Chapter 2
Scene of the crime
Connor and Rose arrived at the crime scene to find Hank already there. He looked pissed, but then again, he always looked pissed.
"It's about time!" hank yelled " and why the fuck is she here?" he gestured toward Rose
" you know hank if you contacted me directly instead of through a cellular device i would respond faster" connor crossed his arms " and i promised rose she would get to watch me work"
Hank opened his mouth to object to the idea, but then he remembered that he was talking to Connor and when Connor sets out to do something, he gets his way.
" so what's the scene look like?" Connor asked
" well it's an office building. An employee opened it up earlier today to a room covered in blue blood. Only problem is there's no android in sight and the building does'nt currently have any android employees" hank was leading them to the aforementioned room as he spoke " my guess is they need you to test the blue blood for them. Its alot faster than sending it to the lab"
Hank opened the door to let Connor in but stopped Rose when she tried to follow " stay out here kid. You can watch but don't get in the way"
Even from the doorway Rose could see that Hank wasn't kidding when he said the room was "covered" in blue blood. It looked like someone had spilled a few gallons of blue paint and then tried to paint the walls with their hands. Connor got straight to work analyzing the samples. She had heard how he did it, but seeing it first hand she was still shocked. He went to all different corners of the room. Picking up samples of the blood in his hands and licking them. Was that sanitary? Was there any risk of contaminating the samples? Can he taste it? She would have to ask these questions later.
When connor was finished he spoke " well it's not just from one android but the samples are so mixed up i won't be able to tell whos it is"
Hank shook his head " I hope the DPD aren't planning on getting very far in this case. All we have to go on is a room full of blood"
" maybe not just blood" Connor said as he bent down to pick up a thin piece of plastic off the floor. He wiped the blue blood off to reveal a name and a picture. An I.D. card of some sort. He went to hand it to Hank, but a hand came out of nowhere and plucked it from his. Unfortunately for them that hand belonged to Gavin.
" good afternoon boys thanks for finding my lead for me. You can go home now" he smirked as he looked over the I.D. card
Connor would have said something incredibly rude at that moment, taking a page from Hanks book, but he noticed something out the window. A flicker, or maybe a flash was the right word, and he had the feeling of being watched. He was snapped out of it by hank who was grabbing his arm.
" let's get the fuck out. I already had to work, i don't wanna deal with this prick on my day off too" he dragged connor out the door.
The three of them left the building, Rose and Hank were only half listening as Connor listed all of his theories about the case. He had so many for someone who had only seen a room full of blood and glimpsed an I.D. card.
" maybe we should find the person the I.D card belonged to" said Connor
" no!" Hank was getting annoyed " it's Gavins case anyway! What makes you think he's gonna ask us for help. Dammit Connor can't i enjoy one day off without you trying to get us to work more!"
Connor decided it was best to drop the subject before Hank blew up.
Later that night Rose was in her new apartment. Fresh out of the shower and in little more than a long T- shirt. She was sitting at a desk in her living room attempting to write about all the things she had learned that day. All she had managed was an outline so far. A more refined version of the notes she had taken that day. She tried to focus on the events Connor detailed in his interview, but that wasn't so easy now. As it turned out that the most interesting thing Connor had talked about all day was himself.
It made sense. From just that interview she got the impression Connor had a way of speaking that prioritized facts over feeling. So it was infinitely more interesting to her when he, for lack of a better word, deviated from that habit. But a book about the android rebellion isn't complete without all the boring who, what, and whens that go into writing something like that. It probably wouldn't hurt to write the parts she liked most first though.
Her cat Pebbles, named for the white and brown spotted color of her coat, bounded into the room and onto her lap.
" whats up sweety?" she asked not really expecting an answer. But she got one in an unexpected way. There was a flash coming from another room, then she heard glass break.
She grabbed her phone off the desk and ran as far as she could, But that was only into her bedroom. From there she hid in the closet. slow, methodical footsteps could be heard coming from the room she was just in. then a rustling of papers, followed by faster footsteps. All was quiet for about a minute after that and she decided it was time to call for help, but in her panic she missed the emergency services button and hit the auto dial button. Set up to dial the last number she had called or texted.
It dialed Connors number
It was near midnight when Connors LED flashed yellow as he received a call from Rose. she seemed surprised when he answered and she sounded pretty shaken up, but not enough that she couldn't tell him what had happened. He arrived at her apartment not ten minutes later. Hank wasn't going to be happy when he found out he took his car.
The door was still locked. But it was old and wobbly so Connor never thought twice about kicking it in. it opened up into the kitchen. There was glass all over the floor and he could feel a breeze coming from a broken window above the sink. Careful not to make too much noise he stepped into the next room, the living room. Papers were scattered all over the floor, the breeze blew a few of them around. He was pretty sure that whatever was here wasn't anymore.
"Rose?... Rose its me, Connor!" he yelled. He heard a muffled russling, and he very nearly drew his gun but stopped himself when Rose came running toward him.
" oh thank god!" said Rose as she wrapped her arms around Connors waist and buried her face in his shirt. Connor understood that humans sometimes needed this sort of physical contact in order to feel safe, but this was new to him. Nobody ever went to him for emotional support. He had hugged people before but this didn't quite feel the same as that.
He wrapped one arm around her. The sensors on his body told him that her heart rate was elevated, otherwise she was unharmed, but despite that information Connor was worried anyway " Rose are you ok? Do you need anything?"
She pulled away from him slightly " i'm… i'm fine, but will you call the police for me. I have already failed at doing that"
He tilted his head in confusion, but complied, the LED on this head flashed yellow for a few seconds. When it was done he said " they're on their way. I also sent a message to Hank, but i don't anticipate he'll see it till the morning"
It was way too early in the morning when Hank arrived by taxi at Rose's apartment. First responders and forensic specialists were already on the scene. Taking photos and collecting anything that seemed remotely out of place. Connor was in the middle of it all. Going through all the papers scattered on the floor.
" well the chief says this is our case now. Gavins not to happy about it for some reason, and neither am I" Hank Grumbled
Connor didn't even look up from the paper he was scanning " are you worried about the moral implications of working a case involving a relative?"
" fuck no! I'm worried about having to deal with people i dont wanna fuckin see!" Hank rolled his eyes
" Hank i know you dislike your extended family, but you hardly even know Rose. why do you hate her?" Connor asked, finally looking up at hank.
Hank sighed and pulled Connor into a nearby hallway. He didn't want people to overhear his personal life " Connor i don't " hate" Rose" he said under his breath " she just… she reminds me of the rest of them. And working on this case is gonna bring some of them out of the woodwork i just know it"
Connor nodded " i understand"
"Good" replied Hank " now what are all these papers anyway?"
" they're the notes Rose took during our interview. They include notes on the crime scene we were at yesterday. An exact copy of these notes is on her laptop, however that was stolen by the intruder. It was the only thing stolen. Rose also described a similar flash of light to one i had seen at the crime scene. Leading me to believe these two incidents are connected" Hank had to cover Connors mouth to get him to stop talking.
" you saw something yesterday and didnt say anything?" Hank asked
" a flash of light is hardly a something by itself. Plus you didn't seem to keen on working" replied connor
" ok well that explains why Gavins pissed. We took his case from him. Speaking of being pissed" he hit Connor over the head " if you ever use my car without asking me again i'll kick your face in!"
" my apologies Hank, at the time it was the most efficient option"
" whatever" hank grumbled as he walked away from Connor toward an officer that was waving at him
" what do you want" he grumbled
" l...luitennate Anderson sir… i was asked to give this to you" he handed Hank an envelope " it… it's the case file containing all the info you need to take over the case" he stammered out
Hank snached the envelope from him " go make yourself useful kid. Preferably away from me"
The officer practically ran in the other direction. Hank chuckled, it was pretty funny seeing how he intimidated the newbies sometimes.
"Hank" said Connor who was suddenly right behind him
" jesus fuck! Connor don't do that! Your gonna kill me one day!" he should have known better than to turn his back on Connor. Otherwise he was asking for stuff like that to happen " what do you want kid?"
" i dont think its a good idea to leave Rose alone today. She appeared shaken up. I am worried"
" you shouldn't be. far as i can tell Rose is a tough girl. Any other would probably still be crying their eyes out"
Connor shook his head " i'm aware of that. It just doesn't feel right, leaving her alone after nearly being assaulted" ever since Connor became a deviant it was more and more often that he let his feelings dictate his actions. It was still uncommon for him to voice it like this worst part is that he was almost always right when he did.
Hank sighed " i suppose your volunteering yourself for this?"
" yes if you don't mind"
" much as i hate the idea of working by myself all day….. You do have a point… god i wish i didn't have to say that"
" thanks Hank" Connor smiled
It was another hour before most of the police had left and Rose was finally free to move around in her own apartment. Connor was still there, sweeping up the broken glass in the kitchen. He was suppose to be staying all day, and all night. All because he was concerned for her well being. The thought made her blush a little. She never said it out loud but she really needed the company. It was even better that it was Connor. This way at least she could continue the interview from yesterday.
On the desk was her notepad. During the break in a few of the pages had been ripped out and scattered across the floor. But Connor had put them all back in order after he examined them. Rose took the papers and walked into the kitchen
" hey Connor"
" yes?" he looked up from his task. Giving her what she felt to be a rather odd look.
She crossed her arms, forgetting her original question " whats that look for?"
" what look? This is just my normal face"
" oh no… i know that look. humans do it all the time. Usually when they're really bad at reading other people"
" i was worried you came in here because something was wrong. So i was analyzing your mannerisms to determine your mood". he was embarrassed and it was adorable.
Rose laughed " you know you don't need to do that. People don't like being analized like that. Its ok though, and you know i would tell you if anything was wrong ok?"
"Ok" for the first time since she met him Connor seemed a little lost. Like he was torn between two things.
" so i came in here because i wanted to ask what you thought of my notes" Rose said, quickly changing the subject.
" they're good. Your very good at this Rose. i'm surprised it's your first time writing a book"
"Oh, thank you" she blushed " would you like to finish that interview today?"
" i don't see why not" he smiled " we have to find something to do today"
Connor and Rose sat down on a sofa in Rose's living room, and Connor continued where he left off as best he could. It was difficult. He had a hard time explaining how he felt beyond the most basic terms. It didn't feel right to just say he was sad, or afraid, or angry, or whatever he was feeling at the time. Sure he understood what all those words ment, but connor was still relatively new to them. He knew there was something more to these emotions than just the surface level, but he had no idea how to say that.
Maybe he didn't have too? Rose didn't seem to mind, and after all it was her interview. If she wanted to know more she would ask.
" Connor can i ask you something?"
Fuck! Had he jinxed himself? That was an old human superstition, but he had spent enough time around Hank to start believing in them himself.
" sure" he tried his best to look like he actually wanted her to ask him something
" you've been spending a lot of time worrying about if i'm ok. And i've noticed you just seem out of it sometimes...are you ok?"
" i ran my diagnostic program this morning. Everything was normal" he hoped that was a good enough answer
" you know that's not what i mean. I don't need a special program to tell me somethings wrong Connor. Your way to easy to read"
He sighed. That wasn't the first time someone had told him that. " i'm just…. I don't know...confused maybe… frustrated...both"
Rose set the notebook she was taking notes in down and reached out to grab Connors hand. Now he was even more confused. What was she doing?
" Connor its ok if you cant describe a feeling. Most humans have trouble with that. Not being able to describe them doesn't make them any less real than mine are"
It did make Connor feel a little better. " thank you Rose…. Its been eating away at me since we started the interview yesterday. I was afraid it wasn't normal to feel that way"
She smiled and squeezed his hand lightly " glad i could help" she pulled her hand away to open the notebook again.
There was a sudden knock on the door
Rose laughed as she got up to answer it. " you know at this rate i don't know if we'll ever finish this interview"
Connor followed Rose into the kitchen where she opened the door to reveal a woman he had never seen before
" mom!" yelled Rose in surprise " what are you doing here?!"
The woman was roughly the same age as Hank, but dressed far better. Like she came from a family of wealth
" the DPD contacted me and told me what happened. I came here to bring you home"
Rose was visibly annoyed " i just got here. I'm not leaving"
" oh come on, how much could the android have to say anyway" she scoffed, she looked over at Connor " is this it"
She'd called him an it, and instantly Connor understood why Rose might hate her family so much. He was already annoyed
" My name is Connor " he said, not trying to hide his frustration " and we have not quite finished the interview. Due to unforeseen circumstances" he said while crossing his arms.
" Well Connor, will you leave us alone. I'd like to talk to my daughter without an android watching me. Its creepy"
Before Connor could say or do anything Rose spoke up, loudly " MOM! If you have something to say to me say it while Connor is here! Otherwise get the fuck out!"
Rose's mom was visibly shocked by the statement. She turned around and left without a word. Slamming the door on her way out.
Rose turned to face Connor " i'm sorry about that" a few tears started streaming down her face " my mother doesn't really understand what i'm trying to do"
"Don't apologize" Connor said calmly as he wiped the tears from Rose's face " she deserved it, the way you chewed her out, i enjoyed watching that" then Connor brought his hand to his mouth. Tasting the tears he had wiped away.
"Really Connor! You keep using your crime solving programs on me...can we go a day without that please." she wasn't mad, more amused. Rose had to admit that as much as she gave him a hard time about reading her mannerisms and now analysing the chemical makeup of her tears, it was comforting to know he cared.
" Perhaps" he frowned " but it won't be today" a pause while the sample processed "elevated levels of stress. No doubt cause by the past few hours events"
He grabbed her arm and led her too the living room " i have an idea"
"What's your idea?" she asked. Letting him lead her without any resistance
" hank always watches action movies when he's stressed. Now that he doesn't drink as much. " he sat her down on the sofa and flipped through some menus on her TV until he found Die Hard. " this one's my favorite"