when he's distressed, and if she doesn't follow him immediately he's going to just pull her along after him. If they circle around the desk they can probably dodge this android and get out before the others can reach them.]

[ A human might be hyperventilating by this point, Kara thinks, because she sure is feeling the stress of the situation. Pieces of androids coming to life, slaves to their programming, aiming to kill the two deviants in the room--

Connor's voice snaps her out of it. Meeting his gaze, she nods, and they run.

The desolate street is a comfort now, even under the darkening sky. Kara remembers her first night as a fugitive, her search for shelter for Alice, who had only really needed it because she was programmed to be as humanlike as possible. Once again she's grateful her daughter isn't here, and that it's Connor she's here with. ]

We have to get out of here. [ She says it not because he needs to hear it (he doesn't) but because it reaffirms her priorities. ] There has to be a way out. If we could become deviant, we can figure this out. Maybe we just need to leave the city. The bridge-- the bridge to Canada.

[ Canada is the answer here, like it was before, right? ]

[It's a relief when they makes it outside, despite the darkening sky and increasing wind; Connor spares a moment to self-scan, finding that he's unharmed from the confrontation other than the back of his jacket being covered in thirium from being shoved against the desk. However, he does realize he has a collection of new files in storage from the connection, simultaneously curious and afraid of seeing what they might be.

He decides to leave them for now, focusing outwardly on Kara, carefully slowing his unnecessary breathing; just like Kara he's finding the situation very stressful, and even before he was deviant he was made to mimic humans so closely that such human-like responses--whether because of real emotions or to emulate them--are extra pronounced.]

It's worth a try.

[He isn't so sure it'll work--there may not be a way out at all--but right now it's the only idea they have. The police station obviously hadn't been a good choice, so he's willing to try her suggestion.

Also, she seems fine, but--]

Are you alright?

[ How honestly should she answer that question? In a normal conversation, she wouldn't hesitate to encourage him to answer truthfully, and she would do the same. But this isn't normal, and even though she knows lying won't change anything, she's tempted to. ]

I'm not damaged. [ That's a start. ] I'm just-- getting over the fear response. [ This is hard. Emotions are hard to begin with, but this place makes it harder. She takes a breath, deep and slow, and refocuses. ] What about you?

[ She'd ask that no matter what, but ber concern is reinforced by her programming. Caretakers look out for their charges, be they adults or children. They look, sound, and act nonthreatening, and they help however they can. Connor was a threat until just minutes ago, but he's her ally now, if nothing else, and that means that Kara is going to worry about him. ]

[Okay, good, she's not damaged, but he wonders about when the android in there grabbed--or tried to grab?--her wrist; did it do the same thing to her that it did to him? He won't know if he doesn't ask, which means explaining, and he isn't sure he wants to.

But he has to, because who knows what it was, and it might put her in danger not to know. So he grits his teeth briefly before forcing out a truthful response.]

The android transferred a package of data to me. I don't know what it is.

[ So that's what that was about. The truth is definitely the way to go in his situation. She's glad she did the same. ]

Have you scanned it yet? [ It seems obvious, but sometimes a reminder is necessary. ] It looked like it was hurting you.

[ A gust of wind trips her temperature scanner. Kara looks up at the sky to get a read on the weather. ] It's getting colder. We have to keep moving. I'll keep an eye out while you scan.

[It's a good reminder because he definitely hasn't scanned it yet, still recovering a little from the emotional shock just as she is. The gust of wind and the incoming snow don't help, and he focuses back on Kara before nodding at her words.]

I'll follow you.

[He doesn't bother with anything more than that right now, although he makes a mental note to reassure her after the scan that it hadn't hurt him; he isn't sure why he was programmed to have such a visible and unsettling reaction to unexpected data connections, but it's inconvenient to hm and even more so when it causes concern to others.

He initiates the start of a surface scan on the package of files, mostly focused inward on the process but with enough attention turned outward that he can follow Kara on autopilot. Anything unexpected in their surroundings will ping his system too, but for the most part he'll be out of it for the minute or so it will take to do the preliminary scan, and then more for the deeper one if the surface scan comes back as safe.]

[Closed]

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cw mention of child abuse

might as well just warn here for this entire psl okay; child abuse, android horror, violence, etc

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