𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐎𝐃𝐄

Chapter 4

 "Markus and I saw what you did last night on the TV, (Y/N)," Carl spoke up from his seat at the dining room table as you poured him a cup of hot tea. The magazine tablet he had been holding was open to an article titled 'DETROIT P.D RECRUITS TWO BOTS AS DEVIANT NEGOTIATORS' in the background was a photo of you being escorted into the apartment building. The angle led you to believe that it had been one of the reporters you had passed on your way inside that had taken one of many pictures included in the article.

Markus was in the kitchen, preparing breakfast. The sound of sizzling meat and whatever else he was cooking carried on to the dining room. You bit the inside of your cheek, preventing an onslaught of bad memories. You had a hard enough time forgetting Daniel's face covered in a thin layer of blue blood. Allen had sworn off talking about it after you expressed your disapproval to him though you supposed the message hadn't yet reached the old painter.

"It was no big deal," You shrugged, setting the teapot back on the silver platter. "Do you want sugar?" You held out the tin filled with sugar cubes. He nodded and you dropped exactly three cubes into his cup.

"You saved that little girl. Aren't you the least bit proud of yourself?"

"I'm not proud of getting my friend killed." You cringed at the sour tone of your voice. You hadn't meant to snap at him but you had good reason to. Good enough, at least. Carl tapped his fingers against the rim of his mug, watching the sugar dissolve in the heated drink. "Well, your friend was threatening the life of an innocent person." He took a sip of the tea. "If I were you, I'd get better friends."

You were about to retaliate when the door to the kitchen opened and Markus walked in with Carl's breakfast tray. The painter's serious facade washed away as he offered the android a smile. "Ah, I'm starving."

You sighed to yourself, catching Markus's emerald-colored eye in your peripheral vision. You admitted to yourself long ago that he was very pleasant to look at, but it was around the same time that you discovered that only one of you was remotely capable of feeling love. Of course, there were a few instances that made you stop and question his intentions, but nothing out of the ordinary for the not-quite-but-almost-deviant Markus.

Finding nothing else to do, you pulled out a chair and sat down across from Carl. As expected, Markus stood with army-like posture at the head of the table. "Why don't you sit down with us?" You questioned, patting the chair next to you. Markus's eyes lingered on you before darting over to Carl.

The old man waved it off, mouth full of what you assumed to be eggs. Hesitantly, Markus relaxed his broad shoulders and pulled out the chair next to you. You grinned and scooted over to give him more room. Just as he was about to sit down, the doorbell rang. It was like a switch was flipped in Markus's brain as he stood and regained his inhuman stature. "I'll go answer the door." You frowned, but excused him to go accomplish his task. It was probably just another one of Carl's paint deliveries, anyway.

That was probably the closest you'd ever gotten to engaging him in a conversation that didn't involve your duties or the needs of either of your masters. As soon as the automatic wooden doors closed behind him, Carl set down his mug and looked to you. "Allen tells me you've been having strange dreams recently."

You nodded, thankful for the change of subject. "Yes. Do you know if this is normal?" "Beats me. Tell me about your most recent one." You wracked your brain for your most recent of the strange visions. The first that came to mind was the one involving the little girl and her android; but that happened weeks ago and you'd had many since then.

"Let's see," you tapped your chin in thought before continuing. "I was in a dark room with high walls. The floors were covered in dirt and the furniture was broken so suppose it was abandoned. The walls looked black at first but I walked closer and I saw that they were white but had been scribbled over and over with marker. RA9 was written thousands of times. I-I don't know what it means but I just have this feeling that it's important to me."

When you finally looked up from your lap, Carl was staring at you with a look of mixed wonder and confusion painted across his face. His eyebrows were tightly knitted together. "Do you have any idea what this means?" "I thought I just made it very clear that I didn't." Carl opened his mouth to speak but was cut short when the automated door opened and in walked Markus with a familiar figure close behind him.

"(Y/N), there's an android from CyberLife here to see you. It wants to go over last night's incident."

Sure enough, behind him stood the one and only Connor with a passive expression printed on his face. He wore the same CyberLife uniform as last night with his arms crossed neatly behind the small of his back. A little tuft of his chocolate colored hair fell in front of his left eye but it didn't seem to phase the stoic android.

You gasped and corrected your posture so to look more professional and less human. You folded your hands in your lap, ceasing the tapping of your heel against the polished wooden floor. Your last interaction with Connor hadn't been pleasant, not that you had told anyone this. If Allen found out, who knew what he would have done to prevent anyone else discovering your deviancy.

"How did you know that you would find (Y/N) here?" Carl frowned and looked Connor up and down. Moving away from the doorway and a little toward the table, the android in question replied; "I first paid a visit to a Mr. Allen Sinclair who was the android owner on the case file. He was the one who told me where I could find (Y/n)." After gaining no response from any of the three residents of the room, Connor let his eyes wander across both the dining room and sitting area. "Might I just add that this is a lovely home you have here Mr. Manfred."

The copy-and-paste kiss up didn't seem to work as Carl just shook his head. "You two can talk in the garden. Markus and I will be in the studio. Come along Markus." The old painter began wheeling himself toward the sunlit art studio, gesturing for his android to join him. Markus's LED indicator flashed yellow as his eyes darted from you to Connor.

Said android straightened his tie and gestured toward the door he had just entered through. "I will be in the garden then," He explained before walking through it once more. You stood to join him when Markus suddenly grabbed your forearm. Your breath hitched as you looked into his green eyes spilling over with an emotion that you couldn't quite identify.

"I don't think it wise for you to be alone with it, (Y/N). I worry about you."

You blinked twice, taking note of how his eyes never left yours. His grip tightened in what you assumed was an effort to get you to respond. "I'll be fine, I promise. I'll yell for you if I need help though." You placed your hand over his and ran your thumb over his wrist in a circular pattern. This seemed to calm him down as he quickly released you and went to join Carl in the studio, looking back over his shoulder as he went.

You took a deep breath and brushed down the front of your uniform. You tried to tell yourself that you were fine, but no part of you wanted to believe it. Out the window, you saw Connor pacing back and forth outside the entrance to Carl's flower garden. Without hesitating any longer, you crossed the room and pulled open the sliding glass door. 

(A/N: back from hiatus, baby. Was this rushed? I feel like I rushed through this one. Gonna quickly work through the remaining requests and post a new chapter by Monday. Wish me luck!)