He was honestly surprised when she took his hand--not because he didn't enjoy it, but because he'd thought she was repulsed by the fact that he could deactivate his skin in a way that didn't compare well to her own make up. And so few people had ever touched him kindly, let alone other androids. He'd met three that had touched him like he was a friend and not the enemy.
Connor blinked as he tilted his head to glance down and watch their hands where she touched him. "Correct," he replied about the projection comment. He'd never thought of it that way, but it truly was.
He looked back up to watch the expression on her face, reading her stress levels. She didn't seem afraid at all. This, again, surprised him.
"Yes," he answered quietly. He could change it, but he rarely did. Cyberlife had ingrained the need to remain in the image they'd forced so deeply that even now whenever his hair became a bit messed up he was met with the almost compulsive need to fix it immediately. "I did not choose my initial design," he explained, but I have made a few modifications over time."
He reached over to pull his sleeve up to show her the symbol on his arm that Ronan had given him advice with. "Where I'm from, when my people rose up against their human oppressors, this was the symbol chosen to represent the fight. I wanted...I needed to modify something about myself just for me," Connor explained. "But I haven't...there are things I might change, but I haven't. I was designed to be aesthetically pleasing for infiltration purposes to integrate seamlessly with the humans I worked for and with."
Connor paused for a brief moment, then let his hair take on a slight curl just to show her what was possible.