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Chapter 3: Special Relativity

Connor can feel the bed sheets under him, they're not soft, but they're definitely not as rough as the ones in his apartment had been. Idly, he pinches some of it between his index finger and thumb, rubbing it together and cringing at the small vibrations travelling up his hand that it causes. While it's not a pleasant experience, it's a welcome distraction, and it brings his attention away from where Kamski is plugging something into the back of his neck.

"Is that good?"

Connor opens his eyes, catching sight of himself in a mirror before turning to face Kamski, who has moved back so that he's now standing by what looks like a very large computer with a screen, looking at him expectantly.

"It's fine."

He's not exactly lying, he can deal with it, even if it's not comfortable. The only other time Connor had been plugged into anything was during his tests at CyberLife. He's not exactly keen to relive the memories. Kamski hums, a pretty non-committal sound of acknowledgement before he's turning back to the screen and messing with some coding that Connor can't be bothered to try and scan. Even if he did, Connor's not a genius, and his access to CyberLife's databases is limited, so it's unlikely that he would understand much of anything on the monitor. So instead of wasting his time by trying it, he moves his gaze back to the mirror. He'd had to remove his hoodie, and he's now just sitting on the cream hotel bed his tattered black t-shirt and jeans. There are plugs connected to the back of his neck, the left side of his head, and the top of his chest. It's a fairly unsettling sight; the way the plugs cause the synthetic skin around them to retreat so that it looks like they're just surrounded by patches of stark white. Occasionally, his vision will flash with a large warning.

WARNING: FOREIGN_INSERTION_DETECTED
>REMOVE IMMEDIATELY

Irritated, Connor removes it for the fifth time, internally cursing his faulty diagnostic program. While it still works enough to tell him when something's wrong most of the time, it's not exactly responsive to his commands, and it hadn't been for a couple of weeks now. As if sensing his thoughts, the warning suddenly pops up again and Connor removes it, unable to stop the annoyed expression passing over his face. For some reason, it seems to catch Kamski's attention, and the man looks up from the computer to quickly scan Connor with his eyes.

"You look agitated."

"I am" Connor says without missing a beat. "My diagnostic system is trying to warn me about the plugs, despite the fact that I've already dismissed it six times now."

Kamski lets loose a sound that Connor identifies a second later as a breathy chuckle, though it's more akin to a release of air than any true laugh. The action strikes Connor as unusual, and it seems the man has a lot going on in his mind. Not exactly surprising, but it's definitely odd seeing the usually calm and controlled genius so worked up and tense.

"Are you alright Mr Kamski?"

"I'm fine Connor!" Kamski snaps suddenly and without warning, making the android startle physically. Whatever he had expected from the man, it was certainly not that. Annoyance is clear on the ex CEO's face as his hands move wildly, as if he doesn't know what to do with them, before eventually settling on his head and rubbing it. A small pause. The atmosphere is tense. Connor doesn't know how to respond to the outburst, and decides to stay silent rather than do anything that could set the human off again. Thankfully, it only lasts a few seconds. Kamski suddenly looks at him with a stressed-looking smile plastered on his face and gestures at the screen, which is still full of lines of code.

"I'm sorry, that was rude of me. I shouldn't snap at you, but I'm fine Connor. There's no need to worry." He gives the android a small nod before turning back to the screen and inputting a line of code that is immediately buried among the rest. Connor is unconvinced, but he decides to let it drop, instead bringing both of his legs up onto the bed and crossing one under him. The other one he keeps stretched out, if he folded it, he could risk snapping the tubing he had just fixed, and he really doesn't want that to happen, especially not now.