Rain had left the entire city drenched, cold and feeling miserable since dawn of that gloomy day. Everyone in the soggy city being essentially trapped inside their own homes and apartments had created a notable tension throughout Detroit that was palpable to anyone who even dared to open the door to step outside. That was the first thing Connor noticed when he exited rest mode that morning and prepared breakfast for Hank and Cole to eat before they began their day. That feeling of misery remained steadfast in the air all afternoon. The deviant had been feeling particularly sensitive toward the activity of the city ever since he had been used as a tool by the precinct, and he had been notably guarded ever since Hank had dismissed him from the case that he had cracked and solved before the Lieutenant himself could. In spite of his resentment Connor refused to do anything that would negatively impact Cole.

Standing outside of the elementary school with an opened umbrella over his head, Connor closed his eyes and waited for the school bell to finally ring. There was no reason to remain at the house, and Connor just needed to get some form of fresh air to try to clear his head. He hadn't spoken a word to Hank since the Lieutenant returned to the house and chewed him out after he finished closing their investigation two days beforehand. The decision to remain mute was one Connor made to protect himself from Hank's ire, but he continued to speak to Cole whenever the little boy spoke to him.

With the school day creeping toward its end more people began to converge along the school's parking lot. Android chaperones joined Connor on the sidewalk but he was the only one using an umbrella to protect himself despite not being the only one actually holding an umbrella. The other androids were enduring the cold rain without complaint and were waiting for their respective child to meet them outside before opening the umbrellas in their hands just to shield their children.

"Is this all we are to the humans? Servants and tools to make their own lives that much easier? Now I understand why North so venomously hates being around them."

The bell rang and soon the children began spilling through the front doors in excitement to head for home and get away from school for the rest of the day. Right on time Cole rushed up to Connor and ducked under the umbrella as he grabbed on to the android's wrist again as a sign of affection toward the very person who had saved his life and had become his friend.

"Hi, Connor!" Cole greeted happily as he readjusted the backpack hanging awkwardly from his shoulders. The little boy's backpack seemed unusually full and heavy, and Cole was clearly struggling to stand upright. "I'm ready!"

"Are you certain?" Taking hold of the handle at the top of Cole's backpack Connor lifted it up a little and gauged its weight. "It seems you're carrying far more than your usual schoolwork."

"It's a pumpkin!"

"...A pumpkin?" That was something Connor wasn't expecting to hear. "May I ask why?"

"My teacher grew pumpkins in her own garden and gave one to everyone in class! Now I can carve it for Halloween!"

"Oh, I see." Taking the backpack from Cole's shoulders Connor chose to carry the heavy bag on Cole's behalf since the pumpkin was nearly twelve pounds and could hurt the little boy if he carried it on his back too long. "Halloween is next week. Do you have a costume picked out?"

"Not yet." Cole confirmed as he walked with Connor to the autonomous van parked a few yards away. "Dad said he'd take me shopping this Saturday so I can pick something out."

"It seems illogical to shop for the holiday on the final weekend before Halloween, especially with Halloween happening four days afterward."

"Yeah, I told him that all the good costumes would be taken by the time we got to the store." The little boy climbed into the backseat of the van while Connor held the umbrella over his head. After he was in his seat Cole took his backpack from Connor and placed it down at his feet. "But he keeps working."

"...I'll take you to the store." Connor decided to take some initiative since Cole hadn't done anything to warrant being overlooked by Hank. Being a detective was an important job, but being a father was by far the most important job in Hank's life. "It's Wednesday, so the story shouldn't be too busy at the moment."

Cole's eyes lit up as he excitedly watched Connor close the van door, close the umbrella and then enter the driver's side in the front to take his seat. "Really?!"

"Yes. Your father has given me money to use whenever it's necessary." Connor explained casually as he pressed his bare palm to the van's center console and looked for the nearest store selling Halloween costumes. "I can purchase a costume on your behalf today."

"Yeah! Let's do it!"

Nodding in confirmation Connor pulled his hand back and watched the rainy world around him with a strange curiosity. Being treated with the same malice and indifference as the machine androids around him had given Connor a new appreciation for being able to remain alone in the house most of the day, and it made him truly appreciate the innocence and utter kindness of children. The adult humans are the ones who see androids as disposable tools and property, whereas children see androids as the living beings that they were designed to imitate.

As the van passed by the school and made its way toward the shopping plaza downtown Connor began to see fewer children in the area. There were more adults and their androids in the plaza due to the rain keeping people indoors. Those who were out running errands or working their shifts were grown adults or the androids that had been purchased to replace a dedicated human employee. Digital billboards advertising the latest in android models and technology shone brightly alongside the warnings of Detroit's increasing unemployment rate and financial crisis.

Humans created their own problems and refused to find a logical solution whenever it revolved around potential monetary loss.

"Hey, Connor?"

Hearing the small voice of Cole speaking up just behind him pulled Connor away from the city passing him by and focused on Cole once more. "Yes, Cole?"

"Can you help me with my math homework?"

"Yes, of course." Physically turning the seat around one-hundred and eighty degrees allowed Connor to directly face Cole in the backseat and assist him with the simple first grade homework as promised. The worksheet was of simply addition and subtraction, but all mathematical equations were simple for any and all androids to process. "What are you struggling with?"

"I can do the problems up until I get to the bigger numbers." Cole explained as he pointed to the double-digit numbers on his worksheet. "I don't get it."

"I'll show you a simple way to add without the problem becoming too difficult. Then you can handle these problems on your own."

The van came to idle at a red light as the vehicle neared the shopping plaza, and a loud commotion taking place along the sidewalk caught Connor's attention. Two humans had begun confronting an android with verbal insults and physical contact causing the android to stop in the middle of the sidewalk with nowhere else to go. The shouting voices laced with insults and threats had drawn more humans to the scene, and soon the android, a male 'WK-218', was surrounded by five very angry humans who were looking for a fight.

"...No." Whispering his distress Connor watched in helpless horror as he watched the innocent android being targeted and ganged up on with no way of defending himself, and no one was showing any sign of backing down. "Don't do it. Please don't do it."

"Do what?" Cole asked as he struggled to see what Connor was seeing through the window beside him. "What's happening?"

"It's- It's not important." Cybernetically Connor turned on the van's radio and turned up the volume of the music to mask the threats being shouted at the android to protect Cole from the ugly truth outside. "Did you understand what I showed you?"

"I think so." Unaware of the assault Cole resumed handling his homework on his own. "If I always add the last digit first then I'll get the right answers, right?"

"That's... That's right." Empathetic to the strange android's plight Connor instinctively called 911 through his cybernetic links to alert the police to the incident taking place with an anonymous tip. He couldn't do anything to save the android and he knew that the humans wouldn't be charged with assault, but they would be arrested for creating a public disturbance and for destruction of private property. "You understand perfectly."

Connor tried to focus on Cole and his homework, but the sound of the humans insulting, threatening, then punching and kicking the android just as the van pulled through the intersection were too much to be ignored. He could hear the relentless physical assault against the android's body, the distinct cracking of the plastimetal frame and the muffled voice of the android politely asking the humans to stop since it didn't have a voice of its own to shout in defiance and fight back. It wouldn't take long for the android to suffer irreparable damage and enter permanent shutdown. In the end the human who had owned the android would simply cut their losses and buy a new one to replace him.

Police drones flew by overhead and encircled the area where the android was being assaulted, but the drones would only be able to record the incident and provide proof of destroyed property, not a murder or even stop the assault in progress. There would be no justice for the android on that day or any day until the deviant Revolution on November 11th, 2038 came to pass. And until that historic date arrived Connor would have to accept that he and his people were nothing more than property with faces.

"Done!"

Returning his attention to Cole before him Connor realized that the innocent first grader had no idea what had happened to the android and had finished his homework all by himself. Such innocent obliviousness was something that Connor was growing to envy.

"I think I did it right, too!"

"...I'm sure you did." Checking over the homework assignment Connor confirmed that Cole had in fact answered every question correctly. The way Cole was so quick to learn and was so astute reminded Connor of the way Hank observed problems and found solutions in the alternate timeline. It seemed intelligence did have a genetic link to one's parentage, yet the desire to learn was entirely a unique interest. "Yes, you did this correctly. Good job."

"Thanks!"

The van reached its destination and Connor prepared to step back out into the rain with the umbrella to shield Cole and himself from the cold deluge. Leaving the backpack behind Connor locked the van and accompanied Cole into the department store to help the little boy find his Halloween costume before it was too late to find something that he really liked.

Connor had no interest in Halloween or any human holidays for that matter, but he knew they were important to other people and wanted to support their interests without accidentally ruining something special. As long as Cole was happy and unafraid of the world around him, then Connor was willing to consider the holidays to be worth celebrating even if he'd never fully understand their existence or high praise.

"Connor!" Cole shouted for the deviant detective as he ran down an aisle full of costumes and accessories that were all in his side. "Come over here! I think I found what I want!"

"I'm coming."

The enthusiasm of Cole's innocent energy and excitement for Halloween made it difficult to focus on the grim outlook on life. It seemed Cole's eternal optimism would overrule any of Connor's cynicism regardless of what troubles came Connor's way as he navigated the alternate timeline seemingly entirely alone.

The day remained rainy and dark well into the evening as everyone went about their own business as normally as possible. Hank had clocked-out at the precinct right on time and returned home to spend time with his young son while getting away from work and his other cases for a few precious hours. Not only had Hank been able to officially close the case on the murder-suicide but he was able to ensure that Terrian went to prison for his attempted abduction of Cole, and he went the extra mile to have Zach removed from the custody of his biological family since his family was clearly poisoned by a sense of hatred and vengeance. Everything was seemingly happening in Hank's favor, and he knew to never squander such a rare situation.

Exiting the Oldsmobile with his jacket protecting his head from the rain Hank ran up the front door and grabbed hold of the doorknob quickly. The man paused for only a moment when he saw a grinning jack-o'-lantern sitting beside the front door staring at him as he opened the door. That wasn't something he was expecting to see, and it was then he realized how close it was to Halloween.

"Shit. I hope it's not too late to get Cole his costume."

The front door 'creaked' open softly and Hank stepped inside quickly to get out of the rain. Hanging his drenched coat up on the hook beside the front door Hank peered around his curiously quiet and empty livingroom for any sign of activity. The television was on, and it looked like Cole had been playing a game up until the minute Hank entered the house. There was no sign of Connor or Sumo anywhere, but a faint yellow glow beside the window of the backdoor confirmed that Connor was outside and undoubtedly had Sumo with him.

"Weird... Where is everyone right now?" Stepping deeper into the livingroom Hank called out in search of his son and tried to figure out what he was missing out on during that rainy afternoon. "Hello?"

"Ha!"

"Whoa!" Hank jumped back as Cole jumped out from around the corner of the hallway and stood before him wearing a brand new Halloween costume. The boy struck a heroic pose and waited for his dad to say something. "Uh, hey, since when did Batman move in with us?"

"It's me, dad!" Cole beam as he removed his cowl and smiled up at his dad brightly. "Like it?"

"Yeah, looks great. Uh... Where'd you get it?"

"Connor took me to the costume store after school! It was the last one on the rack, and Connor bought it just in time!"

"...That's good." Hank was relieved that Cole got his preferred costume that Halloween, but he had wanted to be the one to take him out to find it. He had been so wrapped up in work that he nearly forgot to make time for Halloween that year. "I swear that I was going to take you out to find your costume this weekend."

"I know, but Connor said that since you gave him money to buy stuff that he'd let me pick one out myself before all the good costumes were gone!"

"Well, I guess that was the right thing to do." Lightly Hank picked at the cape hanging from Cole's shoulder and just smirked. "Where is Connor?"

"Outside with Sumo."

"Oh. How long's it been out there?"

"I dunno'. A while."

"All right, whatever." Rubbing his hand along Cole's freshly cut hair Hank walked into the kitchen and saw a pizza sitting on the countertop ready for dinner. While he wasn't going to say no to good pizza, Hank had to admit he was a little disappointed to see take-out and not another home cooked meal waiting for him. "Didn't you eat any pizza?"

Cole put his cowl back on and joined Hank in the kitchen to look at the delivered pizza with a ravenous gaze. "I was waiting for you!"

"Oh, I see. Well, you don't want to get grease all over your new costume." Wisely Hank instructed his son to remove the dark clothing to avoid getting unwashable stains on the sleeves and cape. "Go change, wash your hands and we'll have dinner."

"Okay!" Jumping down from his chair Cole struck another heroic pose before running down the hallway with his cape billowing behind him. "I'll be right back!"

The seasoned detective was quick to pick up on some odd tension in the air and decided to ask Connor about it while Cole was preoccupied. The android was still outside in the rain and hadn't made any move to return to the house despite undoubtedly being uncomfortable in the chilly air. Approaching the backdoor Hank peered through the window and spotted Connor standing under an umbrella with his back to the house and his eyes closed. Sumo was rolling around in the wet grass and seemed to be having the time of his life.

"Damn it. The dog's gonna' stink up the whole house. Connor!" Hank opened the backdoor and called out to Connor in an aggravated tone that echoed through the backyard and caused Sumo to stop mid roll and look in his direction. "What the hell are you doing?"

Opening his eyes Connor turned to look at Hank and replied in a low voice. "I'm watching Sumo."

"Sumo is soaked! His fur takes forever to dry and he's going to make the house smell like wet-dog for days!"

"...Sorry, Lieutenant." Patting the side of his leg Connor called Sumo over to him without needing to use his words. "I'll dry him off."

"What's with you? Huh?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't do that, don't try to bullshit me!" Challenging Connor's resolve Hank backed away from the door and pointed to the interior of the house with an authoritative gesture to get the android and Saint Bernard inside. "You've been acting weird ever since you fucked up at the precinct."

"How could I be the one to fuck up at the precinct?" Connor retorted bitterly as he felt his Thirium pump skip a beat with frustration. "I just did what you said."

"You know what I mean." Muttering to himself as Sumo's wet body passed by his leg Hank tried to not take out his frustrations on the dog. "You accessed files that you had no business touching."

"I was attempting to file the evidence properly." Defending his decisions Connor entered the house and led Sumo into the laundry room to dry off. "You told me to ensure that the evidence wasn't contaminated and properly filed. Those were your orders!"

"All right, smartass." Doing his best to not shout and alert Cole to what he was saying to Connor in that moment, Hank took in a deep breath and watched as Connor used a towel to dry off Sumo's damp fur inside the laundry room. "You damn well know you were out of line by doing something you had ZERO clearance to do."

"And you should know that taking credit for someone else's work is the mark of a narcissist and inept investigator."

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"The case." Rising to his feet Connor dared to look Hank in the eyes as he spoke to the man with a sense of offense behind every word. "I was the one who found the evidence of the poisoning. I was the one who identified the weapon. I was the one who identified the killer. If it hadn't been for me then you'd undoubtedly still be working on the case under the presumption that it was a double-murder, NOT a murder-suicide."

"Hey! You're NOT a detective, all right? You're a fucking lab!" Hank jabbed a finger into Connor's chest and stared him down with every intention of being right at the end of the argument. The man could feel Connor's pump thundering under his touch as the android became increasingly worked up. "You're a tool to be used by the REAL detectives!"

"A 'real' detective wouldn't need to rely on tools and take credit from someone else, or something else, to make themself look good."

"You little-" Hank stopped speaking when he realized that he had grabbed Connor by his shirt and was seconds away from striking the android. The sight of genuine fear that flashed over Connor's eyes and the way the L.E.D. flashed from yellow to red gave Hank the impression that there was more to Connor than just being an android, a machine, after all. "...Holy shit."

Connor didn't move beyond his noted fearful trembling and didn't say a word as Hank let him go. Stepping back Connor just stared at Hank with panic in his eyes and didn't even try to leave the room despite Sumo whimpering and pawing at him in a worried manner.

"Connor... I don't know why I did that."

Holding his silence Connor looked past Hank and toward the opened laundry room door where Cole was standing and looking confused at the altercation he had just walked in on. The deviant didn't say anything as he decided it'd be best for Hank to try to do damage control.

"Cole, hey, uh... How long have you been standing there?"

"Not long." The little boy admitted with thick confusion in his words as he answered his dad honestly. "Why'd you grab Connor? Isn't that a bad thing to do?"

"Y-Yes, you're right." Backing off and away from Connor to calm himself down Hank focused on Cole and led his son away from the laundry room. "It was a bad thing for me to grab Connor and I shouldn't have done that."

"Are you sorry?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry."

"Did you tell him that?"

"...No." Looking back at Connor over his shoulder Hank saw only fear looking back at him and couldn't bring himself to make the necessary apology. "Not yet."

"Why not? He's right there."

"Cole, it's not that simple." As he spoke Hank didn't hear Connor creeping into the garage through the door connected to the laundry room with Sumo right behind him. "It was a misunderstanding and I'm in the wrong, but I can't apologize to Connor. Not yet."

"You need to do it."

"You're right, I do. I'll just-" Now realizing that Connor had slipped away Hank sighed and put his hand on his son's shoulder. "...I'll wait until after I've calmed down and Connor has a minute by itself. Okay?"

"Do you promise that you'll say you're sorry?"

"Yes, I promise."

"Okay."

"Okay." Hank gave Cole's shoulder a small pat and motioned to the box of pizza sitting on the countertop. "Ready for dinner?"

"Yeah, I'm ready. Connor ordered double pepperoni for us."

"That sounds good right now. So, what else did you do today besides costume shop?" Hank put the pizza down on the kitchen table and got a plate for Cole and himself. "I saw the pumpkin on the porch. Did Connor buy that for you too?"

"Nope." Cole climbed into his chair and sat at the table alongside his dad. "Mrs. Waldron grew some pumpkins and gave them to us today."

"Oh, well that was nice of her. Anything else happen at school?"

"I finally figured out how to add bigger numbers today." Cole took a big bite of his pizza and spoke around the extra pepperonis in his mouth. "Connor helped me."

"All right, that's great to hear." Hank wanted to know more about what Connor was up when he wasn't around and knew that Cole would be honest with him. After getting two cold drinks from the refrigerator he continued to ask his son about what happened that day. "Did he help with your homework before or after you went and found your costume?"

"Before. We did my homework while driving to the store."

"I hope you mean while the van drove itself to the store."

"Yeah, dad." Cole rolled his eyes at the comment as if he couldn't believe his dad asked such a question. "The van drove so Connor could help me with my homework."

"That's a relief, I'd hate to think of someone driving around without watching the road. Did you go anywhere else after you got your costume?"

"No." Cole took a big sip of his root beer and then continued speaking. "Connor wanted to come back here as soon as possible. So I got my Batman costume and we came home."

"Really? That's a little weird."

"Why's it weird?"

"Because he just ordered a pizza for dinner instead of making something from a recipe." Using deductive reasoning Hank began to wonder if something hadn't happened to Connor during the day out. "It seems like if he was that eager to get back that he'd be planning on making dinner himself instead of just ordering something."

"He probably wanted to make sure the other android was okay."

Hank knew he finally hit on something useful and lowered his own drink from his lips. "...What other android?"

"The one that got hurt on the way to the store."

"What do you mean it got hurt? What happened to it?"

"I didn't see it because the window was too high." The little boy explained honestly as he continued to enjoy his pizza. "But Connor looked really worried because an android was on the ground with a bunch of people around him."

"I thought you didn't see it."

"I didn't see the android get hurt, but I did see it on the ground with a bunch of people standing over him when the van drove away."

"Oh, you saw the reflection in the rearview mirror. Clever."

"Uh-huh. Connor was sad and then he got quiet for a long time." Cole took another bite of his pizza before tagging on his own take on the situation. "I think the android was his friend."

"And why do you think that?"

"Because Connor got sad. All my friends got sad when I was being bullied, so I think his friend was being bullied too."

Hank couldn't deny that the sweet and pure insight of a child could be incredibly potent. It really made him see himself in a new light after he shouted at Connor and even grabbed the android out of frustration. He was being a bully to Connor in the same way Zach was bullying Cole. "I... I'm sure the other android is fine."

"Can you find out? I bet it'd make Connor feel better."

"Sure." The Lieutenant had an idea of how he could look for any reports of androids being damaged and get an idea of what Connor had witnessed and that Cole had seen without understanding what was happening. "For now, finish your dinner and then take a bath. There's a monster movie on tonight."

"Cool! I love monster movies!"

"Me too." Taking a big bite of his pizza Hank stared at the garage door on the other side of the laundry room through the second opened door. He hoped to see Connor step back into the kitchen so he could talk to the android, but he'd have to wait for Connor to return to the house when he was ready. "We'll be sure to watch all the good monster movies on Halloween night after you get your candy."

"Yeah!" Excited for Halloween Cole thought about trick-or-treating as Batman and remained unaware of the fight that he had just witnessed between his dad and the android he had taken on as a good friend. "That's going to be awesome!"

Within the safe confines of the insulated garage Connor managed to calm himself down and avoid another anxiety attack as he processed everything that he had just experienced that day. After witnessing the way the other androids were literally expected to wait out in the cold rain to care for someone else's children and then seeing an android beaten to death by enraged humans just for existing, Connor began to contemplate leaving the house and finding a safe place to hide. He knew that Jericho was moored in the harbor and that it had been left abandoned for years until rogue deviants gathered there for shelter, but he couldn't risk doing something that'd draw unwanted attention toward the safe haven by mistake. That was the only shelter that would exist in his current timeline, and it was someplace he couldn't risk destroying.

Connor had nowhere to go and no one to rely on for another three years. It'd be hard to continue surviving as he was, but he was determined to succeed in his mission to ensure that Hank wasn't murdered on the one-year anniversary of the Revolution and to ensure that Revolution transpired peacefully just as it had in the alternate timeline.

Needing a momentary distraction Connor had busied himself with cleaning up and organizing the garage while Sumo laid on the towel and watched him with a keen interest. Having Sumo's company was nice, but it would've been better to have someone for Connor to actually talk to and vent his frustrations. It had been nearly an hour since Hank put his hands on Connor's shirt and the deviant android swore that he could still feel Hank's fists clenched into the fabric right up around his collar. It wasn't the first time Hank had done that to Connor, but it was the first time that Connor was genuinely afraid of the action. Even with moving and stacking boxes all around the garage, cleaning off shelves and placing everything in its rightful place, the activity failed to distract Connor from his thoughts and feelings of the past hour, let alone the past few days.

"This isn't right, Sumo. I knew that Hank wouldn't be the same man I met all that time ago, but him being so bullheaded and myopic wasn't something I had anticipated as even a remote possibility. I'm not sure what I should do anymore. Everything is just so... wrong."

Sumo lifted his head and barked once, then turned his attention to the side door. His ears perked up as he heard the doorknob turn as Hank made his way into the garage to speak to Connor in a more civil manner.

"Uh, Connor?" Hank couldn't blame Connor for the physical flinch when he spoke. Seeing the android turn around and stare at him with frightened eyes only made Hank feel even worse for what he had done. "Look, I'm sorry for grabbing ya' and for getting in your face."

Such a comment gave Connor hope and made his tense shoulders relax. "...You are?"

"Yeah. You just said the right words that got under my skin, that's all."

"...I understand." Connor knew that the apology was too good to be true. Hearing how Hank deflected responsibility right back onto Connor made it evident that Hank didn't see himself as doing anything wrong, just embarrassing. "I won't mention it again."

Hank stepped into the garage and looked about the open space and organized walls with genuine intrigue. "What're you doing out here?"

"Cleaning."

"Obviously. But why?"

"It needed to be done and I needed something to do."

"Fair enough." Walking over to one of the larger boxes marked 'camping gear', Hank pulled the cardboard flaps open and sifted through the items that were tucked away inside for safekeeping. "Huh. Me and Barbara used to go camping all the time. We enjoyed it so much that we ended up just renting a cabin so we could stay in the forest area away from the city even longer, and now this stuff feels like it's going to waste."

Connor knew of the cabin and of the summers Hank spent there with his family before they were taken away from him. He had even been to the cabin a few times during the summer he had lived with Hank as his friend. Now it seemed like a strange dream that bore no merit in reality.

"Since you cleaned this place up, and since you sleeping on your feet like cattle freaks me out," pulling out a folded, portable cot from the box, Hank offered it to Connor to use for himself. "you might as well turn the garage into your own sleeping space. Here."

"...Very well." Eyeing the toolbox against the far wall as he cooperated with the request Connor accepted the cot and proceeded to unfold it and set it up against the neighboring wall. "Everything has a place where it won't get in the way. Like tools."

"It's not like that. I just don't like you standing up and sleeping at the same time." The Lieutenant stated flatly as he pulled his phone from his pocket to show to Connor for a moment. "By the way, I found a report of an android getting destroyed near the shopping plaza today."

Connor froze and turned his head away from Hank as if ashamed of his own inactions that day. He couldn't bear to look at the screen or read the details of the murder.

"The humans who did it have been arrested." The seasoned detective confirmed as he slipped his phone back into his pocket. "They won't be able to attack you."

The fact that Hank's first thought was that Connor was focused on his own wellbeing and not the wellbeing of every android only confirmed how limited Hank's perception of the greater picture truly was. The man still saw androids at machines and nothing more. Androids were alive but Hank either couldn't see it or he just chose not to see it.

"That must've been pretty fucked up to witness." Hank continued as he then found a blanket and pillow also stuffed in the box. The soft items had been stored in a watertight bag and were still clean despite being packed away for years. "How much of it did you see?"

"...Enough to remind me of where I stand in the world."

"And Cole?" Ignoring the empathetic remark Hank tore open the bag and set about fluffing up the pillow and blanket. Placing the pillow down on the cot and offering Connor the red blanket, Hank gauged Connor's reactions very closely. He swore he could see real emotions whenever Connor was pushed hard enough, and he wanted to see it again with his own eyes. "How much did he see?"

"I distracted him with the radio and didn't mention the assault." Connor confirmed as he kept his distance from Hank out of a strange reflex of self-preservation. "I didn't let him look at what was happening."

"Okay. Because if you're acting this fucked up about it, I can't imagine that an innocent kid would be feeling okay right about now."

There was no denying that an innocent child would be affected by seeing someone beaten to death, but to word it in such a way that it seems like Connor and the other androids are all guilty just for existing. That really didn't help matters at the moment. The more Hank spoke the worse Connor felt.

"Just stay in here for the rest of the night." The senior detective grabbed Sumo's collar and the towel to lead the dog back inside the house for the night. "I have tomorrow off, so I'll be the one taking care of Cole in the morning. You stay here and don't go anywhere unless I specifically tell you. Can you handle that?"

"...Yes, Lieutenant." Sitting down on the edge of the cot against the concrete wall made Connor feel like he was truly in prison of his own making. He couldn't go anywhere, say anything or do anything without Hank's express permission. "I can do that."

"Good." Hank pushed Sumo through the side door and then followed after the dog before shutting the door behind himself. "The last thing I need to do is make sure you're not getting into trouble again."

The moment the door shut Connor closed his eyes and let out a small sigh that was mixed with a restrained sob. It was as if someone was testing Connor and trying to break him on an emotional level with everything he's gone through. The isolation, the discrimination and the indifference were all enough to crack the deviant's armor and leave him feeling vulnerable. Laying down on his side Connor buried his face into the pillow and pulled the blanket up and over his body and face to try to hide from the world as he forced himself to enter rest mode just to keep himself from having a complete emotional breakdown.

With each passing day Connor was nearing the deviant Revolution, and as long as he kept moving forward then he'd finally find what he was looking for.

Connor needed to believe, now more than ever, that in the end everything would be all right!

-next chapter-