Deviants Fallen: A DBH Story

Chapter 15: Distressed

Repairing the PL600 was taking longer than Clara had thought. He'd suffered so much damage. He'd been shot several times in the torso and legs, and a bullet to the head had damaged his mind palace. She hoped he would still retain his memory after reactivating him. That was one of the risks with head damage. Throughout the process, she found both Kara and Connor's help invaluable. Connor had scanned the dead android to tell her which parts were damaged, and Kara was a very much needed extra set of hands. Within a few hours, most of the major repairs had been made, and they had flushed his thirium and replaced it with fresh stuff. 

Clara finished installing the last part in the androids torso, then slid the cover back in place, then went about replacing the broken pieces to his outer shell. Soon, all that was left to do was his head. Clara turned the gurney so that she was at the top of it, looking down at the android's cranium. She carefully disconnected what served as his brain, then went about doing the finer repairs. 

"How do you know how to do all this?" Kara said, after a little while, repeating the question Connor had asked a few days ago. 

Clara looked at her, pushing her glasses up her nose to see better. "I've met a lot of deviants during my studies," she answered. "I've picked up quite a few things. I also interned for a little while at a Cyberlife repair center during my undergraduate studies. I didn't stay too long though. The technical details of android repair were always more my cousin's thing than mine." She looked back down at the tools in her hand, frowning slightly. "Probably why this is taking so long."

"Is that where you got your interest in android psychology?" Connor asked from where he was standing, leaning against the wall at the foot of the gurney. 

The doctor looked over at him, startled. He'd been very quiet during the process. "Yes, actually." Clara smiled at the memories. "I interacted with a lot of different models, and I found them all fascinating! What most people don't realize is that each android is unique. They all show subtle differences despite their lack of deviancy. The more they interact with the world around them, the more they adapt and change from their original programming." She continued, getting excited. "See, that what's so cool about deviants! When an android breaks its initial programming, that magnifies its unique personality, and the program divergence forms them into a completely unique individual, entirely separate from any other of its kind. 

"So take you for example, Kara," she turned to her, meeting the android's eyes. "You were never like any other AX400, even before you deviated. Your unique experiences helped create your own unique personality. Then when you deviated, all those traits you developed were magnified! You became an incredibly compassionate and protective individual, even more than you were prior to deviation." She grinned at the android, who answered with her own gentle smile.

She turned to Connor, smiling at the android. "Same thing applies for you, Connor. Your predecessor, the one that died saving that little girl all those months ago, he was a subtly different individual from you. You might have his memories, but you've become your own version of the RK800 through your own experiences. Isn't that wonderful?"

The android said nothing at first, LED flickering yellow. He was silent for a few moments, contemplating, then his LED returned to its normal blue. "How do you know about that?" he asked quietly. 

"I know a lot of things, Connor." She gave him a cheeky wink, smirking a little, then turned back to her work, focusing on keeping her hands steady during the delicate process.