#mark probably should be angrier about everything that happened to him but hes. A Robot.

[luminisiv]

day 10 of @oc-tober2023: mercy

The running theme of Neil as a player character was everyone figuring out he's a good person, he's just a trainwreck of a human being caught in a revenge loop that who needed a little support to get control of his life again. And despite everything, Mark knows that, and wants to help, too. Neil feels he's rather undeserving of this.

[lotusthekat]

All We Ever Wanted (Was Everything)

Fandom: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Rating: G

Relationships: Kyle & Adora

Characters: Kyle, Adora, Lonnie; MENTIONED - Catra

Summary: She inspects the bandages, and eventually her hand touches the claw marks again. Adora doesn’t cry again.

Kyle says nothing either and so they’re really silent. The other kids’ talking is nothing more than incoherent mumbles. It never makes sense to him, and he doesn’t think he’ll ever learn to understand.

They’re both looking at Lonnie and the rest, then they’re staring at their own laps, inside their little, lonely corner.

“Maybe…” Adora is hiding her wound again. “Maybe they didn’t mean it?”

She doesn’t specify who ‘they’ are, and Kyle neither agrees nor disagrees. He shrugs and gazes away to the side. “It still hurts,” he whispers painfully.

Takes place pre-canon. Canon divergent.

Word count: 1.749

AO3

A/N: More Adora & Kyle because this is my life: dedicating myself to an underrated platonic relationship because fandoms won’t do so >:’v

Again, be aware of the tags and the trigger warnings below! This might be OOC since I’m still new to this fandom ^^; Hope you enjoy!

TRIGGER WARNINGS - abuse/bullying, physical abuse, major character injury and childhood trauma

NOT CATRA/C*TRADORA OR LONNIE FRIENDLY!

--

They… haven’t gotten back for a while now.

Kyle admits he’s been worried for his two friends, Adora and Catra. They were all playing together really, but then a scream alarmed everyone. When he realized, Lonnie had a black eye, Catra ran away and Adora went after her. Lonnie’s been angry this whole time, so Kyle would rather stay on his lane until everyone’s apologized and calmed down.

If anything, it’s all Kyle can do here. He can’t go out there and help his friends. He’s not wanted anywhere, but it’s not like he wants to be completely alone in the Horde. It’s not really worth it.

Kyle is sat in the endless greens, while Lonnie rants about Catra and everyone else comments on her behavior. Kyle is not really sure how he feels about the feline. Catra is… scary. She’s pretty close to Adora, but otherwise she never gets close to anyone and she messes with him a lot. Even so, Kyle is concerned about her, because she doesn’t lash out like this out of nowhere. He hopes that she and Adora come back okay.

Fifteen minutes become thirty, and that’s when Kyle hears someone coming.

The boy almost greets Adora and Catra back, except Catra isn’t with her, and Adora is…

Kyle gasps and rushes to her.

“Adora, are you okay?” He asks.

She doesn’t reply. Adora looks like she’s been crying for a whole lot of minutes, since her eyes are red and puffy. The girl looks like she’s about to cry again at the question.

“Adora, where’s—” Lonnie approaches them, stopping when she takes a look at the blond girl. As a result, Lonnie becomes a lot angrier, “Seriously?! Catra is the worst! She even scratched Adora!” She tells her other friends.

“D-Don’t say that,” Adora speaks up but very quietly. She’s never looked so sad before.

“Am I wrong, though?! She hit me out of nowhere and she hurt you, too! This is wrong!” Lonnie insists, irritated.

“S-She didn’t mean to, Lonnie—”

“Why do you keep defending her, Adora?! She’s always been like this! She doesn’t like us!”

“Shut up!” Adora yells back, her voice wavering with tears.

Despite her pleads, Lonnie only argues more. Kyle watches, in conflict. He understands how angry Lonnie must be – her black eye is enough of a reason, Kyle gets it, but…

He avoids standing up to Lonnie or Catra or anyone else – because he’s wimpy and lame, and a crybaby – but this isn’t fair to Adora. Lonnie is only making everything worse.

“S-Stop it, Lonnie!” Kyle stands between the girls – his adrenaline immediately going away when Lonnie glares at him.

“Who asked you, Kyle?” Lonnie pushes him aside, Kyle pathetically falling back.

“Leave him alone!” Adora steps at her. “At least he’s not yelling at me!”

Kyle looks up, afraid they might get in a fight, but the brown-haired girl leaves them be.

“Alright, fine, you crybaby. But don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Lonnie hisses.

Kyle flinches when someone touches him, though it turns out to be Adora. Lonnie has walked away.

“Are you hurt?” Adora checks over him as she helps him get on his feet.

“I-I’m okay. But…” Kyle gulps at the claw marks scratching her face. “I’m sure that hurts a lot more.”

Adora looks away, covering the wound with her hand. She vaguely glances at the other cadets and so she pulls Kyle with her to the same corner he was before; the unnoticed, unbothered safe place to him. It’s… weird having someone else with him.

“I know Catra has a really hard time getting close to people… but I don’t know what went wrong this time,” Adora admits in a low voice. Kyle is a little surprised she’s talking to him at all, but he lets her. “Maybe I did something wrong?”

“What? You didn’t do anything.”

“B-But I’m supposed to look after her. She got mad at me and h-hurt me in the face,” Adora hiccups, fresh tears dropping. “I just wanted her to apologize and be okay with everyone. I know she didn’t mean to hurt Lonnie.”

Kyle hums, unsure what to answer.

“Maybe I should’ve said something else… or stayed with her…” Adora mumbles to herself, trying desperately to dry her own tears. “I-I’m the worst friend ever.”

“I think you’re a pretty good friend, Adora,” Kyle reassures her, “I know you did your best.”

Adora looks up confused. “Y-You think so?”

“Mm-hmm.” Kyle scoots a little closer to her. “Maybe Catra just needs some time to cool off, y’know? You could try to talk to her later… or maybe she’ll come back here by herself. We could wait and see.”

Adora sniffs, considering the suggestion.

“That’s not a bad idea…” she mutters. “Maybe she’ll be ready to talk on her own time.”

Kyle nods. “Yeah, she must be really mad… I don’t know what for, but we’ll figure it out.”

“Okay. Yeah, you’re right.” Adora sighs.

Kyle watches as she finishes drying her tears. He doesn’t really know how to comfort people because he’s never done so, but he stays somewhat close to her if she needs him.

“Th… Thanks, Kyle,” Adora whispers, giving him a small smile.

Kyle’s face flushes. “Oh, ah… you’re welcome." He grins shyly, "That’s what friends are for, right?”

“Yeah…” Adora’s little grin fades.

He frowns in worry and is about to apologize when she brings up something.

“How did you get those?” Adora points at the bandages hiding his arms.

“Oh…” Kyle gulps. “We were playing a little too hard today. I was, y’know, being me,” he laughs awkwardly.

Adora doesn’t laugh with him and instead asks quietly, “Who did it?”

Kyle opens his mouth but decides to be silent. Regardless, he timidly points at the other cadets from afar. One person specifically. Adora seems to catch his sign.

“It’s okay, though. It’s usually… worse,” Kyle clears his throat.

Adora seems defeated, as if she’s fought three training robots in five minutes. Kyle didn’t really expect her to be that concerned about him, but he decides not to say it.

She inspects the bandages, and eventually her hand touches the claw marks again. Adora doesn’t cry again.

Kyle says nothing either and so they’re really silent. The other kids’ talking is nothing more than incoherent mumbles. It never makes sense to him, and he doesn’t think he’ll ever learn to understand.

They’re both looking at Lonnie and the rest, then they’re staring at their own laps, inside their little, lonely corner.

“Maybe…” Adora is hiding her wound again. “Maybe they didn’t mean it?”

She doesn’t specify who ‘they’ are, and Kyle neither agrees nor disagrees. He shrugs and gazes away to the side. “It still hurts,” he whispers painfully.

After that, they don’t talk about anything else.

--

Adora actually sticks by Kyle’s side until it’s dinner time. Maybe she’s not too comfortable around everyone else.

The girl barely eats her ration bars – she’s gotten Catra’s too –, even though the gray ones are her favorite if memory serves him correct. Kyle eats quietly from the other side of the circle, where sits Rogelio, Lonnie and the other cadets he doesn’t really know. At this point Lonnie is laughing along with them. Everyone acts like nothing happened.

Eventually, Adora stands up and leaves the bars aside. Kyle follows her (but hopes that isn’t uncalled for).

“Where are you going?” He wonders when they’re alone.

“I’ll go after Catra.” Adora doesn’t turn around. She sounds… tired but worried. “It’s not fair for her to lose dinner.”

“Right.”

“I should be going.”

“W-Wait, I could- I could go with you!”

Once Adora actually looks back, he regrets the words that came out.

“I-I mean…” Kyle clears his throat. “I just thought… you might need help? N-Not that you can’t do stuff alone, that’s not what I… uh…”

While he’s ready to be ignored or maybe scoffed at (seriously, Kyle? How pathetic can you be? he hears Lonnie say), Adora actually smiles at him.

“Thanks, Kyle,” Adora whispers, “but I’ll be okay. You can go eat with the others.”

(Kyle wants to say the opposite. That he wants to go with her. That he wants to share that little corner with her, because no one has ever wanted to go there with him. He wants to go with her and make sure she has that little corner for her, too. Even though he’s probably going to be easily knocked out by everyone and everything, it yells more than his fears for the first time in his life.)

“Okay,” he replies. “I’ll see you later.”

“Later.”

Adora finally leaves.

Kyle watches her go.

He sighs and returns to the common room.

Adora doesn’t come back.

--

Everything is back to normal then.

Adora and Catra are playing together again. The claw marks aren’t gone, though. There are other times they fight, but Kyle doesn’t see them around anymore.

Lonnie still mocks him often. Other cadets have joined her. Even Rogelio agrees with them at times.

It stays that way until one day. A pretty low day. There’s no one at the common room this time. Kyle was kicked out of the training for ruining everything, and Lonnie pushed him too hard. He's dried his eyes out of tears at this point.

The room is dark and empty, abandoned bars dirtying the floor. Kyle is hungry but his food was pretty much stolen when he tried to find it.

It’s one of the really bad days.

Kyle spends the rest of the day there. He plans to stay hidden until the night. He doesn’t want to face anyone else today.

That’s when the door opens, and Kyle hides deeper in his arms and knees. He’s really not up to have Lonnie make fun of him for another ten minutes again. But there’s no laughter, no multiple, fierce steps, no teasing…

Nothing, but quiet steps and breaths.

He awaits but there’s nothing. He doesn’t really dare look up. Not until whoever is there plops down beside him.

Then there’s crying.

The room is barely illuminated, if not for the light from outside, but Kyle notices the red scratches staining shaky arms and ripped clothes.

Kyle scoots close until the bodies are touching, and Adora cries harder as her energy falls against him. Her sobs echo in the empty room, the lonely corner only they know.

Kyle doesn't cry again, no energy left. But he stays for Adora.

[charles-among-us]

Story was written by Ellis Skylar on Quotev {Mentions of Death} I'm a Valiant Hero?▼ "Stop running away from me!!" The Toppat mook I was chasing sneered. "Stop chasing us then, Charlie," he taunted. "Why would a cat chase a mouse with a teleporter?" "Oh no you don't!" I drew my pistol and picked up speed. "You're not getting away from me again! Victory is mine this time, Toppats!" The mooks shot at me a few times, forcing me to dodge (and therefore slowing me down). This gave them them time to call on their teleporter and blip away just as I caught up. Aw, crud. Sighing, I glanced up at the sky-then froze for a second. Was that my imagination, or did I just see... "Henry?" My old friend smiled and nodded. I grinned and practically ran over, stumbling slightly in the snow. "Henry, I heard you died!" Henry shrugged in response, then motioned to the bar behind him. "Why don't we get caught up? I'll try and explain everything." "Hey, anything to get outta this cold!" Henry laughed a bit and led the way inside. I couldn't bouncing a little as we went. Henry and Charles, back together! The troublesome duo, as the general liked to call us. Or...He did. Back before Henry was...Well... Henry whistling snapped me out of my thoughts before they could go any farther. He held up two fingers when the bartender looked over before turning to look at me expectantly. I got the hint pretty quickly. "The Toppat Clan's been causing a bunch of problems for me lately," I started. "Yeah, ever since they got that orbital station set up, they've been suuuper strong." Henry tilted his head slightly, giving me a sympathetic look, though I'd stopped paying attention. I think I have another plan. "Now that I think about it...You and I made a pretty good team in the past." I put my hand on his shoulder. "I bet we could take 'em out. It's starting to get personal." Now Henry looked a little taken aback. I guess I looked angrier than intended, but it was true. They even know my last name now for crying out loud! I pulled my hand off him and tried to lighten up. "Well? Whaddya say? You wanna help me take 'em out for good?" There was no hesitation. Henry gave me an evil grin and a thumbs up, making me break into a smile. I missed that look! "Awesome!" I stood up and grabbed his arm, pulling him along. "Follow me, I have a way we can get into space!" The drive to the main base was quiet...Quieter than usual. Henry didn't usually say much-he could go through missions without saying anything at all, if you can believe it-but this was...Different. Sadder. Like he was holding something back. I'm not about to let my friend be blue on our first mission back together! "What's up, Henry?" I lightly punched his shoulder. "You look like you wanna say something." Henry started to speak, then seemed to change his mind and shake his head. I gave him another playful punch. "Come on..." He gave me a glare. I went to slug him again before he shoved my hand away, making me laugh. "Okay, okay, I won't push anymore." He gave me a thankful smile and looked out the passenger side window. I watched him for a moment before turning back to the road. It just crossed my mind that it was never really said how he died. "Escaping the Complex" is all they said about it. What happened between the last time I saw him and now? "Henry?" He flinched a bit and looked at me. I gave him a little smile. "It's good to be by your side again." He's staring out the windows again. Well-window, I should say. It's more like a dome instead of a window, too. "Secret government prototype," I called back to him. "Whaddya think?" He gave me an excited grin in response. I don't blame him-it's not often you get to take a ride in a perfect replica of a UFO. I'd be elated too if I was in his position. But I'm in an even better position. I'm flying the thing! The urge to go into hyperspeed is overwhelming but I can't risk drawing attention to myself. Not with no backup plan, at least. A satellite-looking spaceship finally came into view, making me slow down my UFO. "There it is," I said aloud. "How do you want me to bring you in?" I heard rustling noises as Henry did something in the seats behind me. I couldn't help starting to wriggle. "Ahahaw, this is so exciting! It's just like last time!" Someone tapped me on the shoulder, making me look up. Henry shook his head. I pulled my headset back a little. "What, you can't think of anything?" He shook his head again. I spotted a big green ball of something and had an idea. I pushed him back towards the seats and flew the UFO over to the ball a little faster than I probably should have. It's a ball of trash. 'Perfect.' I dug around in the area behind my chair for a moment and whistled to get Henry's attention. He looked over at the same time I finally freed the space suit tucked away. "Put on this space suit and hide inside the ball of trash!" Henry looked at me like I was nuts. "What?! It's a good idea, trust me." He shook his head rapidly. I tossed the suit at him. He rolled his eyes and finally put it on, then gave me the thumbs up to open the hatch. I watched the green ball of gunk (now with Henry in it) float over to the space station undeterred. None of the Toppat's sensors even gave it a passing glance. I waited until I saw the figure of a person on the station before cheering. "YES! See?! I told you it was a good idea! The Toppats have no clue you're there now." "I'm gonna stick back here though so they don't detect me," I went on, leaning back and popping my feet up on the UFO dashboard. "Should still be able to help you get inside from here though." I watched the figure of Henry from afar, then my eyes drifted back towards the button for hyperspeed and my fingers started getting twitchy. It's so enticing. I've always wanted to help out by ramming something with a vehicle, it sounds like so much fun... But I shouldn't. I really shouldn't. Besides, who knows how much gas it could use? If we get stuck with no way to get home it's all my fault. But this is just a prototype and barely has any gas anyways. So I should save it. But it'd be so much fun. But I'll get in trouble. But I think Henry's stuck. "Y'know what? Naw." I pulled my feet off the dashboard and dusted off the dirt left behind. "This calls for some bold action. I'm the bold action maaaaaaan~!" I slammed my hand on the hyperspeed button and held on tight. The UFO shot off so fast I almost missed the space station. Luckily for me, I had a target. Unluckily for Henry, it was him. I hope I didn't hit him too hard. We smashed into the core, if the robotic voice that started talking is anything to go by. I dropped to the floor harsher than intended and coughed to get smoke out of my lungs before looking up. "I've always wanted to do that." Henry rolled his eyes slightly and we both stood up, my friend pulling off his spacesuit as he did so. (It looks like it's padding took most of the ramming damage. Phew!) I fixed my headset to avoid looking him in the eye. "Anyways, should probably find a way off this spaceship before it explodes..." I led the way down the first hallway I saw. Henry and I were stopped immediately by a door that was half open and half closed. I pressed the button on the number pad next to it and got an "ERROR" message on the screen. "Looks like the door's jammed. This is the only way through." I stepped back to let Henry have a look at the keypad and flinched when I backed into one of the hallway vents. I knelt down and found it opened easily. 'Aha!' "Hey! Henry!" I waved to get my friend's attention. "I bet this vent leads somewhere...On the other side." Henry brightened up and joined me again. I took the lead again and started crawling. An explosion happened not even halfway through and made me grind my teeth. "Oh man. We're running out of time." For some reason, this was enough to make Henry speak up. "Charles?" "Yeah, buddy?" "I, um..." Henry coughed a little. "Sorry. I wanted to ask you something." "Ask as much as you want, as long as you keep moving." "What happened to the, er...The diamond and the ruby? After people thought I was dead?" I shrugged, then remembered that he couldn't see me with how dark it was. "I dunno. I think the diamond was returned and the ruby auctioned off." "Aw, mother..." "Yeah. Sorry." He was quiet for a bit. I saw the other end start coming up and was about to relay this to him when he spoke up again. "I'm sorry." That caught me off guard. "What?" He didn't answer. I decided to drop the subject and ask him about it later on. A group of Toppat mooks ran by the opening when we arrived, making us have to wait for a second. There was a body out in the hall when I checked the coast after they passed, but that was it. Another muffled boom made me shiver. "We've really gotta move!" Henry took the lead this time, running down the hall and following the arrows guiding us to the escape pods. The question of his apology came back to mind. "What're you apologizing for?" He gave me a curious look. "You know, in the vents! You said you were sorry! For what?" "Oh." He flinched a little at the question. "For...A lot. I keep betraying your trust and you keep coming back to help." "Aw, hey, it's noth-" "Why do you come back?" I shrugged. "Usually it's timing, usually it's coincidence, usually it's a bit of both. I never regret running into you again, though. Even if you're a 'wanted criminal'...I like you." That got him to smile. I grinned back and we dropped the conversation in favour of running for our lives. We eventually came across the escape pods' hallway just as a few members of the Toppat Clan rushed inside one of the three pods left. The other two were one marked "LUXERY" and one with a cracked window. Henry went for the one with the broken window, for some reason. After he karate-chopped the stuck open button, we were in. I slumped into the bench across from him. "Ah...Well that was intense." Henry nodded in agreement. I crossed my arms behind my head and settled in. "I can't wait to go ho-" Someone suddenly grabbed the front of Henry's shirt and yanked him out of the pod. I followed the two out, shoved the Toppat mook off Henry and pushed him inside before the escape pod door closed. The mook almost went for the door opening button again before I grabbed him and pinned him to the door. "Don't worry about me!" I shouted to Henry. "I'll find another way!" The pod zipped off before he could respond. The Toppat mook nailed me in the gut to make me let go and watched in despair as his escape sailed away. "NO!" He screamed. "That's my way home!! Now I'm stuck here!!" "You and me both, pal!" I snapped. "We both could've come out of this alive had you not tried to kill my friend!" "I'll kill YOU INSTEAD!!" He jumped on me with that, trying to get me on the ground. I'm not a trained fighter but I'm proud to say I stayed on my feet and even nailed him a few times before the gravity of his situation sank in and he broke down crying. I pushed him off me and rested against the wall for a moment when I realized Henry must be panicking. Smacking my headphones to see if that would make them work again, I turned them on. "H-Henry? You there?" "I'm here," he said, his voice shaking. "Man, that roughed me up." I slid down the wall to sit down as I spoke. "Got 'em, though. Gotta be another escape pod around here somewhere..." The ship started shaking as the alarm blaring stuttered. I knew I wasn't going to make it but I gotta try to save face. "We did it though," I repeated. "We got 'em. It was the perfect plan." "Might even say it was the greate-"

[detroitbecomerain]

love is not compatible - chapter 10

Y/N was born in a world without androids. When she was ten, Chloe, the first android was created. Is this why she is sympathetic to the android cause now? How will she handle hunting deviants with her partner Hank and the new android Connor sent by Cyberlife? Humans and androids aren’t meant to bond are they? They simply are not compatible.

“Y/L/N, Y/N. Age 26.  Born 5/23/2012 Detroit. Lived in a community home from the age of 15. At 18 joined the academy of policing. Currently the partner of lieutenant Hank Anderson. Female pronouns

Wattpad link

The heater was on in the car the following morning, but it still wasn't enough. It was freezing. Y/N looked at her fingernails and could swear they were turning blue. They were driving to the famous Kamski estate. She was excited. When Chloe the android was first announced to the public Y/N was ten years old. The age most children are when they decide who their 'heroes' were. Who they looked up to the most. So she decided then that Chloe was her hero. She wanted to be just like her. Pretty and smart. Of course those dreams were quickly shot down. But it was still exciting to be meeting the man who created Chloe.

Hank pulled up outside the house and climbed out answering his phone. Connor had his eyes shut in the passenger side. Probably creating a report. Y/N wished she could close her eyes and write a report. It would make work so much easier. When she was ready she climbed out of the car and instantly regretted it. It was even more cold outside. Her toes were curled in an attempt to conserve heat and her hands were quickly put into her under arms. Connor got out of the car too and didn't even flinch. The cold didn't bother him. Hank turned to Y/N. "Just got a call from the captain." "What did he say? We aren't in trouble, are we? For what happened yesterday?" "No, not that. Chris was on patrol last night. He was attacked by a bunch of deviants." "Oh my god, is he okay?" Y/N said. She had heard about what happened at Capitol park and other major spots around Detroit. It was all over the news this morning. Overall it was a peaceful demonstration. The only harm that was done was to Cyberlife itself and the odd shop window that had androids on display. Nothing was broken. The only signs they had been there were slogans and signs of a peace symbol. The leader Markus was spotted with his skin activated. If he wanted to remain a secret then he no longer was. "He's okay. He says he was saved by Markus himself." "I'm glad. Markus seems like a good person to be leading the deviants. You know, rather than a murderous deviant." Hank agreed before walking towards the front door.

"How did you find Kamski?" Connor asked Hank. "I remember this guy was all over the place when Cyberlife first started selling androids." Hank answered. "Same here." Y/N agreed. He was all over the magazines. I'm sure one of my friends even had a poster of him on her wall. "All I had to do was make a few calls. Here we are." "I have a bad feeling about this." Connor admitted. "We shouldn't have come here." Y/N had to fight the urge to make a pop culture reference about androids having bad feelings but bit her tongue. "Bad feeling huh?" Hank joked. "You might need to get that checked. May be a glitch." Hank pressed the door bell which had a playful little melody to it. When nobody answered Hank went to ring it again but the door opened revealing Chloe. Y/N gasped. She looked exactly as she did all of those years ago. Okay, maybe she still was Y/N's hero. "Hi," Hank said awkwardly. "I'm uh, lieutenant Hank Anderson, Detroit police, this is my partner Officer Y/L/N. We're here to see Mr. Elijah Kamski." She smiled an electronic smiled and opened the door farther so they could walk though. "Please, come in." They stepped over the threshold and into the warmth. There was faint music playing in the background. "I'll let Elijah know you are here, but please make yourself comfortable." She went into another room leaving them behind. "She is so beautiful!" Y/N said in awe. "She seemed nice." Hank agreed. "Yeah." Connor said absentmindedly. "Nice place too." Hank said. "Guess androids haven't been a bad thing for everybody." Hank looked at Y/N with a knowing look. "So Connor. You're about to meet your maker." Y/N rolled his eyes. Was Hank nervous or something? He usually hated small talk. "What do you think?" "Kamski is one of the great geniuses of the 21st century. It will be interesting to meet him in person." "Sometimes I wish I could meet my maker face to face. There would be a couple of things I would want to tell him." Hank said sorrowfully. When Chloe returned to the room Y/N was relieved. She couldn't take the small talk. They walked into another room where there was a massive swimming pool. The water was dyed red for some reason. Kamski was still swimming when they walked in. He told them he would be with them in a moment. He swam to the stairs of the pool where he climbed out and tied his hair in a bun. Chloe passed him a robe. When he was ready Hank reintroduced himself. Kamski ignored hank and walked over to Y/N. "Amazing." He looked at her with a tilted head. "A pretty little thing aren't you. If it weren't for your... imperfections I would mistake you for one of my creations. It's a shame what happens to the human body when it gets damaged. You can still see the mark." Y/N didn't know how to feel. He was complementing her but she still felt creeped out. Kamski almost went out to touch her face. Y/N pulled back and Connor balled his fists for the briefest moment.

Software instability

"Sir." Hank said urgently trying to move the conversation on. "We're investigating deviants. I know you left Cyberlife years ago but I was hoping you would tell us something we don't know." Kamski raised his head as if he was about to teach a lesson. "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. Humans greatest achievement threatens to be its downfall. Isn't it ironic." The guy's calm and authority ridden voice made a shiver go down Y/N's spine. Connor could see she was uncomfortable. "We need to understand how androids become deviants. Can you help us?" Connor asked his question a little... angrier then he had meant to. Kamski looked at Connor with interest. "All ideas are viruses that spread like epidemics. Is the desire to be free, a contagious disease?" That Y/N agreed on. "Listen-" Hank said, "We aren't 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 out way." Kamski ignored this. "What about you Connor? Whose side are you on." Connor thought for a moment. "I have no side. I was designed to stop deviants and that is what I intend to do." "That's what you are programmed to say. But what do you really want?"

Software instability.

"What I want is not important." Connor muttered. This interested Kamski a lot. He beckoned Chloe forward. "I'm sure you are familiar with the turing test." Kamski said. "Thanks to you, every child born after 2000 knows what that is." Y/N said. Kamski tilted his head. "If a human can spend time with a computer or in this case, a robot and if the human sees humanity in the robot then it passes the test." "Very good, Detective..." "Y/L/N." "Detective Y/L/N." he took Chloe by the shoulders. "But what interests me is, is whether machines are capable of empathy. I call it the Kamski test... its very simple, you'll see. Magnificent isn't it. one of the first intelligent models created by Cyberlife. Young and beautiful forever. A flower that will never wither. But what is it really? A bit of plastic imitating a human? Or a living being, with a soul." he shrugged and turned to a table in the back. When he turned back he had a gun in his hand. With the other hand he pushed Chloe down onto the floor. She went down with out hesitation. "Its up to you to answer that fascinating question Connor." He passed the gun to Connor. "What are you doing?" Y/N shouted. "Why?" "If Connor shoots her, I'll tell you everything I know. Or he can spare it. if he feels its alive but you'll leave her without having learnt anything from me." Connors LED was flashing quickly. So often it almost seemed like it had no colour. "I think we are done here." Hank said. "He's right Connor, lets go." Y/N insisted. "whats more important to you Connor?" Kamski said ignoring them. "Your investigation or the life of this android? Decide who you are, an obedient machine. Or a living being endowed with free will." Hank shouted his disproval again but Connor did not budge. "Connor. Don't do this. Please." Y/N begged. Connor had the gun pointed at Chloe and his face did not portray what he was thinking.

Software instability

"Fascinating." Kamski said as Connor passed the gun back to him. "Cyberlife's last chance to save humanity is itself a deviant." "I am not a deviant." Connor said with a wavering voice. "You preferred to spare a machine rather than to accomplish your mission." He helped Chloe stand up. "You saw a living being in this android... you showed empathy. A war is coming. Will you betray your own people or stand up against your creators? What could be worse than having to choose between two evils?" Hank grabbed Connor and pulled him out of the room. Y/N quickly followed. Kamski said something as they left but Y/N paid no attention. She felt more welcome in the freezing snow then she did in this house.

Outside Hank stopped walking. Both Connor and Y/N turned around to see what was wrong. "Why didn't you shoot?" he asked. "I just saw that girls eyes and I couldn't. That's all." "Youre always saying you would do anything to accomplish your mission. That was our chance to learn something and you let it go." "Yeah!" Connor shouted. "I know what I should have done! I told you I couldn't. I'm sorry! Okay?" Hank smiled before walking back to the car. "Maybe you did the right thing." Y/N hugged Connor. "I'm so proud of you." "Proud? I just lost one of our biggest leads!" "You didn't kill her, and you called her a girl. You didn't call her an 'it' and you made me so happy."