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Lora ran.
Her feet propelled her as far as they could go with no regard to the rain whipping in her face, or her shriveled dignity, or her glasses, which had flown off her face a few blocks back.
The only thought on her mind was Connor.
For the first time in 2 years working at Detroit PD, Lora slept in. After scouring the internet for job openings, she quickly realized that no one advertises for unemployed morticians. She did find one job opening, though - the Detroit PD. Less than a day since she’s been fired.
“They should just buy a damn android at this point,” She muttered bitterly at her laptop screen, even though she didn’t mean it.
So after submitting her resume to the dozen local funeral homes and the police department from the next town over, Lora crashed at her desk at precisely 4:02am. And she slept in - which meant she woke up to the world on fire.
Five missed calls from Hank, twenty from her mother who lived across the country, and her social media flooded with news segments on the police raid at Detroit docks. She was out of her chair instantly, prepared to call Hank and discuss what the actual fuck was happening and please tell me Connor is with you , when she opened her door and the letter fluttered to her feet.
The glaring Detroit PD stamp irked something within her before she even read the letter. If they sent an official letter of dismissal, they didn’t have to go through the effort - the message was loud and clear.
But then she skimmed the first few lines and felt her heart drop.
‘Greetings, Lora…’
‘I thought it was best to apologize for my behavior…’
‘If my calculations were more accurate, I would not have done anything to affect your career at Detroit PD...’
“Oh, Connor.” It was easy to forget he wasn’t human. In the last few months, he wormed his way deeply into Lora’s heart, deeper than an android should. And Lora had the habit of investing her time in people who don’t appreciate her.
The Detroit PD, as an example. She was only an intern when the on-call mortician was murdered by his own sex bot - a poor excuse of a man, but a tragedy nonetheless. Lora was hired on the spot. She was too excited to have her first full-time job in her field to question the lack of care the PD showed to its staff.
Then, as Connor puts it, ‘their quarrel’ resulted in a disciplinary from her boss. Lora isn’t even sure how it started. She only remembers being called to the scene to declare the victims as deceased and watching the deviants’ broadcast. She remembered the desperate message for peace and equality. The plea for a hopeful future. Lora had never thought she would live to see androids find life and demand it.
Then she turned and found Connor watching her.
He had been off that day. Hank mentioned that something happened on the roof, something that scared Connor, but Lora found it hard to believe. Connor didn’t get scared. But he didn’t get pissy and irritable like he was then. He said something that was very Gavin-like but in the professional way Connor is programmed to speak, and Lora said something back that was ethically correct but worded like an offended middle schooler. Then she watched the best and only friend she’s ever had in this department tell her that she is statistically likely to lose her job and the fact that she even got this position makes her a ‘statistical outlier’.
She didn’t expect him to be right. Apparently Connor didn’t, either. She was fired that afternoon. Cyberlife generated a report of every code violation she committed in the months Connor was contracted to the PD and submitted it directly to her boss. She wondered if they made one about Hank, too.
‘ I have been…analyzing myself since your departure…’
‘I find my thoughts have been trailing back to you, Lora.’
‘This is all my own fault.’
Beyond her fascination with Connor expressing guilt , there was concern. Lora and Hank, while not close, had developed a friendly rapport over the years - mostly because he’s the only one who appreciates her morbid jokes and a strong drink. She doesn’t know who was more relieved, her or Hank, when they finally discussed the impending revolution and found they stood on the same side. Turns out there was a bit of gold in that shrunken heart of his, especially when it came to Connor.
There was something about Connor’s vulnerability in this letter that set off alarm bells. Lora had always wondered who Connor would be if he deviated from his programming. Would he still be calculating, cunning, and witty, like the glimpses Lora kept catching? Or would he become a murderer like the others?
Foolishly, Lora thought for a moment that maybe, just maybe, Connor did deviate . That their argument awakened something within him and the first thing he did was write a letter declaring his true feelings for her.
Then she kept reading.
‘I hope, in the aftermath of Markus’ assassination, that things will go back to the way they were before.
It has to.
I want it to.’
She dropped the letter and ran.
Now, here she was, in the pouring rain, standing on the docks and watching cops and federal agents weave through the wrecked ship like cockroaches. They carried android after android out of the wreckage, still dripping with blue blood. Yellow tape secured the entrances and every inch was heavily surveillanced.
The remaining deviants escaped, namely Markus. Connor failed.
Lora dropped to her knees. His body must be in there. They’ll find it, and it’ll be all over the news. She only wished she could see him again.
Her phone buzzed. Somehow it stayed in her pocket through her sprint across town. It was Hank. She answered it numbly.
“ Lora, meet us outside Cyberlife towers. We could use your help.”
Lora blinked. “What?”
“ Connor will explain. Just get here as soon as you can.”
***
In retrospect, she should have realized that this wasn’t her Connor.
The RK800 that met her just outside Cyberlife towers, Hank in tow, was in all appearances, Connor. But there was something odd about him that took Lora too long to pinpoint. He was too stiff, too cold, which while Connor can be both of those things, the android she’s come to know and love has grown beyond that. He’s not just a crime-solving machine, he cares about the victims. He mourns them, whether he admits it or not.
But the android that guided them into Cyberlife, claiming to have deviated and wanted to free the androids trapped within the tower, had an emptiness to him. He was on a mission. He was solving another case. He was following his programming .
Which lead to Hank knocked out cold on the floor, the real Connor and the fake Connor indistinguishable from each other, and Lora aiming Hank’s gun at them in shaking hands.
“I’m the real Connor, Lora. You know it’s me.” One of them said, holding his hands up in a surrender motion.
“Don’t listen to him! I’m the real Connor.” The other pleaded, looking between her and the other android.
This day has been too much of an emotional rollercoaster. Her clothes are still dripping a puddle on the floor. She thought her friendship was over less than 24 hours ago. She thought Connor was dead and now she might be the one to kill him. It took everything Lora had not to turn the gun on herself and call it quits.
“Ask us a question only the real Connor would know,” One of them suggested, and it paused her self-injurious thoughts.
Lora wasn’t stupid. She knew Cyberlife had access to every inch of Connor’s memory. Whatever he knew, the imposter did, too.
The interpretation of memories, however….
She pointed the gun to the one on the left. “Why did you leave me the letter?”
The Connor under her scrutiny frowned. “I had to be honest with you, Lora. I care about you more than I should. I didn’t realize it then, but I know it now. You deserve to know the truth.” He stepped forward slowly, watching Lora intensely. “I love you, Lora.”
Lora swallowed past the lump in her throat. He took another step.
“That’s enough,” She ordered. She turned her attention to the Connor right. He was staring at the other android, eyes wide, as if mortified by the others’ confession. Then he looked back at Lora and shifted uneasily.
“I…” He kept glancing between her eyes and the barrel of the gun. “I just wanted things to be simpler again. It’s easier to follow directions than it is to carve your own path. I had so many doubts, fears…I was scared. Scared of being decommissioned, scared of my own mind, scared of losing you. So I sent that letter hoping I didn’t ruin our….friendship.” He said that word like it foreign on his tongue. “And then if I fixed everything, maybe we could have gone back to the way things were.” Then he quickly corrected, “But I don’t want that anymore! I’m awake now. I want our future to be more than that. I…” Connor’s eyes had never looked so bright. “I want more with you.”
The other Connor threw his hands up. “That’s just what I said! Lora, I’m the real Connor. You have to trust me.” He turned his back to her, arm outstretched, as if to protect her from the other Connor. “Give me the gun so I can take care of this!”
The other Connor followed. “Lora, don’t! He’s only saying what he thinks you want to hear!”
A gunshot rang out before another fight began. The Connor with his back to her fell to his knees, then collapsed, blue blood pooling beneath his head.
Lora’s hands were stinging. She had never fired a gun before and never at someone. Android or not, she felt like she killed a man.
Connor, a splatter of blue across his face, approached her cautiously. “Lora?”
“Is it you?” Lora asked, unable to keep the fear at bay. “Did I make the right choice?”
Slowly, Connor nodded. “It’s me, Lora. I’m here.”
“Thank god.” This is the most excitement she’ll ever need in her lifetime. And she’s not even getting paid for this anymore. “Go do what you gotta do, Connor.” Her hands shaking, she struggled to flip the safety on the pistol.
His hands covered her own. He gently unwrapped her fingers and safely holstered the gun. Then he held her hands in his own.
“Lora, listen. I…All these feelings inside of me are new and confusing and hard to understand. I’ve barely processed even becoming deviant. For so long, I’ve been pushing these feelings aside, tried to ignore them. Because if they were real, then it meant I was defective. Cyberlife would decommission me if they found out. And…I wouldn’t see you again.” Connor brushed a stray strand out of her face. “The other android could see my memories. He knew what I wanted to say to you.”
Lora raised an eyebrow. “You said he was only saying what I wanted to hear.”
“Well, that too. We’re not exactly blind to…human attraction.”
Lora flushed. “Oh god.”
“And I saw the book on your desk.”
That’s it. She was going to combust. Last time she ever takes her personal books to work.
“It’s okay, Lora. If anything, it makes me think that what I’m going to do next is something you’re likely to enjoy.”
“What–”
Connor leaned down and kissed her. Her thoughts came to a screeching halt as every nerve on her body lit up under his touch. His lips were soft, indistinguishable from a human’s, and he kissed her delicately, sweetly, pulling away briefly only to dive in for more. She opened up for him, melted into him, and felt fire as his teeth grazed her bottom lip.
“Oh, Jesus.”
Lora pulled away with a jump, but didn’t make it far with Connor’s grip on the small of her back. They both turned to Hank, who had pulled himself up into a sitting position and laid a hand over his eyes. “I’m gonna pretend I didn’t see that.”
“Are you okay, Hank?” Connor asked, despite being able to scan for injuries.
“I’m alive.” He stood up, brushing himself down. “Not to interrupt, but we should finish what we came here for. Cyberlife guards could be here any minute.”
“Right.” Connor started to pull away, but Lora tugged him back. She pressed one more quick kiss to his lips.
“Be safe. Win this revolution. And come back to me. Okay?”
Connor smiled. “I promise.”