Good Neighbors
Chapter 2 - Unspecified
Connor brought himself out of stasis much earlier than necessary to ensure that Hank wasn't awake and would not wake in the course of his task. It was 5:30am. His chance of completing his early morning mission without the lieutenant waking was at 100%. The android silently put on the new beanie Hank had given him and pulled on his boots, treading lightly to the door. It opened without even the slightest creak. Sumo remained deeply asleep on the living room rug, his massive body rising and falling gently with each soft snore.
Shutting the door quietly behind him, Connor stood on the porch and scanned the new snowfall. They had gotten 4 inches the previous night but there was no snow in the weather broadcast for the rest of the week. He could clear the sidewalk and the driveway in about an hour and a half and still have time to take Sumo on a walk.
He had barely started when the door to the house directly to his left swung open with an almighty crash, followed by the blur of a body running out and falling haphazardly into the snow. Connor straightened, shovel still in hand, as he heard soft swearing coming from the prone figure. "Ow, fucking hell…"
Walking a bit closer to the short fence, Connor called out, "Excuse me, are you all right?" He noted that the neighbor seemed to be an adult female, probably between 20-25 years old.
He was about to scan her for injuries but stopped short when she turned green eyes on him and said, "Whoa, don't scan me, Big Guy. I don't even know you."
Connor felt his brows raise in surprise. The only evidence of him being an android was the LED on his temple and it was presently covered by his beanie. He had two options: scan her anyway to satiate his curiosity (impolite), or be neighborly and introduce himself (polite).
"My name is Connor. I'm-" He blinked a few times before continuing, "I live here with Lieutenant Hank Anderson." It was mildly inconvenient how some of his programming was harder to bypass than others.
The young woman stood and brushed herself off, giving Connor a searching look that made him feel as if she were scanning him. In that instance, he noticed that she slightly resembled Markus. She had a warm complexion and dark hair that was shaved on one side, the other side covered in curls that fell to her shoulders. "Madge Ramsey," she replied with a small nod. A smile formed on her face as she looked into his. "So you're Connor. I've heard some pretty cool things about you but no one told me you were hot."
Quickly running a systems check, Connor noted that he was, in fact, running at the ideal temperature for his biocomponents to function and not overheated at all. He didn't know what gave her the impression that his body temperature wasn't ideal, but he would ask later. Another question was higher in priority. "I hope you don't mind me asking," he began, keeping his tone neutral, "but since you preferred not to be scanned, I'm not sure if you're a human or an android. Which one are you?"
The same probing look she had given him before returned, but was quickly replaced by what Connor would describe as an amused grin. Her face certainly seemed to be expressive like a human's. "Take a guess."
"Connor felt a small shock of frustration course through his system. "I'm not programmed to guess. I'm programmed to get answers."
It took him a second to realize that his response could be considered rude and that his tone was not as level as he would have preferred. However, Madge didn't seem bothered since she just shrugged, grin turning into a smirk. "What's your super sophisticated android intuition leaning towards?"
With the growing feeling that this young woman was toying with him, Connor actively pushed his frustration aside and decided that the only way to get any sort of answer from Madge was to indulge her.
Connor looked at her face. The ease in which her expressions formed indicated she was human. Androids, despite their recent sentience and exposure to very real emotions still carried a certain stiffness in their faces. It wasn't that they couldn't be expressive, but it took more for them to get to the point of showing emotion openly. Emotions were easier to hear in their voices rather than see in their eyes.
But the fact that she knew he had the ability to scan her without the visual clue of his LED was very strange. The only explanation Connor had for that was that she had some sort of scan sensor, which she would only have if she were an android.
Or she got unrealistically lucky in which case, she was human. But Connor wasn't satisfied with that conclusion either.
"It's a 50/50 percent chance you're one or the other," he informed her.
Much to his confusion, Madge looked up thoughtfully before giving a small shrug. "I'll take that." He didn't understand. What could she possibly take from his inconclusive conclusion?
Before Connor could ask her to expand on her unsatisfyingly vague response, she raised her hand in a small wave and said, "Well, I've got a bunch of errands to run so I'm gonna go. It was nice meeting you. Catch ya later, neighbor." And without another word she was out of her yard and jogging down the street, Connor's eyes following her disappearing form with a curious itch in his brain and no answers.
Two hours later, he found himself sitting in the living room with a disgruntled Hank.
"This is fucking goddamn depressing," Hank groaned.
Connor looked towards his partner who up until that moment had been silently going over the files he had brought home from the station the day before. The DPD issued tablet lay face down on his lap as he brought his hands to his face.
"It's not the most...pleasant task," Connor agreed. "But I'm sure we'll bring peace of mind to many androids and humans alike once we find them all."
A sigh escaped the older man. "You really think we're going to find all these people?"
There was a small part of Connor that truly wanted to say whatever it took to remove the haunted look from his partner's eyes, to assure him that every single person on the list could be found alive and well in New Jericho. But he could never lie to Hank. He respected the man too much to offer such illogical sentiments. He wasn't sure Hank would appreciate it if he did anyway. Honesty was always the best approach. "I do. But I also believe we should prepare ourselves for the varying states we find them in."
"Disassembled, disembodied, dead."
Frowning forming on his lips, Connor tried to ignore the sudden squeezing sensation around his Thirium pump. He had learned months before that the uncomfortable feeling was due to negative emotional stimuli. Hank was clearly in low-grade distress and though Connor knew the lieutenant could work past it, there was always trill of fear that manifested itself as the image of a gun on Hank's kitchen table in his mind's eye. The man was tough, Connor knew this full well. But he wasn't indestructible.
For a brief moment, he was torn between the need to accomplish their task (they had already put if off the night before) and his responsibility to Hank, whom he had silently vowed to take care of, whether the older man wanted him to or not. The decision then came easily.
"Maybe we should take a break."
Hank sighed. Connor could tell he would rather do anything else than what they were doing, but the man's sense of duty would keep him from fully conceding. Stubbornness was one of the man's strongest traits, after all. "We barely started."
"True," the android agreed gently. "But it isn't exactly a simple or easy job. It would be beneficial to take a ten to fifteen minute break to clear our minds." His partner was sending him a heavy stare that he couldn't quite read so he added as extra initiative, "I'll make coffee."
To Connor's immense satisfaction, Hank's eyes grew soft as his lips quirked into a small grin. "With rum in it?"
A laugh escaped him. "That was a one time deal, Hank."
"Damn." Hank crossed his arms dramatically and turned to Sumo who was lying on the floor at is feet. "Did you hear that, Sumo? Android-nanny said no."
"Sumo's on my side," Connor replied jovially as he stood and made his way to the kitchen. "He wants you to live a long life just as much as I do."
He was only being truthful, but as he came back into the living room with a large mug of coffee, he realized by the gentle warmth in Hank's eyes and the slight stiffness of his posture that the older man had taken his words with much more sentiment that he had said them. Shaking his head, Hank took the mug and simply muttered, "God dammit, Connor."
Wordlessly, the android picked up the tablet and flipped it over, eyes roaming the file Hank had left it on. He suddenly understood why his partner's distaste for this assignment had bled over so heavily: Hank had gotten to the missing children reports.
The face staring up at him was that of a little girl's, her long hair an incredibly dark shade of red. Her file read:
Name: Caroline Doe
Age: 10
Status: Unknown
Person who filed report: Dr. Reginald Perce
Last Seen: 10/31/38
And after hers was Tyge Mason, age 8, missing since early November then Olivia Newman, age 12, missing since December 1st. Of course, Connor already had all the files in his database, but he had yet to process the information. They had been given all the missing persons files that had even the slight chance of relating to androids but he had been surprised that among them were a fair amount of missing children reports. The memory of Daniel holding Emma above the edge of the roof flashed across his internal screen and he found himself hoping these children were not being held hostage in a similar fashion.
Going back to Caroline's file, Connor stared at the words "Status: Unspecified." A doctor had reported her missing. Doctors had access to medical and family histories. It wasn't possible that no one knew whether this girl was an android or human. The information had been left out on purpose. But why?
"Jesus Christ, Connor, are you all right?"
He looked up from the tablet, confused. "I'm fine, Hank. Why do you ask?"
His partner watched him for a long moment before taking a sip of coffee then replying, "Your LED turned yellow and freaked the fuck out."
"Oh." Connor blinked a few times. "I was just thinking."
"When aren't you thinking?"
Absently rubbing his hands together, Connor answered automatically: "When I'm in stasis." The silence that followed was poignant enough for him to face his partner, only to be met by a flat stare. He stilled his hands immediately. "Oh," Connor repeated, this time with more understanding. "It was a rhetorical question." When Hank merely nodded, he shrugged slightly and leaned back against the couch cushions. "I'm still getting used to the contradictory nature of humans."
"Most humans don't even understand their own nature," the older man muttered. They fell into silence, one that Connor could already tell was going to be broken by his partner based on how he sighed, and leaned forward. The android had noticed long ago that Hank always grew interested in cases despite any level of distress if he himself showed signs of formulating a theory. A true detective to the core. There was no doubt in his mind that there were still so many things he could learn from Hank. "So, what were you thinking so hard about?"
Handing Hank back the tablet, Connor replied, "I was wondering why this girl's status has been left out. I believe the information was omitted on purpose but for what reason?" Blinking once as he quickly processed all the files, he added, "After scanning all 92 files, I've found 21 with the status left as unspecified: 11 adults and 10 children."
Raising a brow, Hank began swiping through the files. "That's fucking weird." After a brief pause he suggested, "Maybe since most of them went missing before the revolution, the people who sent in the reports didn't want to straight up say they were androids? Because at the time finding them would be lower priority than finding humans?"
"That doesn't seem right," Connor replied softly. "If that were the case, they could have just lied and claimed their status as human. Why leave it as unspecified?" He brought up file of Caroline Doe on his visual display. "Besides, no one reported anything until after the revolution was over despite the fact that all of them were last seen before the revolution even started."
"So you're saying they were reported because of the revolution," Hank said slowly, brow furrowed in thought. "Because androids now have equal rights."
"That's one theory," Connor nodded. "Because it's possible they have been found within New Jericho. The likelihood of actually finding them is higher."
"That still doesn't explain the unspecified status, though," Hank pointed out with a frown.
Connor looked into his partner's eyes for a moment before taking an unnecessary breath. "It is strange. If there had only been one, it could have simply been a coincidence. With this many, it's a pattern."
Hank began swiping the tablet hurriedly, eyes scanning each file's status intently. "Yeah. Run this with me. What else do they all have in common besides being unspecified?"
"They were all reported to have been last seen before November 12th of last year. Before the revolution."
"Fuck," his partner grumbled. "Connor, can you separate the unspecified files into their own fucking folder so my eyes don't start bleeding from scrolling through all 92 of them?"
"Done," he replied instantly.
"Thanks." Connor waited patiently as Hank scrolled through the files, wanting to know what other similarities his partner would notice. There were a few he himself had already made note of, but he had learned many months ago that Hank did not appreciate just being given answers unless he asked for them himself. Granted, he had asked the question, but Connor knew that they were in what Hank called, "bouncing ideas around" phase of their impromptu investigation. He would wait his turn.
Hank looked over at him and said slowly, "All the unspecified cases were reported to the DPD on the same date: January 1st, New Year's Day."
"And all of the reports were made by doctors."
"Holy shit," his partner whispered. "I didn't even notice that." Hank was silent for a moment before adding tentatively, "They could have been a mass breakout from some sort of facility."
"There's not a high probability," Connor informed him. "I just ran a reference check on all the doctors who sent in the reports and none of them work in the same place. Some of them aren't even practicing in the state of Michigan."
"Then why would the reports be made at the Detroit Police Department?"
"That's a good question."
"God dammit, what the actual fuck?"
With the patience only an android could have, Connor watched as Hank ran a hand frustratedly down his face before crossing his arms and lean back against the couch cushions. Assured that the man had nothing else to add for the moment, he decided to make a proposition. "I suggest we talk to Captain Fowler about focusing on these unspecified files. I'll still send all the names of the missing people to Markus for cross-referencing, but I do believe there is something more going on with the Unspecifieds. There is the chance that are dangerous or are in danger. In which case, we should find them before anything more problematic arises."
Hank uncrossed his arms and let out a breath. Talking to the Captain was not something he wanted or liked to do; Connor knew this. But there was also an appeal to being on an actual case that he knew his human friend couldn't resist. "I guess he might go for it… there are enough files to go around the rest of the office anyway." Slapping his hands to his knees, Hank pushed himself off the couch and stretched with a grunt. Connor smiled. "Come on," his partner said with a jerk of his head towards the door. "Might as well go now. Can't wait to see the look on his face seeing me in early."
Connor followed instantly. After giving Sumo a departing pet he closed the door behind him, eyes briefly wandered over to the house to the left. The curtain inside the window shifted ever so slightly, revealing a tiny flash of silver that disappeared as quickly as it came. Suspicion began to rise in his mind, but Hank was already in the driver seat waiting for him to get in. With a swift glance back towards the window that revealed nothing more, he got into the car and made no mention of it to Hank. It was probably just a cat, anyway.