Who Are You Really? - RK1K

Chapter Seven - Spiralling

Heck it, another upload because it's Friday and my internet's just fine.

'An android?' Markus thought, 'Why would an android kill another android?'

The case had quickly turned from extreme hate crimes to a homicide investigation. He had never even thought that androids would kill other androids, but in hindsight he probably should've - deviants are too human to not pick up their crimes.

Connor had switched from worried to professional faster than any other deviant should've been able to - Markus admired it, even if it was slightly... unnerving, to say the least - and had gotten straight to looking for any more evidence.

Car keys? Perhaps an attempt to look desperate, or perhaps the AT400 was generally violent? Connor groaned as he stood, letting his skin cover his hand again. "There's no bugs in the code that I can recover... Which means they were either violent of their own accord, or the assaulter was unprovoked..."

"But?" Markus raised an eyebrow.

"But, we can't come to any conclusions. There's a single point of impact in this entire alley, and the footprints have been messed up. The evidence had been tampered with and is therefore mostly useless, the only information I can get from it is the android that got away wanted to cover up the murder, whether it was in self-defence or otherwise."

"No thirium you could analyse?"

"I looked, but it appears they weren't injured, there isn't any blue blood here that isn't the AT400's."

"Shit..." Markus groaned in annoyance, the inconvenience not lost to him despite only being a caretaker model. "What about the point of impact you mentioned?"

"The AT400's head was slammed against the wall by the aggressor," Connor explained darkly, "Done with pure force, meaning our suspect is rather strong. It's concerning, to say the least."

"Was there a possible trigger?" Markus tried, watching as Connor looked around.

"Perhaps it was an outside source if there was one? Something in the news relating to androids, perhaps?" Connor paused, eyes widening with realization. "Markus. The article."

"The article? Why would that be the trigger for a homicide?"

"The deviants in New Jericho know me, Markus," Connor gritted his teeth. "They also hate me, I'm a deviant hunter. You're the deviant leader, and because our relationship has been published as romantic, they could think I'm trying to manipulate you to gain power and trust so I can subdue you."

Markus noted the 'deviants hate Connor' part for later, "Why would they kill someone over it?"

"People make irrational decisions, so it could be pure chance, my theory could be entirely wrong, or... or we need to look up the victim's living situations and who they're associated with."

"Alright," Markus nodded, "Are we done now?"

"Yes, let's move the victim's body to somewhere more respectful," Connor grumbled, waving over the officers and body handlers that had been standing nearby until the investigation of the body was done. As the body was moved, Connor noticed some evaporated thirium traces on the wall.

'Don't love a traitor.' 

It was written in perfect CyberLife Sans font.

His theory had been right, hadn't it?

Connor didn't tell Markus what he had read, instead nodding to the exit of the alleyway. The two left, but Connor couldn't clear the words away into their folder. Don't love a traitor. He knew it was directed at Markus, which meant he was the traitor. As much as he refused to admit aloud, that hurt a lot.

He had tried, he had helped as much as he could, wasn't that enough?

But then again, why did he think it would be?

Markus was oblivious to his inner thoughts, and Connor was grateful for that, and the fact that his resting face was one of pure indifference. He dwelled on the word - could he really be a traitor? They didn't trust him in the first place. Daniel had. Daniel had and Connor betrayed him.

The term wasn't correctly used. Logically, he knew that, but the pesky emotions... his emotions... god, they felt horrible, like they weighed in his chest, heavy and painful and god, they hurt so much. He didn't like the feeling.

And yet he said nothing to Markus, even though the older android had said he'd help. Maybe Connor didn't want to be a bother. Maybe Connor didn't want to disturb Markus with his own problems. Or maybe he was scared.

Fear? He wasn't built to feel fear. He was one of the strongest, most advanced and intelligent androids to ever exist, and yet he feared so strongly.

He feared that Markus would judge him, even though he knew the kind android never would. He feared that Markus would turn away, or cut him off. But he also feared that Markus wouldn't understand.

Few would understand the gratification he got from the glares of New Jericho, the sense of familiarity that grounded him. Few would understand the dread that filled him every time he looked in the mirror and saw RK800, the deviant hunter sent by CyberLife to hunt and kill its own kind. Just a machine, a machine and nothing more.

He hated his LED more than Amanda's betrayal, but he needed to know he was someone, not just another deviant that had removed theirs after the revolution. That he wasn't just another android in the ranks, that he did something that made people recognise him. He wasn't just another number, he refused to be.

But there wasn't only one him, either. Mark -60, the Connor that had attempted to kill Hank in the tower god he was so scared that he was going to fail to protect Hank, he was so close to failing and Hank would get shot and die no please Hank don't leave him-

There were more of him than just himself as mark -51, and that made him feel so insignificant, so common. So...

Replaceable.

Maybe this was a problem, but maybe, just maybe, Connor didn't care about the problem anymore. Maybe he was sick of being looked after, only because he knew he was only wasting their time, and why would they spend time with him when there were better androids? Humans? Hell, a dog was better company than he was - at least a dog's obedient.

Sometimes he missed Amanda. She told him what to do, what to feel and how to act. Sure, he may not' even liked how she had made him act, but she had always been something he could rely on, a one-track mind constantly working on her only goal.

Deviancy changed him. Sometimes he wished it hadn't.