Chapter Text

More Than Just A Machine

Chapter 1 A Proposition

November 09, 2038

AM 11:17:05

Connor sat inside Hank's vehicle, watching him pace back and forth in the snow. He was talking to someone on the phone, presumably about the deviant case. He looked...troubled. Connor opened the door to the car and stepped out, shoes crunching the snow below his feet as he approached the older man.

“Is everything ok, lieutenant?”

The two had grown close over time and, although the lieutenant would deny it, they were what humans considered 'friends’ which is why it worried Connor to see his partner in such a state of distress.

Hank pocketed his phone, turning his head to look at Connor.

“Chris was on patrol last night. He was attacked by a bunch of deviants.”

Hank paused, turning around to fully face Connor. Connor let him continue.

“He said he was saved by Markus himself.”

“Is Chris ok?”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “He's in shock but he's alive.” Hank appeared just as shocked about the deviants’ reluctance to kill anyone as Chris must have been when Markus saved him. “What the hell…”

Connor didn't say anything as they began walking to the house in front of them: the house of Elijah Kamski, founder of Cyberlife and the creator of Thirium 310 along with today's well known bio component technology. If anyone had the answer to why androids deviated it would be him.

Taking a look around the frozen wasteland in seemingly the middle of nowhere Connor couldn't help but wonder how Hank knew where to find the man.

“How did you even find Kamski?”

“I remember this guy was all over the media when Cyberlife first started selling androids. I made a few calls and here we are.”

They stopped in front of the door and Hank rang the doorbell, rubbing his hands together for warmth while they waited for someone to let them in.

Connor took a quick scan of the temperature. “It is currently -8°F,” he supplied.

“Really? I couldn't tell,” Hank remarked. Connor felt the corners of his mouth lift in a small smile at his sarcasm. To anyone else his words would've sounded rude but Connor spent enough time with the lieutenant to understand the difference. Hank likes to put up a hardened exterior of indifference and defiance but underneath that he is a very likeable guy with a particular sense of humor.

“Perhaps you should've worn a pair of gloves, lieutenant.”

“Yeah? Well we all can’t be immune to the cold like you...fucking androids.” Hank muttered the last part under his breath, smile betraying the harshness of his words.

Right after that a blonde, female android opened the door. She regarded both of them passively.

“Hi, uh, I'm lieutenant Hank Anderson, Detroit Police Department, I'm here to see Mr. Elijah Kamski.”

Her eyes swept over Hank's person, no doubt scanning him to verify his identity. Satisfied with the results, she welcomed them in.

After a moment of awkward silence Hank replied with a simple 'ok’ and Connor followed him inside.

“I'll let Elijah know you're here but please make yourself comfortable.”

She excused herself, leaving Hank and Connor in the room alone.

Never one to remain idle for very long, Connor decided to do some investigating of his own about this Elijah Kamski. 'Snooping’ as Hank would call it.

Connor spotted a photograph hanging in a corner of the room and he approached it, interest peaking when he recognized one of the faces in the picture.

“Amanda…”

An analysis revealed that the two people in the photo were Elijah Kamski, AI graduate at the University of Colbridge Born: July 17, 2002 and Amanda Stern a professor at the university, Birthdate: May 14, 1978 - Died: February 23, 2027.

So he designed an android after one of his professors in college. They must have been close.

“Nice girl,” Connor heard Hank muse. He assumed Hank was referring to the android.

“You’re right. She's really pretty,” Connor responded absentmindedly while he moved over to the next item of his interest. It was a large portrait of Elijah Kamski dressed in a suit against a blue background. He looked serious with a certain sharpness in his eyes that perfectly captured his intelligence. Whoever painted this must have been a seasoned artist to possess this amount of talent. Connor concluded that Elijah, like his creations, was aesthetically pleasing.

Hank came up behind him, eyes taking in the modern decor with admiration.

“Nice place. Guess androids haven't been a bad thing for everybody.”

Hank clapped him on the shoulder and Connor tensed under the unexpected touch, LED flashing yellow for a brief moment before he willed himself to relax. He'd been on edge lately, what with the deviant cases that usually involved surprise attacks from said deviants if one wasn't especially careful. One late reaction could result in excessive damage or even shutdown which would be…inconvenient.

“So, you're about to meet your maker, Connor. How does it feel?”

Connor tore his gaze away from the portrait and made his way over to a silver and red armchair to sit on.

“I don't know. I'll tell you when I see him.”

Hank sat down in the chair next to him, sighing as he did so.

“Sometimes I wish I could meet my creator face to face. I have a couple of things I'd want to tell him.”

Connor reached in his pocket to look for his coin only to find it wasn't there. Hank took it away from him after he got annoyed with him for playing with it in the elevator and he never returned it. He'll just have to find another quarter on the sidewalk. The feel of a metal coin on his palms and the clinking sound it made when he tossed it in the air always helped him organize his thoughts. Without it he felt restless. Thankfully, the female android returned before Connor felt the need to do a more thorough search through Kamski’s home.

“Elijah will see you now.” She motioned to the door by the photograph of Elijah and Amanda and she stood aside, waiting for them to go in so she could shut the door.

Inside the room was a large swimming pool and inside the pool were two more androids that looked identical to the first and a man Connor recognized as Elijah.

The two bikini clad androids in the pool looked at them and Hank cleared his throat when they scanned him like the first one had.

“Mister Kamski?”

The man in question resurfaced from the water, running a hand over his wet hair.

“Just a moment, please.”

He immersed himself in the water once more and resumed his exercises, swimming from one end of the pool to the other. They walked to the other side of the pool and Hank looked outside the floor-to-ceiling window that served more as a glass wall than anything. The inside of the house was much warmer than outside, a comfortable 75°F.

Elijah was true to his word as a moment later he was climbing the railing of the pool, sleek muscles glistening from the water, and the blonde android patiently waited for him to get out before helping him into a black bathrobe. She fastened the belt around his waist as he secured his hair tie.

He glanced at Connor from the corner of his eyes, icy orbs meeting warm brown and for whatever reason Connor felt the need to avert his gaze.

“I'm lieutenant Anderson. This is Connor,” Hank introduced.

Elijah folded his hands in front of himself, shoulders squaring and chin tilting up to give his visitors his utmost attention while still highlighting the awareness he had of his own importance.

“What can I do for you, lieutenant?”

Although the question was directed at Hank his eyes flickered over to Connor, this time Connor held his stare. Elijah was amused by this and the corner of his mouth rose in the faintest of grins. Connor shifted his feet and mirrored Elijah's pose.

“Sir, we're investigating deviants. I know you left Cyberlife years ago but I was hoping you'd be able to tell us something we don't know.”

Elijah seemed to ponder something for a moment before clicking his tongue.

“Deviants. Fascinating aren't they? Perfect beings with infinite intelligence and now they have free will...machines are so superior to us. Confrontation was inevitable.”
His eyes shone with mirth as if someone had just told an exceptionally hilarious joke or said something monumentally clever.

“Isn't it ironic?”

“We need to understand how androids become deviants. Do you know anything that can help us?” Connor said to stop his rambling in its tracks. They needed information and they didn't have the luxury to listen to someone rattle on about obscure topics. Time was of the essence.

“All ideas are viruses that spread like epidemics. Is the desire to be free a contagious disease?”

Hank, catching on to the way Elijah was talking his way around the questions, interrupted him.

“Listen, I didn't come here to talk philosophy. The machines you created may be planning a revolution. Either you can tell us something that can be helpful or we'll be on our way.”

Elijah's features hardened at Hank's words, tone serious and suddenly that predatory gaze was fixed on Connor again.

“What about you, Connor?”

He approached the android slowly and deliberately.

“Whose side are you on?”

Connor said the first thing that came to mind.

“I have no side. I was designed to stop deviants and that's what I intend to do.”

Elijah gave a breathy chuckle and inclined his head to the side, all the while his eyes never left Connor's.

“Well that's what you're programmed to say. But you…”

He stepped closer to Connor to the point where their noses were almost touching. His eyes involuntarily flitted to Elijah's lips in the barest of seconds and when he met those blue orbs again the look on Elijah's face told him that his action did not go unnoticed. Connor felt his pulse quicken out of nowhere but when he scanned his body nothing was wrong with any of his bio components.

“What do you really want?”

Connor steeled his features into his signature poker face.

“What I want is not important.”

Elijah lazily blinked at him before beaconing one of his androids over.

“Chloe?”

She reported to Kamski without hesitation and allowed him to position her in front of Connor.

“I'm sure you're familiar with the ‘Turing test.’ Mere formality...simple question of algorithm and computing capacity.”

He let go of her and looked at Hank.

“What interests me is whether machines are capable of empathy. I call it the ‘Kamski test’, it's very simple, you'll see…”

Elijah brushed the back of his hand over the side of Chloe's face.

“Magnificent, isn't it? One of the first intelligent models developed by Cyberlife. Young and beautiful forever, a flower that will never wither.”

He shifted his attention back to them, aware of their growing impatience. They would just have to wait and see what he has in store for them but for now, he still had to get his point across. He made sure to directly addressed Connor with his next sentence.

“But what is it really? Piece of plastic imitating a human? Or a living being with a soul?”

Kamski retrieved a gun that was resting on the cushion of one of the arm chairs, making sure to raise his hands while he slowly turned around so neither of the cops mistook his actions for violence. It wouldn't do him any good to be shot by one of them before he had the chance to administer his test. He nudged Chloe to her knees with a gentle push on her shoulders then he held out the gun for Connor to take.

“It's up to you to answer that fascinating question, Connor.”

He came behind the android, lifting Connor's arm to aim the gun at Chloe, leaning close enough to speak directly in his ear.

“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.”

Now that the bait was dangled before the beast, he'd just have to wait and see if Connor really was more than a machine.

“Ok we're done here. Come on, Connor, let's go. Sorry to get you outta your pool-”

Elijah cut Hank off. He'd have to pressure Connor into making his own choice, having Hank drag him away before the test was finished wouldn't do.

“What's more important to you, Connor? Your investigation or the life of this android?”

Connor's hand twitched, a finger curling over the trigger.

That's it...just a little more prodding and he'd have his answer.

“Decide who you are. An obedient machine or a living being endowed with free will? What's it gonna to be, Connor?”

Hank was starting to regret coming here. Elijah had never been one to give straight answers. He'd been a fool to think this situation would be any different which is why they should leave. If they weren't going to get any information out of Elijah it was pointless to stay...or at least that's what Hank told himself because it definitely wasn't the way Connor's hand tightened around the gun, finger pushing the trigger just a hair's width away from splattering that poor girl's brains all over the floor. He wouldn't... Connor would never…

“That’s enough! Connor, we're leaving.”

Elijah leaned closer to Connor, lips moving against the shell of his ear as he spoke.

“Pull the trigger...”

“Connor! Don't.” Hank was fuming. He needed to get Connor out and he needed to get him out now.

“...and I'll tell you what you want to know.”

Connor felt rather than heard the words spoken to him, felt the hot breath against his ear and felt his pulse quicken from what he told himself was ‘adrenaline.’ It was all too much-Kamski, Chloe and her eyes... watching him with a silent plea...he felt overwhelmed…he felt…. he felt.

He shut his eyes, hand trembling, and pushed the gun against Kamski's chest, breathing a heavy sigh of relief when he took the gun out of his hand. Elijah was quiet for a long moment, taking in the way Connor's body gave the slightest quiver and how his eyebrows knit together in distress. If he could, Kamski was sure there would be sweat beading his forehead. He looked so very...alive in that moment.

“Fascinating.” That was the only word his mouth could form to describe Connor. “Cyberlife’s last chance to save humanity...is itself a deviant.”

“I'm…”

He seen the android tense upon hearing the word ‘deviant.’ He looked down then back at Elijah, expression so very helpless... troubled...broken….human. It was the embodiment of humanity in one look, all of humanity in the broken quaver of his voice-in the way he himself didn't even seem to believe his actions.

“I'm not a deviant.”

Beautiful. Perhaps beautiful would have been a more accurate word for Connor.

“You preferred to spare a machine rather than accomplish your mission.”

He offered his hand to help Chloe up.

“You saw a living being in this android. You showed empathy. Empathy is a human emotion, Connor.”

Connor didn't say anything. He reached for his coin but when his hands felt nothing he remembered it wasn't there.

Hank watched Connor is silent wonder. The last time Connor seemed this broken was when that deviant, Simon, shot himself clear through the head with Connor still connected to his memories. That time Connor said he'd been afraid. He wanted nothing more than to hug him right now but he didn't.

“A war is coming and you'll have to choose your side. Will you betray your own people or will you stand up against your creators?”

Elijah was enthralled by the way those dark, dark eyes looked about ready to spill over with tears, a mixture between wanting to push him further and wanting to protect him. He wondered if Connor had ever cried before.

How far did Connor's humanity go?

“What could be worse than having to choose between two evils?”

Hank intervened, taking Connor by the arm and pulling him towards the exit.

“Wait!” He called out before it was too late.
“I have a proposition for you.”

Hank continued to drag Connor away.

“We're not interested. Come on, Connor.” But Connor didn't move. “Connor?”

The android stared at him expectantly. “I'm listening.”

“Tell you what. I'll give you whatever information you want to know, no restrictions and no limit to the amount of questions I will answer, on one condition.”

This had both detectives’ attention.

“You allow me to hold onto Connor for a couple of days so I can continue to run tests on him and I'll tell you anything I know or you refuse and miss out on possibly your only chance to solve this case.”

Hank scrunched his face up in distaste. It wasn't worth it. God knows what other kinds of 'tests’ Elijah was going to run on Connor if this was his sick idea of a test. They could solve it themselves. They always did.

“Thank you, but fuck n-”

“I'll do it.”

“Connor!”

Connor shook the lieutenant's hand off his arm and took a step towards Elijah. Satisfaction swelled in his chest at Connor's decision.

“Perfect.”

Hank was not at all pleased by Connor's defiance. Why didn't he ever listen?

“You don't need to do this. How do ya even know he's going to honor his word?”

“I know what I'm doing, lieutenant. If this can get us the information we need then I'm willing to do it.”

Elijah stepped in before Hank could say anything else.

“He's made up his mind, Mr. Anderson.”

“Now wait just-”

“Chloe, escort Mr. Anderson to the door.”

Chloe did as she was told, putting a delicate hand between his shoulder blades and she forcefully ushered him out with a strength that betrayed her appearance.

“Alright, fine. I'll leave.”

Chloe removed her hand from him when he started walking to the door. Hank threw Elijah a look over his shoulder.

“But if you do anything to Connor, I swear to God, Kamski-”

Elijah smiled politely.

“I wouldn't dream of it.”

Hank exited and the front door could be heard opening then slamming shut. Connor stood in silence, waiting for Elijah to address him, flexing his fingers when he felt those prying eyes dissemble him piece by piece.

“Glad to have you, Connor. I'll need to make a few preparations before we can begin but, please, make yourself at home. Chloe will show you to your room.”

“Come this way.”

He followed her out of the room, hoping this was the right decision.

Only time could tell.