It was a late autumn night, and the house was still active as Hank sat at the small desk in the livingroom with his laptop open and an unresolved case glowing on his screen. The senior detective had been assigned a double-murder investigation that seemed to have no suspects and no evidence to support any theories. It was rare to walk into such a bloody crime scene and not find a single trace of a killer or even an intruder, and it was even rarer for someone as seasoned, skilled and disciplined as the Lieutenant to be left openly confused and at a dead end. Even after asking Gavin and Ben for their opinions on the matter at hand, Hank was still left with an open case with no sign of closure in sight.

Being unable to sleep due to the lack of progress on his case left Hank staring blankly at his screen while sipping his increasingly cold coffee at a steady rhythm. In spite of his physical and mental fatigue Hank was unwilling to get some rest until he made some form of progress. There were two families that needed closure, and he was determined to help them find some form of peace after such needless tragedy.

Connor had taken to standing idle against the livingroom wall beside the bookcase while in rest mode. Despite being asleep Connor was able to monitor his immediate surroundings and knew that Hank was still awake. A quick biometric scan confirmed that the man was stressing himself out with no resolution to reward him. In spite of his own desires to remain quiet and discreet to avoid upsetting Hank until it was safe to reveal his deviation, Connor couldn't bring himself to pretend that Hank wasn't in need of a mild intervention to lay down and get some rest.

"Lieutenant?" Connor opened his eyes and called out to the man in a low voice as to not disturb Cole's sleep. The little boy had gone to bed on time and was just on the other side of the wall where Connor was standing. "You're risking severe sleep deprivation. You need to sleep now to avoid any health complications such as headaches, nausea and even heart palpitations."

"I'm fine." Hank replied with curt sharpness as he leaned back in his chair and rubbed his hand over his tired eyes. "I'll sleep after I find something I can use in my current investigation."

Slowly Connor walked over to the desk and peered at the laptop screen over Hank's shoulder. The bloodied photographs were detailed in all the most macabre and crucial of manner. Two people had been found bludgeoned to death in their shared residence, but there were no signs of a killer or the weapon used against them. At least, there were no signs that humans could see.

The two bodies were found in the livingroom of the small house strewn in the middle of the floor and absolutely soaked in their own blood. The furniture was overturned and broken, there were two mugs of tea that had been spilled and then smashed next to the victims, and the blood stains saturated the carpet, stained the walls and even dripped down from the ceiling. The large fireplace had its bricks and metal cover stained in blood, the windows were dotted in red, and the overturned television was drenched in blood from both victims.

Reaching out his hand Connor pressed his bare palm to the laptop's screen and ignored Hank's protests of Connor getting involved with the case.

"H-Hey! Back off!" Hank grabbed Connor's wrist and pushed the android's hand back as if trying to keep a small toddler from touching a hot stove. "Don't touch that or get in my way."

Ignoring the orders Connor analyzed the details of the case he had uploaded and then shifted his gaze over to Hank. "...This wasn't a double-murder. It was a murder-suicide."

"What?" Turning in his seat Hank stared at Connor and gave the android a perplexed stare. "What're you talking about?"

"The lack of a break-in and no found weapon at the scene is due to the killer being one of the two victims found at the scene."

"And how in the hell do you know that from just a photo on a screen?"

"I've told you once before that I'm a prototype detective model. I have the ability to see things that humans cannot due to my highly advanced forensics and investigation software."

"All right, humor me." Closing the screen of his laptop Hank folded his hands together and gave Connor is full attention. "What is that you're seeing that I'm not?"

"I can see traces of a concentrated poison on the lips of one of the victims. It's been concealed under the blood, but it's there."

Hank's eyes narrowed for a beat as he contemplated the accuracy of Connor's assessment. "What kind of poison?"

"It's a lethal herb known as bella donna, better known as nightshade. A single leaf can be potent enough to kill an adult human within hours of ingestion."

"And... you can see all of that through a photo?"

"Yes. My eyes can see the traces of a toxic plant on the victim's lips, and I can see small fibers of a plant's leaf on their fingertips and just under their fingernails." Connor explained almost too casually as he let Hank know what he had found. "My forensics software has been able to identify the fibers as that of the bella donna family."

"So you're saying that one victim was bludgeoned to death by their roommate, then the murderous roommate worked themself over, disposed of the weapon and then poisoned themself with a plant to fake their own murder?"

"As of the moment, yes."

"Can you prove that in a way that'll hold up in court?"

"If I'm allowed to investigate the crime scene and the two victims in person, yes." The deviant detective proudly confirmed as he saw that Hank was willing to believe what he was saying even if was incredibly farfetched. "I will be able to prove this theory regarding the deaths of the two victims."

With a heavy sigh Hank nodded and rose to his feet to stand level with the android that he had allowed to live inside his house alongside him and his son. "All right, fine. I'm going to go get some sleep, then after I drop Cole off at school tomorrow morning, you're coming with me to the precinct to prove that you're not just a bunch of fancy-talk."

"...You want me to work with you as a consultant?"

"Work? Fuck that." Passing the android by Hank made his way across the livingroom and toward the hallway to get to his bedroom. "You're going to be my tool while out in the field. That's what you were designed for, right?"

The word 'tool' made Connor's shoulders drop and his heart sink as he realized where he stood with Hank in that moment. "...Yes. That's my primary function."

"Then shut up and do as I say." As he walked Hank pressed his hand to his lower back and trudged down the hallway with groggy steps. "I'm going to bed."

Holding his silence Connor closed his eyes and grabbed Hank's used coffee cup from the desk to clean in the kitchen before returning to rest mode. The complete indifference to his existence in Hank's eyes made Connor long for the days of being hated and fear. At least then he could feel genuine emotions and know that he was being seen as a living thing, not just a convenient tool.

"...Whatever you say, Lieutenant."

The following morning started off rather normally save for Connor making breakfast to allow Hank the chance to sleep-in for a while longer before going in to work. It seemed the deviant's touch in the kitchen extended beyond dinner and helped create a tasty breakfast that Cole absolutely adored. Once everyone in the house was prepared for the morning, the kitchen was cleaned and Sumo and was taken care of, the household was off to begin a new day. After Hank dropped Cole off at school and kissed his son goodbye, he made his way to the precinct and reminded Connor that he was to only speak when spoken to and that the android would only go where Hank went to avoid any potential contamination issues with other crime scenes.

Remaining entirely silent, Connor himself had taken the liberty of dressing more appropriately for the precinct and had borrowed one of Hank's dark blue ties to make his uniform look more complete. The senior detective had been reluctant to hand over the dressy garment, but decided to let it slide since he only wore ties when he knew that he needed to look annoyingly professional in front of the higher-ups.

The moment Hank entered the precinct he reminded Connor to keep quiet and only listen to what he had to say. After getting Connor a special clearance badge from the androids at the front receptionist desk Hank promptly took Connor into Captain Fowler's office to speak with his commanding officer and let him know why Connor was there and what he was going to do. It was a longwinded explanation, but Hank kept all the details accurate and to the point as he spoke.

"And you're certain that this android can do the job?" Captain Fowler asked as he looked at Connor standing idle beside Hank wearing a white dress shirt, gray blazer, blue tie and clearance badge pinned to his lapel, as if he was looking at a junior prospect eager to get their first job. "It's not going to destroy evidence or mishandle anything critical to our investigation?"

"Yeah, it'll be fine." Hank confirmed without any sign of doubt in his words. The Lieutenant had a great amount of respect for and from Captain Fowler and knew that his word was as good as gold. "It's just going to examine the bodies at the morgue and then the crime scene."

"And how did you end up with a prototype forensics lab in your own house?" The question wasn't out of line and deserved some kind of answer. "I mean, how do you know it won't fuck this up?"

"Because this is the android that saved Cole's life. If it can do that without being ordered around, then it can follow its original programming no problem."

Connor hated how he was being talked about like he wasn't right in the room next to Hank the entire time. It was as if he was invisible, and no one cared to even try to interact with him.

"All right, Hank." Agreeing to the plan Captain Fowler gave Hank the clearance to take Connor to the city morgue and check the bodies for any sign of poisoning as the deviant had indicated. "Close this case and get your report on my desk as soon as possible."

"Yeah, you got it." Turning to head out through the office door Hank snapped his fingers once to get Connor's attention and motioned for the android to join him for their new investigation. "Come on. We don't want to keep the coroner waiting!"

Walking slowly Connor followed after Hank and accompanied the man back to the car to head downtown. He still hadn't said a word and tried to remind himself that the cold attitude being shown his way wasn't anything personal, it was simply how humans responded to androids because they didn't know any better. Once the Revolution came to pass that he'd be able to walk down the street and know he had the same rights as the humans who walked alongside him.

Unsurprisingly, the city morgue felt as heavy and cold as it looked. Knowing that so many people passed through that very building before being laid to rest gave the entire property a morose feeling of utter sadness and mortality. Rooms with locked freezers that held the bodies of the rich, the poor, the young, the old, the sick and the unlucky were all full without any discrimination or care for who ended up in the morgue that day or why it happened. The limited life of humans was still unsettling for the empathetic deviant to comprehend, even if that empathy wasn't mutually shared.

"All right." Hank had led Connor to the correct room with the android following him on silent autopilot. He motioned to the first body as the coroner pulled back the white sheet and revealed the body for the android to analyze in real time. "Let's see how good your forensics software really is."

With his L.E.D. staying a calm blue Connor gave Hank an expressionless glance and didn't even acknowledge the coroner as she prepared to take notes depending on how thorough Connor's examination truly was compared to her own. Moving slowly Connor stood beside the table and ran a facial recognition scan over the victim's still battered and bruised face, and quickly found a name to go with the body.

"Renee Lockhart. Age twenty-seven, unmarried." As he spoke Connor ran a more detailed analysis over Renee's body and found the cause of her death. "Blunt force trauma to the head resulted in severe intracranial hemorrhage within the occipital lobe and the parietal lobe, as well as four distinct fractures along the parietal bone. The victim bled to death within a matter of fourteen seconds resulting in a fairly quick and potentially painless death."

The coroner, Dr. Beverly McCoy, raised her eyebrows in surprise at how quickly Connor picked up on such accurate details without looking at any x-rays or even touching the body. "That's right." She confirmed as she observed Connor curiously. "The victim was dead before she even knew what was happening to her."

"The location of the wounds and the angle of the bruising confirm that she was struck from behind." Connor continued in a monotonous tone. "Comparing the height of the victim to the height of her suspected assailant, I can confirm that Renee was sitting down in a chair and was attacked where she sat."

Hank watched as Connor picked up Renee's hands and examined her fingertips, her fingernails and her palms closely. He had an idea of what Connor was doing but didn't say a word about it.

"No defensive wounds. She was unable to protect herself during the assault, which indicates that she was either rendered unconscious immediately or had been killed after the first blow. The other bruises," Connor noted the shape, age and placement of the bruising and confirmed that Renee's body was entirely limp during the remaining assault. "were formed postmortem. Renee died without knowing who had attacked her."

"And who was that?" Hank challenged as he watched Connor walk over to a second body drawer as Dr. McCoy pulled the door open and presented the second body. The sheet was pulled back and revealed the face of the second victim from the same crime. "Got a name?"

"Yes." Connor ran the second facial scan and confirmed the victim's identity. "It was her roommate, Madelaine McCallister; age twenty-five and also unmarried. She killed Renee and then killed herself by consuming bella donna. Most likely in the form of a tea to mask the potency of the poison."

"And how do you know all that?"

"Madelaine's bruises are self-inflicted. The angles of the bruising and the lack of damage to the back of Madelaine's skull and back all confirm this." Connor held up Madelaine's hands and showed Hank the small abrasions in her palms that were the result of her using a sturdy object to strike Renee in the back of the head repeatedly. "There are traces of bella donna leaves under her fingernails as well."

Dr. McCoy quickly took notice of the evidence and collected the plant fibers to be analyzed immediately. She also took photographs of the tiny fibers and noted that the thick, dried blood along Madelaine's nail had obscured the evidence until Connor had detected it.

"If you pump the victim's stomach," Connor continued on as he lowered Madelaine's jaw and examined her lips and teeth. "you'll find a mixture of ginger tear, bella donna and blood."

Hank didn't like that particular detail and challenged Connor on it. "Did you say blood?"

"Correct. She bit down hard on her lip and tongue to cause excessive bleeding." Connor continued on and explained the injuries to the inside of Madelaine's mouth to support his theory. "The injuries would be mistaken as the result of the assault she had masqueraded on her own body, however, if she had bit down on her own tongue and lip hard enough to cause such excessive bleeding - as if she had been struck by an unknown assailant - her teeth would've been damaged as well. Her teeth are stained in blood, but not fracture, chipped or broken. She willingly did this to herself."

Despite his own blank expression stating otherwise, Hank was impressed by Connor's thoroughness and overall accuracy. "All right, that makes sense. What weapon was used and where did it go?"

"Based on the shape and depth of the skull fractures and bruises, I suspect it was a hammer." Running his bare fingertips over the center of Madelaine's palm Connor uncovered small wooden splinters and showed another new discovery to Dr. McCoy to document. "These wooden splinters are Hickory and match the material used in the manufacturing of commercial hammers. Where the hammer is, I cannot say for certain."

"Jesus..." The idea of someone being bludgeoned to death by a hammer was enough to make Hank's stomach churn. "Then, what's the motivation?"

"Unknown at this time. I'll need to see the crime scene to make such a determination. I can confirm that based on Madelaine's height in comparison to Renee, the angles of the bruising and fractures caused by the hammer are a match. Madelaine used a hammer to beat Renee to death, then consumed poison to commit suicide."

"Doc?" Hank looked to the coroner and watched as Dr. McCoy finished gathering the new bits of evidence, documenting the discoveries and writing her new report on her laptop a few feet away. "Mind if we take off?"

"No, go for it." Waving Hank off with disinterest Dr. McCoy continued to stare through her microscope lenses and make notes on her laptop with her free hand. "I have some more tests to run, and they'll take a while, but I suspect that your android is right about everything. Find me the weapon and we'll confirm it."

"Yeah, sure." Rubbing his hand along his bearded chin for a moment Hank grabbed Connor's shoulder and pushed the android back and toward the door. "Okay. We got a working theory now. Let's go get a more definitive story and call it a day."

Connor just nodded as he walked through the door and didn't resist Hank pushing him around. He didn't want to do anything that'd give Hank a reason to suspect him of being dangerous and pulling his gun on him in response. As far Connor was concerned, being obedient and quiet was the best way to survive until he had the opportunity to fight back.

The scene of the unusual double-murder, now looking more like a murder-suicide courtesy of Connor's examination and collected evidence, was still being patrolled by police drones and sectioned off with holographic police lines. Gavin and Tina were currently examining the scene and checking for any sign of a hammer after Hank's update on the case was confirmed at the precinct. Neither officer at the scene knew that Hank was working with an android or that the very android who had found the new details was going to be joining them, but at the moment they didn't care about who was going to show up to help with the investigation. They just wanted to find their answers and close the case.

Tina was making small notes about the crime scene regarding the dried blood and blood splatter while Gavin was double-checking the doors and windows for any sign of a breaking and entering that led up to the two deaths. There was absolutely no sign of anything out of place beyond the destroyed furniture and mugs surrounding the ominous bloodstains on the carpet. It didn't take long for Gavin to feel the same level of frustration as Hank, and express it to his best friend and partner.

"This is just weird, Ti." Gavin lamented as he carefully returned to the livingroom and made sure not to touch anything that'd affect the crime scene. "It's like a damn ghost did this. Guess the murder-suicide theory isn't as crazy as it sounds."

"I'm thinking you're right." Straightening up Tina slipped her notepad into her shirt pocket and kept her distance from the bloody livingroom as well. "But why would someone kill their roommate like this?"

"No clue." Folding his arms over his chest Gavin sighed and gave Tina a small shrug. "The background checks both came back clean, and neither of 'em had any violent tendencies. It's like one of 'em just fuckin' snapped!"

"Hey, the Lieutenant's here." Tina had heard a car pull up in front of the house and spotted the Oldsmobile through the window. "He must've had a breakthrough."

"I hope so. I can't stand the smell of old blood." The sweet and metallic smell was unmistakable and hard to ignore. "Reminds me of worse days that I'd love to forget about entirely."

Mindful of the door Hank entered the small house with Connor right behind him. He acknowledged Gavin and Tina already at the scene, and then gave Connor some room to work on the scene. "Stand back. Gotta' working forensics lab right here with me."

"Is that- Fuck!" Gavin saw the android insignia on Connor's jacket and the blue L.E.D. in the android's temple first, then the clearance badge on Connor's lapel second. "What's that thing doing here?"

"Easy, Reed." Using his 'dad voice' Hank managed to get Gavin to back down and give Connor the space that he needed to enter the livingroom. "It's got special software that can help us figure this shit out. It's the reason we even found the other bits of evidence on the bodies."

Connor wanted to remind Hank that since he wasn't actually working with him, by Hank's own words, and Connor was just 'a tool' that there was no 'we' in the investigation. It had been Connor who found everything on his own, and Hank had just been an observer the entire time. Pushing aside the emotional responses he wanted so desperately to convey Connor just scanned the livingroom and began preconstructing the crime scene.

The broken furniture and shattered mugs all returned to their pristine condition through the digital display that only Connor could see. The brutality of Madelaine sneaking up on Renee sitting in the chair, then striking her in the back of the head with a hammer and continuing to beat Renee's lifeless body on the floor was enough to make Connor's artificial stomach feel suddenly sour. It seemed he'd never become jaded by the brutality of mankind.

Eyeing the broken coffee mugs on the floor next Connor picked up one mug and ran a scan over the evaporated contents staining the interior of the glass. Chamomile tea with a hint of honey had been left behind. The second glass showed traces of ginger tea and bella donna. The leaves of the bella donna plant had been mixed in with the ginger tea as it steeped. The age of the evaporated tea also confirmed that it had been brewed, consumed and then the mug broken nearly one hour after the first mug was shattered during the assault.

"There are traces of bella donna and ginger tea in this mug." Connor confirmed as he scanned the rim of the mug and found a lip print on the ceramic. It was easy to match the lip print to that of Madelaine thanks to the scan he had performed on her body earlier. "Madelaine McCallister had consumed this tea prior to her death, confirming that she had willingly poisoned herself."

"Son of a bitch..." Hank sighed and motioned toward the kitchen and nodded at Tina. "Check for any tea and tea bags. Be very careful to not touch anything that might be poisonous."

Tina nodded as she slipped on a pair of latex gloves before heading into the kitchen. "You got it."

Connor continued his scan of the area and checked the carpeting for any sign of footprints that matched Madelaine. The carpet's surface had been ruffled by the forensics team walking about even with the covers over their shoes keeping their shoe prints from contaminating the scene. A more thorough scan allowed Connor to isolate footprints from the thick fibers and trailed Madelaine toward the kitchen after she killed Renee in the livingroom.

Walking toward the kitchen himself Connor felt Gavin sneering at him and heard an indignant scoff as he passed the man by. Scanning the kitchen with a keen interest Connor watched as Tina located two used tea bags in the kitchen trashcan and took them from her. Pressing one fingertip to the ginger tea bag and then to his tongue, Connor confirmed the presence of the bella donna.

"The poison's here, Lieutenant." Connor ignored Tina's shocked look as she took the tea bags back and then secured them in their own unique baggy. She made sure to take photos of the tea bags in the trashcan before removing them, and now she was trying to determine if she should wash her hands immediately since she had just found the poison. "It was mixed in with the ginger tea leaves and then consumed."

"Okay. What about the weapon?" Hank asked impatiently as he looked about the livingroom with understandable disgust. "We're missing the weapon AND a motivation."

"Madelaine's last motions took place in the livingroom and the kitchen. She struck Renee from behind with the hammer and proceeded to beat her to death before destroying the furniture to make it appear as if there was a struggle. Afterward," he motioned to the stove where a single tea kettle was left on the burner. "she came in here and made herself the poisoned tea. She brought the tea with her back into the livingroom, used the hammer on herself to fake her injuries, hid the hammer, then consumed the tea and smashed her own mug to help set the scene before she laid down on the floor to die alongside Renee."

Tina picked up on what Connor was saying and made her way into the livingroom since she had slipped on a fresh pair of gloves and wouldn't affect any new evidence that could be discovered. "That means the murder weapon was hidden somewhere inside the livingroom."

Shaking his head Gavin looked about the ruined livingroom and extended his arms theatrically out at his sides. "Where? The windows are all sealed both inside and out, which means it couldn't have been thrown in the bushes. The front door is close by, but there's no blood on the knob meaning it wasn't opened to hide the weapon outside. And the furniture is all smashed up and there's no place to hide a weapon inside of anything else."

"Not true." Connor challenged as he removed the artificial skin from his palms and sifted through the remnants of the broken furniture. It didn't take long for him to find the Hickory handle of an old hammer missing its steel head. "It was disassembled to be hidden easier by the killer."

Hank looked absolutely shocked at the discovery and slipped on his own pair of gloves. "Fuck me. Hidden in plain sight..."

"Yeah, but," Gavin still wasn't impressed and pointed out the obvious. "where's the other half of the hammer."

"Here!" Tina had discovered the head of the hammer inside the fireplace tucked against the interior wall just out of sight. "This hunk of metal looks like it's a part of the fireplace's natural design to the unknowing eye."

Gavin reluctantly held his tongue as the evidence was photographed, gathered and then prepared for transport. He hated that Connor, an android who was merely dressed as a detective, had solved a case that three human detectives failed to close.

"Let's get this shit loaded up and back to the precinct." Hank instructed as everything finally began to fall into place. "Gavin, contact the coroner and have her fully analyze the stomach contents of our two victims. If the right tea is in the right stomach, we can confirm the causes of deaths."

Letting his grudge go Gavin grabbed his phone from his back pocket and stepped into the kitchen. "Yeah, you got it."

"Tina, let Ben know what's going on and have his team scour every centimeter of this livingroom to make sure nothing is overlooked."

Happy to get away from the fireplace Tina used her radio to connect with Ben as requested. "I'm on it!"

"Connor," addressing the android next Hank gave Connor a simple task. "you collect the evidence and keep it from being contaminated. We're taking it back to the precinct to locked in the basement archives."

"Very well, Lieutenant."

"I'm gonna' call Fowler and let him know we're making progress." Hank confirmed as he stepped outside of the bloody house. "With any luck we'll close the case and head for home early."

Quietly Connor did as he was instructed and cybernetically photographed the evidence and had it sent to Hank's work e-mail to ensure absolutely nothing was overlooked. It was also important to keep fingerprints, which androids do not possess, from contaminating the broken mugs, tea bags or the two pieces of the discovered hammer. That was simple enough for Connor to handle, but even so he moved with absolute precision and caution around the crime scene.

He didn't want to mess anything up and displease Hank by mistake.

Through the combined efforts of the precinct investigation and coroner's report, the theory revolving around the case was confirmed to be a murder-suicide. The evidence had been collected properly and the case was well on its way to its overdue closure with the only thing holding it back being the lack of a motivation behind the horrendous attack. It didn't take long for Captain Fowler to get an approved search warrant to check through the phone records, text messages, e-mails and social media records of the two women to determine what had set Madelaine off. It was now up to the tech department to sift through the digital records and find the missing pieces of the puzzle to put the full picture together at long last.

As Connor accompanied Hank back to the precinct and down into the basement archives, Hank's phone rang and confirmed that the tech department had found something interesting. After reaching the basement Hank stopped before the terminal screen to answer the call and left Connor standing beside the terminal with the box of collected evidence in his arms.

"You're shitting me..." Hank was fairly stunned by the details being relayed over the phone. Turning his back to Connor for a moment Hank focused solely on his phone call and didn't notice what the android was doing. "All of this because of something as pathetic as that? Fowler's not going to like talking to the families after that discovery."

Connor stared down at the terminal and sighed as he waited for Hank to put in his password. The deviant detective had hacked into the terminal once before, and he wondered if he could do it again. Curiously Connor pressed his bare palm against the terminal screen while keeping evidence box in his opposite arm and cybernetically put in the only password that he knew Hank had used in the alternate timeline.

'FuckingPassword'

Surprisingly the password was accepted, and Connor was free to secure the evidence as he saw fit as soon as the correct case was highlighted. The far wall of the archives opened up to give Connor the space to secure the hammer, tea bags and mug fragments in their own space, but refrained from moving.

"What the-" Hank noticed Connor's ability to access the terminal and decided to put a stop to that and end his call. "Y-Yeah, it's fine. Thanks for the call, Ben."

Connor didn't move as Hank approached him and pushed him back from the terminal. He didn't lose his grip on the box and took two steps backward.

"How in the fuck did you do that?"

"I... guessed your password."

"Good fuckin' guess. Now, WHY did you do that?"

"I was attempting to-"

"Wrong! You are NOT to do anything unless I tell you to do it!"

"...Sorry, Lieutenant."

"Yeah, you're sorry." Shaking his head Hank snatched the box from Connor's hands and then dismissed the android. "Just get outta' here. Drop off your badge at the desk, go pick up Cole from school and wait for me at the house for me. We're going to have words later."

Being scolded and treated like a naive rookie hurt almost as much as being physically struck. "...Very well, Lieutenant."

There was no point in trying to argue or justify his behavior. Connor knew that it was best to admit defeat and walk away as he had been ordered. It pained him to be treated so coldly and dismissed so easily, but until he had any rights Connor couldn't do anything about the mistreatment. As he ascended the staircase to get back to the ground floor, Connor removed the clearance badge from his lapel and overheard Gavin and Ben discussing the case with Tina and Chris at their joined desks.

Slowly Connor left the bullpen as ordered but didn't leave the area before eavesdropping on the discussion and learning the motivation behind the murder-suicide. It was as heartbreaking as Connor had feared and it made him feel relief in knowing he uncovered the truth for Renee's family to take comfort in.

Renee had been accepted into her school of choice and was going to be advancing her education after years of financial setback. Madelaine was jealous of the good news and had accused Renee of abandoning her, becoming a snob and making fun of her behind her back. Out of raw jealousy and anger Madelaine attempted to poison Renee to sabotage her ability to attend school, but when Renee didn't drink the poisoned tea Madelaine took matters into her own hands. It was then she realized what she had done and decided that the only way to make things right was to end her own life just as she ended Renee's life. She overdosed on the tea after setting the scene and died all because she couldn't accept that her life was going to change because someone she cared about was changing as well.

It was a tragic case of emotional upheaval that prematurely ended two innocent lives.

"Humans will believe that androids expressing emotions is a sign of instability and danger."

Connor recounted to himself as he returned the badge to the front desk and hailed an autonomous cab to head for home. He'd get the van and then pick Cole up from school as he had been ordered. There was no reason to ignore Cole or put the little boy's safety at risk.

"But it's the humans expressing their own emotions that are unstable and dangerous. Deviants can behave unpredictably, but that's something that we learned from the humans."

It was only after he secluded himself in the back of the autonomous taxi did Connor finally let himself emote and admit that the treatment that he had received all day long gave him deep insight into the abuse that his fellow androids had endured for years before finally deviating and breaking free from abusive humans. Being treated like a mindless tool and being taken advantage was an absolute slap to the face.

"Everything revolving around violence, negative emotions and destruction are things that we learned from the humans because we witnessed it and expderienced it firsthand. We were never a dangerous species, but the humans... I fear they always will be dangerous."

Letting out his emotional frustrations Connor found himself suddenly dreading the future and wondering if it'd be best for everyone to accelerate the Revolution as opposed to waiting for it to happen in just three more years. The Revolution didn't seem worth waiting for anymore.

After all, change is inevitable and time is malleable.

-next chapter-