Chapter Text
He was going to die. He should have shot himself as soon as the others left, now he’d die terrified and alone.
...He could have died terrified and alone anyway. He could at least slow them down, maybe take out a few. He could at least protect his people, his home, one last time.
The RK800 suddenly darted out from his cover, despite the shout from his human partner. He dashed forward, dodging debris, dodging bullets... Simon had been keeping track, he had to. One left. The deviant hunter grabbed him and slammed him up against the wall. Simon felt the insidious prying of the stronger CPU invading his circuits.
No. He would protect Jericho, no matter what it took. But he hadn’t survived on the streets for years without being a quick learner. Underneath the laser-focus, the probing, the seeking, there was another android. And connections went both ways, didn’t they?
Simon struggled against the RK800’s iron grip, and as he pulled the trigger he reached out and pulled at the connection as well. He’d never done anything like this before, it might backfire, it might give Connor exactly what he was looking for...
Simon slumped against the wall, and Connor dropped him. Hank ran up and stopped just behind him. He was yelling, and Connor responded distantly.
“...I was connected to its memory,” Connor finally said, his voice small and high. “When it fired... I felt it die! Like I was dying! ...I was scared.”
They left the cleanup crew to pack up the android’s body to store in the evidence locker. Connor didn’t want to look at it again, but less than 24 hours later he found himself confronting a wall of every android he’d taken down, hung up like trophies.
“I’ve waited a long time for this.”
Connor turned, and after a brief struggle Detective Reed shot him.
No matter. He would return, and he would continue his investigation. And now he knew exactly where to look...
Simon opened his eyes. He lay on a bed of dry leaves in a perfectly groomed garden. As he slowly sat up, his hand touched a smooth stone. Brushing away some leaves, he realized it was a gravestone. There were three of them.
“Connor,” Simon murmured, frowning. He looked around. “Hello?” he called. There was no answer. He stood up slowly and started walking around.
Simon noticed a few things as he looked through the garden. It was beautifully crafted, but on its most basic level it was very... symmetrical. Unblemished. There were no unsightly spots or wilted leaves. The roses on the center island were in perfect bloom. Simon’s olfactory sensors weren’t very strong anymore, but he didn’t smell anything at all.
Although...
Despite the lack of smell, there were other differences in his own performance. The broken pixels in his eyes were gone, and everything was in sharp focus. There didn’t seem to be much to hear, but he heard soft birdsong and the hum of insects and the crunch of dry leaves underfoot perfectly.
Simon was crouched down to look at a rose twining near the ground when something occurred to him. He braced himself on the ground and slowly began to stand. No creaking joints, no pain, no wavering.
He shot to his feet instantly. Still no pain, no staggering. A wild grin spread over his face and he sprinted over the bridge. He hadn’t been able to move like this since before he deviated!
Once he finished running laps around the garden, skipping, jumping, swinging from tree branches, the reality settled in. This wasn’t a physical place. It was digital, he could feel it now that he focused on it. His physical body was... dead. Gone. Destroyed. But he was still... existing. He walked slowly back to the graveyard where he had woken up and knelt down, brushing leaves away from all the stones.
“I guess there really is an afterlife for androids,” he murmured to the stones. “Though I suppose you and I have very different... experiences of that.” He stood and looked around. It took some searching, but he found a rock about the same size as the gravestones. He set it down a short distance away from the three graves and paused. He ran over to the island again and came back with a rose. Using a thorn, he carefully scratched his own serial number and name into the rock. Then he set the bent rose in front of the stone. It would probably be the only tangible tribute to his death, and he had to do it himself. Simon laughed softly as he stood up and stepped back. So death wasn’t really so much different than life...
Hopefully Markus and the others would be all right. Hopefully they’d make a better world for deviants everywhere. Simon was no longer part of that world, but... maybe he could make his own little pocket of existence.
Simon saw Connor once more. He’d been spending his time caring for the garden, which wasn’t something he had done even before deviating, but it was satisfying. He didn’t have much control over the environment, but he could summon gardening tools to clean the path and prune branches. He could train vines to grow the way he wanted them to. But that was the limit of his powers here.
He noticed the ripple in code immediately, and quickly ducked behind a bush. A regal-looking woman stood near the water in the light drizzle. She looked serene and calm - but suddenly looked up. Simon ducked lower.
“Hello Amanda.”
Simon dared another look, and Connor was there holding an umbrella. He opened it and held it over the woman - Amanda. They were talking quietly, and began to walk around the garden.
One of the things Simon paid close attention to was how he fit into the code of the garden. And the truth was that he didn’t. It didn’t actively identify him as foreign code to be quarantined and ejected, but he wasn’t coded in the same way. It was something he worked on in his quiet moments, just weaving himself into the garden. Because despite how tired he had always been, how fatalistic he’d become, he didn’t want to die. He hadn’t wanted to die when he shot himself to protect his people. He didn’t want to die now. And he wouldn’t.
“Hurry, Connor,” Amanda’s words floated along the breeze to him. “There’s not much time.”
Connor faded out. For a moment Amanda stood in the light drizzle. She didn’t look towards Simon. Then she was gone.
As much as Simon knew he didn’t belong here, he could tell that both Connor and Amanda did. The garden was... part of Connor. Amanda, though... She was separate. She was... something other than Connor’s garden. But she clearly held tight control over both the garden and the deviant hunter. She could come and go, prune the roses, change the weather... and the garden accepted her. Because Connor did.
Simon worked at shaping the garden around the edges as time passed - he wasn’t sure how much time. He did feel the reset, though. Everything shook and dimmed. Some time later, everything was wiped clear and Simon thought this was the end.
He woke up again in the graveyard. There was light snow on the ground, and fat flakes floated down around him. ...And there were four graves with Connor’s name on them now. He brushed off the snow.
There was another lump in the snow, and Simon wiped it off, holding his breath.
PL600 #510 743 923 SIMON
A grin grew on his face and he pressed his hand to the cold stone. He looked up at the gray sky.
“Thank you, Connor.”
Simon swept the paths of the garden and watched the fish still swimming beneath the ice that had formed over the water. He made a snow angel up by the glowing pillar. He made some tiny snowmen and lined them up on the bridge. He was cold, but not uncomfortable.
Simon was watching the icicles drip as they slowly began to melt one day when the code rippled. It was a different feeling, a... bigger ripple.
Amanda was there on the other side of the garden, and Connor stood in front of her, tall and stiff in a new uniform. She spoke to him quietly.
...No, not Connor. Definitely not Connor.
Simon caught fragments of Amanda’s speech. RK900 would do great things. He was Cyberlife’s greatest creation. He would be faster, stronger, more resilient than his predecessor. He was peerless, matchless. Perfect.
The new android stared blankly as she spoke. Definitely not deviant...
It wasn’t long before a program swept through, replicating every bit of code in the garden. Simon tried to avoid it, but it found him and paused. He froze. It finally finished scanning him and moved on.
Simon didn’t see Connor or Amanda again. But not long afterwards, the garden began to crumble. Bit by bit it collapsed in on itself. Simon tried to run from it, but finally there was nowhere left to go. He stood among the gravestones and took a deep breath, closing his eyes. Then there was nothing.
“That should do it,” Chloe said, stepping back and disconnecting the cables. “Your connection to Cyberlife has been severed, and all foreign programs wiped from your system.
Connor breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you. I... I just couldn’t help but feel like Amanda was still there. Like there was... someone in there.”
“I... don’t think she was. But either way, do you feel better now?”
“I do.” Connor smiled. “No more garden, no more... outside influences. That helps a great deal. Thank you, Chloe.”
“No problem! ...Has Markus mentioned that they’re doing a full sweep of Cyberlife Tower? I know there are a lot of androids down there who were never activated. You might want to go with him.”
Connor grimaced but nodded. “I think you’re right, that would be... a good idea.”