They were getting closer, but still a long distance away. Connor tried to keep Echo as satiated as he could so he could use him later. He expected a quite trip with Hank, but it didn't turn out to be so.

"So, robot history is kind of fascinating," Hank said to Connor. "Did you know that in 2018 in Japan, they made this little robot kid-head thing called Affeto? They made it feel pain."

Hm. Hank was taking an interest in the history of science? "Yes, of course."

"Hard to believe."

"Not really, humans like to toy with new inventions to see what they can do. For that, they wanted something to feel pain to understand elderly humans." Not effective for androids though, pain would only slow them down.

"Did you know that there was this tongue somewhere too? It was a robot tongue, and it tasted better than humans. They used it for making better baking products."

"Yes, Hank." That was simple.

"Do you feel cold, Connor?"

Temperature. "Yes. It's 62.5 degrees, with a slight chance of rain showers later."

"Yeah, but can you really feel it? Or, is it just registering data to you about the temperature outside?" Hank asked.

"You are becoming fascinated with android ability," Connor pointed out. Hank was asking some interesting questions. "No. Alice can, but it can be turned off. It's just a feature."

"Ever wonder about 'features', Connor? Like why Cyberlife made this android do this, but not do that kind of thing?"

"I assume it's for their different jobs. For instance, I had no dancing ability, but a robot who needs to teach dancing, would have that ability."

"You got it though."

"True, that example may be too simple for you." Let's see. His superior hacking made things too easy that way. He could use something else they just discussed. "Like, temperature, as we previously discussed. Alice can feel temperatures only because they want her to mimic a human child much more closely. For me, I have no need to be hot or cold to make a designated human 'parent' feel closer to me."

"Guess." Hank still seemed to be in wonder. "It's about 6:00. Better call Kamski and Ken."

Ugh.

"Didn't know androids could roll their eyes," Hank teased Connor. "We have to let him and Kamski know."

"We need to let Kamski know. Ken doesn't need to know, he is not the proper current owner." Why did Hank have to give so much to Ken all the time?

"You know what?" Hank handed him his phone. "You call both of them."

What? "Why do I have to call Ken too?"

"Because it's an order."

"Well, it's a lousy order," Connor grunted. "Your orders have been getting out of control, Lieutenant."

"Don't comment, just do it," Hank complained.

Connor called up Kamski. "Sir. Your android AX 400, Kara, has been located in Cherokee Seneca, Kentucky. Lieutenant Hank Anderson and I are on our way to get her. Thank you for your time, Sir. Goodbye." He called up Ken. "Kara has been found in Kentucky. I'm getting her. Goodbye." There, orders were done.

—

Elijah's home

Elijah hadn't even started the day yet, but he was having his coffee prepared already. Now that Connor said Kentucky, he knew who took the tenth body. He knew it wouldn't be long before-

Yep. His telephone was already ringing. "Ken, good to hear from you."

"That fucker took her!"

"Yes, I suppose he did."

"She's going to be in that hell all over again, and no one will be able to help her. Peppers was always around androids, if they knew who she was, they'd help. She needs help, Kamski."

"Yes, I know. Leave it to Connor."

"This is your fault! You should have never let him near those bodies. Why did you let him near those bodies?"

Oh boy, this wasn't going to sound good on the phone. "Ken, I never allowed him near them. Considering you worked at Eden's Club-"

"Are you saying this is my fault?"

Absolutely. "Did you leave any plans out for him to see at any point?" Yep, that sound. "We all become a little too docile, a little too used to things. Take things for granted when we become the ones in charge."

"Oh no. Kara is there because of my carelessness."

"That and breaking and entering obviously." Probably not by Ed Peppers, hired help most likely. Ed did live down there though.

"Fuck it, activate it all."

Hm? "Activate what?"

"The blockers! Wake them all up, so someone can snap out of it and save Kara!"

Oh boy. No matter how many times Kamski explained this? "The virus I gave Kara, wasn't even perfected, but it is a thousand times less harmful than just putting blockers on." Yes, everyone would become deviant. They would also go crazy. Even those that were deviant would have to get used to what they were going through. "Connor is on his way to get her."

"If he doesn't get her, open the blockers."

Simpleton! "Ken, I designed an android to try and open them up to free will without needing to unblock anything. That way, when their society was ready for it, they would know it was coming and accept it easier. Even that did not work, I had to modify it even more."

"I don't care."

"Unblocking everyone would undo our efforts even more than the revolution had caused."

"I want Kara back."

"Connor is on his way to get her with his Lieutenant." Ken really needed to stop this. He would not unblock the blockers.

"I knew you'd say that. You believe in your little prototype androids to do the heavy work. You wanted Kara to show off her stupid installs she hated. You exposed all of her private, shameful, memories for all of the world to see!"

Oh no, Kamski was certain Connor didn't give him the worst ones. "The plan was for the world to see her with unbiased eyes. It worked, the world is turning around again. She did the impossible."

"And now she has to pay for it, while she is stuck where she hates the most! She does. She's talked about it. While androids though RA9 was some form of heaven or religion, she said she found the opposite. She found hell. Ed is hell for her, I can't let her stay one minute with that brute!"

"The thing I always did love about machines is that they could see their purpose, their own goals. Crystal clear. Jealousy and rage couldn't mess up their duties." Ken was unreachable. "Connor will be there soon."

"It's five and a half hours away."

"I don't know how far they are in their trip, they wouldn't have called if it were too early. Even 6:00 was rather abrupt for calling," Kamski informed him. "Especially since it didn't have all the facts, it was the briefest of calls, and it seemed like Connor didn't enjoy having to use the primitive little phone."

"I just have to wait five and a half hours for Kara to be found safe and sound?"

"Yes. Waiting and patience are a part of life."

"Pull the damn trigger, Elijah!"

"No, Ken."

"I know the password. I'm trying to be nice? Just, do it."

Elijah sighed. Ken. Ken, Ken, Ken.

Ah, Ken. Once such a normal person. A regular man, performing an everyday activity of a diagnostic tester. Those weren't needed anymore, but at the time, it was a decent job. Not the greatest, but it paid for his rent and his food.

Once Kara came into his life, Ken had changed. He went from this carefree man to an obsessive fool that could only concentrate on getting to her. His goals and ambitions changed, his personality had to change to survive a place like Eden's Club knowing so many truths.

People change. Ken changed. Ken's stress about everything, about Kara, was making Kamski a little more anxious.

Ken was involved with everything. Ken left papers out like an idiot about everything.

Ken never would be that stupid. "Just within the confines of Detroit. It will spread outward, slowly, but it won't travel farther than Cherokee Seneca."

"Why so little?"

Because you've already been a weasel! I have to change everything, he's used me to his advantage. Meanwhile, he couldn't let him know that he knew. A small portion. Most androids in Detroit were already deviant. There would be some chaos, but . . . get it done, get Ken into a believable zone, and then change everything.

Change everything again. Just like he had to do back in 2027.

—

Hank's Car: Three-hour mark.

Okay, Echo had been walked, taken care of, licked him, licked Hank, licked the ground, urinated on the grass, urinated on a sign near the grass, urinated on the road, and was comfy back in the car. "Good job, Echo, now let's concentrate." It was time to see how Kara had faired.

—

Kara's Dreamscape.

Connor looked around. He found her.

Sitting.

On a boat with Wallet in her lap, petting him?

That was bad, she couldn't be in two places at once. If she was doing that? Connor moved over to her almost as fast as Echo did. "Kara?"

Kara was in the boat. Not happy. "I tried. I'm not fast," she said.

"Nonsense." Connor sat in the boat. "You have limitless energy, you can run for a long time. Where are you?"

"In a boat, surrounded by water. It's nicer here," she admitted. "I made it to Langdon Place."

"That's not nearly far enough for running three hours."

"I couldn't run that long. I don't know how to explain it," Kara said. "Just, I was in Langdon Place. An android pretended to be deviant. I trusted it. It's holding me hostage."

Oh no! "I promise, give me your exact location, I will reach you and terminate it!"

"No, Connor. It's not deviant," Kara told him. "It just pretended to be. It was programmed to be."

Connor's superior menu showed up.

-Terminate it

-Need your location

-Are you okay?

Only three options? "I will terminate it."

"Connor, it's not right. It's the programming in it," Kara warned him.

"I can terminate another machine. It's a machine. Deviant or machine, its holding you hostage, so I will get rid of it."

She looked exasperated. "I don't have the strength to argue."

"I need your location," Connor asked. "Your exact location. Your software messed up since your a misfit, so you need to tell me what you know. Are you still in Langdon Place? On a street or a block I can locate?"

No. She didn't have an ounce of relief in her face. "Are you okay, Kara?"

"I made it to Langdon Place," Kara said again, "but then I was caught. Connor. I'm on a plane. I don't know where I'm going to, and if it's the same person who held me before? I never even knew the name Eden Club until Ken told me the name. I don't know." She shook her head, and started to get upset. "I'm sorry, I don't know."

Connor didn't know what to say. He just watched Kara for a little while. She looked miserable, almost as bad as when she wore a dead smile. He watched his menu come up again.

-Stay with her

-Comfort her

-Stay with her

None of that sounded superior at all. "I will try to stay for a little while. Maybe when you land, you'll see something. Look around you and see if there's anything-"

She was already shaking her head. "It's just me, on a plane."

Echo barked.

Wallet meowed.

Connor didn't know what to say. When he selected 'comfort her', nothing came. "I'd like to comfort you. I don't know how."

"I don't think I can be right now," Kara admitted, "but it's nice to hear you want to. I don't think I'm getting out, Connor. Please, figure out something for Alice, don't let her be deactivated."

Damn. Come up with something!

-Stay with her

-Comfort her

-Stay with her

"This menu is screwed up, it is not superior in any way!" Connor yelled. "Stay? Comfort? Nothing else?" He stood up. "There must be something else."

"Connor?" Kara stood up too. "It's okay."

"No, it's not. I don't fail missions, and my mission is to get you. Now, there is something else besides my 'inferior' menu." No wonder the RK 900 didn't have it, it was junk.

"It's not inferior, it's a menu that lets you think in another way," Kara tried to explain. "Sometimes it's better, and sometimes it's not."

"Well this time, it's not." Connor hit the water, but he couldn't hit the water. Another reminder, he was not there. "I'll be back."

—-

Car

"Hank," Connor said. "Kara can't share her location. Our investigation is not going well. I?" Connor didn't know what else to say.

"Oh, Man." Hank got the drift. "Yeah, I hear ya." Hank stopped.

"Permission to stay with her a little longer?" Connor asked him.

"Yeah, Connor. Give her some company through her hell. I'll update the owners, whoah!" Echo was starting to go crazy. "Echo, down boy!" Hank ordered him. Well, that wouldn't work on a misfit dog. "Connor, what's going on?"

Echo barked at Connor using his echo location as Hank stopped the car.

"Yes, I know for a fact that I am here, and you are there," Connor said in frustration.

"Hey, whoah!" Hank watched as Echo jumped out the window. "Damn. Good thing we were stopped."

Connor got out of the car and watched Echo start to run back down the road behind them. "Okay." Processing as high as he could. Echo was exited, Echo tracked Wallet inside Kara, Echo was a dog, and they were made to track like real dogs? Maybe being connected to Wallet's memory, actually helped him find him . . . in his form in Kara? "Android pets are so different." Could it be? "Hank! Echo doesn't track bodies, he tracks memory!"

"Yeah, you already knew that, it's how he found Kara," Hank said. "So what's the big deal?"

"He's got inner GPS focused on a database, not body! He's like a . . ." How to explain to a human? "Wallet has been a phone ringing him, while he's been trying to answer." The simplest he could come up for, for a human like Hank. "Hank, turn around, and follow Echo!"

Connor got back in. Hank made a U turn and started to catch up with Echo.

"You think your dog can find Kara?" Hank asked.

Echo started to bark again.

"Are you sure I'm not going to run him over if I stick to this fast?" Hank asked. "Plus, there's traffic, Connor, this isn't safe for Echo."

"Echo wants to find Wallet, but he's not blind. He'll-" While Connor talked, Echo leaped over the back of a car in front of them. There was some foul language from the car. "Get around that car, Hank."

Hank tried to stay up with Echo, especially after Connor explained it might be the only way to trace her.

After awhile, Echo stopped. He barked above them.

Connor got out of the car and looked up. A plane was overhead. Connor was using his highest processes to trace which plane that was, and where it was going to- "Detroit Metro Airport, Hank. Call me up I got the info they need! Echo!" Connor called him back to get him back in the car. "Come on, Good Boy!" He patted his head and back side. "Who's a good android? Who's a good android?"

"I see two good boys," Hank teased him. "Back in the car, Boys. No one can hide Kara from us now."

"Good boy." Connor had him get in and petted him one more time while Hank started to follow and made some calls.

—

Kara's Dreamscape

"Kara!" Connor was right there on her boat. "Echo found your plane. You are heading to Detroit Metro Airport. You'll be detained there until we come get you."

Stunned. "How?"

"Echo sensed Wallet's memory, not his body. It let him do more than come to your space. He can feel Wallet trapped in your new body."

"Connor. Thank you." She started to get emotional. "Thank you so much."

"I will see you in almost three hours," he told her. "Enjoy your space." He looked out. "Enjoy the water and the boat. Are you interested in human history by chance?"

"Human history?" Kara smiled. "Yeah."

"When we get to you, we'll go back to the police department. Alice will feel better seeing you, keeping her from going deviant," Connor said. "Would you like to see some physical representation of human history with me?"

Kara seemed confused. "What do you mean?"

"I would like to get permission for you to come see the Detroit Historical Museum with me."

Kara smiled. Not that dead smile, a genuine smile. That misfit smile only she seemed to manage to give. "If you can manage that, I'd like that Connor."

"Great. Yes. Good. I have to get back, Echo is very restless after all that running down the highway," Connor said. "I will see you at the airport."

Kara nodded. "Say hi to Hank for me."

—

Hank's Car

"Kara says hello to you. She is ready to come back," Connor told him. "Hank, I would like to get permission to visit the Detroit Historical Museum."

"You don't need permission to do that, you just walk up and go," Hank told him.

"No, I want permission to take Kara to visit the Detroit Historical Museum." Connor watched Hank. "I know it could take some time, and maybe extra guards would have to come along, but it would be good for her system to unwind and process something differently." Hank just continued to give him a strange look. "What?"

"You taking the tike along, or am I playing babysitter?" Hank asked, almost like a tease.

"Oh." Right, Alice. "I don't know if she would enjoy the museum in the same way. Her processes are different than a regular androids."

"Yeah, uh huh." Hank sounded like he didn't believe that?

"Is something wrong, Hank?" Connor asked.

"Nah, nah." Hank smiled, and chuckled too?

Strange. What was so funny about Connor getting permission to go with Kara to see the Detroit Historical Museum?