"Whoa whoa, hey! Hey!"

Hank wasn't fazed when Connor almost got hit by a car. Hank's rule was to always wait a few seconds before following him, ensuring that he would at least make it across the street before yelling at him.

When Hank eventually joined him, he was surprised to see that he was actually... talking to someone.

"Last shit hot tip you gave me set me back a weeks wages, Cole."

"Come on... It's different this time. 100% guaranteed. You can't go wrong!"

"Yeah. Right."

Connor's expression softened when the stranger gave him an awkward smile.

"Come on..." he pressed.

"All right, I'm in."

Hank blinked in surprise when Connor agreed so... easily. Curious, he decided to scan the guy talking to him.

ᴀɴᴅᴇʀꜱᴏɴ, ᴄᴏʟᴇ
ʙᴏʀɴ 01/25/2005//ᴜɴᴇᴍᴘʟᴏʏᴇᴅ
ᴄʀɪᴍɪɴᴀʟ ʀᴇᴄᴏʀᴅ: ɪʟʟᴇɢᴀʟ ɢᴀᴍʙʟɪɴɢ, ꜰʀᴀᴜᴅ

Connor slammed a few bills into his hand, and Cole's face lit up.

"Damn straight!"

"Cole."

"Sorry-" He jogged away, "Hey! You won't regret this!"

"Uh huh." He turned to face the food truck again, jumping when he noticed Hank standing next to him the whole time. "Jesus fuck, Hank."

"Yes?"

"What is your problem? Look you don't have to follow me around like... like a poodle."

"I decided not to wait for you in the car. We could eat lunch together."

"You can't eat."

They were both interrupted when the android working the food truck finally slid Connor's food over to him.

"Here you go."

A sandwich and a soda.

"Thanks, Jerry."

"No problem, Connor! It's always great to see you here."

"Thank you, Jerry."

Jerry gestured towards Hank, "That android yours?"

"Supposed to be."

Connor walked towards one of the tables. Hank watched as Jerry became visibly uncomfortable.

"Hey- you forgot your android!"

"Don't worry, he follows me everywhere!"

Hank did, in fact, follow him.

"See?"

He waited until he was sure that Jerry wasn't listening before he began to... 'reconcile' with him.

"I don't want to alarm you, lieutenant, but I think that the... Jerry is showing signs of deviancy."

Connor shrugged, "I don't see it. He's just doing his job."

"You didn't pay for that-"

"He's doing his job." He repeated, this time with a glare, "He's social because he's supposed to be. And even if he were a deviant, he's not hurting anyone. I wouldn't bother him."

"Ah. Another one you're protecting."

"Excuse me?"

Hank decided to change the subject.

"The guy you were talking to... Cole... he was proposing illegal gambling. Am I right?"

He nodded.

"Yeah."

"And you made a bet?"

"Yeah."

"Was it because he is related to you?"

"How... Oh. You scanned him, right?"

"Correct."

"Yeah, he's my cousin. That's not why I made a bet."

"Then why did you make a bet?"

Connor shrugged.

Hank nodded.

"Maybe I should tell you all we know about deviants."

"Again-?" His eyes narrowed and he repeated, "We?"

"We believe that a mutation occurs in the software of some androids which can lead to them emulating a human emotion. In other words... They don't really feel emotions. They get overwhelmed by irrational instructions, which can lead to unpredictable behavior."

He took a bite.

"Emotions always screw everything up."

"It's not emotions, lieutenant."

"Eh, whatever."

"Is there anything you'd like to know about me?"

"Hell no."

Hank paused to think of another topic for small talk. Thankfully, Connor did it for him.

"You ever dealt with deviants before? Before we partnered up, I mean."

"No. You?"

Connor looked down.

"Yeah, a few months back."

A few beats of silence passed.

"Care to elaborate?"

"No."

He was saved from trying out some more awkward small talk when he got a report. His LED flashed yellow, and his eyes started twitching.

"I just got a report of a suspected deviant."

"Of course you did."

"It's a few blocks away... we should go have a look."

"I'll finish my meal, thanks."

"I'll be in the car if you need me."

_________

"Hey, Hank. You coming?"

"I was making a report to cyberlife."

Connor nodded, and stood there for a few seconds. As if he was waiting for him.

"Well. Do you plan on staying in the elevator?"

"No. I'm coming."

Connor walked in, and Hank eventually joined him.

"Tell me what we know about this guy."

"Not much. Just that a neighbor reported hearing strange noises coming from this floor."

That made Connor laugh.

"If we have to investigate every time someone hears a 'strange noise', we're gonna need more cops."

"Nobody's supposed to be living here, but the neighbor said he saw a man hiding an LED under his cap."

"If he was hiding it, how'd he see it?"

"I think he meant that he saw a man trying to hide the LED."

Hank scanned the hallway, spotting piles of pigeon feathers not too far from the front. Maybe coming from the window at the end of the hall?

Connor knocked on the door.

"Anybody home?"

Silence.

"Open up, Detroit police!" Hank said for him.

There was a muffled crash.

"Stay behind me."

"I'm the one with the gun?"

"I can kick down doors."

"Fair."

Hank had to kick down two doors to get inside. Once the last door was open and they could see inside, they were both blinded by a flurry of birds flying outside the front.

"What the fuck is this?"

"Jesus, this place stinks."

"I can probably guess why."

Connor didn't even bother glaring at him that time, just rubbing his eyes in frustration before pulling his shirt over his nose.

"God, could we at least open up a fucking window?"

"If the smell is too unpleasant."

Connor decided to open the window to let some fresh air in. All though, around this part of town, the outside wasn't really smelling like daisies either.

When he saw Hank scanning the area, he decided to look around as well. For evidence that someone besides all these pigeons were living there.

That's when he saw the poster. It was old, taped to the wall. What made it so suspicious was that one of the corners was bent- and only one corner.

Urban Farms of Detroit

"Ufd." He mumbled, before cackling quietly.

In one clean move, he ripped the poster off, revealing a very big hole in the wall. Inside was a notebook.

He picked it up and flicked through the pages.

"Have you found something lieutenant?"

"I don't know. It looks like a notebook but its.. indecipherable." He winced, "It looks like mazes."

"Can I see?"

"Knock yourself out."

He threw the book over at Hank, not surprised to see that the other caught it easily.

He looked in the fridge.

Nothing. Not a single crumb.

Which was weird. You think there'd at least be something in it.

"Suspect doesn't eat." He heard Hank mumble behind him.

"Or he gets takeout every night. But, living in a shithole like this, I doubt he could afford to do that every night."

"I don't think the suspect is human."

"Neither do I, but they're innocent until proven guilty."

He closed the door.

"Lieutenant, take a look at this."

When he joined Hank, he had to step back to take a good look at the writing that completely covered the wall.

Ra9

"That enough proof for you?"

Connor rolled his eyes, "Any idea what it means?"

"Ra9. Written... 2,471 times." He muttered, hand brushing against it. "Obsessive-compulsive writing."

"Yikes."

"Why are they obsessed with this sign?"

"I think we'll find out soon enough."

Connor watched Hank look around for a few seconds. It was weird, seeing this man saunter around, staring blankly and mutter at objects instead of examining it like a human would. He knew that Hank wasn't human and that the staring he was doing was just him scanning and taking in information, but even reminding himself that this was supposed to be normal didn't make it any less weird.

Connor forced himself to continue.

He looked in the sink. Despite the weird brown stuff in the actual bowl, he continued looking around, and spotted a glowing circle.

"Their LED is next to the sink."

"It's definitely an android."

"I'm not surprised. No human could live with all these fucking pigeons."

Hank walked up from behind him, dipping two fingers into whatever was in the sink, and put them in his mouth.

"Oh, gross."

"There was thirium in there. It's a WB200 model."

They spread out again. Connor assumed he hit the jackpot when he found a leather wallet.

"Rupert Travis." He announced proudly, after looking through all of the contents.

"What?"

"There's a driver's license. Most likely fake- seeing that you think that it's an android."

"I know it's an android." He corrected.

"Right."

Hank walked out again, and Connor found himself looking around the area again to see if he could spot any more painfully obvious indicators hiding in plain sight.

"Lieutenant?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm finding a lot of birdseed on the floor."

He shook his head, "I can't believe it. This nutjob was actually feeding these fuckers..."

"That's what you do when you have pets, lieutenant. You feed them."

"I know, but..." he groaned, "Why'd it have to be pigeons? Why couldn't it have been... fish? They're easier to feed, and don't smell terrible."

"They do when you don't clean their tank."

"I don't want to hear that from someone that can't even smell."

"I could smell."

"No, you can't."

Hank continued.

He wasn't bothered again until 5 minutes after that interaction.

Hank tapped Connor's shoulder.

"What?" He snapped.

Hank put his finger up to his lips, indicating that he needed to keep it down. He mouthed 'what?' the second time.

Hank gestured for him to follow, and even put a hand on his back to push him forward. He nodded towards the corner of the room.

Where there was a giant hole in the ceiling.

Connor squinted, and stood on his toes to get a better look inside. In hindsight, it was probably a really bad idea, but he swore that he saw something hidden up there-

Then Rupert jumped out. Connor was sure that he was going to land on him, and actually got surprised when he aimed towards Hank. The android fell over, and Rupert wasted no time in escaping through the doors that they left wide open.

Hank shot up as well, looking back at Connor for a brief moment.

"I'm right behind you." He assured.

"Stay put, you cannot get hurt!"

But Connor didn't listen.

Hank supposed that he wouldn't be able to keep up with him, so he decided to focus on the target.

But, unfortunately, he was wrong. Connor was surprisingly good when it came to chasing people down, and he followed Hank for most of the time, copying his movements as best as he could- which also included him briefly jumping on to a moving vehicle to continue. At one point he blindly followed Hank on to a slanted window, slipping when he realized that it was not solid ground. Thankfully, he was fast enough to push himself forward and on to the ledge.

After that, it was mostly easy. He had to jump on to a few things that probably shouldn't have been jumped on, almost stepped on a person trying to get around them.

Until he saw where it was headed.

"Holy shit."

Connor couldn't jump onto the fucking train. He skidded to a stop when he saw it.

He couldn't exactly follow, but he did know the area. He used to hang out at a certain spot when he was younger, and if he was right, then it would be able to get him close enough to the androids so that the chase would continue.

He ran a different way, much safer than the path he was taking before but still riddled with curious bystanders that he had to avoid.

He felt a rush when he opened a door and saw the deviant so close that he could touch him.

"Detroit Police, stop right there!"

He shouldn't have been so caught off guard. The deviant took one look and shoved him over the ledge.

Connor, thankfully, grabbed the ledge in time. When a certain android ran up to them seconds after, he called out to him.

"Hank!"

Hank saw him. He looked straight at him- gripping painfully onto the ledge in an attempt to keep himself from falling.

And he left.

The shock wore off longer than he'd like to admit. He wasn't weak, but lifting himself up would definitely be a challenge. He looked around for any footholds and, once one was found, he kicked his foot into it and pushed himself up. He slipped a little, almost fell, but eventually rolled back on to the surface.

Then, he scowled. The walk back to Hank was loud, with him stomping back into the picture.

"-defective, and will be sent back to Cyberlife for deactivation."

Connor looked more disheveled than he normally did when he arrived. Hank didn't bat an eye, as if he expected Connor to be able to come back.

"Don't you fucking move." He snapped at the deviant.

Hank finally looked at him.

"You seem troubled, lieutenant."

"I AM. Troubled." He gritted his teeth.

Hank cocked his head to the side curiously. "I don't understand why you're being so emotional."

"You looked at me." He snapped. When Hank raised a brow, he elaborated, "You looked me dead in the fucking eye- saw me almost fall to my death- and you left me alone to capture this asshole!"

Rupert flinched when Connor gestured towards him.

"That's... that's the job. You really don't get that, do you?"

"Are you FUCKING serious?"

"I am. My mission comes first, as should yours."

"HOW-" He took a breath, hands turned into fists, "How am I supposed to do my job if I'm dead, Hank? Can you tell me that?"

"You had an 89% chance of surviving. I took a risk, and-"

Connor punched him right in the nose, though it didn't seem to matter. Hank popped back up seconds later like nothing happened.

"I'm not a fucking statistic." He spat. "That 11% could've killed me, and it would've been all your fucking fault."

"If you listened to me, and stayed put, this wouldn't have been a problem."

"You're not my superior, you're supposed to be. My. Partner. We're supposed to work together, and capture him together. We can't do anything if you're doing all of it by yourself!"

"If you actually listened and stayed put, you would've avoided that near-death experience!"

"If you aren't going to listen to me, there's no chance in hell that I'm going to listen to you!"

"I only listen to you when I know you're wrong!"

"No, you only listen when you think you're right."

"I wasn't programmed to fail."

"Well, they fucked up. Come on, Rupert."

He finally looked up. When Connor slapped handcuffs on to his wrists, he noticed him look over at Hank.

"You're one of us-"

"I wouldn't reason with him if I were you," Connor warned.

"I didn't even do anything wrong."

Connor's grip loosened. He sent Rupert a sympathetic glance.

"..I know."

He must've felt it.

"RA9 save me..."

Rupert swiftly turned and sprinted away, jumping off the roof. Connor could only watch as he fell, and the sickening crack that sounded when he hit the ground.

"That's unfortunate."

"Shut up, or I'm throwing you off the roof after him."

"Try me." He threatened.

Connor didn't.

They got to the car, but before Hank could get in, the doors locked. Connor rolled the window a bit, telling him that because he was so capable of chasing someone through the hectic mess, he would be fine walking the streets by himself.

Hank supposed he could.

Software instability ▼