JUNE 19, 2039

10:06 am

7 MONTHS AFTER THE ANDROID REVOLUTION

Ever since the android revolution ended a little over 7 months ago, many things around Detroit and other areas of the United States have changed. Androids and humans are now considered equals in the government's eyes, and so androids have been given more privileges. Slowly but surely, more laws are being made, like androids can now own property, have jobs, marry and adopt, and more bills are being introduced all the time and suggestions are being made from both androids and humans.

During the revolution, many humans fled Detroit due to the fighting being so violent, and soldiers taking over certain areas. It wasn't until a few weeks after the end of it all that people actually started returning to their homes. They were waiting for the all clear to come back, because clean ups had to be scheduled and android laws had to be dealt with.

Some androids went back to their former owners if they felt that they were treated nicely by them. Some androids remained independent and never returned to their owners, especially if they were abusive. Some androids didn't have owners to return to, like androids from the Eden Club. Though, some stayed independent but stayed in contact with their former owners, like Markus.

The former deviant hunter Connor had some difficulties post-revolution. He didn't really have an owner to return to, considering the people that owned him were Cyberlife, and there was no way that he would ever go back to them after everything that they had done. He feared that he would end up being homeless, or would have to turn to Jericho for help. Fortunately, his partner at the DPD offered to let him live at his place. Despite Connor's many objections, like saying he'd be in the way, Hank strongly urged him to stay. After all, Connor had nowhere else to go.

And so now in the present day, Connor sat on Hank's sofa petting his gentle giant of a dog, Sumo, while twirling a quarter in between his fingers, catching it with ease. He stared at the bathroom door and could see Hank in the mirror trying on his third button up shirt. Connor had to admit, Hank was certainly trying when it came to business casual now, since Connor had mentioned to him that he should freshen up to be more professional. And so now Hank had a trimmed beard, his split ends were clean and his outfits were more professional too. Though, Hank still prefered his leather jackets, so he always kept those.

Ever since Connor became deviant, he had access to many emotions, and right now he was mostly feeling frustration, and his LED showed it. This was mostly because a- Hank was making them run late and b- a case got called in ten minutes ago and here they still were, when they should be at the crime scene by now, or at least on their way to it.

"Hank!" Connor sighed, stopping his coin tricks. "We are going to run late! The case was called in over ten minutes ago!"

"We'll be fine!" Hank shouted in reply as he buttoned up the buttons on his pale blue shirt. "We aren't the only cops in town!"

It was at that moment that Connor could hear several CLANGs from inside the bathroom and assumed that Hank had dropped something. Hank furrowed his brow and threw his hands in the air and began to say:

"Shi- I mean...crap!"

"That was a close call, Lieutenant." Connor said with a smirk.

"Ah, shut up." Hank hissed, bending over to pick up what he had dropped. He then proceeded to comb out his grey hair.

Just a day prior, Connor had brought up that, to make Hank even more professional at work, he should stop cursing as much. Hank objected, though Connor insisted and it soon turned into a bet between the two of them. Hank couldn't say a single curse word for a month.

"I know this will certainly be a challenge, Hank," Connor had said. "But I think it will do you some good." And to that, Hank had only scoffed.

Then, they had to decide what would happen if either of the two won the bet. Hank was first to say something. He had said at first that if he won, which meant he was successful in being curse-free, Connor had to buy him a week's worth of whisky, which, to Hank, was quite a bit of whisky. Connor urged him to stop drinking so much and so Hank compromised; one bottle of scotch whisky and Connor had to pay for lunch for a week, and he couldn't complain about what Hank ate.

Connor found that fair and wagered his deal. If he won, which meant Hank slipped, Connor got to pick out Hank's outfits for an entire week, and they could be as obnoxious and crazy as he wished. He knew Hank had some weird stuff, considering Hank was born in the 80s. They agreed and so began the bet. Now, Hank had to just not slip up...again.

With what seemed like an eternity to Connor, Hank finally stepped out of the bathroom wearing his button up and slacks. Connor looked down and saw that their outfits were somewhat similar, except Connor's shirt was grey and he wore a black blazer. He had decided to not wear his Cyberlife uniform anymore, now that he was no longer associated with them.

"Looks like we are almost twinning, Lieutenant." Connor teased.

Hank looked at Connor's outfit, down at his own and then back at Connor's with an amused look on his face.

"Well, one of us will have to change, and it sure won't be me."

"Notice how I said ALMOST, Lieutenant."

Hank just shook his head and rolled his eyes slightly before walking up to the sofa and punching Connor's arm.

"Let's go."

"It's about time, I'd say." Connor replied, standing up and adjusting the navy tie around his neck.

Sumo looked up at the android, wondering where in the world his pets had gone, but quickly laid his big head back down. Guess he knew that they were both heading out. Hank grabbed the keys to his old clunker of a car and then went out the door, Connor just a couple steps behind.

June 19th, 2039

10:19 am

As Hank opened the door and sat down, the old car seat creaked in protest, as did Connor's. They both slammed the doors shut, and Connor waited as Hank started up the engine. He glanced over his shoulder, looked left and then right and slowly started to pull out of his driveway.

"Where am I going?" he asked as he stopped his car on the end of his driveway. "I don't want to drive blind."

"The scene is by Benny's deli." Connor answered, staring ahead. "Shouldn't be hard to miss."

And so Hank began driving, using Connor as his navigator. He was curious as to what the case even was, considering all Connor had told him was that a case had been called in and didn't give him much explanation. And so, Hank asked: "What even is this case anyway?"

Connor glanced over at him briefly before he spoke.

"A human was murdered in front of Benny's deli, said to have gotten stabbed." he answered, keeping his response matter of factly. "They aren't sure about the cause of the murder yet, or why it happened, so they want us to go there and investigate and talk to the owner of the shop, since he was a witness. They then suggested we interview some people that he knows personally to get to know the victim better to maybe understand why it happened."

Hank nodded his head in understanding, not saying anything else. He just kept his eyes on the road, his hands gripped on the wheel and made sure to listen to when Connor told him to turn. It wasn't until a few minutes later that they pulled up to the area to see police tape blocking off the deli, and the owner sitting outside at an outdoor table, his head in his hands, looking very much distraught.

Hank turned off the engine, his pulsing rock music suddenly coming to a halt. Connor glanced over at him, and Hank glanced back. All they did was give a brief nod to each other and they both swung open their doors and began to walk towards the scene. The two instantly saw the Captain of the DPD, Jeffrey Fowler standing by the building, talking to a lady who had been at the store across the street at the time of the incident. It appeared he hadn't gotten much information out of her though, since he quickly dismissed her when he saw Connor and Hank approaching.

"Well, it's about time." Fowler sighed, uncrossing his arms and raising an eyebrow towards Hank. "Wasn't sure if you'd show up, to be honest."

"When there's a crime scene, I'll be there." Hank answered with a smirk. "Because I'm the only cop in Detroit, apparently."

Fowler ignored the lieutenant's statement and gestured towards the crime scene a good ten feet away from where he stood.

"The scene is pretty ugly, I'll admit." Fowler grimaced. "I'm sure you're used to seeing this kind of stuff, though. I've had a couple of guys searching the perimeter looking for any clues while I waited for you too. Chris found something, though he wanted to wait till you were here. I'd scan over the crime scene first and find out what you can."

Connor nodded his head, glancing behind his shoulder at the police tape.

"You can count on us." was all he said.

Connor went stepping forward first, leaving Hank lingering for a second or two. He wanted to scan the scene as quickly as he could and find out as much as he could. After all, they had a lot to do today. Hank stepped under the tape seconds after Connor did and began looking around to see if he noticed anything.

The first thing that both saw, of course, was the body slumped against a light pole near a gold colored car. He had two stab wounds in his chest and many bruises on his face, along with scratches on his biceps. Hank glanced over at Connor as soon as they both saw the bloodied man, hoping he'd get the hint to scan him. And, much to Hank's hopes, Connor knelt down on one knee and began to scan the man.

SCANNING…

Pierre Dunn- age 27

Married to Cassandra Dunn

Deceased at 9:54am - cardiovascular puncture

Connor looked him over, seeing his eyes open, staring at nothingness, his grey eyes lifeless, and his usually slicked back blonde hair messy from fighting. It gave him an uneasy feeling.

"Any info?"

Connor looked up from his scanning to see that Hank was looking at him expectantly, and he assumed that he had been the one to ask him that question. Connor dipped his head in reply and stood himself back up on his feet, continuing to look at Pierre.

"Yes…" he said, his voice trailing off. He truly was disturbed by this, though he had a job to accomplish- he couldn't let the death of this man get to him. So, he told Hank everything he had found out, rubbing his hands together as he spoke. Hank stroked his chin, taking in all of the information he had just heard, wondering how in the world this could've happened. Obviously it was a murder, since there were very obvious signs of a struggle. But the question that remained was who committed the crime?

"The Captain mentioned that he had a couple of officers looking around the area to see if they could find any clues." Connor murmured, looking away from the body and looking over to where Fowler stood. The man was still in the same area, just standing there and not doing much at this point. "Maybe they found something?"

Hank just simply shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe, maybe not." he answered, gazing over at Fowler himself. "But they sure seem to be doing more than our Captain. Sure seems to be sitting on his a- I mean butt."

"Nice catch, Lieutenant." Connor said with a small chuckle. "I was worried our deal would be off already. Wouldn't want you showing up to a crime scene wearing platforms."

Hank cocked his head in a teasing manner, arching his eyebrows up and putting on a lopsided grin. "Who said anything about platforms?"

Connor had to improvise to not let Hank know he knew exactly what was in his closet. Connor knew his chances of winning were 78%, and he intended for his outfit choices to be a complete surprise. "Platform shoes are iconic." he replied quickly but subtly. "It's the first thing that came to mind."

"Whatever you say, Connor." Hank answered. He have Connor a skeptical stare for a good few seconds before he turned and started walking towards where the other cops were. "Let's see if Fowler's little helpers have found anything, I guess."

As the two walked over, they could see two officers that Hank knew, Ben and Chris, searching around the building, Chris on one side of the building and Ben on the opposite. Chris was on the side that Hank and Connor were approaching from, and gave them a small smile when he saw them. Obviously, based on the glint in his eye, he had found something.

"Hank! Connor!" he called, waving his hand towards them. "I think I found something that may interest you."

Hank and Connor strided over in curiosity, glancing down at where Chris gestured to see various small, blue spots on the concrete. Connor instantly knew what it was.

"Blue blood." he whispered. He knelt down, and Hank turned away instantly, knowing that his partner in crime was about to stick some of that stuff in his mouth. It disgusted him, especially since it's like telling a kid not to put things in their mouths, but Connor was only doing this for analysis purposes, and androids aren't harmed by what goes in their mouths. Connor touched two fingers to the tip of his tounge and his processor instantly began to analyze it.

SCANNING…

Match found- KR200, female

From 9:51 am

"A...KR200." Connor concluded, standing to his feet. "This blood was from just a few minutes before Pierre died."

Hank crossed his arms, tilting his head towards the blue blood on the ground. "So, that man somehow must've stepped in."

Connor stared at the blue blood for a few seconds longer, trying to comprehend all of this. "Or…maybe she was the one involved?" Connor guessed. "I know it seems far fetched, since androids were just granted freedom, but I'm just naming possible options."

"Better having more options than not enough, I guess." Hank answered with a sigh. "We shouldn't come to any conclusions yet."

Connor nodded. They still had to ask the owner of the deli and some people close to Pierre some questions in order to decide anything. They had to get it done today, though. The sooner they could gather evidence, the better.

Connor glanced over at Benny, his cheek resting against his palm, his face looking confused and afraid, though Connor couldn't blame him. After gaining emotion, Connor would've felt the same way too. He slowly started stepping towards the man, careful not to startle him, with Hank following behind. Connor cleared his throat to announce his presence, which made Benny look up suddenly.

Connor made sure to do a quick scan of him, just so he could know who he was speaking with.

Benny Richards, age 33

Owner of Benny's Deli for 7 years

Divorced by Irma Hill on 2034

Benny seemed a little on the heavier side, being only five foot five and two hundred and twenty one pounds. He has short cut black hair and had light brown skin, and Connor noticed he also had a hole in his earlobe where an earring would've been. He probably took it out for work. Connor stopped observing him, considering he thought it was getting a little irrelevant.

"Benny Richards?" Connor asked.

Benny's eyes widened. "How do you know my- oh wait. Never mind. I'm sure you know everything about me, right?"

"Not everything, I would say." Connor answered back. "I do know your name, age, weight, social se-"

Hank put his hand out in front of Connor right away, instantly making the android hush. "I think maybe I should do the talking, Connor." he said nervously, narrowing his eyes towards Connor's direction. "Wouldn't want to make the poor man slip personal info."

Benny just stared at them, his eyes wide with shock, and his brow furrowed with confusion. He watched as Hank slowly walked in front of Connor, keeping an eye on him all the while. He knew that Connor was a fairly new deviant, and some of his more android tendencies stuck with him. Though, Hank had to admit, he was still learning to act more human-like.

As Connor watched Hank step towards the table, he had to admit the comment he made would've surely been worrisome to a human being. The fact that someone else knows your social security number is worrying enough, though Connor couldn't help what his processor told him in scans.

Hank sat across from Benny on the plastic table so that he could see and talk to him easier, and folded his hands on the table top. Hank assumed that he should probably go easy on the poor man, considering he had just witnessed a murder, so he decided to begin with some small talk.

"So," Hank began, keeping his voice calm and gentle. "How long have you had your business?"

Benny's worried expression turned more neutral, seeing that things would truly be fine. He looked up, and cleared his throat briefly before answering. "I've had it open for 7 years."

"That's great." Hank replied, putting on a small smile. "Seems like a nice little business. Heard a lot of good things about it."

"It really is a great place." Benny answered, his fears melting away as he grinned. "It really is like a second home. My employees have been wonderful, most of the customers are so kind." He sighed. "I really do love my business, and my girlfriend and I couldn't be happier at its success."

"Happy to hear it's doing so well." Hank said with a nod of his head. He shifted in his seat, his expression changing to more serious, and Benny knew what he would ask. "I...uh, do hate to change the subject, but can you tell my partner and I about what happened this morning?"

Hank saw Benny get a bit nervous, as he was now looking at the floor and twiddling his thumbs.

"If you get too nervous, you can stop." Hank reassured him. "I won't force you to continue if you don't want to."

"No...no." Benny sighed, resting his forehead on his palm. "I know you need this information. That murderer needs to get captured for what he's done." He looked up, his eyes more confident than before. "I'll… I'll tell you everything."

Hank leaned back in the seat, crossing his arms over his chest. "If you want to, that's fine by us. Fire away."
-

Hello all! Sorry that this was a bit of an introductory chapter! But things will get a lot more interesting, I promise! Be prepared for some action!

~Trip