Chasing Deviancy [Detroit: Become Human]

6.

NOV 6TH, 2038

AM 09:56:04

AM 09:56:05

Cora's eyes opened, LED flickering yellow as it entered its shared mind palace with Connor.

Cyberlife had programmed their mind palace to be shared. They weren't certain if it was because of their software being similar to each other, and they didn't question it. They weren't able to either way, considering knowing wasn't relevant.

Their mind palace resembled a garden, currently in spring. There was a lake in the middle, surrounded by different paths and bridges. Cora noticed a figure around a rose trellis in a lake island.

An objective appeared in its sight.

./FIND AMANDA

The figure must be Amanda, Cora deduced, mind translating the AI for the person it reported to.

Before it started walking toward the figure, Cora noticed Connor walking toward another path, glancing toward where it was going, seeing a structure with a glowing hand print pad.

Curiosity filled as well, Cora followed its partner as Connor leaned down curiously.

"I have never seen this before" Connor commented quietly, eyes scanning the handprint pad.

"Most likely because it was not relevant to our mission?" Cora suggested, LED cycling once in thought.

Connor's LED cycled twice thoughtfully, "Is it now?"

The same time Connor spoke, it placed its hand in the pad, skin peeling away as it tried to interface, jerking away its hand after receiving a small shock, making its LED flicker violently for a couple of seconds.

Cora frowned at Connor. "What happened?"

Connor seemed confused. "Nothing" it glanced at Cora, "Maybe it is not relevant yet"

But it can be? Cora wondered itself, starting to lower its hand to the pad, until the current mission flashed in its HUD, reminding it of its priority.

./FIND AMANDA

Right. That was relevant. Not this.

Cora straightened up, looking toward Connor briefly before starting to walk through a path toward the figure on the middle of the lake island.

Amanda was tending to the roses when the androids reached her.

"Hello, Amanda" they greeted in sync, briefly smiling.

Amanda turned to them at their voices.

Amanda
Trusted

"Hello, Connor, Cora" Amanda replied, smiling slightly though the smile wasn't as warm, something neither Android noticed. "It's good to see you both"

^Amanda

"Congratulations, Cora" Amanda first glanced at the female Android, whose LED flickered briefly at the slight thought that passed through its mind 'Connor helped, wouldn't have done it without it'. Amanda looked between the two of them now "Finding that deviant was far from easy, and the way you two interrogated it was very clever. The two of you have been remarkably efficient"

They smiled.

"Thank you, Amanda" they again spoke in sync.

Amanda put aside the shears she was using for the roses, "We've asked the DPD to transfer it to us for further study. It may teach us something about what happened" she paused momentarily, looking up at them. "The interrogation seemed...challengingly. What did you think of the deviant?"

"We prevented it from being damaged, so we might still learn something by analyzing it" Connor replied, hands folded neatly behind its back.

Amanda didn't say anything.

"It said something to us" Cora added, hands neatly folded in front of it, in its stomach. "'The truth is inside'. We don't know what that means... unless it was just another error in its program"

Again, Amanda didn't comment on that, simply starting to talk with her back to them, "This... Lieutenant Anderson has been officially assigned to the deviancy case..." she turned to them "What do you make of him?"

Connor and Cora remained silent for a moment, wirelessly connecting to each other, even inside their mind palace.

"He's obviously not what we were expecting" Cora began, followed by Connor.

"We don't have enough information yet to form a definitive opinion" Connor finished.

"Unfortunately, we have no choice but to work with him" Amanda told them, glancing between the two of them "What do you think is the best approach?"

Connor?

"We will focus on the investigation and try to ignore him" Connor replied.

Oh.

^Amanda

Cora nodded slightly, knowing it'll always side with Connor, and viceversa "As long as he doesn't interfere and we avoid conflict, he shouldn't be a problem"

Amanda, (for once) looked pleased at their response, expression turning serious "More and more androids show signs of deviancy. There are millions in circulation. If they become unstable, the consequences will be disastrous. You two are the most advanced prototypes CyberLife has ever created. If anyone can figure out what's happening, it's you"

"You can count on us, Amanda" Cora reassured, half smiling.

Amanda nodded at them, "Hurry, Cora, Connor. There's little time"

And with that, they exited their mind palace, sitting together in an automatic taxi, LED flickering back to blue, nodding to each other.