On a rainy night Connor was chasing a deviant on the rooftop of an abandoned warehouse. Lighting flashed around his analyzing dark eyes, no longer locating his suspect. From behind him he could hear Hank struggle for breath while trying to follow. The wind ruffled his hair, rain plastered his entire frame, making his clothes sticky and heavier than normal. This must be why humans didn't like getting wet. It was uncomfortable.
From Hank's perspective Connor was staring at the sky, probably wondering why it always rained at night. Almost sad-like Connor finally turned towards him holding up his arms in defeat. "I am sorry, Lieutenant… I let the deviant escape. He wasn't within range when I got to the other side. I failed this mission." Hank cursed but wasn't really that surprised. Connor was tossed against the wall pretty hard, even now the blue thirium trickled from his nose. "It's okay… We know how he looks like. We'll find him another day." Hank saw the android shuffle before turning back towards the mist wet horizon, where the suspect had gone to. If Hank didn't know better he would say the kid was moping.
"Come on, Son. Let us get back inside before the lightning hits your metallic ass.. I don't want you to spontaneous combust. Won't look good on paper." And as soon as Hank said that he regretted the words immediately. Just as Connor agreed and turned towards his partner light exploded in the air, bringing a strike down right before Connor's shoes. Leaving him stunned and unable to move until the sky stopped rumbling. Hank had taken cover behind a sun panel. When Connor screamed in fear… Screamed… he fucking screamed!... Hank rushed towards him like the flash himself. "Connor! Jesus Christ! Did it hit you? Are you okay?" Connor's entire frame shook in fear but managed a nod, his eyes were wide open. "Running diagnostics now.. But… I…I can't seem to… function…" His voice had a glitch. Another lighting strike flickered close-by and Hank decided to steer the stunned and shaking android to the stairway.
On their way downstairs Connor let out weird noises trying to form a word that Hank did not understand. "Well, don't force yourself, Connor. At least you are able to walk and wiggle you fingers. You're fine." He steered the android some more when the RK800 stopped walking as his LED started blinking bright yellow. Connor was probably trying to process something major. And it shocked him. "It's my thirium pump... it goes too fast.. I can't handle the flow…" His dark big eyes moved from side to side like he was watching tennis match. Hank held him by the shoulders just in case he was planning to launch himself down the stairs. "Yeah? That is a fancy way to say you're scared, Connor. Come on. Keep it together. We're almost there." Connor nodded and started walking again. His LED blinked Yellow. Then Red. And Connor closed his eyes in some sort of discomfort. Hank had to grab his jacket before Connor doubled over, nearly falling forward. "Christ. What now?" Connor shivered "Too many warnings… Too loud… Stress level at 80%. Need to calm down. Just a second…" Hank was a bit scared what should happen next. "Starting breathing sequence." Connor started to shake a bit in Hans arms but then he felt itself ease. Slowly Connor breathed in and out, closing his eyes again. Hank had to grab him tight because his knees gave out in the process.
Within seconds Connor approved a bit and opened his eyes. "Thank you… lieutenant. I managed to lower my stress levels at 52%... I can make it to the car."
…
Back outside, the thunderstorm was still dangerously close. Connor climbed inside the vintage car and started closing his eyes again. The thing was that they were both soaking wet and muddy. Connor lost his tiepin in the fight and messed up his jacket when hitting the wall hard. For a moment Hank figured he was about to lose his third Connor this week. But the fricking bastard survived a lightning strike! It sure ruffled his hair up a bit but he was okay.
A shaky hand looked for his fidget coin to take his mind off from things. Hank took it out of his pocket before starting the car. "You know, Connor. Sometimes I wonder… how different are you really from humans? You're acting like one normal person at the moment… scared. Disoriented. All the common symptoms I would have in your place. You screamed… Connor… I didn't even know you could do that." Connor swallowed something down and wanted to throw his coin in the air, but hesitated. "You're wrong… Lieutenant… When the lighting hit the floor I-I… took some of the impact… My system is still in danger… of shut down. All I need now… is distraction… Some programming is fried and I can't adjust to my normal sensory intake just yet… Therefor I need to focus on something to keep myself from going into stasis." Hank pressed his lips together and started driving. "I might know what you need. Sumo is a great nurse. He can calm you down in no time." For a moment Connor smiled lopsided while flipping the coin in the air. "I like dogs."
The drive was awfully quiet. Connor had been busy flipping his coin and breathed occasional long breathes to readjust his damage. When Hank made a stop affront of his house Connor startled aware of his surroundings. "I might need to make an order.. for.. some of my damaged… stuff…" Connor blinked annoyed at himself for the lack of finding the right words. Somehow it amused Hank. "Brain that fried, huh?" he chuckled warmly. He held out a hand for Connor to take as if he knew Connor wouldn't feel steady enough.
Once inside Connor dropped his shoes next to his partners and let himself be pushed around towards the couch, covered in dog fur. "Order failed…" mumbled Connor softly while closing his eyes once he settled further in the couch. It took Hank by surprise to see the kid fall in some kind of slumber. "Wait… did you just… shut down or whatever its called?" Grabbing his jaw Hank turned its head to see the LED. It was still blinking and turning from blue to yellow like a disco lamp. He figured Connor was just resetting something and decided to leave him be for now.
Sumo got up from the kitchen floor and greeted his owner happily. Hank gave him a pat and walked to his bedroom, gathering some clean clothes Connor could wear for the night. By the time he entered the living room, Sumo had placed himself on top of Connor's lap, taking in all the space. "You fucker…" Hank chuckled fondly and took a chair from the kitchen to sit on. Not wanting to disturb both his boy's.
Only minutes later Connor 'woke up' and stared disoriented at the ceiling. "E…Oh… L…Lieutenant? You there?" Connor glitches. Sumo tilted his head and slobbered his face. Hank was already at his side. "Sumo.. leave him alone…" Connor started squirming under the heavy weight of the dog. "Hank I need help… something is wrong with my thirium pump.. It... goes too fast… Can't handle the flow... all irregular… brings my-WARNING-stress level up… warnings making me lose my vision… Red blinking things everywhere…" Hank pushed the dog away from the poor androids chest and already Connor felt a bit better. "Starting breathing sequence…" Everything seems like a déjà vu. As soon as he started inhale and exhale he calmed a bit. But some yellow sparks were coming from his chest aria. Causing Connor to grunt in discomfort. "Too-WARNING-wet… Hank… It doesn't work. Electoral damage… too much…" Without hesitation Hank started undressing the android, Connor helped by ripping his shirt away from his sparking chest. Slowly the damage was unveiling itself. Dark spots were covered around the thirium pump, the synthetic skin gave way around the damaged arias in order to examine them. "Jesus, Connor… Why didn't you say so, it was that bad? Were you on actual fire?" Connor felt around and nodded slightly. "I was… trying to tell...Y-you… on the stairs… down…" Hank wanted to examine his chest, too but startled by the heat Connor was giving. "System overheating, Hank… stay away… Couldn't, regulate… Sumo made it… worse… sorry… I like dogs…" Connor glitches a lot when pushing out words. Meanwhile Hank discovered another black mark on his foot. "So the jolt traveled up to this foot and stopped at your heart?" Connor shook his head. "It entered my… what you would call…a brain… Before exiting trough my thirium pump yes-yes…" Hank had a bad feeling about this and started undressing the kid some more. His skin disappeared completely, leaving a pale plastic looking frame behind. Probably because Hank would feel too embarrassed to see him naked. "I need to make an order to Cyber life…" Connor stated before falling limp.
…
It took a while. Hank had the chance to redress the android, and even himself back in the bathroom. Sumo had sneaked back up on the couch and used Connor's lap as a pillow. "If you can't make a connection to Cyber life you can always just use a phone, remember," pointed Hank out, walking back into the living room. Connor woke up in an instant. "Disconnected… Failed order… yes…" stuttered the android with a weird metallic static noise. It scared Hank somehow, looking at the damaged prototype. He let Connor borrow his phone and the poor kid didn't seem himself, using such old technology. His fingers were clumsy. As soon as someone started talking on the other side Connor blacked out. He hung up the phone in disbelieve. "Hank… I can't state it all in words-words…" Connor gasped. "Need to get to Cyber life. Or you can maybe… shoot me in the head." He meant it. "What? No! You idiot! I am not going to shoot you." Connor only just now put back his synthetic skin. "It's for the best, Lieutenant. If I shut down, they'll just send you a new Connor..."
"Okay… so… Just because you can't make a damn order with using a phone, I should damage my feelings? What about Sumo, hm? I am NOT going to shoot you. It would mess me up!" Connor clutched his chest and nodded. "Got it…" some sparks came from his chest and without even looking alarmed Connor patted the smoking holes in its borrowed vest.
Hank shook his head. "What about the good old internet cable? Isn't there a hole somewhere I can plug you in?" Connor blinked. "That… s… a good question…" It surprised Hank at least for Connor to even consider this possibility. He might be more damaged that he thought…
After a few blinking seconds Connor felt at the back of his head and found a USB socket. "Lieutenant… get me to the table… The laptop…" Connor stood up from the couch and shuffled towards the kitchen table. Making him muster more discomfort coming from his sparking overheating chest. Hank helped him with a cable and looked in awe how Connor was able to successfully send a message to Cyber life without using the keyboard. The warning codes transferred over on the screen and hell… there was a lot of damage. No wonder he couldn't say it all.
As soon as he was done Connor unplugged himself, suddenly feeling very exhausted. "It's for the best if I go on stand-by till tomorrow… The… stuff… arrives at eight… Wake me then…" Connor closed his eyes but Hank stopped him. "Wow… wow… hey… wouldn't it be better If I got you laid down? Does a bed sounds good?" Connor blinked. "That is where you humans sleep... I don't do the…sleep-sleep-sleep… things-things…" Connor glitches. Already he started going down in energy.
"Just take the couch, Goddammit." Hank pulled the chair back and manhandled the sleepy robot-boy onto the couch. "Don't burn my couch down, you hear me?" Connor nodded before immediately going into stand-by. It was probably for the best. Any more excitement would toast his brain.
…
Later that night Sumo came to the bed whimpering alarmed. Hank shot up in fear. Almost expecting to see his ceiling lighting up in flames. Because he was too fucking fond of his android, he let him come inside his house while he was dangerously sparking, just before he said goodnight. "What's going on, Sumo?" He rushed to the living room, noticing the android had fallen on the ground. His limbs shuddering like he was having a human seizure. He already knocked some things off the coffee table.
"Hang on, Son. Calm down… Connor! God dammit… Don't do this to me." He ran to the jolting figure on the ground. His LED was blinking bright red, telling Hank he was in serious distress. But the eyes were closed. So Connor was not likely to be conscious. "Connor!" Hank tried anyway. There was no way he would give him op this easily. So he grabbed his arms an pulled him on his lap. Trying to calm his jerking body down. His limbs were tense and warm. "Well, the vest is ruined," Hank grumbled only to himself. He was eying the holes.
Then something crackled from the inside of Connor's throat and everything eased down. "L…L….L.." Connor glitches… "Lieutenant… A-Anderson… Hi, I am Connor… I am the android send by Cyber life. I am assigned here to assist you on the cases finding the deviants…" Connor opened up his dark eyes but it was all running like some sort of program. "Send by… Cyber life…" Connor smiled weirdly before getting slack again. And it freaked the hell out of Hank. Again the eyes opened up. "I was lucky enough to find you at the fifth bar… Bar-one for the-the road." Something seemed to have snapped on the inside and now he really started to smell like an old toaster.
"That's it, Connor. You're sleeping in the bathtub tonight. I don't want you to burn everything down. Fucking idiot." He hauled the glitching android up from the ground and carried him around. He was quite heavy for a skinny build person. Sumo started barking when Connor kept repeated something that must have been stuck in his damaged memory stick-thingy. As soon as he laid 'mister glitch' down in the tub, Connor went back into stand-by mode. His LED was blue again. And blinking peacefully. "Yeah, that's right, moron. Sleep it off. You scared the shit out of me…"
…
Around seven in the morning Hank had to go to the bathroom. He hovered over the bathtub to see how the fried toaster was doing. Connors LED was blinking blue, peacefully. After doing his business Hank got startled by a sudden "28 stab wounds-wounds-wounds…28!" Connor got up from his awkward position and scanned the room in a fright… Probably turned himself off from stand-by not knowing what was going on. When seeing a pale face from his Lieutenant Connor somewhat relaxed. "Lieutenant… At your age you shouldn't let you heartrate be that close to a cardiac arrest. Maybe you should lay off those burgers from that chicken-dinner place?" An un-faced android climbed out of the tub meeting Hank at the sink. His dark eyes wandered off to the pink notes on his mirror, taking in all the data calmly. Only to get reminded again that is system wasn't taking in new data. Bright red warnings were given and Hank watched the brat struggle to maintain his standing position. "That's right… maybe you should calm the fuck down. It's only one hour before the items get here. You were supposed to stay in stand-by. Remember?" Connor shook his head in confusion. "M-my memory capacity has been altered. My, 'brain'-how you would call it-seems to be damaged. Why didn't you shoot me in the head-head-head?"
Hank stared at him tiredly. 'Emotionally drained' even… "Just keep yourself calm for another hour. That is all." Connor nodded. "Got it." A normal response that still worked somehow. Hank took him by the arm an steered him again… like last time… onto the couch. So he could keep an eye on him while making breakfast. Half way Connor gasped and clutches his chest in agony. "My thirium pump… it... goes-goes too fast! I can't handle the flow… Stress level is at 89% present." Connor closed his eyes.
"Initiate you breathing technic like last time. It worked so far…" Connor tried. He got a bit weaker and Hank basically dragged him to the couch. Gasping for artificial breath seems to work a bit. Hank sat on to the coffee table and opened up Connor's vest, just to look at his so called pump. To his surprise, some blue thirium was dripping around the tiny holes, now. "Oh God… you're leaking a bit there." Connor opened his eyes and looked down in terror. Hank never seen the android look terrified before. "Hank… 90%..." Hank nodded his understanding. "You like dogs, right?-Sumo!.. come and say Hi to Connor." Sumo walked up at the android and Connor smiled. "I do like dogs.. I-I am programmed to like all kinds of animals.. But I like dogs the most…" Connor started petting the fur in a synchronic pattern and relaxed a bit. Hank was pleased. "That's right… pet the dog.. don't go into shut down. I've made too much of an effort saving your sorry plastic ass."
…
At eight the android had fallen into stand-by on its-own. He had lost a bit of thirium and looked really rough. The leakage had stopped, though, now that Connor had put himself to sleep. Hank was watching him like a dad. And when the doorbell rang he shot up in relieve.
Another female android stood in front of him with a box and a lovely smile. "Good morning sir. My name is Melody. I come to deliver all the goods your RK800 model had ordered. Do you need some assistance to replays them?" Hank confusingly looked over at the kid, now finally resting. "You know what? Yes. I would like your help, very much. This dude has been a pain in the ass all night. And I am done with all of this." The android smiled brightly as ever. And invited herself in. She walked straight up to the model and started casually ripping out the thirium compartment. "Wow! Hey-hey-hey! Wat are you doing?" yelled Hank. The android looked up from him and blinked in confusion. "This thirium pump is damaged. He needs to be replaced. No need to worry, Lieutenant. We don't feel pain as you humans do." Connor jolted in discomfort when something was pulled out and slipped inside of his chest but got better when his pump slowly circulated thirium in a normal rate. The distress had woken him up but chose to stay distant. He had taken quite a lot of damage… He earned a pleasant operation.
In the box were a lot of chips and disc that needed to be pushed down his neck. Some old smoldering chips were taken out. Even the android reacted to the damage with a frown. "What caused this damage, if I may ask?" Hank heaved a sigh. "Lightning strike. You can see the burn on his chest and foot. He started to glitch a moment after." Then the android bit her lip like he had said something beautiful. "Y-you said… 'He'?" Hank shrugged. "Of course. That's what he is representing, so I call him a He. I don't often use it. It makes me feel like an asshole." The android nodded her gratitude and finished her metallic surgery after a few minutes.
Connor fell into stasis as the semi-reset program started. When being done the nice android lady put Connor on some kind of small timing machine and got away from the couch. "He needs to stay in a temporary stasis until the machine starts blinking. Usually, older models will need to get reset manually. This prototype will recover and restore all data on its-own. As for his damaged skin. He can reboot his physical appearance once he is at full power. That is all."
Hank thanked the android. She was just a relieve to this stressfull night.
…
Just as the machine started to blink Connor gasped. His eyes opened up at a very tired looking Hank, sitting on the coffee table… drinking coffee. "There he is…" Hank sighed relieved. Connor sat up and pulled the machine out from an invisible port in his wrist. "I… can't remember much from yesterday," he stated apologetically. "But I remember enough to know you took care of me like a human friend. That is… extremely… confusing. Also very nice…" Connor smiled at him. But it was a different kind. An advanced smile that maybe came from his thirium pump-heart. Hank was an detective after all, he saw the kid becoming more human each day. No matter what color his blood was. He was his new found friend. But a weird one-not gonna lie.
"Well … you can make it up to me by buying me a new vest." He pointed at the piece of clothing Connor had on and both laughed.
"I can order two, right now."
"Yeah yeah… smartass..."
…
End