(Y/N)'s P.O.V.

After leaving the crime scene, I was offered to be accompanied to the station by Connor and Hank, yet I refused, knowing that my driver was still waiting for me a few meters away. I shortly waved my partners a goodbye and headed into the direction I had originally come from. Eventually arriving at the black CyberLife car, I shot one look back at the house of Carlos Ortiz. What an absurd case, messing up my mind like that. Sighing, I shook my head and faced the vehicle again.

While I quickly opened the car door, my thoughts went back to the deviant. I agreed on becoming a detective when CyberLife had offered me the job because I deeply had faith in justice.

The car started moving, hence the sceneries passed me, as I sat in the back of CyberLife's car, which had already brought me to this crime scene. I inhaled some air, enjoying the silence for a while. After everything in my past with Red Ice and my accident, I had made up my mind and decided that every criminal needed to be punished for their mistakes. I simply couldn't stand watching every person be able to do whatever they pleased. Especially when it hurt others.

Gritting my teeth, I looked down at my body. According to my appearance, I surely was human. Yet I felt different. After all the changes, I felt more closely connected to the androids. Perhaps that also was a reason as to why I viewed them as equals. They were forcefully "born" into their fate of "servants" just like I had inevitably been pushed into that line. We both had no other choice than to follow what us was told.

. . .

It was 12:41 am and I had to admit that I didn't mind watching Hank pose the questions. Still slightly overwhelmed by my confusion, I was thankful for some passive action. My own eyes followed the lieutenant as he slowly turned angrier with every query he voiced out loud.

"Why d'you kill him? What happened before you took that knife? How long were ya in the attic? Why didn't you even try to run away?"

One sentence followed the other yet the deviant never replied. He merely stared down at his own cuffed hands, his mouth firmly shut.

Suddenly, Hank smashed his hands onto the table. "Say something, goddamnit!"

Still no answer.

Refusing to let this go on, Hank got up and threw his hands in the air. "Fuck it, I'm outta here..."

Hank then left and joined us in the observation room. I could practically see the tense air surrounding him.

"We're wastin' our time interrogating a machine, we're gettin' nothing out of it!" He exclaimed, still fairly upset.

I bit my lip, pondering what to do in order to gain some information from the android. My eyes unconsciously wandered over to it, lingering there. Usually, criminals admitted something at least but this one did not say one word. While I felt bad for him, I tried to focus on the fact that he had committed a murder. As soon as one doubting thought entered my brain, more followed. However, wasn't it to protect himself? Did he deserve to be sent to a cell? I shook my head and pushed those ideas aside. Even with it being self-defense, the deviant needed to justify his own actions. He simply had to say something.

"'Could always try roughing it up a little. After all, it's not human..." I heard another detective say in the background.

I turned around and now stared at officer Reed, my mouth slightly open. Countering a crime with violence was just as wrong as murdering someone ourselves. I focused on my knowledge to build up a good answer to detective Reed's offer.

"That would be of no use. Since androids don't feel any pain, you wouldn't get him to talk." I shrugged my shoulders, trying to sound as formal as possible.

The brown haired man glared at me. "Nobody asked you, rookie." He sharply replied, rolling his eyes. I merely stared back at him, unaffected by what he said. While it was my first case indeed, we were on the same level, so he could not belittle me.

"Detective (L/N) is correct. You would only damage it and that wouldn't make it talk. Deviants also have a tendency to self-destruct when they're in stressful situations." As if on cue, Connor chimed in and stated more facts, supporting my own thesis. I looked over at him, lightly smiling, thankful for his help, whether it was intended or not.

"Okay, smartasses. What should we do then?" Detective Reed shot us each a side eye, disgust obvious in his gaze.

Before I even was able to part my lips, Connor answered "I could try questioning it."

As if that was something impossible, the others stared at the hazel brown haired android. At the same time, I nodded in approval. After all, he was a detective as well, just not human. But once again: Did that truly make such a huge difference?

Seeming helpless, Hank said "What do we have to lose? Go ahead, suspect's all yours."

The lieutenant pointed towards the door, as Connor left the observation room. My eyes followed him, I hoped that he would first of all be able to make the deviant talk and secondly prove "Mister Reed" wrong, who had simply laughed when Connor had offered to question the criminal himself. I observed the situation as the detective android closed the door behind him and then stopped, focusing on the deviant. Then Connor walked over to the window separating us, merely staring into our direction.

"What the fuck is it doing now?" Hank asked, raising one eyebrow.

"Perhaps he wants to tell us that he will start now..." I shrugged my shoulders.

I was interested to see what Connor would do. His deductions at the crime scene last night had already impressed me and I had to admit: That android really was something else. Aside from his stunning physical appearance of course, he also appeared to take his job very serious. I liked how he was extremely determined, despite not showing that too much.

Connor sat down across from the deviant, starting to speak up. "I detect an instability in your program. It can trigger an unpleasant feeling, like fear in humans."

No answer. I shifted on one foot, my mind fully caught up in the one-sided conversation.

"You recognize him? It's Carlos Ortiz. Stabbed, 28 times. That was written on the wall in his blood..." Connor slid a picture over to the deviant, however, he did not react. I bit my bottom lip, slightly frustrated.

"Listen, I know you've been through a lot, but you need to help me understand what happened." Connor stated, apparently trying to comfort the deviant. Just when I imaged that he would go soft on the damaged android, Connor changed his approach.

"If you won't talk, I'm going to have to probe your memory."

As if caught by a car in the middle of a street like a deer, the criminal's head shot up, his eyes widening in panic. "NO! No, please don't do that!.."

I sighed to myself, not enjoying watching him suffer in such a way. However, if justice was to be served, he needed to start talking.

"What... What are they gonna do to me? They're gonna destroy me, aren't they?"

After the deviant asked this question, silence shortly grew between the two androids. Then, Connor replied, "They're going to disassemble you to look for problems in your biocomponents. They have no choice if they want to understand what happened."

Immediately, more shock and fear laced the deviant's face. He stared at the table for a second before whispering, "Why did you tell them you found me ? Why couldn't you just have left me there?"

My heart felt as if it had been pierced upon hearing those words. Of course, he still thought that. It was not that I had expected anything different, yet it still hurt me to think back at how I was going to reveal the android as well. The doubt regarding that choice still gnawed at my body.

"I was programmed to hunt deviants like you. I just accomplished my mission." Connors matter-of-fact answer caused me to cringe. It was exactly what I had thought when sitting in the car on my way here. His programming forced him to do whatever he was commanded. Wasn't that unfair? Wasn't it injustice that he had to obey every algorithm that shaped his system? Just like it was unfair that I had been dragged into this life as well?

"I don't wanna die..." The deviant plead. His behavior was the perfect example that androids were individuals of their own as well. He feared death, just like humans. Again I pondered: What made our kind draw such a sharp line between the machines and us?

"Then talk to me." Connor stared at the deviant, never averting his eyes.

"I... I can't..." the criminal eventually whispered.

I noticed detective Reed shaking his head with a grin lacing his lips out of the corner of my eye, making me clench my fist. I seriously did not like that guy. Focusing my gaze on Connor once more, I prayed inside of my mind. I still had faith in him. His methods had managed to positively surprise me until now. I recoiled, hearing the sound of Connor slapping the case file onto the table. I continued to silently watch the scene.

"28 stabs wounds, you didn't want to leave him a chance, huh?"

The detective android stood up, now walking around the criminal. Meanwhile, the deviant was heavily shaking.

"Did you feel anger? Hate? He was bleeding, begging you for mercy, but you stabbed him, again and again and again!..." As Connor said those words, he pressed his index finger against the criminal's shoulder, again and again. I was bewildered at how intimidating Connor could sound.

"Please...please leave me alone..." The dark skinned android still faced the desk, pleading. Nonetheless, Connor kept pushing.

"I know you killed him. Why don't you say it?" He moved his head next to the deviant's and waited for a response.

"Please, please stop..." It was as if the criminal was playing a tape on repeat.

Once more, Connor's hands forcefully landed on the table's surface as he raised his voice another time. "Just say 'I killed him'! Is it that hard to say?!"

The deviant closed his eyes, surely fearing what would happen next. "Stop it, stop!.."

"JUST SAY YOU KILLED HIM! JUST SAY IT!"

By now the android with hazel brown eyes that usually appeared to be frozen was screaming.

I gulped watching the scene from afar. Somehow, my own sentiments of guilt had only increased, seeing how broken the deviant actually was. Unlike I had expected, the criminal now started talking, his voice still shaky.

"He tortured me every day... 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... Scared he might destroy me, scared I might die...so I...grabbed the knife and I stabbed him in the stomach... I felt better...so I stabbed him again and again!..until he collapsed... There was blood everywhere."

We all carefully listened to his story and when I glanced at detective Reed, his nonplussed face was like a treat to me. That was what he got for underestimating Connor.

Proud of my partner, I turned back to keep observing his actions. A smile lingered on my lips, as he spoke his next words.

"Why did you write 'I AM ALIVE' on the wall?" Connor, who now sat on his chair again, firmly looked at the deviant.

"He used to tell me I was nothing... That I was just a piece of plastic... I had to write it... To tell him he was wrong..."

Biting my lip, I let the android's words repeat inside my ears. Many people perceived the machines as trash, hence they did not mind using them as servants. It did hurt to know that. Androids had never done anything wrong.

"The sculpture in the bathroom, you made it, right? What does it represent?" Connor asked another question.

The criminal parted his lips and quietly answered. "It's an offering... An offering so I'll be saved..."

Did androids believe in god? I tilted my head, questioning the possibility. As if Connor could read my mind, he voiced my thoughts out loud,

"The sculpture was an offering... An offering to whom?"

Inquisitively, I leaned forward until my forehead was pressed against the glass in front of me.

"To rA9... Only rA9 can save us."

Was that a new kind of god? Rapidly, the scribbles on the wall in the shower shot up inside my mind.

"RA9... It was written on the bathroom wall. What does it mean?" Connor slightly tilted his head. The deviant now appeared to be in some kind of trance, as if he was brainwashed.

"The day shall come when we will no longer be slaves... No more threats, no more humiliation... We will...be...the masters." I blinked a few times, confused.

Once more, Connor repeated his question, "RA9, who is rA9?" Yet there was no answer.

Sighing, I leaned back a little, still curious about that rA9 person.

"Why did you hide in the attic instead of running away?"

Posing another inquiry, the detective android kept his neutral expression. At the same time, the deviant looked up, searching for Connor's eyes, fear in his own. "I didn't know what to do... For the first time, there was no one there to tell me... I was scared... So I hid."

A short silence grew between the two androids. "When did you start feeling emotion?"

Suddenly seeming more self-confident, the deviant replied, "Before, he used to beat me and I never said anything... But one day I realized it wasn't fair! I felt...anger... Hatred... And then I knew what I had to do."

He was right, the beatings and behavior towards machines was unfair. However, was that a legitimate reason to kill someone? Technically, he really only defensed himself. My head started aching thinking about the details of this case. What was I supposed to adhere to? The developed belief in justice or my genuine emotions?

Confused, I stepped even further back from the window, as Connor's words echoed through the small room, "I'm done."