I'm jolted out of sleep by a rattling sound coming from the kitchen. Too loud to have been the wind or the rain. Maybe a small animal got in?
As I press my ear against the door, the sound of footsteps heavy from rainwater squeak against the kitchen tile. Not an animal either…
Leaping out of bed, I keep my movements light as to not make any noise. Making my way over to my dresser, I open the bottom drawer, filled with summer t-shirts and other miscellaneous items. Making sure not to press down too hard on anything, in total darkness I feel around towards the back, before finding what I'm looking for.
I pull out my Glock handgun, and as I stand, I load it. I have never pulled my gun on anyone during my time on the force, but that doesn't mean I'm not trained to use one.
I press my ear against the door one more time, weapon at the ready. The footsteps have gone quiet, but now there's rattling coming from what sounds like the fridge, from the clinking of the bottles. Maybe a burglar? Or some homeless person who happened to stumble in here?
The lights in the hallway are flicked on, now there's no doubt it's a person. My gun still close to me, I reach for my phone and call 911.
"911, what's your emergency-"
"I'm an off-duty officer calling from 76 Michigan Drive, I have a possible home invasion-"
The footsteps start up again, as a shadow emerges against the hallway light from the crack in my bedroom door.
"Em? Is that you?"
Oh my god, it can't be…
"C'mon Em, don't call the cops," the male voice is slow and laborious, as the doorknob starts to rattle.
"Miss, is everything alright-"
I set the phone down, before opening the door with one hand, the other aiming with my gun.
"I've already called the police. You have about five minutes to get out," I raise my gun at him, my voice harsh and direct.
Dressed in a black down jacket over a blue t-shirt, Leo Manfred lumbers into my bedroom, his eyes tired and red.
"Not a step closer!" I command, inching towards him, re-emphasizing my weapon.
Unfazed by the fact that I have a gun pointed at his head, he casually backs up, "Relax, I just wanna sit down."
Leo leans against the door frame, his eyes bloodshot and tired, "So, why'd you never tell me about this place?"
"How the hell did you even find my house to begin with?" I ask, my tone softening, more curious than anything.
"Our old buddy Sean let it slip while we were at the hospital that you'd gotten your own place after your 'rents kicked you out. Huh, funny you told him but not me…"
Oh gee, I wonder why? I suppress the urge to roll my eyes. Then I realize something.
"Wha...the hospital? Leo, what were you doing in the hospital? Don't tell me you OD'd again-"
"My dad died," Leo blurts out.
I lower my gun, "What? He's dead? Leo, when did this happen-"
"Last night, I just got back from the hospital. It...it was a heart attack, look, it's a long story and I don't want to talk about it, okay?!"
Leo takes off his down jacket, soaked from the rain, and throws it over onto my dresser in frustration. Keeping both hands on my weapon, I take a step closer towards him.
"Leo, I am so sorry. But I've gotta ask...what the hell are you doing here? How'd you get my address-"
"I told you! Sean! His family lives next door to Dad, and they came over when they heard the gunshot-"
"'Gunshot'?! You said he died of a heart attack-"
"I said I don't want to talk about it!" Leo lashes out, but I raise my gun with a force equalling his ferocity. He settles down, slouching against the door frame, staring off into the distance, "Sean drove with me to the hospital, along with the ambulance. And you know, since it'd been so long since we'd actually talked, we were kinda catching up along the way. Ha...I guess he felt bad for me? So he told me where you were staying."
"Well, Leo, I'm sorry about what happened, but you can't stay here. I told you, I already called the cops-"
"I just don't wanna go home, okay?" Leo looks me dead in the eyes, "You know I can't go home. Mom has to know at this point, that bitch is probably having a goddamn meltdown right now-"
Leo is interrupted by the sound of sirens approaching the house. I give him an expectant glance. He groans.
"Fine. But I'll be back, okay? You and I have a lot of catching up to do," he promises, before darting down the hallway, back into the kitchen, and out the basement door.
With a sigh of relief, I put down the gun on my nightstand as there's several harsh knocks on my front door. Reluctantly, I get up to answer, but I'm stopped right in my tracks as I cross to the living room. Through the window that overlooks the porch, I can see that not only is a DPD car parked in front of my house, but that the person knocking on my door has a distinctive combination of dark hair, and a gray semiformal jacket with bright blue accoutrements.
"Open up! Detroit Police!" Connor shouts from outside.
/ INITIALIZING_SYSTEMS
/ RECOGNIZED_RK800#313248317-51
"Connor" model
/CURRENT_TIME
November 6, 2038
5:32 AM
/CURRENT_LOCATION
76 Michigan Drive
/OBJECTIVE
INVESTIGATE EMMA'S DISTRESS CALL
input_KNOCK
recieve_response
no response
input_DETERMINED
"Open up! Detroit Police!"
recieve_response
EMMA opens door
"Connor, what are you doing here?"
input_EXPLAIN
"I responded to your 911 call, Officer McMaghnius. I have access to all incoming 911 reports. Voice recognition confirmed your identity, and the GPS signalling on your cell phone allowed me to track your location-"
input_interrupted_recieving_response.
"No...why, why did you, of all people, come over to my house?"
/CHOOSE_APPROACH
LIE
TRUTH
/APPROACH_SELECTED "LIE"
input_LIE
"There aren't many officers available at this hour. And since Lieutenant Anderson is off-duty till later this morning, I figured I'd volunteer to help with the force."
Software instability falling...
recieve_response
EMMA looks HESITANT
"Uhm...well, okay. It was just, I thought I heard someone breaking in through the back door, so I freaked out and called the police. It didn't turn out to be anyone though. So, you can go. I'm sorry for wasting your time, Connor."
observation_SUSPICIOUS_BEHAVIOR
/CHOOSE_APPROACH
SEARCH
LEAVE
/APPROACH_SELECTED "SEARCH"
input_SEARCH
"Well, do you mind if I take a look around the house, just in case?"
recieve_response
"Sure, I guess. Come on in."
input_WALK
/NEW_OBJECTIVE
SEARCH EMMA'S HOUSE
LEARN ABOUT EMMA
input_ANALYZE_ENVIRONMENT
Collecting data…
Sync in progress...
Sync done…
Processing data...
object{family_picture}
MCMAGHNUIS, COOPER
Born: 5/23/1972 / Executive Chairman of Digital Harmony
MCMAGHNUIS, VIOLET
Born: 10/1/1978 / Former Singer
MCMAGHNUIS, EMMA
Born: 12/23/2009 / Police Officer
object{basement_door}
heavily damaged, signs of a break-in
traces of asbestos
"This door was forced open from the outside. Someone did break in."
recieve_response
"Oh...no kidding."
input_SERIOUS
"No, I'm not."
recieve_response
EMMA is CONFUSED
input_CONTINUE
"Also, there are signs that you may have exposed asbestos in the basement. Breathing in asbestos particles is very dangerous for humans."
recieve_response
"Ah shit, really? I had a feeling there was something wrong with the basement. There was no way I could get this place so cheap without some kind of catch. God, hopefully that was only recent..."
continue_ANALYZE_ENVIRONMENT
object{footprints}
Model 519723 0G270 1079 "Smith & White Falacer Sneaker" - 8'
less than ten minutes ago
object{jacket}
size: medium / fit: male
soaked from the rain, hasn't been here long
object{brassiere undergarment}
size: 34B / color: red
preference noted
Software instability rising...
recieve_response
"Uhm, do you really need to be looking at that?"
input_EXPLAIN
"I am simply analyzing all aspects of the area."
recieve_response
"Uhuh, yeah right, pervert. Here, I'll put that away, trust me, it's not part of your crime scene."
Relationship with EMMA falling...
continue_ANALYZE_ENVIRONMENT
object{gun}
Glock 19 / loaded
serial number: 020004736 / registered to: EMMA MCMAGHNIUS
observation_EMMA_HAD_A_WEAPON
object{cell phone}
has been recording this last ten minutes
/LOCALLY_DEACTIVATING_SKIN
input_ACCESS
input_DOWNLOAD_RECORDING
"911, what's your emergency-"
observation_DISPATCHER'S_VOICE
"I'm an off-duty officer calling from 76 Michigan Drive, I have a possible home invasion-"
observation_EMMA'S_VOICE
"Em, is that you?"
observation_UNKNOWN_VOICE
Skipping ahead…
"Our old buddy Sean let it slip while we were at the hospital that you'd gotten your own place after your 'rents kicked you out. Huh, funny you told him but not me…"
observation_EMMA_ESTRANGED_FROM_FAMILY
"Wha...the hospital? Leo, what were you doing in the hospital? Don't tell me you OD'd again-"
observation_VOICE_CONFIRMED "LEO"
observation_LEO_USES_DRUGS
observation_EMMA_KNEW_INTRUDER
hypothesis_LEO_EMMA'S_BOYFRIEND?
Software instability rising...
/LOCALLY_REACTIVATING_SKIN
/NEW_OBJECTIVE
QUESTION EMMA
Author's Note: For Connor's section, FanFiction doesn't allow me to post the chapter as originally written. If you'd like to view the chapter as originally intended, please head over to the AO3 or Wattpad versions of the story (also due to formatting rules I am not allowed to link to them, try searching "welcome, robot wattpad/archive of our own")
ShadowOfSans: I'm definitely in the minority, but I believe the overall quality of fanfiction has actually increased as years have gone by, especially on FanFiction. The audience has aged up along with the website, and are generally more literate. Most younger readers these days are on Wattpad, with a lot of the newer crowd on coming from the international community (i.e. non-United States) due to the high ratio of non-English works on FanFiction. Also, could you please refrain from AIDS jokes in future reviews? I understand the intention of the joke, but I want to be considerate of all my readers. And don't worry if your chapters are short at first, that's how I started. It's something you build over time as you notice more things you can include in a moment in the story before moving on. I would also recommend creating an outline for your story, not only to organize your plot points and have a big-picture idea of where you want your story to go, but also so that you can set things up that'll pay off in later chapters in moments that would otherwise just be dead air. As for your request, it's always been my intention with Welcome Robot to take my time to explore the characters over advancing the plot, but I'm not going to bash any author who does the opposite because that's a proven formula that's shown to keep people engaged time and time again
Edges05: Lol that's fine, I've definitely been guilty of that in the past. And Reid knows what's up, he's a bit of an audience surrogate sometimes. And we'll find out soon ;)
SnailorBee: Thank you so much! And wow, what a crazy connection! That's happened to me before too, where I was reading something and then my dreams make a weird connection to whatever I happened to be reading
Savage Kill: Leo actually ended up coming a little later, but pretty close. Good guess :)
