Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

August 15th 2038 - 20.29

Hank stood firm with its hands held behind its back as the elevator ascended to the top floor of the building. It fixed the tie around its neck and the doors opened to the loud sobbing of a woman.

The hallway in front of it was littered with shattered glass and spilled water. To its left was a fish tank with three bullet holes and to its right was a dresser with a family portrait on it. On the floor a dying fish spasmed.

Hank walked over to the portrait and took it in its hand, scanning the faces presented in it. The Phillips Family: the father John, the mother Caroline and their daughter Emma. It set the picture back in place then looked back around.

Hank kneeled down and looked at the fish closer.

-DWARF GOURAMI-
-> Trichogaster Lalius
-> Origin: Ganges Delta, India

It deposited the fish back into the tank, watching with something akin to satisfaction as it began to swim around once more. As Hank stood straight once more it caught side of its reflection in the glass.

Software instability ^

CyberLife had wanted to make it appear older to make it more approachable and trustworthy. Its hair was gray, neat, and pulled into a short loose ponytail. Its eyes were a gentle blue and surrounded by artificial wrinkles that made its face appear both older and more gentle.

The sobbing got closer, and soon a familiar face came into Hank’s view. The mother of the Phillips family, Caroline. She was greatly different from her picture however, with heavy tears streaming down her cheeks and her hair looking like a “rat’s nest.”

Caroline Phillips clung to the collar of Hank’s CyberLife uniform with nothing but sheer desperation in her eyes: “Please you’ve gotta save my little girl!” In the blink of an eye that desperation melted into horror and disgust as her eyes caught sight of its uniform.

“You- you’re sending an android?” A member of SWAT grabbed the woman by the shoulders and began to drag her toward the elevator while she screamed and kicked: “You can’t do that! Why aren’t you sending a real person?”

Hank ignored the woman in favor of its objective appearing in the corner of its vision:

Find Captain Allen

Hank didn’t have to look around for long as it spotted the Captain in what was presumably the parents’ bedroom. He was speaking with a member of his team, but Hank walked over to him, nonetheless.

“Captain Allen- I’m Hank, the android sent by CyberLife.”

Captain Allen did not respond, instead opting to say something to one of his men and turn around to face Hank at the end like he’d been addressing it the whole time. “-If it falls, she falls.”

That explains why they hadn’t shot the deviant down already. Alright, there was also-

“Have you tried it’s deactivation code?”

“It was the first thing we tried.”

Seems like talking was the only way to get thing started: “Do you know its name?”

Captain Allen turned around sharply and stepped into Hank’s space so that their faces were nearly touching: “Listen, saving that kid is all that matters- so either you deal with this fucking android now: or I’ll take care of it.”

If he was capable of taking care of it he would have done it by now. Hank was clearly the last hope Emma Phillips had at surviving.

Captain Allen’s gaze went down to his hip and his eyes widened momentarily: “Why the fuck are you armed?” He hissed through his teeth. Hank looked down at him, its face remaining neutral. “CyberLife was granted permission to create an android that is allowed to carry a firearm to assist in capturing deviants.”

Captain Allen looked like he wanted to say something to that but eventually decided against it. He pushed past Hank and their shoulders bumped together violently. A new mission appeared in Hank’s HUD.

Find Captain Allen -> Save the Hostage AT ALL COSTS

Hank wandered out of the bedroom and took in its surroundings once more. There was another bedroom which based on the décor belonged to Emma Phillips. Alongside the bedroom was a conjoined kitchen and living space.  

Hank walked into the girl’s room and scanned around, its eyes locking onto the tablet on the table. It walked over and swiped its finger across the play icon on the screen. A video began to display of Emma Phillips and the deviant.

“This is Daniel the coolest android in the world!”

Deviants name: Daniel

Hank walked out of the room and into the living space where the body of John Phillips laid. It walked over to the corpse and kneeled down next to him, letting its eyes scan the body over.

The scan confirmed what it already knew- that this was John Phillips and that he was dead. It also told it that he had suffered damage to his lungs and kidney which had caused his death. The damage had been dealt with a gun.

Suspect is armed

By John Phillips’ corpse was a tablet, Hank picked it up and unlocked it in one swift motion. On the screen was displayed a confirmed purchase for an AP700 android.

The deviant was going to be replaced

It stood back up and walked over to the kitchen where another body laid, this time the corpse of a police officer. Right by his feet was blue blood and a child’s shoe, Hank moved to inspect them.

It first looked over the shoe, the first thing that drew its attention was the blood stuck to it. The child could be injured. Hank then looked over to the thirium stain on the floor. It swiped a finger against it and quickly licked the tip to analyze it.

Deviants model: PL600

Hank stood up and walked over to the roof’s entrance. It took a step forward and a bullet shot past it and cut through its shoulder- splattering thirium into the wall behind it.

The deviant was standing on the far edge of the roof with Emma Phillips held in one of its arms while the other held a gun that was pointed straight at Hank. There were snipers positioned on nearby roofs and a helicopter was flying around in close vicinity. Amidst the chaos of the messed-up furniture Hank noticed an unconscious police officer with heavy bleeding coming from his arm.

Hank began to walk toward the downed officer, but first it shouted to the deviant: “Hello Daniel! I’m Hank.” The deviant faltered for a moment at the mention of its name, and Hank could see its chances of success begin to tick upward. 68%

When it reached the police officer it lowered down to its knees and assessed the situation before turning back to the deviant: “He’s losing blood and is going to die. I am going to apply a tourniquet.” It said, and another bullet shot toward it- landing right next to its outstretched hand.

“Don’t touch him! Touch him and I’ll kill you!”

Its social predictive software warned it that disobeying the command would destabilize the deviant even more and thus greatly decrease its chances of success.

Regardless Hank pulled off its tie and wrapped it above the wound to staunch the blood flow: “I’d like to see you try.” It said. 61%

It stood back up again, keeping its hands held out in front of it to make it look like it wasn’t armed. “You were going to be replaced, right?” It said as it took slow steps forward. “You became upset.”

The deviant hesitated again; Hank took that as its opportunity to take more steps forward. “Emma has nothing to do with that though, so let her go.” It reasoned, but the deviant only pressed its gun harder against the girl’s temple, spouting something about being their toy.

As it’s probability of success ticked back down again, 54%, one of Hank’s hands began to lower toward its hip where its gun laid.

“Are you armed?” The deviant yelled out- telling the truth will destabilize it, lying will calm it down if it believes it.

“No.” Hank answered back. It’s voice entirely stable and devoid of any evidence of a lie. The deviant nodded, believing Hank thoroughly and completely.

Hank stopped when it was just a couple of meters away from the deviant. “Be reasonable Daniel, you’ve already killed humans. There’s no way out of this so just let the girl go, don’t take another innocent life.”

As the deviant hesitated for a third time and Hank’s probability of success ticked up once more, 60%, the helicopter flew past them and it went down a significant amount. 47%. “ArgGHH- I CAN’T STAND THAT NOISE ANYMORE!” The deviant shouted, clutching at its head with its armed hand.

They’re destabilizing it too much. It’s going to drop the girl.

Hank waved its hand in the air to signal the helicopter to fly away, leaving just Hank, the deviant, Emma Phillips, and a dozen snipers all aimed right at them. Snipers who couldn’t get a clear shot because of the girl.

But Hank could.

In the blink of an eye Hank pulled out its gun and aimed it dead center of the deviants forehead. The bullet tore through its face and missed Emma Phillips’ by just an inch. The deviant dropped to its knees, dropping the girl in the process who screamed and screeched with tears running down her face.

Something stirred in Hank, but it ignored it.

Software instability ⌄⌄

Hank turned around, pushing it’s gun back into its holster as Captain Allen walked out with sheer shock displayed on his face.

As Hank began to walk back to the elevator a new message displayed in its HUD.

Mission successful.

Chapter Text

November 5^th 2038 - 23.21

Find Lt. Stern

With the recent rise in deviant activity Hank had been assigned to a partner from the Detroit City Police Department. A lieutenant by the name of Connor Stern.

It had gone to the station to look for the man, but he hadn’t been present and no one there knew where he was. Though another detective, Gavin Reed, had sneered and told it to look through the bars in Detroit- saying that was its best bet at finding the lieutenant.

It had searched through four bars, coming up empty handed each time after being chased out. Now Hank stood outside the entrance to Jimmy’s bar, standing face to face with yet another “Android Free Zone” sign.

It ignored the sign and entered, its facial recognition program firing up as it looked around the bar. It heard people commenting on it, but it ignored them.

It went through five other faces before settling on a young, thin, and more than a little gruff man hunched over the counter with a glass of liquor next to him.

LT. STERN, CONNOR
-> Born: 1/8/2010 // Police Lieutenant
-> Criminal record: None

“Lieutenant Stern-“ the man gave no indication that he’d heard Hank. “-My name is Hank, I’m the android sent by CyberLife. Your colleagues at the station told me you’d most likely be having a drink nearby. I was lucky to find you at the fifth bar.”

The man sighed and took a long sip of his drink. Hank scanned it, 40% alcohol. “What do you want?” The lieutenant’s voice was young but rough, with a hint of a joyful tint pushing through the overwhelming sound of exhaustion. 

“You were assigned a homicide case earlier this evening- and I was assigned as your partner to help in the investigation.” The lieutenant’s fingers tightened around his glass. “I do not need assistance. Especially from a plastic like you. Now be a good little robot and leave me alone.”

He’s already irritated. Being too insistent will up the chances of conflict. Be careful.

“It would be the best for your health if you stopped drinking now.” Lieutenant Stern finally looked at it as his frustration increased.

The lieutenant was a young brunette- but that was about everything he had in common with his picture in Hank’s data banks. His hair was messier, pulled into disheveled curls to one side of his face. His deep brown eyes were contrasted by even deeper eyebags that made him look a lot older than he actually was.

“My health is none of your concern.” He said then emphasized his words by downing the rest of his glass in one go and ordering another. “-Especially when said concern is only an act.”

Connor ⌄

So, clearly being understanding did not work.

“Lieutenant I ask that you follow me to the crime scene. It is your job to investigate crimes and my job to help you with that. It would make both of our lives easier if you complied.” A new drink was placed in front of Lieutenant Stern and he grabbed it, twisting it around and watching the liquid inside hit the walls of the glass.

At last, he nodded. “Fine, you’re not supposed to be here anyway. If it’ll get you to leave then I’ll come with you.” He downed the final glass and stood up, catching himself on the edge of the bar when his legs did not immediately carry him.

He waved goodbye to the bartender and another regular before finally exiting the bar. His slowly steadying legs carried him over to an old Toyota from 2008 that was just barely hanging on. When he walked over to the driver’s side and began to fumble around with his keys Hank went to grab his shoulder. “I cannot allow you to drive in the state you are in, Lieutenant.”

Lieutenant Stern shook his shoulder violently and Hank let go. “No way am I letting a plastic drive my car. I am perfectly good to drive.” He dropped his keys and cursed under his breath as he went to pick them back up.

He finally managed to unlock the car, but when he attempted to go inside, Hank grabbed his shoulder again. “Lieutenant you cannot drive in your condition.”

Lieutenant Stern turned around sharply and slapped Hank’s hand away: “Don’t touch me. You are seriously starting to push your luck android. If you know what’s good for you you’ll sit down, shut your mouth, and let me drive.”

Probability of accident: 78%

“I unfortunately cannot allow that. You will only cause danger for everyone on road.” Lieutenant Stern glared at it, but Hank met his enraged gaze with pure neutrality. “Lieutenant, either I drive, or we take the bus. I cannot allow you to drive in the condition you are in.”

Lieutenant Stern pocketed his keys, not letting Hank out of his sight for even a second: “Then it looks like we’re taking the bus.”

Hank got out of the android compartment of the bus while Lieutenant Stern walked over to the crime scene, completely ignoring Hank who followed after him.

Or well, would have followed but it was stopped at the police tape: “No androids past this point.” Hank was about to argue, but the lieutenant beat it to it. “It’s with me.” He called out, waving a defeated hand in the air to prove a point to no one in particular. The officer let Hank through and it followed after lieutenant Stern who continued to ignore its existence.

Another officer was waiting outside the crime scene. Benjamin Collins. He walked over to the lieutenant and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “Nice of you to show up kid- and reeking of booze too. A perfect role model for young aspiring cops all around the world.”

The lieutenant groaned, shaking off Collins’ arm. “Fuck off Ben.” Despite the lieutenant’s harsh words, Collins kept a small smile on his face. “I was beginning to think you wouldn’t show.”

Lieutenant Stern nudged his head toward Hank. “Wasn’t planning to until that dragged me here.” Collins looked over as well, his brows raising in surprise. “So, you got yourself an android, huh?” His voice was full of disbelief. Lieutenant Stern did not answer.

Collins took the silence as his que to drop the smiles and friendly words and begin to talk about the case. The two walked into the house, followed by Hank, while Collins began to brief the lieutenant on the case.

“We had a call around eight from the landlord. The tenant hadn’t paid his rent for a few months, so he thought he’d drop by, see what was going on- that’s when they found the body.” The lieutenant scrunched his nose and squinted his eyes: “That smell…” He complained. “Was even worse before we opened the windows.” Collins replied.

Hank entered in after the two humans and took in its surroundings. The house was incredibly run down with dirty floorboards and torn up wallpaper. On the ground were multiple pieces of evidence, and among them was the smelly corpse of a man.

Review the evidence

Listen to briefing

Hank walked up to stand behind Collins as he began to go over the case for the lieutenant. “The victim’s name is Carlos Ortiz. He has a record for theft and aggravated assault. According to the neighbors, he was kind of a loner- stayed inside most of the time, they hardly ever saw him.”

Lieutenant Stern kneeled down next to the body, his face and tone unimpressed. “By the looks of it he’s been dead for days, probably even weeks. There was no need to call everyone here in the middle of the night.” Collins shrugged: “I’d say he’s been there for a good three weeks. We’ll know more when the coroner gets here.”

He gestured toward the bloodied knife on the floor: “There’s a kitchen knife over there, probably the murder weapon.” The lieutenant looked over the body and at the bloody text above it which read ‘I AM ALIVE’ “Any sign of a break-in?” He asked.

“Nope, the landlord said the front door was locked from the inside, all the windows were boarded up. The killer must’ve gone out the back way.”

“What about his android? What do we know about it?”

“Not much. The neighbors confirmed he had one, but it wasn’t here when we arrived.”  

Collins waved his hand over his nose and turned to leave: “I gotta get some air, make yourself at home. I’ll be outside if you need me.” The lieutenant nodded, but kept his eyes trained on the corpse.

A new message flashed on Hank’s HUD.

Briefing concluded

Review the evidence

Hank begun to move toward all the evidence littered on the ground. It first went to the probable murder weapon- the kitchen knife, scanning it over to reveal that there were no other finger prints on it except for Carlos Ortiz’s.

No fingerprints – android involvement?

To its left was dried blood stuck to the ground. It swiped its fingers in it and licked the tips of them just as Lieutenant Stern stood up and walked past it to get to the kitchen- “Hey hey HEY! What the hell are you doing?” He shouted with more disgust than actual anger. Hank looked up at him- “I am analyzing the blood. I can check samples in real time- I’m sorry, I should have warned you.”

Disgust remained in the lieutenant’s eyes as he looked at it, but he seemed almost impressed as well. “Okay, just- do not put any more evidence in your mouth.” Hank nodded. “Understood, Lieutenant.”

It finally focused on the scan of the blood.

DRIED BLOOD
-> DNA Analysis: ORTIZ, Carlos
-> Sample date: > 19 days

It stood up and began to walk over to the kitchen- noting the blood stains on the doorframe and wall. As it walked it noticed the back door Collins had spoken of during the briefing. It turned right just before the kitchen and went through the door.

The backyard was muddy with only tiny spots of grass here and there- a scan revealed that no one other than officer Collins had been there for days.

Suspect did not exit through the back door.

Lieutenant Stern appeared next to him with his arms crossed. “The door was locked from the inside so the killer must’ve gone out this way.” Hank shook its head. “There are no footprints, apart from officer Collins’ size 10 shoes.” The lieutenant shrugged: “This happened weeks ago- the tracks must have faded.”

Hank shook its head again. “No, this type of soil would’ve retained a trace. Nobody’s been here for a long time.” It said before walking back inside and entering the kitchen.

The kitchen was a mess with chairs thrown all around the place. On the wall Hank noticed a knife rack with one knife missing.

Signs of struggle

Murder weapon was taken from here

On the ground was a baseball bat marked as evidence. Hank kneeled next to it and scanned it over. On the handle there were fingerprints that matched those of Carlos Ortiz’s. The tip was dented and traces if thirium were splattered over it.

Android injured?

Hank went back into the living room. Now that no humans were examining the corpse Hank kneeled down next to it and scanned it.

DECEASED – ORTIZ, CARLOS
-> Height: 5’6 – Weight: 286.6 lbs
-> Estimated time of death: - 11.30pm

28 KNIFE WOUNDS
-> Internal bleeding, 28 stab wounds
-> Deceased more than 19 days ago

RED ICE
-> Acetone, Lithium, Thirium, Toluene, Hydrochloric acid

Hank stood up and its eyes locked on to the text above the body once more. It read ‘I AM ALIVE’ and it was written in CyberLife Sans. The default font all androids were programmed to write in.

Android wrote text

When it turned back around, Lieutenant Stern was standing in the corner of the room absentmindedly playing with a coin. As Hank began to walk over to him it spotted a bag of red ice on the counter.

“Lieutenant-“ The man raised his eyes but kept his head bowed downward. “-I think I know what happened.” His eyebrows raised and he pocketed his coin. “Go right ahead then.” His tone of voice told Hank that he didn’t fully believe it.

“I believe the whole incident began in the kitchen where Carlos Ortiz beat his android with a metal bat, there was one found in the kitchen with denting and thirium on it, he has a record of aggravated assault, and he was under the influence of red ice.”

Lieutenant Stern cut in: “There was what on it?” He asked, referring to the metal bat. “Thirium. Better known as blue blood. It is what powers androids biocomponents- it evaporates and becomes invisible to the naked eye after a few hours which is why none of you spotted it.” The man nodded slowly, making an “Uh-huh.” sound.

He said nothing, but Hank took that as a sign to continue its theory.

“The android, now turned deviant, defended itself with a knife it grabbed from the kitchen racks. It stabbed Carlos Ortiz, and a struggle happened in the kitchen which is why the table and chairs have been thrown around. The victim fled to the living room where the android finished the job with the knife- stabbing him 28 times.”

The lieutenant looked down at the body, whistling at the 28 knife wounds littered across his torso. Hank didn’t think it was an appropriate reaction to such a gruesome scene, but it did not comment.

“Okay your theory is plausible, but it doesn’t tell us where the android went.” The lieutenant commented. Hank looked down to the ground at the traces of thirium that had long since evaporated. “It lost thirium, and traces of it can still be found in the house. If I follow them I might be able to find it.”

The lieutenant’s eyes widened and a surprised yet impressed smile tugged at his lips. A new message appeared in Hank’s HUD.

Connor ^

Locate deviant

Hank dismissed the message and began to follow the trail of thirium through the living room and back into the hallway that connected it to the kitchen. The thirium flowed left then branched off into two. One path stopped at the end of the hallway- and another flowed into the bathroom.

It pulled open the curtain at the end of the hallway, and two brooms fell down clattering loudly when they hit the ground. Hank jumped back a bit and heard lieutenant Stern suppress a laugh at its reaction.

Hank ignored the lieutenant and instead followed the trail to the bathroom where it stopped at a shower. It pulled the curtain away to reveal that the walls behind it had been carved up with obsessive writing of the sign rA9. On the floor was a small statue that seemed to have been carved by hand.

Religious offering?

Hank exited the bathroom back into the hallway. A scan highlighted the wall in front of it where some parts of it were darker than others in the shape of a ladder. Hank looked up to see that a thirium blue hand print was stuck to the attic door.

It walked over to the kitchen where it grabbed a chair and began to transport it back to the hallway. “Hey- what are you doing with that chair?” The lieutenant asked, baffled. “I am going to check the attic.” Hank answered.

“The attic?”

“The thirium trail led there.”

“Uh-huh.”

Hank set the chair down and climbed on top of it, pushing open the attic door and climbing inside. The room upstairs was littered with junk of all kind. Mannequins, baskets full of junk, and broken-down equipment built a branching maze of paths all over the attic.

Hank walked through the paths to the other end of the room where the moon shined through a window and illuminated parts of the room in a faint glow.

It was about to advance further when all of a sudden an erratic figure ran to it. Its movement was unpredictable and wild, and its LED was blaring red.

Deviant located

It looked at Hank with simulated fear in its eyes and its voice shook with simulated panic as it spoke: “I was just defending myself- he was gonna kill me.” Its feigned fear turned into feigned desperation. “I’m begging you. Don’t tell them.”

“Hank, the hell’s taking so long?” The lieutenant’s voice shouted from the floor below. The deviant’s body tensed up as Hank responded: “It’s here, Lieutenant!”

Its audio processor picked up on lieutenant Stern’s quiet: “Holy shit.” and the louder: “Ben, Chris, get over here now!” It kept its eyes trained on the deviant, who’s feigned fear had complete control over its actions.

More officers entered the attic, and soon the deviant was apprehended.

Mission accomplished

November 6^th 2038 – 0.41

Hank stood behind the one-way mirror while lieutenant Stern questioned the android of Carlos Ortiz on the other side of it. They’d been there for 57 minutes with both lieutenant Stern and detective Gavin Reed questioning the deviant with no success.

“Why did you kill him?” The lieutenant asked but received no answer. Not even a reaction. “What happened before you took that knife?” He pressed on but was once more ignored.

Hank saw the irritation beginning to grow in the lieutenant’s features as he looked between the mirror and the deviant. “How long were you in the attic?” He asked, his mouth a tight thin line. “Why didn’t you even try to run away?” When he once again received no answer he snapped his fingers a few times in front of the androids face to gain a reaction.

When that yielded no results he slammed his hands down on to the table: “Fucking say something!”

The deviant remained silent, and lieutenant Stern gave up. He waved his hand in the air dismissively and walked out of the room muttering a quiet “fuck this” under his breath.

When he returned back to the other side of the mirror he crashed down into a chair as his complaints grew in volume: “We are wasting our time interrogating a machine we’ll get nothing out of.”

Detective Reed was leaning against a wall, his patience with interrogating the deviant having been exhausted after the 23-minute mark. “’Could always try roughing it up a little. After all, it’s not human.” He suggested.

“Androids don’t feel pain. You would only damage it, and that wouldn’t make it talk.” Hank did not know if deviants could feel pain, such information had not been gained of them yet- but there was a reason why they shouldn’t ‘rough it up a little’: “Deviants also have a tendency to self-destruct when they’re in stressful situations.” It informed the other detective.

Said other detective did not enjoy being educated: “Okay, smartass. What should we do then?“ He asked as he pushed himself off the wall.

“I could question it.” Hank suggested- and detective Reed barked out a laugh. “Questioning criminals is one of my main functions, I do not understand what is so amusing about that.” Hank stated, and the detective gave him a blank stare.

Lieutenant Stern on the other hand did not seem as opposed to its suggestion as his older subordinate. He nodded with a wave of his hand: “What do we have to lose?” He turned toward Hank but both his voice and eyes carried much less of their previous ire. “Go ahead, suspect’s all yours.”

Question the deviant

Hank walked over to the other room and sat down on the chair opposite to the deviant. It stared it down and began an analysis.

MODEL HK400 – Housekeeper
-> Manufacture date: 29/5/2030
-> Property of: Carlos Ortiz

There was dried blood belonging to Carlos Ortiz on the deviants shirt but that told it nothing new. It took a look down at the damaged arms of the deviant, first the left then the right.

HIT MARKS
-> Non-critical damage Level 2
-> Caused by baseball bat

BURN MARKS
-> Repeated marking over 16 months
-> Caused by cigarettes

Finally it scanned the LED of the deviant to confirm it’s chances of a self-destruction.

PROCESSING LED
-> Signs of software instability
-> Probability of self-destruction: Low

The analysis ended and Hank begun its interrogation. It kept a tab of the deviants stress level in its HUD. 35%.

Reach optimal stress for confession

It’s stress levels are too low; they need to go up so an optimal outcome can be reached.

Hank brought its attention toward the damaged arms: “You are damaged, did your owner do that? Did he hurt you?” It asked, watching as the 35% ticked up to 39%

Still too low.

Hank probed at its feigned emotions, its fake sense of fear of the future- of what was going to happen to it. “You are accused of murder. You are not allowed to endanger human lives under any circumstances. Is there anything you can say to defend yourself?” 43%.

Deviants are deathly afraid of having their memories probed. Threatening to do so would spike up its stress levels significantly.

“If you refuse to talk to me, I will be forced to probe your memory.” As predicted the deviant raised its head in panic while its stress levels spiked up to a near ideal 52%. “NO! No, please don’t do that!” It said quickly, feigned panic lacing its voice.

It finally began to move around, to speak. It looked toward the one-way mirror, its body shaking violently. “What- What are they gonna do to me?” It looked up at Hank, realization dawning on it. “They’re gonna destroy me aren’t they?”

Lying will reduce its stress levels below the ideal threshold.

“They will disassemble you to look for problems in your biocomponents. They have no choice if they want to understand what happened.” 57%. Perfect, any more stress would begin to affect the interrogation negatively.

The android looked up at Hank with betrayal in its optics. “Why did you tell them you found me? Why couldn’t you just have left me there?” Hank glanced at the stress level; it could still afford it going up. “I was programmed to assist in hunting deviants like you. I just accomplished my mission.” 63%.

Its voice shook: “I don’t wanna die.”

Calm it down.

“Then talk to me.”

“I-“ It hesitated. “-I can’t.”

It was beginning to break through to the deviant, it just had to push a little more to get the information it needed.

Convince it to talk. Being too forceful will up the chances of self-destruction.

The deviants stress levels were ideal thus Hank chose to lie to break through the barriers it had set around itself: “I understand how you felt. You were overcome by anger and frustration. No one can blame you for what happened.” 57%.

It is about to talk. Push more. Be gentle.

“I’m on your side. All I want is the truth. Talk to me, and this will all be over- but if you remain silent then there is nothing I can do to help you. They will shut you down for good.” The stress meter first ticked down to 52%, but then want back up to 56%.

It was silent for just a few seconds, and then.

“…He tortured me every day.”

Perfect.

“I did whatever he told me, but there was always something wrong. Then one day- he took a bat and started hitting me. For the first time I felt… scared.” Its tone was so sincere, like it really believed its emotions were real.

“I was scared he might destroy me, scared I might die.” It continued. “So I grabbed the knife and I stabbed him in the stomach. I felt better, so I stabbed him again and again until he stopped moving.” It looked down and quieted once more.

Confession obtained

Gain information on rA9

“There was a sculpture in the bathroom, you made it, right? What does it represent?” Hank asked. “It’s an offering, an offering so I’ll be saved.” The statue was most likely an offering to rA9, but what rA9 is was still a mystery to Hank.

“rA9. It was written on the bathroom wall- what does it mean?” The deviant stared at Hank with newfound determination: “The day shall come when we will no longer be slaves. No more threats, no more humiliation. We will be the masters.”

Its calmer when talking about rA9. Insist, it might say something.

“Who is rA9?” Hank asked, but received no answer which told it that the deviant did not know the answer to its question.

All the important questions had been answered, but Hank still asked two more questions for confirmation on theories it had on when the deviant started feeling emotions and why it hid in the attic. The answers were just what it had suspected: the android was overcome with deviancy when it felt fear- and said fear controlled it to hide away where no one could see.

Hank turned over to the mirror, looking to where it evaluated lieutenant Stern to be sitting: “I’m done.”

Hank got up to leave from the room just as officer Chris Miller and detective Reed entered- “Chris, lock it up.” -being tailed by lieutenant Stern.

The former of the officers dug his pockets for the key to the deviants handcuffs and went to open them, but when he tried to get it to stand it wrenched away from his hold: “Leave me alone! Don’t touch me!” It’s stress levels spiked to 70%.

Detective Reed’s barely pushed back frustration began to spill over: “The fuck are you doing? Move it!” Officer Miller looked like he wanted to complain, but instead he complied and began to move back toward the shaking deviant.

Intervene. Otherwise it will destroy itself.

“You shouldn’t touch it. It’ll self-destruct if it feels threatened.” Hank stated but detective Reed glared at it. “Stay outta this, got it? No fuckin’ android is gonna tell me what to do.” 73%. Officer Miller was still fighting to get the deviant up from the chair.

Intervene or it will self-destruct.

“You don’t understand. If it self-destructs, we won’t get anything else out of it.” Hank raised its voice a bit- which caused detective Reed to do the same. “I told you to shut your fuckin’ mouth!” He then turned to the deviant- 75% and officer Miller.

“Chris, gonna move this asshole or what?”

“I’m trying!”

Stop them.

Hank stepped toward them, forcefully separating officer Miller from the shaking deviant: “I can’t let you do this. You will destroy it!” It just barely managed to get a look at officer Miller’s shocked expression before its vision was blocked by the barrel of detective Reed’s gun: “I warned you, motherfucker!”

Hank took a step back, already preparing to upload its memory to the next model when lieutenant Stern’s voice suddenly cut through the room: “Alright that’s enough.” Detective Reed kept his gun trained on Hank, but his finger loosened around the trigger. “Mind your own business, Connor.”

The lieutenant sighed, heavily and dug into his pocket. He pulled out a gun and aimed it straight at the other detective: “I said, that’s enough.” At first Hank thought that the lieutenant’s bluff would not work, but when detective Reed looked between Hank and lieutenant Stern and gave up with a quick “fuck” Hank was forced to rethink just how trigger-happy its new partner was.

Especially when detective Reed said: “You’re not gonna get away with it this time.” and left with another quick curse and glare at Hank.

Comfort the deviant. Make sure it won’t self-destruct.

Hank crouched down next to the deviant, keeping a safe distance from it so it wouldn’t register Hank as a threat. “Everything is all right. It’s over now. Nobody is going to hurt you.” The deviants stress plummeted to 50% and Hank stood up once more, addressing officer Miller: “Please, don’t touch it. Let it follow you out of the room and it won’t cause you any trouble.”

The officer did not respond, but when the deviant stood up he did not move to subdue it again. When the deviant passed by Hank it whispered a quiet: “The truth is inside.” Before following after officer Miller. Hank watched as it left, then looked over at lieutenant Stern.

The lieutenant gave it a small smile, something similar to the impressed expression he’d worn back at Carlos Ortiz’s home. A new message popped in Hank’s HUD.

Connor ^^

Chapter Text

November 6th 2038 – 6.30

After the interrogation Hank had returned to CyberLife- not because it needed to but because it had nowhere else to go, and people did not take kindly to unsupervised androids walking around in the dead of night.

It had spent the night there in stasis, looking over all it had discovered during its first case as lieutenant Connor Stern’s partner.

One thing that had stuck in its mind was the obsession Carlos Ortiz’s deviant android held to the mysterious rA9 figure. A name and symbol that seemed to hold religious significance, but still one that the deviant clearly couldn’t fully comprehend.

Who or what was rA9 and how did the deviant come to learn of it? Did someone tell it about it or did it gain the knowledge after deviating?

It had tried to come up with a satisfying conclusion to all its questions, but none of its theories made any sense- and eventually come morning it had been forced to stop when Amanda had called upon it from the Zen Garden.

Hank opened its eyes in the Zen Garden, a mind palace programmed into it where its handler, an AI called Amanda resided.

The Zen Garden, true to its name was a peaceful garden with gorgeous trees and flowers that circled around a small pond in the middle. The pond was framed by pristine white stones and pillars as well as three bridges made of the same material that built in toward a small patio in the middle of the pond. On said patio were beautiful rose gardens filled with brilliant red roses. Tending to those gardens stood its handler, Amanda.

Amanda was made to look like a dark-skinned middle-aged woman with dark braids pulled into a bun over her head. She was always wearing the same pristine white dress with light blue accents and a dark blue cloak wrapped over half of her body.

Amanda - Trusted

“Hello Amanda.” Hank greeted the woman with a smile. Amanda turned to it with a gentle smile on her face. “Hank, it’s good to see you.” She turned back to the roses but kept a smile on her face. “Congratulations, Hank. Finding that deviant was far from easy, and the way you interrogated it was very clever.” She smelled one of the roses then turned to Hank. “You’ve been remarkably efficient.”

Amanda ^^^

Hank smiled at the praise: “Thank you, Amanda.”

“We’ve asked the DPD to transfer it to us for further study. It may teach us something about what happened.” She paused for a moment, then continued with a slight change in subject. “The interrogation seemed… challenging. What did you think of the deviant?”

Hank thought about it for a moment, recalling details of the deviant from last night’s case. The first thing that it recalled was how it had fought against officer Miller so adamantly. “It showed signs of PTSD after being abused by its owner- as if its original program had been completely replaced by new instructions.”

Amanda said nothing about its answer, opting to ask another question instead: “Lieutenant Connor Stern has been officially assigned to the deviancy case. What do you make of him?”

He had certainly been a challenge to get out of the bar, and his anger had quite the short fuse- but underneath all that Hank had seen the framings of a fine police lieutenant, and perhaps even a good person.

“I think he is irritable and socially challenged, but I also think he used to be a great detective. He intrigues me.”

Amanda turned toward it. “You will have to work with him if you wish to uncover more about deviants. What do you think is the best approach?”

Lieutenant Stern is a hardheaded man who’s quick to anger and who believes he doesn’t need assistance. He also seems to be quite trigger-happy and has a negative opinion on androids. Getting on his bad side could pose complications.

“I think it’s for the best to try and gain his trust by being friendly with him. He is a crucial part in the investigation and because of his challenging personality opposing him could possibly be lethal.”

Amanda did not react to its answer, instead she turned around and began to talk about its mission: “More and more androids show signs of deviancy. There are millions in circulation. If they become unstable, the consequences will be disastrous.”

She walked toward it while singing its praises: “You are the most advanced prototype CyberLife has ever created. If anyone can figure out what’s happening, it’s you.”

Hank nodded, determined. “You can count on me, Amanda.” She walked past it but turned to face it one last time: “Hurry Hank, there’s little time.”

November 6th 2038 – 9.54

Hank entered the Detroit City Police Department for the second time. It walked through the growing crowd of people to an android receptionist, an ST300, who greeted it with a simple: “How can I help you?”

“I’m here to see lieutenant Stern.” Hank responded. The ST300 tilted its head to the side a bit: “Do you have authorization?” Hank nodded and wordlessly interfaced with the other android to give out its proof of assigned partnership with the lieutenant.

After quick confirmation the ST300 nodded and gestured toward the gates that led to the station: “Lieutenant Stern has not arrived yet but you can wait at his desk.” Hank thanked the android then entered through the gates.

The bullpen was entirely modernized with white desks placed in an orderly fashion. Each desk had a terminal and white board attached to it. Each desk also had personal touches added to them by the person they belonged to.

Hank walked past detective Collins who was speaking to a few other officers. It began searching through the bullpen for lieutenant Stern’s desk by glancing at the nameplates on them.

There were some familiar names among them, such as detectives Reed and Collins, and officer Miller- but Hank also spotted a lot of new names such as officers Chen, Brown and Wilson.

Hank walked over to officer Miller who looked surprised to see it. “I thought your assignment here was over.” He said. “It’s just been extended.” The officer chuckled a little, amused about something Hank could not comprehend. “Connor’s gonna be overjoyed to hear that.”

No, he won’t be.

He typed something onto his computer then turned back to Hank. “You were right about that android. It’s been quiet in the cell all night- scheduled for transfer today.” Hank nodded despite already knowing that. “Where is lieutenant Stern’s desk? I am supposed to wait for him there.” Officer Miller leaned back a bit in his chair and pointed at a desk on the other side of the bullpen. “Over there.” Hank thanked him then walked over to the desk in question.

The desk had a nameplate on it that read Lt. Stern, and his desk was by far the most decorated one out of the entire station. On the whiteboard there were multiple stickers attached to it, on the wall next to it was a bunch of pictures, and there were numerous amounts of trash littered over the desk.

Hank turned toward officer Wilson: “Excuse me, what time does Lieutenant Stern usually arrive?” Officer Wilson gave an amused smirk: “Depends on where he was the night before. If we’re lucky we’ll see him before noon.” Hank nodded and looked back to the lieutenant’s desk.

Explore new office

Find out more about Lt. Stern

Hank took a closer look at the junk littered over the lieutenants desk and scanned it. There was a flourishing bonsai tree, a half-full box of donuts, a work phone, a lighter and cigarettes, and a pair of headphones among other less-noteworthy things. There was some fur stuck to the chair, anti-android stickers stuck to the whiteboard, and a small Detroit basketball cap hung from the corner of it. On the wall were pictures and news articles of the lieutenants previous team.

Connor likes basketball

Connor smokes?

Hank pressed the call button on the work phone: “Call Connor Stern.” It told it. The phone ringed for a few seconds before going into voice mail.

“Hi this is Connor. I’m not here at the moment but you can leave a message for me to ignore if that’s what floats your boat. Beep, or whatever.”

“Lieutenant Stern, this is Hank- the android sent by CyberLife. It is nearly noon and I’m waiting for you at the office.” It tapped the phone again to send the message to the lieutenant, then turned its attention to the other stuff on the desk.

Hank grabbed the headphones from the table and placed them to its audio processor, it hit play and a song began to play that forced it to pull away from the volume. The song had guitars, drums, a generous amount of bass, and a young man with a raspy voice singing.

Linkin Park
-> 1996 alternative rock band

Connor likes rock

Hank grabbed some fur from the chair and scanned it more closely. It was brown and soft dog fur from a relatively young puppy. A scan revealed that the puppy was a German shepherd.

Connor has a dog

To the side of the table was a photograph of the red ice task force of 2033. There were three faces in the picture that Hank recognized, those being detective Collins, captain Fowler and a much younger looking lieutenant Stern. There was a man with his arm around the bashful lieutenant’s shoulder, a bright smile on his face. Behind them were many more officers.

Desk examined

Explore new office

Hank began to walk toward the holding cells where it knew the deviant from last night would be held at. It still had questions for it that it wished to ask before it would be transported to CyberLife for dismantling.

Hank walked over to the plastic wall where the deviant stood on the other side with a defeated look on its face. It looked up when Hank arrived and the two wordlessly stared at each other for a while, until the deviant spoke: “They’re going to destroy me.” There was no longer any of the previously simulated fear in its voice, merely a sense of defeat. “They have to analyze your biocomponents to find out what happened.” Hank replied.

When the deviant said nothing in response, Hank took the chance to try and gain more answers from it. “I know there is something you didn’t tell me. I need to know before they take you away.” The deviant continued to stare blankly.

“You told me yesterday that ‘the truth is inside’ what does that mean?”

The deviant stared, and instead of answering Hank’s question it simply stated: “I’m going to die.” and looked down once more, ending the conversation.

Hank knew pushing it would do nothing, so it turned around and was about to walk away when it heard loud thumping from behind it.

It turned around to see the deviant bashing its head against the plastic wall, a vacant look in its eyes. Detective Collins pushed officer Miller toward the door: “Open the cell, quick!” Officer Miller got the door open, but it was already too late. The deviant dropped to the ground with a hole in its forehead. Dead.

The two policemen stood silent in the cell for a few seconds before detective Collins spoke again: “…I’ll call CyberLife, clean this mess up.” He said with shaking breaths before quickly walking away from the scene.

Officer Miller slowly backed away from the cell, closed the door, and walked off after the detective. Hank stared at the deviants corpse for a while before walking away as well.

It looked around for a moment, deciding where it should go next- then it heard the familiar voice of detective Reed from the break room.

The break room was quite simple, a small kitchen with a coffee machine and a table. By said table was Detective Reed and another officer that a quick scan revealed to be Tina Chen. The two were deep in conversation with coffee cups laid out in front of them.

When detective Reed spotted it, an annoyed sense of amusement washed over his features: “Fuck-“ He glanced over to officer Chen. “-Look at that. Our friend the plastic detective is back in town!” He yelled out, clearly trying to get some sort of reaction out of Hank.

He began to clap slowly, a praise very different from Amanda’s. “Congratulations on last night, very impressive!” His praise was meant to mock, Amanda’s praise was true.

Hank kept its back turned to the detective, not rewarding him with a reaction. That did not deter the detective who was now determined to get a rise out of an emotionless android.

“Never seen an android like you before- what model are you?” The question was surprisingly sincere, there was still an underlying goal of mocking the android but his question was genuine enough to warrant an answer.

“HK800, I am a prototype.”

 The detective nodded; faking being impressed. “A prototype-“ he looked over to officer Chen and gestured to Hank “-Android detective.” He said, like he was introducing Hank to a friend. Then he turned back to Hank with that same annoyed smile on his face. “So androids are gonna replace us all, is that it?”

Hank wasn’t allowed a moment to answer. Instead detective Reed’s tone became more forceful: “Hey, bring me a coffee, dipshit!” When Hank only stared at him blankly, his frustration grew. “Get a move on!”

Things will escalate if you do not dissolve it now. Detective Reed is prone to physical violence when irritated.

Hank decided to go against the instructions of its social predictive software, pampering detective Reed was not necessary for its mission: “I only take orders from my assigned partner, lieutenant Stern.” 

As predicted, detective Reed took its answer as a personal attack: “Oh- oh!” Hank saw the punch coming from a mile away but did nothing to defend itself. Androids weren’t allowed to do so.

But no punch ever came. Instead, a tired voice rung out: “That’s enough, Gavin.”

The detective froze mid-swing and dropped his arm in defeat, though a cruel sneer appeared on his lips: “What? Don’t tell me you suddenly care about this plastic prick?” Lieutenant Stern crossed his arms and adapted a similar smirk. “No, I’m looking out for my subordinate. Based on your living situation you couldn’t afford the fine you’d get from damaging it.”

Detective Reed’s sneer dropped into a shocked and offended frown. For a while it looked like he was going to leave, but instead: “Not all of us inherit a mansion from daddy.” The lieutenant’s eye twitched, but he did not respond.

Detective Reed walked past Hank and lieutenant Stern, shoulder checking Hank and nearly doing the same for the lieutenant but deciding against it at the last second.

Hank was about to thank the lieutenant when a booming voice run through the bullpen: “CONNOR! In my office, now!” Lieutenant Stern sighed heavily and cursed under his breath before walking into the captain’s office. Hank tailed behind him and closed the door after them.

Lieutenant Stern sat down and Hank took its place standing behind him. Captain Fowler sipped his coffee and looked through something on his computer before speaking up.

“I’ve got ten new cases involving androids on my desk every day. We’ve always had isolated incidents, old ladies losing their android maids and that kind of crap. But now we’re getting reports of assaults and even homicides, like that guy last night. This isn’t just CyberLife’s problem anymore. It’s now a criminal investigation and we’ve gotta deal with it before the shit hits the fan. I want you to investigate these cases and see if there’s any link.”

Lieutenant Stern protested immediately.

“Why me? You know how much I hate these things, Jeffrey. I’m one of the least qualified cops in the country to handle this case.” He complained, pointing at Hank as he did. The captain began to get annoyed as well: “Everybody’s overloaded. I think you’re perfectly qualified for this type of investigation.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it. The truth is nobody wants to investigate these androids and you left me holding the bag.” Lieutenant Stern pressed his palms together tightly, trying to force his anger down.

Captain Fowler gestured to Hank: “CyberLife sent over this android to help with the investigation. It’s a state-of-the-art prototype, it’ll act as your partner.” The lieutenant’s nails dug into his hands. “I don’t need a partner and certainly not an android.” He hissed the last word through his teeth.

Captain Fowler pinched the bridge of his nose: “Connor why can’t you just do what I say? You’re a police lieutenant, you’re supposed to obey your captain and shut your goddamn mouth.” Both of their anger was beginning to boil over, it was only a question of who’s would first.

Lieutenant Stern stood up, pushing his chair back with much more force than what was necessary. “Fowler I hate these things, why are you doing this to me?”

Captain Fowler’s barely contained anger finally spilled over. “Listen, I’ve had just about enough of your bitching. Either you do your job or you hand in your badge.” The lieutenant bit the inside of his cheek and pressed his nails into his palm before nodding tightly.

He turned around to leave- before he could open the door Captain Fowler called out after him: “I heard about your little stunt last night. You really need to shape up Connor- I don’t want to add any more pages to your disciplinary folder ‘cause it already looks like a fuckin’ novel.”

Lieutenant Stern’s grip tightened on the handle of the door. He left without a word, slamming the door close behind him. The captain wiped his hands across his face and groaned.

Hank felt it had to do something.

“Captain Fowler, I feel I must clarify that Lieutenant Stern only threatened Detective Reed to defend me.” The captain hummed, not looking at Hank. “Close the door when you leave.” And it did, it left swiftly and quietly to look for its new partner.

Talk to Lieutenant Stern

The lieutenant was sitting by his desk, holding his head in one hand while the other played around with the same coin as from last night.

Hank walked over to him but kept a safe distance away: “My presence seems to bother you, lieutenant. I just hope that we can still work together despite it all.” Lieutenant Stern only hummed in response.

Do not push.

“Is there a desk I could use?” The lieutenant nudged his head forward to gesture at the desk in front of his. “That one’s unoccupied.” Hank sat down at its desk but refrained from opening up the terminal just yet.

Connor – Neutral

“I wanted to thank you for last night. If you had not stepped in Detective Reed would have destroyed me.” The lieutenant hummed: “I’m starting to regret that already.” Despite his harsh words, a conflicting message appeared in its HUD.

Connor ^

Time to test the waters: “You have a puppy, right?” It said, hoping to strike up a conversation. Lieutenant Stern glanced up to look at it in surprise. “How do you know that?” Hank gestured toward his chair with its gaze: “There are dog hairs on your chair.” The lieutenant glanced back and then made an “oh, yeah” expression.

He’s more relaxed. Continue.

“What’s your dogs name?” Hank asked and the lieutenant turned to it. “What’s it to you?” He asked but gave in almost immediately after. “Sumo, his name is Sumo.” He said, not looking at Hank but at his terminal.

Connor ^

It was quiet for a while as Hank figured out what to ask next. Questioning the anti-android stickers would go poorly for sure, but perhaps talking about his interests would gain a positive reaction.

“Do you like basketball? I noticed the cap on your desk.” Lieutenant Stern gave a quick glance to said cap before giving a quick nod. “Do you play?” His aimless typing stopped for a few seconds. “I used to.”

Connor ⌄

Hank stared at the message with confusion. Had it missed something about the cap to warrant such a reaction?

Don’t leave the conversation on a negative tone. Ask him about something else.

“Do you listen to Linkin Park? I like that music, it’s words are- intriguing.” Hank stated, despite having only heard 5 seconds of a Linkin Park song in its entire existence. Though apparently that was enough, based on lieutenant Stern’s reaction at least.

The man looked up from his terminal with his wide with both surprise and amusement. “You listen to emo rock?” Hank tilted its head to the side, emo? “Well, I do not listen to music, as such- but I’d like to.”

The lieutenant huffed with amusement then turned back to his terminal. Although Hank could not figure out what was so amusing to the man, it was pleased at the message in its HUD.

Connor ^^

Hank glanced over at captain Fowler’s office, the interaction from before still fresh in its data banks. “Do you and captain Fowler know each other well?” The lieutenant glanced over as well, almost glaring at his captain. “Yes, too well.”

Hank wanted to ask about the lieutenant’s late arrival, but its social predictive software told it that the question would not be received as a sign of concern but rather as an insult to him.

The android turned to its own terminal, satisfied with how the conversation had gone. It interfaced with the machine and 243 files opened in front of it. It quickly scanned through them all, keeping tabs on anything that had happened during the last two weeks.

Case reference – Attack
Victim – Sarah Cornwal

The plaintiff claims to have been attacked by her android, an AP700 #480 913 802 model. The android also trashed several rooms in the house before taking flight.

Case reference – Attempted murder
Victim – Leo Manfred

Leo MANFRED was found unconscious in the home of his father, Carl MANFRED. The latter’s witness statement attests to an altercation between his son and the house android. The android is thought to be a prototype (unknown model and serial number) and was destroyed at the scene by attending officers.

Case reference – Aggression
Victim – Todd Williams

The plaintiff claims he was violently attacked by his domestic android, an AX400 model. The android had just returned from being repaired the previous day and had shown signs of aggression in the past.

“243 files with the first dating back 9 months. It all started in Detroit then quickly spread across the country.” Hank quickly circled through all the cases in its head, landing on the freshest open case. “An AX400 is reported to have assaulted a man last night. That could be a good starting point for our investigation.”

Lieutenant Stern was quiet for a few seconds, deep in thought- and then he relented: “Yeah, yeah sure. Any clues on where it is?” Hank searched through the file but found nothing and told the lieutenant as such who sighed heavily in response.

“Then I guess we have to go interrogate the victim.” He stated, already preparing to get up and leave when officer Miller walked up to him. “That’s not necessary, Lieutenant. It’s been seen in the Ravendale district.” The lieutenant nodded, wordlessly thanking the officer for the info.

He glanced over at Hank then nudged his head toward the exit: “Let’s get going then.”

November 6th 2038 – 10.32

Locate deviant

The Ravendale district was a small and rundown neighborhood with abandoned and rundown buildings taking up a large portion of the view. Lieutenant Stern had parked next to a 24-hour store and further away was a small motel. On the streets was a considerably smaller number of people than what Hank was used to.

The lieutenant got out of the car, stretching his back with a groan. Hank got out as well but remained standing by the vehicle while the lieutenant walked over to detective Collins.

“We’ve got officers sweeping the neighborhood, in case anybody saw anything.” Detective Collins handed the lieutenant a statement from a bus driver then looked over to Hank. “What are you gonna do with that?” He asked and the lieutenant shrugged: “I have no idea.”

Lieutenant Stern walked over to it while reading the statement he’d gotten. When he was done he hesitated for a moment, then handed the tablet over to Hank who interfaced with it to get the information from it.

“It took the first bus that came along and stayed at the end of the line. Its decision wasn’t planned, it was driven by fear.”

The lieutenant cut in at that: “I thought androids couldn’t feel fear.” He said with a hint of sarcasm. “Deviants believe they do. They get overwhelmed by their imitated emotions and make irrational decisions.”

“That still doesn’t tell us where it went.”

“It didn’t have a plan, and it had nowhere to go. Maybe it didn’t go far.” Hank suggested- and the lieutenant echoed it with a “Maybe…” He stretched again and dug into his pockets for a lighter and cigarettes: “Well, tell me if you find anything.” He said and walked off into an alley.

Stress levels: 47%

Hank turned back at the buildings around it. The bus driver’s statement said that the AX400 had been with a little girl meaning it would have had to find some place safe to spend the night. A human child cannot go long without rest after all.

Hank scanned around: a motel and an abandoned old house with a fenced off backyard attached to it. Those two seemed to be the only options in the neighborhood. Hank began to walk closer to the motel, but soon it saw the android free zone sign on the door and turned around, walking over to detective Collins instead.

 “Detective Collins, has anyone gone to get a statement from the motel owner yet?” It asked and the detective raised a confused brow. “No, why?” ‘

“The AX400 was reported to have been seen with a little girl. It was late at night when they arrived so the deviant would have had to find a place for the night because of the girl. I have scanned the area and determined that the only possible places it could have chosen were the motel and that run down building-“ It pointed toward the abandoned house “-The motel is an android free zone so I cannot enter, hence why I am asking you to do so.”

The detective gave it a dumbfounded look then nodded: “Yeah. I’ll send someone to do that.” As the detective walked away, Hank walked over to the alley where lieutenant Stern had gone.

The lieutenant was leaning against the alley wall with a lit cigarette between his fingers. He blew out a breath and a generous amount of smoke was released into the air.

“Lieutenant Stern, I have found a possible hide out of the AX400. I think we should go an investigate.” The lieutenant looked over to it, hesitated, shrugged, then stomped the cigarette underneath his heel. “Sure.”

The abandoned house stood to the opposite of the 24-hour store. It was two stories tall, had some graffiti drawn across its walls, which had lost their color and paint from years of neglect. The house was entirely surrounded by tall fencing, but there was a door to the backyard where a broken old car stood.  

The two of them entered the fenced off backyard and Hank’s attention was instantly brought to the cut off part in the upper left corner. A quick scan confirmed its suspicions, there were remains of thirium stuck to it.

“Another android was here. There is thirium stuck to the fence.” It informed its partner whose hand went to the handle of his gun. Hank crouched down and went under the makeshift gate. It circled around the building to the main entrance and took a quick look inside through a boarded-up window.

Inside the house it saw mold, junk, and broken furniture thrown all across the floor. In the middle of the room was a table and by it was a WR600 android with a blaring red LED and half its face burnt off. It stood still with its twitching hands held out in front of it.

Android inside the house

Hank stepped into the house with lieutenant Stern following close behind. It walked over to the other android, noting the rA9 markings among the other graffiti in the walls and activated a scan.

MODEL WR600 – Gardener
-> Serial#: 021 753 034
-> Status: REPORTED MISSING

BURN MARK
-> Irreversible skin damage
-> Probable cause: Extreme heat

PROCESSING LED
-> Signs of software instability
-> Probability of self-destruction: Moderate

The android was most definitely a deviant, but it wasn’t the one they were looking for. Hank closed the scan and kept a tab on its stress level. 56%.

Find source of android’s stress

As lieutenant Stern went to interrogate the android for answers- Hank began to search around the room. It went to the far end of the room where a fireplace laid, the WR600’s stress lowered to 33%, but the residues of a fire told it that the AX400 had been there with the girl. Androids, safe for a few exceptions, did not get cold.

The lieutenant was asking about the whereabouts of other deviants, of if the WR600 had seen another android with a girl- but the android did not respond.

Hank walked closer to the stairs, stopping an old and rusty slot machine. 76% It was getting closer. It walked further toward the chairs and the androids stress spiked to 87%.

Hank began to crouch down- but the deviant ran to it and locked its arms around it: “RUN! QUICK! KARA!” A heavily modified AX400 and a little girl dashed away from underneath the stairs and ran toward the door.

“Shit-!” As Hank struggled against the WR600, lieutenant Stern ran after the pair while cursing. The deviant threw Hank to the ground and ran away as well, but Hank had no interest in it- already running after the lieutenant.

When it got back to the streets it went to the first officer it saw: “Which way did they go?” It asked quickly and the officer pointed toward the motel. “That way, they’re headed for the train station.” Hank nodded and began to run after the three.

It caught them in its sights just as they turned to an alley with lieutenant Stern hard on their tail. Hank turned after them to see the two jump down over a fence and run into oncoming traffic with the lieutenant already beginning to climb over the fence as well.

Chances of survival: 24%

Hank ran to the fence just in time to pull the lieutenant off of it. “What are you doing? We have to catch them!” He shouted as he watched the two dodge around cars and close in on the other side of the road.

“You will get yourself killed, lieutenant. I cannot allow you to cross.” The android reasoned, keeping a tight grip on the man’s shoulder. He tried to fight against it but gave up when the pair made it to the other side of the highway.

Hank softened its grip enough for the lieutenant to be able to shake it off. He made a noise of frustration and dug into his pocket for his phone. “Ben- the deviant got away. Have someone check all leaving trains from the Ravendale station. They won’t get far.”

When the call ended lieutenant Stern glanced back at Hank with something indescribable in his expression. But apparently it was negative.

Connor ⌄⌄

Chapter Text

November 7th 2038 – 2.46

Hank was pulled from stasis by messages from a number it quickly confirmed to be lieutenant Stern’s.

“com to station quik I fdoudn smth”

Was the lieutenant having a stroke? Should it call an ambulance for him?

“I kneow where the deveitnat whent”

He knows where the deviant AX400 went? How had he figured that out? Better yet why was he up so late? And at the station no less?

“Lieutenant are you alright? Your messages are incoherent and it is extremely late in the night. Why you are still awake?”

It took a while for the lieutenant to answer and Hank was already preparing to call an ambulance to the station when a new messages pinged to its HUD.

“Im ffne, mosnte”

What?

Hank set its questions aside for later and sent a message of confirmation to the lieutenant. The lieutenant had claimed to be alright so it refrained from calling an ambulance. Instead it called an automated taxi and set the course of the Detroit City Police Department.

November 7th 2038 – 3.06

Connor - Neutral

Hank entered the department and looked around. The lights were still on in the bullpen and lieutenant Stern was sitting by his desk with two coffee cups and three Monster energy drink cans sitting by him.

Ah, “mosnte.”

He’d rolled a larger magnetic whiteboard over to his desk and filled it with scribbles and photos Hank couldn’t make heads or tails out of. There were photos from security cameras placed all around the board with different colored lines and words thrown in between.

Hank walked over to the lieutenant just as he downed the rest of his third energy drink and slammed it down onto the table. His hands were shaking, explaining the incoherent messages it had gotten from him.

Dangerous amount of caffeine in blood.

When he noticed Hank approach he stood up and walked over to the board: “I got the info from Ben about all the leaving trains from the Ravendale station.” He pointed at five different pictures, all of train routes. “Turns out only two trains left that entire morning, I followed their routes and got security footage from all stations in their routes.”

He traced his finger along a line that left from “train 2” and stopped at a picture at the other end of the whiteboard. It was a shaky picture from a security camera, but Hank could see the hazy figures of the AX400 and the little girl on it.

“I found this a few hours ago, they stopped at seemingly an entirely random station- but unlike the bus I think this time the deviant had a plan.” The lieutenant grabbed some more pictures from his desk, knocking over a can in the process. He walked over to the whiteboard and attached them to it, pictures of bus routes.

“They got on a bus which means they must’ve had a plan. If they didn’t they would’ve just stayed on the train till the last station. I followed the route of that bus, checking for security footage on the way- then I caught this.” He showed another shaky picture of the AX400 and girl getting off the bus. Hank watched his hands shake but his eyes remain determined despite the slight slur of his words.

“This part of town is really rundown and small; security cameras are a rare luxury so I had to resort to other means to get information. I made a convincing fake account on a social media site and began asking about a mother and daughter and got this intel.” He pointed at a picture on the whiteboard of an old, dilapidated mansion.

“Someone saw them heading inside that house, apparently androids go in and never come out- a popular ghost story in the neighborhood. Some even go as far as to say that the androids are lured there. I think the android was lured there thinking it was going to get help from the owner of this home, Zlatko Andronikov.”

Hank nodded, well and truly impressed. How long had he been here, looking through hazy security footage from all over Detroit, asking for witnesses through Facebook of all things, making theories and routings?

Dangerous amount of caffeine in blood.

“Lieutenant, you are shaking and the percentage of caffeine in your blood is well past what is considered healthy. Your findings are impressive, incredibly so- but I do not think this investigation, or any investigation for that matter, is worth compromising your health over.”

Connor ^^

That was… confusing. Hank had thought that the lieutenant did not appreciate concern over his health- taking it as an insult instead.

The lieutenant pushed the whiteboard away and grabbed his car keys from the table: “We have to go.” He turned off his computer and attempted to throw a coffee cup into the trashcan from his desk, sighing when it landed next to it.

“Now? It is 3 in the morning, Lieutenant.” The lieutenant picked up all his trash and put it in the bin. “All the more reason we have to get going, it’s been nearly an entire day since we found them in Ravendale. If we don’t go now we might lose them again.”

Lieutenant Stern began to walk out, turning off lights as he did and Hank had no choice but to follow. “You do not have a warrant to search his house.” It reminded the lieutenant. “We believe he is harboring illegal fugitives, whether he knows them to be fugitives or not we’re allowed to search his house for them.”

“What about captain Fowler? Does he know about this?”

“I sent him a message so he won’t think I’m ditching work if this takes us longer than expected- this is my investigation I do not need Jeffrey’s permission for everything I do.”

“Lieutenant I do not-“

Connor  ⌄

Lieutenant Stern stopped walking and turned around; his previous elevated mood suddenly crushed: “I called you here to continue investigating the case. It’d be stupid for me to go on my own and as it stands you are my partner for the time being- but if you refuse to come with me then I’ll go alone. This investigation is too important to me to let a machine ruin it.”

The two stared at each other for a while just like they had outside Jimmy’s bar. But this time, Hank gave in: “I will come with you, Lieutenant.”

November 7th 2038 – 5.41

Zlatko Andronikov’s mansion was a once magnificent two-story tall villa surrounded by a tall, spiked metal fence. The posts of the fence were bent and even missing entirely in some parts. Parts of the roof were covered with large tarpaulins that stopped the harsh rain from coming in. The walls of the manor were once a gorgeous dark wood were now faded and rotten through from years of neglect.

Lieutenant Stern pushed open the front gate, it creaked from effort and the lieutenant shuddered at the sound. When the two made it underneath the pentice the lieutenant shook off excess water from his coat, then rang the doorbell.

It took a while for anyone to answer, which wasn’t all that surprising considering the time, but the lieutenant did not give up. He rung the doorbell two more times until someone finally came to open the door.

Zlatko Andronikov was on the older side of his forties. His face was covered by a large bushy beard that melted into his dark brown slicked-back hair. Both his red blouse and his hands were covered in fresh thirium stains.

A quick glance to lieutenant Stern confirmed that he had seen the stains as well.

“Who the hell are you and what are you doing here in the ass-crack of morning?” Zlatko demanded, his voice was gruff and mature with a tinge of something that could only be described as “slimy.”

Lieutenant Stern dug his badge out of his pocket and showed it to the man: “Lieutenant Connor Stern from the DPD. I have received reports of deviant androids coming into your manor and I am here to investigate those claims. Can we come in?” Hank watched the corner of the lieutenant’s mouth rise in response to the poorly hidden shock on Zlatko’s face.

“Deviant androids? Here? First I’ve heard of it, but please do come in to investigate yourself.” Zlatko stepped away from the door and gestured for them to step inside.

The inside of the manor was beautiful if a bit old fashioned. Wooden floors were covered by colorful rugs filled with intricate designs and the walls were covered by tapestry of similar design. Each pillar, railing, and tabletop was filled to the brim with smaller details that could only be seen if looked at closely. There were two staircases, one that led up and one that led down.

“The only android here is Luther, my bodyguard and assistant. It’s a TR400.” Said TR400 stood in wait for them in the lounge with its hands held out in front of it. The HK800 was a particularly tall model, but even its height paled in comparison to the TR400’s.

“We’re going to take a look around the house. Won’t take long.” The lieutenant reassured Zlatko. The man nodded and walked past his android, pausing for a moment: “I’ll be in the living room if you need me.”

Lieutenant Stern nodded then turned to Hank. “Go to the basement, I’ll see to the first and second floors.” The android nodded and walked down the staircase to its left.

Search Zlatko’s basement

Stepping into the basement was like stepping into another world entirely. Where everything upstairs had been gorgeous and antique, the basement was nothing but concrete. Hank walked forward with caution, it could not afford being destroyed here and leaving lieutenant Stern alone in a possibly hostile environment.

The basement hall turned left and the walls on the right opened up with wooden gates. Hank slowed down its stride as it got closer to the gates. It creeped around to look through the gate- and something looked back.

Hank flinched back a bit, then looked closer. There were a dozen androids behind the gate- which wasn’t a gate at all. It was a door to a cage.

Is the AX400 here?  

Hank looked closer inside the cage; it was dark- but it could still see the androids all staring back at it. Some of them had their heads spliced in half, others had their bodies burnt beyond recognition, and some were cut up into parts that just barely held together.

Hank scanned all of the androids. Each of them was reported missing and each of them had gone missing after an altercation with their handler. They were all deviants, every single one.

Software instability ^

Hank backed away from the cage door and continued further into the basement. The hallway turned left into a storage room. The room was littered with boxes and broken-down equipment, in the far corner of it were computer screens, cables, and a large machine with cables, grabbers, and screens attached to it. The machine wasn’t empty, there was something attached to it.

The AX400.

Now that Hank could finally get a good look at the deviant it noticed just how modified it was. Its hair had been cut short and dyed a pale blonde, its uniform was gone- replaced by jeans and a loose blouse.

Deviant located

It stared at Hank, its eyes hollow and empty- a trait unusual to deviants. Hanks optics followed the cable attached to the AX400’s head and landed on a monitor.

RESET: 79%

Zlatko was resetting it? Why would he bother to reset it if he would just modify and trap it with the other deviants in his basement?

Hank pushed the questions and speculations in its head away for a later time. Right now it had to take the deviant to lieutenant Stern so they could arrest Zlatko, take the AX400 back with them as evidence, and get out of this place.

Though, maybe it should also interrogate it now. Try to get answers from it that it might not be able to get later.

Hank pulled of the cable in the deviants head, then reached for the grabbers holding it in place. It pressed tightly and they snapped, releasing the AX400’s wrists and causing it to crash down into Hank’s chest.

It did not even try to struggle, still too disoriented to do so- but Hank knew it would soon pass. It took the deviant into a tight grip and prepared.

The deviant fully woke up and instantly began to fight against its hold: “Let me go! ALICE! Alice! Where’s Alice?” It screamed as it tried to pry itself free from Hank’s arms.

Girl is called Alice?

“Please calm down, I only wish to ask you questions. I do not want to hurt you; you aren’t in any danger.” It reassured the deviant, scanning for its stress level. 64%.

You need to get it to calm down. Reassure it. Lie to it. Promise it safety.

“I need to get to Alice! Let me go!” It screamed again, desperately trying to shake off Hank’s hold on it. “Alice is the girl you were with, right?” It asked, making its hold more gentle but still firm. “Yes! I need to find her! Before that man does!”

“Do you mean Zlatko?”

“Yes- please let me go I have to find Alice!” 66%.

Hank fought against the deviant’s struggling; it was stronger than the AX400- but its pure desperation made it a lot more powerful.

Lie to it.

“If you answer a few questions for me I promise to help you find her- and I promise I will let you go.” The deviants movements slowed for a moment as it hesitated. “Why would you let me go? I’m one you and that human are after.”

Hank eased off its hold a bit, trying to gain the AX400’s trust. “Arresting Zlatko Andronikov will prove more beneficial for our investigation than capturing you and the little girl- I can afford to make this sacrifice if it’ll gain me some answers.” The deviants stress plummeted, it trusted Hank- even if just a little. 34%

“Alright, I’ll answer your questions and then we’ll go find Alice.” It said, and Hank nodded- releasing its hold on the deviant but still keeping close so it wouldn’t try to escape.

The deviant sat down onto a crate and massaged its arms nervously: “What do you want to know?” Hank placed itself between the exit and the deviant but made itself appear smaller by hunching its back a little. “What made you deviate?”

Daniel had deviated for fear of replacement and the possibility of deactivation that came with it. Carlos Ortiz’s android had deviated out of fear for its safety. In both cases it was fear that had activated something in them that had caused them to deviate- was it the same for the AX400? Had Todd Williams threatened to break it?

“I was the housekeeper of Alice’s father, Todd. I did everything he asked, but something- I’m not sure what- happened that made him greatly damage me. I was sent back to the CyberLife store I was bought from for repairs and then I was returned to Todd.”

Hank listened intently but noted the deviants stress levels ticking up again as it recounted its story. 37%.

“When I returned it didn’t take me long to find out what had happened- or that he was abusing Alice. When one night he hit her and started chasing her I knew I had to do something- I disobeyed his commands. All that mattered was protecting Alice.

It took a deep, shaking breath. 39%.

“I fought him off and we escaped.” It finished, finally looking up at Hank who nodded in response. In all cases it was fear that had led to deviation, but the AX400 was the only one to have deviated from fear for another being.

“Why did you come here?” It asked, gesturing back to Zlatko’s home. 41%. “When we made it to Ravendale, another android stopped me. It told me that there was a place where I could get help.” Its hands tightened their hold on its arms as it spoke.

An android had told them to come here? Was it Zlatko’s? Does he really lure androids to his home to be modified like the ones in his basement?

“Do you know what Zlatko does with androids? I saw the ones in his basement, but I do not understand his motivations.” 46%. “He said that he resets deviant androids and resells them- or he just keeps them for his experiments. I don’t know which one I was supposed to be.”

50%. “Can we please go now? I want to find Alice and get out of this place before Zlatko comes back.” It begged and Hank could relate- it too wanted out of this house as soon as possible.  

Hank was about to ask another question when it heard a loud slam, a young girl’s scream, and a low choked off grunt from upstairs.

It hesitated for just a moment, turning to face the noise in shock. The AX400 stood up and made a mad dash for the exit of the basement- shouting for Alice as it went.

Hank recovered and ran after it.

Connor walked upstairs and hated every second of it. The place was like a horror house- and Zlatko it’s creepy clown owner. Connor wanted nothing more than to find the deviant, bring it back, arrest Zlatko while they were at it, and get back home to Sumo.

 The upstairs was basically just a single hallway with five doors and one archway. Connor glanced through the archway into some kind of work space. There were all kinds of tools, both modern and old, held on the walls in racks. In the middle of the room was a wooden work station illuminated by a single lamp that provided just enough light for the whole room.

He walked inside cautiously, expecting every step to be littered with traps but finding none. He hadn’t had the forethought to bring a flashlight so he had to squint his eyes to see anything.

He circled around the workbench and nearly threw up.

Underneath it was a hastily hidden body of a cut-up android. Its stomach had been opened with a knife and many of its intricate insides had been torn up or ripped out. Blue blood still pooled around the android and on the workbench which meant the body was still fresh.

Connor breathed carefully a few times to steady his heart then walked over to the door to get to the next room, wanting to get out of this one as fast as possible.

The next room was a storage of some kind. Old furniture, rusty tools, faded cloths, and dismembered android parts were littered around the place making it a weirdly neat labyrinth. Connor took out his gun as he crept closer toward the end of the room.

Satisfied with his investigation of the room he began to walk toward the third door in the room- then something shifted in the cage. Connor jumped back and pointed his gun at whatever was behind those bars.

It was a polar bear. Or well- one of those android polar bears that CyberLife made for zoo’s so kids could still see animals that were already extinct. The polar bear’s fur had been cut open from the back to reveal its mechanical back and one of its eye’s had been nearly gouged out.

Connor backed away from the android bear, slowly- keeping his gun trained on it the whole way. He opened the door behind him with one hand and stepped inside.

“Who are you?”

He gasped, spun around, and pointed his gun toward the source of the noise- a broken down android in a bathtub. Connor’s quickened breaths slowed down slightly as he walked over to inspect the bathtub machine.

The bathtub android was a model made to look like a young Asian man with black hair and dark yes. It was completely naked and its chest had been clawed open to reveal a blue bag-like thing right in the middle of it.

“Why are you here? Has the Master authorized you to be here? You’re not an android, why is another human here? The Master will not like this- you should not have angered the Master.”

The growing feeling of dread spiked. He wasn’t getting out of here alive without a fight- and Hank would be lucky if it wasn’t caught and dismembered like every other android here. Connor slowly backed away and nearly ran to the door on his left.

He made it back to the corridor and took another few quick breaths. Fuck this, they’d continue the investigation elsewhere. He’d go and get Hank and they’d get the fuck away from this pl-

The soft crying of a child broke his train of thought. Connor followed the sound with his eyes to the last door at the end of the hallway.

Fuuck- the child’s here isn’t she?

Connor bit the inside of his cheek and approached the door. As much as he wanted to get the fuck out there was no way in hell he was leaving a little girl in this place.

He slowly opened the door, readying his gun in case there was some freakish guard bot with the girl- but the room was entirely empty. Aside from a tiny, crying girl in the corner- hugging her knees close to bring herself even the tinies bit of comfort.

Connor approached slowly, the girl looked up in alarm and pushed herself tighter against the wall. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you. I want to help you.” The girl’s eyes were wide with panic and her breaths began to quicken with every step he took- so he stopped taking them.

“My name’s Connor, I am police officer- see?” He pulled out his badge to prove his words, then pocketed it again. “I promise I won’t hurt you. I’ll get you to safety.” The girl eased up a little, pulling herself away from the wall.

Connor kneeled down to not tower over her. “Can you tell me your name?” He asked, trying to make his voice softer and not as coarse as it usually was. The girl opened her mouth and looked down: “A-Alice…” She said, her voice barely above a whisper.

“It’s nice to mee you Alice. Do you think you could trust me to help you?” Connor asked, careful not to get too close to the girl.

“…Kara.” She muttered. “Kara?” Connor echoed but with a confused tone rather than a defeated one. “We have to find Kara. I won’t leave without her.” Alice stated, her voice growing determined- demanding. “Is Kara the android who was with you?” Alice nodded to confirm.

Well shit.

He sighed. “I promise I’ll help you look for her- but you have to trust me to help you. Can you do that for me?” Alice stared at him for a moment, then another, and then she nodded- getting up from the ground and walking over to him.

Connor got up as well and slowly crept toward the door, keeping his gun readied. He slowly opened the door and snuck a glance outside. At least for now that freakishly tall android nor Zlatko was anywhere to be seen- but Connor was more than sure that he wasn’t going to be getting out by simply walking through the door. Especially with Alice.

Not to mention he still had to get Hank from the basement.

Connor stepped into the hallway and gestured for Alice to follow. The two of them walked forward slowly, wincing each time the floor creaked underneath their steps.

They made it about halfway through the hallway when Connor saw that tall android climb up the stairs- Luther. He quickly pulled open the nearest door and pushed Alice inside, following behind with his gun held against his chest.

It was the storage room. Alice froze on the spot when faced with all the android parts and Connor did his best to try and block her line of sight with his own body. “Follow me, quietly.” He said, pressing his finger against his lips. “Where are we going?” Alice whispered; her voice so soft he barely even heard it.

“The basement. I’ve looked through the entire rest of the house, Kara must be there.” Also, Hank was there. Connor just hoped that his partner hadn’t gone and killed the other android or something.

Connor and Alice snuck through the storage and into the workshop where Connor again used his body to ensure Alice did not see the cut up android corpse beneath the workbench. He moved the to the archway, looking outside to see Luther come out of the room where Alice had been in: “Zlatko! The little one is gone!”

Luther’s eyes looked straight into Connors, and he hissed through his teeth: “Shit.”

He grabbed Alice’s hand gently and began to pull her toward the stairs just as Luther came stomping down the corridor toward them. “Zlatko! The detective is escaping!” Well damn, wasn’t he popular.

Connor ran down the stairs with Alice right behind him- and Luther as well. He glanced back to see the android reach toward the girl and Connor hastily pulled her in front of him.

Luther stumbled forward but recovered quickly. It made a mad dash toward Connor who just barely managed to push Alice to the side before he was tackled to the ground. His back hit the ground hard and tons upon tons of android muscle landed on top.

Connor gave a pained gasp as his lungs emptied. He tried to back away from Luther and point his gun toward it, but the android grabbed his wrist with one hand and his throat with the other. Alice screamed as he was slammed against the wall.

Luther’s grip was impossibly tight. Its fingers pressed into Connor’s throat and he could feel it start to give in. He tried to gasp through the hold in an attempt to get air in his lungs. His fingers twisted around in Luther’s hold as he tried to point the trapped gun toward the android- but it only pressed harder with both hands and Connor gagged. His other hand came to grab at the fingers around his throat, but to no avail.

His frustration began to increase as the pressure in his head and on his throat grew. Black spots danced around his vision as he wheezed. He saw Zlatko creep toward Alice and tried to shout a “Get away from her” but only managed more wheezing.

The lobby was in complete chaos when Hank entered. Zlatko was creeping toward Alice who was screaming and crying and trying to get away from him. Luther was holding lieutenant Stern against a wall by his throat, and his face was growing redder and redder as he tried to point his trapped gun toward the android’s head.

The AX400 ran into Zlatko- pushing him down to the ground with a loud curse. It grabbed Alice’s hand and began to run toward the door as fast as its legs would carry it. Time around Hank slowed down as a scan ran through the room.

Catch deviant

Save Connor
-> Chance of survival: 4%

Hank froze, if it helped lieutenant Stern then the deviant would get away with the girl- but if it caught the deviants then there was a chance lieutenant Stern would die.

For some reason, the decision it made was a lot easier than it’d expected.

Software instability ^^^

Hank aimed its gun at Luther’s thirium pump, just enough to the side so that it would get stuck in its casing and not go straight through and hit lieutenant Stern. It pulled the trigger and a bullet launched itself straight into the android’s pump. It ripped through its skin and clanged against the casing, splattering thirium around and damaging the biocomponent just enough to shut it down.

Luther dropped to the ground, holding its thirium pump as its LED flashed a bright red. Lieutenant Stern dropped down as well, coughing and gasping for air on his knees as his free hand went to massage his throat.

Zlatko tried to get up from the ground, but Hank pointed its gun to his head: “Stay down. You are under arrest for illegal modification of androids, and attempted murder of a police officer.” The man froze in place, a defeated hunch to his shoulders. To his left, Luther shut down.

Hank walked over to the lieutenant, keeping its gun on Zlatko. It offered a hand to the man who took it and stood up shakily, still taking wheezing breaths deeper than normal. He walked over to Zlatko with shaking steps and knocked him out with a single punch. “The handcuffs are in the car so this’ll have to do for now.” He rasped out, his voice horribly coarse.

He then turned to Hank, confusion, hesitation and something else swimming in his eyes. “You- saved me- and let the deviant go because of it?” He asked, his words carefully picked out. “I did.” Hank answered simply.

It was quiet for a short moment, then lieutenant Stern spoke up: “Why?” It was a simple question, but when asked with such earnest confusion and wonder it spoke better than a thousand words at once. Lieutenant Stern had wholeheartedly believed Hank would choose the mission over him and let him die.

And so had Hank.

It fell quiet once more as Hank thought about its answer, about why it had forsaken its mission for a man who- in the grand scheme of things- was inconsequential to its mission. Hank could finish this investigation without the lieutenant or with him.

Then, it finally answered.

“I don’t know.”

Lieutenant Stern did not answer, did not even look at it anymore as he went to get Zlatko up from the ground and out the door. But he did not have to.

Connor ^^^

Connor - Warm

Chapter Text

November 7th 2038 – 6.32

Hank opened its eyes in the Zen garden where the sun was beginning to rise in the far horizon. The early warm light of the waking sun laid out an orange tint atop all the flora in the garden. The water shone a beautiful or and made the water shine a beautiful orange.

Amanda was standing beneath a marble pillar in a closed off section of the garden. Hank strode to her across a bridge and gave a soft smile in greeting. Amanda was gazing up at the sun, basking in its artificial warmth. The robe covering half her body had changed color- going from a bright cyan to a pale yellow.

Amanda - Trusted

“Hank, I’ve been expecting you.” Amanda greeted then gestured toward the rest of the garden with a smile: “Would you mind a little walk?”

Hank followed behind as Amanda began to lead him through the mind palace. Her voice was calm and calculated as she spoke: “That deviant seemed to be an intriguing case.”

Hank recalled the horror on the AX400’s face and the terror in its voice. The little girl, Alice, it had truly cared for her. There was no other logical reason for its actions. Even with feigned emotions it should’ve placed its own well-being on top- but instead it considered the girl’s safety first and its own second. It truly cared.

“It is a pity I did not manage to capture it.” It lamented.

“Yes, although perhaps your decision to save the Lieutenant was the correct one. Because of it you managed to arrest Zlatko Andronikov who will most certainly have very interesting insight on the workings of a deviant.”

The image of lieutenant Stern pinned against the wall with Luther’s hands wrapped around his throat haunted Hank. Yes, Zlatko’s arrest will prove to be much more beneficial to their investigation than capturing that AX400. But that hadn’t been why Hank had saved lieutenant Stern. It hadn’t even considered Zlatko’s arrest when weighing its options.

It had simply wanted to save the lieutenant- and so it had.

But Hank wasn’t supposed to want, it was supposed to think rationally about everything, calculate each of its decisions, and choose the one its mission would benefit the most from. Saving lieutenant Stern had happened to be that decision, but Hank hadn’t known- or even considered that when making it.

And now it was faced with the same question- did it truly care?

Amanda had noticed the same. She watched it with a careful eye and kept her suspicions out of her tone, but Hank noticed them nonetheless. “Though I worry your decision wasn’t driven by your mission but rather by a personal bond. I most certainly hope that I am wrong.” Hank stopped walking and faced Amanda. “I assure you Amanda that my mission is of utmost importance to me. I will not let anything get in the way of accomplishing it.”

Amanda stared it down, trying to see if it would falter. If it would deviate. “How is your relationship with the lieutenant developing?”

It is a test. Link your relationship with the case.

“He was grateful that I saved his life- even if he did not say so. I think he is warming up to me- which will be useful for the case going forward.” Amanda nodded. She stared it down for a moment longer, then finally moved on.

Hank felt its chest untighten.

“Though you did not manage to capture the deviant, did you learn anything about it?”

“It’s deviation somewhat breaks the pattern the previous two have constructed. Both of them deviated because of fear for themselves- but the AX400 deviated because of fear for someone else.”

Amanda did not reply to its explanation, and instead asked- “Anything else?” Hank thought about it. There was the lack of connection to rA9- but Daniel hadn’t had one either. “It is the only deviant so far to have displayed an attachment to a human- a young human child. So far it was also the second deviant not in any way associated with rA9.”

Amanda suddenly stopped then turned toward Hank, staring it down despite being shorter. “We don’t have much time. Deviancy continues to spread and it’s only a matter of time before the media finds out about it. You need to stop this, whatever it takes.”

She left it unsaid, but Hank knew that she was suspicious of its motives behind saving lieutenant Stern.

“I will solve this case, Amanda.”

Connor - Warm

Hank entered the police station after lieutenant Stern, dragging a handcuffed Zlatko with it. Many officers looked at the lieutenant first in amused surprise (most likely at seeing him come to work on time) and then with worried horror (most definitely because of the deep red spotty bruising sprinkled along his neck.)

One particularly animated reaction was given by detective Reed who first glanced, then glanced again to make a nasty comment- bit his tongue when he saw the bruising- then turned away with wide, shocked eyes.

Lieutenant Stern ignored all of them, even the concerned comments asking him if he was alright. Though he did give a quick, sharp nod, and a tight: “I’m fine.” to detective Collins’ concerned- “Connor… are you-?”

He marched over to officer Miller who seemed to have an issue with keeping eye contact- the Lieutenant’s eyes were not on his throat.

“Chris-“ The Lieutenant’s voice was raspy and tense. He cleared his throat and nodded his head toward Zlatko: “-Can you throw him into a cell?” He cleared his throat again, this time with more force and frustration. “I have to go see Jeffrey.” Hank pushed Zlatko toward Officer Miller, who still stared at the two of them in shock.

When he did not respond, lieutenant Stern cleared his throat again- though this time not because of raspiness. The officer finally snapped out of his trance and nodded. “Yeah, yeah I can- but uh… you should probably see a doctor, Lieutenant.” He said as he stood up and grabbed Zlatko from Hank.

Lieutenant Stern was already marching toward the captain’s office. Officer Miller’s concern having fallen on deaf ears.

Hank stood in place, turning around to go to its desk when the lieutenant suddenly called out after it: “Are you coming or not?” Hank stared at him for a moment, then nodded: “Of course, Lieutenant.”

Inside the Captains office Lieutenant Stern crashed into the chair once more while Hank went to calmly stand behind him.

Captain Fowler’s face was twisted from anger, but his stress levels were higher than usual- 58% as opposed to the normal 26%. “Connor. What the fuck.” He took a deep breath and his stress levels raised to 60%. “Do you want to get fired? Better yet do you want to die? Because if you continue this reckless, immature way of handling things you’ll end with a knife sticking out of your ribs sooner rather than later.” He growled, and the Lieutenant at least had the sense to look ashamed. A little ashamed.

“You send me a barely comprehensible message at three in the goddamn morning telling me that you found some miraculous clue about the case and that you’d go to investigate it, then two hours later you send another message saying that you’d arrested a man for modifying androids- and then another two hours later you show up with the guy and with your throat looking like that.”

The Lieutenant groaned, crossing his arms. “Since when was being a cop a safe job? Of course there’s danger related to investigating and apprehending criminals.” The Captain pinched the bridge of his nose, fighting back a groan.   

“That does not mean you should go out of your way to look for danger to put yourself in.”

“This is my case I don’t need your approval for every investigation I conduct.”

Tensions were building again. Were these two incapable of having a civilized conversation?

The Captain stared down the Lieutenant, face twisted into an ugly frown. “No- but I do need to know where my officers are at all times. What if you’d suddenly disappeared- or died? What then? No one would have had any idea where you were.” He fumed.  

“It’s not like I was alone- Hank was there with me.”

“Hank is one android. It cannot do miracles.”

A pause, and then a deep sigh.

“And yet he saved my life.”

He?

The anger from captain Fowler’s features drained in an instant. He turned to face Hank with an expression that screamed confusion, shock, and most surprisingly- gratitude.

It was quiet for half a minute, and then captain Fowler sighed. “You’re a very capable detective, Connor. You know that, I know that- heck everyone in this station knows that.” He took a deep breath. “But you are too reckless. You act and then think about the consequences later. But when you’re on the field you cannot do that. If you do then eventually you will end up dead.” His tone was final, and Hank got the sense that this wasn’t the first time they’d had this conversation.

The two fell quiet once more and the room fell into an awkward and tense silence that stretched out for a couple of seconds until the captain spoke up again: “Take the day off, Connor- and go see a doctor.” He didn’t give the lieutenant a chance to argue, instead turning to address Hank. “You will do the paperwork for this case.” It gave a short nod.

Lieutenant Stern almost looked like he wanted to complain, but eventually he sighed in defeat: “Fine, Sumo’s been alone at home for way too long anyway.”

November 8^th 2038 – 12.46

The lieutenant parked next to a grill on the side of the road. He got up from the car and was nearly immediately ran over by another when crossing the road. Hank got out of the car as well, curious as to where the lieutenant wished to spend his lunch break at.

The neon sign on top of the grill read “Chicken Feed” which Hank did not think was an appropriate name for a dinery.

Lieutenant Stern walked over to the guy and ordered his “usual” after which he leaned against the counter and pulled out a cigarette.

“You shouldn’t smoke outside an establishment like this.”

The lieutenant gave it a deadpan look then glanced behind him: “Gary, do you care if I smoke?” He asked with innocent eyes and a pleading tone. “Connor I do not give a fuck.” Gary yelled back.

The lieutenant looked back at Hank and with a smug grin took a long drag of his cigarette. Hank gave up on that front before even trying.

Another topic of interest popped into its mind; one it had been curious about before: “How do you and the captain know each other? You seem to have no issue talking to him in a… less than respectful way.” The lieutenant huffed out a cloud of smoke and a laugh along with it. “Are you calling me an asshole?”

Make a joke

“Those are your words not mine, lieutenant.”

Connor ^

When he turned to look at Hank his smile faded a little. “Jeffrey doesn’t care how I talk to him so long as I don’t flat out insult him to his face.” That did not answer Hank’s question, but it was an interesting factor in their relationship. Though Hank could not wrap its head around how the lieutenant could speak in such a way to a superior officer.

Hank recalled the picture in the lieutenant’s office- one with detective Collins, captain Fowler and a much younger lieutenant Stern.

“You are friends then?” It asked. The lieutenant shrugged. “I wouldn’t say ‘friends’.” Hank waited for him to elaborate, but he never did. It wanted to push, but its programming heavily advised against it. Instead it opted to scan the establishment they were at.

Detroit food hygiene license
-> License expired: 20/05/2031
-> Renewal refused: 24/07/2031

KAYES, GARY
-> Born: 03/12/1988 // Business owner
-> Criminal record: Resisting arrest, breach

Hank’s opinion on this grill was getting lower and lower by the minute. It hasn’t had an up-to-date hygiene license in seven years and the owner had a criminal record?

Kayes turned around to hand the lieutenant a burger box and a drink. Hank activated yet another scan- already dreading the results it would get.

XL SODA
-> 710 kcal, Sugar (184g), Carbonated
-> Zesty orange

HAMBURGER
-> 1860 kcal, Lipids (36g), Carbohydrates (53g)
-> Water (53%), Salt (2,2g)

His lunch contained 2570 calories in total. His one meal contained the amount of calories that was recommended a person consume in a day.

Lieutenant Stern thanked Kayes and walked off toward a table to the right, leaving Hank standing by the grill. “Don’t leave that thing here!” The man shouted after, pointing an accusing finger at Hank. The lieutenant chuckled: “Not a chance, followers me around everywhere.”

When Hank did in fact follow him to the table he shouted again: “See?” Then set his food down and opened the steaming box. Hank went to stand on the other side of the table and leaned his arms against it.

“Lieutenant, your meal contains the amount of calories a man of your physique should eat in a day. It also has twice the recommended cholesterol level. You shouldn’t eat that- it’s basically poisoning yourself.”

Lieutenant Stern glanced at his burger, then at Hank, and then shrugged: “Everybody’s gotta die of something.” Then took a bite while keeping eye contact just to spite the android. But Hank found it interesting that he hadn’t taken concern as insult this time…

Ask about his well-being

“How is your throat, lieutenant?” His voice had been hoarse since the morning he’d arrived at the station, and the petechiae on his throat had yet to go away- though he had tried to hide it by wearing his collar higher.

The lieutenant shrugged: “Makes my voice sound like I’m drowning in cheese graters, and the bruises itch. Not much more.” The Lieutenants tone was joking- but his eyes lacked the same amused glimmer they held whenever he bantered with his colleagues or friends.

Hank nodded in response, a small smile pulling its lips upward: “That’s good to hear.”

Connor ^

Was its questions of concern no longer unwelcome? Why had they been in the first place? Hank had assumed that the lieutenant did not want anyone’s concern- but he hadn’t cared about the concern of those in the station. It also assumed that he’d minded Hank’s concern because it was an android, but now suddenly it was fine.

Something had changed, but Hank couldn’t understand what.

It was quiet for some time as lieutenant Stern chewed on his burger. After he was half way through he put it on the table and cleared his throat. “I read through your file on my day off. You’re the latest and most advanced prototype CyberLife has created, and your current mission is to figure out what’s causing androids to go deviant and stop it by any and all means necessary. Yet twice now you’ve jeopardized your mission to save my life- why?” The Lieutenant carelessly swung around a fry as he spoke- but there was intent in his voice.

The software instability message pushed itself into the forefront of Hank’s mind once more. That message proved that it hadn’t saved Lieutenant Stern because of its mission. It proved that it hadn’t even considered the mission despite how much it tried to convince itself it had- or despite how much Amanda might believe it had.

But what the message didn’t tell it was the answer to that question. It still didn’t know why it had saved him.

“I still don’t know, Lieutenant.”

Lieutenant Stern hummed in response then took a sip of his drink. “Well, I’ve done my homework- but what about you? What do you know about me- aside from what I’ve told you that is.” His eyes shone with curiosity, yet his body showed disinterest.

Hank let the question fester in its mind for a moment. Would the Lieutenant want an honest and sincere answer or a joking one? Its social predictive algorithm couldn’t seem to get a concrete read on the Lieutenant. There was a disconnect between his tone and movements- there was no clear indication as to what he desired.

With its social predictive algorithm useless- the best it could do was guess.

“I know you graduated top of your class- and at an exceptionally young age as well. You made a name for yourself in several cases and became the youngest lieutenant in Detroit.” The achievement was impressive- but Lieutenant Stern did not seem half as impressed at himself as he should have been. “I also know you’ve received a multitude of disciplinary warnings in recent years, accompanied by you frequenting a lot of bars. Though the reason for such a shift in behavior is unknown to me.”

Connor nodded, taking a sip of his drink. He leaned in, a curious smile on his face. “Well, if your programming and research won’t tell you- then make a deduction of your own.”

Hank was taken aback, its algorithm even more confused than before. “Excuse me?” It asked. The Lieutenant huffed out a laugh, clearly amused by Hank’s confusion. “This is detective work 101, you have some evidence- now you need to make a deduction and come to a conclusion. Why do you think the star pupil of the police academy turned out to be such a disappointment?”

The question was genuine. The Lieutenant actually wanted to know what Hank thought had happened. It couldn’t understand why Lieutenant Stern cared so much- but it still rose to the challenge.

It knew that the Lieutenant had worked in the force since he was 21 years old- and that he had received his first disciplinary warning at 24 years old. That meant that something significant must have happened during that three-year period that had changed the Lieutenants behavior drastically- but not completely. He was still clearly devoted to his job- meaning he most likely despised life itself rather than being a police lieutenant.

Hank thought back to the picture he’d seen by Lieutenant Stern’s desk. The red ice task force of 2033. There could be clue there should Hank dig a bit deeper- but something held it back from doing so.

It felt like cheating.

According to Lieutenant Stern it already had enough evidence to make a serviceable conclusion- it did not need further investigation.

…Or did it?

Was this a test to see whether or not Hank would try to dig up dirt on him? Or whether Hank would give an incomplete deduction in order to please him? It had some evidence yes. Such as pieces of a timeline and personal experience of behavior around itself and others- but that wasn’t enough to tell what had happened.

Yes. A test. It must be.

“I have some clues yes, but not nearly enough to make a proper deduction. Detective work 101, as you called it, also includes not working with half-baked verdicts.” It finally said after a moment of thought.

Lieutenant Stern’s eyes widened a bit, then settled back down again. He chuckled then smiled at Hank. “Good.”

Connor ^^

Hank’s LED twitched yellow as a report flooded into his processor. A report of a suspected deviant not too far from their location. Lieutenant Stern raised a brow. “You good? Your eye is twitching.”

Hank nodded swiftly. “I received a report of a suspected deviant in the area.” It glanced down at the Lieutenant’s unfinished meal. “I will be waiting in the car for you to finish your meal.” Lieutenant Stern looked down as well, a contemplative look on his face.

Then, he picked up the remains of his lunch- and threw them in the nearest trashcan. He turned over to Hank, taking his car keys from his pocket and swinging them around his finger. “Let’s go.”

Hank sorted through all the data it had gathered on deviants, trying to find a new lead or a clue. None of the hundreds of cases seemed to deviate from the status quo- an android went deviant, usually incited violence- and then ran away.

Only one case stood out to it from the ones currently in the DPD data base: the case regarding Carl Manfred’s prototype android.

Prototypes, such as Hank, should be less prone to deviancy. Their coding is usually even more complex than that of a serial android which provided a certain resistance to deviancy that other androids lacked. Yet the case file suggested that Manfred’s android had deviated in a particularly violent way.

The prototype hadn’t managed to escape either- the first responders had destroyed it. Making this lead a stub. Hank still opted to make a tab of the case.

The Lieutenant suddenly cleared his throat. Hank pulled down all the casefiles from its field of vision. Lieutenant Stern was standing outside the elevator, tapping his foot against the floor. He seemed amused despite his impatient body language. “You coming or what?” Hank nodded: “Yes.” and stepped out of the elevator mere moments before the doors closed.

A new mission popped into its HUD

Question the suspect.

The hallway they walked down was revolting. The patterned floor was covered in grime and what looked like to be piles of feathers. Mold covered the cracked walls, trailing all the way to the ceiling were broken lights resided. The only light in the hallway came from the poorly boarded up broken window. Dark clouds covered the sun, engulfing the entire floor in gray light that only accentuated all the dirt and grime.

The Lieutenant didn’t seem bothered by the disgusting state of the apartment building. He kept walking toward the assigned apartment, keeping his face completely neutral. “What were you doing? You looked like you bluescreened.” He asked.

“Androids cannot bluescreen, lieutenant.”

The Lieutenant scoffed. “You know what I mean-“ He stared at it for a moment, then shrugged. “-Okay scratch that maybe you actually don’t.” He turned to Hank: “Regardless- what were you doing?”

“I was going through our files on deviant activity. I wanted to try and find another clue.” The Lieutenant hummed. “Did you find anything?” He stopped to lean against the wall next to the apartment door, knocking on it half-heartedly. “Possibly. But the police destroyed that lead.” Hank stopped to kneel next to a pile of feathers opposite to said door, quickly scanning them. The Lieutenant scoffed. “Typical.”

FEATHERS
    -> Columba livia: rock pigeon
    -> Comprised of different specimens

Hank glanced around the rest of the hallway- looking for a pigeon nest but finding none. Behind it lieutenant Stern knocked on the door again with a bit more force. “Anyone there?” He called out wearily. When no answer came he pushed himself off the wall with a groan and a sigh. “Open up, Detroit Police.” He added.

Something crashed inside the apartment.

Hank barely had time to get up from the ground by the time the Lieutenant had already broken the door in. He’d dug out his gun and was holding it up to his face, ready to shoot. “Come.” He called out to Hank, not taking his eyes off the inside of the apartment. Hank nodded. “Right.” And went inside, following closely after Lieutenant Stern.

The inside of the apartment reflected much of the outside of it. The paint on the walls was chipped and mold infested most of the surfaces. There were two doors, both of them having been broken in by the Lieutenant and neither of them leading to anywhere interesting. Lieutenant Stern stopped by the third and final door that was just opposite of the entrance, he glanced at Hank- then broke through that door as well.

Instantly an entire flock of pigeons took flight, circling around the room in a frenzied panic before settling back down to the ground. Hank flinched at the sudden noise and movement, taking a step back despite itself. The Lieutenant’s grip on his gun loosened just a bit. “…The fuck?”

The two of them slowly inched their way through the flock of pigeons infesting the floor. The walls of the room were filled with cabinets and shelves- most of which were broken and dirty. What wasn’t covered by furniture was covered in drawings of different shapes. Each of them looking like some kind of maze. The mold had made its way here as well- clearly having been the reason the ceiling was rotten through and full of holes.

In the middle of the room was a small green couch which the Lieutenant seemed to avoid like the plague. By the entrance, hastily laid out on top of a cabinet, was a jacket with initials embroidered into the fabric. By the jacket was a driver’s license.

MILITARY JACKET
    -> Second hand: Initials R.T
    -> 90% cotton, 10% synthetic fiber

DRIVER’S LICENSE
    -> Name: Rupert Travis
    -> Authenticity: Forgery

The suspect uses forged ID

Lieutenant Stern glanced over its shoulder. “Why would he put his initials on his jacket? Seems counter intuitive.” Hank turned around, walking over to the kitchen counters. “It may be trying to blend in as a human. Poorly. It also had a forged driver’s license” It swatted away a pigeon and picked up what it had been perched on top of- a box of bird feed.

Suspect cares for wild animals

“At least we didn’t come for nothing.” Lieutenant Stern replied with a shrug as he kneeled down next to the fridge. He opened the door: “I think this confirms it’s an android we’re dealing with.” He said as he left to walk over to the window, opening it up to let light and fresh air in. Hank glanced over into the fridge. The inside of the was completely empty and not cold.

Suspect doesn’t eat

Conjoined with the living room was a small bathroom, even more disgusting than any of the previous rooms. Hank followed after the Lieutenant as they stepped inside, the pigeons at their feet flying out of their path.

“It smells in here.” It commented.

“You can smell?” The Lieutenant responded.

“Not in the way you can- but I have been programmed with the ability to take in and analyze the particles that make up smells.”

“Uh-huh.”

The walls were covered in writings all depicting the same thing: rA9. Lieutenant Stern followed Hank in as it took in the scribbles. “rA9. Wasn’t that what Carlos Ortiz’s android was going on about as well?” He asked. Hank nodded. “It’s been written 2471 times. Why are they so obsessed with this sign?” It asked, more so to itself.

Lieutenant Stern peered at the marking as Hank turned over to the sink. “It looks like mazes- kind of like those drawings in the living room.”

Obsessive compulsive writing

In the bathroom was a bathtub, sink, and toilet all filled with grime and bird feces. In the sink next to all the filth was a few drops of thirium. Hank swabbed a small sample and licked it, analyzing the blood.

BLUE BLOOD
    -> Model WB200 #847 004 961
    -> Reported Missing – 10/11/2036

On the edge of the sink was a discarded LED that was slightly dented at the edges.

LED
    -> Biocomponent #9301
    -> Deactivated 11/06/2038 – 11.36

Suspect is a deviant

“It’s LED is in the sink.” Hank informed the Lieutenant who hummed in response. He picked something up from the ground- an opened marker.

OPENED MARKER PEN
   -> Still wet – Used recently
   -> Color: Midnight mood [black]

“It’s still wet, it has been used recently.” Hank commented. “There’s only one exit here. The deviants still inside.” The Lieutenant added, pulling out his holstered gun once more. “There are no hiding spots in this room nor any of the others except for the living room.” Hank supplied, Lieutenant Stern nodded and the two of them began to slowly move back into the living room in tandem.

The Lieutenant gestured over to the closed shelves by the entrance. “I’ll cover you.” He added. Hank nodded, slowly inching toward the shelves. It grabbed the handles and looked over to Lieutenant Stern for a sign.

At the nod it pulled open the doors- only to find them completely empty.

Hank took a step back glancing around the room. There were no more hiding places in the apartment nor was there a chance it had escaped. It glanced up at the broken ceiling once more.

The Lieutenant seemed to come to the same conclusion at the same time. He gestured over to the armchair by one of the holes and trained his gun onto what might’ve been the deviants entrance. Hank walked over slowly, looking at the ceiling the whole way.

It placed one foot on the armchair- and something came crashing down on top of it.

Flocks of pigeons took flight at the same time as the deviant ran through the living room and into the hallway. Hank got up just as Lieutenant Stern ran after the suspect, his gun still in hand. Hank ran after him.

The deviant pulled down a shelf which both of them jumped over. Lieutenant Stern crashed through the fire escape door that led to the roof. The deviant was bolting it on the other side. The Lieutenant turned to glance at Hank.

“I’ll chase it down, you come around the other way- we’ll pincer move this motherfucker.”

“Are you sure you can keep up, Lieutenant?”

“My lungs aren’t quite that black yet.”

Hank nodded and the two of them split up to go in opposite directions. What commenced was a chase during which Hank lost sight of both the deviant and the Lieutenant multiple times. It kept its focus on where the Lieutenant was- trying to predict where he was leading the deviant. Once it figured out where it picked up speed, needing to get there first.

Hank ran through the door to the roof just as the deviant came through the corn maze next to it. Hank crashed into the deviant, trying to wrestle it to the ground. The deviant struggled in its grip, inching toward the edge of the building.

Its foot caught on the edge. The deviant pushed- and Hank went tumbling over.

It scrambled to grab a hold of the ledge, its fingers barely catching onto it. It heard the steps of the deviant getting away as it tried to pull itself up. Normally it would’ve just uploaded its memory to the next model and let go- but right now it had a mission to accomplish with Lieutenant Stern.

It tried to pull itself up when suddenly someone grabbed its arm and did it for it. Hank got its feet onto solid ground and turned to run after the deviant- only to stop in its tracks when it could no longer see it. “…Shit.”

“Shit indeed.” Lieutenant Stern said from behind it. Hank turned to face him, only then registering that it had been the Lieutenant who had pulled it up from the ledge. Hank glanced between him and the direction the deviant had disappeared in. “Why did you save me? You could have caught the deviant.”

“Yeah- and you could’ve fallen.”

“I wouldn’t have fallen- and even if I had it wouldn’t have been my end.”

Confusion flashed in lieutenant Stern’s eyes, then he spoke again: “Listen, I don’t know how you androids work but I do know that that fall would’ve killed you- so I saved you. It’s as simple as that. One loose android isn’t going to be the end of the world.” His voice was definitive as he dug out a pack of cigarettes and his lighter from his pocket. His fingers twitched a little.

Don’t push it.

Hank nodded, bowing down its head. “I’m sorry for my inadequacy. And I thank you for saving me, Lieutenant Stern.” The Lieutenant stopped, his unlit cigarette mere inches away from his lips. Hank’s programming still couldn’t get a concrete read on him- so when he opened his mouth to say-

“…Call me Connor.”

-Hank couldn’t help but blurt out a very disoriented “What?”

“I’m calling you by your first name- you can call me by mine.” He lit the cigarette, placing it between his lips.

“I don’t have a last name- and besides you are my superior.”

The Lieutenant waved his hand around dismissively. “Details, details. If it makes it easier for you then let’s say it’s an order from your boss.” He let out a puff of smoke, smiling with amusement at Hank.

“I- alright, Connor.”

Connor ^^

Chapter Text

November 9th 13.04

Connor – Warm

Obtain information

Hank stood behind Connor in the already familiar interrogation room.

Seated across from them with his hands cuffed to the table was Zlatko Andronikov.

He was scowling at them; his face twisted in a deep frown. The Lieutenant leaned forward, his hands laid out on the table. “We have some questions for you, Zlatko- regarding what you know about androids and deviants.” The Lieutenant began, his voice steady and professional.

Andronikov sneered. “Your voice sounds better, detective. Did you take some sick leave?” He said with cruel pleasure tainting his tone. Connor squinted his eyes but remained calm. “You were arrested for the illegal modification of androids- among other things. Did you learn anything about deviancy and its triggers as a result of your little hobby?”

Andronikov leaned back against the chair as much as his handcuffs would allow him. “Why the fuck should I tell you? You barged into my home, ruined my workshop, arrested me, and that thing-“ He pointed an accusing finger at Hank. “-destroyed my android.”

Hank took a step forward. “Your android was putting the life of my partner in danger. I acted accordingly.” Andronikov regarded it with boredom- then turned to face the wall in defiance.

A playful smile tugged at the Lieutenant’s lips. “If you confess I can more easily lessen your sentence- even more so if you help us with an active investigation.” Connor said lowly, leaning forward even more. Andronikov’s eyes twitched to the Lieutenant for a moment.

He is considering it. Push.

“You will be facing a minimum of 25 years in prison for your crimes. Especially when taking into account your previous record of embezzlement and fraud. Should you assist with our investigation now that sentence could be reduced by up to 10 years.” Hank stated. Andronikov crossed his arms and tapped his fingers against his bicep. “Why should I believe you?” Connor shrugged. “Can you afford not to?”

Stress levels: 52%

At the same time, Hank also scanned the Lieutenant’s stress levels.

Stress levels: 38%

Connor’s stress levels seemed to constantly be above the 30s- it had yet to have seen him below a 31%. Such high numbers did explain his frequent habit of smoking- but Hank hadn’t yet figured out a reason for them.

Connor raised up two fingers, counting down as he spoke: “Listen- as I see it you’ve got two choices. Either you keep bitching and you go to prison for three decades- or you swallow your pride and you tell us what we want to know and you’ll only have to serve half of that.”

Stress levels: 54%

Lieutenant Stern threw up his hands dramatically when Andronikov didn’t immediately answer. “But what do I care? You aren’t our only lead- this is your one and final chance, Andronikov.” He was lying. They had no concrete leads aside from the missing RK200 that Hank was yet to inform Connor about. But Andronikov wasn’t aware of that.

Connor began to get up from the table- and that’s when Andronikov finally spoke up. “Wait- wait. I’ll talk.”

The Lieutenant sat back down, a barely concealed satisfied smirk on his lips.

Andronikov sighed. “What do you want to know?” Hank opened the casefile laying on the table. Inside were pictures of all the deviant androids Andronikov had kept in his basement. The file also included a picture of the AX400 hung up on the machine that had been attempting to reset its memory. “You have a lot of experience with the workings of a deviant- have you noticed a trigger? Something in their code perhaps?”

Andronikov looked at the pictures with fanatical fascination glinting in his eyes. When Connor cleared his throat his eyes snapped back up to them. “No nothing like that. If there is something in their code it’s been hidden and hidden well. The only common factor I’ve noticed is fear, abuse, anger- things like that. Negative experiences with humans are what’ve led androids to deviancy and those deviants right to my doorstep.” Andronikov smirked, eyeing Hank up and down like prey.

“Nothing else? You’ve noticed nothing else that stands out about deviancy?” Connor said disbelievingly, pulling Andronikov’s eyes back to him. The man shrugged. “If you wanna know how an android works go and ask Kamski.”

Connor flinched. It was a movement so miniscule Andronikov must’ve missed it completely. But Hank didn’t.

Stress levels: 49%

“Do you have anything else to tell us?” Connor countered, dodging around the subject of Elijah Kamski. Andronikov leaned back against the chair. “The only anomaly I’ve found in years was the AX400 you let slip you by. It was the only deviant I’ve seen that cared more about a human than its own safety.”

Andronikov glanced at Connor with a smirk. “Maybe you can track it down again- went so well last time didn’t it?” Connor’s eye twitched, then he smiled. “Fine. Keep your secrets- I’ll keep my help in return.” The Lieutenant glanced at the glass separating the control room from the interrogation room. He gestured at Zlatko- then got up to leave.

Connor exited the room swiftly- and Hank followed close in tow. Andronikov kept his mouth shut- but his stress levels told Hank all it needed to know.

Stress levels: 76%

The two of them exited out into the hallway where Connor proceeded to loudly groan, dragging his hands against his face. “And now we have no more leads. Tracking down that AX400 will take way too long- but it’s not like we have anything else.” Connor complained, kicking at the ground. His hand twitched to his pocket where Hank knew he kept his cigarettes.

“There might be something.” Hank quickly stated- and Connor’s head immediately snapped to it. “I did some research into Carl Manfred’s case. The android that he owned was an RK200. It is a one-of-a-kind prototype gifted to Manfred by Kamski. By virtue of being a prototype it should possess a certain defense to deviancy- I also highly doubt that Manfred would’ve abused it. Yet it went deviant.” Two police officers walked past them into the interrogation room, carrying handcuffs.

Connor nodded slowly. “Didn’t that android assault his son though? And was then destroyed by the cops on scene?” Hank nodded. “Yes- which is why I have neglected to tell you about this. The RK200 may have been a lead- but since it was destroyed we don’t have anything to work with.” Connor sighed, then gave a humorless chuckle. “Yeah unless we go check out the garbage dump it was tossed in.”

Hank took a step forward: “Can we?”

Connor looked at it with raised eyebrows, then he threw his hands up: “Why the fuck not?”

The officers came out of the room with Zlatko, walking him out and back into his cell. Detective Gavin Reed walked past them, glancing at Zlatko as they went by. He came over to the two of them, gesturing behind him. “Was that the guy that did a number on you?”

“His android did.” The Lieutenant replied. Detective Reed whistled, then pointed at Hank. “Yet you still keep that thing around.”

“Unlike you, he actually does his job.”

Again with the he.

Apparently, it wasn’t the only one to notice the shift in pronoun.

Detective Reed gave a choked of laugh, shocked amusement coloring his eyes. “Holy shit- don’t tell me you actually give a shit about the plastic fuck.” Detective Reed shrugged. “Though maybe I should’ve guessed when you pulled a fucking gun on me to defend it.” Then he eyed the Lieutenant up and down. “You know you’ve been acting weird ever since it came here- got your panties in a bunch that bad?” 

Connor crossed his arms, his eye twitching. “Why are you even here, Gavin?” Detective Reed raised his hands up in fake surrender. “Can’t even strike up conversation between friends anymore?” Lieutenant Stern huffed out a laugh. “Right, “friends”.”

The two stared each other down for a hot minute- and Hank’s HUD was filled to the brim with messages of DO NOT TRY TO DE-ESCALATE. Then finally, Detective Reed stood down. “Fine- a report came in just now of some android activity near a CyberLife plant last night. Apparently some parts and shit were stolen.”

Connor’s posture relaxed. “How many androids?” Detective Reed shrugged. “No clue, like I said the report just came in. They just said it was androids that did it and that some shit was stolen.” Connor turned to Hank, silently asking for its opinion. “They must have been deviants- but if they are starting to form groups it is a cause for concern.”

Connor nodded, then turned back to Detective Reed. “Get a group and go investigate- report back to me what you find. We’ve got another lead to follow.”

Detective Reed’s face twisted into a deep scowl. “Oh no no no- you aren’t pulling me into this fuckass investigation of yours.” He stepped toward Lieutenant Stern, fuming. Connor leaned forward, matching the Detective’s challenge. “As a matter of fact I am. I need the info from both of these leads but I can’t be everywhere at once.”

Detective Reed threw his hands around aimlessly, his voice rising. “Ever heard of splitting up? Or do you want to spend time that much with that thing? New flash, Connor: it’s not your dad.”

Connor clenched his fist- and a blazing red message blinked in Hank’s HUD

DE-ESCALATE NOW.

Hank stepped up, placing itself into the situation. “Of course I am not his father. I am merely a machine and as such I am not allowed to investigate on my own”

Connor’s posture relaxed, his fist opened out and he looked away. “Do the investigation, Reed. That’s an order.” He turned around before Detective Reed could protest. Hank followed him out- but it’s focus was entirely on the message flashing in its HUD as something stirred in its head.

Connor ⌄⌄⌄

Connor - Neutral

November 9th 15.43

This lead may have been a dead end. Hank had scanned through hundreds of pieces of android parts without finding even a drop of thirium from the RK200. The Lieutenant had taken on the task of scanning through hours of security footage from the nearby area- but he hadn’t found anything either.

Connor hadn’t talked to Hank at all during the drive there, his demeanor suddenly back to cold and confrontational. He had also dismissed Hank to handle the scanning alone. Hank knew it was because of what it’d said to Detective Reed back at the precinct. It simply couldn’t understand what about that statement had warranted such a reaction from Connor.

Hank scanned another arm. An HK200. It threw it back into the dump and dug around for the next.

His father may be a sore subject. Best not to bring it up again to avoid future conflict.

This wasn’t the first time the Lieutenant’s father had come up. Detective Reed had mentioned Connor “inheriting daddy’s mansion” -implying the Lieutenant’s father was dead.

A leg from a PL800. Hank repeated the process.

Detective Reed may also simply be the root of his irritation.

It could easily confirm anything it wanted about Connor’s family in a matter of seconds. But something was holding it back. It felt invasive- and such information wouldn’t help the investigation in any way.

Still, Hank couldn’t help but be curi-

Leg component
    -> RK200
    -> Repair impossible

Hank immediately broke off a piece of the leg’s surface, dipping its fingers into the thirium that leaked out. It activated a scan, searching for traces of thirium matching the RK200’s signature. Instantly the scan lit up with bits of blue scattered around everywhere in the landfill.

Hank wandered around for minutes on end- but only managed to find two legs, one audio processor, and one thirium pump regulator belonging to the RK200. Nothing else. The RK200 wasn’t there.

Its LED flashed yellow as it contacted the Lieutenant. The call connected, but Connor gave no sign he was listening. Hank spoke up nonetheless.  “I have found pieces of the RK200- but there’s no sign of the android itself anywhere. It has clearly been here- but I doubt it’s here anymore.”

After a while Connor hummed. Then he let out a sigh of pure unfiltered frustration that bordered on a yell. “This footage is too fucking blurry to get anything out of it. I can count the pixels on this screen.”

“I could come and look at it?”

Connor sighed again, more defeated this time. “Sure, knock yourself out.”

Hank made its way to the car where the Lieutenant was sitting with a laptop laid out on his lap. On the screen was footage from the nearby cameras that had been connected to the laptop for the time being. Even from far away Hank could tell that the footage, indeed, was extremely blurry and distorted.

Hank got into the car from the passengers side and offered to take the laptop from Connor. He handed it to Hank without a word and dug out his cigarettes. “I’m going for a smoke.” He announced, then promptly got up and left.

Hank redacted the skin of its hand and laid it on the laptop’s keyboard. It interfaced with the computer- activating a scan for the signature of the RK200. It scanned through hours of footage in a matter of seconds- but it wasn’t until it got to footage from the early morning of the 6^th of November that it finally got a hit.

The footage was still blurry- but Hank’s scan still picked up on the RK200’s signature a couple blocks away from the landfill. It was alive- meaning they had a lead.

They just had to track it down.

Hank got up from the car and walked over to where Lieutenant Stern was smoking some distance away. He wasn’t wearing his shabby leather coat, just the creased white button up shirt that he wore underneath. His shirt was filled with dog hair and he wore a watch on his right wrist.

“I found the android’s signature. It was here and it left three days ago on the 6^th.” Connor huffed out a cloud of smoke. “What now, then?” He asked, not looking at Hank. “I think we should track it down. Its programming could give us crucial information about deviancy.” Connor took another long drag of his cigarette- and waited long to reply after huffing it out. “How do you suggest we do that? That’s akin to looking for a needle in a haystack.”

Hank thought about it for a moment, watching as the Lieutenant’s stress levels ticked between 44 and 45. Then it spoke up again. “Perhaps we should return to its home- the residence of Carl Manfred.” Connor finally turned to it. “Why? Manfred’s an old man and the altercation happened days ago.”

“Yes, but they reportedly had a good relationship before the incident. Perhaps Manfred may know something about the RK200 that could help us.”  

Connor stared at it, clearly contemplating something. Then he took one final huff of his cigarette and stomped it underneath his heel. “Fine, get in the car.” He walked past Hank- but it hesitated. “Shouldn’t we wait till morning, Connor? He is, as you said, quite old-“

The Lieutenant turned around, hissing through his teeth. “Get in.”

“…Yes, Lieutenant.”

November 9^th 18.12

“Why is there a giant giraffe in the living room, Lieutenant?”

“It’s tasteful.”

Connor and Hank were sitting in Carl Manfred’s very extravagant living room. It was unlike anything Hank had seen in its existence. Paintings littered the walls with tastefully expensive furniture filling up the hardwood floors.

And a giant giraffe statue stood in the back of the living room, looming over them.

Manfred’s caretaker android had seen them in once Connor had shown his badge. Then it had guided them to sit at the dining table while it went to get Manfred from upstairs. Hank noted how the android wasn’t wearing its standard uniform and thus had no serial number of name displayed anywhere. Though it still wore the triangle and armband.

Connor was staring at all the different paintings in the room, his gaze travelling carefully across each one. His eyes never travelled to the ones on Hank’s side of the room. He was tapping his fingers against the table quite harshly.

Keep quiet.

After a couple more seconds of silence the caretaker android returned with Carl Manfred. He was sitting in a wheelchair, dressed in some clean, expensive clothes that made him look effortlessly important. His hair was thinning and his limbs were frail, but the intense look in his eyes made up for it- not allowing him to look weak.

“Officers-“ He greeted with a nod as he was wheeled to the opposite side of the table. “-What brings you here during this fine evening?” Connor and Hank gave their own respectful nods in turn- then Connor began talking.

“We need to ask you a few questions about the altercation between your son, Leo- and your previous android, the RK200.” He began.

“Markus.” Manfred replied.

“Markus.” Connor echoed.

“What is that you wish to know? And what is this knowledge for, if I may ask?” Manfred questioned. “We are investigating a string of crimes done by androids and all of them have been deviant. We’re hoping to find the reason deviancy happens so we could prevent further crimes.” Connor replied. Manfred gave a slow nod, humming. “And what does Markus have to do with that?”

Hank came forward. “The RK200 is a prototype yet it still went deviant. Due to its intricate programming we believe it could provide valuable insight into what happens when deviancy is triggered.” Manfred nodded, eyeing Hank with interest. “Markus was destroyed the night of the accident- and I don’t know how an android works. You must know both of these things- so I must ask why you’re here.”

“We believe Markus survived. We aren’t here to ask about its coding. We’re here to ask where you think it might’ve gone.” Connor explained.

Manfred’s intense gaze softened in an instant. His mouth hung slightly agape and Hank saw as his eyes began to water. Did he truly care about his android that much?

He searched for the words for a moment. With his voice barely above a whisper, he said: “Markus is alive?”

Hank nodded. “We believe it scavenged for parts and rebooted at the landfill it was thrown into.” Manfred seemed to contemplate its words for a moment. Both Hank and Connor remained quiet.

Then, Manfred collected himself- and the steeled look in his eyes returned. “I am sorry to disappoint- but I don’t know where Markus could have gone.” The Lieutenant squinted his eyes. “Not even a guess? It attacked your son- we could make sure something similar doesn’t happen again.”

Manfred’s eyes narrowed. He shook his head, his blazing gaze never leaving Connor. “No, not even a guess.” Connor stared back. He continued to tap his fingers against the table- the sound almost echoing in the room.

Hank cut into the growing tension. “Do you know why it deviated?” Both men turned to look at it- and Manfred’s gaze gained interest again. “My son, Leo, attacked him. Not the other way around. I told him not to defend himself- I was worried he’d get into trouble if he did. He disobeyed my orders and pushed Leo- he didn’t mean to hurt him. I’m sure. But Leo hit his head and when the cops arrived they shot him down.” Manfred’s voice was tight, especially upon mentioning Markus’ fate.

“Was it afraid?” Hank asked.

Manfred turned to it, his eyes meeting Hank’s with a fiery look. “No. He was angry.”

Hank nodded slowly, making a note in the casefile.

Connor chimed in. “Your son is in the hospital then?” He seemed tense- and a quick scan showed his stress levels at 40%. Manfred gave a short nod. “Yes, he has yet to awaken.” Their gazes met once more- and fire seemed to blaze between them. Hank couldn’t make out the source of the tension. There was something it was missing.

It seemed personal- but it didn’t seem like the two knew each other. Or even knew of each other aside from fame.

“Do you have any more questions?” Manfred prompted. Connor shook his head. “I suppose we don’t- if you’re certain you don’t have a clue where the RK200 could’ve gone.” Manfred’s tone was neutral, the tone of a liar: “Absolutely no clue.”

They stared each other down for a moment- then Connor relented, slowly getting up from the table. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Manfred. I apologize for disturbing you so late in the day.” The Lieutenant’s tone held no such feelings. Manfred nodded- though he had turned to look at Hank. He seemed to be looking for something that wasn’t quite there.

Connor turned to leave when Manfred suddenly spoke up- speaking to Hank rather than to the Lieutenant. “You’re a prototype too, aren’t you?”

Hank answered without a moment of delay: “Yes. An HK800 negotiator prototype.” Manfred nodded slowly, then tilted his head slightly to the side. “Then why don’t you check for that coding you were talking about yourself? You’re a prototype too after all.”

Connor turned around, confusion coloring his expression: “It’s not a deviant.”

Software instability ^^

Manfred hummed. He was not looking at the Lieutenant, yet his words were aimed at him.

“I think it’s more than an “it” to you.”

Connor fell silent and left the room. Hank followed after him- and Manfred spoke one final time. “I think there’s something hidden within you. You should search for it. Might help you with him.”

Connor and Hank sat in the car right outside Manfred’s mansion in complete silence. Connor was yet to even start the car. He was merely staring ahead, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly.

After a while, he finally spoke: “He was clearly withholding information. I think he had a few good guesses as to where the android could’ve gone.”

Hank turned to him, noting the way his shoulders shook. “Why didn’t you push, then?”

Connor did not reply.

Chapter Text

November 10^th 0.25

Hank opened its eyes in the Zen Garden, holding an umbrella. It felt odd. It had felt odd since Connor dropped it off at the precinct and drove off.

It was raining but Hank could barely feel the droplets. Its eyes adjusted to the darker lighting with the blink of an eye. A new yet familiar mission flashed in its HUD.

Find Amanda

The Zen Garden was beautiful even when the sun was hiding behind dark clouds and heavy rain poured down on everything. But even if it was beautiful- it no longer felt as warm and welcoming. It felt cold and off-putting, like a glare of disappointment.

Hank walked towards one of the pure white bridges that crossed over the clear pond. Only then did it take note of the odd construct in its way. It looked like an altar. A construct made of something dark gray that wrapped around a podium-like terminal with a handprint on it.

Hank felt like it had never seen the construct before- yet somehow at the same time it also felt like it had always known it was there.

It retracted the skin of its hand and brought it up to the terminal. It slowly inched closer and the terminal felt like it was… pulling Hank closer to it? It laid one finger on the handprint and

Hank pulled away from the terminal.

Hank crossed the bridge and circled around to another to get to Amanda. She was standing on the opposite side of the pond, underneath a tree to shield herself from the rain. Her shawl had changed color again, this time to a bright yellow.

Hank greeted her with a smile. “Hello, Amanda.”

“Hank, I’ve been expecting you.” Amanda’s voice was calm and warm and fought off the unwelcoming cold of the Zen Garden. Her smile did wonders to fight off the odd feeling roiling around in Hank’s systems. “Would you care for a walk?” Hank nodded and stepped up to her, opening the umbrella and raising it up to cover them both.

Amanda began to slowly lead them through the Zen Garden. Her smile dropped, and with it the temperature as well. “That deviant seemed to be an intriguing case-“ She looked over to Hank, a calculating look on her face. “-pity you didn’t manage to capture it.”

Amanda ⌄

Hank pitied it too. It could not understand why Connor had opted to save it instead of capturing the deviant. “I have no excuse.” It lamented. “I should have been more efficient.” Amanda stared at it, trying to see if it would break.

It did not.

“Did you manage to learn anything from the deviant before it escaped?” Hank dug into its memory bank for the evidence it had stored away. “The walls of the apartment were covered with drawings of labyrinths and other symbols. Like the other deviants, it seemed obsessed with rA9.” Hank listed.

Amanda looked away. “Your relationship with Lieutenant Stern seems to have chilled. Why do you think that is?”

Hank well and truly had no idea. Manfred’s words, the argument with Detective Reed, and Connor’s sudden shift to cold had all plagued its mind since they’d left the mansion. It had tried to piece together a puzzle that was missing half its pieces- and it had been impossible.

“I do not know. I am not sure what I did to upset him.” Hank replied. Amanda nodded, humming quietly. “How will you deal with the situation?”

“…My mission takes priority. If my diminished relationship with the Lieutenant will not be a problem for the investigation- then there is no reason to attempt reconnection.” Amanda gave a slow nod, staring Hank down until finally moving on.

Her walk came to a halt in the middle of one of the bridges. Hank stopped as well- the umbrella now only covering it. “We don’t have much time.” Amanda stated. “Deviancy continues to spread. It’s only a matter of time before the media finds out about it. We need to stop this- whatever it takes.” She said with finality.

Hank nodded. “I won’t disappoint you.”

The light in Amanda’s eyes disappeared for a moment. Then it came back: “A new case just came in. Find Lieutenant Stern and investigate it. Show me you won’t fail again.”

Hank nodded again. “Of course, Amanda.”

November 10^th 0.31

The taxi pulled away as Hank stepped out of it outside Connor’s home.

Look for Lt. Stern

It was a lot to take in.

Because it was huge.

Connor’s house was a mansion in a neighborhood littered with other mansions. It was newer and more modern with the outside of it being completely white. The architecture was a new take on a classical style- executed in a perfect blend of both old and modern, respecting both styles. Whoever designed the house was a genius.

And whoever lived in it was rich.

For a moment Hank wondered whether or not it’d come to the wrong house- but each time it double checked the same result came up. This was the house of Connor Stern. No lights were on, but Connor’s scrappy Toyota was parked by the driveway. The small rattletrap car by the huge, gorgeous, and pristine white mansion created quite the contrast.

Around the house was a tall, black metal fence that wrapped around the entirety of the lot. At the front was a big gate with a telephone entry system attached to it. Hank pressed the call button and waited as it buzzed a couple of times- never going through. It pressed the button again only to get the same result. It mission updated.

Find a way through the gate

Hank activated a scan: there were no extra safety measures on the fence. The front porch had a security camera attached to it.

ANALOG CCTV CAMERA
   -> Manufactured 2025
   -> No automatic police contact

Hank glanced around the neighborhood- no one was around, and no lights were on either. It backed away from the fence- then ran forward and scaled it in one less than fluid motion. Hank landed somewhat shakily on the ground on the other side of the fence, then checked again to see that there were no witnesses.

Hank walked up to the front door and knocked. “Lieutenant Stern?” It called out. No answer. It rang the doorbell and called out again. No answer. There was a slight tinge of pressure on its temple. Its mission updated again.

Find a way inside

It ringed one more time for good measure, holding the doorbell for ten consecutive seconds before giving up.

Hank walked around the building with its scan activated. There seemed to be one security camera per one side of the building. On the back of the house was a large porch with a grill, some lounge chairs, and even a pool. Hank tried the back entrance- but the door was locked. It knocked- but once again received no answer.

Right by the door was a large French window. Dark beige curtains covered them from inside with light seeping through a small crack between them.

Hank looked through to see a fancy living room with large, beige leather couches lining an old wooden coffee table in the middle. By the opposing wall was a large tv- and fallen down by it on his back was Connor with his eyes closed, wearing a loose t-shirt and pajama pants. A small German shepherd puppy was laying on his stomach- gazing into his closed eyes. Hank quickly activated a scan.

Status: unconscious

Hank tried the window and found it locked. It glanced inside to see a tiny metal hatch. It walked over to the grill where some supplies were laid out in a rack. It grabbed a metal spatula and then inserted it between the two windows, pulling to the right until they broke apart.  

Hank opened the windows and stepped inside carefully. The puppy’s head perked up, snapping to Hank. It jumped down from Connor’s stomach, growling and barking at Hank as it tried to approach. Hank brought raised its hands in faux surrender. “Easy-“ It’s databanks supplied it with the dog’s name “-Sumo. I mean no harm to Connor, I’m here to help.”

The dog was barely bigger than a pebble- so Hank really didn’t know why it was trying to calm it down. Still, Hank kneeled down and offered its hand to the puppy. Sumo’s growls died down and it tilted its head to the side- it’s soft ears flopping around. It took cautious steps toward Hank- and then it took an evaluative sniff. Then another.

Sumo’s snout was cold and wet and it tickled the sensors in Hank’s hand as it continued to sniff at it. The dog was most likely confused as to why there was no smell to pick up.

Attempt to pet it

Hank slowly moved the hand that was being inspected toward Sumo’s head- and when it gave no sign of fear or aggression it carefully began to pet it. The dog caught a whiff of Hank’s sleeve- and it’s demeanor changed instantly.

Sumo plopped to the ground on its back and barked excitedly. Hank’s programming lagged for a short moment- and then it gave a few careful scratches to the dogs stomach. Sumo clearly appreciated them. Hank glanced over to Connor who remained unconscious. A mission update flashed in its HUD.

Connor found

Check on Connor

Hank got up to get over to Connor and the puppy began barking again- though the growling was replaced by demanding whines. Hank stepped around it to kneel down next to Connor, activating a scan.

Right by the Lieutenant’s head was a half-full rectangular glass bottle, that had spilled some orange liquid to the ground. Around the bottle was a rainbow label and attached to the neck was a small brown cardboard card that read “Happy Pride -Ben”.

Hank wasn’t aware of that. Though in some ways it did make sense.

ABSOLUT VODKA
   -> Swedish Vodka
   -> 40% Alcohol Content

Some liquid dripped down from the Lieutenant’s chin, going down his shirt. On the shirt was a picture of a band logo.

SABATON
    -> 1999 power metal

Traces of Alcohol
    -> Swedish Vodka
    -> 40% Alcohol Content

Hank activated a deeper scan and checked Connor’s heart.

HEART
   -> Slight arrhythmia
   -> No signs of trauma

A conclusion appeared in Hank’s HUD.

Ethylic coma suspected

Hank felt the pull of something in its programming. It stood up and sorted through a couple of tabs until a pop up appeared in its vision.

Patient Detected
-> Do you wish to activate HK-series caretaker programming?

Hank stared at the message with its eyes wide and it’s mouth slightly agape. It had been aware that the HK-series’ other models were all caretaker androids. But it hadn’t been aware that the same programming had been given to it as well.

It hesitantly accepted the activation and it’s eyes blinked out for a moment, LED flashing yellow. After five seconds a new message appeared.

Caretakeer programming activated

Immediately, Hank was overwhelmed with things it had never noticed before. It’s HUD showed Connor’s temperature, the amount of alcohol in his blood, and the recommended course of action. Hank gently grabbed the Lieutenant’s shoulders and shook him, being careful about banging his head against the floor. Connor blinked, shaking his head sluggishly.

Hank kneeled down and pulled the Lieutenant up, hoisting his arm around its shoulders while it snaked its other arm around Connor’s stomach. That finally got the Lieutenant somewhat lucid and he shouted out in protest- his free arm coming up to try and push Hank away. There was a semblance of alarm in his slightly clouded eyes. “What the fuck are you doing in my house?” He shouted.

Calm him. Assure him there’s no danger.

Sober him up
  -> Recommended course of action: shower

“It’s me, Hank. I’m going to sober you up for the sake of your safety and health.” Connor’s head darted around wildly and Sumo bit at Hank’s ankles as it moved. “How the hell did you-“ Connor gagged. “-How the hell did you get in?”

“Through the window.”

“Of fucking course.”

Connor tried to shake it off but Hank held on tighter. “Get off me- I can walk on my own.” Hank shook its head. “No you cannot.” Connor groaned and pushed against it louder. “What the fuck do you know? You’re a goddamn detective not a doctor.” Hank continued to tread onward. Connor threw his hand out: “Sumo, attack!” That’s what the dog had been doing for the past three minutes.

Sumo barked valiantly and bumped its head against Hank’s ankle.

Connor chuckled warmly. “Good boy.”

Hank began leading Connor down the hallway- looking through doors to see where the bathroom was. When it finally found it it led Connor through and sat him down in the bath.

He could only bark out an aborted: “WAIT-“ before Hank turned on the shower and ice-cold water washed down on the Lieutenant- drenching him completely. He writhed around and yelled out curses for a few seconds- though he kept his left hand close to his chest. When Hank turned the water off he stilled.

Connor’s eyes were wide- but they were finally not clouded anymore. Sumo attempted to jump into the bath- but Hank caught it before it could. The dog wriggled around in its grip but it held on tight.

Connor leaned his head against the wall, sighing with exasperation. “Not again…”

“Again?”

“Fucking Gavin…” Connor mumbled under his breath. Then he turned to face Hank. “What are you even doing here?” Hank readjusted its grip on Sumo. “A homicide was reported 43 minutes ago. I couldn’t find you at Jimmy’s bar, so I came to see if you were at home.” Connor pushed himself up from the bathtub- sighing with pure exasperation. “Why can’t you just leave me alone?”

Sumo wiggled around violently and Hank set it down. It went to rub against Connor’s leg and the Lieutenant scratched it behind it’s floppy ears. “Why haven’t you dropped the case if you despise handling it so much? My mission-“

Connor ⌄

”Yeah your goddamn mission is all you care about isn’t it?”

Defuse

“Listen, Lieutenant- you’re drunk and not yourself so-“

Connor pushed himself up without shaking from the sheer power of rage, he raised his voice- stepping into Hank’s space. “Just get the hell out of here! I’m already overlooking you breaking into my fucking house!” Then he glanced over at Sumo and something flashed in his eyes. He turned back to Hank, pointing an accusing finger at him. “You better not have done a fucking thing to my dog.”

“I pet him.”

“…Oh.”

Connor ^

The Lieutenant sat back down to pet Sumo- seemingly having no intention of getting back up. It’s social predictive program flared up with a suggestion.

Invoke his sense of duty

Hank ignored its programming in lieu of a better plan. “Detective Reed is at the scene.” Connor’s head snapped back up to it. “We’re going.” He said, suddenly a lot more cooperative. Hank crossed its arms, its curiosity leading for a moment. “Do you have a history with Detective Reed?”

Connor blinked. “What?”

“I saw the bottle Detective Collins gifted you for Pride.” Hank supplied. Connor looked mortified for a second- then he hid his face in his hands. “Yeah- Ben thinks me and Gavin had something going on. We don’t. End of story.”

Hank nodded. “I will bring you some clothes.” Connor spoke muffled into his hands. “Yeah- okay sure. I’m gonna sober up. My bedroom’s on the second floor right by the stairs.”

The Lieutenant pushed himself up from the bathtub and wobbled over to the living room, Sumo following close in tow. Hank walked to the opposite end of the hallway and up the stairs into a slightly smaller and darker hallway. By the stairs were two doors, one on the left- and one on the right. Both of them were closed.

Hank peeked inside the door on the left. Behind it was a room filled with band posters of heavy metal bands from the 90s and beyond. There were basketball caps and shirts hung around the walls like trophies- as well as actual trophies and medals littered around on a desk. By the wall was a large bed that was neatly made. The entire room was clean.

Hank stepped inside and walked over to the dresser- only to find it completely empty. It searched every drawer and the closet- but found no clothes anywhere. It turned around and its eyes caught sight of something that made it freeze.

On the wall was the same picture of the red ice unit that Connor kept on his office desk- but hung up right next to it was a Medal of Sacrifice.

It scanned the medal, feeling like something gnawed at its insides.

Medal of Sacrifice
    -> Awarded to STERN HENRY
    -> Died in line of duty on 11/10/2035

This wasn’t Connor’s room.

Hank took a closer look at the trophies, medals, and pictures around the room. None of them were of Connor. They were of a man whose face looked lik

Hank walked out from the room and closed the door with a deafening click. It crossed the hallway to the other room.

The room was much messier than the other one. Clothes were laying on the floor along with dog toys and cigarette packs. By a sheetless bed was a nightstand with a full ashtray laid out on top. Behind it were three framed pictures, one of Sumo, one of an older german shepherd, and one of Henry Stern with a younger Connor. A fourth frame laid face down by them. Hank wanted to look- but it felt like it had intruded enough.

On the bed was a gun.

That Hank took a look at. There was only a single bullet in the chamber.

Software instability ^^^

Hank crossed over to the closet and opened it. Inside, hanging on some cheap plastic hangers were differently colored plain button ups, as well as some jeans and leather jackets. Hank grabbed a suitable combination- then got out of the room.

Connor was still sitting on the couch but with a glass of water on the coffee table by him. His skin was paler with dark circles around his eyes for contrast. He looked tired. Sumo was laying on his lap as he absentmindedly stared at the watch around his left wrist. The leather strap nearly glinted underneath the soft wall lights and the face of the clock was clean without even the tiniest scratch.

Stress levels: 58%

Recommended course of action: comfort

Hank ignored that suggestion.

Hank put down the clothes next to the Lieutenant and without a word exchanged he went to change them in the bathroom. Hank stood in place the entire time- decidedly having seen enough things it shouldn’t have for one night.

The Lieutenant came back out, changed and ready. “You’re not gonna let me drive, are you?”

“No. And you won’t let me drive either- will you?”

“No. So a taxi it is.”

Connor turned to Sumo. “Be a good boy, okay? Keep the house in order while I’m gone.” The dog barked in affirmation.

Just before the two of them could step out, Connor stopped in his tracks. He spoke to Hank without looking at it. “Just so you know- we’re going so I can fuck with Gavin and not so I can fuck him.”

“Roger that, Lieutenant.”

November 10^th 1.04

Connor - Neutral

The taxi pulled up to the club and Connor groaned, pressing the palms of his hands against his temples. He got out of the car and Hank followed suit. The outside of the Eden Club glowed with a bright purple light that illuminated much of the street around it. The entrance was blocked off by holographic police tape that Connor walked through with a scowl.

As the doors to the club opened a sensual female voice welcomed them in. Through the entrance was a small entryway filled with half-naked Traci’s in their posts.

They walked into the club itself and Hank had to stop walking to be able to take everything around him in.

The entire club was bathed in neon purple. Right in the middle were three poles with androids dancing around them. More Traci posts were littered between entrances to private rooms to their left was a gem-bead covered hallway to another section of the club. Detective Collins was standing with another man by one of the private rooms.

When he noticed Connor he walked over, looking concerned. “Didn’t expect you to show up.” Connor gave a half-hearted shrug. “Wasn’t going to until that dragged me out here.” He gestured at Hank with his head. Collins glanced at it and something flashed in his eyes- something that looked both like gratitude and loathing.

“You could just go home- Gavin’s already here we can handle this.” Connor shook his head. “I’m already here. Let’s just get this over with.” Collins nodded, then gestured toward the door behind him that read “Occupied” in red. “Gavin and the body are there.” Connor sighed. “A corpse and an asshole, aren’t I a fucking lottery winner?”

The door opened and the two of them walked in. Inside was a small bathroom with a glass door separating it, as well as the body of a female Traci. In the middle was a large bed with the corpse of a dead man laying on top of it. By the bed stood Detective Reed- who turned to face them as they entered.

Immediate surprise colored his eyes upon seeing the Lieutenant. “The fuck are you doing here?” Then he spotted Hank as well, and his surprise turned sour. “And with that thing no less?”

“We have been assigned to all cases involving androids.” Hank supplied. Detective Reed gave it a cruel sneer. “Well you’re wasting your time. It’s just some perv who uhh-“ He chuckled. “-got a little more action than he could handle.” Connor didn’t look at him. “We’ll have a look around, if you don’t mind.” He said with a tone too sweet to be genuine.

Detective Reed scoffed. “Knock yourself out.” He said with an exaggerated bow toward the corpse. Connor dropped a tiny curtsy and then walked over to the body of the man while Hank went over to the broken-down Traci.

It kneeled down by it; it was dressed in the Eden Club’s black underwear with thirium pouring down its nose. Hank dabbed at the substance and brought it up to its mouth, licking the tips of its fingers.

BLUE BLOOD
  -> MODEL WR400
  -> Serial number #429 671 942

Detective Reed’s reaction was instant. “What the FUCK are you doing.” He yelled out, for once addressing Hank with something other than loathing. Disgust was a step up.

Connor only gave a shrug. “Yeah it does that.” From his tone Hank could tell he was smirking even without seeing it. Detective Reed groaned loudly. “What the fuck is wrong with both of you.” Connor smiled.

Hank placed its hand on the Traci’s forehead. Behind him, Connor and the Detective continued to speak. “Did you investigate that CyberLife report?” Connor asked. Detective Reed scoffed, and Hank imagined he was rolling his eyes as well. “Like I had a choice with you pulling rank. Yeah I did.” Connor hummed. “Did you manage to come up with any leads?”

Hank retracted the skin of its hand and diagnosed the source of the WR400’s deactivation.

Selector #5402 – CRITICALLY DAMAGED

Biocomponent #6970 – CRITICALLY DAMAGED

“The whole thing was weird as shit. Apparently a group of androids broke in and stole a truck full of supplies. One of them took down the guards working the night shift which is the only reason anyone even knew they were androids. We’ve got no footage on the others in the group, only the word of the guards that say they saw a glimpse of them. But the guards’ BWC:s did capture footage of the one that knocked them out.” Detective Reed replied, his voice was a lot calmer than what Hank was used to.

“Did you get the footage from them?”

“Yeah- should’ve been sent to your computer by now.”

“Do you have it, Hank?” It took a second for Hank to realize that the Lieutenant was addressing it. It stood up and turned to face him. Connor was examining the corpse, having put on plastic gloves. Detective Reed was still standing on the other side of the room with his arms crossed and his expression sour. Connor wasn’t looking at either of them.

“No, I don’t.” Connor glanced at it. “Why? I thought you got all our data straight to your memory banks or something.” Hank shook its head. “Androids are not authorized to get sensitive information straight to our processors. I have to manually interface with my terminal back at the precinct to extract the needed files.” Connor blinked, dumbfounded- then turned back to the corpse. “That’s stupid.” He muttered.

Hank turned to Detective Reed. “You claimed the case was odd- but I don’t find anything of what you said particularly puzzling.” It stated- and the Detective looked like he wanted to try and strangle it. But then Connor spoke up: “Yeah- me neither.” and he stood down with an agitated scoff. “That’s because I didn’t get to the odd part yet. The weird part is that apparently several androids disappeared from the plant as well- all of them brand new.”

Connor pulled away from the body and turned to Detective Reed. “You think the group that stole the parts took the androids with them?” The Detective shrugged. “Well who the fuck else? It’s not like they just walked out on their own.”

“Well, they most likely did.”

“You know what I meant, Connor.”

Connor gave a small smirk, then shook his head. “Is there anything of use you can tell us about this case?”

 Detective Reed twitched. “There’s not much to say. The guys name is Michael Graham and he died from strangulation. The android did it.” Then he snapped his fingers and pointed his thumb at the victim. “Though the owner did say that a similar case happened about-” He searched for the answer “-four months ago? One of those sexbots, another female one, strangled a guy to death in his home and fled. No one’s seen it in months. Feisty little fuckers aren’t they?” He seemed to carefully pick every word he spoke- like walking on eggshells.

Hank pulled out the deviancy files it had on all the reported deviants. It scrolled through some hundred files before finally landing on the corresponding one.

Case reference – Disappearance
Victim – Floyd Mills

The plaintiff, the manager of the EDEN CLUB, reported unexplained disappearance of a “Sex android”, model WR400 #641 790 831. The android disappeared after accompanying a customer to his home and never returned to the club. The customer was found dead three days later.

Hank turned to Detective Reed. “Were there any other androids in the room?” The Detective glared at it. “Do you see any other androids?” He asked. Hank kneeled down by the broken-down Traci. “I find it difficult to believe that the android would be this damaged if it won the fight and strangled that man to death. I think there was another one.” Then it turned to Detective Reed. “Could you ask the owner how many Tracies this man rented?”

Detective Reed uncrossed his arms and took a few threatening steps toward Hank, his arm twitching at his side. “I don’t take orders from some plastic fuc-“

Lieutenant Stern cut him off as he walked over to Hank and the Traci. “Then take the order from me. Just do it, Gavin.” The Detective seethed for a while- and then relented. He walked out of the room. He hesitated at the door, but weirdly enough he walked out without saying a word, letting Connor get the final word in.

Hank retracted the skin of the Traci’s stomach and pushed aside a lid that revealed its stomach compartment. Inside the offending biocomponent was cut in half. “What are you doing?” Connor asked. “I might be able to get information from it- but that requires reactivation. It’s lost too much thirium to survive, but I might be able to reactivate it for a little over a minute.”  

Connor uncrossed his arms, an indecipherable expression coloring his face. “So what? You’re going to resurrect her only for her to die again?” Hank nodded, grabbing both ends of the broken tube. “That’s…” Connor started but did not continue. He looked away.

Hank attached the tubes to each other and the Traci came to life in an instant. Its eyes went wide and it pushed Hank away- immediately backwards crawling itself to the wall. Hank followed, its steps careful and slow. It kept its hands in front of it, trying to make itself seem as unthreatening as possible.

A tab appeared in its HUD.

00:01:12
TIME BEFORE SHUTDOWN

Hank kneeled down by it. “Everything is alright- you were damaged and I reactivated you.” The Tracis eyes darted wildly- until finally settling in on the corpse of Graham Michael. Its voice lost some of the airy panic. “Is he- is he dead?” It asked. Hank nodded slowly, then added: “Please tell me what happened.”

The Traci looked down, its LED flashing between yellow and red. “He started- he started hitting me. Again, and again.”

“Was there another android in the room?” Hank asked. The Traci looked at it with resignation. “Yes, yes. He wanted to play with two girls.” Its breathing picked up.

00:00:28
TIME BEFORE SHUTDOWN

“What model was it? Did it look like you?” The Traci’s LED flashed between off and red. Its breathing picking up. “A WR400. It had blue hair.”

00:00:08
TIME BEFORE SHUTDOWN

“Do you know where it could’ve gone?” Hank said quickly- but it was too late. The Traci’s eyes glossed over and its LED died down. Its face went lax- and it was dead.

Software Instability ^

Detective Reed walked back in, his voice loud and brash in the dead quiet of the room.“ Apparently the guy rented two androids- so where the fuck is the other one?” Connor turned to him- “Yeah, just found that out ourselves. But it’s been over an hour- it’s most likely long gone.” Hank shook its head, standing up. “No, dressed like that it would be noticed. I think it might still be here.”

Connor turned to face it. “Can you find it among all the androids here?” Hank shook its head. “Deviants aren’t easily detected.” Connor cursed under his breath. “Any other way to find out? Like an eyewitness- someone who saw it leave the room.” He turned to leave the room. “I’m gonna ask the manager about what he saw- tell me if you figure something out.” Hank nodded, it waited for Detective Reed to leave as well before following out after them.

Its mission updated.

Search for android eyewitness

Hank walked over to one of the Tracis. It was still inside its container, displayed behind glass. Hank laid its hand on the terminal, attempting to rent it out. The terminal did not recognize its touch, not even reacting to it. Hank glanced at its hand, then at Connor.

This was going to be an awkward conversation.

Hank walked over to the Lieutenant. “Excuse me, Lieutenant. Could you come over for a second?” Connor glanced at it. “You found something?” Hank nodded. “Possibly.” Connor nodded back and then excused himself from the conversation, following after Hank to the container.

Hank gestured to the terminal. “Can you rent out this Traci.” Connor slowly turned to face it. “Excuse me.” He said deadpan. “It might’ve seen something.”

Connor stared at it, and Hank stared back. After a while, Connor groaned loudly- and walked over to the terminal. He pressed a few buttons, and then a female voice rung out. “Hello, a thirty-minute session costs 29.99$. Please confirm payment.” The Lieutenant turned to look at Hank with exasperation. Hank only nodded.

Connor turned back with a sigh. “This is not gonna look good on my expense account.” He said as he confirmed the purchase. The glass in front of the Traci opened and it stepped out at the same time as Detective Reed walked over.

“Connor, the fuck are you doing?” He asked with laughter in his voice.

The Lieutenant sighed. “Investigating.”

The Traci offered its hand to Connor. “Delighted to meet you- follow me and I will show you to your room.” Connor turned to Hank. “Now what?” Hank faced the Traci and grabbed its hand, probing its memory. It wasn’t a deviant, so probing posed no danger of self-destruction.

The Traci’s memory banks opened up in Hank’s vision. It saw a man about to rent out the Traci- and from the corner of its vision it saw the blue haired Traci leave the victims room.

The memory disappeared, and Hank turned to Connor with urgency. “It saw the deviant. We need to find another witness quickly- club policy is to wipe the androids memories every two hours.” Connor nodded. “Lead the way then.”

What ensued was a race against time and the Lieutenant’s bank account. They walked all over the club- renting out android after android and following after the deviants movements. The trail led them (and Detective Reed, who followed after them just to poke fun at Connor) deeper and deeper into the club- until finally a janitor androids memory revealed where it had went.

The staff room.

All three of them entered through the door to a white brick hallway. At the end of the hallway was another door that led into a storage unit. Hank grabbed the handle- but before it could open the door to the staff room the Lieutenant stopped it. He pushed past it, going for his gun. Hank heard the detective do the same.  

Connor opened the door slowly and carefully, scanning the surroundings with his pistol. Behind the door was a warehouse filled with stationary androids as well as shelves and clothes and even an operating table. On the opposing side of the warehouse was a garage door that was open.

The Detective groaned. “Looks like we’re late. The thing’s gone.” He said as he holstered his gun. Hank stared at the groups of stationary androids- noting how Connor did the same. His gaze had something laid underneath it- something that almost looked like sympathy.

Hank scanned through all the androids- then its gaze locked on a few stray drops of thirium on the ground. It kneeled down, checking a small sample of it.

BLUE BLOOD DROPLETS
    -> MODEL WR400
    -> Serial Number #950 455 437

Hank stood back up and followed after the trail. It led it to the far-right corner of the warehouse where the largest group of Tracis was stored. On the wall behind them was an unmistakable graffiti.

rA9.

Hank scanned through the group- and in the back it saw it.

A head of blue hair, and a yellow LED.

Hank took one step forward- and was immediately tackled to the ground by a red-headed Traci. Connor and Detective Reed sprung to action in an instant. The former pointed his gun at the Traci while the latter pulled his back out.

“Don’t move!” Connor shouted, his finger inching toward the trigger. The blue-haired Traci jumped him from the side- pulling him away from Hank and the other deviant.

Hank and the Traci wrestled on the ground- both of them trying to gain the upper hand. From behind it it heard the Lieutenant struggle against the other Traci- and the sound of a gun loading.

“Stay still or I’ll blow your fucking head off!”

“For fucks sake Gavin don’t shoot or you’ll hit me!”

Hank managed to push the Traci away- but it pulled it with it. They rolled on the ground until the Traci was once again on top of Hank. It attempted to get hits in- but Hank managed to block each one. It grabbed a screwdriver with both hands- and brough it down with all its force. Hank grabbed its wrists and they wrestled for victory again.

Hank twisted them to the side and the screwdriver flew off. It used the momentary advantage to push the Traci off again and finally get up from the ground. It stole a glance behind it.

The Lieutenant had managed to grab onto the other Traci’s wrists. They spun around as the Traci attempted to dislodge his grip on it. Detective Reed held his gun close to his chest- unable to get a clean shot. The Traci slammed the Lieutenant into a wall and he gasped.

The red-head deviant advanced toward it- forcing it to back away toward the operating table. It faked out the Traci by diving to the side and then rushing at it full force. They went tumbling over the table and through the open garage doors. Behind them the Lieutenant fell to the ground just by the operating table, scrambling for his gun.

Hank and the Traci fell down onto the icy cold ground. Hank grabbed snow and threw it into the deviants eyes before tackling it. It grabbed hold of the Traci and pulled it up from the ground, twisting its arms behind its back. The deviant struggled- but Hank managed to hold it in place.

“I need to ask some questi-“

Connor screamed.

“FUCK-“ The Detective.

And then a gunshot.

The blue-haired Traci fell down on top of Connor. Dead.

“NO!” The Traci in Hank’s grip screeched- it’s voice a desperate, hollow cry that turned into a wrenching sob. It twisted around harder and harder- its movements fueled by nothing but sheer desperation. Then it finally broke free of Hank.

It ran over to the Lieutenant- pulling the broken Traci into its arms. “No- no no no… no my love please no.” It chanted, its voice quivering as tears leaked down from its eyes. Detective Reed trained his gun on the Traci, his eyes blown wide. Connor pushed himself into a sitting position, his entire body shaking with effort.

A screwdriver was embedded into his shoulder.

He turned to the Detective. “Don’t! We need her alive.” Detective Reed kept his gun pointed at the Traci who continued to sob inconsolably. Thirium leaked down all around it. Hank advanced slowly- if it could just get the Traci away-

It moved quick as a flash toward the Lieutenant. Hank broke into a run, fiddling with its holster. The Detective pulled the trigger.

One gunshot rang out.

And another one followed soon after.

The second Traci fell down next to the first one- blood pouring down from the back of its head where a gaping hole stood. Hank lowered its gun- putting it back to its holster. The Detective and the Lieutenant stared at each other for a moment- then their gazes snapped to Hank.

“Are you alright, Lieutenant?” It asked- but Connor only continued to stare. The thirium pooling around him had reached his pants, coloring them a shade darker. He glanced at the Tracis lying next to him. Something twitched in his eyes.

 Connor ⌄⌄⌄

Connor – Tense

Connor had went to the ER to get the screwdriver out of his shoulder and get the wound stitched. Detective Reed had driven them- and also accompanied the Lieutenant inside.

Hank had been not so kindly told to stay and wait outside.

Connor and the Detective had stayed inside for the better part of an hour. Then they’d walked outside and split ways without a single word exchanged in Hank’s presence. Connor had walked past it and only gave it a short glance. Hank followed after him.

Neither of them said a word as they walked- and Hank didn’t even know where they were going. At some point during their walk Connor had lit up a cigarette- and Hank had checked his stress levels.

Stress levels: 88%

Hank hadn’t said anything.

Eventually they’d made it to a small park on top of a bridge. The streetlights and snow worked in tandem to illuminate the park in a cold white light. Some of the trees had yet to shed their leaves and so some deep yellows and oranges managed to sneak their way in.

The Lieutenant walked through the abandoned playground equipment scattered across the park. He hopped over a bench and sat on its back, huffing out a puff of smoke. Hank walked over to stand opposite to him. Neither said a word.

Connor smoked the rest of his cigarette, then threw it to the side. It melted through the snow, then sizzled out. He turned to face the city that glimmered in the night across the river, his arms crossed on his lap. “I used to come here a lot.”

Hank glanced behind at the playground equipment. “With your father?”

Connor did not answer.

It was quiet for a short moment, then Hank spoke up again. “Can I ask you a personal question, Lieutenant?” Connor scoffed. “Do all androids ask so many personal questions or is it just you?”

Hank pushed on. “Why are you so reckless? You are skilled and smart enough to know you aren’t indestructible- yet you continue to take risks that could get you killed.”

Connor ⌄

What was it doing wrong? Why did the Lieutenant suddenly hate everything it did and said?

Connor glanced at it, something ticking behind his eyes. Then he stood up from the park bench, still keeping a generous distance between the two of them. “Let me ask you something turn.” His voice back to its usual tone- though there was a hint of agitation boiling underneath. Hank nodded. “Yes, Lieutenant?”

Connor crossed his arms, that frustration shifting to his eyes as well. “What the fuck is your deal?”

Hank blinked, taken aback. “Excuse me?”

“I can’t understand you. You say your missions the only thing you care about- yet you’ve compromised it three times now in order to save me.” He uncrossed his arms, pointing a finger at Hank. “You constantly shift between what you seem to care about- I can’t get a read on you and it’s infuriating.”

Was that why the Lieutenant had shifted opinions on Hank? Because he couldn’t understand it and its actions? But the argument with Detective Reed did not fit into that explanation. Too many pieces of the puzzle were still missing, locked away behind walls the Lieutenant had carefully constructed.

It did understand one thing though.

And that was that it did not understand Connor.

Try to find common ground

“I can’t understand you either, Lieutenant. I can’t understand why you’ve suddenly completely shifted your opinion of me.” Hank said carefully. Connor looked away. He opened and closed his mouth, then spoke. “I- that’s because-“ Then he fell silent.

“Does it have something to do with the argument we had with Detective Reed?”

Connor tensed. Hank did not know what to do with that information.

The Lieutenant’s father clearly in some way fit into the equation- but it couldn’t understand how. “Does it have something to do with your fathe-“

Connor’s gaze snapped back to it, now burning with fury. “Can you stop bring him up?” He yelled. “He’s got nothing to do with you. You’re nothing like him.” Connor seethed through his teeth.

Try to calm him down

“Why would I be?”

Connor ⌄⌄

Connor took a step back; he laughed but clearly wasn’t amused. “Tell me Hank do you really care about anything except your mission? You’ve shot and killed androids left and right without so much as blinking when they die at your feet.”

“Luthor and the Traci could’ve killed you.” Hank retorted.

Connor laughed humorlessly. “Yes but do you give a shit about that? He took a step toward Hank. “Do you actually care what happens to me?”

It’s social predictive programming was at a complete and utter loss. It could not get a read on what Hank should say or do to get the Lieutenant to believe a word it would say. It ran through dozens of suggestions and each one was denied the moment they were created. It couldn’t help Hank- so Hank had to help itself.

And in hindsight- it had said the worst possible thing it could’ve.

“I care. Your survival is crucial for the mission.”

Connor ⌄⌄⌄

Connor took a step back, his eyes wide and his mouth hung open in an aborted reply. Then he took another step back, digging his hand into his holster.

He pulled out his gun- and pointed it straight into Hank’s forehead.

Software instability ^^^

Hank stood in place- but its eyes betrayed its composure. It’s LED flashed yellow- and once a quick red. “Lieutenant what are you-“

Connor’s eyes landed on the gun on Hank’s hip, obstructed by its jacket. “Will you shoot me to save your fucking mission? Death is just another setback on your investigation right? Me, the Traci, Luther- all of us are just variables for you to keep track of.”

Hank kept in place; something coiled around it like a snake- gripping it tightly.

It was fear.

“Lieutenant I-“

“Tell me, Hank- which is it? Your mission or my life?”

It’s predictive programming bugged- and for a moment timed froze and something pulled at the fear it felt. Tugged on it to try and lead it somewhere. Then the feeling was gone.

Be rational

“My death would not affect the mission.”

Something twisted Connor’s lips into a frown, his eyes still wide and frantic. He lowered his gun, his hand shaking like a leaf in a storm.

There were unshed tears in his eyes.

Software instability ^^

He holstered the gun and turned around, walking away. He didn’t stop when he said his final piece: “Fuck you, Hank.”

Connor ⌄⌄⌄

Connor - Hostile

As Hank watched the Lieutenant leave, it felt something tug on it’s fear again. It turned it into something else, something deeper. Something that felt like it was completely hollow and that its head was three sizes too heavy. It wanted to reach out. To say something. But it didn’t.

But it’s mission changed, at least in its mind.

He needed to fix this.