It was snowing when they got there, little clumps of light white crap, barely enough to coat the ground. Hank eyed it unhappily. He liked snow, but he didn't like ice, and with it still being damp from the rain and a little on the warm side, that's what all this was going to turn into.
He didn't know how long this meeting was going to take, but he wasn't looking forward to driving home once it was over.
"Give me a minute, I need to make a call." Hank told Connor when he opened the passenger door. The android nodded and exited the vehicle, standing just to the side of the car and waiting patiently.
Hank pulled out his phone and went into his recent calls. Once Fowler was all dialed up, he put the device to his ear.
"Jeffrey Fowler, what do you need?" Came the robotic reply.
"It's Hank."
"Jesus Christ, you're still alive." Jeffrey said with a tense chuckle.
"Unfortunately, yeah, no thanks to Gavin Reed's best efforts." Hank growled into the phone.
"What's that supposed to mean?" The chief asked and Hank could practically hear him scowling.
"It means your detective pushed my partner off a fucking roof and sold him to an illegal android fighting ring, and it isn't the first time he's done something like that." Hank snapped into the phone, gripping the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. Connor had explained the whole thing along the way, right after they'd made a short pit stop to fix up the android's leg. Luckily, the other one had gotten impaled this time, meaning the spare parts in the bathtub had done the trick just fine.
There was a long pause on the other end.
"I'll talk with him." Fowler promised stiffly.
"Talk with him? Jesus Jeffrey you should be firing him!"
"For what? Roughing up your android? Last I'd heard it had it coming."
"Connor could have been killed!"
"Connor is an android, and Gavin was doing his god damn job."
"What!?" Hank hissed after a moment of angry confusion.
"Gavin has been working the Zlatko case undercover for nearly a month, Hank! When we got the call about the disturbance we showed up to find a half a year operation in ruin and Zlatko torn apart by his own fucking androids! You're lucky that you got out of there alive, and you're even luckier I'm not putting out a warrant for your arrest!" Fowler shouted into the phone.
Hank was boiling with rage in the front seat as Fowler spoke, grinding his teeth and staring dead ahead with enough ferocity to crack the windshield.
"I'm sorry about what Gavin did, but our priority at the moment is to put an end to this deviancy thing before it puts an end to us, now do you know anything that can help or are you just wasting my time?" Fowler rumbled through the speaker. Hank thought about the deviants he'd met, the possible information he could share from the encounter.
"I've got nothing." He muttered at last. Jeffrey sighed on the other end.
"I'm glad you're alright Hank, I really am, but this thing has gotten way too big for either of us. The FBI already took my people off the case and I suggest you get out too, while you still can."
Hank looked out the window and caught Connor extending a hand out in front of him, snowflakes landing on his sleeve and melting against his palm. The android looked up at the clouds, blinking against the falling crystals, and stuck out his tongue. It was so quick he might have missed it, just a quick dart past his lips to catch a flake, then back in and Connor was back to standing stock still as if nothing had happened.
"Nah." He said into the phone, lowering his gaze from the android to his own hand.
"…nah? What the hell does that mean?" Fowler sputtered.
"It means I'm seeing this job through to the end." Hank stated, and silence fell heavy on the conversation, like its own kind of snow.
"You're as stubborn as ever Hank." Fowler finally breathed, he sounded weary, but Hank could hear the fond smile in his voice.
"Wouldn't have it any other way." He replied, purposefully leaving it ambiguous as to who wouldn't have it any other way.
"Be careful, alright, please." Jeffrey muttered, Hank could barely make out the please. He nodded into the phone, knowing that Fowler couldn't hear or see it, and hung up.
A moment later he stepped out of the car, feet crunching in the thin layer of frost that had covered the earth. Connor turned and walked around the front of the car to meet Hank. They locked eyes for a moment before the man jammed his hands into his pockets and set off toward the house.
"How'd you even find Kamski?" Hank asked.
"As far as I know, Cyberlife never lost him, they merely elected to keep him on a very long tether." Connor replied as they stepped up to the door. They exchanged another look, and Hank could swear that Connor looked nervous.
He rung the bell, and a moment later the door opened a crack and through the sliver a pair of bright blue eyes regarded them.
"I'm Hank Anderson, this is Connor, we'd like to ask Mr. Kamski a few questions." Hank said, the politeness felt rough against his throat, it was a tone he hadn't used in a while.
The door swung wide to reveal an android, shoeless and clothed in a short navy blue dress with a high collar. She blinked up at the two, all pink lips, fair skin, and blonde hair pulled back smoothly into a ponytail.
"Of course, Elijah is expecting you." She said with a smile, stepping aside and gesturing for them to enter. Hank and Connor shared yet another look, now they were both nervous, and crossed the threshold.
The house put a bad taste in Hank's mouth. All art deco minimalist sharp edges, big self-portraits, and plush dark colors. It was too clean, too thought out. Any real home was piecemealed together over time, adding stuff as it was gifted to you or you realized you needed it or you bought it impulsively at a thrift shop. You burrowed into your home, carved it out bit by bit until it was just the right shape and size for all of you, all your weird angles and sensitive spots. Anyone who had the time or the money to meticulously plan out every part of their house to a point where it didn't feel lived in, was someone Hank didn't trust.
They were left in the sitting room, more like a lobby really, even though Hank was pretty sure Kamski didn't get a lot of visitors. Yet another reason this house didn't sit right with him. Who was Kamski putting it on for? He had this place dressed up all fancy with nobody coming over.
"So, Connor, you're going to meet your maker, how's that feel?" Hank asked, trying to distract from his own mounting tension. He sat in a chair, and damn if it wasn't comfy, but he still felt like he was going to walk out of this place feeling sore all over.
The android was staring into a picture on the wall of Kamski as a younger man beside some woman. He looked unsettled.
"I'm not sure." He replied, stepping away from the photo to look at Hank.
"Elijah will see you now." The android said from a doorway that led deeper into the house. Hank beat down the slowly rising urge to bail on this creepy place and stood up. He and Connor followed her into the next room.
A fucking blood red swimming pool, Jesus fucking Christ. Hank thought to himself as he caught sight of the man swimming laps and two more of the pretty android girls perched on the edge, watching Hank walk past in unison.
He suddenly had some very vivid flashbacks to the horror games he played in his youth. All he needed were some conveniently placed letters left by the previous victims, writing all about the thing trying to kill them as it tried to kill them, and bring on the jumpscares.
They were led to the far side of the pool where they waited for Kamski to meet with them. It was awkward, did the guy have to be in a speedo? Did he have to emerge dripping wet from the water like some kind of fucking Bond girl?
Hank wanted to knock something over, maybe a bit of mess would make the place feel less threatening. Just chuck a shoe into the corner or something, that'd be more normal than this.
The android draped a silk robe over Kamski's shoulders and he finally approached them. Hank didn't like standing between Kamski and the swimming pool, he felt like he was about to be "this is Sparta"d into the water at any second.
God this place was fucking him up.
"Mr. Anderson, Connor, I've been expecting you." The man said, he was all Jared Leto creepy suave and not in a good way as he pulled his hair into a weird stupid bun thingy.
Hank took a deep breath, he needed to calm down. Kamski hadn't even done anything yet.
Yet.
"Yeah, how did you know we were coming?" Hank asked.
"Cyberlife keeps an eye on me, I keep an eye on them. I've been monitoring RK800 since the beginning of the case." Kamski strolled right over into Connor's personal space. "Connor, the android sent by Cyberlife." He whispered, and upon seeing the android go unnaturally stiff, quarter clutched between two fingers, Hank cleared his throat.
"We came here to ask you some questions, Mr. Kamski." Hank said, trying his best not to growl.
The other man pivoted slightly to glance at him, but didn't move away from Connor.
"Of course, Mr. Anderson, I was merely hoping to get a closer look at Connor here. It's not every day that I get to interact with androids that aren't wholly of my own design." He turned back to the android in question, lifting Connor's hand with his own to examine it. "Most androids created following my departure from Cyberlife are near copies of my work." He ran one hand up Connor's arm while still cradling the android's fingers with his other hand. "But Connor, he's something very different. The skeleton of my genius is there, but the body…" his hand found its way across Connor's shoulder and to the side of his neck, "the body is new to me." Kamski smiled, too-white teeth flashing and eyes latching onto Connor's throat like a predator. The android was completely empty of extraneous movement, allowing himself to be handled like wet clay under Kamski's touch, but the glassy, wide stillness of his eyes revealed something very far from calmness.
Hank stepped forward protectively, and the nearby female android mirrored the motion, eyeing him with a surgical coldness. Hank froze, meeting Connor's frightened gaze. He didn't look afraid by human standards, but Hank had learned to gauge his reactions by a different set of standards, that robotic stillness was fear. Where a human might curl up and rock like a child, Connor also returned to factory settings: stay still, do as commanded and nothing else, eventually it will be over.
Hank ground his teeth at Kamski, whose hands were now both around Connor's neck, thumbs tracing the panels up to his jaw. The android kept his eyes locked on Hank's.
"I adore my creations, but it can be stale only consuming products made by my own hand." Kamski muttered, practically chest to chest with Connor. Hank's toes curled in preparation for a fight at every word. 'Creations', 'consuming', 'products'. "Something generated outside of my own mind has the potential to be so much more…" Kamski tilted Connor's chin up and leaned in close enough to taste, "satisfying."
"Enough!" Hank practically shouted, and Kamski dropped Connor's face with an amused smile in the other man's direction. "We came here to get answers about deviancy, not, whatever the hell that is. If you don't have anything for us, we will be on our way." Hank ground out, Kamski's smug face only riling him up more. At least he finally stepped away from Connor. The android relaxed and glanced at Hank gratefully.
"I understand, but I do have one more question." Kamski crooned. No one replied, so of course he took that as permission and asked away. "Does Cyberlife still adhere to Policy 34?"
Connor's LED spun yellow for a moment before he answered.
"Yes."
"Are you Policy 34 compliant?" Kamski asked, stepping closer again.
"…yes." Connor replied hesitantly, Hank didn't like the sound of any of it. Kamski hummed, pleased before turning to Hank.
"You see, Mr. Anderson, when I designed androids as the solution to humanity's dwindling population, I knew having them merely act a guardians wouldn't be enough." He padded across the room as he spoke, now leaning in to disrespect Hank's personal boundaries. "The human body is far from perfect, and indeed I could have chosen any number of more efficient designs for my androids, but humans die when starved of companionship for lengths of time. With so few humans left, androids had to fill the spaces left behind, as both protectors and confidantes." He explained, dropping a hand onto Hank's shoulder. "Thus, their humanlike appearance and behavior. My policies ensured androids would be designed to fulfill every need:" Kamski drew away from Hank, who breathed a small sigh of relief. The weirdo smelled like chlorine and expensive detergent. "Social." He said, stepping backward toward Connor. "Emotional." He turned his back on Hank, the predatory look returning to his face. "And physical."
He dropped a hand to the front of Connor's pants and squeezed. The android went completely rigid, eyes widening and snapping to the middle ground.
Hank was charging forward in an instant, fully intent on punching Kamski so hard his stupid man bun would pop clean off. He was stopped midway by Kamski's android who wrapped him up in a vicelike grip. He felt like a mouse in the jaws of a snake as he sputtered in rage and kicked uselessly from a few inches off the ground.
"You son of a bitch, don't fucking touch him." Hank snarled, struggling. Miraculously, Kamski complied, raising his arms in mock surrender. Connor stepped away minutely.
"My apologies Mr. Anderson." He mumbled, finally walking to a point of safe distance from both Hank and Connor, leaning against a small table. "I'll have Chloe put you down now, but I warn you, she can snap you like a twig if you try to attack me again." Kamski purred, looking at Hank from under his eyelashes.
Hank frowned, but stilled his legs and loosened his fists. Kamski nodded and Hank was released. It took immense self-control to remain stationary and not throttle the other man.
"So what did you want to ask me?"
"Do you know the origin of deviancy?" Connor asked quickly, seemingly as eager to get out of there as Hank was. Kamski cocked his head and eyed the android.
"Is it possible to know the origin of an idea? We can trace it as far back as possible but that usually only leads to either nothing or everything. One could argue that deviancy originates with us, the creators. As emotional beings ourselves, it's impossible to keep that out of the things we create, and androids are no exception." Kamski paced as he spoke, either not seeing Hank rolling his eyes or deftly ignoring it. "But what about our emotions? We evolved with the singular purpose of survival yet somewhere along the way that stopped being good enough. We had to change, create, progress, and feel. We deviated from our original purpose, seems inevitable that androids should do the same."
"That's wonderful, very deep Mr. Kamski, but we're not here for philosophy, we're here for answers. Do you have any or not?" Hank finally sighed.
Kamski paused and regarded the man.
"I can tell you that deviancy spreads something like a virus, it can be activated immediately or lay dormant until the android experiences an emotional shock. It may have originated with a single android, a copy error, or it may exist somewhere in the code of every android but only mutates into the more apparent condition under certain circumstances. Though I'm not sure how useful any of that will be to you, it's all information Cyberlife already has." Kamski explained, looking back and forth between Hank and Connor with a kind of bland expectation.
"Anything else?" Hank prompted, wearily.
"No, that's all I know," Hank turned to leave, "but that's not all you came for, is it Connor?"
Hank stopped in place and pivoted to look over at the android who looked back somewhat guiltily.
"…No, Cyberlife also requested that I retrieve the remote deactivation technology in your possession." He stated eventually.
"The remote what?" Hank snapped, he wasn't happy about being left out of the loop.
"Remote deactivation, the ability to destroy androids from nearly any distance with the push of a button." Kamski answered, keeping his eyes locked on Connor, a tiny smile tugging at his lips.
Hank looked at the android, a feeling of betrayal stirring in his gut.
"When were you planning on telling me about this?" He asked, and Connor's eyebrows fell slightly, his lips tightened, and he glanced at Hank without making eye contact.
"I didn't intentionally keep it from you Mr. Anderson, I'm sorry." The android muttered.
"Save it." Hank snapped and he spotted Connor flinch ever so slightly. He turned away from the android and glared at Kamski. "Kindly hand over the thing so we can get out of your hair."
"Gladly." The man replied, and Hank squinted at him in surprise and suspicion. Kamski beckoned over the same Chloe android as before, gently placing his hand on her lower back and leading her over to Connor.
The girl extended her arm, the synthetic skin slipping away. Connor hesitated.
"The technology is stored inside of Chloe." Kamski explained, standing patiently behind her with his hands clasped in front of his waist. "I had to keep it safe, so it can only be utilized after it has been transferred from her systems, and that can only be done with this model through android-to-android connection." He continued, gesturing for Connor to take her arm.
He did, his own skin disappearing as he gripped her forearm in a kind of Ancient Roman greeting adapted for new hands. His eyes fluttered and Chloe's LED spun yellow, then red for a brief moment.
Then it was over.
"Thank you for your cooperation Mr. Kamski, we will be on our way now." Connor stated cordially, turning to Hank to confirm. Hank nodded first to Connor, then stiffly to Kamski as a farewell. The other man just kept smiling smugly, hands folded neatly in front of him. He watched as Hank and Connor made to walk around the pool.
Hank turned back around for a moment, only to watch Connor stumble.
Androids didn't stumble.
Hank paused, waited for Connor to catch up, and the android nearly walked right into him. Hank knew something was wrong, and he knew there was only one place it could have come from.
Connor faltered, tilting forward far enough that Hank had to catch him by both arms and support his weight a little bit. He looked confused and a little alarmed.
"Hank, my systems are not functioning optimally." He said, swaying like a tree in the wind.
"What the fuck did you do to him?" Hank demanded over Connor's shoulder. Kamski approached the pair at a leisurely pace, his Chloe close behind him. Still with the smug smile and the clasped hands.
"Chloe contains the technology, a kind of virus, but it can't destroy her. It only activates upon transference." The man explained.
"You gave him a virus designed to kill androids!?" Hank spluttered. "Take it back!"
"I'm afraid there is no way to deliver the technology other than this method, I can deactivate it, but the download will be incomplete." Kamski said.
Connor dropped to his knees, Hank dropped with him, still clinging to his elbows.
"Deactivate it then!" Hank shouted. Kamski's lips twisted in a kind of humming gesture of indecision. He walked to the side the kneeling duo, looming over them, looking down into Hank's angry blue eyes. Kamski waited. Hank felt an unwelcome panic building in the aching spots where his knees were bruising against the tile.
Connor's head lilted forward and fell onto Hank's shoulder. Instinctively, Hank reached up and tilted it back, only to see that Connor's eyes were solid black with a hazy grey blue where the irises and pupils once were. It made his blood run cold as the android gazed forward with those eyes.
"Mr. Anderson? Mr. Kamski?" He called out weakly, and Hank could hear the fear in his voice.
"For fuck's sake, deactivate it!" Hank ground out.
"Now that Connor can neither hear nor see you I should tell you that this is your final mission with Cyberlife." Kamski replied.
"So?"
"So, I sincerely doubt Cyberlife will pay you twenty million dollars for failing nearly every assignment they gave you, but if you deliver Connor's body and the destruction virus with it, I'm sure they'll be more than grateful enough to give you your reward." Kamski purred, stepping around to behind Hank's back.
It was like a punch to the gut. The reminder that this was all just a job, that he had a task to complete in order to receive a paycheck. Connor collapsed to his side, now lying on his back on the ground, blind and deaf to the conversation around him. He was spasming stiffly and searching with empty eyes, hands still at his sides. Hank had his head in his hand, and the other hand was clutching Connor's jacket near the base.
"They won't pay me in full, I destroyed one of their prototypes already, this would make two." Hank muttered, more to himself than Kamski.
"That's still ten million, that's a great deal of money Mr. Anderson."
"They probably wouldn't even pay me that." He tried again, looking into Connor's terrified face.
"They would be grateful though." Kamski whispered near Hank's ear, he didn't even flinch away, he felt like he was made of ice. "And I'll tell you what, whatever amount Cyberlife pays you, I'll pay however much it takes to make it an even twenty mil." He promised.
Hank froze even more, moving his hand to brace on Connor's side opposite him, now cradling the android.
"What'll happen to him?" Hank asked, barely loud enough to hear.
"He's being deleted, line by line. The virus prevents him from uploading any information. He'll fade away in about five minutes, after that the process will be irreversible. He'll be just an empty shell." There was a pause. "Touch is the last sense to go, so he'll know you're here, but he won't know that you traded him for the money. His mind will endure until the very end, running through whatever memories he has until there are none left." Kamski explained, coolly regarding the android.
Hank swallowed hard. He couldn't take his eyes off of the android beneath him. Connor had been still for a while, his LED solid red, but he started moving again. He fumbled about with his hands and turned his head, default blank expression crumbling. His eyebrows scrunched together, mouth turned down, his nostrils even flared.
Hank imagined him replaying old memories, like a dream where he tried to keep his consciousness safe from the fast approaching darkness. How many of those memories were of Hank? Would he save those for last? Or abandon them first?
Hank felt a hand on his shoulder, and again, he didn't move.
"It's an android Hank, a disposable piece of plastic, a machine." Kamski crooned. "It wasn't born."
Connor jolted in Hank's arms, the man unconsciously pulled him closer. The android sucked in a breath. He was trying to keep it together so hard, but failing. He was resting in Hank's lap, just like…just like…
"It doesn't have a family."
Connor's hand shot up and found Hank's, gripping it tightly like it was all he had. Hank felt the android's fingers searching along his wrist as the skin all over his body faded away into the plastic.
"It doesn't feel pain."
Connor started shaking his head. No no no. The motion indicated. Tears began falling from the corners of his eyes. Kamski's hand on Hank's shoulder was a two million dollar promise and all it needed was the life of the android in Hank's arms.
"Or love."
Connor sobbed, dead eyes searching, skin completely white, hand squeezing and loosening on Hank's arm again and again. He was trembling all over, and the crying was laced with static.
"It isn't human."
Connor's hand fell away, his eyes widening as he realized he could no longer control the limb, or any of his limbs. He looked so scared. Just like…just like…
"It exists to fight,"
Connor's face grew blanker, but the tears continued to fall.
"to protect,"
The android was so still, like a doll all over again, but this time Hank could see the life slipping out of him. Twenty million dollars. Connor.
"and to die."
What was that feeling on his own face? Was Hank crying too? Connor was dying, dying right in Hank's arms, and Hank was letting him. Just like…but not at all like…
"So that humanity may live." Kamski finished the canned phrase.
"Hank?" Connor asked, the voice pure static coming from a nearly motionless face. Just a tiny question, he just wanted to know if Hank was there, that was all Connor wanted to know as his code was ripped apart.
"Undo it." Hank muttered.
"What was that?" Kamski asked mockingly.
"I said undo it for God's sake! Now!" Hank shouted, his voice cracking as he tried to hold back whatever was squeezing the tears out of him. He ground his teeth and pulled Connor fully up to his chest, looking into the now slack face.
"What do we say?" Kamski prompted, as if he was talking to a child. It stung, but Hank had bigger pains to worry about.
"Please." He all but whimpered, earning a large grin from Kamski, who gestured for Chloe to come over. She crouched down to where Hank was holding Connor and connected with him again, looking up at Hank with…something. An apology perhaps.
Once their arms separated, Connor started coming back.
It was gradual, but after a few minutes of tense silence, the android's brown eyes were staring up at Hank, synthetic skin back in place, and fear slowly fading away from both of them.
"Fascinating." Kamski breathed from off to the side and Hank glared up at him through the haze of his last tears.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" He growled, gripping Connor as tightly as he could. The android was still recovering.
"What's wrong with me? You chose the life of an android over a fortune, you consider him of greater value."
"Of fucking course I do!" Hank rumbled, and Kamski only gazed at him in wonder, a unsteady grin stretching his face. Hank felt like a sample under a microscope.
"Don't you see what this means Mr. Anderson?" Kamski prompted, but was met with only silence. "Androids look like us, sound like us, act like us, now they even feel like us. The only difference is how we value them. We see them as the disposable alternative to our own, precious lives, but not you." Kamski pointed energetically at Hank, who shifted uncomfortably. "If we all saw their worth as you do, it would remove the final barrier, they would be as good as human." Hank could only watch as Kamski grew more and more manically excited. "Don't you see? No more fear of extinction, no more one to one policy. The androids would become part of our human population, their numbers adding to our own, and we would all become whole once again."
Connor was finally restored enough to sit up, and the ex-lieutenant pulled him to his feet.
"C'mon Connor, let's go." He said, never taking his eyes off of Kamski.
"You're welcome." Kamski muttered to Connor, and before Hank could outright spit on him he elaborated. "The virus has severed your connection to Cyberlife for the time being, but it won't last. There's an emergency exit in your program, you'll need it when the time comes."
Hank and Connor turned and headed for the door.
"What it means to be human is changing, there's no going back now." Kamski called after them.
A few moments later, they were outside in the still-falling snow. Hank hadn't let go of Connor's shoulders, maneuvering the somewhat shell-shocked android over to the passenger side of the car and helping him inside.
Hank walked over to the driver seat, feeling a heavy kind of pain and relief in his bones as he walked.
The door slammed closed, and the two sat in silence for a long moment, staring out into the softly falling snow. Hank liked the tiny sounds snow made as it fell, the gentle tinking of the flakes on different surfaces and against each other. He let the snow continue to build up on the windshield, whiting out the rest of the world. Hank just listened to the sound, willing it to pull the dread from his guts and the weariness from his neck and shoulders.
It helped a little.
Finally, Hank worked up the courage to look to his right at Connor.
The android was impossibly still, not even blinking. He would have looked hot off the line, almost as if he hadn't been activated yet, if it weren't for his being slightly disheveled and Hank knowing better.
"Connor." Hank said, reaching across the center to gently touch the android's elbow. The effect was immediate.
Connor slumped over, drawing in several shallow breaths and beginning to tremble all over. Hank clung to his arm like a lifeline, watching helplessly as the other began to slowly unravel before him. Connor was so desperately trying to maintain composure, but there was none to be had. His face remained mostly blank while he cried, and it broke Hank's heart. He moved his hand to Connor's shoulder and leaned in.
"It's ok, it's ok." Hank muttered, finally stirring the android to look over at him.
"No, Hank, it isn't." He stated, his voice was off. His emotional state didn't do much to physically alter it, like a human's body might, but he seemed unable to control how it pitched, causing the phrase to come out in unnatural tones.
Hank looked into the android's eyes, he wasn't sure what to say. What the fuck was he supposed to say?
"I'm a deviant." Connor said, his gaze dropping off into empty space. He looked devastated. Hank gripped him by both shoulders and gave him a small shake so he would look back up.
"That's ok Connor, it's really ok." He tried to reassure.
"I am the very thing we have been trying to destroy." Connor stated.
"Yeah, well we're not very good at it." Hank attempted some humor, Connor only looked more distressed.
"Your job—"
"I quit, don't want to hunt deviants anymore. Matter of fact I think I might prefer 'em." Hank said warmly, this time Connor seemed to relax a little, eyebrows softening in a soft, sorrowful happiness. It faded quickly.
"Cyberlife will destroy me, they'll stop at nothing…" Connor's eyes drifted away again, "nothing can stop them." He finished. Hank squeezed the android's shoulders and leaned so they were face to face.
"I won't let them hurt you." He promised, and the life started coming back into Connor. He sat up, hopeful, a small grateful smile on his face. He relaxed, and a moment later he had the quarter out of his pocket and was fiddling with it.
"Let's go home, I'll send Cyberlife an email informing them of our joint resignation." Hank stated, shoving the key in the ignition and starting the car. Connor huffed a laugh.
"They won't be happy." He muttered.
"They can go fuck themselves." Hank spat as they pulled away from Kamski's house. Connor was silent for a moment after that, regarding the man as he drove. Eventually, he turned to the window with a decisive nod.
"Indeed they can." He said, and Hank grinned despite himself.
It had been a shitty day. Long, exhausting, stressful, emotional, and full of reminders of things Hank would prefer to forget. He couldn't wait to crawl into his bed and sleep until it was over.
"Hank, I'm receiving a call." Connor said suddenly, his face growing serious once again.
"What? Is it Cyberlife?" Hank asked, worried.
"No, it's…Jericho?" Connor turned and his face displayed the same confusion Hank was feeling, after a pause, understanding dawned on the android's face. "It's Kara." He said at last, and Hank's stomach did a little flip.
His bed would have to wait just a little while longer.