"What do you mean he's dead?" Connor stood quickly, threatening to knock his chair over.

"A jogger found his body washed up on the river bank this morning." Ian pinched the bridge of his nose and crinkled his brows. "Forensics says he's been dead for a few days. Guess that's why I didn't hear from him last week…"

"Shit." Connor repeated and sat back down.

"Don't think I've ever heard you swear." Ian joked in an attempt to lighten the mood; he sat on the corner of Connor's desk. 'Flight of the Valkyries' played again and Ian stepped away to take the call. Which was perfect timing as Connor's LED began flashing for his own call.

"Penny?"

"Hey, Connor. I uh…was just checking up on you. I know you've been super busy with the investigation."

"Yes. It has been quite busy." He sighed.

"Everything alright?"

"We have…hit a bit of a snag in the investigation."

"How so? Er, never mind. You probably can't tell me about it, can you."

"Well, I can discus things that the media already knows. But any newer developments, I can not. We were in the middle of looking into a particular place as a hotspot for the narcotics, but our Confidential Informant has…uh, backed out of our deal and we haven't heard from him in about a week. We have taken a few steps back and it is…quite frustrating."

"Oh, I uh…I'm sorry. I wish there was something I could do to assist."

"I wouldn't want you to even if you could. These things can get quite dangerous." There was a brief pause where Ian returned back to Connor's desk with an inquisitive look. The android man held up a finger to him. "Sorry, Penny. I have to go."

"It's ok. I understand. Take care of yourself, Connor. And be safe."

"I will. Thank you." The call ended and Connor turned his attention to a grinning Ian.

"You're not-yet-girlfriend?"

"It was Penny, yes." He flushed.

"Aw, she was checking up on you, wasn't she."

"…Yes." Connor began to swivel his chair away when Ian's hand stopped him. He raised a brow at the man.

"I do have some good news too."

"You do?"

"Yeah. Diagnostics is done going over the narcotic samples and Kerry has come back with more info on that cosmetics factory. Why don't you go meet Billy down in the lab. I'll go talk to Kerry and Neil."

"Alright." Connor stood with a bit of a huff and pushed past him and down the hall towards the lab. He gave a quick little knock before entering.

"Detective Connor, right?" Billy swiveled on his stool to face him as he entered. "I've got uh…what was your name, diagnostics lady?"

"Mary." The android woman sighed and faced Connor. "Nice to see you again, Detective. I helped you out on that one case with the station's very own Penelope."

"Yes, of course. Thank you for that as well." He took a seat next to her as she pulled out her tablet. "What have you found?"

"Here." She sighed and showed him the screen, pointing to the strings of code. "I ran all three samples. It's a standard, CyberLife issued Thirium 310 that you can purchase at any store except someone has really messed with it. But…they were a bit sloppy with their coding. These narcotics are not perfect and hide a…I suppose I could call it a 'signature'."

"…They signed their creations?"

"In a way, yes. It's a coding mistake that newbies often make when they're not as experienced. Other than that, these narcotics are pretty spot on for their human equivalents symptom-wise."

"So, we are looking for someone who is inexperienced in coding. A novice."

"Precisely." The diagnostics lady, Mary, gave him a smile and nodded. Connor grinned and shook her hand. He popped back up from his seat and hurried back to the narcotics department.

"Connor, just in time." Ian welcomed him into the conference room. "Kerry and Neil secured a warrant to search the factory. What did Billy have to say?"

"I know who's been coding the narcotics."

"Wait, what?!" The blond man stood, slamming his hands onto the table as the rest of the task force murmured. Connor stood and connected himself to the projector that was mounted on the ceiling.

"Diagnostics came back with this information on the coding of the narcotics." He displayed the info on the wall. "To the untrained eye, this just seems to be a random string of coding. But diagnostics found an error in all three samples. The same exact error. An error that a novice would make when coding. And who, among all the doctors from the clinics, was an intern at CyberLife before the emancipation?" He pulled up the three other physicians that Doctor Orion had given them.

"Holy shit…fuckin' Michael Byrd."

"Fucking Michael Byrd." The projector displayed the young man's post-grad photo as Ian approached Connor and pulled his head in under his arm in a friendly headlock. The android man grinned widely and wiggled his way free. He smoothed his hair back and straightened his tie.

"You should swear more often."

"That's what Hank keeps telling me."

"Listen to your dad, man."

"He's not my—"

"He might as well be." Ian laughed heartily. "In any case, let's go get ourselves a criminal coder! Fletcher, Noble. You two take the clinic Byrd works at. Kerry, Neil. You two take his home. Connor, you're coming with me to the factory. I need your optical scanning and reconstruction software."

"Roger that." The members of the task force dispersed, Connor following Ian out. As they passed the reception desk, Ian turned to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Go talk to her real quick." He nodded his head over in Penny's direction.

"Aren't we a little pressed for time right now, Lieutenant?"

"Oh, we can spare a few minutes. It's fine." He gave the android a little push and Connor trotted up to Penny's desk.

"Oh, hello, Connor!" She perked up and gave him a bright smile. "I'm so happy to see you."

"Me too, Penny." He returned her smile and darted a look over his shoulder at Ian. "I don't have much time, we're in the middle of a very big break through, but I was wondering if after this is all over, would you want to go out with me again?"

"Oh!" Her eyes went a bit wide and she blushed. "Well, yes. Of course, I would!"

"Good." He gave an awkward nod. "I'll…call you. We can go see another movie. One that you like this time."

"Yeah. I'd like that. A lot" Smiled widely as she watched him walk back towards Ian. The smaller human man clapped Connor on the shoulder with a hearty laugh and they left the building.