A late night call regarding a possibly hostile deviant brought Hank and Connor to the ruins of an abandoned hotel on the seedier side of town. There was no confirmation on whether or not the suspected android was actually dangerous, but dealing with deviants had become the duo's new priority after being reassigned their primary tasks regarding deviant cases at the precinct. With that assignment came a lot of bizarre cases and quite often they turned out to be false alarms.

"You sure this is the right place?" Hank asked as he and Connor stepped over broken beams and shattered glass bottles that littered the dirty floor of the decrepit hotel's lobby. It was dark and difficult enough to navigate without the garbage on the ground. "I don't see how anyone, human or android, could live here."

"This is the correct address as given by the witness." Connor stated as he scanned the room carefully for any traces of deviants. His blue L.E.D. flashed to yellow then back to blue as he finished his scan of the area. "I don't detect any deviant in the immediate vicinity."

"Yeah, well witnesses aren't exactly reliable. That's why people invented security cameras and train guard dogs."

Connor stopped suddenly and focused on faint movement in the doorway leading to the staff only area of the building, his L.E.D. returning to a bright yellow illumination. The movement was brief but his keen sight as an android was infallible compared to that of a human.

"See something?" Hank asked as he noticed Connor's change of demeanor.

"Possibly. It was too quick to properly identify as a human or deviant."

"Can you scan it?"

"Evidently, not. The odds of it being a deviant have dropped significantly."

"Well, it's all we have right now. Let's go track whoever it is down."

"Right."

Connor stepped through the doorway first, moving very slowly and meticulously as to not disturb the already unstable structure of the collapsing building with each calculated move. The yellow glow of his L.E.D. allowed Hank to keep track of his partner even in the darkness as he trailed behind. Hank followed behind Connor, his gun drawn but safely lowered to the floor. Stepping only where Connor stepped the detective followed his partner silently through the aged hotel.

Another rush of movement caught Connor's attention causing the deviant android to freeze in place. "Hank." His voice was but a whisper as to not alert the person skulking about through the hotel. "The suspect is in the next room."

Hank nodded and motioned for Connor to go ahead and step through while he followed close behind.

Connor pulled his own gun from the holster concealed beneath his jacket and held it in a tight grip as he stealthily encroached on the possible suspect now only a few feet away. The deviant android's keen eyes could see what Hank could not, a humanoid figure trying to crouch in the shadows out of sight.

"Detroit Police." Connor announced authoritatively as he stared at the figure. "Show me your hands!"

The figure panicked and ran through the room before either detective had the chance to respond. In their blind haste the suspect bumped into the precariously delicate beams and loose boards that lined that collapsing walls of the old building, causing the entire room to quickly destabilize and begin to fall in on itself as they fled out the back.

Connor attempted to chase after the suspect but a large portion of the wall fell before the doorway blocking it entirely. Turning to look back at Hank the deviant android's scanners detected a massive portion of the ceiling above breaking free of its rotting supports directly over Hank's head.

"Hank!" Connor rushed back to his partner and pushed him backward out of harm's way just as the ceiling gave way and came crashing down with a thunderous impact directly on top of Connor.

Hank fell backward and landed on his hip on the floor untouched by the collapsing building. As the ceiling collapsed a massive cloud of smothering dust erupted into the air causing Hank to cough and choke as he pulled his jacket over his face to shield himself from the fluttering debris that threatened to smother him.

The dust cloud dissipated and Hank was left looking at a dark pile rubble atop a motionless body laying on its left side. One arm was bent under the body while the second arm was outstretched and limp at the side. A red glowing L.E.D. indicated an android in distress, and in need of help.

"Connor!" Hank scrambled up to the pile on his hands and knees as he began hefting aside the heavy slabs of wooden boards and drywall off of Connor's side piece by piece, until the deviant android had been unburied. Pressing his hand down on Connor's shoulder Hank shook him once as he checked in on his partner. "Connor? Talk to me!"

A loud 'groan' of the dying building sounded off with an eerie chorus of breaking beams and crumbling bricks all around him.

"Come on, kid." Hank grabbed onto Connor's arm and draped the limp limb around his shoulders. Wrapping his other hand around Connor's waist he hefted the deviant android up to his feet to half carry, half drag his downed partner and friend out of the building before it collapsed entirely on top of both of them. "We need to move, NOW."

Racing to the relative safety of the sidewalk outside the condemned building Hank carried Connor over to the parked car and sat him down beside the vehicle opposite side of the imploding hotel. Crouching down beside Connor the detective radioed for assistance at the location to seal off the area and to report the escaped suspect. Dust and plaster filled the air all around Hank as he knelt beside Connor and patted the deviant android's cheek twice lightly.

"Connor? Open your eyes." Raising his voice a little Hank tried to rouse Connor out of his state of unconsciousness. "Connor, look at me."

Connor's head lolled slightly as his L.E.D. transitioned from red to yellow. Brown eyes opened and focused on Hank's face curiously. "...Lieutenant?"

"Yeah, it's me. Are you okay?"

"Minor external damage to my right hip." Connor's hand was resting against his hip where a deep cut was slowly leaking Thirium and staining the palm of his hand in dark blue blood. "There is also a moderate external damage to my lower back. However, I can remedy the wounds easily with my self-healing program." Efficient as ever Connor confirmed his condition as he ran a self-diagnostic over his systems. His L.E.D. flashed yellow quickly then slowed as it cycled back to a normal, calm blue as the leak caused by the wound stopped. "Are you injured?"

"No, I'm good. Thanks to you." Eyeing the blue blood staining Connor's clothes warily Hank motioned for the deviant android to turn slightly to his left. "Let me see your back."

"It's not-"

"Connor, just do it. Humor me on this."

"...Very well."

Relenting to the request Connor turned slightly to shift his weight onto his left hip and leg while Hank lifted up his jacket and white dress shirt beneath examine the damage. Two large, deep scrapes ran along Connor's lower back exposing his white plastimetal frame beneath as his artificial skin was torn open and weeping blue blood at an uncomfortable pace.

"Yeah, it's not serious. But I want to get your back cleaned up to make sure nothing nasty got stuck in your system." As he dropped down Connor's jacket and shirt Hank raised a finger in a disciplinary manner at the deviant android as he proceeded to scold him appropriately. "Next time something's about to fall on my head just tell me to move. Don't you put yourself in the line of fire like that ever again, got it?"

"Yes, Lieutenant. I got it."

"Okay then." Letting out a breathy sigh Hank tried to focus on the situation that brought them to the hotel to begin with, and try to ignore the fact that is partner got hurt protecting him during the collapse. "Did you get a good look at the suspect?"

"I can confirm that it was not a deviant, or an android of any kind. It was a teenage male carrying a can of cherry red spray paint."

"Ah, Jeez..." Hank sat on the road beside Connor and laughed a little at the absurdity of the pointless call. "All this work for one vandal trying to tag a piece of shit building no one cares about anymore. Let's get back to the station. We have more important cases to handle."

"What about the vandal? They escaped the hotel before it collapsed and are actively fleeing the scene."

"We didn't see them doing anything wrong, and even if we did, who gives a shit? That building was left to rot by the city. That kid putting up some 'tag' or whatever would only make the building look better. Fuckin' hypocrites."

"Hypocrites?"

"The assholes who made the laws against public vandalism are the same assholes who let buildings and roads decay everywhere just to save a few bucks. But every artist who wants to shine a little light on a dark place get labeled as vandals, arrested and fined." Rubbing his hand over his bearded chin Hank leaned back against the car and crossed his arms over his chest. "The city then uses all the money from those fines to fix the roads or put up a new building, then let them rot from cheap-ass neglect while fining the people who try to be creative and make the city look more colorful. It's bullshit."

Connor looked at the dust cloud rising up from the ruins of the nearly fully imploded hotel and decided that Hank was right. Standing up carefully Connor favored his left leg as his hip tried to heal and put his hand to his bloodied lower back to hep support his weight. "I suppose that's a fair assessment. And we do have more important cases to solve already."

"See? Well, let's get you patched up at the precinct dispensary and then head home." Putting his hand on Connor's shoulder Hank helped the deviant android walk over to the passenger side of the car and opened up the door to sit down inside. "If we're lucky we'll catch the end of the game."

...next story...