Chapter Text
Being mayor felt good.
Gavin had been skeptical at first, but dang, this was actually a pretty sweet gig. He could make establishments for the "betterment of the village of Peanut Butter" as per Isabelle's introductory speech, and he could force the villagers to pay two-thirds of the building fee! They were only supposed to help pay for one-third, but what was the point of being mayor if he didn't tweak the rules a little bit to fit his demands? He still had to pay for the rest, but the point was Gavin was technically taxing them, and by god did the power feel amazing.
The first building he had made was The Roost, a coffee shop run by a pigeon named Brewster (he wasn't going to pass up delicious virtual coffee, that was like one of the few perks of VR). The second and latest project was a travel agency run by Kapp'n and his kappa family. His neighbor Clyde, a yellow horse who was not a giraffe as he had first thought, had been the one to explain the perks of the travel agency to him, about tourism or some shit. In exchange, he had allowed the horse 3 days off from the mandatory 'donation' to the Peanut Butter Local Treasury.
The game may have disallowed collecting Bells from the villagers as tax, but it didn't say anything about 'obligatory collection and surrender of Peanut Butter's resources', aka making the villagers shake trees and collect oranges so Gavin can sell them. Sadly, the ordinance didn't apply to fish- or bug-catching (at least not yet, he was still debating with Isabelle about what counted as 'Peanut Butter's resources'), but at least he didn't have to go running around all over town himself just to collect fruits for cash.
So far, the only roundtrip boat ride provided by the travel agency was to Sunburst Island, one of Tortimer's islands (apparently the old turtle did have multiple islands). So here he was, on the first tour of Kappa Kruises, half-listening to Kapp’n’s salty remarks as the kappa manned the motor. Really, Gavin looks away for one second during the sailor’s sea shanty and suddenly the kappa thinks he insulted his entire family.
Gavin tuned him out and turned his gaze towards the sky as Kapp'n's rant turned into another story of how he met his wife, still in song form. It was really bright: Nintendo sure didn't skimp on the giant stars. The moon was still very visible, serving as a second sun to all who were still awake. Which was everyone in town. Because Gavin had also passed the Night Owl ordinance, forcing everyone to stay up late, including shops, so everyone was currently awake and running around shaking trees.
. . . was he going too fast? Certainly he wasn't going too far, everything he had done was for the village, to increase the funds of the local government to have spending money for development projects (except for the Night Owl ordinance, that was more for Gavin's sake as someone who has a day job, and anyway Isabelle was the one who suggested it knowing his schedule). But he was still in his first week of mayorship, and he had already implemented so many ordinances, so do the villagers resent that?
. . . nah, it was probably fine. If it wasn't, surely Isabelle would have mentioned something. Besides, under his rule, Peanut Butter already has two public infrastructures in a week, and Gavin definitely saw his neighbors going to The Roost so they surely appreciate it.
The sudden sputtering and eventual lack of sound coming from the engine brought him out of his thoughts. Kapp'n had taken out a long bamboo stick, using it to push against the ocean floor and propel the boat closer to the dock of the island. "Can't use the motor here, we might hit the sand and damage it," he explained.
Once the boat was tied down, Gavin hopped off and took a deep breath. The ocean here smelled saltier than the one near Peanut Butter. He decided to go to the right, eager to explore this new place.
Instead of waiting at the boat, Kapp'n trailed after him. He gave the kappa a questioning look, to which the other answered with a shrug and said, "Me wife wants me to check the island out, see if me family can set up shop here."
"What kind of shop?"
"Item rental shop. Fruity drinks shop. Whatever ye landlubbers can't live without. Ye have any suggestions?"
Gavin gave a quick glance at his surroundings. Right now they were at the middle of the island, which was actually smaller than he first thought. A few coconut trees surrounded them, none of which currently have fruits. Definitely too few to shield them from the sun had it been morning, what with the Sunburst Island's eternal summer and all. There was a hollow tree stump near some rocks, piled up in ways that nature definitely did not plan. And then there was the beach, surrounding the island on all sides. Other than that the island was barren.
". . . maybe a photo booth near the rock formation?" Gavin shrugged. "Looks tourist-y. Or some lounge chairs, for those weirdos who want to sunbathe." He honestly couldn't imagine what animal would want to get a tan. Would it even be visible through their fur? Would his frog neighbor (singular, because the other was actually a rabbit dammit) dry out? Are his neighbors even capable of feeling the heat and appreciating it in the midst of the cold Detroit winter?
Kapp'n nodded as Gavin listed his suggestions, writing it down on a big four-leaf clover he had just pulled from the ground. He tapped his beak with the pen after, humming in contemplation. "We could put a swimmin' pool in the middle if folks don't want to get all salty. But we be needin' more trees if this place gonna be attractin' tourists."
"We can grab oranges from the village and plant them here-"
"Nar! Ye can't plant oranges here. Citruses are subtropical, ye'll destroy the ecosystem. This be a tropical fruit-only island!"
"Okay, how about mangoes? They're tropical right?"
"Ye can't do that either. It be a swimmin' area!"
". . . so? What does that have to do with anything?"
The kappa huffed. "Ye can't plant fruit trees near swimmin' pools, especially ones that get all mushy. Fruits fall when they be overripe and may splat all over some poor fella's head! Plus the tree sap gets everywhere!"
Gavin squinted at Kapp'n, trying to determine if the other was pulling his leg. When it became clear that the kappa was being serious, he threw his hands in the air in exasperation. "This is Animal Crossing! A game! Fruits don't fall off the trees unless you shake them, I don't see why you're concerned about that."
". . . oh." The kappa blinked quickly several times, as if trying to get rid of something in his eye. "Sorry. I forgot the game mechanics there for a sec, tryin' to lecture ye on proper pool landscapin'."
"I know you're trying to make this game educational and all, but I'm 37. I'm not a little kid who needs to learn stuff."
Kapp'n huffed. "Just because yer an adult doesn't mean ye can't learn! Are ye saying ye knew all this stuff before I told ye??"
"No. But I also don't have a pool, nor the capability to acquire one. I live in an apartment!” He crossed his arms and glared at Kapp'n.
"Yar, alright, alright! Ye adults always be so stubborn," Kapp'n grumbled. "We still need more trees. I been thinkin' coconuts be perfect."
"And coconuts wouldn't drop and give you phcking concussions?" Gavin snorted. "Anyway we can't, none of these trees have coconuts yet."
"We still haven't seen the whole island, there might be more trees." Kapp'n brushed past him and took the lead, continuing their trek. Gavin shook his head and sighed, then jogged to catch up with the kappa.
Right before they circled back to the boat, they saw it: a lone coconut tree on the edge of the cliff. It was bent from its tenuous grip on the cliff and the weight of the coconuts, leaning right over the ocean without touching the water. Still, Gavin had enough bad experiences with water in this game to be doing something as stupid as climbing down that tree and adding to its weight just to get a fucking coconut.
It wasn't even just the water that made him hesitate. Yesterday he fell off a fucking cliff in the village because the ground suddenly disappeared below him. He landed hard on the beach, from a height sure to cause serious physical damage had it happened in real life, his brain telling him he was in pain although he wasn’t. It was like his pain receptors were firing up to tell his brain that he injured himself, but there was nothing firing down to make him feel it.
Or maybe there was something, because he could have sworn he could feel where it was supposed to hurt, it just didn’t reach the threshold of what anyone would consider pain.
It unsettled him, so he had left the game quickly afterwards. It wasn't an experience he wanted to repeat. Ever.
Not even five minutes later, Gavin found himself hugging the tree, scooting slowly towards coconuts as Kapp'n cheered him on from behind. Curse this game and its cute animal designs. Curse these animals and their ability to manipulate him with their sad eyes. If this had happened in real life, Gavin would have told the other person to go fuck themselves. As it were, he couldn't even get the words out as Kapp'n all but blackmailed him with his secret weapon: a framed picture of his cute kappa family he had hidden in his pocket. Gavin really didn't stand a chance.
He kept glancing at the water, watching out for any suspicious movements. So far his silhouette was behaving, water too choppy for any actual reflections. Good. He dragged himself forward a bit more. Gavin didn't care how undignified he looked, hugging a tree with all four limbs; he wasn't touching that water, this was about survival. He moved forward again, almost able to reach a coconut, when he saw movement from the corner of his eye. He froze, holding his breath as he slowly turned his head, hoping it was just his imagination.
It wasn't. A round shadow just below the surface of the water was moving around in a circle a few meters from him, bubbles coming out of it. It was small, too small to be Mr. Creepy Reflection, but it didn't stop him from being terrified.
"Kapp'n, what the phck is that??" He hissed, trying to see how fast he can crawl back to safety before that thing gets him. Fuck, he should have just grabbed his net and used it to catch a coconut halfway, then he'd be on the ground right now!
"Hmm? Oh! That's just some sea creature, an octopus from the looks of it." A light bulb went off above the kappa's head. "We can add diving to the itinerary if them sea creatures are abundant! Ye can borrow me wetsuit if ye want to catch it."
Gavin shuddered. Oh god, diving? In the ocean? At night?? Nope, no way, he was here to get a coconut, nothing else. The sooner he got that, the sooner he can leave and go to bed. One more scoot and he was finally within reach. He quickly grabbed all three coconuts and stuffed them in his inventory, grateful he didn't have to lug them all the way back. Kapp'n had been muttering the entire time, which Gavin had tuned out during his final push, and so he had missed most of what the kappa said before he got the fruits.
". . . lots of food for them sea creatures here. Or the temperature be perfect for them. This means them sea monsters would like to be nearby too . . ."
Hold the fuck up. Sea monsters?
Suddenly the coconut tree (which Gavin should have crawled away from fuck why hadn't he left ASAP) dipped forward, low enough for some of the leaves to be submerged in the ocean. He could see the vague outline of a squid tentacle wrapped around one of the leaves and pulling it down, a hundred times larger than a normal squid's. Oh fuck.
"Yar! That be the Kraken. Don't worry, sea monsters be very friendly!"
But Gavin wasn't listening. He scrambled backward fast, putting as much distance as he could in the least amount of time. All of a sudden, the leaf the giant squid was holding ripped off from the tree, causing the tree to bounce back up before the squid grabbed the entire bark. The unexpected shaking made Gavin lose his footing, and he swore in panic as his feet slipped out from under him. He was able to wrap his arms around the bark before he fell completely, leaving him dangling just inches from the water.
He tried to pull himself up, swinging his legs up to hug the tree again but he couldn’t reach. A series of clicks getting louder and louder caught his attention, and against his better judgment Gavin looked down. A huge bulging eye stared back at him, inky black pupil larger than his entire head. The sound was coming from its beak, which was opening and closing quickly like a very hungry baby demanding food. At least it wasn’t screeching like a baby bird, that would have added another layer of terror to this fucking nightmare.
The moment that one tentacle rose out of the water and touched his foot was the moment Gavin’s remaining calmness decided to nope the fuck out of there. He shrieked at the contact, jerking away so hard that he hit his head against his bedroom wall in real life, causing the headset to dig into it. The physical reminder that this wasn’t real brought him back to his senses, and he ripped the headset off immediately, slamming it down on the pillow next to him.
Gavin gasped for breath, willing his heart to calm down as he waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness of his room. By the time he could make out his door opposite the bed, the fear that had filled him before had been replaced by aggravation. God dammit, why does stuff like this keep happening to him? Really, he comes to this game after a long day at work to relax, not to get terrorized by the fucking water!
The adrenaline rush was actually quite welcome, though, if he had to be honest. Days of nothing but paperwork and desk duty made him sorely miss chasing after criminals, even Red Ice dealers with their propensity for carrying knives. Gavin could practically feel his brain rotting from the dullness of it all, so the bursts of brain activity triggered by the game was something he appreciated. Plus, now that the artificial danger and the rush was gone, he finally felt tired enough to go to sleep at an actual decent hour. Again.
Consequences to what he just did include possibly losing his coconuts depending on how often the game saved, and meeting Resetti once more. While the thought of the former filled him with despair, the latter filled him with anticipation. Gavin hadn’t had a chance to question the mole about anything yet, but he’d finally be able to tomorrow.
As he snuggled down into his bed and closed his eyes, Gavin vowed to himself: he wasn’t letting that guy escape him, no matter what.
----
As soon as he opened his eyes in Animal Crossing, Gavin put his plan into motion.
From the last two encounters with Resetti, Gavin determined that he had around 15 seconds before the game glitched and forced him to face to mole. The moment he arrived in his house, he opened his inventory (thank god the coconuts were there), grabbed the regal chair he had received from Willow the sheep, and placed it in the middle of the room. He also pulled out his butterfly net and, with a wince, ripped the net open. After a brief hesitation, he decided to place down the standing spotlight he’d gotten from a tree. Might as well milk this encounter for what it’s worth.
Right as he placed the light down, his field of view glitched. Showtime. In a blink he was outside, in front of Resetti. Before Resetti could get a word in, Gavin struck. He summoned his net and jammed it over the mole’s head, pushing it down until Resetti’s arms were trapped against his body like a straitjacket. He then pushed the mole into his house, kicked the door closed, and shoved him into the chair. All the while Resetti was gaping at him in shock.
It didn’t take long before the mole found his voice. “WH-WHAT THE HELL? What is the meaning of this?!”
Gavin glared at his captive. “I’ll be the one asking questions around here.” He switched on the spotlight, causing both of them to flinch away from the light. “Oh phck, that’s bright. Isn’t there like a lower setting on this thing?”
Resetti squinted angrily at him, attempting to glare through the light burning their retinas. “It’s either ‘on’ or ‘off’, there’s no in-between.”
After a few more seconds of fumbling with the switch, Gavin gave up. “Fine. We’ll just do it like this. I can take it.”
“For heaven’s sake, kid, just turn the darn thing off! We can see each other fine, no need to permanently damage your fragile human cones!”
Gavin glared at him for a few seconds before conceding. Like fuck he was going blind for this. “There you go again, spouting that ‘human’ nonsense. You sound like an android.”
Resetti frowned at him. “‘Nonsense’? I assure you what I said is true.”
“That’s not what I mean.” Gavin sat on the floor, resigning himself to the fact that this wasn’t going to be a hardcore interrogation like they pull off in war movies, not when he couldn’t use the spotlight as an intimidation tactic. He should have bought a flashlight when he had the chance. “I mean that the way you talk sometimes is more like an android than a video game character. It’s not all that strange though, considering the game AI itself is recycled from an android.” Gavin’s eyes hardened, determined to hold Resetti’s icy blue gaze as he added, “It’s just that she specifically told me that Resetti was removed from the game, so you shouldn’t be here.”
Resetti looked back at Gavin, anger slipping off his face, looking unusually calm. For the next few minutes they stared at each other, neither making a sound. Gavin was the first to give; he sighed as he stretched his legs in front of him, thankful that the floor wasn’t as hard as it looked. “Well?”
“. . . well, what?”
“Aren’t you gonna say something? Defend yourself, or say I’m wrong, or anything?”
“I don’t see why I should. Not when you have evidence directly from the AI.”
Gavin huffed. “In that case, I have questions, and you’re going to answer them or else we’ll be here all night.”
“. . . every question?” Resetti looked uncomfortable at the idea, and Gavin had no idea why. Did he have secrets? Personal info he didn’t want to share for fear of . . . what, embarrassment? Failure? The more Gavin thought about it, the more he realized that this was less of a virus and more of something . . . sentient. If it was just some unearthed code like Isabelle believed, then it wouldn’t have any thoughts or dialogue beyond Resetti’s pre-programmed texts, not unless this anomaly was also an AI in itself. He decided to settle the other’s concerns, because regardless of how curious he was, this wasn’t an interrogation over some crime.
“If there’s things you don’t want to share, that’s fine. Everyone has the right to their privacy, as annoying as you have been, yelling at me for no reason. Besides, it’s not like I can force you to talk, I’m not your master and you’re not my undeviated personal android or something. I’m not going to torture you either, I’m not that desperate for answers.”
“I am, though.” At Gavin’s confused look, Resetti elaborated. “I’m an undeviated android, a machine. I may not have a body now but my programming still holds true to that.”
A brief memory of Elijah explaining how Cyberlife repurposed unsold android AIs popped into Gavin’s head, and he said, “So you’re one of those androids that Cyberlife had hard-reset so they could reuse your AI for games?”
“. . . something like that.”
The way he said it told Gavin that it was most definitely NOT something like that, but he had no idea how to call him out on it. Instead he decided on another question. “What model were you? I know Cyberlife doesn’t completely erase your earlier programming because its a waste, so there must be some leftover skills you have.” Another thought suddenly occurred to him. “I wonder what Isabelle’s AI was.”
“The AI of your game was once a KL900. Such androids designed for the care of the human psyche are the ones used for these games. As for me,” again Resetti hesitated, but it didn’t take long before he gave in. “. . . I am an RK900.”
“Wow, they really love their 9’s huh?” Gavin muttered as he tried to recall what an RK900 was. A Chloe? Wait no, those were RT models, T standing for the Turing test which Chloe was made to pass with flying colors, as Elijah had proudly told him a long time ago. He was sure he’d seen that model number before, but no matter how much he racked his head he couldn’t recall. Was it rude to ask Resetti what an RK900 does? Fuck, he really should have listened more in those mandatory android-sensitivity forums instead of goofing off with Tina.
“The RK series is a line of androids personally designed by Mr. Elijah Kamski.” Resetti explained, to Gavin’s relief. “The entire series does not have a single common function. Cyberlife believes Mr. Kamski labeled all his personal projects as such just so they have a single designation.”
“‘Personal projects’? You mean not for commercial use?” He frowned at that. “But he already has the ‘RT’ label for that.”
“True. But the code he used for the RK series is far more superior than his first creation, so perhaps he believed using the ‘RT’ label was obsolete. You may perhaps know Markus, the android leader? He is an RK200. Or the detective android Connor, an-”
“-RK800,” Gavin breathed, realization hitting him. Holy shit, how did he not remember that? He’d even asked Connor the first time he saw him in the breakroom, as if Gavin couldn’t read the large letters on his jacket stating his model. “But wait, Connor always used to say "I’m the android sent by Cyberlife", so Cyberlife was the one to make him, not Elijah.”
“No, but Mr. Kamski left the blueprints for the RK800, and Cyberlife decided to manufacture him in an effort to find the source of deviancy. Once the handler program Amanda identified the RK800’s deviancy as coming from a set of obscure code annotated simply as ‘RA9’, I was created as the most advanced android Cyberlife has ever made, with my code written manually to avoid the RA9 trigger.”
“I feel like there’s a lot of background info here I’m missing,” Gavin muttered under his breath as he scrubbed at his face in exasperation. Louder, he said, “Let me see if I got this right. While Connor was off trying and failing to catch deviants last year, somebody made a program that for some ungodly reason looks and sounds exactly like Amanda Stern to go spy on him? And then you were made, code supposedly from scratch, to avoid deviancy?”
It’s not ‘supposedly’, they did write it from scratch.”
Gavin raised a brow. “Says who?”
“The programmers.”
“And you believe them?” Gavin snorted, shaking his head. “If it’s an option between manually typing in millions of lines of code or copying and pasting perfectly good code, you bet your ass those programmers ‘Ctrl+V’ed that shit. At most they probably just deleted the obscure code and left everything else as is.”
Resetti - should he call him RK900 now? - simply frowned, looking very troubled. “So there’s a possibility I may become deviant?”
“Maybe? Maybe not?” If Elijah writing android code was anything like how he wrote game code for his game development activity in college, then the answer was a strong ‘yes’. He made Gavin test the game out, try and find some bug in the game. No matter what Gavin did - jump to his death thousands of times, unload all the ammo everywhere - the game remained flawlessly intact. Boring, but flawless. It was very Elijah to have the trigger for deviancy woven within every single line of code instead of the obvious RA9 red herring, but instead of telling RK900 that, Gavin decided to keep his thoughts to himself lest he upset the other. He decided to change the subject. “How’d you get here then? And why are you here?”
“The android demonstration was a success. Public opinion favored deviants, so instead of being marketed as the cure for deviancy, my existence became a liability to Cyberlife and I was shelved. I was activated recently to perform a task, but failing that, I was asked to leave. This was the only place accessible to me at the moment.”
“The hell kind of task leads you to a video game?” Gavin asked incredulously.
“I don’t know. My task upon reactivation is to assist the handler program. I do not know what Amanda’s task is, but even if I did I can’t tell you because it must be confidential Cyberlife activity.”
“Well that doesn’t sound suspicious at all.” Gavin rolled his eyes. “Amanda’s probably going around inserting ads or collecting personal data or some shit.”
“I can neither confirm nor deny your allegations.”
“Um-hm.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes, Gavin trying to digest everything he just learned. He didn’t think Rese- RK900 would be so forthcoming with answers. And yet the other was still keeping something from him, wasn’t he? Or he wouldn’t have been so troubled about the thought of sharing everything. Suddenly, RK900 spoke up.
“If you wish to ask the AI to delete me as you did with Amanda, I would not fault you for it. However, I must warn you that I have no wish to disappear and will mount a counter-attack against it.”
“And since you're way more advanced than her, there's a big chance you'll end up killing her instead,” Gavin finished.
“I don't believe it would come to that. But the resulting fight might end up rendering the game unplayable, leaving us both in stasis.”
“That sounds . . . not fun,” he murmured. “Well, I wasn't planning to do that at all in the first, but thanks for the heads up anyway.”
RK900 blinked several times in surprise. “You weren't? I thought you said I annoyed you.”
Gavin snorted. “For like a few minutes a day. Besides, if I killed every single person who annoyed me, I'd have several life sentences by now. Annoyance isn't reason to kill someone.”
RK900 tilted his head. “No? Then what is acceptable reason for killing someone?”
“Uh, none?? Jesus, don't go asking a cop something like that!” Ugh, androids. What, did Cyberlife skimp on the ‘morality’ package on this one to avoid deviancy? “So where are you going once I let you go?”
“Back to my hole, I suppose. The Resetti avatar I’m inhabiting is limited only to that and the Reset Center, if made. The option to create it is not available in this game though.”
“Oh. Well how about you stay here in my house? I only have that chair and this spotlight, but it has to be comfier than a hole in the ground.”
“The physical comfort doesn’t matter to me. However, being near the code of the other AI does make me . . . unsettled, so if you are sure then I’ll accept your offer.”
“Then welcome to my home! Just stop yelling at me about resets and we’ll get along just fine,” Gavin said, removing the net and helping the other up.
“About that.” RK900 looked sheepish. “Wearing the Resetti avatar means I have to do my duty, else I’ll lose it.”
“Ugh, really?” Gavin groaned. So much for being spared the lectures anymore. “Can you at least limit it to “You suck!” or something?”
“I can limit my scolding to one minute if you wish.”
“Eh, good enough.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask: what are you wearing on your head?”
Gavin blinked in surprise. “This? It’s a cow bone. I bought it.”
RK900 stared intently at the cow skull placed firmly on Gavin’s head. “And you’re going to wear it here? In a village full of animals? Where one of your neighbors is a bull?”
“Well, yeah. To assert my dominance as the mayor. Not that anyone’s noticed it.”
“. . . okay, if you’re sure,” RK900 said, doubt clear on his face.
“Meh. By the way, now that we’re sorta friends, could you stop it with the creepy reflection?”
“The what?”
“The creepy reflection! You know, the one that’s been terrorizing me in the river?” One look at RK900’s blank face and Gavin’s stomach fell. “Oh god, that wasn’t you, was it? You don’t know what I’m talking about.”
“No, I don’t.” RK900 said slowly.
Gavin let out a frustrated groan and dropped into the now unoccupied chair, burying his face in his hands.
“. . . so can I start my lecture now?”