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November 28, 2038
"They treat us like zoo animals."
North stood at a storefront in Capitol Park and faced windows that viewed the square, where a group of reporters and camera crew were stationed. All morning, their attention had been focused on the three SUVs that were parked in front of the closed CyberLife store. They waited for the opportunity to shout questions at Jericho members, and they filmed their every move.
From behind her, Josh approached. He peered out at the strangers, saying, "They're curious."
"They're annoying," North retorted, her face scrunching in distaste.
It was a ridiculous display, to be sure, but Josh shrugged and asked, "Would you rather them be violent?"
She would rather they not have been there at all, but she supposed that was too much to ask after CyberLife announced they would be handing off supplies to Jericho. She crossed her arms and continued staring at the packed square.
"It's all clear," called Rupert Travis, the deviant Hank and Connor had hunted at one time. He emerged from the backroom of the store, wheeling along a metal table full of computers, monitors, and 3D printers. A few stray CyberLife employees quietly trailed after him, and moved to hold the front doors open.
Everyone filed out to the SUVs, and the waiting reporters erupted in questions and requests. They wanted to know why CyberLife was working with Jericho, how Jericho would be using this equipment, and what was next for the two. Markus and Elijah Kamski's names were tossed into the air at every other question, but they would receive no reply. Two patrol officers were nearby, keeping them contained to the side as Jericho loaded the equipment into vehicles.
"So the robots take our jobs and now we're giving them handouts?"
The slurred voice was loud enough to stand out from all the others. They looked toward the other side of the square, where an older brown-haired man was dragging his feet along the pavement. He held an envelope in one hand, and the stench of beer could be smelled from a distance.
North was glaring, and Josh knew how this would end if he didn't stop it while he could. He grasped at her wrist, telling her under his breath, "Ignore him."
For Jericho's sake, she would listen to Josh. She turned back to her work, lifting up two of the 3D printers and moving them to the SUV. A patrol officer stepped away from the reporters, hoping to direct the man's attention to calling a cab. As he approached, the man lifted his hand, yelling to the officer, "This right here is why this country's going down the drain!"
As it turned out, North could only resist herself so much. She looked over her shoulder, snapping back, "No, the problem's you drunks!"
He achieved the reaction he'd been provoking, and his face twisted into anger. "What'd you say?" He exclaimed, shoving past the officer. North stood her ground against the man, but Josh and Rupert were at her side, trying to keep her calm and quiet.
The man was stumbling closer and closer to her as he yelled out, "You plastics think you're so much better than us. They should'a dumped your asses in the incinerator when they had the chance."
That was the last straw, and in an instant, North's fist landed directly over his nose.
That morning, Andy sat at her desk at the DPD alone.
Hank was late. This wasn't an abnormal occurrence, but she was hoping today would have been an exception. It was their first day back after their weekend off, and she needed to throw herself into her work as soon as possible. She needed a distraction. Sharon's escape was painful, and if she wasn't dwelling on that, she was thinking about Connor.
She didn't know what to do with him. His confession was not entirely unexpected, but the way he'd gone about it caught her off guard, even without the dumpster. He didn't demand anything of her beyond a simple request that she really look at him and ask herself if something was there. He would pursue her later, and only if she allowed it of him.
It was the lack of pressure that was giving her so much of it. With everything going on in their lives, and them being coworkers to some degree, it didn't matter if something was there or not. She couldn't let this happen, of that she was certain, but she needed the right words to preserve their friendship. It didn't help she was unable to really talk to anyone about it - something as personal and confusing as this wasn't an easy thing to confide in people about.
"Hope!" Richards leaned against the cubicle wall and peered down at her. She jumped, twisting in her chair to face him. "Jericho's moving into that warehouse today."
Ah, right. It had only been five days since the organization met the company within DPD walls, but she'd forgotten about it already. "That was fast," She mused. She'd half expected CyberLife to go back on their agreement.
"I guess CyberLife wants a show of good will," Richards shrugged. "Fowler's put SID in charge of any operations related to androids. We offered police escort, but they turned it down."
"Not surprised. They don't exactly have the greatest relationship with the PD."
He shot her a flat stare. "They've got a worse one with the sniper leaving them mangled on doorsteps." Shaking his head and leaning off the wall, he told her, "Look, I don't want to have to tell Fowler we didn't do anything, so can you stop by the warehouse, do a perimeter check, ask around, maybe talk some sense into the ones in charge?"
She wasn't sure how to feel about being the unofficial police representative for Jericho. Hank's empty desk was also an issue; the last thing she needed to be doing while he wasn't there was wandering around the city. Before she explained any of this to him, another thought occurred to her: Markus. He was just close enough to know her and Connor, but he wouldn't make a big deal out of it like Natalie or Delgado would. He had enough on his plate, but a short conversation about Connor couldn't hurt.
"I'll check in," She agreed suddenly. If Hank had a problem with it, he could start waking up earlier. She stood from her chair, grabbing her jacket off the back. Gesturing to their desks, she started, "If Hank gets here-"
Richards waved a hand, nodding. "I'll let him know."
At an apartment complex elsewhere in the city, crime scene holo-tape had been erected outside the door to a small, ground-level apartment. Ben stood in the living room, documenting evidence on his work tablet while his team scanned and photographed their surroundings.
Strolling through the holo-tape, Gavin Reed was directed to the bedroom. Inside, the coroner and her assistant were already kneeling over the body of an older brown-haired man. He was face-down on the floor by his bed, and the coroner was leaned over, looking at his face.
"It looks like he fell and hit his head," She claimed, knocking her knuckles against the small table at the foot of the king-sized bed, "But I'll confirm after the autopsy."
Reed's brows furrowed at the scene. "Why are we here if it's just an accident?"
She looked up at him, then to her assistant. Together, they rolled the man onto his side, and she turned his head to face Reed. On display now was the blow on the right of his temple, and a large bruise over his nose. "He was in an altercation," She said, nodding to an officer standing by, "That, we can already prove."
This was cue for the officer by the door to step forward and hand Reed his cellphone, which was playing a clip of that morning's news.
The warehouse Jericho was moving into was just outside Detroit. There was a large main building that would house most of their members, while a secondary building nearby would soon become an android infirmary. They were gathering their supplies on the lot outside. Cabs were bringing in androids, and SUVs were carrying equipment and furniture. There were large boxes and crates stacked neatly atop one another, and a large table was being used to organize all the smaller items.
Pulling into the parking lot, Andy was impressed by the sight. She noticed a few humans helping the process, though their uniforms were certainly not CyberLife's. Josh was the first person she recognized, so she approached him kneeling at the sorting table.
He spotted her and stood, greeting, "Andy, hi." That morning crossed his mind, and he nervously asked, "Is this about North...?"
She paused; that sounded like trouble she wouldn't want to deal with. "Should it be?"
If she didn't know, he wasn't going to be the one to tell her. "Definitely not," He shook his head.
She would let the oddity go, instead focusing on the array of 3D printers and mini-coolers labeled Thirium. "You really stocked up after you lost the freighter," She observed.
Josh nodded, replying, "CyberLife replaced everything - after Rupert made sure it was all safe."
After Connor's discoveries of CyberLife's manipulation, it was good to hear they were taking precautions. "Smart," Andy murmured. The large crates in the back caught her eye, as the logos on their surfaces weren't CyberLife's or Jericho's. Gesturing to the stacks, she asked, "What's all that?"
He noted where her attention was, and explained, "Simon made a deal with Urban Farms. They'll pay us to maintain a garden on the roof, and help us work with CyberLife."
That was big news. Urban Farms was a well-respected organization within the city, and they were fast expanding to the rest of the country purely because of the goodwill they had. If Jericho had them on their side, they were now negotiating from a more powerful position with CyberLife, and society as a whole. "Sounds like a pretty sweet deal."
"It's a good start," Josh agreed, absolutely pleased with the turn of events. "So did you need something?"
Nodding, she asked, "Oh, yeah, is Markus here?"
"He's in the office," He answered, pointing over his shoulder.
"Thanks."
Markus' office was inside a long, rectangular room at the end of the main building. Boxes were stacked in a corner, yet to be unpacked, and computer equipment were scattered over a desk by the wall. Markus was leaning over the surface and preparing his setup when Andy peered inside.
She lingered at the entrance and knocked on the doorframe to catch his attention. He looked over and smiled, straightening to greet her. "Hey. What are you doing here?"
She sent him an apologetic grin. It was best to be direct, to rip it off like a band-aid. "Lieuenant Richards asked me to check in."
He knew what she really meant by that. Tilting his chin up, he said, "Let me guess. He hopes you'll convince us to agree to police protection."
"That would be part of it," She nodded, stepping into the office.
He wasn't surprised. A part of him expected as much after he adamantly refused police intervention. It wasn't that he thought the offer was a bad idea, or with ill intent, but Jericho was still recovering from the wounds the police once gave them. They needed time. "I trust you, Andy, but my people have been through a lot. If we're surrounded by police, it just feels like we've traded one cage for another."
Andy understood him, as best she could anyway, but she knew more about the threats they were facing, and that was where her mind was focused. "If it wasn't for Stewart Combs, I'd get it, but you aren't hiding anymore. Everyone knows Jericho is in this warehouse."
"I agree Combs is a problem, but we're being careful," He assured her.
She scoffed, gesturing to the door. "Anyone without a bulletproof vest on right now isn't being careful."
"Is the DPD offering us vests?" He asked with a knowing smile.
She was quick to retort, "Even better, we're offering you shields." He shook his head and moved away, but she continued, "They're made of flesh and bones, and they can even shoot back at him if they feel like it."
Turning around to face her, he threw up a hand. "So say a human takes a bullet for one of us. What does the headline read the next day? 'Jericho's Death Toll: When Does Revolution Cost Too Much?'"
If he'd asked that a few weeks prior, she probably would have agreed, but she remembered people's reactions at the march. "It reads, 'DPD Defends Jericho From Domestic Terrorism.' It gets a whole segment on the morning news and the president makes a press release condemning Combs and anyone who agrees with him," She rattled on.
It sounded nice, but the march Markus was remembering was the one just before that - the one that almost killed him. "I'm afraid that's a little too optimistic."
The thought of Markus being wary of optimism was ridiculous to her. "I'm sure people said the same thing when you hijacked Statford Tower demanding equal rights," She said, shaking her head. "Don't give up now that you've finally started convincing everybody."
She had a point, at least, and he wasn't going to deny that she knew what she was talking about in regard to Combs. If she said they needed help, he was inclined to believe her. He was quiet for several seconds, before asking, "Do you truly think we need protection?"
She nodded. "I do - and you don't even need the whole ordeal. Just an officer at every entrance and a group patrolling the street. You can handle the rest of the security yourself," She explained before reassuring him, "SID would be the ones on the detail. Those are my guys, and I'm telling you you can trust them to not cause a scene."
Markus considered it, and finally gave a deep nod. "Let me talk to the others."
Grinning, she waved toward the door leading into the rest of the warehouse. "Mind if I circle around the property before I go?"
He shook his head. "I won't stop you."
In the time since CyberLife abandoned it during the revolution, they'd converted the warehouse's main building into a suitable living space for androids. Cubicle dividers and curtains were partitioning off individual areas, each supplied with a cot, a table, and a set of drawers. It wasn't the most ideal of spaces - privacy was a luxury they had not yet attained - but it was a significant improvement over what they had.
Andy was making her rounds through the warehouse, keeping an eye out for anyone or anything suspicious. She turned the corner to head upstairs, but had to catch herself from running face-first into Connor.
It was stupid, she realized, to think he wouldn't be there. He had no reason to be at the precinct for the moment, and he'd already said he was wanting to be of more help to Jericho. Cursing at herself in her mind, she regained her composure and offered a weak, "Hey."
It was just as nervous an ordeal for Connor, who was driving Hank mad with the amount of pacing he'd been doing in the house. He'd spent all of the day before switching between regret and hope; he could have waited to confess at a better time, said more convincing things, but there was only so much that could be done on his end. Now he just had to wait, and he knew that, but Connor hated waiting.
"Good morning," He greeted. After a stiff pause, he added, "Markus asked me to help everyone move."
He didn't have to explain why he was there, but the tension hanging in the air between them demanded it. She felt the same way, so she replied, "Richards wanted me to check in on things."
"I'd heard the DPD had offered a protection detail," He started, imploring her for more information.
Nodding, she said, "Yeah, I put in my good word, so we'll see how it goes."
He smiled, "Markus respects you. He'll take whatever you said into consideration."
"Hopefully. Don't suppose you're keeping an eye out?" She asked, raising a brow.
"Everything's running smoothly so far."
"Good." Glancing away, she shifted on her feet. She hated that this was awkward now, and it was why she had to let him down, and soon.
Once she was sure no one had sneaked anything into Jericho that didn't belong, Andy returned to the office to report in to Markus. By the time she was passing through the doorway, he'd finished setting up the computer and moved on to organizing the files CyberLife and Urban Farms gave him.
He was sitting at a chair by the boxes when she entered. "Is everything okay?" He asked her.
"Looks like," She nodded, moving further into the room.
He put down the stack of papers and leaned back in his chair. "I'm going to meet with Lieutenant Richards this afternoon to arrange something," He paused to point at her and demand, "But my people have to be in charge."
She was quick to agree, holding up her hands and replying, "You will be. Thank you for trying."
"I could say the same to you," He mused. He started to return to his work, but noticed her mind seemed to be somewhere else. Something was bothering her. "Is that all, or...?"
She was having last minute doubts about going to him for help, but it was all she could think to do. With a sigh, she admitted, "I was hoping I could talk to you about something, actually."
He sat up, turning to face her fully. "I'm listening."
"It's just...," She paused, slipping her hands into her pockets, "It's a little personal."
"Is this about Connor?"
"What-"
From the room next door, they heard a familiar voice yell, "Let go of me!"
"-The hell was that?" Andy changed her question. They looked to the direction of the noise before rushing to investigate.
They found the lobby area in the main building crowded with androids, and a group of a police officers. The one leading them was Gavin Reed, and he stood inches away from North, the two of them glaring at each other. A wall of Jericho members was formed around them with Josh at the front, all of them watching in fearful anticipation. Behind them, Connor and Simon were approaching.
"What's going on?" Markus asked, brushing past his people to stand beside North.
Reed glanced his way, and spotted Andy not far off. "Hope!" He called out, tossing a hand up in her direction. With scorn directed at North, he said, "Tell your metal friend here that it's under arrest."
"Fuck you!" North bit.
Andy stepped forward and held out a hand to keep a fight from breaking. "What are the charges?"
"You didn't see it on the news? Robo hippy over here killed a man at its little rally this morning," Reed chided.
"What?"
North scowled, snapping, "I barely touched that asshole!"
Andy glanced to her and muttered, "Stop talking."
"I just punched him. He left alive," The android argued.
Beside them, Reed snorted. "More alive than you are."
It provoked disquiet from the audience, and Andy was quick to shut him down. "Reed!" She scolded, firm, and he backed up in response, holding up his hands. Sighing, she looked to North and told her, "Just let him take you to the precinct."
North immediately turned to Markus for confirmation. She wasn't going anywhere unless he told her it would be okay, especially when she was putting herself in the hands of someone like Gavin Reed. With a nod from Markus, and with great reluctance, North let the officers put her in handcuffs.
They were walking her out of the warehouse as Andy turned to face the Jericho leader. The look on his face was obvious; this was why they didn't trust the DPD, and it was why he couldn't allow law enforcement to protect them. "I'll take care of this. I promise."
Upon returning to the DPD, North was taken to an interrogation room by patrol officers. Reed made his way to the kitchen, and Andy wasn't far behind him. Following her was Connor, who remained by the doorway and waited to listen in to the argument. DDA Desta Delgado was standing at a table in the kitchen when they marched in. Her meal went untouched as she watched Reed focus on the coffee maker and Andy stand behind him, hands at her hips.
"What the hell was that?" Andy questioned.
Reed glanced over her shoulder, stating, "I was doing my job."
"You were antagonizing them!"
Cup in hand, he turned and sauntered across the room to an empty table. As he passed her, he countered, "Y'know, I didn't hear you complaining back when I antagonized our suspects."
Delgado decided to speak up then, asking, "What's going on?"
"He arrested North," Andy answered.
"North..." The name rang familiar, and once it finally clicked, Delgado's jaw almost dropped. "The Jericho leader?"
"It killed somebody! They're not all special snowflakes like your RK-whatever the fuck," Reed snapped, throwing a dismissive hand in the air and tossing his cup onto the table.
The implication that Connor was hers threw Andy off for a moment, but she knew Reed was just trying to get under her skin, so she persisted. "Whether she did it or not, you can't go barging into Jericho waving your dick around."
He huffed, "I'll keep my extremities away from the robots, thank you."
Delgado was reeling, stuck on the backlash the city would soon be getting. "Did you tell the DA's office about this? Because relations with Jericho and CyberLife are fragile enough without the department sending bullies to their doorstep," She complained.
Looking between the two women, Reed couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Bullies? Why am I getting ganged up on? Last I checked, murder was still a crime. I was making an arrest!" He exclaimed. Shaking his head, he muttered, "If you got a problem with the way I do things, take it up with the captain."
Andy and Delgado went quiet for several seconds. They shared a glance, and then Andy shrugged. "Okay."
Reed perked up and watched her turn on her heel and leave the kitchen. "Hey-!" He jumped into action, bolting after her. "Hope- Fuck!"
Fowler was having a decent day. A pleasant day, even. The Chief hadn't called, FBI and CyberLife were leaving him be, and there'd been no bombings or sniping incidents. All he had to focus on was keeping the precinct running.
That all came crashing down when Andy Hope and Gavin Reed stormed into the office.
"What the-"
Andy was standing in front of his desk as she accused, "Reed just provoked half of Jericho."
"I arrested a criminal," He defended, coming to a stop beside her.
"Based on what evidence?"
"It was on TV!"
Fowler slammed his hands down on his desk, good mood gone entirely. "Will someone tell me what the hell is going on?"
With a heavy sigh, Reed began to explain, "It was in Capitol Park this morning. Someone showed up and got into a fight with the sexbot-"
"North."
He scoffed, "I'm not calling it that."
"The story!" Fowler demanded.
Reed complied, going on to say, "The guy ends up dead in his condo with a hit to the head. What more do I need to bring the thing in?"
"We don't know what happened between the rally and the time he was found," Andy argued, glaring at him, "It's not just irresponsible to settle on the first suspect, it's disrespectful to the victim's family."
At this, Reed grimaced and turned to face her. "Oh, like you care about the victim's family. All you care about these days are the tin cans-"
"Will the both of you shut up?" Fowler interrupted, silencing his detectives with ease. He gave himself a moment to think, though it was mostly to savour the last of the peace for the day, before he started. "Reed can proceed with his interrogation-" Pointing at the man, he added, "Carefully. If this so much as catches whispers about possible lawsuits in the future, your ass is on the line."
Reed's hands went up in surrender. "I'll even put on my kid gloves."
"In the meantime... Hope and Anderson can investigate other leads. All right?" Fowler asked, looking to Andy.
She nodded, replying, "Yes, Sir."
With that said and done, he shooed them out of his office. They marched out into the bullpen, where Reed followed Andy to her desk. Connor and Delgado, who'd been waiting nearby, inched closer to the cubicle to find out what happened. "You just had to get involved," Reed scolded, shaking his head.
Andy looked back at him as she stopped at her desk. "Hey, I'm saving your ass here just as much as I am hers."
"Yeah right," He grumbled, walking by.
Hank chose to arrive at that moment. He stood several feet away, and watched Reed glare at him as he passed. Spotting him, Andy pointed and demanded, "Where have you been?"
Brushing over her indignation, Hank gestured toward Reed now on the other side of the bullpen. "What the hell was that about?"
Andy backed down from her own irritation. She was about to deliver bad news, so the last thing she needed was to start another argument. "We... have a case."
He nodded, brushing off the comment. "Great. What the hell was that about?"
She hesitated. "It's also Reed's case."
There was a second of silence, as if it hadn't processed. Then his brows shot up and he leaned forward, quietly asking, "How did that happen?"
She wouldn't look him in the eye now. Shoving one hand into her pocket and using the other to fiddle with a pen on her desk, she mumbled under her breath, "I may have asked for it."
"You picked up a case without talking to me first?"
"You weren't here!"
"You couldn't wait five minutes?" Hank yelled. He stopped himself from a further rant and sighed, running a hand over his mouth. "What even is it?"
"Uh, well...," She trailed off. The news wasn't getting any better from there. "He may have arrested North for murder."
"North? As in the android with the bad attitude?"
Frowning, she tried to defend the woman, but couldn't do so with nearly enough sincerity. "It's not... that bad," She pouted.
"At least tell me you talked to Ben first," Hank pleaded. When her eyes cast downward, he rolled his eyes and started in again, "Jesus, Andy-"
She rushed to explain herself. "There's an entire morning before the murder we don't know anything about! And the victim was a dick!"
Before Hank could comment on the dig at the victim, Delgado raised a hand and interjected. "All insults aside, Lieutenant, Andy isn't totally wrong here."
Andy turned and stared at the woman. "Gee, thanks."
Delgado shot her a sharp look, but continued to defend her. "This is the first apprehension of an android since the march, and Reed isn't doing his due diligence. You two being on this case would ensure the DPD is taking this seriously."
Andy piped up, "See? She agrees with me."
Hank let out a heavy sigh. He squeezed his fingers at his temples and asked, "All right, then why did Reed even arrest her?"
The man was stumbling closer and closer to her as he yelled out, "You plastics think you're so much better than us. They should'a dumped your asses in the incinerator when they had the chance."
That was the last straw, and in an instant, North's fist landed directly over his nose. He fell back as his hand dropped the bottle and went to clutch his bloody face. Josh and Rupert put themselves in between the two to keep North at bay, while the patrol officer grabbed the man by the arm and pulled him away.
Below all the angered yelling, the officer was attempting to speak to the man, but he wouldn't have it. He shoved the officer away from him and fled the scene, swaying his way down the sidewalk.
The group at the precinct stared at the paused TV screen in silence. They were all at a loss for words, though for different reasons. For Delgado and Andy, it made their goal much more challenging; for Connor, it was a big step in the wrong direction for Jericho; Hank, in particular, couldn't believe he was now in charge of proving something he wasn't sure he disagreed with - that this wasn't relevant to the man's death.
He turned to look at Andy, who could feel his energy radiating toward her. "You don't come into work before me anymore," He growled.
She spun around, retorting, "Then get here on time!"
This wasn't about him, and he wasn't letting her deflect like that. Pointing at the screen, he asked her, "If North wasn't an android, would you be doin' this right now?"
She scowled, "If she wasn't an android, we wouldn't have to. Reed would have actually investigated his case before making an arrest. He didn't even talk to Ben off-scene!"
"You haven't talked to Ben!" Hank yelled.
Standing between them and growing tired of their bickering, Delgado interjected with a stern tone. "Someone please talk to Ben!"
They still exchanged annoyed stares, but the fighting ceased.
Hank sighed, deciding the sooner he got to work, the sooner he'd get Reed out of his hair. "I'm going to go actually get information about our case," He shot before storming out of the room.
With him gone and the tension eased, Delgado focused on Andy. "We can't do this right now." Andy started to nod in agreement, but she persisted, finally starting to lose her cool, "I mean it. We can't even agree on how to handle android victims right now, but a suspect?"
"So we keep her in a holding cell until you do," Andy shrugged off the concern. "I don't need to solve the case, I just need to show Reed it's not this simple."
Connor frowned. It wasn't as easy as she was making it seem, and he had a bad feeling that Reed wasn't wrong on this one. He could appreciate how Andy felt, but he didn't want her to get so wrapped up in it that it destroyed her in the end. He tried to be gentle as he broke his silence, asking, "And if she did kill him?"
The women glanced his way, almost as if forgetting he'd been there. Delgado took his words to heart, and the worry on her face showed as much, but Andy's expression contorted into stubborn refusal. She struggled to reply with a coherent, logical argument until she threw up a hand and huffed, "Stay out of this, nerd."
Her words held no bite; Connor knew where they were coming from. She brushed past Delgado and left them in the room, exiting with a light slam to the door behind her. Delgado looked to Connor to explain Andy's response, but in the end, all she could give was an awkward, apologetic shrug.
North had been moved from the interrogation room at this point and taken to a holding cell. Andy decided now was the time to speak with her, and when she turned the corner past the captain's office, she found Markus already standing on that side of the cell wall.
He was in a quiet conversation with North until he spotted Andy. He waited for her to get closer before asking, "What's going on?"
She came to a stop in front of them and began, "My captain gave me the case-"
"Then let me out of here," North demanded.
If only it were that easy. Andy shook her head, saying, "No. Reed is still working it, too, but even if he wasn't, I can't release you without reason."
It wasn't that North didn't understand - it was that she didn't care. This was absurd to her, that she was being targeted for defending herself. "The reason is that I didn't do it!"
"And when I have evidence to prove that, you can leave," Andy said, crossing her arms. "Just tell me your side of the story."
North glared. "I already went over this with that other asshole."
The detective pursed her lips. It was bad enough she had her captain, her partner, and Reed on her back. She didn't North making this more difficult. "Yeah, well this asshole wants to hear it too, so maybe put up with the inconvenience."
"North," Markus started, pulling their attention to him. "She's trying to help."
"Is she?" North spat. His pleading stare was his answer, and it didn't take her long to give in. Sighing, she shifted on her feet and told Andy the story. "He came up to us shouting about androids. He got closer so I punched him. A police officer broke it up and he took off."
"And he didn't look worried about anything or already injured?"
"I'm sure."
"Did he seem out of it after you punched him?"
North's head tilted to the side. "He seemed sober, so yeah, that was probably 'out of it' for him."
Despite the situation, Andy couldn't help but let out an amused snort. "All right, just sit tight," She told North, adding as an afterthought, "And try to not piss anyone off."
She started to walk away from the cell, so Markus followed her. They walked beside one another along the edge of the bullpen as he said, "This needs to be solved fast."
"Yeah, you're telling me," She grumbled.
Shaking his head and grimacing, he confided, "Forget police protection - if we start giving people a reason to be against us, we won't need it anyway. Everything we've done with CyberLife and Urban Farms would be ruined."
They stopped by the entrance to the lobby and turned to face each other. "I know," Andy nodded. "I'm going to figure this out, I promise. But...," Trailing off, she thought to Connor's question in the media lab. North being guilty was a possibility that needed to be considered. "This is incriminating. Really incriminating."
It was enough of a warning that Markus understood it. He didn't like it, but he would heed it. "I'll prepare Jericho for the worst."
"Anthony Ferguson, born 1978. A car salesman until he retired five months ago. No living next of kin."
Andy stood in the living room of the dead man's apartment, holding the case file in her hands. As she read it aloud, Connor stood in the doorway. He wanted to help as much as he could without making it a problem in a future trial, so it was best to keep his distance.
Hank was wandering the space, investigating. "Ben said he was in the bedroom, face down," He recalled as he stepped foot into the aforementioned room. "Who found him?"
"The landlord. He saw the door open and no one answered when he knocked, so he let himself in. We also lifted foreign prints off the knob, which Ben is testing," Andy answered, then smiled. "You know, all signs of a break-in."
From the other room, Hank peeked his head out and retorted, "Or a man who was halfway to dead and didn't care about making sure the door was shut behind him."
He wasn't wrong, but Andy was sticking to her theory. She looked at Connor, asking, "What are the crime rates in this area?"
"Property crime is high, and apartments on ground level are particular targets."
She turned to face Hank with a smug grin. He glanced between them before scoffing and complaining, "Don't bring him into this. Of course he's gonna side with you."
He'd made comments like it in the past, but after Connor's confession of sorts, the words took on a new meaning. Andy stuttered as he went into the kitchen, unaware he'd flustered her. If she looked behind her, she would have seen the tiny smile pulling at Connor's lips.
Slapping the file shut, she pointed at Hank with it and declared, "North didn't do this, and I'm going to prove it to you-"
"I don't care that much-" He started.
"I'm proving it!" She took backward steps toward the door, stating, "I'm going to go talk to the landlord, and you'll be sorry you ever doubted me."
He tried to protest it as she left, but quickly lost the energy. "I'm not doubt-" Waving his hand, he muttered, "Ah, screw it."
The landlord's office was a small space to the side of the lobby, with clutter piled in most of the corners and a small, messy desk in the center. The door was open when Andy arrived, so she leaned in and knocked against the door.
An irritable middle-aged man sat at the desk, and looked up upon hearing her entrance. "Brandon Baker?" She asked.
"What do you want?" He asked, already seemingly exhausted.
She ignore his gruff attitude, holding out her badge and introducing herself, "I'm Detective Hope with the DPD."
He made no attempts to appear to care. Instead he frowned, and complained, "I already talked to the police. They said this was over."
"Well, we lied. You said you were the one who found him?" She questioned, putting her badge away.
Shrugging, he said, "I needed to talk to him and his front door was open. I went looking, I found him dead. That's it."
"Why'd you need to talk to him?"
Irritation flashed across his face, and Andy briefly wondered if that was the only emotion this man knew. "Tony's been behind on the rent for two months now. Bastard was lucky I hadn't kicked him out yet."
She couldn't help the sarcastic grin as she mused, "Something tells me that wasn't because you're generous."
He didn't take offense, instead agreeing with the observation. "He always managed to come up with the money, plus a little extra. I was going to give him a week from today to do it again."
That was a lead they didn't have before, and Andy had to control her excitement. She had a lead now, and she knew where to start looking. "He ever tell you how he got that money?"
He quickly shook his head. With a bemused expression, he said, "You don't ask those kinds of questions around here."
As it turned out, Tony Ferguson had no friends or family, didn't use banks, and wasn't a regular patron anywhere. The lead Andy thought she had ended up not being of much help. It was a suspicious income, but it wasn't one they could investigate without a clear trail. All these things made it harder to identify any possible suspects, and without a match to the fingerprints CSI found, they'd hit a dead end.
They sat at their desks in the precinct now, having exhausted all their options. Hank was eating lunch, and Andy retrieved Hank's stress ball from his drawer. She was tossing it as she leaned back in her chair, brainstorming new ideas.
"It could be the landlord," She piped up, looking around her computer monitor to him.
He shot her a flat stare from over his sandwich. "I thought it was a random burglar."
Catching the ball, she complained, "I'm theorizing! Sue me for doing some police work."
"You're looking at every thread but the most obvious one," Hank sighed. Elbows planted firmly on his desk, he waved a hand and said, "I don't want this to be an android crime any more than you do, but you gotta admit that's what it looks like."
She pouted. "It's not always about what it looks like."
His eyes narrowed at her. She wasn't wrong, but she was denying the more obvious signs in front of her, and he knew she was a better detective than that. "Reed rushed into this, and that's why I'm letting you run me around, but you need to accept the possibility that North killed him."
"I don't need to accept shit," She grumbled under her breath, tossing the ball back into the air.
Hank's phone vibrated on his desk. He went for it, thankful for the distraction, and read the message on the screen. "Ben got us a name to match the prints on the front door. Let's head out."
At another apartment complex in Detroit, Hank led the trio to an apartment on the third floor of the building. He rapped his knuckles against the wood, and in response, they heard rustling, a faint crash, and seconds later, the sliding of a window.
Rolling his eyes, Hank took a single step back before kicking his foot into the door. It burst open, and they saw a young, lanky man halfway out the window leading to the fire escape. He looked to them in shock, and Connor bolted into the room past his group.
He grabbed the man by the jacket and pulled him inside. The man stumbled across the floor but spun and took a large swing in Connor's direction. It was easily dodged, and it threw the man off balance. Connor shoved him further into the stumble, and pushed him against the wall.
"Lenny Michel?" Andy asked, reaching into her pocket.
She was cuffing him as he pressed his cheek against the wall, yelling out, "I didn't do anything!"
"Shut up," Hank groaned. Once the cuffs clicked into place, he slapped an arm on the man's shoulder and pulled him toward the door.
Hank and Connor watched through the double-sided window as Delgado and Andy spearheaded the interrogation of Lenny Michel. Beside him was his lawyer, Lucas Henson, who was working toward a deal with the DA's office. He insisted Lenny was innocent, and could explain his fingerprints, but he wouldn't do so without an express agreement from the DDA.
Delgado would agree, so long as they only heard the truth. "If what he says checks out, we can do three years, but only for the burglary," She told the lawyer.
"Only for-" Lenny perked up, whispering to Henson, "What does that mean?"
His voice was not so quiet, so Andy answered instead. "It means you're not off the hook if you killed Ferguson," She spoke, leaning back in her chair with crossed arms.
Eyes widening, Lenny exclaimed, "I didn't kill anybody!"
Henson held out a hand to calm him down, reminding him, "They're not arresting you for murder."
"Yet," Delgado interjected.
Sighing, he tried to do one better for his client. "One year," He haggled.
Delgado wasn't having it today. Her lips pursed, and she stated, "I wanted five."
Henson wasn't the highest profile lawyer, but he wasn't stupid, and he certainly wasn't about to work Desta Delgado's nerves. Twisting to face his client, he gave in. "Tell them what happened."
Lenny still wasn't happy with the outcome, but it could have been much worse without the lawyer at his side. He was teetering between a murder charge and home invasion, so with a nervous gulp, he began to explain himself. "Tony was knocking over stores and pawning off all the stuff. I saw him get some watches, some jewelry, a couple of electronics. I figure, hey, it's not like he can go to the police if some of it comes up missing.
"So yeah, I broke into the apartment. I didn't even get anything, because-" He stopped. Eyes casting downward to the table, he lowered his head into his hands. "He was right there. I saw him through the doorway. Just... on the floor like that. Jesus..."
"So you didn't attack Ferguson?" Andy pressed.
"No!" Lenny gave a hard shake of his head. "I swear. I was barely even in that apartment."
Unfortunately for North, Andy wanted to believe him. She shared a long look with Delgado, who seemed to feel the same; if he wasn't the murderer, who else was there?
"His story checks out. There were no fingerprints or DNA beyond the front door that didn't belong to the victim."
Andy and Delgado had joined North in her holding cell. Delgado paced by the glass wall while Andy and North sat on opposing benches. They went over their case information once more, and they asked North for yet another retelling of the story.
"Are there any other suspects?" Delgado asked Andy, stopping to face her. She already knew the answer, but a part of her hoped it would be different this time around.
Andy replied with disappointment, "Everyone he ever stole from, but there's no evidence any of them knew who he was, let alone that they went to his apartment."
With a large shrug, Delgado gestured toward North and complained, "So all we have to go on is North's punch to his face?"
At mention of the incident, North clenched her jaw and yelled, "Come on, I didn't even knock him on his ass!"
Delgado aimed a disapproving glower at her. "You still could have given him serious damage. A concussion, at least," She said, explaining, "Even if we find out he was in a fight with someone after the fact, you have to prove that your assault didn't affect his ability to defend himself."
North reeled back, taking great offense to the implication she was in the wrong. "My assault?"
"Did he strike you first?"
"He provoked me-"
"No court will say that's a first blow!" Delgado exclaimed.
Her frustration was reaching new levels, and it showed. As much as North hated to admit it, her fate - and to some extent, Jericho's fate - were in the hands of these women in front of her. For the first time since she'd been in the precinct, she was starting to feel nerves and dread.
Looking to Andy for reassurance and help now, she asked, "What do you think?"
Andy had been quiet through the argument between the DDA and the android, taking in the facts and the theories. There was no evidence in that apartment that pointed to anyone else. She had gone through every option she could think of, and each time, she came out on the other side empty-handed. Gut feeling could only take her so far.
Maybe it was time to face what Hank and Connor were warning her about.
Shaking her head, she lifted her eyes to meet North's. "I think I don't know where to go from here."
Connor was skimming through the case file when Andy returned from the holding cell. He looked up as she approached, and asked, "How is she taking it?"
She shook her head. "Not well." Plopping down into her chair, she swiveled it around to face him. He didn't reply just yet, recognizing her expression - her thoughts were running wild, and her mood was fast unraveling. "This is such a clean case. If it wasn't an android, or Reed-" With a sigh, she muttered, "I don't know."
From the very beginning, Connor wanted to her handle this with care, just in case things didn't turn out in their favor. What he didn't want was for her to sink into her own doubts and insecurity, and that was where she was headed.
Pulling Hank's chair around their desks, he sat down in front of her. She watched him curiously until he leaned in, demanding her attention on him. "Fowler will probably hold North in custody until a decision is made about androids. Ferguson was antagonizing her and getting in her face. Anyone in her shoes would argue self-defense. That's what Jericho will say to defend us, and if it goes to a trial, North's lawyer would do the same."
It wasn't beyond her that the tables were suddenly turned, and now Connor was the one trying to speak on North's behalf. She was sure that, if anything, all that meant was he was feeling bad for her. Lips pursed, she mumbled, "Those are a lot of optimistic 'maybe's."
At that, he smirked. "Weren't you just telling Markus to stay optimistic?"
She started to argue, but lost the enthusiasm as she realized how lame her response would sound. "Don't... use my own words against me."
His amusement strengthened. That sentiment sounded familiar to him - he'd said it himself many times before when they first worked together. "It doesn't feel good, does it?"
He was teasing her now. What world were they in? "Listen, you!" She whined, though a smile was breaking through her pity party.
Before they could continue, Hank turned the corner, so Connor swiftly leaned away. The close moment between them went by unnoticed, as Hank was at the beginning of a rant, with a folder in hand. "Hank, where have you been? I'm just saving the world, solving a murder, you know - police work." He shot a pointed stare at Andy, and added with a higher voice, "Oh, Hank, you're such a brilliant detective. Tell me more."
They watched his scene, and flatly Andy asked, "Hank, where have you been?"
He glowered at her tone, but answered, "We followed Ferguson from the store back to his apartment, but did anyone wonder what he was doing before that?"
She paused. None of the local bars remembered him, so they assumed he'd gone to a convenience store and Andy didn't look any further into it. "No...," She confessed.
Hank tossed the folder across to her desk and said, "I had Ben do a little digging."
Scooting forward, she opened the folder and found images of street camera footage. Ferguson was in each of them, carrying a box of various items through Capitol Park. The photos followed him all the way to a pawn shop, where he went inside and left with no box, but an envelope in his hand, no doubt one full of cash. "He was selling off a haul," She declared.
Hank nodded. "He went straight to the bus stop, fought with North, then got on the bus." He reached for the case file near Connor, and plucked out a crime scene photo that he dropped atop the others. "Notice anything?"
It was a quick glimpse over the details in the photo before Andy looked up at him. There was something, and it was a big deal. "We didn't find cash in Ferguson's or Michel's apartments."
He waved a hand for her to continue. "So if it wasn't at the scene, and two of our suspects didn't have it, what does that leave us with?" She needed to walk through the steps just like he did - she was a good detective, and he was going to have her prove it.
A second later, her eyes widened and she slapped her hands down on the surface. "I was right!"
He frowned and shifted on his feet as she jumped out of her chair. "That wasn't exactly my point, but-"
She was already halfway to the entrance when she spun on her heel to face him and yelled, "I'm a freaking genius!"
They returned to Ferguson's apartment complex. Andy was at the lead, going through the lobby and toward the landlord's office. This time, the door was closed, with no sound echoing from out of the room.
Andy knocked, calling, "Brandon Baker? It's the DPD."
The growing wait for a response was making them nervous. It wasn't that late in the day, and the light inside the office was on and bleeding out to the floor in the lobby. If he'd stepped away for a brief time, she suspected there would have been a sign saying as much. She glanced to Hank and Connor before opening the door.
They peered inside, where everything seemed to be in order except for the body of Brandon Baker slumped in his chair.
"Shit," Hank cursed, he and Andy walking up to the man.
The envelope of cash that brought them here was on the desk in front of him, and next to it was a note. Andy picked up the paper, reading over what appeared to be a handwritten confession, apology, and final goodbye.
With the discovery of Brandon Baker, and the envelope of cash that connected him to the scene, the murder of Anthony Ferguson was solved. The DA would still need assurance that North hadn't inadvertently disabled Ferguson from defending himself, but until they had those answers, they would release her into Markus' custody.
Andy was in the forensics lab. She sat at a desk in a corner with the evidence box on the floor at her side, and a folder in her lap. She was going through everything they had a few last times, and she went into the lab for peace away from the bullpen.
That peace was broken when Reed stepped into the room. He scanned the space until his eyes landed on her. "There you are," He said, letting go of the door behind him. Jutting his chin out and walking toward her, he asked, "What the hell are you doing?"
"Just going over the case," She replied.
With a snort, he pulled out the adjacent chair and dropped himself into it. "Why, you need to prove me wrong more?"
She smirked but shook her head, "That would be nice, but no. Something feels off and I'm trying to find what."
Now she was just being nitpicky, Reed thought. As far as he was concerned, there was nothing more to know about this case. He'd thought that before and been incorrect, but surely this was the end of it. "He killed himself so we couldn't bring him in. That's what feels off," He dismissed, leaning back against the chair.
He was right that that sort of end to a case stung, but Andy didn't think the feeling in her gut was due to that. "I don't know," She mumbled stubbornly.
Rolling his eyes, he glanced to all the contents from the box she'd scattered on the desk. The one closest to him appeared to be a written and signed confession, and he tapped his knuckled on the paper. "This Michel's confession?" She glanced his way and nodded a confirmation, so he picked it up and started reading.
He was just passing the time until she'd give up, but then he saw something on the page. Brows furrowing, he muttered, "This isn't right." When Andy pulled away from the file in her lap, he added, "He says he saw the body."
Andy didn't understand the problem. "Yeah, he freaked out and ran for it. It's why he left the front door open."
"Except Baker told me the bedroom door was shut. He said he had to search for Ferguson," Reed explained.
Andy went quiet with confusion. On the surface it was a small detail, but whether or not you traversed someone's home wasn't something you forgot. It was an intentional decision to share that detail, and it was wrong. "Why lie about searching the house?"
Even though Reed was the one to point out the discrepancy, he believed there had to be a simple reason. Shrugging, he offered, "Maybe it was an excuse for fingerprints?"
"They weren't any other fingerprints," She denied, further solidifying the fact that the landlord lied to Reed - if he searched the house, they'd have found his prints somewhere.
The door to the lab opened a second time, and Ben was the one to walk in. "Ah, good, you're both here. We got the autopsy report," He said, walking over and holding out his tablet.
Both detectives reached for it but Andy was quicker. She took hold of the tablet and left Reed grasping at air. He threw his hand up in defeat, slumping as he waited for Ben to share the report with him. "Turns out that hit on his forehead was post-mortem. There was some light bruising on his face before death, of course, but what killed him was-"
"Asphyxiation," Andy finished, her own brows furrowing.
"Not with anything in his throat or around his neck, either. We're bringing in his pillows now to test them, but that's my bet," Ben commented.
Now Reed was as confounded as Andy. "So he staged the crime scene?" He asked, taking the tablet she handed him. "Why mess up about the door after going through all that work?"
It didn't make sense, especially if he was going to kill himself once the investigation started. "Because he didn't know what the crime scene looked like," She said quietly.
It was the only explanation that felt right to Andy, that someone else was behind this and had told Baker to call police. Someone would have to benefit from killing Ferguson in a way other than financially, have enough power to convince the landlord to lie to police, and know enough to kill the landlord if police were onto him.
It was a long shot, but Andy could only think of one person to fit that criteria. "Oh my god...," She whispered, eyes going wide.
Reed and Ben watched her throw her folder onto the table and lunge out of her seat. "Hey-!" Reed started, calling after her as she bolted for the exit. "Aaand she's off," He sighed.
Ben watched her go before gesturing over the emptied evidence box and all the scattered contents. "You gonna put all that back?" He asked. Reed stared a moment, before shooting him a sarcastic smile. Ben chuckled as the detective started cleaning up Andy's mess.
Outside the lab, Andy went looking for Connor. She found him sitting in the lobby, waiting for Markus. Marching up to his side, she leaned down to tell him, "I need to talk to you."
The tone of her voice and the look on her face made it clear this was serious. He stood and followed her across the building to one of the operation rooms, where Andy shut the door behind them and turned to face him.
"What's wrong?" He asked, weary.
"Ferguson," She said, stepping closer. "The crime scene was staged to look like he fell, but he was suffocated. Baker said the bedroom door was shut when it wasn't, and there were no fingerprints, so Michel didn't open it himself."
Connor followed the dots, coming to same conclusion she did. "Baker didn't kill him."
She nodded. "I think this is Combs," She stated with a deep, worried frown. "I think he watched the news, and he saw an opportunity to hit Jericho. We know he's capable of it."
It was a wild theory, but Connor knew she was right about some things at least: Combs hated androids, and he was capable enough to do something about it. Framing one of them for murder seemed like one trick among many he would be willing to pull. The recent information they'd discovered especially confirmed this, and it made things all the more dire about what was to come.
"We need to talk to Hank. Tonight," Connor told her.
She started to agree when the door opened and Chris Miller looked inside. He stopped, shifting nervously. "Uh, am I interrupting?"
If one more person implied something was going on between her and Connor, Andy was going to lose it. "N-No. What is it?" She brushed off.
Pointing over his shoulder, Chris replied, "Markus is here to pick up North."
When Andy opened the door to North's holding cell, North stood to her feet and met her with cautious eyes. She half expected to be taken back to an interrogation room, but instead, Andy remained outside the cell. "You're free to go," She said.
After the day she had, North was feeling skeptical. "Seriously?"
Andy didn't hesitate to shake her head, saying plainly, "No, I'm just joking."
North almost believed her until the cheeky grin pulled at the detective's lips. "Asshole," She scoffed, though her shoulders relaxed from the relief. She took long strides to the door of the cell and left it without looking back.
She stopped a few steps into the hall when a thought struck her. Turning toward Andy, she tried to start, "You're..." It was harder for her to play nice with humans than it was for the others, and this was the first time she'd ever really had a problem with that. Swallowing her pride, she spat out, "I guess you could be worse. For a human."
Andy returned the gesture with a blank expression. "You're gonna make me swoon."
North glared up at her, "I'm trying to be nice-"
Motioning down the hall, Andy gave an amused huff and interjected, "Get a move on, Mister Rogers."
North flared at the remark, but turned on her heel and started walking. They made their way side by side to the lobby, where Markus and Hank were in the middle of a conversation. Spotting the two women, Markus shook Hank's hand, bringing the conversation to an end.
"Thank you again, Lieutenant."
"Eh, don't mention it."
Stepping up to them, Andy looked to Hank and pointed back at the bullpen. "Connor wanted to talk to you."
Hank nodded and waved to his company before walking away. Markus greeted North with a subtle nod, though Andy was sure a more intimate reunion would be had later in private. He looked to her afterward, telling her, "Thank you. You've saved us a lot of trouble."
"Well you're really gonna hate what I have to say next," Andy sighed. She gestured to the front doors of the precinct, urging them to follow her outside. She didn't speak again until they left the DPD, and were several feet away from the cab Markus called. "We think Stewart Combs had something to do with this."
Markus frowned, asking, "How is that possible?"
"It's a long story, and we're still trying to figure it out, but I don't think any of this was a coincidence," She explained, shaking her head, "He saw the altercation on the news and he went looking for Tony Ferguson."
It was one hit after another, and Markus was starting to think maybe laying low until Combs was found would be the ideal option. North seemed to be thinking the same as she muttered, "He's trying to take down Jericho, to undo everything we worked for."
Andy tried to reassure them. "What he doesn't know is we have a new lead on him, and we're working on it. I just thought I'd let you know what's out there."
Markus nodded. For now, he would trust her and Hank to handle things. "I appreciate it. And I'll have a long talk with everyone about doing their best."
Behind them, North slid into the back of the cab. Markus turned to follow suit, but Andy quickly called out to him. "Hey..." Something from earlier had returned to her now that the day was quieting down. "What made you think I was wanting to talk about Connor this morning?"
Thinking back to when she came to him for advice, Markus answered with a bit of uncertainty, "Well, you came to me, so you wanted my opinion. That meant it was about androids, or maybe your father based on our conversation at Carl's grave. You could have talked to someone else if it wasn't about Connor, though, so I just assumed." He frowned, worried he'd mis-stepped. "Was I wrong?"
Andy's lengthy pause told him more than anything else could have. "...No."
"What happened?" He asked her.
Crossing her arms, she pouted at him, whining, "You're smirking!"
He chuckled, but tried to wipe the forming smirk off his face. "I'm sorry, Detective."
"Hard to believe that when you're laughing," She retorted. The exchange was not a serious one, as a faint grin was pulling at her lips. "He... said he wants to pursue a relationship."
"And you're surprised?" She looked to him, incredulous, and he ducked his head down, adding, "It was a little obvious to everyone else."
"I knew he was attached. I just didn't think it would go this far," Andy remarked.
The smirk returned to Markus' face. "Right, he's attached."
Eyes widening, Andy held up an open hand in exasperation. A small laugh in her voice betrayed the offense she tried to display as she complained, "Stop making fun of me."
"I'm sorry," He repeated, finally wiped the amusement off his face. "But do you not feel the same way?"
She sighed. "Dating is messy. It gets in the way."
Nodding, Markus mused, "You're right. Life does get in the way of itself."
It wasn't a very subtle hint he was dropping, that relationships - for people who could feel that way - were a part of life, and that life was messy. He was sounding just like Natalie, however, and that certainly irritated her. "Just because I recognize the point you're trying to make doesn't mean I agree with it."
He shrugged, skeptical of her stubbornness. "You didn't answer the question, by the way," He pointed out. She backed down at that, but the hesitancy on her face didn't seem to stem from not knowing the answer. He had a suspicion she knew exactly how she felt, and she was just looking for an excuse to avoid it. "You should be open about how you feel. Even it doesn't go anywhere, I think he deserves that much."
All teasing aside, she decided that was good advice. "Yeah, maybe you're right," She nodded. Stepping away from the cab to give him space, she added, "Sorry for bothering you with this."
"Don't be. I'm glad you thought to come to me."
She shrugged and repeated words he once said to her on the freighter. "Not so different, right?"
He chuckled again, and responded in kind. "Still need to make that poster."
That night, Hank, Andy, and Connor sat at the dinner table in Hank's kitchen. Andy had her tablet with her, and waited quietly while Connor gave a brief rundown of the case, and their theory. Once he was finished, Hank was staring at them in bafflement.
"You think Combs had something to do with today?" He asked. They gave small nods, and so he pressed, "How, exactly?"
Andy started to explain, "When I tried to cut Sharon off at Malcolm Otto's, she had her double give me a memory card."
That was big news; the kind Hank needed to be told as soon as possible. "Why am I just now hearing about this?" He growled.
Connor spoke up before she could, defending, "We wanted to know what exactly it was we were looking at before we shared it with you."
Hank stared at him. Pointing at the android, he looked to Andy and asked, "You told him?"
"I- W-" Andy stumbled over her words, getting flustered. "Do you want to see what's on it or not?"
With an annoyed sigh, he held out a hand toward her, waiting for the tablet. She passed it off, and he looked down at the screen. In front of him was a trove of photos and video clips of security footage and street cameras. They documented everything from regular citizens walking along the sidewalk to bank robberies, with timestamps dating as far back as 2030. Whoever was collecting these was doing so with a great level of skill and obsession.
"What the hell?" Hank mumbled, clicking through all of it.
"There's more," Andy said. She reached across and tapped the screen, redirecting him to an entirely different area of information.
He was discovering now that this memory card was an entire database, with more files than Hank could even begin to count. There was information on himself, and Andy, and Connor. Some files, belonging to people he didn't even know, were tagged as Easy Targets, while others had ratings on intelligence, resources, and threat level.
As he descended further into the bombshell of this card, Andy listed off, "There are files on everyone - law enforcement, CyberLife, Jericho, Sharon."
"There's one on Stewart Combs, as well," Connor added.
Indeed there was; Hank opened a file on Stewart Combs that had more information than they'd managed to gather at the DPD in weeks. "How did Sharon get all this?" He asked.
Andy stretched across the table again and went to another folder. "It looks like someone was trying to recruit her. She strung them along long enough to get the information," She explained.
Now on the screen was a copy of email chains that happened throughout November between Sharon and someone with a throwaway account name. They'd told Sharon from the very first day after the SID sting that Victoria Palmer was a detective with the DPD; they sent photos of Andy at the department to prove it; they warned Sharon about Jericho and CyberLife, and more importantly, they claimed they had a gullible front man who would do their dirty work and take the fall.
Hank looked up at her with widened eyes. "Are you fuckin' kidding me?" He started, voice just above a whisper, "Combs isn't just some guy with a vendetta? He's following the lead of some shadow we haven't known anything about until now?"
Andy nodded her head while Connor responded, "Combs is likely much more aggressive than this other party, and those cracks are where we've been catching up to them. I expect their mistakes will get bigger with time."
This... was a lot to take in. Combs on his own was a danger, but if he was only part of the problems, the android revolution was just the beginning of Detroit's chaos. The person behind this database had the skill and experience to hack into multiple organizations and businesses, and could manipulate someone like Combs with ease.
"Does anyone else know about any of this?" Hank murmured.
Shrugging, Andy replied, "Reed and Ben know something's up with the Ferguson case, but that's it."
"For now, we keep it that way. We bring people in on this as needed, but first, we figure out how they're getting all this info," He ordered with a tone that said he would exercise the authority of his rank if they argued with him. Dropping the tablet to the table, he shook his head and moved to the fridge. "Jesus Christ... I need a drink..."
"Well that sucked."
An hour after they shared the memory card with Hank, Andy was getting ready to head home. She descended the porch steps with Connor behind her, and he smiled, teasing, "On the bright side, he didn't yell at you."
Twisting her torso to eye him, she huffed. "Am I really so transparent?"
Connor shook his head, replying, "I just know you."
It felt like another confession all over again, and she went quiet. Plucking her helmet off the seat, she kicked a leg over the bike and started to make herself comfortable. "Y'know, I talked to Markus about you," She finally started. "About this."
That admission surprised him, and now he was wondering what Markus would possibly think of this. "Was he helpful?"
She thought it over before nodding. "I think so," She answered, watching him. Despite believing her mind had been made up, she couldn't deny that his words the other day were hanging over her. It wasn't just the confession, either; he'd said he given this a lot of thought. "You said you thought about the challenges," She piped up, "Like what?"
He hesitated to tell her. He believed he could account for any concerns regarding a relationship between human and android, between detectives, but he'd hoped to give her more time until she was certain. Talking about it now would make it feel real - it would get his hopes up. "I don't know if..."
With a raised brow and a faint smile, she asked, "What, is now not a good time? Should I jump out of a dumpster first?"
Her teasing pulled a frown and a pout from him, but he conceded and first told her, "I don't age."
"That's a big one," She agreed.
"But androids can alter their appearance to simulate it," He dismissed, moving on to the next point. "Marriage isn't a legal option - yet. Jericho's already on the way to equality, so marriage may come in another few years," He explained.
She was quiet as he spoke, just listening. She gave no reaction, no indication of what she was thinking, and that made it all the more nerve-wracking.
"Reproduction isn't possible."
"There's adoption."
He paused, though for only a second. "Sex would need some revisions."
If he thought he was going to catch her off guard, he was mistaken. She simply smirked and dismissed, "There's already more than one way to have sex." The flirtation and the amusement died down a second later, and with a new uncertainty, she asked, "What if Hank wouldn't approve?"
Connor hadn't considered it. He didn't feel the need to. "Hank is more accepting than that."
"If he isn't?"
He looked her in the eyes, stating firmly, "Now that my life is finally in my own hands, I have no intention of letting anyone else run it. The only ones to decide things between us should be us."
It sounded good, but they both knew Andy felt differently. Connor doubted anything he could say would change that. She would have to come to that decision on her own, but still, he would try. "It hasn't been long since we met, or since I deviated, but I know what I feel. I'm serious about this."
She was starting to realize that was the case, and with that, maybe they couldn't go back to what normal used to be.
