Okay. Fuck. [That can be undone, right? Factory reset, or whatever. Don’t they upload Connor’s memory to a database somewhere? He can’t just not come back.] And your name isn’t “Fucking Connor.” Just Connor.
Neck plates. Okay. [That’s something tangible Hank can look for. Probably on the floor somewhere, yeah?
He is not going to panic. His hands are shaking but this is not panicking, goddamn.]
Connor blinks and his LED turns blue again. He scans for the neckplates and finds one not far away and the other on the warehouse floor.] One plate is down on the warehouse floor. One is on the stairs.
[Goals. Actions to take. Neck plates to find. They can find these, then — get Connor some real help.
Alas, the stairs again. But at least this time Hank isn’t rushing his way up — or down. He’s combing across the stairs with his eyes, and...
A thingy. Looks neck platey enough.]
You’re not telling me you’re stabbed, or anything. [He says this as he brings back one of the neck plates.] So am I right in assuming you didn’t get stabbed? Aren’t bleeding out somewhere I can’t see?
I am not wounded at all Hank. [After all, the factory reset is something that can happen from time to time. A natural occurrence like a thunderstorm. Speaking of which, the clouds overhead finally begin to release the rain contained within.
Connor accepts the neck plate #C5150-A and carefully clicks it back into place.]
[Lightning and thunder crackle through the sky and the downpour picks up. The other neckplate glimmers down on the warehouse floor. Connor stands up and does a self-diagnostic before nodding.]
[Connor nods and leads Hank back down the stairs. He spots the neckplate sitting on the floor in the corner. He picks it up and slots it over his neckplate. His skin spreads over the plates and second diagnostic reads both as complete and intact.]
Cyberlife is where my memory should have been uploaded.
[But it’s CyberLife, so of course they have to be all weird about this.]
We’re not getting you “terminated,” Connor. That’s unnecessary, and it’s stupid — you just forgot shit. Why the hell would they go and kill you for that?
[Connor steps out into the rain and it pelts him from every angle.]
They want to remove obsolete versions. If a factory reset was achieved in the field, that is a malfunction. They will engineer it out and then remove me.
You’re not obsolete. Just — got some buttons pressed, yeah? Maybe they shouldn’t make a factory reset so goddamn accessible if they didn’t want this happening in the field.
[Hank heads over to his parked car, unlocking it.]
Stop standing in the rain like a damn turkey, Connor. [He says, as if he’s not also standing in the rain. Hank’s just mad: at himself. At that deviant. The world. CyberLife.]
Hell, no. Wouldn’t they just threaten to kill you?
[And if CyberLife did command Connor to turn himself in for termination... would what Hank say matter at all? Because of the whole “factory reset” thing.
Hank starts the car. Lets it warm up.]
Why are you even listening to me at all? Because I’m human?
You are looking like a wet dog right now, Connor. [If he had a towel, he’d offer it. There’s just... garbage. He should clean out his car eventually, but today is not that day.]
And you wouldn’t happen to have that oh-so secret location filed away, would you?
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Date: 2025-02-03 06:08 pm (UTC)[Hank gawks at him.]
Told you, you have a name. Why the hell would I go and register — [SIGH] — your name is fucking Connor.
[It’s temporary. It’s gotta be. Whatever this is.]
Now tell me why the hell you’ve gone and forgot your name.
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Date: 2025-02-03 06:11 pm (UTC)>> REGISTERED
Fucking Connor blinks and seems to relax just a touch, looks more like himself as he regards the lieutenant.]
I have been factory reset, lieutenant.
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Date: 2025-02-03 06:19 pm (UTC)That sounds... way outta my fucking wheelhouse.
[Factory reset?? Sure, maybe the concept makes sense. But what does that mean, exactly? What has Connor lost?
Everything? He forgot his name. Forgot... Hank?]
So that deviant — they did this. [Motherfucker.] Did they hurt you anywhere else?
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Date: 2025-02-03 06:23 pm (UTC)[And he continues to stare at Hank with the same dead, unfeeling expression.]
I am registering missing components #C5150-A and #C5150-B. They are plates on the back of my neck.
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Date: 2025-02-03 06:32 pm (UTC)Okay. Fuck. [That can be undone, right? Factory reset, or whatever. Don’t they upload Connor’s memory to a database somewhere? He can’t just not come back.] And your name isn’t “Fucking Connor.” Just Connor.
Neck plates. Okay. [That’s something tangible Hank can look for. Probably on the floor somewhere, yeah?
He is not going to panic. His hands are shaking but this is not panicking, goddamn.]
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Date: 2025-02-03 06:44 pm (UTC)>>REGISTRATION COMPLETE
Connor blinks and his LED turns blue again. He scans for the neckplates and finds one not far away and the other on the warehouse floor.] One plate is down on the warehouse floor. One is on the stairs.
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Date: 2025-02-03 06:51 pm (UTC)[Goals. Actions to take. Neck plates to find. They can find these, then — get Connor some real help.
Alas, the stairs again. But at least this time Hank isn’t rushing his way up — or down. He’s combing across the stairs with his eyes, and...
A thingy. Looks neck platey enough.]
You’re not telling me you’re stabbed, or anything. [He says this as he brings back one of the neck plates.] So am I right in assuming you didn’t get stabbed? Aren’t bleeding out somewhere I can’t see?
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Date: 2025-02-03 06:54 pm (UTC)Connor accepts the neck plate #C5150-A and carefully clicks it back into place.]
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Date: 2025-02-03 07:00 pm (UTC)Not wounded, he says. [Hank rolls his eyes.] Can’t even remember his own fuckin’ name.
[But that’s good news, at least. Connor is... okay. He’s just reset.
And they can just reset that goddamn reset, right? Re-upload his memories, or whatever. It’ll be fine.]
‘Course it’s gotta start raining right when... just get your neck covered, yeah?
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Date: 2025-02-03 07:22 pm (UTC)We can pick up the second plate on the way out.
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Date: 2025-02-03 07:28 pm (UTC)Yeah, yeah. Let's just — get the hell outta here.
[Hank messed up. Let the deviant get away.
And now...]
Who do we gotta talk to about your... reset? CyberLife?
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Date: 2025-02-03 07:49 pm (UTC)Cyberlife is where my memory should have been uploaded.
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Date: 2025-02-03 08:47 pm (UTC)[That’s good news, at least. There’s a back-up. It’s not quite like dying, but it’s still unsettling.
Connor just won’t remember stuff for a while. Hank can deal with that — knowing they can reset the damn reset.
Makes sense.]
We just stroll on up to CyberLife HQ? [Connor’s important. He should be a priority to them too, right?]
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Date: 2025-02-03 08:50 pm (UTC)You will have a new Connor within 24 hours.
[He says as if it weren't his artificial life on the line.]
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Date: 2025-02-03 08:59 pm (UTC)Why would they...?
[But it’s CyberLife, so of course they have to be all weird about this.]
We’re not getting you “terminated,” Connor. That’s unnecessary, and it’s stupid — you just forgot shit. Why the hell would they go and kill you for that?
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Date: 2025-02-03 09:05 pm (UTC)They want to remove obsolete versions. If a factory reset was achieved in the field, that is a malfunction. They will engineer it out and then remove me.
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Date: 2025-02-03 09:11 pm (UTC)You’re not obsolete. Just — got some buttons pressed, yeah? Maybe they shouldn’t make a factory reset so goddamn accessible if they didn’t want this happening in the field.
[Hank heads over to his parked car, unlocking it.]
Stop standing in the rain like a damn turkey, Connor. [He says, as if he’s not also standing in the rain. Hank’s just mad: at himself. At that deviant. The world. CyberLife.]
We’re gonna figure this out.
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Date: 2025-02-03 10:35 pm (UTC)Should I send an error report to CyberLife? I have it already written.
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Date: 2025-02-04 01:01 am (UTC)Hell, no. Wouldn’t they just threaten to kill you?
[And if CyberLife did command Connor to turn himself in for termination... would what Hank say matter at all? Because of the whole “factory reset” thing.
Hank starts the car. Lets it warm up.]
Why are you even listening to me at all? Because I’m human?
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Date: 2025-02-04 01:09 am (UTC)[Why he didn’t mention this earlier? Because it wasn’t relavent at the time.]
It seems that the reset did not remove this piece
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Date: 2025-02-04 01:18 am (UTC)That’s something, at least. Not gonna go listening to whatever any weird old fuck says to you, right?
[They’re still partners. Somethings’s left.
And that’s a good sign, isn’t it?]
I’m not taking you to CyberLife. And Fowler... [He might complain, but he wouldn’t make Hank do that either, would he?
Or maybe he’d think it was easier. Simpler. Just get a whole ass new Connor even though this one is fine.
Hank sighs, drumming his fingers along the steering wheel.
No one to trust with this little predicament of theirs.]
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Date: 2025-02-04 01:27 am (UTC)[Connor looks over at the lieutenant, rain dripping down the sides of his face.]
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Date: 2025-02-04 02:12 am (UTC)Of course he’s gotta be all hidden.
[Hank purses his lips.]
You are looking like a wet dog right now, Connor. [If he had a towel, he’d offer it. There’s just... garbage. He should clean out his car eventually, but today is not that day.]
And you wouldn’t happen to have that oh-so secret location filed away, would you?
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Date: 2025-02-04 02:31 am (UTC)[Connor files away the information as ‘Notes on Appearance.]
I do, but the information is encrypted.
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Date: 2025-02-04 02:41 am (UTC)Not telling you to hurry up and dry off, just...
[Do androids even feel the cold? It’s not like Connor will get sick, not in the human sense. But what if he got some water in that neck port of his?]
Okay, and how do we get past that encryption? Don’t you dare say we need Kamski’s help for that bullshit.
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