missiondeterminant | [Open Post]

[Connor isn't often taken by surprise, but he's just not expecting Kara to suddenly shove aside the barricade and race out into the storm. Even if it is Alice, what the hell is she thinking?

He doesn't hesitate to race after her, shielding his eyes from the wind and what feels like it might be sleet that's starting up, activating his scanners to look for where Kara might've gone. He follows her footprints more than anything else, calling out to her verbally, but just like for her his voice won't carry in the storm and he has to switch to the mental link as well.]

Kara, stop! We need to stay together.

[Who knows what might happen if they get separated.]

[ Never underestimate an AX400 who is also a new mom. Alice is everything to Kara, and probably always will be. Or at least, Kara can't imagine otherwise.

His voice cuts through her frenzied thoughts long enough that she pauses for a moment and tries to reorient herself. She should be about in the middle of the street, right? The storm is messing with her sensors. She's not made for this environment, so maybe it's best if she stays still and waits for Connor, who is better equipped to deal with this weather, right?

But Alice is screaming now, a sharp, piercing scream that tears at Kara's insides. Someone's hurting her daughter. ]

Hurry, Connor, she's scared! She's so scared...!

[ And it is so, so cold. The sleet pelts her face. All she wants to do is run to where Alice's voice is coming from, but in the storm, it sounds like she could be anywhere. And the wind-- it's getting louder, like a truck or a bus traveling too fast for a crowded city like Detroit. ]

Find her first. Please, just stop them hurting her!

[ The engine-roar wind noise starts to drown Alice's voice out. ]

[He still can't hear whatever it is Kara is hearing, and he's beginning to think it's some sort of trick, but on the chance that it really is Alice he shifts processing power again to both his audio receiver and his scanner. Together, if Alice is close enough for Kara to be hearing her, he should be able to find her.

But all he's really picking up is the steadily increasing noise of what sounds like a fast-moving vehicle, like those that are typically confined the the automatic freeway. He doesn't see anything and his scanner don't pick anything up, but the noise is just growing louder and the storm is increasing, and so it almost startles him when he runs directly into Kara in the middle of the street.

Connor barely has a chance to register that if he ran into Kara instead of sensing her then there's something wrong with his scanner, before the noise is suddenly directly upon them and Connor dodges on reflex, pulling Kara with him. But he can't see anything and so just doesn't react quickly enough to avoid being clipped by whatever it was, and warnings flash in his vision which he quickly dismisses; none of them are critical, so he'll deal with them once he figures out if Kara's okay. They should be right next to each other, so he shouts her name verbally instead of using the connection.]

Kara!?

[ Connor catches her off guard -- what wouldn't, in these conditions -- so Kara is already off balance and in no position to even think of resisting when he pulls her out of the way of oncoming traffic. She lands hard on her side, (and she's ashamed to say she screamed as all of this happened) triggering an alert on the state of her shoulder joint (very minor damage to the skin layer, which will heal over quickly enough) which hurts but at least isn't serious. In any case, she's more concerned with finding Alice, but the only person she hears is Connor.

Rather than answer, she reaches for him, fingers wrapping around his forearm. It's easier this way, given the weather. She doesn't want to lose track of him again. ]

I can't hear Alice anymore! [ she shouts over the wind. ] Did you find her?

[ With his advanced scanning capabilities, if anyone can find her in this mess, it's him. At least it seems like the sky is growing lighter. The reflection off the snowflakes won't be the most helpful, but she'd rather that than darkness, if not for their sake, then for Alice's. ]

[He feels Kara's grip on his arm and she must be at least mostly okay, especially since she's still talking about Alice, but he's more focused on the sound of another... Something approaching. They need to get out of the road.

He doesn't bother explaining, instead just pulling Kara up as he gets to his feet as well, tugging her forcefully to the side of the road and out of the path of any additional oncoming cars. He does reach out his sensors to continue scanning, however, trying to locate Alice, but there's still nothing.]

I don't think she's here, Kara.

[He raises his voice to respond, even though they're right next to each other, his head still ducked against the wind. He hates this, and at this point he feels like this must be a trap.

But what if Alice really is out there somewhere?]

[ They're in danger out here, both from the storm and from speeding traffic. An abandoned, ruined Detroit shouldn't still have vehicles in operation, but then, this isn't real. It's a simulation meant to keep them trapped forever.

If Connor can't find Alice, then... maybe he's right. She fell for Amanda's trick and moved them out of their shelter and into possible death, or worse. ]

Let's go back.

[ But where is "back"? Kara is disoriented, and she doesn't trust her mental map, built off memory alone. The sleet feels sharp on her exposed synthetic skin, but she's not letting go of Connor.

Feeling as best she can with her comparatively limited capabilities, Kara starts towards what should be another empty store. Anything to get out of the wind, in her opinion. She'll even take a dumpster at this point. As she moves, she says guiltily through their link, ]

I'm sorry. I almost got us killed.

[Connor sticks close to Kara, both so they don't get separated and so he doesn't get lost; the mental communication continues to cause the annoying side-effect of rapid blinking, which doesn't help the sense of disorientation they're both feeling. But this time he suddenly realizes what the reason for such an annoying and highly visible reaction being programmed into him might be; it might've been to discourage him from communicating with other androids in any secret way. If he only spoke to them verbally, and he was with humans at pretty much all times in the course of his job, then there would've less of a chance for him to create any sort of rapport with a deviant that might compromise him.

But that's something to consider later, even if the very thought makes him want to use the connection--inconvenience it causes him or not--out of spite. Right now they need to get back inside, and he needs to reassure Kara, which he does out loud again.]

You thought Alice needed help.

[And if Alice had really been in this simulation with them, then the risk would've been well worth it. It isn't Kara's fault that it had been a trick.]

[ She hasn't noticed that reaction, processor too concerned with keeping her and Connor moving toward safety, but when she answers this time, it's out loud. The wind beginning to die down helps her voice carry. ]

I've never been in a simulation before.

[ So even knowing this was one and knowing she should be careful weren't enough to keep her aware that Alice is probably not here.

As the wind keeps dying down, the precipitation turns into snowflakes falling in wet clumps. Harder to move through, but at least the dangers of sleet and gusty winds are dying out. She stops when she reaches a wall -- it took getting really close to finally see it -- she looks back in the direction they came from, her hand on the concrete to keep steady and stay connected to their point of reference.

Not that there'smuch to see but a world of blinding white. ]

We can't go back. [ If Kara were one to swear, she'd drop a choice word or two now. ] My mental map of the real Detroit isn't good enough to tell where we are.

[ And they're lost now all because Amanda baited her with Alice's voice. ]

[The limited visibility is still a problem, but Connor's definitely feeling less stressed the more the wind dies down; the snow itself doesn't bother him so much, he's realizing, even if he isn't super fond of it. He also isn't super fond of the cold, which he can always register as a number on his temperature gauge but right now feels... He isn't sure. He decides not to dwell on that for the moment.

More pressing is figuring out where to go; going back to the store they had set up in would be the best course of action, but when Connor reaches out his scanners and tries to access his own mental map of Detroit it seems... Off, somehow. He can't figure out exactly where they are, even though he knows how far they should be from the police station, and he'd been able to find that well enough.

He furrows his eyebrows in frustration, but somehow isn't surprised; it's a simulation, and they can't see well, and the snow interferes with how far they can scan. It's a perfect opportunity to change their surroundings and disorient them.]

I don't think even a perfect map would help us at this point. Let's just keep looking.

[The old-fashioned human way.]

What's this wall?

[The one Kara's touching; is it to a building, or is it a divider? He can't tell just yet.]

[ He's right. What they have in memory doesn't matter altogether much in this virtual rendering of the city... which makes this even more frightening. Focusing on the texture of the wall against her skin reins in her stress levels and starts her thirium pump regulator slowing back to normal, at least. Now she can think up an answer for him. ]

If this were the real Detroit, it'd be a convenience store. [ Maybe it is here too.

Sliding her hand out toward where the window should be, she hopes for glass-- and there it is. It's a shop, and they can find shelter in there. The thing is, she doesn't feel as uplifted as she expected she would. ]

She's just gonna force us outside again. We can't keep playing hide and seek with someone who always knows where we are.

[ This is Kara's first brush with Amanda, but it's all the brush she needs to know she hates that AI and wishes Connor had never had to deal with her. ]

[Connor sticks close to her as she feels for the door, not sure exactly why they aren't going in until Kara explains, and it isn't as though she's exactly wrong. But Connor's attitude of how to deal with the problem is a little different, and so he moves to carefully push open the door and look cautiously around the convenience store as he responds.]

Maybe, but we can at least make her go through the trouble.

[He's going to be as contrary as possible. If Amanda wants to force them outside again she'll have to actually do it; he's not going to just stay in the snow and cold preemptively.

The store is eerily silent since the power seems out, all the normal sounds of refrigeration and air conditioning and such turned off, but at first glance--and first scan--it seems deserted, unlike the police station. He steps inside, holding the door open for Kara to follow him.]

[ ...that sure is teenager behavior. It's comforting in a way, something familiar in the midst of... all of this. Anyway, she's not keen to be separated from him, so Kara follows close behind. Deserted is good, and the temperature won't damage to them -- which is good, because suddenly she's nervous about starting a fire. Melting to death doesn't sound like a fun experience. ]

That place -- the Garden -- it's not a physical location, but neither is any of this. Do you think the exit is there?

[ It would be just like someone like Amands to try and force Connor to face her on her home turf, to use the location to try and intimidate him. It's like how Todd broght her bsck to the house over and over, always making the same threats. Kara remembers two occasions where he bellowed at her and Alice that they belonged to him, and a few more linger in her memory, she thinks. It's hard to tell.

She just wants to keep moving. ]

[He shuts the door behind her to keep out the snow, frowning as he considers the store again just in case he missed something, but it seems fine. The question, though, is not as fine, both because he doesn't have a real answer and because he doesn't necessarily want to try to figure one out.

In truth, Connor hadn't tried accessing the Garden again since using the emergency exit, and he doesn't want to. He doesn't know if it's possible and he hopes on some deep level that it isn't, but he's afraid to find out if it is; what if he tries to access it and that lets Amanda have even more control than she has right now? He and Kara are stuck in this setting, but he's at least in control of himself, except he isn't even sure of that because if this is a simulation then physically...

He tries to shake that thought, wandering off to look behind the counter just to give himself something to do, as he answers.]

I don't know if I can access the Garden, especially while already inside of another simulation. It also seems unlikely that the exit there would've been left intact, since I know where it is.

[Of course, he should check, but his stress level rises drastically every time he thinks about doing so.]

[ What a coincidence; Kara is also trying not to think about what could be happening to her physically.

As if she can sense his increased stress, Kara decides to move on from that subject. ]

Maybe a CyberLife factory. I can't tell if that's too obvious or not. I don't really know you, so it's hard to try and help you. [ And if they have to work together, be allies, then it's in their best interest to have more knowledge. ] What's your favorite color?

[Connor is crouched behind the counter, looking through the shelves for anything anything, and has to look over the countertop probably somewhat comically to furrow his eyebrows at Kara for her question. He's about to respond with 'I don't know' when the rest of what she said suddenly sparks a thought--]

CyberLife Tower. The basement; level sub 49.

[If Amanda were going to hide an emergency exit somewhere meaningful in order to lure them into a trap or something, it would be there. He's sure of it.

But getting to Belle Isle at all, let alone into the tower, won't be easy; it's a long way, and with the weather and whatever was in the police station and all the things Amanda could do to them the journey itself would likely be dangerous. But it's at least a destination.]

[ He's killing her here, wow.

She doesn't pursue the matter further (for now) because that sounds like he solved a puzzle. ]

Perfect, now we can figure out how to get there.

[ Kara looks around the store -- what to write with? -- and settles on a box of pasta. With that, she makes a very simplifed map of Detroit on the floor, like this is a craft project for school. It's useful, a good distraction, and fun, a good mix here. She hopes Amanda hates this. ]

We're here. [ She points to a spot on the map. ] Where's the tower?

[ She wants him to confirm, a little afraid her resets, both full and incomplete, corrupted the data hard coded into her memory. ]

[There's nothing useful behind the counter, and so he wanders back around it to find Kara... Playing with pasta?

Oh. It's a map. Very creative; Amanda would definitely hate it, which makes Connor enjoy it.]

Here.

[He steps around in order to indicate where the tower would be, in the middle of the river.]

It's on Belle Isle. So you were nearly right, about going to Canada.

[It's a really, really weak joke and assumes that CyberLife Tower really is where their exit is, but still. He's trying.]

[ Her arts & crafts module was unaffected by all the madness. c:

She gets the joke -- she's programmed to pick up on things like that, because it's like something a young kid would say -- and despite their current situation, Kara chuckles. He's trying, and that's what matters here. Positive reinforcement is go. ]

It's gonna be a long walk. [ She frowns at the map, calculating routes, closing out prompts to consult public transit schedules and the taxi database in the phone directory. There's connectivity here, and nothing is running unless Amanda wants it to run. Kara would rather not be in any closed spaces right now anyway. ]

Bicycles would make the trip faster. [ But there aren't any here, ugh. ] I'm ready to go whenever you are.

[ She just wants this nightmare to be over, even if the thought of the journey ahead of them fills her with dread. ]

[Connor... Has probably never made any art in his life so far honestly. Not that he has much opportunity to start now, but after this, she must encourage him.

The encouragement about the stupid joke is appreciated though, and he's pleased--underneath the stress--by the little chuckle. At least he did something right, and he glances out the window at the snow before looking back at Kara.]

The storm has died down. We may as well go now.

[He isn't looking forward to this either, but like Kara, he wants to get it over with. Doing something--anything--to improve their situation is better than the dread and anticipation of waiting around.

He moves to the door and cautiously opens it, but it's just as deserted as it had looked through the window; it's dark, but the snow and wind have both calmed quite a bit, and although the snow is still falling heavily visibility is much better. It's also cold, but not too cold.]

We should stay close together, just in case.

[ That's music to her ears. Kara gets up, leaving her pasta map behind out of spite -- it's something pretty in this ugly simulation.

Coming up beside him, she peers past him into the dark, snowy exterior. Her temperature sensors tell her a child would need several layers to be comfortable here for a half hour, but that she will be fine for much longer.

Excuse her as she takes your hand, Connor. ]

Our destination is due east. I can't promise I won't run after Alice if Amanda tries to trick me again, so I'm giving you permission to stop me from doing that.

[Connor knows, logically, that the storm has probably died down for a reason, in order to encourage them to go outside. But it's better than doing nothing.

He glances toward Kara in surprise when she grabs his hand, but he doesn't pull away. That's definitely one way to make sure they stay together, and it isn't a bad idea.]

Alright. I may run off in search of dogs, so the same applies.

[He's half-joking, but he definitely can't promise he wouldn't run off if he thought he heard Sumo barking. Or, of course, any of his friends needing help, but still.

And that said, he begins leading the way cautiously down the sidewalk, staying out the street in case another truck comes out of nowhere.]

We should expect some sort of obstacles; I can't believe we'd be allowed to just walk to Belle Isle.

[ For Kara, holding hands means safety, connection, and certainty -- she held Alice's hand through much of their journey, and they made it to freedom in the end. It calms her to have Connor's hand in hers, not because of him per se, but because it's familiar, and it's a good way to make sure they stick together. She'll know right away if he needs help, and the reverse too. She doesn't judge him for the dogs thing. It makes her smile, and anything that lowers her stress levels and gives her something to look out for is a good thing in this place. ]

And once we get there, too. [ She imagines the wall of thorns surrounding the castle in a popular version of the Sleeping Beauty story, and the dragon that opposed the prince. ] The tower... that's where we were built, right?

[ It's an unsettling thought. ]

[Connor isn't really used to having his hand held; he still doesn't have a lot of non-violent physical contact at all with people--human or android--except Hank, and that's usually much more brief. So this is all new to him, but he decides it isn't so bad, and maybe actually kind of comforting in some way.

He glances back at her just briefly at her question before refocusing on leading the way.]

Possibly. There are several factories as well; you could've been built at any of them, or at the tower.

[He knows he was designed and built at the tower for sure, but even with its massive warehouse in the basement the tower just isn't large enough to support all android construction, especially for mass-produced models.]

[ Prepare to be mommed at, Connor.

His answer is to be expected, but it also makes her curious. Kara wants to know, she thinks. Where was she "born" -- assembled? She can access information about her date of production, a necessity for repair techs so they can replace damaged components with newer ones if they exist and would be more cost effective, but she doesn't remember any of those years.

Years. Five years, and all she has to her name are a few weeks of memory. Maybe that's a good thing -- she doesn't know what Amanda could pull from them to try and trick her, and won't even remember to be tricked by -- but it could be to their disadvantage too. ]

My model series probably isn't important enough for headquarters. [ She glances at him as they walk. ] You are, though. It's okay to be scared by that. If you know you're afraid, you can control your fear, instead of it controlling you.

[ Or instead of Amanda using it to control him. It's the kind of thing she'd tell a child under her care, except this is far more serious than (she hopes) any child will ever have to face. ]

Edited (dont type and walk, kids) 2018-08-09 18:44 (UTC)

I'm not afraid of the tower.

[It's a quick answer, although not sharp; he isn't upset with Kara for the suggestion, and especially not for her trying to help. But it is true that he isn't afraid of the tower itself, not really; it doesn't bother him that he was made there, even if he realizes he'd now prefer not to encounter any of the people who made him, but that's not likely to be a problem in this simulation. The only things he's afraid of in regards to the tower are getting shot or, somehow, encountering Amanda.

But he does feel unsettled about their quest all the same, and he isn't totally sure why. It's something subconscious, almost like intuition, and against his better judgement Connor tries to follow the feeling this time, tracing back through emotions and code and looking for some sort of reason--

Connor freezes in place, eyes going blank; he doesn't purposefully access the file--one of the memories contained in the collection that had been transferred to him--but it activates and opens itself, and the synthetic skin on the hand holding Kara's withdraws on its own at the same time, something Connor is totally unaware of.

He's already drawn into the memory, set in a medium-sized room lit with overhead lighting, one wall holding a large plexiglass observation window with technicians behind it. The room itself is clinical, light grey and clearly made of surfaces that would be easy to clean.

None of that worries him, though; he can't really register worry, after all, calmly regarding the other android in the room. It's a military model, regarding Connor just as evenly as Connor is watching it, as one of the humans observing reads off the test information.

"RK800 313 248 317 - 38, test of thirium pump regulator at varying efficiency during strenuous activity. Begin."

A warning flashes in Connor's vision that his thirium pump regulator is malfunctioning, but he dismisses it immediately and focuses on the other android as it suddenly moves, coming at him. No surprise there, and Connor considers a few options in a moment before deciding his best bet is to use as little energy as possible; the less effort he uses, the less the unreliability of his pump regulator will matter.

So he goes low, taking out the other android's knee briefly, and feels his regulator switch to low-speed; everything gets slower and more hazy, less thirium moving to biocomponents and processors, and he quickly tries to readjust to it. That gives the other android time to turn around, swinging a heavy punch at Connor's face, which he's only just able to dodge.

Okay. Still functioning, that's fine, he can still win and succeed and accomplish his task, and that's what matters. Now close to the other android, he strikes up at its face and then slams his elbow hard into its abdomen, throwing off its own regulator for a few seconds.

That would've given him a good opening but his own regulator switches speeds again, this time shooting up well past normal, and that actually has a worse effect than it being too slow; his thirium tubing gives a pressure warning, and his thirium pump flashes an alert that it's being overtaxed. He ignores them both, closing out the messages, taking a few steps back to give himself space as the other android recovers and rises to its feet again.

Connor ducks another punch but doesn't evade the other android grabbing his collar, and in an instant he'd pulled close enough for his opponent to knee him hard in the chest. Normally it would be inconvenient, and maybe stun him for a moment, but combined with the high thirium pressure and over-activity instead his thirium pump suddenly just bursts.

The effect is immediate, warnings everywhere of critical biocomponent damage, a countdown showing less than four seconds until shutdown. That isn't long, even for an android, but it is enough time that Connor registers feeling something that is definitely not in his coding and shouldn't be possible: fear. He doesn't want to shut down like this, thirium suddenly everywhere, movement in the corner of his eye from the window where the technicians are, the other android now just staring impassively once again. This wasn't supposed to happen, and he doesn't want it to, he just wants--

And the memory ends suddenly, the floor of the room being instantly replaced by the dark street and steadily falling snow, and Connor sinks to his knees on the sidewalk. He's completely unaware of Kara--and whether or not she might've been pulled into the memory as well--just yet, disoriented from the sudden switch and not quite sure yet where he is as he runs check after check on his biocomponents in a panicked need to make sure they're working properly.]

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