DBH: Lost Union

by WayWardWonderer

Connor deviates sooner than anticipated and in turn his perspective on androids, deviants and humans becomes obscured. Choosing his own path and going rogue as a private detective post Revolution gives the wayward deviant the chance to live his own life separate from those he'd call friend or foe while dodging enemies, healing from his past, and uncovering CyberLife's dark secrets.

6. Sick and Tired

The harsh blizzard continued to bombard Detroit under a thickening layer of snow and ice well into the dark, freezing night. While the denizens of the stricken city all wisely huddled inside their warm homes and apartments, the autonomous city vehicles struggled to keep the streets cleared and properly salted for emergency vehicles to traverse. The howling and gusting wind threatened to knock loose powerlines and topple aged trees at any moment. Meanwhile, the snow drifts became deeper and deeper as the storm raged and brought thick snowflakes, slick sheets of ice and freezing cold rain over the entire city in a single torrential downpour.

Ignoring his own discomfort for the time being Hank continued to watch over Connor and keep adding layers of warmth over the deviant's body to reverse the effects of the hypothermia keeping Connor in emergency low power mode. With all the spare blankets draped over Connor's body and the personal space heater pointed right at the deviant Hank waited for any sign of recovery from Connor as the freezing night wore on.

Exhausted and ready for bed Hank decided to make himself one last pot of coffee for the night to keep awake for as long as possible to ensure that if something happened to Connor he'd be right there and might be able to help. Being the only person awake in the entire house during the storm made Hank feel more like an lighthouse keeper than a detective.

"Wish androids could drink coffee, too. That'd warm the kid right up."

Carrying his steaming mug back into the very warm livingroom Hank sipped at his coffee and pressed the back of his hand to Connor's forehead, his cheek and then the side of his neck to monitor the deviant's fluctuating temperature. The deviant's icy skin was much warmer but he still wasn't showing any sign of regaining consciousness.

"That's much better. Keep doing that for a while longer."

After putting his mug aside on the coffee table Hank proceeded to check on Connor's abdomen again. Pulling back the three quilts and heavy coat keeping Connor warm Hank pushed aside the lapels of the leather jacket, the hoodie, then unbuttoned the white dress shirt beneath. He couldn't see any sign of recent trauma to Connor's abdomen, but he knew that Connor was in pain for a good reason. Even while unconscious Connor would still groan a little when Hank applied even the lightest of pressure to his torso.

"You're a lot tougher than you realized, huh, Connor? What happened to you?"

Returning the shirt over Connor's abdomen Hank sighed and replaced all the layers over the deviant's body to ensure he was as warm as possible. Looking at the tan work boots sticking out from under the quilts Hank made a move to remove them when his phone suddenly 'buzzed' with a new text message in a very intrusive manner.

"Now what? It's almost three in the fuckin' morning..."

Picking up his phone from where it had dropped on the floor Hank turned the device over and read the text message waiting for him. The message was from Tina and she sent the precinct a group text confirming that Gavin was finally waking up and responding to the doctors asking him questions.

"Well, there's some good news. I guess..."

Muting the suddenly active group conversation for the moment Hank slipped his phone into his pocket and resumed his task at hand. As he hovered his hands over Connor's laced-up boots Hank thought about the last time he saw Gavin and of the conversation he had with Tina at the hospital. Her personal search into finding the android who saved Gavin's life popped into his mind just as Hank removed Connor's boots from the deviant's socked feet.

Suddenly straightening up from where he was stooped over Hank noted Connor's clothing and the description Tina had given regarding the android she had seen perform C.P.R. on Gavin. The appearance was too similar to be mistaken as a fluke and knowing that Connor had brown eyes solidified Hank's suspicions in an instant.

"Son of a bitch..."

Placing Connor's boots on the floor at the end of the couch Hank smirked a little at the way Gavin would have to accept that Connor, the very deviant he seemed to loathe the most, had saved his life.

"You saved Gavin's life and he has no idea. Karma is a really fickle bitch, and I love it..."

Hank returned his hand to Connor's forehead and held his palm there for a moment as he sat down on the edge of the coffee table. He knew Connor's temperature was definitely higher than it had been, but he still had no idea if he was stabilizing and improving or not.

"I wish you'd wake up and talk to me. I need to know what's going on with you. I know jack-shit about... androids."

Remembering that his phone still functioned despite the storm Hank plucked his phone from his pocket and began searching for information on android physiology and basic details. Reading through the crash-course in handling routine android maintenance on his phone Hank was able to make educated guesses on the deviant's condition and go from there.

"Okay... So I can use any household thermometer to gauge your temperature. That's a good start."

Rising to his feet Hank walked down the hallway and into the bathroom as he made his next decision. Opening the medicine cabinet behind the mirror above the sink Hank managed to locate the digital thermometer he hadn't used since Cole had the flu at age four. Hank didn't care enough about his own health to check for a fever whenever he was feeling unwell and almost forgot he even had a thermometer laying around the house.

Rinsing the thermometer off under the tap in the sink to ensure it was clean - androids couldn't get sick from germs like humans, but it just seemed like good manners, and then carried the digital device back into the livingroom. Sitting down on the edge of the coffee table once more Hank gently lowered Connor's jaw and placed the thermometer between Connor's teeth and under his tongue.

"All right, kid. Let's see if you're back to your normal temperature or if you're overheating."

Every move Hank made was watched carefully by Bruno as the android dog laid on the pillow beside Sumo. Curling up next to Sumo made Bruno feel much warmer and even safe, but his instincts as a former K-9 unit told him to remain alert, observant and to record everything he was seeing into his memorybank for potential future use.

Double-checking his phone Hank confirmed that androids were designed to emulate the same core temperature as a human at approximately ninety-eight point six degrees Fahrenheit, and as a result a healthy android would register at said temperature. The thermometer 'beeped' and finally gave Hank a reading on Connor's current temperature. The number was above hypothermic levels but the deviant was now teetering on the edge of overheating.

"Shit. One-hundred degrees even."

Turning off the space heater and putting the thermometer aside Hank pulled back the quilts and did his best to make sure Connor remained comfortable without giving him a shock from a sudden chill against his person. Not wanting to deal with a fever on top of taking care of an unconscious deviant with unknown potential internal injuries, Hank decided to do a little more reading into standard android system operations before doing anything else.

Hank began reading over failsaves at keeping an android's system from overheating and felt his stomach slowly knot. The newly discovered information drew the senior detective's hand back to Connor's chest and torso for a moment as he confirmed something he had just read. Pressing his palm down against the deviant's upper abdomen and lower chest Hank waited for any movement but felt nothing beyond the steady beating of Connor's heart.

"Why aren't you breathing? You're supposed to breathe and keep your temperature under control, right?"

Unsure of what to do or how to remedy the situation Hank resumed reading on his phone and tried to find a way to help Connor recover properly. The only solution he could find was manual reactivation of Connor's dual ventilation biocomponents, but the senior detective had no idea how to do that. It didn't help that there was literally zero information on Connor since he was a prototype 'RK-800' model that wasn't available for commercial release.

"Ah, fuck it... I need to do something else."

Putting his phone aside again Hank made his way into the kitchen and proceeded to pull bags of ice from the freezer to place over Connor's forehead, chest and abdomen to help the deviant cool off. Wondering if the yo-yoing body temperature would make Connor sick in the same way it would a human, Hank hesitated for only a moment before he strategically applied the cold compresses over Connor's body.

"I really hope this is helping you, kid. I have no idea what I'm doing but I'm going to keep trying to help you."

Pressing the ice pack over Connor's forehead gently Hank held his palm in place and tried to think of a way to help the deviant even further. Being sorely lacking in proper android first-aid and being essentially 'technologically-constipated' made Hank feel almost entirely useless. The only thing Hank could do was rely on his training as a first responder and his instincts as a father to guide his next decisions.

Wanting the support of someone who knew what they were doing, a trustworthy technician to be exact, Hank decided to call the precinct and ask if a certain resourceful technician was still on the clock. Calling the only contact he knew wouldn't gossip about the odd request Hank dialed Ben's personal cell number and held his phone to his ear.

The line only rang once before Ben's voice responded to the call. "Ben, it's me."

'Yeah, I know. I have caller I.D. on this old bird, you know.' Ben sounded surprisingly alert despite the late night hour. 'Did you hear the good news about Gavin?'

"Yeah, I heard. Uh, are you still at the precinct?"

'Yeah, I drew the short-straw and have to stay here to babysit the rookies tonight. What's up?'

"Do you know if the new technician guy is still there? Uh... Joel-something."

'The young guy who was lurking in the breakroom and messing with his laptop all day?'

"Slim build? Blue eyes? Short brown hair?"

'Yeah, that's him. I know who you're talking about. He's inside Fowler's office playing a game or some shit.'

"Do me a favor. Tell him to call my personal phone and to not tell anyone about it."

'You trying to create more secret contacts to solve cold cases off the clock?'

"Nothing as simple." Replacing his hand to Connor's chest Hank checked on the deviant's pulse and could feel that Connor's temperature was still rising. "Just do it and keep this call between us. All right?"

'Sure, no problem. Take it easy, Hank.'

"Right. Thanks, Ben." Hanging up the phone Hank held on to the device and waited for it to ring. It didn't take more than two minutes for Joel to call Hank as he had been requested by Ben at the precinct. "Joel?"

'It's me, Lieutenant.' Confirming his identity Joel curiously inquired why the seasoned detective had contacted him seemingly out of the blue. 'How can I help you tonight?'

"I need your help with an android."

'An... android?' That particular request was a bit of a surprise considering most androids and deviants were hiding from humans at that moment. 'What's going-'

"Don't worry about that right now." Returning the thermometer to Connor's mouth Hank waited for a new reading and hoped he was just overreacting because he simply didn't know much about androids in general. "Just know I'm trying to help a deviant in need and I'm grasping at straws here."

'All right, okay. What's the problem?'

"Overheating."

'In this weather?'

"He's not breathing." Taking back the thermometer the moment it 'beeped' Hank read the number to himself and swore out loud. "Shit. He's up to one-hundred and two degrees, and still climbing."

'Okay, we'll start with the basics. What does his self diagnostic say?'

"His what?"

'I take it he's unconscious as well...'

"Yeah, he's been out of it ever since I found him about five hours ago."

'Does he still have his L.E.D. in his right temple?'

"Yes, it's yellow and pulsing in a consistent rhythm."

'That's good.' Joel noted sincerely over the phone. Still laidback and calm the technician did his best to help Hank take care of Connor from afar. 'What kind of android is he?'

"Uh... He's a prototype; 'RK-800'. And I have no idea what else to tell ya' about him."

'He's... Oh, wow. I knew that a rare android had been assigned at the precinct, but I didn't know he was still around.'

"Joel? Focus please."

'Right, right... Okay, so he's overheating, unconscious and not ventilating. Do you know how to manually reactivate the ventilation program?'

"Obviously not."

'Okay, I have a solution to that.' As he spoke over the Joel's voice slowly started to fade in and out as the storm began to affect the service of the cell towers in the city. 'I need you to download a spec... app that ...ill let ...ou see..."

"Uh, Joel?" Hank stood up and stood near the front window as if he could get better a reception on his phone by being five feet closer to the street. "I can't hear you!"

'...tenant? I can...'

Complete static swarmed the line and drowned out Joel's voice before Hank could hear another word.

"Joel? Joel!"

The phone line went dead as the call was thoroughly interrupted by the storm outside.

"Fuck me. This is all we need right now."

Defeated for the moment Hank slipped his phone into his pocket and returned to Connor's side. Seeing the light in Connor's temple flicker between intermittent yellow and red made Hank feel all the more uneasy about the deviant's potential final outcome. At a loss of what to do or who else to contact for additional help, Hank just sat on the coffee table and kept the deviant company as Connor remained unresponsive and entirely still.

"Hang on for me, kid. I may have fucked up and gave you every possible reason to not trust me or any other humans, but you gotta' at least give me a chance to make things right."

---

The hospital was mostly quiet save for the 'beeping' monitors and muffled voices echoing throughout the halls during the cold, snowy night. The only people still awake at the uncomfortably late hour were doctors, nurses and orderlies tending to the patients in need, or the loved ones down in the waiting room who couldn't bring themselves to sleep until they knew the fate of their dear friend or family member. Most of the patient rooms were dark as the patients rested during the night, but the few rooms that were still brightly lit had medical staff walking about or very special late night visitors helping their friend or family member while the doctors and nurses were busy with their other patients.

With a smile on her face Tina approached Gavin's bedside and helped her now conscious friend slowly pick up a cup of water and direct the green colored straw toward his mouth. While her best friend was now conscious and coherent, Gavin was still weak and needed a little help as he recovered from his near lethal shock.

"Small sips." Tina reminded Gavin of his current limitations in a gentle tone. "Your throat is still going to be really sore and you need to take it easy until the doc' says you can go home to rest."

"...I-I know." Speaking with a hoarse, raspy voice, Gavin gave Tina an annoyed and tired glance. The prolonged intubation had left Gavin with a severely sore throat and swollen vocal cords making speaking very difficult. "...Thanks."

"No problem. Now, save your voice and don't speak." Pulling a dry erase board from the small compartment beside the bed Tina showed Gavin the useful tool and picked up a purple colored dry erase marker for him to use. "Your favorite color, too."

With a shaking hand Gavin tried to take the marker but the still healing burns to his right palm made it impossible. Using his left hand instead, Gavin was able to barely write decipherable words on the board to ask what he had missed while he was comatose and what had happened to him beyond what Dr. Wilson had already told him.

Taking back the board Tina started to laugh as she read the words and just barely understood what Gavin was asking. "Man, your handwriting sucks!"

Letting out an annoyed sigh through his nose, the nasal canula under his nostrils fogging up as a result, Gavin used the end of the marker to tap on the top of the board to get Tina to answer the questions.

"All right, so..." Giving the recovering detective an awkward smile Tina told Gavin about how the very android suspect they were chasing was the one who had saved his life by performing C.P.R. and how she had been trying to find the android ever since Gavin had been stabilized in the hospital. "And between my patrols and checking in on you, I've been doing my best to find your rescuer so I can thank them properly."

Leaning back against his pillow Gavin stared up at the white ceiling overhead and hovered his bandaged right hand over his face for a moment before letting his arm rest at his side out of sight.

"It's okay, Gav'." Putting the board aside Tina gently held on to Gavin's left hand and gave her best friend total patience and understanding. "It's not the first time someone was helped by the last person they had expected."

Squeezing Tina's hand in return Gavin looked at the snowy window as fought to hold in his frustrated and embarrassed tears against his gray-hazel eyes.

"Need anything? I bet I could sneak in those custard filled donuts you like so much."

Giving his head a little shake Gavin declined the generous offer.

"Stomach's still not great, huh?"

Returning his focus to the dry erase board Gavin managed to just barely pick it up and pointed to the word 'home' to emphasize what he really wanted. He didn't need anything else but his own warm bed and to be away from prying eyes.

"Sorry, the doc' wants to keep you here for another forty-eight hours to make sure you're not suffering from other problem like neurological impairment or even late-onset *compartment syndrome. I've been stopping by your place to take care of Lucky, so she's good."

Dropping the board beside the bed Gavin seemingly gave up and decided to get some sleep. He couldn't go anywhere, not that he had the strength to even get up, and he knew that there was no way of talking Tina into letting him sneak out of the hospital into the snowy night. As long as his kitten, Lucky, was being taken care of then he'd be able to get some rest.

"You keep sleeping and I'll let Captain Fowler know you're going to need a couple of weeks to heal. I'm sure he'll find a way to keep your shifts covered."

Standing up from her chair Tina quietly crossed the room and manually dimmed the light in the room to ensure that Gavin could sleep soundly. It wasn't the first time Tina found herself spending the night in the hospital to watch over her best friend, but with any luck it'd be the last time.

Hovering just outside the room's doorway protectively Tina made her call and kept close to her friend as much as possible.

With the storm still burying the city under a thick layer of snow and a majority of the city itself out of commission because of the lack of cooperative androids, the night was proving to be one where no one should be left alone for even a moment. Now wasn't the time to push people away, it was the time to bring everyone together.

---

The storm seemed to reach its peak just as Connor's core temperature did the same. Overheating to an alarming one-hundred and four degrees had caused Connor to react in a physical manner that was similar to humans suffering from delirium and hallucinations. Twitching even while in rest mode and trying to get away from the icy compresses against his chest, forehead and abdomen, Connor began to physically fight back a little as Hank did his best to keep the sick deviant still and resting properly on the couch. It wasn't easy for Hank to safely restrain the deviant as Connor tried to push him away but the senior detective was determined to aid his former partner.

Whimpering from where he was laying Bruno watched as Hank held Connor down and waited for any sign of violence against the deviant who had saved his own life. Protective as ever the android dog watched everything happening with a keen interest as his instincts as a K-9 unit kept him on his guard.

"Easy, kid... Try to take it easy."

Holding Connor down with one hand against the deviant's shoulder Hank used his other hand to apply a fresh compress to Connor's forehead to ensure he didn't overheat enough to damage his intracranial processor. Reading about that particular form of damage had put Hank on high alert and gave him the determination to prevent Connor from suffering from any permanent harm.

"Try to hold still. I'm going to help you through this."

With his eyes still shut Connor grabbed onto Hank's wrists and opened his glassy brown eyes to stare past the senior detective and toward someone that only Connor could see. "N-No... Stop! Amanda!"

"Amanda?" Not recognizing the name as anyone he knew Hank gently pried his wrists from Connor's grip to resume tending to his fever. Using his hand to keep Connor still on the couch Hank returned to the ice pack to the deviant's forehead. "Who's that?"

"Don't!" Shouting in a genuine panic Connor tried to get away from Hank thinking that the man trying to help him was actually his former handler trying to take control of his programming for a second time. The ice packs against his body and the sound of the blizzard outside the house caused Connor to hallucinate that he was trapped inside the frozen Zen Garden within his own mind. "L-Leave me alone!"

"Connor, I'm not Amanda." Trying to reach the deviant's confused mind through overheated fog around Connor's head Hank kept his voice low and very calm as he patiently tended to the raging fever. "It's me. Hank."

Something about hearing Hank's name put Connor on edge and caused him to panic even more. "D-Don't! Don't sh-shoot me again!"

"I..." Stunned by the comment Hank felt his shoulders slump as the guilt for his past actions came back to haunt him. Even while lost in a feverish delirium Connor was still afraid of him. "Connor, I'm not going to hurt you."

"P-Please... I d-don't want to die!" Moving around with uncoordinated panic caused Connor to drop his coin. The quarter made a metallic 'tink' sound as it rolled on its side to the underside of the coffee table before landing head's side up. "Lieutenant! Please..."

"You're NOT going to die." Keeping his voice level and calm Hank did his best to ease Connor's fears so he could get some rest. "Just lay still. You'll be all right."

Bruno rose to his paws and stood beside the couch as his system noted Connor's distressed vital signs. With Bruno's programming telling him to find Connor help the dog stood vigil beside the couch and waited for his new orders. It seemed that Hank fit the role as someone who could help Connor simply because he was a detective, but Hank didn't have knowledge or skill to act as any form of a technician and help Connor further.

"No one's going to-"

Two firm knocks on the front door made Hank turn to look at the door over his shoulder as Connor panicked again in response to the sudden loud noise. Holding the deviant down with both hands against Connor's shoulder for a moment Hank tried to figure out who'd show up at his house at almost four in the morning unannounced and during a blizzard.

"What the fuck?"

Bruno growled as he stood his ground and looked at the front door. Waking Sumo up from his sleep by accident Bruno stayed on guard and soon had Sumo standing beside him as the large Saint Bernard picked up on Bruno's aggravated reaction and wanted to figure out what was going on.

"You two chill out..." Hank grumbled as well when he noticed the two dogs standing at attention. "I'll handle this."

Approaching the front door slowly Hank reached for the gun usually holstered on his right hip and remembered he had left his service weapon back at the precinct since he was just handling patrols and not in-field cases. Internally swearing at himself for letting himself wander around unarmed Hank peered out the window beside the front door and through the gusting snow he saw a familiar looking technician bundled up in a dark red coat standing on his doorstep.

"Seriously?" Opening the front door Hank stared at Joel with wide-eyed surprise and invited the technician inside his much warmer house. "What the hell are you doing right now?"

"Hopefully, I'm about to help an android." Joel stated as he stepped inside the livingroom and out of the snow. Shuddering a little as he removed his coat to reveal his emergency technician's satchel slung over his shoulder, Joel looked over at Connor laying on the couch and seemed thoroughly intrigued by the rare model of android. "I know you can't take him anywhere else because of the snow, so I figured I'd come to him."

"How in the fuck did you even get here?"

"I have a heating element in the front of truck's bumper, remember?" Giving Hank a sly smirk Joel maintained his laidback demeanor. "And Detective Collins told me where you live."

Closing the front door with a soft 'click' Hank sighed and shook his head a little. "Good ol' Ben..."

Focusing on Connor as the delirious deviant twitched on the couch Joel fell right into technician mode. "How long has he been like this?"

"Ever since we got cut-off from our little chat." Taking Joel's coat Hank hung it on the hook beside the front door and locked the door tight. "He's been mumbling something about some woman I don't know. It's like he's delirious or some shit."

"Delirium isn't an exclusively human problem." Walking over to the couch Joel stopped when Bruno growled at him and wisely held still. The way Bruno's red L.E.D. glowed brightly in his right temple told Joel that the dog wasn't one to be tested but one that could be reasoned with. "I didn't know you had a K-9 unit with you."

"Neither did I." Hank didn't know anything about Bruno and didn't bother to try to find out. "It just led me to Connor and now it won't leave the kid alone."

"It must've intentionally tracked you down because you're a cop. Maybe it'll respond to your commands as a cop, too."

Staring at Bruno as the android dog stood guard Hank tried to get the dog to stand out. "What commands?"

"The commands that K-9 units respond to when in the presence of a police officer." Joel answered in a casual tone. "You know; sit, stay, seek, those kinds of commands."

"Right, right..." Thinking for a moment Hank fell back on his basic training and issued the dog the only command that seemed to make sense. "Uh... At ease?"

Bruno looked at Hank for a moment then backed away from the couch to let Joel approach Connor. Keeping his eyes on the situation at all times Bruno sat down and proceeded to stare at the technician as if recording an interrogation for future evidence.

"Huh." Genuinely surprised by the response Hank was impressed with the dog's astute behavior. "It works."

"The dog does in fact recognize your authority as a police Lieutenant." Opening up his satchel Joel rummaged through the perfectly organized bag and pulled out a small electronic device no bigger than a smart phone and held it up toward Bruno's face. Turning on the device Joel was given a full read-out on the dog's system, serial number and his identity as the dog tilted its head curiously. "His name is registered as 'Bruno' and has Connor very recently registered as his partner."

"Bruno, huh?" Watching the way Bruno's ears perked up and pointed forward at the sound of his name made Hank smirk. "Not a bad name." Crossing his arms over his chest Hank nodded at Connor still laying on the couch and watched the way Joel held the device up and over the ill deviant next. Connor was still fidgeting as he continued to overheat and struggle with hallucinations being brought about by memory files being accessed against Connor's will. "How's he doing?"

"Not great, but he's holding on." The technician never lost the calmness of his voice as he continued to assess Connor's current condition. "I don't know much about 'RK-800' models beyond what little reading CyberLife accidentally left behind at the precinct."

"What can you do for him?"

"First, I'll reactivate his ventilation program." Pressing the device to Connor's glowing red L.E.D. for a moment Joel placed his laptop down on the coffee table after pulling it from the satchel and synced the device to his personal laptop. Typing in a few keystrokes on the laptop's keyboard Joel pressed 'Enter' and watched as Connor's L.E.D. flickered in yellow for a moment before returning to red while Connor took in a single deep breath. "Okay, that's done..."

Hank lowered his arms as he watched Connor take in slow, deep breaths and then cough violently in return. The way the coughs sounded deep, heavy and painful made the senior detective openly wince sympathetically. "That doesn't sound right."

"Well, we may have discovered why Connor's ventilation program had been disabled." Retrieving his audioscope from the satchel Joel put the earbuds into place and then pressed the metal bell over Connor's chest and listened to the two ventilation biocomponents carefully as Connor's chest slowly rose and fell. A notable 'crackling' sound with each breath and cough made Joel's pale blue eyes narrow for a moment. "Damn. Ventilation effusion."

"Uh... what?"

"Essentially android-pneumonia." Draping the audioscope around his neck like a true professional Joel set about checking Connor's other vital signs and tried to determine the cause of the serious impairment. Using his free hand Joel pressed on Connor's shoulder to keep the deviant from falling off the couch while he continued to cough and take in wheezing breaths. "I'm going to find the cause of his problem and from there I'll find the solution."

"What can I do to help?"

"More ice packs will help." Holding up the electronic device again Joel swept the gadget over Connor's chest and abdomen curiously while Sumo proceeded to rest his chin down against Joel's knee to welcome the technician into the house. Hovering the device over Connor's heaving torso Joel kept his eyes focused on his laptop screen as details slowly emerged that helped him understand what Connor had endured that had let to his current predicament. "Interesting..."

Having heard the comment as he entered the kitchen Hank opened the freezer door and pulled out the last two ice packs before responding to the observation from afar. "What's interesting?"

"According to Connor's latest system logs, he had recently had his artificial stomach repaired after ingesting... sodium chloride."

"Sodium chloride?" Returning to the livingroom Hank placed the ice packs on Connor's forehead and upper chest while Joel continued to examine the deviant's abdomen. With both Hands Hank managed to grab on to Connor's free shoulder and his knee by leaning over the back of the couch, and proceeded to straighten out Connor's body to rest over the length of the couch itself. "Isn't that just salt?"

"Right. But when it mixes with Thirium, especially when the salt is from a raw and concentrated batch, it creates a nasty reaction that causes rapid corrosion to metal couplings and can even cause Thirium to congeal." Wrapping a Thirium pressure cuff around Connor's left bicep Joel did his best to check the deviant's vitals without Connor reacting negatively to his presence. "It's a slow but very effective poison against androids. It's also a poison that very few people know about."

"Poison?" As he repeated the word Hank felt himself pale and his own stomach knot again. Pressing his palm over Connor's feverish forehead Hank began to worry that everything he had done wouldn't be enough to save the deviant's life. "Oh, shit... I didn't know he was that sick."

"It's all right, Lieutenant. The poison is out of his system and the damage had been repaired." Joel confirmed all the good news while continuing to sweep the scanner over Connor's body to pinpoint every little bit of damage to his body. Using one hand to hold the scanner and the other hand to keep Connor still made the endeavor particularly taxing. "He was treated properly and is actually recovering from the near-poisoning. He's very lucky that he got help so fast."

"Yeah..." The good news did little to ease Hank's personal upset at what had happened to Connor. "How did he get poisoned in the first place?"

"I don't know. From his own logs," pointing to the laptop screen beside him Joel directed Hank's attention elsewhere. "he ingested Thirium that had been laced with the sodium chloride about eight hours ago."

"He drank it?" Projecting his own past problems with self destruction Hank wondered if the deviant was now in the same boat. "Did he do it on purpose?"

"No, it was an accident." Joel confirmed as he put his hand down on Connor's chest as the deviant began coughing harshly again. The violent coughs made Connor's body shudder, Sumo whimper and Bruno grumble with discomfort. "By all account he tried to scan the contents of the Thirium before he ingested it, but his power level was too low to finish the scan properly. He drank it without knowing it was poisoned."

"Shit." The confirmation that Connor wasn't trying to self destruct wasn't nearly as comforting as Hank had hoped for. "Poor kid."

The continued scan revealed more information on Connor's system and even his past experiences during his short lifetime. "Interesting."

"Now what?"

"It appears as though his Thirium pump regulator has been damaged within the past week."

"Joel, I have no idea what anything inside Connor's body is called." Sounding more tired than ever before Hank reminded the technician of his painful lack of knowledge with android physiology. "Please, for the love of my waning sanity, explain things with smaller words."

"Okay, uh..." Doing his best to break down android anatomy without sounding condescending Joel gave Hank a more thorough explanation of his discovery and of why it was interesting. "The Thirium pump regulator is a vital biocomponent that controls the beat and rhythm of an android's Thirium pump, the Thirium pump itself being the android's heart. In other words, it's the device that makes an android's heart actually beat."

"Okay, that I understood."

"As for the damage," hovering the device over Connor's central abdomen again Joel got a more thorough reading on the device's current functionality. "it appears to have suffered from some form of high impact trauma. It's still working without any issue, but I'm worried that any further impact on this particular biocomponent could result in stunted performance or maybe even total failure."

"So that's what happened to him..." Remembering the way Connor's abdomen had been bleeding at the Stratford Broadcast Tower caused Hank to internally wince. He didn't know what had happened to Connor in that kitchenette and he didn't want to know. "Shit." Rubbing his hand over his bearded chin Hank sighed and stared at Connor's red flickering L.E.D. intently. "You said his biocomponent could fail if damaged again. What does that mean exactly?"

"It means if the pump regulator stops regulating, then the pump itself will stop functioning properly."

"Meaning... his heart could stop beating?"

"Yes. I can't do anything to the regulator without Connor's express permission, though." Giving Hank a rather dismissive shrug of his shoulders Joel resumed watching over Connor's vital signs. "Until then, he'll have to make do with what he has."

"Right... Sounds like a very human reaction to an android being hurt."

"Also, his violent coughing is why Connor wasn't initially breathing." Readjusting the ice packs over Connor's body Joel did what he could to help the deviant cool back down to a more stable core temperature. "The overwhelming amount of fluid building up inside his vents is making the act of ventilation nearly impossible and even painful to endure. And since deviants are new to the sensation of pain and are still developing their own personal pain tolerances... Well..."

"Yeah, I get it." The way Connor's L.E.D. continued to cycle in red worried Hank like a father would worry over his sick child. Another coughing fit made Connor curl around himself protectively in an attempt to make the pain in his abdomen lessen. "We have to be able to do more than just sit back and watch him suffer like this."

"Aside from external cooling measures there's nothing much more than can be done." Finishing his scan over Connor's form Joel typed more details into his laptop and brought up additional documented logs from Connor's own processor. Keeping his hand on Connor's torso seemed to act as a calming effect and prevented Connor from moving about so much in his delirium. "His temperature is coming down a little. He's at one-hundred and three point six."

"Well, that's a good start. I think..."

"Let's see now. What else am I dealing with..." Reading through all the details Joel's brow furrowed slightly before he began a second scan over Connor's body. "Odd."

"What now?"

"It looks like he recently had reconstructive repairs on his upper left shoulder and chest panels, too." The scanned picked up on a piece of metallic debris in Connor's left bicep and held the technician's attention entirely. "Hold up." Removing the cuff from Connor's bicep for a moment Joel held the scanner a little closer to confirm his suspicions. "Is that... Yeah, it's a bullet! He was shot within the past forty-eight to seventy-two hours."

If his stomach wasn't already twisted into a knot Hank would've thrown-up at that discovery.

"Damn, it's deeply embedded in his arm, too." Trying to find any sign of a recent wound on Connor's artificial skin had proven itself to be almost impossible. There was only the faintest hint of a scar on his artificial skin due to the wound being over forty-eight hours old at that point. "If he was lucid enough to consent I'd remove the bullet for him. Until then, I'll wait and let you handle the shooting itself."

"Is... the bullet going to cause any him any problems? You know," Looking down at Connor's face as the deviant's glassy brown eyes looked back up at him, if not through him, Hank didn't want to be seen as a villain in Connor's new life as a free deviant. "it's not going to give him an infection or something, right?"

"Since the bullet isn't obstructing any Thirium flow to his limb," Joel checked the bullet's position and watched as Connor kept muttering the name 'Amanda' over and over again. "and his artificial skin has closed over the damage so he isn't in any danger of suffering further complications, no. By all account he can live the rest of his life with the bullet in his arm and not have any issues."

"Thank fuck." Not sure why he was so relieved by the news Hank then asked about Connor's potential discomfort. "Is it hurting him?"

"Doubtful." Joel traced his fingertips over the scar concealing the bullet and didn't get any pained reaction from Connor. "It's not painful to the touch."

"Good. The kid doesn't need to spend the rest of his life in chronic pain."

Connor let out a panicked breath as he suddenly sat upright on the couch and stared at the snowstorm outside the house through the front window. "No! I w-won't do it!"

"Connor?" Putting his hand on Connor's shoulder Hank tried to get the deviant to lay back down and rest. "You're okay."

"I won't... I won't obey!"

"No one's ordering you around." Hank tried to get Connor calm down and lay back to rest. "You just need-"

"NO!" Grabbing onto Hank's hand tightly Connor pushed the senior detective back from himself and began coughing hard enough to destabilize his plastimetal frames around his chest. Collapsing backward over the couch in a limp heap Connor stared blankly at the ceiling overhead and took in gasping breaths between his coughing fits. "G-Go... away. Amanda... l-leave me... alone."

"She's not here." Hank stayed back from the couch to ensure Connor didn't feel smothered or overwhelmed by his presence. Unsure of what else to do Hank left Connor's care in Joel's hands as he walked over to the window and drew the blinds over the window to block the storm outside. "You're in a safe place with people who want to help you."

Curious about this 'Amanda' person that Connor kept mentioning, Joel checked through the deviant's logs and scrolled through the data until he came across a recently deactivated program labeled as 'handler_amanda_object'. Said program had been deactivated the night of the Revolution and by all account couldn't be reactivated without the highest of security clearance level from CyberLife itself.

"I think I found the source of his delirium." Reaching into his satchel for a moment the kind technician retrieved a long black diagnostic cable and attached one end of the cable to Connor's red L.E.D. and attached the opposite end into his laptop. With a few more keystrokes Joel was able to force Connor into a deeper form of rest mode - the human equivalent to sleep, and finally caused the deviant to lay still and stop fidgeting. "It seems he had some form of handler program to monitor his behavior while working under CyberLife. And that particular handler's name..."

"Amanda." Hank was able to follow Joel's lead without any problem as he stood behind the couch again. "Man, that bitch must've been ruthless to scare him so badly."

"CyberLife itself was a ruthless company." Checking over the ill deviant's vital signs again Joel listened to Connor's ventilation rate and sighed. It was clear that Connor needed to have his vents properly treated by a technician if he were to recover from his ventilation effusion. "That's the big reason I left the company two years ago."

"You worked for CyberLife?"

"Over two years ago and only for like, six months." Confirming his previous occupation with the company made Joel wince a little. He hated the company almost as much as the deviants did. "I had to work somewhere after I graduated from school to pay the bills, and they were hiring."

"I'm not judgin' ya'. You just seem way too, uh, nice, to be a coldhearted technician and CyberLife puppet."

Joel's eyes narrowed for a moment as he gave Hank a confused glance. "...Thanks?"

"Since you worked for CyberLife, even for a short time, can you tell me anything about Connor that the company didn't want to share with the precinct?"

"No, everything about Connor was kept under wraps and was most likely destroyed when the company declared bankruptcy and left the city."

"Damn." Leaning over the back of the couch Hank rested against his forearms as he pressed his hands together. The senior detective looked over at Bruno standing guard beside Connor and wondered about the dog as well. "What about him?" Pointing to the dog with his fingers Hank drew Joel's attention to the loyal German Shepard. "Anything about Bruno?"

"Give me just a minute." Patting Sumo's head lightly Joel picked up the electronic device from the satchel and began another scan over Bruno's system. The details relayed over to Joel's laptop gave both him and Hank some new information. "Okay, so, Bruno here is a decommissioned K-9 unit; number zero-two-seven. His original name was 'Trigger' and he was partnered with former officer Antony Deckart."

"Former officer?" Unfamiliar with the name Hank wondered what happened to him. "Did he wise up and retire before shit went down?"

"Uh, no." The details on the former officer made Joel's pale blue eyes darken for a moment. "He was killed in action on August 15th, 2038. Wait a minute..." That particular date rang a bell and prompted Joel to do some more digging. Finding the connection he was looking for gave Joel a moment of hesitation before replying. "That was also Connor's very first assignment. He was the hostage negotiator at scene and Officer Deckart was already dead before he even arrived."

"Connor was a hostage negotiator?"

"Yes. That was CyberLife's first field test for him." Joel explained the matter casually as he read more about Bruno through the dog's internal logs. "Connor managed to talk down the hostage taker - a deviant, and free the hostage. Unfortunately, the S.W.A.T. team at the scene decided to open fire on the deviant hostage taker anyway, resulting in the deviant's death."

"That's fucked up." Glancing down at Connor as the deviant proceeded to sleep through the worst of his fever Hank readjusted the ice pack over Connor's forehead to keep his fever from getting worse. "Connor never told me about that."

"Was it included in your paperwork when Connor was assigned as your partner?"

Bowing his head and remaining silent Hank mutely confirmed that he never even bothered to read or ask questions about the deviant. His lack of knowledge on Connor's design and his experiences was Hank's own fault.

"Anyway," sensing the tension in the air Joel focused on Bruno again. "it seems Bruno was left without a partner after Officer Deckart was killed and he was put on the decommissioned list after the other cops decided they didn't want to work with any androids post hostage situation."

"Why wasn't Bruno at the scene of the hostage situation with Deckart?"

"Due to the nature of the hostage being a deviant had prompted the police to keep all androids, with the exception of Connor, away from the scene." Seeing the way Bruno was watching over Connor made Joel believe that the dog had deviated like many of the other androids in the world. It was clear Bruno wasn't obeying any pre-set orders by anyone. "After he was decommissioned he was sold to the local junkyard to act as a guard dog."

"All right, so how'd he end up with only three legs?"

"According to his own logs, Bruno had been chasing a thief across the street from the junkyard and was hit by a car. The junkyard owner didn't want to get him repaired so he just..." The log details were almost heartbreaking. "He just threw Bruno into the very junkyard he was guarding. The impact from the car damaged his right rear leg and Connor removed the leg itself to keep Bruno from bleeding out after the damaged lines refusing to stop leaking even after he was damaged days before."

"Holy shit. When was Bruno hit?"

"The night of the Revolution. Poor thing." Putting the device away Joel held out his hand and offered it to Bruno to sniff so he could take in his scent and recognize him as an ally. The dog approached Joel, took in his scent and gave the technician a small tail wag. "The rest of his logs confirm that he was buried under the snow and Connor dug him out, then took care of his leg and gave him some Thirium before Connor himself collapsed."

"Why am I not surprised that Connor would put a dog above his own life?" Bowing his head a little Hank felt the tension in his neck and shoulders beginning to mount from his stress. "Something about the kid strikes me as an animal lover."

Finally getting enough of Bruno's trust to give the dog a chin rub Joel contemplated wiping the dog's K-9 training program from his system to let Bruno behave like a normal dog instead of a forgotten police tool. Ultimately it was Connor's decision since Bruno had Connor registered as his partner. "Well, deviants are proving to be very compassionate and empathetic beings. It makes sense that you wouldn't be surprised."

"Sounds like deviants are the superior species after all."

Connor coughed again and turned his away from Hank as he rested against the small pillow tucked under his head. Lost in a deep rest mode being smothered by his fever Connor seemed to be reacting to the voices around him in a somewhat negative manner. The way his L.E.D. flickered between red and yellow, and the way his glassy eyes would occasionally open and focus solely on Hank was indicative of some form of coherent thought.

"I'll check his core temperature one more time." The details on the laptop provided by the black diagnostic cable confirmed that Connor's temperature was continuing to drop and was now down to one-hundred and three degrees even. The positive outcome was ruined by the persistent harsh coughing that made it difficult and painful for Connor to breathe. "The ice packs are working, but until the excess fluid is drained from his vents he won't be able to breathe normally and without any coughing."

"How do we do that?" Lifting up his head and running his hand through his shaggy gray hair Hank sighed and gave Connor a worried stare. "Is there some kind of android medicine you can give him?"

"Nothing quite so simple. I have to manually extract the fluid from his vents by draining it."

"Draining it?" Hank had seen the way a chest tube left his fellow officers down for the count after some close calls, and he knew such a procedure would undoubtedly leave Connor feeling just as sore. "Sounds painful..."

"It may very well be." Pushing back the fabric of Connor's shirt, hoodie and jacket, Joel typed away on his laptop and manually retracted the artificial skin over Connor's chest and abdomen. The sight of the deviant's weakened white plastimetal frames being slowly fractured by the chronic coughing was unsettling to say the least. "Shit. I have to remove the fluid now before he coughs himself into some serious damage."

"Joel, you can't hurt him." Oddly protective toward the deviant Hank cautioned the technician to use every ounce of compassion he had with Connor. "He's been through enough and he doesn't need to handle any more bullshit."

"I agree. But I have to drain the fluid and it's going to be a tad uncomfortable regardless of how gentle I am."

"How 'tad' are we talking about?"

"Well..." Reaching into the satchel again Joel fished out a large syringe with a hollow point needle at the tip. Holding the syringe up for Hank to see Joel gave Connor a sympathetic look. "I have to insert this directly into both vents and manually extract the fluid."

"What the fuck?" Straightening up Hank looked like he was about to snatch the syringe from Joel's hand to destroy it. "That seems pretty fuckin' barbaric."

"I know it does." Pressing down on a small round panel on Connor's left side in the middle of his torso - approximately where the base of his ribcage would be if he were human, Joel revealed a port used by technicians to directly access the ventilation biocomponents. "And I wish us technicians could use other tools to treat androids when they're damaged or hurt beyond just needles and wires. It's far more humane to treat them as, well, humans."

"What's stopping you?"

"A lack of appropriate tools." With the port opened Joel had a view of Connor's left vent, his artificial lung, and could see that it was a dark purple in color instead of bright blue. The dark color was a result of congealed Thirium building inside the vent and a lack of proper circulation throughout the vent itself. "All androids were designed to physically look human, inside and out."

"And what does that mean?"

Inserting the needle into the now exposed vent Joel watched as Connor's body twitched while he let out an uncomfortable groan and a small cough. "It means that I could intubate him and give him oxygen treatment like any other human IF I had the right tools to use. Doctors, nurses and paramedics train with androids since androids are internally the same as humans; just artificial, and as a result androids can be treated in a similar manner to humans."

"So you could just hook Connor up to some oxygen to help his vent stuff dry out instead of having to stab him?"

"That's right." Pulling back the plunger on the syringe Joel drew an alarming amount of thickened, dark Thirium out of Connor's left artificial lung and eased Connor's ventilation rate in general. As the fluid slowly drained Connor tried to take in deeper breaths in response to the relief to his effused vent. "But since CyberLife didn't want us technicians, and I'm quoting here; 'humanizing the products', we were forced to use more brutal matters to perform routine tests and repairs on all androids before they were to be released for commercial sale."

"That's really fucked up." Hank's hands tensed up into fists as he suddenly felt the urge to punch out the first CyberLife employee he saw. "I had no idea that androids were so... I don't even know."

"Sounds like a lot of people in this city."

Noticing the dark purple-blue liquid being extracted from Connor's vent easily held Hank's full interest. "What's inside his chest anyway?"

"This is congealing Thirium."

"Thirium. That's blue blood, right?"

"Right. When the ventilation biocomponents - the android equivalent to lungs, becomes damaged or the Thirium lines inside the biocomponent become drastically chilled internally, the Thirium leaks through small cracks and collects inside the vents causing ventilation effusion. The rubber lining of the vents mean there's a lot of little Thirium lines running throughout the entire biocomponent to keep the rubber lubricated to prevent it from dry-rotting and decaying over time."

"That's... really fuckin' weird." Readjusting the ice pack over Connor's chest in a gentle manner Hank gave the deviant a sympathetic glance. "After you drain his vents, then what do we do?"

"Let him rest. Keep him cool." Joel sighed as he noted the high volume of Thirium in the syringe and proceeded to dispose of it into a proper waste disposal bin inside his satchel. He then resumed draining the rest of the fluid from the same vent before moving on to the second vent. "And after his core temperature is brought back down to a normal degree, you'll need to then keep him warm. Warmth will ensure his Thirium circulation continues throughout his vents and will allow his self healing program to engage properly."

"Sounds like a fun balancing act."

"You're not wrong." Focusing on his task Joel made sure Connor remained as stable and comfortable as possible during the delicate procedure. "Keeping a thermal regulator optimally calibrated and an android's overall core temperature at an optimal degree takes a lot of time and patience."

With the left vent cleared Joel closed the port on Connor's side and grabbed onto Connor's right shoulder to finish the unusual repair procedure. Slowly and gently Joel rolled Connor onto his left side to reach the right vent by leaning over Connor's now exposed right side and opening the second port. It was easier than trying to reposition Connor's body over the couch itself.

"Almost done... After this if over he'll be able to breathe a lot easier and get his temperature under control."

"All right. You take care of Connor while I go take a quick shower." Pulling his hand away from Connor's chest for a moment Hank looked over at Bruno and Sumo keeping watch and knew that Joel wouldn't do anything to harm Connor during his absence, even if he wanted to. "If I'm going to be spending the rest of the night on a damn fever-watch then I'll need to take a few extra steps to keep a nasty headache at bay."

-next chapter-

Author's Note: *Compartment syndrome: This happens when muscle damage causes your limbs to swell. In turn, this swelling can compress arteries potentially leading to serious health problems. Compartment syndrome might not be noticeable immediately after the initial electrical shock.