Arna's POV

The guards lead me and Connor through the building, and as we prepare to enter another area, we are scanned. I glance up slightly, hoping my model is still in the system.

"Agent 23 identified," the voice says. "Connor android identified. Agent 47 identified. Agent 72 identified." I tense up slightly. "CT600 android identified. Scan complete. Access authorized." If I could breathe, I would let out a sigh of relief. If it wouldn't get us caught. I look over as much of the room as I can without moving my head as we walk through. A pang of fear flits through me at the sight of the looming black statue in the middle of the building. I look forward again as we approach the elevator. Connor and I glance at each other fleetingly as the guards stand on either side of us.

"Agent 54," one of the guards says, touching the panel. "Level 31."

"Voice recognition validated," the automated voice says. "Access authorized." The elevator starts moving up, and Connor speaks in our heads.

"We need to be going down," he says. "We have to stop the elevator." I look up at the camera in the corner.

"Camera," I say. I hack into the system and shut it down, looking forward again. "Done." After a few seconds, he speaks again.

"I have a plan," he says. "Ready?" I take a second to prepare myself.

"Yes." He lunges toward the guard on the left and kicks the other in the gut. I throw myself at the other as Connor spins and shoots the first guard in the head. He throws the gun to me, and I twist the guard's arm backward, shooting him. Connor slowly stands up, nodding to me, and walks over to the panel, stopping the elevator.

"Please indicate your identity and destination," it says. Connor sighs quietly.

"Agent 54," he says in the guard's voice. "Level -49."

"Voice recognition validated. Access authorized." He steps back and looks down at me.

"So far so good." I nod.

"Now it just has to stay that way." He looks forward but slowly takes my hand, squeezing it comfortingly. I squeeze it back as the elevator reaches the right floor. The door opens, and Connor hacks into the panel, preventing anyone from following us. We walks through the walkway between the hundreds of thousands of AP700 androids. Connor nods to me, and we walk over to them, each grabbing one of their arms. Before we can do anything, however, Hank is shoved out into the aisle by...Connor? Another Connor?

"Easy, fucking piece of shit!" Hank exclaims. The other Connor, who's pointing a gun at Hank's head, looks at us.

"Step back, you two!" he says. "And I'll spare him." I look up at Connor before looking back at...the other one? I don't even know anymore.

"Sorry, guys," Hank says. "This bastard's your spittin' image, Connor."

"Your friend's life is in your hands. Now it's time to decide what matters most! Him...or the revolution."

"Don't listen to him! Everything this fucker says is a lie!" Connor glances down at me.

"We have to help him," he says telepathically. I frown.

"How?" I ask. "We can't give up, but we can't let him die." He sighs.

"I'm sorry, Hank!" he calls. "You shouldn't have got mixed up in all this!

"Forget about me," Hank replies. "Do what you have to do!"

"We can't trust him," Connor says. "The clone." I bite my lip.

"If we surrender," I call to the clone, "how do I know you won't kill him?" He shakes his head.

"I'll only do what is strictly necessary to accomplish my mission," he says. "It's up to you whether or not that includes killing this human." He moves the gun closer to Hank's head. "Enough talk! It's time to decide who the two of you really are. Are you gonna save your partner's life? Or are you going to sacrifice him?" I sigh.

"We have to save him." Connor nods and quickly lets go of the AP700's arm.

"Alright, alright!" he says. "You win." I slowly let go of the android's arm, and the clone moves the gun to aim at us. Hank takes the chance to attempt to take the gun, and we run towards them. Connor shoves the clone backwards, and I throw a punch, hitting him in the face. He regains his balance, picking up the gun that's laying on the floor and hitting me over the head with the butt of it. I cry out and fall to the floor, holding my now bleeding head. My vision blurs as I hear Connor call my name. I squeeze my eyes shut as pain spreads through my head. I was already running low on thirium. This wasn't a good sign.

"Hold it!" I hear. I look up to see that Hank has now gotten ahold of the gun and is pointing it at the two Connors. I look between them, trying to figure out who is who.

"Thanks, Hank," one says. "I don't know how I'd have managed without you. Get rid of him, we have no time to lose." I frown.

"It's me, Hank!" the other says calmly. "I'm the real Connor."

"One of you is my partner," Hank says. "The other is a sack of shit. Question is, who is who?"

"What are you doing, Hank?" the one on the right says. "I'm the real Connor. Give me the gun and I'll take care of him!" He starts to step forward, but Hank aims the gun at him.

"Don't move!"

"Why don't you ask us something?" the one on the left says. "Something only the real Connor would know." Hank nods.

"Uh, where did we first meet?"

"Jimmy's bar!" the left one says. "I checked four other bars before I found you. We went to the scene of a homicide. The victim's name was Carlos Ortiz." The other frowns.

"He uploaded my memory."

"What's my dog's name?" Hank asks.

"Sumo." The left one. "His name is Sumo." The other shakes his head.

"I knew that too. I..."

"My son," Hank says. I look up at him. "What's his name?"

"Cole," the one on the left says. "His name was Cole. And he just turned six at the time of the accident." He smiles sadly. "It wasn't your fault, Lieutenant. A truck skidded on a sheet of ice and your car rolled over. Cole needed emergency surgery but no human was available to do it. So an android had to take care of him." He sighs. "Cole didn't make it. That's why you hate androids. You think one of us is responsible for your son's death." Hank scoffs.

"Cole died because a human surgeon was too high on red ice to operate," he says. "He was the one that took my son from me. Him and this world, where the only way people can find comfort is with a fistful of powder." I smile as much as I can.

"I knew about your son too!" the other Connor says. "I would have said exactly the same thing! Don't listen to him, Hank, I'm the one who-" Hank points the gun at him.

"One more," he says. He glances down at me. "What about her?" I frown. "Who is she to you?" I look between the two Connors, curious at what they'll say.

"Arna Ortega," the left one says quietly. "Lost the only people who treated her like a person and forced to go on the run. She put everything she could into the cases she worked on with us, even if she was forced to be there, all to get back the one thing she had of her mother's." He looks down at me. "The most devoted person I've ever met." He smiles softly. "She made me see that I wanted to live, that I wanted to love. Before I even knew it." I smile, and Hank nods as the other Connor's face falls. Hank looks at him.

"A machine couldn't have said all that," he says. The clone opens his mouth, but Hank shoots him before he can say anything. He looks at the real Connor. "I've learned a lot since I met you, Connor. Maybe there's something to this. Maybe you really are alive. Maybe you'll be the ones to make the world a better place." Connor nods, and Hank looks back at me as he runs over, sliding to his knees in front of me.

"Are you okay?" he asks. I nod, bringing a hand to my head. I pull it away, and it's stained with blue blood. I look up at him.

"God," I mutter, wrapping my arms around his neck. He hugs me back tightly, and I see Hank smiling behind him. I pull back from Connor, and he helps me stand up. We look at Hank.

"I knew there was something different about you," he says to me. I open my mouth to respond, but he holds up a hand. "It's okay. You did what was necessary to survive. No one can fault you for that." He nods to us. "Go ahead, and do what you gotta do." We nod and walk back to the androids, each grabbing an arm.

"Wake up!" Connor says. The two androids we have a hold of jerk awake and look around. Their LEDs blink yellow, and they reach out to touch the androids around them, repeating the words Connor spoke. Connor looks down at me, smiling softly. I smile back at him, and he wraps an arm around my shoulders, hugging me tightly.