The quiet night had come about after a particularly taxing day throughout all of Detroit. A new wave of "red ice" was spreading through the city at an alarming rate, and as a result all available police officers and detectives were being spread out from their usual posts and assignments to try to get control over the situation. There had been dozens of drug busts that had pulled just as many drug dealers off the streets and put them behind bars, but unfortunately there were three times as many victims of overdoses admitted to the local hospitals. The emotionally and mentally draining problem had been nearly as exhausting as the physical work that went into locating and arresting those responsible for the "red ice" being illegally sold to the public.
As a result of his busy and hectic day Hank was left thoroughly fatigued yet restless. Unwilling to even try to get some sleep since he knew that the day's events would surely end with him enduring nightmares regarding overdosed victims being located in the gutters throughout Detroit, Hank remained awake to avoid the stress of bad dreams. One of the biggest contributing factors to Hank shifting priorities from the narcotics division to homicide pertained to being emotionally overwhelmed with seeing all of the young lives ended prematurely due to the illegal drugs proving to be addictive and lethal. Those nightmares had stolen years of his life and compelled Hank to change his primary field.
Sitting on the couch in the empty livingroom Hank mindlessly flipped through television channels while trying to find something to help distract his thoughts from what he had dealt with throughout the day. The gentle, flickering glow of the television screen illuminated Hank's form and cast an eerie shadow of his silhouette on the wall behind him as did his best to get lost in a movie and forget about people being killed by such a vile substance like "red ice" all because someone else wanted to make a quick and unethical buck.
The old, black and white film showcasing a strange monster roaming the depths of the ocean wasn't nearly as interesting as Hank had hoped. The cheesy effects, grainy footage and lame dialogue would normally be enough to entertain Hank in some capacity, but instead he found himself unable to do anything but think about the senseless deaths of far too many people taking place in Detroit despite his best efforts to keep his city safe.
Just as the emotionally distraught man was about to turn off the television and lay down to try to get some rest, something odd caught his ear from the far side of the house. It sounded like a muffled voice calling out for help. Hank lowered the volume of the movie to tune out the dire orchestral music accompanying the monster's rampage and the cliche dialogue being exchanged among the movie's human characters. As he listened more intently to the sound on the other side of the house Hank was now certain that he was hearing a voice calling for help.
"What the fuck is going on now?"
Hank tossed the remote aside as he rose to his feet to go and investigate the odd sound that had proven to be an effective distraction during the late hour. Tracing the sound to the garage Hank quietly crept into the kitchen and opened the side door connected to the laundry room, then listened closely to the voice that was undoubtedly coming from the garage on the other side of the same room. The only occupant of the garage at the moment was Connor, and as far as Hank was concerned the android had entered rest mode just like it did every night.
"Now what's that thing up to? Better not be another update making it act sick again."
Discreetly Hank opened the side door connecting the garage to the rest of the house and peered inside the garage for himself. Sure enough, Connor was mumbling to himself and was the very voice that Hank had heard while he was in the livingroom. The android was seemingly lost in the throes of a nightmare despite being a machine that shouldn't have any kind of dreams whatsoever. Hank had done some reading on peculiar android behavior when Connor seemingly had nightmares in the past, and by all account no androids should be able to dream or have nightmares. Apparently, such expectations applied to all androids except for Connor.
"Why in the fuck does this one android have nightmares? And why the fuck does it have to happen to the one android that I let into my house?"
Not wanting Connor to disturb Cole's sleep by accident Hank decided to take the initiative and awaken Connor from his ongoing nightmare. As the man neared the distressed android Hank clearly heard Connor begging for mercy and pleading with someone that he couldn't see for himself. Hank reached for Connor's shoulder but refrained from grabbing hold when he heard Connor speak a familiar name with utter panic behind his voice.
"Hank... Don't go!"
"What's going inside that thing's head?" Stepping back for a moment Hank tried to determine the best course of action to take. "It never calls me 'Hank'. There has to be a reason why it's acting so weird."
"Please..." Connor muttered as he turned from his back toward his side and blindly reached for something that was only visible in his nightmare. "Don't... Don't die. C-Can't lose you... again."
"What the Hell? All right, enough's enough." The man decided to awaken Connor and figure out what he was dreaming about. Taking a firm hold of the android's shoulder Hank shook once to get him to open his eyes and save him from his current nightmare. "Connor, wake the fuck up! Come on."
Connor quickly responded to not only Hank's deep voice, but his strong hand gripping onto his shoulder. As his eyes snapped open he sat upright very quickly in the cot and glanced about the dim garage with marked confusion on his face. When Connor realized that Hank was standing beside the cot his expression shifted from confused to blank to resume the façade of being an emotionless machine.
"What's wrong with you?" The Lieutenant bluntly asked as he pulled back his hand and gave Connor annoyed yet very stern glare. "You keep having weird glitches and errors, and now you're talking to yourself! Don't lie to me, I know what I saw and what I heard."
"I was suffering from an unpleasant memory cycling through my mind as I entered rest mode." Connor replied quickly and honestly. The contents of the nightmare weren't necessary to share since Hank wouldn't understand why such a memory would upset Connor to begin with. "It's happened before."
"And how come the only time you have an unpleasant memory it revolves around me?"
"...It's difficult to explain."
"Try." The stubborn man wasn't going to just accept Connor's non-answer at face value. He needed something more concrete and definitive. "You keep having weird shit happen to you, and I need to know that you're not going to breakdown or malfunction in a way that it'll be problem when you're watching over Cole. Spill it!"
Connor wasn't ready to talk about the nightmare or any of his past negative memories about Hank with Hank since he knew that the man would never believe him. It also didn't help that they weren't friends in the alternate timeline. In Connor's mind they were acquaintances at best, arguably just roommates, and as a result Hank wouldn't take anything he said seriously.
"Well?" Hank pushed for Connor to start talking and crossed his arms over his chest angrily as he stared daggers at the android. "Start talking."
Essentially accepting defeat Connor swung his legs over the edge of the cot and stood upright as he motioned for Hank to walk into the house so they could speak in a more comfortable setting. "If you really want to know, I'll tell you."
Hank just nodded as he walked back toward the door and waited for Connor to join him. He needed to know what was causing Connor to act bizarrely and he wanted to know immediately for his son's sake and his own sanity. Once the two were in the kitchen again Hank sat down at the kitchen table and waved Connor over to the seat across from him.
"Okay, now let's discuss this like two civil people." The impatient detective practically ordered as Connor sat down at the table. In spite of his unwillingness to see Connor as anything but a machine Hank had to admit that speaking to Connor was as easy as speaking to another human. "Or at least we'll speak as close as we can get to being two civil people. Start talking."
Timidly Connor began discussing his nightmare and how it pertained to Hank as a recurring theme. "During my rest mode, when my memory cycles through darker moments, I am reviewing the moment of your... It's difficult to say, but-"
"Just spit it the fuck out!" Hank had pinched the bridge of his nose between his forefinger and thumb as if the very conversation was already giving him an unbearable headache. "What about me is so damn extreme that it gives a machine nightmares?"
Begrudgingly Connor opened up and told Hank about what made his nightmare so upsetting. "...The memory revolves around you getting shot."
"Seriously? You weren't even there when I was shot, AND you had nightmares before I got shot." The sharp man pointed out as if he was trying to break a hole in a suspect's otherwise perfect alibi. "Try another one on me."
"It's true. You being shot has been the root of my nightmares."
"Even before I got shot? Then how can your nightmares come from past memories? Explain that one."
"Memories don't have to necessarily come from personal experiences or direct connections." The deviant countered without any hesitation. "Cole has had nightmares from watching horror movies or from reading scary stories. He was never an active part of those scenarios, and yet they still affected his memories resulting in frequent nightmares."
"Yeah, but he had knowledge of those events, and he has a vivid imagination. You don't."
There was no point in arguing about an imagination since by all account androids shouldn't have an imagination either. Once again, Connor was the exception to that fact, and it was all thanks to Cole. "Being able to preconstruct scenarios and select the most logical outcome says otherwise."
"Okay, yeah, I'll give ya' that one. But only because I have no idea how that programming of yours works or how it's supposed to work." Hank wasn't about to give up so easily. He wanted a better answer, and he was going to get it one way or another. "So does that mean you've run little 'what-if' scenarios about me getting shot enough times that you're having nightmares from them?"
"That is an accurate assessment, yes."
"Then knock it the fuck off! You're driving us both crazy with your damn worrying and your fucked up nightmares."
"...I will do my best to avoid disturbing you in the future with my concerns."
"Look, it's not that I don't appreciate you giving a damn about whether or not I live or not, it's just that you can't keep driving everyone up the wall with your weird behavior."
"It's not anything intentional. I cannot control my dream program any more than you can control your own."
Hank let out a defeated sigh as he sank back in his chair and then gave Connor a small smirk and nod of approval. "Touche."
"I apologize for disturbing your sleep." Connor stated with a blank yet heavy voice. "I'll refrain from returning rest mode until after you've had adequate rest first."
"Whoa, that's a little extreme reaction to a bad dream, isn't it?" Despite his own crankiness and irritation at Connor's behavior Hank didn't expect the android to stay awake the entire night and not get any proper rest. "I mean, the only reason I'm awake right now is because I don't want to deal with nightmares myself. So, I can't exactly fault you for having the same problem."
"You weren't asleep?" A faint wave of relief washed over Connor as he realized that he hadn't interrupted Hank's sleep after all. "May I ask why?"
"Like I said, I don't want to deal with nightmares either. Shit day at work."
Connor was familiar with Hank spending nights awake to avoid nightmares after stressful days at work, especially whenever he handled cases that dealt with children being abused or drugs being the core of his investigation. In the alternate timeline Connor would stay up alongside Hank whenever the man dealt with nightmares or restless nights, and they'd watch old movies or TV shows to pass the time. It seemed that Hank had always relied on escapism in the form of movies, television shows and his books to avoid dealing with real world problems whenever he felt it was necessary.
"I was more worried about you making a noise and waking up Cole by mistake." The man clarified with a lighter tone of voice. "Don't worry about my sleep, just do your best to keep it down and not wake up the house."
"That is within my scope of abilities." The deviant android admitted as gave Hank a wary glance. "Perhaps if we both distract ourselves with something that doesn't reflect our personal concerns, we'll be able to sleep without nightmares interfering with our rest."
"You know something, that sounds like a great idea."
Hearing Hank supporting his idea was an unexpectedly nice reminder of the friendship that they once shared in the alternate timeline. There was still a chance for that same friendship to flourish in the new timeline as well.
"Come on." The Lieutenant casually got to his feet again and began rummaging through the kitchen cupboards for some snacks. "Let's find something to tide us over for the night. I'm in the mood for something cheesy, both in the form of a potato chip and a movie. Now, let's see what we have..."
Accepting the invitation Connor stood up from the chair and promptly walked over to the pantry to search for something that the man would enjoy. "There is a new bag of cheddar flavored potato chips in the back of the pantry. I purchased them last week when I purchased groceries for the household."
"Yeah?" Hank quietly closed the cupboard and joined Connor by the pantry just as the deviant android handed him the brand-new bag to snack on. "Holy shit. These are my favorite flavor, but I haven't seen them in years! I thought they were discontinued."
"They had been for the past eight years but were remade recently due to popular demand requesting they return to market shelves."
"No shit. How did you know I like these?" Hank pulled the top of the bag open and popped one of the crispy chips into his mouth. "I never mentioned it before."
"An educated guess based on your other flavor preferences." Connor lied to protect the alternate timeline from being exposed. He knew much more about the man than Hank would've ever guessed. "I placed them in the pantry to ensure that Cole didn't ask to eat them when he had his after-school snack since I'm aware that you'd prefer for him to eat some fruits or vegetables first."
"Nice call. Okay, let's go find something mind-numbing to watch on TV and try to forget about our shitty problems for a few hours."
"That seems like a logical solution to our illogical problem."
For the first time in years, an entire lifetime from Connor's perspective, the two detectives retired to the livingroom to get lost in a late night movie to escape the problems of the world. It was a simple activity that helped give two weary minds a sense of peace after enduring their own personal wars. One of the common interests shared between the two detectives came in the form of entertaining and distracting stories of fantasy, sci-fi, horror and the occasional comedy.
"Let's take a break from all the scary movies for a while." Hank insisted as he sat down on the couch and invited Connor to sit beside him. "Cole really loves Halloween and all the spooky shit that goes with it, but I can only take so much fake blood before I start losing my cool."
"Very well." Slowly Connor made his way over to the couch and sat on the vacant cushion next to Hank as requested. "What do you want to watch?"
"Something that'll give me a good laugh. Let's see..."
Connor watched as Hank began flipping through the various television channels in search of a comedy worth of his time and attention. There was a nice selection of movies of all genres to choose from, but Hank had no desire to watch one of the classics or anything new. He wanted something that struck the right balance between humorous and bizarre without the film being one of the cheap parody films designed to make bank off of the comedies that had inspired it.
"Hey, how about this?" The man had seemingly made up his mind and selected an older television show that specialized in finding humor in what were otherwise serious films. It was a fine art that only a few people could master. "You're an android, so you should appreciate this show considering who two of the main characters are."
The deviant gave the show playing out his full attention and instantly recognized what Hank had selected. It was a show that he had actually grown to really enjoy after Hank had introduced it to him in the alternate timeline. It was a simple enough premise, a man trapped on a satellite orbiting the Earth with his robot companions watching movies from the public domain to mock the films for their oddball plots, characters, acting and special effects as a means of keeping their spirits up after being forced to watch the movies to placate another man's equally odd attempt at world domination.
Well, as simple as one could describe such a premise anyway...
"I used to watch this all time when I was a kid with my parents. It made us laugh all the time and gave us something to look forward to every week." Hank turned up the volume and then began snacking more on his chips while Connor got comfortable beside him. "They rebooted the show some time ago, but I'll always love the original series more than the newer stuff. Some things are just better when they're not changed from how it began. You just can't recapture lightning in a bottle when it comes to new ideas."
There was no denying that the Lieutenant had made a valid point about not changing a good thing. But there was always something to be said about trying something new and giving it a chance to possibly prove itself to be better than a previous incarnation. New didn't always mean inferior, it just meant different. While change could be scary and uncomfortable, it could also prove to be an invaluable learning experience.
"First thing in the morning, I'm going to brew a huge pot of coffee and then take Cole downtown to the ice rink so he can learn to skate properly." The devoted father decided as he tried to not think about his previous day full of misery and heartbreak. He wanted to do something fun with someone he loves. "I don't want him to develop a fear of the ice because of that accident last winter."
"That's a good idea." Connor agreed as he settled in to watch the moving being mocked and contemplated how much his life had changed between the two timelines as he continued to live alongside Hank, Cole and watch Detroit change toward the better. "I'm certain he'll enjoy being able to spend the day with you as well. I know that Cole appreciates you going out of your way to teach him new things and support his interests. Spending the day together will be good for both of you."
-next chapter-