Lorde - Bravado
Taylor arrived bright and early the next morning, managing to avoid the press this time. She approached the android at reception with a smile. "Hi, I'm Taylor Kolbeck. I'm working with Lieutenant Hank Anderson—"
"Good morning, Miss Kolbeck. I have your temporary pass that identifies you as a staff consultant to the Detroit Police Department. Please wear this at all times. You may now use the staff entrance to the right." The android returned her smile with her friendly customer service version as Taylor accepted the badge and attached lanyard. It had her name and title printed on it next to what looked like one of her stock photo headshots and the DPD logo.
"Thank you," She responded, placing the lanyard over her head and pulling her hair through it. Heading up to the precinct, she quickly realized that there were very few people who had arrived. Her eyes traveled over the androids standing perfectly still in the docking stands. She found it a bit unsettling, but she continued walking past, following the smell of coffee brewing.
When she located the lounge, she also found the first signs of life. The detective from the night before was standing at the counter waiting for the coffee to finish, his back to her as she stepped into the room. He immediately looked up even though she thought she was being quiet, a smirk lighting up his face.
Taylor thought back to the night before, when Connor had intervened and told them to lead the android out of the room. The detective had been furious, his fingers twitching towards his gun until Hank had appeared in the doorway. She eyed the gun on his hip now, shifting away from him subconsciously.
"You're that famous chick, right? The one who loves androids?" He stepped closer, closing the distance between them, not noticing or not caring about her uneasiness.
"Taylor Kolbeck," She tried not to grimace at his description of her, and instead stuck her hand out toward him. He glanced down in surprise but did take her hand.
"Detective Gavin Reed."
"Nice to meet you, Detective Reed." She forced herself to smile as she pulled her hand back.
"I remember you now. You were on that kid show. Chloe's Corner?" His grey eyes trailed down her body, and even though she was wearing jeans, boots, and a jacket, she felt suddenly exposed. "You're certainly grown up now."
"That was a long time ago," was the only thing she could think to say as Gavin took another step closer. He was only an inch or two taller than her, but she felt like he was looming over her now. Her heart was thrumming in her chest as she tried to lean away.
"Good morning, Miss Kolbeck." Taylor sucked in a breath when she heard the familiar voice of Connor behind her. Gavin moved his gaze over her shoulder, glaring at the android. "You're here early."
"Good morning, Connor!" She turned her body toward him so that her back was to Gavin, hoping that they couldn't hear the distress in her voice, but knowing that Connor probably could. She realized her hands were shaking and shoved them in the pockets of her jacket.
"Our friend the plastic detective is back in town!" Gavin's voice came from over her right shoulder, laced with sarcasm. Connor ignored him, his brown eyes fixed on her blue, his eyebrows drawn down in that now familiar look of concern.
Gavin finally stepped around her to approach the android and she let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. She retreated to the counter and turned away from the two of them, glancing around for the coffee mugs. They were still talking, but she couldn't focus past the buzzing in her ears.
Her eyes found the stack of Styrofoam cups and she reached for one. Her fingers were still trembling, and she dropped it, cursing under her breath. She up righted it and reached for the carafe of coffee, trying to steady her hand. Of course, she failed miserably and spilled several small puddles across the counter. "Shit."
A hand reached past her and took the carafe from her. She recognized the grey jacket sleeve but still flinched as his fingers brushed against hers. Connor immediately took a step away from her, taking the cup with him and pouring the coffee for her.
"Miss Kolbeck, are you alright? Your stress levels are very high." He pushed the cup toward her and began wiping up the coffee she had spilled. Glancing around, she realized that Gavin had left.
"You can read my stress levels?" She asked instead of answering his question. She continued to take deep breaths in her nose, trying to relax. When she could trust her grip, she reached for the coffee and brought the cup to her lips.
"Yes. When I entered, your stress levels were at 64% and climbing." Connor told her this matter-of-factly. "Did Detective Reed say something to upset you?"
"No," she answered softly, "He didn't say anything. I was overreacting." She took her cup and headed back out of the lounge, walking over towards the desk across from Hank's and taking a seat. Connor trailed behind her, giving her that same inquisitive stare with his head tilted to the side. She took a seat while he explored the lieutenant's desk.
"What do you know about the Lieutenant?" Connor asked as he looked over a couple boxes of donuts and a music player on one side of the desk. Taylor was sure the same donuts had been there yesterday.
"Almost nothing. He responded to a call at my house once, when I was younger. I saw him one other time." She shrugged. Connor turned and pinned her with his gaze again, his eyes narrowed as he scanned her face. She was suddenly struck with how human he seemed, how his facial expressions appeared to shift with emotions. "Hey, you aren't searching my file or something, are you? You said you wouldn't do that!"
He had the grace to look abashed as he lowered his gaze to the desk again. "I am only trying to learn more about you."
"Us humans call that snooping." She arched her eyebrows at him. "You're pretty nosy for an android, you know."
"I am designed to integrate seamlessly with humans." Connor informed her. Taylor laughed.
"Fair enough, I know plenty of humans that are nosier than you." She tilted her head as she studied him, mimicking his usual posture, before she said quietly, "Hank responded to the call when my mother died."
Connor's head snapped up as he met her eyes again. After a moment, he asked, "How did she die?"
"She killed herself." Taylor blinked rapidly, fighting down the sudden wave of emotion. She hadn't talked about it in a long time. "I came home and found her. She shot herself."
"I'm sorry." She looked up to find Connor staring at her, his jaw clenched, LED flashing between yellow and red.
"There's nothing to be sorry about. She was never a very happy person." Taylor shrugged and reached for her coffee again, anything to do with her hands as a distraction. "And after the... well, it was kind of a tough time. It didn't take much to push her over the edge."
"I'm sorry that you had to go through it." He said, reiterating.
"Thanks," she mumbled.
"Jesus, did someone die over here or what?" Hank said, announcing his arrival. Taylor winced at his choice of words and tracked him as he walked toward his desk. Connor immediately moved away from his chair and stood at attention.
"Good morning, Lieutenant." He stood straight, his hands folded behind his back and giving Hank his complete attention. This only earned him a sour look in return. "Actually—"
"We were just talking." Taylor cut in before he could say more, giving Connor a pointed look. The android just furrowed his brow in confusion, missing her point entirely. She changed the subject instead, "Nice of you to show up today."
"Listen here, smartass—" Hank turned his look on her and was fully ready to start yelling until the voice of Captain Fowler cut him off.
"Hank! In my office, now!" She tried not to laugh at the look on Hank's face as he groaned and headed for the Captain's office. Connor immediately followed, glancing back at her as though expecting her to come along as well. Taylor shook her head, remaining contentedly seated in her chair. It wasn't her place to be involved in the office politics, after all, and she had received enough of a scolding the day before.
Still, she couldn't help but glance through the glass ever so often. The two men were clearly arguing about something, with Connor standing in the back at attention. His brown eyes glanced in her direction and she slid down in the chair, averting her gaze. One of the arguments must have been about her.
When the two finally returned, Hank's mood had not improved. He dropped into his chair, still muttering angrily to himself under his breath. Taylor slid her chair to the end of the desk to make room as Connor came around to sit next to her at the computer.
"I get the impression my presence causes you some inconvenience, Lieutenant." She glanced between the two of them, wondering what Hank had said in the Captain's office to warrant such a statement. "I'd like you to know I'm very sorry about that."
Hank ignored him. Connor pushed on though, despite the awkwardness of the situation. "In any case, I'd like you to know I'm very happy to be working with you."
"Me too," Taylor said, joining the conversation in an attempt to rescue the floundering android. It was kind of endearing how much Connor was trying to gain Hank's approval, even though the lieutenant was totally impervious. He did glance up at her briefly with something akin to a scowl when she spoke, as if warning her not to encourage this.
"What's your dog's name?" Connor asked, doing his familiar head tilt.
"How the fuck did you know I have a dog?" Hank asked, finally looking over.
"The dog hairs on your chair." Connor replied matter-of-factly, looking oddly proud at his deduction. "I like dogs." Taylor couldn't suppress her smile at that one. Hank looked down at his chair and then back at the android skeptically. A moment passed where it didn't seem like he was going to answer, and Connor's brown eyes shifted down to his hands.
"Sumo." Hank finally grumbled. "His name is Sumo."
Connor's face lit up, and almost-smile coming to his face at the response that made her heart suddenly stutter. She turned away from the conversation and started fiddling with her phone but couldn't stop stealing glances as he continued to pepper the older officer with questions. He acted so much more human than any android she'd ever met. Any that wasn't deviant, anyway.
She hadn't realized she was staring at him until he turned to meet her eyes again. "Do you want to review the cases as well?"
"Oh. Right." She slid her chair closer as he scrolled through the huge number of cases involving deviants. He must have been going slower for her benefit, she knew how quickly he could analyze text. They worked in silence for a little while, until Connor pointed out a case that had happened the night before involving a female android assaulting her owner and escaping with his daughter.
"I think this would be a good place to start the investigation." Connor said, turning towards Hank, who was still completely ignoring the both of them.
"Listen, I know you're not thrilled to be stuck with us, but not doing anything isn't going to end it any sooner. The faster we solve this, the faster it's over, right?" Taylor fixed him with her eyes and stared him down. It wasn't long before Hank sighed and stood, grabbing his coat.
"Fine, but we're getting lunch first."