"Good morning lieutenant."

"Morning, Hank."

If he were drinking at the time, Hank would've reacted to that odd response with a spit-take. When Connor looked and saw the surprised expression on his face, the normal glare returned.

"What?" He spat.

"You seem... troubled, lieutenant."

"When do I not?"

"Did something happen last night?" Hank narrowed his eyes, now taking in his disheveled appearance and noticing the bags under his eyes, "Did you get any sleep?"

Connor drank something from a cup, and Hank hoped that it was just coffee and not the usual Redbull/coffee mix he tended to make.

"Chloe and I chatted, and I was back home before 5 am."

"It's almost 9."

"So it is."

Connor rested his chin on his hand, now scrolling through something on his computer. Hank assumed that it could've been work or family related, judging by the pensive look on his face. Another possibility was that look was from trying to read the screen on hours of sleep.

"You should really go home and get some rest."

"An interesting theory, but uh, no."

"I must insist, lieutenant. You're not yourself when you're tired."

"I feel like I'm in a Snickers commercial."

"How so?"

Connor glared at him.

"Listen-"

He was cut off. Amanda- Captain Stern emerged from her office, glaring down at Connor with a look that could've killed.

"Anderson. My office. Now."

"Fuck." He snapped when she walked back in. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck."

"Is everything all right?"

"Stay here, Hank. I'll handle this."

Hank, of course, didn't listen to what Connor told him to do.  He waited before he followed as well, quietly entering in while Amanda was in the middle of explaining the situation.

"-got 10 new cases involving androids on my desk every day. We've always had isolated incidents, but none of them were... harmful. Old ladies losing their androids, and... crap like that. But now, we're getting reports of assaults. Even homicides."

Connor seemed stiff. Unresponsive. When she knew that he wasn't going to talk just yet, she continued.

"This isn't just Cyberlife's problem anymore. It's now a criminal investigation and now we have to deal with it before it gets out of control. I want you to investigate these cases an see if there's any link."

Connor scowled, "Why me? I am the least qualified cop in the country to handle-"

"Everyone is overloaded." Though her voice was sweet and calm, one look at her face proved that she was feeling the opposite. Hank noticed Connor sink in his seat.

When Connor stayed silent, Amanda explained more about the situation. He was assigned all the cases regarding deviants, and Hank would be assisting him the whole way. Hank sensed that Connor wasn't all too happy about it, and was even more surprised when the normally outspoken boy just sat and waited for her to finish talking.

"More and more androids are... deviating. I think you're perefctly qualified to handle this investigation." She concluded, then leaned towards him to quietly add, "If you are unable to put a stop to it, the results could be catastrophic."

"You can count on me, Amanda."

A satisfied smile graced her face. "I knew I could."

__________

"An AP700 was assaulted and witnessed its owner and her child get kidnapped by a TR400. Neighbors saw the three catch the bus last night, and the bus driver said that they got off around... here. The last stop."

Connor couldn't help but take a few moments to take in his surroundings. He's been around this area many times when he was younger, not so much in recent years, which caused him to miss a lot of the changes this part went through.

"It acted quickly and out of fear..." He mused, "We can assume that it didn't have a plan. Maybe they didn't go far."

His mind was at two places at once.

"Lieutenant?"

"Yes?"

"You look troubled."

"Stop saying that, I'm just tired." He pinched the bridge of his nose, "If I were hiding, where would I be?"

"I would suggest looking at the motel."

"The hotel bans androids. But I bet the supposedly abandoned house would be worth taking a look at."

"The motel is the better option."

"Did you not hear me when I said that it bans androids?"

"They could've disguised themselves easily."

"With what? Somehow I doubt that there's just... clothes out there in the open for them to take."

"All they would have to do is disguise the TR400. The hostages are human."

"They were kidnapped, Hank. You think they hit pause on the fighting to get the android a sweater?"

Hank took that into consideration.

"It could've been hiding while they got the room."

"And the hostages didn't think to alert anyone when they got the opportunity?"

"She could've been threatened. There were two, after all. Only one would have to sign in." He finally looked up at Connor, who was giving him a death glare, "It's a high possibility. Plus it would be smart because nobody would be looking for an android in an area that banned them specifically."

"Except you, apparently. The intellectual in this conversation." 

"What?"

"I say we go check out the house first."

"I say we search the motel first."

"We'll just be wasting our time!"

"Lets split up, then." Connor watched him get increasingly more annoyed, and notes that it was more emotion than he ever seen him have before, "You'll check out the abandoned house and deal with the heroin addicts, and I'll find them all sleeping comfortably in one of the motel rooms."

"I'm not going in alone. I'm a fleshy human, and you're a fucking android built to hunt those fuckers down."

Hank considered the possibility of the androids hiding in one of the motel rooms.

80% chance

"Let's search the motel."

"No- we're checking out the house."

"No. We're not."

Connor paused.

"Rock paper scissors?"

"Absolutely fucking not."

"Fine. Have fun with that dead end!"

Hank left, and Connor stormed off like an angry toddler

"Fucking idiot." He grumbled

While looking around for some kind of entrance to avoid hopping the fence, he noticed a part in the fence that was bent in, and kneeled down to get a closer look. It didn't take too much muscle to lift it up into a crawlspace that should've been noticeable at first glance just from the size of it.

He grinned.

"Bingo."

The door was sealed shut, and Connor almost dislocated his shoulder trying to break it down. He walked around the house again and, once he found an open window, he broke it with one hit. His entrance wasn't... graceful.

He was just thankful that he was wearing gloves when he landed on the shards of glass that used to be a window pane. Otherwise, it would've been hell.

He brushed himself off and began the search. The house reeked- definitely old and... disgusting. No human would be able to live here. Unless, of course, it was absolutely necessary.

He checked the downstairs. Nothing.

He checked the upstairs, and got the same result. Disappointed that his hunch was wrong, he stomped on those same old steps, and even broke one on his way down.

While struggling to get it free, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye, and suddenly the excitement bubbled back up into his chest. Getting his foot stuck delayed him, but he still managed to get out and quietly walk towards where he thought the movement came from.

The living room.

Well, what used to be one, anyway.

He noticed something poking out from behind one of the chairs. Not wanting to alert his presence, his walking slowed as he reached for his gun.

Just as he was nearing the end, a blonde woman sprinted from her hiding spot across the room and lunged towards him, pinning him to the ground.

"Luther, run!" She screamed.

Fortunately, it didn't last long. Connor raised his wrists and broke free from her grip, shoving her to the side. When he tried standing, she pulled his leg, and knocked him down again.

"Get off, I'm saving your life!" Connor demanded, even though he knew that she wasn't the android in question.

He finally got out of her grip, and finally got the chance to stand. When he saw the TR400 and the child, he pulled out the gun and-

"Wait!"

The woman that attacked him scrambled until she was standing in front of the gun, shielding the other two. When Connor sent her a confused glance, she raised her hands, and spoke as calmly as she could in her situation.

"Don't. Shoot."

Connor finally saw that she was injured. Dried blood caked her hands and face, purple bruises barely visible underneath it.

"Please." She whispered.

There was a pause. Connor always paused before talking, carefully choosing what words he could say next that would've fixed the situation. The pauses usually lasted for a few seconds, but this one felt like hours as he tried to come up with... something to say.

He decided to remind them of the situation.

"An AP700 saw that TR400-" He gestured towards the android clutching the little girl, "-assault and kidnap its owners. I've been sent to-"

"He's lying! He's the one that tried to hurt us!"

"Alice.."

The little girl's name was Alice.

"What?"

After a few beats of silence, the blonde sighed, smoothing out the wrinkles in her dress.

"She's right."

She took a deep breath before explaining.

"Todd deviated a long time ago. He grew tired of having to do all the work- his job- and told this to my daughter when she asked him what was wrong. Alice, bless her heart, sympathized with him... but I'm afraid that could've triggered something that... wasn't supposed to happen. One night I asked him to do the dishes because I wanted family over, and he... cursed me out." She choked up, but continued, "He became really violent. Starting hurting Alice and... he said I had to quit my job because he told me that I would be a better maid... And every time I walked outside to get us something to eat, he held made sure that Alice would stay behind, and tell me that if I tipped anyone off, he'd kill her. And then me."

Connor gun almost dropped to the floor from how relaxed it became in his grip. When she saw that he was listening, and didn't look like he was going to respond anytime soon, she continued.

"I don't know what we did wrong. I always thought that we treated him kindly... like he was apart of our family... but he was bitter." She brushed tears from her eyes, "I met Luther a long time after. He asked for a place to stay, and I couldn't take it anymore. I told him... everything. That android didn't kidnap me. He saved my life. He saved Alice's life. Without him, I... I... I can't even imagine..."

Blue eyes met with brown, and Connor realized that maybe the injuries weren't from the TR400.

"Please, let us go. We won't tell anyone we ran into you, we just... I can't let him get destroyed. If you leave, we'll get out of town and you won't have to see us ever again."

"You won't get into any trouble if you... explain."

"I won't. Luther will."

Connor weighed his options carefully.

"Where do you plan on going?"

"A friend's."

The gun was lowered, and eventually put away. Though he wasn't too thrilled to see that his heart chose for him, he supposed that he could've let just this one slide.

Just this one.

"I didn't see anything." He confirmed with a rare, reassuring smile. "Just rotting furniture."

The woman looked like she was on the verge of tears, pulling him in for a hug that he wasn't eager to receive.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you."

When he spotted the android cautiously staring at them, Connor got that maybe he didn't want her to be hugging the guy that pulled a gun on them 30 seconds ago, and coaxed the woman into letting go of him.

"Come on, I have to get going before my partner gets suspicious."

"Thank you. So much. We'll never forget this.

________

Hank was, in fact, waiting for him. 

Connor felt confident. He watched him crawl out of the broken window, and take his sweet time climbing over the fence to avoid going in through the hole that tipped him off. Once he was near his car, Hank finally spoke him.

"Did you find anything?"

Connor shook his head, climbing into the driver's seat, waiting until Hank sat in the seat next to him before saying-

"Nothing. There was nothing."

Hank didn't look amused. In fact, he looked the opposite, staring at Connor with a look that wondered if the other was completely serious.

"I don't appreciate being lied to, lieutenant."

He rolled his eyes.

"I'm sorry- there was some lovely fucking furniture in there."

"Is it habitable?"

"No."

"What else did you see?"

"Nothing you'd be interested in."

"Try me."

Connor finally looked over at him, a scowl on his face.

"I thought you weren't allowed to be interested in something that didn't involve your mission. Unless you're a deviant, you should drop it."

He ignored the last part, "I have a strong reason to believe that you are withholding information."

"And why's that?"

"You're getting nervous with every question I'm asking you. You're also trying to change the subject."

"I'm just... stressed, Hank. I found jackshit in the house, and you keep bringing it up like..." He sighed, "You were right. We should've checked the motel. Happy?"

Connor knew he took the bait when he readjusted his tie and carried on with the new subject.

"I was wrong as well. They tried to get a room, but the man at the front noticed the deviant accompanying him, and denied it. He doesn't know what happened to them after that."

"Huh."

It was quiet for a long time after that. When Connor got some takeout and kicked back in his car to relax, he finally started to talk again.

"Hey, what do you think makes deviants... deviate?"

Hank raised a brow.

"You're asking for my thoughts?"

"Don't get used to it." He warned, poking one of the orange chicken pieces and popping it into his mouth. "Is it just emotion or..?"

"They don't... feel emotion. They just get overwhelmed by irrational instructions."

"Do you think they can deviate peacefully?"

"No."

"Let me rephrase that. Do you think they can deviate for good reasons?"

"That's subjective."

"Like..." He sighed, "Let's say... You're an android told to stay put- by your superior because God knows you wouldn't listen to me- but you see that the same person is in trouble. Could you... hypothetically... deviate to protect them? Fight back?"

Hank paused.

"I... suppose that is a way they could deviate."

"Hm." He took another bite.

"Does this have anything to do with the case?"

"No."

"Are you suggesting that the AP700 could've deviated when seeing that his owner was in trouble?"

He raised his eyebrows.

"No! God no. I... I'm... asking for a friend."

"Friend? Surprising."

"Stop."

There was silence for a moment. Connor ate some more, purposely saving some for his roommate. Then he pulled out his phone, hoping to set a reminder to find that stupid AP700 and punch him square in the jaw, but that thought left when he saw something disturbing.

"3 missed calls."

"From who?"

"My roommate, hold on-"

He called him back, putting him on speaker and asking Hank to hold it up so that he could call and drive at the same time.

"Hey, dude." His voice was monotone, as it was normally supposed to be. Connor sighed when he realized that he wasn't in a dangerous situation.

"Hey. Why did you call me? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. For now, I guess."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Uhh... your brother came over to hang out with you around... half an hour ago?"

"What?"

"Yeah. I let him in, just wanted you to know before you walked in on them lounging on the couch."

"Daniel! What the hell!"

"I don't know how it happened! One minute, I was at the door, and the next he was on the couch, talking to me." He snorted, "You don't know how to swim?"

"Not. Cool. Siri, make a note to invite Simon over for lunch some time."

Connor didn't have that on his phone. Hank recognized it as a threat.

"You wouldn't."

"Oh, you bet I fucking would." He sighed in frustration, "And to think, I got you Chinese Food."

"You got me what?"

"Not anymore."

"Dude, I-I'll get him out. Just... Don't throw it away."

"I'll be home in 15 minutes."

"Got it."

"Hank?"

The android hung up.

"It doesn't normally take you 15 minutes to get home, lieutenant."

"We're taking a detour."

"Where are we going?"

"I'm dropping you off instead of letting you walk. Then, I'm taking another route home."

"Ah."

"So. Where do you usually go?"