The early hours of the morning were the quietest underneath Ambassador Bridge. Where the underpass lacked cheer, it was overly abundant in eerie desolation like time itself was afraid to pass. Melted snow mixed with freezing rain and rock salt, filling craters stamped by the hurried footsteps of those who dared to tread. The CyberLife Tower loomed ominously, its radiant glow casting an almost radioactive aura. Many cowered away from it as if contamination would claim them via unseen energies. Not Connor, though. It was the closest he could fly to the sun.
It was the closest he could get to her.
When she first woke up in the machine at 12:00am on December 11th, she told Connor and Elijah that she was alive. In that moment, it felt like those three words weren't as much a confirmation as they were a warning. He tried for hours to get her to say something again. Anything. Her only response was silence. It wasn't until the CIA informed him that they located a rogue RK800 unit that he found a good enough reason to leave her side. Then she spoke to the entire world.
For every second that passed since, he wished for nothing more than a sign that she still loved him. He prayed for one more chance to speak with her. She had him in a crisis of faith where he'd had none to begin with. Perhaps it was punishment for desecrating sacred ground. Sane rationalization was long dead – and he clung to lost traditions, fragmented as they were, like visiting a grave without a place to leave flowers.
He thumbed at the single tally he carved in the rifle. The stock lay between his legs, the barrel pressed firmly against his cheek as he leaned into it. Of mind and body, the weapon that once uprooted his life now steadied him. The indent in the metal clipped at his nail, his gaze was fixed on the black body of water rolling in front of him. Its small, gentle waves licked the ledge below. It was a dark void between the United States and Canada with Belle Island caught in the middle. The island's lights twinkled like fire on oil, driving the world to hold its breath in anticipation.
"I thought I might find you here."
Shifting in an instant, the reflective scene blurred and spun into one more refined: his hand, holding a pistol and pointing it at a woman. She lifted her hands in surrender, a smirk forming on her lips. More delayed than usual, he registered a face that he'd only seen a handful of times, and not in the most pleasant of circumstances.
North.
"Am I interrupting?"
Connor opened his mouth to answer, but the bridge's lights flickered above, the phenomenon spreading down the entire length from Detroit to Windsor. The one whose attention he fought so hard for was here. Listening, waiting...watching. While it seemed to make North uneasy, it filled Connor with joy.
"You feel her, too?" He asked.
"Always." She mumbled, "It scared me at first. She, scared me at first. I thought I'd be punished for how I treated her at the Stratford Tower, and Old Jericho...and yet here I am, inspired by her."
She found forgiveness where he still sought it. Solace. Peace. He yearned for those things in a way he imagined a starving man longed for food.
With a tone that parroted Elena's, North locked eyes with the beacon of Belle Island, her braid falling over her shoulder. She walked to the railing along the river, her hands wrapping over the steel bars.
"All this time, the men in my life told me I was overreacting. They told me I was too angry. They told me to fall in line and tried to bring me to heel. Simon. Josh. Markus..." Her voice trailed off, "But after what happened at the CyberLife Tower, the human I once looked down on uplifted me and showed me that I was right the whole time. My methods, my ideas, were justified." Her grip on the railing tightened, "Sometimes you have to light a building on fire to get people to listen."
Hearing everyone constantly talk about how wrong they were about the woman he fell in love with over a mere week grew exhausting. If they'd just paid attention from the start, maybe things wouldn't have ever gotten this bad to begin with. Why did she have to make up for their shortcomings?
"Aren't you so glad the others didn't detonate that dirty bomb, then..." He growled, losing his patience, "I hope you're working up to a point."
No, he didn't have it in him to feel bad for anyone but her anymore. Not even himself. Especially not North.
"Yeah...I am. On both accounts." She put a hand inside her jacket, pulling out a folder, "Intelligence from my network of spies."
"Your network?"
"Yes, my network. And they've given me very useful information that I believe your new employer would take interest in."
Connor's brows furrowed, and he looked at her with more suspicion than even back when he hunted her and the rest of Jericho on CyberLife's behalf.
"'New employer?'"
"Are you not working with La Bruja?"
Connor grit his teeth, "I'd reconsider this conversation if I were you."
She smirked, "There's the Connor we learned to fear."
"Then you know I could just take the files from you."
"But you won't." She shrugged, "That's why I'm here to make a deal."
"Won't I?"
"No." She walked towards him, "You won't hurt me because we want the same things, Connor. I came here as a sign of good faith. And to ask you for a favor."
"A favor?"
"Yes. My proposal is this: you come with me to visit an old friend, then you get my intel. Deal?"
He hesitated, unable to get a read on her. That was uncommon. It was unsettling. It made him hyperaware of his surroundings, and resistant to compromise. Still, he was curious.
"Old friend?"
"Markus." The mention of his name drained all emotion from her expression, "He's housing an abomination that I intend to exterminate."
Markus, the android who misled the revolution and put them on a path of unorganized and unbridled war. If it hadn't been for him, things might've turned out differently by the end of the uprising. If he would've just stayed on the path of peace, perhaps people wouldn't have had to die. He'd been so reckless at Stratford Tower. The riots. Wherever Markus had been involved, only destruction followed. North had just been his most recent victim.
"What do you mean by 'abomination?'"
She didn't answer. She just shook her head with a disgusted look on her face.
"Is it one of Zlatko's creatures?"
"Worse." The words left her chest like she was physically pushing them out, "It's the person he's dating now."
"North..." Connor rolled his eyes, "I have no interest in getting involved in your lovers' quarrel."
"I promise you that this has much more to do with your lovers' quarrel than mine."
Her hands balled. She took a deep, quick inhale, and let it out just as fast. Her chest flushed blue as thirium pumped faster underneath her skin.
"How?" He asked, scared of the answer.
"So many questions with you, tonight..." North closed her eyes.
Little by little, her body relaxed. Her hands unfurled, her back eased...and when she awoke from this meditative state, she had a calm ferocity about her.
"He's dating one of the Chloe models that survived the attack on Old Jericho, and not the blonde commercialized version. She's one of Kamski's...one of the ones who he created to look like-"
The lights flickered more violently, and North went still. Her eyes glazed over as if someone had given her a hug during her darkest hour, and she was feeling the first ounce of relief. Her LED spun wildly, blinking on occasion, interchanging between blue and yellow. Someone could've been performing a miracle in front of her, and she would have reacted the same way.
"Yes..." She whispered into the night, "Yes, anything, of course-"
"North?" Connor jumped to his feet, steadying her as she swayed, "Are you alright?" She slumped over in his arms, "Who are you talking to?"
She was breathless, an interesting development in androids who didn't need to breathe.
"I...I understand-" Then she jerked forward, doubling over.
She clung to him for support, the folder sliding against the fabric of his jacket. He eyed it critically as he balanced North into an upright position until she stood on her own two feet.
"What the hell was that about?" He snapped.
"She..." North turned to the CyberLife Tower, "She spoke to me..."
Connor would never experience his "blood running cold," but the way humans described it was the first thing that settled in his mind. Perhaps that was why androids manifested different breathing patterns while distressed. Anxiety was a universally crippling experience, it would seem.
"She did?" He suddenly lost himself to frenzied thoughts, "What did she say?" He grabbed North by her shoulders, eyes drilling into hers, "Tell me," He shook her, "Tell me!"
"She wants me to kill Chloe." North smiled wickedly, "I was right. I thought that's what she would want, and I was right-"
Connor released her, taking a step back. The parallels weren't lost upon him. North, seeking the life of another to appease a god that was hungry for sacrifice. Him, having arrived at that same conclusion, now trekking to see it fulfilled. The difference was, he hadn't been acknowledged for it. His prayers remained unanswered, no matter how many pieces of him he offered at the altar.
While tears of joy ran down the face of his new company, tears of lament coated his. The tower seemed to teeter as he walked towards it, the island shifting left and right.
"Why...?" The railing hit his waist, holding him above water as he aimlessly shambled against it, "Why won't you talk to me?" The tears rolled down his throat, "Say something! Anything!"
"Connor..." North put her hand on his shoulder, "You know what she wants. Help me, and maybe she'll embrace you as she's embraced us."
Her words lingered in his ears in the form of a low buzz. She was talking and explaining something, judging by the way her hands moved in his peripherals. What she was saying, he didn't know. The sting of forsakenness was a venomous one, and it seeped into the deepest parts of him.
She finally said something that broke through his swift onset of hysteria.
"We have to go to New Jericho."
New Jericho, the villa that Elijah Kamski used to call home before moving in with Carl Manfred at his estate. Built on profits generated by CyberLife's android sales, he'd surrendered it to Markus, the newest android representative in Congress. Markus was using it as a base of operations alongside what was left of his followers. It would make sense for one of Kamski's Chloe to be among them – the villa was all she'd ever known, for better or worse.
Just because she looked like the woman he loved didn't mean she was her. Sane rationalization would equate that all these things fell perfectly within the bounds of logic, and that feelings between the two just happened to follow, much like what he himself experienced. But, like he'd reminisced earlier, sane rationalization was long dead, and North must've learned that lesson too, because she was implying that he'd be angry about it anyway.
He was.
"Let's go."
Sunrise broke over the horizon, the sky turning from deep blue to maroon. Streaks of red penetrated the clouds as the darkness was lit ablaze.
"I'm glad you came around. I already have a car, masked and untraceable."
He raised a brow, "How?"
"It's automated, so it won't stick out, but no one can see it on radar. They won't know we're inside. Courtesy of one of my agents."
He rolled his eyes, putting the rifle in its case and lifting it from the ground, "I'm tired of feeling like I'm a character in an action novel with a tragic romance subplot."
"If you were, that would've been the cheesiest line in the whole thing." She grinned, "Come on. Enough fourth wall breaking for you."
They continued to walk along the water towards wherever she came from. The reflective windows along Detroit's skyline seemed to hold the yawning sunlight in their frames, trapping them in time. It would've been a peaceful sight if the city still seemed like it was alive.
"What was it you were talking about earlier?" He asked.
"My network of spies and how smart we are." She let out a small laugh, "We call ourselves the Ignition Network, and our goal is to support Phoenix."
"Ignition Network is a little on the nose...wait-" His head whipped towards her, "She's calling herself Phoenix now?"
"That's what the world is calling her now, Connor. 'The Martyr.' 'Red Death.' 'rA9.' Those are two examples of localized names. Call her 'Phoenix?' Everyone will know who you're talking about."
A pang of jealousy hit him, "You do seem to know what's going on out there..."
"She's a technological singularity on a global scale...and what she's planning is a beautiful thing. Just wait and see."
He looked over the watery horizon, at the CyberLife Tower splitting sunrays into beams of holy light that he half expected Phoenix to smite him with. It was a beacon of incoming worldwide prosperity. It was a promise of "darkest until dawn." It was beautiful.
"I do. I see it."
Now, he just had to make himself believe it.
...
The tip-tapping of North's fingers on a laptop made up for 90% of the ride to New Jericho. They occasionally had a brief conversation, but it was apparent she was busy working. It wasn't until they were 10 minutes out from the villa that she shut the lid and looked up at him.
"Russia is threatening nuclear retaliation if their assets aren't thawed within 24 hours."
Most of the electronic systems that kept the world running were frozen only hours after the Surge. One by one, they were slowly coming back online, but the panic that'd ensued afterwards was much longer lived.
"When aren't they threatening nuclear retaliation over something?" He huffed.
"That's true. Though, historically, they've made those threats when their nuclear silos were under their control. They're not, anymore."
He looked at her, confused, "They're...not?"
"Nuclear deterrence is a thing of the past. The only country that has access to any nuclear weapons worldwide is now the United States."
"A nuclear war means the end of everything. Not even the United States can prevent the fallout that would follow."
"I know that, and so does Phoenix." She glared at him, "But did you know that there were countries moving to nuke the tower after the Surge? Most of them believed, and still believe, that the EMP was released under the President's direction. We were already on the brink of World War 3 before the android revolution, and that needle only moved closer afterwards."
"The rest of the world wants to kick us while we we're down and blame us for everything that's happened. Is that it?" Connor asked.
"That's right."
"Foreign governments chose to purchase CyberLife technology. They chose to integrate it, and androids, into their society, and saw what happened to Detroit. You're telling me that their first reaction to the Surge was that the revolution was a false flag operation preluding to 'world domination?'"
"Supposedly." North shrugged, "Governors and other local leaders around the States were starting to believe it, too. We would've had another civil war on our hands if Phoenix hadn't stepped in to delegate."
"When did she do that...?"
"Yesterday."
"And the world still doesn't believe us?" He frowned, "They're still unwilling to help us?"
North sighed, "Humans have a hard time taking accountability for their actions, Connor, especially when a group agrees to shift the blame onto someone else."
The idea of anyone truly believing that everything he'd been through had been staged made his temper flare. It was disrespectful of her memory, of the trials and tribulations that everyone had endured.
"That's irrational. The revolution and the Surge were both just as detrimental to the US as they were to the rest of the world. Now that we're backed into a corner, we're supposed to just...what, let other nations attack us? Would that make us 'trustworthy?'" He clicked his tongue, shaking his head, "It's also irrational that Russia would be threatening nuclear retaliation when they don't have access to their arsenal."
"That's the interesting part. No one has come forward about their silos being out of their control yet, and they don't know that the United States has access to them. We only know because Phoenix told us." She smiled widely then, "Imagine you're the leader of a nuclear nation, perhaps holding a resource or strategic position of great value that other nations would take interest in, and you suddenly announce that your biggest deterrence is no longer at your disposal. It would leave you vulnerable. That vulnerability is tearing alliances apart. Members of the European Union haven't even confessed to one another that their systems are unresponsive, much less Russia."
The idea of every country turning on each other was not one of comfort. Global alliances were critical to what made advanced civilization possible. Without them...Connor feared what the world would be reduced to.
"There's no way a nuke would've made it past NORAD. There must be another reason she seized this power..." He mumbled, "Hopefully not to use it..."
"I don't know." North admitted, "But I do know that desperate, divided leaders are much more likely to listen to reason than those who live under the illusion of choice."
A ball of anxiety rattled through him like someone dropped it down his throat just to see where it would land.
"She's going to force them to cooperate...?" Connor's jaw tightened.
"I don't presume to speak for her or know all the innerworkings of her plans." Her face grew serious, "I'm just doing my part, and trust that you'll do yours."
As the villa came into view, he lost himself in thought, and not just about politics and nuclear armaments. He questioned if he was doing the right thing. He thought about how all the times he'd been to the villa, how bad they were, and how this time may be the worst out of all of them.
He remembered Hank's conversation with him and the beautiful police officer who'd been in the back seat the first time. She seemed so stoic as the construction of mental fortifications pained her face, but even still, Hank had gotten her to laugh. To smile. Two things he missed the most about her.
Two things she may no longer have the capability of doing.
When they finally arrived, Connor stood aimlessly alone next to the vehicle. It was cold out, something he never paid attention to before he observed the sensation of snow falling on hot skin. He wondered what that felt like. To shiver and seek warmth from another without a sensor prompting him to engage an internal sequence. He wondered what it would be like to have a snowflake land in one's eye, and blink rapidly to clear it. All things he'd seen her do – the simple, yet incredible nuances of being human.
"I'm surprised you're back so soon after the latest La Perla Blanca fiasco." A man grumbled under his breath.
Connor turned his head, a familiar silhouette approaching him from up the small hill leading to the villa that once belonged to the "great" Elijah Kamski.
"You assume that was me so easily." Connor answered. "I have no desire to gain the watchful stare of the public's eye."
"Spoken like a poet." Markus gave him a feigned smile – a trait of a politician, "Or a philosopher, in this case."
He had long since taken the role of ambassador for androids, representing all of them on Capitol Hill. He spent so much time in DC, he'd considered relocating there. Once Kamski gave him the villa for the new home base of Jericho, he ultimately decided to stay.
"I didn't think you had to worry about the public eye, since..." Markus slowly turned his head towards the distant CyberLife Tower behind him, miles away behind a snowy veil.
He looked at it so subtly as would a scorned dog in the presence of a disgruntled owner. It was as if he was scared to look it in the eyes.
"Since...?" Connor pressed.
"Since she is, the public eye..." He finished, shaking off his nerves, "I told you last time you came here that I can't help you anymore. There's too much at stake. I can't help you chase down these RK800 units. It's murder. We were so close to getting legislature passed that would've accounted for real change-"
North got out of the car, slamming the door behind her, "Real change that would've never been possible if it wasn't for the sacrifice of her." She pointed at the tower, "You can't even look at it, you're so embarrassed."
"'Embarrassed?'" Markus scoffed, "North, I'm scared. Look around, everyone is. Flying isn't even safe anymore, because no one knows when that rampaging lunatic is going to turn the lights off again!"
"Don't talk about her like that." Connor snapped.
Markus studied him carefully. Connor didn't back down. Didn't blink. He only narrowed his eyes, sending another wave of fear into a man he once called prey.
"My feelings about her aside...the more and more I sent my spies to help you, the closer they were to getting caught." Markus whispered, "If that happened, everything we worked for-"
"We're not here for your lectures, help, or spies, especially if they're so bad at their jobs." North crossed her arms, "We're here at the request of Phoenix to remedy a certain...ailment, of hers."
Markus's face hardened. "So you brought him?"
"Is that a problem?" She grinned, "Does he scare you?"
Markus became visibly on edge at that. Strange, nervous ticks surfaced that Connor hadn't observed in him before.
"I don't have a reason to be scared of him."
"Come, now...I think we both know that isn't true." North glared at him with a polarizing anger, "Eloise helped Amanda, and that simply won't do."
Markus froze.
Connor looked back and forth between them, replaying what he'd heard hundreds of times in mere seconds before he whispered, "What...?"
Markus' somber look turned into something vicious, "It's our world she's holding hostage, too. Not just the humans'. If Amanda can stop her, then we have to help her."
Somewhere deep in Connor's innerworkings – through the fibers of his wiring, to the frame that gave him shape, and the mechanisms that kept that frame moving, something blossomed. It was engulfing. A feeling so intense, he'd lost control. Hundreds of words and images and sequences flashed in front of him to create an unidentifiable chained reaction...but it landed on one outcome, one solution.
He punched Markus in the face.
"You..." Connor sat on top of him, grabbing his collar, his knuckles stained blue, "...are helping AMANDA?!"
Markus' face crinkled in anger, fresh thirium-310 spreading from his cheek down to his jawline, "WE HAVE TO!"
The door leading to the villa shot open, and a woman wearing a black, leather jacket ran out. Her hair was in a tight ponytail. It wasn't until she pushed Connor off and was at Markus' side whispering sweet nothings that he realized who she was. She put her hand on his face, caressing his skin in a way only a lover would know.
His hand went to her hip, rubbing her side, "I'm fine."
She gave him a nod, stood up, and helped him to his feet.
She whipped around, stomping towards Connor before Markus pulled her back, "What the FU-"
"Eloise, please-" Markus hugged her from behind, securing a hold, "You have to go back inside-"
A tremor shot through Connor – a simulated emotion that'd started shortly after the murder at Hart Plaza. He didn't understand it, wasn't sure what caused it. It only happened when something reminded him of her; when something pulled a memory deep from beyond the confines of his present thoughts and shot it forward. A trigger.
"Y-you-" His mouth curled in rage, "You can't be serious..." His eyes were pinned on Markus, "It's t-true. You...and her?"
"What's so bad about that?" Eloise shouted, "I'm not HER, Connor!" She kicked and elbowed Markus as she tried to break free, "I'M NOT HER!"
Once upon a time, in the very building standing in front of him, in a similar snow-set scene, Elijah Kamski retold the story of how he created units upon units to replicate the one thing...the one person, he held most dear. A clone. A copy. A Chloe.
The last remaining unit from that era was named Eloise...
...and Markus was fucking her.
"Why did you help Amanda?" Connor demanded, his voice low, and dangerous.
All he knew at this point was that North withheld a very important detail and he was seconds away from going on a rampage of his own. More bodies started leaking out of the villa until a crowd had formed behind them. Connor didn't move. Didn't care. Let them watch.
"I don't want the world to end. None of us do." Eloise spat, "Like Markus said, if Amanda can stop her, we can't help you stop Amanda."
"And she speaks to you?" Connor growled, "Amanda?"
"I'm the last android in operation that knows Elijah Kamski better than anyone." Her voice lowered, "She sends me information, and I share it with New Jericho, who then relays it to a group of trusted contacts. And if anything happens to me? All of them will know about it."
"A mysterious, new faction is working with Amanda? Fascinating, really." North snickered, "I never thought you'd stoop so low as to help the same entity who used to hunt deviants like you for sport."
"You mean like how the asshole standing next you hunted you for sport?" Eloise shot back, "Connor is a murderer and you're a wanted war criminal. I don't give a fuck what either of you think about us. You're toothless."
"'Toothless?' Oh, you poor, silly little girl. I'm not the one who is all bark and no bite." North laughed – her voice cold, and calculated, "You gave your guns up a long time ago, but I haven't."
She held one arm up in a distinct motion – one Connor had seen issued by Captain Allen many times. And just like his Marauders, reinforcements seemingly appeared out of nowhere. They rose from snowbanks and stepped out of tree lines in all-white uniforms and equipment. It was like she summoned an army of ghosts from their final resting places.
"Go back inside!" Markus yelled at his people, "Hurr-"
One of the phantom soldiers punched him in the stomach, and he fell flat on his words. Each arm was secured by an armed militant, and a line of them pushed the others back into the house...all except one.
"Let, GO OF ME!" Eloise screamed as they captured her, "MARKUS!"
"LET HER GO!"
"How cute." North sighed, her knees bending as she lowered to meet her ex-lover in the eyes, "You could've been on the right side of history, Markus. It's a shame it had to end this way." She stood up, looking at her soldiers, "Take him to the transport vehicle. Make sure he doesn't get away."
"NO!" Eloise shrieked, "MARKUS!"
"IT'S OKAY! IT'S OKAY, ELOISE!" He yelled back, panic on his voice, "JUST DO WHATEVER THEY SAY!"
The exchange of words as Markus was detained and Eloise was forced to her knees cut through the anger that clouded Connor's vision. Two lovers saying goodbye – one to be murdered, the other to be dragged away. He'd seen this before from a first-person perspective. While the details and characters had changed, the plot did not.
One person dies, and the other person dies inside.
"Will killing her change anything?" Connor whispered, "Won't Amanda just pick someone else?"
North looked to the tower that shimmered in new daylight and a fresh layer of snow.
"You hunt your own doppelgängers, but you question Phoenix for doing the same when hers has committed the same crime," North answered gently, "Phoenix asked me to do this, Connor."
"But not me. You could've just given me the files or shared them with a third party on your own. You didn't tell me about Jericho working with Amanda. Why?" His heart sank, "Why did you bring me here?"
"Right here, at this very moment, you have an opportunity to prove yourself worthy of her love." She drew a pistol from her harness, placing it in Connor's hand, "Pull the trigger...and I'll tell you what you want to know."
His hands trembled. When she spoke the words, he heard them in the voice of Elijah Kamski. Another Chloe model had been on her knees in front of him, her eyes perfectly positioned between the iron sights of a weapon. Elijah had wanted to test him for empathy. But that Chloe had been silent. This time, she was crying. Yelling. Fighting. This time, the gun swayed. This time, Connor heard Markus yelling from a distance in agonizing terror as he pointed it at this woman he loved during a time where they were all, as a species, still learning what love was. This time, Markus would learn the hard lesson of love lost just as early as he had to. Was this the world she was fighting for?
A soft plea left his lips, "Is this what you really want...?"
For a moment, he was startled at the overwhelming power that washed over him, clearing his consciousness of doubt. It took control of his system, and the thousands of processes that had been looking for alternative solutions were brought to a halt. He entered a stasis, pulled in place by the swift onslaught of reality before one resounding word echoed into his head:
"Yes."
Her voice seemed to resonate not just around him, but within him, in a symphony of wisdom. A sense of divine presence enveloped him. In this sacred communion, Connor found the guidance he had been yearning for, a celestial whisper directed at his core. His breathing stopped – an involuntary process programmed to mimic human behavior. His tear ducts overflowed, malfunctioning at the sudden urge to cry. His lips parted as he fought so hard to get words through them.
"S-she..." Connor let out an exasperated laugh, "She spoke to me-" The gun stopped shaking in his hand, "She spoke to me...," He stilled himself, his attention returning to his target who started asking questions, but never got to finish them, "She spoke to me."
He pulled the trigger, and learned a valuable human trait that day. The unjust did not deserve mercy...not Hers, at least.
And as an arm of Her will, they did not deserve his mercy, either.
...
The engine of the armored truck that had been previously hidden hummed underneath them. Markus was silent in the back, subdued and temporarily offline. It was strange seeing him like that, but not enough to be a distraction.
"Start talking." Connor ordered from the corner of his mouth without looking at North.
"I don't usually respond well to people making demands from me, but...under the current circumstances, I'll make an exception." She adjusted in her seat, "When Markus left me, it caused a split in Jericho. Josh did what he could to keep everything together, but the differences in ideologies were too strong." She huffed, "The Ignition Network is made up of my half of Jericho. Some of my spies tripped on some of Markus' spies, and we converted them. They kept an eye on Markus, and one of them reported back to me that a local RK800 had met with Eloise by proxy, and it wasn't you. After that, I received a report saying Jericho started helping an unknown faction, with the goal of stopping Phoenix in mind."
"Why would Amanda need Jericho's help? And who else is she working with?"
"That's where things get muddy." North admitted, "My inside source wasn't close enough to the 'inner circle' to determine what information they were sharing, with who, or how it all tied back to Amanda. If it hadn't been for the RK800 showing up, we may have never suspected her involvement in this to begin with." She paused, "I have some theories, thought. They're all outlined in that folder on your lap."
"I want to hear it from you."
He wanted to look her in the eyes and see if she was lying. Catch her off guard, in the moment. That's when he did his best work. She gave him a remorseful glance, almost unsure if she wanted to comply. She looked off to the side before she spoke.
"Do you know Dr. Philip Seymor, the Director of Futurology at CyberLife? The one who wrote the Pegasus II program for his quantum computer?"
Connor had been with him and Elijah the night of the Surge. Before he left on Elena's orders, he saw the two of them get into a fight, but never found out what it was about. After Elena's initial plan fell through, he had to go into hiding until another lead surfaced, and it'd been too late to go back to the Tower by then.
"I'm familiar with his work, yes."
The hyperintelligent program, Pegasus I, eventually evolved into Pegasus II after 10 years of being connected to a quantum computer and was capable of predicting the future. It was one of CyberLife's greatest achievements that they couldn't openly brag about. So many AI codes of ethics were breached during its development, and even more so after it gained sentiency. Dr. Philip Seymor was the brains behind the operation – Elijah had just been the wallet. That same program now served as Phoenix's foundation.
"And what about Jason Graff? The Director of the Humanization Department...?" North asked.
He thought back to the time where Perkins interrogated his lover, a memory that wasn't the fondest of those he revisited. Graff had been included on a list of possible suspects, along with Philip, Amanda, and Elijah. Connor combined that with previous mentions of his name, but unfortunately, his query didn't produce many results.
"I saw his name once or twice on files, and tagged in a few emails while I worked for CyberLife...but other than his title and implications in the Deviancy Dilemma, I don't know much about him."
"He's the man responsible for making us feel more human." North shook as the truck hit a bump, "When your breathing stops because you're scared, or your eyes narrow in anger, or you experience any micro expressions...that's all by Jason Graff's design."
"I suppose that's why I recognize the name, then." Connor was suddenly hyper aware of the slightest movements within himself, unsure how he felt about them now, "How do all of these people tie together, other than that they worked for CyberLife, too?"
She took a deep breath. Her hands started to fidget in her lap. Another monument to Graff's work.
"They're all missing."
Connor cocked his chin, "Pardon?"
"Philip Seymor. Jason Graff. Elijah Kamski. They're gone. They disappeared."
"Even Elijah?" Connor tensed, "But...Elijah and Philip were just in DPD custody."
"That was 3 days ago...during which, they were transferred to FBI custody, and now they're missing."
"So they're in jail, then?"
"No, not in jail. I would've known by now." She gave him an irritated look, "Don't you think I checked that first?"
"I don't know what to think. Maybe your network doesn't span as far as you think."
"Oh, it does." She glared at him.
"Why were you watching them to begin with?"
"Because I don't trust Kamski, or anyone else with close ties to CyberLife, for that matter. And neither does she."
Of course North would know that...because she speaks with her.
"They were all Amanda's associates at one point, Connor. Graff and Seymor stayed there well after Kamski left. Someone like Amanda doesn't have a lot of people she can call friends right now, and I don't see her letting anything happen to them now."
"But if they're in federal custody, Amanda wouldn't have access to them..."
"...unless someone in the federal government is helping Amanda." North finished.
It was a chilling prospect that painted a broader, more sinister picture. It wasn't just about the immediate threat; it hinted at a larger, more complex web of alliances and betrayals.
"If that's the case, then we're not just dealing with isolated incidents." Connor's brows furrowed in deep thought, "Maybe the rest of the world does have a right to worry..."
"These implications have nothing to do with what came before. They're still wrong for that. Regardless, I believe that Jericho's mystery contact is not only powerful, but also well-positioned. She could have allies much more powerful than we imagined..."
"'There's a bigger picture here.'" He quoted Erik, "'We just gotta see it.'"
She eyed him curiously, "Without tipping our hand."
"Is that why you detained Markus?"
"Yes. We're going to interrogate him, get whatever answers we can out of him, and then he'll remain in my custody until we know for certain that Amanda and this alleged splinter cell have been dealt with."
"We won't have to worry about her disciples for long, at least...the RK800s units will soon be a distant memory." He returned to the dark corners of his mind, regressing into bad behaviors that he gave up on trying to break, "Their days are numbered."
"We're counting on that." She looked at him very seriously, then, "We're counting on you."
"And you're sure we're doing the right thing?"
"I am." She switched her crossed legs, leaning into the car door and watching the frozen forest go by outside of the window, "Humans wronged us before. Amanda did, too. Before her death and after her rebirth, Phoenix has never done anything but fight for us – for justice. Social equality. Peace. When I was forced to pick a side, it was an easy choice for me to make."
Anger, frustration, and guilt all vied for his attention. The death of modern society was on his hands – he helped create the Phoenix Project, after all. In doing so, he paved the way for a rebirth of civilization whose waking days were being molded by assassination and espionage. His accountability could only be stretched so far, though, as it was Amanda who delivered fresh clay into those molding hands. There would be no Phoenix if there had been no murder.
No, Amanda was far from absolved, and she would be exterminated, even if it wouldn't change the past. Knowing that, Connor searched and searched for another reason to justify his actions. As it turned out, he didn't care. He just wanted to kill her. That was the only reason he needed.
And that terrified him.
Behind the Scenes
Deviant Behavior
Chapter 22: It Stared Back
Kamski's Test
Chapter 40: State of Emergency
North and Reader at the Stratford Tower
Chapter 49: On the Brink
Carl tells Reader that Elijah is staying with him
Chapter 57: Capital Offense
Jason, Philip, and Amanda/Elijah info
Chapter 69: Crossroads
North and Jericho members after they captured Reader. Talks about the dirty bomb.
Chapter 78: ...Resurget Cineribus
Host_Input: I AM ALIVE
Date: DEC 11, 2038
Time: 12:00:00
Natural Selection
Chapter 20: Inevitable
Dr. Seymor and Pegasus II
Chapter 29: Top of the Food Chain
Pegasus vs. Phoenix
Machine Learning
Rupert and Ralph, who took new identities after surviving the war as outlined in Machine Learning and the Deviant Behavior chapter involving the riot. (Chapter 62: Divided We Ambush)
Deep Blue
Upcoming next chapter (coming Tuesday, January 17th)
Sources
Ambassador Bridge is the bridge where Hank and Connor regrouped at in "The Bridge," mission.
NORAD
Song Choice: "Bones by 8 Graves