Chapter 615: Three Protagonists, Three Directions (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

Chapter 615: Three Protagonists, Three Directions (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

As the story progressed,

Song Ren had basically grasped the Gameplay and setting of the game Detroit: Become Human.

There were three different protagonists in this game.

Markus, Kara, and Connor, who appeared first.

None of the three protagonists were human—they were all androids.

Moreover, their identities were entirely different. Connor was a new model android dispatched by CyberLife to assist the police in investigating deviant androids.

Markus, on the other hand, was a rare-model android gifted by CyberLife to an elderly, renowned painter to care for his daily life.

As for Kara, she belonged to the mass-produced Regular androids.

Due to their differing identities and responsibilities, the player experience each offered was also distinct.

Among them, Connor, who clearly served as the visual highlight, was undoubtedly the most entertaining character of the three protagonists.

This was because Connor had to investigate various cases. During investigations, players needed to conduct negotiations, search crime scenes for clues, analyze and recreate how the android had killed the human, and additionally track down and arrest fleeing androids.

As an android, his task was to stand firmly on the side of humanity.

In the first case involving an android murdering its owner, Connor had a human police partner named Hank. However, this officer Hank didn't seem easy to get along with.

When the player first encountered him, he had already skipped work to watch a sports game at a bar, making Connor search for a long time before finding him. Moreover, his attitude toward androids was far from positive.

During security investigations, Captain Hank basically stood around doing nothing.

The main clues were discovered solely by Connor.

"In short, he's just a bystander there to let Connor show off," Song Ren muttered, controlling Connor as he investigated information inside a small room.

Watching Hank casually pat a staff member on the shoulder, open a cabinet, wander around left and right, and finally stop beside the corpse, Song Ren felt he had a good grasp of the man's role.

However, as the investigation progressed, Song Ren frowned.

The first case, where he controlled Connor to handle a deviant android, didn't make him feel any sympathy for the deviant android.

But this second case was different. From certain clues in the room, it became evident that the android who killed its human owner had actually been suffering cruel abuse and beatings.

In fact, when Connor collected the evidence and located the hiding android on the second floor, one could clearly see the terror in the android's eyes.

'...I... I was only trying to defend myself. He was going to kill me! Please... don't tell them.'

Seeing the pleading android, Song Ren in the game wanted Connor to conceal his whereabouts. But the next second, the in-game Connor spoke up directly.

'Captain Hank, he's here!'

Watching the android's despair and Connor's resolute expression, the in-game Song Ren couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

Truly, cold and heartless, Connor-chan!

However, compared to the seemingly emotionless Connor, the other two androids—Markus and Kara—appeared far more humane.

Unlike Kara, who ended up with a terrible owner, Markus was much luckier. His owner was an elderly painter named Carl.

Unlike Todd's cruel treatment of Kara, Carl didn't treat Markus as a mere servant or robot.

In fact, their relationship resembled that of father and son. Carl often spoke philosophical words to Markus.

For instance, in the art studio, Carl would even encourage Markus to paint.

He told him to follow his own feelings, not his programming.

Carl also shared profound words with Markus, one of which left a deep impression on Song Ren:

"Someday, I won't be able to take care of you anymore. You'll have to protect yourself and make your own decisions... decide who you truly are, and who you want to become."

"The world doesn't welcome those who are different, Markus... Don't let others tell you who you should be."

Although Markus's owner Carl was very kind-hearted, he had a good-for-nothing son.

This son constantly demanded money from Carl and treated Markus with extreme hostility, making Song Ren extremely annoyed.

He was easily the second most detestable character Song Ren had encountered so far. As for the first? That was naturally Todd, Kara's owner.

But then came Kara's storyline, which finally brought him great satisfaction.

One day at the dinner table, Todd flew into a rage for no reason and even struck Alice.

Kara tried to protect Alice, but Todd ordered her not to move.

According to her programming, an android had to obey its owner's commands.

But this time was different.

As Todd, with a fierce expression, chased Alice up the stairs, a red wall of data appeared before Song Ren.

It was the program commanding her to remain still—the very thing restraining her.

In the past, any attempt by Song Ren to act against orders would be blocked.

But now, it was different.

In this virtual data world, facing the wall of command code, Kara took action.

She shattered the barrier that had prevented her from moving. Kara had become a deviant android.

From this moment on, she was no longer bound by human commands. Her self-awareness had been liberated.

Upstairs, unlike Connor's interrogation scenes, here Song Ren finally experienced the game's action system.

Different from the QTE gameplay of his previous life, in the version developed by Chen Xu, players had a more active mode.

For example, picking up a gun from the ground would trigger an ending where Todd was killed.

Simply fleeing from Todd's attacks would lead to a subsequent storyline where she escaped with Alice.

Similarly, if during the process she was beaten by Todd and failed to dodge in time, different branching paths would unfold—either getting beaten and then escaping, or being killed outright.

Under Song Ren's control, the in-game Kara seized the moment when Todd bent down to pick up his belt to strike her, lunged forward forcefully, slammed his head against the wall, and then escaped with Alice from this place that could no longer be called a home.

Extremely gratifying!

This was Song Ren's evaluation of the scene where Kara fled with Alice.

He never wanted to stay in this house for another second!

However, compared to Kara's successful escape with Alice, Markus's fate on the other side was far more apprehensive.

One night, Markus returned home with Carl, only to find his good-for-nothing son Leo attempting to steal his father's paintings to sell for money.

A quarrel quickly broke out. Facing Leo's relentless oppression, the android Markus felt anger and injustice—and this anger and injustice caused him to break through the barrier, becoming a deviant android.

But no matter whether he chose resistance or submission, there would be no good outcome.

If he resisted, Leo would be severely injured, and Markus would be shot by arriving police and dumped into the Android Junkyard.

If he submitted, Carl would die on the spot from a heart attack, and Markus would still be shot by the arriving police.

It was from this point that the entire game, which previously felt slightly oppressive, finally became increasingly captivating.

What kind of ending awaited Kara and Markus as deviant androids? Did Markus truly die?

And what about Connor, the investigator of deviant androids—would he later become a deviant android himself?

Numerous mysteries swirled in Song Ren's mind.

(End of Chapter) <>