DBH: Accident Prone - Becoming Human

by WayWardWonderer

Connor struggles to comprehend his newly found emotions and learns what it means to be human as Hank guides him along his journey of self-discovery as his deviancy evolves him into something more than a machine. Connor isn't indestructible and his impulsive, selfless nature to accomplish his mission will be the death of him, or even Hank, as he learns what it means to be alive.

58. Malware

It was early morning and Connor and Hank were at the scene of a reported deviant found shutdown in his own apartment under mysterious circumstances. The deviant victim in question had been reported missing by his human friend after failing to arrive for his shift at his designated android care facility that same morning, and a wellness check by the landlord had resulted in finding the missing deviant dead and alone in the middle of his livingroom. The initial investigation concluded that the shutdown was the end result of an apparent self-destruction as there was no sign of a break-in or a struggle. However, the deviant had also shown no previous signs of self-destructive tendencies in the past and made the notion of suicide very implausible.

Hank looked about the modest apartment curiously while Connor examined the victim laying on his back on the livingroom floor and stayed out of Connor's way as the deviant detective performed his cybernetic scan. The apartment itself was rather bare compared to most apartments in the city; only one couch in the livingroom, one table in the kitchen with one chair tucked underneath, the bedroom had a single small bed and the bathroom had only a hand towel on the rack on the wall.

In a way, the apartment looked like it had been furnished only for show rather than comfort.

"I think it's safe to say this guy lived alone." Hank noted as he crossed his arms over his chest and checked each room for himself. "I get major bachelor vibes from him. So, what did your scan come up with, kid?"

"The deviant's name is registered as 'Raymond'; model 'XP-700'. He was employed atthe Omega Facility on the far side of the city." Connor confirmed the details as he scanned the deviant's face and successfully identified him. "No history of violent or erratic behavior. Impeccable record of attendance at the facility where he had been employed. No known enemies, no known technical anomalies, and he was not in a romantic relationship that could've potentially ended poorly."

"He must not have had guests over all that much either." Hank observed as he rejoined Connor in the livingroom after touring the apartment. "Or at least not human guests. Can't say that I blame him."

"Androids don't require the usual human necessities of furnishings or hygienic products." Connor stated logically as he pressed his fingertips to the dead deviant's right temple where the deviant's L.E.D. had once resided. The blank right temple was common in most deviants post Revolution. "To be succinct: This is quite common reagarding accommodations for deviants living outside of New Jericho Tower."

"Well, then we can at least rule out robbery." Crouching down beside Connor on the floor Hank watched as his partner's still functional L.E.D. shifted from blue to yellow as he attempted to access the dead deviant's system. "Find anything else useful?"

"I could not access his memory." Sounding distraught Connor's L.E.D. went back to blue as he replied honestly and retracted his hand. "But I did faintly detect an abnormality in his software."

"Like a glitch or some kind of computer virus?"

"Correct. It will require further analysis to determine if this is the cause of-" Connor's blue L.E.D. suddenly flashed to red as he closed his eyes as he openly winced in pain while struggling to speak. "I... I..."

"Hey?" Taking immediate notice of Connor's discomfort Hank studied the deviant's body language very closely. "You okay?"

"Y-Yes." Forcing his eyes to open Connor's L.E.D. cycled from red back to yellow and finally back to blue as his system recalibrated. "My firewall overreacted to the anomaly detected in the deviant's software. I'm fine."

"You're sure?"

"Yes. I'm all right."

"Do me a favor." Needing peace of mind Hank asked for simple request. "Run a self-diagnostic. Just humor me."

"Very well." Without any resistance Connor obeyed the request and closed his eyes again as he performed the diagnostic. "...All systems are operating at full capacity."

"Good." Hank patted Connor's shoulder as he stood upright again and looked down at the dead deviant laying on the floor. "So, what do we do with the body? No sign of foul play or suicide, and we can't just chalk it up as a murder unless we have some evidence to back it up."

"I recommend having the body transported to the facility in which he had been employed. The technicians will have full access to his systems on record and can perform an apportionment to determine the cause of his shutdown. We can have an officer witness the procedure to ensure there is no tampering of evidence."

"I understood most of what you said." That particular term, 'apportionment', was brand new to Hank and he had no idea what Connor was talking about. "An 'appor' what?"

"Apportionment." Repeating the term easily Connor cybernetically made the request to have the Omega Facility perform the apportionment on the Central Precinct's behalf. "It's a type of autopsy to find the cause of death in androids. Dr. Forrest has performed them in the past."

"Oh." The procedure did sound familiar, and Hank had no reason to doubt Connor's claims or decisions. "All right, call it in."

Connor nodded as he stood upright beside Hank and cybernetically confirmed the request to the facility and the precinct. "Already done."

As his blue L.E.D. cycled back to yellow Connor visibly flinched in pain again, his hand reaching for the flickering L.E.D. in his temple. As if anticipating great pain to strike him yet again Connor resisted the urge to press his fingertips against the flickering light.

"You sure you're okay?" Hank noticed the pain that Connor was trying to deny and dared to press him on the matter. Any time he pushed Connor for confirmation Hank was often met with stubborn confrontations. "You seem like you have a headache or something."

"Yes, I'm okay." Lowering his hand Connor tried to reassure Hank that he hadn't suffered any form of malfunction or glitches. "No damage or errors had been detected in my self-diagnostic."

Hank wasn't entirely convinced by the deviant's words as Connor's body language told him an opposite story. Knowing his doubt was visible in his own body language, the senior detective silently gave Connor a skeptical glance.

"We should return to the precinct." Connor suggested casually as if trying to openly change the subject. His L.E.D. was seemingly forced to cycle back to blue in color to ease Hank's understandable worries. "There is nothing more we can do here."

"You're one-hundred percent certain about this?"

"Yes."

"Okay then." Fishing his car keys from his coat pocket Hank spun the keys around by the ring on the tip of his index finger as he made his way to the apartment's door that had been cordoned off by holographic police lines. "Let's get outta' here."

---

As per usual, Hank drove back to the precinct, but soon he and Connor sat bored at the traffic light waiting for it to turn from red to green. While waiting for the light to shift in color Hank noticed that Connor was beginning to twitch a little in his seat as if he was becoming restless or was very uncomfortable for an unseen but very crucial reason. Glancing over at his friend beside him Hank watched as Connor pressed his fingertips to his wildly flickering L.E.D. in his temple. It was then Connor closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat with a heavy slump. Soon his eyes began rolling back and forth under his eyelids rapidly like a human in the depths of an intense R.E.M. sleep cycle.

Unsure of what was happening Hank made a move to put his hand on Connor's shoulder to get his attention. The moment Hank's palm made contact with Connor's shoulder the worried detective could feel the deviant's entire frame shaking violently.

"Whoa! Connor?" Giving the deviant his full attention Hank raised his voice just enough to get Connor's attention without actually shouting. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Connor's soulful brown eyes suddenly snapped open, and he took in deep, quick breaths before replying.

"Self-healing pr-program kicked in unexpectedly." The trembling in the young deviant's voice was almost as unsettling as seeing Connor twitching in his seat. "I-It was trying to repair non-existent damage, and my system became temporarily overwhelmed."

"Do you need to go see a technician?"

"No!" The blue L.E.D. flashed to yellow while Connor blurted the protest as he forced himself to calm down. "No. I have manually deactivated the program for the moment. It will recalibrate tonight during my rest mode."

The traffic light turned green and the car behind Hank honked its horn impatiently as he urged Hank to drive forward.

"Hey! Fuck you!" Hank yelled at the driver as he pressed down on the accelerator and resumed driving to the precinct. Ignoring the hostile driver behind himself Hank turned his full attention back to the seemingly ill deviant beside him. "Connor, if there is something wrong you need to tell me."

"I know." Connor's L.E.D. had steadily returned to its normal shade of blue as he spoke. "But by all account there is nothing wrong. I'm okay."

"Then why'd you have that little episode?"

"As I previously stated, my-"

"Yeah, but what CAUSED it?"

"It was most likely the result of my firewall responding to the code of the shutdown deviant."

"'Most likely', huh?" That wasn't particularly reassuring in Hank's mind. "But nothing definite?"

"I will continue to run self-diagnostics hourly to ensure there isn't an underlying condition that my system can't otherwise detect."

"I still think you need to see a technician, or at least let Joel check you over off the books."

"I'll be fine, I swear."

"All right..." Still unconvinced Hank decided to let the matter drop for the moment as Connor's stubbornness always outlasted his own persistence. "If you say so, kid."

---

Ignoring the lingering and chronic pain in his head Connor resumed his work at his terminal while awaiting a report on the cause of shutdown for the deviant in the apartment. The mysterious cause of the deviant's shutdown was more alluring to Connor than his own system's going haywire at the moment. Meanwhile, Hank proceeded to intentionally file his own report as slowly as possible so he could keep an eye on Connor without making it too obvious in the process. Being both a detective and a father, Hank had sensed something was amiss with the bullheaded deviant. Call it the 'paternal instinct' but Hank was convinced that something was seriously wrong with Connor even if he Connor himself wouldn't admit it.

Glassy eyed and quiet Connor ignored the way Hank was watching his every movement with an attentive gaze. It was more difficult to ignore the ache in his head, but Connor was determined to solve the case regardless of his own personal discomfort. As long as he kept working Connor could keep his mind on his case and off his troublesome headache.

"Your light keeps changing color." Casually Hank pointed to the shimmering L.E.D. in Connor's temple. In time with his comment, the light shifted from blue to yellow, then back to blue. "And that ain't just because you're multitasking over there, so don't even try to tell me otherwise."

Connor's hand reached up to the offending light in his temple as if covering it under his palm would somehow make the traitorous light itself disappear altogether.

"Are you upset about something?"

"I..." Connor sighed and shook his head a little as he gave Hank an honest reply. "I believe I am suffering from a headache after all. It's not as severe as the migraine that I had endured several months prior, but it's still... distracting."

"Why hide it? It's not the first time you've had one since becoming deviant."

"Correct, but it is the first time I've endured one without the aid of my self-healing program to lessen the discomfort."

"Is there any form of 'android aspirin' you can take for it?"

"No. There is research on an android painkiller dubbed 'Thiricetomal' being tested, but it hasn't been approved for commercial sale."

"That sucks." Thinking for a possible alternative Hank went without the more obvious second choice. "Want to clock-out early so you can go into your rest mode thingy and get your system back in order?"

"That won't be necessary. The headache is... I believe the appropriate term to be 'annoying', but I can still function."

"Uh-huh." Hank leaned forward on his folded arms against the top of his desk as he eyed Connor suspiciously. "There's no shame in admitting that you're in pain, son. It's part of being human."

"But I'm not-"

"You're more human than you realize. I know that you'll always technically being an android, and despite all of your advancements and your deviancy you'll always physically remain a machine; but inside your brain or your heart - hell maybe even your soul - you're a person who can think and feel under your own freewill. As such, you're NOT indestructible."

Connor's soulful brown eyes narrowed a little at the insightful comment as he took Hank's words into consideration.

"You can't go back to who you were. All you can do is try to keep improving who you are now, and that includes being able to admit it when you're in pain or upset, or sick, or any other weird little 'mortal' problem we humans have to deal with." Speaking from his own experiences and growth helped Hank to find the appropriate words to guide Connor through his current plight. "Got it?"

"I understand." Nodding a little with sincere acknowledgement Connor's shoulders sagged as he relented at last and his L.E.D. settled on yellow. "...I'd like to return home. Please?"

"Okay. I'll let Fowler know you're leaving early because you're sick." There was an undeniably lilt of relief as Hank rose from his chair. "Hell, you've got enough overtime and vacations days saved up under your belt you could probably call off for the next three months without any issues."

"Four months, nine days, fourteen hours and twenty-eight minutes to be exact."

"See? You're good to go."

While Hank left his desk to walk over to Captain Fowler's private office Connor pressed his palm firmly against his temple and let out a silent gasp of pain the moment he felt his body beginning to shake again. The deviant's self-healing program had been turned off, yet his system was still trying to repair damage that was in no need of any repair whatsoever.

Why was this happening?

"Connor? Connor..." Hank put his palm on the deviant's upper back lightly to get his attention. "Hey, open your eyes. Look at me."

"H-Hank?" As if jolted awake Connor suddenly leaned back in his chair and looked up at Hank's face with terrified eyes. "What... What happened?"

"You tell me." The senior detective pulled back his hand as he sat down on the edge of Connor's desk to look at him. "What the hell was that about? I turned my back for two minutes and it looked like you were being shocked or something."

"I... I don't know."

"Come on, I'm taking you home right now." Hank practically hauled the deviant up to his feet by grabbing onto Connor's bicep and pushed him toward the front doors of the precinct. Crossing the bullpen together Hank ignored the curiously watching eyes staring at them and just focused on getting Connor back home to properly sleep off his debilitating headache. "The sooner you get some rest, the better."

"Yes." Shutting his eyes to block out the intense sunlight Connor trusted Hank to lead him about without stumbling. "...I hope you're right."

"So do I, kid." Patting Connor's upper back gently Hank continued to lead the deviant to the neighboring parking garage. "I really do."

---

Little progress had been made on the death of the deviant found in his apartment as the technicians at the Omega Facility were still attempting to identify any and all potential causes of the mysterious shutdown. Being a newer model meant that the victim's software was more advanced and subsequently more time consuming to sift through properly, and without any further leads to follow Hank and Connor had returned home for the night with Captain Fowler's permission after Connor ended up enduring a very painful headache. Fortunately, Connor seemed to be too preoccupied with the pain of his headache to even try to argue against going home and forgetting about the case for a while.

Hank had been watching Connor's demeanor very carefully during the drive as they returned home and continued his vigil as Connor attempted to rest on the couch in the livingroom where he could be seen at all times. Ever since investigating the crime scene Connor seemed distracted, almost as if he were silently enduring some type of discomfort beyond just an annoying headache, and Hank wanted to know what was wrong.

"I hate to keep asking but are you sure you're okay?" The senior detective asked sincerely from the hallway as he noted Connor's L.E.D. still flickering from blue to yellow all evening long. Joining the deviant in the livingroom Hank sat down in the recliner and studied Connor warily. "If you need to see a technician let me know."

"As I stated before, my firewall had simply overreacted." Laying on his side with his face buried in the thick pillow under his head Connor responded in a muffled but audible tone of voice. "It should recalibrate itself during my rest mode."

"You didn't have any more of those weird episodes while I was in the shower, right?" Turning on the television Hank found the final quarter of a basketball game playing out and turned down the volume as he continued to speak with the deviant in a worried tone. "Not even a tiny one that you tried to ignore?"

"No." Connor replied honestly as he reached down to pet Sumo's ears affectionately while the massive dog pressed his chin down on the cushion next to Connor's chest. Sumo was sitting on the floor between the couch and coffee table as he watched over Connor warily. "I've only suffered from the two - as you call them - 'episodes'."

"What about back at the crime scene when you winced? Does that count as one?"

"...Possibly."

"You know I'm not a fan of indirect answers, kid. Don't do that."

"I'm sorry, but I simply do not have information on this unusual activity in my software to give a more definitive explanation."

"All right. I'll trust you on this. You know your own body better than anyone else."

"Thank you for respecting that fact."

It stayed quiet as the two detectives watched the game together up until the final score. Tired and bored with the surprisingly uneventful game Hank had just watched he decided it was time for the both of them to go to sleep. The entire day seemed like a major bust.

"No updates on the case?" Hank asked as he turned off the television and looked at the time on his phone. "I hope not anyway, it's getting late."

"None." Connor stated sharply as he now sat upright on the couch with Sumo resting his chin over his lap. "Would you like me to wake you if an update does arise?"

"Hell no! We're off the clock, I was just asking." The senior detective waved off the suggestion as he walked down the hallway to his bedroom. "Don't wake me until we actually have to go back to work tomorrow morning, or unless the house catches fire. Get some sleep and feel better, kid."

"Very well. I will go into rest mode within the hour."

For a moment Connor closed his eyes to set his internal alarm clock to awaken him at his usual early morning hour of 6:30am to go to work, and gently pushed Sumo aside to stand up from the couch. Patting the side of his leg the android deviant for Sumo to accompany him to the backdoor in the kitchen.

"Come on, outside."

Sumo obediently followed Connor to the backdoor in the kitchen and promptly walked outside into the cold yard while the deviant held the door open for him.

"Good boy."

As Connor closed the backdoor he felt the throbbing of his headache suddenly intensify causing his hand to press against his frantically flickering L.E.D. in absolute pain. Before he had a chance to even react to what was happening, Connor's body began to twitch violently causing him to lose his balance and fall forward onto the floor with a painful crash.

"H-Hank?!"

Connor managed to call out weakly as he fell to the linoleum floor on his side. The deviant's L.E.D. began to flicker through all of its known colors at an increasing rate as system became overwhelmed by an unidentified error that caused the deviant detective's body to respond in a physically unpredictable manner.

"...H-Help."

From his bedroom Hank heard Connor's voice calling out to him followed by a loud 'thud'. Reacting to the sound on full alert he threw open his bedroom door and rushed down the hallway to try to find his partner and to figure out what was happening.

"Connor?"

Hank looked through the livingroom and found the room empty. As he glanced to his left to the kitchen Hank's eyes went wide with fear at the sight of Connor laying on his side twitching on the floor with his L.E.D. glowing red against the interior of Connor's palm.

"Connor!"

Kneeling down beside Connor on the floor Hank put his hand on the deviant's shoulder to try to hold him steady.

"What's wrong?!"

There was no time for Connor to answer as the twitching that had racked his body suddenly turned into violent thrashing and he began seizing on the floor.

"Shit! Shit, shit, shit!"

Resisting the urge to try to pin Connor to the ground Hank instead grabbed on to Connor's shoulders to hold him on his side out of pure instinct brought on by his emergency first aid training. Hank had no idea if Connor was actually having a seizure or not, let alone knew if the same treatment could be applied to an android as it would a human, but it was all he could do in that moment.

"I'm with you, son. It's okay... You're going to be just fine."

Supporting the deviant under his hands without causing any further harm to Connor's neck or his head, Hank just waited for the fit to pass. The violent tremors throughout Connor's body began to lessen and the flashing of his red L.E.D. began to slow. Mercifully after two minutes the seizing finally stopped, and Connor became unnervingly still on the floor under Hank's grip.

"Connor? Can you hear me?"

Hank asked as he tilted Connor's head back and to the side as he repositioned the deviant's arms and his legs into that of the recovery position on the floor. It was another instinctive reaction as Hank had no idea if it be of any benefit to the deviant.

"Open your eyes."

The glitching deviant didn't reply to Hank's voice and remained entirely unresponsive where he laid.

"Come on, Connor."

Lightly Hank turned the Connor's head slightly and leaned his ear down so he could listen for any breaths to ensure that Connor's airway wasn't constricted, then looped his fingers around Connor's wrist to check his pulse. By all account Connor was able to breathe normally and his pulse was stable which were both a good sign.

"I know you can hear me. Just open your eyes for a second, that's all I ask."

Slowly Connor's soulful brown eyes opened into half lidded slits and stared blankly ahead as they failed to focus on anything. The L.E.D. in Connor's temple continued to flicker from blue, to yellow, to red over and over again as his system remained plagued with an unknown error.

"That's good, keep your eyes open for me. I'm calling a technician."

Hank decided firmly as he reluctantly left Connor alone in the kitchen to retrieve his phone from his bedroom and dial the emergency contact number that he had been given a few months back. As he dialed the number Hank returned to Connor's side to kneel on the floor at the deviant's back, and lightly pressed his fingertips against the side of Connor's neck - grateful for the newly developed pulse points in the deviant's body - and monitored the rapid, gentle thrumming under his fingertips.

"You'll be okay, son."

Carefully Hank put his hand under the Connor's head to lift him slightly upward from the floor to keep his airway clear.

"Hold on, I'll get you some help."

Connor blinked slowly as his system struggled to reboot after suffering such a severe glitch. Unable to speak and unable to move all Connor could do was listen to Hank speaking on the phone and feel the senior detective's warm, calloused hand beneath his head supporting him up from the cold floor.

"Hey, Abby. It's Hank." The professionally calm senior detective made contact with the skilled technician over the line and gave her a quick rundown on what had happened. "I know this is going to sound really fucked up, but I think Connor just had a seizure."

Despite the alarming situation that had just transpired Hank himself sounded remarkably casual, and in turn it helped Connor to remain calm where he was laying on the kitchen floor. The deviant wasn't quite sure what he had just gone through and having Hank remaining calm was very reassuring.

"No, he didn't suffer any physical damage."

Hank continued to speak to the familiar technician over the phone as he watched Connor's eyes slowly blink at the nothingness before him.

"No, he didn't get any software updates from- Whoa, wait. He did make contact with that deviant who was found dead this morn-" The astute detective stopped short and listened closely as Abby interrupted him quickly. "Yeah, he acted like he was in pain. Okay, no problem."

Connor wanted to speak up, wanted to offer his own opinion on the matter, but his voice modulator wasn't online yet. Helpless, weak and in pain all Connor could do was lay under Hank's vigil and wait for help.

"No, I don't want to move him."

Hank admitted sounding a twinge desperate as he spoke.

"If he does it again while I'm driving- Yeah, no problem. We'll be waiting for you. Thanks."

Ending the call Hank set the phone down on the kitchen table behind him and focused solely on the downed deviant under his care.

"Abby thinks she knows what happened to you, and more importantly she can fix it. You're going to be okay, son."

Finding the strength to swallow once Connor tried to speak but his voice was weak and hollow.

"...H-Hank?"

"I'm here. Don't move." The protective father figure urged as he stayed at Connor's side. "Don't try to do anything, just take it easy for a few minutes."

Pressing his left fingertips down against the side of Connor's neck again Hank continued to monitor his pulse and his breathing. It was all he could do until help from the contacted technician could get Connor back on his feet.

Ten slow minutes passed before Abby arrived at the house to aid the downed deviant. Hank had been kneeling beside Connor during that entire waiting period to keep an eye on him. Connor was barely conscious and responsive during the wait, but his eyes never fully closed. As soon as Abby knocked on the front door Hank yelled out for her to come in and watched as the dedicated technician with her emergency repair satchel slung over her shoulder pushed open the door and marched directly into the kitchen where the two detectives were waiting.

"How long did the seizure last?" Abby asked as she knelt on the other side of Connor beside his chest and opened her satchel as she dropped it on the floor beside her leg. Opening the top of the gray denim bag she fished out her audioscope and waited for Hank's answer. "Or at least give me a rough idea how long it lasted."

"So, it was a seizure?"

"Sort of." She admitted as she set up her laptop next and powered it up. It acted as both a diagnostic modem and a portable Thirial activity monitor in the event of emergencies. "How long?"

"About two minutes."

"Good, that means the malware hasn't caused any permanent damage."

"Permanent?" That word immediately put Hank on his guard. "What the fuck is going on?"

Abby placed the earbuds of the audioscope in place before she pressed the bell against Connor's chest to listen to the deviant's thundering heart. After a quick listen she answered Hank's question with full honesty.

"That deviant who had been found dead this morning had died from the same malware infection that's now rampaging through Connor's system." Setting aside the audioscope Abby motioned for Hank to roll Connor from his side and onto his back, his hand remaining under Connor's head the whole time. "It was passed on to Connor when he made contact with the dead deviant's programming."

"Son of-" The revelation made Hank tense as the full gravity of the situation just hit him. "Where did the malware come from?"

"Unknown." Abby admitted as she connected a cable to her laptop and the opposite end of the same cable to Connor's red L.E.D. producing an image of Connor's vital signs on the laptop's screen. The vital signs were followed by a second window showing massive lines of impressive code. "We're still trying to figure out where it came from, but at least we know how to remove it before any other androids fall victim. At least the more advance models that is. Any model above 'AX-600' is currently at risk. Connor is the most advanced prototype ever created, so he was just a walking bullseye for this type of infection."

Connor's soulful brown eyes continued to blink slowly while Abby set about removing the malware from his system. Too tired and in pain Connor didn't dare to try to move or even speak despite wanting to ask a few questions of his own.

"Why didn't his own self-diagnostic find it and his healing program take care of it for him?" Hank asked as he watched Abby isolate the contaminated code for proper isolation and repair. "He kept running that damn program, but nothing showed up as a problem."

"The malware is designed specifically to disrupt the self-healing program, which means it can't be removed by the affected androids without secondary intervention." Putting her left hand down against Connor's chest Abby typed a few commands into the laptop with her right hand and addressed the infected deviant calmly. "Connor, you're going to enter rest mode for a moment and your system is going to fully reboot. It'll only take a few seconds to complete."

Hank held his breath as he watched Connor's eyes close slowly and his ventilation slow as he entered rest mode quickly. The red L.E.D. under the black cable began to blink in a steady yellow pulse before cycling back to blue as his system began to stabilize.

"Abby?"

"That's normal." Checking her laptop for confirmation on the successful elimination of the malware Abby nodded at Hank and kept her hand on Connor's chest to physically monitor his heartbeat and breathing under her palm. "Try talking to him to wake him up."

"Connor?" Hank called the deviant's name as he stared at the sight of the blue light in Connor's right temple. "Wake up for us, son."

Brown irises returned as Connor regained consciousness, his system rebooting fully and correctly.

"...I'm okay." Connor tried to sit upright on the floor but Hank put his hand down next to Abby's hand against Connor's chest to hold him in place. "I c-can move." The deviant's voice was shaking but otherwise sounded normal. "I am unharmed."

"Yeah, well, I'll wait for the nice technician to give you the clear before I let you get up. She did make a special house-call for you, after all."

"Well, that was easy." Abby carefully unclipped the cable from Connor's now blue L.E.D. and turned off the laptop. Pulling a penlight from the satchel she clicked it on and moved her hand from Connor's chest to Connor's eyelids. "How do you feel?" Shining the light in Connor's pupils Abby checked him for any further distress or injury. "Any pain or dizziness?"

"I feel... normal." It was still a struggle to speak but it was no longer impossible. "My headache has lessened considerably."

"Do you remember what happened?"

"I remember letting Sumo outside, but I don't remember how I ended up on the floor."

"I think I can help you fill in those blanks." Abby gave Connor an uneasy grin as she packed up her laptop and audioscope into her satchel. "You were affected by some malware that caused your system to react with violent physical tremors when rudimentary programs connected to your self-healing program activated."

"That explains the headache every time I ran a self-diagnostic."

Hank just shook his head with a sense of confusion. "Glad you understood what she just said." Letting go of Connor's chest Hank offered the deviant his hand and pulled him up from the floor steadily to get back onto his feet. "Will you be able to return to work tomorrow?"

"Yes." Pressing his palm to the side of his head Connor blinked a few times as if he needed to clear his vision when in reality his gyroscope was just recalibrating and made him feel a little dizzy. "...The entirety of the malware had been successfully deleted from my system. "

"Good, my job is done." Abby slung her satchel back over her shoulder and got to her feet gracefully. "I'll be in touch at the Zeta Facility if we learn anything new about the malware. We've been discussing the case with the Omega Facility and right now they suspect your victim suffered from a misplaced update corrupting his system."

"Okay. Thank you for your help." Connor appreciatively extended his hand toward Abby to shake. "If we discover anything significant at the precinct, we'll contact you and confirm the final apportionment."

"Good to know." Happily Abby shook Connor's offered hand lightly before heading toward the front door again with a confident gait. Pulling open the front door she shouted back to the kitchen then stepped through the front door and into the night. "Take care!"

As Abby left the house Hank let out a deep sigh of relief and put his hand on Connor's shoulder. "You scared the shit outta' me, son."

"I'm sorry. I didn't-"

"Relax, don't worry about it." Walking over to the backdoor Hank let Sumo back inside for the night and let out a deep breath that disappeared into the chilly evening air. The massive dog simply trotted through the kitchen and promptly plopped down on the couch in the livingroom having no idea of what had happened while he was outside. "I know you weren't trying to keep whatever was happening to you a secret. You didn't know what was going on."

"I still don't know exactly what had happened." Connor observed despondently as he kept his hand to the side his head. His headache dulled slightly more and then let up entirely. "We need to know where the malware came from and who created it before anyone else becomes infected. Many more deviants could shut down as a result of this infection."

"First thing tomorrow morning we're going to the precinct to let Fowler know we have an anti-android assault, and now a murder, to solve."

"You're right." Connor nodded in agreement as Hank walked toward the hallway tiredly to retire to his bedroom for the night. "Whether or not it was intentional a deviant has died from the malware infection."

"All right, get some sleep and rest as much as you can. I get the feeling tomorrow is going to be one long-ass day..."

"Agreed." The unusual case and unusual death both hinted toward a very strange mystery on the horizon. The case could've been a single isolated incident, but the risk was too great to make such a bold assumption considering how many deviants were potentially at risk. "I suspect you are correct. But by morning I'll be ready to resume our investigation."

---

The following morning after the frightening brush with a significant malware infection, Connor and Hank eagerly poured over the files regarding the death of the deviant who had been subjected to the same enigmatic and ostensibly fatal malware that had infected his systems. The deviant victim had been originally employed at the Omega Facility which made it increasingly difficult to narrow down how he could've been infected with the malware as he had been in contact with dozens, possibly hundreds, of other androids throughout the entire city. For the two detectives, narrowing down the source of such a dangerous infection was as crucial as it was difficult considering the size of the deviant population currently residing within Detroit.

Fortunately, no other cases of the malware had reported to the precinct or to any facilities during the previous night. Unfortunately, the lack of information on the malware infection made tracking it down all the more laborious and stressful. Allowing the case to grow cold was not going to be an option.

"There have been no other cases of this malware detected within the past twenty-four hours." Connor noted from his terminal with his brow knit in confusion. Such a dangerous malware infection seemingly appearing from nowhere and disappearing in a similar manner seemed too implausible to consider. "We cannot trace the malware back to a single source to locate the suspect who developed said malware or uncover their motivation behind the malware attack."

"And I haven't gotten any news from-" There was a sudden commotion in the front reception area of the precinct as a group of officers gathered to take control of the bizarre situation. "What the fuck's going on, now?" Hank asked as he craned his neck to look at the scene without leaving his desk, and Connor turned his head to look as well. "We don't need any more bullshit to deal with."

Captain Fowler stepped out of his private office and walked up to Hank and Connor's desks to inform them of the situation in a professional manner.

"One of the receptionist androids just collapsed." The calm Captain stated as he gave his two detectives an update. "She's the second one since last night."

"What?" Hank gave Captain Fowler an odd look as he turned to look up at his superior officer. "Two androids in less than two days have gone down, and we're hearing about this NOW? What happened to the first android?"

"She just sort of passed out and started twitching. Joel took a look at her but there wasn't anything he could do, so we had her sent to an emergency care facility for repair around midnight last night. Without confirmation that she was infected with the same malware that took down Connor and your primary victim, that left us unable to tell you anything one way or the other."

"Ah, fuck."

"Yeah, that's what I said." Returning to his office Captain Fowler just shook his head with a mixture of irritation and confusion. "What else can I say?"

Connor's L.E.D. flashed from blue to yellow with worry as he uploaded the report filed last night regarding the receptionist. "The android who collapsed last night was exhibiting the same bizarre signs of the malware that I had exhibited earlier before my own collapse."

Hank lowered his voice as he asked Connor a logical follow-up question. "Did you...?"

"No." Following the question Connor gave Hank an honest answer. "I made no direct contact with her before I had been infected, but..."

"What?"

"I did make contact with the android who just collapsed this morning. Rhonda."

"Keep tabs on her, and if you start acting up again then I'm driving your ass straight over to Abby's facility so she can look after you."

"I understand." Connor's L.E.D. remained in yellow as he tried to piece the unusual set of circumstances together. "At the moment I still cannot identify the origin of the malware infection. If we could locate an infected deviant that our victim had treated, or at least had made contact with before his own shutdown, we could use that as a lead. But as of the moment there's nothing to go on."

"Maybe there have been other infected deviants but they don't know they've been infected yet." Hank's suggestion was as frightening as it was plausible. "You didn't know how sick you were until you had that damn seizure."

"If that's the case, then there's a risk of an epidemic spreading among the deviant commun-" Once more Connor's L.E.D. flashed in yellow rapidly with fear. "Shit, if the infection reaches New Jericho Tower..."

"Shit." It didn't take a technician to know that any malware virus spreading throughout the confined tower would result in hundreds, if not thousands, of permanent shutdowns. "Go ahead and warn Markus. Let him know what's happening."

"No. I don't want to risk possibly spreading something through cybernetic connections if I have been reinfected by Rhonda or the other receptionist, Pamela. I could possibly cause irreparable damage while trying to prevent it."

"All right, I'll call Markus instead." Fishing his phone out of his coat pocket Hank located Markus's personal number and prepared to press 'dial', but the look in Connor's soulful brown eyes made him hesitate. The deviant's L.E.D. was now flashing red and his hands tightened into nervous fists atop his desk. "Something wrong, kid?"

"Hank... The receptionist who just collapsed had begun expelling Thirium at an alarming rate."

"What the hell? You mean she's throwing-up?"

"...Hemorrhaging." Connor corrected with a melancholy tone. "She's already lost a significant amount of Thirium and has reached a critical level. The technicians don't expect her to survive the next hour if they cannot stop the internal bleeding."

"Okay, come on." Hank grabbed on to Connor's arm and pulled him away from his desk. Pushing the deviant toward the elevators down the far corridor Hank began to visibly worry for Connor's life. "I want Joel to examine you just in case. It's a precaution, that's all. I know you wouldn't hide something that serious from me."

Nodding subtly Connor agreed with Hank's decision as the two set foot in the elevator together to reach the precinct dispensary just a single floor up. While the elevator reached its destination Hank made contact with New Jericho Tower to inform the deviants of the lethal malware that was being spread through the city. It didn't take long for Markus to respond to the call, and he listened to everything that Hank was telling him with utmost concern and seriousness.

"Markus is on it." Hank stated flatly as he ended the call and pocketed his phone as swiftly as he made the initial call. The elevator doors opened allowing the two detectives access to the dispensary. "Now, let's just make sure nothing happens to you while we're working on this case. All right?"

"Yes. This is an understandable and wise precaution."

Inside the dispensary Joel, the precinct's lone technician, was diligently checking through the official precinct records detailing the systems and programs of every android that had been registered to the Central Precinct. The loss of the two deviant android receptionists in less than twenty-four hours was very alarming and required his immediate attention as he didn't want anyone else collapsing from the lethal malware infection.

"Hey, Joel." Doing his best to keep anyone from feeling alarmed Hank greeted the technician calmly from the doorway. "Busy?"

Looking up from his terminal screen the dedicated technician stared intently at Connor and sighed. "Shit. Please don't tell me that Connor's been infected, too."

"No, no. He's okay." Hank then replied with a firm tone to keep the panic at a minimum. "We just want to make sure he stays okay while we're working on this weird-ass case. That's all."

"Yeah, sure." Joel rose from his desk, his face covered in a fine sheen of sweat from his frantic search through the hundreds of files at his disposal and utter exhaustion draining his mental resolve quickly. "Connor, remove your blazer and lay down on the exam table for me. I'll just give you a routine examination and check your processor for any abnormality that needs immediate attention."

"Very well." The obedient deviant detective shrugged off his blazer as he walked over to the table to lay down across it as instructed. "I had been previously infected, but the malware had been removed by a technician from a local facility last night."

"When exactly?" Joel asked as he positioned a large lamp over the table and turned it on. The bright light would've caused a normal human to flinch from the intense illumination, but Connor just blinked once as his superior vision quickly adjusted to the increased light. "Any detail you can give me about your previous infection could be immeasurably helpful on this case."

Hank's phone started ringing in his pocket while Connor gave Joel as much information that they had already managed to gather. As he checked the caller I.D. on the screen Hank felt a knot form in the pit of his stomach. "...I'll take this outside, you take care of him, Joel."

"On it." The focused technician replied without looking away from Connor as he pressed the bell of his audioscope to Connor's chest. "Your Thirium pump and ventilation biocomponents sound normal." Draping the audioscope around his neck Joel made an educated decision. "Since the latest and most dangerous sign of this infection revolves around the victim expelling Thirium from their systems I want you to wear this."

Joel rolled up Connor's left shirt sleeve and wrapped a Thirium pressure cuff around Connor's bicep. A brightly lit screen of bright blue digits showed Connor's volume at one-hundred percent and his Thirium pressure at its very human level of one-hundred and twenty over ninety.

"Everything seems to check out fine and you're in perfect health, but if there's any slight fluctuation in your Thirium volume or pressure you get your ass to the nearest facility for immediate treatment."

"I will do so." Connor confirmed as he rolled down his shirt sleeve and slipped his gray blazer back on over his arms and over his shoulders. Hearing Joel's tone of alarm in comparison to his usual laidback demeanor confirmed the seriousness of the situation at hand. "Thank you."

The Thirium pressure cuff wrapped around Connor's bicep was mostly concealed but the bright blue digits shone through the thin white and gray fabric easily on his arm. It was less of a reassurance and more of a reminder of his own mortality.

"And keep this on you." Joel took a pouch of Thirium from the nearby storage cabinet and handed it to the deviant detective to take. "Just in case."

"Understood." Tentatively Connor took the pouch and tucked it into his blazer's pocket for potential use later on. "Another wise precaution."

Hank returned to the dispensary with his phone already pocketed and his head hung low. "Connor, we have a problem."

"What is it?" Connor stood up abruptly from the table and met Hank near the doorway. "What's happening?"

"North just called me." The grim tone of Hank's voice told Connor that things were becoming bleaker with each passing second. "Markus has been infected."

"Markus has been- Shit." Connor's yellow L.E.D. flashed to red with abject horror at the news of his friend's condition. "How severe is the infection?"

"Lucas and Simon are taking care of him right now, and he is stable, but I told them to contact Abby at her facility and she's on her way there right now. But until we can find-"

"Hank," Connor's L.E.D. flashed yellow then back to red as he received an update from the facility. "the receptionist android from this morning..." His tone was low, and his eyes were glistening with empathetic emotion. "She didn't make it. She... Rhonda, she bled to death."

Joel swore under his breath and walked away from the two detectives back over to his desk. Resuming his search through the files the devoted technician sat down heavily as he continued to try to identify any possible link that could help prevent the malware from spreading, if not identify the culprit responsible for the crisis. Afterward he'd have to update Rhonda's personnel file at the precinct from active to deactivated while recording her cause of shutdown.

Refusing to lose hope Hank clapped his hand on his partner's shoulder in an attempt to reassure the deviant's waning confidence. "We need to figure out what the fuck is happening, NOW."

"Agreed." Connor's soulful brown eyes were instantly focused, and his shoulders had squared with a sense of defiance. "We can't risk exposing any other android or anyone else at New Jericho to this malware. We must find the source of the malware ourselves with very limited contact with other deviants and refrain from cybernetic contact whenever possible."

"Sounds good to me. Where do we start?"

Connor gave Hank a determined glance as he made a logical decision. "For Abby to have removed the malware from my system, she would've had to have identified its original source code. Perhaps that source code is still incorporated within my processor."

"Think you can find a trail to follow?"

"Possibly. It may take some time, but I believe if I can isolate the-"

"Dumb this down for me." Pinching the bridge of his nose between his right fingers Hank reminded the deviant detective that he wasn't the most tech savvy man in the world. "I'm not a technician."

"Right, of course. It's possible that I can locate the exact point where the malware had been originally sent." Walking out of the dispensary and back down the corridor Connor, with Hank beside him, explained things as simply as he could. "If we can connect any deviants who may have been passing through New Jericho Tower to the list of deviants that had been treated at the Omega Facility where our original victim had been employed, we will find our suspect."

"And why do we need to find out which deviants from New Jericho went to that facility?"

"Markus has been infected." Entering the elevator alongside Hank the astute deviant detective managed to follow the evidence to a potential trail left behind by their culprit. "And Markus wouldn't go to a facility since Lucas and Simon are both skilled technicians residing within the tower itself. That means Markus would have been infected by a deviant who had gone to the facility and interacted with Markus upon their return to New Jericho."

"So... to New Jericho Tower, then?"

"Yes." The two detectives exited the elevator on the ground floor while Connor explained his logic and reasoning to Hank in as much of a simplistic and informative manner as possible. "Upon Simon's request, a record of all visitors and residents to the tower has been chronicling every deviant and every human that has set foot inside the building ever since it had been refurbished into New Jericho Tower. We have a complete manifest of every visitor since day one of New Jericho's debut as a deviant sanctuary."

"All we need to do is get our hands on that list and start comparing names to the deviants who had also visited the facility."

"Correct."

"Sounds easy enough." Hank commented with a pessimistic lilt in his voice as he realized that they might be making progress at last. "But I doubt it will be."

"It rarely ever is." Connor tagged on as the duo crossed through the bullpen and reluctantly passed through the receptionist area where the latest victim of the malware infection had collapsed and later shutdown. "How severe are Markus's symptoms?"

"He, uh, he had a seizure about four minutes after I spoke with him over the phone." The reply sounded uncharacteristically uncertain as Hank answered the question honestly. "North said he had been suffering from an unexplainable headache the night before and then he just... collapsed."

With a heavy heart Connor compared Markus's behavior to his own from the previous night. "Like me."

"Yeah, but like I said, Abby is on her way over to the tower as we speak. She'll take care of Markus the same way she took care of you, so don't worry."

"I don't think that's entirely possible."

Hank didn't say anything else as he and Connor exited the precinct to cross through the neighboring parking garage and climb inside the Oldsmobile. Exiting the parking garage of the precinct at a relatively high speed, Hank hastily pulled out onto the street to make his way to New Jericho Tower located on Belle Isle in the harbor.

"Hank," during the swift drive Connor's blue L.E.D. flashed to yellow rapidly as another report of the malware came through. "another deviant has been admitted to a facility exhibiting the same symptoms of the malware infection."

"Got a name?"

"Yes. The deviant is registered as 'Tony' and had been employed at the Henry Ford Hospital as an orderly." Reporting the confirmed details Connor's voice dipped with understandable worry. "He has exhibited the same symptoms as the other victims in addition to an alarming expulsion of Thirium."

"Twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern, four times is pretty much a goddamn slap across the face." Hank observed somewhat confidently as the true severity of the situation settled in. "A total of five deviants that have been infected - that's including you - and were all employed as some type of emergency service android. Whoever created this malware is targeting something specific."

Considering Hank's words Connor's yellow L.E.D. rapidly blinked red as an unnerving theory formed in his head. "...Or someone."

"Oh?" That little comment caught Hank's ear immediately. "Who?"

"Markus."

"Wait..." Hank's eyes went wide with surprise as his brow furrowed with curiosity. "All androids are welcome at New Jericho, and Markus has taken it upon himself to personally speak to anyone who has connections throughout the city; like those who are employed at emergency care facilities and the police." Following Connor's logic Hank knew what the deviant was theorizing. "It's entirely possible that someone who wants Markus dead would try to use one of his own allies as a weapon." A thick grimace appeared on the seasoned detective's face as he drove toward the tower. "But why go after him after all this time?"

"Markus was scheduled to meet with the Senate in Washington D.C. in less than six days. Perhaps it was an attempt to stall the additional new laws and rights for androids set to be passed throughout the entire country."

"I think you're completely right. To find anything that'll help us narrow down the suspects, we should look at anyone and everyone who had any political stake to be lost or gained after android rights become active around the country." Hank shook his head a little at the bleak thought of politics or an assassination attempt playing a role in this messy situation. "I wonder who could get close enough to a deviant to upload the malware and cause the spread to begin with?"

Connor remained silent as a deep contemplation settled in his increasingly human heart. An unsettling idea was plaguing his every thought as Connor focused on finding the source of the lethal malware infection.

"You okay over there? Don't go quiet on me, I don't like it." From the corner of his eye Hank watched Connor's body language carefully. The deviant detective was tense, withdrawn, and concentrating deeply enough to make his soulful brown eyes narrow slightly. "It usually means you're sick or hurt. Or worse, thinking."

"I'm worried." Breaking his brief silence Connor let Hank know what he was thinking about. "Markus was infected by someone he trusts."

"And?"

"It could've been me."

"Hey, don't think like that, kid." The senior detective knew that Connor was very sensitive to the idea of doing anything that would cause mistrust among his own people for any reason. "Even if something did happen to him because you made direct contact, it wouldn't have been your fault. All right?"

Connor didn't reply, he only looked out his side window and nodded a little. All the while Connor's L.E.D. consistently blinked between yellow and red as he frequently cybernetically scanned for any additional reports regarding possibly infected deviants being sent to the precinct. Connor had also begun silently reading through the apportionment of the recently shutdown receptionist and compared it to that of their first confirmed victim's own apportionment from the morning before.

"The recently shutdown receptionist - Rhonda - our still surviving receptionist - Pamela - myself and Markus, have all experienced a headache and a seizure before collapsing. But unlike our first victim - Raymond - Pamela and myself, Rhonda began expelling Thirium at an alarming rate until she had succumbed to insipid shock and shutdown."

"Yeah? And?"

"That means the malware has been enhanced. It's now more destructive and more dangerous than before."

"Connor," Hank's voice suddenly lowered with an unnerving caution. "when you were infected with the original malware, your own system failed to detect it until it was almost too late. If you've been reinfected..."

"I'm aware." Connor stated quickly as he too had been dreading the same scenario. "It may be best that I refrain from making direct contact with anyone at the tower. Not until we know for certain what's happening regarding the malware and how it's spreading."

"We'll figure it out, kid."

"Before it's too late?"

There was no way for Hank to answer that question. While he was confident that he and Connor would find the criminal responsible for creating and distributing the malware, he was completely unsure if they'd be able to locate them before any further damage was done. Or more importantly, before any other deviant needlessly shutdown. As Hank drove down the single long drive that granted access to the tower out in the harbor, he noticed that there was another car already parked out in front of the building.

"Abby must already be here." With a flat tone Hank finally broke the uncomfortable silence that had fallen between the two detectives. "Maybe she can give us more information."

"Hank..." Connor's L.E.D. began flashing red again as he continuously monitored the situation. "Another deviant has been infected."

"Shit. Who and where?"

"She is a deviant registered as 'Lisa' and had been assigned as an arson investigator for the Detroit Fire Department at Station 51."

"Like I said before, it's a pattern." Using that information as confirming Hank pressed his foot down a little harder on the accelerator as they crossed the bridge to get to the tower. "Emergency personnel are being targeted."

"Yes." Connor readily agreed as Hank parked the car in front of the massive tower and behind the first car. Exiting the vehicle alongside his partner Connor lowered his voice as to not alert any of the other deviants who might accidentally overhear their conversation. "However, she hasn't begun expelling Thirium in a similarly violent manner as the receptionist and orderly androids had done before."

"The sooner we get through the tower's files the sooner we can nail down this sick fucker and arrest their sorry ass."

As the two detectives passed through the front doors of the tower Josh rushed up to them both with his hands knitted together nervously in front of him. If Josh still had his L.E.D. it surely would've been blinking red rapidly with utmost and righteous, worry.

"What do you need to figure this out?" The shaken deviant volunteered to give the duo full access to the tower without any hesitation. As a natural pacifist Josh was being emotionally stressed by the needless assault against his people. "Name it!"

"Files on every android who has been inside New Jericho Tower for the past two weeks." Connor stated unhesitatingly as he knew exactly where he wanted to begin his search. "And it'd be best to issue a mandatory physical and cybernetic quarantine for the denizens of the tower into their private quarters until we can figure this out."

"Already been done." Josh confirmed with a tight breath in his chest. "Anything else?"

"Can we..." Trailing off briefly Connor forced himself to ask the question he really wanted answered but didn't want to ask at all. "How's Markus?"

"Unconscious and unresponsive. That technician, Dr. Grayson, has been trying to remove the malware from his programming but so far it's not working."

Hank crossed his arms defensively over his chest at the sound of the bleak news. "Maybe you were right, Connor. Maybe the malware got an upgrade."

"If it did, then it's a good one." Josh openly lamented as he motioned for Connor and Hank to follow after him toward the elevator at the center of the tower's main lobby. "I'll show you to the records in the tower's archives. Do you at least know why this is happening?"

"Not yet." Connor subconsciously put his hand over the Thirium pressure monitor that was still wrapped around his left bicep as he answered. "Our current theory is that this malware was specifically aimed at Markus and the rest of the New Jericho leaders." Stepping into the elevator Connor continued his explanation as the trio reached their designated floor in the tower's sublevels. "It's arguably an assassination attempt, but until we can prove anything this is all just speculation."

"Are we at risk?" Needing answers Josh asked for further details worriedly as he escorted the two detectives to the record room sealed behind a locked door that only the leaders of the tower could access. "I mean, we are in constant close proximity to Markus."

"As long as you don't make any direct contact with Markus or any other possibly infected deviant, then you should be fine. I'd also recommend ceasing cybernetic communications amongst ourselves until we know for certain how this malware is being spread."

"Right, I'll go let the others know. In person." Unlocking the sealed door with the press of his exposed hand against the electronic panel, Josh left the two detectives alone to access the terminal secured within the depths of the archive for the sake of their investigation. The duo was entirely trusted by the leaders and didn't require any supervision whatsoever. "We'll be down on sublevel fifty-one monitoring Markus's condition if you'll need anything."

"Thanks, Josh." Connor's retracted the artificial skin on his own hand and hovered his exposed palm over the access port to the large terminal for a few seconds before he stepped back cautiously. "...Shit."

"What's wrong?" The hesitation in the deviant's response didn't go unnoticed by Hank. "You okay?"

"I don't want to risk exposing the others." The deviant detective's answer sounded sincerely upset as he avoided any direct contact with the terminal. "You have been granted clearance to the tower. You should open the terminal."

Hank wanted to call his partner a little paranoid, but he knew that Connor was just being cautious and righteously so. Instead, Hank just took the seat behind the alabaster white desk and pressed his palm down against the terminal's access panel to gain clearance. The security program of the tower quickly scanned over Hank's palm and fingerprints recognizing his authority and granting him full access to the archives.

'Access granted.' A feminine artificial voice sounded off from the terminal's screen. 'Welcome, Lieutenant Anderson.'

"Okay Connor, where do we start?" Hovering his hands over the keyboard Hank studied the numerous files on the terminal display screen at a total loss of where to begin. "We need to be quick."

"It'd be best to look back two weeks to begin our search. That should give us a wide enough window to locate the suspect, or suspects, without taking too much time."

"Right, okay." Isolating the files that fit the time frame Hank began the search for answers. "Did you get the records from the facilities?"

"Yes. I have the records uploaded into my memory." Connor walked over to a separate terminal next to the one Hank was using, a terminal used only as a back-up or for emergency purposes, and pressed his exposed palm against the access panel to upload the information. "This will allow us to compare the names quickly and efficiently. It will also prevent me from potentially transferring the malware if I have in fact been reinfected."

"All right, should we arrange the victims by android serial numbers instead of names? 'Raymond', 'Tony' and 'Lisa' are fairly common names and will slow us down."

"Agreed."

As Connor and Hank rearranged the lists accordingly to find the source of the malware a strange beeping sound began to fill the room and Connor felt an odd pressure in his head. Backing away from his terminal Connor traced the unusual sound to the Thirium pressure monitor wrapped around his bicep, and watched as the stable numbers on the small display began to drop lower and lower quickly. The intense pain returned to his head and a strange sense of lightheadedness began to swim over his consciousness. With that dreaded familiarity, Connor realized that his worst fear had been confirmed.

"H-Hank?"

"Yeah?" Hank turned around in the chair to look at the deviant standing behind him with an unsettling feeling in his stomach. The distinct sound of fear in Connor's voice told Hank that something was happening. The look of fear in Connor's soulful brown eyes matched his tone of voice perfectly. "What's wrong?"

"My Thirium pressure has suddenly dropped, but my self-diagnostic- It... It's..."

"Uh, kid?" Hank pointed to the deviant's face as he stood up from his seat warily. Standing before Connor with a paternal concern Hank put his right hand under Connor's chin as if needing to study his face. "You're bleeding."

"I'm-" Connor put his own hand to face and felt a smear of fresh Thirium under his nose and over his upper lip. Dark blue blood was dripping from his nose and oozing out of the corner of his mouth. The drips were increasing in speed and amount until it was a steady stream of blood pouring out of his face. "I'm... bleeding."

"What can I-"

Connor's legs suddenly began to shake until he fell to his hands and knees onto the floor. Coughing sounded off as a heavy gush of dark blue blood erupted from his mouth forming a sapphire puddle under his trembling body in a macabre splash. As he coughed and bled at an uncontrollable rate Connor could feel his heart beginning to race from pain, fear and mounting panic.

"H-Hank, I'm..." Everything happening to Connor's body pointed to a single cause. "I've b-been reinfected."

"Shit! Hang on, son!"

Hank fell to his knees beside the suddenly hemorrhaging deviant and put one hand to Connor's chest and the other hand between Connor's shoulders to try to support him as much as possible. The lost blood pooled around Hank's knees as it collected beneath Connor at an alarming speed causing his L.E.D. blink and flicker red rapidly.

"Shit... H-HEY!"

Shouting for assistance Hank just stayed at Connor's side and held the trembling deviant in his hands.

"I need some HELP in here!"

Connor began to retch violently as more and more Thirium poured from his mouth in a sickening torrent and drip from his nose. Thirium also began to drip from his ears and run down the side of his face alongside his stress induced tears as the malware caused him to hemorrhage in an absolutely ghastly manner.

"No one's around... They can't hear me."

Hank realized with heart wrenching terror. Noting the quickly dropping Thirium volume indicated on the monitor wrapped around Connor's bicep glowing beneath Connor's sleeves, Hank made his decision and could only hope it was the right one.

"Okay, Connor. Let's do this! Come on, I gotcha'..."

Pushing Connor upright until he was weakly balancing on his knees, Hank bent down and pulled Connor up and over his shoulders into a fireman's carry to get him out of the archives room and back to the elevator. Massive stains of blue blood drenched Hank's shoulders, his arms and all the way down the side of his dark coat as he carried Connor as quickly as he could out of the room. A nauseating trail of blue blood marked the detective's trail as he rushed Connor to the elevator only a few yards away, but the emergency repair floor was down an additional four floors.

"I got ya', son. You're going to be okay."

Practically smashing the call button for the elevator under his palm Hank stepped through the doors without waiting for the doors to open fully and selected sublevel fifty-one hastily.

"Hang on, Connor."

Hank encouraged as he felt the devastating amount of Thirium that Connor had lost soaking into his own clothing as the blue blood poured from the ailing deviant's mouth and nose. The amount of blood that Connor was losing was absolutely astonishing.

"I got you. I promise that I got you."

"Han-" Connor coughed again and he fought to speak through the blood gushing from his mouth. "...Hank?"

"It's going to be okay, son. Stay calm. I'm with you."

"H-Hank... The l-lists..."

"I know, I know. I'll handle it..."

Connor's frightened eyes finally slid shut from exhaustion and his body went limp over Hank's shoulders as low power mode kicked on. His L.E.D. cycled red slowly as he continued to lose Thirium at a potentially lethal pace.

The elevator reached the correct floor and Hank practically marched through the doors before they had the chance to open entirely. North, Abby, Lucas, Josh and Simon were all fighting to find a way to save Markus when Hank arrived with Connor unconscious and hemorrhaging over his shoulder. As soon as Hank set foot onto the floor he marched over to the nearest exam table to lay Connor down. Hank carefully laid Connor down over the length of the table and the blue blood almost instantly caught the attention of everyone else in the room.

"No..." Lucas was the first to notice the two detectives' arrival and was immediately at his older brother's side as Hank laid him down on the table on his back. "Not Conno, too."

"Shit!" North cursed loudly and pressed her palm to her mouth in fear and tightened her grip on Markus's limp hand as she continued to hover over her lover as he remained infected and helpless on his own exam table. "Connor."

Simon and Josh turned their heads at the sound of North's voice while Abby responded by rushing over to the table.

"Oh, shit." Pressing her fingertips to the side of Connor's neck Abby monitored his pulse closely. "Hank, what the hell happened?"

"He just started bleeding." Hank practically yelled as he dropped his blood drenched coat onto the floor with disgust behind him. "It hit him all at once." Placing his hands on Connor's shoulders Hank just locked eyes with Abby and admitted defeat. "I don't know what the fuck caused it..."

Connor was laying on a table that was just a few feet from where Markus was lying unconscious and shirtless with North holding his hand. Despite the commotion the deviant leader remained unconscious and unresponsive to the hectic world spinning around him.

With her laptop connected to Markus's right temple via a long black diagnostic cable, Abby resumed hovering over Markus curiously while Simon and Josh were keeping their eyes on the displays of the monitors keeping track of Markus's vital signs. The sound of the worried voices around her kept Abby grounded as she fought to find a way to remove the malware before it was too late.

"Well figure this out." Abby declared rather boldly as she returned her attention to Markus and checked his vitals again. "We won't lose either of them."

Blue blood began to pour over the edge of the table and onto the floor in dark puddles as Connor hemorrhaged heavily from his nose, mouth, ears and even his eyes. Putting his hands on either sides of Connor's head, Hank gently turned the deviant's head to the side to keep the blood from collecting in the back of his throat and prevented the deviant from drowning in his own blood. A massive stream of Thirium oozed from the corners of his mouth and onto the floor in a macabre and sapphire tide that stained everything a cerulean hue.

"Can you help him, Lucas?" The senior detective sounded almost desperate as he watched the deviant technician now checking over Connor's vital signs. The fact that Lucas had saved Connor's life in the past gave Hank hope that Lucas would be able to save him once again. "I know you won't let him go without a fight, but... It looks bad."

"Connor? Can you hear us?" Lucas carefully slipped Connor's arms out of his now blue stained blazer and then opened up Connor's equally stained white dress shirt to do the same to the second pair of sleeves to fully expose the deviant's arms. Lucas then pressed his fingertips down against the inside of Connor's wrist to monitor his pulse alongside Abby as she returned to the table, and he slowly shook his head. "Thready and rapid pulse. He's going into insipid shock."

"We need to keep shock from setting in." Thinking quickly Abby pointed to the Thirium bypass machine and waved it over. "He's bleeding too heavily to replace anything at the moment, so by putting him on external bypass we can keep Thirium cycling through his biocomponents until we figure out why the fuck he's bleeding like this."

Without questioning the human technician's judgement, Simon wheeled the Thirium bypass machine over to Connor and proceeded to manually deactivate the bleeding deviant's artificial skin to gain access to the panel in his right and left forearms while Lucas set up the machine for use.

"We should start the same procedure for Markus just in case he starts bleeding, too." Simon suggested as he kept his voice entirely calm and level. "If we need to keep shock from setting in, then we should act now."

"You're right." Abby agreed as she repositioned her laptop so she could connect a second cable to the side of her little computer and the opposite end of the same cable to Connor's red tinted L.E.D. to monitor his system right alongside Markus's system. "We can't take any risks here."

Lucas inserted one line from the bypass machine into each of Connor's arms to circulate the Thirium in a matter of seconds. Replenishing the lost Thirium with the same machine to ensure every drop of blue blood was cycled properly and was returned to Connor's depleted body was crucial. It was a gruesome sight to see all that blood that was still in Connor's body being cycled externally through lines, but it was more pleasant than seeing the blood pouring out of his face or from a lethal wound.

"North?" Josh retrieved the second Thirium bypass machine from against the far wall and wheeled it over next to Markus to begin the exact same treatment. "Help me out with this."

Reacting quickly North stepped up and aided Josh in getting Markus attached to the second external bypass machine to keep him from bleeding to death in the event of catastrophic hemorrhaging. The only thing the deviants could seem to do was fight to keep as much Thirium inside their infected allies' bodies and hope a cure for the malware would be found soon.

Connor was still bleeding and was now beginning to cough weakly in response. It was going to become increasingly difficult to breathe as the Thirium filled Connor's mouth, nose and flowed back down his throat.

"Damn it." Hank pointed to the Thirium pressure monitor on the deviant's arm and noted the low volume pressure on display. "Lucas, Abby? He's down to fifty-four percent."

"Once he's on bypass we can feed Thirium into his body as quickly as he loses it." Abby's reply was heavy but at least she was calm as she checked the cable connected to the bleeding deviant's L.E.D. and looked at Connor's vital signs and his programming codes on her laptop. "Damn it. Same malware as before."

"And I know where he got it." Hank replied flatly as he stayed beside the table to ensure that Connor wasn't alone. Even though Connor appeared unconscious Hank was sure he could still hear him talking. "One of the receptionist androids at the precinct. She's already dead. She bled out this morning."

"Shit." Wiping her hand over her mouth Abby studied the coding on her laptop with keen eyes. "It looks like both Connor and Markus have been infected with the same malware virus. Connor's advanced programming should've been able to recognize and block the malware before it had the chance to reinfect him, which means the malware either evolved or there's another glitch in Connor's system."

Lucas gave Hank a wary glance before speaking up to confirm Abby's theory. "Connor's a prototype model. His system can't adapt and recalibrate as easily as a finished commercial design."

"So is Markus." Abby straightened up and looked over at Markus with weary eyes. "That has to be the key to figuring this out."

North's hand tightened around Markus's hand as Josh finished setting up the bypass in his forearms. "What does that mean?"

"It means," Abby replied somberly as she studied the dozens of lines of code on her laptop screen. "if these two come into contact with any malware, their systems can't recognize it and eliminate it on their own. It's like a human with a severe allergy going into anaphylactic shock after being exposed to an specific allergen. They'd need medical assistance to recover from that reaction, and these two will always require technical assistance to remove any malware. They can't adapt and they'll always be vulnerable to these kinds of infections."

Hank's brow furrowed slightly at Abby's explanation as a theory of his own popped into his head. "Hold up. Connor and Markus are indefinitely at risk of malware infections because they're both prototypes, right?"

"Right."

"And... they're both 'RK' models, right?"

"Yes." Abby nodded a little at the question to confirm his question. "Right."

"I don't believe in coincidence. These two are important figureheads to New Jericho, and I think they were BOTH targeted by this malware by a single person."

North looked down at Markus's blank face with mounting concern in her bright brown eyes as she considered Hank's words. "Someone is trying to take down Jericho from the inside with this damn malware."

"And they're doing it before Markus has the chance to speak to the Senate. This was planned." Putting his hand on Lucas's shoulder Hank tried to give the deviant technician a little reassurance. "I need to find whoever is responsible for this bullshit as soon as I can. Stay with Connor for me, kid. I trust you."

"Y-Yes, of course." Lucas was visibly frightened for Connor's life but he was trying to put on a brave face for the sake of his family. Moving to where Hank had been standing Lucas kept his hands on either side of Connor's head to keep the bleeding deviant stable and from choking on Thirium that was still dripping from his mouth and nose. "I won't leave him."

"Abby," Hank spoke to the highly intelligent woman like she were a member of the precinct rather than a technician. "run that code and remove it. If you can break it down go ahead and report to me directly. I'll send it to the precinct technician so he can analyze it."

"Where are you going?" Abby asked as the senior detective stepped away from the exam table with a purposeful gait. "We still need help here."

"I'm going back up to the archives to check over our two lists and find the connection. We know how to locate the suspect but it'll still take time, and these two don't have much of that left."

"I'll help you." Simon rushed after Hank and joined him in the elevator just before the doors closed. "I can scan over two lists faster than a human can."

"I just hope you're fast enough."

"Yeah." Sighing as he nervously wrung his hands together Simon stood beside Hank in the elevator as Hank put in the correct floor on the panel. "So do I."

Giving his full attention to his older brother and his friend, Lucas ran a scan over Connor's body, and then did the same for Markus. The two prototype deviants were weak from their compromised systems but fortunately they were still online.

"Josh," Lucas kept his voice from breaking while he made his assessment. "give Connor two pints of Thirium and keep two pints on standby for Markus. Markus is stable and I want to keep him that way."

"Yeah, no problem."

Abby began typing away frantically on her laptop in an attempt to remove the malware from the two infected deviants' systems, but the altered destructive malware program was proving to be more of a challenge than before. The skilled technician let out a deep sigh of her own as she continued to work meticulously to save her two patients before any permanent damage could irreparably alter their systems.

"Abby?" Lucas noted the human's physical distress and addressed it accordingly. "Is something wrong?"

"This is taking more time than it should." She admitted with a very faint sense of defeat in her voice and even her eyes. Despite all her skills and experience Abby knew when to admit when she was faced with a challenge that she wasn't entirely sure how to overcome. "And I don't like it."

"But you can still remove the malware, correct?"

"Yeah, I can get it out of their systems, but it's more invasive than it had been before." As she continued to type Abby realized how complicated the malware truly was in its overall programming. "I have to adjust my own program in order to fully remove all of the malware in one go."

North was still watching over Markus with her hand wrapped around his when she noticed a faint smear of blue blood beginning to drip from Markus's nose. "Oh, shit... L-Lucas?"

Lucas looked up from Connor and over toward North. Following North's gaze, he too noted the Thirium bleeding from Markus's nose and reacted quickly.

"Turn his head to the side." He ushered coolly as he remained in control of his newly developed emotions. As the lead technician Lucas knew it was important to remain calm and to never panic. "He's going to start losing Thirium rapidly, but he's already on bypass and it'll help. It's going to look bad, but it won't kill him. He'll remain stable."

North followed Lucas's instructions and gently turned Markus's head to the side and watched in horror as sure enough he began coughing up torrents of blue blood all over the floor and all around the table.

"Shit!" Stepping back for just a moment North tried to keep out of the lost Thirium as it poured onto the floor. "Where the fuck is all the blood coming from?"

"It's the malware." Abby kept her focus on her laptop screen as she answered. "It's been altered to affect not only the self-healing and self-diagnostic programs, but now it's forcing their emergency expulsion protocol into activity and disabling the normal shut off response afterward."

Lucas gave Josh an unsteady glance as the two deviants realized the full gravity of the situation. Using his hand Lucas gently wiped away a smear of Thirium from the left side of Connor's face.

"We should-" The emergency phone that Lucas kept in his lab coat pocket began to ring and Lucas had a good idea of who was calling him. "Must be Hank." Lucas excitedly stated as he pulled the phone from his pocket and noted the caller I.D. confirming his suspicion. Answering the call Lucas put the phone on speaker mode and spoke loudly. "Hank, did you find the suspect?"

'Yeah, we have a match.' The senior detective sounded proud of himself in light of the very grim situation. 'The man's name is Edward Nashton. A former CyberLife technician who lost his job after CyberLife went bankrupt during the revolution.'

"Wait," North was confused by the information that Hank had uncovered. "this Nashton is a human, so how did he get inside New Jericho Tower without anyone noticing?"

Simon's voice came over the line in response to the very intriguing question.

'As a former technician in the tower, Nashton would've had full security clearance and the knowledge to sneak back into the tower without raising any alarms.'

Josh looked toward the ceiling overhead and crossed his arms over his chest as if annoyed.

"We need to eradicate and reinstate everyone's clearance codes when this is all over." Truly a pacifist, Josh sought a way to protect his people without saying or doing anything accusatory in the process. "No one will enter this tower unless we personally know them."

Hank continued speaking from the other end of the line as everyone took in the new information.

'Nashton began working at the Omega Android Emergency Care Facility along with our first victim, Raymond. He had snuck in here using the very name of 'Raymond' as his alias and had gained access to the personal records of every deviant registered in New Jericho Tower. From there he was able to transfer the virus to the real Raymond and began this whole fuckin' mess.'

Lucas shook his head bitterly at the damning details. "Do you know where Nashton is currently located?"

'Yeah,' Hank confirmed with an angered tone. 'the best part is this Nashton-prick is so damn arrogant that he gave us his REAL name when HE called in for the wellness check on Raymond to begin with. I already told the precinct to get his ass in lock-up so he can be wrung out to dry.'

"Hank," Abby interjected quickly as she discovered a new way to save the two sick deviants. "we need the computer that Nashton used to create and transfer the malware. Someone needs to bring it here for us right now."

'We're on it.' The senior detective boldly stated just before he hung up the phone and let the line go quiet. 'Just hold tight!'

Lucas listened to the tone of the disconnected line for only a few seconds before he ended the call as well and slipped the phone back into his pocket.

"Hank's going to save both of you Connor, Markus." The deviant technician stated in a somber tone as he looked down at his older brother and then over to the deviant leader. "You just need to hold on a little while longer..."

North and Josh had overheard Lucas's words from where they stood. It was a very curiously specific line of dialogue that reminded them both of the Demonstration and the night of the Revolution and were a little surprised to hear Lucas utter those words as he hadn't been activated during the Revolution itself.

"I think I got something..." Abby stated timidly as she continued to type away on her laptop and read over the code on her screen. "I can't remove the malware just yet, but I think I can disable it."

"Do it." Lucas insisted as he watched the blue blood pooling on the floor beside the two exam tables where Connor and Markus were resting. Even with the bypass machines keeping the two deviants from bleeding to death the two deviants were critically weak and slowly destabilizing. "Even if it's just a stall, we'll take it."

Nodding her head Abby prepared to disable the malware program that had infected the two deviants with a few choice keystrokes.

"Okay... I'm not sure how they'll respond to this, so be prepared for anything."

As Abby issued the command to the laptop to turn off the malware both Connor and Markus violently jerked physically on their tables then immediately relaxed.

"Connor?" Lucas wiped away more blood from Connor's face, then removed additional blood along his nose, lips and chin. Gently Lucas lowered Connor's jaw and saw that there was no additional Thirium collecting in his mouth or the back of his throat. "Looks like the bleeding has stopped."

"Same over here." North performed the same check on Markus and noted the same lack of bleeding. Using her thumb North wiped away the residual trail of blue blood that had begun running from the corner of Markus's mouth with a gentle motion. "No more blood."

Josh let out a deep sigh of relief at the good news and let his arms hang limp at his sides. "At least there's that. Should we begin replacing the Thirium that they lost?"

Lucas and Abby replied in a positive chorus. "Yes."

Without any hesitation North and Josh proceeded to attach the replacement Thirium pouches to the bypass machines and eagerly watched as the blue blood began cycling through the downed deviants' systems and add to the volume already inside their bodies. It didn't take long for the depleted Thirium volumes to rise at a steady clip to a more stable level and in response both Connor and Markus's vital signs began to strengthen on Abby's laptop screen.

"Everything looks good." Abby announced as she looked at her two patients' vitals displayed on her laptop screen. "Once Hank and Simon return with-"

The elevator doors opened, and Simon stepped onto the floor holding Nashton's confiscated laptop in his arms. "We got it!"

"That was fast." Abby observed as Simon and Hank crossed the floor together with the confiscated laptop. "How in the hell did you get it?"

"I'm a detective." Hank reminded the technician as he stood beside Connor anxiously. Giving Lucas's shoulder a quick pat Hank let the deviant technician know he had done good. "I can drive fast, and I have connections. Fortunately, that Nashton asshole lives only a few blocks away. Cocky prick didn't even try to hide when the cops kicked down his door."

"This is the malware program he created." Simon opened up Nashton's laptop and set it beside Abby's laptop. "I think I can decipher the coding."

"Excellent." Grateful for the positive turn of events Abby let Simon take the lead for a moment. "Find a way to isolate it from their programming and I can finally get the shit out of their systems."

Hank crossed his arms over his chest as he patiently waited for some kind of response from Connor. "How's he doing, Lucas?"

"The bleeding stopped." Able to give Hank some good news Lucas checked on the lines feeding Thirium back into Connor's system for any sign of leaks or blockages as the blood was externally cycled via bypass. "Abby disabled the malware but it still needs to be removed."

"That's good. How about you?"

"Huh?"

"How're you doing? You gotta' be stressed out."

"I'm..." Pausing for just a moment Lucas replied to Hank's sincere question with his own sincere answer. "I'm worried."

"That's normal. He'll be okay, though." The kindhearted senior detective tried to reassure the younger deviant just as he would with Connor. "I've known Connor for some time now, and I've learned a lot from him. And one of the things I learned is that he's too damn stubborn to just roll over and die because of something stupid in his programming."

"I hope you're right."

"There!" Simon hastily finished his task on the laptop and took a step back. "That should do it."

"Okay," Abby agreed as she checked over his work. "let's do this." She looked over at Markus and then to Connor as she pressed 'Enter' on her keyboard. "This should work..."

The red L.E.D. in Connor's temple began flashing from red to yellow rapidly before it cycled back to red at a slower pace. Within a few seconds the color transitioned into a yellow pulse and Connor's soulful brown eyes began to steadily open. From the exam table across the room, Markus had a similar reaction as his mismatched eyes fluttered and he began to return to the land of the living without any memory of being infected.

North put her hand against Markus's cheek and gently turned his head as his glassy blue and green colored irises opened slowly. "Hey."

"...Hey." Weakly Markus lifted his head up from the table as he swallowed once. The lingering taste of the Thirium in his mouth was a little alarming, but he didn't have the energy to panic. "...Wh-What happened?"

"You and Connor were infected with that damn malware." Not sugarcoating anything North told Markus what he missed out on while unconscious. "But you're both going to be okay, it was removed from your system."

"...Connor?" Markus's brow furrowed inquisitively at the name as he slowly processed what North told him. "Is Connor okay?"

"Yes, he's okay. You're BOTH going to be okay." North motioned in Connor's direction with a nod of her head causing Markus to turn to look for himself. "He's just resting. He lost a lot more blood than you did. We're replenishing it now, so you should rest, too."

Connor's hazy soulful brown eyes began to clear, and his vision focused on Hank and Lucas standing over him as he too regained consciousness. Unsure of what to do or even say Connor just said the first thing that came to his mind.

"...Hi."

"Hi." Hank patted Connor's shoulder firmly as he gave him a relieved grin. "I knew you'd be back."

"Did you..." Connor swallowed once and grimaced at the strong taste of blue blood that stained the inside of his mouth. "Did you find the suspect?"

"Yup. The sadistic fucker is already at the precinct. I figured I'd let Gavin interrogate him since he was a CyberLife goon. Sometimes having a hothead on the force can come in handy."

Blinking slowly Connor's brow furrowed a little as he contemplated what Hank had said. "...CyberLife?"

"Yeah. Turns out the suspect was pretty pissed off about losing his job after CyberLife went under."

Connor tried to sit up on the table but both Hank and Lucas wouldn't let him as they put their hands to the weak deviant's shoulders to hold him back.

"Rest." Lucas urged kindly from where he stood beside the table. "You'll be able to move around in two hours, forty-nine minutes and thirteen seconds."

Abby closed her laptop and proceeded to remove the cable from Markus's temple with a gentle 'click' as she packed up her emergency satchel.

"Glad to see you're finally awake." She stated sweetly as she spoke to the deviant leader at last. "Your people still need their leader you know."

"You're the one who saved me." Markus realized with a faint but appreciative smile on his face. It didn't take him long to register Abby as a technician and now a friend to all deviants all over the city. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Genuinely happy to see Markus awake at last Abby flashed him a relieved grin. "You're going to speak to the Senate about android rights in a few days, right?"

Noting the date and his upcoming agenda Markus confirmed her question. "Right."

"Could you slip in a clause about technicians needing to pass a criminal background check before they can work in any facility? We keep getting short-tempered muscle-heads who practically break all my patients in half at the facilities, and then try to act like it's not a big deal to pull someone's arm literally out of the socket all because of a little 'misunderstanding'."

"Of course." Happy to do something to protect his people while at their most vulnerable Markus quickly accepted the request. "Consider it done."

"Thanks." Winding up the black cable Abby crossed the room to do the same for Connor as she had for Markus. Giving Connor a playfully scolding tone Abby proceeded to give her 'star patient' a kind smile. "We really need to stop meeting like this."

"I agree." Connor breathed deeply as Abby gently removed the cable from his L.E.D. with a simple motion. "But I appreciate your company all the same, Abby."

"Seeing as you were able to return to work this morning after being infected with the malware last night, I know if I tell you to get some rest that you'll just ignore me. So, instead I'll just wish you the best of luck and hope you have a speedy recovery."

"Thanks." Not even trying to offer a counter to such an observation Connor just showed the helpful technician his true gratitude. "I'll do my best."

"Hank. Lucas." Abby smiled again as she packed up her laptop and the two cables into her satchel to take her leave. "I'm going to get back to my facility and treat as many of the other infected deviants as possible before it's too late. Let me know if you need anything more from me."

"Thanks for all your help, Abby. Again." Hank called out as the skilled technician returned to the elevator across the floor with her head held high. Looking down at Connor who was now running a self-diagnostic on his systems, Hank gave the deviant an amused glance. "Maybe she should just work out of the precinct from now on. Joel might like the company and it'll make it easier to keep you in one piece."

Connor looked up at Hank and flashed a somewhat annoyed look as he carefully propped himself upright on his elbows to test his strength and energy without exerting himself in the process. "...Funny."

Happy to see his older brother alive and awake Lucas chimed in on the good humor. "Of course, you could always visit me more often and I'll keep you in shape instead." That suggestion seemed far more favorable and less smothering. "That might be easier."

"Why not?" Connor grinned proudly at the idea of having so many people in his life genuinely caring about him. "We're brothers after all."

"No," picking his dirty coat up from the floor Hank sighed and gently pushed Connor back down to lay over the table. "you're both a couple of pains in the ass."

"That's not our intention, I assure you."

"Yeah, I'll take your word for it." Draping the coat over his shoulder Hank sighed and fished his phone from his jean pocket. "I'm going to call Fowler, ask him to let Gavin tear our suspect apart, and then I'm taking you back home to get some sleep. We're both exhausted and we don't get paid enough to keep working after one of us nearly bleeds to death on the job."

"As of the moment I'm inclined to agree." Folding his hands neatly together and over his chest Connor took in a deep breath and looked over at Markus as the deviant leader held onto North's hand in a comforting grip. The way Josh and Simon looked emotionally exhausted, and the way Lucas was being very protective of him as of the moment, Connor knew Hank was entirely right. "We've all been through enough as of late. The deviants are safe, and our suspect has been arrested. It's time for us to get some rest."

"Glad to hear you say that, son." Hank grimaced at his Thirium stained coat and then sighed tiredly. "I really am."

-next chapter-