You sat at your desk, idly playing with a pen. You'd heard rumors about something new and exciting happening around the precinct but nothing had happened yet.
"Hey, Reed," you called. He looked up from his own paperwork with a lazy smirk on his face. He obviously was anticipating some biting remark and was preparing his own in advance. "You're not getting fired, are you?"
"Nope, sweetheart. I'm here to stay," he said. Damn it. So it wasn't that. You could see Chen roll her eyes across from him. Whether it was at your callous comment or at his response, you couldn't tell. You sighed and twirled your pen even faster. The desk across from the lieutenant had been dusted off and prepped. Someone was showing up soon but no one had come in for interviews. Some transfer from another precinct?
You felt as though your excitement might've been unwarranted. It was probably just a new detective, after all. Although, your mind as running wild with possibilities. Maybe the precinct was getting an upgrade. God knows they could use it with their tech becoming increasingly outdated. Ooh, what if they were getting an android assistant? That'd be cool.
"Detective!" Fowler called. Your head snapped up and the pen slipped gracelessly from your fingers. He pointed a menacing finger at you. "You better have that paperwork finished tonight."
"Yes, Captain," you replied. Save the fantasies for later. Work now. With a heavy sigh, you dragged your data pad closer and brought it to life. You settled in for hours of paperwork, already feeling the ache in your back.
Time flew by agonizingly slow as you finished paper after paper. The only hiccup occurred at the stroke of midnight. An officer busted into the precinct, struggling with the criminal in her hands. You stood and watched her push him towards the holding cells. They were never gonna make it; there was only one of her and the man was much bigger than her. You were surprised that she managed to handcuff him in the first place.
You grabbed your baton from your belt and strode over, ready to stop him when he made a break for the exit. What happened next was so fast that you thought you couldn't possibly be blamed for it.
The criminal broke free of the officer's hold and body slammed her into the wall. He sprinted towards the exit, towards you. You extended your baton, ready to take him down with a well placed hit to the knee. At the same time, you heard the doors open behind you. Your arm was already in motion and you felt something connect with the baton on your backswing. Oh my god, I just nailed a civilian in the face, you thought. It didn't stop you from hitting the criminal although, instead of falling onto the ground, he fell into another person.
"What the hell?" Anderson shouted as you scrambled to grab the criminal. The person he fell into, however, grabbed him by the jacket and forcefully shoved him into the wall. Despite all his struggling, he couldn't break free.
"Are you okay?" you asked the person. They were the closest, they had to be the one you hit.
"I am quite alright," he responded casually as though he wasn't holding a squirming, writhing individual. You grabbed the criminal's right arm as the officer grabbed his left. Together, you hauled him off to a holding cell. Just as you unlocked his handcuffs, he whirled around and delivered a nasty left hook to your face. The baton came out again and you hit the same knee you had only moments earlier. The criminal crumpled in a heap and you grumbled under your breath as you headed out of the cell. You nodded quickly to the officer and turned to get the first aid kit.
As you turned, you came face to face with the most beautiful, brown doe-eyes you'd ever seen. "Are you alright, detective?" he asked. His eyebrows knit together as he stared you down. "You're bleeding," he continued. You raised a hand to your lip, which had started stinging, and your fingers came away bloodstained. Oh, that rat bastard. The criminal had split your lip with that punch. The man was still staring at you. When you still didn't say anything, he placed a steady hand on your upper back. "Here, I can help."
You walked slightly ahead of him and led the way to the break room. He gestured for you to sit while he grabbed a plastic bag, paper towels, and opened the freezer. He must be who the desk was for, you realized. Was he the new exciting thing around the office?
He paused and grabbed the first aid kit from its place on the wall. "What's your name?" you asked, tasting copper as your mouth moved.
"My name is Connor," he said as he dragged a chair up to sit in front of you. "I am the android sent by CyberLife." Your heart skipped a beat. The first thing you thought was, You're a shit detective if you didn't notice that he was an android. The second thing you thought was, Wow. You didn't know androids could be so damn pretty. You'd been inside the Eden Club once or twice and you'd seen the new models in magazines but… none of them compared to who was sitting in front of you.
You introduced yourself and still managed to be surprised when he said, "I know. I've already scanned you and several other detectives." You fell silent, partly because he was smearing antibiotic ointment on your lip, partly because you couldn't trust your voice. You weren't one to fall victim to cute boys or burly men or develop schoolgirl crushes. Most of the time. The longer you sat this close to Connor, the more your heart raced.
"Detective," he interrupted. You jolted upright and tore your gaze away from his freckles. Why would they put freckles on an android? "Please hold this on your lip to help with the swelling," Connor instructed. He placed the bag of ice in your hand and leaned back in his chair as you pushed it against your lip. The cold quickly seeped into your wound, leaving it numb. Connor stared you down all the while.
"S'what're you doin' here?" you asked. Your voice was muffled and garbled by the ice pack but the message came across all the same. Connor pulled a coin out of his pocket and started twirling it between his fingers. The movement caught your eye immediately. You followed the coin as it danced across his fingers, spinning this way and that.
"I am a prototype android meant to assist with police investigations. I have been assigned all cases dealing with deviants," he said. He had a matter-of-fact way of speaking that intrigued you. His brown eyes narrowed as he stared at you. His gaze danced across you, up and down and back up again. He was analyzing you, you realized.
"S'anything interesting?" you asked, quirking an eyebrow. Connor tilted his head and tossed the coin up abruptly. It landed squarely in his palm. What a human quirk to have, you mused.
"You own a dog. German shepherd hairs on your top," he said with a pointed glance. "You used to play sports. Calluses on your palms. You spent this past summer in the sun. Fading tan lines from your watch." You nodded appreciatively. A smile spread over your face and, although your lip screamed in protest, no more blood flowed into your mouth. "I like dogs," Connor said unprompted. The corner of his mouth twitched up. You doubted they programmed him to like dogs. CyberLife's prototype was definitely flawed in terms of android production. In your opinion, Connor was perfect. You were about to ask him more but you were swiftly interrupted.
"Connor!" Anderson barked as he entered the break room. "What the hell are ya doin'? Come on!" Connor stood and headed off without so much as a glance back. You were quick to follow. Your curiosity about the case and your intrigue about Connor warred with each other. Your boots made loud thumps as you raced to keep up with the two men in front of you. When you reached your destination, you couldn't quite decide how to justify your presence in the observation room. However, if Anderson or Connor minded, neither of them said anything.
"What happened, sweetheart? Trip over your own two feet again?" Reed asked when he saw you with the ice pack. You unceremoniously flipped him off.
"The detective was hit by a criminal in the holding cells," Connor said in a monotone. Although it was the truth, you wished he hadn't said it. Reed let out a bark of laughter. His laugh was always too loud, too ugly, too cruel. It grated on your nerves every time you heard it across the room. It was usually directed at some poor person who didn't do anything. Part of Gavin Reed just felt cruel and unforgiving. You wondered if you'd ever get used to it.
"Oh," he chuckled, "Some big baddie got to you? This is why you shouldn't be a detective." Connor turned his head and opened his mouth, presumably to defend you but that would only bring Reed's wrath down on him. You grabbed Connor's wrist in a warning. His gaze turned down towards you and you responded with a shake of your head. Don't. It's not worth it. His puppy dog eyes turned quizzical but he remained silent.
"Whas the plan?" you asked, still holding the ice pack to your lip. It was starting to melt and was dripping down your wrist in a slow, steady stream. The cold water only served to annoy you.
The door to interrogation opened and two officers led in the deviant. For a moment, you paused and looked him over. He was dirty, his clothes were torn, and he was covered in blue blood. He would look like any other person if not for the exposed wiring where he'd been hit. "We're gonna make him wait and then I'll talk to him," Anderson said.
"How long?" you asked.
"As long as we need to. Why are you even here?" he snapped, turning his annoyance on you. You floundered for an excuse. Your eyes instinctively flicked towards Connor who was standing as an impassive barrier between the two of you. Anderson raised a hand and waved it off with an impatient grumble. He headed towards the door and slammed it behind him. The door to interrogation never opened as you thought it would. The silence that followed his absence was deafening. You feared that Reed was preparing some snarky remark so you turned the attention to Connor.
"What's the case?" you asked. You finally pulled the ice away from your face and lobbed it into a trash can before it had the chance to fully melt. Connor reached a hand up and cupped your chin. His hand felt similar to a human's but it set your skin ablaze and your heart racing. His gaze narrowed in on your lip. After a few moments, he let you go but you felt the ghost of his touch while he described the details of the case.
You and Reed interrupted every so often with questions but remained silent otherwise. As Connor was wrapping up the events that had transpired, Anderson walked back in holding a cup of coffee. "Ready?" you asked. You couldn't help it; you just wanted this to be over. The deviant looked so sad and lonely that you wanted it to suffer as little as possible. It was getting deactivated; there was no doubt about that. You just didn't want it to sit and think over its ending for hours on end.
"I'll be ready when I'm ready," Anderson snapped. He glanced toward you and did a double take. "Jesus, what happened to your lip?"
"Perp in holding hit me," you said, shrugging your shoulders. Anderson shook his head and sipped on his coffee. The four of you stood in awkward silence, staring at the deviant. Anderson finally sighed and tossed his coffee cup in the garbage.
"Let's get this confession." Except that's not what happened. No amount of coaxing could get it out of the machine. Even when Connor took a crack at him, he had to resort to probing his memory. The deviant screamed in pain when Connor took his forearm. You cringed back just a bit. This isn't what you had in mind when you wanted to watch the interrogation. Connor announced that he knew what happened and stood to leave.
The deviant had only been shaking and shivering as though cold but as soon as Connor opened the door to leave, a loud bang sounded. You flinched as you watched the deviant slam his head into the table again and again and again. You reacted quickly, running to the door and into interrogation. Reed shoved the officer forward, telling him to get the deviant to stop. No matter how hard he pulled though, the officer couldn't get him to stop.
Desperately, the officer unlocked his restraints. Faster than you expected, the deviant drew the officer's gun, leveled it, and fired. You felt a spatter of something wet and Connor fell to the floor. The deviant turned the gun on himself and he, too, got a bullet in his skull. You dropped to your knees and pulled Connor's head into your lap but it was useless. Those beautiful eyes stared unblinking at the ceiling. You felt sick to your stomach.
"Holy shit!" Anderson said. You looked helplessly up at the other people in the room. Even Reed looked perturbed. No one spoke for several long moments. You scrambled up and ran out of the room. "Kid-" Anderson started but he did not come after you.
Thankfully, you were the only one in the precinct otherwise you would've garnered some strange looks. The bathroom was also empty. You gazed at your reflection. Tears were starting to pool in your eyes although you willed those away. Blue blood splattered your face and soaked your jeans where you had cradled Connor's head.
You were standing so close to him when he got shot. The water was bitterly cold as it washed over your hands, turning the sink blue, and all you could do was watch it flow down the drain.
Connor was busy analyzing the contents of Lieutenant Anderson's desk but he did not miss the exclamation from the door of the office. "Oh my god!" It was the kind detective that got hit by a criminal the day before. He turned, placing the headphones back on the lieutenant's desk, and watched as you hurried towards him. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" you said as you got closer.
"Your lip looks remarkably better, detective," Connor noticed. A flush appeared on your cheeks. A quick scan showed that your heart rate was 125 bpm. You looked fatigued and worried. "Are you alright?" he asked. You shook your head and buried your face in your hands. Something in him made him reach out and gently grasp your wrists. As he tugged your hands away, he saw a flickering sign. Software instability. That had been happening around this detective for some odd reason.
"I just…" you sighed. "I saw you get shot in the head."
"My predecessor was unfortunately destroyed but it will not impede my investigation. CyberLife downloaded my memories," he said. He had hoped the words would make you feel better but they seemed to distress you more. Connor deemed that causing you distress made him feel unpleasant. He looked down and realized that he was still holding your wrists. You quickly stepped back from him and cleared your throat. Without another word, you walked over to your desk and sat down, kicking your bag underneath your desk.
"Detective!" Fowler called. Connor turned back to the lieutenant's desk but kept part of his focus on your conversation. You ambled closer to the captain to see what he wanted. "You're on the team with Anderson and the android. Investigate the deviants."
"But you said I wasn't going into the field today!" you protested. "Not after… after what happened last night." Connor didn't know that his being destroyed would cause you so much dismay. He replayed the events in his mind. You were standing very close to him. The proximity to the events unnerved you.
"It's back, detective. I don't think this warrants desk work. Head home so you can get your belt and your badge." You stormed away from the captain and plopped down in your desk chair. Connor wandered over to you, analyzing as he went.
You also had a music player on your desk. He wondered what kind of music it was filled with. Several pictures of friends were scattered around your desk. In one of them, you looked to be wearing a uniform and holding a child on your hip. A quick scan showed that this child was not related to you. A counselor of some sort? There was also a stack of books. Not many people nowadays used paper books. The titles ranged from non-fiction to sci-fi to mystery.
"You are a counselor?" Connor asked as he approached. He took in your slumped shoulders and the weary sigh you gave him before answering.
"Yeah. Every summer for a month. Been going since I was a kid. It's a lot different though," you said. "A lot of my coworkers are androids. I don't even think the kids know the difference sometimes." Connor furrowed his brow as he attempted to ferret out the hidden meaning in your words. There was nothing you'd said or done to indicate that you don't like androids. He'll have to ask your feelings on that later.
Connor took a few steps closer and sat down in the chair next to your desk. He grabbed your music player and put one of the earbuds in his ear. He pressed play. A slow, sad song started up. It was an old one too. Apparently you were into the classics.
"Connor," you said. He looked up at the sound of your voice. He determined that your voice was pleasing to listen to. Something about it was just… it stirred something in him. Software instability.
"It's not polite to poke around in other people's stuff," you said, never losing your amused smile. Although you were reprimanding him, you looked nothing short of cheerful. Of course, you still showed signs of fatigue and distress. Humans had such complex feelings.
"Oh," Connor said. He put down your music player. "I'm sorry, detective." You simply shook your head and chuckled.
"If you want to know anything, all you have to do is ask," you said. He thought on that for a moment. He had many questions when he thought about it. They ran through his mind in seconds but he settled on one you'd both like.
"What's your dog's name?" He liked dogs. They were playful and loyal. They were always excited to see you. They came in all shapes and sizes, just like humans. You held up and finger and pulled your phone out of your pocket. Your fingers tapped away before you turned the screen around and showed him. The first picture was of a German Shepherd puppy. It was almost smaller than his hand. You swiped a finger to show presumably the same dog, just older. It was bigger with one ear that flopped down. Connor felt himself smile at that cute little quirk. Software instability.
"His name is Cooper. He's only three months old," you said with a smile to match his own. You swiped the screen again and the picture showed you curled up with him on a couch. Cooper now easily engulfed your lap and would soon be too big for cuddling on the couch.
"He's very cute." You beamed at the compliment. Silence fell between you two. Your gaze fell to the data pad propped up on your desk while Connor scanned the rest of the precinct. He caught sight of Gavin Reed glaring daggers at him. Connor simply stared back, waiting for him to make a move. "What are your thoughts on Detective Reed?" Connor asked.
"Guy's an asshole. He's a good detective though. Not better than me," you added with a smirk. Connor pulled up your records and compared them to Reed's. You had 41 arrests and 35 homicides solved; Reed had 52 arrests and 22 homicides solved.
"Detective Reed has 52 arrests on record compared to your 41," Connor said. Your smirk faded. While Connor didn't share your displeasure, he understood it. Humans didn't like to be one-upped. It was a large reason they felt threatened by androids with their intelligence, physical and mental stamina, and advanced skill sets.
"Not," Connor added hurriedly, "that it means much. Your homicide cases have been solved a lot more than his." You waved off his compliment with a shrug. You turned your desk chair to face him.
"We're not competing. If we're tackling crime, we need to be doing it together."
"That's incredibly mature, detective," Connor said. He was proud of you for feeling that way. Software instability.
"Morning, lieutenant," you called, your gaze going over Connor's head. The lieutenant looked Connor's way and made eye contact. He grumbled something under his breath. He was perturbed by last night's events too. "We gotta head out ASAP. The AX400 that attacked its owner stole some cash from a convenience store last night." You spoke matter-of-factly, ignoring the lieutenant's bedraggled appearance. It seemed that his drunkenness was common knowledge around here.
"Whaddaya mean 'we?'" he asked. You stood, shouldering your bag as you went.
"The detective has been appointed to help us with the deviants," Connor said as he also stood. He looked over the lieutenant. He seemed to be worse for the wear; his hair was unkempt and his clothes were wrinkled and rumpled. The lieutenant raised his eyebrows and scoffed. With a shake of his head, he turned back the way he came, fishing his keys out of his pocket. You headed out after him and Connor was quick to follow.
In the car, the lieutenant had demanded that you sit up front. You accepted with only a little hesitance. In return, however, you demanded control of the radio. You turned on an old song and started singing along. "Kid, I don't know how you can stand this stuff," the lieutenant said.
"C'mon, it came out when you were young!" you exclaimed.
"Yeah, they keyword being 'young.' I'm old now and it sounds like garbage." Despite his rude words, he made no move to stop you from enjoying the music. The lieutenant drove downtown where the building soared into the sky. He stopped at one such building, indistinguishable from the ones next to it.
You exited the car but paused and turned. You approached Connor's window and gestured for him to roll it down. A blast of cold air ruffled his air as he rolled it down. "You wanna come see Cooper?" you asked. Connor straightened up and nodded. He offered a small smile but felt the urge to let it widen into a real one. He controlled the impulse and left the car. "Be right back, Anderson!" you called. He grumbled something back but Connor had stopped paying attention. He was focused on the prospect of seeing your dog.
The doorman, also an android, smiled and nodded as you two passed. "Hi, Josie!" you called before striding into the already waiting elevator. The doors shut, closing you two into a small space. The longer you two waited, you humming underneath your breath, the faster Connor's thirium pump beat. Was something wrong with his regulator? The problem only worsened when the doors opened on large windows spanning the whole wall of the complex.
"Come look at this view!" you said excitedly. You grabbed his wrist, your hand small compared to his own. You tugged him over to the window and gazed out at the city lights. Your apartment building was located on the edges of downtown; the windows provided a view of the skyscrapers on the other side of the city all the way down to the harbor. Instead of looking out, however, Connor turned his gaze to where your hand was still clamped around his wrist.
Just as his face started growing uncomfortably warm, you let go and turned away. With a jerk of your chin, Connor followed you down the hall. You stopped in front of a ratty door, no different from the other ratty doors in the hallway. The sound of scrabbling claws and excited yips reached Connor's ears, drawing a smile from him.
"Be careful," you warned, "He jumps." With a flourish, you opened the door and stepped inside, Connor following close behind. Cooper raced around the living room, barking excitedly. He jumped up first on you before turning to the newcomer. Impulsively, Connor dropped to his knees and let Cooper jump up on him. Cooper licked every inch of skin he could find on Connor. He almost felt like laughing with this dog in his lap. Software instability.
"He likes you," you remarked. Your belt was slung over your shoulder and your badge was shining as you put it around your neck. Connor looked up with a smile. He felt his smile fade into something softer as he watched you lean against the wall with an amused smirk. His thirium pump was beating fast again. A quick search came up with several different causes but none of them were accurate. His self-scan was showing that all his systems were in working order.
"We should get back to the lieutenant," Connor said, standing up. Cooper sat at his feet, one ear flopped over, and stared up at him with those big brown eyes. As cute as the dog was, they had a mission to complete. This detour already took up too much time.
"I'm sure Connor will come visit again, Cooper," you cooed as you squatted down to pet your dog. You looked up at him and winked. Connor felt that warm sensation in his face again. No searches turned up any cause for that but… blushing was a very common human quirk. He'd seen you do it. It was common with embarrassment and infatuation. The bit about infatuation stuck in his head.
As you two made the trip back down, you turned and asked, "Would you be interested in coming back? You're welcome anytime." Connor hesitated. There was the mission to consider; he had to be ready at a moment's notice to go out into the field.
Despite his thoughts, he heard himself say, "I would love to." Your smile made his stomach feel strange. Connor thought over the definition of infatuation. If that's what it was, somehow, he couldn't bring himself to mind. In fact, he found that he was eagerly anticipating working with you.