November 9th
11:17 AM
{Y/n P.O.V.}
I arrive at the address. It's the home of Elijah Kamski. I never met him, but my father told me about him when Kamski gave him Markus. Technically I'm not supposed to be working because of my hand, but I'm a stubborn asshole, so here I am. This place is a little farther up north, and the snow fall is heavier. I see Hank getting off the phone, so I decide to go walk up now. "Is everything ok, Lieutenant?" Connor asks. "Chris was on patrol last night. He was attacked by a bunch of deviants. He said he was saved by Markus himself." My heart seems to freeze. What if Markus hadn't been there? "Is Chris ok?" I'm proud of Markus for upholding my trust in him. I know it must be difficult. "Yeah, he's in shock but...he's alive..." I grab their attention now. "That what's important then." They turn around. Hank looks annoyed, making me chuckle. "Spare me the scolding, old man. I'm sticking around. It was just my non dominant hand. I can still shoot a gun. Plus, painkillers are a miracle." He shakes his head in amusement.
Connor seems unsettled by my presence. It worries me. I don't really remember what happened past going to the hospital and getting shot up with drugs. I'm concerned I said something that may have hurt him. "Fine, kid, but you gotta actually listen to me for once. I don't know how you even found out about this." Androids at the station. "I have my ways...Good morning, Connor." I greet. "Good morning, Detective." Why does he seem so nervous? I think about it. Maybe it's not me, but this place. "We should get going." I decide. We start walking up to the door, when Connor speaks up. "I have a bad feeling, Lieutenant. We shouldn't have come here." Connor says. So I guess I was right. "Bad feeling, huh? Should get your program checked. Might be a glitch." Hank jokes. I give him a small glare. "Not helping Hank." I put a hand on Connors shoulder. He stiffens. He's very jumpy apparently. "Don't worry Connor, it'll be fine."
I knock at the door, and a blonde girl opens the door. "Hi... Uh... I'm, er, Lieutenant Hank Anderson, and Detective Manfred, Detroit Police Department. We're here to see Mr. Elijah Kamski." Hank introduces. "Please, come in." She moves back to let us on. "I'll let Elijah know you're here. But please, make yourself comfortable." She instructs before disappearing into another room. The little lobby area looks nice. Leather seats, potted plants, big paintings. A typical waiting room. "Nice girl." Hank notes, taking a seat. I stand in front of a large photo of Kamski and some woman. "You're right...she's really pretty." Connor responds. That feels like a like my hand is getting stabbed again. I really wouldn't have expected that from him. He always seems so determined to remind us that they're not human. And now, the one time he notes differently, it's to point out how pretty another girl is. "Yeah...very polite..." I say dismissively.
"Nice place. Guess androids haven't been a bad thing for everybody. So, you're about to meet your maker, Connor. How does it feel?" Hank questions. Connor stands next to me, seemingly studying the painting intently. "It doesn't raise any existential questions...if that's what you mean." Connor decides. "Sometimes I wish I could meet my creator face to face. I'd have a couple of things I'd wanna tell him..." I laugh without humor in it. "Yeah, you and me both, Hank." I hear Connor mutter something under his breath. "Amanda?" Before I can ask him who that is, the girl comes back. "Elijah will see you now." She leads us into the room she came from. There's a large swimming pool with red lit water in it. Two more blonde girls rest on the edge. One wall is entirely glass, allowing us to see the snow fall. "Mister Kamski?" I say. "Just a moment, please." He responds. He swims over to the ladder, the girl bringing him a robe as he gets out.
"I'm Detective Manfred. This is Lieutenant Anderson. This is Connor." I introduce. Kamski looks at me, probably recognizing the name. "What can I do for you?" Hank steps forward. "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." Kamski looks upwards like he is exaggeratedly thinking. "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 its downfall. Isn't it ironic?" He's very strange to say the least. He's the kind of person to answer every question with another question, isn't he? "We need to understand how androids become deviants. Do you know anything that could help us?" Connor asks him.
"All ideas are viruses that spread like epidemics. Is the desire to be free a contagious disease?" So the answer is yes. "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 is ignored. Kamski gets in Connors face. "What about you, Connor? Whose side are you on?" Kamski asks. "It's not about me, Mr. Kamski. All I want is to solve this case." Connor responds defensively. "Well, that's what you're programmed to say... but you...what do you really want?" I would be lying if I said I wasn't curious myself. It reminds me of what I told Markus. "I'm sorry, but I don't see where you're getting at." Kamski frowns slight. "Chloe?" The blonde girls walks over 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. Magnificent, isn't it? One of the first intelligent models developed 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. It's up to you to answer that fascinating question. Connor." He pulls a gun out of a drawer from a small table. "Whoa! Hey!" I protest, getting ready to turn to defense, but he hands the gun to Connor. "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." I don't like this. "Okay, I think we're done here." I interject. "Come on, Connor. Let's go. Sorry to get you outta your pool." Hank adds.
"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." Connor look down at the gun in his hand. His LED flashes yellow violently. "That's enough! Connor, we're leaving." Hank orders. But Kamski continues to encourage him. "Pull the trigger..."
"Connor, no!" I say firmly. "...and I'll tell you what you wanna know." He points the gun at the girl. For a horrible, sinking, moment, I think he's going to do it. He is going to shoot her.
But he stops. He lowers the gun. He won't do it.
"Fascinating... CyberLife's last chance to save humanity... Is itself a deviant..." Kamski says. "I'm...I'm not a deviant..." Connor says in a voice that's almost pitiful. "You preferred to spare a machine rather than accomplish your mission. You saw a living being in this android. You showed empathy." Admittedly, he was right. Connor did show empathy. But was that enough for him to be deviant? What would happen to him if he was? It seems like I'm always walking away from these cases and leads with more questions then answers. "A war is coming...you'll have to choose your side... Will you betray your own people or stand up against your creators? What could be worse than having to choose between two evils? By the way... I always leave an emergency exit in my programs. You never know..." Hank grabs Connors shoulder. "Let's go." He orders. I nod in agreement. "Detective Manfred." I turn back to him. "I heard about your father. My condolences. He was a good man. What ever did happen to the android I made him?" I scowl. Is he just trying to get a rise out of me? I'm not giving him anything. "Have a nice day, Mr. Kamski." I say with sarcastic politeness.
"I'm just asking a genuine question, Miss Manfred. Your father was a friend, and that android holds that sentiment." He seems like he genuinely wants to know, but also like he already knows. Maybe he does. "I think you know that answer already. It was nice to meet you, Mr. Kamski. I regret that I couldn't tell my father of this exchange." I force a polite smile. "Kid, lets go!" Hank calls. I rush outside with my partners. "Why didn't you shoot?" Hank finally asks Connor. "I just saw that girl's eyes...and I couldn't, that's all." He insists. "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 points out.
"Yeah, I know what I should've done! I told you I couldn't. I'm sorry, okay?" Connor snaps. It shocks me a little. I put a hand on his back. "Connor...it's okay. It'll all work out in the end." I say, believing it to be true. Just not in the way he thinks it will right now. "Maybe you did the right thing." Hank adds. "We should get back to the station." I suggest lightly. "Right..." Hank goes to get in his car, Connor following. "Hold on, Connor. Why don't you ride with me to the station?" He looks at my hand. "Are you supposed to be driving?" I chuckle nervously. "Ehheheheh, it's fine." I promise.
"Just go with the kid, we're going to the same place." Hank says. "Alright..." He makes his way over to my car. Hank gives me a 'Whatcha doin?' smirk as I call it. I flip him the bird and go to the drivers side of my car. I play Hamilton music from my phone, which is connected to the radio, quietly. It's silent for about five minutes of driving beside the music. I can't tell if Connor is shaken up from Kamski or if it's me. It's driving me crazy. But I'm not sure how to ask hi- "Did something happen last night?" I break the silence before realizing I have. "What do you mean?" He plays dumb. "I mean when I was hopped up on painkillers, did I say something to offend you or hurt you in some way. You seem...uncomfortable." I explain. He hesitates. "No, you were a bit uncooperative, but I got you to bed and you went to sleep." I flash him glances every now and then, trying to keep my eyes on the road too. "So is it just because of Kamski?"
"I suppose it is." I'll admit that Kamski (it fucking autocorrected to Kamshit and I'm w h e e z i n g) is and...interesting character, but I'm pretty sure he's lying.
Kamski is literally one of the most underrated characters. Kamski is a character designed to be someone you can't really make an opinion on. You want to hate him for making Connor make that choice, but really Kamski expected deviancy. He was rooting for deviancy the whole time after all, telling Connor about the exit in his program, and was disappointed if Connor decided to shoot. You can't hate Kamski for Connor shooting, especially when you're the one who makes the choice, and that's why Kamski is in such a gray area. He is intricately placed into the game, into our brains, as a force that challenges everything we worked up to at that point. He's never been a bad guy, and honestly, we don't know enough about him. Ahem...that is all.