[8̃ͬ21᷆_EḌ̸̑O̗C̦̙͚̰͂᷁̐͠]

            "RK800, Bring all motor functions back online." - The world is aquiver. As a fazed dream, blurring at the edges. Dim and forgotten for many years. "Do you know where you are?"

A voice spoke so softly, so mesmerizing as if rocking Connor to a cozy sleep. He wanted to reach for the source of the voice, touch it, feel the hand of a familiar person that spoke to him. But he couldn't, for he saw nothing.

               "Yes. I'm in a dream."

Within the Zen garden, Connor's greeted by the aroma of the roses - a scent so tranquilizing only for the humans' senses. But Connor is no human. Between the neat beds of crimson bloom, the fragrance is a time machine, granting him an opportunity to reflect on his software stability. The Zen Garden was peaceful as ever.

From the far left of Connor's point of view was a small white pedestal. It was far away, and shone like a marble under the soft sunlight - it almost looked like a lawn-level headstone. Before Connor could take his feet towards the mysterious object, a voice greeted him.

"Connor," - called Amanda "It's good to see you."

The RK800 stepped closer, watching as the woman took care of the roses that bloomed. "Congratulation Connor. Your first case with Dr.(L/n) was successful. And interrogating that deviant was very clever." - Lastly, she turned to face the Android. "You've been very efficient."

"Thank you, Amanda." - Connor answered sincerely

"Dr.(L/n) sent the deactivated deviant to us for further studies, perhaps it will help know about the corrupted androids." - Perking up at the mentioning of (Y/n)'s name made Connor title his head in curiosity. "Tell me, Connor, you have been officially assigned with her to those Deviant cases. What do you make of her?"

Averting his eyes to the side, Connor decided to choose his words carefully, yet truthfully - "I think she's deliberate. Dr.(L/n) has shown signs of full cooperation and partnership comparing to Lt.Anderson who tends to disregard any aid. She's an intriguing character."

"The most important is for you to keep an eye on her. (Y/n) should be safe while she does her job." - Amanda deadpan turned to him, completely disregarding the mention of Hank Anderson "What do you think is the best approach."

"I will try to establish a friendly relationship with Dr.(L/n). If I can get her to trust me, it can help us in future investigation."

Amanda hummed for a minute, before turning away from her roses, her face pensive as ever: "More and more androids are showing signs of deviancy - There are millions in circulation. If they will be unstable the consequences will be disastrous. (Y/n)(L/n) is one of our best people and you're the most advanced type Cyberlife has created - if anyone can figure out what's happening it's you two."

"You can count on me, Amanda."

Narrowing her eyes, Amanda said no more before giving Connor the permission to get back to his task. Just as the RK800 took his leave, he sent a last glance at the lonesome headstone at the far end of the Zen Garden.

[Detroit Police Department 9:56 am]

A gentle ring followed as the coin within Connor's finger was being tossed up in the air and back to his palm. The Android firmly walked within the Police Department, approaching Gain Reed who sat in his cubicle with his feet on the desk. Whether he was slacking off or just taking a nap - Connor hoped he'd answer his following question :

"Excuse me, Detective Reed. Have you seen Dr.(L/n)?" - but Connor only receives silence from Gain who still had his feet laid on the desk, his eyes closed. "Detective Reed?"

Opening his eyes, as if in surprise, Gain smirked in response - "Oh, sorry. I fell asleep while I was waiting for you to make me a sandwich."

Confused, Connor regarded the answer with a cold approach whilst his logic analytics tinkered with the concept of answering, until a second voice retaliated from the back.

"Go back to sleep and starve!" - It was none other than (Y/n), hunched over the terminal in front of her. She didn't even bat an eye at Gain's scoffing face and so did Connor.

"Good morning, Dr. (L/n)" – Connor approached her calmly, placing his coin back into his pockets.

"Yes, Good morning, Connor. You're right on time" – she responded, her eyes finally convening the Android's as she now turned with a slight smile "I already transitioned some of our current evidence to CyberLife. But for now, I thought it would be a great idea to sort out through our current knowledge about those cases."

Connor nodded, his eyes analyzing Miss(L/n)'s working station. The smooth surface of the desk upheld various stacks of paper and files, all clumped in the corner of the cubicle. But what amused the Android was that comparing to Lt. Anderson's or any employee's desk that was filled with photos, posters or certificates – (Y/n) kept nothing personal in her cubicle. Not even a picture.

"Would you like me to initiate yesterday's analysis?"

"You know what, good thinking!" - she clapped her hands, slightly turning her office chair to face RK800 "Connor, please proceed with yesterday's analysis and encounters."

Thus, initiating yesterday's narrative, Connor proceeded: reporting every detail he saw, his photographic memory is impeccable, and thus inferior to human's attention that tends to overlook simple yet crucial details. (Y/n) sat crossed-legged, humming in deep thought; she expressed how she was greatly disappointed to not find the deviant 'Kara'. As (L/n) stated, she might've "miscalculated" the deviant's locations.

But for RK800 it was no worry. Though his humanoids expression exhibited vast embarrassment for his failure, the mission wasn't officially over as long as Police officers are still patrolling. But Dr.(L/n) disregarded it. The two continued on verbally discussing their flowchart of theories and hypothesis but, alas, they'd only meet a dead end on their conclusion.

For the sake of his Software Stability and (Y/n)'s mental state, despite Connor's endeavor to console her had to end the closure: "Perhaps it's too early to build any conclusions. So far we can only have theories and hypothesis with the very little evidence that we have."

"Unfortunately..." (Y/n) sighed, shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Hey, (L/n)!" - A male voice of a coworker hailed out for the lady, taking Connor and (Y/n) out of their unfazed grimace. It was officer Chris Miller. A dark-skinned young man who was relatively companionable. "Have you read any of the latest magazines yesterday night? "Detroit Today" specifically?

"No, I didn't. Why?"

"Carl Manfred – his Android attacked him and his son." - Chris handed an electronic magazine "Detroit Today" with an article about the famous painter and his recent incident.

Face stuck in an incredulous expression, (L/n) snatched the magazine from his hands "Uh- Excuse me, WHAT?"

"Yeah, I know right? Now they're sending him to scrap. It's been all over the news!"

Rendered speechlessly, the female began to read intensely the article in which described the event that scared the owner, Carl, after how his trusted Android attacked him and his son: 'The coroner's described a "fatal cardiac event", induced by a stressful domestic situation. Manfred's son, Leo, has asked the media to respect his family's privacy at this difficult time.'

Connor tried to peer in to fathom the source of bewilderment - "Dr.(L/n), is everything alright?"

"I'm... at loss for words."

"Did you know Carl Manfred?"

"I mean, y-yeah. I really liked his works, I've been to a couple of his conferences. Though he was addicted to drugs and alcohol in his younger years... I actually helped in creating his Android. I believe he named him 'Markus', I can't remember. But I and Kamski built that prototype personally for him."

Miss(L/n)'s eyes and her mouth were frozen wide open in an expression of stunned surprise, "I'm sorry, Dr.(L/n). I'm sure your work on Markus was remarkable. Unfortunately, Deviancy is becoming inevitable as of late."

But (Y/n) stayed muted, letting in the atrocious news to sink in.

The day went by, as (Y/n) aimlessly searched through Data Terminals. Various reports, assaults and complaints about indiscriminating androids. Her disposition ruined after today's horrible news and futile work. Meanwhile, Connor kept flicking his coin, passing it from palm to palm.

With each flip, the coin ringed as it balanced on RK800's knuckles. Bringing more attention, (Y/n) couldn't help but awe at Connor's flawless coin tricks - "Enhancing your calibration motions?"

The Android's voice circuits sprang to life again - "Affirmative."

"You're fast. You should teach me sometime." – she said with a soft laugh, too bored to stare at the terminal anymore.

"Would you like to try? I would gladly teach you, Dr.(L/n)."

"That would be lovely! Though I warn you - I'm a total loser when it comes to learning."

"You should try something easy for the beginning. For example: rolling the coin across your fingers." – Connor presented the trick, the coin flipped on top of his fingers swiftly and accordingly.

Dumbfounded, (Y/n) could never imagine doing something like that - "You call that easy?!"

"It really is simple. Just a matter of practice." - Leaning closer to her, Connor gave his quarter and placed it on (L/n)'s own soft palms, his cold ones held hers firmly to teach her. "Just place the coin in your palm like this..."

For the next 10 minutes, Connor gladly taught Miss(L/n) to lead the coin between her fingers, having the moment to hold her smaller hand in his. The coin in her palm is light. Further circuits amused themselves by analyzing (Y/n) as she clumsily yet slowly tried to fiddle the quarter between her fingers, practicing the motion over and over. "Ooh, I think I got it, hold on-"

While she goofed with it, Connor sat there, studying the way (Y/n) eyelashes swept over her eyelid. He noticed the way they cast shadows, like threads of silk, across her cheeks. Her eyes had a hint of beaming curiosity, filled with hidden depth and unperceived beauty, captivating the Android with every turn of her head, every breath. His LED blinking yellow.

Soft lips twitched into a smile as (Y/n) noticed Connor staring, the coin still in her hand. He tried to smile back, but He was already too lost in her sight.

Software stability ︾

(Y/n)(L/n) ︽

_______________________________

ATTENTION: EVERY chapter containes a picture. Within EVERY PICTURE there's a hidden message/code. Deciphering each code within each chapter will result in creating a poem that'll tell you a story. (Yes, from the very beginning till the end)

tip: they are fairly easy and in plain sight, since there's no sense in making extreme difficulty and long ciphers.

tip: even the cover of this story have small codes.This is for the ones who are interested in cracking the code and mystery of this story. Thus, I'm not forcing anyone to do it. You don't have to rush with them either. 

Due to Quotev/Wattpad's "amazing" photo quality on top of chapters - I can't make those secrets hidden smartly or small. In other words, I apologies for those who wanted it to be challenging.

P.s: obviously those who shall crack every single code/cipher in this whole story shall receive a grand prize at the end. Good luck!