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[bleps]

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Comments

[fuck1ngusernam3]

ur getawway cars circiuts 4brains times awastin

[bleps]

What getaway car?

[oh boy.]

Hank, is everything all right?

[fuck1ngusernam3]

if u want them 2 upgrade u keep talkin but u got 2 GO

[bleps]

[Upgrade?

His memory flickers back to their last conversation, and the parallel isn't hard to connect.]

You mean CyberLife?

1/2

[fuck1ngusernam3]

no i mea n ur mama no shit i mean cybttsryyfychxxh matkt’ggtAs/

2/2

[fuck1ngusernam3]

srry hit the floor

[bleps]

[That is absolutely the last thing he wants to read from anyone — much less Hank.

Doesn’t take an android detective to know that this is the fever talking, and Hank has unduly lost the battle against it for now. He sends a hurried text in return.]

Where are you?

[fuck1ngusernam3]

idk hell prolly

[bleps]

[

AIN’T GOT TIME FOR YOUR SHIT, HANK

Connor tries again.]

Where? Your room? Outside of the Temple? Specify.

[fuck1ngusernam3]

i think rome. u cant come ur on the run reemmber

[fuck1ngusernam3]

i think rome n hell r the same place

[bleps]

[Rome? His mind works, refusing to write it off as another mode of hallucination. To be fair, it’s a pretty blatant clue — especially for the thought processes of an RK800.]

The coliseum?

[fuck1ngusernam3]

prolly a circle down here 4 androids 2 dumb 2 run wen theyre told

🤖🔥⭕️🔥😈

[bleps]

[ 😒

And that isn’t worth replying to. Not when he has an idea of where to find Hank now, ignoring the text on his watch as he makes his way to where the coliseum is located. His step is quick, and it doesn’t take very long for him to get there, and the gate which cordons off its entrance creaks loudly when Connor enters the area, calling out for Hank—]

Lieutenant! Are you here?

[fuck1ngusernam3]

Lieutenant went home. Just me-

[The voice, its volume jerking from a yell down to a whisper and back again, comes from the side of the space low down against a wall, and then struggles to fit its words around a fit of coughing.]

Just me here. Some- something I can do- do for you?

[The last little slice of the coughing fit’s cut with wet gasps as he tries to get enough breath. Hank leans forward, trying to balance against it, squinting through sweat soaked hair and past the legs of the training dummies arrayed in a half circle around him to see who’s talking. His hand slaps down on the foot of the one closest and, hey, is that enough to activate the thing, so it responds as if Hank is trying to fight it? It sure is. Does it occur to Hank to look up from the ground to see what’s happening way up in the air above him? It sure doesn’t.]

[bleps]

[The first half of his statement carries, along with the cough, aiding Connor in locating Hank quickly. Off to the side, amongst a group of training dummies, very obviously not clear of mind nor looking well at all. Connor’s frown deepens when he sees the Lieutenant “strike” one of the dummies, setting it off into activity; something initiates in the code of his own reactive programming, making the android dart forward as if his parts were all made of coiled spring.

He closes the space during the wooden dummy’s wind-up, swooping in at the last half-second to stand between it and Hank, raising a forearm in a quick defensive position, taking the brunt of the blow. Connor doesn’t feel pain, but he can measure force of impact. He wonders if his false skin has shuttered back where he was hit — it was definitely hard enough — or if that part of him still remains deactivated like the rest, stuck in a state of permanent-false-skin. Wouldn’t be able to tell either way, not with his sleeve covering the spot.

Eyes narrowed, LED yellow, he throws out a command at the dummy—]

Stop. We yield.

[— wondering if that’ll be enough to halt it. If it even takes orders, as it should.]

[fuck1ngusernam3]

Why? You had- [He takes a thick breath and leans away, his arm now almost - not quite, but almost - touching the leg of another dummy next to him.] -had em on the ropes, Sup-superman.

[He doesn't notice that the dummy's stopped, barely noticed in the first place that it moved. He's mostly just breathing, focusing on what it feels like to be slowly boiled alive. He'll probably have to get used to it. That sort of thing feels like it happens a lot, in hell.]

[bleps]

[Connor’s eyes sweep over the dummy after it goes still, making certain that it’s stopped completely, before turning to Hank and crouching down before him.

Frowning, he looks over the man, who frankly looks quite terrible. Being out here is the last place Hank needs to be.]

Lieutenant, you shouldn’t be out here. I’m taking you back to your room. Come on.

[Connor reaches out in an attempt to help Hank back to his feet, before he can activate any of the other training dummies.]

[fuck1ngusernam3]

Told you, the lieutenant's not here.

[Hank leans away from him, looking at his watch, which still has a display of his last text conversation open.]

Besides, I'm waiting for someone. I'm- [Some mucus or something must go down the wrong tube in his throat and he gasps, coughs, and gasps again, hunched over himself for a moment, then speaks again in a faint, uncertain voice.] Oh, fuck. I uh, I was... I was waiting for someone to go away. Can't leave till he fucks off where he's supposed to go.

[bleps]

What?

[Eyes flick over to the watch, then back at Hank. Frowns more deeply at the cough, shaking his head.]

Lieutenant. Hank.

[He tries to catch his gaze, tries to get him to focus on him.]

You were texting me. And I’m not going anywhere, except to help you back to your room.

[fuck1ngusernam3]

[Connor does successfully catch Hank's eyes and Hank stares, breathing slow and loud, taking that in.]

They're gonna upgrade you, you know. Me with you, and you with... I don't know. Whoever it is, they'll be gone just as fast as you. And none of you guys seem to care, either, that's the weird thing. Just happy to serve, right? And you just wanna... wanna send me back to my uh, my room. And then just go on your merry little way. Like nothing's wrong.

[bleps]

They can't upgrade me, Hank. CyberLife isn't here.

[That's a certainty, given they reside in a different dimension now. Given that Connor's even tried to interface with the Zen Garden, and was met with an empty biome that flirted with the touch of winter; frozen water, dying plant life. But no Amanda.

Then again, does logic even land, when Hank is in this state? And so, repeating himself:]

I'm not going anywhere.

[fuck1ngusernam3]

[That last part has Hank’s face twisting up in distaste.]

Kay. If you’re not, I will. Was trying to find the fucking fridge anyway.

[Hank can just about stand under his own power, but only if you define ‘stand’ as ‘hunch’ and only time him for about a second. He makes a noise of deep discomfort, squeezing his eyes shut and wrapped an arm around himself. His body’s about all he can deal with right now; gravity can do what it wants. If it wants to pull him back down into those things Connor was fighting a minute ago, that’s fine.]

[bleps]

[Connor’s not going to let that happen. He's not particularly keen on letting Hank topple over, nor letting him topple over on training dummies that are too eager to kick up into life and attack. So when Hank tries to stand in a failed attempt, Connor straightens in time; standing, but only in the way that he tries to lift up Hank with him, arm and shoulder to support him if he’ll accept it.]

No, you’re not. You’re going back to bed. You need to give your body time to heal.

[fuck1ngusernam3]

[Hank's body accepts the help - for a second, anyway, right up until his mind realizes what it's done and he tries to pull away. He doesn't have the strength, the stability, or even the room to get very far, but as far as Hank is concerned wanting it as badly as he does is enough.]

I'd rather die than let an android try to heal me. Why don't you just toddle on off... [He falters, trying to figure out where it'd even go, if there's even a place to go outside of wherever it is they are.] ...anywhere else. CyberLife's not here, they won't know if you don't act like the perfect little android, running around making sure all the pieces of this machine are fully functional.