Nervously, you glanced at the micro chip that was laying on the dining room table.

It was still concerned in a y thing imaginable, from dirt, to halfway rotten leaves and a ton of blue blood that had slowly turned hard and mushy.

Ever since returning, Connor was entirely absorbed by this small thing. It almost felt like he was obsessed, as if this was the holy grail of his existence.

You, on the other hand, felt weird about it. It almost felt like a threat to you.

It would probably be better to get rid of it before anything serious could happen.

"Connor.", you put the pot on the stove and turned to him. "This is dangerous. I don't feel safe with this in the house."

He glanced up.

There was something inside his eyes.

It was hard for you to tell what exactly it was, but it seemed like an own, free will. It looked like he had his mind set on it and he wasn't willing to back down.

Not anymore.

"I'm sorry.", his hand slid over the chip. "But I will read it."

Your heart dropped.

"You can't!", you gasped, already feeling how your hands started to shake again. "Connor, if anyone finds out about this... You'll be done for."

The LED on his temple picked up a quicker speed. He was thinking.

Then he shrugged.

"It will be fine. That's what you said."

"I- I know but... we don't habe to challenge our luck."

"Luck is just a concept."

"Then we do not need to push our limits."

His lips moved. For a moment he looked like a disappointed schoolboy.

But then his hand moved and let the chip disappear in his pocket.

With your lips pressed into a thin line, you watched how he hid it with such care as if it were his own and then raised his head to meet your gaze.

Somehow, this made you feel like he was slapping you in the face.

"You're putting us in danger.", you said in a shaky voice.

"I am aware of that.", he said with such little care that it made you feel physically sick. "But I need to see what happened. For myself."

You shook your head.

"You don't need anything, Connor."

The sound of boiling water filled your ears.

He frowned.

"I need a lot.", he insisted, almost angry that you were not on his side. "I need just as much as a human."

The hissing sound of the water increased.

A wave of anger washed over you. Your hands turned into fists. But you refused to scream at him.

Not yet.

"You make things worse than they have to be.", you tried to talk some sense into him. "Why is this even so important to you?"

His face twisted. The LED flickered so hard that it seemed like he was about to overheat.

"I don't know.", he said and glared at you. "I feel like this is important."

The hissing sounds were so loud that you felt like they were drilling into your brain.

"You can't know."

"But I can feel it."

The last nerve snapped.

"You're a machine Connor.", you hissed at him with such anger that it made you even more mad. "You don't feel anything!"

All of a sudden, silence hit the room.

From one second to another everything went silent.

The hissing of the boiling water stopped.

The wind outside the window settled.

Even your own breath was as calm as it had never been before.

All that could be heard was the flickering of Connor's LED.

Shockingly, it calmed down as well. For the first time ever since he had started showing deviant behaviour, the LED stopped and turned blue again.

His face turned to ice and all that was left was that shimmer in his eyes.

This goddamn shimmer.

It was so full of reproach, so hurt and disappointed at the same time.

You swallowed hard.

But not a single word left his lips.

"Forgive me.", he said in a cold, mechanical voice and got up. "I won't bother you with it. If you feel uncomfortable with the chip in the house, I'll read it somewhere else."

Without looking you in the eyes or saying another word, he turned on his heel and walked towards the backdoor.

The sound of the door opening filled your ears.

A cold wind crawled into the warm house and corrupted the cozy feeling.

Your fingers twitched.

You wanted to hold him back, tell him that everything would be fine.

But it didn't feel like it.

It didn't feel like everything would be fine. Instead, it felt like the world was falling apart.

This little chip had set something in motion that neither you nor Connor could stop now. Either you'd roll with it or get rolled over.

But Connor didn't seem to realise the dangers of his newly discovered desires. He was acting irrational. That in itself was dangerous, but as someone who wasn't supposed to act at all, he made things significantly worse.

And it scared you.

Not only that he made decisions on his own, but also that he decided to be against you.

Maybe it was just one decision. Maybe he'd never do it again.

But it scared you to know that if he wanted to, he'd leave.

Just like his original did.

"Fuck!", you gasped and knelt down next to the stove.

Your hands were shaking.

Your entire body felt like it was twitching, yet as tense as a brick.

Tears burned in the corners of your eyes.

This was never supposed to happen.

You had liked the idea of him being his own person because it had made you feel like the real Connor had returned. Then, he had improved and became an even better version of the original.

Like an idiot, you fell for him.

And now everything was getting out of hand.

"Goddammit...", you whispered and turned off the shove to prevent a fire from happening. "I should have done my fucking job!"

You knew that today wasn't a good time to make him rethink anything.

It would be best to sleep a night over it.