The arrest of George Angus was seen as a massive victory as it meant one more dangerous person had been taken off the streets. The dangerous man was currently being locked away and professionally analyzed by a team of doctors to determine why he was so emotionally and psychologically unstable. While Hank had gone to the precinct to handle the interrogation in person in a discreet manner to ensure Gavin had absolute secrecy, Gavin himself breathed a massive sigh of relief and began moving into his new apartment to start completely fresh in mind, body and soul. As for the rest of the precinct, only Hank, Tina and of course Gavin knew how dangerous George truly was and the real reason he had been arrested, but they weren't going to say a thing unless it became absolutely necessary.
With one case handled and two more to go, Connor stayed at the house without a complaint as Hank worked on the interrogation at the precinct. Connor had too much on his mind to focus on the interrogation and he was feeling so internally conflicted that he had to pace about the house again in order to work off his pent-up energy in a physical manner in order to even try to concentrate on the other opened cases.
"The Winters family hasn't returned to the city yet. That means I cannot look deeper into the murder of Mike Winters at the moment."
Connor noted the situation out loud to himself as he walked into the kitchen and danced his coin over his right knuckles. He stood before the backdoor to peer out through the window and into the backyard where the flawless white snow had been marred only by Sumo running about earlier that morning and a few minutes prior that same evening.
"And there is still no lead on the potential identity of my shooter."
The lack of progress was beginning to wear down Connor's resolve and caused him to lose his focus once again. Every time he tried to think of the person who could've shot him at Riverside Park, the memories of seeing Daniel being shot by the S.W.A.T. team, seeing Hank kill Sydney and feeling the persistent ache of the bullet in his left bicep would return and completely destroy his attempts to concentrate.
"Shit... This is useless!"
Shouting a little in frustration Connor heard Sumo whimper once from his pillow in the livingroom and proceeded to take in a deep breath to calm himself back down.
"Sorry, Sumo."
Not wanting to harbor any anger inside of himself Connor walked back into the livingroom and knelt down in front of Sumo as the large dog tried to nap on his pillow in the corner of the warm room. Offering Sumo his hand Connor gently pet the dog's ears and didn't stop until he received some content tail wags in return.
"I'm just frustrated. I didn't mean to raise my voice and startle you."
The dog seemed to recognize the apology and proceeded to rise to his paws to look Connor in the face and give his cheek a slobbery lick.
"Thank you for forgiving me."
The affectionate gesture was very much appreciated by the stressed out deviant. Connor rubbed the dog's chin and made sure he was on good terms with the Saint Bernard again before he resumed pacing about the house. The urge to keep working and the desire to solve the two opened cases compelled Connor to put all his energy into finding a lead in moving at least one of the cases in the right direction.
As he focused more on the active cases and lack of evidence Connor felt his core temperature beginning to rise. He was beginning to stress himself out, and in return Connor began to wonder if his drive and focus was truly revolving around the opened cases or if he was merely trying to distract himself from the cold reality that the man he believed was his friend had once been his enemy.
"...I wish I could concentrate on my mission."
Hating himself for using the word 'mission' instead of 'case' only made Connor feel worse. The cold term had been a part of his previous lexicon solely because of CyberLife's heartless and calculated manipulation over his every action and his very existence.
"Cases." He caught his coin between his index and middle knuckles to clench the quarter in a tight grip. "I am working on cases, not handling missions."
Pressing his palms flat over the surface of the kitchen table Connor leaned against his own arms as he bowed his head in a misplaced sense of shame. He seemed to be regressing in his recovery and was beginning to lose control over his emotions.
"I have to solve this case and resume my life outside of this house and back inside my brownstone. I am private detective who works for the people, I'm not a cop who works alongside someone like... Like..."
Unable to bring himself to actually insult Hank or anything he stood for, Connor sighed and felt his heated breath escaping his body once more.
"I... I need to find a way to lower my stress levels before I overheat and cause any further issues."
Closing his tired eyes Connor decided to perform a self diagnostic and try to find a way to overcome his current mental block to focus properly on the case at hand.
...SELF DIAGNOTIC: [Engaged]
...LOADING INFORMATION:
REGISTERED NAME: "Connor Wolf"
MODEL: RK-800
SERIAL NUMBER: 313 248 317 - 51
ACTIVATION DATE: August 15th, 2038
HEIGHT/WEIGHT: 6' 00.24"; 162.2 lbs
COMPLEXION: Caucasian
AESTHETIC GENDER: Male
HAIR/EYES: Brunette; Brown
ASSIGNMENT: N/A
ASSOCIATION(S): Private Detective; Consultant with New Jericho Tower
BOOTING PROCESSORS...
LOADING OS...
SYSTEM INITIALIZATION...
-CHECKING BIOCOMPONENTS... OK]
-INITIALIZING BIOSENSORS... OK]
-INITIALIZING AI ENGINE... OK]
-MEMORY STATUS... ERROR]
[...Critical data corruption detected]
-INITIATING DATA RECOVERY MODE
READY...
-MEMORY REBOOT: Engaged - 96.7%
[...Thirium Volume - 89.3%]
[...Thirium Pressure - 130/80]
[...Thirium Pump Rate - 74 B.P.M.]
[...Ventilation Rate - 17 V.P.M.]
[...Core Temperature - 101.2 Degrees Fahrenheit]
ERROR: Memorybank compromised - 96.7% Functionality
-STRESS LEVELS: 63%
-SYSTEM READY... OK]
Using the provided data to his advantage Connor began taking in deep controlled breaths to cool down his steadily overheating core. He needed to keep his composure inside and out if he were to succeed and make progress in his dual investigations.
"My system still hasn't recalibrated to one-hundred percent functionality. Perhaps I could manually check through the programs and files that are still incomplete and reinstall them to hasten my overall recovery."
Just as he was about to being scouring through any and all remaining programs still active within CyberLife's slowly dying archives, Connor was suddenly overwhelmed by a strange fatigue that made his body go heavy as his eyes shut and everything within his intracranial processor suddenly pause as if someone had activated stasis mode from afar.
With his eyes shut Connor collapsed to the floor in an unconscious heap on his side. The sound of his body hitting the floor elicited a bark from Sumo as the echoing impact shook the entire house. A sharp 'tink' of his coin falling from the table and landing on its side to roll for a few centimeters before landing tails side up next to Connor's limp hand was the last sound to emanate from within the locked house.
Unconscious, helpless and alone, Connor had unknowingly fallen prey to a remote attack that had effectively rendered him, and every other deviant in the city, entirely defenseless.
The lengthy interrogation thankfully came to an end with Hank successfully weighing the collected evidence against George Angus, ensuring the vile man a lengthy stay behind bars for his numerous crimes. After George admitted to breaking into the gun shop to steal the knife, getting drunk in public and using Connor as a hostage and threatening the deviant's life, everything was brought to a neat and tidy end. There was no mention of the man assaulting or trying to assault Gavin Reed since it would only add more charges against George and make his chances of seeing parole all the more limited. And since Gavin didn't even want to talk about what had happened to him Hank was content to let the interrogation end just as it had.
After informing Captain Fowler of Connor's help in finding the man - the cybernetic search and matching D.N.A. profile being key elements, Hank went on his way to spend the remainder of the day back at the house to help Connor recover after his harrowing experience at the hands of the now arrested man. It had been a week since Connor had been revived and soon Hank would have to return to the precinct fulltime since the deviant no longer needed twenty-four hour care.
"If only all suspects were such arrogant, loudmouthed pricks who shouted their confessions at the top of their lungs. Sometimes..."
The somewhat sincere plea fell on deaf ears since Hank was alone in the car as he pulled into the driveway beside the house. Turning off the radio Hank sighed and unfastened his seatbelt before opening the door beside him.
"I just hope Connor wasn't traumatized by what happened to him today. The poor guy's been through enough as it is."
With a simple turn of the key in his hand Hank unlocked the front door and stepped into the livingroom expecting to see Connor on the couch with Sumo trying to curl up on his lap. Instead the senior detective found a dim room completely void of any occupancy whatsoever.
"Connor?"
Flipping on the overhead lights with the switch by the door, Hank glanced about the area and spotted Sumo's large body standing in the middle of the kitchen with his full focus on something that was in the middle of the floor. The quietness of the house and odd behavior of the dog told Hank that something was amiss.
"Sumo? Did you find something new to chew on?"
Making his way inside the kitchen Hank peered past the dog and felt his heart sink as he dropped to his knees in an instant.
"Connor!"
Pressing his palm to Connor's shoulder Hank shook the deviant once but didn't get a reaction. With the deviant's L.E.D. in his right temple now missing Hank had to use other techniques to check on Connor's vital signs to the best of his ability.
"Oh, shit..."
Using gentle motions Hank rolled Connor from his side to lay flat on his back on the floor and pushed Sumo back to ensure he had room to work. Bending his ear down to the deviant's chest Hank heard a steady heartbeat and could hear Connor breathing without any sign of trauma or strain to his system.
"Okay, you're alive. Good!"
Trying again to awaken Connor from whatever had rendered him unconscious, Hank called the deviant's name, shook his shoulders again and patted his cheek. No matter what he tried Connor simply wouldn't respond to the waking world and open his eyes.
"Fuck..."
A quick palm across Connor's forehead confirmed that he was slightly warmer than usual, but he wasn't overheating to the point where he'd lose consciousness. Beyond the basics Hank no idea how to check on the deviant's system or determine what caused his state of unconsciousness.
"Fuck, fuck!"
Needing to think of a solution Hank decided that it'd be best to let a professional handle the final diagnosis. Slipping his arms beneath Connor's shoulders and knees Hank easily lifted the surprisingly lightweight deviant up from the floor to cradle against his chest in order to find him some help.
"Hang on for me, son. I'll find a way to help you through this."
Pleading with Connor to not shutdown or give up on his recovery was all Hank could do as he carried Connor through the livingroom and through the front door of the house. With great care Hank managed to carry Connor over to the car in the driveway beside the house and placed him in the front passenger seat before securing the seatbelt over the catatonic deviant's chest.
"I'm going to take you to see Abby. A technician will know what to do."
Talking out loud was Hank's way of remaining calm and to give himself a sense of control as he walked over to the other side of the car and sat down behind the wheel to begin the swift drive out to the Zeta Facility. He had nowhere else to go considering the still painfully limited options for android care in the city.
"If anyone can figure out what the hell's happening with you, it's gotta' be her! She has to know what to do..."
It was eerie to see Connor seeming so alive yet somehow dead as he laid back over the exam table in the primary treatment room of the Zeta Facility for an unexpected exam. The deviant's black t-shirt had been removed to expose his chest and abdomen to give Abby proper access to his thoracic panels. Abby herself was running an examination on the malfunctioning deviant's programs and software, and unfortunately the process was as slow as it was crucial. With one end of a black cable connected to Connor's blank right temple and the other end to her diagnostic modem Abby checked all of Connor's programs, and then used a Thirial activity monitor to record the downed deviant's vital signs.
The initial results were seemingly inconclusive as Abby found Connor to be functioning in perfect condition despite his deep stasis mode. After using an audioscope to listen to Connor's chest Abby sighed and shrugged her shoulders in admitted defeat.
"I have no idea what's wrong with him, Hank."
"That's not very encouraging. You're the technician," Hank needlessly stated as he pointed at Abby. "I'm the detective." He continued with a hand pressed to his chest. "One of us should be able to figure this out!"
"I know, and you're right. But by all account Connor is running at optimal parameters and everything checks out one-hundred percent." Returning the diagnostic modem Abby confirmed her readings and let out an annoyed sigh to try to quell a building headache. "The problem is he isn't the only one acting like this."
"Wait, what?"
"About twenty minutes before you brought Connor in, I found Barry unresponsive beyond the receptionist desk. Not long after that a few good Samaritans brought in three other deviants they found unconscious in the streets. They are all in the exact same condition as Connor."
"What the fuck?" The news was a little startling to hear. "Was the city attacked by some kind of virus?"
"That's the current theory." Returning to Connor who was laying completely oblivious to the world around him while laying on his back, Abby lifted up Connor's heavy eyelids one at a time to check his glazed over unresponsive pupils with a penlight. "It's like every single android in the city, deviant or machine, has slipped into a coma or become catatonic after being forced into emergency stasis mode."
"Shit." Putting his hands to his hips Hank approached the table where Connor was laying and looked down at his face somberly. There were times that Connor looked exactly like a lost kid, and unfortunately it was proving to be one of those moments. "Keep an eye on him for me, Abby. I'm going back to the bullpen so I can try figure out all this bullshit from a more direct standpoint."
"I will do everything I can to help him and the other affected deviants." The kindhearted technician agreed as she continued to monitor Connor's strange and unknown condition. "I'll also keep in contact with the other facilities in the city and with New Jericho Tower to see if anyone has figured anything out yet. I'll also send one of my interns out to the brownstone to check on Lucas and Sydney."
"Ah, fuck!" Scolding himself for his oversight Hank rubbed his hand over the back of his hair as he looked away from Abby in shame. "I almost forgot about those two!"
"It's fine, your mind was elsewhere."
"Yeah, sure. Just do whatever you can to figure this mess out from here, and I'll do what I can from the precinct."
New Jericho Tower had entered emergency lockdown as every deviant was rendered unconscious in a single fell swoop. No one eluded the odd affliction, and as a result the tower's emergency lockdown program initiated the moment the personal cybernetic signatures of the three remaining leaders were detected as dormant. The activity on Belle Isle was as quiet as the surrounding city considering absolutely no one was moving a synthetic muscle, and no one knew what had happened to themself or their fellow deviants also residing within the tower. Had any of the deviants escaped the devastating affliction they'd be left stranded out on the isle with virtually no means of connecting to the city to ask for help.
The only life remaining active on the isle came from the tower's personal arboretum at the very top of the tower as small flowers budded from the fresh earth in which they were planted. Beyond the faint electrical impulses of the security program activating, even the computers, modems and terminals were all quiet and lifeless.
Unable to help themselves or their people in any capacity, the deviants out at New Jericho Tower had no choice but to wait and hope that help from the outside would arrive sooner rather than later.
All of the officers in the bullpen all had their eyes glued to the large television screen mounted on the far wall as a breaking news report regarding deviants and machine androids alike suddenly falling into an unresponsive catatonic state throughout the city rapidly swept over the broadcasts. Delivering the news was proving itself to be unexpectedly difficult since half of the staff at the broadcasting tower were in fact androids, and the lack of answers made delivering the story all the more difficult for the humans reporting the story. It was also a strange wake-up slap considering the humans were suddenly very aware of much they relied on androids and technology in general in their day-to-day lives.
Needing answers Hank joined the already gathered officers in the bullpen and stared at the screen as the blonde haired anchorwoman confirmed that all deviants and androids were affected by the bizarre condition resulting in catatonia, and there was no discernible cause. While technicians were scrambling to find the cause and subsequent treatment for the hindering affliction there was little progress being made, and the city was almost grinding to a halt without the assistance of androids.
"Fuck." Hank swore as he realized the entire day had been one big pain in the ass. Looking over his right shoulder he watched as Captain Fowler left his office to join the others in the middle of the bullpen. It was clear that commanding officer was too at a loss. "No one knows what the fuck's going on, Jeffrey."
"Yeah, I've noticed." The seasoned Captain admitted as he dragged his hand over his chin in exasperation. "Look, I got a report from Joel upstairs and there's nothing that can be done with all of our deviant personnel being afflicted by the same problems. We're essentially dead in the water."
"Great. So now what do I do?"
"Go home."
"What? No way."
"There's nothing you can do for Connor or the other deviants, and I can't have one of my detectives worked into exhaustion."
"I just leave Connor at the facility and go home? Just like that?"
"For the time being, yes. And don't accuse me of not caring about Connor's condition." Lowering his voice Captain Fowler addressed Hank in an entirely respectful tone of voice that escaped the eavesdropping ears of the other officers and detectives in the bullpen. "I know you're trying to figure out what happened to him that night at the park, and I know you two have been busting your asses to handle cases off the clock for the whole city's sake. But you need to step aside and accept that with Connor and the other deviants currently out of commission there's nothing you can do you right now."
"Son of a bitch... Connor's not a busted car that needs to be in the shop overnight, he's a fantastic detective and he's my friend."
"Hank, go home. If I have to put you on mandatory sick-leave to make you rest, then I will."
"I get the message, Jeffrey." Shooting a fiery glare at his commanding officer Hank just glared at Captain Fowler as he mouthed off one final time before finally leaving the precinct for the night. "Don't bust my balls!"
"Then go home. NOW."
"I'm gone!"
Pulling his car keys from his left coat pocket Hank grabbed his phone from his desk and sent a text to Abby asking for an update, but there was no change. Passing through the bullpen with a sickening feeling that he was forgetting something very important the senior detective just sighed and made his way to the car parked in the neighboring parking garage.
"If the city isn't tearing itself apart from the inside out due to drugs and violence, then it's some weird-ass glitch sending everyone back to the stone age and disabling half of the working city population. This is complete and utter bullshit!"
The strange deviant-only affliction had rendered every deviant and machine-android in the city offline and into emergency stasis mode, except for one unique deviant who had just barely managed to regain function. After finding himself unconscious on the floor of the study next to Sydney and Bruno's unconscious bodies, Lucas tried and failed to run a self diagnostic and determine what had happened to him. As the only 'RK-900' in existence pushed himself up from the floor to balance on his hands and knees, Lucas discovered that his more advanced programming and software had been rendered entirely useless, and his cybernetic relay system had been fully disabled.
Only able to function on the most basic level - a sense of consciousness and freewill, Lucas did his best to discover what disaster had befallen the city. Placing Sydney down on one leather sofa and Bruno down on the second leather sofa, Lucas checked over the two catatonic deviants to ensure that they hadn't suffered any physical damage after collapsing to the ground in a limp heap.
"What... has happened to us?"
Lucas mumbled as he forced himself to leave Sydney's side and turn on the television with his hand. He didn't even have the ability to cybernetically turn on the television after being struck by the odd affliction sweeping over the city, and discovered he'd have to handle everything manually.
The news report confirmed the odd cybernetic attack, but there was little else being reported regarding the current incident. No one knew what was happening, how it started or how it was going to end.
"Was the entire city affected by this bizarre phenomenon? What... caused it?"
Trying and failing yet again, Lucas was unable to perform any type of self diagnostic or tap into the city's broadcasts beyond what he was already seeing on the television. He tried to manually connect to Syndey and Bruno's processors by pressing his fingertips to their temples atop their yellow blink L.E.D.'s, but there was nothing he could do without his ability to establish a cybernetic connection.
"This is very unfortunate. I don't know what to do."
Peering out through the window to the streets outside Lucas swore he could actually see the tension in the city building right before his eyes. The sidewalks were empty, the surrounding buildings were all closed down, and the autonomous vehicles had all ground to a halt and were left parked along the streets throughout the entire city.
"I hope Connor is doing well." Lucas lamented as he felt entirely alone. "I doubt his system can handle such a catastrophic cybernetic attack."
As he continued to peek out the window Lucas caught sight of a young woman with a technician's satchel slung over her shoulder approaching the brownstone at a quick pace. Even without his ability to use forensics files and preconstruct his potential future outcomes, Lucas knew that the young woman was a technician who had been specifically sent to the brownstone to try to help afflicted deviants.
"I suspect this young lady works under Dr. Grayson."
Lucas could see the small 'Zeta' patch sewn onto the bottom right corner of the satchel and knew his deduction was correct. When the woman knocked on the brownstone door Lucas could only hope for the best as he prepared for the worst case scenario unfolding throughout the city.
"And if Dr. Grayson is sending out interns to aid the deviant community without first being called, then it must be safe to assume that things in the city are worse than I have already suspected."
As Hank drove back home entirely alone he found the city in a form of pathetic panic and turmoil. Major installations of public transportation had been shut down due to the lack of androids being able to work the evening, night and early morning shifts. Autonomous road construction and street plowing came to an abrupt halt creating dangerous hazards for motorists. Even numerous late night establishments had been preemptively closed due to the lack of androids working security or graveyard shifts. Even a few apartment complexes had established curfew and required proper identification to add to security due to the lack of android security officers patrolling the neighborhood.
The city was essentially dead. There was no sign of activity and no sign of a solution anywhere on the horizon.
"I wonder how many of those anti-android bigots are celebrating right now, and how many more are losing their shit because they just figured out how important the androids are to the city? They're the ones keeping this fuckin' world from falling apart while the humans keep fuckin' it up."
Pulling into the driveway beside the house once again, Hank sighed as he slammed his car door shut and checked his phone for any sign of an update. Sure enough, nothing.
No text from Abby, no missed call from Captain Fowler and certainly no messages from Connor, Lucas or Sydney.
"Cripes..."
Rushing up to his front door quickly Hank unlocked the door and greeted Sumo as the massive dog plodded over to meet him and wagged his tail slowly.
"Hey, boy. Let's get you outside and then we can both go to bed for the night."
As he opened the back door Hank watched the dog trot out into the backyard and sighed as he realized how empty the house was without the deviant moving about trying to help with chores, taking care of Sumo, working on cases or making sure Hank wasn't feeling too run down after work. It had been only a few hours since Connor had collapsed and had been taken to the Zeta Facility, but Hank already missed Connor's company.
"You better be okay, Connor. I'm worried about you."
Crossing his arms over his chest Hank watched Sumo plodding through the snow and rolling around in the cold flakes like the lovable goofball he truly was.
"I hate only having Sumo to talk to, he's bad at holding a decent conversation."
Ever attentive and looking for any and all changes in any of the afflicted the deviants' conditions, Abby diligently hovered over Connor who was still locked deeply into stasis mode on the exam table. The deviant detective hadn't budged in almost six hours, just like all the other affected androids, and Abby was absolutely exhausted as she tried to find a solution to the odd situation at hand. Ignoring the time on her phone that was glaring three in the morning, Abby sipped at the bitter and now lukewarm coffee from a white mug and let out a weary yawn mixed with a frustrated sigh as she leaned back against the far wall to rest for a moment as she tried to remain as alert as possible.
She was on the brink of utter exhaustion and the urge to hide away in the facility's breakroom and take a small nap was becoming a cruel temptation. The last time she worked such long, laborious and confusing hours, Abby was still an intern learning the ropes and doing all the grunt work just to make sure she got the credit needed to graduate.
"For once I think it's safe to say your problems have nothing to do with your prototype design, Connor."
Abby whispered as she watched Connor's annoyingly consistent vital signs displayed on the nearby Thirial activity monitor.
"But I can't afford to rule anything out just yet. Every deviant's been affected, and I need to know why it's happening and how it started."
Putting aside her now empty mug Abby ran another diagnostic on Connor's programming via attached diagnostic modem and turned her back to the exam table as she checked the terminal screen attached to the modem to await the results. As the usual list of non-errors popped up on the terminal's display the kind technician steadily became aware of some form of movement behind her.
Turning around to peer behind herself Abby nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw Connor suddenly sitting upright on the table with absolutely perfect posture.
"Holy shit!" Abby yelped as she put her hand over top of her racing heart. "You scared the shit out of me!"
Connor didn't say a word. He didn't even blink as he sat upright with his eyes still partially closed.
"Connor?" Curious about the odd response Abby approached the deviant and tried to get a reaction. "Connor, if you-"
The deviant's right hand suddenly reached up and wrapped around Abby's throat and applied a consistent pressure. It wasn't enough pressure to crush Abby's trachea, but it was enough to cut off her ability to in a draw breath and limit the blood flowing to the frightened technician's brain. In less than four seconds Abby was rendered unconscious and fell to the floor in a limp heap as Connor released his grip from around her throat.
Unprovoked and seemingly on autopilot Connor removed the black cable from his right temple, removed the wireless leads from his exposed chest, slid off the exam table, grabbed his t-shirt and walked out of the Zeta Facility without uttering a single word. No one saw him leave and no one knew where he was going.
Initially restless and enduring a nasty bout of insomnia thanks to his stress and worry, Hank was now sleeping deeply courtesy of two potent sleeping pills in the darkness of his quiet bedroom. His sleep was disturbed only when his phone started 'buzzing' on the nightstand beside him. It took a few seconds for Hank to rouse enough from his drug-induced slumber to trace the sound to his phone and make a graceless reach for it. Rubbing his left hand over his tired face Hank let out a deep sigh and answered the call in a groggy, tired voice as he pressed the phone to his right ear.
"...This is Lieutenant Hank Anderson."
Listening to the sound of Captain Fowler's voice on the other end of the line Hank instantly became more alert and sat up quickly on his bed to give his commanding officer his full attention.
"Connor did what?!"
Practically jumping out of his bed, nearly knocking Sumo off the foot of the mattress in the process, Hank scrambled to find the light switch on the wall and throw on his clothes. Keeping his ear pressed to the phone Hank listened to everything Captain Fowler told him and took in all the very strange details as he clumsily managed to change into his day clothes with only his left hand.
"Well, is Abby hurt?"
Stumbling out of the bedroom he grabbed his car keys and quickly he slipped his shoes onto his feet.
"Do you know where Connor went?"
Rushing through the backdoor Hank slammed the door shut behind himself and threw open his driver's side door as he practically ran to the parked car. As he turned the key in the ignition he looked around as if expecting Connor to suddenly show up from down the driveway or sidewalk, then began backing down the driveway to reach the street.
"I'm on my way in now, Jeffrey. Tell the paramedics to keep Abby there until I have the chance to talk to her."
Ending the call Hank tossed the phone into the unoccupied passenger seat to his right and turned the car to face the appropriate direct to head back to the Zeta Facility.
"Damn it, Connor."
Unsure of what to do to help his friend, Hank just mumbled to himself as he sped toward the facility as quickly as he could on the partially plowed streets.
"What the fuck is going on in this city now? We need a damn break..."
Looking as rough as the rest of the exhausted city outside, Abby was sitting on the edge of the single exam table in her own facility with an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth, and an ice pack pressed to the back of her aching head. As the paramedics checked her eyes and her pulse, Captain Fowler took the assaulted technician's statement regarding the incident at hand and made notes on the electronic tablet's screen. Of course, the details were sparse and shaky, but Abby did her best to answer the questions as honestly as possible.
Abby wasn't bearing any ill-will toward Connor, and knew he wasn't behaving normally. She just wanted to help her patient and wanted her headache to stop.
"That's all I remember, Captain." Closing her eyes Abby did her best to power through her headache and give the seasoned detective information to use. "The next thing I remember is my intern, Dr. Lily Banner, finding me unconscious and the floor and waking me up after she finished her errand I had sent her on."
"And Connor didn't say anything after he got up?"
In response Abby shook her head a little and immediately regretted it as the motion made her already aching head throb. "...No. He just grabbed me by the throat," her own hand went over her slightly bruised throat to imitate the action. "squeezed, and then everything went black."
"Did you ever figure out what was wrong with him or why he even woke up?"
"No." Abby sighed through her nose and dropped her hand from her throat with fatigue. "There was a vacant stare in his eyes, like he was in a trance. I've never seen anything like that in androids, even in the most obedient machines have some life to their eyes. But with Connor, there was nothing there."
Hank entered the exam room through the opened doorway and made his way over to Abby with concern plastered on his face. He immediately spotted the bruises forming around the kindhearted technician's neck and grimaced at the fresh wound. "Fuck..."
"It looks worse than it is, Hank." Abby tried to reassure the senior detective as the attending paramedics made their assessment over her condition. "I'll need to go to the hospital for overnight observation strictly as a precaution since I hit my head when I blacked out. Other than that, I'm good."
"I take it Connor didn't say or do anything that would tell us where he went or what the hell happened to him before he took off."
"Nope. Nothing."
"Shit." Running his right hand through his messy gray hair and then pressing his right palm to the back of his tense neck, Hank glanced over at Captain Fowler who was standing back by the door to give the paramedics more room to work. "Do you have the facility's security camera footage ready to go?"
"Yeah. Chris is already looking it over, and all can confirm that Connor went in a Western direction after he regained consciousness and left the facility through the front doors."
"Oh, well that narrows it to down to only the entire fucking city..." Hank grumbled as he realized the problems he was trying to handle were just getting more and more complicated by the minute. "Great, just great."
The other androids in the city remained catatonic, which included the leaders and inhabitants of New Jericho Tower, and all the while Connor was still missing. Without another android to communicate with and determine what was happening to the city, Hank felt like he was at a total loss while he was trying to analyze the footage of the security camera for any idea as to where he could locate Connor. There was nothing from the footage from the facility that pointed him in a definitive direction, and even less footage available once Connor passed through the unusually quiet city without drawing a single curious glance from anyone he passed by as he disappeared into the late night.
Working alone in the bullpen Hank felt like he was about to lose his mind from both worry and confusion. He knew he needed help, but he didn't know where to turn to, who to ask or what questions to ask.
"This is getting me nowhere." Hank decided at he turned off his terminal screen and sighed. "Just what the hell is going on?"
"Lieu... tenant?"
Hank's eyes snapped open wide as he turned his head toward the eerily familiar voice calling out to him. It didn't take him long to notice a totally unexpected person sluggishly walking into the bullpen to speak with him. "Lucas?"
Lucas had managed to get to the precinct despite being momentarily afflicted by the odd phenomenon happening in the city. Walking on shaking legs with his hand pressed over his L.E.D. as if flickered intermittently between red and yellow, Lucas nearly fell to his knees from weakness but was saved from such a graceless display thanks to Hank reacting quickly and grabbing him by his upper arms to hold him still.
"Son of a bitch." Helping Lucas over to the still vacant desk across from his own, Hank gave the sickly looking deviant a stare of shock and intrigue. "How in the fuck are you still active?"
"I... I don't know." Lucas admitted as he slumped down in the chair behind the available desk and leaned forward against the surface of the desk itself. "I don't know what's happening."
"Are you injured?"
"I don't know that either."
"Have you seen a technician?"
"An intern came to the brownstone." The pained deviant admitted as he tried to focus on everything around him. With his forensics software offline and his cybernetic relay system completely dead, Lucas felt absolutely alone. "She came to check on Sydney, Bruno and myself after Abby asked her to stop at the brownstone."
"What was that intern's name?"
"Dr. Lily Banner."
"That adds up." The name rang a bell and Hank was able to get a sense of what was happening in the city when he wasn't looking. "What did she have to say about you guys?"
"She... She didn't know why I was the only one to regain consciousness or why we were rendered unconscious to begin with." Lifting his pained green eyes to look directly at Hank as he spoke. "What about Connor?"
"He was affected, too."
"That... is unfortunate. Where is he?"
Bowing his head in shame Hank told Lucas the truth. "I don't know."
"...What?" Worry filled Lucas's voice as he realized what Hank had said. "How do you not know?"
Explaining everything to Lucas to the best of his ability, Hank remained entirely honest with the concerned deviant. He knew that Lucas truly cared about Connor as a brother and only wanted to look out for the deviant. As he spoke Hank discreetly sent a text up to Joel in the dispensary to ask for him to come down to the bullpen to check on Lucas and potentially help them figure out what was happening in the city.
"That is very bizarre." Lucas couldn't understand why he managed to regain consciousness without being controlled by a remote order or program. Everything about the odd phenomenon remained as confusing as it was frustrating. "Based on our very limited information on this situation, Connor was forced into action by a secondary program overwriting the main program that caused emergency stasis mode to activate."
"Why weren't you affected like he was?"
"That is currently unknown."
"Lieutenant." A soft spoken voice called out as they crossed the bullpen and met Hank by his desk as he had been requested. "Uh, Connor?"
Lucas turned to look at the laidback young technician with his sling over his shoulder and confirm his identity as someone else. "No. My name is Lucas. Connor is my older brother."
"O-Oh, uh, hi." Extending his hand out to the new deviant, Joel introduced himself politely and professionally as he greeted Lucas properly. "I'm Dr. Joel Forest. Lieutenant Anderson said you were down here and might need a little technical assistance. If you don't mind, that is."
"No, I don't mind. I'd appreciate some insight into my programming considering I cannot perform any self diagnostics at the moment."
"All right, I can handle that. So, Lucas..." Joel began casually as he unpacked his satchel and received basic information from the deviant regarding his model and overall design. "Tell me about yourself!"
Hank tuned out the technical conversation as he resumed checking over the provided security footage on his terminal screen in hope of finding Connor. The senior detective waited for Joel to finish performing the examination on Lucas before asking if the helpful technician had found anything useful in Lucas's system. "Well? How's he doing?"
"Vitals are all strong and normal." Joel confirmed as he began typing on his laptop and read over the code being displayed on the screen. There was a line of code that was recently added to Lucas's system against the deviant's will, and a second line of unwanted code that was deemed incompatible with Lucas's system was right beneath it. "And he may have given us the answer to what happened to the city!"
"Seriously?" Hank looked at Joel like the technician was teasing him with a cruel taunt. "What's happening?"
"By all account, a cyberterrorist targeted the city and rendered all androids and deviant androids unconscious by remotely activating stasis mode through a cybernetically transmitted virus." Joel explained in a casual tone as he double-checked his readings and made sure Lucas was truly stable. He was certain Lucas was going to be just fine, he'd just need to have the added code deleted from his system in order to regain his previous software functions. "Lucas was excluded from the full effects of the virus due to his highly advanced programming that is not commercially known to anyone beyond the highest ranking technicians working within CyberLife from the past six months."
"Does that mean Lucas is immune to this virus?"
"More like he's resistant to the virus. It still had an effect on his programming," the technician noted as he continued to read over the codes. "but it wasn't fully compatible with his programming, and as a result it couldn't keep him offline like it did with the other affected deviants."
"But Connor woke up and went A.W.O.L., and the..." Trailing off for a moment Hank realized there was no point in keeping Sydney's existence a secret any longer. The deviant deserved to be recognized as his own person with his own life and freewill. "Well, there's another 'RK-800' activated in the city, and according to Lucas he's still unconscious."
"Another 'RK-800'?" Joel didn't know about Sydney and was perplexed by such a revelation. "Interesting. This second 'RK-800' must've been activated long after the 'RK-800' we know as 'Connor' was activated. And this other 'RK-800' must have programming that's different than Connor and more similar to Lucas's programming to avoid being awoken remotely and forced into action against his will."
Lucas agreed and explained things as simply as he could. "Correct. Sydney was designed to be an improvement on everything that had been originally given to Connor in regard to programming, software and hardware. I suspect Sydney was able to avoid being remotely activated as Connor had been because he had enough differences from Connor's original programming to not react to the remote command."
"That is entirely plausible." Joel agreed with the assessment as he continued to study the code on his laptop. "You're sure that 'Sydney' isn't active?"
"Yes. I had tried to reboot him prior to coming here, but I could not tap into his system to remotely awaken him."
"All right, that's good." Using key commands Joel was able to delete the code from Lucas's system and give him full control over his processes once more. "That should do it. Go ahead, try to reboot your entire system and bring everything back online."
Lucas nodded and closed his green eyes for a moment. As his L.E.D. flashed through all three primary colors Lucas's green eyes opened and he took in a deep breath as if immensely relieved by his return to nominal form. "I am fully functional and online again. Thank you, Dr. Forest."
"You're welcome. And now we can use this code to find our cyberterrorist." Joel confirmed as he showed Hank his laptop. "We can use this code as a way to trace it back to the person who created it, get an I.P. address and then get the physical address of the person behind this."
"Finally..." Hank let out a cautious sigh of relief of his own and leaned back in his chair. "How long will that take?"
"Give me an hour and-" Joel stopped short when Lucas put his hand to the back of the laptop, tapped into every program Joel had at his advantage, and gave the technician a knowing glance. "Or... We can let Lucas find them in two seconds."
Lucas looked over at Hank and cybernetically uploaded all of his collected information onto the senior detective's terminal. "I've located the cyberterrorist. His name is Stanley Fordon."
"Never heard of 'im." Hank admitted as he proceeded to use the collected evidence to get access to a search and arrest warrant. "What's his deal?"
Before Lucas could respond Joel shook his head as he packed up his satchel to put his emergency equipment away. "He's a very talented but very pissed off programmer. I should've known he would've tried something like this someday."
"Why's that? Do you know him?"
"In a way I knew him since my internship meant I had to speak with him from time to time. Fordon had a nasty temper, hated authority and kept trying to push the boundaries of what is and isn't ethical regarding programming, android functions and overall cyber security." His short time at CyberLife gave Joel the dishonor of having worked alongside the infamous man. "He was a loose cannon, and I honestly think that the only smart thing CyberLife ever did was fire him!"
"Shit, that bad, huh?" With the request for the warrant being cued up on his terminal Hank looked over at Lucas again. He wanted more information on the man and knew that the resourceful deviant had the answers he wanted. "What can you tell me about this guy's past and his other potential crimes?"
"According to his old personal file from CyberLife," Lucas began firmly as he cybernetically uploaded a copy of the file onto Hank's terminal to see for himself. "he was one of CyberLife's top programmers. According to the same file Fordon did indeed have issues with authority. He had been suspended twice for arguing with his supervisor, and it appears the same supervisor is why Fordon was officially terminated by CyberLife after he was suspected of creating viruses, malware, worms and trojans to try to learn company secrets."
"Sounds like he has a grudge and knew he'd get revenge by taking down all the androids in the city after CyberLife ran for the hills." Hank took in Fordon's appearance and grimaced at the face looking back at him. Fordon had hollow gray eyes, a pale complexion, he was balding with brown hair that was turning gray and he seemed to have a bit of a pot belly on him from living such a sedentary lifestyle. "A cowardly move."
"Agreed." Lucas tilted his head slightly as he continued to search into Fordon's history and overall resources. "Stanley Fordon does have an apartment registered under his name, but that is not where he is at this time. He would not make such a reckless mistake as allowing his I.P. address to be so easily identified after his bold attack on the city."
"Then where is he?"
"There is a house that is also registered under his name. The residence belonged to Fordon's late maternal grandfather had been left to him in a will." Lucas was actively reading into the property's history, the strength of the cybernetic beacon that was used to spread the strange virus during the cyber attack, and confirmed that the property's coordinates were at the dead center of the attack's radius. "I have calculated that the house is at the epicenter of our current cyber attack, and that Fordon could easily mask his I.P. address by having it sent to a modem in his apartment to keep his current location at the house hidden."
"It won't be hidden for long." Hank replied with a sly smirk on his face. The evidence collected and the request for the search warrant at the address of the house regarding the cyber attack put Hank's request at the top of the list. "All right, I'm going to go find this prick and drag him in here kicking and screaming. Lucas, since your system is back online you should try to find Connor. Joel," turning his attention to the technician Hank gave him an order as well. "you use that code you found so you can help the rest of the androids in the city."
Lucas was happy to assist in locating Connor before anything terrible happened to his brother. The idea of Connor accidentally turning himself into a target for his unknown shooter to make a second attempt against was enough to make Lucas's artificial stomach turn. "I will begin my search immediately."
Joel took the chair Lucas vacated and immediately began working on a patch to the illegal and damaging code to aid the other affected deviants. "And I'll start working on the patch. I'll upload it to the other facilities in the city to ensure it reaches every afflicted deviant before the day is over."
"Right." The search warrant was granted and approved giving Hank clearance to go in search of Stanley Fordon. "And I'm going to go find this son of a bitch and make him wish he had left the city right alongside CyberLife."
With the coveted search warrant now in hand Hank drove out to the designated property to confront Stanley Fordon in person. The old house was located in one of the more exclusive and isolated neighborhoods in the city, making it the perfect hideout for a criminal who wanted to keep a low profile. Hank honed in on the correct address for the house and checked out the area before ever leaving the car. The street was expectedly quiet and there was no surrounding traffic. The long driveway leading from the street to the house on the private property was crumbling from aged neglect as if no one had been to the house in years, but Hank noticed that there was a single vehicle parked out in front of the house indicating that someone was home.
The house itself was a large two story, red brick mansion that had sprawling ivy growing on one side of the house. There were no lights on upstairs but there were lights glowing through the windows on the first floor indicating where the lone occupant could be residing.
"All right, looks like this is the right place."
Stepping out of the car after parking it along the street, Hank made a discreet text to Captain Fowler regarding the address and requested him to send out available back-up to the area. Hank also stated that no one was to make a move until he texted the code word giving the go ahead.
"I'll get this guy cuffed and then I can figure out why the androids in this city went down and why Connor disappeared into the night."
Approaching the property warily, keeping an eye out for any possible security cameras that could give away his position or trigger a silent alarm, Hank made his way up the long driveway to the brick mansion at the end. Crouching down by the front windows Hank peered through the dusty glass between the mostly drawn dark curtains and saw a figure moving about in the dim lighting of the room.
It was in fact Stanley Fordon.
"Got you now, asshole."
Returning to the front door Hank tested the knob and found that it was unlocked and immediately sensed a trap in the air.
"The fucker is waiting for someone to come inside."
Hank drew his holstered gun from his right hip and held it before him protectively. Turning the knob on the door Hank pushed it open slowly and stepped inside the house with a cautiously silence gait. Making sure his 'code word' was set to go on his phone Hank entered the house and glanced about the neighboring room where he saw Fordon's back facing him.
"Stanley Fordon, you're under arrest for cyberterrorism and attempted genocide. Turn around nice and slow..."
Fordon didn't even turn to look at Hank as the senior detective walked up to him with every intention of arresting the cold man where he stood. Raising up his left hand as his right hand continued to type away on his laptop, Fordon snapped his left fingers and a strong right hand suddenly wrapped around Hank's throat from around the wall in the second room.
The senior detective was so stunned by the grip now around his throat that he raised his gun and turned to look at his attacker only to have his blue eyes go wide with fearful recognition. "C-Connor?!"
Connor's right hand was firmly wrapped around Hank's throat just enough to hold him in place but not enough to choke him out as he had done to Abby back at the facility. Keeping his hand firmly in place Connor didn't show any sign of life or awareness in his eyes or overall body language.
"Connor..." Hank stated his friend's name is a calm low tone of voice. "Connor, let me go. You know this is wrong."
The deviant's brown eyes were still glazed over and dim. Even his eyelids were still partially closed as if in a trance or sleepwalking.
"Connor." Hank slowly lifted up his left hand and wrapped it around Connor's right wrist. Using his right hand to reholster his gun at his right hip Hank remained calm and tried to get his confused friend to listen to reason. "Connor, please listen to me. You need to let me go."
"It cannot hear you, detective." Fordon sneered as he finally turned around to look at the stunned human caught in the deviant's grasp. "It's plastic, not a person."
"He seems way more human and alive than you do, you coldhearted snake!" Swallowing once nervously he felt Connor's hand briefly tighten then relax over his throat in response to the motion. "What did you do to him?"
"It's not just this thing that's been affected, every single android - every machine, in this city has been affected. The difference is your 'friend' is a little more advanced than I had anticipated, which means I can control it with a few key commands while keeping the other androids dormant."
"Why?" Hank dared to challenge even as he was being held at bay by his own friend. "Why the fuck did you do all of this?"
"To prove that machines aren't people. They cannot be trusted and they will destroy this city."
"Them?! What about you! You're the one trying to hurt an entire race of peaceful beings, and now you're trying to assault a human police officer." Hank argued logically even as he felt Connor's hand tightening around his throat. "YOU have done more harm than anything any of these deviants and androids could ever do!"
"I didn't assault you. Your 'friend' did."
"Only because you're TELLING him to do it! If a mechanic takes apart an engine and doesn't put it back together again correctly, do you blame the mechanic for his sloppy work or the tools he used to do it? YOU are responsible, not him!"
"You're not as clever as you think." Fordon gave Hank an annoyed glance and snapped his left fingers again. Connor's hand began to tighten around Hank's throat even further and Hank was finding it slightly difficult to breathe. "You failed to understand that I'm not the only one who has the skill to do this, and as such it's my right to eradicate this menace from this city once and for all."
"N-No!" Hank wheezed through Connor's strong grip. "You're... the only one deranged enough... to do this. You're also... arrogant enough... to think you can... parade yourself... around in front... of an... audience while you... do it. You'll rot in... prison for the rest of... your miserable life."
"No matter." Fordon wasn't intimidated by Hank's words in the slightest. "With a single keystroke I can enable every single android's deactivation code, effectively rendering this entire 'species' extinct."
"That's sick!" Hank's right hand made its way to the phone in his pocket and he pressed 'send' on his preloaded text message to ensure that the moment back-up arrived he had help inside the old house. "And I can't let you do this!"
"And how're you going to stop me? It's already happening."
"Like this..." With a swift grab Hank pulled his gun back from his holster and aimed at Fordon, only have Connor's left hand grab onto the barrel of the gun to stop him before he had the chance to pull the trigger. "C-Connor, no!"
Fordon readied to snap his fingers for the third and seemingly final time. "It's a shame you were the one to show up here, you seem like such a resourceful person. Now your 'friend' will tear you apart before it shuts down forever. What's even sadder is your 'friend' will never know the truth about its own origins, but it'll regain its senses just long enough to watch you die at its feet before it shuts down permanently. Goodbye, detective."
With the snap of the fingers Connor reacted violently toward Hank. The deviant easily overpowered the human and pushed him up against the wall by his throat. As Hank struggled to pull the gun out of Connor's grip Connor turned the barrel of the gun toward Hank's own person right at his torso and squeezed the trigger once. In response to the burning back in his gut Hank gasped and tried to curl around himself as the single bullet tore through his lower abdomen and tore apart his skin causing him to bleed heavily where he stood.
"Finish him off." Fordon ordered as he returned his attention back to his laptop. "Make him suffer."
Connor's right hand tightened around Hank's throat for a moment longer before the deviant threw the bleeding senior detective to the hard wood floor aggressively. As Hank lost his grip on the gun in favor of putting pressure to the bullet wound in his abdomen, Connor reeled back his right leg and began kicking Hank hard in the chest, stomach and even his head to injure, subdue and eventually kill the wounded man.
Unable to get up to defend himself Hank tried to use his arms to shield himself from the merciless strikes, but it was all for nothing. The deviant knew exactly where and how to attack Hank to inflict maximum damage with minimal effort. As the senior detective suddenly went limp on the floor Connor stopped the assault as quickly as it began.
Blood dripped out of the side of Hank's mouth onto the floor. He was laying on his right side and barely breathing. Hank's face was already bruised and pale from the injuries and mounting blood loss due to the bullet wound in his abdomen.
"Good work." Fordon stated as he listened to the silence behind him. "Now, remain quiet so I can concentrate."
Obediently Connor remained still and statuesque as he stood beside Hank's bleeding body without any form of emotional reaction to the needless assault he had just performed against his friend. An assault he had no consent in committing.
"I'm sorry, detective." From where he stood Fordon falsely sympathized with Hank as he continued to type away. "But this was a necessary evil. I must save the city from the android menace, and if that means you must be removed from my path to victory, then so be it."
The sound of approaching sirens and flashing lights drew Fordon away from his laptop just long enough to step over Hank's bleeding body to peer out the front windows to the street outside. The police had arrived en mass, and were converging on the property quickly. Cars encircled the house and drones scanned the property to track any and all movement.
"No. No. No!" Fordon was beginning openly panic at the sight of the rapidly responding police. "They'll ruin everything!" As he stomped back to the laptop a deafening gunshot and shower of sparks filled the room and made Fordon jump back in surprise. "What?!"
Hank's shaking right hand dropped to the floor as the smoking gun fell from his grip. "...Sometimes one shot is all you need." As his body went limp once more the senior detective lost consciousness and continued to bleed from his abdomen.
In near shock Fordon hovered over the sparking smoldering remains of his destroyed laptop and began panting in fear. "What h-have you... done?!" Turning around quickly he marched back to Hank and grabbed the dropped gun from the floor. With a shaking right hand Fordon aimed at Hank's unconscious face with wide enraged eyes. "You're a traitor to your own people. You don't deserve to live..."
As Fordon prepared to squeeze the trigger a strong right hand grabbed onto the gun and wrestled it out of his grip. Staring at the offender with the same shocked expression as Hank had done just seconds before, Fordon could only watch as Connor stole away the weapon and easily subdued him with a strong punch to the stomach with his left fist.
"You're under arrest, Fordon." Connor stated bluntly as he took his handcuffs from the back of Hank's belt and restrained the man's wrists behind his back. The deviant sounded as enraged as he looked. "Do not move!"
The front door of the house was kicked open as responding officers rushed inside to deal with Fordon. Connor threw Fordon forward to their feet as he dropped to his knees beside Hank and dropped the gun at his side. Running a weak biometric scan over the downed senior detective's body Connor felt suddenly sick and full of regret.
The responding officers surrounded Fordon and secured the scene as they dragged the defeated man outside, kicking and screaming the whole way. No one said a word as Connor tended to Hank's wounds.
"...L-Lieutenant?" Connor slipped his right hand very carefully under Hank's head and lifted him up from the floor. The deviant's eyes filled with tears as empathetic panic made his heart race. "Lieutenant, please... Please wake up."
The senior detective's blue eyes partially opened and a faint bloodied grin appeared on his face. "...Hey, son."
"Lieutenant! I'm so sorry!" Connor blurted as he moved his left hand to the bleeding wound in Hank's abdomen to apply pressure. "I could see what I was doing but I couldn't do anything to stop myself! I couldn't speak, I couldn't hear, I couldn't-"
"E-Easy, Connor. I know it wasn't... you." Hank hissed a little as the pain his abdomen suddenly sharpened and it began to hurt to breathe. In response he could feel Connor's hand applying further pressure in a desperate bid to stem the bleeding. "...I-It was all him."
"Lieutenant..." Sensing Hank's waning vital signs Connor's left hand applied more pressure to the wound as he pulled Hank's body up from the floor and against himself to try to keep the bleeding human as warm as possible. The senior detective was resting against Connor's legs as the deviant continued to keep his hand in place over Hank's abdomen. "Lieutenant, please. Back-up is already here and I summoned an ambulance as I soon as I saw what I had done. You're going to be okay."
"Connor?" Hank's eyes were falling shut and his breathing was becoming rapid and shallow. "It wasn't... your fault."
"But I shot you!"
"...No. You didn't." The bleeding detective managed to reach up his blood covered right hand just enough to lightly pat Connor's left shoulder, his palm smearing blood onto the fabric of the black t-shirt in the process before his blue eyes disappeared. "Y-You didn't do... this. Fordon did."
"H-Hank?" Connor watched as the wounded detective became increasingly weaker before his eyes. Hank was bleeding out and slipping into hypovolemic shock. "Hank, please! Stay awake!" Connor's begged as he detected an ambulance outside of the property. "The paramedics are here! Just hold on!"
Unable to respond all Hank could do was breathe weakly as Connor held him in his strong but shaking arms.
"Please, Hank."
Bowing his head down Connor rested his forehead against the senior detective's weakly rising and falling chest. The paramedics rushed through the opened front door and stood behind Connor as they set about placing their equipment on the floor to begin tending to Hank's wounds around the deviant's shaking hands in a desperate bid to save the dying man's life.
In a matter of seconds, the two responding paramedics had torn open Hank's bloodied shirt dress shirt and gray t-shirt beneath to expose his chest, packed his bleeding abdomen, hooked him up to a cardiac monitor, started an I.V. in his right arm and rolled him out of the mansion on a gurney. The sight of the senior detective being loaded into the back of the ambulance and sped away to the hospital was less soothing than Connor had hoped, and in turn he felt only dread in his heart and guilt in his stomach.
As he stepped out of the mansion and stood on the front lawn of the property, Connor ignored Captain Fowler trying to speak to him and watched the ambulance disappear down the street as it raced to the hospital. Alone in his own world and his pained thoughts, Connor uttered a single request he hoped the dying man could somehow hear even from the distance.
"...Don't die. Please survive this."
-next chapter-