Content Warning: This chapter contains references to murder/serial killers, as well as amphetamine abuse/addiction.
CHAPTER 4 | INQUIRY
NOVEMBER 3, 2038
11:38 AM
Barbara sighed and leaned back against her chair, rubbing her fingers against her temples. In an hour she was going to scheduled to talk to Todd Williams, the owner of the AX400 she'd let get away the previous day, to see if they could determine some kind of common denominator in the cases of deviancy that were turning up new on her desk each day.
All night long she'd tossed and turned as she replayed the scene in her head. Leaping forward onto the chain link fence, fully prepared to climb, knowing she'd catch the deviant if she did. But when it turned around to face her, she no longer saw a machine. It's LED had been removed, it wore plain street clothes, and what stared back at her was a scared woman, eyes wild with some kind of animalistic instinct to run. She'd seen that look several times before; in house calls when she was an officer and reflected in her car's rear view mirror, her foot on the accelerator. Barbara couldn't bring herself to advance. Not even if she wanted to.
Now, she was being berated by her logical mind because of the choice she'd made. It's not human, it can't be afraid. It's just some kind of error in it's code. She'd heard several variations of this speech from Connor, enough to recite it all by herself. The more empathetic side of her, which she'd only had the pleasure of getting in touch with in the last few years, kept reassuring her that she'd done the right thing. The two went back and forth in her mind, arguing, a devil one shoulder, an angel on the other, like the caricatures in cartoons she'd watched as a child. If only there was some way to turn it all off when the noise became too much...
They'd also already met with Leo Manfred, the son of recently-deceased painter Carl Manfred. According to Leo, Carl's android had murdered him after an intense argument between the three of them, and he'd been the only witness. Police had shot and discarded the android, so it was of no use to the investigation. They hadn't even bothered to confirm it's model or serial number before throwing it in a dump somewhere, unable to be recovered. So now, all she knew was that the special-edition android had been gifted to Carl by Elijah Kamski, the founder of CyberLife himself.
"I can't decide whether that kid helped the case or hurt it," Hank grumbled. It was as if he could tell what she was so frustrated about, leaning back in his chair and putting his hands behind his head as he plucked the words straight from her thoughts.
"He was high the entire time we were interviewing him," she said flatly. She recalled Leo's anxiously tapping foot, dilated pupils, and general nervous energy as he scanned the room, never quite meeting her eyes. Red Ice. Barbara had seen it countless times. She could spot an addict from a mile away.
"There's gotta be some kind of truth to his statement," Hank shrugged. "But it seems weird that the thing wasn't exhibiting aggressive behaviors beforehand."
"That's why I don't think we're getting the full story," she tilted her head back, clasping her hands together and looking at the ceiling as though she'd find some answer there. This investigation was challenging her more than she'd like to admit. "I mean, Carl Manfred died of cardiac arrest, he had no internal or external injuries. How would his android have killed him? It doesn't add up."
Connor, who'd been listening to their conversation, sat quietly and observed them both, sitting up in his chair. The more time he spent with her and Hank, the more he seemed to adapt to their body language, like tapping his fingers on his desk or rubbing his hands together when he was focused on something. There were still a few quirks about him that made him slightly awkward, the superhuman coin tricks were one, but in general, if it weren't for his jacket with the obnoxious glowing armband and the LED on his temple, he could easily pass as just another detective at the station.
When he spoke, Connor was still quite robotic. Yesterday, however, he'd shocked her with a touch of humor, which had thrown her off considerably. It had seemed so natural. He and Hank seemed to be getting on a little better today, and while she didn't have any personal qualms with him, she still wasn't quite sure what to think.
"Perhaps Todd Williams can provide us with some more insight," Connor spoke.
"Yeah," she shrugged. "I just sent you both a memo with notes on what I'd like to discuss." she said. "His statement to the officers has a couple contradictions, so I'll have to try to navigate those without making him feel threatened."
Hank nodded and rose from his desk. "Well, I'm going to take a whiz before he gets here, let me know if any breakthroughs happen while I'm gone," he chuckled at his bad joke before retreating.
Barbara would have rolled her eyes, but she was just relieved that things weren't quite as contentious as they had been. Staring back at the list of questions in front of her, she racked her brain for anything else that might lead to some answers concerning the investigation, triple checking the original report.
"Babs," she heard a familiar voice from behind her, and found James Walter, one of her colleagues, approaching with two to-go cups of coffee in his hand. "I heard you had an eventful day yesterday."
"I'm having an eventful investigation in general," she corrected him, turning away from the screen in front of her, thankful for the distraction. He held one of the coffees out to her. "What's this?" she asked.
"I thought you'd appreciate something stronger than the crap they have in the break room," he smirked, a crooked smile that crinkled the edges of his blue eyes. Unkempt, sandy blonde hair poked out from underneath his police cap.
"You shouldn't have," she said, but took the coffee eagerly from his hand. "What do I owe you?"
"My treat," he said, leaning back to perch on the edge of her desk. James was relatively new to the DPD, having only arrived as an officer about a year ago, a transfer from a smaller town in Michigan. When she'd been assigned to show him around on his first day, she expected it to go as blandly as any other orientation, but he'd won her over with bad jokes and an easygoing personality. He was one of her most tolerable coworkers, she'd go as far as to say he was a friend.
"Thank you," she said sincerely, taking a sip of the coffee and closing her eyes.
"It's the good stuff," he said, pausing for a minute as she savored the piping hot beverage and it's rich aroma. She'd never had high standards for what she expected of coffee as long as it gave her the energy boost she needed, but she knew a good cup when she had one.
"Hey," he began when he saw Hank approaching, lowering his voice slightly and leaning forward. "My shift starts in ten minutes, but I get off at five. A couple of us are going to The Union for happy hour, I wondered if you wanted to tag along? I can give you a ride…."
Barbara had to physically stop herself from grimacing. It was a little dramatic of her. She couldn't recall the last time she'd socialized outside of work, and it was likely well before James had joined the precinct. Of course, he was only being friendly, but she always felt guilty turning down the invitations when they rarely occurred. "I'm not sure, it depends on when I'm done here."
That was a lie. Barbara was always sure. Sure that she didn't want to come along. For some reason, though, she could never shut anyone down so blatantly.
"Of course, yeah," he said, nodding rapidly. "I mean, no big deal if you can't, I just...I thought I'd ask," he stuttered and turned around as Hank's chair creaked behind him, the lieutenant making himself comfortable at his desk.
"Officer Walter," Hank nodded at James, who straightened up considerably, pushing himself out of his casual position.
"Good to see you, Lieutenant," he nodded at the man, turning back to face Barbara. "I gotta get going, but just let me know if you want to come."
"Of course," Barbara said, breathing a sigh of relief as he retreated.
Hank watched him retreat, but she put her head down, focused back on the memo she was trying to edit. "Nice kid," he observed after a beat of silence.
Barbara's eyes flashed towards Hank briefly. His eyebrow was raised as he leaned back in chair, arms crossed. "Yep," she popped the 'p' and pursed her lips.
She didn't love the suggestive expression layered across Hank's face, a smug smirk and squinted eyes. But he continued to stare at her, even after she focused back on her computer.
Exhaling, she looked back up at him after a few moments of silence. Connor observed her and Hank quietly, his eyes flickering back and forth between the two of them. "Is there something you'd like to say?" she asked.
"No," he shook his head and leaned forward, but his facial expression didn't change. An overwhelming impulse inside her wanted to deck the smirk right off his face, but she couldn't let him know he was getting under her skin.
"That's what I thought," she said. Whatever he was getting at, she'd had enough. And for Christ's sake, they had an interview in a couple minutes.
"Anyways," she changed the subject. "I think it'll be best if I take the lead with the questioning today. You can jump in if you feel it's necessary, but I don't want to overwhelm him."
Before Hank or Connor could answer, an officer approached their trio of desks. "Lieutenant, Detective Martin," the man nodded at the two of them, ignoring Connor. "Todd Williams is here, he's ready for you."
Barbara collected the file in front of her and stood up. "Well, let's see what we can find out."
NOVEMBER 3, 2038
12:04 PM
Todd Williams
Born: 7/3/1993 / Unemployed
Criminal record: Public intoxication, possession of illegal substances
Connor examined the man through the opposite side of the half-silvered mirror. Todd William's body language and increased heart rate indicated that he was coming down from a high, already the second person they'd spoken to today that was under the influence. According to Connor's research, Todd had been unemployed for the past year, and fit the description of the rapidly growing underclass that were the highest percentage of Red Ice users.
"What the hell is this? I thought I was just answering questions," the man lashed out as soon the door opened and Detective Martin entered, notepad and folder under her arm, a pen tucked behind her ear.
Seemingly unfazed by the outburst, Detective Martin kept her voice easy as she approached him. "You are. We thought we'd use this room for some privacy, the office can get a bit hectic sometimes."
"So there aren't ten dudes with guns behind that mirror, listening in?" he asked, gesturing towards Connor and Lieutenant Anderson, who were doing just that on the other side of the one-way glass.
Shaking her head, Detective Martin gave a soft laugh. "Could you imagine if we had those sort of resources?" Connor could tell she wasn't being sincere, but saw where it would be convincing, and Todd Williams' expression neutralized. "You don't have anything to worry about. I just have a couple of questions about your AX400."
This seemed to relax the man, and he wasn't shy about giving her a slow once-over, his eyes grazing up and down her in an unspoken appraisal. Lieutenant Anderson noticed this too, and scoffed besides Connor. Holding out her hand, she smiled.
"My name is Detective Martin," she said. "Thanks again for stopping in today."
He shook it, but said nothing in response.
The smile fell off her face pretty quickly, and she sat down at the table across from him, opened the folder in her hands, and pulled the pen from behind her ear. "I hope you don't mind if I take notes. I've been assigned to a team who is currently investigating causes of deviancy in CyberLife androids," she scanned over the documents in front of her before looking back up at Todd.
"I know you already gave a statement to officers about the incident involving your AX400 and YK500, but I have a few follow-up questions. Answering them might help me and the other detectives working the case."
Todd leaned back in his chair, surveying the empty room, arms crossed. "What do ya need to know?"
Connor watched the detective examine him, her eyes flickering towards the healing scab near his eye, faint bruises around his neck, and trailing down to his exposed wrists which were lined with scratches. He'd already identified these injuries when he'd first seen Todd, obviously the result of some kind of altercation. Since they appeared to be relatively new injuries, he had concluded they were from the AX400 attacking him.
Since the previous day, Connor had done some research on Detective Martin - Barbara, his programming corrected itself. According to public records, she'd previously worked in homicides, and made a name for herself as a rookie after cracking the notorious 'De Rais' Killer case. The notorious serial murderer had kidnapped and killed eight children in the Detroit area from from 2030-2033. The city had been in a panic, schools had threatened to shut down until the DPD solved the case. Unfortunately, there was limited physical evidence and few witnesses, and descriptions of the suspect varied. Detective Martin had found the cigarette butt one of the suspects, and forensics were able to match the DNA sample to evidence found at the scene of the crime.
After that, she'd played key roles in solving several cases, the local papers had sang praises of the bright and fiery young detective, who's keen eye and attention to detail made her an asset to any investigation. She then became well-respected for her work cracking several long-abandoned cold cases. However, Connor found very little information about her in more recent years, besides a few small Red Ice dealer busts. There were no letters in her disciplinary file, either, so the disorderly conduct charge he'd been initially concerned about proved to be an anomaly.
Her coworkers seemed to respect her, though she kept to herself mostly. Except, Connor had noticed a slight rift between her and Detective Gavin Reed, based solely the way the man glared at her from across the room. Detective Martin seemed to ignore his attention, however. Besides himself and Lieutenant Anderson, he'd seen her talk to officers Tina Chen and James Walter occasionally.
Today, Officer Walter's conversation with her had been particularly interesting to observe. Detective Martin had seemed oblivious to Officer Walter's advance, but Connor had not failed to notice his clear interest in her, which seemed to go beyond platonic boundaries. The man's heart rate had increased, his cheeks had flushed, and he'd stuttered over his words,. Lieutenant Anderson seemed to notice it as well, but Detective Martin didn't appear inclined to discuss the subject at all, despite his subtle teasing. She appeared indifferent, maybe even a little offended. It was hard to tell with her.
It certainly made sense that Officer Walter might be romantically interested in her. Connor's programming had already recognized that she met the requirements to be considered conventionally attractive, with full lips, a sharp jawline, and high cheekbones.
Lieutenant Anderson stood next to Connor, hands on his hips as he watched their partner carefully through the two-way glass. "I don't like the look of this guy," Lieutenant Anderson grumbled, more to himself, which prompted Connor to glance at him briefly before returning his focus to Detective Martin.
"How long had you owned your AX400?" she asked, having made enough small talk to appease Todd into leaning back in his chair, as comfortable as an addict coming down from a high could possibly appear.
"Only a couple of months," Todd said. "My wife ran off and someone needed to cook and clean for the place, look after Alice. I couldn't do it all on top of work."
"And, Alice is the name you'd given to your 'daughter'? The YK500?"
Todd winced at her words, as if his daughter being referred to by her model name upset him. Connor knew the YK500 model had been used often to replace lost children or provided those unable to conceive naturally with a 'child' to look after. Some even personalized their models to share similar physical features with their parents. It was common for their owners to grow just as attached to them as though they were real offspring.
"Yes," Todd answered stiffly.
"And you didn't see any issues when you first bought the AX400?"
Todd shook his head. "No, it did what it was supposed to do, it stayed out of my way."
Detective Martin looked back up at him. "I've read your statement from the night it went missing, but I was wondering if you could recap what exactly happened?"
Todd seemed annoyed by this, rolling his eyes and leaning forward. "I fucking told the cops a hundred times what happened. We were eating dinner, and it was like a fucking switch flipped. It attacked me, took Alice and ran off."
"Are there any other details you feel may be pertinent?" Detective Martin asked, pressing for more information, which he seemed to be withholding. "Was it acting strange prior to dinner?"
"No, it fucking wasn't," Todd raised his hands, almost in defense. "It came out of nowhere, I already told you."
Detective Martin worried her lower lip between her teeth for a brief moment as though deciding whether or not to pursue the question, since Todd was growing irritated, and didn't seem to want to elaborate further.
"Okay," she scribbled something down on her notepad. "Am I correct in that just a day before your android attacked you, it had been in the repair shop because it was damaged?"
"Yeah," Todd said, leaning back in his chair, scowl riddling his features.
"Had you seen any signs of malfunction before it left for the repair shop? Or do you think something could have happened there?" she asked, probing.
Todd shrugged. "Who the hell knows, it's not like I ever really tried to understand the thing. All it had to do was one job, and it obviously couldn't."
"May I ask why was it brought into the repair shop to begin with?" Detective Martin tilted her head.
"It was damaged, missing components or something." Todd's eyes narrowed and the man glanced away quickly, towards the mirror which Lieutenant Anderson and Connor stood behind, then he lifted his chin to look at Detective Martin. "It got hit by a car."
She looked at him a moment, staying silent as Todd fidgeted in his seat, avoiding her eyes. "What, do you think I'm lying?" he said finally, the silence becoming to much.
"He is," Connor observed, matter-of-factly. His programming wasn't advanced enough to always detect them, in fact, no such programming existed. But this was clearly written in Todd Williams body language. Lieutenant Anderson turned to look at him briefly before focusing back on what was unfolding in front of him.
"I watched it happen," Todd continued, voice booming. He was much larger than Detective Martin, but she didn't seem intimidated.
Her jaw set as she tried to look Todd in the eyes, and he refused to meet her gaze. She changed the subject, voice giving away nothing, though she seemed to grip the pen in her hand with a rigidity Connor had not noticed before. "There are scratches on your arms, a laceration on your eye, and bruises on your neck," she observed. "May I ask if those were from the altercation with your android?"
Lieutenant Anderson shifted his weight next to Connor as Todd finally turned to look her in the eyes, a storm looming within them. "Ah, shit," The lieutenant mumbled under his breath. Connor sensed the rising tension in the room across from him too.
"If you must know, yes..." Todd said, short, but the sentence was long enough to capture the darkness in his voice.
Inhaling, Detective Martin nodded, tapping her foot a couple times, almost as if she was nervous. That, was unlike her. Connor could tell very clearly now that something wasn't quite right. Not only did Todd appear dishonest and now potentially violent, but Barbara's body language was beginning to indicate some discomfort, stress. Perhaps fear, but her expressions were so minuscule it was too hard for him to discern at the present.
Drawing her shoulders down in a conscious effort to seem more relaxed, Detective Martin seemed to realize how hostile the conversation had become. Looking over her notes, she frowned, raising her head to look at Todd again.
"You said that you couldn't handle work, keeping your house clean, and looking after your daughter, so that was why you purchased the AX400 a few months ago." she looked back at her notes. "But, based on the information provided by the police you've been unemployed for the past year."
She'd found a discrepancy in his story, and pointed it out to him. Though her voice was calm, it did nothing to stunt the impending tsunami that now towered over her, standing from the desk.
"What the fuck is this? I thought you told me this was an interview, not an interrogation? I've done nothing wrong!" Todd's voice was booming, loud, but the detective remained unaffected, meeting his eyes and staying silent from her perch.
"I'm pulling her out of there," Lieutenant Anderson said, voice a barely audible growl, and Connor watched as he yanked open the door to the observation area just as Todd slammed his fist on the desk.
"Detective Martin?" he said in a pleasant but firm tone, all the tension from just seconds ago had dissipated. "Captain Fowler would like to see you."
"Thanks, Hank, but I'm in the middle of some-" she began, but the lieutenant held his hand up.
"It's urgent," he said. "I can finish up here."
Barbara rolled her shoulders back and turned to Todd. "Well, I suppose that's all I need for now anyways. Thanks again for coming out."
Todd scoffed, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. He murmured something unintelligible to even Connor as she left the room, an insult, he assumed, based on his tone and the scowl etched on his face. Lieutenant Anderson closed the door behind her, greeting Todd with a friendly tone and a handshake.
Detective Martin took a deep breath as she entered the observation room and stood beside Connor, closing her eyes. "Fowler didn't really want to see me, did he?" she asked.
"No," Connor said. "Hank wanted to get you out of there."
"I figured," she said, and then sat down in one of the chairs, sighing. "What a piece of shit," she mumbled under her breath.
Connor turned to her. "Do you think that he attacked the android?"
"Seems likely," she said. "The AX400 might have been defending itself. And...I highly doubt it got hit by a car."
Connor wasn't quite sure how to answer, but he didn't have to. Lieutenant Anderson thanked Todd for coming in and an officer escorted him out of the interrogation room.
When Lieutenant Anderson walked back into the observation area, he stood in front of Barbara, who refused to look at him as he stood next to her and crossed his arms. "Well, are you going to acknowledge what the hell just happened in there?"
Closing her eyes, she shook her head. "I know, I blew it….." she said, rising to her feet. "But it seems pretty clear to me what really happened."
"Oh, I know," the lieutenant said.
Detective Martin finally looked her superior officer in the eye. "So what? Now we just let him walk back into the real world? A free man?" she asked, voice faint as her eyes flickered to the hallway outside the room where they stood. Nibbling on her lower lip, she clenched and unclenched her jaw.
Lieutenant Anderson sighed, clearly conflicted. Connor was surprised when he reached out after a spell and placed his hand on her shoulder, squeezing lightly. "Are you okay, kid?" his voice held a note of compassion that he hadn't heard before, he saw an unfamiliar twinkle of affection for Barbara in the lieutenant's eyes.
Shrugging him off, she stepped away and faced the window to the interrogation room again. "I'm fine."
Lieutenant Anderson left the room first, leaving Connor alone with Detective Martin, who seemed so removed from the setting around her that he decided it best to follow the lieutenant back to the office. Anyways, he no longer had any work-related rationale to remain there with her.
She fell into step next to Connor just as they returned to the precinct's main floor, and glanced at him as the lieutenant split away to go to their trio of desks.
"Maybe you can answer this for me…." she said, turning down the hallway to the break room. Connor now had no choice but to follow her, since he was being addressed. "Why would the AX400 bring along the YK500 after it deviated? Do you think the child model was a deviant as well?"
Connor considered her questions before answering. "Well, we can't confirm whether or not it was a deviant, but it is possible that the virus could have spread, which would cause the YK500 to experience the same simulated fear that the AX400 exhibited. However, YK Models are programmed to become attached to their parental figures. It's very possible it could have misinterpreted the AX400's role and followed it like a child would it's mother."
She listened closely to Connor's words as they stepped into the break room, which was occupied by officers finishing up their lunches, their mindless chatter flooding his auditory units.
"Damn it," Detective Martin grabbed a clean mug from the cupboard, filled it with hot water and shook her head, biting the inside of her cheek. "We're not getting anywhere."
Bobbing a bag of peppermint tea in the mug, her brows furrowed, and she seemed to be considering their next approach. Connor's back to the rest of the room, he hadn't noticed the form that remained after the other officers filed out after their lunch break.
"What the hell are you doing in here?" he heard a voice from behind them as he studied his partner's mannerisms. Looking over his shoulder, Connor found Detective Reed hunched over one of the tables with a donut and his own cup of coffee in hand.
"Getting tea, Gavin," Connor was surprised when Barbara's icy response cut in before he could answer the disgruntled cop.
"I'm talking to your pet," he said gruffly, glaring at Connor. "The plastic cop. You know he can do that for you, right?" he gestured to the cup of tea in front of her.
She turned around and leaned back against the counter, looking over at Connor and back to Detective Reed. "Oh, you mean my partner?" she lifted the mug to her mouth and sipped. "We were just going over some new information we have on one of the deviant cases."
At first, he didn't answer, and she crossed her ankles, awaiting his response. "I see. Your partner now, Mr. Robo-Cop...You know, they're trying to replace us with them? It'll take your job someday."
She looked over at Connor again. "Is that true, Connor?" she asked, sarcastically. "I would've appreciated if you told me that so I could start looking elsewhere for work."
Connor was seeing a low probability that this wouldn't end in an outburst from Reed, based solely on his previous two interactions with the detective. He'd initially believed his attitude to be motivated by a hate for androids, similar to Lieutenant Anderson, but he seemed to also harbor a similar dislike for Detective Martin, which was becoming clearer with each sentence he spoke.
"Quit fucking around with me," Detective Reed stood up from his spot leaning over the table. "You know I'm right. You mean to tell me you're fine with this plastic trash taking over everything, taking all our jobs?"
She put the coffee cup down next to her, matter-of-fact in the delivery of her words. "If you're so concerned that you're going to be replaced, I think that says more about what you think of your own job performance, Gavin. I mean, why else would you be so threatened by him?"
Gavin stalked forward but Detective Martin still stood, looking unaffected and unbothered by his building anger. "You're a fucking bitch, you know that?" he growled at her.
"You think I'm a bitch because I won't take shit from you?" she asked rhetorically, then narrowed her eyes. "How will I ever recover?"
Detective Reed scoffed. "You know what? I'll say it, because no one else will. You're only here because you're still riding the wave of solving the De Rais case. Can you name an investigation since where you did anything significant?"
That seemed to light a switch in her, an emotion Connor never seen flickered on her face too quickly for Detective Reed to notice, but he did.
"Can you name a time you'd ever cracked a case that high profile in say...your entire career?" she asked him back, but Connor sensed that her patience was reaching a boiling point, by the way her heart rate increased and her voice grew darker.
"God only knows why Fowler and Anderson like you so much." Detective Reed suddenly was only about a foot away from her now, pinning her between himself and the counter, the last remark having been a final straw on his own building temper. "Show me the amazing detective; the vehement, brilliant cop you had to be to crack that case...'cause since I've been here, I've yet to see shit."
He leaned forward then, hands on the counter on either side of her body, fully trapping her now, her heart rate was nearly 120 beats per minute, her fight or flight response activating. Connor watched her hands curl into fists, despite the fact that they held a slight tremble. He prepared to intervene. An injury to his partner wasn't ideal for the investigation if Detective Reed was considering an assault.
Sighing, Detective Martin kept up the facade of being unfazed, and stood up straighter, lifting her chin to meet his glower, their faces inches apart. "Careful Gavin," her voice was low, steady. "I'd hate to see you get another letter in your file."
With that remark, Gavin backed away, accepting the loss and locking eyes with Connor, his eyes ablaze. "Cunt," Detective Reed murmured under his breath, but loud enough for her to hear as he left the room. Connor watched him until he was out of vision, before turning to Detective Martin, who had spun around to face the cupboards once more. Her hands were still clenched, and suddenly she brought her fist down to the counter so hard that her tea splattered on the counter. A loud bang echoed in the empty room. The emotions she'd kept bottled up after her confrontation with Todd Williams were no longer a mystery to him. She was angry.
"Fucking prick," she hissed and then brushed past Connor and out of the room. He was torn. Did he return to his desk, or did he follow her? She was obviously in some sort of distress, her heart rate still increasing. Human emotions were unpredictable, and he doubted it was in anyone's best interest to ignore her clear upset, lest things get out of hand. Hank might have appreciated it, and he was still trying to mend that troubled relationship. Connor recalled the look of fondness in the man's eyes only a few minutes ago.
He barely caught her turning the corner at the end of the hallway, and followed her carefully through the maze of the building, passing others until she finally reached the dead end of a secluded hallway. Detective Martin crouched down against one of the walls, buried her head in her hands and groaned, fingers twisting in her hair and he heard her take in a deep breath.
"Detective Martin?" he spoke and she started slightly, turning to look at him, cheeks flushed, hair hanging in her face.
"Connor?" she asked, rising to her feet. "What the hell did you follow me for?" there was a slight bite to her tone, but he couldn't discern if it was directed at him or not.
"It became clear to me you were emotionally distressed," he explained. "Your heart rate increased to a dangerous level, and I wanted to be sure you didn't get hurt. It wouldn't be ideal for the investigation."
She closed her eyes and reached out with one hand to steady herself against the wall. "Right," she tilted her head back slightly. "Well, I'm fine." she turned around in a circle and took a deep breath. "Actually, no I'm not. I'm pissed off."
Just as he was trying to calculate the best way to answer, she continued on. "What is his fucking problem? I can't believe he talked to you and I like that."
Connor spoke up. "It means nothing to me," he said. "I can't feel emotions, you didn't need to-"
"That's not the point, Connor," she cut him off, raising her hand. "He's always been like that, with Hank, and now with me. Hell, he and I used to be friends. I don't know when the switch flipped and he thought it was okay to start acting like that."
Connor didn't say anything, but he noticed the more she spoke, the more her heart rate steadied, her voice lost it's edge. "And you know what else?" she whirled around to face him and he half expected her to take out her aggression on him, until she spoke. "I don't care who you are or what you are, I'm not letting him speak to my partner like that."
"While I appreciate your concern for my well-being, I have to insist that anything you feel is unkind means nothing to me-" Connor began, but was cut off again.
"You can try to be rational about it all you want, but it doesn't matter. It's fucked up."
Turning away from him, she stared out the window at the streets below, taking a few deep breaths and running her fingers through her hair. It was a few moments before she said anything, and when she pivoted around finally, she took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry that I...lost my temper," she said. "It just wasn't the day for me to put up with him. Not after those bullshit interviews."
Connor had been surprised to see her so angry, and so open. "No apology is necessary. You've always been much more reserved in your emotions than Lieutenant Anderson. This has been a valuable learning experience in unpredictable human behavior. "
Detective Martin gave a short, cold, laugh. "It takes a lot to get under my skin. But I'll make sure to lose my shit more often for your sake."
"That won't be necessa-"
"I'm joking," she cut him off, and Connor registered her sarcasm a tad too late. Maybe it had been too soon to speak about his adaptive social programming. There was much to understand, still. She looked back out the window.
Connor weighed his options, and decided changing the subject might be a good way to keep her from getting upset.
"Detective Martin-" he began.
"Barbara," she corrected him, cringing. "Call me Barbara, please."
"Barbara," as usual, the words felt uncomfortable, too casual. He reminded himself this was an order from her directly. "May I ask you a personal question?"
"Depends on the question," she said again, leaning against the wall. "Shoot."
"You used to work in homicides," he began. "Why'd you ask to be transferred to work with deviants?"
"I was working in narcotics for awhile...I didn't ask to be assigned to work on the deviant investigation, it just worked out that way," she explained. Connor considered his response.
Her face fell though, eyes growing distant as she continued. "You know, when I started as a rookie, I had all this fire in me to solve the cases, the Detroit Sun used to call me the DPD's Phoenix," she snorted, crossing her arms.
"Sometimes you'd never find enough evidence to solve a case, and you failed. But to me, it was a game, like finding the missing pieces to a puzzle. And if I couldn't put it together, I just moved on to the next one."
Barbara didn't meet his eyes, staring at the floor as she continued. Her hand raised to fiddle with the collar of her blouse absentmindedly. It was almost as though she was reasoning with herself, not him.
"One day, I was interviewing a woman, the mother of teenage girl who'd been murdered while walking home from work. This woman...she was absolutely incoherent, just lost...it was like she'd died along with her daughter. In the middle of the interview, some part of my brain switched on that I'd never acknowledged before. I'd never thought too much about the victims, or the people they'd left behind. To me, it had always been objective. But then it just...wasn't.
"Every unsolved case haunted me after that. There was someone out there who'd done this horrible thing, who could and probably would do it again. The victims and their families would never get justice. And I was responsible, 'cause I didn't do my job well enough."
If Connor could have been stunned, he would have been due to the amount of information she'd just shared with him. He had several follow-up questions, but he didn't want to push his luck. This wasn't the time to ask, he concluded. And since she was considerably more relaxed now, the storm of emotions had passed and it was probably time to continue working.
"Anyways….from what I've seen so far, the androids in these deviancy cases are experiencing some kind of trauma," Barbara shook her head. "I can't help but feel like….especially after today….some of their actions might be justified." Her bottom lip drew between her teeth and she inhaled slowly.
Software Instability ^
Connor shook the indicator out of his line of sight as he processed her words.
"They're still committing crimes," he answered, trying to be as firm as possible without blatantly offending her. He couldn't have a partner who was sympathizing with the deviants. "Every emotion they're feeling is just a virus in their programming."
"Right, I know." she answered, staring distantly at some spot on the wall, almost like she was looking past it, teeth meeting her lower lip. She shook her head and finally afforded him some eye contact. "I better get back to my desk."
Barbara walked towards him, back in the direction of where they worked, but she paused once she was at his side, reaching out to briefly squeeze his upper arm. "Thanks for checking on me," she said, the warmth of her hand radiating through his jacket. This came as a shock to him, he'd never been touched unless it was out of aggression, or necessity. He felt instantly that this was different, meant to be a kind gesture, but it seemed…..incorrect for some reason, misplaced.
It mattered little in the grand scheme of things. They had to solve this case, and Amanda wouldn't be pleased to learn about how the interviews had panned out. He'd have to come up with something more concrete before his next debrief with her. CyberLife's future depended on it. On him. He hadn't forgotten.
A/N:Don't have much to say, except for I'm sorry for making Gavin an asshole. I hated him when I first watched playthroughs of the game but unfortunately the fandom has made him such a loveable asshole it kind of pains me to do this? Dammit!
I hope you enjoyed the long chapter. I considered breaking it up, but since the game storyline is only a portion of this fic's plot, I am trying to keep the number of game chapters to a minimum. Even though this chapter isn't a part of the game's storyline AT ALL. You know what I'm getting at...
Also, in real life I'm not a detective unfortunately. As much as I've tried to do research on police protocols, it can be hard to find that kind of stuff online. So if you see any glaring issues, bear with me! I am learning.