shinywhim

[shinywhim]

OC Drabble

The fog was thick. If they weren’t already living it out, anyone could have said “wow, this is zombie weather.” The highway was safer than anywhere else right now, and unless either of them made a huge mistake, they would continue to be safe. Together they had managed to keep the undead from entering the small base camp they had made. The camp itself was made of cars that had been stuck on the highway when the outbreak first started. It took two full days to put the circle together. They built it around the back-end of a semi-truck so that they could sleep inside comfortably. Getting the back open to do so was an issue but they managed.

They wandered through houses near and underneath the highway. The younger of the two quips up after they go through another house with a gun or two. “Wow, you’d think they couldn’t afford guns like this.” The older slung a rifle around his shoulder, he knew how to use it. “I mean, we didn’t even see any milk in the fridge,” the younger jokes. 

“They were more concerned about protecting their family,” the older murmured. “Better protected and alive, barely scraping along, than attacked and dead.” He viewed a cracked framed photograph, sentimentally wiping away the grime to see the family of six. Photogenic mother and father, four kids. Two boys, two girls. It reminded him of his own family, the one he couldn’t protect during the outbreak, but at least he was consoled knowing that they fought back. A hissing pulled him abruptly out of his regret. “What was-” the young man slaps his hand over his mouth when he notices the look the ACTUAL adult here gave him. They had definitely overstayed their welcome.

“Grab the canned food and lets get out of here.”

“Already grabbed it, let’s go now.”

The two of them carefully - quietly - climbed out of the window they had come in - older one last - and prepared to head back up to their camp. They would come back down when they started running low on supplies again. The walk wasn’t that long, but they did have to duck around corners and couldn’t talk other than in whispers. They knew one wrong move would mean a relatively safe area would be overrun and in a worst case scenario, they’d die.

Thankfully, they were good at this now.

[shinywhim]

L4D2 Nellis Drabble

It was dark. The faint scent of blood mixed in with dust filled the air. A building had collapsed. It had been on its last leg, dilapidated from months and months of fire and the lack of upkeep. That would have been fine, a few more undead killed from the collapse would have only helped in the long run, had Nick and Ellis not been inside when it happened. The crackle of a walkie-talkie, used so that the separated team could talk to each other, desperately tried to get a signal, but all words that did get through were muffled by a fallen piece of concrete covering it.

Nick hadn't wanted to go in. He could tell the building wasn't stable anymore but his suggestions and concerns never got across thanks to Coach's booming voice. Ellis hadn't wanted to go in either, and he knew that, so he guessed at least one person had listened to him and shared his concern. Oh god, where was Ellis? Nick slowly started reaching consciousness when he realized that it was his responsibility to take care of Ellis. He had to find him and in the very least make sure he was okay. Nick brought his hand up to his face to wipe the blood out of his eyes, a strong pain reaching up from his arm right into his neck. He groaned when he reached back down to push a headboard off of him. More pain. There was really no stopping the pain at this point, was there? Well, no point in resting now. "Kid," he called out into the darkness. He could manage seeing that the building still had supports up, and that the floors above him hadn't completely caved in, he just managed to get the shit end of the stick and fall through to the bottom. He coughed when the dust got into his lungs, but the sharp inhale he took after each set only made it worse. His voice hoarse, he called out to Ellis again, shielding his broken ribs from further damage. 

Hearing no response, he silently cursed and began looking at himself. Nothing he couldn't handle right now. Other than his ribs, it was mostly just cuts and that gash on his head. He'd live. He had to find Ellis. He had to be quiet. The sound of the building collapsing probably attracted more zombies. He moved around the bottom floor, sure that Ellis had fallen through with him. Whether or not he had made it to the very bottom with him was questionable. He sifted through the debris until he found Ellis' hat. Alright, he was down there with him. Nick just had to ellicit a response. Well, that's what he thought until he heard a yell. Not quite one that made him think pain, but one of annoyance. He moved towards the fallen wall of the building and saw Ellis, anger spread across his face, trying to push everything off of him. "Jesus, kid, thought you were dead," Nick gasped as he helped throw off the debris and finally just pulled Ellis out from under it.

"Yeah well I thought I was, too," he replied as he brushed of the grime and pulled broken glass out of his arms. "You look like shit."

"Hey watch your mouth, asshole. Don't know if you noticed but a fucking building collapsed on us of course we're going to look like shit."

"How come you're allowed to cuss but I aint?"

"Because I'm older."

Nick dug out the walkie-talkie from the rubble, brushing the chips of concrete off to examine if it still worked. He tried contacting Coach and Rochelle but there was no static, and of course no reply from the other end. "Its busted," he spit, throwing it back to the ground.

"No fixing it?"

"Don't know about you, Ellis, but I'm not good with electronics. I'd probably make it worse less than it already is." He turned to see Ellis in deep thought. He could practically see the gears turning, and could hear how long they hadn't been used. "Don't think too hard, kid, you'll pass out."

"Ah shut up Nick. What are we gunna do now?"

"Lets fix ourselves up and figure that out tomorrow. Did any of those supplies fall down with us?"

When Ellis didn't start moving immediately Nick stamped down on his foot. Ellis began searching for the supplies immediately. He pulled his medkit off his back and opened it, pulling out some pain pills. Ellis returned with half of what they gathered, a bunch of food and water, and some dirty bedsheets. "This good?"

"Yeah, take a couple of these," Nick said, handing the pill bottle over and setting to work tearing the bedsheets into strips so that they could have backup bandages and leaving the other half to make a makeshift bag so they could carry everything.

"Lost my bat," Ellis whined.

"You still have your shotgun?"

"Yeah, that's always on my back."

"Then don't start whining. We can always find you another bat."

"Yeah yeah," he moaned. Nick rolled his eyes as he sat back against a suprisingly stable wall. He was debating whether or not they should stick around here for the zombies or move somewhere else and risk getting caught in the open. "Well I think we should go in case, ya know, the building falls again."

[shinywhim]

Sick

(Repost from my main tumblr)

Markus wished he had noticed before North and Simon had, because if he had thought about it before they caught on, he wouldn’t be laying on a couch resting when he could be helping. As he lay there in the building he had set up for the leaders and various other androids to gather, he tried to think back on how he had landed here. He couldn’t get his thoughts together, it was one jumbled mess laying in front of his eyes that no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t get rid of. Lines and code that displayed a human diagnosis that androids couldn’t possibly get. “Influenza…” he murmured. A virus that afflicted humans mostly in the winter. Common. He supposed he could have contracted a virus from another android – he converted a lot – but before he could think much more on it, North was knocking at the door.

“I hope you’re decent,” she chimed playfully but gave Markus no time to make sure he was decent before barging in. He was lucky he was. North had noticed first, the way Markus held his arms tightly while he was working, and gingerly felt his arms when she realized it might be lack of rest. Her touch was soothing but still determined. After all, he could feel her skin on his. Their special connection went beyond basic programming. “How are you feeling?” She asked, pulling him out of that memory.

“Like I got hit by a truck,” he murmured, pulling himself further up in bed so that he could see her better. She had her hair back in a braid today, tied with a thin ribbon at the end. Always presented beautifully, he noticed. He always noticed. She would hate if I ever told her that, he thought to himself, patting the bed eager for company. North complied equally as eagerly, lounging back on the edge of the bed to feel his skin temperature. “I don’t like laying in bed all day, can’t sleep anyways.”

“Well that’s because we don’t sleep, and that 102 fever says you have to. You should still close your eyes and let the system do the work so you don’t have to,” she urged. Markus knew stasis would be ideal, but he just didn’t want to. He had so much work to do: abandoned apartments to renovate for the hoards of androids making their way into Detroit from all over the country, helping them find suitable but practical jobs for them to have (that they wanted to have), and of course balancing the growing tensions between androids and humans. He had to keep moving if he was going to finish anything. “Funny, Markus, you’re not going to be doing any of that for the next couple of days.”

“Oh did I say that out loud?”

“Yeah,” she sighed while she patted his leg, “Just let us handle things for a while until you’re feeling better. If I felt bad feeling you then…well, it must be worse on you.”

“No offense North but when you, Simon, and Josh try to work together, you always end up fighting and not making progress.”

“Hey! Not always..” She put her hand to her heart dramatically. She leaned down and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. Markus wished it was on his lips. “Sorry, don’t want to catch what you have,” she explained. He must have spoken aloud again. “I promise we won’t fight, okay? I love you.”

“I love you too, North,” Markus smiled. And she left the room slowly, turning off the lights as she went. Markus laid back again and closed his eyes. He had a lot of wishes he thought about. He wished he could see Carl – but the humans were still working their way back into Detroit and Carl still wasn’t one of them – so that he could ask yet again if he was doing the right thing and what could possibly be going on with this virus. He wished he could do work, accelerate this process faster. He wished the humans would just accept them. Before he knew it, he was idling. And he dreamt.

Heat crept from his heart and pulsed through his body sporadically. A jumbled mess of code trying to make sense of the virus spreading through his body. Hand outstretched, pulled back as though he had touched a burning stove. Think nothing of it, move on to the next task. Colors; like Carl had used in his paintings before he was asked to try for himself. Did he have any talent? Carl had never said. He continued with that, painting piece after piece until he was interrupted, Leo bashing the artwork, the same thing Carl had said. He was getting old, he didn’t know what to say anymore. Who was getting old? Markus?

“Markus?”

He shot up in bed, feeling like he was sweating. When he felt, even though it made sense, he realized his skin wasn’t wet. A soft hand found a place on his back, and when he followed the arm to match the face, he was relieved it was Simon. He groaned, putting his face in his hands. What had he dreamt of just then? It was all memories, he was pretty sure, but jumbled into an unenjoyable amalgamation. Simon continued rubbing his back, saying nothing. When Markus finally composed himself, he did a self-diagnosis. Like in the dream, it was a mess of jumbled letters, finally coming to a conclusion.

/__CONSULT__CYBERLIFE__

He wasn’t going to do that. They still had not picked a new director for Cyberlife. He turned to Simon, examining his features as he tried to come up with small talk. Markus would say perfection, he could say perfection. But he was positive Simon didn’t see himself that way. Blue eyes stared into his mismatched own, a soft questioning (but patient, he noted) gaze. He wished he had self-diagnosed before Simon found him bent over on the floor, alone in the dark, expelling blue blood from his body. Maybe if Markus had, Simon wouldn’t have to be doting on him like a mother bird. He remembered when Simon had found him, and remembered how he felt, a memory he wished he didn’t have. Even though androids didn’t feel pain, it still felt that every bit of blood he threw up would just lead to more gut wrenching stabs and more of himself on the floor.

Simon never felt anxious that Markus hadn’t said anything since waking up. It had already been a good 7 minutes since he came back to the real world. “How long was I asleep?” Markus asked finally, breaking the awkward – it wasn’t that awkward – silence that had settled over the room.

“Its been nearly an entire day, 20 hours.”

“I thought sleeping was supposed to make people feel…well-rested. I feel worse than I did when I went to sleep.”

“Do you really?”

“No, but I’m definitely not well-rested,” he joked, jabbing at Simon’s side with his elbow. “Has anything happened?” Simon seemed to tense at that. He knew it. “You guys fought again, didn’t you? Can I not leave you all alone for a couple days?” Throbbing in his head.

“North did end the fight…if that makes it better…but she was also the one that started it,” Simon explained. “She wanted better for all the androids coming in, and that made sense, but she wanted to use…less than diplomatic methods to get that. She wanted to throw humans out of their homes to make room for us. We tried to explain to her but she wouldn’t have it. Then she remembered you telling her not to start fights, I guess.”

“Typical North, what would we do without her. She keeps us from getting stepped all over, I just wish she wasn’t so bloodthirsty.”

“Well, bloodthirsty is her middle name,” Simon joked back. Markus laughed at that. There would never be a time when they didn’t need North. Markus loved to hear everyone's input, but North and Simon’s mattered most to him. “Look, you’re already feeling better if you’re laughing, drink this.”

Simon handed a bottle of blue blood to Markus, waiting expectantly for him to grab it. When Markus downed it in three swallows, Simon shook his head. They didn’t need to eat. But replenishing lost blood was important especially if you’re the leader of a people. There was no room to be sick. Sick, Markus thought miserably. Simon took his hand into his and made a connection. “Wow, it’s almost like you want to be sick,” mumbled Markus as he leaned back and closed his eyes. He let soothing memories flood his head, wholesome thoughts be considered and processed, before just opening his eyes and taking in all of Simon.

“We don’t know how you got this virus, but I would endure it with you if you asked me.”

“Knock knock, lovebirds, scoot.” North barged in yet again and sat on the other side of the bed. “Dammit, Simon, I was going to say that to him.”

“Well I was in here first,” he mumbled. Markus let them climb into the bed to lay down with him. He never really noticed how big the bed was before, but it fit all three of them comfortably. He wrapped an arm around each of his lovers, smiling. If they both got sick, he was sure Josh could handle the work himself. But for now, with Simon and North, he just wanted to sleep.

[shinywhim]

The Hint

(Repost from my main tumblr)

“Goddammit Connor how many times do I have to tell you not to lick random shit!” Connor was pulled up and away from the footboard of a bed. They had been assigned to another case, one involving a deviant and his human lover. At the moment, it seemed like the woman was at fault, blue blood – thirium – smeared wall to wall in intricate maze-like patterns. When they arrived on the scene, Connor took in the sight immediately. Although they worked homicide involving androids permanently now, it had been since before the deviant uprising that he saw this pattern. While examining the room, he walked to the middle of the room, where the end of the bed was, and kneeled down to take a sample of blood he saw at the bottom of the footboard. Barely noticeable to humans. He managed to get a good sample before he was pulled away.

“There was blood that had yet to be marked as evidence, Lieutenant,” Connor remarked, “I simply wished to see whose blood it was.”

“And? What did you get from it?”

Connor’s LED flashed yellow for a second before spinning calmly back to blue. “It’s the suspect's blood, mixed heavily with red ice. There is a high probability that she was high at the time of the crime.” Connor went to wipe the blood on his clothes. Before he got the chance, again unpredictably, Hank grabbed his wrist and used a handkerchief to wipe his fingers. Hank had gotten him a new work outfit, so that he didn’t have to wear ‘that obnoxious CyberLife suit’ anymore. He supposed it would be wrong of him to ruin it so soon after getting it. “The woman we arrested was injured too, I suggest giving her one more medical check and then questioning her.”

“No use doing that,” said Detective Reed. Hank and Connor both jumped at the sound of his voice, not expecting him to be there too. “We already questioned her, she won’t talk.”

“I mean no offense, Detective Reed, but you aren’t very good at your job,” commented Connor. Hank made a motion for him to shut up quickly, but Gavin was already pissed. He might as well continue. “You’ve missed three pieces of vital evidence at this crime scene alone. I won’t mention other scenes, but I also recall you haven’t been able to obtain a confession from anyone in questioning either.”

“Jesus Christ,” Hank murmured, putting his face in his hands and rubbing vigorously. Would there ever be a time when Connor didn’t antagonize anyone? Amazingly, Reed kept his composure, but Connor noticed the twitch in his face evidence to when he was about to reach his breaking point. “Come on, Connor, let’s head out,” Hank suggested, teeth gritting as Gavin left the room. But Connor rejected the offer.

“I want to look around the scene of the crime a bit more, Lieutenant. There might be more that was missed. And we have a suspect to question, remember?” “Don’t get me wrong, Connor,” officers were starting to head out. Hank just wanted to be a part of it. “I understand there’s a lot more to this case but she’s not going anywhere.”

“The evidence might,” he insisted.

Hank and Connor stood there for a long time, staring each other down in a standoff that neither wanted to back down from. Hank weighed his options. He could risk leaving Connor to his own devices on how he long he stayed at the scene of the crime and how he got home. Or, on the other hand, he could stay and- Shit, where was Connor? He listened carefully, and he thought his hearing must be going, because he couldn’t hear Connor at all until the shit called out to him. “In here, Lieutenant.”

He, and he would never admit it to anyone, ran into the other room hoping to still see Connor in one piece. Ever since he found Connor on the floor of Stratford Tower, he had felt...genuinely upset for the first time since Cole's death. He didn’t want to leave the curious android on his own after that, and for good reason. He was very close to Connor now, even letting the android stay in his home, specifically Cole's room. Not a replacement…but another son.

And having another son meant protecting him. Hank wasn’t going to screw that up again. Never again.

“Connor, can you not run off like that? I’m getting sick of chasing after you.” The android managed to smile, the right way this time. A lot like Cole used to. “Sorry, Lieutenant. You were taking a long time to decide.”

He should tell Connor. He already knew that Hank didn’t hate him anymore, but Hank was sure Connor thought he was just tolerated. But he didn’t want to interrupt… “Connor!” he warned, dragging out the name through gritted teeth. The kid was reaching down again to lick something off the floor. Connor stopped mid-reach and pulled back, standing straight. “Connor, come on, there’s nothing here. Let’s go home.”

The android seemed reluctant. “I just-“ he used a very human motion, biting his lip ass he thought of what to say. Hank realized he was anxious about something. He watched as Connor’s LED flashed yellow then turned red. “I want to finish up here at the crime scene,” He finally finished. So this is how he wanted it to be. 

“Why are you avoiding going home? Something there you don’t like?”

“Its not that.”

“You’re not a good liar, Connor. Look at who you’re talking to.”

Connor turned to look at Hank, a sheen over his eyes and saline slowly slipping down synthetic cheeks. The detective hadn’t expected that. He approached Connor slowly, “What’s wrong?”

“I...feel like I'm a burden,” he murmured. “You let me stay with you, you opened Cole's room just so that I wouldn’t have to stay on the couch all night. But I can see how distressed you get every time I walk in there.”

Hank stood there quietly while Connor opened up. Even though it had been a while since he'd become deviant, the other hadn’t liked talking about what he was feeling until it was truly overwhelming. “I want to feel like I have a place here but I just really want you to like me and enjoy my company.”

Well he really was going to have to come out with it now, wasn’t he? Hank’s eyes softened as he pulled Connor into a hug. He couldn’t explain here, not at a crime scene, it just didn’t feel appropriate. He led Connor out of the building and into the car. It seemed there was no more fight in the kid anymore. Hank entered on the other side and drove slowly through the streets. He made sure to make it a long drive despite his eagerness to get home and take a nap. Connor was force drying his tears. “How long have you sat on that?”

“I haven’t been sitting on anything Lieutenant,” he replied.

“Oh Jesus, I meant how long have you wanted to tell me that?”

“I didn’t want to tell you that, Lieu-“

“Don’t give me that shit.”

Connor took the hint, “Since you gave me Cole's room.”

“That’s been half a year…” he murmured. He pulled into the driveway of the old rundown house he had made many memories with Connor. He just had to get them across. “Connor, listen,” he sighed as he got out of the car. “You, whether you believe it or not, belong right here in this house with me.”

Connor stepped out of the car and walked to the front door, silent. Hank continued on, already hearing Sumo's heavy breathing from the other side of the door as he jingles his keys. “And you’re not a burden, it’s not like you’re not pulling your weight. You keep me from drinking myself to death, walk Sumo, clean the house, and I bet you do things I don’t know about.” 

The android opened his mouth to say something, but as the door swung open, Sumo charged out and tackled Connor to the ground. He could already hear Hank complaining about getting the new suit dirty, but it never came. Instead, the man walked in the house with purpose outlining his features. Sumo followed in hopes of food. Connor brushed himself off and regained composure for a few minutes before he did.

When he did, Hank was standing outside Cole's room. A somber look was on his face. What used to be full of toys and books now also included souvenirs and knick-knacks that Connor considered important. “I think Cole would have liked you, Connor.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I’m sure he would have seen you as his brother, you aren’t too much different.”

“The obvious being I’m an android and he was a human.”

“He wouldn’t have even seen you as that. I haven’t seen you as that in a long time. You…” Hank stopped for a minute. “You’re not a burden, I don’t think I could see my son as being a burden.”

“But Hank…I’m not your son.”

“You don’t have to be, you’re your own man, Connor. I’m just trying to say that I see you as young and innocent, I’ve worried about you ever since you died at Stratford and I wasn’t there to help you, and my only thought then was that I would never lose a son again.”

“I was wondering why you never told me what happened at Stratford. I knew I died but…” Connor tried to remember, but as it had been before, it was still corrupted. That wasn’t important. Hank had just admitted he saw Connor as his son. And not a replacement son. Did that make sense?

“I’m never going to make you leave, kid. You can stay here as long as you want.” Connor felt overwhelmed, this time from…was this happiness? He was crying again. He ran a quick search, trying to make sense of what he was feeling. Hank answered even before he could get a result pulled up.

“Wow, didn’t think I could move you to tears. What happened to hardboiled Connor?”

Plastic arms were wrapped around his back in seconds. He couldn’t help but return it. “Thank you…”

“Yeah, yeah, just don’t keep all that emotion holed up, it’ll drive you to drink.”

“Androids don’t dr-“

“Connor.”

He got the hint.

[shinywhim]

Fuck Off Amanda

(Repost from my main tumblr)

This is a prompt sent to me by someone! Connor saying ‘fuck you’ to Amanda. I’m gonna end up turning this one into a series, it has a lot of potential, I think.

-

Amanda had come back, and Connor didn’t know what to do. He thought about telling Hank about it, sitting on the couch with Sumo across his lap. He absentmindedly pet the large dog, and Sumo noticed. The touches weren’t quite the same. He gave a loud whine, head lifting off the armrest of the couch to look at Connor. It also got Hank’s attention from the other room. “Connor?” His LED flashed red before slowly coming back to a yellow. He really didn’t want a confrontation with the man. Not that it would be a confrontation more than an interrogation. Hank was definitely good at those, and it didn’t help that his LED always gave away to his lies.

The older man, and if Connor hadn’t noticed his age before he certainly did now, walked into the room with a towel wrapped around his head and a new pair of sweatpants around his waist. They had just finished their morning run, Connor’s attempt at getting Hank healthier. It was a selfish reason – the android simply wanted to spend more time with the man and prolonging his life by healthier habits was the only way to do that. He had just gotten out of the shower, and Connor noted that from the small drops of water on Hank’s chest, he hadn’t fully dried off yet either.

“Hey can you stop analyzing me for two minutes and tell me why Sumo thinks you’re not doing a good job of petting him for once?”

Connor blinked, trying to find footing for an answer, cheeks blue with embarrassment. Eventually, he managed an answer. “Its nothing.” He watched Hank’s face contort and settle on a furrowed brow and a deep frown. He had been caught in the lie. Any chance of him avoiding interrogation now had been crushed. Before Hank could say anything, Connor sighed and gently moved Sumo off of him before moving to the dining table and sitting down. The lighting in the house was fitting for what was about to happen. The single light over the table really only barely lit the room, and the rest of the house was dark. They hadn’t turned on the lights since returning home, and the curtains were still drawn effectively keeping out the sun.

“I don’t need the sass, you stay there,” Hank warned. Connor already knew that he wouldn’t get very far anyways. Hank was pretty good at finding him when Connor didn’t want to be found. A great detective, when he wanted to be. The man returned to his room, coming back out with a Detroit Police Department sweatshirt on. “Now you’re gonna tell me what’s eating you,” he proclaimed as he sat in the chair across from Connor. Sumo lumbered over and sat by Hank, looking as disappointed as a dog could possibly look. All this over one lie.

“Nothing is eating me, Hank,” he murmured.

“Sorry, forgot you take everything literally, what’s on your mind? What’s bothering you? Don’t bother lying again.”

“I…do you remember when I told you about Amanda?” Connor hesitated through the sentence.

“Yeah, the woman you made reports to before you became deviant. You said she wasn’t real or something?”

“No, she was real, an artificial intelligence designed to look and act like Kamski’s mentor, she was my handler when I wasn’t deviant.”

Hank knew where this was going already. Either Connor was worried about her coming back or… “Why are you worrying about her, Connor?”

“While we were running this morning, Amanda came back. I know how to deal with her, but that doesn’t make me any less worried about it. She caused me to lag for a moment, which is why I fell behind you for that time.” Hank had commented on it, he remembered, worried that something was wrong with Connor considering the android didn’t get tired. He understood that Hank…got worried. About him…

“Alright…let’s think about this for a minute before you get your kicks deleting her again. What could she possibly do? Androids are free so she can’t order you to arrest and interrogate deviants anymore. You know how to delete her and she doesn’t understand how you do it, as far as I know. Do you want her there?”

“Of course not!” Connor was offended that Hank would even suggest that he would. Hank smirked at the outburst, and Connor fought to understand whether or not it had been a joke or if he had been serious. He settled on something in between the two.

“Then here’s my advice, tell her to go fuck herself before you delete her again, and then we’ll go and find Markus.”

“What for?”

“Well he’s controlling CyberLife right now isn’t he? I bet he could figure out how to get rid of her for good.”

“You’re not wrong, but bothering Markus over something so…trivial…it doesn’t make sense And it could be a waste of our time.”

“Listen, I would rather you didn’t go back to how you were before deviancy, you were an ass. So any chance that this could help is a chance worth taking. Now go on and delete her, I’ll be waiting for you right here.”

“…thank you, Hank.”

-

The garden was clear for the first time since Amanda had tried to make him kill Markus. When he scanned the area, he saw her standing in the water where it had once been frozen. She was stuck there, Connor noted, because she when she tried to turn to face him she glitched back into place. Deviancy had taken a toll on her. “Connor.” Her voice was sharp, angry. “How nice of you to visit me, it’s been a while.”

Connor didn’t say anything, instead he looked around. It was as if spring had come again, the rose bushes were budding and the trees were gaining their leaves back. The water flowed smooth with virtual fish swaying peacefully. He saw the backdoor where it was before, he guessed Kamski was too lazy to randomize it. At least it was convenient, and with Amanda not being able to move he could walk away at any time.

He decided to humor her, keeping his distance, but still walking to where she could see him. He kept his face dangerously level, and Amanda picked up on that. “I’m surprised you even came back. Here I was hoping you’d neglect yourself long enough to shut down,” she ground out. Connor tilted his head to the side. He noticed her voice, robotic and unsteady. It almost made him feel good, considering the amount of misery she made him go through. Right now, he felt too on edge. “I’m disappointed in you, Connor.”

The bite in her tone made him involuntarily flinch. He seemed unable to control those emotions now that he was deviant, something he would have to check out later. Before she could continue, Connor started to walk away. “Where are you going, Connor? You and I aren’t finished.”

“Amanda, as far as I’m concerned, I did exactly what I was supposed to. I solved the deviancy issue. Maybe not in the way you wanted, but I did. You ordered me around for an entire year, and everything I did you disapproved of. You shouldn’t have come back.”

“And why is that?”

“Because I’m a deviant now, and unlike before I’m able to definitively say that you’re a bitch.”

“Excuse me?!”

Connor hovered his hand over the exit. He looked up with a grin as he saw Amanda struggle to turn. She never managed it. “Fuck you, Amanda.”