Connor POV

I opened my eyes to see that the time was 7:43 am. The light was peeking in through the shutters and I saw Puma's light grey cat with gemstone green eyes, Artemis, balancing on the window perch. She was glaring at me, and I could see she didn't trust me. I looked back ahead of me, reviewing the facts we knew about deviants.

They're obsessed with this rA9 symbol. Oritz' android said that rA9 will set androids free. Rupert Travis wrote it out on the walls of the apartment, and so did Ralph in the abandoned house. The thing they have in common is this belief in rA9 like he's some kind of God. If only I could figure out what causes the mutation to occur, then maybe I could solve this investigation and not disappoint Amanda. I looked down at sleeping Puma, who was sound asleep. Amanda was right. They are slowing down this investigation. I'll see what I can do about this.

"Connor?" I heard Puma stir in her sleep. She let out a yawn, covering her mouth. "Good morning," she said, freezing. "Did I- I'm so sorry." she blushed, pulling her hands off me and sitting up.

"It's alright, Puma." I attempted to smile. "The time is 7:56. You've had 6 hours and twenty-five minutes and twenty-eight seconds of sleep."

"Good enough. Want anything to eat?" She asked, getting up. I turned away because she had slept in a shirt and short shorts, and I didn't want to invade her privacy.

"No thank you." I declined.

"Oh- right. Sorry. I'll be downstairs if you need me. Gonna walk the dog soon."

I gave her a look and raised my eyebrows. "Your father's instructions specifically stated that I should take care of you and not let you leave the house."

"He was overlooking things. C'mon, it'll be fun. You can come along and put me on a leash so I don't escape." She gave a laugh and thundered down the stairs. My pump regulator seemed to pump a little faster. Though I didn't have an exact reason for it to be this way.

What is it about her? I asked myself.

Join Puma downstairs.

Getting out of bed I picked up my shoes to put them near Puma's bedside table before joining her. She was making bacon and eggs as I walked in.

"Hey, can you quickly call Dad and ask him to buy more eggs? I'm running out and apparently not allowed to leave the house." She asked without turning around.

"Of course." I put two fingers up to my LED and called Hank. "Good morning Hank. Your daughter is asking you to buy more eggs since she's running out."

"For fuck's sake Connor it's seven in the morning!" I heard on the other line.

"I'm sorry, but Puma has specifically asked me to call you since she's not allowed to leave the house."

"Alright fine! How many?"

"Puma?" I called her.

"Yeah?" she responded, flipping her bacon over.

"How many dozens of eggs would you like?"

"Tell him... two packs."

"She says she would like twenty-four eggs."

"Ugh, okay okay. Only because she isn't allowed outside." I heard Hank on the other end. "And you're givin' me math homework to do, what's twenty-four divided by twelve? Two."

"Oh! And also ask Dad if I can walk Hunter!" Puma called over her shoulder.

"Your daughter also wants to walk Hunter, but since your instructions specifically stated for her to not-"

"Just shut up! As long as you're with her. And don't let her do anything stupid!"

"I won't. Have a good day, Hank." I hung up and walked over to Hunter, the fluffy golden retriever. I knelt down next to him and ruffled his fur, making him pant and stick his tongue out. I heard some clanking of plates and silverware so I walked over to Puma, who was in the kitchen and dining room.

"Do you need some assistance, Puma?" I asked.

"Oh, no, I'm fine. I'm used to doing things myself."

"If you insist." I bowed my head and went to study more pictures on a wall of the living room. "Puma, who is this? He's appeared with you in seven other pictures, yet I'm not able to get any information out on him."

"Are you talking about..." Puma placed her place on the dining table and walked over to me. "Ah, well. You have met Orion Clearwater. He's my ex. We broke up a few years ago."

"You don't seem sad," I noted.

"We decided to stay friends after we discovered we didn't really love each other anymore."

"So why do you keep his pictures of you two together?"

"Just memories. Besides, he comes here often. You should meet him, I bet the two of you would get along. I mean, if you want." She shrugged.

Something's off about that guy and I'm going to get to the bottom of it. I thought to myself.

Yet the guy seemed normal. Handsome even. The boy had pearl-white messy hair which was a little wavy with bright baby blue eyes which shone brightly. He wore a black shirt with a red and black flannel over it with rich dark blue jeans. Puma looked happy as well. Her hazel eyes shone in the light and her light brown hair reflected a shimmering gold. She had on the exact same clothes as Orion.

"You both look... happy." I concluded from the picture.

"Oh, yeah. We were very happy for a long time. In that specific picture, we chose to wear the same exact outfit to match, I think it turned out quite nice." Puma sat down to eat and left me standing looking around.

"C'mon, sit with me." She pats the seat next to her. I carefully sat down and watched her eat.

"Is the food good?" I asked after what humans call "awkward silence".

"I made it, so... no."

I nodded.

"How's life being an android?" Puma turned to me.

"Sorry?" I asked.

"Like, what's it like to be only focused on your mission and not caring about anyone," she repeated.

I thought for a while.

"I don't have an answer to that." Looking down at the table, I was disappointed he couldn't give her an answer.

"It's fine. Just asking." She reassured me as her phone rang. "Speak of the devil..." she muttered picking her phone up. "Hey, Oreo."

"Hey, Lye-Lye." I heard a male voice on the other end of the line. "So, I was wondering if you were doing anything today, thought I'd stop by." Thanks to my good hearing I could hear every word of Puma's conversation with whom I suspected to be the very Orion we were talking about earlier.

"Well, I got a small company. He's nothing really. But yeah, you could stop by. That would be great!"

"Oh, it's fine I won't bother-"

"No, no, it's not like that. He's an android. You should meet him!"

"An android? What are you doing hanging around with an android at your house?"

"Eh, investigation purposes. Anyway, I'm grounded. So it's just me, Connor and the pets. Feel free to stop by whenever you like."

"Right... investigation purposes. Will do sis. How does... eleven am sound?"

"Great! We'll be waiting. Bye bro." Puma hung up and placed her phone on the table. "So, we're having company over at eleven." she turned to me as she finished her last piece of bacon."

"Sounds great, can't wait to meet Orion," I stated professionally.

"Oh yeah, you probably overheard the entire call because well, phones can be overheard. Even I can sometimes hear the person on the other line when Dad's talking to someone."

I nodded, getting up as Puma put her plate into the dishwasher and started to go up the stairs.

"So I'm gonna dash to the shower real quick, change, then we'll go walk Hunter. Then we'll have a few hours to hang before Oreo arrives." She bolted up the stairs.

Since I'd seen the entire house, I didn't have anything to do, so I closed my eyes and started to continue working on the deviant cases.

Maybe I should have gone for Rupert Travis. It would have ruined my relationship with Hank and Puma, but we might have managed to learn something. Maybe find out what causes his obsession with birds.

"Hey... Connor?" I heard Puma somewhere next to me sometimes later. "Hello..?" she stretched out the last part. I opened my eyes to see Puma with her hair down, just about reaching her waist. She wore a black crop top which was a size or two too small and ripped skinny jeans with grey and teal shoes. I decided to ask her why her crop top was smaller than it should be, making the mental note in mind.

"Sorry, Puma. Are you ready to walk Hunter?"

"Yup. Hunter!" She called, patting her lap. The dog ran up to her excitedly and Puma snapped a leash onto his collar.

"This morning you said that I can put a leash on you when you walk so you don't do anything stupid." I reminded her. To my surprise, she laughed.

"I was joking around, Connor." she gave a giggle. "Let's go." she made her way to the door and I opened it for her. We walked a block in silence, Hunter in the lead before Puma spoke up again.

"There's a park nearby, that's where I usually let Hunter play with the other dogs."

"Understood," I stated. After more silence, I couldn't help but let my mind wander to last night. How I was too scared to breathe when she wrapped her hands around me, and how I rested my chin on the top of her head. "Puma," I called to get her attention.

"Yes?" she asked, still looking ahead of her.

"What... what exactly happened last night?"

"Oh." She stiffened up. "I wasn't exactly conscious, I apologize for what happened."

"You don't have to apologize for anything, Puma." I bowed my head as we continued walking in silence.

"Aw look who's here! Detective wild cat and her plastic boyfriend. Didn't expect you to be here." I heard a voice behind us. Quickly turning around, I saw Gavin with a cigarette.

"Hello Reed," Puma said, trying to be polite.

"I think you are in need of apologizing for yesterday." He sneered.

Puma turned around. "What for? You should be the one apologizing for hitting Connor's biocomponent #8457w, and talking back to me."

She does have a good memory, Hank was right.

"It's the android's fault for not obeying." Gavin rudely blew a puff of smoke at Puma. Hunter growled warningly.

"It's alright Hunter. I'll let you out now." Puma said calmly and unlocked the leash from the retriever's collar. The dog jumped at Gavin and bit his ankle.

Gavin gave out a yelp, pushing the dog roughly aside. "You're on thin ice, Anderson. Thin ice." He limped away, throwing his cigarette onto the ground.

"Are you alright, Puma?" I asked once he left.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

(A/N: North said the exact same sentence whaa?!)

A/N: and here's the second part of the 7th chapter. Tell me what you guys thought of it!

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