://i have no heart

[toyboy]

[ it's dark. his internal chronometer reads 9:45pm. it had taken less than an hour to wrap up the hostage situation, and he'd left almost immediately after to catch a cab back to the cyberlife tower.

the reason why he's currently standing on a curb, under the harsh glare of a street lamp, is obvious without words: the cab parked nearby, smoking under the hood, is the culprit. he had called a second cab fifteen minutes ago, but had been warned that it might arrive late. there was currently high traffic congestion in this part of the city, and several cabs were stuck in the backup of vehicles. this was partially due to the streets around the phillips' apartment building being blocked off for several hours.

a moth had broken free from the allure of the street lamp to orbit around his head— it bumped into his LED twice, attracted by the glow. connor stepped sideways, and it followed him.

he waited for his cab to arrive. he didn't didn't think about daniel, or emma. he waited. ]

Comments

[toyboy]

It's to be certain there's no confusion.

[ confusion about what? who his manufacturer is? but that should be obvious, shouldn't it? connor stares at the dashboard for a few moments before addressing the lieutenant. ]

My "knight in shining armor"?

[ he pauses. ]

"A person who will rescue a dangerous situation; a hero." Do you think my situation was dangerous?

[heavymetalgears]

Boy, how... ( Hank snorts. He holds his tongue to allow Connor to finish speaking. He then glances to the brunette before he looks forward to the road. There isn't much traffic out tonight, and they're making good timing. )

Fuck yes, you were in danger. Do you know what you're worth? What the bums would do to you? They'd rip you apart.

[toyboy]

I do know what I'm worth. I hadn't considered that it would correlate to the amount of danger I was in.

[ the response is perfectly neutral, although he does seem to seriously consider what the lieutenant is saying. a small frown affixed to his face, he gives a nod of acknowledgement. cyberlife hadn't meant for him to have to wait for another taxi. they had probably expected he would be back at headquarters by now. it was possible that, not having taken this into account, they hadn't thought to give him any warning about the dangers of expensive prototypes waiting on street corners.

but considering the amount someone could make by selling his parts on the aftermarket, he can't help but agree with his assessment now that it's been pointed out to him. ]

I'm sure CyberLife will be grateful for your intervention. If I had been destroyed, it might've caused problems with the testing phase.

[heavymetalgears]

( Hank throws Connor a quick glance, his face contorted into an expression of disgust. ) Fuck CyberLife. I was doing this for you. Christ.

( Although... ) What testing phase are you talking about?

[toyboy]

[ a look of confusion settles on his face, like he can't understand why— but he quickly leaps to answer the question: it's a much easier concept to understand, curiosity. ]

I'm a prototype model. This was my first phase of testing. When I return to CyberLife, they'll study how my program responded to the situations I was exposed to. Then, if they decide it's necessary, they'll make updates to my programming.

[heavymetalgears]

That's ... some shit. ( It was like, or it sounded like, a yearly review with your employer. A performance review. Fuck. )

What do you got to say for yourself? I mean, fuck what they got to say, how would you answer those questions? Or.. whatever, do you know what I'm asking?

[toyboy]

Questions?

[ the confusion returns to his face. but after a moment of considering what the lieutenant could possibly mean by that, he concludes that he must be making an erroneous parallel between the diagnostics cyberlife will do on him and what a human member of law enforcement might go through after a mission like this.

he quirks his head, considering it. ]

It was a challenging situation, but as my skillset is tailored for investigation, I didn't find it overly difficult. Although... I did have some trouble talking the deviant down. Even after adjusting my strategy, he seemed to somehow intuit that I wasn't being truthful... I had to keep consistent in my assurances in order to fool him.

[heavymetalgears]

You fooled him? With that face? ( Hank glances to his side. He just can't seem to keep his eyes on the road. He takes a longer look, this time. Those brown eyes seemed far too innocent, the mouth was a bit pouty, and then that hair...

Hank had a hard time believing this was an intentional design. )

Lie to me, I want to see how you look when you lie.

[toyboy]

That would depend on the lie...

[ but what good is he if he can't think of something on the spot? to him, this is simply an extension of his earlier trial period. cyberlife would find it helpful to know how he interacted with someone who was, in so many ways, a peer. but who he, at the same time, wasn't under the authority of. it was a wildcard situation. and sometimes those were the best for finding flaws so that they could then be written out.

and the lieutenant seems to have taken some interest in him, for whatever reason. so...

connor smiles, his eyebrows lifting. the expression he dons is almost conspiratorial as he reaches out with one hand— not touching lieutenant anderson, but clearly intending to. ]

I changed my mind. I don't want to go to CyberLife. Let's go back to your place, instead.

[heavymetalgears]

( Hank catches sight of the hand, then Connor's mouth has his eyes redirected to the brunette's face. His lips part to allow a breath to flow through. The sudden change of plans nearly fools him. Hank's eyes return to the road, and he shakes his head slowly and gently. There's a great amount of disbelief in the way he fell for it, even after asking for it. )

That was good. Real good.

I guess you could pass off little lies.

[toyboy]

[ connor's smile fades, but something about his neutral expression still seems satisfied as he leans back into the passenger's side seat. after watching the lieutenant for several seconds, he casts his eyes back toward the road, considering his observation. to say he could passably maintain a façade for "little" lies implied that something more elaborate might not be possible, but he hadn't yet had a chance to test that feature, so he doesn't know. ]

It's necessary for me to be able to lie. I'm also programmed with several interrogation techniques, for interviewing suspects. I can change my strategy depending on their stress level and psychology.

[heavymetalgears]

( Suspects? Hank wasn't putting the pieces together, and it was starting to paint an abstract picture for him. Instead of lining up the pieces, Hank's focused on the little distraction of Connor asking to go to his home. He wondered what it'd be like, to have an android in the house.

Connor would probably be bored to tears and leave - with Sumo, fuck it, they'd run off together and leave Hank alone. Yeah, that's exactly what would happen. )

Yeah, what's first? You make them cry than you promise them greener pastures? A little good cop, bad cop regiment?

[toyboy]

If it would be effective.

[ but he quickly turns his attention from the road and back to the lieutenant when it's clear he's interested in the topic. he doesn't seem like the kind of person who has much to do with androids; or technology in general, judging by the old style car. the only modern technology present (besides himself) is the GPS, and connor suspects that he only has it because of his job.

but that just confirms it. he does have some sort of interest in him. or maybe that's just natural human curiosity? ]

I could opt for various intimidation tactics. But, like with the deviant... It was already moments away from jumping off of the apartment building, and it knew it was about to be destroyed. Intimidation wouldn't have been successful. Expressing sympathy and understanding caused it to lose focus. It let the girl go, ultimately.

[heavymetalgears]

( Connor's words seemed reasonable. Hank also notices the similarities between a desperate criminal and a desperate deviant. You could lie to a criminal, promise them retribution, but sometimes that wasn't enough, especially if they've already come to a resolve. )

What happened to the deviant?

[toyboy]

It was destroyed. There had already been several causalities, so they weren't willing to take any chances.

[ cyberlife would have preferred to take the deviant back to headquarters for diagnostics, but it just wasn't possible in a high profile situation like this.

but there's no doubt that there'll be more situations similar to this one eventually. ]

[heavymetalgears]

How? ( Maybe that was a stupid question, either by gunshot or shoving the thing off the roof. Hank wonders just how long the android had of hope before it realized it was facing the end.

If it had that same look in its eyes as humans did when they knew they were facing death. )

[toyboy]

Sniper fire. There were several men positioned nearby when I began my negotiation.

[ connor pauses, peering at hank curiously. ]

Is there a reason you want to know?

[heavymetalgears]

( Maybe it didn't see it coming then. Maybe it went out with hope. Hank would rather believe that than the alternative. )

Yeah, ... I was wondering if it knew what was going to happen or if you lied to it. If you gave it hope that it would survive.

[toyboy]

[ there's an infinitesimal pause between the time the lieutenant asks and connor answers. but his gaze doesn't falter, and his tone of voice doesn't change. ]

It didn't shut down immediately after being shot. By then it was aware it had been lied to, but it was no longer a threat.

[heavymetalgears]

Jesus...

( Hank lost himself in the vision of that scenario. He knows what that's like; negotiating with a hostile individual and getting them to lower their guard to secure a shot... then, once that shot comes the world you promised theme crumbles around you both. There's always a piece of Hank that's affected - even if he tells himself he's indifferent. It's enough that he was a key part of ending someone's life violently to keep Hank acutely aware of his influence. )

[toyboy]

Lieutenant? Is there something wrong?

[ connor peers at him curiously once again, either oblivious to the source of his discomfort, or somehow incapable of understanding it. he had done his job, and to him, it really was that simple.

at least, that's what he thinks. ]

[heavymetalgears]

( Hank pushes on his left foot and adjusts his butt on the seat. He clears his throat. )

I just imagined what it went through before the end. I've seen it countless times in humans. It's not the best fucking feeling. Even when all you want to do is punish the perp for their crime.

[toyboy]

But deviants don't actually feel emotion. It's just an error in their software.

[ but he supposes for an officer who's been through similar situations, it might not matter if it recalls a similar memory. for a few moments, he watches hank very closely, and it isn't just out of curiosity, although he won't be able to identify what else "it" is for a very long time. ]

Lieutenant, do you own an android?

[heavymetalgears]

Fuck no.

( Hank responds quickly. The question breaks any previous thought path he was on. Now he was thinking about an android in his home, doing fuck knows what. )

Why the hell would I own an android?

[toyboy]

I don't know. I was only asking.

[ connor doesn't seem taken aback, but it is an interesting response. so, the lieutenant was willing to sympathize with androids but didn't want one of his own? in fact, he seemed defensive in the face of the idea.

there must be a reason. ]

Do you dislike technology?