The Fourth Amendment

May 23RD, 2039

AM: 9:25:45

Connor's Location: IA Building

Connor didn't plan on being five minutes early but Hank was anxious to send Connor, and his nervous energy, away. So, when Connor arrived at the IA building, he was told to wait in Chloe's office for her arrival.

Inside he was met by an analog clock as it ticked away above Chloe's empty chair; The center of an impressive number of framed awards and achievements.

Cold tumbled down through his artificial skin and his fingers itched for something to fidget with. He crossed the room drawn by his wandering gaze to a bookshelf at the back of the room. Nestled within a mass of criminology and law books was a book about dream interpretation. Pseudoscience?

Intrigued,Connor pulled the book away from its neighbors, and a bright pink tab screamed for his attention. Connor obliged and followed the tab to the section about drowning. Drowning in your dreams means that you are overwhelmed by your emotions. Connor stored the information away and carefully tucked the book back in place.

One shelf higher, sat an old cathedral radio, and again Connor's curious fingers plucked the item from its resting place. Made in the 1930's, the radio's dark wood had lost most of its lacquer and there were small holes in its grille cloth, but that only added to its charm. Connor couldn't help the smile that snuck onto his lips at the thought of all the wonderful inventions since the humble radio.

"Do you make a habit of snooping around peoples' offices?" Connor put the radio back where he found it and turned to face Chloe, his cheeks tinted blue at being caught. "Learn anything useful about me?" she added.

"You like antique technology." He answered, signaling to the clock, paper books, and radio to site his sources. She shrugged, unimpressed, anyone observant person could pick up on that much. "…and you're having nightmares." Now, she felt violated.

Chloe's lips fell into a flat line and her eyebrows met in the middle of her forehead. "Have a seat." She commanded.

Connor did as he was told, but not before catching a glimpse of a framed Polaroid photograph on Chloe's mahogany desk. Elijah Kamski was at its core with his arms wrapped around three smiling Chloe model androids. Eager to lighten the mood, Connor pointed toward the photo. "That's an interesting photo." He said, "I met Kamski, too."

"I know, I was there." Chloe sat down in her chair and Connor froze as the implication of her words became clear. "But, we aren't here to talk about that." Connor was grateful for that, but his relief didn't last as Chloe pushed a printed police report toward him. Two names struck out at him like flashing lights, Emily Rhodes and Trudy Applebee. He didn't need to read the report to know what it contained. "Care to explain?" Chloe asked.

49 Hours Earlier

May 21ST, 2039

AM 10:30:18

Interview Unsuccessful

Standing on a fire escape, freshly rejected by the witness, Connor and Hank had no choice but to return to the crime scene; there was nothing they could do about a witness who wouldn't talk.

As Hank grabbed the rail to begin his decent to the alley below, his hand landed in a sticky substance. He pulled his hand away quickly and studied it, there was no mistake; the sticky substance was blood. No, it was more than that, and now, the witness had become the prime suspect.

"Is this what is meant by the phrase, caught red handed?" Connor asked with a twinkle of mischief in his eye.

"Funny." Hank said dryly, "Idiotic jokes aside, you aren't totally off the mark." Hank said. "You know what this means, right?" Connor gave Hank a blank look while trying to processes the information. "Jesus, Connor. It means we have probable cause." Connor nodded, a small "oh" of understanding tumbling from his lips followed by a sly smile.

Hank wiped the blood from his hand and retrieved his multi-tool before turning his attention back toward the window. One of the three-by-five inch panes was held in place by a thin line of old caulking which he removed through the use of his multi-tool. Satisfied that his actions went unnoticed by anyone inside, Hank liberated the pane from its frame and reached inside to unlock the window.

Inside was the unfamiliar body of a human female in her mid-thirties, the sharp discoloration on her neck, told Hank that she's been strangled. Still, he decided to check for a pulse in the small chance that the victim was alive.

Connor placed a hand on Hank's shoulder and shook his head, the android knew, as soon as he saw the body, that she was dead. "Emily Rhodes, this is her apartment." Connor said. "Seems you were right, Lieutenant."

Hank sighed, "That's not always a good thing, Connor." Hank unholstered his gun and signaled for Connor do to the same as he slunk toward the bedroom door. Perhaps the murderer was still here. Hank pushed through the door and was met by the double barrel of a shot gun.

"Guns, on the ground!" Said the witness-turned-suspect.

"Whoa, okay." Hank lifted his hands and sank down toward the ground in an act of compliance and placed his gun on the ground, "just stay calm."

Connor followed Hank's lead, secretly holding onto the knowledge that he still had Hank's revolver tucked into the waistband of pants. Connor hoped that he wouldn't have to use it for various reasons, one being that he was unsure it was even loaded. The second, and most worrisome, was that the weapon was set up for a game of Russian Rolette in mind, and he didn't want to rely on a game of chance for survival.

The world slowed to a near stop and was coated in a blue haze of mathematical information as Connor entered his mind palace. He analyzed the suspect's vitals first, elevated heart rate, dilated pupils, quick frantic breathing, all signs of someone pushed to the breaking point. Connor needed to defuse the situation quickly.

He moved his exploration to the suspect's neckline and found a necklace with a Caduceus charm dangling from it –Two snakes winding around a winged staff—Suspect is in the medical profession?

APPEAL. "You're a nurse, right?" The suspect whipped the shotgun toward Connor, clearly unprepared for his sudden interest in her profession. Hank watched his partner, just what was his plan here?"You took an oath, Do no harm." Connor continued.

"I didn't kill them." Defended the suspect, "Just get out of here." She warned, her eyes continuing the conversation as they drifted slightly to the left of her current target. Hank turned to follow her gaze. Behind them, there was a closed door opposite the one from which he and Connor had entered the apartment.

"We can't do that." Hank said, the gun whipping toward him once more, that was fine, if one of them had to go, he'd rather it be him. "Are you worried about something…or someone?"

Fearing that Hank's comment might spook the suspect, Connor added, "Hank and I took an oath too. To protect and serve." Connor said. REASSURE "Take your gun off of my partner and let us help you."

Negotiation Successful

The suspect lowered the shotgun at which point Hank secured the weapon, passing it off to Connor after making sure the safety was on. Rather than cuff the suspect right away, he motioned for her to take a seat in a nearby chair.

Once seated, the suspect fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. "My name is Trudy Applebee, I am a nurse at an android clinic downtown. As I'm sure you know crimes against androids has gone up drastically since the revolution." Hank nodded, "Well, we started running low on supplies and our donors weren't willing to give us more funding." Trudy paused, "O-one day a shipment of android supplies showed up at the door. And I know it was a bad idea but I was desperate, so I took it."

"Let me guess, whoever gave you these supplies showed up for payback?" Hank said.

"Yes, turns out that the supplies can be linked to a supply heist from the Cyberlife warehouse a few months back. He said that I would lose my license and go to jail and the clinic would be shut down if I didn't help him." Trudy gave Hank a hard look, begging him to understand. "My community needs that clinic, I didn't have a choice."

"This guy," Hank said, anger making his blood boil. "What does he look like?"

"I don't know he was wearing a mask and I only met him today when he showed up at my office." She froze, "I'm sorry."

"That's alright" Hank said. "Was there anything else you noticed about him? Did he say anything?"

"After we entered the hardware store, he said something strange to the android." She said. "He said that he was sent to take back what was his. Then he…" Trudy's eyes glazed over and her breath hitched slightly.

"It's alright. Take your time." Hank said.

"Then he started stabbing the android in the head…over and over…again… with the screw driver. I had no idea he was going to do it. I started screaming and slapped me, cutting my lip open. Then he threatened to kill me if I didn't remove the android's arm."

"He wanted the android's arm?" Connor asked, "Why?"

"I don't know, I could tell that it was a transplant but I couldn't tell you what android model the arm was made for." She said. "Someone saw us through…"

"Emily Rhodes." Connor nodded toward the bedroom.

"Yeah, he strangled her and told me to send the cops away." Trudy added.

"Where is he now?" Hank asked.

The next instant was a blur as a bullet tore through the window, catching Trudy in the forehead in a well-timed execution. Connor stood still, his LED a bright shade of red as blood splashed against his face. The liquid felt like acid on his skin. And Trudy sank lifelessly into the cushion of the chair.

Mission Failed

Present Time

May 23RD, 2039

AM: 10:47:36

Connor's Location: DPD

Connor fell into his chair, glad to be nested in the familiar chaos of the police station. His day had only begun, but thanks to his meeting with Chloe he was feeling completely drained. Of course, Chloe would be upset about the loss of a key witness and the escape of a multiple murderer.

"That bad, huh?" Hank asked, his eyes peering over the top of his computer screen.

"She wanted to talk about the incident on the 21st." Connor murmured, he'd give anything to go back to not feeling like this.

"There's nothing you could have done, it was a sniper. Look, the only thing we can do now is try to catch this guy and get some justice for her and the others. You can't hold on to stuff like that or it will eat you alive. Get past it so you can do your job." Hank said,

"Yes, I know Lieutenant." Connor sighed, he wasn't going to let it go.

The sound of Hank's chair sliding away from his desk followed by the fluttering sound of two laminated passes landing on Connor's Desk. The android collected the passes and stared blankly at his partner, who was settling back into his seat. "What's this Lieutenant?"

"You can read, can't you?" Hank said.

"VIP passes to the Jazz Fest? But, how did you know I wanted to go?"

"I'm a detective." He said.

"Of course." Connor gave a smile for which Hand was grateful. "Thank you, Lieutenant."

Hank's face flushed a shade darker, thankfully it couldn't be seen beyond his computer screen, "Yeah, yeah…don't get too excited, I wasn't able to get us the day off, we'll be working at the Jazz Fest, at the DPD booth."

"That sounds interesting." Connor said. "That's fine, we'll still get to hear the music." Connor smiled like a child on Christmas morning, it was enough to make working on the weekend worth it.

A/N:

Wow, I know it's been a while but I started going to grad school and sorta thought I could do it all, and I got burnt out. I am going to keep writing this story, I love it. But my updates will not be as fast as when I started writing. Also, I've started streaming on Twitch, as Libraryrose (New Year's resolution) But I recorded a playthrough of DBS if you want to watch it. Also, if I get 10 followers by next Friday, I'll play more DBS in my Connor Cosplay.

Hope you like this chapter and thanks for reading!