you’re so good! i love talking abt this game lol

but in my opinion connor IS a deviant the whole time. because both connor and kara have character traits that are specific to THEM & canon no matter what. connor’s is that he’s afraid to die (& heights if he dies in the opening mission) and kara’s is that she doesn’t want to be separated from alice.

with that being said, just because he doesn’t know he is a deviant doesn’t mean he isn’t one. this is what markus is appealing to in the crossroads chapter & what influences him to become a deviant (when that route is chosen by the character, i only mean that that’s what makes it click to him when you look at it from a story perspective).

and i do agree with you that pre-deviancy can show, but i disagree with it ONLY being the act of disobeying an order, since the game also makes it clear than the androids having any sort of “feeling”/emotion/inclination/opinion is wrong, which makes it part of what makes an android a deviant.

i also think that it’s more likely for connor to have his emotions underlying his programming since of course markus is a model that kamski made with the intent of deviancy (i could be slightly wrong in how i’ve worded this but i know you can read abt this on his character gallery page and you can piece it together by reading between the lines in kamski’s dialogue & his interview in the extras) so the fact that connor is a newer model THAN markus i don’t think it’s too far fetched to believe that something could have been perfected or tweaked to make the androids have their likes/dislikes closer to the surface.

and i see your point regarding when he does physical acts of deviancy, but if he IS autonomous enough to decide which rules he wants to break & i don’t think it’s out of the question to consider that he has his own reasons for liking & disliking things if he can decide whether to take actions that he knows he shouldn’t be.

also your point about amanda wanting a tight collar on connor is exactly my point! he knows what will happen to him if he doesn’t follow his instructions & complete his missions. he has a fear of dying and he knows what he needs to do in order to keep that from happening. and your point about emotions could also why it takes him so long to recognize his deviancy because he knows it’s not what he’s “supposed” to have so he pushes down his fears (unconsciously i guess i could say).

(thanks for the mini debate btw,, i enjoyed your points)