Forty-Seven

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An hour passed.

Maybe two.

Or three.

You weren't quite sure how far the Canadian border was away from your parents farm but you knew for sure that Connor didn't take the official route.

Not only was he human intelligence, he had also developed some street smarts over the past months of him becoming a deviant. He didn't need you to tell him not to drive though the checkpoints, because he knew neither of you two had papers.

He planned on driving to a hidden spot, maybe go on a walk in the woods, and then climb over the fence that kept the United States separated from Canada. He wanted to break into the country like a criminal, a refugees.

To be fair, you didn't have any better idea either. But you started to feel like everything was just wrong. With every minutes that passed and every mile that the car drove, it felt like this was useless.

This entire idea was a war that you couldn't win. It would only take you, swallow you whole and spit you out again.

But you needed to do it.

You wanted to do it.

For the past years life had been nothing but a nightmare of constant misery. It had felt like every day had been the same, wrapped in cotton and drugged until the grass looked greener and the sky was blue again.

But with Connor you didn't need medication. You didn't feel like the world needed help to appear good again.

You felt good.

For the first time in years you were able to say you felt genuinely happy and satisfied with yourself.

You didn't regret the choices you've made. But you did regret that Connor's state of judgement was suffering through them.

You had failed him.

"I need to tell you something.", Connor suddenly said out of the blue.

Still staring out the window, you hummed.

No matter what he would tell you, it wouldn't be as shocking as the fact that he had killed someone.

Only thinking about it gave you the shivers. Even though it wasn't fair.

Partly, it was your fault that it had happened so blaming him for everything wasn't right.

"What is it?", you asked, eyes still fixed onto the clouds above.

"I lied to you."

Surprised, you turned to look at him from the corner of your eyes. Up to this point you didn't even know he was capable of lying. Especially not to you.

"About what?"

He sighed.

His eyes jumped over the street, fixing a point before letting it go and passing it.

Lips moved, but not a single word left them. He was thinking, considering if it would he smart to tell you. He was around that any wrong word could shatter the dream he had build inside his head.

"I think that we should have a fresh start in Canada.", he finally said. "No secrets."

Now you were interested. With a serious face you sat up straight and eyed him.

His body language was still new and hard to read. But it was obvious that he was in some sort of discomfort.

"Go on. I'm listening.", you crossed your arms in front of your chest.

He still didn't look at you even though he would be very much capable to at least gift you quick glances from the side.

"I lied about the chip.", he admitted. "When I ran away, I checked it."

Surprised, your eyebrows rose.

"What part did you lie about?"

Guilt appeared on his face.

"Everything. Well, almost..."

"Connor... Is it serious?"

"I... I'm not sure."

"Stop beating around the bush."

"I've seen what the android saw. That day... they escaped. That's why the house looked so chaotic."

Goosebumps grew all over your arms. A shivering breath escaped you.

"What did you see?"

"The android... They were in love. Just like us."

You frowned.

"They?"

"The owner of the android. The two fell in love. But CyberLife tore them apart. They injured the man. Shot him. The android escaped into the woods. I don't know what happened to the child. But... they tried to eliminate the feelings that the machine had. And they weren't soft about it.", his eyes darkened. "I- I've never seen anything like this..."

With bated breath you listened while all the things went through your head.

Everything matched.

All of a sudden the rough state of the house made sense. Even the weird behaviour of the service androids. They knew, everyone knew who had been connected to the network at that time.

Only the humans weren't able to know since CyberLife probably had killed the sparks before a fire had been able to happen.

And now that it happened again, the company tried to do the same all over again.

You had failed. Just like the gut before you. And they would deal with your failure just the way they did with his.

Maybe you'd survive, after all, nothing public happened yet. But no matter how things would turn out for you, Connor wouldn't continue to exist.

They'd destroy him, either for safety or out of pride.

All of a sudden the world felt colder. It felt like this country tried to choke all the life out of your lungs.

"We need to reach that border...", you said, shivering. "When are we... Where even are we?"

Connor took a deep breath.

He drove into a small side street, barely even enough to be considers a street.

The car started to shake and rattle. The sound of branches hit the window. Small stones scratched the sides.

Trees opened up in a long row, almost like a wall that tried to lock someone in. The ceiling of leaves was so thick that not a single ray of sunshine managed to break through.

It was dark.

The car came to a stand.

Outside, the wind made the leaves rustle.

Your hand was already on the door as Connor held you back.

Your eyes locked with his.

There was so much fear inside this chocolate brown. But there was also hope and a deeply rooted wish to make things right.

"It won't happen to us, right?", he asked with a shaky voice. "They won't get you. And I won't get shut down. Right?"

You took a deep breath.

Your entire body was shivering.

"I'm trying, Connor.", you said. "I want to make things right..."


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