Dechart: Become Connor

Emily 8

"Wish you would've given me a heads up." I mutter as we pull up to an intensely expensive house.

"It was a last minute decision." He admits, stepping from the car. I follow, as does Connor, and we knock on the door. It's unnecessary to spend this much money. A blonde android answers the door and Hank awkwardly states our business here. We are let in to wait warmly for Kamski and I look around at this waste of money. It's a nice house though I must admit, just money poorly spent. Connor walks miles around looking at shit.

"You're about to meet your maker, Connor. How does it feel?" Hank asks him.

"It'll be interesting to meet him face to face." He answers.

"Sometimes I wish I could meet my creator face to face. I'd have a couple of things I'd wanna tell him." I look over at Hank, sadness in his eyes.

"You've never met your parents?" I jokingly ask him. He laughs lightly and looks at me.

"Shut the fuck up." I grin like an idiot at him, happy to see him smile through the dark thoughts. The android reenters the room.

"Mr. Kamski will see you now." She says sweetly. She's actually perfect. I don't understand. We enter the next room, being greeted by a large red pool, 2 more identical androids, and Kamski himself.

"Mr. Kamski?" Hank calls.

"Just a moment please." He answers, finishing his laps. We walk to the wall of windows, where the ladder to get out of the pool is, and wait. When he finally climbs out of the pool, he's greeted with a robe, it being put on him and tied. He turns and faces us.

"I'm lieutenant Anderson. This is detective Bowie, and this is Connor." Hank introduces us.

"What can I do for you, lieutenant?" He asks. His voice is so snobby.

"Sir, we're investigating deviants. I know you left Cyberlife years ago but I was hoping you'd be able to tell us something we don't know." He speaks lazily, typical Hank.

"Deviants. Fascinating. Aren't they? Perfect beings with infinite intelligence, and now they have free will. Machines are so superior to us. Confrontation was inevitable. Humanity's greatest achievement threatens to be it's downfall. Isn't it ironic?" He speaks. I feel like I'm in a college lecture now.

"We need to understand how androids become deviants." Connor says, getting straight to the point. "Do you know anything that could help us?"

"All ideas are viruses that spread like epidemics. Is the desire to be free a contagious disease?" He asks.

"Listen, I didn't come here to talk philosophy. The machines you created may be planning a revolution. Either you can tell us something that'll be helpful or we will be on our way." Hank says. This. This is why I love him.

"What about you, Connor? Whose side are you on?" He asks him.

"I have no side. I was designed to stop deviants and that's what I intend to do." He answers neutrally.

"Well, that's what your programmed to say, but you, what do you really want?" Kamski challenges him.

"I don't want anything. I am a machine." He persists. Kamski calls for 'Chloe' and she comes to him.

"I'm sure you're familiar with the Turing test. Mere formality. Simple question of algorithms and computing capacity. What interests me is whether machines are capable of empathy. I call it the Kamski test. It's very simple, you'll see." He looks closely at the flawless android. "Magnificent, isn't it? One of the first intellegant models devoted by Cyberlife. Young and beautiful forever. A flower that will never wither. But what is it really? Piece of plastic imitating a human? Or a living being with a soul." He turns away and pulls a gun from a drawer. He makes Chloe kneel completely and hands Connor the gun. "It's up to you to answer that fascinating question, Connor." He makes Connor point the gun at the other android knelt before him. "Destroy this machine and I'll tell you all I know, or spare it, if you feel it's alive, but you'll leave here without having learnt anything from me." He proposes.

"Ok I think we're done here." Hank says. "Come on Connor, lets go. Sorry to get you outta yo-"

"What's more important to you, Connor? Your investigation? Or the life of this android? Decide who you are. An obedient machine or a living being endowed with free will." He pushes. Connors LED is rapidly blinking yellow, I can tell he's very uncomfortable. I feel this rush in my system, a desire to know if he can feel anything truely.

"Do it Connor." I say emotionlessly.

"That's enough! Connor, we're leaving." Hank states.

"Pull the trigger," Kamski orders.

"Connor! Don't!" Hank counters.

"And I'll tell you what you wanna know." His LED is blinking red, the color barely visable from the speed of the blinking. There's a moment of silence, I can hear my heartbeat in my ears, and Connor does what none of us were expecting. Connor pulls back and hands Kamski his gun. "Fasinating. Cyberlifes last chance to save humanity is itself a deviant." He states.

"I'm... I'm not a deviant!" Connor argues.

"You preferred to spare a machine rather than accomplish your mission. You saw a living being in this android. You showed empathy." He dismisses her. "A war is coming. You'll have to choose your side. Will you betray your own people or stand up against your creators? What can be worse than having to choose between two evils?" Hank gets between the two and pulls Connor away.

"Lets get outta here." He grunts. Before they can leave the room, Kamski speaks one last time.

"By the way, I always leave an emergency exit in my programs. You never know." They speed out, but I stay staring at him.

"He didn't show empathy. He obeyed his master. He obeyed Hank. If he knew empathy shit would start making more sense." I spit and exit. When we get outside, Hank doesn't hesitate to question Connor.

"Why didn't you shoot?" Connors LED is blinking yellow and he stops to face him.

"I just saw that girls eyes and I couldn't. That's all." He says.

"You're always saying you would do anything to accomplish your mission. That was our chance to learn something and you let it go." Hank states.

"Yeah I know what I should've done! I told you I couldn't! I'm sorry! Okay?" He shouts anxiously. There's no way he's serious.

"Maybe you did the right thing." Hank praises and walks to his car. Connor turns and watches him for a second before following. I join them in the car, feeling like a parasite at this point, and Hank drives silently. I can see Connors still yellow LED from his reflection, the steady blinking. By now it's barely noon but Hank drops me off at home. We say goodbye and he drives off. I go inside and kick off my shoes. That was such a weird experience. I don't know how to feel. I lay in bed and stare at the ceiling blankly. Today was supposed to be my day off until they showed up and dragged me to that psychos place. I could visit the ASPCA. Or, I could read some stories online. Staying in bed sounds good.