PLATONIC YANDERE GRANDPA: Not to worry, dear child.
PLATONIC YANDERE GRANDPA: *takes one long look at the child’s parents*
MARKUS’S PARENTS (who knows markus did nothing) : *sees their life flashing in front of their eyes, memories of your younger grandpa commanding them flooding back*
MARKUS’S PARENTS: MARKUS YOU GODDAMN FAILURE! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE AGAIN-?!
What’s he being jailed for? I imagine either a failed revolution or the incident at Carl‘s house. I‘m just looking for an excuse to have Connor talk to this rad semi-disassembled Markus model.
i hope all of the admins are doing well :) i'm a sucker for angst (with a happy ending) so my prompt is that, anything that comes to mind feel free to about it! a heated argument, close call with death, a misunderstanding – as long as markus and connor feel all of those angsty emotions and resolve them, that's my jam!
Oh hello! 🥰
Thank you for the well wishes, I myself am doing wonderfully thank you!
Let's go with "close call with death" since I have a little angsty snippet for that one that's been rattling around in my head for a while now:
-
Markus stared down wide-eyed at where the pale grey of his suit had only eighteen hours ago been soaked in blue. The vibrant colour had since evaporated off, but Connor would still have been able to see it...
The RK900 standing in as Markus' bodyguard in Connor's absence could still see it too if the careful avoidance of her gaze towards Markus was anything to go by. He'd been advised numerous times by words spoken under concerned gazes to go home and change but he couldn't bring himself to leave him alone like this...
Markus' HUD glitched when he let his mind wander back over the past eighteen hours. His vision suddenly filled with the image of liquid blue exploding out of the back of his lovers head as his tactile sensors involuntarily re-registered the hot feel of blood painting his face and running down his neck. Auxiliary security had tried to forcefully drag Markus away from Connor after the bullets had started flying but he had held on tight. Dragging the limp form with them off of the stage and into an armored car.
And the sound. Ra9 he would never forget that sound.
Connors usually sharp tongue reduced to nothing but bursts of static and high-pitched feedback loops. His gaze unfocused as his limbs spasmed weakly and his central processor approached shutdown. Markus had cradled him in his arms as the car sped off, ignoring the heavy flow of thirium soaking into his suit and drenching him. Amongst his pleas to the RK800 to stay with me, don't go, don't leave me please don't leave me, he almost missed the single white hand that Connor was lifting weakly towards his own, blinking dimly with blue light.
He latched onto it with force the second his attention was drawn to it. Opening up an interface disturbingly absent of Connor's usual ferocity. Interfacing with an RK800 was normally like being dropped headfirst into the ocean but now his presence felt like barely a trickle of existence...
He received one automated message from Connors systems before the countdown timer on his HUD reached zero:
UPLOADING MEMORY//:
And that was how Markus found himself deep in a basement level of Cyberlife tower, floor -45; The research and development sector of the RK lines. Somewhere between the grief and the panic and the fear, he had managed to relay the final message of Connors systems to their security team and they had been swiftly transported in a motor blockade towards the android-occupied tower. A team of the few remaining RK800s in existence had quickly snatched Connor from Markus' arms at the entrance and spirited him away to do...well Markus wasn't sure what exactly, he was uncharacteristically absent of questions at that moment.
There had been one on his lips, however, the one that was taking up space in all corners of all his processors;
"Will he still be himself?"
The RK800s had looked to one another with swirling LEDs before fifty-nine responded with the non-answer of
"None of us have ever attempted a transfer as deviants."
He had been brought to a room after that, a large white sterile space that housed a glass-plated black cube in the center which was covered in flickering LED lights; The RK800 main-server. In any other scenario he would have been fascinated to see it, the machine that connected Connor to all RK800s while his body kept him an autonomous individual...but right now his attention was focused tunnel-vision like on the two beds off to the side, one with his Connor laid broken and lifeless and the other with RK800-63, as new and as lifelike as a doll.
He stood between them for a moment, casting his gaze this way and that before slowly settling himself in a chair between the two of them and raising a plasteel white hand towards each figure. He stayed like that as he waited. As the eight hours the 800s said it would take for the transfer to complete turned into eighteen. Hand in hand with a corpse and a shell.
-
It wasn't until the twentieth hour that the multitude of flickering loading bars on the digital monitor finally circled to blue with an alert chime. After a short moment of deliberation where his head whipped back and forth rapidly, Markus reluctantly let go of Connor-52s -his Connors - hand and brought both over to grasp onto Connor-63s. The tension in the air was thick enough to make the room feel liquid as the seconds ticked by with no sign of stirring from the figure on the table.
When the LED on the android's forehead finally circled blue with a blink Markus' artificial breath hitched and he was dimly aware of the RK900 at the door taking a small step forward in involuntary anticipation. One minute went by, and then another, and then ten more until suddenly the eyes of the prone form snapped open and circled around the room frantically.
Markus' chair fell backward behind him as he jumped to his feet to lean over the RK800 who's eyes were flickering rapidly over the white tiled ceiling with an expression of fear.
"Connor? Can you hear me?"
At the sound of Markus' voice, the RK800's eyes snapped suddenly to his own in sharp focus and the expression of terror on the androids face quickly shifted into flat browed determination. Connor lunged off of the bed in one fluid motion, disconnecting the data cable at the base of his neck with a pop and pushing Markus to the ground.
The RK200 fell backwards hard, cracking his head against the side of the other bed in the process. As Connor landed on top of him, pressing his body into the ground and holding his head down with a firm palm to the side of his face, Markus felt a flash of some emotion that landed between horror and peace at the thought that perhaps Connor had been rebound to his pre-deviant programming during the transfer and was about to follow through with Cyberlifes last order to eradicate the deviant leaders. His fear, however, was cut short by the first words out of the RK800s mouth.
"Active shooter! Why are you just standing there?! Find the source and cover us!"
Markus managed to make eye contact with his stand-in bodyguard from where he lay on the floor and the look in the RK900s eyes said that she too had all at once understood what was happening. He contacted her wirelessly before she had the chance to drag Connor off of him, instructing her to not interfere lest she distress the RK800 even more.
"Connor-"
"Stay down!"
The hand pressing Markus head onto the ground tightened and he made no move to try and dislodge it. Connor continued to bark orders at the android in the doorway while attempting to shield Markus' body from an imaginary shooter.
"Connor-"
"We need to get off the stage, when I give the command stay low and move with me towards the stairs- towards..."
The younger android's voice trailed off as his eyes flicked around the room in search of a staircase that didn't exist. He seemed to be taking in the room like he was seeing it for the first time before his jaw dropped and a choked gasp escaped his lips as his gaze settled wide-eyed on Markus' suit. All at once, the pressure on Markus' face released and Connor's hands flew to the back of his own head and he scrambled backward with panic written clearly across his features.
"Connor, listen to me, you're alright..."
The RK200 spoke softly even as the other android continued to press himself into the corner between the bed and the wall, running his hands through the hair on the back of his head before bringing them in front of his face, looking for blood.
"What-"
Connor cut himself off as his eyes drifted towards the bed adjacent to him and rose upwards to fixate on the lifeless, wire-covered figure that rested upon it.
"No-"
"Connor it's gonna be alright, just look at me-"
Markus followed the RK800 as he jumped to his feet and stumbled towards his own corpse, leaning heavily on the bed rail and staring slack-jawed at the bullet wound that had left a perfectly circular hole where his LED used to be. The older android placed his hands gently over his partner's shoulders, keeping the touch light as Connor flinched at the initial contact before resting them fully upon him with a grounding weight.
"I died..."
He spoke in a monotone while reaching out a hesitant hand to trace over the sharp edge of plastic that the bullet had left in its wake.
"Yes." Markus replied simply, as his hands massaged Connors shoulders "But now you're back."
The RK800 tensed at the words.
"Am I though? Back when- before I broke my programming- when I was transferred it felt like- it was like starting all over again. I didn't feel the same. I wasn't me. I shouldn't be me I'm not-"
He trailed off and focused his gaze on the middle distance. Markus hesitated before answering. Connors worries had been the same ones that he himself had been agonising over during the hours he had sat at his bedside swinging between hope, despair, and numbness. Given Connor's reaction to waking up however Markus had little doubts anymore as to whether or not the android in front of him was his Connor.
"Do you think your first reaction upon waking up would be to try and save me if you had been reset?"
Now it was Connors turn to hesitate and Markus began gently massaging where his hands rested upon his shoulders.
"I don't know, I was programmed for this sort of work so..."
Markus has never heard Connors tone sound so unconvincing and uncertain before.
"Well do you feel like yourself?"
Connor stepped back abruptly from the bed at the question, dislodging Makrus' hands in the process and swinging his own in a wide, frantic arc in front of him.
"I don't know! How am I supposed to know!?"
His breath was hitching faster and faster as he ran the question through his processors.
"Yes." He suddenly stated firmly "Wait, no." He continued with just as much certainty
"I don't know! No I'm not me. I'm 52 im- that" He pointed to the dead android on the table "Is me. My HUD says 63. I'm 63, that is 52, that is not me. But- fuck!!"
Markus raised his hands in a calming gesture and tried to get Connor to slow down but the other android continued ranting, swinging back and forth in his assessment of whether he was or was not the same Connor as before with an increasing level of panic. It wasn't until the RK800 lashed out with a kick at the bed housing his previous body that Markus interjected with more force.
"Connor! listen to me!" He raised his voice while capturing the younger android by the biceps and turning him so they could look eye to eye.
"You said before that when you came back the feelings you had developed in your previous body were erased yeah? Like being a whole new person." Connor's face began to crumple at Markus' words and he had to continue quickly before the RK800 began to spiral even faster down his rabbithole of existential dread. "No no, let me finish. I want you to stop focusing on what it was like before for a moment and tell me what it feels like now."
A beat of silence passed where Connor stared glassy-eyed at a spot just over Markus' shoulder obviously at a loss of how to follow through on examining his feelings in his current state of panic. The elder android decided to continue prompting him.
"Try not to think too much about your feelings towards yourself. What about your feelings towards others. North, Josh, Echo, Hank. Have those changed? Do they seem different? Do you still care for them?"
Connors gaze was still focused into the middle distance past Markus head, coincidentally in the direction of his stand-in bodyguard who awkwardly shifted herself a few feet to the right to avoid his staring. His brow, however, was finally beginning to arch back into its softer default position and away from the worried furrow it had been set in before.
"And...what about me? You still love me right?"
All of a sudden Connor's pensive moment was brought to an end as his focus snapped to Markus with an almost offended expression. His mouth opened a fraction with the characteristic sharp intake of breath that usually indicated that Connor was about to absolutely go off about something and Markus could already feel his own face relax into a small smile at how very Connor the reaction was.
The rant never came however as the android all at once lit up in realization with a small "Oh." Followed by a large "OH!"
Before Markus could get another word in he was all of a sudden met with an armful of RK800 squeezing him around the middle with enough force to cause his chassis to creak and he returned the embrace with just as much strength. Finally, he allowed the emotions from the past day to overflow into a sob hidden somewhere in Connor's hairline and the younger android held him even tighter as the noise reached him.
"Markus I...Markus. Of course I do, of course i still love you. Its me, I'm me. I'm sorry I just panicked. I'm still panicking but I'm me, I promise I'm me. Your're right"
Markus just held the slighter form as he continued to ramble reassurances.
"I thought I lost you. I did lose you" He choked out between shaking gasps.
"But I'm back now. I'm okay, you're okay, we're both okay"
The RK200 was pretty sure they were both crying now as their words of reassurance lapsed into quiet sniffles and the soft sound of hands sweeping over fabric as they brushed across the expanse of each other's clothing as if to confirm that yes, the other was real, and alive and safe.
Neither was sure how long had passed before their silent embrace was interrupted by an awkward cough and the words "I'll inform the other 800's of Connors status, they'll want to run tests" as the RK900 slipped quietly out of the room. Honestly Markus had forgotten she had been there, he sent her a wireless message in thanks and received nothing in return.
When left alone they deepened their embrace, savoring the moment of privacy and peace together before Connor had to undergo whatever barrage of tests the 800s had prepared for him. Their hands connected by their sides, palm to palm with glowing blue lights dancing across their fingertips, basking in each others presence and smoothing over the pain and guilt and confusion and terror of the last twenty-four hours with happiness, relief, devotion, and love.
I am alive.
You are alive.
We are alive.
-
Come tell us your own ideas! Prompts are always open
Connor: Hank has been teaching me how to deal with my emotions.
Markus, nervous: o-oh? He has?
Connor: Yes. Just last night we bought 2000 dollars in lottery scratchers and crashed a rental car into the river,
I want to preface and say I don't hate North. I don't really care about her but I blame that more on the writing of David Cage and not the character. In theory and on paper she is very engaging and has a good foundation and even a sympathetic view, but the way she comes off in practice is off putting.
The one reason I will never pair Markus and North is the scene in the warehouse at the beginning of Freedom March.
Markus is obviously in a situation where he is unsure of himself regardless of what choices were made in the previous chapter. If Markus goes the violent route, he expressed to North that the chaos and power he felt was enjoyable but he hates himself for it. If one chooses a peaceful route, he expresses how the power of leadership feels good but how frightening it is to have Jericho hinge on his every word.
This would have been an amazing scene. Markus is showing a vulnerability that humanizes him, it is a great moment to allow him to rely on someone else and the person David Cage chose was North. This would have been the best time to validate their relationship as something mutual. That Markus could rely on her like everyone relied on him.
THAT IS NOT WHAT HAPPENS.
Markus tells her how unsure of himself he is and that he is feeling insecure in whatever way the player set up only for her to shut him down and talk about the FUCKING NEWS. About how the humans are retaliating. The whole scene plays off like her telling him to man up because it wouldn't matter anyway. She doesn't let him rely on her, and she is merely using the conversation to either try and guilt him into a violent response or to tell him not to worry about the violence and chaos because the humans deserve it anyway.
She is a TERRIBLE love interest, not because she advocates a violent revolution or because she has a bad disposition, but because she contributes nothing to Markus as a person, seeing him only as a means to an end. All she wants is selfish revenge and to get that she needs him to listen to her. She comes off manipulative and cold. I can't believe how badly David Cage fumbled this romance and at the same time I cannot be surprised.
