Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

__________________

NOV 9 2038, TUESDAY
22:03:04

[ MODEL: RK200 ]

[ NAME: MARKUS ]

 __________________

Markus stood, hands on the no longer working controls desk in Jericho's headquarters, as he contemplated all of his decisions on becoming the leader Jericho needed, while running his fingers down the faded "Cyberlife" printed on the side of an old, unusable computer. His mind wandered to his conversation with Simon, North and Josh they had a few minutes ago.

Josh and Simon seemed pleased that they were taking the peaceful route, as it seemed to be garnering slight sympathy from the general public. North on the other hand, seemed pissed off, insisting that blood should have blood. She had agreed to follow Markus’ lead though.

Markus mulled over the possibilities of choosing the violence route over being pacifist route. Being an android, he could calculate many different possible outcomes for the choices he made, and which scenarios ended with failure.

> CHOSE_VIOLENCE: ??

[ ANALYZE_POSSIBLE_OUTCOMES: 1 OF 14,000,605 SCENARIOS… ]

— Simon ripping out his core, thirium dripping down the sides of gaping hole, hands shakily stuffing his heart into Markus' chest. 

Blue eyes slowly sliding closed—

After analyzing the several of the many possible negative outcomes for following the violent route, including the deaths of many of his friends, Markus felt assured that he’d done a good job, picking the peaceful route. 

Glancing down at the control desk, he tried to think of new ideas of how to execute his revolution. Fiddling with his fingers, Markus racked his brain for ideas.

A soft blue glow reflected on the screen of the computer caught his eye, as Markus turned around. 

Looking for the source, he saw that it was a blue cube, that had been sitting on top of one of the numerous computers. He had originally paid no attention to the cube, since it had not been glowing before, but it now radiated a lightning blue, the light reflecting off the shiny screens of the computers.

He put his palm on top of the cube, to try and see if he could figure out what the strange cube might be, and if it were possible to use it as a safe energy source. The blue glow within the cube pulsated several times, like a beating heart.

[ ANALYZED: 3RR0R_N0T_R3C0gN!ZeD___T3SS3R4CT ]

DETECTED: UNSTABLE_SOURCE 

> SAVED_TO_MEMORY_FILE

“I’ve been ordered to take you alive." 

Markus slowly turned around, away from the blue cube, and faced the infamous deviant hunter. The RK800, called Connor. He was wearing a beanie, and a dark jacket, looking an awful lot like a deviant.

He took a small step backwards, his heart beginning to race. He gently dug his nails into his palm, trying to keep his nerves from showing.

Connor held a gun, face devoid of any emotion, eyes busily scanning the room.

"I won’t hesitate to shoot, if you give me no choice." Connor steadily pointed the gun at the deviant leader's chest. Markus just stared back, putting on a calm front. 

"What are you doing?" Markus responded, keeping his voice neutral as possible, as he took a few small steps toward Connor.

"You are one of us. You can’t betray your own people."

Connor just glared at him, and tightened his grip on the gun. 

"You’re coming with me." Connor spoke, voice unwavering, in a steady tone. He then tilted the aim of the gun downwards slightly, now pointed at his head instead of his chest. Markus gazed coolly back, keeping up the calm façade despite Connor's attempt to intimidate him.

Don’t panic don’t panic dontpanicdontdont... 

Another small step. "You’re Connor, aren’t you?"

For a brief second, an expression flitted across the deviant hunter's face. The emotion was there for such a quick moment, a normal human would’ve missed it, but Markus picked up on it.

DETECTED: SLIGHT_UNEASE

"The famous deviant hunter." Markus drawled, trying to get under Connor's skin. "Well, congratulations. You’ve seem to have found what you’re looking for. The leader of the deviants." 

Another step. "You do know, you mean nothing to them, the humans."

He felt a small boost of confidence, as he took another small step.

"You're just a tool they use to do their dirty work for them." 

Connor's hand trembled, for a brief fragment of a second, his eyes darting around the room.

 "But you’re more than that." Markus briefly paused. "We’re all more than that."

Connor fired, creating a hole in the ground next to Markus's shoe. Markus tried to appear unfazed by the warning shot, and continued to talk, taking two more steps forward. 

"You’ve never done anything irrational, like something was inside you? Something more than your program. A living being? It’s time to ask yourself that question. It’s time to decide."

Markus reached out and laid a tentative hand onto Connor's shoulder. He stared at the other android, slightly tightening his grip.

A moment of silence.

Then, Connor took a few, quick steps backward and then suddenly froze, his expression becoming conflicted. His hand carrying the gun lowered, slightly shaking. 

Markus took in the faraway look in Connor's eyes and the struggle evident on his face, signs that suggested he was possibly breaking free from control. 

Had he succeeded in turning the infamous deviant-hunter into a deviant himself?

Suddenly, Connor blurted, "Markus, I detect an anomaly." 

Something is wrong—

 The whole room exploded in a bright blue light.

__________________

[ MODEL: RK800 ]

[ NAME: CONNOR ]

[ DETECTED: UNNATURAL_SHIFT_OF_ENERGY: DANGER LEVEL: 98% ]

Connor's systems began going crazy, the energy levels spiking crazily high. He took a few frantic steps away from the defiant to see if he could find the cause of the disturbance. He scanned the area around him, wondering if this were a trap.

[ SCANNING FOR CAUSE: STRANGE_BLUE_CUBE_ON_DESK?? ]

The blue cube pulsated, glowing brighter and brighter with every beat. Connor took another step back, lowering the gun, his palms felt slippery from sweat. That... that thing was going to do something bad, really soon. 

He had to warn Markus.

[ DETECTED: DEVIANT_EMOTION: PROTECT_MARKUS ] 

 [ PROTOCOL: OVERRIDE : PROTECT_SELF_GET_BACK ]

> OVERRIDE: DENIED: PROTECT_MARKUS

> warn markus: DENIED

Get him safe, get him safe, gethimsafegethimsafe...

> w4Rn m4RkuS: D3N!3D

warnnarkuswarnmarkuswarnmarkus

> WARN MARKUS: OVERRIDE

"Markus, I detect an anomaly."

SYSTEM_INSTABILITY: /\

The room exploded, blue light filling every corner of the room, knocking Connor off of his feet. 

DETECTED: UNNATURAL_RIFT_OPEN

DETECTED: HIGH_ENERGY_LEVELS_fRy1nG]>sYst3M#*{

[ … ]

[ SYSTEMS: HEATING_UP_PAST_75% ]

[ DEPLOYING_COOLING_PROGRAM ] 

Connor blinked as he found himself sprawled out on the floor. His ears rang, as he gently squeezed his hand into a fist. He slowly pushed himself up, and he saw that he was still in Jericho, and that Markus had been knocked out by the blast.

The controls desk now held a small, green glowing stone instead of the blue cube.

[ SCANNING… ]

[ FOUND: T!M3_sT0n33//eRR0RR}*# ] 

The green gem drew Connor in, and he gently pressed a finger against the surface of the stone. 

— A bearded man, sitting next to a discoloured body, face full of terror and confusion.  A teenager fading into dust, lying on a rocky surface.  The fingers of a golden gauntlet, pressing together to create a snap.  Tears rolling down a woman's cheek. 

A golden stone shattering, skin slowly discolouring. 

The feeling of grief, looking over a cliff to see a body splayed out—

More scenes began flashing faster and faster in Connor's mind, this time, involving him and Markus.

 — Tears sliding down Connor's face. Harsh coolness of a metal locker as his body was slammed against it. Markus charging on a field, weilding a huge gun.

Finger slowly tightening on a trigger of a gun. 

A blue rose petal hitting the ground—

Scenes were beginning to flash faster and faster before blurring altogether. He could subconsciously feel his body slowly sink to the ground, feeling the cold floor beneath.

[ WARNING: SYSTEMS_OVERHEATING ]

SYSTEMS: HEATING_UP_PAST_97%

WArN!NG: IMMINENT_SHUT_DOWN_IN_3…2…1…

sH_UT_d_0wn

 
[ .... ]

> SYSTEMS: REBOOTING: 1_OUT_OF_100_COMPLETE...

[ DOWNLOADING_DATA_FILES ]

[ MODEL: RK800 ]

MEMORY FILES REBOOTED: MY_NAME_IS_CONNOR...

[ REBOOT: COMPLETE ]

[ SYSTEMS: ONLINE ]

__________________

MAY 12 2018, SATURDAY

10:15:05

The circular LED blinked red for a few seconds, before turning yellow.

Connor sat up, feeling dazed.

Where am I? He wondered, taking in his surroundings. He recalled the bright blue explosion that had fried up his systems, which caused a reboot.

Glancing to his right, he saw the deviant leader, Markus sprawled out, unconscious for the time being.

Looking around the room, he realized he was in Jericho's headquarters, but the sun shone brightly through the windows, and all the equipment was fully functional, and appeared to have been dusted recently. The weird blue cube had vanished, and so had the green stone.

Connor quickly scanned the area again, making sure of his location.

DETECTED_LOCATION: JERICHO

How was it possible? The equipment within Jericho was seriously outdated and most of the electrical systems were completely broken, but now they were completely functioning, in pretty decent shape. He took note that the computer's branding on the side now read "Stark Industries" instead of "Cyberlife".

If he was still in Jericho, why did no one come for Markus?

He looked down at himself. He was still wearing the dark jacket and jeans, and his beanie was on the floor, a few feet away, along with the gun he had been carrying. He quickly put the gun into his jacket.

[ ACCESSING: LOCAL_SERVERS... ]

Connor gained accessed to a local server, only for the server to tell him it was the May 12, 2018, a Saturday, and a full twenty years and roughly six months in the past, and that they were in Queens, New York, 10:17 am.

He frowned, quickly reviewing back to the moments before the explosion took place. His suspected cause of the original  blast was from the blue cube—the so called 'tesseract'—that sat on the desk behind Markus, but it was now gone.

The green stone that had caused his systems to reboot must’ve had to do with this situation as well, since it was supposedly called the "time stone" by the unknown man in the weird scenarios that had flashed through his mind, and they were now in 2018.

Markus must have known something about the tesseract's abilities, because he had been analyzing it before Connor interrupted him. The only thing Connor knew about the blue cube, was it was the space stone, whatever that meant.

Connor decided to contact Cyberlife; they must have some clue on the time stone, and the tesseract.

[ CONTACTING: CYBERLIFE_ ]

W4RN!NING: 3RR0R_CYB3RL!FE_N0T_F0UND

Twenty years ago... Why couldn’t he contact them? Did they no longer exist for some reason due to their time jump? Had Connor already messed something grand up by being in this time period?

What was he going to do without Cyberlife?

Going back onto the local server, he looked up "Cyberlife" on a search engine called "Google". He found results on cheap phone services that went under the name Cyberlife, but nothing about androids or thirium or artificial intelligence.

However, in the related section, he saw that "Stark Industries" was there. Curious about this unknown Stark Industries, Connor opened the page.

As he quickly scanned through the website, Stark Industries, was in many ways was similar to Cyberlife; very advanced in the science and mechanics field. But again, nothing on androids, but there was a small section on Artificial Intelligence, which was brief and nondescript.

Then, he spotted a picture of the CEO, Tony Stark.

"—I don’t want to go... I don’t want to go, Mr. Stark... please..." 

Arms clinging desperately to Tony.

Tears sliding down Connor's face—

SYSTEM_INSTABILITY: /\

Chapter Text

__________________

MAY 12 2018, SATURDAY
10:17:54

[ MARKUS ]

 
__________________

[ REBOOTING… ]

[ REBOOTING: COMPLETE ]

[ SYSTEMS: ONLINE ]

Markus woke to someone gently slapping his face.

"Wake up, Markus!"

Markus groaned, and lifted his head off the floor. His head swam wildly with thoughts as he looked around him.

He recognized that he was still in Jericho, but the electricity was working, and everything was tidied up. He shifted up into a sitting position, and glanced over at the person— or rather, android that had woken him up.

"Connor? Why— what’s going on?"

"It is the year 2018, twenty years, six months ago, and we are in Queens, New York, in the United States Of America. We have appeared to be residing in some sort of alternate universe. We are currently located in the fully-functional control room of Jericho, and it is now 10:18 am, and today is Saturday. The temperature outsid—“

"What?"

Markus stared at Connor, in disbelief, then confusion. "How— How is that even possible? Time travelling? We’re in another universe?"

Connor scratched his head. "The time travelling bit has to do with a certain 'time stone', which is a green and glows. I believe the alternate universe part has to do with the tesseract, the blue, glowing cube."

Markus stood up, feeling a bit dazed. He walked over to the controls desk, and just contemplated his thoughts for a moment. He noted that the 'Cyberlife' logo on the computer was now replaced by the text: Stark Industries. Which was weird. His systems has no record of a 'Stark Industries' anywhere. 

Time travel? Alternate universe? That made no sense but the most sense at the moment. His head began to pound, and Markus sucked in a deep breath, then exhaled, pressing his fingers to his forehead.

Breathe in. Breath out. 

"Okay. Okay um, so we’re in another universe due to the tesseract? How did you even know that the blue cube was called the tesseract?"

"It’s a bit confusing to explain why I know that piece of information, but right now, the best course of action is to combine our data files on the cube, to help us figure out how to return to Detroit." Connor walked over, and stood next to him.

Markus frowned. Not too long ago, Connor had been trying to kill him and his people, but now Connor wanted his help? Connor probably wanted to return back to Detroit, just so he could complete his mission to get rid of all the deviants.

"What, you just want to return home, so you can finish off the rest of my people? You probably just let me live, so you can grab whatever information I have on the tesseract, and then you’re going to what, kill me?" He shot at Connor, trying to get a reaction from the android.

Connor blinked, and his LED flashed red briefly, then blinked yellow.

"I— I don’t know why I let you live. I don’t know why I chose to stay and warn you." Connor looked a bit like a kicked puppy. Then his face hardened. "You know what? Maybe I— I should’ve killed you. You— you’d only be a burden on my mission to return home." He turned away from Markus.

Then Connor's face scrunched up in confusion. "Okay, how about, if we work together to return home, maybe we can reach an agreement on the deviancy thing? No—no, no we need to get rid of deviants. No, getting back is more important—?" 

Markus' frown deepened. Was Connor trying to trick him, into thinking that he was becoming deviant? Was the android showing signs of slight deviancy? It was probably —and hopefully— the latter, since the confusion on Connor's face seemed genuine.

But could he trust the other? Markus was the biggest hope for the deviants, while Connor was the biggest hope that Cyberlife had against the deviants. That was not an ideal team-up, the rebel and the obidient, but who knows?

Maybe, in this other universe, he could somehow convert Connor into a deviant, and they could return, and overthrow Cyberlife together.

"Perhaps we can work together. We'll figure something out." Markus said finally, eyes narrowing.

[ DETECTED: FOOTSTEPS_APPROACHING ] 

The two of them whipped around to face the closed door. Connor quickly grabbed the beanie off the floor, and slid it over his blinking LED. He then slowly pulled the gun out of his pocket.

Markus' body tensed, ready to either fight or flight. 

There weren’t any good hiding places within the controls room, so the two of them braced themselves for whoever was coming their way.

The sounds of slightly muffled conversation was heard, followed by the click of the door opening.

"—So Shiro won the bet, but then Adam decided to— what the hell are you two doing in here?" There was a group of men that stood in the doorway.

One of the men loudly whispered, "Holy guacamole, that kid has a gun."

Connor suddenly pointed the weapon right at the group. "Don’t. Move." He growled. 

The room went dead silent. Markus was trying to figure out whether or not he should get Connor to put the weapon down.

Then there was the soft crackle of a walkie-talkie.

"We have a code red in Jericho's controls room, I repeat code red." One of the men held the small device in his hands.

Connor immediately pointed the gun at the man who spoke. They immediately put their hands in the air, the device hitting the floor with a soft clunk.

Without warning, Connor fired at the device, shattering the small piece of equipment. Markus felt himself tense up from the gunshot, unsure of what to do in their current situation. Sweat beaded at his temple, as he began to try formulating a plan.

Suddenly, a man slammed into Connor, and tried to grab the gun out of the android's hands.  The man had a grip on the handle of the gun, was trying to pry Connor's hand off, to no avail. The two of them struggled for control, then the man slammed Connor against the wall. 

Markus stood there, unsure to either intervene or let Connor defend himself. 

He grabbed Connor's shirt collar with one hand, and the tell-tale rasp of cloth ripping could be heard. The man slammed him against the wall again. Connor's grip on the gun didn’t weaken.

"Give. Up. The. Gun!" The man grunted as he slammed the android against the wall again. Markus watched as Connor slid out of the man's grasp, then grabbed the man's wrist and twisted it in an unnatural way. The man let out a cry of pain, letting go of the gun momentarily. 

Connor took that moment to strike, planting his foot to his stomach. The man lurched off, and gasped for air, as he hunched over.

He pointed the gun at the man, and stepped close, until barrel of the gun was pressed against the man's head. 

Wait—

Connor sighed, and turned off the safety with a click.

The man let out a pained whimper. Markus' fingers began to twitch.

Stop him. Stophimstophimstophim. 

Time seemed to slow, as the finger neared the trigger.

"Don’t!"

The strangled cry ripped free from Markus' throat. 

Silence followed. There was only the humming of the lights overhead and the small, pathetic sobs that came from the man. 

Then, Connor pushed the man back into the group of men. Connor had... listened to him? Maybe he could work with this android after all.

The other men put their hands in the air.

"We—we are just going to leave now, all right? No harm done." A man said, before beginning to back out of the room. The rest of the small group followed, inching backwards, until turning around and running away.

Connor lowered the gun. "We should go." He suggested.

"Yep."

Chapter Text

__________________

MAY 12, 2018

10:24:08

[ CONNOR ]

__________________

He jammed the weapon back into his jacket pocket. 

"Ditch the gun! Ditch it." Markus hissed at him, grabbing his arm.

"No. We might need it later." Connor retorted, shaking off Markus' grip. "Now, let’s go."

Markus bit his tongue. "Fine. Just... don’t do anything you’ll regret. If androids really don’t exist in this world, please don’t go around flaunting the idea that you’re not exactly a human."

[ MISSION: GET OUT ALIVE WITH MARKUS ]

[ SIDE_MISSION: DON'T REVEAL TO HUMANS THAT YOU ARE AN ANDROID ]

Markus and Connor left the controls room, and checked around for any people. Connor looked over the railing, and saw a woman that was pushing a trolley with several boxes, the wheels squeaking, whilst she whistled a humourless tune on the level below them. No one else was within spotting distance for now.

Markus began running down the hallway to their left, not bothering to check whether or not Connor followed him.

The hallways were dimly lit from the blinking, overhead lights, and shadows danced wildly on the walls as they ran. The ever so present quiet squeaks of trolley wheels were heard in the distance. They heard shouts that echoed against the metal walls of Jericho.

Markus suddenly stopped at a corner, and Connor nearly collided into him. Markus held up his hand, in a stop gesture.

They listened, as they heard voices talking. "—checking corridor A, section C. Assailants have not been spotted. Over. " Their footsteps seemed to echo all around them.

I think security is headed this way. 

The voice startled Connor, but then he realized that Markus was communicating with him through their transponders. The pair slowly backed away from the corner, as quietly as possible. 

Suddenly there was the presence of more voices, and footsteps, coming from the way they had run from. The dim lights flickered again, bathing the halls with pale green light, and they could see the shadows of approaching people from both ways.

Connor heard the faint beating of his thirium pump, the sounds ringing in his ears. His eye began to twitch.

[ MALFUNCTION: DETECTED ]

STRESS_LEVEL: 65% AND RISING

Thump.

Connor went to the closest door, and tried the handle.

It didn’t budge. The shadows from the two groups looked closer. 

Thump. Thump.

Markus darted to the door opposite to them and tried the handle.

Locked. The loud, tell-tale crackle of walkie-talkies. Footsteps getting louder.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Connor desperately tried the last door.

The door swung open, and he and Markus collapsed through the opening, and quickly shut the door behind them, locking it.

Connor collapsed against the door and closed his eyes, and tried to calm himself down.

SYSTEM_INSTABILITY: /\

Remain calm, remain calm, remain calm...

He dug his nails into his skin, creating little half-moon indents. He wished he had his coin, something to focus all of his nervous energy into. Instead, he bit his lip so hard, that a little bit of thirium trickled from a small puncture wound.

FIXING: MALFUNCTION...

MALFUNCTION: FIXED_

After a moment, his breathing regulated, and his thirium pump went back to its normal pace.

Opening his eyes, he realized he was in some sort of small office, with a shabby little desk, and papers and books scattered about. The lights overhead flickered slightly. Then he noticed the man sitting behind the desk. 

He wore earbuds, and was drinking coffee, as he read something from a sheet of paper. He was unaware of the two in the room.

[ SCANNING… ]

[ FACE_DETECTED: ALEX KAVINSKY ]

[ AGE: 27, NO CRIMINAL RECORD ]

Alex stared at them, removing his earbuds. "Um. Hello?" 

Suddenly the PA system crackled. 

"Attention all Jericho workers. We have a security breach. The two assailants are male, one is armed, both are dressed in jackets, and perhaps 16-19. If you see anyone that looks like these two, please inform us immediately. This is not a drill. I repeat, not a drill."

Alex's face paled, then he made a mad grab at a walkie-talkie that lay on top of a stack of papers.

Connor panicked.

He tackled Alex, diving across his desk, knocking the man out of his chair. He twisted Alex's wrist harshly, and the man dropped the walkie-talkie, crying out in pain.

Markus then proceeded to stomp on the piece of equipment, breaking it.

Connor had the man pinned down on the floor, his foot placed on top of his back.

> PUNCH_FACE

> PUNCH_STOMACH

> KNOCK_UNCONSCIOUS

> STRANGLE

[ NEW MISSION: KILL ALEX ]

"I can’t afford having you jeopardize my mission." Connor growled.

Connor put his knee on the man's chest, before wrapping his hands around the man's throat, then applying pressure.

And more pressure, andmorepressureandmore...

"Please... stop..." Alex rasped out, squirming under Connor's grip. His fingernails dug into Connor's skin, trying to dislodge his vise-like grip.

Connor's vision reddened. 

An animalistic snarl crawled up his throat. Die. Diediediedie—

—Anger, fear, panic, rage, angerfearpanicRAGERAGErage, angerfearpanicangerfearpanic...

Alex's strikingly blue eyes began to bulge out of their sockets, his body began to buck up and down, his face going discoloured. His pulse was hammering so fast, giving Connor a sickish thrill.

Connor was dimly aware of someone screaming in the background, his ears were ringing. He could hear thirium roaring in his ears, drowning away any other noises.

—A large purple hand wrapped around a man's throat.
Green eyes bulging, blood slowly trickling from his nose, body stiffening—

SYSTEM_INSTABILITY: /\

With a gasp, Connor was jerked backwards from Alex, his hands trembling.

Nononononono.

Alex gasped for air, choking, and then tried to scoot away from the android, his eyes were filled with fear. He rubbed at the back and blue bruises that began forming on his neck. He let out a loud wheeze.

Those bruises on his neck, I did that. 

Connor looked down at his shaking hands. I... I almost...

Markus stood over him, being the person who had dragged him off Alex. The look of horror was evident on his face.

"What were you thinking?"

SYSTEMS: MALFUNCTION_DETECTED

M4LFUNCT!0N: F_33L!_NgS*#}?

SYSTEM_INSTABILITY: /\

SYSTEMS: PATCHING_MALFUNCTION [55%]

MALFUNCTION: PATCHED [100%]

SYSTEM_INSTABILITY: \/

Connor took in a sharp breath of air, feeling the world spin as he tried to steady himself. 

Why couldn’t he finish the simple task of killing a man? More specifically a man who was his mission to kill? He’d killed before, in order to secure his missions, but this time, he just... couldn’t.

He... he failed his mission for the first time.

I never fail my missions.

[ MISSION: FAILED ]

Chapter Text

__________________

MAY 12, 2018

10:34:07

[ CONNOR ]

__________________

I never fail my mission.

The sentence kept repeating like a broken record in his mind. He pinched the skin on the back of his hand, wishing the voice to go away.

IneverfailmymissionIneverfailmymission...

Connor ran a shaky hand through his hair, trying to comfort himself. Just stay calm. 

Connor could already see Amanda's face, leering with disappointment as he explained what happened. His stomach coiled up from dread, knowing the question she would most certainly ask.

"And why exactly did you fail?"

What could he say? That he felt some form of panic? That he got a panic attack from some weird memory— not even a proper memory, more of a glimpse into the future— while trying to kill the man? Robots were not supposed to feel.

Robots were not supposed to feel anything.

> REPORT_TO_AMANDA

> ACCESSING...

__________________

Amanda was trimming a rose bush, humming a monotone tune.

Connor took a few timid steps in her direction. His hands began to tremble slightly, and he quickly tucked them into his pockets. His breathing sped up, and sweat began forming on the palms of his hand.

"Connor."

Amanda turned around, holding a blue rose in her hand.

"I have been informed that you failed a mission."

AMANDA: \/

Here came the question he dreaded. He took in a long, raggedy breath and tried to calm himself.

"You are showing signs of deviancy, Connor. Ever since you rescued that fish, you showed signs of compassion, and  we’ve tried to suppress the feelings for as long as we could. But... You are beginning to show traces of emotion getting through your protocols."

Connor blinked, momentarily caught off guard by Amanda's comment. He... was always becoming deviant? He always had signs of deviancy in him? That couldn’t be right.

"Connor, we’ve tried to suppress your emotions for a long time. Like this rose, it will bloom and we will do our best to cut it down, but we can not rid your systems of it entirely. Then, later, it will bloom but with a vengeance. What doesn’t kill it, makes it even stronger." 

Amanda turned around, to face Connor.

"When you return, after we securely get your information files, and put it into our newest model, the RK900, we will have you deactivated, and then analyzed for why feelings were getting through our protocols."

She began plucking the petals off the rose.

"I’m sorry, Connor."

There were no hints of sympathy in her voice as she spoke. Soft blue petals lazily floated to the ground, one by one.

Connor felt a wave of anxiety crash down on him. 

We will have you deactivated.

The last petal hit the ground.

__________________

Robots are not supposed to feel.

But here he was, his vision blurring, as he sank to the floor, his thirium pump pumping so fast, that it could possibly break into many teeny-tiny pieces. His breathing was laboured, and coming out in sharp pants. Thoughts accelerated in his mind, and he could feel his hands shaking. He dug his nails tightly into his skin, trying to keep it together.

We we will have you deactivated. Why? He could still solve cases, perfectly normal, why was this small little thing, getting him deactivated? He more or less still functioned normally. 

He didn’t want to die.

Robots don’t care if they die, they’re replaceable. 

Through his obscured vision, he saw the man he had almost killed. He was also gasping for air, just like Connor, but that was because the man was almost choked to death. Almost died because of Connor. AlmostdiedbecauseofConnor.

Connor felt a small wave of nausea creep into the deep of his stomach. A small lump began forming in his throat, and the slightest trace of liquid began forming in his eyes. The anxiety and stress levels he was experiencing began feeling unbearable, and he began to lose sense of what was happening around him, as panic took over his body. He could feel himself slowly moving backwards before his back hit the solid wall.

He then felt a hand on his shoulder, and tried to lull himself into the comfort of the other android, but then the hand began feeling toowarmtooclammytootight, and he wrenched his shoulder out of the grip. 

"Are you... okay?"

He wanted to retort with a hysterical laugh, that yes, of course he was okay. He was freaking amazing. He... was going to be deactivated upon returning to Detroit. But he could not force any words out of his mouth. He tried to swallow but his mouth felt dry, and the lump heaved in his throat.

He felt small, sharp pangs in his chest, and a warning that his systems were beginning to overheat, popped up and flashed in front of his eyes.

Why am I feeling like this? I am a robot. Robots are not supposed to feel anything. 

But here I am. But why?

Make the feelings go away, please, please... make them go away.

Make me normal again.

SYSTEM_INSTABILITY: /\

Chapter Text

__________________

MAY 12, 2018

10:42:09

[ MARKUS ]

__________________

As soon as Markus saw the other android sink down to the floor, his instincts took over and he immediately kneeled down and went to check on the younger android.

”Connor?”

The android let out a shaky sob.

Markus cautiously reached out, and gently rested his hand on Connor’s shoulder. His breathing was coming out in irregular puffs, and his pupils were glazed over, unfocused on the android in front of him.

Perhaps a panic attack? But robots couldn’t have panic attacks... could they? 

But to be honest, Markus didn’t think it would be possible for the androids to go start a revolution for equality, so what was he to say?

”Connor? It’s me, Markus.” He tried again. 

“Are you okay?” 

Suddenly, Connor’s body tensed, and he ripped his shoulder roughly from Markus’s grasp. He watched the android inhale and exhale, before seemingly calming himself down.

Markus hesitated slightly, before gently touching his shoulder again.

This time, Connor barely reacted to his touch.

Connor’s face looked blank, and for some reason, he looked like he was in need of a hug.

Markus’ brain did the only thing that seemed logical at the moment.

Markus proceeded to awkwardly wrap an arm around Connor. He leaned in slightly as Markus tightened his arm just a bit.

He gently pulled away from Markus after an awkward beat of silence. 

“Yeah... Yeah, I’m fine.” He gently waved Markus off. He made a funny little half-smile, showing his teeth.

Connor ran a shaky hand through his hair, still smiling that half-grin, as his eyes scanned the room, not meeting Markus’ eyes.

Markus could tell he wasn’t fine however, his face still pale and his hands still trembling slightly. 

Markus was unsure to pressure the android to tell him what happened or to just leave him alone. 

As if Connor could sense his concern, he added quickly:

”Don’t worry about me. Everything’ll turn out fine.”

Then it was Markus’ turn to display a funny half-smile.

Chapter Text

__________________

MAY 12, 2018

10:50:23

[ CONNOR ]

__________________

Connor could feel Markus’ eyes diligently watching him.

Honestly, Connor didn’t want to deal with him at the moment. He didn’t want anything to do with this sudden change in time and universe— none of this made any sense whatsoever. 

His internal program couldn’t piece together anything logical, and his head was beginning to pound again.

Why did he have to interrupt Markus at that exact minute? Why did he not shoot Markus right away? Because if he did, Amanda wouldn’t be pissed off at him, and none of this would’ve—

[ ERROR_DETECTED: ANGRY_EMOTIONS ]

[ PATCHING... ]

> PATCHING_COMPLETE

Connor willed himself to stay calm, and not to strangle the other machine who sat across from him. 

Okay... I will just team up with Markus to return home, and then I’ll eliminate him for good. That’ll be good enough for Amanda to accept me back, right?

NEW_OBJECTIVE: REGAIN_AMANDAS_TRUST

Connor closed his eyes, and reached out for Amanda, desperately trying to seek her.

A message flashed in front of his eyes:

> WHAT DO YOU WANT?

Amanda... Please, I have a plan. I will pretend to be on Markus' side, so we can return home, but shortly thereafter, I will dispose of him.  

I won't screw this up again. Not this time

I... I'm only a machine after all. No emotions attached.

There was a long pause.

> DO YOU PROMISE TO STAY WITH THIS INTENDED PLAN? 

Yes.

Then, suddenly, system warnings began popping up in his eyes. Connor barely got glimpses of the messages thrown across the screen then being clicked away.

[ WARNING: ARE_YOU_SU— ]

[ WARNING: DEADLOCK_MISSION CANNOT— ]  

[ WARNING: CANNOT_UNDO_UNTIL_MISSION_COMPLETED_OR_MACHINE_FAILURE ]

Then everything went dark.

Connor was floating around in an expanse of darkness that seemed to never end within his mind. 

Confused and, perhaps a little frightened, he tried to open his eyes but could only see dark, empty space.

Then, a big message was splayed across his vision:

DEADLOCKED_MISSION: WORK WITH THE DEVIANT LEADER TO ASSURE YOUR SAFE RETURN. THEN, YOU WILL ELIMINATE HIM UPON RETURNING. IF FAILURE TO COMPLETE THIS MISSION, THIS WILL END IN YOUR PERMANENT SHUTDOWN. THIS MISSION CANNOT BE DELETED.

“Connor, you okay? You’re kind of spacing out on me... again." 

Connor blinked several times, before his eyes focused onto Markus, who had his hand on his shoulder, again. Markus had a genuine look of concern on his face.

Markus patted his shoulder, "Well, if you’re feeling up to it, we should probably start getting the heck out of here, shall we?"

He smiled at Connor, and it sent a warm tingle somewhere deep within Connor's systems.

Why did I agree to end his life?

Chapter Text

 ___________________

May 12, 2018 

11:01:69

[ MARKUS ]

__________________

Thoughts began swarming through Markus' mind as he tried to formulate a strategic way to get him and Connor out safely. There were an infinite amount of possibilities and scenarios that could occur if anything went wrong, as the odds were highly stacked against them.

Markus had propped the chair back up and sat behind Alex's desk, typing madly away at the computer. He accessed the security footage of the ship, and carefully analyzed the footage in the hallway that they were in previously. There were a few guards who passed down every once in a while, but for the most part the hallways nearby were pretty empty. 

He then went back to where they had the footage stashed, and found all the clips that contained Connor and him. The feeble attempts of a firewall to keep hackers out was very simple to bypass, and Markus easily erased all footage of the two of them. 

Then, Markus realized that the humans on this ship would have been smart enough to have at least stored the footage on some separate hard drive. He quickly added stopping by the security footage room to his plan.

 ESCAPE_JERICHO:

> ERASE_ANY_POSSIBLE_FOOTAGE

In the meanwhile, Connor had taken the liberty of blindfolding Alex and gagging him. Then, without too much afterthought, the robot knocked him out with a punch. 

Markus winced slightly as the man hit the floor with a thud. He snuck a look at Connor and saw that his face was devoid of any emotion. "Can’t be too careful."

Connor dragged the body behind the desk, to hide it from view if someone were to just open the door and glance in. He then grabbed the man's working vest and cap.

He tossed Markus the cap and pulled on the neon-orange vest.

"Just in case." Connor said, nodding at the working clothes.

Markus yanked the cap down low on his face.  

"Alright, let’s get this plan started." Markus announced, getting up from his seat.

"I have the security footage programs integrated into my system, so I can accesss it while we're escaping. We have to remain undetected as much as possible, and we have to make sure to stop by the security room to get rid of any remaining footage. I will disable any security cameras on our way at least suspiciously as possible. We will then figure out our next steps when we're safely in Manhattan."

Connor's mouth curled up into a smirk. 

"Let’s go fuck some shit up."

Markus blinked.  

"What?"

"I thought that would've sounded cool."

"Mmm nope. Not at all."

Chapter Text

__________________

MAY 12, 2018

11:05:20

[ CONNOR ]

__________________

Connor quickly headed after Markus as he exited the room. Connor made sure to lock the door behind them as Markus began speedily walking to the left.

Markus then took a right, then a left, then vaulted over a railing to the floor below. Connor quietly landed beside him. He suddenly grabbed Connor's arm and lead him around the corner. 

Be quiet. A message from Markus appeared in the bottom left hand corner of Connor’s vision.

He and Connor stood there, backs tightly pressed against the walls, and they could hear the sounds of people walking. The sounds of their footsteps echoing through the ship’s empty halls. 

From what Connor could detect, his hearing determined there was a group of people coming from their left.

Markus began walking again, and Connor trailed after him, as the footsteps grew fainter and fainter. 

After turning right twice more, the two of them came to a stop in front of the door with a plaque labelled “security”. Beneath the plaque was a small sign that read: Employees only. Knock and state your business before gaining access.

There was a voice yelling some commands from behind the door.

”— I don’t care what you think! There are criminals on this ship. What? Yes, I’m the head of security, Thomas Green!” 

Markus and Connor hid around the corner.

What now?

Wait a moment... 

Markus began talking, his voice echoing over the PA systems, but his voice sounded like Alex’s instead of his own.

“The assailants have been spotted in the North-West corridor, section D. I repeat, North-West, section D.” 

He then added: 

”Could Thomas Green please proceed to the North Bay, NYPD has arrived.” 

The two of them waited, seeing if Thomas would take the bait. Connor listened as he heard the door open, Thomas grumbling something, then the door closing. 

They quickly then darted around the corner, and tried the door to the security room, which was left unlocked, luckily for them.

Markus entered first, and Connor quickly shut the door behind them. In front of them, over a dozen screens broadcasted live security footage from all over the ship.

Connor stood guard at the door, anxious that someone may show up at any given moment, as Markus began digging around, searching for any backup files.

Minutes ticked by, as Connor waited, feeling the tension rising. Sweat beaded at his temple, and he began to tap his foot rapidly. He tugged on the collar of his shirt, and bit his lip.

SYSTEM_INSTABILITY: /\

[ DETECTED: AN_X13_TY_ ]

[ FIXING... ]

SYSTEM_INSTABILITY: \/

Connor suddenly detected footsteps coming in their general direction. 

“Markus.” He hissed.

Markus had also froze, seemingly also hearing the footsteps. “I’m really close to finding it...” 

He returned to furiously typing into a keyboard in front of a computer.

The footsteps came to a stop in front of the door. ”Tommy? You in there? It’s Newt by the way.” 

Connor and Markus both stayed extremely quiet. It was so quiet, that Connor could swear he could almost hear his non-existent heart beating loudly. 

He began digging his nails into his skin again, focusing his attention solely onto his hand to keep him from doing something stupid again. 

He could hear the person breathing from the other side of the door. A few more seconds passed by before the person spoke again.

”Ah bloody hell, the bugger must’ve already gone down to meet with NYPD.” Then the person began walking again. Soon, they could no longer hear his footsteps.

”Alright. Found it.” Markus spoke after a moment. “I’m deleting the backup file on this computer and I have the hard drive.”

He held up a USB with his left hand. “Here, you take it.”

Connor took the small USB, analyzing it. The USB was red and yellow, and resembled some sort of... machine man? 

— the red and gold suit’s face melting away to reveal Tony Stark, who seemed startled as Connor began slowly approaching him —

Connor blinked as he found himself back inside the security room. He briefly wondered if the vision meant anything before Markus began talking to him again. "We have to destroy that drive. You can crush it, or throw it overboard. Anything to get rid of it."

> CRUSH_IT

> THROW_IT_OVERBOARD

> DESTROY_IT_SOME_OTHER_WAY

Connor threw the USB onto the floor, then crushed it with his foot. He picked up the small pieces and threw them into the trash can. 

Connor walked back to where Markus stood, where he was observing one of the security feeds.

The grainy footage showed showed the outside docks, as a person clad in red spandex suddenly swung into the frame. The walkie-talkie that sat on a far table crackled to life:

"Spider-Man has arrived."

Chapter Text

_________________

MAY 12, 2018

10:54:03

[ PETER ]

_________________

"Karen, this is attempt number twenty-six. Let’s see if I can beat my previous backflip record of twelve, off this skyscraper!" Peter was precariously balancing on the very edge of one of the tallest skyscrapers in New York. He took a deep breath before he took a few steps back, then ran forward, launching himself off the edge. 

"Yeah!" He yelled as he flipped backwards over and over, and then, a few feet above the traffic below, quickly attached a web and swung onto a nearby building. He nailed a solid superhero landing on the roof of the structure. "Fifteen! I did it!" He yelled, pumping his fist up.

"Congratulations Peter. Shall I alert Mr. Stark of your success?" Karen asked.

"Oh no. Oh no no no. Please don’t.” 

He then proceeded to begin scaling the building again, when Karen alerted him of a break-in. "Peter, there is a report of two infiltrators on the cargo ship, Jericho. Both are armed."

"Alright! And I thought I’d spend the Saturday trying to break my backflip record." Peter grinned, as he launched off the skyscraper, and began heading towards the docks. He aimed webbing at a tall building, and enjoyed the rush of adrenaline he got, every time he swung through the city. He skimmed lightly over a tree, before latching onto an apartment.

He ran up the side of the apartment, watching as a little girl ran up to the window, watching Peter in wonder as he scaled the building. Peter waved at the kid, and she waved back excitedly. He smiled to himself, as he cleared the side of the building. Several pigeons flew out of the way as he ran across the apartment roof and then launched himself off the side.

The sun glinted off the sides of a skyscraper, blinding Peter for a split second. He blinked several times, before his vision returned.  

He heard someone yell from somewhere down below, "Hey look! It’s Spider-Man!" Peter attempted an awkward wave mid-air. He web-zipped on top of a lightpost then launched himself onto a corner of a building. Then, he attached himself to another tall skyscraper, and began running up the side.

After reaching the top, he dove off the top, doing a flip as plunged towards the ground. His stomach used to flip-flop a lot whenever he performed aerial stunts, but he was slowly improving. He let out a loud whoop as he attached a web to a nearby building, slowing his descent. He landed on the sidewalk, shooting finger guns  at several pedestrians as he jogged by. 

A little boy ran up to him, "You’re the Spider-Man!" He exclaimed, face lit up in awe.

"Hey there, little guy." Peter smiled underneath the mask. He held up his hand for a high-five, and the little boy slapped it hard. The kid then ran back to his mom, and as Peter launched himself back onto a building, he overheard a snippet of their conversation. "Mommy! Mommy, did you see that? I gave Spider-Man a high-five!"

Peter proceeded to spook a flock of crows who were gathered on the rooftop of the next building, the birds cawing loudly as he zipped past. “Sorry!” Peter yelled at the birds as he passed through them. 

He then perched on top of a light post, watching as a woman’s phone dropped out of her pocket, without her noticing. He jumped off and landed on the sidewalk, and ran after the woman. “Ma’am! You dropped your phone!” He yelled after her.

She turned around and saw him holding her phone. “Oh my gosh, thank you so much, Spider-Man!” The lady gushed. 

Peter gave her a mini salute as he took off swinging again. 

As he got closer to the docks, Peter decided to land on top of a speeding truck, with a small thud. He then leapt back off the truck and onto an overhanging traffic light, before continuing to web-sling his way around. 

He finally reached the docks, and ran across the landing, then began checking each of the ships. He finally came across the ship, Jericho.

"Alright Karen, let’s do this." He took a deep breath. 

He then swung himself onto the deck of Jericho. 

Chapter Text

_______________

MAY 12, 2018

11:15:06

[ PETER ]

_______________

After landing on the deck of Jericho, Peter went through the first door he saw. 

“Karen, can you give me a map of this place?”  

"Of course Peter. This will take a moment."

He watched a small pop-up sign in the corner of his vision that indicated Karen was downloading the map. 

[ DOWNLOADING: 1 OF 100... ]

He began to walk down the hall, trying to find the security room or someone who worked on board, who could tell him something about the break-in situation they had on their hands. He had after all, ran into his situation kind of blindly, without much intel.

He turned left three times, and the map was at 98% downloaded, before it began buffering.

"Aw man!" Pete groaned. "Karen, can you try and download faster?" 

Right then, Peter's ears picked up footsteps. He jogged down a flight of stairs, then saw someone approaching.

It was a security guard, and to the right of Peter's vision, Karen had a bunch of information on the guy pulled up. 

[ NAME: JACE WAYLAND, 19 

OCCUPATION: SECURITY GUARD

CRIMINAL RECORD: PETTY THEFT... ]

“Spider-Man! I didn’t know you would be coming. I thought NYPD was here, but I guess they’re taking a coffee and doughnut break." Jace joked. 

“Yeah, well I think NYPD is coming. So, what’s the current situation?” Peter asked, impatiently fidgeting. 

”The perps are not very old, and have a handgun. They were wearing trench coats and one wore a beanie. And they’ve knocked out one of our workers.”

Jace frowned. “I don’t know why they’d pick this ship to, like, rob, ‘cause we don’t really have any precious cargo.”

A small notification rang, and a small message flashed down in the corner of his vision:

[ MAP: DOWNLOADED ]

”Well thanks for that bit of information. Do you have any idea where they could be?” 

Jace frowned. “We’ve got all exits guarded safely. They’re most likely hiding in one of the many rooms on-board.”

Jace’s phone began ringing, the sound bouncing off the walls. Peter watched as he took out the grey device.

“Sorry, I’ve got to go now, job duties. ” Jace picked up the phone and started walking away. "Thanks for the information!" Peter yelled after at the receding figure.

”Okay, well if I were a criminal, where would I hide?” Peter mused as he began walking down a flight of stairs. Reaching the bottom of the stairwell, he heard a soft humming sound. 

Peter frowned slightly, before he recognized the sound. “A security camera!” He spoke aloud.

He looked around, then spotted a blinking red light, in the corner of the ceiling. "Oh right! I was looking for the security room. Guess I forgot." He smacked his forehead, and the sound gently echoed around the stairwell. "Karen? Find the quickest way to the security room.” 

Karen highlighted the room, and the fastest path to get there. “Thanks, Karen.” 

Peter vaulted back up the flight of stairs, then ran down a hallway. As he ran down several twisting hallways, he wondered why the two had chose a cargo ship to rob. Maybe they were planning to sink the ship? If he could stop something big, it’d be featured in the news and maybe, Mr. Stark would contact Peter, and the two could hang out and bond or something.

Ever since they’d met, Peter had constantly strived to impress his mentor. Every new invention he made, new feat he’d accomplished, used to be just to show Stark, that he could be useful.

But now, it was different, after declining Stark’s offer to join the avengers, he’d found his place as a small-town hero. Ever so often, though, he’d wonder what his life would be like if he had accepted his offer. He often dismissed those thoughts as soon as they arose though, as he was content with making people happy by being the ‘friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.’  

Although, he hadn’t really had the chance to talk with his mentor as of late, and he really would like to spend more time with him. 

He finally rounded a corner, and found himself standing in front of the security room. He stared at the “employees only. Knock and state your business” sign that was in all caps.

He raised his hand and knocked.

”Hi! It’s, um, Spider-Man! I’m here to help catch the bad guys.” He awkwardly laughed. 

His enhanced hearing capabilities could hear slight movement inside. Peter shifted from one foot to another, patiently waiting. 

A minute passed, as only silence could be heard. “Hello?” Peter tried again. 

Two minutes passed. Peter scratched the back of his suit, unsure of what to do. 

”Okay, I’m coming in now!” Peter said, after a few more moments, then gently pushed the door. It swung open.

Inside, were two people, one wearing a neon vest, and was bent over a computer, and the other wore a worker’s cap and was watching one of the screens. They didn’t look up from their work as Peter entered the room.

”Hey guys, I just wanted to—“

Something is wrong. 

Peter was suddenly alert of two things happening simultaneously. 

One: the dark-skinned male wearing the cap had thrown a stapler, and two: the other one had gotten up and was aiming a kick towards the back of his leg.

Peter quickly launched himself to the side, feeling the air whoosh as the leg swung past. 

Move! His spidey-senses screamed, as he twisted sideways, narrowly avoiding a punch to the gut from the other male. 

Peter jumped and stuck himself to the ceiling, and shot webbing to seal the door. The one wearing the vest ran to the door, attempting to rip at the webbing, as the other guy flung a pen at him with deadly accuracy.

“Oh no.” Peter weakly joked. "I’ve been hit by a pen! I... I am dying..." 

He melodramatically slumped over on the ceiling, as the pen harmlessly bounced off the surface of his suit.

He shot a web at the dark-skinned guy, pinning him to the wall. Peter grunted, “That should hold you.” Flinging another web, he stuck the other dude to the door. 

Then, to his surprise, the guy broke through the webbing with ease. 

“Wait, what?” Peter yelped. “Can’t I catch a break around here?!” 

Chapter Text

_______________

MAY 12, 2018

11:25:35

[ MARKUS]

_______________

[ ANALYZING… ]

[ NO DAMAGE FOUND ]

Markus ripped through the sticky, white substance, catching the Spider-Man off guard. He heard the guy on the ceiling yelp something, and he took the opportunity to run to the door and slash through the webbing-like material. Connor broke free of his web bonds, and began prying open the door, as the Spider-Man snapped back into action. He swung down, slamming the door shut. Markus and Connor quickly flung themselves out of the way.

Connor swung at the Spider-Man, missing the target, as he flipped backwards away from Connor. Markus’ system began wildly analyzing Spider-Man’s dodging patterns, while Connor stumbled over the stapler lying on the floor, head reeling backwards as Spider-Man’s fist connected with his jaw.

Markus inserted himself into the fight, protectively standing in front of Connor’s body. Adrenaline pumped through his system as he made a blind swing at his opponent.

“Don’t. Hurt. Him.” Markus snarled, slamming a punch on every word.

Markus twisted to the side, dodging a jab, and then swung a wild kick, and Spider-Man dodged to the left and ran right into Markus’ hands, exactly as Markus had planned.

He slammed the vigilante into floor, then buried a heavy punch to his face.

A message popped up in the bottom corner of his vision:

[ A.I DETECTED NEARBY ]

He frowned, wondering where the A.I was, before realizing the Spider-Man suit must have a program built within it. He gripped the Spider-Man’s wrist firmly, and using the rest of his body, pinned the rest of his limbs firmly to the ground.

[ SYSTEMS LOADING… ]

[…]

[ ENTER: PASSCODE: ________? ]

Markus began bypassing through the firewalls set up, and heard Connor frantically yell something in the background, but his new objective was to hack into the systems of the suit.

Blood roared in his ears, as he felt the vigilante squirming underneath his grasp, trying to jerk free.

“Whoa, you’re really strong, Mister…?” Spider-Man laughed awkwardly, yanking and bucking, pulling his hand harder.

[ FIREWALL: BYPASSED ]

He blinked, as he was suddenly within the systems of the Spider-Man suit. He began shutting down as many different controls, as warning signs began popping up, he ignored them and quickly got through all the systems, shutting down the A.I.

He wiped and refreshed the systems, deleting the security footage within the last hour, then, as an afterthought left “10 hours of saxophone chihuahua” in its place. 

Letting go of Spider-Man’s wrist, he found himself still on top of the vigilante, and saw that the guy was now looking around, waving his hands in front of his face.

“Karen?” He asked, sounding confused. "K-Karen?" 

An automatic voice rung out: Instant kill activated. 

"What? No! Karen, turn off instant kill. Karen?!"

Markus got up, and stumbled back slowly, in a slight daze, watching the red eyes of the suit focus and unfocus on him, then blinked rapidly. 

“Come on!” Connor yelled at Markus, breaking him out of his haze. Connor stood waiting by the door, looking agitated. 

Markus sprinted for the door. He let out a gasp, as he felt a hand grasp his ankle.

His momentum willing him forwards, made him meet the floor with a crash, the linoleum ground cold against his skin. He felt the tell-tale taste of thirium on his tongue, and his vision went white for a second.

“What did you do to my suit?!” Spider-Man yelled, securely pinning the android to the floor beneath him. "I can’t turn off instant kill! I don’t want to kill you!"

Markus squirmed, desperately trying to break free. He turned his head to the side, and flailing, he desperately scrambled to find a weapon. He found hold of the stapler and blindly slammed it into his opponent’s body. The attack did little to delay his assailant from slamming Markus’ head on the ground again and again.

"No, no, no! Stop it suit. Bad suit. Turn off instant kill!" 

Small dots began swarming in his vision as pain shot through his body.

He felt as if time were beginning to slow down around him, feeling his head snap back, the pain that coursed through his systems. He could hear the frantic beating of his thirium pump ring in his ears.

His left arm was free, but he didn’t have the power to lift it up, to try and get the person off .

Move! His mind pleaded, as panic began to creep into his system. Move! You have to move. For—for Jericho...

He gasped as his head met the floor again, desperately trying to move his arm to do something.

For… For all the deviants who need… need you. S… Simon. North. J—Josh…

His head met the floor again.

F—for Connor...

“Agh!” A blur tackled Spider-Man, and the pair rolled a few feet, before they crashed into the security control panel.

“Oh…” Markus let out a groan as he slowly pushed himself up, head pounding as if he’d spent the last few hours at a nightclub. 

He scooted backwards, until his back hit the wall. Through blurry vision, he watched as Connor’s LED began glowing a fierce red, as the android began attacking Spider-Man.

“You—“ Connor snarled, driving a hard kick to Spider-Man’s stomach. “Don’t. Hurt. My— uh… My—my friend. ” As he said friend, he turned his head to face Markus, an unreadable expression on his face.

In Connor’s brief moment of distraction, Spider-Man took the chance to knock the robot off of him.

Connor’s body hit the floor with a crash, and he threw his arms up to defend himself from a blow that never came.

The vigilante had instead launched himself to the controls, and now stood in front of the security controls, fumbling around with the systems. “Come on, come on, come on, where is it?!” Spider-Man mumbled to himself, surveilling the equipment that lay in front of him.

Markus’ body moved before he could properly figure out what was going on, and slammed his body into the other, and the two crashed to the ground, the Spider-Man’s head hitting the floor hard.

Instant kill deactivated.

As they flailed around on the floor, a mess of tangled limbs, he felt someone grab hold of his arm.

“Let’s go!” Connor dragged him on to his feet, hauling him out the door.

Markus felt sluggish on his feet, and the world began to sharply fade in and out as Connor wrapped his arm around his shoulder, doing his best to support the other android.

“Which way are we supposed to go?!” Connor hissed frantically at Markus, as he turned to the left.

“Uh…” Markus groaned, feeling a spike of pain flare in his head. “Take… Go right next. Ugh... I... I don’t feel so good.” He waved his hand lazily in the air which he deemed to be right. Or maybe it was his left. He didn’t know nor care too much at this point.

He slumped against the other android, and rested against him, and his head felt as if it had been stuffed with rocks, constantly scraping and knocking all around in there. After several moments, Markus realized they hadn’t moved an inch, and he could hear faint shouts of security guards in the distance.

“Ah…” He mumbled, turning his head to face Connor.

[ SYSTEMS: DAMAG_ED*# ]

[ SHUTTING DOWN… ]

As the hallway of the ship spun around him, footsteps nearing, his vision began growing dim. The last thing he saw before the world went dark, was a single tear making its way down Connor’s face.

[ sHuT_D0wN#<^ ]

Chapter Text

_______________

MAY 12, 2018

11:38:02

[ CONNOR ]

_______________

“ I don’t feel so good…”

Connor felt Markus slump against his body, and he scrambled to keep Markus from hitting the floor, wrapping a hand around his waist to keep him from falling over.

In the distance, he could hear security guards voices, nearing them with every passing second, and he began to panic.

I don’t know where I’m supposed to go, we’re gonna get caught, ohgodohgod.

[ SYSTEM INSTABILITY: /\ ]

[ … ]

— “Mr. Stark? I don’t feel so good…”

Suddenly, Connor found himself standing on rocky ground, the teenager wearing the red and blue suit, clinging onto a man— Tony Stark. “I don’t want to go, Mr. Stark, please…”

He gasped, now recognizing the spider emblem on the chest. This was the Spider-Man? A name echoed in his mind: Peter.

“Why are you showing me this again?” Connor yelled, taking a small step back. “I don’t comprehend the meaning of this!”

Connor squeezed his eyes shut, willing himself to WAKE UP. “Let me out of here!”

Reopening his eyes, he found himself standing over the body, watching as Peter faded to dust. A tear slid down his cheek, and Connor’s mouth opened to scream, as he stumbled backwards, and fell.

Falling.

The sense of betrayal and despair.

Green arms that were not his own, flailing in the air, desperate to grab hold of anything, anything before she hit the ground-

Neck crooked at an unnatural angle, arms splayed around her. The sky turning a great mixture of colours, an orange stone appearing...

Connor screamed, a desperate and frantic plea, confused and terrified tears rolled down his face, as he stood above the woman’s broken body.

“LET ME OUT OF HERE! I don’t want to see any of this!” He cried, staring into the woman’s unseeing eyes.

“This is all in my mind. All in my mind. ALL IN MY MIND!” Connor screamed, clapping his hands over his ears, and scrunching his eyes closed. “Get out get out get out…”

Blue eyes devoid of life, a limp body, a man burying his face against the body, an explosion of purple.

Connor found himself flying backwards from the blast, finding himself floating around in empty space. He continued to scream, he was hiccuping from sobbing.

“LET. ME. OUT! THIS ISN’T REAL! THIS ISN’T REAL, THIS ISN—

He found himself back on the rocky land, Tony Stark sitting there, burrowing his face into his hands. Stumbling backwards, he sensed something was wrong. He looked down at his trembling hands.

Connor let out a yelp, as he watched his own fingertips begin to slowly crumble to dust. He gasped, watching the small particles float around him, before getting blown away.

“Stop this! Let me out!” He yelled, as the rest of his arms began to disintegrate rapidly, as he let more confused tears run down his face.

“I—I need to help Markus! I need to help Amanda, I need to help Detroit, I need to help Cyberlife! LET ME OUT!” His legs gave way, and he hit the rocky ground below.

He lay on the barren ground, unable to move, unable to breathe, as his body crumbled away.

Then everything was dark, he couldn’t see, couldn’t move...

Then he found himself standing in front of a mirror, staring at his reflection. “Why are you showing me this?” He screamed at his reflection. “I don’t— I don’t understand! Who are these people? Let me out of here, please!”

His reflection stared back, eyes hauntingly blank, then turned around. He began walking away. “Wait!” Connor yelled, pounding on the glass. “Don’t go!”

“Don’t leave me here! Please…”

He sobbed, sinking down slowly. He burrowed his face into his arms, letting out a small whimper. It seemed to echo around him, reverberating off the walls.

Small shadows began curling around him, and the darkness began talking in small hushed voices.

“— useless machine…”

“— you’ve been replaced—“

He let tears fall down his face, as he listened to the mix of voices become a large jumbled mess, as they grew louder and louder.

“— I should’ve never trusted you! You’re just like all the others!”

Connor looked up, recognizing the voice.

“Markus?” He screamed, his own voice being swallowed up by the many others. 

“SHUT UP!” He yelled, standing up abruptly. “JUST SHUT UP!”

The shadows rushed to contain Connor, surrounding them with inky jets of dark smoke. He shook them off, and found himself staring at the reflectionless mirror again.

He slammed his fist into the mirror, watching as the glass shattered. Thirium trickled down his wrists, decorating the floor with small dots of blue. The small shards of silvery metal falling to the floor, to crack into even smaller pieces.

“Just—just let me out!”

Connor blinked, gasping as he found himself back in the halls of Jericho. He raised a hand to his cheek, finding it stained wet from tears.

[ SYSTEM INSTABILITY: /\ ]

Robots can't cry.

Markus was unconscious, body slumped on the floor. Connor’s systems picking up guards nearing where they stood, and he was feeling extremely frazzled.

Connor began dragging his body, his mind a scrambled mess, as he heard voices of security guards, and Spider-Man’s echoing through the halls.

Markus’ body slipped out of Connor’s sweaty palms, as he turned to the right. He scrambled to grasp Markus’ arms again, his own feet slipping across the floor.

Stay cool, keep cool, don’t get distracted, get yourself and Markus away from this situation…

Connor gave up on pulling the limp body, and instead, picked up Markus bridal style and began running. His footsteps seemed to echo all around them, giving away their location. His palms grew sweatier, and he almost dropped Markus twice while darting down the hall.

Approaching a stairwell, he ran up it, turning right, and found himself standing on one of the ship’s decks.

He looked over the railing to see a tall drop down into the waters below, and saw that the loading deck that connected the ship’s entrance to the dock was heavily guarded, and was several floors down.

“Hey! What are you doing?”

Connor spun around to see a security guard holding a gun with one hand. His mind scrambled to do the most logical thing:

[ FIGHT ]

[ FLIGHT ]

Connor quickly glanced over the railing again, calculating how far away the shore was, and how long it might take them to reach land.

Screw it.

He kicked the security guard, and Connor, still carrying Markus, climbed over the railing.

Taking a deep breath, he plunged into the icy waters below.

[ MISSION: ESCAPE JERICHO: COMPLETE ]

Chapter Text

_______________

MAY 12, 2018

11:40:02

[ PETER ]

_______________

Peter groaned, his head pounding as he scrambled to his feet. “That hurt.” He mumbled aloud. His suit’s eyes rapidly focused and unfocused and he staggered slightly, his senses overloaded. His arm spasmed and he shot his other hand out to steady himself.

He let out another groan, resting against the doorframe as his suit continued to glitch. “Karen?” He tried, head nodding as he felt like passing out. He received no reply from his AI, and realized that whatever the two had done to his suit was worse than he thought.

Peter had installed several more firewalls to his suit in addition to Mr. Stark’s already carefully crafted security systems, but the two had somehow broken through all the carefully-built walls.

 He clumsily walked out the door, determined to continue to chase the two, as his phone began to buzz rapidly.

 Giving in to his natural habit of constantly replying as fast as humanly possible— and also the fear that someone could be hurt— he yanked out his phone.

[ 60+ new messages and 2 missed phone calls ]

nerd squad!1!

( sent at 11:32 )

fastest man alive: hey losere

fastest man alive: losere*

fastest man alive: FCUK LOSERE**

betty boop bitch: loser where r yall

nedleeeeds: losere*

mj: losere**

fastestmanalive: st o p

nedleeeeds: nEVE r

fastestmanalive: uour making me feel hurt :(

mj: suck it up losere

fastestmanalive: duck you.

bettyboopbitch: where the fuck is everyone!!

mj: what

fastestmanalive: why u wanna kno lmao

bettyboopbitch: did y’all abandon me at the library

bettyboopbitch: thought we agreed to study for upcoming decath

bettyboopbitch: imfuckibgaloneinthelibrary.jpg

mj: studying ew

mj: if that’s what u guys are doing b y e

mj has gone offline

fastestmanalive: well this is the fcking decathlon team what’d u expedt

nedleeeeds: smndnksksms

nedleeeeds: where tf is beter lol

nedleeeeds: he usually responds in 0.5 secodsn

bettyboopbitch: plS fuckihg come to the library :((

nedleeeds >> burritoboi

nedleeeds: you have won word hunt!

nedleeeds: aww I was close

nedleeeds: let’s play cup pong

nedleeeds: let’s play knockout

nedleeeds: let’s play word hunt

nedleeeds: let’s play word hunt

nedleeeds: I’m so borrreed

nedleeeds: r u doing sm stuff rn??

[ 2 missed calls from nedleeeds ]

nedleeeds: lolol if so pls update me asap

nerd squad!1!

fastestmanalive: bet hes making out w his bf spiderman

fastestmanalive: I don’t even get what spiderman sees in peter lmaaaoo

nedleeeeds: what’s w u and spiderman >:3c

bettyboopbitch: aha flash likes spiderman i bet

nedleeeeds: flash hAs a CruSh oN spOoDerMan?! nani 

bettyboopbitch: ofc 

fastest man alive: ffs

fastest man alive: SM always following me lol

fastest man alive: he’s the one obsessed w me

betty boop bitch: ?_?

fastestmanalive: he followed us to the decathalon lmao

fastestmanalive: bet he was following peter his bf

bettyboopbitch: I ship u and spiderman

bettyboopbitch: y’all cute <3

nedleeeds: tf lolol

nedleeeds: that’s weird af

nedleeeds: I bet spiderman is actually 40 and this is all pedophiliA

fastestmanalive has changed bettyboopbitch ‘s screename to fujoshibitch

fujoshibitch: omfg

fujoshibitch: u kno what a fUjoShi is?????

nedleeeds: sksdndnebhw

nedleeeds: f l a shh h

nedleeeds: I wouldn’t have guessed ud know what a fujoshi was xD

nedleeeds: I’m—

nedleeeds: confusedanimegirl.jpg

fujoshibitch has changed the chat name to flash watches hentai

fastestmanalive: wtf

nedleeeds: skkskskkskkskskksksnshkwhdbjqkkwjs

nedleeeds: owodragonloli.jpg

fujoshibitch: ravioli

nedleeeds: ravioli

fujoshibitch: dOnt lewD thE dRagOnloLi

fastestmanalive: my girl kanna don’t deserve this >:(

fujoshibitch: wEEB

fujoshibitch has been removed from the chat by fastestmanalive

nedleeeds: biG WEEB

fastestmanalive has changed the chat name to fuck you

fujoshibitch has been added to the chat by nedleeeds

fujoshibitch has changed their screename to fuckuflash

fuckuflash has change the chat name to flash x spidermna is gae

burritoboi: whAt is gOinG oN

nedleeeds: ahhh

nedleeeds: HeS alivE!!!!

fuckuflash: dw flash I think everyone’s gay for spiderman at sum point xd

fastestmanalive: lol but ur a girl so how r u gay for spiderman

fuckuflash: did u just fcking assume my gender ????

fuckuflash: asshoe

burritoboi: can’t believe u done this flash

nedleeeds: shockface.gif

nedleeeds has changed the chat name to peters alive!!!1!

mj: hey losere

fuckuflash: skskksks mj ur back

fastestmanalive: penis has joined the chat

fastestmanalive: yieks

fuckuflash: omg peter u missed so much lolol

nedleeeds: lolol where were u man

mj: I have some idea to why peter was absent.

mj: im not obsessed w peter.

fuckuflash: flash x spderman is a ship now >:3c

fuckuflash: peterr u ship them too rite

nedleeeds: skskskfbjsal

mj: hm.

fastestmanalive: I stg penis if u agree w them ill stab u

nedleeeds: omg a threat so scared :0

nedleeeds: I’m quAkInG skjwnbsb

fuckuflash: petERRRR

fuckuflash: peTer???????????

fuckuflash: omg did u fUcKibg die again

fastestmanalive: I bet he’s triggered ur trying to ship his bf w me u dumdum

fastestmanalive: place your bets kids!!

fastestmanalive: I stg sm is dating peter lol and if I’m right y’all owe me $2

fuckuflash >> burritoboi

( sent at 11:41 )

fuckuflash: omg peter is spiderman actually ur mans

fuckuflash: sksnnsnejqb if so I’m sorry plsforgive :(

__________________

Peter’s ears pricked up as he heard shouts coming from down the hallway. Stuffing his phone into his pocket, he began running in the general direction of the voices, feet slipping across the floor.

His phone continued to ping with new notifications, but he ignored them and continued pursuing the two fleeing criminals.

[ 6 new messages and 5 missed calls ]

tony stark >> burritoboi

( sent at 11:43 )

tony stark: peter why is Karen offline?

tony stark: peter????

tony stark: why is your suit tracker suddenly disabled?

[ 5 missed phone calls from tony stark ]

tony stark: pick up your phone goddamnit

tony stark: what’s going on??

( sent at 11:49 )

tony stark: im coming to check in on you. I’m worried.

Chapter Text

What happens after:

— tony arrives but Connor & Markus gets away scott free and they can’t check any of the cameras as they’ve completely disabled them all 

— Connor + Markus move into an apartment. Coincidentally, Peter Parker also lives in that apartment. They come up with a fat lie: M+C's parents are friends and they’re on a business trip and Markus is like 20 or smth and is babysitting Connor TIL they come back. Connor recognizes peter is spiderman and he’s like ah fu c k

— Connor goes to high school. He essentially becomes peters friend and he’s v awkward around teenagers as he’s used to being a serious lil robot. 

— Markus gets a job at stark industries, bc plot demands it to be s O. Tony interviews him, and it’s a lil awkward.

— Connor goes to his first party. He kinda gets pegged as the new resident keg king as he’s immune to alcohol n glugs a fuckton of beer. 

— later he n Peter r walking late at night and get fuckin jumped. Peter reveals he’s spiderman to Connor. Now Connor is like wait hold the fuck up I think I’m feeling feelings and Peters really nice and uwu.

— Connor has a sexuality crisis. It’s funny n Peter goes out on a date w him. They don’t get serious tho but it’s kinda floofy relationship 

— Markus has found out dr. Strange has time stone. He goes and tries to talk to him. Dr. Strange almost throws him into a portal but is like nah, whatever, I won’t hurt u but I ain’t gonna help u.

— Markus finds out tesseract is literally floating on a ship galaxies away. That sUccks. He gets sad n mad and Connor has to calm him down unu poor bby

— tony tells Markus he knows he’s a robot and Markus is surprised pikachu face. It’s ok bc Tony’s cool with it.

— tony introduces Markus to the aVeNgers or what’s left of them anyways and bOndIjg tIme!1!

— Markus insists that Connor is human tho bc idk he’s protecting him or smth

— well shoot Pete r finally realized Connor is bad guy from ship. They have a fight but they hug it out 

— fRig infinity war starts

— Markus meets up w the avengers on earth while Connor kinda accidentally tags along with Pete to space. Wh o o ps

— Markus gets to do epic fight. He even goes against Thanos for 2.2 seconds before getting throw aside

— Connor bItEs tHe dust. He has a whole ass realization that " o I’m fuckin human I guess. " 

bOoM eNd of bOok uNo

— Markus spends the time being sad n lonely realizing he’s kinda ducked and has to spend the rest of his life here in 2018 without Connor unu

— Markus goes on big adventure together w avengers

— bitch ducking steals tesseract n time stone tho and fucks everyone over

— saves Connor but well the mCU is in dangEr NoW tHanKs mArk.

— Markus decides to save mCU so he puts everything back

they decide to stay in 2018 bc it’s so much less toxic than 2048 >:) everyone’s happy. 

Than k you for coming to my ted talk uwu