"Okay."

Conner watches me for a few moments, LED yellow. He seemed frozen. Obviously about to open his mouth before he looks down.

Struggling.

"Conner." I speak softly, stepping forwards and grabbing his wrist. If I had learned anything about androids it was how much their deviancy messed with them. The ones I had met and helped weren't made specifically to fight Deviants. Conner's system must be a shitstorm right now. "It'll be okay. I know it's hard, but things will begin to make sense."

"...You're different." Conner whispers after a thoughtful pause, his hand suddenly gripping onto mine. The android opens his palm and sets it against my own. Without either of us realizing his skin dissipates, the underlying plastic pressing against my flesh. My other hand twitched at this. If he had only held onto it instead... "Androids are the same as humans to you."

"Yes, Yes they are." I smile softly up at Conner, my fingers curling in between his. They grip onto his plastic hand tightly. Slowly, as if confused, I feel Conner do the same.

"Why?" He asks, watching me closely. "I don't understand."

"You don't have to, Conner." I chuckle, leaning closer to him. My eyes close slowly as our foreheads press together. Peace flows over me at the feeling, Conner's sudden change weird and oddly touching.

We stay like that for a moment, my eyes closed and him standing still. You could tell I was the only relaxed one in the situation. Conner was as still as a statue, almost afraid to make a wrong move. I didn't blame him.

"I have a mission to complete..." Conner suddenly speaks, his forehead pulling away from me. I blink, eyes opening.

My smile failures as I pull away. Our hands drop from one another, fingers parting and hands slipping back to our sides. "Eventually you will understand..."

I point to the store behind us, eyes traveling to the glass door. Hank stood in front of the cash register. Of course he was staring right at me. Probably more confused than Conner at the whole thing, yet, surprisingly, he seemed calm.

The detective turns from me as soon as he catches my eye, the clerk speaking to him nonstop. As I watch Hank slips his hands in his pockets. His muscles relax, a smile even finding its way onto his face.

That was new.

Conner turns to the door before looking back at me. He seemed willing to say something, yet changes his mind right before he did.

"Go Conner." I speak up at his silence. My head falls slightly, frowning at his ignorance. He had been so close, it seemed. "Complete your mission."

"...I would do anything to complete my mission..." He had spoken those words far too many times in the past few days. This time, however, it was different. They were faltered. Questioned by Conner for the first time in, well, probably ever.

Conner turns away from me before stepping inside of the store, not saying another word. I was met with nothing more than the almost nonexistent mechanic sliding around as the door closed. Conner was gone.

I was left alone. My mind wondering and racing as Conner passed through it. His words echo and repeat over and over again in my mind.

'You're different.'

Those words could mean so many different things. Even if he had justified them a few moments later, I couldn't help but worry that wasn't all it meant. After all he had seen the blue blood on my hands... what if he could find my records? Would be guess more than I wanted him to?

What if he never deviated? Conner was made to always be a machine, and it seemed Cyberlife had added in extra measures to make that true. Conner could be a great help in MY mission... but also a great villain.

A frustrated sigh leaves me as I turn from the store. This mission of ours was quickly becoming jaded and sharp. More dangerous than I had signed up for.

Why was I stupid enough to join the police force in the first place?

I couldn't focus on my mission. It made my brain hurt just to think of the ways I would fail. This case was easier. It didn't hold the future in its hands, just an android and child. In a jaded grey way that was easier for me.

So, I let myself fall into the distraction of a plan.

Records claimed the android had been hostile, knocking things over and breaking down doors until she eventually killed the man of the house. A child by the name of Alice had then been kidnapped. Presently both of them were missing, most likely still together.

I didn't believe the hostile part at all. Red Ice had been found at the scene, recently smoked by a human of the household. Even if the records said one thing, I would say another until the world fell into darkness. The android was probably protecting the girl from harm. From the pictures of the man and the past visits to Cyberlife by the android, her owner was crazed and abusive. That is what I believed. That was the truth.

Now, I know trying to get anyone else to believe it would be harder than trying to crack a wall of steel. So I had to something far more drastic.

I would have to make sure the deviants got away with their lives. Preferably without the shadow of Conner and Hank following behind me. No matter how much hope Conner's recent emotions gave me, I was still not trusting of him in the least.

My eyes shift left to right as I begin my journey. Time was against me, this would have to be quick and quiet more than anything else.

"(Y/N)?" I grit my teeth in annoyance, pausing at the the other side of the road. Turning around I spot Conner and Hank leaving the store. Apparently the clerk hadn't had much to say about the android. That was good, yet bad for me. "What are you doing?"

My gaze shifted up to the fence above me. If I was quick enough...

I wouldn't let the police force win today.

"I'll be back!" I suddenly call before shooting off down the sidewalk. The corner of the road was sharp, rather annoying to someone running full speed towards the road. Because of the sharp turn I felt my shoes slip and slide. I even touched my hand to the ground before gaining my bearings and continuing.

"(Y/N)! Slow down god damnit!" Hank's voice calls out loudly to me as I look up and down the fence. I pay no mind to him, eyes dropping to a small hole in the metal fence. It was small indeed... barely large enough for a small girl to fit through. An android, of course, would have no trouble. Hank? Probably unable to fit through it.

Without hesitation I drop to my knees and slip inside of the property. My jacket sleeve got stuck on one of the metal wires, but I just pulled a little and managed to rip it enough to continue.

"Good god girl! What do you think you're doing?" I offer a single glance back at Hank before scampering to my feet. With a smirk and a wink I hurry through the yard, dodging small obstacles as I go. The front porch steps were rotted and drooping towards the floor. I winced as I stepped up the first one, skipping the second as I reach for the door.

The rusted over doorknob almost came off in my hand as I pull the front door open. The hinges weren't much better, creaking up a storm as the door cracks open suddenly. Surely anyone inside would be acutely aware of my presence by now.

I step inside slowly, musty air hitting my nose and making me gag slightly. Never had I been able to take that smell...

The large house looked a little better from the inside. Walls were decrepit and decaying, I could probably push them over if I felt like it. The floor wood wasn't much better. Dry rot was showing through it. Right now it seemed I was in a small living room, a couch setting in front of a coffee table. The couch was old and picked apart by some sort of animal. The coffee table? Falling apart at the seams.

One thing was for sure, this place was no longer a home.

"Hello? I'm here to help. We don't have much time, I need to get you two out of here!" I quickly call out to the empty house, bounding towards a grand staircase that stood at the back of the living room. From the size of this place I could need to do an intense investigation to find anyone. However with the information that they would have stayed overnight... well, they would probably be in a bedroom. "I promise I'm going to help. There's detectives waiting for you to make a mistake outside. Just let me help you."

I found myself rushing up the first few steps, surprisingly silently. The wood seemed sturdier inside. Perhaps the elements didn't pierce the wood with difficulty after difficulty like they did outside? Either way I was happily surprised by the lack of creaks with every step.

However, the happiness didn't last that long.

I had made it less than five steps up when another... odd sound filled my ears. It was a quick click, followed by a soft voice from behind me. High pitched, soft, and harmonic. The deviant.

"Stop were you are and turn to me slowly. I will shoot if I have to."