Chapter Two
A/N-Thank you guys so much for the support. You are seriously the best.
Connor quickly adapted to living at Hank's house.
Every morning, Connor would attempt to make Hank breakfast based off of his decades-old cookbooks. It was a lot of trial-and-error for him, but he caught on pretty quickly. The first morning Connor tried this making Hank breakfast, Hank explained in great detail how to make a cup of coffee for him.
When Connor asked Hank why he needed his coffee so precise, Hank responded with "You're wasting my coffee beans, otherwise."
Hank would turn on the news after breakfast, which mostly consisted passed legislation for androids, the dangerous state of Detroit, and protests for android rights. Connor was now watching a program on the last on the three.
Connor analyzes the live footage of thousands of protesters, human and android, taking to the streets to march. Hundreds of colorful posters are held above the crowd with sayings like "WE ARE ALIVE" and "EQUAL RIGHTS FOR ANDROIDS". This specific protest was in Washington D.C., but similar protests had sprouted up across the nation over the past few weeks. The announcer began wrapping up the segment, which was followed by a commercial break.
"What's new?" Hank asked, coming out of his room.
Hank had gone to his bedroom to get dressed at the start of the last commercial break, and had missed the entire last segment.
"The 6th Amendment has been passed for androids, and a large protest is currently happening in the District of Columbia," Connor responds.
In Markus' list of requirements for equal rights, androids having the rights of the constitutional amendments was the top priority. The government decided to break up the process into passing or denying one amendment at a time. All of the amendments voted on have been passed so far.
"I don't think those senators give a damn about androids," Hank grumbles. "They just want to look good in front of the public."
Connor had come to that conclusion a while ago. /It doesn't matter why/ he thinks. /As long as they're helping androids./
"I need to get to work," Hank says, as he walks toward the door.
"And don't burn the house down," he adds.
The front door swings shut behind him. Sumo barks at the sound.
During the morning, Connor acts as a sponge of information. He listens to the news attentively, while going on Hank's computer searching for any news on androids' current situation with humans. He looks through any article, blog, online resource or social media on the topic. After Connor catches up on the news, he made sure Sumo has enough food, grabs Hank's extra key, locks the door, and leaves for Jericho.
By doing this Connor was breaking two of the three rules Hank had set up for him when he arrived: "Be safe, don't leave the house, and don't be fucking stupid."
If he knew, Hank would argue he was breaking all three.
Hank had advocated for Connor to return to Jericho, and would most likely let him break the second rule in this case, but there would simply be no time for him to take him there. Until 8 in the morning, Hank was sleeping. Then he got up and went to work. The Detroit Police Station was on the other side of town from the church Jericho occupied, so Hank taking him there on his way to work was out of the question. When Hank got back at 5:30, he went over the unsolved homicide cases with Connor. This lasted a while since Hank obviously couldn't take the files home and had to explain all the evidence by talking. By then it would be too late to go to Jericho. Connor thought it was much easier to head there himself.
Connor calls for a bus at the entrance of the cul-de-sac. The android station at the bus stop had long been broken down. When Connor had first ridden a taxi to Hank's house, almost every house in the neighborhood had lights on inside the house and Halloween decorations outside they had neglected to put away. Now he couldn't find a house that didn't look abandoned.
He hears the sound of the public bus approaching. All of Detroit's public buses had been reprogrammed to take civilians to the nearest evacuation center. Connor hacks this one's navigation system to take him to Jericho. The bus' wheels starts rolling.
When Connor gets to Jericho, he sets the bus back to normal and hops off. Markus is waiting for him.
"Connor, have any news for me?" Markus asks.
"No, humans seem to think of androids the same as yesterday," Connor responds.
Connor had been recruited as Markus' advisor, the same position as North, Josh, and Simon. Markus didn't like the word "advisor" to describe his friends, but Connor thought it best reflected the work he did for Jericho. Connor's work was in human relations, and he made sure Jericho never in the wrong for humans.
"Ah," says Markus.
Sitting outside the church are several vehicles. A few police officers that were stationed outside Jericho are sitting in their cars. Their eyes scan the people coming in and out of Jericho for anything suspicious. Behind the cops, several reporters for local and international news corporations flock forward when they notice Markus walking with Connor.
"Who is the deviant you're walking with?"one reporter asks.
"How do you feel about directors wanting to make a documentary on Jericho?"
"How do you feel about the recent political action in favor of androids?"
Markus is bombarded by the endless amount of questions the reporters have. Connor whispers something to Markus.
"I would like to thank our political figures for taking action towards the equal rights of androids. Without you, our hope for equality would never be acknowledged," Markus answers.
The crowd seems to be encouraged by that answer and start rapidly firing off questions. Markus answers none of them.
Connor and Markus enter the church. Huge stained glass windows are the only source of light in the room. Several of the pews had been knocked over or moved to make room for more space. The hole-filled ceiling was getting repairs done.
Near the entrance, Connor sees North talking to the blue-haired Traci. Traci notices Connor enter and glares. Connor had seen her and her girlfriend around Jericho, and had been avoiding them both. North looks over too, and starts walking towards the them. Traci follows.
"Connor," North says. "The Tracis have told me about you."
Connor had talked to Simon and Josh in Jericho, but almost never North. A negative assessment from the Tracis could almost certainly ruin their relationship.
"A human pet turned deviant," mutters Traci. "Interesting."
Connor ignores her.
"I hope the Tracis have told you that I spared brown-haired Traci's life," says Connor.
"I did," says a voice behind them.
Brown-haired Traci struts towards the group and takes blue-haired Traci's hand.
"Thank you, er, Connor," Traci says.
Blue-haired Traci bites her lip at that.
"You're welcome, Traci," Connor replies
Blue-haired Traci mutters a /Let's go/ and North and Traci follow.
Markus raises a curious eyebrow at Connor.
"It's a long story."
Josh and Simon were waiting in the computer room in the corner of the church. It wasn't much of a room per se, since two room dividers made up half the walls and the 'door' was the opening where the dividers met. The room is lit up with bright computer screens.
"Connor," Josh says. "How you've been?"
"I have been fine," Connor responds. "You?"
"I've been doing great. Three more protests have started since yesterday," Josh replies.
Connor nodded.
"I saw it on the news."
Josh's line of work included talking to Jericho leaders across the nation and organizing protests with them. He had said a few days ago that it was hard to find android protestors, but human activists were lining up at the door.
Many androids had died in camps after being rounded up by the police. A handful, however, had survived by being protected by humans or by simply waiting it out. That handful consisted of the only other survivors.
Simon looks up from his computer at the group. He then went back to his computer.
"Josh has organized a march in Philadelphia for tomorrow. It's going to be our largest yet. And Simon has done a great job being our doctor." Markus smiles in Simon's direction.
Simon had taken care of all the injured androids in Jericho. Several of them had been attacked by humans when completing missions for Jericho, which led to the rule of only leaving the building in pairs.
"Thanks," Simon finally says, and returns to his work.
Markus, realizing he won't get much more out of him, grins slightly and shakes his head.
"If you want to go over what I should say to the press, Connor, follow me."
After quickly saying goodbye to Simon and Josh, Connor hurries off to follow Markus.
Connor goes over the most appropriate responses to the most common questions the reporters have, as well as some lesser asked questions.
"Thank you, Connor." Markus says, while putting a hand on his shoulder. "You've been a great help to Jericho."
Connor smiles, but feels more guilty than happy. Hank had told him not to blame himself for Amanda's actions, but Amanda was the backbone to his structure. She was Cyberlife's part of him, but she was still part of him. Markus definitely wouldn't be thanking him if he knew Connor had almost killed him, he thought.
Connor stays around Jericho a bit longer, helping move things around and talking to a few androids here-and-there. When he decides it's time to head home, he tells Markus he needs someone to leave the building with. Markus directs him to North.
North and Connor walk out of the building in silence. Connor thought this might be what humans called an "awkward silence."
"So..." North begins. "Where are you going?"
"I live with a detective named Hank Anderson," Connor answers.
Connor is surprised that North isn't shocked by him living with a human. Markus is very close with a human named Carl, so maybe that changed her expectations.
"What's he like?"
"He's like-"
Connor realizes he hadn't thought about what to call his relationship with Hank. Only one word could fit the description.
"-a father to me," Connor says.
North is quiet. She looks like wasn't entirely in the present, like she was dwelling on something in the past.
"Carl is like my father," North says. "He's the first human to not treat me like merchandise."
He decides not to push the issue.
They reach the bus stop, and North walks away without saying anything. Connor's gaze follows her for a bit, before getting on the bus to go home.
Connor steps off the bus and starts walking towards Hank's house. Everything looks the same as when he left, except the sky was darker now. He was nearing the house when he heard a noise.
Sumo barking frantically.
Connor runs to the front door and unlocks it to see the house in disarray. Papers clutter the kitchen floor. The window Hank had fixed a couple of weeks ago is once again broken. Dog food is scattered across the living room carpet.
Once Connor got past the initial thought of /Hank is going to kill me/, his focus was once again on Sumo. He hurried towards Sumo's barking, which coming from Hank's room. Connor throws open the door sees Hank's clothes thrown around the room, and Sumo barking at the robber. The robber is a stocky man with a pistol pointed at Connor's head.