Plastic Faces

Russian Roulette

-November 6th, 2038 07:51PM

Connor no longer reacted to the sudden sight of various beautiful flowers and other flora. Of course, he didn't, machines don't have interests in flowers. He didn't even question the presence of an umbrella in his hand.

The rain that fell on him did not seem to diminish the beauty of the garden. Of course, it didn't, nothing had changed in the garden beside the persistent fall of rain and the dim light that accompanied it.

He walked through the gardens that would make any human turn their heads in interest with a completely neutral expression. An out of place pillar-like structure caught his attention, but he ignored it in favor of approaching a dark-skinned woman that stood where one of the paths branched away from the stark white structure that the garden seemed to revolve around. She stood straight and faced forwards. She had obviously been waiting for him.

"Hello, Amanda." He greeted her mechanically. The woman, Amanda, gave a small smile as she turned away from the roses she always seemed to be tending to and looked at the android. "Connor, I've been expecting you... Would you mind a little walk?" There was no real reason why she had asked for his approval, he had no preferences anyway. Connor nodded and opened the umbrella he had been carrying, positioning it above her. He walked side by side with her, wandering aimlessly through the gardens while keeping the umbrella over both of their heads. Not that the rain had bothered him before, but the action seemed customary among humans.

"Congratulations, Connor, you managed to find that deviant," Amanda said warmly, though only looking ahead at the curving, decorative path they were walking. "Tell me, what did you learn?" Connor paused only for a moment before answering her "The RY300 found its diary, but it was encrypted. It may take weeks to decipher." He said, remembering how the other android had shoved the piece of evidence towards him after being forced to return to the apartment to collect it and other items of interest. "What else?" she prompted him.

He continued, "The walls of the apartment were covered with drawings of labyrinths and other symbols. Like the other deviants, it seemed obsessed with rA9." He hesitated again, thinking before adding to his statement. "It was fascinated by birds. We've seen deviants interested in other lifeforms like insects or pets, but nothing like this."

"You came very close to capturing that deviant..." Amanda trailed off for a moment, "It's a pity you let it self-destruct..." She watched him carefully now.

"It was in Lieutenant Anderson's custody. I couldn't anticipate that he would let it get away." Connor explained monotonously, keeping an even pace. "I was too far away at the time to do anything about it."

Amanda merely glanced at him from the corner of her eye, studying him silently "How is your relationship with the Lieutenant developing?" she asked neutrally. "He seemed grateful that I saved his life on the roof. He didn't say anything, but he expressed it in his own way..." Hank had seemed to be in a friendlier mood, especially towards him, even after the loss of the deviant. The Lieutenant hadn't even commented on the thirium stains that were left behind on his car seats by RY300. Or he simply hadn't noticed them.

Amanda suddenly slowed her pace, eventually stopping completely and forcing her android companion to turn around to face her.

She looked directly at him now, "The RY300 made you divert your attention towards the Lieutenant instead of continuing to pursue the deviant yourself and let the deviant destroy itself." Connor was confused by her tone, but his hesitance never appeared on his face. "Do not rely on the RY300 too heavily." She warned him. "Remember that it is a deviant as well. It could have an ulterior motive. Watch it carefully."

"We don't have much time. Deviancy continues to spread. It's only a matter of time before the media finds out about it. We need to stop this, whatever it takes." Amanda straightened her posture now, invoking an intimidating presence as she spoke darkly.