Dechart: Become Connor

Connor 9 3/4

Watching thousands of androids cheer for their leaders and freedom has heightened my belief in their liveliness. So much that I feel panic when Amanda tells me Cyberlife now has control over me completely. The Zen garden has been covered by a heavy blizzard, I can hardly see 5 feet in front of me. I don't have the time to analyze anything. I have to find that emergency exit. Kamski knew this would happen. He knew I would fail to reject deviancey. With enough exploring I finally find a terminal and place my hand in the designated spot to activate it, pushing me back to reality. I notice the gun I have tightly clutched in my hand and smoothly put it away. I need to get back to Emily. I need to stay in control and stay alive. After Markus' speech of freedom, I announce to him my parture and call for a taxi to lieutenant Anderson's house. I know she must be there. They are so close and everything else is so shit. The taxi arrives shortly and I make the quick journey to the desired address. I knock on the door a couple times and wait. It takes a few minutes but Anderson opens the door and furrows his brows at me.

"May I come in?" I ask. He moves out of the way and gestures for me to enter, as I do, and I walk in to see her curled up on his couch.

"Connor?" She looks at me in shock, eyes watering slightly. She's wearing a fairly baggy shirt that almost completely hides her shorts, a shirt I reconize belongs to lieutenant Anderson. A bit of anger sparks in me at the site.

"Hello Emily." I greet. Her lips are slightly parted from the surprise.

"I thought you were dead." She states with pain in her voice.

"I-" She cuts me off assuming what I'm going to say.

"I know. You can't die. You are a machine. Regardless, I thought I'd never see you again." She's grown accustom to that phrase.

"I didn't die. I assisted Markus and Jericho with achieving freedom. I also broke free from Amanda. She tried to control me. I should've known she was just using me." I inform them.

"Well dont be a stranger! Come sit! Hang out!" Anderson invites. I accept and sit beside Emily, Anderson taking her right side and lifting her onto his lap. The anger in me increases, and only worsens when she cuddles to his chest and he kisses her head.

"Are you two a couple?" I ask bluntly. Emily coughs violently before gasping for air.

"What?"

"I said; are you two a couple?" I repeat.

"I heard you the first time! And no, why would you think that?" She questions loudly.

"He has been kissing you alot recently and you are wearing his shirt, which implies that you two have had sexual rela-"

"No! I'm wearing his shirt because I didn't want to be wearing my work clothes all night!" She exclaims stressfully. This eases some of my discomfort.

"So there's nothing going on between you two?" I clarify.

"No! Why?" I mentally sigh in relief and take her from his lap onto my own. She seems a little uncomfortable at first, so I decide to make sure she is ok with this.

"Is this ok?"

"S-sure." She answers with a light pink tint to her cheeks. With her consent I hold her close to me the way she had been with Anderson, a smile on my lips, betraying my usual neutral expression.

"I'm going to bed now. You can head home or stay here, I don't care either way." Hank sighs out as he stands up. Before leaving, he locks eyes with Emily. "Oh and to answer your question earlier, this is why I did that." Then he exits to what I can safely assume is his room. I'm unsure what they had discussed outside of my presence, but I decide to let that stay secret for now. I call a taxi without raising attention to it and turn to her.

"We should go back to your house." I suggest to her. Before she can question my request, I lift her in my arms and bring her outside. It's raining a light drizzle, but the taxi is already waiting in front of the house. I bring her in and send the car the address. The car moves smoothly and brings us there in a few minutes. I walk to her front door, slickly slipping her key from her pocket and opening the door to bring her to her room. As I set her on her bed, I move to her dresser and quickly pluck new clothes to get her out of what she is currently anchored with.

"What are you doing?" She asks hesitantly.

"You should change out of those clothes." I suggest.

"Why?" She continues to question.

"Because I want you to." I answer sternly. I place a neat pile of fresh clothes next to her and force a smile to seem natural.

"And if I say no?" She pushes.

"Why would you?" Why would she? Does she enjoy the reminder of Anderson? Had she been lying when she said there was nothing romantic between them?

"Because I'm comfortable." She states contently.

"Oh." Naturally she would be comfortable in the familiar stench of the lieutenant. He brings her a sense of protection and happiness. I'm just being a bother as usual. "I guess I should leave you to being comfortable then." I say, my stupid emotions slipping through in my words.

"Connor! Wait!" I ignore her request and move quickly to the front door, almost reaching the knob before she tugs me back. "If I take this shirt off I want yours to replace it." She states. I don't understand, is she expecting me to wear Anderson's rags? Or maybe her own?

"But what will I wear?" I ask.

"You don't need to wear a shirt." She tells me, pink tinting her cheeks again like earlier.

"I don't? Then why does everyone wear shirts?"

"Well, girls have to and guys do to be socially appropriate. Around the house or swimming you don't need a shirt."

"Oh." My sources back up this information, so I slide off my uniform jacket and pull off the uncomfortable tie. Her face reddens more with each button I undo on my shirt to reveal my chest. An interesting reaction that I make sure to note for future reference. "Emily?" I snap her back into the present, her eyes showing her distance from here, and hold out the shirt for her. The red gets redder as she realizes what's going on.

"A-are you sure?" She stutters.

"If it means you aren't wearing Lieutenants shirt, then I'd prefer it." I answer, topping it off with a sweet smile. I detect her heart rate increasing rapidly and her body heat radiating for seemingly no reason. "Are you ok? You're heart rate is drastically increasing. And your body temperature is rising. Do you feel ill? Should i call the ho-"

"I'm fine Connor." She quickly mutters and scurries to her room. I follow to ensure she's alright, but she hides under her unusual blankets. Maybe I've upset her? I'm prone to doing that.

"Should I leave? Did I do something wrong?" She doesn't respond so I sigh out and put my shirt back on. "Goodnight detective." I say and exit her room. I walk into the kitchen to find a napkin and a pen and write a quick note in hopes of cheering her up later. She is why I broke free, after all. I leave it in my jacket pocket and leave the house to welcome the now heavy rain. Taking a seat on the steps, the rain soaks into my clothes quickly. It's a gloomy night, or maybe it's just me. This is what I get for being alive, I guess. Feeling things. Feeling sadness and regret. Having doubts in every decision. Being afraid of messing up the friendship I've somehow maintained with Emily. This is what I get for becoming human.