#short and sweet today! this wraps up chapter 7 💪

[slippery-minghus]

System Breach Sundayyy! ⭕

The notebook was surprisingly full. It seemed to be a complete work, as opposed to the encrypted log retrieved from Rupert’s apartment, which Connor suspected to have been an ongoing journal. From the crime scene photos, the notebook had been found in plain sight at that—perhaps even left out intentionally. 

Metaphorical gears spun, tractionless, as Connor attempted to reconcile the possibility that this deviant had wanted to send them a message. Premeditation, planning, arrogance—how could errors and instability in an android’s code produce such sophisticated behavior? Or even a simulacrum of such?

Connor blinked down at the open page, realizing he’d become distracted. For now, his primary focus needed to remain on cataloguing the contents of the notebook. He had just enough bandwidth to run the start of a codification analysis in the background, but nothing more. 

Save for a few dozen interspersed blank pages, the notebook was all but overflowing with writings, drawings, and pasted in cutouts. While Connor could not yet parse the meaning of what he found on each page, the cutouts appeared to be primarily sourced from print books. The writings and drawings were produced with precision only an android could replicate, all in ink from a pen so common that several of the same model could be found strewn across the Lieutenant's desk. Other than those belonging to Detective Collins, there were no fingerprints anywhere within the notebook. 

There were, however, traces of evaporated thirium splattered and smudged across several pages. Primarily those with handwritten—

Connor’s focus broke. Shattered, violently. 

The notebook had been ripped from his grasp.

“—talking to you, dipshit!”