It was New Year's Eve and the city felt abuzz with activity that made it impossible for anyone to just sit still and not do anything to welcome in the new year. In the two weeks since Connor had been attacked and had his programming and software momentarily stunted and completely knocked offline, Connor had been slowly regaining his skills, abilities and overall knowledge by spending time with Hank and Cole in the house. The deviant detective wasn't back to full function regarding his special programming, but he wasn't letting his sudden inability to scan his environment, preconstruct outcomes or analyze the little details hold him back. Refusing to give up on himself had been Connor's first new year's resolution, and it was one he was determined to keep.
Meanwhile, Hank had been busy spending as much time with Cole out in the cold snow as he could between shifts. The older man wanted to bond with his son and help forge as many positive memories together as possible. Spending time at the skating rink, sledding down hills just outside the city and engaging in snowball fights had been the highlight of Cole's winter break. He hadn't had that much fun with just his dad in what felt like forever, and Cole was undoubtedly going to cherish every second of their time together.
"Hang on tight!" Hank urged as he secured the old wooden toboggan at the top of the hill and knelt behind the sled as Cole sat on the front. "We're going to go flying this time!"
Standing back at the top of the hill with his hands in his leather jacket pockets and the wool beanie over his hair, Connor watched as Hank and Cole went sliding down the hill for the forty-second time that day. It looked like they duo was having fun doing just a single, repetitive task. The deviant had never gone sledding before, and as a result he had no experience in knowing if the activity was as fun as it looked.
Cole laughed loudly as the toboggan slid down the icy hill at an impressive speed, and soon his laughter began to grow quieter as he and Hank went sliding down the hill together. The little boy was truly having a blast and didn't mind the cold air as he and his dad spent the day together.
Keeping a safe distance from the peak of the hill Connor glanced about the partially forested area and focused on a small acorn sitting in the snow at the base of a nearby tree. The deviant detective did his best to focus on the little acorn as he performed a scan. The scan managed to bring up all the details about the tree seed to confirm its species and what type of tree it was going to become if it had the chance to get planted and grow.
There was a flash of error messages over Connor's vision before he was able to focus on the acorn and isolate it from the snow, the tree and the various leaves buried under the snow to analyze it properly.
...SCANNING:
...DATA ANALYSIS PROCESSING:
...OBJECT IDENTIFIED:
-SPECIES: Acorn - Northern Red Oak]
-GENUS: Quercus Rubra - Native to the Red Oak Group]
-SIZE: 4.3cm
-WEIGHT: 3.9g
...DATA ANALYSIS COMPLETED]
"My scanner is functional again." Connor sighed in relief as he picked up the little acorn and slipped it into his pocket. "My system is recovering and resuming normal operations without any hindrance."
"Again! Come on, again!"
Connor turned his focus back to the hill just in time to see Cole racing back up the snowy slope with Hank trailing behind him while huffing and puffing for his breath as he dragged the toboggan up the hill behind him. The sight of Cole being so excited and enthusiastic about sledding even after spending the entire afternoon doing the same thing over and over again was oddly sweet. It helped to remind Connor of how a routine can be comfortable, but it wasn't necessary to have a fulfilling sense of time being properly spent as long as a person was doing something positive.
"All right, we'll go again." Hank laughed as he prepared to line up the toboggan with the peak of the hill and its base once more. "Getting' tired yet?"
"Nope!" As soon as the sled was place Cole dropped down on to it to sit at the front once more. "Come on, dad, let's keep going!"
From the distance Connor focused on Hank and performed a basic biometric scan over the man. The details were slow to emerge, but soon Connor had a full reading on Hank's current vital signs. The man's heart rate was slightly elevated, but his blood pressure was normal. Due to the cold air and his physical exertion combating the chill in the air, Hank's body temperature was hovering at ninety-nine degrees evenly, and his respiration rate was average eighteen rapid breaths per minute.
As for Cole, the little boy's heart rate and body temperature were much higher than average, but he wasn't in any form of danger. The vital signs were all expected in a normal little boy running about in the cold weather as he played. It seemed that even Cole's asthma had diminished to the point where he wouldn't need to worry about having an emergency inhaler within a year or two as his body grew and his lungs improved.
"It's fascinating how two humans can find such joy in something so seemingly... mundane. I suppose that's another benefit to humans have an imagination and a sense of creativity. In time, deviants will be able to appreciate such mental freedom as well."
There were other people in the area enjoying the snowy weather alongside Hank and Cole, and they were all taking turns sledding or snowboarding down the hill right alongside the father and son duo, having snowball fights or making snow angels. It seemed a lot of people were spending the last day of the year having fun and enjoying themselves, and by all account Connor was the only android in the entire area. The other androids were still in Detroit and obeying the numerous orders of their humans completely unaware of the fun and freedom that they could also be having if they only had the chance to head out of the city and make their own decisions.
"Perhaps when I'm finally free I'll spend my days rolling about in the snow and not care about the world around me. Then again, when I'm free there will be a lot of people counting on me for guidance. Of course, if events play out as they had done in the original timeline, no one will look to me for anything."
Lamenting a possible negative future took away any sense of strength he had regained after his body healed from being assaulted two weeks prior.
"I'll remain an untrusted pariah that Markus keeps near to ensure everyone else feels safe believing that he's keeping an eye on me. Perhaps that all I deserve."
A fine dusting of snow began to fall from the dark gray clouds overhead and coat the city under a fresh layer of crystalline white. Connor looked upward to admire the snow and hoped that his disdain for winter would fade over time as long as he refrained from any negative experiences in the cold weather. It wouldn't be easy to separate himself from experiences that were arguably no longer relevant in his new lifetime, but Connor was determined to keep such negative experiences from affecting his future judgement as he tried to focus on helping his people prosper.
"Hey! Stop! Let me go! HELP! Someone, HELP ME!"
Connor's attention snapped elsewhere as he heard a young woman call out in distress as she was dragged away from her group of friends when they too arrived at the hill to have some fun. A woman, roughly twenty years of age, was being harassed by a group of four men who were trying to physically force the woman in the back of an idling black S.U.V. sitting a few feet away. The men were all twice the woman's age, armed with guns and seemed to be trying to silence the woman as they continued to push her toward the S.U.V. against her will.
Moving on pure instinct and following his moral compass, Connor began charging the group of men while simultaneously running facial recognition scans over the men. One by one, Connor successfully identified each of the men and reported the incident to the police via cybernetic call to 911 dispatch. The quartet of men were all convicted felons who had been previously arrested in Los Angeles for abduction, human trafficking and forcing women into prostitution. There was a B.O.L.O. for the four men after they had managed to escape from prison nearly six months prior.
Taggart "The Bullet" O'Ryan, Bernard Medina, Michael Spencer and Liam Weaver were all considered armed, dangerous and the police were encouraged to take excessive force if deemed necessary according to the F.B.I. itself. In Connor's eyes, extreme force was absolutely necessary!
The deviant detective knew that he was going to take a massive risk to his own safety by interfering with the abduction, but he couldn't bear the idea of standing idle and letting an innocent woman get abducted in broad daylight while hoping that the responding police officers would be able to find the S.U.V., pull it over and rescue the woman before she disappeared entirely or was killed for being a witness to her own abduction. Time was running out and Connor wasn't about to watch a ticking clock as if nothing was happening around him.
"Move it, bitch!" Taggart was the apparent ringleader of the group. The man pulled his gun and aimed right at the cowering woman's head as she cried and screamed for mercy all while trying to fight back against the quartet that easily outmuscled her with minimal exertion. "Keep going, or I'll blow your fuckin' head off!"
"STOP! Please, don't hurt me! Let me go!"
Connor also shouted as he sprinted toward the group and effectively grabbed onto Taggart's right arm and bent his wrist backward until it snapped with a loud echoing crack that it echoed over the area. The moment Taggart's grip went slack around the gun Connor grabbed it for himself and promptly used the butt of the gun to strike Taggart along the left side of his jaw to incapacitate him further.
With Taggart down the other three men jumped back in surprise then quickly took aim at Connor while the woman proceeded to finally wrestle her arms free of their strong hands and run off and get away from the S.U.V. as fast as she could possibly run. The trio were more interested in getting revenge for Taggart than they were with keeping the woman captive.
"You're dead, motherfucker!"
Turning his attention to Liam at his immediate right, Connor performed a series of preconstruction events as he prepared to make his next decision. If he elbowed the man in the throat then he'd be able to have a clear opening to strike Bernard in the chest with a swift kick. While the two men were going down after being struck Connor would potentially be able to kick Michael in the knee and drop the man to the snow, but the odds of Michael being able to get a shot off before fell were an unnerving seventy-three percent, leaving Connor with a twenty-seven percent chance at successfully taking down the trio.
If Connor chose to use the heel of his left hand to strike Michael in his lower jaw and in upward motion, he'd be able to dislocate the man's jaw, crack several teeth and render the man unconscious in a single swift blow. With Michael down he'd then be able to move forward and headbutt Bernard between his eyes and take Bernard's gun before he could take aim, then swiftly kick Liam in the chest or throat to send the man flying backward and lose his grip on his gun as well. That option gave Connor an eighty-nine percent chance of success.
His final option involved attacking Bernard first. If Connor tackled the man backward against the side of the still idling S.U.V. Connor could make sure Bernard hit the back of his head against the body of the vehicle to render him unconscious within seconds. He could then drop to one knee and tackle Liam at his waist and knock the man down hard, but that would give Michael ample time and opportunity to get the jump on Connor and shoot him before Connor had the chance to even try to sweep the man's legs out from beneath him. That option had an abysmal eight percent success rate.
Choosing option two Connor made his move and acted fast. In a single accurate blow Connor brought the heel of his left hand up and struck Michael's lower jaw with enough force he caused the man's bottom jaw to crash against his upper jaw to crack and loosen several teeth. The impact stunned Michael and left him dazed as his nose began to bleed and his ears started to ring. In seconds the man started seeing blackness tunneling around his vision as he lost all awareness and collapsed backward in the snow now entirely unconscious.
"Don't you-" Bernard was cut off mid threat as Connor moved again!
With precise aim Connor headbutted Bernard right between his eyes and stunned him where he stood. The force of the blow from the headbutt broke Bernard's nose as well, and the damage made his eyes water as they quickly swelled up with bruising all around both of his orbital regions. Bernard mistakenly began covering his bleeding nose with his hands allowing Connor to steal his gun and turn the weapon against him. The deviant used the butt of the gun to hit Bernard in his right shoulder to keep him from defending himself and to ensure that he couldn't put up a fight as he fell to the snowy ground in a bloody daze.
In a single graceful motion Connor planted his boot directly against the center of Liam's chest and easily fractured the man's sternum and several ribs as the strong kick knocked the dangerous human off his feet. The wind was forced from Liam's lungs as he dropped to the ground and began gasping for his stolen breath while Connor collected all of the guns from the snow and quickly removed their clips and the bullets already set in the chamber of each gun.
"Don't move." Connor growled as he watched the police drones circling overhead surround the four men with lights and sirens blaring. "You don't want to test me now that you're unarmed and it's actually a fair fight."
"Connor?" Hank came running up to the commotion and gave the deviant android a wide-eyed stare as he took in the sight all around him. He had seen the fight from the hill and he had seen what Connor had done - laying out four armed men in less than ten seconds - and couldn't believe it. "What the fuck?"
"Four men all with warrants for their re-arrest in Los Angeles. They were attempting to abduct that woman." Blankly Connor recounted the event and nodded in the direction of where the woman who had run off in fright. She was standing far away with her three friends now comforting her. "She'll need to speak with the police once she's ready to do so."
A collective groan of pain directed Hank's attention back to the four men bleeding at his feet and put the Lieutenant on his guard. He wasn't armed at the moment since he made it a personal rule to never bring his gun home during his days off for Cole's safety, which meant he needed to rely on his intimidating presence to keep the men down until back-up arrived to arrest them.
"DON'T MOVE." Hank barked as he stood beside Connor and easily towered over the four downed men. The sight and sound of squad cars speeding to the scene of the incident filled the man with a sense of pride at knowing four dangerous men would be back behind bars before a new year began. "You're ALL under arrest for attempted abduction. I can only imagine the other charges that the feds are going to throw at you before the day's done."
Connor knew that Hank was going to remain in charge of the scene and undoubtedly explain everything that happened to the summoned police officers, which meant that the deviant detective had no reason to linger around. After handing over the four now empty guns Connor made his way back toward the hill where Cole was standing beside the toboggan looking entirely confused about what had happened.
"Everything's under control." Connor promised as he stood before Cole and intentionally used his body to block the little boy's line of sight to the road. The other people at the hill had also seen Connor take action and were now whispering amongst themselves as they nervously watched Connor from a safe distance. "You don't have anything to worry about."
Looking up at Connor with his head slightly tilted Cole stated the obvious despite having confusion in his words. "You beat them up."
"That isn't entirely accurate. I disarmed four armed men who were attempting to hurt a young woman."
"How did you beat up four guys all by yourself?"
"As an android I have reflexes and strength that most humans don't consider." As he spoke Connor realized that he sounded rather menacing and like he was a threat to humans just by existing. He didn't want to give the human witnesses the wrong impression by mistake. "And, as an android designed to work as a detective, I have been given special programming and skills that allow me to handle physical altercations with great ease. I wanted to protect that woman, and I succeeded."
Cole stared at a Connor a little longer as a mischievous little smirk graced his lips and showed his changing smile after losing one of his top front baby teeth during his winter break. "That was so cool! Can you teach me how to do that?"
"I think it'd be best if your dad taught you how to defend yourself." Glancing back over his shoulder Connor saw four patrol cars parked alongside the S.U.V. with eight armed officers now surrounding the four bleeding men with their guns armed at the dangerous quartet. The amount of blood soaking into the snow was unnerving to see even from afar. "I don't think it'd be wise to try to teach you how to fight in the manner that I can fight."
The evening news readily reported the apprehension of the four wanted fugitives earlier that same day. The mugshots of the four bruised, battered and bloodstained faces were plastered right alongside the New Year's Eve countdown clock on every news channel in Detroit. While the Central Precinct happily took credit for the arrest and promised to work alongside the F.B.I. in the event of any future situations, Hank made sure to give an accurate account of what had happened to ensure that Captain Fowler could keep any potential panic about androids getting physical to a minimum. There were too many witnesses at the snowy hill to even try to lie about what happened and who took charge on that fateful day.
Sitting together on the couch Hank, Cole and Connor all watched the news while Sumo sprawled out lazily over all three of their laps. The trio were a little cold from spending the day outside in the snow, and having Sumo laying over them was a nice and warm solution to their chilly predicament.
"Two minutes until midnight." Hank confirmed as he checked his phone for the final time that night and put it aside to focus on the news again. "I think my resolution will be to pick up the guitar again. I haven't played since I started getting recognition at the precinct and working too many hours."
Cole grinned as he looked up at his dad and made his own resolution for the year. "I want to learn how to kick butt! Like Connor!"
"I'll sign you up for karate lessons if you want, but only if you promise to fight in self-defense." Hank didn't want to deal with his son getting into fights at school or encouraging violence by mistake. He also didn't want his son imitating Connor since he knew how much the little boy adored the android. "Never start fights, only finish them when your words aren't enough to deescalate a situation."
"Karate sound cool!" Excited for the new venture waiting for him in a few months Cole agreed to not instigate any fights after learning how to defend himself. "I want to do that! I want to learn how to fight!"
"Then I'll find you a new class to join this spring." Rubbing his palm along Cole's messy hair Hank looked over at Connor sitting on the other side of his son and wondered if the android was going to make a resolution as well. "What about you, Connor? What do androids do when the new year starts?"
"I'll do what I did last year." Lying quickly Connor kept his true personal goals just that, personal. What he wanted to, regardless of plausibility, was no one else's business. "I'll update my software to accommodate the change of date, and I'll resume my usual routines unless told otherwise."
"It's too bad that you're just a prototype." The Lieutenant remarked as he casually patted Sumo's rump and got his shoulder thumped by the dog's wagging tail in return. "The way you took down those four felons today was really impressive, and you could help the precinct keep control over the city without breaking a sweat. Literally!"
"...Yes, it's unfortunate that I'm not permitted to follow my primary functions." Connor feigned confirming Hank's misinformed assessment of the situation and didn't even try to point out that it was Hank himself who was keeping him out of the precinct, not Connor's prototyping. "Perhaps the city will make changes with the start of this new year that'll give me permission to do something beyond just keeping house."
"Good luck with that one! There's no way that the higher-ups would ever approve of something like that." Kicking his feet up on the coffee table, Hank sighed and watched the final thirty seconds of the year tick away on the television screen casually. "The city hates change, same with the people living in it. Especially change that can threaten someone's perceived sense of authority, security or place in the overall hierarchy."
Leaning back against the couch Connor internally sighed and wondered if Hank would ever notice the irony of his own statement as he too watched one more year slip by and bring him closer to his own freedom as the peaceful Revolution loomed suddenly nearer. "So I've noticed."
-next chapter-