Deviant Behavior (Connor x Reader)

November 10th, 2038
PM 02:49:38

"Now this is the law of the jungle, as old and as true as the sky,
And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die."

---

She laid there in a chamber – one specialized for cryogenic suspension and refitted for the transference of human consciousness into a digital replica.

"And this is for...what, exactly?"

Elijah turned to you, pushing up his glasses as he wheeled closer to the keyboard.

"Every line of code her and I have written together...every test, every late night lying awake wondering how far the line between humans and androids could be pushed before there was no longer a line at all..." He looked behind him, at the chamber humming in subordinance, "It's all come to this."

You bit the inside of your cheek, brows creasing as you frowned at the frosted glass.

"It feels...unnatural. Like we're tampering with some sacred law of nature that just...shouldn't be tampered with."

"You wouldn't understand. You never do."

The keyclick was loud, and defining. A single press of a button on an overpriced keyboard that would conduct a costly mistake.

This research had been taboo. Hidden from the light of the board, both CyberLife's and Colbridge's. You'd tried to reason with them, tried to explain that if they didn't feel like they could tell anyone – they probably shouldn't be doing it.

You'd received the first of many death threats after that, tucked away in an envelope without a return address.

But when the lights flashed, and the alarms started screeching – when the chamber wouldn't open, no matter how hard Elijah pulled. When the power was cut, and the vitals monitor flatlined...

The act of defiance against mother nature, was returned to sender, regardless.

"She's dead, I...I killed her..."

You hadn't seen him cry very often. Had seen a dead body even less.

"There must've been a mistake. Where did I go wrong..."

He scrolled and scrolled on his mouse for what seemed like an eternity. He scanned the error report until his bloodshot eyes found you, hugging yourself in the corner with a CyberLife hoodie snug around your shaking frame.

There as such anger...and hatred, and fury.

"The stone."

The glasses in his hand snapped. Red droplets oozed out of his palm as he marched towards you and time felt like it was grinding to a halt.

"The only discrepancy in the code her and I wrote...together..."

Red that smeared along your neck as your back met the cold panel of a steel wall.

Red that stained your white undershirt, a replacement from a similar scenario.

The color was deepened by the blaring sirens and pulsing red lights; a distress signal for the retrieval of one dead woman, and an outcry for help the prevent a second.

"Amanda Stern is gone because I listened to you."

...

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