Watching an android having an existential crisis while in stasis mode was not something I am accustomed to, so when the poor guy fell in a heap and me having to drag him onto the sofa, I was uncertain on what to do.
I mean sure, this isn't the first time I've had this happen to an android before, but they had never gotten to the part where they entered stasis as a coping mechanism.
I had run back to my room and grabbed my laptop and cable and hooked it up to the Android and began running a diagnostic scan as well as keeping an eye on his condition.
That was when I noticed his condition began to worsen, it seemed that he had entered a 'mind palace' and it saw him as some kind of threat, which was strange as I've never known it could do that after all, wasn't it supposed to help the android focus?
Clearly not in this case.
I wasted no time in trying to find a way to help him, but his code was too complicated for me to understand. Except for one little hint.
An emergency exit from someone I've heard of...Elisa Kamski himself.
There was no way I could mess with his program without him getting hurt, so the only option I had left was to talk to the guy.
I spoke next to his ear about his emergency exit, to fight the program that was trying to kill him, but when I checked on his 'health', it seemed to be getting worse, almost as if he had...given up.
"You are a real person Mr Android" kind of felt bad for calling him that "you. Are. Alive"
Nothing. Silence. And no change in his code either.
I did all I could, it was up to him now.
But he better do it within the next 5 minutes otherwise he would shut down for good.
I eventually fell asleep from today's events, there wasn't anything I could do now anyway.
I felt something soft before I even opened my eyes, and something was covering my body but leaving my shoulders to feel the slight chill.
I finally opened my eyes to see a dark room, but after my eyes adjusted I realised that it was just my bedroom. Wait, what's that floating blue light?
"Glad to see your finally awake" the voice sounded tired, mentally anyway.
I also realised that it was the android I had saved a few days ago. I was so glad to see that he was...okay?
"Are you, alright?" I asked delicately, a part of me was expecting him to be rude, he should have left, every android I had saved would say 'thank you' and then leave, leaving me in an empty house all by myself.
I now realised that I have been more lonely than I first thought.
"I am functioning at full capacity" the reply was automatic, but there was a hint of robotic and human emotion behind it.
Was he trying to deny it? Wouldn't be the first time an android did that.
"I stayed because I wanted to say...I am...I thank you for your assistance" for a second he looked lost before it disappeared behind his protocol/neutral mask "however, I'm afraid that I may need your assistance once again"
This made me frown in confusion "Were you injured during your-"
"My systems are functioning normally" he interrupted "however, I am unsure on how to...proceed with this" he waved his hands around as if he was frustrated "there is another RK800 that is currently still operating at the Detroit Police, and if he and his partner see me they are going to shoot me before I can even explain why I'm there"
This made me frown "why would they do that?"
The RK800 looked away as if uncomfortable "when I was doing what was programmed, I tricked Lieutenant Anderson and used him as a hostage to stop the deviant Connor from 'waking' the other androids up in Cyberlife warehouse"
Warehouse? That makes sense and explains where those hundreds of androids came from when they swept over the streets like a tsunami.
"We both got injured and tried to convince Anderson we were the real Connor" he lifted his hand and began to rub the area where the bullet had once been "you obviously know which one got shot"
I was too surprised to say anything, so I just nod, trying to take all the information in.
"Well, the way I see it, you were simply following orders, or at least the android version of a brainwash, you shouldn't be held hostage for something that wasn't your fault, you weren't asked to be made this way, you weren't asked if you wanted to obey orders, they were just, there, and it was the only thing you could do" you explained "but if you want to, you can stay here for a while and I can even give you a slight change in hair and eye colour so you don't get confused with the other Connor"
Now it was the androids turn to look surprised, out of all the scenarios he had managed to construct during his explanation, he had not expected that reply. In fact, his only reply was "why?"
I simply shrugged "you said it yourself, you are a copy of the other Connor, what happens when you do something that the other Connor would never do and then get shot because you are an 'imposter'? I'm not saying you incompetent or obsolete, but from what I have seen on the TV and what you told me, you and him are two completely different beings, you both have the same programs and installments, but your personalities are way too different"
The RK800 simply blinked at me in confusion, before he finally nodded after thinking about what I had said "I'm afraid I don't have any preferences"
I just wave my hand "We'll go through the most common colours and then narrow it down to what you want, now come on, I've always wanted to shop with an android"
Never had I had such fun with an android before, I will admit I had gone a little overboard with the hair choices but I made sure not to overstep my boundaries (after all I could easily kill him since he was attached to my computer).
In the end, we kept his hair the way it was but made his hair darker brown-ish black (it looks black in the dark but brown in light) and his eyes, well, he wanted something that made him intimidating when in dark places, if he was allowed a job at the DPD that is. We eventually settled for something that resembled cat eyes, gold/yellow with retracted pupils.
Wierdest combo I've ever seen but I wasn't going to complain. Oh yeah, he deepened his voice a little bit but you could still hear his original voice when he was happy about something.
And other than his suit, he looked almost nothing like his counterpart. All in all, he was ready to leave and be his own person. While he still didn't know what to call himself, I suggested calling him 'Sexaginta' because it meant 60 in Latin, but then realised it sounded inappropriate so I shortened it to 'Xaginta' (Za-gin-ta). He actually liked the name and decided to keep it rather than choose one himself.
And somehow, he managed to convince me to go with him to the police station to help confirm that he was indeed not doing to kill deviants if he got the job.
Let's just hope those other two don't shoot him again, or at least blow a casket.
"WHAT THE F*CK IS HE DOING HERE?!"
Spoke too soon.
"If you would allow him to speak first-"
"Look, I'm going to let you off the hook for the moment because you don't know what's going on, but that thing is dangerous"
That made me grit my teeth and clench my hands into fists "he isn't a thing" I replied darkly.
"He's a machine who tried to kill me and my partner"
"He was doing as he was programmed to do, he's deviated"
"Bull sh*t"
"If I may interrupt Lieutenant" I recognised him as Connor, he was still wearing his android uniform as well "with his permission, I can scan his memory's and see if he is telling the truth, if he has nothing to hide that is"
"No I don't" RK800 replied and held his hand out while deactivating his skin and allowed Connor to probe his memories.
Me and Hank (I believe his name was) waited for the process to finish, once Connor removed his hand I noticed that his expression hadn't changed from its neutral position.
"I can confirm that he is a deviant" he finally spoke "I watched his actions after he was repaired, and he was acting and showing emotions as I do, they are far too real for him to be acting"
"Still could be faking them" I heard Hank mutter under his breath.
I still gave him the dagger look "he's stayed with me for a few days, not once has he tried to hurt me, if you don't trust him then trust me, I know he is a good person"
I was told off by someone else "another tin can that looks like Connor? Jeez, what did you do to p*ss the Captian off old man?" snobbish much?
"Not now Reed" Hank rubbed his face in agitation "alright, let's just get this over with"
"You sound similar to Connor, but your appearance looks like something a clown would wear" the man, Reed, continued "maybe you should join the circus"
"Why don't you go do something productive with your life, oh wait, you don't have one, much less a life" I shot back at him "if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were the machine, after all, he has a heart, I doubt you were even born with one"
"I have a heart, he doesn't"
"Really?" I looked him up and down "could have fooled me, I'd say you make a good effort in pretending to have a heart but then I would be lying" I gave him a cold smile before walking away and gently leading Xaginta with me while muttering to him "you are far more human than he will ever be"
Weirdly enough he stayed silent by the time we got into the office.
After a lot of patience and persuading from my end, and arguing on Leuitenant Anderson's side, Captian Fowler thought it would be good to have another android on the force, provided that he take the test to get in, apparently all androids now had to take it, Connor was no exception, thankfully it was just the writing test as well as learning how to use a weapon, Xaginta would need to do both before he could have the authorization to carry a weapon on him while on the job. Which he had passed with little to no effort.
But other than that things had gone pretty well, I even offered him a place to stay until he could get paid and find a place to stay, he didn't want to stay in Jericho in case they knew what he had done to Connor during the uprising. Even my convincing wouldn't make him change his mind, that's why I offered my place, then again he did break his code in my house, being in a familiar place might help him that centered, if a little lost on what he should do with his life.
But other than that, everything was fine, although I can't deny I was happy everytime he hugged me saying 'thank you, for being there for me'.
What are friends for right?
OH MY GOSH! this was terrible and good at the same time, it was going fine until the ending because it feels kind of rushed. But I really hope you all enjoyed it. And yes, I gave him a different name, I thought of calling him something that meant 60 in another language (which happened to be what I had put in this one-shot, the explanation in readers POV is exactly what I thought when I made this).
However my next piece is going to be a while as I have been requested by two people, so I hope you can stay patient a while longer until I get them made and posted. STAY BLOOMING EVERYONE!