Hank hated the news and all its streamlined fear mongering bullshit, but with everything happening in Detroit, he wanted to be as informed and up to date as possible. He kept it on in the background while he cleaned up from dinner, which mostly entailed putting the leftover pizza in the fridge and throwing out the box.
It was ironic really. A few days ago people relied on androids to take care of everything for them, from their dirty work to child care to their sexual needs. Now after one little protest, people were setting their maid bots on fire in the streets and shooting fast-food workers executioner style like they were nothing. The armed soldiers dragging the androids off to camps were the only thing holding the people back from a city-wide riot and the androids… well, the androids were protesting peacefully. But after the slaughter they endured that afternoon who knew where they would stand now.
He feared for Cole's safety and was seriously considering leaving the city. Maybe it would be nice for him and the boy. Maybe they could start over somewhere new. Dare he even say it, somewhere with less fucking snow, although it seemed everybody was fleeing north to Canada where there were no androids to worry about. Of course, when he proposed this idea to Cole his response was a definite 'screw that', but this tended to be the boy's opinion on most things of late. They both already had their passports and a bit of money saved up so if they had no other choice at least they had that to fall back on.
He turned off the TV and rubbed his eyes. The only thing that mattered was Cole's safety. His job, his home, his life savings... he would throw it all away for his one and only son.
He was standing in the dark living room, listening to the steady patter of the rain, completely lost in thought when the doorbell rang, startling him and setting off Sumo. He checked the time on his phone. It was just past nine o'clock, far too late to be expecting any visitors, not that they would be expecting any anyway. The Andersons were about as antisocial as you could find. Work would know better than to bother Hank at home on his day off and Cole rarely made friends with people unless there was a screen and a time zone or two between them. The buzzer rang again not 30 seconds after the first.
"Dad, who is it?" Cole called from his room.
Hank peered out of the blinds of the front window and saw a young man with brown hair wearing medical scrubs on their front step. He bounced on his toes, anxiously looking back and forth between the street and the door. When he turned his head to the right, Hank saw a ring of light flashing red on his temple.
It wasn't a man at all, but an android.
It was the surgeon from the hospital all those years ago. Kevin… no. Connor. The one that not only saved Cole's life, but bought him a coffee and practically talked him off the edge. What the hell was it doing here and why did it look so panicked?
"No one, Cole. It's um, it's just a salesman." He watched the android press and hold the button again.
"Well, are you gonna tell him to go away or not?"
It didn't look armed or seem to pose any immediate threat, so Hank cautiously opened the door. The cold fall air whipped around him, chilling the exposed skin on his arms. Connor's face lit up in a bright smile when it saw him.
"Hank!" It was shaking as if it were cold. Or perhaps even scared.
"Connor? What are you… how did you find us?" Hank asked.
"Your address was in Cole's medical file. Luckily for me, you haven't moved in five years." Its smile quickly fell away. "I'm sorry. I didn't know where else to go. They were rounding up the androids at the hospital to be taken away for recycling, so I ran away." A car drove down the street and the android made a noise Hank could have sworn was a gasp. It then quickly raised its hand to cover its LED until it passed. "Please, I need help."
"Harboring an android is a federal crime. I could go to jail. I don't know if you're programmed with the concept of that, but it's a very long time in a very, very bad place… and Cole needs me. I can't just..."
Somehow the android was pulling off the sad puppy look better than Sumo ever could. Here it was, wet and scared, while Hank basically sent it off to the slaughter; but there was no way he could help it. He couldn't bear the thought of getting hauled off in cuffs by one of his own, or the idea of what prison life would be like for a cop. The worst was knowing that Cole would be ripped from his life and forced into the foster care system and he had already made a promise to never let that happen to him.
"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, but I can't," he said softly as he slowly began shutting the door.
"Hank, please!" It threw its hand up to block the closing door. "I… I don't want to die," Connor begged, its doe-like eyes filling with tears. Hank felt his heart shatter into a thousand pieces. What kind of monster would he be to turn it away after that? He did owe the damn thing and had more than expressed that to it before. Hank surveyed the streets for any witnesses before standing aside to let the poor soul in.
"grrRRR WOOF!"
"Easy, Sumo," Connor said in a gentle tone. "It's ok, I'm a friend. See." It held out its hand so that Sumo could get its scent, or lack thereof. The beast gave it a few good sniffs before losing interest and retiring to his spot on the sofa. Hank took Connor by the shoulder and gave the android a little push, directing it away from the windows and into their kitchen.
"Okay, first let's get you out of those scrubs. Then we'll... take care of that," Hank said, pointing to its LED. "Wait here, I'll be right back."
Hank walked into his room and closed the door behind him. He placed his forehead against the hardwood of the door as his mind spun with doubt as to whether he was doing the right thing here. His heart told him it was the right call, since helping people was the reason he had become a cop. It was who he was at his core, but could he really call it noble if he was putting his son at risk? And for what? A machine, a machine he hadn't even seen in years.
He stared blankly into his open closet, trying to find a shirt that wouldn't make the android look like a tacky neon sign. He settled on one of his DPD sweatshirts that had definitely seen better days, but should have been small enough for it. He also found some stretchy waist sweatpants in his dresser. He was rifling through his nightstand looking for his pocket knife when he heard the distinct sound of Cole's door opening and his feet lazily shuffling across the hallway floor only to stop suddenly.
"Daddd…?" Cole yelled questioningly. "Why is there an android in our kitchen?" Hank left the clothes on his bed, then joined his son in the kitchen. Cole was still wearing the same flannel pajama bottoms and white T-shirt he had been wearing since he got home from school. The handheld game was still flashing in his hands but his dark brown eyes were fixated on Connor.
Sizing up the stranger in his house.
"Hello Cole. We haven't officially met. My name is Connor, I'm the android that performed your surgery." Connor extended its right hand to Cole for a handshake but the boy ignored it. He looked over at his father with annoyed confusion.
"It's okay, bud," Hank said, sidling next to him and wrapping his arm around him in a little side hug. He rubbed his large hand on his son's scrawny arm in an attempt to reassure him. "Connor's just gonna stay with us for a bit till we can figure something out."
"The news said to bring all androids to the authorities," Cole said.
"Yes. Well, technically I am the authorities, so..." Hank replied.
"Dad, what the hell," the boy barked, pushing free from his dad's embrace. "You could get in a lot of trouble for this." He gestured in Connor's direction and Hank saw Connor's LED change to red.
"I couldn't just leave it out there, it was…" he paused, barely believing in his own words. Looking at Connor he could see the apprehensive look on its face. It looked like a child watching their parents argue. "It's scared, Cole."
"You can't be serious. Dad, it's plastic and software. It doesn't get scared." Cole turned to Connor and abruptly threw his hands in the air with an unenthusiastic 'boo.' Connor's only reaction to this was a slight twinge of its brow and tilt of its head in confusion.
"See?" Cole said to his father.
"Just give it a chance, Cole. For crying out loud, you wouldn't even be here right now if weren't for it. Show a little gratitude." Hank's patience was beginning to wear thin. It seemed that every day that passed brought Cole closer to teenage-hood. It only served to push them further apart, bringing new changes and stress to their relationship. Hank hoped that this could just be one of the one in a million things that Cole didn't fight him on, but the boy was not backing down.
"It was doing what it was programmed to do. Are we going to save the garbage collectors because they always get our trash on time, or take in the Jerry's at the arcade for giving us the correct change?"
"Dammit Cole," Hank growled. "This man saved your life, so for that I owe him mine. Connor stays with us until we find somewhere safe, and that's final."
The two glared at each other for a while until Cole stormed out of the kitchen and back to his room. Hank winced at the sound of the door slamming. He let out a defeated sigh before turning back to Connor. Its mouth hung open like it wanted to say something, but it stayed silent. "Sorry about him."
"No, I'm sorry," Connor said immediately. "I-I didn't mean to cause any issues between you two." Hank was shocked to hear it stammer like that. His intense staring must've been making it uncomfortable, as Connor sheepishly began looking down at the floor.
"Issues? Naw, that was nothing," he said dismissively. "He didn't swear at me or tell me how much he hates his life so I'd call that mild at best. Honestly, I'm surprised he gave up after 'that's final.' Normally I have to bust out the 'when you pay the bills then you can make the decisions' line on him." Hank smiled but the android still looked distraught.
"Here, sit down," Hank said, pulling out a kitchen chair. Connor did as it was asked and sat in the wooden chair. Unable to find his pocket knife, Hank settled on one of the clean steak knives from the dish drain.
In the reports about deviants that Hank had seen at work, he had learned that androids could remove their LED in order to hide themselves. Hank carefully wedged the tip of the blade under the edge of Connor's LED. He didn't know what to expect from Connor. A wince or a grunt, some kind of movement, but it didn't react at all. He jammed the blade in deeper, then with a quick tug the little ring fell to the floor with a light clatter. Hank watched as Connor's synthetic skin grew back, covering the spot where the circle no longer was.
"Thank you," it said, staring blankly across the room, its long fingers reaching up to touch the bare spot.
"It's nothing." Hank bent down to pick up the LED off the ground. "This thing is basically a sticker," he said, studying it, turning it over and over in his fingers and trying to decide if it was okay to throw it in his trash, or if he should toss it in a random can somewhere on his way to work so not to leave evidence. "Why would they bother designing you guys with-"
"No, I meant… earlier. You said 'this man saved your life'. No one's ever called me that before. Did you really mean that? Do you think I'm a man? Do you think... I'm alive?" The last two words were said so quiet they came out almost as a whisper.
"Connor, I know you're alive. I've always known."
Connor finally looked up at him, its mahogany eyes wide with shock. Honestly, there was never any doubt in his mind. Even before the coffee Hank had seen something in Connor, something not quite discernible or overt but something one learns to pick up on after more than 20 years of being a detective. He also wasn't dumb enough to fall for the prototype bullshit. Who the hell would program a surgeon to have opinions on dogs or Serbian death metal?
"So why didn't you report me?"
"Why would I? You weren't hurting anyone," Hank said, shaking his head. "Besides, what would I say?" He mimed being on the phone with his thumb and pinky to his ear. "Hello, CyberLife, yes, your android saved my seven-year-old from a brutal death, but I think its broken. It's got empathy and a goofy laugh and good taste in music. Kill it, kill it with fire." Hank snickered at his own dated reference but then felt a twinge of regret remembering what was happening to androids outside of his walls.
"Well, I don't know if I'm technically a man but, I think I like being called masculine pronouns. I will try to think of myself as such from now on," Connor said, with a small elated smile finally returning.
Looking down at Connor, Hank couldn't help feeling a touch of jealousy. Connor hadn't aged in the slightest in the last five years. It was... no, he was like a handspun silk flower, while Hank was more like a withering bonsai tree that some asshole refused to water. The last time he saw Connor his hair still had its color and his skin didn't have nearly as many wrinkles. Not that physical appearance mattered much to Hank, but looking at the same flawless face after all this time did give him brutal reminders of his own mortality.
"There's some clothes in the bedroom there," he said, pointing towards his room. Connor stood up and left without a word.
After putting the knife away, Hank hovered at the edge of the hallway. The lights were still on in Cole's room. He briefly considered going to talk to him but he knew that his son often needed time to cool down after an outburst like that. Hank pictured him on his laptop taking out his frustrations on strangers who had the misfortune of crossing his virtual path. It was an old laptop that Hank had commandeered from work and had a friend fix up, not the newest or the most compact, but it was able to run Cole's video games. Hank gave it to him to praise him for getting his grades up and Hank remember his look of gratitude so clearly because it felt like the last time the boy genuinely smiled at him.
He decides to leave him be for a while, let him unwind for a bit, then maybe he'd have an easier time convincing him to give the unexpected house guest a second chance.
He was about to turn back to the living room when he heard a soft sound coming from his bedroom. It made his blood run cold and his throat tighten.
Connor was crying, which then turned in to full-blown sobbing.
Hank couldn't understand how someone who didn't need to breathe could sound so helplessly breathless. He wanted to throw open the door and do something to comfort him but he didn't even know what he could do. Tell him that everything would be fine? Complete bullshit and they knew that. Give him a hug? He didn't even know if Connor was capable of feeling physical sensations. Even if he could, Hank remembered his rigid reaction to their last hug and figured it was not what he needed right now. He decided to do the only thing he knew he could do, which was to work toward creating a solution. He took out his phone and began searching through his contacts until he found who he needed.
"Hey Pedro, it's Hank. Listen, do you still know that guy who can forge electronic documents? I need stuff to get someone out if the country. You know passport, ID, all that... no it's not for me, it's for... a friend... a picture? Yeah, I can get a picture. I'll send it to you in a second, alright, thanks, Pedro." He terminated the call just as Connor stepped out of his room. He was glad to see the clothes fit him perfectly. There was a small dark spot on the faded D that must have been from Connor wiping his eyes. He didn't know what those tears were made of or if they would stain but he didn't care, he was just relieved the kid stopped.
"Come here," Hank said guiding him into the living room positioning him against the white wall before taking a step back. "Okay, now smile," he said, looking at him through the camera on his phone. Connor made the uncanniest of faces showing far more teeth than anyone ever should.
"Oh, come on. I know you can do better than that," he said as he roughly tousled Connors soft synthetic hair and the android giggled a little. "Come on I know you can, I've seen it." He moved his fingers down to the crook of his neck to tickle him, a trick that always worked on Cole... well, at least it did when he was younger. Connor laughed a bit harder and Hank was glad to know he responded well to touch. He pulled away and snapped a photo of his sincere smile. "Okay, my friend Pedro will take this and get you a passport so you can make it across the border where you'll be safe. You can stay here 'til then. Hope the couch works for you."
"Couch?" Conner said, cocking his head.
"Yeah, for tonight. Oh, do you not sleep?"
"I do not, but thank you." Connor circled around the back of the fur-covered couch then sat down in the middle with his back completely straight and his palms flat on his thighs. With a blink of his eyes Conner remotely activated the tv and set the channel to the local news.
Hank suggested that he watch literally anything else, but much like himself Connor wanted to know what was happening. He decided to sit and watch with Connor for a bit despite how sick he was of hearing President Waran and her stupid voice. Connor probably had a similar feeling, as he scowled when she spoke about how "absurd" it was to think androids could be considered a new form of life.
If Connor was human Hank would have offered him something to help him relax. A blanket or a pillow, maybe a stiff drink, but he was a total loss of what to do to help the poor kid.
"Can I get you anything?" He asked.
"Do you have a quarter?"
"What? Why?"
"We would often use coin tricks to test our dexterity in the hospital. I think having one right now might help me feel more… relaxed."
They searched through jacket pockets and in between the couch cushions to no avail. Eventually, Hank found an assortment of change at the bottom of his clothes hamper. When he flicked the coin to Connor, he snatched it out of the air with ease, then started rolling it over each of his fingers. It was hypnotic to watch. Hank wondered if his own blunt fingers could pull off something like that and if Connor would be willing to teach an old dog a new trick. Not tonight, of course, he was already struggling to keep his eyes open and he intended to be at work as early as he could tomorrow.
"I should get to bed." Connor halted his twiddling and looked up at Hank. "Good night, Connor."
He was reaching out to give him a supportive pat on his shoulder when Connor clearly decided a linebacker tackle style hug was more appropriate. Hank stumbled back a half step and thanked the great chiropractic gods that he didn't immediately throw his back out.
"Thank you." Connor whispered. Hank just laughed tenderly and hugged him back. Any remaining doubts he had disappeared with that hug. He was eager to get to bed and put this crazy day to an end, but not before checking in on his son.
"Cole. Can I come in?" he asked softly, knocking on his door. He didn't wait for an answer. The room was dark except for the light from his laptop. Hank tried to get a glimpse of whatever website he was on, but Cole slammed it shut before he could see much. He had the parental block on but he had a feeling that his son had the time and the knowledge to discover a way around it. Cole folded his arms and stared off as if having a conversation with the corner of the ceiling.
"So that's the great Connor you wouldn't stop talking about," he said pushing his shaggy brown hair out of his eyes.
"Yeah that's him." He sat down at the edge of the bed, the old box spring squeaking under his weight. "Look, I'm sorry you don't like him but he's gonna stay at least until tomorrow. Can you just try to be nice till then?"
"Fine just… you're all I have." His voice was cracking. His eyes moved in Hank's direction but he was still not looking at him. "So just don't get sent to jail, okay?" he said, with a grave expression on his face.
"Hey." He placed both of his hands on the side of Cole's head, tilting it to make him look at him. "I promise. I'm not going to go to jail," he said slowly, annunciating his words so that Cole knew he meant it.
Cole pushed his hands away before laying down on his side with his back to Hank, pulling up the comforter to his neck. "You always suck at keeping your promises."
Hank couldn't deny that he had failed to uphold a promise to Cole more times than he'd like to. Cole could have been referring to Hank's promise to take them somewhere out of Michigan this summer, or his promise to be nice to his friends' fathers. There were also all the times he broke a promise to be there for his basketball games or school plays, not to mention the countless times he'd failed to be home before midnight when he swore he would.
He opened his mouth to respond but just let out a sigh instead. He stood up to leave but stopped in the doorway.
"I have work early tomorrow. Make sure you take Sumo for his walk, okay?"
"Yeah, okay."
"I love you."
"...I love you too."
