It was a warm and sunny day as the rather rundown and often forgotten about amusement park managed to show signs of life on Cole's very special seventh birthday. While most people would just see a little boy celebrating his seventh birthday as an everyday, mundane experience, Connor alone knew how special that day truly was. It was a birthday and celebration that had never had the chance to occur in the alternate timeline due to tragedy taking Cole's life far too early. Through Connor's own actions and decisions Cole was able to see his next birthday and celebrate with his dad in one of the best ways possible. Cole had an entire day at 'Pirate's Cove' amusement park with all of his friends from school, his best android friend and his dad to enjoy his birthday.

The park itself was refreshingly busy since there was a birthday party being hosted that day. All of the rides were operational, all of the food stands and games were opened, and there was a loud cheer coming from the special birthday pavilion near the heart of the park. The android employees were kept the park running throughout the spring, summer and fall had taken the time to decorate the pavilion and sing a song of joy to celebrate the birthday. Cole had no fear of the androids, all of them a single model 'EM-400' that went by the collective name 'Jerry', and he seemed happy to have some androids in attendance that day.

Connor was keeping a little distance between himself and the festivities taking place. He had never been to a child's birthday party before, and he had never been surrounded by so many children at once. It was a little overwhelming despite his ability to quickly adapt and overcome any unusual circumstances. It also didn't help that the parents chaperoning their children were giving Connor dismissive side-eyes as if he had no business being anywhere near their precious child that day.

After having his fill of cake and ice cream Cole decided it was time to go on a few rides. Hank was hesitant to let Cole ride anything extreme since he was full of sugar at the moment, but he did permit to him to go check out any ride that he found interesting. However, the catch was that Hank wouldn't go on any of the water rides since he was never a huge fan of water attractions or water parks in general.

"How about that one?" Cole asked as he pointed to the large roller coaster at the rear of the park. It wasn't a record-breaking or even intimidating roller coaster, but for a soon-to-be second grader who had just tried to eat his own body weight in birthday cake, it was still not an ideal ride to choose. "Looks fun!"

"Maybe after an hour." Hank suggested in a playful manner. "I don't want you losing your cake all over the tracks. What about that Merry-Go-Round? Looks like it can go pretty fast."

"No way! I want to go on something big and scary!"

"Big and scary, huh?" Walking with Cole as they explored the park, Hank didn't even take notice of Connor following them while keeping his head down and doing his best to avoid eye contact with the other parents. The man was comfortable around all the other parents and children, whereas Connor felt entirely out of his league in that moment. "Well, why don't we go inside the haunted house?"

"Yeah! Let's go!" Cole turned around quickly and pointed at Connor as the deviant kept pace just behind them. "Come on, Connor! Haunted house! Maybe it's like the 'Tower of Terror'!"

Quietly Connor nodded and picked up his pace as he entertained Cole's desires for fun and to explore something spooky. There was no reason to be a buzzkill during Cole's birthday party despite his inability to really understand or appreciate how important birthdays were to human children.

"It's over here!" Running toward the entrance to the haunted house, Cole stood beside the front door and waited for Hank and Connor to join him. "Come on!"

"I'm coming." Hank called out as he quickly caught up with Cole and put his hand on his son's hair. "Let's check out this haunted house."

Connor followed after Cole and Hank into the haunted house and peered at all of the horror themed decorations lining the walls of the main foyer. The entryway was meant to serve as both an attraction and a way to keep waiting patrons entertained while the line for the main ride within the heart of the mansion shrunk in size. As for the mansion itself, it was designed to be a large, moored pirate ship stuck in a haunted swamp, and the ride carried its patrons in small boats around a track in the water to take them through the haunted swamp, through a cave, a choppy open ocean and finally back to civilization. It was a simple attraction, but one that was full of character that meshed well with the theme of pirates in the surrounding park.

While Cole examined the cursed treasure that was contained in the corner of the foyer, Connor scanned the mansion and found the internal components and mechanics of the haunted ride to be as complicated as they were impressive. Gears, wires, levers and motors kept everything running smoothly throughout the mansion without being visible, and seeing that the components were fueled by Thirium gave Connor his own strange sense of dread in the mansion. To him, seeing blue blood inside the walls was its own strange scare.

"Our turn, bud." Hank spotted the helpful Jerry minding the ride waving the trio over. That particular Jerry was wearing a pirate hat, eye patch and a thick red captain's coat over his usual uniform. "Let's see what makes this mansion so haunted."

Remaining quiet Connor accompanied Hank and Cole to their designated boat and waited to be motioned to sit inside. With Cole right in the middle between his dad and his android bodyguard, the little boy was guaranteed maximum protection from the spooky spirits of the swamp. Connor never felt fear in the way humans felt fear when it came to scary movies or haunted attractions, but he did understand what it was like to experience fear from his personal decisions of the past. That kept the deviant detective on his guard at all times.

The boat began its automated journey through the swamp and immediately the group was enveloped by artificially produced fog. There was an ambience of crickets and other insects chirping in the swampy waterway, and a few flickering fireflies glowed through the fog thanks to a clever lighting effect. The smell of the fresh water was the only sense that broke the immersion of being in a stagnant, nasty swamp world.

As the ride continued Cole excitedly leaned forward and pointed out the creepy pirate skeletons and ghosts peeking out from behind the fake trees and of the skeletal crocodiles lurking in the water. It seemed Cole wasn't fazed by the spooky gimmick and was just enjoying himself. Even the large webs with impossibly large spiders lurking in the trees didn't scare him. The only time Cole jumped was when one a zombified animatronic crocodile jumped out of the water right beside the boat.

"Aw, man..." Hank lamented as the crocodile managed to splash some water on his shirt and jeans. "I hate water rides."

Cole just laughed while Connor scanned the environment to identify the locations of each prop, animatronic and special effect that gave the ride its spooky and eerie atmosphere. In the distance Connor could hear a haunting pirate song being sung throughout the swamp and knew that in time the ride would be entering a cave like area that'd quickly double up on the haunting effects.

"Where's the pirate king?" Cole asked while brimming with excitement. He loved the myths and legends of ghost stories and already knew of the ghost of the pirate king haunting the swamp. "I bet he's guarding his treasure!"

"I bet you're right." Leaning back in his seat Hank made sure to keep away from the edge to ensure he had no other close encounters with the cold water. "What do you think his treasure it? Gold? Jewels? A sword?"

"I bet it's magical!"

"Magical, huh? We'll find out..."

The ride continued on Connor found it fascinating that Cole could be so entertained by something as simple as a boat ride through a fictional haunted swamp. The imagination and innocent wonder of children were truly enviable.

It didn't take long for the ride to reach the foggy cave and enter a dark void that had the faint echoes of fake bats sounding off all around them. While Connor knew that everything was fictional and that there weren't truly any bats, ghosts, crocodiles or cursed treasure, a part of Cole believed everything that he was seeing. When a ghoulish laugh echoed somewhere deep inside the heart of the cave Cole jumped in his seat and immediately curled up against Hank's side for protection while he reached out his hand and grabbed onto Connor's arm.

"Nervous?" Hank grinned as he wrapped his arm protectively around Cole's shoulders. "We're going to be out of the cave soon."

Cole nodded as he watched the pirate story play out with wide eyes of intrigue, fear and excitement.

By the time the small boat passed by the ghoulish pirate captain and his cursed treasure - a golden saber with diamonds stolen from an ancient civilization embedded in the handle - the biggest scares were over. Passing through an artificially rough sea full of ghost ships and siren songs weren't nearly as scary as the dark cave with the ghost of the pirate king.

As soon as Cole, Hank and Connor left the haunted mansion and returned to the main park, Cole was feeling energetic and wanted to go on another ride. He was still eyeing the roller coaster and hoped that his dad would finally let him ride it. After a few seconds of begging and pleading Cole was finally granted permission to ride the roller coaster under the condition that Connor accompanied the little boy on the ride so that Hank didn't have to deal with it. With one obstacle cleared there was seemingly only one hurdle left to overcome.

"Pleeeeeese, Connor?" Cole grabbed onto Connor's hand and held it tightly as he looked his best android friend in the eyes. "Will you go with me? I want to ride the roller coaster really, REALLY badly!"

Sensing Hank watching him very carefully Connor decided to ignore the man and focus on Cole entirely. "Very well. I'll go with you."

"YEAH! THANK YOU!"

Hank was surprised that Connor said 'yes' since as far as he was concerned androids didn't care for amusement park rides. "All right. Since you two are going to head to the 'Tidal Wave', I'm going to go check out a few of the snack stands in the area. I won't be too far away."

"Come on!" Cole shouted loudly as he tugged on Connor's hand. "We need to get in line!"

"I'm with you." Connor promised as he allowed the happy birthday boy to pull him along by his hand toward the entrance for the roller coaster. "We'll get on the ride as soon as possible."

The queue for the line was fairly long in comparison to the lines for the other rides in the park. It seemed the roller coaster was the most popular ride in 'Pirate's Cove', and a majority of Cole's other friends and classmates were already waiting in the line ahead of them. Connor had no issues with standing all day long, whereas Cole's legs were getting a little a tired already. To make the wait more bearable Connor offered to carry Cole on his shoulders and get him to the roller coaster's loading station in style.

"Do you like roller coasters?" Cole asked as he sat on Connor's shoulders and looked around the park from his newly found height. "Dad doesn't like them. Or the water rides. Or anything that's really fun!"

"I'm not sure if I like roller coasters." Replying honestly Connor stepped forward in the line and kept an eye on his surroundings at all times. "I'll find out once were on the ride."

"After this we should go down the giant log ride!" Cole happily pointed to the next ride in the distance as he watched one of the log rides drop down the massive water slide and into the pool below with a giant splash. "Dad won't go on it with me."

"If you wish to ride the 'Pirate's Plummet' after this ride, then we will."

"Really?"

"Yes." Looking up at Cole as Cole looked down at his face, Connor offered Cole a small smile. "It is your birthday after all. This day should be about what you want to do, as long as it's within reason."

"What does that mean?"

"It means we'll have fun in the park as long as it doesn't put anyone at risk or break any rules."

Cole grinned brightly as the line continued forward and he caught a glimpse of the loading platform ahead. "That'll be easy!"

The afternoon in the park was exciting for everyone involved. While taking a stroll through the heart of the park itself Hank found himself indulging on a few sweet and salty treats just like he did as a child, and he made sure to get something for Cole to snack on after the birthday boy got off the roller coaster. It had been years since Hank had even tried to ride a roller coaster. Being an older man with an older body and a less stable stomach made even the idea of going on a roller coaster that'd take him up high, drop him down fast, spin him around and turn him upside down seem like a nightmare waiting to happen. It had been so long since Hank had been an innocent kid, and seeing his son having fun was helping him relieve his lost childhood days.

With his snacks in his hands Hank walked toward the exit of the roller coaster and noticed the gift shop containing the photo kiosk just behind the coaster itself. A quick glance at the monitors showcasing all of the photos snapped on the ride made Hank smile and laugh as he saw Cole laughing with his arms in the air in the middle of the ride, and Connor sitting next to him looking entirely unphased by the entire experience.

"Yeah, that's definitely today's top souvenir."

Connor and Cole passed through the exit and into the gift shop just as Hank had paid for the photo and was given a digital copy for his phone as well as a physical photograph contained in a pirate themed cardboard frame. The man waved his son over and showed him the photo while handing him his cherry slush to drink after such a wild ride.

"That's going on the mantle." Hank promised as he saw Cole grin at the photo for himself. "Fearless as ever, huh, son?"

"Nothing scares me!"

"How about you, Connor?" Giving the android a curious glance Hank tried to determine if Connor had been affected by the roller coaster despite his outward expression denying any form of discomfort. "Enjoy the ride?"

"It was... memorable." Connor admitted as he pressed his palm over the center of his stomach as if slightly nauseated. "The high speed and numerous drops have caused an imbalance in my gyroscope."

"In your what?"

"It's the human equivalent of an inner ear and allows me to maintain a proper sense of balance."

"Oh... So it got ya' right in the gut."

"Something like that."

"That's the one good thing about standing in long lines." The man admitted as he popped a cheese covered fry in his mouth and offered some to Cole. "It gives you the time you need to regain your bearings and let your stomach settle."

"I'll take your word for it."

One of the Jerry's monitoring the park approached Connor and gave him an awkward smile as he tried to be of assistance. "There is an emergency repair bay in the back of the park to assist all androids to ensure our guests have a terrific day! Let me show you to our pirate's bay to ensure your family continues to have fun!"

"That is unnecessary." Connor didn't want to go anywhere with the Jerry or associate with the android for too long. He couldn't risk accidentally causing the android to deviate and create a chain reaction throughout the park. "I have already recalibrated and I'm function in optimal parameters."

"That's great to hear!" Jerry shouted with a sickening enthusiasm that made Cole grimace and Hank roll his eyes. "Please continue to have a 'sea-faring' adventure here at 'Pirate's Cove' amusement park!"

Connor withheld his own grimace as the Jerry went on his way and Hank shook his head at the odd energy on display. "...Yes, I'm sure we will."

"Ready to do something else?" Hank put his hand to Cole's hair and made sure his son had his fill of his treats before moving on to his next adventure. "Name it and we'll do it."

"Me and Connor are going to go on the log ride!"

"Yup. That's something you and Connor will do." The man confirmed with a smirk as he popped a few more fries into his mouth. "I don't do water rides. Then after that, we'll go check out the arcade and try to win ya' a few cool prizes. Sound good?"

"Yeah!"

"All right then." Hank gave Connor a coy glance as he saw the android trying to hide his lingering dizziness post roller coaster. "Don't worry. The single big drop from a log ride is much better than the multiple drops, twists and turns of a roller coaster."

Connor lowered his hand from his stomach and gave Hank a relatively placated nod. "That is reassuring. Cole, are you ready-"

"Yup!" The birthday practically shoved his drink and snacks back into Hank's hands to ensure he could get on the ride without any problems. "Let's go!"

Laughing to himself Hank watched with a demented glee as Connor was dragged through the amusement park and forced onto ride after ride for as long as Cole had energy in his little body. Being able to just go about his own pace, get his snacks and spend time away from work had done wonders for Hank's mindset, and knowing that his son was thoroughly enjoying his birthday party made it all worth it. The man was hesitant to take Cole to 'Pirate's Cove' due to his personal disdain for all the rides, especially the water rides, but now he was glad he caved and had Connor alongside him to help Cole enjoy his special day.

"Never thought I'd be so relieved to see someone else getting subjected to the boundless energy of a child. Glad Connor can take it."

By the time Cole and Connor had gone down the 'Pirate's Plummet', four times in a row at that, Hank had finished his own treats and managed to win six rounds of air hockey in the arcade. It was easy for the man to accumulate so many prize tickets for Cole to use once his son rejoined him in the arcade since he had years of experience in playing the game and outsmarting the computer player. Walking around with a metaphorical scarf of tickets wrapped around his neck helped Hank standout and look like he was really having fun at the park that day.

"Dad!" Cole's clothes were drenched, and his eyes were bright with enthusiasm. "How'd you get so many tickets?"

"By being an air hockey master." Curiously Hank looked at Cole's wet clothing and then sighed at the idea of his son catching a chill and getting sick. "Man, how did you managed to get soaked so easily?"

"We went down the hill a bunch of times in a row!"

"Oh." Hank looked up at Connor and saw that the android was drenched and didn't look all too pleased with his situation. "Know what? I believe you."

Connor removed his soaked blazer and eyed the waterlogged garment with mild disgust. "The water was relatively warm during the ride itself. However, the air is making the water feel much cooler than it had felt previously."

"Good thing I brought some extra clothes for you guys to wear." Presenting Connor with an electronic keycard for the storage locker in the center of the park, Hank gave Connor the pass he needed to find dry clothes. "Go get some stuff out of the locker for Cole and yourself. We'll stay in the arcade."

"Yes, of course."

Hank just shook his head as Connor hastily exited the arcade to get to the lockers and find some dry clothes. It was amusing to see the android shying away from being wet and cold in public, whereas Cole didn't seem to mind it one bit.

"All right, here are your birthday tickets. You can either cash them in now, OR you can try to win even more tickets and go for the bigger prizes! Maybe even the grand prize." The proud father stated with utter confidence as he watched Cole glancing about the arcade with raw excitement. "What'll it be, bud?"

"Go big or go home!"

"That's what I wanted to hear! Let's go check out the Skee-Ball ramp and work around the arcade."

"Yeah! We're going to beat every game in here!"

Steadily Cole and Hank made their way through each game in the arcade and added more tickets to their collection. The Skee-Ball ramps, the air hockey tables, the corked-gun target ranges, the numerous rhythm games and the various timing games were no match for Cole and Hank's gaming prowess, but when it came to the mystery capsule crane game the duo were stuck. They couldn't seem to line up the machine's claw with any capsules that contained any winning prize tickets.

"Aw, man." Cole opened the small plastic sphere and found the paper slip saying 'Sorry, try again' tucked inside. "Another dud."

"We could move on and try something else for a while."

"Nope!" The birthday boy was determined to win and quickly put the empty plastic capsule into the small bin beside the machine to be recycled. "I'm going to win!"

Connor had finally rejoined the duo in the arcade and was now wearing one of Hank's D.P.D. hoodies in place of his wet blazer and white dress shirt. He didn't have any other jeans or shoes to wear, but he felt much warmer without the wet shirts clinging to his skin. "I brought Cole his clothing."

"Yeah, thanks." Hank took the dufflebag from Connor's hand and then handed him the collected tickets and the arcade keycard to hold. "I'm going to take Cole into the bathroom to change. You hold our tickets for us, and don't lose that card. It has $50 in game tokens still on there."

"Very well."

"Come on, Cole. The sooner you're changed, the sooner we can finally beat this stupid crane game."

Remaining in place Connor neatly folded up and counted the prize tickets in his hands to ensure that there was an accurate count. Between Hank and Cole playing the games in the arcade, the father and son duo had managed to win two-thousand and six tickets. That was already a large number of tickets for any one person to win, and yet the grand prize was worth an even five-thousand tickets.

Curiously Connor scanned the arcade and noticed that the games of chance seemed to offer up the largest amount of tickets, whereas the games of skill had lower odds. It was logical for the arcade to keep the luck factor in their favor since anyone could master a single game given enough time. It also made sense as to why Cole couldn't seem to find a prize-winning capsule in the crane game.

Another scan over the claw machine helped Connor identify the capsules that contain tickets and which ones contain the consolation slips.

The urge to help Cole overcome the game compelled Connor to press the cardkey to the machine and pay for three rounds on the crane game. As the deviant's calm and skilled hand took hold of the joystick Cole and Hank returned to the machine and watched as Connor homed in on a winning capsule. The claw lowered, grabbed a plastic sphere and raised it up long enough to drop it into the prize chute.

"Did you win?" Cole asked excitedly as he pulled out the capsule from the prize chute to open for himself. Inside the capsule were twelve tickets neatly bundled together confirming that Connor picked a winner. "Yeah! Finally!"

"All right!" Hank took back the tickets from Connor and added the newly won tickets to their growing hoard. "Good work, Connor."

"I can win two more capsules." The deviant confirmed as he picked the next winning capsule and expertly plucked it from the pile in the machine. "One more..."

Cole excitedly opened the second capsule and found another twelve tickets inside, and then discovered a special golden token that was worth one-hundred tickets when traded in at the prize counter. "YEAH! Connor found the best one!"

"Hey, that's pretty cool!" Hanging onto the tickets and the coin Hank clapped his hand down on Connor's shoulder once in approval as he encouraged Cole to check out the final games to play. The man didn't notice that Connor momentarily flinched under his touch since he was so preoccupied with Cole. "We're getting close to the grand prize."

"We're going to win it, too!" Cole declared as he looked at the prize counter and grinned at the grand prize. A large, custom Lego set of 'Pirate's Cove' park in its entirety. "We're going to get a new Lego model to build!"

"You heard him." Turning his focus toward again Connor as the deviant handed over the arcade cardkey, Hank made it clear he was expecting Connor to help Cole win his final tickets before they left the arcade. "We're getting the grand prize, then we're going to go have some pizza for dinner. I know Cole's friends are going to be jealous to see him winning the big prize on his big day."

It didn't take long for Cole to rush over to the 'Whack-A-Mole' tables and begin a round to win some more tickets. The little boy was able to get a decent score, but Hank's was better, and Connor's score was the best. The trio had won over one-hundred tickets when everything was pooled together, and soon Cole began to focus on the other games. The trio had a blast playing through the pinball tables and the strength testing machines, but when they reached the basketball hoops the determination to win the grand prize flourished.

The way the basketball game was set up was designed for customer efficiency. The hoop was mounted up high on the back of the wall with netting on both sides to keep any stray balls from bouncing out of bounds. Beneath the hoop was a steep slope and an angle ramp designed to roll the tossed ball back along the edge of the booth and toward the player to recollect and shoot into the hoop as many times as possible before the one-minute time limit was over.

Cole managed to sink a few shots into the hoop despite being pretty short to see the actual hoop from where he stood. Hank was able to successfully sink a good two thirds of his shots thanks to being taller and having more experience playing basketball. However, it was Connor who was well on his way to setting a new record in the arcade for the amount of successful shots in the sixty second time frame.

"Go, Connor!" Cole cheered as he grabbed his newly won tickets and stood right next to Connor as the deviant android sunk shot after shot with expert precision and speed. The birthday boy didn't understand how androids could essentially cheat the system with their software and flawless reflexes, all Cole saw was his friend winning an impressive number of tickets. "Keep going!"

Hank sunk his final shot and turned to look at Connor beside him just as Cole's friends rushed over to watch the android's amazing feat. The speed and accuracy behind Connor's motions was enough to elicit an appropriate response from the man as he too collected his tickets. "Holy shit..."

Connor didn't pay any attention to the crowd watching him and cheering him on, or to the Jerry that was trying to remind Connor that the games in the arcade were meant to be for human entertainment only. The deviant android was keeping track of the tickets he was winning and made sure that he was able to get the final tickets necessary for Cole to go and claim the grand prize of the arcade for himself. All Connor cared about was helping Cole have a wonderful birthday considering what could've been missed had Connor not altered the timeline.

As the final shot sunk into the hoop right as the timer hit zero, a pair of red and white lights atop the basketball booth began flashing as an automated feminine voice confirmed that Connor had set a brand new arcade record. One-hundred and seventeen shots scored in just sixty seconds.

"YEAH!" Cheering loudly Cole gathered up the massive pile of tickets that had coiled up on the floor beside Connor's leg and happily added them to the tickets that had already been won. "This has to be enough!"

"It is." Connor confirmed as he watched Cole and Hank count their tickets, while the rest of the kids proceeded to line up to take turns at the basketball hoops. It seemed everyone in the arcade wanted to set a record that night. "You now have five-thousand, four-hundred and sixty-two tickets."

"YES! Did you hear that, dad?" Turning around Cole held up the tickets and showed them to Hank as Hank put his hands to his hips in surprise. "We did it!"

"Yeah, I heard. Come on, let's get your prize!" Proudly Hank picked up Cole to carry on his shoulders to the prize counter while Connor walked beside him. Seeing his son so happy was all Hank cared about. "Then we'll go have that second round of pizza with your friends before everyone heads for home. Today was a good day, huh, son?"

"The best!" Without any fear Cole passed his mound of tickets over to the Jerry monitoring the prize counter and pointed to the grand prize. It seemed the Jerry knew it was Connor who had won the tickets, but he didn't say anything since the customer's happiness always came first and foremost. "This is the best birthday, EVER!"

The long and exciting day came to an end only after every one of the guests at the birthday celebration had their fill of pizza, cake, ice cream and soda. By the time the park was preparing the close for the night, everyone who was still in the park was exhausted and ready to head for home. Hank was carrying Cole in his arms as his son fought to keep his eyes open during the brief trek out to the parking lot. Connor was carrying Cole's new Lego set, as well as the dufflebag of clothing and the tote bags of Cole's other prizes from the arcade. One of the Jerry models from the park was helping out by carrying extra food out to the car to ensure that everything was taken care of properly for the night.

Once Cole was secured in his booster seat in the van Hank gave his son a smile and watched him struggling to stay awake. The man had decided to use the autonomous features of the van to drive back home since he too was tired, and he had no problem sitting in the seat beside Cole to ensure his son could lean against his side and get some sleep during the return drive back to the house.

"Here's the rest of your items!" The Jerry stated with a high energy voice as he passed over the bags for Connor take. "Please come back soon! We're looking forward to seeing you all again, and remember, we're always ready for a new adventure!"

"Yes, I'm sure Cole will want to return to the park." Connor confirmed awkwardly as he did his best to interact with the Jerrys as little as possible. "Thank you for your assistance."

Connor finished packing up the van and proceeded to sit down in the driver's seat to ensure that Cole and Hank had plenty of room to stretch out and relax. The deviant would only take control of the van in the event of autonomous failure or an emergency. He had no desires to handle a potential car problem or anything else that'd ruin what was otherwise a perfect day.

"Did you have fun today?" Hank asked in a low voice as he wrapped his hand around Cole's shoulder and pulled his son up to rest against his side. "It seems like you were having a blast."

Cole managed to let out a big yawn as he finally let his eyes close as he snuggled against his dad's side. "Yeah. It was fun."

"We'll start working on your new model tomorrow. We'll have plenty of extra pizza to snack on, too."

"Yeah... Pizza."

Hank chuckled softly as Cole submitted to sleep and drifted off within seconds. "Happy birthday, son. I can't wait to celebrate it again next year."

From where he sat Connor listened to how kindly Hank spoke to his son and waited to one day hear such kindness directed toward him. It had been so long since Connor had watched tragedy unfold and he could only hope that he'd never have to endure such pain in his life ever again. Whether that tragedy came in the form of something happening to Hank, to Cole or to Markus, it didn't matter. Pain was pain, and Connor just tried to hang on to his hope as he waited to see what was around the corner.

Leaning back in his seat Connor stared out his side window to watch the stars and wonder how much longer it'd be before he felt like he had found his true home and not just a place to live until the Revolution transpired. In time he knew he'd find his place in the world once more, but he didn't know if he'd be alone, if he'd have a friend, if he'd have any allies or if he'd have any family to call his own.

After experiencing a day like today Connor knew one thing for certain as he proceeded to face the future head on and prepared to play his role in making history.

Regardless of what happened when that fateful and historic night graced Detroit, Connor was determined to succeed and find a family to call his own. The deviant was determined to not only be all right, but protect those he had grown to care for and love.

-next chapter-