The house was quiet as Connor spent the day alone while Hank was at work and Cole was at school. There were no chores to be completed since Connor had taken care of them shortly after the two humans had left that morning after breakfast. Sumo had been taken out, taken on his afternoon walk and fed, and as a result the large dog was contentedly napping on his pillow in the corner of the livingroom. All of the errands had been finished the night before, which meant Connor didn't have to go downtown to do any shopping. And with Hank electing to pick Cole up from school that afternoon, Connor had no reason to go anywhere beyond the garage unless he was expressly ordered to do something.

Feeling rather bored and as if he was reaching a dead-end in his life regarding his abilities, his choices, and his overall progress, Connor rose from his cot and began rummaging through the boxes stored on the shelves against the far wall. He needed something constructive to do, and he decided that simply organizing tools, locating decorations for the impending holidays and alphabetizing Hank's old music collection would have to suffice.

The tools were easy enough to clean up and organize since Hank rarely used them beyond simple car maintenance. As for the decorations, that took longer than necessary since Hank seemingly had the habit of just chucking decorations into boxes and putting the boxes aside without much consideration for when he'd need to locate them again in after a year had passed. When the deviant finally got to the aged music collection Connor found himself enthralled in the world of melodious genres on CD's that had been separated from Hank's vinyl collection in the livingroom.

"Interesting... Hank's taste in music extends beyond what is immediately accessible in the livingroom."

The old CDs still protected in their dusty acrylic cases were all in impeccable condition. It was strange that Hank would separate his music collection seemingly based on the format in which the music was printed, but soon Connor discovered the true reason. A majority of the CDs were by bands with rather explicit lyrics in their songs, and since it was easier for a young child to figure out how to put a CD in a CD player than it was for them to put a record on the record player, line up the needle, adjust the speed and find the proper way to begin the album, it made sense to keep the more mature music away from a second grader's ears.

"Heavy metal and jazz, not unusual."

Connor noted the genres as he carefully put each CD aside and made sure the correct disc was in the correct case. Organizing the boxes of CD by artist names and their albums alphabetically was giving Connor something to do and providing him with more information about humans through their musical tastes.

"Hard rock, speed metal, alternate rock, orchestral rock... I had no idea that Hank's tastes were so broad when it came to metal music."

Many of the bands were still famous despite being well over fifty years old and a majority of the original band members having passed on due to advanced age, drug abuse, alcoholism and tragic accidents. Every CD Connor picked up prompted the deviant to cybernetically research the bands, that particular album and of the band's most popular hits to placate his own curiosity. To say that music was fascinating would be an understatement.

As the patient deviant organized each CD, starting with "AC/DC" and ending with "ZZ Top", Connor discovered that by just pressing his fingertip to the underside of the CDs that he was able to upload the music directly into his intracranial processor and that allowed him to listen to each song one by one with a single prompt. Each CD was listened to by Connor as he put them away and stored them somewhere safe in the garage. It didn't take long for the metaphorical earworm to nestle in and cause Connor to replay certain songs over and over again as he laid back over his cot and contemplated the meaning behind each song's lyrics.

It was strange how each song could tell their own unique story that resonated with their captive audiences. Songs of travel, of life, of love, of loss, anger, loneliness, despair, hope, the past, the future and of regret were all incredibly powerful even to the ear of a deviant android. As Connor let himself become enveloped in the thousands of hours of music and replayed a few choice songs over and over again, the deviant began to casually sing a few of the songs to the best of his ability since his programming didn't account for vocal performances or musical rhythm.

Lost in his music and the echoing lyrics, Connor didn't notice the side door connecting the garage to the rest of the house creaking open as Hank entered the dark space to check on the deviant android. Connor continued to sing his song while unaware of Hank now watching and listening in on everything he was doing.

"'*So close no matter how far. Couldn't be much more from the heart. Forever trusting who we are, and nothing else matters...'"

Hank didn't say a word as he heard the familiar tune being sung softly by Connor from within the garage. He hadn't heard that particular song in many years, but he recognized it immediately and began to wonder how Connor heard such lyrics and why he was attempting to sing.

"'Never opened myself this way. Life is ours; we live it our way. All these words, I don't just say. And nothing else matters...'" Connor limply draped his arm over his closed eyes as he continued to sing along with the song playing inside his head, completely oblivious to Hank listening in. "'Trust, I seek, and I find in you. Every day for us something new. Open mind for a different view. And nothing else matters...'"

Just as Hank was about to call out to the deviant he heard Connor let out a despondent, almost human sigh, and tried to figure out what he had just walked in on.

"Interesting how such a somber song about one person's experiences can parallel the life of a total stranger." The deviant confessed as he processed what the lyrics of the song were trying to tell him. "At least up until a point."

Hearing Connor speaking to himself and contemplating music and life in general had left Hank momentarily stunned where he stood. As someone who enjoyed music and allowed himself to get lost in song lyrics whenever he had a bad day at work and needed to escape reality for a few precious minutes, Hank could appreciate Connor becoming mildly philosophical about the meaning of a single song.

"There is no trust to be found. Not anymore." Connor lamented as he continued to hear the song inside his head as he laid over the cot. It seemed he had become so engrossed in his music that he hadn't noticed Hank's presence as the Lieutenant hovered in the doorway watching and listening to him. "There are no open minds either. All except for Cole. If it wasn't for his kindness, I know I wouldn't still be here putting up with being mistreated and cast aside. I'll never know what it's like to be a father, but now I understand why parents can become completely shattered by the loss of their children."

Hank didn't say a word as he heard the passion behind Connor's words. The way Connor sounded so human and completely aware of the world around it had left Hank unexpectedly perplexed. Never in his life did he expect to hear an android say such powerful and emotional words without being prompted to play out a scene or recite a story from another human's commands. It was almost like Connor was truly able to think for itself, then again, it could also just be using its social relations programming to allow it to adapt to its surroundings and appear more aware than it actually is.

Silently Hank closed the door and stepped back into the house to let Connor be alone with its music for a while longer. There was no reason to disturb it or interrupt a serene moment out in the garage since there wasn't anything happening that Hank couldn't handle himself.

"Weird-ass android." Muttering to himself Hank made his way back inside the house and checked on Cole as his young son sat at the kitchen table with his homework laid about before himself. The second grader was handling more homework than he had the previous year, and Hank wanted to make sure he could handle it all. "Need any help there, son?"

"Nope. I can do this." Cole replied quickly as he finished his spelling homework and then started on the math. "What's for dinner? I'm starving!"

"Me too. How about some chicken quesadillas?"

"Yeah! With cheese sauce!"

"With cheese sauce. You got it." Hank chuckled a little as he set about getting everything ready to make some dinner. The man enjoyed cooking and was happy to do some hands-on prep work without Connor doing everything in his stead. "Are you working on subtraction or addition right now?"

"'Multiple-cation'."

Hank pulled the chilled chicken from the refrigerator to begin cutting it up and cooking in a pan. "Multiplication, something new. Understand how it works?"

"Yup. I just gotta' count one number as many times as the other number says to. So that means I gotta' count five out six times to figure out what five times six is."

"And what does that equal?"

"Thirty!"

"Very good!" The man was impressed that Cole could handle such a large multiplication problem so fast and accurately. "You're picking up on your math pretty quickly. I'm proud of you."

"Connor helped me."

"Oh yeah?" It wasn't a secret that Connor had spent more time helping Cole with his homework than Hank had done. The lack of help wasn't from a disinterest in aiding his young son's education, Hank was just often too busy with work at the precinct to help out with simple homework after he clocked out. "Did he teach you how to multiply, or was it your teacher?"

"It was Connor. And he showed me how to divide." Cole confirmed as he continued with his homework and finished his multiplication table in record time. "I just do 'multiple-cation' backwards to divide numbers."

"I guess that's one way to look at division, yeah."

The door to the laundry room slowly opened as Connor passed through the room to exit the garage and return to the main house. The deviant android watched Hank standing before the warm stove and noticed Cole handling his homework without any issues. Not wanting to disturb anything Connor made his way into the livingroom and crouched down beside Sumo to pat the Saint Bernard's back lightly.

"Ready to go outside, boy?"

Sumo lifted his head up and wagged his tail as he gave the side of Connor's hand an affectionate lick.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'. Let's get your evening walk out of the way before it gets too chilly to be outside."

"Hey, Connor?" Hank called out to the android as Connor reached the front door and took the leash from the hook beside the door itself. The Lieutenant had his chance to talk to Connor without it seeming like an ambush. "Where'd you put that recipe for the cheese sauce?"

"It's located on the refrigerator door next to the grocery list."

"Oh." Plucking the paper from the fridge door Hank peered into the livingroom and watched as Connor clipped the lead to Sumo's collar before opening the front door to head out for a while. "Where are you going?"

"I'm taking Sumo for his evening walk."

"Oh, right. Uh, before you go, I gotta' ask you something."

Pausing by the front door Connor turned to peer over his shoulder and waited for Hank to approach him so they could speak directly. "What's that?"

"Did you do anything while me and Cole were gone today?"

Responding honestly Connor let Hank know of what had happened during the day. "I cleaned the house, took Sumo for his afternoon walk and proceeded to straighten up the garage."

"That's good." Walking past the couch Hank casually tossed his hand towel over his shoulder and put his hands to his hips. "Find anything useful in the garage?"

"Useful? I located all your tools, the holiday decorations and your CD collection."

"And did you do anything to those CDs?"

"I..." Pausing for a moment Connor worried that he had done something inappropriate by going through Hank's music collection and listening to the songs. It seemed almost impossible to do anything in the house without Hank noticing. "I organized them, and I did listen to them as I worked. I'm sorry that I-"

"It's okay, you're allowed to listen to music." Hank stated in a nearly offended manner at the way Connor was quick to be defensive and apologetic. "I was just curious about it, that's all."

Sensing something was a little off Connor hesitantly asked Hank a question of his own. "What... prompted you to ask such a question?"

"Well, I heard ya' singing in the garage not too long ago. I just wanted to know where you heard that song before."

"O-Oh..." Connor blushed a bright blue as his L.E.D. flashed to a sharply contrasting red hue. He was embarrassed about being heard singing to himself and for not being aware of his surroundings at all times. "I'm sorry if I disturbed you."

"It wasn't disturbing, just unexpected. I didn't know you could sing."

"I'm merely repeating song lyrics in a tone and rhythm that matches the song." Deflecting the comment with a cold and calculated response was the only thing that Connor could think to do to protect himself. "It's not actual singing, Lieutenant."

"Sure as Hell sounded like it to me." Crossing his arms over his chest Hank made it clear that he wasn't going to back off the matter so quickly. "Don't be sorry for singing a song. There's a lot worse shit you could do beyond singing."

Connor merely nodded as he attempted to open the door again and be on his way. He didn't want to discuss music or engage in any further conversation with Hank since he knew that if he showed any sign of being defective that Hank would have him destroyed without mercy or a second thought.

"Before you go, I have to know something." Hank saw the discomfort in Connor's eyes and swore he saw a flash of genuine fear. The seasoned Lieutenant just reminded himself that Connor was a machine and that his experience as a detective handling human victims and speaking with genuine psychopaths who can manipulate emotions had just momentarily clouded his judgement. "Do you think I'd ever harm you?"

The deviant knew that Hank was fishing for specific information with such a leading question. If he gave Hank anything that'd confirm his unusual behavior Connor knew that the man would find a way to get rid of him just to protect Cole from a non-existent threat strictly as a precaution.

"...I don't think anything, Lieutenant." Another cold and hollow response was the only way Connor could defend himself. "I am a machine; a machine programmed to obey and do only what is asked of me."

Such a reply wasn't one Hank was expecting to hear, but he didn't dispute it. "Right, sure."

"Please excuse me." Opening the door at last Connor led Sumo outside and decided to take an extra long walk to avoid Hank for a little while. "It's important to reach the dog park before it closes for the night."

Shaking his head as the front door clicked shut Hank went back to the kitchen and resumed making dinner for the evening. He had no reason to keep asking Connor questions, yet he couldn't get the fact that he walked in on the android doing something incredibly human out of his head. Singing melancholy songs while feeling emotionally lost is something that only people who could really think freely and actually feel emotions would do, not an android.

At least, not a normal android.

"Dad?"

Snapping back to reality Hank looked over at Cole over his shoulder while he resumed cutting up the chicken to cook in the warming pan. "Yeah, son?"

"How come Connor is staying in the garage all the time? He doesn't even come out for movie night anymore."

"I'm not sure." Focusing on the knife in his strong grip Hank focused on chopping up the chicken and getting it properly cooked. "I guess it's just waiting for its next order to follow."

"But he didn't do that before." The little boy observed keenly as he put his pencil aside and leaned back in his chair. He too sensed that something was strange happening to Connor. "What's changed?"

"Honestly, Cole, I have no clue." Hank admitted with a small huff of frustration under his breath. He disdained not knowing the answers despite having the skills as a detective to give him an edge. "But things are definitely changing. Hopefully those changes will be for the better."

-next chapter-

Author's Note:*"Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica.