Pluviophile // Connor x Rk900

I

Date
NOV 9th, 2038

Time
PM 04:06:04

Hank Friend
Amanda Trusted

Connor opened his eyes to the familiar scene of Amanda's zen garden. He found himself here often, face to face with a beautiful world tucked away from the horrors of humanity. Vividly colored flowers clung to trees that were seemingly painted against the sky. A river of crystal clear waters flowed through the garden that he found himself watching quite often. His usual instructions greeted him, the ones reading 'Find Amanda'. Taking note of the subtle adjustments in his surroundings, he began walking down the white path.

Temperatures in Detroit were around 8.3 degrees Celsius. However in the garden it was a comfortable 21.1 degrees Celsius. Lovely weather for the rose bushes that Amanda often tended to. Beautiful yet unnecessary. Connor didn't understand why she felt the need to care for flowers when she could have faux flowers. But Connor chose to ignore the subject, leaving it as conversation for a later date.

Before he spoke with Amanda, Connor turned away from the bridge and walked to a rather peculiar rock that he had noticed previously. He competed his usual actions, bending down before it, deactivating his skin and reaching to touch it, only to feel some sort of.. shock. Quickly he pulled his hand away, attempting to comprehend what he just witnessed. He failed, leaving the rock as confused as before he found it.

Finally, he crossed the bridge, standing still behind Amanda. To his side, he noticed a rather unpleasant image, an almost identical android. He stood 10 centimeters taller than Connor and had bright, piercing grey eyes. He chose to ignore it as well, focusing on Amanda.

Amanda, his 'superior' in a sense, stood facing her roses, watering them and cutting their stems to put them into a vase. She seemed to always be tending to her roses. Quite the unusual hobby to Connor. Regardless, he greeted her.

"Hello, Amanda." He spoke with a voice tat was calm and collected, smiling at the woman as she turned, nodding his head lightly.

The woman turned, giving him a small smile in return. "Ah.. Connor." She set her watering can down on a small white table which stood at the level of her waist. "It's so.. nice to see you." Her smile was warm to match her voice. She folded her hands over her stomach. "How is your mission doing?"

"Lieutenant Anderson and I believe that we really have a lead on our investigation. We spoke with Elijah Kamski today. However.. we didn't exactly get much out of him." His voice began to trail off as he felt himself tread on thin ice.

"Yes.. about your meeting with Kamski.. You could've received information from him. Yet, you didn't. Is there any particular reason why?" Amanda narrowed her eyes, her brown irises piercing through Connor.

"Lieutenant Anderson requested that we left immediately. I simply didn't properly assess the situation and made the wrong decision in listening to him."

"I see." She stated bluntly, ending that conversation.

AMANDA ▽

"..I have a surprise for you, Connor." Amanda set her scissors down on the table next to the can gently. Folding her hands again, she made her way over to the Android that Connor had previously noticed. Connor's eyes followed her, focusing on the android. "This is Rk900. A new prototype that is technically still in the design process. He's fascinating, no?"

The android's LED flickered, turning from blue to yellow as he turned his head to face Connor. To which Connor's LED turned yellow. "Yes.. He is.. interesting." His voice was tight.

"We call him Conan. He's the newest Rk900 model to date." She pressed a hand lightly on Conan's upper arm. "Essentially, He is the improved version of you, Connor." She smiled in a rather unpleasant way.

Connor remained silent, his eyes locked onto Conan's. He had a more.. stern appearance than himself, appearing as if the intent was to not seem easy to interact with. Connor's lips pressed tightly into a line.

"You're running out of time, Connor. Time is of the essence. Detroit is falling apart and so is our company." She put emphasis on company. Connor could clearly tell that her first intent was to save the business, not Detroit. "As for Conan, we intend not to produce any more of him for a good while. You aren't obsolete yet, Connor." She gave him a reassuring smile, causing Connor's LED to turn blue.

"...However." Her smile faded, turning into a stern look. "I already stated that you have such little time, Connor. I suggest that you speed up the progress on your deviancy case. If you don't.. we'll have no choice but to replace you." Her voice was threatening and low.

"I will not fail you, Amanda." Connor stated, standing tall and appearing confident.

Admittedly, he was slightly shaken by her threat. A sign of potential oncoming deviancy. A sign that Amanda could clearly read.

"..Another thing. You will be found and deactivated if there are repeated signs of deviancy found within your programming or behavior." She spoke as she walked around Conan, moving closer to Connor. "Be careful, Connor."

Connor simply nodded. He had no intention of becoming deviant. ..As of now, at least.

"That is all for today, Connor. Quickly now, return to the lieutenant and bring me progress." She said, turning to return to her gardening, excusing Connor.

With haste, Connor left the garden, leaving Conan and Amanda alone.

"..That android is already showing signs of deviancy. It truly is a pity." Amanda let out a soft sigh as she went to cut another rose stem. "Everybody makes mistakes, I suppose. And this mistake will be dealt with. By you, Conan." She turned to the Android, looking up at him. "You will neutralize your predecessor. He needs to be terminated. We simply cannot deal with any more deviants at this time." As she spoke, she remained focused on her gardening. "Can you do this for me, Conan?"

Conan's LED flickered as he registered his new instruction.

Neutralize your predecessor.

Conan blinked before opening his mouth. "Unlike my predecessor, I have no intentions of failing my mission."

Amanda smiled somewhat wickedly. "Good. You will attempt to.. 'befriend' the deviant by working alongside one of his coworkers. I'll transfer his file to you later. Once you are close enough, neutralize him and give the lieutenant some kind of excuse." She let out a soft chuckle as she picked up the watering can. "It shouldn't be too difficult. He is quite gullible. Although you can never be to careful. Understood?"

The android's LED rapidly flickered.

"Understood."