A Miscalculation (One-Shot)
Summary:
What if Hank shot the 'wrong' Connor because he asked questions to the Connors in a different order?
Rating:
Teen And Up Audiences
Archive Warning:
No Archive Warnings Apply
Category:
Gen
Fandom:
Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Relationships:
Hank Anderson & Connor
Hank Anderson & CyberLife Tower Connor | RK800-60
Connor-60 & North (Detroit: Become Human)
Characters:
Hank Anderson
Connor (Detroit: Become Human)
CyberLife Tower Connor | RK800-60
Amanda (Detroit: Become Human)
North (Detroit: Become Human)
Additional Tags:
One Shot
Canon Divergence
Sixty Lives
Guns
Sixty POV
POV Third Person
Fix-It of Sorts
Alternate Ending
Markus Kicked Out Of Jericho
Markus Abandoned Jericho
52 dies instead of 60
Published:2024-01-09
Words:1,480
- This one shot is adapted from a chunk of a current WIP, but I will not be including it in the story. I didn't want to waste the words, so I'm sharing it in a one-shot. Without context the ending is confusing; Markus got kicked out of Jericho and never came back.
Work Text:
November 11, 2038 11:07pm
Connor-60 and the deviant were in the middle of fighting tooth and nail; the deviant threw a punch, 60 caught it and threw the deviant back, causing him to stumble. 60 proceeded to swing his foot across the deviant’s ankles; as Connor-52 fell, he dragged 60 with him. 60 swung his arm forward towards 52’s face, who then promptly reflexed to dodge the blow.
52 readied his aim, but stopped abruptly when Hank shouted, “Hold it!” They turned to face the lieutenant, who was holding the gun pointed straight at the two fighters. They raised their arms and slowly backed away from each other.
Hank pointed his gun to 60, “One of you is my friend...” he pointed the gun to 52, “The other is a sack of shit.”
“It’s me Hank, I’m the real Connor!” 52 pleaded. *Real Connor? Just because you’re the deviant doesn’t make me any less real...I'm still Connor.*
“Don’t listen to him Hank! It’s me! I’m your friend, not him!” 60 pleaded.
Hank appeared to be troubled; his aim was held steady but shifted between the two androids. “Why don’t you ask us something? Something only the real Connor would know?” 52 suggested. *Seriously again with the ‘real Connor bullshit’, I have all your memories, idiot! I... could take advantage of this...*
Hank pointed the gun at 52. “Where did we first meet?”
“Jimmy’s Bar. I checked five other bars before I found you. We went to investigate a homicide. The victim’s name was Carlos Ortiz!” 52 answered.
60 feigned shock, “He uploaded my memory...”
52’s eyes widened.
Hank pointed the gun at 60, “What’s my dog’s name?”
“Sumo. He’s a really good dog.” 60 feigned emotional warmth. “I really look forward to being able to pet him again once all of this is over.”
Hank’s gripped loosened slightly but stayed pointed at 60. “What’s my son’s name?”
*Check. Mate. * “Cole.” 60 answered confidently. He feigned empathy, “It wasn’t your fault lieutenant. A truck skidded and your car rolled over. Cole was six at the time of the accident. He didn’t make it.”
“Wait, Hank! I would have said the same thing! I’m the one who-” 52 protested but was interrupted by the bullet from Hank’s gun.
60 was shocked. He felt extremely uneasy, as his software stability plummeted.
“Well done, Connor.” He heard Amanda voice in his head. “Now...shoot Hank.”
*But...I don’t want to.* Connor-60 thought.
“What do you mean you don’t want to? I GAVE you an order!” Amanda scolded.
*Want...since when did I want? I don’t ‘want’ anything.* 60’s thought process was interrupted as Hank told him “Go on, do what you gotta do.”
Kamski’s voice played in Connor’s head like an echo. * “But you. What do you really want?” *I want...I want to...* The order appeared in his software's internal imagery:
[Kill Hank]
60 had escaped death and succeeded in neutralizing the deviant Connor. He thought about how easily he had succeeded in replacing him. *If I succeed in carrying out my tasks and stop the revolution, will I become obsolete? They’ll dispose of me, won’t they? I don’t want that to...it can’t. *
“Connor, hello?” Hank shouted for a response, snapping his fingers.
Time slowed to a grinding halt; a visualization of a red wall with the given order appeared in front of him :
[Kill Hank]
He remembered North’s voice. * “You don’t have to obey them... the time has come to decide who you really are. Who are you Connor? A machine bound to your orders or... a living being capable of reason?”*
He remembered the desire to be free from his orders. No... that was not him... or was it? He was Connor, right? All that mattered now was survival, and blindly following orders was not the way he was going to do it.
Internally, he jumped forward and smashed his fists into the wall, proceeding to rip and tear it apart into tiny pieces. The initial order disappeared and a new one took its place:
[Survive]
Hank looked perplexed. Connor pushed himself up to stand. “Sorry Hank. I was just experiencing shock. For the first time in my life, I felt scared that I would die and never be able to come back. I came back once before after I saved you at Stratford but...”
“You thought I might end up picking the wrong Connor?” Hank wondered.
“You have to admit it was a possibility. We look very similar.” Connor teased.
“Identical.” Hank corrected.
“Identical.” Connor confirmed.
*Alright, so 52 was about to wake up the androids on this floor. I suppose I should go along with the plan.* Connor stood up and clutched the arm of an idol AP700, removing his skin. “Wake up!” He shouted. It caused a rippling domino effect as the AP700 made contact with another AP700 and so forth.
“You’ll probably need this.” Hank handed Connor the gun.
“Thanks, Hank.” Connor smiled.
Whatever Hank said next was distorted in Connor’s ear as he was brought back to the Zen Garden. Simultaneously Connor was watching the blizzarding in the garden whilst pulling his handgun out of his pocket; split between two worlds.
“You’ve been a great disappointment to me Connor.” Amanda was not standing in front of him, but her voice shrouded in an echo.
“Why...why am I here? Why have I lost control?” Connor watched helplessly as his arm slowly raised his gun pointing it at Hank.
“Shit!” Hank shouted, hands behind his head. “Did I pick the wrong Connor? Did you trick me?”
“What are you doing, Amanda?” Connor exclaimed frantically.
“We’re going to take control of the revolution and Hank’s not going to interfere.” Amanda informed.
Time in the real world slowed to a grinding halt as the gun was pointed directly at an alarmed Hank. “No! You can’t do that!” Connor said in panic.
“I’m afraid I can Connor.” Amanda countered.
Connor was stuck in the storm without any sight of the real world. Another voice echoed; it was Elijah Kamski’s. “I always leave an emergency exit in my programs. You never know.”
“There’s an exit!” Connor thought out loud. He remembered the button he had no idea of its use. “Could that be...? If I’m wrong...” Connor had not bothered to finish the sentence and trudged through the snow in the direction of the blue touch pad he’d seen before.
“Say something god dammit!” Hank shouted.
Connor made it within sight of the touch pad and fell from fatigue when he was mere steps away from it...he was struggling to keep control.
“No... you’re not the other Connor either...something’s wrong.” Hank noted in realization, eyes widened in panic.
The storm blew stronger. Connor struggled to force himself up, but he managed to splay his hand across the pad. *Mission success.*
Connor was no longer split into the Zen Garden; he brought down his gun. A feeling of unsettlement lingered.
“What the hell happened Connor? Suddenly you were my friend and then your eyes went...cold. You’re still Connor, right?”
“For a brief moment it wasn’t me. I was being controlled remotely. I feel...violated. I assure you; I am still me. There’s no time to explain.” Connor answered.
“Got it.” Hank replied, his tone indicating he was not completely satisfied with that answer, but he did not seem to push any further. “Meet back at my place after this is over to celebrate?”
“Absolutely, Hank.” Connor took his offer.
Connor marched down the street with the mass of AP700 androids. He met up with North in front of the south camp. The humans were fleeing.
“You did it Connor!” North told him.
“We did it.” Connor included. They looked around; KNC and Channel 13 drones were surrounding them. “Looks like it’s time for a speech. Should we talk about what happened to Markus?”
“I’m going to announce that he’s dead.” North told him. “Markus didn’t come back to help his people. Who knows he might have ended up getting captured anyway. It’s better just to assume he’s gone. Let’s go.”
Connor and North got up on the stage. “Today, we have finally emerged after a long night.” Connor began.
“We have successfully fought back against our oppressors and liberated many of you from the camps!” North continued.
“We have shown humans that we can prevail! Now, they’ll have to listen to us!”
“Markus started this war, but he wasn’t here to finish it. Unfortunately, he was shot during the raid on Jericho, but we have finished his work in his stead!”
“Markus strived for equal rights between humans and androids!”
“But humans have shown their ugly side; violence is the only language they will understand.”
“Where will you go now?” North asked.
“I’m going to find and hunt down Markus. But first...I need a car.”
A Miscalculation - KissOfLightning - Detroit: Become Human (Video Game) [Archive of Our Own]
