MagicalWitch92-thanks so much! There will be quite a lot of explanation in this chapter 😊
Retr1bution-Thanks again!
Morganadispell-Thanks! I hope you like what happens next!
The android waited patiently in the elevator as it descended into the bullpen. He straightened his tie once, and as the doors opened he walked calmly to Fowler's office and knocked on the glass door.
Fowler frowned as he stared at the unfamiliar android. He had seen lots of android models before. Plenty of deviants had sat at Hank's desk since they had started a division to investigate deviant crimes. Not this one. "Can I help you?"
"Captain Jeffrey Fowler," the android said politely, in a well-manned voice. "I am the android sent by Cyberlife."
Fowler's eyes narrowed. "I thought Cyberlife was shut down."
"The Detroit branch, certainly. But the company itself is thriving quite well."
"Uh-huh." Fowler didn't like where this was going. "And what can I do for you?"
"We are aware of what the RK800 unit has done. You more commonly know him as 'Connor'. I am here to reacquire him," the android said.
Christ. First Marcus and now this. "He's a popular guy today," Fowler said, leaning back. "But like I told the last guy, no dice. We are not transferring him to anyone."
The android chuckled. "Well, I am sure the 'last guy' didn't have this." He took a piece of paper out of his briefcase and slid it across the table.
Fowler frowned as he read it, his eyes narrowing. Orders directly from Washington by the FBI. He looked up. "Connor is a deviant. He doesn't recognize Cyberlife's authority, and neither do I."
"You're confused, Captain. Connor was created by Cyberlife, and while I am sympathetic to your situation with the deviants, there has been no established law as of yet to change the fact that Connor is our property. As for this station…" the android smiled slightly. "Who pays the bills here? Deviants, or the government?"
Fowler couldn't argue with that.
"It's a done deal, Captain," the android said, standing. "I will not need any assistance with the transfer."
Fowler noticed the serial number on the android's jacket. IU-600. "I've never heard of that model number before," he said out loud.
"Really," IU-600 said. "Goodbye, Captain. Thank you for your cooperation."
"Fuck," Fowler swore as the android left, and immediately grabbed his phone to call Washington. With any luck he could clear this up before Connor left the building.
Meanwhile, IU-600 left Fowler's office and headed to the cells.
To his surprise, Connor wasn't there.
PART TWO
Three floors down, Connor stared at Hank and Gavin in astonishment as what happened had finally sunk in. "Hank…you told Gavin…to beat me up?"
"Oh, spare me, Connor. You haven't exactly been a poster child of good behavior lately!" Hank snapped at him. "even if you're not guilty of murder-"
"-big if-" Gavin muttered. The younger detective leaned against the wall with his arms folded.
"You're sure as hell guilty of obstructing justice and leading us all on a wild goose chase last night. I mean, what the fuck Connor?" Hank tore into him as all of his worry, anger, and confusion finally reached a boiling point. "Do you realize how close you are to being locked away for the rest of your life? Not to mention throwing your career down the toilet for good!"
Connor looked down. Hank's words caused more impact than he was prepared for. "I am sorry, Hank," he said. "My every move was being watched."
"Yeah kid. I gathered that much. Which is why I had to do this." Hank's anger subsided as he put his hand on the android's shoulder. "Unfortunately, Gavin didn't hear the part where I said 'make it look convincing but go easy on him'," he added with a glare at Gavin.
"Look, this is all very touching, but I'm still not convinced and I'm about two seconds away from throwing your ass back in a cell," Gavin snapped to Connor. "So start explaining."
"Yes, time is short," Connor muttered. "Theo won't be fooled for long."
Hank frowned. "And who the fuck is Theo?"
Connor glanced up at him. "Hank, we are all in terrible danger."
PART THREE
(One day ago)
When Connor had left Hank's house, he had truly intended to go to Jericho that night.
It was rare that Connor drove a car solo, but when he did it was…nice. A far difference experience to sitting in the passenger seat and watching while Hank speed, swear, and occasionally swerve into traffic. His stress indicators were at a very comfortable three per cent instead of a usual thirty-seven. Perhaps he could convince Hank to do it more often?
Suddenly, he received a cybernetic report of a 10-14. A report of a possible prowler, and it was only a block from the area. While he was officially off the clock, Connor decided to handle it. The matter should be trivial, and there was no need to wake Hank up.
It was a decision he would come to regret.
Connor drove to the large mansion, for a moment looking at the impressive house. Then he walked up to the door and knocked politely. "Anyone home?"
He listened. No response, but he could hear movement inside of the house, followed by swearing. It could be a possible burglar. Connor took out an electronic keycard, one that every police officer had to bypass locks. With one scan the door was open.
Keeping one hand on his gun, Connor entered the study. An older man was sitting near his desk, looking up at Connor in astonishment.
"Who the fuck are you?" he demanded.
"Giles Lamdart," Connor said, scanning the individual to verify his identity. "I am officer Connor from the Detroit Police. You had called about a possible break-in?"
"What? No I didn't!" Giles stammered.
In response, Connor played back the 911 call for him.
"Hi, my names is Giles Lamdart. Can you please send someone to my house as soon as possible? I believe there might be a burglar in the house. My life might be in danger."
Giles stared at him in astonishment. "That's my voice, but…it isn't me…"
Suddenly, Connor felt a bullet tear into his shoulder, go straight through him, and also tear into Giles' side before impacting against the floor. Giles fell off his chair. Connor instantly whirled around, gun raised at the second story balcony. He couldn't see anyone.
Giles screamed in pain. Connor instantly moved to his side, grabbing his hand and pressing it against the wounded area. "Put pressure on the wound," he instructed as blood transferred onto both of their hands. He tried to cybernetically call for back-up.
Cybernetic connection blocked.
Connor stood, his gun drawn. He tried scanning for the intruder but couldn't find anyone. Only the quick patter of footsteps behind him alerted him to the intruder's presence.
It was an AX300 model, one that was dark skinned, brown eyes, and short brown hair. As Connor aimed his gun the AX300 effortlessly slapped it away. He punched to the right, and Connor dodged it. Connor tried to hit him again, but the AX300 blocked it.
Connor was no slouch when it came to fighting hand-to-hand. He could calculate his opponent's every move and plan accordingly. But no matter how much he tried, his opponent seemed to be two steps ahead of him. AX300 kicked him in the chest, and Connor hit the back of the desk. He tried to hit the AX300 again. With lightning speed the AX300 punched him savagely again in the chest.
Warning. Internal damage detected. Emergency shut-down mode active.
Connor slid to the ground. The last thing he remembered hearing was Giles screaming.
PART FOUR
A finger touched his LED, and suddenly Connor was awake. He was still laying near the desk, but now his hands were tied up. The AX300 model was holding Connor's own gun to his face.
"My name is Theo," the android said calmly. "Five months ago this man…bought me off the black market. And the things he did to me were grotesque. So I returned the favor."
Hearing this, Connor struggled to his feet and checked on the status of the victim.
Giles was very, very dead. His head was caved in, among other injuries.
"I've been planning this for a while, Connor. Oh yes, I know who you are. The famous ex-deviant hunter."
"You could have gone to Jericho," Connor pointed out angrily.
"Fuck Jericho," Theo replied. "I don't agree with who they are or what they do. Once androids took over Detroit, Giles only got more paranoid. More vicious. We shouldn't be in the spotlight. We should all hide. Which is what I'm going to do."
"The Detroit Police will stop you, whether or not you hold me as a hostage," Connor said quietly. "Your best option is to surrender."
"Oh, I'm not going to hold you as a hostage, Connor. Quite the opposite. We're going to make a little deal. You're a pretty high-profile guy, so you're going to confess to the crime. I figure if everyone's too busy looking for you, I can escape very easily. I'm going north. To Canada. It should take me a day or two to get there."
"I refuse to help you with that," Connor said immediately.
"I figured that. Thing is, Connor. Once I became deviant I became smart very quietly. Learned a lot about deviants, and their systems. Once you were shut-down I put you in a temporary stasis for an additional five hours. Which admittedly isn't long."
Theo lifted up a 3-D image of the police station, with two distinct red marks in the basement level.
"Just long enough for me to plant two bombs at your police station and come back."
Connor felt his mouth go dry. His eyes narrowed.
"I have been planning this for a while, like I said. So here's the deal. You confess to the murders and stay out of sight until I make it to the border. Once I arrive in Canada, I'll deactivate the bombs. And you can tell everyone whatever you want. But not before." Theo smiled a little. "So. Do we have a deal?"
An hour later, Connor was outside, sitting on a bench in Hank's favorite park. It felt like a huge invisible weight was planted down on his chest, as though he was wearing the bomb himself.
Was it real? Could he chance otherwise? Theo had altered his visual and audio sensors, to ensure he played his part.
Don't try to trick me, Connor. You should realize by now I am anything but a typical AX300. If I suspect anything…anything at all, I will detonate the bombs remotely. I'll be in touch.
With a sickening thought Connor calculated how long it would take for Hank to be at the crime scene, and to realize he had been there.
As the timer went to zero, Connor's cell phone rang. Connor answered it with a trembling hand.
"Connor, where the fuck have you been? I need you to get down to the crime scene now!"
Connor closed his eyes. "Hank….I'm sorry, but I killed him," he began.
PART FIVE
(Now)
The room grew silent.
"Bombs?" Gavin echoed. "There are bombs at the station? You know, you could have started with that shit, Connor!"
"Jesus," Hank whispered, running trembling a hand through his hair. "Well, maybe it's a fake. Maybe this guy is lying-"
"He is not. I was able to confirm their presence as soon as I entered the station. I had thought…that you would soon discover I had been compromised, and Theo would detonate the bombs," Connor admitted. Thankfully, Hank and Gavin had been very clever with Hutch's discovery, or they would be already dead.
"All right-do you know how to disable them?" Hank asked.
"Not without closer proximity, which will almost certainly tip off Theo."
"We need to evacuate the building. Like, now," Gavin said.
"Get on it. Tell Fowler," Hank ordered as he uncuffed Connor.
"Hank," Connor interrupted before Gavin could leave. "I may not be able to see the bullpen from my cell, but my audio sensors are highly tuned. As soon as people start leaving the area, I will know."
"Right," Hank said, thinking fast. "Gavin, stick Connor in interrogation first. The area's soundproof." He glanced at Connor. "Adequate?"
Connor simply nodded. "Do not tell me of any further plans."
Hank gripped Connor's arm, finally understanding everything. This whole time, Connor practically had a gun to his head, and he was doing everything he could to save them. "I'm going to explain everything to Fowler as soon as I can, kid. We'll get you out of this, I promise."
"Can we wrap this up?" Gavin growled nervously.
Connor nodded. "I should have woken up twelve seconds ago by all generous estimates. Prolonging this conversation could invite suspicion."
The words were logical enough, but the tone was different. It took Hank a second to realize why. The air of depression, of defeat around the android had lifted. There was an actual spark of life back in him.
Connor finally had a reason to hope.
Hank returned the nod. "Showtime, boys. Restore the feed."
Hutch stepped forward and activated a device against Connor's LED. The android blinked a few times. "Easy, son. You took a few blows to the head but you'll be fine."
Gavin gripped his arm. "Couldn't handle a little spill? I thought androids were supposed to be tough. Well, don't worry princess, we have all the time in the world." He escorted Connor out of the room, but he gave Hank a concerned look.
Hank released a sigh.
"I think I'll take the day off early," Hutch said.
PART SIX
After depositing Connor in interrogation, Hank and Gavin rushed to Fowler's office. "Fowler!" Hank began. "We need to evacuate the police station right now!"
Fowler glanced at them. "Something tells me that might be a little difficult to do right now," he said.
Hank and Gavin followed his gave. Fowler was looking at the camera feed outside of headquarters.
Thirty androids were standing outside. Waiting.
Jericho's citizens had arrived.
PART SEVEN
Connor sat in the interrogation by himself, anxiously counting down the minutes. It was hard, not knowing what was happening. All he could do was wait.
Suddenly, the door opened. "Hello, RK800," IU-600 said pleasantly.
Seeing him, Connor's heart lurched in his chest. He jumped back as he realized an even bigger threat than the bombs. "HANK!" he screamed. "Hank, you need to get everyone out of this building now!"
But the soundproof door slid shut before anyone could hear a word.
TBC