(no subject)

[socrowdedinhere]

 

*There is a man in there. He's standing behind a couch, a tied up little girl standing on the couch before him. He's mostly hidden behind her and has a gun pressed to her temple.*

Man: *voice is low and gravely* Put down your guns and step inside, or I blow out her brains.

Darnell: .......... *steps in, dropping his pistol, hands up*

Conner: *it may or may not surprise Darnell that he immediately shifts in, hands out* I'm unarmed. We just want the little girl, safe and unharmed.

Man: *eyes Conner* ...Android? *what?*

Conner: Yes.

Darnell: He's with me. He's my partner. My name is Detective Barrett. And he's right. We just want the child.

Man: *eyes narrow at Darnell* ...I remember you. You almost got me last time. You took my girl. *he snarls, and the next moments will happen so quickly.*

*The man whips his gun out, aimed at Darnell. Conner has a very quick choice to make. Does he shove Darnell down and out of the way, possibly disorienting the detective enough that he can't get out of range before another shot is aimed at him, or does he rush the shooter and take the shots.  To Conner the choice is clear. He darts forward, into the path of the gun. The first shot takes Conner in the shoulder, sending out a spray of blue fluid. The next shot hits him in the stomach, and the last shot rips through his Thirium pump regulator. He knows with that damaged he only has about 90 seconds left. The first two shots don't get a reaction from Conner, but the third draws a cry as his systems flash red and a countdown starts. He hits the couch, flipping it backwards and into the man. It's enough to make the shooter drop his gun, drop the girl, and stumbled back hard against the wall.*

Darnell: Connor!?  CONNOR!!! *but his training takes over and he does what must be done to save the child and take down the suspect!*

*If Darnell is quick, he’ll be able to cuff the man in moments. The child is crying, eyes locked on Conner.*

Conner: *writhing, the LED on his temple swirling red as he uploads his memories to CyberLife, knowing another model of him with the same memories will be sent to Darnell.*

Comments

[neverasked4this]

Darnell: *gets the man handcuffed, makes sure the child is all right, then /darts/ to Connor's side* Connor! Connor, hang on! *pulls out his radio* Officer down! I repeat, officer down!

[socrowdedinhere]

Conner: *blue fluid covers him like blood...no wonder the engineers called it “blue blood”. Conner has one hand pressed over the wound just under his “ribs” where his damaged regulator is, the other hand grips Darnell’s arm. He struggles to speak, like a man unable to catch a proper breath of air.* I-it was... and honor... working this case... with you... Darnell. *he can’t help writhing a bit. His body is trying to find a way to function, and it just can’t. And... and that scares him. He’ls uploaded his momories to CyberLife, but Conner is realizing there’s something in him that is afraid to die, even as he knows he’s not truly capable of feeling enotion, right?*

[neverasked4this]

Darnell: *tears already running down his face* Shh, shh, don't talk like that. Connor- *voice breaks - he swallows and tried again* P-put yourself i-in standby o-or something. Just...just hang on, okay? I-I'll get you repaired. Connor...I'm so sorry! *first day on the job, only a week old!*

[socrowdedinhere]

Conner: *manages a smile* D-doesn’t work... that way. *he struggles a moment more then goes still, his LeD going dark, at least the last thing his system flashes is “mission complete”. The girl is safe, Darnell is safe, and the criminal in custody...*
Girl: ...He saved us...

[neverasked4this]

Darnell: C-connor...Connor, no... *curls over the android's body, sobbing for a moment before pulling himself back together and turning to the girl, managing a small grin through the tears* H-he did.
*He'll radio in a report, calling for police to come take custody of the suspect, paramedics to check on the little girl, his coworker working the case once he gets the child's name and puts the two together, and...someone needs to contact CyberLife. That done, he goes and kneels by the android's side again, gently closing his eyes (if the mechanisms aren't frozen open; he'll remove Connor's tie and lay it across his eyes if they are). He knows there will be no service, no memorial, the body will be taken back and scrapped like an old toaster, maybe salvaged for parts. The thought grieves and infuriates him, and he wants something to remember the young man by. His fingers brush over the embroidered letters and numbers of Connor's model and serial...and before he realizes what he's doing, Darnell's pulled out his pocket knife and is cutting Connor's jacket. If CyberLife doesn't like it, they can have his pay docked for the cost.*
*Back at the office, he meets with Fanzone again. They talk, and Fanzone sends him home to have time and space to deal. The evening involves a lot of whiskey, but even then, he doesn't sleep much that night, and will wind up giving up and pulling himself together to head into the office well before anyone else arrives. He has a report to write. But as he settles at his desk, the first thing he does is pull out a liquid White-Out pen. The scrap of jacket that he's not let go of since yesterday is flattened on the desk. Darnell crosses out the nine-digit number under the RK800 and carefully paints "CONNOR" under it. That done, he fires up his computer...*

[socrowdedinhere]

*Darnell will be working for a few hours when his office door opens. When he looks up to see who’s come to see him, he’ll see Conner!!*
Conner: *pauses in the doorway.* Chief Inspector Fanzone said you got in early. I hope I’m not interrupting.

[neverasked4this]

Darnell: *staring at the screen at the moment, worrying the scrap of cloth between both hands. He looks up, about to grouse to be left alone /please/, but he CHOKES* C-connor!? Connor! B-but /how/? *stands and crosses to him, reaching to touch him*

[socrowdedinhere]

Conner: *smiles and lets Darnell grip his arm.* I uploaded my memories to CiberLife before I shut down. My memories were downloaded into a new body. I flew out last night.

[neverasked4this]

Darnell: You...I didn't know you...could...oh my gosh, I am /so/ glad to see you! *pulls Connor into a HUG, tears in his eyes*

[socrowdedinhere]

Conner: *oh! That was unexpected. He hugs back.* I’m sorry to have worried you. I didn’t have time to say more yesterday. *By the time Darnell got to him he only had a few seconds left.* I assume the little girl is safely home now?

[neverasked4this]

Darnell: *nods, pulling back and wiping his face - yes, he was crying. But he gives a grin* Yup. Yup, she's home with her parents now, thanks to you. *just...looks at him* Wow...you...I had no idea you save yourself like that! *laughs* wish I'd known that yesterday! But...you're okay? You're really all right after that? How much of that do you remember? Of...of shutting down like that? *fussworryfuss*

[socrowdedinhere]

Conner: *there’s a beat of hesitation.* All of it. I wasn not sure if there would he any momory gaps or if the upload would work with me in the process of shutting down. *he doesn’t want to admit he was afraid, because that’s not in his programming... he can't have actually felt fear. It must have been a glitch, one he is sure was fixed.* I’m fine, Darnell. I promise. *he smiles.*

[neverasked4this]

Darnell: *winces* Geez, that must have been a scary thought, not knowing if it'd work or how well. *gives him another one-armed hug* I'm just really glad you're all right after all. Yesterday was /hard/. C'mon. Have a seat. *leads him to the chairs* And, hey...if you want to talk about what happened...I don't know if it's the same for you, but for a human, that would be really traumatic. Actually...that's...probably something that should go into the report...

[socrowdedinhere]

Conner: It was...unsettling. Even without my memories I would have been back, we would have sinply had to start over. *no. Ig deal, right? He returns the one armed hug then shifts to sit where he sat yesterday.* CyberLife is already well aware of what happened yesterday. *his previous body had to be sent back after all...*

[neverasked4this]

Darnell: They know the facts. They don't know the experience. They know what happened /to/ you, but what about what happened /within/ you - /your/ take on what happened, why you did what you did, what your thoughts on that are, what your thoughts on things /now/ are. A full assessment isn't just your actions, it's also your mentality, your reasoning, your opinions on things.

[socrowdedinhere]

Conner: Of course. I will answer all of your questions to the best of my abilities to ensure an accurate and detailed report.

[neverasked4this]

Darnell: *grins and nods* Thanks, Connor. And by all means, if there's something you really don't want to answer or just find it difficult to talk about, please tell me. *will retrieve a pad of paper and a pen - he /could/ just sit across the desk and take his notes on the computer, but he doesn't want that separation between them*


((Has Connor noticed the scrap of fabric from his other jacket yet? XD))

[socrowdedinhere]

Conner: *nods, ready to answer questions, though he has one of his own first.* Is that my previous serial number? *baffled tone to hos voice*

[neverasked4this]

Darnell: Uh . . . y-yup. It…I thought I'd lost you. I wasn't thinking…Humans, animals, plants… *shrugs* Even if we go to computers, automobiles… When someone or something takes enough damage like you did, that's it. There's no saving them. *reaches over and pulls the scrap to him, fingers brushing over the dried White-Out* I didn't think about the fact that having a model number, having a /serial/ number, means that there are others out there, other bodies. I didn't know you could upload your consciousness and save yourself like that. I thought you were /gone/. I… *shrugs again with a small, embarrassed grin, even as tears come to his eyes again* It sounds ridiculous /now/, but…I wanted something to remember you by.

[socrowdedinhere]

Conner: *tone soft.* I told you yesterday I could be repaired or replaced, while you cannot. Not that I wanted to “die” yesterday, but I knew ot was a better option than letting him shoot you, or giving him another chance to shoot the girl. You two could not simply be replaced by another model.

[neverasked4this]

Darnell: I know. And you did. I just didn't realize that it'd be the same. I thought you meant that if something happened to you, you'd be replaced by someone else. If in my work, I normally had a partner and the partner I had died, I'd be assigned another partner, but it wouldn't be the same person. If I had a dog and it died, I could get another dog, but it wouldn't be the same. The body can be replaced . . . it's the mind, the personality, the /self/, that's irreplaceable. Even if you can change bodies, there's still only one /you/. Only you have all your programming, your data, your experiences and observations. Even if you were copied right now, and everything that's…"mentally" you, for lack of a better word, was downloaded into another RK800 body that looks exactly the way you look and sound and move, and even also went by the name "Connor", even if he was even assigned to this same agency, he'd be assigned to another detective. He'd have another personality to interact with, other cases to work, he'd interact with other people and have different experiences. Even before getting here, he'd encounter different people just getting to the plane and traveling here. These are some of the kinds of things that make people individual. I can't simply be replaced . . . don't think you can either. At least not without that full back-up and keeping to there only being one body at a time running everything that runs /you/ right now. Memories and experiences included.

[socrowdedinhere]

Conner: *he just... nods. He can’t deny that experiences might change him, he doesn’t know thst for site to have anything else yo say on the mater*

[neverasked4this]

Darnell: Just . . . something to think about. I'm sure it's not something that's crossed your mind before. Just know that you're not irreplaceable, at least not to me. *gives his arm a quick squeeze before turning back to the pad. He writes the question for the record as he says it aloud* Yesterday, you decided to rush the perpetrator, knowing - I'd have to assume - that he'd fire and pretty certainly nail you at /least/ once before you reached him. What led to that action? What observations did you have to take that action?

[socrowdedinhere]

Conner: I made a calculated decision based on his speed, erratic aim, and possible trajectories of any shots fired. There was a ninty-two percent chance that his first shot would hit you, and an sixty-three percent chance that that shot would be instantly fatal for you. My options were to push you out of the way before he shot, leaving a twenty-nine percent chance thay you would be able to keep your balance to move to safety before he shot again, or to rush the suspect and take the shots myself. I was prepared for the shot to the shoulder, as with the choice I made there was a zero percent chance that he would miss me, I was merely able to choose where the bullet would hit to within a three centimeter radius. The second and third shots I had less control over where they might hit, but knew they would not pass me to hit you. There was a fourteen percent chance that charging the criminal while he shot would cause him to turn the gun back on the child rather than continue to attempt to stop my charge with the gun.

[neverasked4this]

Darnell: *jotting all that down, nods* Decisions and actions are based on calculated probabilities, then? Makes sense. I realize that likely there was little more than those calculations and the impulses needed for action going through your mind at the time - though definitely correct me if I'm wrong - but looking back now, what do you think about what happened - how things went down in general and what happened to /you/ specifically?