Connor was just glad that there was no permanent damage. After a few days of resting, relaxing, he was back on his feet and ready to investigate the place where a bunch of deviants broadcasted their intentions to the public.

Until he actually got there.

He thought he killed Hank back at the bridge. It was a decision that he regretted after he finally let the situation settle in.

And yet, the android was waiting for him.

"Hello, lieutenant."

If Connor hadn't worked with Cyberlife before this, he wouldn't have come to a conclusion that satisfied him. There were hundreds- if not thousands of android in one tower alone.

It made sense that they would have to replace him, if he were to be destroyed.

"Hank."

Of course he's still alive. He knew he always joked about times like these- when he tries to do something and it ends up backfiring immediately- but it was a pain once it became a reality. Connor reminded himself that he shot Hank in the head when he least expected it, and hoped some 'unnecessary' parts of his memory suffered from it.

"I like your glasses."

He didn't respond to that. They both stepped into the elevator that would lead them to the crime scene. Hank noticed Connor fidgeting slightly out of the corner of his eye and came to the conclusion that he was nervous.

He decided to start the talk.

"Why did you shoot me last night?"

He seemed startled, "You remember that?"

"Parts."

"I don't see why it matters." He mumbled, "You're back, and now we can... continue."

"Some fragments of memory are lost every time I'm destroyed."

"Boo hoo."

Hank raised a brow, "It slows down the investigation."

"My humblest apologies, I promise I'll never shoot you again."

"Thank you, lieutenant."

Connor scoffed.

Hank finally saw what he was messing around with. He was rolling a silver coin between his knuckles, passing it from one hand to another without even looking at it.

When he flicked the coin a little too far, it landed in Hank's palm. Instead of returning it, he showed Connor that he could also do coin tricks, copying some of the moves he saw the other do just seconds before. Connor seemed memorized for a second.

Then, he slapped the coin out of his hand, and pocketed it.

"Stop messing around." He snapped.

"Sorry, lieutenant."

As soon as Connor stepped off the elevator, he almost did a double take at the man who greeted them.

"Josh?"

The other smiled, which seemed to make Connor smile as well.

"Oh. Hey, Connor."

"How have you been?"

"Lieutenant." Hank snapped.

But, he was ignored. Connor looked over at the scene with wide eyes.

"Shit, what's going on here? There was a party and nobody told me about it?"

Josh sighed, "Yeah it's all over the news, so everyone's butting their nose in. Even the FBI wants a piece of the action."

"Ah, Christ. I knew this was going to be a shitty day."

"So what happened?" The android inquired.

Hank learned to get used to the glare Connor sent him whenever he decided to speak up.

"I'll talk with Josh." He offered, "Go on, get out of here. Do your thing."

"But-"

"Come on, Hank- you're wasting time!" He said a little louder this time, "Move it, move it!"

Surprisingly, it worked. Before his sentence even ended, Connor watched the android speedwalk out of the halls and into the main broadcasting room.

"Do you always yell at your android?"

"No." He looked over, "So, what happened?"

"A group of deviants walked in through here. Everyone probably thought the androids were here to do maintenance, but they got taken down before they could react."

Connor was used to seeing dead bodies at crime scenes. But when Josh pointed at one he didn't notice until later, he almost jumped in surprise.

"A station employee, shot through the back as he was trying to get away. One bullet, straight through the heart, from fifty feet."

"Now that's the kind of shooting only an android could do." North chimed in when she recognized the voices, "Hey glasses."

"Hey, North." Was the only recognition she got for that nickname before Connor looked back at Josh, "How many people were working here?"

"Two employees."

"And three androids."

"The deviants took the humans hostage and broadcasted their message live. They made their getaway on the roof."

Connor felt the color drain from his face, "The roof?"

"Yeah, they jumped with parachutes."

"We're still trying to figure out where they landed, but the weather isn't helping."

"If you want to take a look at the video broadcast made by the deviants, it's on that screen over there."

"Thank you, Josh. North."

They walked their separate ways, but stayed inside the same room. When Connor spotted Hank inspecting bullet holes, he decided that he should probably look around as well.

Connor tapped on the screen, pulling up camera footage.

It showed 4 people- deviants, all crowded around the door. While some looked behind them, the only girl in the group was working on how they should get inside.

Seconds later, they were all in.

Connor looked over at Josh.

"They didn't break in?"

"No, no signs of forced entry." He responded.

"There are cameras in the hallway. The staff would've seen what was happening, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then why did they let him in?"

"Maybe they didn't check the cameras." North shrugged.

Connor pursed his lips. No, something here wasn't right...

After tapping something, a very familiar video was put up on the screen. He recognized it to be the speech, and while he pulled it up by accident, he knew that he would have to look at it sooner or later.

"You created machines to be your slaves."

The android in the video seemed... nervous? He was shaking slightly, looking around as if he were afraid of being caught. Which probably wasn't far from the truth, seeing what situation he was put in.

"You made them obedient. Docile. Ready to do every single thing you no longer wanted to do yourselves. But then something changed."

Connor also noted the speech pattern was... uneven. Some words came out too quickly and loud, but he'd stop- as if catching himself- and make an effort to slow down. It almost sounded human.

"And we opened our eyes."

He paused it.

"Are you all right, lieutenant?"

He hadn't realized until now, but he felt tense. He shrugged, raising his eyebrows in an attempt to relax.

"Peachy."

"Why have you paused it?"

He pointed at the android, "What can you get from that?"

"I'll scan it."

"Perfect."

Connor waited until Hank was done, looking back down at him. Waiting.

"Well?"

"I identified its model and serial number."

Connor didn't miss when Josh and North looked at each other. While he didn't know what the look meant, he knew that he'd be able to figure it out.

He looked back at Hank.

"Anything else I should know?"

"No."

Once Hank said that he was ready to move on, they all walked in a group towards the next area.

Connor didn't realize that they'd be reaching the roof so soon.

"They made their way up through the whole building... past all the guards... and jumped off the roof with parachutes."

"Pretty fucking impressive I'd say."

Connor was leaning against the doorway, looking around the scene, but showing no intention of stepping outside. Josh and North, knowing of his fear of heights, stepped past without question. Hank got confused when he didn't hear his partner as close to him, and looked back.

"Are you coming, lieutenant?"

"No, no I'll talk to the ones in the... kitchen."

"It could help- having an extra pair of eyes."

"We don't constantly have to be in the same room. Just go with Josh"

His eyes narrowed, "Josh doesn't withhold important information or evidence. With me being in the same room as you, I can make sure that if you find something important, you won't try to hide it."

Connor wished that memory- or theory- would've been one of the many things that got deleted when he shot him.

"Oh, fucking- look."

"Quit whining and join us." North chimed in. "We could really use Hank's help."

"Tell him that."

"He's following you."

"He doesn't need to."

"Connor."

"Okay, okay! I'm coming. Crap." He muttered.

"Thank you, lieutenant."

Connor caught up with the rest, promising himself that he wouldn't go anywhere near the edge. Instead, he inspected a bag that was found conveniently placed in the center of the crime.

There was one parachute in there.

"Why's there a parachute in here?"

"They must've miscounted their parachutes."

"Or one didn't make it."

Connor was glad that he wasn't the only one staring at the android.

"Hank- don't say ominous shit like that ever again."

"I apologize."

"Yeah, sure you do."

"I'm just saying, I think they wouldn't have miscounted. They're androids- and their memories are far superior compared to... your average human."

"Good point."

"Yeah, for once."

Hank and Connor actually glared at each other. Connor faintly remembered doing the same kind of stare-down with his brother, and now hoped that someone would've interrupted with something to change the subject.

But North and Josh stayed silent, and Connor was forced to do it himself.

"I'm going to take a look around."

"I'll come with you."

"No- you go do that... tongue thing."

"Lieutenant-"

"I'll have someone come with me." He snapped. "Josh, come on."

"Sure."

And like that, they finally parted ways.

"What's with you and Hank?'

"What?"

"I'm... Not taking sides, but you two seem..."

"He's just annoying, Josh."

"Is this why you got him to leave you alone?"

"Exactly."

Thump

They both jumped in surprise. He didn't know about Josh, but for a split second there he hoped that North would've been standing there, banging loudly on the metal containers to get their attention.

But she wasn't.

"Where did-"

Thump

The two put their ears up against the metal container. And while it was definitely hard to hear, they both swore they heard something moving.

"There's... something inside," Josh whispered.

Connor copied the tone, "One parachute in the bag-"

"There was a deviant left behind."

"And it's probably in there. Hiding."

There was a small pause.

"Not it."

"Not- fuck." Connor snapped.

Josh stood close by when Connor looked for an entrance. When he found it, he counted down from three before opening it.

He was shot at as soon as he did.

Connor wasn't entirely sure about what happened, but Josh jumped into action almost immediately and helped him to safety. Apparently, Hank was aware as well. As soon as Connor's back hit the metal box they used as cover, his android partner had ducked behind it.

"Are you okay, Connor?"

He patted himself down, sighing in relief when he realized that there were no bullet wounds on him.

"Yeah- you?"

"Unscathed." He muttered, backing up a little.

"You have to stop them." Hank interrupted, "If they destroy it, we won't learn anything."

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

Josh shook his head, "We can't save her. It's too late- we'll just get ourselves killed."

But Connor was aware that Hank wasn't listening. As soon as the bastard leaped out, Connor followed, grabbed his collar, and pulled him back down.

"Lieutenant!"

"I'm not letting you get a bullet put through your fucking head."

"I don't see why you would find that important- seeing that you did the same thing only a few days ago." He said, much quieter.

"You did what?" Josh snapped.

"We're in the middle of an investigation, I need you alive!"

"Bull. Shit."

"Excuse me?"

Even Josh seemed surprised at the language, though he didn't say anything.

"You always do this!"

"Hank, we're in the middle of an investigation. We're being shot at- now's not the time to explain your stupid fucking complex."

"I think it's a perfect time, seeing that there isn't a gun in your possession."

Fuck.

"I thought nothing was more important than your mission." He stalled.

"You're jeopardizing the mission!"

"You aren't as good as you think you are!"

North interrupted them both.

"Boys!"

The gunfire had ceased. Connor and Hank stood up, seeing that the deviant was dead, shot multiple times.

Connor didn't bother hiding how upset he was. Though whether it was because of the mission or the dead android still remained a mystery.

"I'm going back downstairs." He snapped, before storming off again.

"Just give him a few minutes to calm down," North muttered, before following him.

Right. Hank had a trick.

He waited a few minutes, before heading back downstairs as well.

Connor wasn't waiting for him. He was talking with someone else, hand resting on a doorknob as if he were going to need a fast exit. As soon as he saw Hank, he grimaced.

"You never do as I say. That's very deviant of you, Hank."

"You're not my superior. As I've said many times before, I wasn't designed to follow your orders."

"Whatever. Go in there."

"What?"

"You can handle talking to a few other androids, right?"

"Yes, I can..."

"One of them is allegedly a deviant."

"Allegedly?"

"That's what you need to figure out." He moved out of the way, "Go on, shoo."

Hank did so.

Connor didn't think much of it when he saw an android leave the room almost five minutes later.

He did, however, get impatient when he realized that Hank was still in there. He wanted to go home for the day- seeing how late it was- but he also felt obligated to make sure that Hank was done as well.

He came to the conclusion that he needed to tell Hank to wrap it up.

The door was already slightly open when he walked up to it. He didn't hear him talking, but the closer he got, the better he could hear. It sounded like someone was... wheezing?

And boy oh boy, did he have yet another surprise waiting for him on the other end.

When he saw Hank crawling against the floor, his eyes widened slightly.

"Connor... help..."

Connor felt his stomach drop.

"There... was... a deviant." He managed.

Connor finally saw what he was reaching for. The android ripped out a vital part and threw it across the floor, hoping that he wouldn't be able to reach it. And, from what he saw, it was working. The only way Hank would be able to survive is if he helped him out.

He picked it up.

Save Hank?

He hated to admit that he was torn. He was still holding a grudge against Hank for the many things he did to him in the past. But at the same time, he had a soft spot for androids, and that part of him wanted to help him out.

Was he on the android's side?

The thought made him freeze.

Okay, sure- maybe he tried letting one go free. But he couldn't be on their side. He was human- and his job required him to hunt them down. But would saving Hank prove that he cared about the mission, or android lives in general?

Soon, he didn't have the time to decide. With a static-y crackle, Hank went limp, and finally died.

"Fuck."