When they got to New Jericho, Hank hesitated in the car. "You sure it's alright for me to go in there?"

Connor frowned slightly in confusion. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"I'm human. It's weird."

"Is it weird for me to go into human areas?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Then it shouldn't be weird for you, right?"

"I hate when you make sense but are still wrong," Hank grumbled. Connor opened his mouth, then closed it. Then tried again.

"You will be with me. People know we're working together."

"No sense being a spineless idiot out here," Hank finally said with a shrug, and opened the door.

The abandoned church that the androids had hid out in had been reborn as the hub of New Jericho. There had been little to nothing for the androids to do as they'd waited - were still waiting - in limbo for what their status would become, and so they had completely renovated the abandoned areas they had claimed.

The pews and alter were gone, but the stained glass windows were still there, bathing the room in color as light from the setting sun filtered through.

The offices and rooms in the back that had been used once to teach Sunday school classes and Bible study were where most of the work happened, and where Markus, North, Simon, and Josh had claimed as their own.

Connor had never felt entirely comfortable there, despite Markus' reassurances that he was one of them.

As they walked in, the tension in the air seemed to double, as all eyes focused on them. Then on Hank.

Connor suddenly understood why Hank had been apprehensive.

Simon approached them. "Connor? Who's this? What's going on?"

One thing Connor found himself appreciating about humans was how they would at least pretend like they weren't watching or listening - that was often what happened in the bullpen, when he and Gavin fought, or back when he and Hank did. But androids didn't do that - if they were watching and listening, they openly watched and listened. And now nearly everyone in the main area of the church had their eyes and ears on them.

"Lt. Anderson and I are investigating a case. Could we speak to Markus, please?"

Simon frowned slightly. "What about?"

"A case. It's not something we can discuss here," he said. "Is Markus here? If not, I can also discuss this with you, or North, or Josh, or all of you. In one of the rooms in the back," he said pointedly.

Simon nodded. "Markus is here. He's—"

"Why have you brought a human here?" a voice said sharply.

"'You sure it's alright for me to go in there?' 'Oh, why wouldn't it be?'," Hank said under his breath, and Connor could almost hear the eye roll in his voice.

Connor turned slightly to North. "We are investigating a case."

"You still haven't explained why you brought a human here."

Connor frowned. "I just did. We are investigating a case. Lieutenant Anderson is my partner."

North looked singularly unimpressed.

Another voice carried over to them. Markus. "What's going on here?"

"Connor's brought a human here," North said, watching Hank warily.

"Look, maybe I should just—" Hank began.

Connor overrode him. "Hank is my partner. We are investigating a case. He is here with me," he said firmly, directing his last line at North, and knowing that this was setting a precedent. Hank might have been all right with backing down and leaving, but Connor realized almost instantly that that was the absolute last thing they wanted to do. If they started trying to keep humans out, especially police…

Not only that, Hank was his friend. And he had told Hank it would be fine.

He wasn't backing down from this.

"Is something wrong?" Markus asked, looking directly at Connor. He flicked his eyes over to Hank, then back to Connor. "Has something happened?"

Connor felt a moment of relief at how easily Markus had just accepted the situation.

"It's not something we can discuss here. We were looking for you to talk to you," Connor said, making a conscious effort to use plural pronouns. He tilted his head slightly toward North and Simon. "All of you, if it would make you more comfortable."

"This way," Markus said, looking around and seeing all the faces watching them. He headed towards what had become his office in the back. Connor fell into step behind him, with Hank behind him.

North strode right past Connor and Hank, her jaw tight.

Simon hesitated for a moment, then followed behind.

When they got to Markus' office, Simon closed the door behind them. Connor made eye contact with Hank, and gestured for him to talk. Hank gave him a surprised look. Which made sense; usually Hank let Connor take the lead unless it was dangerous. In fact, it had often seemed like Hank was testing him, to see how he reacted and how he handled what was thrown at him.

Which was why he was making Hank do this. They had to build bridges with the humans, and interact with them, even here. Hank was supposed to be there. He was doing his job, and the other androids had to respect that.

When Connor raised his eyebrows and jerked his chin towards Markus, Hank seemed to realize Connor wasn't going to take the lead here.

"We have a...situation," Hank said finally. "Well, what might turn into on. Have you been watching the news?"

Markus frowned slightly. "We have the news on, but we've only been monitoring stories that relate to androids. I haven't seen any more cases on the news than normal about androids being attacked."

"Yeah, this isn't about an android being attacked. It's about one that killed someone."

"Another android? Or a human?" Simon asked quietly.

"A human."

North snorted. "It probably had a good reason. What'd the human do to it?"

Hank frowned at her. "I can't divulge details of a case, but believe me, there was no 'good reason.' There was nothing that could justify what he did to that man," Hank said vehemently.

"We think he is very dangerous," Connor added. "We're hoping he's somewhere in New Jericho and we can take him in for questioning quietly."

North got an ugly look on her face. "Back to being the deviant hunter, Connor?"

Connor flinched slightly, and Hank narrowed his eyes.

"It's kind of his job. And you want him to do his job. This guy, if he did it, then he's not someone who should be walking around free."

"Your kind don't want any of us to be free," North shot back.

Hank responded better than Connor feared: he only rolled his eyes and said "Keep it up and you're gonna cut yourself on all that edge."

"Excuse me?!"

"North, please," Markus said. "Let's hear them out. And Connor isn't a 'deviant hunter.' Not anymore. You know that. He's just doing his job. The job we want him to do," he emphasized.

"We're getting off track," Simon said, his voice soft but also firm. "Connor, I know there's not much you and your...partner...can tell us, but some details would be nice."

"A human man was killed Friday night in his home. We think an android did it, and we want to bring him in for questioning."

"What did his old owner do to him?" North asked, her face hard.

"It wasn't his old owner," Hank answered. "And you're making a lot of assumptions."

"Androids don't just...kill people for no reason. We're not like you," North said, frowning slightly. "There has to be something more. Something you're not telling us."

"I seem to recall saying we couldn't divulge some details of a case. That still applies. Trust me, it'd probably make our jobs easier if we could," he ended in a mutter under his breath.

Simon abruptly went stock still. "Was it...Markus, there was a story on the news about a human who had been tortured to death. Is that the one you're talking about?"

Hank nodded. "Yeah. So you can see why we want to bring this guy in."

"Torture?" North asked, frowning again. "That's..."

"What can you tell us about this android? And what will happen after you take it in?" Markus asked. He'd been quiet as the rest of them talked, gathering information and mulling it in his head.

"We'll take him in for questioning. We're still investigating, and if we can rule him out, we'll let him go. If it was him, well, Connor is pretty good at getting confessions. I'd like to handle this as quietly as possible."

"What model was he?"

"A HR400 named 'Alexander.'"

North went rigid. "A Traci."

Markus glanced over at her, then extended his hand just enough so one of his fingers brushed against one of hers. Some of the tension relaxed, but she was still tense and severe.

"We also think he held his last owner captive for several weeks before she managed to escape. It was her boyfriend that was murdered," Hank said,

"No," North said, her voice terrible and cold, and Connor was reminded of North's serial number and the closed case associated with it - she was an android from one of his cases from before the revolution, who had run away from Eden Club. "They did something to him. Markus, you can't give that android to them. We have to protect him. We can't just turn him over to the humans."

"We just need to talk to it," Connor said, feeling frustration gnawing at him. North had no idea of the details, and they weren't allowed to disclose details that could be used in interrogations to weed out false confessions or determine if a suspect knew details that hadn't been released. She had her own baggage that she was bringing in, and he cursed at having let her come in.

And the way she had said "to the humans," as if Connor weren't standing there, asking for Alexander. As if she thought it was still to the humans that Connor's loyalties lay.

[She'll never trust me. Not completely.]

"If you try to protect him, you'd be obstructing justice. You really don't want to be saying that in front of the cops," Hank said, giving North an annoyed look.

"If he's here, we have to turn him in," Simon said, his voice still quiet. North gave him a disbelieving look.

"He's right," Markus said, his voice calm. "We wanted equality, North. This is part of it."

"And if it means anything, North," Connor said, "I believe his old owner didn't abuse him. The opposite, in fact. Any trauma done to him happened before she bought him."

North didn't looked even the slightest bit convinced, but she said nothing.

"Do you know if he's here?" Simon asked.

"No. We're just hoping he is," Hank answered.

"May we look?" Connor asked. "We have records of most of the androids here. If we could look through it, it would help."

Markus gave Connor a strange look. "You didn't have to ask. You have access."

Connor paused. It was true. But...it made him uneasy, to take advantage of his position here, when if he had not been thrust into a leadership role, he would not have had access. It was a responsibility he had been flattered by at first, but now worried could be too easily abused were he not careful. Everything needed to be above board. "Yes but...I have access, but if I didn't, we would have to ask for permission or get a warrant to check your files. It...didn't seem right to do so without asking. When I was given access, no one had any idea I would be returning to the Detroit Police Department. I don't want to risk any evidence being thrown out because of it being seen as illegally gained."

"Go ahead and look," he said. "You have access. I trust you."

"Should we, though?" Simon asked, and Simon asking caught Connor by surprise. "Should we be giving the police unfettered access to who we have here?"

"We're not giving the police unfettered access. Connor has access," Markus said sharply.

"But now he is the police," Simon said. "And he said himself, normally the police would need a warrant to enter and check our files."

"You guys really don't want to be protecting this guy," Hank said, sounding disbelieving at Simon's abrupt change in position. Connor was right along with him. Alexander was dangerous, and North and Simon were worried either hypotheticals.

"Oh, I think we do," North shot back.

"No, I don't think we do," Simon said, undercutting her. She gave him a disbelieving look. "But I'm worried about the precedent this could set. This is bigger than just this one android."

"Oh, fuck me," Hank said, sounding as disbelieving as North had looked a moment before. "Are we really about to run headlong into bureaucracy? All we want is to know if he's here, and to talk to him if he is."

Simon looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, Connor...Lieutenant Anderson. But I think you need to get a warrant if you're searching our files while you're doing police work."

"Markus!" Connor let out, feeling shocked. This wasn't how he'd thought this would go and he felt completely at a loss, like he had - [he had? had he felt even then? he had already been] - when Captain Fowler had said he and Hank were off the deviants case.

Markus frowned, this his shoulders slumped. "They're right," he said, but he sounded apologetic. "If you were a human officer, or even another android, you'd need a warrant. I'm sorry, Connor, but we can't let you access those databases for a case," he said, and closed his eyes for a moment. His LED spun yellow, and Connor realized Markus was revoking his access privileges.

Connor tried to access the database, wanting to believe that he was wrong, and [ACCESS DENIED] flashed red in his vision.

It felt like a betrayal.

"I could have just accessed the database without asking you. I thought you would help," he said, and he could hear how wounded he felt in his voice.

"And we will. When you get a warrant," Markus said, his voice firm. "I'm sorry, Connor. But we both know Simon is right. What happens now sets how we interact with the police and the law from here on. I have to do this. Even if you're right, and this android is guilty and isn't someone we might want to protect, we still have to, for the sake of every android after him, and the ones who are innocent and need all the protection from a system that is stacked against them." His voice softened. "You know this isn't personal, right?"

"I understand," Connor said, and the words were a lie. "Let's go, lieutenant," he said, his words flat and empty.

"Connor," Markus began, and Connor walked past him without acknowledgment.

"Thank you for your cooperation," he heard Hank say, with the falsest of sweetness, and he knew Hank was as angry as he was. "We'll be in touch with the proper paperwork."

Connor didn't slow down until they were outside the church, but once he was outside, he began pacing angrily. Hank didn't say anything, just watched him pace in agitation.

Connor stopped abruptly, and clinched his jaw. "Shit," he spat out, and Hank sighed.

"Yeah, that didn't go as well as I hoped, either. But we'll get a warrant. We can do this the old fashioned way. Like it or not, Markus has a point," Hank said, sounding displeased but resigned.

"That will take a long time, lieutenant. We don't even know if he's here. Do you really think a judge will give us a warrant when we aren't even sure if he's here?"

Hank shrugged. "Depends on the judge. Maybe we'll get lucky."

"We haven't been so far," Connor said, his shoulders slumping. He reached into his pocket, trying to find his coin. Playing with it was a programmed quirk, a way of keeping him on alert when he needed to be attentive but there was nothing yet for him to focus on, but now he found he wanted to fiddle with it, to focus for a moment on something simple.

Hank had taken the coin from him once what felt like a lifetime ago, but had given it back the day they met after the revolution. Now Connor pulled it out, and used it to focus himself on the task at hand.

Hank said nothing as he flicked the coin from hand to hand, but had a look on his face that Connor couldn't interpret.

"We'll try for a warrant. If we can't get it, we'll see what happens," Hank finally said. "Maybe someone will see him somewhere or something, I dunno. But this isn't the first time I've been stonewalled like this. It sucks, especially when it's people you trust doing it, but welcome to due process."

Connor snatched the coin from midair. "Maybe we don't need a warrant," he said, his voice thoughtful as something Hank said triggered an idea.

Hank frowned. "You're not gonna look through the files after Markus told us no? I appreciate the sentiment, but a judge would toss anything we found."

"Markus revoked my access to the database of androids here, so even if I wanted to, I couldn't. But that's not the only way," Connor said, still - [angry? hurt? betrayed?] - at what had just happened. He could see why Markus had made his decision, but it felt like being stabbed in the back.

Hank gave him a strange look. "What are you plotting?"

"Just a moment, lieutenant," he said, then put the coin back in his pocket and closed his eyes.

[Accessing police network]

[Accessing MAS]

[Activating MAS protocols]

[Setting area of alert]

[Opening emergency connection to PM700 and PC200 model androids]

[ATTENTION all PM700 and PC200 androids. Please be on the looking for an HR400 "Traci" unit serial number #942 164 424, named "Alexander." Wanted for questioning in suspicion of murder and considered extremely dangerous. If spotted, DO NOT APPROACH. Send notifications of affirmation of alert and/or sightings to RK800 "Connor" unit serial number #313 248 317 - 51.]

[Affirmation of MAS alert received from: 28 units ]

He opened his eyes. "I just reactivated the android Manhunt Alert System and set up an alert."

A grin lit up Hank's face as realization dawned. The MAS was a wide alert system for police androids and drones to let them know to be on the lookout for particularly dangerous criminals that were high risk. It was normally limited to crimes where time was of the essence, such as child kidnappings or prison escapes, and could be modified to only focus on certain areas.

"If any of the PM and PC androids in New Jericho who accept the alert spot him, I will be notified instantly. And since they are no longer police units, if they see him and notify me, it will be the same as tip. We'll still need a warrant, but it would be like if we'd gotten it from a regular member of the public and a former police officer told us."

Hank grinned. "You crafty little bastard."

[Message: PM700 #878 371 518, "Lillian":

[We'll find him for you, Connor.]

Connor felt a smile come onto his own face. [If this is how Jericho wants to play this...] he thought, and three more notifications of affirmation pinged.