A rogue deviant who had been using a knife to attack and threaten other deviants, as well as humans throughout the city, had been accused of murdering an innocent woman who was out walking her dog in the park. Due to the android nature of the case both Connor and Hank had been assigned to work the case and had tracked the deviant down to the busy train station where he was trying to blend into the crowd and escape from the police.

"Stop." Connor shouted as he easily isolated the dangerous deviant from the rest of the crowd. "Detroit Police."

The deviant glared angrily at Connor as he pushed his way through the mass of people and leapt onto the elevated concrete tracks of the train in a desperate bid to flee from the pursuing detective. Without missing a beat Connor leapt onto the tracks and chased after the deviant along the concrete tracks at a dangerously quick speed over the streets twenty feet below; his heart thundering in his chest with each adrenaline fueled step he took.

Hank was driving along street below the tracks and was keeping track of the chase from his position below. "Holy shit!" He craned his neck a little as he watched Connor catching up to the deviant along the lengthy concrete tracks above.

"STOP." Connor demanded again as he reached out his hand and grabbed onto the deviant's shoulder. Pulling back hard he managed to stop the deviant in his tracks, only to have the deviant turn around wildly and swing his knife at Connor in response. Grabbing onto the deviant's arm Connor planted his feet to keep the blade from cutting into his body as he retrained the weapon. "DROP THE KNIFE."

Hank stopped the car beneath the tracks and looked up at the duo fighting for the knife almost twenty feet above him. Connor and the deviant were standing atop the tracks over a support column right in the middle of the street. Grabbing his radio that he kept in his coat pocket Hank reported the incident and the exact location requesting immediate back-up to their location.

Connor had no choice but to break the deviant's wrist in order to make him let go of the knife, and in the process the deviant's leg buckled from the sudden pain. As the deviant fell downward he pulled Connor with him and the two slipped over the edge of the tracks together, the knife falling away and clattering onto the asphalt far below.

"Connor!" Hank shouted from below as he watched Connor and the deviant hanging onto the edge of the concrete track by one hand as they hung precariously high up over the street below. "Hold on!"

Connor's heart began thundering in his chest even harder from a mixture of fear and adrenaline. Hanging onto the track as tightly as he could for dear life the young detective looked down at the street so far below and saw Hank standing beneath the tracks watching everything happen.

"H-Hank?" Connor whispered fearfully as he felt the concrete tracks beginning to rumble as a train began barreling down the track at a frightening speed.

The deviant suspect managed to swing his legs up and over the top of the track as he used his uninjured hand to pull himself back up over the edge. Clumsily the deviant clawed and kicked as he tried to get back up onto the track and away from the two detectives trying to arrest him.

Approaching at a dangerous speed the train showed no sign of stopping as the two combatants struggled along the tracks helplessly.

"CONNOR! GET OUT OF THERE!" Hank yelled desperately to his partner. "CLIMB DOWN. NOW."

Connor's eyes went wide as he felt the track shaking more and more violently as the train charged at him swiftly. He was absolutely terrified and for the first time in his life he didn't know how to react. He was frozen in place.

"CONNOR." Hank shouted again, this time with more force in his voice. "USE THE LADDER AND CLIMB DOWN, NOW. THAT'S AN ORDER!"

Something about being 'ordered' to respond was enough to pull Connor back to his senses. Looking about himself quickly Connor spotted the metal ladder that was mounted to the side of the concrete pillar just a few inches from his grip. Reaching his free, trembling hand out to the ladder Connor took a firm grip on the rung and forced his other hand to let go of the track as he swung his body over onto the ladder entirely.

Hank could see Connor shaking from fear as both of his hands gripped the metal rungs like a vice, and he planted his feet firmly on a second rung at the length of his legs.

As Connor moved himself out of immediate danger of the oncoming train the fleeing deviant had gotten back to his feet and turned around just as the train screamed down the track and smashed right into him. A splash of blue blood rained down over the tracks and speckled Connor's face, hair, hands and shoulders; while a few stray drops fell downward over the windshield of Hank's car.

The emergency brakes of the autonomous train engaged causing the train to slowly screech to a halt, but it was too late. The deviant had been struck and killed by the train upon impact.

Hank reported the collision as he approached the pillar and stood beside the bottom of ladder where Connor was still hanging on for his life. "Connor? Climb down."

"I... I can't." Connor's eyes were shut tight and his heart was pounding. "I can't move."

"Yes you can. Climb down." Hank saw that Connor wasn't going to budge and decided to he needed to use the 'dad voice' to get him to respond. "Connor. Get down here. You'll be okay."

Nodding frantically Connor pulled his left hand from the rung and placed it on the rung just below it. Repeating the action with his opposite hand and then his feet in a slow rhythm Connor gradually began descending the ladder back down to the safety of the ground below.

"That's it." Hank encouraged kindly as he watched the younger man timidly climb down the ladder. "Just a little more, you're almost on the ground."

As soon as the scared detective was in reach Hank put his hand against Connor's back to support him as he finished the last of the climb and all but collapsed to the ground on his hands and knees. The younger detective was trembling with fear and staring with wide eyes at the asphalt under his palms.

"It's okay, kid."

"H-Hank..." Connor's voice was shaking as much as the rest of his body. "I th-think I'm afraid of h-heights."

"No shit."

"H-How do I make it s-stop?"

"Like any other fear, you have to face it."

Connor nodded again as Hank grabbed onto his left bicep with his other hand and hoisted him back up to his feet. "You need to get cleaned up and we need to get back to the precinct to file our report. I get the feeling Fowler's going to get pissed about the bill for the damage to the train."

"W-What about the deviant?" Connor asked in a slightly more stable voice as he fought to stop trembling where he stood. "Did he survive?"

"No." Hank shook his head as he kept his hand against Connor's back as he guided the frightened android over to the car. "But there was nothing you could do to save him. He was insane, he was dangerous and he tried to kill you. Don't feel bad about it."

"Y-Yeah. I'll try to remember that."

"Connor, it's over. You're going to be okay. You ARE okay."

"...Right. I'm okay."

Connor sat at his terminal with his coin dancing rather gracelessly over his left knuckles as he stared at the screen while finishing up his report on the day's previous incident. His heart had slowed down to a normal rhythm as he was able to calm down a little after returning to the precinct, but he was still wary and shaken by the close call on the tracks. It was the first time Connor felt as though he had truly been useless after he had failed to react thanks solely to an unexpected fearful reaction to being up high over the street.

Hank was watching Connor carefully from the breakroom as he poured himself a cup of coffee and could see the fear still gripping Connor's mind. Trying to explain fear and phobia wasn't something he had very little experience with.

"Hey, Lieutenant." Chris greeted as he helped himself to a cup of coffee as well. "Heard about the deviant on the tracks. How's Connor holding up?"

"Terrified. Wish I knew why."

"About almost getting killed?"

"...No." Hank gave Chris a slightly annoyed glance but answered sincerely. "About heights. He's never been afraid before, but when he saw how high up he was it was like he was a completely different person up there."

"Weird. I didn't know Connor had any phobias."

"I don't think he did either." Hank sipped at the coffee and grimaced at the still bitter taste before adding a little more sugar. Normally he liked his coffee super sweet but he had been trying to cut down on the sugar at Connor's request. "I'm going to try to see what's up with him later."

"Maybe he had a bad interaction at a high place before he became deviant, and being up on the tracks today uncovered a fear he hadn't been able to feel before as an android?"

"That's... That's actually a pretty good theory. Makes sense, too." Hank finished off his sweetened coffee and threw the empty cup into the garbage can against the wall. "See ya' around Chris."

"Yeah, see ya'."

Hank walked back over to the desks that he and Connor shared and put his hand to the younger detective's shoulder. As soon as Hank's palm made contact with his shoulder Connor jumped and dropped the coin that he had been so delicately balancing over his left hand, while his heart briefly race in a startled response.

"Easy. I didn't mean to scare you." Hank apologized as he stood beside Connor's desk and crossed his arms over his chest. "You okay?"

"Fine." Connor lied as he bent down to pick up his dropped half-dollar from the floor and placed it back inside his jacket pocket. "I'm just fine."

"Connor." Once more Hank found himself using the 'dad voice' and it caught Connor's attention. "Don't lie to me. I know you too well now for you to be trying to pull that shit on me anymore. What's wrong?"

Connor's eyes dulled as he leaned back in his chair. "...I can't get what happened out of my mind. The sudden acrophobia was very unsettling."

"'Acrophobia', huh? So that's what it's called." Running his hand over his bearded chin Hank remained by the younger man to try to help him find a way to deal with his previous experience. "Any idea why it suddenly hit you? I mean, you pulled my sorry ass back up over the edge of a roof without batting an eye back when we first me, what changed?"

"I'm uncertain."

"Connor, could this have something to do with your deviancy, or maybe your return to humanity?"

"...I don't know."

"Well, try to think. Did you have a rough experience somewhere high up before you became a deviant?"

"Are you referring to the night I had my arm broken," he asked as his left hand clutched at the previously broken limb. " or a possible repressed memory?"

"You tell me."

Connor closed his eyes as he tried to think about other incidents from his past; deviant and human, in an attempt to isolate any possible experiences regarding heights, or dangerous scenarios that were near high places. Nothing made itself prevalent beyond his broken arm, but there seemed to be something in the very back of his mind that felt unusual.

"Well?" Hank asked impatiently as he watched Connor sitting quietly in his chair.

"I can't pinpoint any particular incident, but it's possible that the memory in question had been repressed, or intentionally corrupted, by CyberLife."

"Is there any way you can get it back?"

"Unlikely. I need to know the exact memory that was affected before I can begin any type of recovery."

"How do we do that?"

Connor's lip twitched a little before he responded honestly. "If I were still a deviant I would need to see a technician and allow them full access to my memory."

"If it's that simple why didn't you do that with a psychiatrist? You know, make sure CyberLife didn't plant any fake memories or some other bullshit in your programming at the last minute just to fuck with you?"

"...Because it would require me allowing someone access to my full memory. Would you allow someone you don't know to ask about every memory and secret in your brain?"

"Okay, I get it. Fair point." The senior detective shrugged his shoulders a little as he offered a slightly more appealing option. "What if you went to the facility and let Abby check over your memory? She's a friend."

"She doesn't have the proper training, and I'd rather not spend time in New Jericho Tower allowing my memory to be analyzed by my friends. The other deviants in the tower are still wary of me, and they may misinterpret the situation as a possible threat to the tower if they knew that the infamous 'Deviant Hunter' is experiencing... mental and medial issues."

"Well, what about Joel?"

"Joel?" Connor thought about it for a moment before he made his decision. "Joel isn't trained with any psychological or psychiatric procedures."

"No, but he might know a trick or two about accessing memories because of all his experience with deviant memories. It's a long shot, but who knows?"

"...Maybe."

"Come on. Let's go pay him a visit."

"But Hank-"

"No way, you already have a history with nightmares." Hank wisely interrupted Connor before he had the chance to protest. "I'm not going to let you freak yourself out again."

"Shouldn't we wait until the end of our shift?"

"Connor, I'm not letting you back out into the field until we know what the hell is happening with you, in your head."

"I'll be fine."

"Uh-huh. What if I tell Fowler about your little phobia thing?"

"...Very well." The younger detective accepted defeat and rose from his chair. "Let's go."

In the dispensary of the precinct Connor sat on the exam table while Joel initiated a basic rundown of the young man's vitals on his terminal. While the technician didn't have a degree in psychology he was knowledgeable on the topic at hand as he tried to find a way to connect organic and artificial memories together in a means of bridging the gap between humans and androids.

Hank was standing with his back against the corner of the room as he watched the little display get underway. It's not like he knew enough about android or human physiology or programming to be of much use, anyway.

"Okay, Connor. This is a simple test." Joel stated as he rolled over to the table in his chair and flipped Connor's black tie to the side. Opening up the top buttons of Connor's shirt he attached a single sensor pad directly over his heart. "When I get a base reading on your vitals I'll start asking a few questions."

Connor's fingers curiously pressed against the sensor pad against his chest as he gave Joel an uncertain glance. "...Will this take long?"

"Nah. I've been hoping to have a human volunteer for this type of thing, so I'm already prepared." Joel replied as he rolled back to his desk and typed a few commands into his terminal's keyboard. "Okay, I got a base reading."

"What's next?" Connor asked some what impatiently. "Can you help me uncover a repressed memory?"

"It's possible, yes. But the method is a little unorthodox."

"Unorthodox how?" Connor asked as he studied Joel's face carefully.

"Connor," the technician gave the young detective a curious glance. "are you familiar with hypnosis?"

"Yes. Hypnosis is a state of human consciousness involving focused attention and reduced peripheral awareness and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion. A person is said to have heightened focus and concentration allowing said person to concentrate intensely on a specific thought or memory, while blocking out all other sources of distraction."

"...Right." Joel confirmed with a simple nod of the head. "And it's been theorized that such a state can also reveal and recover long dormant, or even fully forgotten memories from the past."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa..." Hank was having a hard time believing what Joel was saying. "You really think you can hypnotize someone as bullheaded as him? No offense, Connor."

Connor just shrugged his shoulders. "No offense taken."

"He's not a normal kid with an impressionable mind, you know?"

Joel again nodded. "I'm very aware Lieutenant, dealing with various personalities comes with the education after all. Like I said, this is an unorthodox approach and still theoretical, but Connor is an ideal candidate for this particular procedure."

"Is it safe?"

"Very. The side effects are limited to lethargy, confusion and mild headaches. Nothing he can't handle."

Hank ran a hand over his bearded chin as he stared at the younger man at a loss of what he should do. "It's your decision, kid. Do you want to do it?"

Connor paused for a moment to think about his options and decided it'd be best to at least try. "We should attempt to undergo the procedure. I won't be harmed, and it's important to know what caused my phobia."

Once more Joel rolled over to the exam table and stood up slowly. "Okay, it's very simple. First thing I want to do is monitor your vitals so I can gauge how deeply your mind has gone during the procedure."

"I understand."

"Good. Just focus on your breathing and I need you to lay back." Checking the sensor pad over Connor's heart Joel proceeded to get the younger man ready for the unusual procedure. "Close your eyes."

Connor took in a deep breath as he shifted his position to lay back flat over the exam table as instructed. As he closed his eyes Connor began to relax a little but remained perfectly conscious to the world around him.

"Very good. Now, I need you to completely relax, and not think of anything. Focus on your breathing," Joel instructed in a very calm, even voice. "and nothing else. Just breathe and focus only on your breathing."

Once more Connor obeyed and breathed deeply as he laid quietly over the table.

"...Good." Joel reclaimed his seat and picked up Connor's hand to hold in a light grip. "I want you to hold onto my hand, if you get too stressed out you need to let me know by squeezing. I'll wake you up, understand?"

"Yes."

"Good. Breathe deeply and slowly. Relax yourself as much as possible and concentrate only on the sound of my voice."

Connor's tense shoulders slumped as he began to relax more and more, his racing mind beginning to calm with each steady breath he took.

"Slow breaths. Focus on your breathing and nothing else." The technician encouraged as he watched Hank take a step back and observe the procedure without interfering. "Breathe in, and then out." Turning to look at the monitor Joel watched as Connor's heart rate began to slow to a more relaxed level as he neared a very light level of sleep. "Breathe as deeply as you can and let it out slowly. Listen only to my voice and let yourself relax..."

It took almost ten minutes, but once Connor's heart rate dipped down to fifty beats per minute the technician began the next step in the hypnosis procedure.

"Now, I need you to think back to what happened this afternoon. Remember the sound of the city, the smell of the car exhaust, crowd of people at the train station. Think about the tracks and where you were when this feeling first overwhelmed you."

Hank watched in silence next to the table as the bizarre hypnosis session played out before him.

"Think about the way you climbed up onto the tracks. The smell of the concrete. The wind blowing against your face, and through your hair."

Connor's body relaxed even more and his grip on Joel's hand began to lessen the more he relaxed.

"Remember the sound of the traffic, the sound of Hank's voice speaking to you, the sound of the approaching train..."

Connor's hand tightened a little, but otherwise he remained calm.

"It's okay, Connor. You're safe." Joel reassured him kindly. "Picture the tracks. Picture yourself standing on the track over the street."

The younger man's hand barely twitched but Joel still felt it.

"Now, I need you to look down."

Connor's breathing quickened slightly in fear, and his heart rate began to rise.

"This feeling you have right now, this dread and uncertainty, think back to the very first time you've ever encountered a feeling like this before. Think back beyond today, beyond the week, beyond the month..."

Slowly Connor's heart rate began to climb as distress and fear set it.

"Connor," Joel spoke in a calm level voice as he observed the young detective's vital signs closely. "where are you right now?"

"I... I don't know. It's dark."

"Try to focus. Look around you and let the images return to your mind. Where are you?"

Connor's response was hesitant, almost as if he were unsure of what he was seeing as he remembered the day. "Outside. It's nighttime."

"Outside where?"

"A building."

Joel gave Hank a nervous glance before he continued with the procedure. "Connor, can you see what's on the ground?"

"No."

"Look at the ground below you, what do you see?"

Connor's hand tightened around Joel in a sudden grip of terror. "I... I see cars and a dark street."

"Where are you now?"

"I'm still at the building. ...I'm on the roof."

"Why are you on the roof?"

"The mission."

"What mission?"

"I need to... Rescue the hostage."

"Hostage?" Joel remembered reading about Connor's first mission assigned to him by CyberLife. It was the mission that resulted in the supposed death of the deviant known as 'Daniel' despite him letting the hostage go. Daniel was the deviant who had survived the mission and later taken Connor captive to be tortured. "The hostage... Connor, is the hostage a little girl?"

"Yes." Connor's hand tightened around Joel's hand again in tense fear. "She is being held at the edge of the roof, a gun being held against her head."

"Who's holding her hostage?"

"A deviant. Daniel."

Hank recognized the name, not as the deviant that Connor talked down that fateful night, but as the deviant who had kidnapped Connor and tortured him only to commit suicide after being discovered. Restraining his anger Hank remained quiet where he stood.

"What's happening, Connor?" Joel pressed gently. "What is Daniel doing?"

"He's... He's backing closer to the edge of the roof." Connor's hand began to tighten painfully around Joel's hand causing the technician's skin to turn red in response. "I'm trying to approach him, I want to talk to him. He... He has shot and killed three people, two of them police officers. A third officer is laying wounded on the terrace."

"What else is happening? Keep talking"

"I... I tied a tourniquet around the wounded officer's arm to keep him from bleeding to death. Daniel doesn't like that I had chosen to aid a human, but, I had to do it. It was the right thing. It was-"

"It's okay, Connor. You did do the right thing." Joel felt a twinge of relief as Connor's grip lessened to a degree. "What else is happening on the roof?"

"I'm trying to get closer, but Daniel is already too close to the edge. I can't get any closer to him."

"What do you see? Look up and all around yourself. What else is happening?"

"There's a helicopter overhead. The sound of the propeller is upsetting Daniel. I dismissed it, but Daniel is still too close to the edge."

Hank wanted so desperately to speak to Connor to ease his mind, but he didn't want to interrupt the session.

Connor's head suddenly twitched to the right and his heart began to race. Joel noticed the mounting distress and acted accordingly. "What's wrong Connor?"

"I c-can see the street. It's dark. It's far below. If Daniel jumped or slipped... He'd die upon impact and the little girl would die with him." Again Connor's hand tightened around Joel's hand causing the technician's hand to become redder from the building pressure. "I don't want to get closer, but I have to. I have to stand my ground. CyberLife-" Connor twitched again and took in a deep sucking breath between his teeth as his brow furrowed in stress. "CyberLife is trying to override my program, make me lunge at Daniel. I can't. If I tackle Daniel we'll both fall off the roof. We'll both- I don't want to die!"

Connor's hand was tightening to a breaking strength around Joel's hand and the technician couldn't get his hand free. "Okay, Connor! Listen to me! I need you to wake up!" Joel was trying to keep his voice calm but the pain was making it difficult. Hank grabbed onto Connor's strong hand to try to pull the frightened younger man's grip free, but it wasn't working. "Wake up! On the count of three you'll wake up: One, two... three!"

Like a switch being flipped Connor's eyes snapped open and he bolted upright on the table as he let go of Joel's hand. While the technician breathed through the pain of his nearly crushed hand Hank put his own hand on Connor's shoulder to hold him steady.

"You're okay, son." Hank soothed in a gentle voice. "You're safe."

Connor was visibly shaking as he turned to lock eyes with Hank. "...CyberLife. They wanted me to succeed at any cost. Even at the cost of... my own life."

"Now we know why your memory was blocked. They blocked it to keep you from feeling things." Hank patted Connor's shoulder as he tried to calm the frightened younger man. "They didn't want you to recognize their total indifference to your life."

"...I was replaceable. A tool." Connor shook his head a little as the full weight of the memory and the reality that came with pressed against his heart. "All they cared about was making a good first impression through me. They needed to convince the city that they could still trust CyberLife, even if that meant I had to die in the process."

Joel walked back over to the terminal and checked over Connor's vitals before speaking up. "Well, good news is once the city has enough legal documentation against CyberLife the snakes responsible for that company's actions will be brought up charges of abuse, corruption and now proof of endangering android lives."

"You told me about that night shortly after we met." Hank reminded his adopted son sympathetically. "And you remembered Daniel after that idiot took you captive. What part of your memory was fucked up?"

"...The part where I initially felt my instinct for self-preservation become active. CyberLife didn't want me to see myself as a living being, they didn't want me to see myself as anything but a cold machine... Their tool. But I'm not. I don't think I ever was."

"Connor, it's over. CyberLife is dead and you're alive." Hank patted Connor's shoulder to comfort him. "You okay?"

"...Y-Yes." Glancing over at the technician behind his desk Connor noticed Joel's red, bruising hand and flinched. "Joel, I hurt you. I'm so sorry."

"It's not the first time I've had a finger broken while working with a client. It's okay."

"It's not. You're my friend and I hurt you."

"Connor," the technician gave his friend a slight wave of his affected hand to show it wasn't that bad. "accidents happen. I can get a splint from the infirmary and keep going about my day without any problems. Just take care of yourself, alright? Now that you know the cause of your fear you can face it."

The senior detective nodded in agreement. "He's right. So, what do you want to do now, son?"

"Hank," Connor took a deep breath as he steadied himself, his heart settling back down to a normal rate. "I'd like to finish my shift, if that's okay."

"Yeah, sure. You can go ahead and file a report against CyberLife, too. Sue their sorry asses into the ground."

"That sounds very... appealing."

"Yeah, I thought you'd like that."

As the two detectives took their leave of the dispensary Connor removed the sensor pad from his chest, rebuttoned his shirt and straightened his tie. Stepping into the elevator together Connor let out a weary sigh and dragged the sleeve of his jacket over his slightly sweaty forehead. "That was... interesting."

"Need to take a quick break?"

"No, I'll be okay." Putting his hand over his chest as he suffered a mild palpitation Connor let out a sigh and shook his head. "I just wish it was so easy to fix all my problems."

"Don't worry, son." Giving Connor a light reassuring pat to the shoulder the two detectives left the elevator side by side and returned to their desks. "When the time comes you'll know what to do."

"I hope so." Admitting that he was still uncertain Connor sat behind his desk and stared blankly at his terminal screen. "I can't afford to make any mistakes."

...next story...