CHAPTER TWENTY

The hospital made quick work of her injuries and didn't ask too many questions once Hank showed them his badge. That didn't mean that they didn't keep shooting her looks and assuming why she ended up like this.

There words held no filters. They accused her of the most heinous crimes. Some were logical, some were extremely far-fetched. He wanted to tell them that there hadn't been a case of anthrax for many decades, now.

At one point, the lieutenant became fed up and shouted at the latest pair of nurses who were speaking too loudly in the room. That seemed to shut them all up, at least, within hearing range.

"God, damn it…" he grumbled. "This was not what I signed up for. I'm no baby sitter! Now, I have two babies to sit for! The Hell do they think I am…?"

"Neither of us are babies," Connor helpfully stated. "I also do not require any sitting."

Hank rolled his eyes. "Well, she's in good hands. We don't need to wait here, anymore."

"No," he quickly protested. "We need to be here to make sure that she is alright. How is anyone to know she requires assistance if no one is in the room?"

"Someone will come to check up on her every once in a while, there's no need to – "

"We are staying, lieutenant," he adamantly stated, crossing his arms and refusing to remove himself from his seat by the bed.

Hank huffed before trying to make himself more comfortable on the hard, plastic chair. "So… Why did she make you look so goofy and give you that weird voice?"

"Artie had spent many weeks experimenting before deciding. All CyberLife androids are designed to work harmoniously with humans. She has created me specifically to facilitate my integration," he answered.

"Well, she fucked up," he retorted, staring at him.

He felt a surge of dislike run through him. "She has been very meticulous with her creation. Every decision made was not done lightly. She had done surveys after surveys before settling on this."

Hank continued to stare at him before giving a small nod. "You're pretty damn loyal, aren't ya? How do I know you didn't go easy on her in the room?"

"I would never do that. She had designed me to be thorough without discrimination," he replied and he wished that she hadn't. He didn't like seeing her in such duress.

He found that he was also disappointed in himself. She should never have gotten hurt. He should've been there to protect her.

Software Instability.

He couldn't keep thinking about her. It was doing something to his central processing unit and he didn't think it was good for him. Instead, he decided to report back to Amanda.

The zen garden was just as he remembered it. He had only been here once before after it was installed into him. He was instructed to not tell Artie about it and he couldn't understand why. Perhaps it was confidential and they didn't want her to know about it.

He walked along the edge of the water, glancing at his reflection as he did so.

"Ah, Connor…" Amanda turned around as he approached her. "How did the mission go? Did you find out anything about the deviants?"

He looked down. "Nothing new. The latest case doesn't involve rA9, at all, so I don't know if that is still the common factor between all of them." He couldn't seem to get anywhere with this and he could tell that Amanda was disappointed at him by the way she was frowning.

"Is that so?" she cryptically stated. "I see that your creator has encountered some issues of her own. Do you find it suspicious? An engineer like herself possessing a deviant… Don't you think she should've seen the signs – fixed it before it escalated?"

He didn't know. He never witnessed the moment when an android became deviant. It could be instantaneous or it could be a gradual progress. "I don't know," he truthfully replied. "All I know is that she was not legally liable for her actions to defend herself and she has been appropriated exonerated."

She hummed, disinterestedly. "Just remember what your mission is and don't lose your way."

His eyes snapped open and they quickly flitted over to the bed when he heard her stir. Her eyes fluttered open and she tried to sit up, but immediately let out a groan and fell back down. "It is unwise to move so quickly after passing out as you did."

He hadn't expected her to let out a laugh and he was even more confused when the laughter turned into tears. How could she be both sad and happy at the same time? There must've been an error that was causing her emotions to crosswire with each other. "Are you broken, Artie? Would you like me to call for assistance?"

From the corner of his eyes, he could see Hank slapping his face with the palm of his hands.

"Did I say something wrong?" he asked the lieutenant, not sure why the man was reacting in such a way.

It was Artie who ended up responding. "No, Connor," she sighed. "You're perfect the way you are."

He used to believe those words, but after today, he wasn't so sure. If he was perfect, he would never have pushed her to the point of unconsciousness. He was also receiving errors every once in a while. These should not be occurring if he was, indeed, perfect. He couldn't, however, tell her that when she was still in distress.

"Alright, you're awake. You're also free of all charges. We're going, now," Hank said, standing up to stretch his bones. They creaked loudly, but Connor decided not to mention that he should probably be taking supplements for it.

"Wait," Connor protested, again.

"What is it, now?" A glare was thrown his way.

He opened his mouth to explain himself, but found that he had no valid explanation. She was awake and could call for assistance when she required it. There was really no reason for him to stay any longer.

Defeated, he stood up and began to follow Hank out.

Just as he reached the door, he turned back around. "Artie, I'm truly sorry for putting you in this state. It was never my intention to cause you any damage. In fact, I would very much like it if I could protect you from all forms of harm. If I had been doing my job probably, all this could be prev – "

"Alright, lover boy. It's time to go." Hank pulled him out of the room and gave her a quick departing nod.

He watched her smile back before the door closed in his face.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I can't believe I've actually updated 21 days in a row... That's three weeks! Even though they're only around 1k to 2k words each, I'm pretty proud that I've somehow managed to keep this up.