April's Fool

For the record, Dr. Rudy Lom didn't want any part of this scheme. Persistent and just a little intimidating, John finally convinced the synthetic dispatch supervisor to comply.

John slapped him on the back entirely too hard when he agreed, nearly knocking the lithe man over. "Alright, good man, Rudy!" John smirked, "For the sake of the holiday, right? Okay," he clapped his hands. "Show me, show me."

Rudy frowned and pulled up a 3D holopic of the DRN android model. He swiped his hands out to zoom in on the head, flipping it so they could see the right side of the face. "Dorian's manual control panel is located here," he pointed to the temple of the model. "Press in like so," he pushed a finger into the holopic and watched a panel slide open. "Voilà."

Arms folded, John studied the panel and chewed the side of his lip, "Okay, so, how do I take him offline?"

A hesitant, slender finger flipped the small switch on the glowing neon holographic panel. "You'll disconnect him from the neural-network this way," Rudy said.

John rubbed his hands together in excitement. "And if I do this while he is charging, he won't wake up?"

Rudy frowned, "John, don't you think it is a little mean? Not to mention an invasion of privacy?"

"You're one to talk."

Pressing his lips into a thin line, Rudy continued, "He won't be able to send or receive transmissions or information. He'll be completely cut off."

John grinned, clapping Rudy on the shoulder again as he headed for the exit. "I know. That way he'll believe me when I tell him Maldonado ordered to have him decommissioned."

Rudy rubbed his arm, certain that he was going to be bruised later from this visit by John "I need a favor" Kennex.

. . . . . . . . . . .

John sat dazed on the bathroom counter holding a bloody tissue to his nose while Dorian fussed over him.

"Sorry, John, sorry," Dorian said the umpteenth time, attempting to plant a kiss on John's forehead but getting batted at angrily.

John's nose wasn't broken but it was battered pretty good and a deep purple bruise was forming under each eye.

"I didn't mean to lash out, but you were in my control panel," Dorian explained.

John groaned and said in a whiney, stuffy voice from his clogged nose, "You coldcocked me."

"What were you hoping to accomplish in my manual controls, John?" Dorian asked, daring to place a hand on John's knee and squeeze. He dodged a clumsy kick.

John was stumped. He had no idea what to say to this. He certainly didn't intend to tell the truth. "Quick bugging me, I have a headache."

"You were out for a while. I think you may have a concussion."

John's phone rang in his pocket and he dug it out, staring at the screen past the bloody wad of tissues on his face. It was Rudy. He answered.

"How'd it go, John?" he sounded almost amused, anticipatory.

"He woke up," John growled, "and nearly broke my face."

"Oh, well, I forgot to tell you that opening the manual control triggers self-defense mode. It keeps the police androids safe from hacks."

John simmered silently.

"A-April fool's!" Rudy shouted awkwardly and hung up.

Dorian quirked an eyebrow. John pocketed his phone, tossed the bloody tissues at the garbage can, and slid off the counter.

"Where you going?" Dorian asked the unsteady human who tottered a moment before falling backwards. Dorian caught him carefully and lifted him up.

"Gon' kill Rudy."

Dorian dragged him to the couch, inspecting his pupils. "You can kill Rudy tomorrow, sweetheart." He peered into John's face, "What year is it, buddy?"

"2050," John growled, then shifted his eyes to the side and pouted, "April fucking first."

This challenge is taking place thanks to WeWillSpockYou who did not give me a choice. Go check out her amazing fiction on AO3! I would also like to say that WeWillSpockYou and NaughtyPastryChef (also on AO3) are my fanfiction spirit guides. Thanks ladies!