Disclaimer: I don't own Detroit: Become Human in any way, this is written strictly for fun and no profit.
Notes:
Connecting to AI: These are the words I use for when an Android is speaking to another, or several, but not out /
Recharge: Recharge is like sleep. Androids can go a long time without a recharge but to stay in balance, recharging every night helps. Child androids tend to need a longer recharge.
Kara watched when the car stopped. Rose, Adam, and the man Hank all got off. They needed to use the restroom. Although that wasn't something she or Alice needed, some fresh air would be good. She patted Alice's shoulder. "Want to go outside a bit?" Like she thought, she shook her head yes. They went past Connor who was doing something with a small tablet. Probably working. Who knew. She held Alice's hand as they left.
"We're getting out to stretch," Alice said toward Connor. "Do you want to come too?"
Connor had lifted his eyes from the tablet. "Oh. Sure." He stood up and came out "Thank you for inviting me."
There, that again. Was Kara wrong? He just seemed . . . maybe it was her experience with him being more hands on than it was with Luther. His smile was clear. He seemed nice. But his words, his straight back all the time, he just seemed so . . . He is deviant. He apologized. He went all that way to apologize and even went through so much trouble to get her back. So? She looked down at Alice, moving her slightly out of the way as he came back down.
"You were a police officer. Are you still a police officer?" Alice asked.
"I worked with the police department, but I don't do that anymore. I mainly handle whatever the leader Markus gives me," Connor admitted. "It feels underwhelming at times. I'm adjusting."
Oh. Great. He is the only android she's been able to talk to besides me. She is trying to build a connection. But she didn't want her to build another connection. "Let's go for a small walk, Alice. This shouldn't take long."
"Do you enjoy playing?" Connor asked her, making Alice stop and look back at him. "I've seen it both ways. Many kids enjoyed playing, while others preferred not to play. I believe it felt like something they were forced to do."
"Oh, I liked playing. When I got a chance to," Alice said. "It's kind of hard to do that."
"It won't be there. Nearly seventy percent of the children I've seen play there." Connor gave her a big, bright smile. "I'm sure you will find a companion that you can call a friend. Maybe many of them."
"That'll be nice. I hope so, Connor," Alice said.
Using his name now. Fortunately, Kara saw Hank coming back. She looked behind, hoping she would see Rose too.
"Did the process go well?" Connor asked. He watched as Hank slugged him on the arm. "That didn't hurt."
"Pretend it did," Hank answered. "Back in the van."
He didn't have to tell Kara twice. She moved back onto it with Alice, toward the back again.
"You get in touch with your Markus?" Hank asked Connor.
"Yes," Connor said, ducking into the van to grab his tablet. He came back out. "Strange using this device. Not close enough to hear him any other way." He opened the tablet. "He has been very good about not messing with another countries data or hacking into it. It wouldn't be a good idea, and things are always rocky enough."
"Yeah, and?" Hank asked. "Just tell me what's going to happen. Tell me we can all get on a plane and that whole cruise thing was a joke."
"We can all get on a plane."
"Thank goodness," Hank said.
"Just not when we were supposed to." Connor smiled. "Since Markus won't mess with data in Canada, we have to take a flight that originates from America. Detroit, specifically. He'll make the changes while it's there, so when it comes here we are good. It will be a round trip, without being a round trip."
"Cut off half of my vacation, I don't care," Hank answered. "That means he paid for it? Getting better and better. Alright. Where is the airport this all takes place in?"
"Two hours away."
"Now that I can get behind. Come on, Connor, in the van," Hank insisted. "Other two tagalongs are coming and I'm not wasting any more time."
Back at Jericho . . .
Connor flipped his coin. He had nothing to preoccupy himself again. All the tasks Markus had given him had been done again. They were all back from Canada, Kara visited Markus with Alice and they were getting established.
He had hoped once he fixed that regret, he would somehow have become like many of the others. He had hoped Markus knew something that he hadn't. He didn't though. He felt no different than he had before.
"Where are the other kids?"
Connor looked beside him. Ah, Alice. "Around the corner. I'll show you." He moved away from his corner. "Did you get accommodations to live in?" No. That would be too complicated for a little android. "Did you get a home area?"
"Yes," Alice said. "We're going there soon. Kara just needs to talk to Markus a little longer. What do I say to other kids, Connor?"
Oh. "I don't know," Connor admitted. "I am not a kid. I would be friendly, and try to adapt to them if you can." Yet. "Not completely. You can adapt, but be yourself. Compromise."
"Okay," Alice agreed. "It's just. I've never been around other kids. Some small ones, but they didn't really talk. It was different."
"Yes. Everyone's different," Connor said back to her as they rounded a corner. "They are usually here but I don't see anyone. You could wait and see if they show up."
"No. I don't want to stray too far from Kara," Alice said. "I'll remember the spot." Yet, she kind of lingered.
"Is there something else?" he asked.
"You're deviant, but you don't act like it," she said. "Everyone else. They act different than you. Why?"
Ah. "Many notice but don't say anything. I overhear them, and they even know it, but no one says it outright," Connor said as he walked back with her. "In most cases I suppose pointing it out is considered rude by some."
"Oh. I didn't mean to be rude."
"I don't think you were. Children, tend to ask what's on their mind, so it wasn't rude. Just, trying to comprehend the world." If only he could comprehend the world like that. "I am deviant, but I am the only one of my series. A prototype. You'll see around here others that look similar to you. There are at least three. Any androids whose owners didn't give them up, they were sent here. Multiples. There are none of me."
"How come?" Alice asked.
"Well. I came to find out I was a special kind of android." He looked at his arm. "This is not my original arm, or my original body. I've apparently died many times. My memory has simply been reuploaded, over and over, into different machines just like me."
"Oh." Alice looked straight ahead. "That's different. I'm sorry. So? Does having more like us, make it easier for us to act better? Me and Kara never traveled with a same series, but Kara seems normal to me."
"The definition of normal in this case, being less . . . automatic." Connor didn't know how to take their conversation. "I am deviant," he said. He thought for a second. "I can speak." Think. "I can speak and feel fine." Think. "With shorter sentences." Think. "Thought out. Many times, I speak fine even without that, but at moments I apparently don't do so well when I don't think ahead of time."
"Because you're a different android with no multiples except replacements?" She asked.
"No. I just said that to show how different I am." It was tough to explain. Alice's capacity of knowledge wasn't large and expansive, she hadn't been designed that way. Her AI would let her learn, but it was slow. Connor stopped and bent down to her level. "Deviancy occured when something overwhelmed an android, breaking it's programming. I however was designed to be very hard to break, because I was seeing things that would make a normal android break. Over and over. Everyday. It was my job, to catch dangerous androids or negotiate with them."
"Oh." Alice nodded. "I get it. You were tougher inside, to make sure you couldn't feel. That toughness is why you're still different."
"Not bad," Connor said. "You yourself would make a good detective."
"Not really, that confused me," Alice admitted. "But, I guess that's just you?"
"That's just me?"
"Yeah," Alice said. "Maybe you are who you are. Maybe you weren't supposed to be against androids, but maybe you were still supposed to be a detective. Like, that's what you still want?"
Kids. Interesting concept, with way too many twitchy words. "Without so much hardwired into you, your creative thinking has a larger boundary than the average one of us." She just smiled as he stood up. "So much so that I don't quite grasp what you're saying."
"You liked being a machine, sort of," Alice tried again.
Nope. "You should go wait closer to the door for Kara."
"Oh! I didn't mean it that way quite," Alice fumbled her words. "I know you didn't like going after other androids. I get that. I'm sorry. I meant. Like. I was made to play and be a normal human child replacement. But, I still like to play. I still like a lot of the same things. I'm just not forced to."
Oh. Conner relaxed his stance. "I didn't like what I had to do." But maybe? Had her open mind seen something he didn't? "I am still friends with Hank. He was my partner. The partner part changed, but the friend part didn't." She was close to something.
"Come on, Alice." Kara came out of the building she was speaking in with Markus. She knew she'd been there. "Alice?"
"In a second, Kara," Alice told her. She looked back at Connor. "I have to go."
"I liked saving others. I saved a little girl on a building from an android who tried to kill her once," Connor told her. He got it. He got it! He smiled widely and gave Alice a sly wink. "Thank you, Alice. You helped me in an extremely wonderful way."
"It was nice to talk to you too. And thank you for getting us back here," Alice said before she bounded toward Kara. Taking her hand, they both left.
"Alice." Kara looked down toward her. "There should be some kids around here that you can make friends with around a corner."
"I know," Alice said. "Connor showed me. They aren't out right now, but there's a playground. I'd rather see our new home first. Do you know what color it is?"
"Bright, vibrant blue," Kara said holding her hand tighter. "Not very far from here. Markus keeps the children more to the area of control." Should she be honest? Alice knew right from wrong, and she knew when Kara kept things from her. "Not every human is happy to have us back. Some cross over and try to hassle. Sometimes. Markus can't outlaw them not to come in. They have freedoms too, and if we want to continue to leave, we need to respect their freedom."
"They come over?" Alice asked. "Do they hurt us?"
"It's not the same as before," Kara answered. "There have been a few incidences, but, it can't be helped, Alice." She nodded. "When you know humans are near, just stay inside. It'll be safe there. We might not be living alone forever. If more children come, we are next in line to share our place."
"I understand. I'm still happy we came back," Alice said, calming Kara's regret. "No matter what. You shouldn't have worked as much as you did. I'd rather deal with all this, then lose you to being burned out. I can't lose you, Kara."
"Never, and you never will," Kara said. They kept walking a distance. Jericho wasn't just a boat anymore, it was the name of the area the androids had received. While there weren't millions, there were thousands, and more arrived a little everyday from places that had sheltered their android through it all. They were often kept underwraps, until they were either discovered or became deviant.
It was policy whether deviant or not, that all androids found in America were to go to Jericho. It was good and bad, she understood that. Some androids were very close to their family and didn't want to leave. Then it was android on android until they calmed down. It wasn't easy. While many androids had specialties they were programmed with, many rebelled against their original intentions for being created.
Instead, they often interfaced with each other, to slowly pick up new skills. These new skills made them happy, while at the same time, serving mankind so they could still get the technology that kept them all running. But some skills were easier learned than others. Being created to be a baker was different than getting a set of instructions to bake.
And some skills were strictly for human pleasure. "Alice," Kara said to her out of the blue as they approached their new residence. Small and humble, but reserved for androids. It included a kitchen and it would turn her into a specific baker, unless she didn't find baking desirable. Then they would go elsewhere and do something different.
"What is it, Kara?" Alice asked.
Alice looked toward her. "Some of your new friends, they might not always seem healthy. They were created to be sick more often, for humans to take care of." She tried to explain it. "Some are like you. Some are not. Some can turn off their temperature sensors. Some can't."
"I know," Alice admitted. "That can't always be changed."
"No. It can't." Still. Kara smiled. "A new start though. Not where I thought, but it's a good place."
When they went aside, both of them felt such a relief.
"Kara! Some toys were left behind!"
Kara smiled and looked up the stairs, hearing Alice's voice. That was good to hear. She looked around the kitchen. A baker. It sounded different. Hopefully it worked. There were books she was supposed to use, and Markus spoke of a neighbor who knew the baking she had to do, they just didn't want to do it anymore. Kara had cooked before, basic cooking, but she'd never been proficient at desserts.
There was more than one choice to pick from, but Kara didn't really know which appealed the best, and this one came with a house ready for the cooking. She wanted Alice settled as quick as possible so all of her nerves would settle down.
Alice rushed down the stairs, jumping more on the last two steps. "I like it. Our home." She walked toward Kara. "I love it here, Kara. How far are we from Connor and Hank?"
Connor's Residence.
First thing tomorrow. Connor returned to his small place on the outskirts of Jericho. He needed to think of what to say. How to form the words to make Markus understand his purpose. If he took it as violent, he'd never agree. Alice was right though. He wasn't a machine, but when he was one, he was still doing what he needed to do. He had enough with trying to challenge himself with his coin in the rain. It was time to-
A gun went off. He knew that sound well and went on alert, looking around. He'd heard there'd been some trifles here and there, but that wasn't a trifle. That was a gunshot. He heard an android yelling in grief and ran to the scene. There on the ground lied a woman, with a man holding her. She was shot, right through the head. The man was the one grieving. In that situation, nothing could be said. He needed to return back to Marcus. However, the grieving man said something.
"Ten. Ten. Ten. Ten." He repeated the words over and over, in shock. "Ten."
Then, Connor understood as he heard the shouting too.
Just Outside Jericho
"MP 800!" A man held his gun proudly with a trio of people. "Ten points! Beat James' ZT 200 last week. Aren't you glad you came with us, Paul?"
"Yeah," Paul said. "I mean, there's no meat like deer. You can't even get the trophy. But man, what a rush." He placed his gun into it's holster.
"I heard someone got in there close enough. They almost had the balls to get it," a woman said. She was sporting a green shirt with Jericho X'd out on it. "Imagine that. I'd keep the head if I could for proof. Mount it on my wall next to my prized deer. Don't even have to pay for the taxidermy. I would save it for a really good one though. Maybe a kid. They gotta exist in there somewhere."
"Probably like a mama dear, keeping them close in the center. Never gonna hit one."
"Don't push, Paul. Sue's crazy." Another man with a strange stocking cap and jacket moved past them. "She might try and get herself in trouble by getting too close."
"No way. The one who almost had the balls to get the body?" Sue said. "Guy was escorted out. I'm not kidding. The leader held a gun on him, made him give up, and walked him out. Not a scratch."
"No way. I don't believe you, Sue. Getting them out here is one thing, but in there? They'll fight back."
"They can't, it's against their rules. If they do, it means war. And if they do that?" Sue cocked her gun. "Finally real open season on them plastic suckers."
"I don't know," Paul said. "Jericho is just getting bigger each day, you know? The land they keep getting, it's a crawl, but it's still going. What if it ends up being as big as Detroit itself? How packed are they all in there? Could be two thousand. Could be two hundred thousand."
"Ah, excuse me, Buddy." A man walked past Paul.
"Yeah. We should stop being such morons and take them out while they're small. They're supposed to start working on worldwide androids here soon. Worldwide. More places like Jericho. Be as big as a state. Maybe even bigger soon. This shit has got to stop."
Connor held himself steady. He walked past them, getting a chance to hear about what was going on. Not being in Jericho, they didn't even notice him as android. He walked behind them a short ways before he saw Hank come over and put in the plant.
"I gotta say," Hank said glancing at Connor. "I don't feel one bit sorry for them when they're found. Hot Henry isn't anyone to **** with. He'll beat them senseless." He patted Connor on the back. "If they cause him trouble, he might even kill them."
"A game," Connor said. "The shootings around here. They're all part of some game."
"There's a lot of sick ****ers out there, Connor. You know that."
"We aren't animals. We aren't deer. We are alive!" Terrible. It was just terrible. Connor pulled his stocking cap down more. "We are alive, and every android in Jericho is a target at a carnival, waiting to be shot down."
"At least most of the time they have lousy aim. Not a very good view. Talk shit all they want, it wouldn't take balls, it would take brass balls to walk in Jericho with a gun shooting." Hank looked back at Connor. "You good?"
"Yeah."
"You want pictures of what Hot Henry is gonna do?"
"No," Connor said. "I'm going to get back. I can't be traced back out here like this. Thanks, Hank."
"No problem. Making asshats get what's comin' to them is my thing. Night, Connor." He gave a simple wave as he left.
Headquarters of Jericho, next morning .
Connor walked in and watched Markus mapping something out with North. "I know what I should do."
Markus turned and looked toward him. "Connor." He smiled and came over toward him. "I'm glad to see you got Kara and Alice out of that situation. That was good work. I had no idea that kind of thing was going on."
"Yes. Alice especially seems to be happy here," Connor admitted. "I came here to tell you that I understand what I should do. I found my purpose."
"I liked the original thing you did, except with humans," North said to him.
Markus patted her hand and looked back at Connor, connecting just to his AI. Don't mind her. It's her anger, it helps her with her past. She doesn't mean it. After that, he continued speaking out loud. "What is it you want?"
"She is right, I liked my original thing I did, except with humans," Connor said. "Not in quite the same way though as her meaning."
"You do?" Markus seemed surprised. "I knew what you would want would have to do with orders. I was thinking some kind of controller. Construction later on. You enjoyed your original purpose of being created?"
Connor held out his hand. "Not completely. Not the hunting down androids. I . . ." He didn't want to end up in the same bind as Alice did with him, making him feel offended. Instead, he interfaced, letting Markus see for himself.
Markus nodded. "A tower. Stopping someone to save someone. I get it." Hmm. "I don't think we have a need for that yet, but I'll keep it in mind, Connor." Markus looked back toward North. "Well?"
"Some like the idea, others don't," North said, continuing their earlier discussion. "The names are too common, they get confused. We need separate names, but nobody wants to be known as their exact serial number for a last name. Some also want to draw distinctions between units, so that they know each are faithful if they find someone, or they can see who belongs with who."
Just like that, Connor knew he was forgotten. "You don't think there is a need? They are shooting us like a game."
Markus sighed. "I know that some humans sometimes cross the line. Sometimes, there is a racket."
"Sometimes they shoot," North pointed out. "Sometimes they kill. We just hold them at gunpoint if we catch them and send them back over, like a time-out."
"One time, North. Look. We can't risk getting aggressive," Markus said to her. "We could lose everything."
"There is a difference between getting aggressive, and making it clear what they can and cannot do," Connor said. "Pointing a gun only works, so long as someone believes you'll pull it."
"Oh, not you too," Markus muttered. "We have Jericho. We have freedom."
"You have an emergency gun, and I don't believe you will ever shoot. You have the skill set, but not the mind set. Once the humans know that, it will be a paperweight," Connor pointed out. "There will be no need for them to stop or leave. It will create more humans coming over and causing more ruckus, until containment is not even an option anymore!"
"We'd invite the press to let them see how terrible humans are being to us," Markus said. "When they know, the world knows, and things stop."
"True. In the meantime, how many are injured or killed?"
"Not many, there are strict rules to stay inside if any humans are seen in the area. It is highly encouraged to visit on the outside of Jericho." Markus shook his head.
"You know he's right, Marcus," North said. "You were a negotiator, right, Connor?"
"One of my many skills," Connor said to her.
"I will keep it in mind," Markus said firmly once again. "That's all, Connor. And start thinking of a last name. You aren't the only android named Connor. We are drawing distinctions between individuals and families."
"If we needed you, would you be nearby?" North asked Connor.
"My residence is more on the outskirts of Jericho," Connor admitted. "I don't go there much. There's no need. I prefer to be near the decision makers. I enjoy knowing what's going on." But his AI to Marcus added something else. Also, not getting killed seems to have fallen into the reasons now.
"Is that why you'll flip coins out in the rain instead of going home?" Markus asked him. "Do you want more into the decisions we are making?"
"No," Connor said clearly. "I just want to know about them."
"He was probably built to want to know everything, store information for his work," North said.
"Yes." Connor would do it. "I admit it. I am different. I won't rebel against it." There it was. "I won't rebel against what I want."
"Great. Let's move him up here?" North suggested to Markus. "He'll stay out of the rain, and if things get bad?"
"If we move you up here," Markus said, looking toward North, then to Connor. "Don't do anything without my say so. My say so is Jericho's say so."
"You have my word," Connor agreed.
"I heard that once before from you," Markus reminded him. "I saw your memories of the little girl on the tower. I know how that turned out."
Ah. "I will use my best knowledge and expertise to handle a situation in the best manner possible, exhausting all peaceful options first before pursuing violence," Connor said, knowing Markus wouldn't go with 'have his word'. "Unless peaceful negotiations would be too slow and the situation was dire."
"He knows what he is doing," North pointed out to Markus. "He can be peaceful and get the job done."
"Or not," Markus added. He looked back to Connor. "Androids fighting humans, even in the most dire of cases, it won't bring us any favor."
Almost. North seemed on board, but he needed to convince Markus, and he'd seen his tactics from his memory. So. "I had a human partner, remember?" he reminded Markus. "In emergency situations, I could reach him for help." He still didn't look completely convinced. Oh, fine. "I would try to reach him as I deal with situations that are extreme, with the best of intentions."
"Maybe. A human, if need be." Markus was thinking about it. "The residences near here are usually reserved for the children. Less chance anything gets over here. It's usually handled further out."
"Then if humans get this far in?" North asked Markus. "And maybe his human partner as backup? Or, at least to help frame it right."
"Right," Connor agreed. "Lieutenant Hank Anderson would be good at framing . . . finagle things if he needed to. He is a friend. I could say he was visiting. It's not illegal to have humans visit in Jericho."
"No, just not encouraged, especially now," Markus said. "Fine." He conceded. "It would be good to be prepared. If you can get him to agree to be an emergency standby. He seemed . . . testy about Canada."
Well. What did he say about that? "He gave me a slide since I helped free other androids, and stopped being just a machine." Still. "He gives one slide by, but I can make him agree. I just need something for him, to persuade him."
"What is it you need?" North asked.
"A particular chicken sandwich with heightened cholesterol he shouldn't eat. It's his favorite."
Kara and Alice's Residence
A night's recharge had done Kara so much good. Alice was upstairs, playing with the toys she found. She headed to the kitchen, to start really digging into the books and instructions. This place? It was free. It felt good, and she wasn't going to risk losing it.
There was a knock at the door, disrupting her studying though. When she opened the door, she saw North. "Hello?"
"You already have a roommate coming," North warned her. "Make sure you and the little girl pick your rooms together either upstairs or downstairs, okay? Oh, and we are discussing last names. So far, the consensus is to pick our own."
Anything was better than a serial code. "Are you assigning them?"
"No, you can decide. We are deciding on family units too. That way those who consider themselves very close can share the same last name." She smiled wearily. "Go ahead and think about that. You have two in your family?"
Kara stopped, just a moment. " . . . yes. Just two."
"Fine. Welcome to Jericho," North greeted her. "Major emergency announcements will be made through either I or Markus. Otherwise, we try to . . . go out and mingle. Meet others," she said. "Becoming social isn't easy for every android, but some do it quite well. Try your best, either way, especially since you have a child android. They are our future."
Kara didn't exactly know what she meant by that. "You mean, they adapt and they'll need new bodies as they grow?"
"I mean, we don't know what to expect," North said. "Markus just likes to say they are our future. I don't think I really know what our future will be."
"We'll shape our own," Kara agreed. "I'm guessing Alice wants the upstairs. There were toys up there. I need the kitchen though."
"Go ahead and take the toys from the room," North said. "Your roommate won't need them."
One? "One roommate?" Kara asked.
"Maybe occasionally two," North confessed. "A human may visit. You came with him from Canada."
"Hank?" Hank? "Hank?" Kara asked twice. "I thought humans weren't allowed."
"It's not encouraged, according to Markus," North said. "I need to get going. Just write your names with your chosen last name and drop it off to Markus. We'll get everything fixed up better that way." She started to walk off.
"Do you mean it's Connor?" Kara finally asked. "I thought he was established by now. It's been months, and this area was chosen for children."
"Inner area. A safety issue," North said. "If anyone gets too close, he'll handle the problem." Kara's look did not escape her. "Is there a problem?"
Kara opened and closed her mouth.
"You worked through regrets," Kara said. "We chose your residence since he already knew you."
"We did. I forgave him," Kara said carefully. "but it was a traumatic experience and Alice may have a problem with it."
"I don't have a problem with it, Kara," Alice said as she came from downstairs, holding a small bear. "Connor's nice. We get along. Hank was nice too."
North looked right back at her. "Kids. They either bring joy into your life or they ruin everything, don't they?"
Kara glanced back toward her. That was a strange comment. "Are you taking care of any?" She wasn't letting it go. "Alice. Why don't you choose which room you want downstairs, and you can bring the toys to it." She didn't take her eyes off of North.
"You can't do that," North warned her. "I know what happened, but he wasn't a deviant. You. You can't judge someone on what they used to do or did before they woke up."
"I'm not," Kara insisted. "It's not that."
"We don't talk about our detailed programs, or what we were used for very often," North admitted. "Everything ends up as 'skills'. That's it." She was quiet a moment, respectfully. "But certain things, they don't break. Many children still play. All children need guidance. The AX 400 worked with children and families alike. They were meant to get close quickly as well, so connection could be established. A trust for watching and caring over not just humans, but 'their loved ones'."
"Then maybe I'm a rebel." Kara was getting tired of the conversation. "Maybe I don't like that about my programming. Maybe. Maybe I'm fine enough with what I have. Alice. There is nothing wrong with that."
"Luther, the one who left you," North said. "You have the dates you became deviants. They weren't far from the date you said you met him. Almost the same day."
"What's your point?" Kara asked sharply.
"When the AX 400 loses someone, they are usually reset or sold again to be resetted. Markus and I made sure we knew about you and Alice carefully when we heard you rejected coming back from that position you were in." North's voice softened. "No one wants to reset anyone. You need to work through it."
"I like the left one, Kara. The walls are a soft pink," Alice said as she came over.
Kara looked down toward Alice, smiling, trying to hide that. She didn't want anyone knowing that. "Left it is. Go ahead and get the toys." She watched Alice bound upstairs. "Alice's programming is quick as well. She could let go easier. Surely, I'm not the hugest problem Jericho faces."
"You're an interesting problem, one that we are watching."
"Why?" Why watch so close? "We're fine. We're happy."
"We have had problems with other androids that we don't need to discuss in detail," North informed her. "Stress of a new life. When stress goes up, sometimes more happens than self-suicide. It has been known to crawl up, little by little, each day. Until something terrible happens. So." She looked toward the stairs. "For Alice's safety, yours, and Jericho's, if your stress level goes too high, we are forcing you to reset. Relax. Deal with any regrets. Get out and make friends. A good start would be with your new roommate-"
"A sandwich, really? A ****ing chicken sandwich? That's what you asked for?"
"-who seems to be coming now. Have a nice day."
"You like free sandwiches," Connor reasoned with Hank as they reached the door of his new dwelling. Not that it mattered. He didn't really dwell anywhere. He saw Kara at the door and North leaving. That made sense, she only just arrived and had Alice. It was most likely the next available place.
"Aw, it's you again?" Hank greeted Kara. "Hey. This clown over here expects me to come at his beck and call, for a chicken sandwich. How rude is that?"
"Hi." Alice appeared near Kara. "Our rooms are downstairs. I got the toys out of the upstairs."
"That sounds great," Connor said. "I wouldn't play with them."
"I'm not so sure about that," Hank teased him. "Well, where the freak are my sandwiches then? You wanna talk, you better have one. It's lunch and I'm hungry."
"I do." Connor reached into his coat and pulled out one.
"Great." Hank took it and went inside, sitting at the kitchen table. "Now go over this with me in detail. What'd you rope me into again?"
"My purpose. I found it." Connor sat down next to him, but gestured toward Alice. "Her opened mind, it helped me find it. I want to help secure Jericho. Like I did hostages. What I was, it was still part me. Markus doesn't want violence though, unless it's called for."
"Ah." Hank took a bite of the sandwich. "So I'm either helping to pummel some jerks, or I'm supposed to lie about what I saw?"
"Correct."
"So, I get to be told to come all the way down here from the precinct, to help, and I get a sandwich." He didn't sound happy at all.
"Not all the time," Connor said. "If it's before noon, you'd be coming from your bed instead."
Kara looked down at Alice. She smiled. She'd done it before, but it was so rare. Until that trip back. So many times she caught her smiling. She hoped it was because she believed their future was going to be better. But. It was as she feared. Alice is fond of them.
"You'd be helping a great number of people?" Connor tried harder. "Androids have to trade with humans for services. Would you rather have a choice of sandwich or drink?"
Hank held his hand up. "Fine but if I pick drink, drop it off at my place afterward."
"Markus also agreed you could stay here if you wanted. If things ever get dicey, you are guaranteed a residence," Connor said.
"Just what I freakin' want. To live with you, 24/7. I don't think my heart could take it," Hank said taking another bite. "Fine. If I'm not busy, I'll drop by."
"Great. That's what I needed. Thanks, Hank."
Hank left the table and went out toward the door, seeing Kara and Alice. "Your stuck with him, huh? Poor sons of biscuits. Good luck." He passed by them and out the door.
"Hank's language is intriguing when he watches it," Connor said standing up himself. He walked to the door, and pulled something else out of his coat. "Here you go, Alice." It was a small stuffed bunny. "It's from me and Hank. It's from me, thanking you for helping me accept . . . me. It's from Hank because he likes you. Just don't tell him I told you that."
Kara watched Alice's eyes light up. It wasn't a very big bunny. She'd seen bigger. It was a simple stuffed toy a little larger than the size of the burger Connor stuffed away. But with that action, he was sealing fate. She wasn't just fond of them now.
She was bonding.
"Do I have something on my face, Kara?" Connor asked her. "You look like something's wrong."
"Everyone's looking for last names now," Alice said to him. "Do you have a last name yet?"
"I like Connor," Connor said. "I've thought about it, and I think I'll just be Connor Connor. As long as no other Connor chooses Connor Connor, I should be fine."
Alice laughed. She actually laughed. She actually laughed. She never laughed with Kara, not once. Smiling was rare enough. Stunned, Kara just stared at her. Alice was naturally cute, but when she laughed, cute moved to squeezing her own heart. After all her hurt, she was healing.
A small joke. Alice got it, yet Kara had looked strangely at Alice, before breaking into . . . what is that? He'd seen many looks before, he had to recognize facial expressions well in order to guess the next step in investigations. It. He couldn't pin it. It must have been an array of emotion, he couldn't understand it. It wasn't hostile of course, it was loving yet more. Relieving happiness. No wonder he couldn't figure it out quickly. He didn't see that much of it.
Every time he saw her, she had her guard up like android security. She also had a high level of stress for such a simple moment, 42%. She had soared down to 32%. Markus and North would be glad to hear that. "I better get going. I need to talk to Markus. I will see you around, Alice."
"Okay," Alice said. "Bye, Connor." She watched him leave almost all the way out the door.
Jericho's Headquarters
"That is the best of humanity right there," North teased Markus as Connor gave him Hank's simple demand. "To our aid for a sandwich or booze."
"Every individual is unique?" Markus chuckled. "Fine, you have your permission. For now, when human's are attacking, you can negotiate them out. If your friend is here, he can get more drastic. If you see anything among androids though, and androids only, that isn't . . ."
"You know bad when you see it," North answered for Markus. "Androids here are good and bad. If you see bad. Kick the crap out of them. I do."
"Reasoning before violence is better for all, if it can be done," Markus added to North's statement. "That's all." Connor hadn't spoke again. "Is there something else?"
"Yes," Connor admitted. "I'd like to try and work with the humans on a volunteer basis." Yeah, he knew it would be an iffy subject. He needed to get back in there though and see who was controlling the hits on Jericho itself. "I can make a difference there, which is what we trade."
"Trading technology and ideas is one thing, you are asking to trade yourself," Markus said. "Androids may visit under their own risk. And you are like everyone else now, your memory won't be uploaded into another android. You're not immortal. You need to be careful."
"-And you need to be more open-minded! I never liked having to get a new body. Not only was it different, but often there were gaps in memory. Corruption." That couldn't be replaced. "I never felt immortal, Markus." But, that sting. As a machine. He gave everything to accomplish the mission. Every time. Body or not.
North just looked toward Marcus.
"I'm sorry. I went over a line, and I shouldn't have said that. I didn't know, but that's still no excuse," Marcus said honestly. "No one had it easy. We'll? We'll talk about it later, after I've had time to think. You're dismissed for now."
