"No, no, everything is fine!" Lieutenant Hank Anderson insisted. He paced the small area around his desk while he talked to his daughter on the phone. "I just don't think it's a good idea for you to come around the station today." He cast a weary look at the Android sitting across from him.
"Dad, if you don't tell me why, I'm just going to have to show up there anyway." His daughter, Charlene, explained in the calmest tone she could manage. The truth was she was concerned. It wasn't like her father to cancel his plans with her.
"No! I mean it's really not that big of a deal." Hank promised. "I've just got a new partner, that's all."
"That's all?" Charlene repeated skeptically. "You haven't had a partner in five years." She wasn't completely unaware of how things went in the Detroit Police Department. Her father had been without a partner for so long because he had forgotten how to play well with others. There had to be a reason for them to suddenly assign someone. "Well, if you're sure, then I guess we can reschedule our lunch for a day when you're not working at the office with your partner."
"Thank you for being so understanding, Charlie." Hank used his affectionate nickname for his daughter "Maybe I'll drop by after my shift."
"Yeah, sure. Sounds great." Charlene agreed just to get him off the phone. She was going to go down to the police station anyway. She didn't care that Hank had shuffled all the blame on his new partner, things just didn't feel right. Even during the peak moments of his time on the Red Ice task force Hank always made an effort to keep his plans and promises to her. Something else had to be going on. She grabbed her coat and drove her car downtown.
At the police station, Charlene waved to the familiar faces of the two android receptionists before letting herself through the secured area to the squad room. She could identify most of the uniformed officers at first glace as her eyes scanned the scattered work stations around the room, but one figure stood out among the others. Sitting at the desk directly adjacent to her father's was an android. Easily identified by the bright blue triangle on the back of its jacket, blue armband and the swirling blue LED near its right temple. Surprisingly the android didn't seem to be a suspect in a case. Charlene wondered if this was the new "partner" her father had mentioned on the phone.
"Ironic, isn't it Anderson?" Detective Reed scoffed. He had managed to sneak up on her, causing Charlene to jump slightly.
"What are you talking about, Gavin?" She huffed, wishing he would just go away.
"They wait all this time to give your pops a partner and when they find one, it's one of those plastic pieces of shit." He chuckled before continuing on his way to the coffee pot in the corner.
"Dad?" Charlene called for her father's attention as she approached the two desks where he and the android were seated.
"Charlie? I thought we agreed you weren't gonna come." Hank narrowed his eyes at his daughter with disapproval as she walked towards him.
"Well, really you decided that, but you sounded off on the phone. I figured I'd better come down anyway." Charlene explained. "Shit, did they really give you an android partner?" She turned to study the android seated nearby. He was tall, at least six feet with dark brown hair and eyes. He nodded at Charlene politely but looked to her father for an explanation.
"Lieutenant, is this your daughter?" The android asked.
"You stay out of this!" Was Hank's disgruntled response.
"Do you have a name?" Charlene asked the android politely.
"My name is Connor." He told her politely. "I'm an android sent by Cyberlife to investigate deviant androids. I am to act as Lieutenant Anderson's partner in these investigations."
"It's nice to meet you, Connor." Charlene told him kindly. "To answer your question, yes I am Lieutenant Anderson's daughter. Though I don't look much like that anymore." She indicated a photo hanging on the wall near Hank's workstation. She was at least a decade younger with braces and her hair in pigtails. "If it's alright with you I'm going to borrow the Lieutenant for just a second." Charlene didn't give her father a choice before dragging him away.
"What? I'm trying to work here!" He complained once they were alone together in a nearby hallway.
"So, they gave you an android partner." Charlene politely ignored her father's tone.
"It's temporary." He huffed. "He'll be gone as soon as we're done figuring out what connects all the deviant cases."
"Hang on, they've assigned you to all of the deviant android cases and gave you an android partner to work with? Are you okay?" Worried, she placed a loving hand on his shoulder.
"Me? Yeah." He shrugged sounding anything but alright.
"If you're fine then why didn't you want me to come by today?" She folded her arms across her chest. "You thought I couldn't handle knowing your partner was an android?"
"Well, you know." Hank shifted his weight uncomfortable. "After what happened with…"
"You're the one who blames androids for what happened back then, Dad. Not me." Charlene reminded him; her tone sharp. She walked back into the squad room. Connor was still sitting at the desk he'd been assigned, seemingly unmoved from where she and Hank had left him.
"Connor, would you like to join the Lieutenant and me for lunch?" She invited him with a friendly smile. Connor's head tilted slightly as if the machine were confused.
"I have no need for food, Charlene." Connor explained to her. "But, will sitting with you while you consume your lunch help the Lieutenant and I some over case?"
"I think it we all went out for lunch it could give the Lieutenant a subtle boost to his moral." Charlene suggested. "Which may actually help your investigation. Plus, sometimes he forgets to eat if I don't make him."
"Quit talking about me like I'm not here!" Hank grumbled.
"I apologize Lieutenant, it was not our intention to exclude you from our conversation." Connor assured his partner.
"I'm not sorry." Charlene shrugged. "You do it to me all the time. C'mon Cyberboy."
Without hesitation she grabbed Connor's hand and gently tugged at it. The android understood that she wanted him to follow her, so he began to walk at a pace that matched Charlene's. It had been easy to notice how humanlike the Cyberlife androids were until Charlene's hand grasped around Connor's synthetic one. Being composed mostly of computer parts, Connor's temperature ran much warmer than a human. Also, Charlene swore she could feel the Blue Blood pumping rhythmically beneath her touch. As if he had a pulse.
"Don't get too attached to him." Hank ordered his daughter as he followed after her and Connor. "We're gonna solve these cases and then he's going back to Cyberlife."