Chapitre 10: Chapter Ten: Last Chance, Connor
DATE
NOV 9TH, 2038
TIME
AM 12:05:23
THE TRIO FOUND THEMSELVES INSIDE OF NATALIE'S homey apartment. Thankfully, Ethan had yet to get home even though it was midnight. Natalie knew that his classes ended about an hour ago, but chalked up his absents to studying with peers or hanging out with friends. Really it was a miracle that he wasn't there. Though it gave her the opportunity to talk to Hank and Connor about her past without him there. Sure, it would be good to have her brother there for moral support. However, she wanted to be strong and not have a crutch to lean on. This was her story to tell, and she wanted to do it on her own.
She had made sure to get herself as comfortable as possible in the living room. She insisted that the man and android did the same because they were going to be there for a while. Her explanation was going to a lengthy one.
Natalie sat herself down on the love seat in the living room. She wrapped her arms around her knees that she had drawn up into her chest. Her bottom lip was pulled in between her teeth as she stared at her two friends.
Hank was nursing a beer, which Natalie had gotten him because she knew he needed it. He stared at her with calculating eyes. The older man had been keeping himself closed off ever since he walked into the apartment. Only a few words were shared, and Natalie was unsure what to make of it. So as she huddled up on the couch with the inquisitive eyes of both Hank and Connor, she decided it was time to start her long, long explanation.
"Let me start off by saying that yes, Elijah Kamski is my cousin. My dad is Noah Kamski, obviously his uncle." She let a sharp breath escape her lips. That was probably the easiest thing that she could say, things were certainly going to go downhill from here. "My dad died when I was about four and my mother, Marian, remarried a few years after that." She cringed at the thought of her brute of a step-father, Ronald Tyler. God, does she hate that man.
Connor nodded thoughtfully at that information and was now able to connect the picture that he saw the last time he was in Natalie's apartment. Even though he was an android, he couldn't imagine what it must have been like to live a life without a father. Considering he wasn't created the same way a human is, he never really had the connection of a father. Though even though Natalie had stated that her father had died while she was very young, he was able to see the pain in her eyes at the mention of him. Something glitched in his circuits as he gazed at the saddened woman. The android couldn't tell why it happened, or what really caused it, however, he certainly didn't like the upset expression on her face.
"I have three half-siblings, including Ethan." She continued on at the silence of both her friends. "I was the one in my family who excelled in science and math which explains how Elijah and I worked together on androids. Eventually, we co-created the first android to pass the Turing test, but I let him claim it as his own." She dared to glance at Hank and saw he had yet to really indicate what he was thinking about and that scared Natalie slightly. She continued, "I went to college for physics and started doing some mundane research." She paused for a second as her throat started to tighten up. "There was an accident a few years ago in my lab... I got seriously hurt." Natalie couldn't bring herself to say that she had basically been killed that fateful day. That piece of information was one that she would keep to herself for now. After all, even though they had been through a lot with each other and she has lied a bit to them, Natalie still believes that she's entitled to her own secrets.
"Elijah tried to fix me up by doing something completely experimental. He replaced every damaged body part with android parts." She lifted her hand and let the false skin to crawl off of her hand. "He brought me back to life, but I'm not..." The cyborg tried to find the right word or phrase, yet her tightened throat was causing her some trouble, "...me. At least not completely. I can't remember the majority of my childhood. I can't remember the name of my favorite teacher or who my childhood friends were. I don't remember how it felt to graduate from school or to meet my younger siblings for the first time."
Hank's eyebrows turned down in confusion at that. She lost memories of her life? That's quite a tragedy. He couldn't really imagine what it would be like if that had happened to him. Her eyes, that had previously been pointed away from the android and man, were now desperately flickering between the two. It was like she was silently asking for them to understand where she was coming from. "I don't want your pity, either of you. That's not why I'm telling you guys this. I only want you to understand why I didn't tell you the truth. All I really wanted was to forget about it. Meeting new people gave me the chance to-"
"Lie about who you are?" Hank's gravelly voice asked. His beer now completely forgotten about as he focused his intense stare on the woman who was trying to keep herself from falling apart.
Natalie just sighed sadly and adverted her eyes once again, "I know it was wrong, but I've just grown tired of having so many people remind me that I should have died three years ago! I didn't want to risk meeting people who would just say the same thing once they found out."
She desperately wanted Hank to understand that she didn't do this in a malicious manner. She didn't really do it to deceive him. All she wanted was to have a friend who didn't know her, know her past, or who she was due to the media. Natalie wasn't the type of person to hurt anyone intentionally. Don't get her wrong, she certainly has the capacity to be mean and possibly hurt someone, but she rarely did it.
Hank drank in her words. It was deadly silent, though Natalie was sure that her rapidly beating heart might be echoing in the room. He then suddenly clicked his tongue and placed down the glass. "Well, this has certainly been... eye-opening."
Natalie bit her bottom lip before speaking with a shaky voice, "It's okay if you're angry with me, Hank."
"I'm not angry," he scoffed, "don't get me wrong, I was before, but now, I don't give a shit anymore. You've explained it to us, that's all I wanted."
A sigh escaped her lips at his statement, "thank you."
He grunted and stood up from his seat. The older man stretched and grabbed his empty bottle. "Well, story time's over. I should head home."
"Really?"
He looked down at the woman who appeared to be so fragile now. It was strange to see her look up at him with wide, hesitant eyes. It wasn't so long ago that he saw the rebellious side of her running after an android on a busy street. Now, she looked afraid of saying the wrong thing. It was a jarring sight for the man, but he wouldn't comment on it.
She was in a vulnerable state after she had basically laid out her life to him and Connor. The woman had explained her life story to the two of them. Of course, Hank wasn't naive enough to believe that she had told them everything about herself, but it was enough to satisfy him. She didn't need to tell them anything else. Natalie had explained what she needed to in order to make up for her lie. He accepted it wholeheartedly.
He nodded his head and headed towards the door. "Yeah, I'll see you two later." With that, he exited the apartment and made his way out of the apartment building to continue mulling over what he had found out.
Natalie stared at the now-closed door with furrowed eyebrows. However, it felt like a weight had been lifted off of her chest and now she could breathe properly. Hank wasn't angry, that was good. She was happy now. The lieutenant wasn't holding her lie against her any longer which was the best thing that could happen. He may still be slightly apprehensive or tense, but it was far better than having him acting so cold to her.
"What's the earliest memory that you can remember?"
Connor's sudden question was met with silence. Natalie looked over at the android as she forgot that he was there for a moment. She contemplated for a moment and dug into her head for an answer. "The earliest? Well… The earliest thing that I can remember, what I know for a fact is a memory, is pain. My whole body was on fire and everything was in agony. Then there was a bright light and I was in a hospital bed with my brother sitting next to me."
Connor tilted his head at the crack in her voice. "So you don't remember anything before that?"
She reminisced in the memories that she was unsure were real or not. "I get flashes of my childhood, mainly in dreams." A small smile flickered onto her lips which caused Connor's LED to flash yellow. "Like when Eli and I were working on some projects together or when I received an award at school. It's more like an out of body experience, some I don't remember fully and are distorted. All in all, most of my memories before the accident are almost completely gone. Hell, I didn't even recognize the majority of my family when I first woke up. It was just so… terrifying."
Connor couldn't understand what it may have been like. However, from data that had been implemented into him thanks to CyberLife, he knew that her life is considered tragic and sad. To go through the things that she did and come out of it relatively okay, meant she was strong. Connor couldn't help but think(There it is again. Can he really think?) that Natalie was a magnificent woman. Knowing that, he suddenly felt like... Well, he wasn't really sure what to do, but that he really needed to do it.
"You shouldn't have gone through something like that."
Natalie scoffed but masked it as a chuckle, "yeah..." She ground her teeth together, "you know when I woke up, and I figured out what was happening, all I wanted was to see my family. I wanted my mom to hug me and Penny to comfort me. Hell, I even wanted to see my step-dad!" At this point, tears were starting to pool at the corners of her brown eyes and she didn't even attempt to wipe them away.
Noticing the distress that had suddenly washed over her, Connor moved to sit next to her on the love seat. He placed a hand on her shoulder to try and comfort her in some way. For a machine who shouldn't show emotion, Connor was doing a pretty good job of being empathetic.
"Y-yet my family was disgusted with what I had been turned into!" Natalie barked out a waterly laugh. "As far as they cared, their Natalie was dead. I'm was nothing but a poorly made copy to take her place. So they disowned me." As Natalie continued to let her words fall from her lips and tears trickled from her eyes, she barely realized how close Connor had suddenly gotten. All she was focused on was letting her feelings spill out of her. "Ethan was the only one who didn't. He stuck by me and tried to keep me from killing myself for over three years. He's one of the only reasons I'm still here. Ethan's my rock and he does everything he can to make me feel normal."
Connor started to rub her back in comfort as he drew closer and closer to her. It seemed like Natalie was unable to stop herself from talking about herself. The bottled up feelings were overflowing and Connor was glad that he was there to help her through this. Though Natalie was still becoming even more frantic as she continued to talk.
"But I'm still just some freak with blue blood running through my veins!"
Connor pulled her into a hug. They were frozen.
Both couldn't understand why or how Connor was doing this. They both did know that Connor was able to express empathy, thanks to Elijah and his extreme test. However, this was a little bit new. Connor held her tightly while Natalie rested her head on his chest. Neither Natalie or Connor would wonder why the two of them were like this. Instead, they would just let it happen and deal with the questions later.
---
DATE
Nov 9TH, 2038
TIME
PM 12:04:04
Connor found the Zen Garden to be dark and cold. Snow blanketed every surface and fell from the grey sky as he opened his eyes. If he had real skin, he was certain he would be freezing. He walked along the sone path, walking past a glowing blue arch that he didn't spare a glance at. Marching towards the pond, he found that it was frozen. Amanda stood in the middle of the frozen water and waited patiently for him with a scowl.
The android approached her slowly, hesitant about the ice. Finally he stood in front of her and the emotionless expression on her face. "After what happened today, the country is on the verge of a civil war. The machines are rising up against their masters. Humans have no choice but to destroy them."
Connor didn't know why but he didn't like the idea of that. "I thought Kamski knew something... I was wrong..."
"Maybe he did…" Her eyes narrowed, "but you chose not to ask..."
Connor nearly scoffed, "I chose not to play his twisted little game! There was no reason to kill that android." Amanda seemed to grow even colder at his answer. He grew quiet and contemplated what else to say to the woman. "I'm not a unique model, am I? How many Connors are there?"
"I don't see how that question pertains to your investigation."
Her answer did not instill any trust in Connor. "Wh... Why did Kamski leave CyberLife? What happened?"
Amanda was still as emotionless as ever, "It's an old story, Connor. It doesn't pertain to your investigation." This may have been something that he could also ask Natalie. However, she was already emotionally drained after telling him and Hank about her life.
"You didn't tell me everything you know about deviants, did you?" He could tell. Connor could figure that there was something left unsaid by
"I expect you to find answers, Connor. Not ask questions." She ground out with a harsh glare, "You're the only one who can prevent civil war. Find the deviants or there will be chaos. This is your last chance, Connor."
---
Connor opened his eyes once again to find himself in Captain Fowler's office. He, Hank, and Natalie had all been called into it a while ago. It really could only mean bad news. "You're off the case. The FBI is taking over."
"What?.." Hank asked shocked. "But we're onto something! We... We just need more time. I'm sure we can-"
Fowler shook his head, "Hank, you don't get it. This isn't just another investigation, it's a fucking civil war! It's out of our hands now... We're talking about national security here."
Natalie, stood in between Hank and Connor looked in between Hank and Fowler like a child. They were off the case? They were close to finding out everything though! She knew it!
"Fuck that!" Hank shouted in frustration, "You can't just pull the plug now. Not when we're so close!"
The captain shook his head in disbelief, "You're always saying you can't stand androids! Jesus, Hank, make up your mind! I thought you'd be happy about this!"
"We're about to crack the case!.. I know we can solve it!" Hank leaned forward as it seemed like he had grown passionate about this. Natalie had to admit that this was definitely a change from how Hank saw androids a few days ago. Now, it was like he was warming up to them instead of thinking of them as just stupid machines. "For God's sake, Jeffrey, can't you back me up this one time?"
Jeffrey only sighed, "There's nothing I can do. You're back on homicide and the android returns to CyberLife with Natalie." The Captain shook his head dejectedly, "I'm sorry, Hank, but it's over." The silence between them was deafening. In frustration, Hank wrenched the door open and marched out of the room.
Natalie licked her lips at the awkwardness, "it was a pleasure working with the DPD, Captain Fowler." Connor nodded his head silently at the man who returned it before the two of them left the office.
The trio huddled around Hank's desk. Each of them was filled with disappointment with the news that they were given. The older man clenched his jaw in frustration, "I know we could've done it…"
"Connor still has his mission and I still have my job." Natalie sighed while running a hand through her hair. There wasn't much else they could really do. Unless...
"So, whaddya gonna do?"
Connor, perched on Hank's desk appeared to look determined(an emotion?) and answered the lieutenant, "I'm gonna use the key that Kamski gave me. And find Jericho."
"What if we're on the wrong side?" Hank mused, "What if we're fighting against people that just wanna be free?"
The three of them shared a meaningful glance before Connor spoke up. "If that's the case, I'll find out when I get to Jericho."
Hank stared at the android for a long before his eyes drifted to Natalie next to Connor. A sudden thought started to nag at the back of his mind. Honestly, it had been bothering him for a while, he just never had the chance to really bring it up. It seemed okay to mention it now though. "When Natalie was hanging off the roof, back at the urban farm, you let that deviant go in order to help her. You put her life above the mission. You showed empathy, Connor. And empathy is a human emotion."
Connor looked down in contemplation at his words. Yes, Hank was right "I don't know why I did it…" Natalie watched him with her bottom lip between her teeth as she grew curious as well. "I didn't want to see her hurt." Hank and Natalie shared a quick to see her own conflicted expression. However, he figured that he was even more confused than her. Brushing off the feelings and looking away from Natalie, Connor looked up at Hank to hopefully steer the conversation away from his own conflict. "I might not be qualified to judge but... You're an outstanding police officer. And a good person."
"You're a good man, Hank Anderson." Natalie smiled, "though a little bit of an ass sometimes." The group chuckled as she tried to lighten the mood.
Hank stared at the two who had started to become friends with. The android and the cyborg. Two of the most unlikely friends that a man like him could ever make. "You're gonna have to choose your side, Connor… You too, Natalie. Deciding who you are can be the hardest thing… You watch your backs, all right?"
Connor stood up from his perch on Hank's desk and nodded his head at his... friend. Natalie smiled and had half the mind to hug the older man, but thought that he'd reject it. She spun on her heels and walked after Connor. Only she found herself nearly running into the android's chest face first. After regaining control of her flaming cheeks, she looked up to Connor questioningly.
"Yes?"
He stared down at her with something shining in his eyes that Natalie couldn't really decipher. "You're not coming with me."
Natalie scoffed at him. Of course, he figured why she was following after him, but it was no use arguing with her. She had set her mind to this and nothing was going to change it. It didn't matter what Connor said to her to try and deter her from this. Natalie, the head-strong, stubborn woman would not be swayed by this chocolate-eyed android.
"Don't start, Connor," she jabbed a finger into Connor's chest for emphasis. "I'm going with or without you, okay? I may not be fully android, but I will be damned if I just sit around and allow people who just want to be free to get hurt."
"You know my mission-"
"I know what your fucking mission is," she grunted, "I don't care. Besides, I'm your babysitter." It was like that was the strongest argument that she had. Though it certainly swayed Connor. It also may have been due to the fire he saw in her eyes or the way she stared up at him with wide eyes.
Either way, Connor was convinced. "Fine."
Natalie jumped in victory and started to head for the exit to head to Jericho. The two, an android and a cyborg, headed out of the precinct to find the other androids. While Connor had his mission to stick to and would complete it as a loyal machine, Natalie had the idea of helping deviants in their journey to freedom.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone