Chapter 31:
Connor gasped jolting awake. A loud ringing noise came from his bedside.
'What the-?'
He glanced at the phone that was ringing on the table near the bed.
'Wait, that's my old phone.'
Simon had given him another one after Connor told him he had suspected Cyberlife keeping tabs on his phone.
His new phone should have been in the drawer of the bedside table not on top of it.
Curious Connor took the phone glancing at the caller ID.
It was coming from his messaging machine at his house.
Worried he accessed his options. It could have been anyone at his house. It could have been Kamski or someone working for Cyberlife. He might regret answering the phone if it was either of those two options.
He answered it reluctantly.
"Hello?"
"Major, are you there?"
"Who's this?" Connor demanded.
"Rupert Travis sir."
"How did you get in my house?"
"I managed to disable the security system."
Connor rolled his eyes. He was beginning to think that Kamski's equipment was faulty if Travis could deactivate it with no problem. That however was the least of his problems.
"You didn't run into any trouble did you?"
"No, should I be worried?"
"Just listen to me before you go doing anything rash. I need you stay there and stay alert."
"Those machines are tailing your house too, aren't they?"
Suddenly Rupert cried out.
Connor hung up the phone. Anxiety welled up in him. He hoped he was quick before another person died on his watch.
Quickly Connor headed out knocking on Hank's door.
"Anderson, wake up."
Hank quickly opened the door. He frowned and looked unamused.
"What's got you cracking at 5 o'clock in the d-mn morning?" he asked irritably.
"It's an emergency."
"It better be. I'm usually not out this early."
"You're a machine. What kind of machine demands it's beauty sleep?"
Hank pointed to himself.
"This machine."
He sighed putting on his jacket.
"Got your gun?" Connor whispered.
"Yeah."
"Good."
With that the two headed to the car.
Hank sat in the driver's seat and Connor took the passenger seat next to him.
"So where are we heading?"
"My house."
Hank looked at Connor as if he was crazy but didn't argue.
"Alright but why your house?"
"Rupert is hiding there."
Hank sighed rolling his eyes.
"What an idiot."
"He may be an idiot but I'm not gonna let another person die on my time."
The two parked outside Connor's home. Outside his front door looked disturbed as if someone had got in without much of a struggle.
"Looks like you have company,"
"I know," Connor said with determination in his gaze.
He took out his gun making sure the safety was off.
"Stay alert."
The two got out of the car.
"Stay behind me," Hank said.
Connor complied as they headed inside.
The two looked around the house.
Hank looked around the living room while Connor walked towards the kitchen.
Rupert was nowhere to be seen.
The two walked in the hall.
Hank had searched through the rooms closest to him. He stumbled across one of Connor's guest rooms where he had stored a fish tank with two goldfish. It was as he was heading to the closet that two arms circled him from behind.
Connor opened the door to his bedroom. He spotted Rupert being held captive by a black suited android that held him in a choke hold.
Before he could make any moves, one of the androids came around the corner with a gun shoved in his face.
"Make any moves, we'll blow your head off," it said, it's voice quiet and crisp. "Drop the gun."
"Alright, you win."
Connor carefully set it to the ground.
"Step over here," the android said motioning towards a spot next to Rupert.
Quickly he headed over there.
"Are you alright?" Connor asked.
Rupert shrugged.
"I've had worse," he said.
"Did they hurt you?"
"No, one of them caught me off guard that's the only reason I'm here," Rupert said bitterly.
Now was the best time to get any answers to the questions he had wanted to ask.
"Hey, whose the leader of this ...posse? Any one of you robots know?" Connor asked.
"That's not your concern."
"In case it hasn't escaped your notice this is my house. Do you know what people call it when someone drops by your house without permission? I'd think Cyberlife would have programmed the answers but in case Kamski didn't do his job right? Newsflash it's called trespassing. So I think I have plenty of justification for asking my questions."
"Silence," one of them smacked Connor on the backside of his head.
"If we want any information, we have to keep them alive."
"Information? What kind of information? Why us? Who is running this operation?" Connor asked.
The android smacked him again.
"You really don't hesitate with those punches do you?"
He grinned.
Just then Hank opened the door with his gun held out in front of him.
"The Android Act of 2029 indicates any android model predating the RK-800 cannot possess a firearm."
He rolled his eyes at the sight of Connor being held up by androids.
"Last I checked it's against the law to trespass on someone's property without their express permission but I guess that bypasses your programming huh?"
Suddenly Connor elbowed the android holding him taking out the gun he had snagged from the android that had hit him. Intently Connor shot him holding the gun behind him.
The other android holding Rupert lunged at him. Connor shot him before he could get close.
"Took you long enough," he muttered.
Hank grumbled.
"I was held up," he said.
Connor pointed the gun in his direction.
Hank's eyes widened.
"Connor? What?"
Suddenly Connor shot the gun.
Hank turned and saw an android had got a bullet to the head.
"Guess you're not completely incompetent. I almost forgot you're a lieutenant," he said dryly.
Connor turned to Rupert.
"Let's get out of here. We can talk at Anderson's place."
The three headed out.
Once they arrived home, Hank ushered them inside.
Connor winced.
"I knew it," he said. "Do you even understand what taking it easy means or do you just not have a firm grasp on the english language?"
"Don't talk to me like I'm a child," Connor said. "You should be happy he's not dead. If you hadn't distracted him I don't know what would have happened. A little pain is nothing compared to that."
Rupert had already made himself at home on the couch.
"So Travis what will you do now?" Connor asked.
"Don't know. I figure I might have to look for another place to stay and hope they won't find me again."
"So you have no place to stay then?"
"Not yet. I'm sure I can find a place I wouldn't want to encroach on your partner's home."
"I'm sure Cole wouldn't mind you staying for a while. I can talk to him if you prefer."
"That isn't necessary," Connor cut in. "I have a better solution. I'll have to talk to Simon about it though."
"What do you mean better solution? You're not thinking of Travis staying at the outskirts of the city are you?" Hank asked.
"That's a good idea. They would have a hard time finding me there," Rupert said.
"I'm not thinking of leaving you to survive out there on your own. Simon happens to be the leader of an organization known as Jericho. He's also anti-Cyberlife."
"I know that but what does Cyberlife have to do with me? I'm being chased by rogue androids working for the DPD not Cyberlife."
"An android doesn't just go rogue without a reason. Not long ago, people had reason to believe that the reason why the war on deviancy happened was because androids were programmed to be sentient," Connor said. "Why would there be rogue androids working at the police department? Obviously someone had to program them that way."
"You think Cyberlife is behind it?"
"They definitely have something to do with it."
'It's not a coincidence that Tina and those models at my apartment wanted to capture me.'
Shock seemed to cross Hank's face before it faded away.
"I'll let Simon know so he can meet you outside."
"Alright."
After Connor got off the phone with Simon, Hank had gone with Connor to drop Rupert off outside where he was waiting before the two headed back to work.
Once they were parked both headed inside the precinct making their way back to Connor's office.
Tina greeted them before they reached their desk.
"Hey Anderson, hey lieutenant."
"I'm surprised you're here so early."
"Bit of an earlier riser. Shouldn't be shocking after I was promoted to detective. I didn't get here by slacking off," Tina said.
"Detective Chen," Fowler's voice called out.
"Coming captain," she said.
Quickly Tina came inside. She immediately caught sight of a man standing next to his desk. He had neatly parted short brown hair and thin blue eyes. He stood stiffly staring coolly at Tina.
"I heard about Officer Wilson. It's a shame he's not with us anymore," Fowler said.
"A real tragedy," she said. Even if it was all just a fault of his program she still really liked him. Wilson had been a good friend and helped her when everything went wrong. He was one of the friends that had been there to help when Gavin had been a jerk. "Who's the man standing next to your desk?"
"Oh, that's your new partner sent by Cyberlife. It's an RK900."
"That's the new updated model isn't it?"
"RK-800s have been deemed obsolete and useless at their job. Cyberlife has reason to believe it's because they were programmed improperly and still retain signs of deviancy."
"I am sorry I was unable to detain Lieutenant Bourne," Tina said.
"That's alright. Richard is more than capable of doing the job himself," Fowler said before addressing the man. "Remember your mission?"
"I am to apprehend Lieutenant Bourne without raising suspicions. Get in his good graces as you will," the man said.
"Good."
"What's his last name?"
"What?" Fowler asked in confusion.
"His last name."
"Perkins," the man said.
Tina stiffly smiled at him holding her hand out. Richard eagerly took it.
"Nice to meet you, Officer Perkins."
"That isn't necessary. I don't reciprocate the gesture."
With that Tina stepped outside with Perkins following her closely behind.
"F-ck you too," she muttered under her breath.
Tina headed past Connor's desk.
"Hey lieutenant," she said greeting Connor who was seated at his desk glancing at his computer. He looked away to catch her gaze.
"Hey," he said shyly.
Hank looked towards her to see the man following behind her.
"So who's the guy with you?" he asked.
"Officer Perkins, pleasure to meet you," Richard said holding his hand out to Connor ignoring Hank entirely.
Hank frowned.
Connor glanced at Perkins briefly ignoring his hand before turning back to his computer.
"Pleasure," he said briefly.
Perkins frowned and let out a snort.
"Don't you know it's very rude to look away when someone's talking to you?"
"He responded, how can that be rude?" Hank asked.
Perkins stared at him coolly.
"Does it look like I was talking to you, KL-900?"
Hank flinched before glaring at him as if mad at himself for the display of weakness.
Connor turned and glared at Perkins.
"If you got something to say about my partner you could say it to my face."
Perkins snorted.
"It'd be so much easier if you humans weren't so volatile."
"Maybe that's a good thing to keep androids like you in check," Connor snapped.
"Better watch your step or an android just might be taking your job," Perkins said before walking away.
Tina mouthed 'sorry' before following him from a distance.
"What a prick," Hank said gruffly before facing his partner who was oddly focused on his computer screen.
'Figures he'd be looking at his computer screen ignoring the whole thing.'
"I could have defended myself you know? I am more than capable of setting him in his place."
"I know," Connor said shortly.
Hank felt frustration well up in his gut. Could Connor even emote at all? Shouldn't he feel frustrated or even angry that Perkins talked to him like that?
It felt unnerving to see Connor looking so emotionless.
After work the two headed to their car. Hank had missed one of the turning roads that lead straight to his house.
"Where are we going?" Connor asked.
"Cole called me once we were off work. He's getting out early. I figured we can pick him up and go out for a bite to eat."
Hank dropped by Cyberlife's office. Cole was standing outside stepping in the backseat.
"About time you showed up," Cole said.
"How was work?" Hank asked.
"Terrible. Mariah was very short with me today."
His eyes caught sight of Connor's in the mirror.
"Why did you bring Connor along? You could have just dropped him off at the house."
Connor snorted.
"Why make an extra trip and waste resources? You know how many tons of waste we go through in a year?" he asked.
"Oh boy," Cole muttered under his breath. "This is gonna be a long day."
Hank parked the car and the three stepped out.
Cole headed to the shop ahead. Hank and Connor followed him a fair distance away.
"I hope you don't mind me asking this but what made you want to go out anyway?" Connor asked.
"I needed a break, a breath of fresh air if you will," Hank said.
'...and what better use for this break than using it as a better opportunity to get to know each a little better while looking at your sexy face.'
"You don't even breathe," Connor cut through his thoughts.
"Look you get the idea. I shouldn't have to explain to a human of your intelligence."
Once they headed inside, Connor looked around. It was a large shop split by the front counter. Both the left and right sides of the counter had booths near the windows.
The waitress intently showed them were Cole was seated. He had already reserved the second table by the window on the left side.
A part of Hank was disappointed by this.
'Guess Cole really doesn't want us getting touchy feelly with each other.'
Connor took a seat opposite of Cole. Hank joined him as the waitress came by with their menus.
Both Connor and Cole perused the menus.
Hank looked over Connor's shoulder at the menu.
"So what are you going to order, Connor?"
Connor shivered at the proximity.
"Don't know yet. I'm still looking."
"What looks good?" Hank asked, his husky voice causing goosebumps to appear on Connor's arms.
"Um..."
Cole coughed loudly.
Hank pulled away.
'Dang it, Cole.'
The waitress came back.
"Are you all ready to order?"
"Yeah," Cole said.
"Not yet," Connor said.
"I can at least get your drinks if you like?"
"I'll have coffee," Cole said.
"What about you, dear?" the waitress addressed Connor.
"Do you have water?"
"Yeah if you don't mind having tap water. Our machine's out of order."
Connor frowned glancing at the menu.
"Then I'll have tea."
"Alright," she said before glancing at Hank. "Are you going to order something?"
"Erm, I-"
"He's an android," Cole supplied.
The waitress blushed.
"I'm so sorry," she squeaked.
"It's fine," Hank said.
Once she was gone, Hank spoke.
"For someone adamantly against drinking caffeinated beverages I'm surprised you ordered tea," he said.
"Tea is preferable to nothing at all," Connor said.
"Still tea, why not drink coffee like the rest of us?" Cole asked.
"If I wasn't thirsty I wouldn't have ordered tea at all."
Hank distantly noted Connor looked in his direction every now and then.
Cole was making tiny noises every now and then diverting his focus to him. He looked very antsy.
The waitress returned once Connor and Cole had decided what they wanted to order.
"Have you decided what you want to order?"
"Yes," Connor spoke as he listed his order to the waitress. Hank rolled his eyes at the predictable choice of a lunch wrap.
Cole ordered a more hearty meal, a pizza with a side order of salad and pasta.
After they were finished with dinner, the waitress stopped by with the receipt left with a code of purchase for any android to send money directly to their business.
Hank replaced his LED, scanned the code and completed the transaction digitally.
"I'm heading to the bathroom. I'll be back," Connor said before heading to the restroom.
"Can you hand me the keys?" Cole asked. "I'm heading back to the car."
Hank dug them out of his pocket and tossed them at Cole who caught them effortlessly.
Connor returned minutes later.
"Are you done taking care of your business?" Hank asked.
"Yeah."
The two headed out walking to their car until Connor stopped.
Hank stopped and turned when he saw Connor wasn't walking next to him.
"Connor? What's wrong?"
"Someone's following us," he said softly.
"Who?"
"Don't know. I couldn't make them out."
"Wait, you mean you actually caught them."
"Yeah, I suspected it when we left the car. So I was looking out every now and then."
"So that's who you were looking at."
'Who did you think he was looking at? You?'
"I went to the restroom at the back of the shop to see if they would follow me. They didn't follow me but they were lurking at the table across at the booth near the window on the other side. I couldn't make out who it was and I didn't want to arouse his suspicion by walking in their direction."
"So what do we do now? You don't think one of those RK-800s is following you do you?" Hank asked.
"No, if it was an android they'd be more discreet. The person who is following me is definitely human."
"Well let's hurry and get out of here. Maybe if we're quick we'll make it to the car before that creep tails us," Hank said.
With that the two walked quickly to the car and drove off.
The next day, Connor and Hank dropped by the precinct. Connor's eyes were watery and his nose running. Occasionally he'd blow in the red handkerchief he had on hand.
The receptionist behind the front desk glanced at him with worry.
"Are you alright?" she asked after he blew his nose again. "You look terrible."
"Just my allergies acting up," Connor supplied.
Hank had supplied the handkerchief when he had dropped in for breakfast early that morning.
"Well get better alright?"
Connor smiled and winked at her.
Hank was looking at them with gritted teeth.
"Will do," Connor said.
Once the receptionist had let them in, Connor headed to his desk. A closed unsealed envelope laid on his desk.
Connor picked it up curiously glancing carefully at it. The envelope only said three words, 'To Connor Manfred.'
"What's that?" Hank asked.
"I don't know," Connor replied.
He narrowed his eyes as he opened the envelope and took out a letter.
Connor scanned over the parchment. Hank saw fear cross his expression for a moment before he gazes at him with a blank expression on his face.
Connor folded the letter and slipped it into his pocket.
"Connor, what was written in that letter?" Hank asked softly.
"It was nothing."
Hank snorted but didn't say anything.
Connor sat down and started work.
Around lunch, Hank noticed Connor was still deeply engrossed in his work. If Hank didn't say anything, he was certain Connor could be working for hours.
"Connor," he called out to his partner. "Connor!"
Connor looked up.
"What is it, Anderson?"
"We should stop. You could afford to get yourself a bite to eat after working so hard."
Connor sighed and backed away from his desk.
"I suppose you're right."
He got up from his chair and walked in the direction of the rec room before turning to Hank.
"You coming too?"
Hank sighed before getting up.
"I have nothing better to do."
He followed Connor to the rec room where the two stood next to a small round table.
Tina and Perkins were already seated at one of the round tables nearby.
Hank got Connor a cup of water and a sandwich from the fridge.
Faintly Hank heard Tina and Perkin's conversation.
"At this rate, I think my mission is a lost cause," Perkins said. "I wasn't programmed with social protocols."
"If you're expected to co-exist with everyone around here don't you think it's a good idea not to get on their bad side."
"I researched everything on the social behaviors of humans."
"Yes and one of the first things you should keep in mind is to refrain from being a giant prick. It might make people like you better."
"How was I as you say, 'a giant prick'?" Perkins asked.
Tina rolled her eyes.
"Guess you conveniently forgot that big fiasco from yesterday. The one where you smacktalked Anderson and threatened Lieutenant Bourne," she supplied.
"I fail to see how that is relevant to the conversation."
Tina groaned.
"You're impossible. I guess I have to break it down in layman's terms. Smack talking and threats are basically things that come with being a giant prick."
Richard's mouth opened agape.
"Oh, I see. I did not calculate that outcome at all."
"No sh-t, Sherlock."
Connor sipped on his water occasionally blowing his nose.
"I guess those allergies are still bothering you?" Hank asked.
"Yeah, I brought my medication in the car but keep forgetting about it."
After lunch, the two were assigned another case.
As Connor was looking at the files, a thought struck him.
"What are you thinking about?" Hank asked.
"I was just thinking of Travis. Remember when he said he was being pursued by androids that worked under the DPD?"
"Briefly," Hank said.
"The androids at my house said they wanted to take me alive for some kind of grander scheme but don't you find it odd?"
"In what way?"
"The captain, Chris, Officer Wilson and Officer Chen could have captured me anytime I was working here so why didn't they?"
Hank was silent, contemplative.
'Good question.'
"Could be many reasons," Hank supplied. "I think it's obvious even now that they don't want to make a scene with any humans that work here. They'd get alot of attention if they did something like that especially in public where everyone can see them."
"You may be right."
Some hours later, Connor stopped what he was doing.
"Anderson."
Hank looked up confused by the blank face he was greeted with. The corner of his eyes were scrunched making him look oddly pensive.
"Will you be good to cover my shift? I'll be back within an hour."
"What's the matter?" Hank asked.
"I got an appointment."
"How are you going to go anywhere without a car?"
Connor smiled.
"Don't worry about it. I'll be back before you know it."
"Alright."
He headed out leaving Hank with the paperwork. He walked quite a ways before pulling out his cellphone and calling an automated taxi.
One pulled up within minutes.
"Where are you headed?" asked an automated voice coming from the taxi itself.
"Stayput's Coffee Shop," he uttered before heading inside.
The taxi drove up to the shop in the city. Connor took out his wallet and paid for it with his card.
"Thanks for your patronage. We'll see you again."
Connor stepped out of the taxi and into the coffee shop. He walked to the front counter to talk with the lady standing behind it.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
"I was told to meet someone here."
"Yes, there was a guy that came by here telling me to lead a guy looking like him to a table in the back."
The lady pointed to it.
'Something about that statement is odd. A guy came by here? Telling her to look for a guy that looked like him. A guy that looked like him.'
Connor glanced at her in disbelief.
"What do you mean a guy that looked like him?"
"Well besides your clothes, the two of you have similar faces."
A guy that looked like him? Connor had heard of something like that before. Doppelgangers is what they were. People that looked like an exact copy of you.
Curious to see what would happen if he complied, Connor sat at the table that man had asked him to.
Within minutes a man in a grey trench coat that obscured his face sat in the seat on the other side.
He removed his trench coat. Underneath his trench coat was a checked green and violet vest over a crisp white button up shirt. The most startling thing though was the fact the man had carried the same face as Connor's almost exactly. His hair unlike Connor's was disheveled and messy giving him a more tougher appearance.
"I'm here so what do you want?" Connor asked.
The man held out his hand.
"My name is Conan. I am a private investigator working for a man known as Niles Bourne otherwise known as your biological brother."
"You've got to be kidding me."
Conan rolled his eyes.
"I had a feeling you'd act this way."
"A feeling? What are you talking about? Don't act like you know me."
"Do you even know who I am? Did you even ask yourself for one second why we share the same face?"
"You are a stalker and intend to steal my identity. You're secretly working for Cyberlife and hoping to kidnap me."
"No silly. I'm your brother. Niles, is our little brother."
"You keep mentioning Niles. What does Niles want with me?"
"Is Lief Bourne your biological father?" Conan asked.
"Yes, how did you know?"
"He's our father too. After several years, I finally managed to track you down. You were adopted by Carl Manfred right?"
"I don't take on his last name if that's what you want to know."
"But you are Connor right?"
"Yeah."
"Well now he can't complain. I did my job."
"That's it?"
"What were you expecting?"
"He wanted to see me right?"
"Well I figure you're a busy man. I'll just tell him you don't want to see him," he said rummaging through his pockets coming up with a pack of cigarettes in his coat.
Connor's eyes widened.
"Why would you do that? What if I want to see him?" he asked.
Conan looked bored and uninterested. His fingers however were twitching after Connor had said his piece.
"I'm surprised. I thought you were happy where you were. Wouldn't want to reign on your parade," he said coolly.
"Of course I'm happy. Why would you ruin that? I-I just-I never knew I had two younger brothers," Connor said.
Conan snorted.
"We may be brothers but I don't have to accept you just because Niles does. I did my job and I found you that's all I'm doing. If you want to contact Niles I got his phone number right here."
Conan handed him a card.
Connor took it and pocketed it.
Conan got up and headed out waving with his head turned away from Connor.
"See ya."
'What a jerk.'
Connor took out his cellphone and called Hank.
"Who is this?"
"Anderson, you there?"
"Connor, is that you?"
"Yeah, it's me. I'm finished with my errands so I'll be heading back soon."
"No need, I already asked Fowler if you could have the rest of the day off. You looked like you could use the break."
"Great but I don't exactly have a key to your house, Anderson," Connor said.
"Don't be dramatic. I got a call from Cole. He should already be at the house so he could let you in. I'll see you then."
With that Hank hung up as Connor took the bus to Hank's home. It might has well be his home at this point but he didn't want to feel too comfortable with the scenery.
Occasionally Connor took out the card Conan had gave him to glance at it. Besides Markus, Connor had no idea that he had two little brothers.
Once he was dropped off a couple blocks away, Connor walked until he reached the house.
He got to the door and knocked.
"Cole?"
In minutes, Cole opened the door frowning at Connor. His blond hair was disheveled making it look like he had just woken up from a nap.
"What are you doing here?" he asked coolly.
"I got off work early and Hank told me I could drop by here."
Cole let him in.
"So what were you doing before I got here?" Connor asked curiously.
"I don't see how that's any of your business," said Cole shortly.
Connor sat on the couch while Cole headed to his room. He took the remote off the table in front of him switching on the TV and rummaging through channels.
Only after years of watching mystery shows on television did Connor discover most of them were horribly cliche and the mysteries very contrived. Unfortunately nothing but cliche and contrived shows were on tv anymore.
After a while, Connor found himself bored after looking for tv shows that might be interesting to watch.
He glanced towards Cole's bedroom door. Connor wondered if he should check on Cole or just take a nap.
'What could he possibly be doing that's so interesting?'
Connor got up and headed towards Cole's bedroom. Quietly Connor slowly opened his door and peaked inside.
Cole was sitting on his bed with a book spread open on his lap. He was writing maybe drawing in it, Connor couldn't really tell.
"Do you even know the meaning of privacy?" Cole hissed.
"I was just wondering what you were doing that was so entertaining," Connor said.
Cole sighed.
"I'm drawing."
"Oh, I never knew you drew."
"It was a hobby I took up after..." he said trailing off.
Connor saw Cole frowning.
"I see. It was a hobby you took up after your father learned how to cook."
Cole glanced at him strangely.
"Yeah," he replied reluctantly. "It was after he learned how to cook."
"Do you got any more sketchbooks?"
"Yeah, I don't really draw anything that interesting though. They're mostly blueprints for inventions."
"Can I see?" Connor asked.
"Yeah, most of them are on the bookshelf in the living room."
Connor came back minutes later with a pile of them. Cole's face turned red.
"Are you really gonna waste your time going through all those?"
"I got a lot to catch up on," he said.
Meanwhile at the precinct, Hank had just got off work when he ran into Tina.
"You heading out?"
"Yeah."
"Me too," she said catching Perkins walking to the charging units in back of the precinct.
"Catch you later, Tina," Hank said before heading out.
Tina headed out as well taking out her keys pressing the button on the bottom of a gadget on her key chain. On it was a button that called over her white self-driving honda that was parked in the parking lot of the precinct.
Within minutes it appears in front of her and she stepped inside. That man she had once called her father had insisted she get one. All this time her programming had insisted that the man was her biological father but androids had no genetic material like humans did.
The moment she was reprogrammed her past life had come crashing down. Things weren't adding up at all. Nothing she had done followed any logic. If that man wasn't her real father, were her friends still her friends? Was she only programmed to follow through with any instructions given to her by Cyberlife?
Small white text on the upper right corner of her screen projected her stress levels. They were at 89 percent.
Any higher and then she'd self-destruct in an act of self-preservation. Androids were not programmed to deal with human situations. Suicide was the better option that coping with it.
Still right now Hank and Connor were depending on her. What kind of android-person would abandon their friends when they needed them the most?
Tina did some research on ways to reduce stress.
'Leave the stressful situation.'
'Go to a place that relaxes you.'
First thing that came to mind was the cafe near her home. It had a beautiful mural in back of the store of a waterfall and a garden with a multitude of flowers.
Tina parked outside this particular cafe and headed inside. Outside was a 'no loitering' sign.
She couldn't stay here very long unless she had a computer or a cup of coffee at her perusal. It didn't matter anyway, she had plenty of money to buy herself a coffee even if she wasn't going to drink it.
Inside the coffee shop was sparse. It barely had any people save for a couple that was seated to the left and a guy seated to the right.
She walked up to the front counter glancing at the menu on the back wall.
"Can I have an Americano?"
"That will be $6.62."
Tina took out her wallet and was just about to pay it when someone stepped in.
"I will pay for this woman's coffee."
She moved to the side as a man stepped up in front of them to pay for her coffee.
Tina waited patiently as the person behind the counter prepared her coffee.
The man took the coffee and turned to hand it to her when the person behind the counter was finished.
She glanced at him and her mouth fell agape.
"Americano, right?" he asked.
Tina was stunned. Besides the icy blue eyes, bigger build, and distinguishable outfit, the man in front of her looked almost exactly like Lieutenant Bourne.
If Tina thought Connor was stuffy, this man's outfit took it to the next level. He wore round spectacles, a purple and yellow checkered vest over a long white button up shirt and a pair of skinny blue jeans.
"What are you staring at?" he asked coolly.
The words broke through her stupor as she finally brought herself to reply.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. You just looked like somebody I know."
"Really?" he said with dull surprise.
"Yeah," she said taking a seat at an empty table at the cafe glancing at the man. He reclaimed his seat at his table.
'Probably for the best.'
She glanced at the mural bringing the cup to her mouth to pretend sipping it every once and a while. There was still new things to spot about the mural like how the colors of the water blended so intricately together.
"Excuse me."
Tina turned and saw the man from before.
"Yeah."
"Hey, I'm sorry about before."
"What do you mean? You did nothing wrong," she said.
"I was cold to you."
"Hey, it was nothing personal right? So no harm done."
In all honesty, she didn't think he was being cold at all. He was blunt and maybe emotionally stunted but he was kind.
"Can I join you?"
"Sure."
He glanced over at the coffee in her hands.
"What's your name by the way?"
"Tina and yours?"
He smiled. It was a strained smile as if he wasn't used to the gesture at all.
"Niles."
She forced out a chuckle as he merely stared in her direction as held the coffee to her lips.
"So what do you do for a living?"
"Me?" Niles asked pointing to himself.
Tina nodded.
"I work for the FBI. What about you?"
"Nothing impressive. Just a detective working for the Detroit Police."
"Are you going to touch your coffee or just pretend to sip it?"
Tina jolted from where she had held the coffee cup to her mouth. Some of the coffee got over her face.
"I was sipping it."
Niles took a napkin from the dispenser on the table and wiped her face where she had spilled it.
"Sorry, I was asking because I'd hate to waste a cup of coffee on someone who can't drink it."
Tina looked stunned.
"I-I..."
Nile leaned in towards her.
"You're an android right?" he whispered.
"How did you-?"
"Honestly I had a hunch. Usually if you're going to pretend to sip at something you might want to tilt the cup a bit more. So if you couldn't either you were stupid or you were afraid that the coffee might accidentally slip past your lips. Only androids need to worry about liquid getting in their way you reacted to your spilt coffee just confirmed it."
Niles smiled.
"It's a normal reaction to flinch when a human touches something hot. You had no reaction once the coffee hit your face."
"You're quite a smug a-s aren't you?"
Niles frowned.
"Are you going to drink that coffee or not?" he asked.
Tina glared at him.
"No I'm not. Satisfied?"
"Then I'll gladly take that Americano if you don't mind."
Niles took it from her hands and sipped.
"My lips touched that y'know."
He pulled the coffee from his lips looking at her with an indifferent expression.
"So? Is there a problem with that?"
"At least ask a girl on a date before stealing a kiss from her."
"Do you want to go on a date?"
"No, of course not. I wasn't talking about me specifically."
"Alright."
Tina gritted her teeth as she stared at him. He seemed unaffected by her rejection and something about that gesture made her irritated.
"You're not getting out of it that easily. You stole my coffee so you're getting a date. Hand me your phone right now."
Tina held out her hands. Niles complied with her demands handing Tina his cellphone.
She inputted her number in it.
"Don't even think about turning that off. I have ways of getting a hold of you if you try to bail."
"Wasn't even thinking about it," Niles supplied pocketing his cellphone.
"Then I'll see you later."
With that Tina got up and headed out. Niles only looked at her with confusion and bafflement.
Hank had returned home when the sky was already dark. His house was dark. Neither the living room or the porch lights were on.
'They must be asleep.'
Carefully Hank opened the door without making a sound. He scanned the living room couch for signs of Connor but he was not there.
A thin light peaked from Cole's bedroom.
He walked towards his room. The door was open a couple of inches.
Hank peeked inside spotting Connor sitting next to Cole. It looked like Connor was perusing some books he had in his laps. A pile of them stood next to him. Had he been at this ever since he came home?
Cole on the other hand was looking down on his book holding a pencil. Hank knew from observing him numerous times that he was drawing in his sketchbook.
What was more surprising was the fact that they weren't at each other's throats.
He smiled, warmness filled his heart as he headed back to his charging station in his bedroom.