Deviant Heart

Chapter 16: The Duplicate

November 10th, 2038 11:01 pm

Meanwhile, in the CyberLife Tower on Belle Isle, Connor— now back in his android uniform— was on his way down to sub level forty nine, the location of thousands of androids waiting to be shipped out. Once he reached his floor, he hacked the elevator to block the traction, that way no one could use it to reach him. The level he was on consisted of the many storage rooms holding many different androids, all lined up together in standby mode. There was one long path that stretched to the other side of the room, where another elevator stood. Connor walked along the path until about halfway through the room, where he stopped, then looked down at his hand, removing the skin partially so he could see the white structure underneath. He turned towards one of the male androids lining the path and grabbed his wrist. He intended to set him free, to bring him to deviancy. But before he could, a gruff, familiar voice reached his ears.

"Easy, fucking piece of shit..."

Connor turned toward the voice and saw Hank, who had been pushed out of hiding with a gun being held to his head by another RK800 Connor model.

"Step back Connor! And I'll spare him," the RK800 said.

"Sorry, Connor," Hank apologized. "This bastard's your spittin' image..."

The RK800 stared Connor down. "Your friend's life is in your hands. Now it's time to decide what matters most!" It glanced at Hank. "Him... or your revolution."

Connor decided to try to convince the machine. "I used to be just like you. I thought nothing mattered except for the mission... But then one day I understood."

The RK800 raised its eyebrows. "Very moving, Connor..." it said sarcastically. "But I'm not a deviant. I'm a machine designed to accomplish a task, and that's exactly what I am going to do!" It pushed the gun closer to the Lieutenant's head.

He decided to check for a guarantee. "If I surrender, how do I know you won't kill him?"

"I'll only do what is strictly necessary to accomplish my mission. It's up to you whether or not that includes killing this human."

The two androids stared at each other in silence, until finally the aggressor shoved the gun toward Hank and shouted, "Enough talk! It's time to decide who you really are. Are you gonna save your partner's life? Or are you going to sacrifice him?"

Connor chose to save Hank. "Alright, alright!" He let go of the stalled android and put his hands up in the air, slowly backing away. "You win..."

Suddenly, the RK800 swung the gun around and pointed it at Connor. Hank reached for the gun in an attempt to wrestle it away. Connor decided to interpose and help his partner, who was flung away. He ran up to the other android and tackled it, causing it to fall forward. It wrapped its arm around Connor's neck and threw him to the ground. He quickly stood up and faced his double, then dashed forward and shoved it, then punched it square in the face. It swept its hands away and moved to shove Connor and punch him, but he blocked it. He grabbed its neck and punched its chest, causing it to stumble back. The two stared each other down again, then the RK800 quickly raised its knee toward Connor, who blocked it and lifted his own leg to kick the android in the face. He followed that with a punch to the face, then stomach then face again. It grabbed his wrist and attempted to jab his side, but was blocked. It moved its hands away, then attempted to punch him in the face twice, and he blocked both times. Connor sidestepped and delivered an uppercut to his opponent, followed by a knee to the abdomen. He then tried to kick it in the chest, but it grabbed his leg, causing him to stumble. It hit the back side of his leg over and over again, then grabbed his neck and threw him to the ground. He rolled on his back and kicked at its legs, causing it to tumble to the ground as he rolled away. Connor tried to get up, but the other android pinned him to the ground and pulled an arm back to punch him in the face.