I was just a machine, but it wasn't really me... (Connor x OC) D: BH

༻ 64, I can't dream without you ༺

ROSE'S POV

Three weeks... Three painful weeks and nothing happened... Connor still didn't wake up... I was in the laboratory of the Kamski residence like every single day in the last few weeks. I was sitting on the edge of the bed, holding Connor's right hand. I was lost in my thoughts and my memories. Elijah said that Connor's body needs time to adapt to the thirium and the robotized parts, so we had to wait. 'But for how long?... What if he never wakes up?... And what if he wakes up? What if he won't remember anything? What if his consciousness is damaged? Or what if he can't accept the fact that he is a cyborg and he is going into shock?'...

"I miss you..." I whispered with a smile, looking at his peaceful face. His long eyelashes, his messy hair, his tiny beauty mark... I talked to him every day, hoping that maybe he hears me. I wanted him to know that I'm next to him and I'm waiting for him... A few minutes later I glanced at the clock. 17:47... Hank and the others promised to visit us in the evening, so I stood up from the bed, gently kissed Connor's forehead, then finally I left the laboratory. As I expected, Hank has already arrived. He was standing in front of the glass wall in the living room, staring at the snow covered forest in the distance. He was lost in his thoughts. I didn't want to scare him, so I was waiting patiently till he noticed my presence.

"I think..." Hank broke the silence a few seconds later, staring at the outside world. "I think that I couldn't bear to lose my other son too."

"He'll wake up..." I reassured him with a weak smile as I slipped my hands into the warm pockets of my beige cardigan, joined my uncle in front of the glass wall and finally I also started admiring the snow covered landscape. It was snowing... The twigs of pine trees were full of robins. They were cheerfully singing in the February sunset. Hank and I were standing next to each other silently, then a few minutes later our friends entered the huge living room. Markus, North, Josh, Simon, Cameron and Genesis.

"Hello, guys!"

"Good evening, Lieutenant! Hello, Rose!" Markus greeted us with a small smile as a few of our friends sat down on the couch. "Any good news?"

"No. Not yet..." I admitted honestly, then I also joined them and sat down next to Genesis. We talked a lot in the following hours. About Connor's health condition, about CyberLife and about the deviancy too, then finally Josh asked an interesting question.

"There's something I still don't understand."

"And what would that be?"

"rA9... What is exactly the meaning of rA9? And how did it started spreading? The deviancy began years ago, but the rA9 symbol appeared only a few months ago. Do you have any idea?" he asked me. Of course, I didn't know the exact answer, but I had a theory. 'Me and my bizarre theories...'

"Well... Connor once mentioned that the first software instability in his system was in August. Almost six months ago when he saved a little girl's life." I started. For a few seconds I went silent, took a sip of my hot strawberry tea, then I continued my theory. "And he also said that every time his software became unstable he saw a code."

"That's strange... We never had any software instability. We just simply broke out of our programming. But... What kind of code?" Markus asked me curiously.

"Something R9DEVIAN FCT... T... Umm... I don't know, I don't remember exactly." I admitted. Of course, I tried to solve the code, several times, but in vain. "But the point is that there was some kind of connection between Connor's emotions and his software instability. He had software instability when he saved Hank's life at the urban farm... When he let the deviants escape at the Eden Club... When he decided not to shoot Chloe... When I almost died in the Stratford Tower... Do you remember what Elijah said when Connor mentioned that he saw me in the Zen Garden? He said that the fear and the anger triggered emotional stimuli from the original body..."