"Oh, hi Connor! Are you—wait, come in. You're bleeding. Let's fix that up, shall we?"

You accepted him easily into your home at 10 PM, eyes filled with concern as you stared at his abdomen to look at his wound.

You immediately getting to work as you laid him on your guest room bed, a single operating machine in the room to assist you if needed. With a ST200 by your heels, ready to get whatever supplies you would ask for if it needed to leave the room.

Connor arrived after explaining to Hank he would be meeting his creator for repairs, the Lieutenant shrugging off the information. Him muttering that he needs to buy a few drinks at the store anyways, so Connor just called the automatic taxi to take him to your modest home.

It wasn't anything grand, but it was better then most. A two story house with (favorite design) and offhand decorations within. You barely have any furniture within your house, Connor observed, but he has no right to judge on your house decorator side. He is mildly surprised, however, that you hold an android within your house.

You always spoke of how badly humans treated their androids, so he rationalized that attitude as you not believing in having androids as servants. But he was wrong.

That's the only thing I've been doing lately, being wrong, he thought bitterly.

It's of no consequence however, you have your reasons for doing every action that you do. He admittedly questions some(most) of them but he believes that you always determine whatever is best. Connor also believes that you probably thought that you having an android compared to someone else, it'd be best if it was you. You've been kind to all androids within the Tower, as well as outside of it when they used to be on their outings.

You've always been kind.

"So Connor," you stated with a polite smile, standing over him as you carefully took out plate where his abdomen was to reach in for the damages biocomponent. Chloe absent due to her getting items you needed. "How has the investigation been going? Any progress with it? Or just progress with the Lieutenant? I hope he hasn't been too harsh on you because of his past."

"There has. . . been a wall that me and Lieutenant Anderson can't get over. With both the investigation and our partnership." Connor replied, eyes flicking down as your hand carefully moved within him. Always so careful. "Although it appears that the Lieutenant is slowly getting used to my presence, despite everything. He did not exactly appreciate the fact that I left him dangling on a ledge despite him having an 89% survival rate of him lifting himself up when I was chasing a deviant android."

You released a small chuckle, his brown eyes flicking towards your expression to spot your amusement as you were putting in the new biocomponent within his abdomen. Now running tests with your tablet to successfully configurate the component as well as see if it runs smoothly.

"Yes, well. We humans like to be comforted constantly, even though sometimes it appears it shouldn't be needed. We just like to reminded someone has our back, you know? It makes us," you paused for a moment, finger in the air above your tablet, seeming to contemplate on the correct way to explain it to him. For him to understand. But Connor feels like he does.

Connor stared at you, seemingly to attempt to hide your broken expression from him. Trying to hide you were unaffected by his words that he was not alive, that he cannot die. It was silent, and then something moved in him to  release his clean and ironed tie you gave him with his new uniform after the Hostage mission and giving it to you. You blinked and took it, but he already pointedly looked away as he examined your life's work. Impressed by it.

"Your ducts were releasing water. I'm not a caretaker or an AX400, but I hope that will do in comforting you."

He answered your silent question smoothly. And he did not look up again until he knew your emotions calmed within you and felt better.

He finally understands something that you're saying. Connor felt something swell in his chest, perhaps a simulation of pride from within.

"It just makes us feel special somehow," you continued, smile ever so polite, you continuing your work that's taking longer then usual. But Connor saw that familiar glint of gentleness within your orbs that you were trying to hide. From Amanda no doubt. Connor feels like you shouldn't hide, he trusts Amanda and her words. She wouldn't do anything to you if you treated him like before."We humans like to feel such things. That's just how we are. Does that answer your question, Connor?"

Connor stared at your polite smile.

Not smile, he corrected from within. He gave you a nod.

"Yes, there's also been raising questions that I can't help but inquire to myself as we investigate."

Your brows furrowed, looking up for a moment from your tablet.

"You seem troubled, Connor. What sort of questions?"

His own brows furrowed deeply, and he debated on what to say to you. The investigation has been going nowhere so far, questions arising instead of answers. Answers that he has to find. Answers that he needs to find for CyberLife. For Amanda. He's already been disappointing her as of late and the failure of the Eden Club will only heighten her disappointment of him once he gives his report after this. She will ask questions that he won't know the answer to, because he doesn't.

Why did he let that deviant couple go?

I can't ask you do that, he thought, LED yellow. You'd be disappointed in me. I'm failing my missions. I can't fail my missions, you didn't make me this way. Why would that question be the first that comes up within my mind that is filled with circuit boards, wires, programming, and processors when there are more pressing questions?

Connor is getting a sense that you being disappointed in him would be more jeopardizing then Amanda. Jeopardizing how, he can't say.

He doesn't know what to say.

"Take your time, Connor." You interrupted his thoughts, and he didn't realize his face was morphed deeply into a frown until you spoke. His brows rose, and his eyes looked back towards you once more. When doesn't his eyes look back at you?

"Well," he began, eyes to the ceiling and away from your form as you put back his metal panel for his abdomen using your operating(rather production) machine, "the first case that me and Lieutenant Anderson worked on together involved a deviant murdering its owner. It had this obsession with this symbol, ra9."

Your finger tapped against the machine, an unsteady rhythm as you released a hum. Watching over the production machine as it was finishing up.

"Once we found it and took it into custody, he never released information about the symbols it drew all over the shower walls of the bathroom." Connor continued, forehead creasing as he thought back. "Before it left for
it cell and terminated himself, however, it left a cryptic message for me: 'The truth is inside.'"

"He killed himself?" You shook your head, sighing and did not stop your tapping. "Shame."

Connor didn't bother to correct you and how you address androids. He's tried to do it before months back but you never listen, so he just kept laying out to you on each case. About how the house of where AX400 and YK500 stayed, held another android, a WR600, who also had this obsession with the mysterious symbol. He then moved onto the deviant who hoarded pigeons within the apartment, the most gripping one with evidence Connor analyzed.

"This deviant, not only had this obsession with ra9, but also of these elaborate labyrinths." Your tapping paused for a moment but then continued, the ST200 coming into the room for a moment to hand you a bottled container, one of your many hard drives, and your laptop. It stayed to the side, by the door dutifully. "They were all over the walls of the apartment, each one appearing unique to the other. Those same labyrinths were found within its diary that was hidden in a hole of a wall, behind a poster. The diary is most likely encrypted due to the amount of details as well as various symbols within." Connor summarized, a hint of uncertainty in his tone.

The evidence that each case brought up for ra9 were incomprehensible to him, not logical therefore unable to perfectly construct on who exactly ra9. Or what. All Connor has observed and concluded is that the deviant androids Class 4 Errors probably ran deeper than CyberLife could've predicted.

For it appears that machines are making up myths.

"What happened to this deviant? Did it terminate itself too? Oh, and drink this. It's thirium to help replace the blood you lost." You handed the bottled container to him that the ST200 gave you moments before, and he took it without question, sitting up from the bed and placing his feet on the ground. He unclasped the lid and took a few sips, and the taste felt much more potent and rich then other thirium he has ever tasted.

"This thirium has a unique taste to it compared to any other I've come across." Connor noted, looking at the liquid within the container critically as he scanned.

"Good job on catching it, Connor. And unique as in bad or good? I tried my best at not changing the original ingredients of Thirium 310, but a few had to be done so the circulation would be more," you grinned sheepishly, continuing to tap on the production machine by the bed in an off rhythm. "Well, enhancing. Since that's what it's gonna do for you. The other ingredients within this Thirium 310 will help your circulation flow much easier as well as equip you with more resilience, therefore, energy to do tasks such as chasing or fighting."

His wide eyes went towards you so fast and his brows went so far up Connor is sure the synthetic skin of his forehead had wrinkles, LED yellow.

"You, you made new thirium?"

Your grin widened. All Connor could do was stare at you, jaw slack.

This, this here proves it. He thought, his processors going in a sort of manic state within his head. His database showing him the multitude of ingredients of the scanned Thirium 310, but he must've hit a wall for he couldn't correctly grab the data. Your thirium. You made new blue blood. You are the perfect successor for Kamski. No. Even better. You are truly the best. It's impossible for others to think otherwise.

"Did you already test it out with another android? Or am I your first?"

You released a small chuckle, moving to sit next to him on the bed a few inches apart.

"You're a first for me in many things, Connor. But this isn't one of them." Your tone was joking, but he didn't get the joke so he just ignored it as he looked at you, LED blue. Noticing how your demeanor slightly changed.

You placed your hand on his shoulder, your index finger still tapping. You must be anxious. You're letting your guard down after all in front of him, despite your awareness of Amanda watching. Perhaps you thought your caution was misplaced?

"I tested it out with other androids to make sure it wouldn't cause harm to their selectors and biocomponents as well as do various physical checks and assessments to evaluate on their improvements." You explained eagerly. "They did. Improve I mean. The thirium can also help read one's own diagnosis, stress levels for example. For injuries." You clarified, then motioning to the bottle in his hand, you signaling for him to finish it. Which he did, you staring as your finger continued to tap on his arm. Perhaps it's a nervous tick you've gained due to your work, this certainly explains why he barely saw you for a month and a half. Clearly busy and working on new improvements for CyberLife.

Maybe with this, I won't fail.

Once done, he placed the empty bottle on the nightstand by him, only for the ST200 to pick it and giving him a polite smile before it went out the room to throw the bottle away.

Connor's lips lifted, brows still up. "This truly is an outstanding achievement, Doctor (Y/N). Not many can have a creative mind such as yours and actually put action towards their ideas. Nor could they possibly have such mental strength either."

"I—" your hand fell from his arm, warmth following it and you turned your head to the side. "Thank you, Connor. I. . . I don't know what to say." Your face turned back towards him, head tucked into your chest. He observed your cheeks were colored all of a sudden. Were you flustered? He was merely stating facts to you, there's no need for embarrassment.

His creator is certainly the best. Connor's lips curved more and your lips parted at the sight.

You stood up, moving towards a table across from their side of the bed, back towards him as you looked at your laptop. Connor's lips fell.

Why did you get up?

"You never got the chance to answer my question, Connor. What happened to that deviant you were talking about earlier?" You questioned, tone back to polite.

It seems you will continue the formal charade for Amanda after all.

His LED turned yellow for a moment, his frown deepening before he smoothed it to his neutral expression as he explained to you about the bird hoarding deviant's fate, you typing away upon your laptop as he began to fiddle with his coin. As well as adding the exact reaction Anderson had when he left them on that ledge for his mission.

I can not fail. I can not.

Right when he explained that however, your body whirled to him, face set.

"He did what?" Your expression soon turned into a hard scowl, and you sauntered towards him. Causing Connor to stop moving around his coin.

You were. . . heavily displeased to put it lightly.

Your hands went back to his shoulders, face inches apart from his own.

"He hit you?! In the face? Did you explain to him your readings?"

Connor blinked at you, brows furrowed.

"I attempted. But Doctor (Y/N), didn't you explain earlier to me that humans like the feeling of being comforted? I was in the wrong with the Lieutenant."

If possible, your face hardened even further. Hands clenched on his shoulders.

"Yeah, but that was before you told me he hit you. I thought it was just him yelling or something like that. He shouldn't have done that." You had a glint in your eyes, and not quite the normal determined one you have. This glint, his social feature hinted, was a dangerous one. "He hurt you, Connor."

Now, normally Connor would just ignore these words. He's tried to correct you before on countless things but you never listen. Maybe that's why he tends to at times ignore the Lieutenant's own orders. He learned it from you. Nonetheless, this isn't normal.

CyberLife is watching.

He grabbed a hand atop his shoulder, and carefully removed it as he stared at your angered expression that was turning bewildered. He kept their hands between them.

"I," he said clearly, "am a machine. It is impossible for me to get hurt for I don't feel pain. I never will. You're already aware of this, Doctor (Y/N)."

"Connor, stop with that or I'll—"

He squeezed your hand with his, causing you to stop and look at him. Really look at him instead of having your emotions blind you.

You've always been kind.

Connor made sure to give his best warning look to you, as he grasped your hand between his, squeezing but not too hard. He wants to be gentle, like how you're always gentle with him. With light touches and equally light laughs.

Your eyes swam with understanding, causing you to look down at their conjoined hands. Your other hand joined in, and you squeezed. Connor leaned his head forward to see your expression.

"Right." You choked, "I guess I forgot for a moment." You released your hold on his hand, and he placed it back on his side as you did the same, head down.

He wished he didn't see your face.

It was pained. It was difficult for you to admit that his words were true, for you've always denied. It looked so hurt, you were so hurt at the mere thought of you agreeing that he was just a machine. You, brown eyes glanced down at your hands that were shaking slightly, you hated this.

But, he's only helping you. You must keep your mask of professionalism towards androids, that's what you wish so that's what he'll do.

Anything for his creator. For you.

Connor just wishes that you didn't look so lost.

You'll be killed by your own kindness one day, Connor thought as he walked out of your house since the repair was successful. Getting ready to meet the Lieutenant once more. But I will be there to help you avoid it.

. . . ◎ . . . ◉ . . . ◎ . . . ◉ . . . ◎ . . .

"I'll kill him, Chloe." You stated for the nth time that day as you paced agitatedly around the room of your living room, TV on the background with Chloe watching you, blue eyes filled with concern. "I swear I will, that Lieutenant better watch himself and have cameras all over his house in addition to extra security for him to be safe from me."

Were you angry?

Oh yes.

Were you peeved?

Oh, definitely yes.

Were you absolutely positively filled with an unending rage that can only end with knocking a certain man's teeth out?

Yes.

"(Y/N), please calm down! You're stressing yourself too much and making me nervous for you." Chloe cried out towards you, clearly the embodiment of anxiousness in her normally kind and easy face.

Ever since last night, thoughts such as this came upon you. And you couldn't help but to release to Chloe, who was always there and ready to listen with an open ear and attentive capturing blue eyes. You're glad that she's with you, you wouldn't have been able to handle all of this by yourself.

Not all this information you have in your head. Not the acute awareness that everything you could do can equal next to nothing in the long run. Not all the secrets you keep so close to the chest, they might as all have been one within you and that you are actually Harpocrates—the Greek god of silence, secrets and confidentiality.

I am Cassandra. I am Harpocrates. What else shall I slowly realize that I'm becoming? That I will become an actual god?

You do not enjoy the feeling of lying.

Especially to Connor.

"I can't help it, Chloe." You sighed, still pacing, hands waving in the air as erratic thoughts ran through your head. "What he did to Connor last night, I mean, pulling a gun on him?! Who does that?! I didn't think he would, I thought he wouldn't. Why would he?!"

Chloe walked forward and touched your arm, rubbing it soothingly.

"'Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge.' That's by Plato. Perhaps Hank just wanted to see, to understand just on what Connor would say. Like how Connor always tries to understand."

You glared at her with no heat.

"That's not, that's not fair, Chloe! Connor is different! I don't care what your reasons are, you don't threaten your partner that you'll shoot him!" You shouted, raising your hands in the air at the ridiculousness of it all. Making Chloe's hand drop along with her face. "Especially when he can't even defend himself! Not only aren't androids allowed to have a gun, but he was given orders to follow the Lieutenant. He wouldn't have been able to raise a hand even if he wanted to!"

Lying is a tool that must be used, but you knew of Connor's ability to spot a lie. He can easily spot if your stress levels are above average. You created him, so you know his features best. You know how they work, how it flows with information of different kinds. Just how much the blood within him that happens to be a tantalizing blue flows within, information and energy as it pumps in his synthetic veins.

So, what is best to hide lies?

With truth.

That thirium you created, well, the type of thirium per se, not exactly the element. You're not that much of a genius. You just added a few ingredients, different from the Thirium 310 that's inside any other android.

With the added ingredients, ones that would normally kill a man if ingested, do in fact help enhance an android's abilities. You did so many tests to check, to conclude that it is safe but that it was also useful to you.

The other models of the Connor series may not have been ready in your personal and fully emotional opinion, but damn it are you grateful that you've found a way to use them to protect your Connor. The current one.

You gave each one your special form and adaptation of Thirium 310(you really should make up a name for it, maybe 317?) for them to ingest and tested them to the max in a spare floor of where the warehouses are within the Tower. Resilience, speed, strength, able to read and process information as fast as 50 Ghz are a few of the enhances achieved. But the one that you need, the reason you worked so hard in the first place, is making the android's own stress and heart levels be read by others.

Of course, to do that, you had to research on nanomedicine and do countless tests that were repeatedly inconclusive as a result of you trying to create a correct program with layers and layers of firewalls as well as a version of onion routing. It was so androids themselves cannot sense they have a little mini bot of their own that will constantly give you information via your laptop in addition to having a tracker in it.

The amount of work you had to go through was not easy. Nor allow you to have much time to sleep.

You gave out a sigh, finally caused your body to tire itself out as you moved to throw yourself on your (sofa type) couch in front of the TV, trying to take in the news but unable to as a result of your mind always having to be working and thinking.

While you were operating on Connor, you took your time in doing so. Mostly because you were checking over the biocomponent in your hand and see if the auditory receptor chip was working that you placed. It was, that's how you heard a click of a gun and Hank's voice in the first place and all you could do is rage at home like a wild animal. Unable to do anything without revealing on how you knew.

One can say you were very protective of Connor. Perhaps too much.

And you would reply everything that you do will never be enough.

Even though you desperately wish that your own choices matter, that everything you do for everyone has mattered and not have been vain. You wish that Connor will see one day. That he will understand.

Please let him understand.

That Connor will pick a side, and know that he is what you've always tried to tell him.

You also wish, what you always wish in the back of your mind, in the beating of your heart, and the treacherous breaking piece of your soul, is that he will forgive you.

Forgive me, forgive me, forgive me.

You say it like a mantra everyday. You hope that he will.

Chloe went to sit beside you, arms open. You took the invitation and buried yourself into her shoulder. Hugging her tightly as your face was hidden.

ra9, damn you. Damn this life I have. Damn this curse of knowledge I've been given. Damn everything to hell! Damn this love I hold. Damn everything that has ever happened to me that has cause me to become this shell of a human.

Tears left your face and you sobbed, and Chloe could only cry with you, feeling as helpless as you to heal your hurt.

Forgive me, Connor. Please. Forgive me of my lies and my secrets. You're not ready. Not yet. Ask the right questions, Connor. Please. You only have to ask and I will break before you like I always have, you curious dork.

You were so lost.

When will you finally be found?

The TV news reporter continued to talk about the android infiltration within the Stratford Tower and about the beautiful speech delivered by a certain RK200 model with the name Markus that was broadcasted earlier today. But you couldn't care for it, as choked sobs left the back of your throat and you heard sniffles of the caring Chloe as she could only whisper sweet nothings to you as comfort. Both of you already aware of such things.

Your laptop screen flashed with a message, all in red, atop your coffee table. Your eyes glancing at it only for it to widen as shock ran through you.

*CONNOR STRESS LEVELS HIGH*
*EMOTIONAL SHOCK DETECTED*

No. . .Connor!

. . . ◎ . . . ◉ . . . ◎ . . . ◉ . . . ◎ . . .

. . . ◎ . . . ◉ . . . ◎ . . . ◉ . . . ◎ . . .

. . . ◎ . . . ◉ . . . ◎ . . . ◉ . . . ◎ . . .

Gotta admit, not my favorite chapter to write. This, in my opinion, hasn't been my best. ^.^'

But I decided to push forward and publish it anyways!

As you can see, the reader is...more manipulative then one might think. As well as controlling. But hey, who wouldn't in her shoes?

Yes, Connor touched Simon. Yikes.

Connor is starting to feel things! Slowly! Ever so slowly. So slow it's actually killing me.

Next chapter involves You finding Connor after the incident. And Kamski.

Secrets are slowly showing themselves.

If there's mistakes, correct me please!

Please comment and vote as well!
^/////^ Thank you~