Disclaimer: I don't own Detroit: Become Human in any way, this is written strictly for fun and no profit.


Kara's Residence

Look at it. Pride bubbled over her as she lingered on the cake in front of her. The taste might be terrible, but the decorating turned out well. She didn't need a human's taste sense to see that. It was only two-tier but it was simply practice anyway. North would be impressed, considering her skill level. The interfacing and studying, it was all working together. The taste was a small matter when it came down to it.

She could do it. If she could produce this in a week she could probably get herself set for real trading in a month or so.

"Kara? I found something."

Kara looked toward Alice. Found something? She followed her to her room. Alice opened the door to her closet. The carpet had been slightly pulled up. Alice got down on her knees and pulled part of the loose part up.

"A crawlspace." That was perfect. "Wonderful, Alice." She helped Alice get the carpet all the way up to see. "If we have to hide, we could do it here." It wouldn't be luxurious, but it was better to hide there than just hiding behind some table hoping no one came in. She moved toward the utility closet of the house and came back with a flashlight. "It's not very big but I think we could fit." Certainly Alice.

"You'll fit too, won't you?" Alice asked.

"I think so." She shined a light below. Yes, there was sufficient room, it ran under the house. "Yes, Alice, I can fit." Then she saw something interesting. "Hang on. Let me check something." Kara moved into the crawlspace. There was plenty of room, but her light shined on something she wanted. Protection. A weapon. There was a gun stored in the crawlspace. The owner must have been trying to hide it well, but never came back to it. She had no idea about the house's history, it was just their residence.

She picked up the gun. Alice's safety always came first. If anyone found them and wanted to hurt her, she would take action. She put the gun back down for now and climbed back out. "It's perfect, Alice. A little dirty, but you're okay with that, right?"

"Yes, Kara." Alice looked back at the spot. "Would Connor fit too?"

"No. I'm sure he wouldn't be hiding, he'd be searching for the intruders instead." Good thing she had that excuse. "That's why he lives up here in the children's area. Remember?" Kara moved a couple of Alice's toys over on top of the loose carpet. "Let's store these toys right here. It'll make it look less cluttered." Alice only had a few toys, at no time did it look cluttered. Even Alice gave her an odd look. "I just don't want you to be tempted to try and go down there. That's all. It's very dangerous and I haven't explored all of it."

"I won't, Kara," Alice said.

"Good."

Alice got up off the floor. "What did you find down there, Kara?"

"Nothing much. Don't worry about it." Now, she felt better. Kara hardly used a gun in the past, but when she finally had one in her possession, most of her fears always felt so far away. Like, she would be okay. Alice would be okay. Everything would be okay.


"It turned out well."

Kara turned and saw Connor. She was in the middle of trying to make a second cake when he came in to look at her first. Choose to be nice, calm, and then go to bed. Best way to make sure he didn't bother her about her repaired damage. "Thank you. It was very hard work. Enough that I'm calling it a day. I will see you in the mor-!"

"Apologies."

Kara struggled. Connor had grabbed her, holding his hand over her mouth. What was going on? She tried to pry his hands off, but he was such a strong android.

"Steady. I know this is a stressful action, but I've thought of the different ways to handle this. If I just hid and communicated with your mind, you'd be even more stressed out. Trust me. Now. Alice is okay. I just need to talk to you a moment, without you interrupting before I say my piece. Afterwards, I will let you go. You have my word."

Kara stopped struggling. For now. She had no choice but to hear what he said.

"An android that can't run it's own diagnostic program means there is a reason they can't. Someone at some point, has messed with your programming, Kara," Connor warned her. "And your interfacing abilities, sad to say, even the weakest android here could have made this wedding cake perfectly on the first try after one session with a master android. Let's not forget the fact you were damaged and now are not. Is there anything else? Oh yes. For some reason, you can't resonate, and I have serious reservations about whether you could ever hear my AI speaking directly to you. Another reason I had to take this route."

Kara just kept quiet. This android was a heavy talker. Maybe he would mess up soon.

"I didn't go to Canada to help you, only to leave you like this when I know something is wrong. No android enjoys resetting everything."

Then was he giving her a choice? Interface or reset? Who was he to decide that for her?

"Your cake is nice. It would look better with more color to me, but humans seem to like the whole white look."

What? Okay. This android is unbalanced. She needed to remain calm like she did with Ralph up until the last second. This time, there was no gun option. First of all, he was an expert. He would see anything she did. Second, she didn't want to get caught with it so she had already gone back and put it in a safe place. If Connor found it, he would have kept it, and that wouldn't happen. It was her gun now. Her protection. Hers.

"You're at 48% stress. I've kept track of it. Raise up your right foot if you knew that."

She kept her feet down. She couldn't sense stress levels anymore.

"Okay. I interfaced with Alice since she was also there."

Kara found enough strength to gain her several seconds advantage to pull his hand away. "You can't-!" Okay, maybe one second. Damn, this prototype was strong. It was a miracle she ever escaped in time with Alice on that highway.

"What I saw wasn't the boat," he confessed."I didn't find out anything about it."

Kara started to tense up more.

"I'm not going to probe you. If I was, I would have done that instead of this. I just need you to understand. I want you to go straight to medical. What I did see from Alice. That would kill any other android. I can't believe you survived that."

Kara felt him let her go.

"Even a reset wouldn't get rid of all these errors in you," Connor said as she turned around to see him. "Alice can't afford to lose you."

Okay. If Kara had been a human woman, she would be yelling and wailing on Connor for what he just did. But, as an android, she was trying to think about it. It was the same reason she waited to the very last second to pull her gun on Ralph. It was the same reason she managed to escape Todd Williams. Being calm. He said Alice can't afford to lose me. She didn't have or need any sophisticated software to tell her how he was feeling. It was all over his face. The pictures Alice had in her secret treasure box, it was all Kara had seen of the past she couldn't remember. He saw before I reset. Alice never shared it, so Kara didn't pry into it. They were happy together now. No reason to drudge up some past she couldn't remember.

Okay. First, some of his assumptions were wrong. She should fix that. "I can hear through my AI, and I can resonate. I just choose not to." He did nothing. Next. "Alice doesn't know interfacing. You knew that. From the tactic you used on me, you know there was no difference to that and probing her."

"I." Now he spoke. "She willingly interfaced, but she didn't understand. You're technically right. I have probed several criminal . . . several androids in the past," he said slowly. "But she didn't remember, she had no idea. It was still interfacing, I did nothing to bring the bad memories to her again. I wouldn't do that."

Fine. Next. "I was asking about medical until you interrupted me with North," she pointed out. "You're the one who said I was fine."

He didn't speak quickly. "From what you said about the water, and from what I saw from Alice, you are not an every day AX 400. If you keep accepting these faults, you won't last long."

"You know? Maybe it's the heightened stress for so long?" she reasoned. "Stress comes and goes, but it's always with me now. It could be doing something."

"No." Firm.

Yeah. She had enough. Markus wanted Jericho to be the most peaceful place on Earth, so humans would never take away what they achieved. But North made it clear to her, that in an emergency Connor would take control. She could see why. He was firm. Got exactly what he wanted. Was still more machine than deviant. Everything he had done probably had something to do with furthering a plan.

If there was one thing she ever did right in Jericho, it was not resonating. "Fine." She held out her hand casually. She didn't want him after her for answers. She'd get rid of any reason he had left to bother her.

He walked forward and touched her hand.


"We're not gonna die, Alice. We're gonna make it. We're gonna be free . . ."

"Kara. Kara, no . . ."

Connor ignored the surroundings and memories as best he could. Temperature, 30.8 degrees. Bio-component damages to #0351k, #9782f, #2657g, #7511p, #1995r, #1216b, out of water 11:57. Fifty nine seconds total. He had it all in a matter of a second. Several parts of her were damaged and now they weren't. "You should have six bio-components damaged inside of you."


"Fine." She moved around the table, away from him to their rooms on the other side. "You know, you're right. I have lousy interface, I need to do something different for trade. Wedding Cakes just aren't my thing." She turned toward her room first. Checking the hallway that he didn't follow, she grabbed her gun quickly. It was all she needed to take. She could wear the clothes on her back until they got situated again.

She went to Alice's room. Poor Alice was recharging, but they weren't staying there any longer. She grabbed the little playsack she had been using with Alice to take her toys outside. It wasn't very big, but it could take her favorites. She looked at the puzzle on the floor Alice had been putting together. It looked like she was starting to get the hang of it, but she didn't have time to grab spare pieces. She could find her another puzzle later if she really wanted one.

After grabbing her favorites, she picked up Alice. She couldn't continue to rest. Holding her stuff, she marched out, hoping he wasn't there anymore. He wasn't. Good.

"Kara?" Alice was starting to wake up as they went toward the headquarters that night. North should still be up. She could get back to the room of possible trades. Something could be found. "Kara, what's going on?"

"I couldn't do it. I'm sorry, Alice," Kara said. "I really tried so hard. I'm not one of the best androids though. I couldn't make the wedding cake."

"But you did," Alice said. "It was so pretty."

"It wasn't high enough standard, and I can't get the flavoring right," Kara said. It was only half a lie. She probably got it on the second attempt she was making, but the flavoring would have been off. "I'm really sorry. I tried."

"It's okay. I love you, Kara," Alice said. "We can still stay in Jericho?"

"Yes, Honey," Kara explained. "We're going to see North, right now. I'm going to choose something else to do. After that, we'll get a new place and I'll get started."

"So we won't see Connor anymore?" Alice asked.

"Another android that can make the wedding cakes will need that house," Kara said to her. "We'll get another one. There's no choice, Alice. I'm sorry." She arrived at headquarters. It was never far from home. She connected with her AI. North? Are you here? Nothing. Markus must be there then. She walked in.


Markus looked at the new information coming in. More and more androids. While the USA was quieter, there were still battles and escapees coming from all over. Jericho was going to have to expand again. Most of his people could pull their weight in trading that it could happen. Even though they were still serving humans, there was a mutuality, an understanding that worked between them.

Humans were resourceful and they were androids that needed things. Markus even had to steal things they needed to survive in the past. Bio-components and blue blood wasn't cheap, but he couldn't justify simply stealing it. Nor was the limited ship of Jericho going to work. And like all things, one day they would all go. Stop in some way. To keep their kind going, they would eventually need technology to make more of them. That was a high goal, and in a distant future.

Especially since not all humans accepted them. Some of them still saw them as just machines. But, they were changing minds. Oddly, to a more upperclass, elite group of humans. Since the humans could perform their own small jobs again, it was the more time-consuming and intricate projects that were traded for. Their output for their work wasn't just nothing anymore. The term 'android-made' could bring thousands extra to the traders, compared to the same thing 'man-made' now.

They had come out of slavery, and were becoming the finest names in everything. Markus never saw it coming. He just wanted a free future. It's all he still wanted. But those changes in thinking the humans were providing themselves, it was helping them far more than anything else. Markus didn't handle the advertising or the individuals who ordered, he just kept in contact with the main branches that oversaw all aspects.

And those main branchers. They came from being ordinary people to strutting in with high-class suits and a decent amount of respect. North brought his attention to a magazine that really showed them what was happening.

Free androids, trading ideas through interfacing and putting their hearts into what they loved now? It created the Android Style. Seeing how much humans were actually paying to get their 'Android Style', Markus pushed for more resources and space and help. And he was getting it. The future could not be brighter. Except for a few scrapes near the bordering part of Jericho, it couldn't have been better.

Even their home itself. Their trading made enough, that other androids could focus not on trading, but bettering the android's area. Honestly, Jericho was beautiful. Even a human couldn't complain about it.

"Markus?"

Markus looked toward the door and saw Kara holding Alice. It was easy to remember their names. North didn't have a lot of friends, but she finally made a new one. "Come on in, Kara. What is it?"

"I can't make wedding cakes," she said. "I tried. I did. My interfacing isn't what it used to be. I have to try something different. Can I see the trades again?"

That was a problem. "Your house has a-"

"Kitchen, it's fine, I can move. I have everything here that we need on us." She didn't seem to have any problem with that.

Well? He smiled. "It's our policy no android ever feel forced to make something they don't like. You can try a different trade." He got up and took her to the trade room. It had books, lists, visual imagery, and audio sources to help an android find what it wanted to be. "You can choose as many times as you need to, to find the right one. Sometimes they come paired to a certain house, and sometimes they don't."

"It's fine, really," Kara said. "I don't mind what the house is like. Just being free here, it's more than enough." She smiled. "Jericho is beautiful. You've done a great job, Marcus."

"More than just me. Let me know if you need any help." He started to walk away, then turned back around. He was missing an opportunity for his lover. "If you want, depending on the job, maybe I could get you across from North and I. It's currently vacant."

"That'd be great. We'll see how it goes." Kara looked at Alice. It looked like she was disturbed in a recharging. "Is North still up?"

"Yes," Markus said. "If you want, you can let Alice go with us until you're done." Choosing a trade wasn't a light process. Without a real drive to want to do something, it took many hours, sometimes days, to find what worked. Especially for androids that didn't create as much work as fast. He watched her hand Alice over to him, along with a sackful of toys.

"Thank you, Marcus," she said, "it really helps. I guess I picked a bad time to just give up."

"Everyone processes things different. It's fine." Markus held Alice close. "All that's important is that you find what makes you happy. See you when you're done."

"Sure. Oh, but!" Kara had forgotten something. "North will kill me if I don't tell you. I should probably make an appointment for medical."

That was fine. "Moderate or serious."

"Um." She shrugged. "Moderate."

"Sure. I'll get you in. Night, Kara."


"Hurry up," North demanded as she pulled Connor into her house. She looked around outside, making sure Markus wasn't around. "The things I do for you." She closed the door. "You better get it done and get it done right. She deserves to know, that's the only reason your here. Don't overstep and I'll be right outside the door. She's in here."

Connor followed North. After he realized Kara hadn't said anything to Markus, he had called up North to get the facts. Since Kara was in the trade room, now was his chance to do what he needed before he faced her again. He had to explain what happened to Alice.

When Alice saw him from the extra bed, she smiled and stood up. "Hi, Connor."

"Hello." He dangled puzzle pieces in a bag in his hand. "I separated many of the colors for you. You can probably make your cat now."

"Thanks, Connor." She went over and took the pieces. "I missed my puzzle." She moved to the ground with the pieces. "Do you want to help me this time?"

Connor moved down to the ground with her. "Actually, I need to tell you something. It's not going to make you happy."

She looked over toward him. She held a puzzle piece in her hand. "What is it?"

"Last time I worked on the puzzle, I asked a favor of you," Connor admitted. "I asked you for 'The Scariest Day' and I touched your hand. That was interfacing."

"But? You never did anything. I don't remember anything happening, Connor."

"No, information was being exchanged to me. Your memories of the scariest day."

Alice was nervously fidgeting with the puzzle piece now. "You saw that? What . . . what was it?"

Connor picked up some pieces and started to assemble. "The time before Kara remembered. She fought very hard." Alice went quiet. "Kara was hiding something about the boat. She wouldn't interface. I thought I was triggering the information I needed." She was backing up further.

"You just used me." Alice looked at her puzzle.

"I did," Connor admitted, "and I know it wasn't right. I was digging for information, but I shouldn't have gone that far. I promise, I will never do that again." He picked up a few puzzle pieces. "I betrayed my trusted friend. I'm sorry." He didn't know how Alice would respond. He just told her he saw her scariest memories. Her most secret.

"Promise you'll never do it again?" Alice asked.

Was she giving him a second chance? "I promise," Connor said. "Never again."

Alice's eyes shifted to the puzzle pieces before looking back at him. "Are you still my friend?"

Connor didn't know how to feel to that look. There were many child androids that looked just like Alice, but none of them were Alice. "If you are still mine?"

Alice nodded. "Everyone messes up sometimes. As long as they don't do it again, that's all that's important." She placed a puzzle piece into another one successfully. "Don't tell Kara about it."

"If I kept something from her, then that wouldn't make me a good person either," Connor reminded her. "Do you know anything Kara was talking about? Before?"

Alice picked up another piece. "No. The earliest. Just, that house."

Connor picked up another piece as well, making it look random, but it was the one that would fit with the piece Alice just sat down. "I am glad we patched this up. I'm afraid Kara might not be as understanding. If not, then I might not see you for awhile."

"She will be. Kara's very understanding," Alice said. "She's not perfect either. None of us are. Especially when things get bad." Her eyes lingered away from the puzzle for a little while. "Will you find out what's wrong with Kara?"

Connor stood back up. Unless she allowed it, he wouldn't pursue it farther. "I hope I get to see you finish it." She nodded.

"Come on," North waved him back over. Connor went over to her. "What was that whole 'what Kara was talking about' thing?"


Several hours later . . .

Kara thumbed through another book. I don't need glass around constantly from making chandeliers. She tossed it to the side. Honestly, wedding cakes looked to be the easiest. She couldn't do much more than a regular human, and as much as there were to choose from, they were more . . . challenging than anything most humans would do. She'd find something though.

"Kara?"

Kara turned and saw North. "Hello."

"We need to have a talk. Can you come with me for a little while?" North requested.

Kara followed. "I'm still looking. I'm sure I'll eventually find something."

"Connor told me what happened. I didn't tell Markus, of course," North groaned. "I hate keeping secrets from him. He wants to talk to you before you find a new trade."

For what? "Look, all I had, he saw. He got the boat interface. He can't get anything else out of me, I don't know anything. Markus is even getting me into medical."

"I don't think it's that," North said. "I know he's . . . a little stranger than the average android," she said politely. "Go home. Talk. That's all I'm asking."

"He interfaced with Alice. She doesn't even know that. She doesn't know that he saw part of her most delicate, most private memories." Kara was trying to hold it together.

"Kara? I am not a lovable person. We just covered that," North reminded her. "I still don't enjoy the fact that we are working with humans instead of on our own to make our society, but I follow Markus. I will always follow him. That said? Go and speak to Connor."

Well. She wasn't leaving much choice. "Fine. I'll speak to him." Maybe he had more information on what was wrong with her that he felt compelled to share.


Kara's Residence

When she walked in, she noticed a second cake next to hers. It was already made. It was an exact replica of hers. Including all of her little mistakes she noticed. She approached it and read the words 'I'm Sorry' on it. She wasn't even gone twenty four hours and he duplicated her cake to a T.

"You could have got me thrown out of Jericho."

Kara turned and saw him over in the corner.

"You could have at least got me thrown out of this house. You did neither, choosing the option to leave yourself." He slowly started to approach her. "I just want to talk."

"Without holding your hand over my mouth? A good idea," she said coldly.

"You had so much wrong, I assumed you're AI couldn't connect directly. You couldn't sense stress levels. You refused to resonate. Yet you were perfectly intact on two occasions that should have killed you." He held his hands outward. "I didn't want to make another regret. There is more than a reset at stake."

Kara scratched her head lightly. "I wouldn't turn you in. For one, I don't know what you do at night. You could just be hanging out with your friend. For two, Jericho might need you. It doesn't need me. It tolerates me."

"I spoke to Alice," he confessed. "I explained what happened and she forgave me." He approached slightly closer. "There is something wrong and Alice knows a little of it, from you. Before your reset."

What?

"I can help. Only if you want me to. If not, I'll drop it. Not a word more." He held up his hand. "You can come back without fear of me investigating you further, but you must do something."

"What's that?" Kara asked.

"Appoint someone to take care of Alice if you stop."

Kara didn't move. That. Thought. She knew she was a little messed up. A little different. But. Choosing someone to watch over Alice? The only one she would have trusted her to was Luther. He'll stop pursuing. She did like that house. She spent a whole week learning about cakes. The thought of going back was nice, and if he didn't pursue, then she wouldn't mind. But. If I stop. Reset was on her mind. Not stopping. Not since. "I'd have to ask them." If she stopped, North or Markus were her closest choices.

But. She didn't want to stop. No diagnostic that I ever could run. My interface just gets worse. I can't sense stress levels anymore. No damage when there should have been so much. What if he's right? What if Connor really took it too far because he believed she could die. No. "How could you help?"

Connor stood up straight. "Hank and I could take care of it. I'm positive we can find those answers."

Hmm. There was definitely a ring in there, something off in his voice when he said 'take care of it'. Connor seeing Alice's memories. It must have got to him. Maybe. Maybe it wasn't just about finding answers to unattainable questions.

Maybe he was starting to care for Alice too. "I have an appointment at medical soon," she added. "I'll let you know if they find something." She looked toward the table. That was a pretty advanced I'm sorry to make. He apologized to Alice. She forgave him. "Please don't do that again."

"I won't. If they are, I'll find them a different way." He came a little closer. "Decision?"

"Okay." If he kept his word. "We'll stay."


Criminal Investigation Site

"Let me get this straight," Hank said as he looked around the chairs of the dead body in the middle. It was one of the guys that had shot at the android they had set up. This death though, it didn't fit the profile. Hot Henry didn't use a gun to the head. "You go in, drive your roommate nuts in the way only you do, casually check out the scariest memories of a little girl's life, and somehow you get them both to forgive you and move back in?" He shook his head. "What are you wasting time here for? If anything, go write a book on making women forgive men. Sell billions of copies."

Connor was checking the body, spying something on the floor. It was a paper with blood on it. He licked it. "It's the victim's blood." The paper had numbers on it. Numbers of Androids. "These must be from the game." He looked around more, finding a chalkboard. On it was the same thing, except this time with bigger numbers beside them. They'd been finding that kind of thing too. These were connected. He went over to the victim's tablet and hacked into it, trying to find anything at all. Nothing. He downloaded the contacts, all the messages, and phone voice recordings. "He keeps talking about a big payday and buying a boat."

"Connor!"

Connor heard Hank's voice and went toward him. He stared at something next to the sink. The first lead, hanging with a simple push pin. He removed the push pin and looked at it. It was a highly organized card with android numbers, hit points, and how much each cost. "A gaming card."

"An actual gaming card, now were getting somewhere. Analyze it, Connor, anything we can use?"

"Recycled. The machine that printed it was a PR 42, top of the commercial line. Even the smallest details wouldn't be stricken away." Yet. Nothing else.

"Look, I know a lot of androids are the same models," Hank said, "but there are so many models, without the numbers on them over there. Being free, they just wear regular clothes. They've got to have an android analyzer."

"I already checked for those purchases," Connor said. Nothing. "We should be on alert for the androids on the very high end of payment. They will be the most wanted targets."

"You sure about that?" Hank asked. "You're on that little bingo card too."

Not a surprise. "Whoever made this game has access to a high quality commercial printer, must be giving analyzers hand to hand, and who knows about every android along with me." He scanned the list of all the android numbers. "I don't like this."

"What? The fact that it really does look like a fancy bingo card?" Hank asked.

"No." He pocketed the card. "All models are on there, except two. A YK 500 and an AX 400." He looked straight at Hank. "Alice and Kara's models."