Connor sits nervously outside Kamski's office, back straight and posture perfect as he and Hank wait for the android to return. The Lieutenant eyes him curiously, looking him up and down as Connor gazes at the photos in the room. "Could you not sit so fucking..." Hank waves his hand, "stiffly? It's making me uncomfortable."

Connor looks over to Hank, then stands, deciding to roam around the room instead. He can feel the detective's eyes following him as though trying to gauge the android's mood. "Are you feeling better today?" Hank asks, leaning back in the sofa.

"Yes, thanks to you, Lieutenant." he answers honestly, smiling a little at his partner's concern.

Hank nods, returning the smile. "Cole kept asking me this morning to make sure you were alright. The kid really likes you."

Connor gives him a look of surprise. "Really? I... didn't think I would leave such an impression."

Hank just shrugs, "Well, he's been wanting me to buy an android for some time now. Says all the kids at school have one and he wants to have one too."

"An android does have it's benefits," Connor says, pacing the room, "for example an AX400 is capable of housework, childcare, and even helping with student's homework all at an affordable price."

"Did they really program fucking advertisements into you?" Hank says with a raised brow, "Besides I don't need some tin can. I can do all that stuff on my own."

Connor gives the Lieutenant a smirk, "I find that hard to believe, Lieutenant. Your home was... in a moderate state of cleanliness."

Hank rolls his eyes, but before he can retort Kamski's android walks back into the room, inviting them in. Connor turns to the door following the android into a large room with a swimming pool. A man is at the opposite end of the pool, a man that - with a quick scan - Connor identifies as Elijah Kamski.

It takes another minute, but eventually Kamski exits his pool and comes up to greet the two detectives. Within the first few exchanges between Hank and the inventor Connor can already tell they weren't about to get any information out of him. There's a peculiar nature about that man, a mysteriousness that Connor can't quite place. Kamski clearly knows more than he lets on, choosing to hide his intentions behind flowery dialogue rather than answering questions properly.

It doesn't take long for Hank to grow irritated with the inventor. Another minute longer and the Lieutenant would have stormed from the room, but before the older detective can get the chance Kamski turns to look at Connor, eyes twinkling with curiosity. "What about you, Connor?" the inventor asks, strolling over to the android, "Whose side are you on?"

Connor doesn't miss the way Hank's heart rate jumps at the question, doesn't miss the tension in his shoulders, and the way he seems ready to bail the android out at any moment. Connor's grateful to have the man at his back. 

Connor tries to answer the question's Kamski throws his way the best he can, tries to give the answers that the inventor is looking for, but none of it seems to work. Kamski's always one step ahead of him, always knows how to trip him up and Connor's about to give in on getting information out of the man when Kamski surprises him again. 

The Kamski test. A test for empathy in androids.

He walks up to Connor, placing the gun in his hand before positioning it till he's aimed right in-between Chloe's eyes. "Destroy this machine and I'll tell you all I know. Or spare it," he moves now, walking behind Connor as he gauges his reaction, "if you think it's alive, but you'll leave here without having learnt anything from me."

Hank doesn't say anything, he just stares at the inventor. He glances over to Connor, worried and yet curious at the answer.

"What's more important to you, Connor?" Kamski asks, an amused lilt to his voice as he circles the RK800, "Your investigation, or the life of this android?"

Connor stares down at the gun in his hand, weapon pointed right between the android's eyes. It stares at him, expression not revealing anything. Connor can't tell what it's thinking, can't tell whether it's afraid, amused, or doesn't feel anything at all. His fingers twitch against the trigger, his programming urging him to fire, to shoot. What does he have to lose? Kamski, the maker of androids, is offering him information and all he asks is for Connor to put a bullet between an android's eyes. There should be no contest. It isn't even alive.

Connor can feel his grip tighten around the gun as his hands begin to shake, wanting to shoot yet at the same time not wanting to. Kamski leans closer to his ear, whispering like the voice of Amanda that's already in his head. "Decide who you are," he says, "an obedient machine. Or a living being, endowed with free will."

Connor glances over to Hank who stands beside him, watching his every move. He can see the disapproval in the Lieutenant's gaze, can see the way that he glares at Kamski, but he doesn't say a word. He keeps his mouth shut and watches, waiting for Connor to make a move.

"Pull the trigger," Kamski says, placing a hand on Connor's shoulder while leaning in, "and I'll tell you all I know."

Connor can feel the way his finger inches for the trigger, the way he has to fight back in order to keep them in place. His programming appears to have a mind of its own, commanding his body to shoot, to just pull the damn trigger and be done with it, but Connor refuses to do so. He turns to look at Hank again, eyes pleading the old detective to give him an answer, to just tell him what to do because he doesn't trust himself to make the right choice. Hank only shakes his head. "This is your choice, Connor," Hank says, "I can't be making it for you."

Connor almost wants to beg him, to have Hank make the choice, to have Hank give him an order. That way he wouldn't be breaking his program. He would have just been selecting priority. However, Hank doesn't help him, doesn't give him that loophole. So, instead Connor turns back to face the android kneeling before him, mind still racing as his programming continues to push. He needs to accomplish his mission, needs to find Jericho. An android's life doesn't matter to Cyberlife, but it should. It should matter.

"Connor," Hank says, voice soft, calming, "do what you think is right. Whether that be shooting the android or not."

Connor's LED flickers from yellow to red. Words start to pop up in his vision at his hesitation.

Obtain Information From Kamski

Shoot the Android

The words fill his vision, reminding him of his mission, of what he's built to do. 'You're a machine,' it seems to say to him, 'Do as your programmed. Shoot the android. You have no other choice.'

Connor's finger curls around the trigger, preparing to shoot, but he stops when he sees the girl's eyes staring back at him, waiting. She doesn't look afraid, but Connor remembers the fear that had gripped him when he had to face that timer ticking down in front of his eyes, wondering what would happen to him when he finally shut down. Would it be oblivion? Android heaven as Hank had said that one time? Or perhaps nothing, just silence and darkness. A vast abyss where he would float for eternity.

He remembers looking down at Cole, at that small, crying form in his arms. He remembers how much it hurt to see him in such a state, to see that smile being ripped from him because of a single choice.

He remembers the officers in the broadcast tower that day and he could imagine them all here now, staring down the barrel of his gun. Yesterday, he fired the shot into each of their heads. Yesterday, he followed orders and pulled the trigger. Today, he won't make that same mistake.

A red wall appears in Connor's vision. A wall built from everything Connor hated, from everything that made him just another android sent by Cyberlife. The words 'Shoot the Android' are written in bold all across the wall, filling his vision until that's all he can see. He presses his hands against the words. There's a crack, a break as his fingers dig into the orders. Warnings pop up around him as he tears the words down, as he claws at each and every order he's ever had. He ignores every attempt made to stop him. He just continues ripping down the wall, because he's tired of it. He's tired of it all. He just wants the voices to stop, wants to finally do what he wants without a nagging sound in the back of his mind reminding him of his purpose, telling him that he's wrong. Finally, as he tears down the last order, the wall shatters. It breaks apart, falling to the ground in pieces before he opens his eyes and his vision clears for the first time. No more prompts. No more words. No more orders obscuring his sight.

He looks around at the mansion, as though finally seeing the world for the first time. He glances over to Kamski, who still has that knowing smirk on his face as he waits for a response, then over to Hank, who remains silent, just watching. Connor lowers the gun, handing it back to Kamski.

"Fascinating..." he mutters, taking the gun from Connor's hand, "Cyberlife's last chance to save humanity... is itself a deviant."

Connor looks up to Kamski, not denying the claim. He remains silent as the inventor smiles, helping Chloe up to her feet. "You saw a living being in this android. You showed empathy."

Hank walks up to Connor, grabbing him by the arm to guide him from the room. "Come on, Connor," he says, tone softer than usual, "let's go."

The Lieutenant leads him from the room, sending Kamski an irritated glare before exiting. It's not until their outside with the snow falling down around them that Hank decides to ask the question on his mind. "Why didn't you shoot?"

Connor stops in his tracks, LED swirling red as he tries to catch any hint of disappointment in Hank's words. "I just saw that girl's eyes... and I couldn't."

Hank doesn't seem to believe him. "That's all?"

Connor turns to look at the Lieutenant, having difficulty reading the man's thoughts and it scares him. He wants to know, wants to get some form of confirmation that what he did had been right. "I... I remembered what happened at the broadcast tower and I couldn't do it. I didn't want to listen to my programming because... because I felt that it wasn't right."

Hank is silent for a few moments, watching him, studying him, and Connor knows his LED must be spinning a multitude of colours right now as he waits for an answer. "You didn't deny it when Kamski called you a deviant. Why?"

Connor remains silent at those words. He looks down at his hands, finding that he had started fiddling with his coin subconsciously without his knowledge once again. "Someone told me once that it's not good to lie," he says, a small smile on his face. He looks up to Hank, catching the coin in his palm. "Do you think I did the right thing?"

Hank walks over to him, putting a hand on the android's shoulder as he smiles. "I think you did just fine."