ANGELEYES, dbh connor

THIRTY-THREE

WAY DOWN WE GO
━━━━━━(●'ω｀●)━

JERICHO IS COLD AND dark and lacks any of the warmth that you might've been expecting. 

Despite what you originally thought, Jericho is a rusting old bunker. There's nothing particularly interesting about it, and if you were human, you'd be scrunching your nose up at the sight of overgrown mold.

Taking light steps, you carefully move yourself through a crowd of Deviants dressed in ordinary clothing.

They look eerily alike to the humans that they mimic.

Tugging at the beanie atop your head, you quickly ascend a rickety staircase. The beanie is black, grimy, and seamlessly covers the LED light on the side of your head. It's a long story how you'd gotten it, but, to sum it up, there was a homeless man sleeping, and, well... He was an easy target.

Anything to complete your mission, right?

As you step up onto the top of Jericho, the cold wind bites your cool synthetic skin and tousles your hair.

It makes you think of Connor. If he was here with you, he'd be sneezing and chattering his teeth like a pitiful rabbit. It's not relevant to your mission, but somehow, thinking of Connor calms the raging onslaught of programmed thoughts erupting in your head.

You stiffly cross your arms over your chest and duck behind a thin wall next to the doorway of the captain's watchpoint.

Your eyes flutter shut for a brief moment as Amanda communicates with you through your mind-garden.

"Very good," she says, her voice stern as ever. "You succeeded in locating in Jericho and now it's time to deal with their leader, Markus. Remember, we need it alive and in-tact if we want to make any worthwhile progress in our research."

Blinking slowly, you re-adjust to your surroundings with your mission in mind. It's time.

This is what you've been working toward. This is your purpose. Without this mission, your creation would be pointless.

It's time.

Slowly, sticking close to the wall and the shadows, you creep inside. Your black dress-shoes make quiet crunching noises against small glass shards. With some semblance of programmed hesitancy, you pull Connor's gun out from its holster and raise the gun.

"I've been ordered to take you alive, but I won't hesitate to shoot if you give me no choice."

Your target freezes and you hear his thirium-pump as it speeds up. Slowly, he turns to face you, but his hands are raised relaxedly, and he stares without a trace of fear on his face.

After getting a good look at him, you see that he wears an honest but determined expression.

"Then you'll have to shoot," he says, his voice surprisingly gentle for a Deviant that's just been threatened, "because I have no intention of coming with you alive."

You pause, analysing. "That's not what I want. All you need to do is come with me, there's no need for any more confrontation. You are a danger to humanity and you know it."

"So you want? Then you are no different to us." Markus asked, his voice gentle and confident. "We are your people. We're fighting for your freedom too! You don't have to be their slave anymore..."

SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ⍓

He slowly takes a confident step toward you. There's determination in his eyes, the emotion so strong he nearly looks human.