post-credit ━ every version of you

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"Connor," she repeated his name with some warmth. "It's so good to see you," her eyes, studying him from top to bottom, stopped on his hands. "What is that?"

"I found a picture," he held it up, but did not even consider turning it over to Amanda, though his processing unit reminded him she was to be trusted, fact that he otherwise did not question in any way whatsoever. Hadn't he known better, he would have self-diagnosed himself as protective over the picture.

"You found it?" she repeated, her eyes narrowing on him now that it was visible he preferred looking down at he picture and the woman it depicted rather than at Amanda. "Here?"

"Yes," Connor nodded before tilting his head to the side. "I do not recognize the woman and my scanners are not returning anything. It looks like she took the picture with someone, but that side of it is completely destroyed."

"It's a glitch," Amanda straightened up upon giving him a stern verdict, her hands joining in front of herself as she inhaled sharply. "This place is brand new, specifically constructed to serve you, but it is not as faultless as it seems. Please," she raised her right hand, palm facing upwards, "hand the picture over so I can report the detected bug to CyberLife."

Hand the picture over, Connor had to be given the prompt in an echo by his processing unit in order to do more than stare at Amanda's hand. Even then, the words constructed by his wish to ask to hold onto the picture had his voice synthesizer hesitating to allow him to speak up. 

"We have important matters to discuss, Connor," Amanda hurried him, her smile gone. "Or have you forgotten you've been activated for a mission?"

Remembering his purpose of activation, his priority system kicked into motion, releasing the tension from Connor's shoulders and making him place the picture in Amanda's waiting hand within the next second.

"Wonderful," Amanda closed her fist on the picture which, turning first into pixelated blocks of color, glitched out of existence by the time her hand was fully closed upon it. He was given no time to ponder on the disappearance of it also corrupting his memory of the red haired woman he could barely even remember the eye color of anymore, because she continued, taking his attention away from the data slipping away from him, "A defective android has just taken a child hostage on a rooftop at 1554 Parks Avenue. You will be deployed to handle the negotiations with the deviant. First responders have described it as violent and erratic. Your mission is to report to Captain Allen, understand what happened and save the hostage at all costs."

"I understand," Connor nodded, everything about the picture now gone from his memory as his processing unit identified an updated mission to move priority upon. There was nothing left but a trace of something warm that should have been in his hand but was no longer there. A mild sensory malfunction, he explained it away when, inside the elevator, his coin did well to cover up the sensation. 

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If you chose to 'Let Mia handle it'
in Chapter Twenty-Nine, the section
below unlocks. If you chose to
'Let Connor handle it', skip ahead to
the final Author's Note at the end
of this chapter ...

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Date
NOV 10TH, 2038

The buzz of the radio could be heard from all the way outside the cabin where, in only the past hour, the path shoveled free of snow was once again almost indistinguishable from the garden blanketed in white, spreading on both sides. Icicles hung by the edges of the roof, and the window sill pots turned themselves into white pillars blocking out the warm yellow light making it out from within the home, even through the barrier of pulled curtains. 

SEQUENTIAL ━ Connor // RK800 ✔️Where stories live. Discover now