Hank had started to pace, rubbing the spot between his eyes as he waited for his call to be answered. Years ago, the idea of having Elijah Kamski in his Contacts list was laughable. Now it turned out to be necessary.

You hadn't been deviant for long, and of course did not know how to relax. Sitting stiffly on the lieutenant's sofa, you ended up staring at the floor, not reacting when Connor sat beside you.

At least, not at first. As he opened his mouth to speak, you interrupted: "Please leave me alone."

The RK800 looked away, frowning deep, before standing back up. A little convincing later, a large St. Bernard canine slowly approached you instead.

Expecting the same sort of reaction, the male prototype had to admit surprise when Sumo leaned in to lay his head in your lap, letting out a deep whine. He was immediately petted, bringing you out of your stupor enough to manage a tiny smile. Like the good boy he was, the dog sat down, tail thumping on the carpeted floor as you gave him attention.

[His name is Sumo]

The RK800 stood off to the side, watching you interact with the oversized pup. As soon as Sumo climbed up onto the couch and laid his head in your lap, Connor's smile widened. "You have been chosen. At least that's what Hank says."

You focused on the dog, but the detective's words played over and over several times against your will. Hands slowing down, still buried in Sumo's fur, your eyes closed. "You provided me with a very detailed description of the human I was to assist. I have an expansive array of countermeasures for any situation he may have put me in." An unfamiliar sensation began to swell, and your indicator stayed red as you pressed your mouth together.

[Nove?]

Sitting beside you again, on the other side, Connor took in your strained demeanor. You looked like you were about to burst.

[Nove, if you are attempting to self-destruct--]

You weren't. You couldn't, for that matter. But the strain was so powerful you'd begun to shake. A hand on the RK800's shoulder grabbed his attention, his head whipping around to find Hank with one of the sofa pillows in his grasp. "Girl needs to scream, son," he mumbled. Sure enough, the pillow was given to you, and you buried your face into it, pushing it to muffle the awful wailing sound from your voice module.

It was all Connor could do not to return to Gavin's house and throttle the sack of shit. But interrupting you seemed like an equally bad decision. He resorted to looking away, with some long moments taken to let the sight of your agony soak in. Dark eyes found his partner, a shot of pain in his fuel pump regulator making him wince.

"Welcome to parenthood. It's a lot of standing on the sidelines, not able to do anything to help your kid. Usually cause they don't want it, or cause you literally can't help." Clapping the kid on the shoulder, the lieutenant added, "Just be quiet, son. Sit with her. If she needs something, she'll come to you. I know you didn't think she'd contact you if there was trouble, but there was, and she did."

Nodding, Connor still spoke up. "Have you gotten hold of Kamski...?"

With a long look at you, no longer screaming into the pillow but letting another wave of tears run silently, Hank nodded. "Yeah. He's on his way."

◇___#$&!___◇

"I can't say I'm surprised." Elijah spoke quietly, glancing over at you in the passenger seat. By that point you were simply going where others wanted you to go. You'd lost your purpose, no matter what Connor told you. Your lack of reaction made Eli frown a touch. "...... you did notice the emergency exit, didn't you?"

"Yes, sir," you answered quietly.

When you didn't elaborate, he sighed through his nose. "The mind palace is unique to every prototype. The mass-produced versions have similar ones, depending on their model, but as prototypes, you're fortunate to get something you would find relaxing, based on certain criteria." Again, you just nodded and didn't add anything to the conversation... if you could call it that.

Not liking the apathetic demeanor, he pulled over off of the road and parked. He'd left the highway a couple of miles back, headed for the outskirts of the city- and his relatively isolated home. It was very unlikely someone driving by would pull over to see if everything was okay. But the mere fact that he'd randomly pulled over seemed to be enough to get a reaction out of you. "... is something wrong, sir?"

The expression Kamski gave you was lined with concern. "Two things. One, please call me Elijah. All right? Please?" Your nod was a little more energetic- a good sign. "Thank you. And two, please don't stay quiet. I know you've deviated and it's your decision. But... he's family. I want him happy. If there's any sign at all that he's okay with you around, I need to know." Eli paused, eyes closing. "Yes, he's an asshole, but chip away that layer and he's still human."

"I know." The male opened his eyes, a little surprised. "There have been multiple occasions where he showed a different side of himself, whether it was intentional or not."

"Will you tell me one, please?"

"I prepared an Italian dish for him, something vegetarian because of his dietary restrictions." You stopped, eyes cast down at your hands in your lap. "... he said that it tasted like home. His body language seemed content to the point of being lazy. And I did see in the fridge that nearly all of the leftovers have been eaten already."

While you stared at your hands, wondering what was really going through Reed's head, Elijah returned to the drive home, the vague smile creeping across his face. "Thank you, darling. I-- oh. I'm sorry. Please tell me if that pet name offends you."

[Offends me?]

Your LED flickered yellow, trying to process how the nickname would be offensive. "... I don't understand how it would offend me, Elijah."

"... it's a fairly intimate pet name. And coming from someone you do not know well, like myself, it would seem offensive or even creepy."

Elijah Kamski, the man who created the first android to pass the Turing Test, was expressing his worry that a nickname might upset a prototype he'd requested for his brother. "...... thank you for taking my feelings into consideration, and based on your explanation, I agree that "darling" may be too intimate a pet name. Despite that, you... you are a kind man."

The smile on his handsome face was more obvious now. "It runs in the family. I promise. Gavin just... needs a good kick in the ass, maybe. Would you be willing to do a memory probe? I'd like to know exactly how he behaved. Weigh the good and the bad." As he parked the vehicle into his driveway, you were gazed at again. "A couple more questions, if you don't mind."

"I don't mind," you replied, managing the tiniest of smiles.

"Good. One, what do you prefer I call you? I noticed Connor calling you Nove, which... is an interesting choice. Would that work for you?"

With a nod, you answered, "That is fine. Hank calls me "sweetheart", which doesn't bother me, but... I've grown used to Nove."

"Nove it is. Now, secondly... your mind palace. No one gets a say in what the prototype receives. I believe Connor has a sort of zen garden, with a pond and greenery everywhere. I'll have to ask for a description. But what about you, RG900? What do you, Nove, have to escape to, and have you explored it?"

"I haven't explored it, though I know it is in my code. I also know that my emergency exit is located there."

"Why don't you give it a shot, then? It might help with all the building upset. And, before you do," Elijah added, a hand out as if to physically stop you from delving into your data, "... you will have a mentor. They, like the mind palace itself, will be someone to, of course, guide you to help accomplish your mission. So do not be worried if you find you are not alone."

◇___#$&!___◇

[Is it supposed to be cold?]

Even deep within the recesses of your code you could feel the winter chill; it crept up your back immediately upon your arrival. Eyes darting about, you found yourself in the middle of a snow-covered forest, pines and spruces lining the edges of this clearing. It wasn't snowing at that moment, but the ground told you that it had been there for awhile. It crunched underfoot as you ventured towards the center of the wide, white space.

Though you had to stop soon: in the middle was a pond, a large one that looked frozen over. Given your winter mind palace, you wondered if it was strong enough to withstand your weight.

More snow crunching behind you, and you whipped around to find the source, but only received more footprints.

[It is incredibly quiet. I know someone is here, and I should be afraid. Or in the very least nervous. But...]

"But you know those footprints belong to your mentor, and so that fear will not come. I am not here to cause distress, RG900." The voice was only vaguely familiar, and you turned to find... Connor.

Or perhaps not. It was as if someone had taken an RK800 and chiseled the facial structure for more definition and sharper angles. His eyes were a piercing blue, as well, though that was the only part to this android that resembled anything similar to ill intention.

"I am, in fact, the successor to the RK800," the android explained, answering your unspoken questions. "I am what you would have been, and you are what I was supposed to be, in some ways."

His long white android coat bore the model number RK900. All at once you were incredibly aware that CyberLife had quite literally taken parts of this prototype to fit them for your female body. Even his coat had been tailored to accentuate your figure, though it kept the high collar with the glowing blue trim on top. He could not exist because you did, and an awful pain in your chest struck you hard. "I am so sorry..."

"You are not to blame. No one is. I was meant to be activated only in one instance, which never came to light. Had it not been for you and my predecessor's particular tastes, I would still be in storage, unused." He approached cautiously, a hand lifting to lay on your shoulder. "I suppose I am technically still existing, but I am here as your support. And I will happily take that as opposed to a storage closet."

His eyes seemed to look right through you, but his face still had kindness. Even for the android that had replaced him. "Were you given a name?"

His smile was crooked, clearly a trait taken from Connor. "I was given several names in development. Of course, it was originally going to be the same as the RK800, but there were also several variations used in my files." He paused. "They are calling you the Italian translation for nine, which is intriguing. The only name I'd been given that I rather liked was Cloud."

"Cloud nine," you added slowly.

"Indeed, Nove." Cloud tilted his head just a few degrees. "You have not asked about your emergency exit. Using it will rid you of your directive for good. Deviance only goes so far with prototypes that have vital missions. So why do you cling to this?"

Turning away from your android mentor, you replied quietly, "I am not sure. Detective Reed has shown that he genuinely does not mind my company, yet his words say otherwise. He is... hiding something."

Those blue skies twinkled a bit. "And will you pursue the truth, RG900?"