"What?" Hank groggily spoke as Connor tenderly roused him from his sleep.
"We got a call from Henri," Connor made his way to Hank's closest to find him some warm clothes. "Police investigated a domestic disturbance call earlier this evening. As it turns out, someone was running a Red Ice lab in the basement of an abandoned home. Officers managed to detain two androids who were found at the scene. It seems directly related to our investigation so we've been called in to search the scene." by now Connor made it back to Hank's bed and handed him his outfit. "Put these on. I'll be waiting in the car."
"Have you gone in yet?" Hank shuddered in the frosty cold as him and Connor stepped up to meet Henri who was waiting outside the dilapidated house.
Henri's features were painted with droplets of snow as she shrugged against the soggy doorway, "I was thinking that would ruin all the fun."
"Pfft," Hank sneered at her. "This is what you call fun?"
Connor joined in, "I believe she was joking, Hank."
"Shall we?" Henri titled her head to the front door. "The lab is in the basement, by the way."
The group slowly made their way through the old, decrepit building while stepping over burnt debris.
"The top floor likely collapsed from a fire that happened roughly twenty years ago," Henri knew only an android would be able to live a place that was falling apart at the seems. "The house adjacent to here still has residences. They reported hearing strange noises in the night; people coming and going. Apparently, it started about two weeks ago."
Hank carefully walked down a set of stairs that led the home's basement. There were no working lights in the basement, so it was illuminated by equipment brought in by the department.
"They worked in the dark?" Hank was baffled.
"Androids don't need natural light to see," Connor informed him. "They probably accomplished their work with infrared sensors. All androids have this functionality built-in"
Hank crouched down next to a table sitting in the middle of the crowded basement, "Looks like they were using a generator to power the burners. All you need is a bit of heat and the right ingredients..."
"They weren't producing large amounts," Henri gazed at a five-foot shelf sitting across from the table. It housed four large opaque jars which were mostly covered in dust save a few hand-prints. "This is a very small operation."
Hank looked over at the jars, "Enough to supply fifteen to twenty people with a continuous dose. Enough to make some profit."
"Eighteen," Connor corrected the Lieutenant while searching a drawer attached to the table, "Average high from a long-term user lasts twenty-three minutes, with an average usage of six times per day. It would have been enough to supply eighteen users."
"Also," Henri chimed in. "Connor is clearly looking at a list of customers which these unusually meticulous androids kept."
"She's right," Connor nodded. "It is unusual. They wouldn't have a need for a physical checklist. The penmanship is also unlike that of an android."
Hank stood back up, "Maybe a human was here?"
"No," Connor scowled at the paper note. "There are no fingerprints or traces of DNA here."
Connor passed the note to Henri for her review, "More behavioural issues due to this anomaly I found?"
"That is plausible," Connor replied.
Hank was now standing opposite of his original position staring into a dark corner, "No shit."
"Find something, Lieutenant?" Connor said as he and Henri pivoted to Hank.
"I think so," Hank hefted a large plastic crate from of the ground and dropped it on the table. "Cyberlife."
And he was right. The plastic crate had the Cyberlife logo stamped on its side. The crate was also full of blue blood pouches.
"Thirium," Henri whispered with a grin.
"Anyone can buy thirium from Cyberlife," Connor pointed out. "I don't think this could possibly assist our investigation."
Henri dug her hand into the open crate, "Would it be odd for an android to purchase a crate that contains a hundred pouches? That's a lot of blue blood, Connor."
"That would be unlikely," Connor noted another crate sitting on the floor next to the one Hank found. "Two-hundred would be even more unlikely."
Hank smiled at the two, "Guess we have some questions for Cyberlife, huh?"
"We should return to the station for now and interrogate the suspects that were captured," Connor placed the lid back on top of the crate. "I'll contact Cyberlife in the morning and schedule a meeting."
Henri was still examining the side of the box, "It was wishful thinking to not assume they were somehow involved in this. But you're right about a crate with their brand printed on the side doesn't prove much."
"We still have no proof they are involved." Connor was sceptical to believe that Cyberlife was in fact involved with this anomaly, but if it did come from somewhere or someone it was plausible that it was Cyberlife.
"Like I said," Henri presented him with a cynical grin. "Wishful thinking."
"They won't talk," Hank huffed as he threw himself down in his desk chair. "But of course they fucking won't because they're just like the other bastards we've caught before."
"I'm sorry to hear that, Hank," Connor offered his condolences in order to appease the Lieutenant. "But there isn't much we can do."
Hank peered at Henri who was silently watching the two.
"Is there?" Hank frowned at her, thinking about what she could do for them. She could make this all cupcakes and sprinkles, couldn't she?
"I'm afraid not," Henri responded distantly for she knew what he was thinking about. "I'm not sleeping tonight. It's almost 3 a.m. I'm getting some coffee."
"Me, too," Hank lumbered after her as she made her way for the break area.
Henri bowed over the coffee maker while not actually making any coffee, "What do you think?"
"I'm thinking I'm tired of this," Hank leaned on the counter next to her. "And I'm thinking you can get us what we need."
Henri finally placed a mug underneath the machine, "Why would you change your mind now?"
"I was in there..." Hank paused and grabbed a mug for himself. "I was in there for three fucking hours and not a goddamn peep from one of them. This isn't the first time. These fucking things are never going to talk."
"It's a great risk," she turned on the machine refusing to make eye contact with Hank. "I risk becoming infected if I attempt to probe them."
"We need a lead here," Hank slapped his empty mug on the counter. "We aren't getting anywhere!"
"I'm aware," Henri turned and clasped Hank's arm. "But let's just go with this whole Cyberlife thing for now. Dr. Polanski will be here in a few days, so hopefully he and Kamski can find a way around this virus."
"I'm sorry, Henri," Hank positioned his hand over hers. "I shouldn't be asking you to do that kind of stuff anyway. I said we do this the right way and we will."
"Absolutely." Henri lied and smiled in return.
"I remember the last time I was here," Hank peered up at the intimidating spire. "This place is just something. Something not good."
"Creepy," Henri interjected as they entered the building. "The word you are looking for is creepy. This place is creepy."
Connor wouldn't disagree with that statement. There was always something ominous about the Cyberlife Tower. He realized he had thought this even before his encounter with the other Connor.
"Have you ever been here?" Hank cautiously eyed Henri.
"No," Henri surely had broken into the place half-a-dozen times on top of her other business with them, but that was classified. "Why would you think that?"
"Just curious."
Connor interrupted the pair's conversation, "We are meeting the company's COO. He is an android that goes by the name Hollis. He expressed how busy he was and that he had little time to offer us."
"Only need a little time," Henri winked at Hank, although in hindsight she realized it was a poor decision.
Hank narrowed his eyes in response.
"Are you two okay?" Connor wasn't blind to the bizarre exchange.
"I swear all I do is babysit the two of you," Hank scowled back at Connor. "It's my fucking job now," he said the latter part mostly for himself.
"I promise we won't cause any trouble," Connor once again found himself attempting to disarm a potentially negative conflict.
"Hollis is waiting for you," a young female human interposed herself into the group. "I'll escort you to the 42nd floor. If you'll follow me please."
A heavy silence fell on the group until they arrived at Hollis's office.
'Uh, Hollis, right?" Hank stuck his hand out at the android. It had a much older appearance than what was traditional with androids. There were visible wrinkles on his brow and he sported a patterned whiteness in his otherwise black hair.
"That's me," Hollis shook Hank's hand in kind.
"I'm Lieutenant Anderson. This is Detective Connor and Special Agent Monroe." Hank was curious about the android's appearance. "I've never seen an android like you before." not that Hank ever paid close attention to what androids looked like, but he knew some models were more common than others.
"I was created here in this tower, by my own kind," he gestured for the group to sit in the plush chairs stationed in front of his desk. "One of a kind. After all, we have to start reproducing eventually. Cyberlife is trying to focus its efforts on making absolutely unique models. Models never to be replicated. But that's here nor there, how can I help you three?"
Connor was ignorant of Cyberlife's intentions. The information Hollis just provided the group with had never before been made public knowledge. Androids were not immortal beings, so eventually, they needed to find a way to reproduce. Connor was made by humans and Hollis was made by androids. It felt unpleasant, but was it really that different?
"I'll cut to the chase," Hank watched Hollis awkwardly pace around the large office. "We found two crates of Cyberlife blue blood in a Red Ice lab late last night. Red Ice has become even more of a problem ever since androids took over Cyberlife. I'm not saying that the two are connected, but it looks like the blood needed for these operations might be coming from here."
"We don't control whom we sell blue blood to, Lieutenant." Hollis began tapping on the massive glass window that displaced an entire wall. "That would be discrimination. We don't discriminate at Cyberlife. That's a bit too human for us."
"I know, but-" Hank found Hollis's statement ironic, "-nonetheless we were thinking it would be helpful to our investigation if you allowed us to access your sales records. We just want to find out who may have been ordering blue blood in large quantities."
"I'm afraid I can't do that," Hollis ceased his tapping on the glass and leered at Hank. "That information is private. I have a legally binding obligation to all my customers; I can't freely give out their information."
"If you don't, I'll just come back with a warrant," Hank threatened.
"That doesn't persuade me, Lieutenant." Hollis glared at Connor and Henri. "Take your pets and leave me. Now."
"The fuck you say to me?" Hank shot up out of his chair and growled at the android. "Don't you fucking say that."
Henri jumped up and grasped Hank's arm, "It's okay, Hank. We've wasted enough of his time."
Connor got up after the two, "Thank you for your time. Have a pleasant day, Hollis."
"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Hank slammed his phone down on his desk.
"Is there a problem, Lieutenant?" Connor asked this knowing there was absolutely a problem.
"Judge won't pass the warrant," Hank pushed his fingertips into his eyes. "We don't have probable cause. They won't fucking do it."
Henri stood next to Connor spinning her ceramic mug between her hands while she glowered, "I'm sorry, Hank."
"Yeah, yeah," Hank sighed. "Just more bureaucratic bullshit."
Connor frowned at Henri and she noticed his LED flashing yellow.
"Let me talk to him," she leaned over Connor's desk and whispered to him. "Maybe I can cheer him up. Can you go grab us some food?"
"Of course," Connor wasn't sure it was the best idea, but he wasn't hopeful that he himself could put Hank in a better mood. "I'll go get you two dinner," he said this loud enough for Hank to hear.
"Sure," Hank didn't really have an appetite. "Whatever."
Henri waited for Connor to leave before she turned to Hank's desk, "I didn't suspect it would go another way."
"Is that so?" he replied gruffly.
"But I did do something I know I shouldn't have done," Henri smirked and bent closer to Hank. "I hacked his computer while we were there and obtained all the information we need. I was just covering all possible outcomes. There was a 4% chance you would get Hollis to cooperate, so I planned for the 96%."
Hank threw his arms up, "You've got me. Everything else in this investigation is a dead end. I've been forced into a position where I can't argue with you about this."
"I know it's not how you want it," Henri straightened out and rubbed Hank's back. "But sometimes we have to make due. And improvising in these situations is something I happen to be good at."
"I'm only agreeing to this because that Hollis guy was a fucking prick," Hank had no problem being a prick to a prick. "Do you think this Hollis has that virus?"
"If he does then we can assume all the other androids working for Cyberlife also have it," Henri answered. "I suspect he might, but there's no way to know for certain. He certainly isn't going to help us."
"Well, aren't we lucky you can help yourself," Hank folded his arms and chuckled at Henri.
"The files I downloaded off of Hollis's computer are encrypted," Henri explained. "It might take me a few hours to find what we're looking for. I'll go back to my hotel and let you know what I find in the morning. Have a good night, Hank. Tell Connor the same."
Connor arrived back at the station twenty minutes after Henrietta had left.
"I brought you pizza," Connor placed two boxes on the Lieutenant's desk. "I was not sure if Henri liked pizza or not. She was eating vegan doughnuts during our patrol on Thanksgiving night, so I made the assumption that that was her dietary preference. I was able to find a-"
"She left, Connor." Hank couldn't let the boy drone on any longer. "She went back to her hotel."
"Oh," Connor's head sank.
"Thanks," Hank threw open the top box and commenced shovelling a slice into his mouth. "Not bad," he said with a full mouth.
Connor plopped down at his desk across from Hank, "Hollis is an interesting android. What do you think?"
"I think he was a dick," Hank replied still munching away. "That guy was trying to piss us off. I thought androids were better than that."
"Why would you assume that?" Connor wondered.
"You guys have just usually shown yourselves as better," Hank scooped another piece up from the box. "Ya know, better than us humans. Markus was marching in peaceful protests while the government was sending soldiers to gun them down. I've never seen an android push a human around I'll say that much. But now, now things are all fucked up again."
Connor twitched the corner of his mouth in a little smile, "You did say emotions screw everything up. Maybe emotions make androids dicks; however, there was something different about Hollis. He was exceptionally human-like for an android."
"He saw you as less than him," Hank's mouth crinkled. "He called you my pet; like you were some sort of animal. Have you ever looked at yourself and said that you were better than other androids?"
"He also directed that comment at Henri," Connor corrected Hank. "And no, I don't look at myself that way. I never have."
"But reasonably you could," Hank wanted to see where playing devil's advocate would get him with Connor. "You're one of a kind. You were Cyberlife's most advanced machine when you were built."
"I know," Connor was confused by Hank's line of questioning. "But that's not how I see myself. I never did."
"How do you see yourself?" Hank asked.
"As me," Connor couldn't think of a better answer. "I think of myself as Connor. I'm a detective at DPD and my partner is my best friend Hank Anderson. That's how I see myself."
"Good," Hank waved a finger at Connor. "Don't let pricks like that Hollis guy treat you any differently."
"I won't," Connor nodded promptly. "Should I bring Henri some food?"
"Oh, get off it, Connor," Hank brought his palm to his face. "If she wanted anything she would have stuck around."
"I'm just trying to be friendly," Connor's expression dropped to the floor.
"Hey," Hank reached over and tapped Connor's shoulder. "I'm sure she appreciates that. But you need to learn to leave a woman like that alone."
"What do you mean?" Connor's head perked back up.
"I don't know," Hank let out a deep breath and shrugged his arms. "She's a strange one; a complicated one. Women like that are only going to complicate you, too."
"Henri does seem that way," Connor's LED flashed yellow in his search for the right words. "I do like her, though. She's a kind and noble person despite her efforts to hide that facet of her personality. There's something unique about her; although, I am not certain as to what that might be."
"She's mysterious," Hank groaned this. "Connor, I like her, too, but just be careful."
"I'm not sure I understand what you mean, Lieutenant."
But Hank didn't elaborate.
"Hank?" Henri perched herself at the end of Hank's desk. "I have some news for you."
"Oh yeah?" Hank peered around to see if he could spot Connor, but the android was nowhere in sight. "Did you find something last night?"
"I think I found exactly what we were looking for," Henri answered. "I found receipts from purchases that Markus made at Cyberlife. The most recent one dates back only one week ago. The order was for twenty-five crates of thirium just like the ones we found in that house at State Fair. The crates were being shipped to the android refugee camp that Markus had set up at the beginning of this year. I tried to contact any androids who still might be volunteering there, but as far as I can tell the camp is no longer in operation."
"Jesus Christ," Hank's favourite words. "He's supplying these street labs with all the blue blood they'll ever need. What the fuck is he getting out of this?"
"I'm not sure," Henri also gazed around the station for Connor. "But he had been buying smaller quantities before this. Looks like the camp has been receiving bio-component and thirium orders every two weeks since it opened. However, the orders have been relatively small in comparison to the one he made a week ago. At the most he was purchasing five cases of thirium bi-monthly; not near his recent twenty-five."
"I bet that much blue blood isn't cheap," Hank scratched at his beard.
"The camp was run on local donations and a limited amount of government funds, so it's unlikely he could afford a purchase that large so suddenly." Henri tapped her index finger on Hank's desk. "Unless of course, he stole it."
"The robberies," Hank grimaced at Henri. "You said there was a connection between our case and the robberies. This looks like it."
"We can probably assume he's been establishing a market for the past couple months," Henri finally spotted Connor entering the station. "And now it's go big or go home. He's planning something; I just don't know what yet."
"Good morning, Henri, Hank," Connor politely nodded at the two as he made his way over to them. "I got you both some coffee; some good coffee. Not the 'gross shit' that we have here as Henri implied in the past."
"You remember everything, huh?" Henri grinned at him.
Connor beamed at the two and handed over the cups, "Of course."
"Connor," Henri stuttered a bit, "I was thinking we should check out the refugee camp that Markus used to run. He spent a lot of time there this past year; we might be able to find something."
Hank anxiously looked at the two before turning back to his desk's monitor.
"I agree," Connor gave her a short nod. "It was a mistake not to investigate it sooner. There are likely androids we can question on his whereabouts"
"Here's the thing," Henri paused to stare at Hank who was trying to ignore her. "I did some searching and it seems the camp is no longer operational. Looks like it was abandoned, but I think we should still check it out. We don't have much else to go on right now."
"Good idea," Connor smiled. "We should depart immediately."
Henri leaned down to face Hank, "Coming, Lieutenant."
Hank puffed out a short breath, "Yeah. I'm coming."
