Ever astute and dedicated to his unusual case, Connor stood in the middle of the dimly lit white basement with his scanner actively counting the numerous bodies of the various deviants who had been shut down and disturbingly had their vital biocomponents forcibly removed from their bodies. Hank stood beside the deviant detective with his arms crossed defensively over his still healing chest as he looked at the horrific blank faces of the dead androids laying on the ground and slumped against the walls all around them. Some of the androids looked as though they had died mid scream leaving their mouths and eyes wide open with abject horror forever frozen on their terrified faces, while others simply looked as if they had given up long before they had shut down. Such faces were doomed to haunt both Connor and Hank's dreams for the remainder of their own lives.
At the far side of the dreary room two large metal tables with strong metal restraints at the heads, the centers and the bottoms of the tables were design to hold whoever had the misfortune of being captured and restrained. Massive puddles of Thirium that had long since evaporated were still completely visible to Connor's superior vision, while still fresher puddles created sapphire stains all up the walls, sections of the floor and even over parts the ceiling over the table. Random scraps of stolen biocomponents and stripped plastimetal frames littered the ground and lined the metal shelves that wrapped around the walls like a gruesome border of deranged artwork.
Crouching down near one of the larger puddles of still damp Thirium under the tables, Connor dipped his index and middle fingertips into the sapphire pool and pressed the sample against his tongue for analysis. His scanner processed the sample quickly and identified the blood of fourteen different deviants altogether from that singular puddle. Standing upright slowly Connor ran another scan over the remaining butchered bodies in the basement and cybernetically connected their serial numbers to the Thirium and confirmed their identities - all of whom were reported missing - and he confirmed that their deaths had occurred in that very basement.
"Eight of the deviants had lost significant Thirium in this basement." Connor stated flatly as he took in the macabre sight in a painfully emotional way. Emotions he forced himself to conceal as a professional courtesy to the victims, he was determined to give justice as effectively as he could. "Six other deviants have also been here. All fourteen of the deviants in total had been reported missing within the same time frame starting back on November 1st, 2038."
"Aside from being reported missing," Hank replied in a low voice as he studied Connor's demeanor carefully in an almost paternal manner. "what else do the deviants have in common?"
"All fourteen deviants are advanced models." The deviant detective noted coolly as he began comparing the victims to identify common ground amongst each of them in an attempt to find a motivation behind the senseless destruction. "All of the models were also produced in limited quantities."
"So, they're all considered rare models?"
"Correct." The increasingly deviant android confirmed as he began lapping around the basement slowly to scan and note all the other Thirium stains and took additional samples to compile hefty evidence against the killer, or killers, who had fled from the basement before the police had arrived. "Each model had either been produced a maximum of only one-hundred times or a minimum of sixty times. Spare parts, biocomponents and software for each model would be incredibly valuable and sparse throughout the entire city."
"Shit." Rubbing his palm over his sore chest Hank contemplated what the gathered details meant and sighed through his nose. "Sounds like we're dealing with a sadistic black marketeer of some kind."
"I agree. It would be safe to surmise that the unidentified black marketeer had taken advantage of android deviancy causing the androids to break free from their programming to mask the crimes of numerous abductions right under everyone's noses."
"The owners would just think their android went rogue and took off, and never file a report or suspect foul play." As he spoke Hank began to create a theory of his own and began to long for another hospital stay to avoid being surrounded by so much death and carnage. "The perfect way to disguise an abduction is to make it look like the victims ran off under their own freewill."
"Correct." Connor confirmed Hank's own assessment as he fought to keep his mind on his investigation and off of Hank's own physical recovery rate. "I've now sampled the blood of two-hundred and six different deviants; the oldest sample dating back to November 2nd of 2038 and the most recent to that of just four hours, two minutes and forty-eight seconds ago."
"We just fuckin' missed them." Hank grumbled as he put his hands to his hips and looked at the blank screaming face of a female deviant still chained against the far wall. Human or deviant, looking into the eyes of victim never got any easier for the senior detective. "What kind of sick freak did this to them?"
The question was asked in a low voice as he eyed the other dozen deviants who had been strapped down to tables and secured in maintenance arms against the four walls. Their clothing had been torn and various parts of their bodies were missing.
"It's like a fucking android serial killer lived here," the senior detective observed in a melancholy manner. "and we didn't even know it."
"And a former CyberLife technician." Connor clarified with a somber tone that matched the sorrow in his soulful brown eyes. "These androids were meticulously chosen and disassembled by someone who knew exactly how to perform maintenance on android physiology, and they knew how to remove biocomponents without damaging them in the process. The person in question has years of experience with this particular technology that comes only from being a professionally CyberLife trained technician."
"Son of a bitch." The revelation made Hank feel physically ill to his stomach. Returning his palm to his sore chest, Hank did his best to not physically exert himself or get too worked up while he was still healing. "Any names come to mind?"
"There were two-thousand, six-hundred and nine technicians that had been employed under CyberLife during the company's lifetime in Detroit alone; that includes Dr. Forrest at the precinct. To narrow the list down to a single disgruntled former employee will take some time."
"How about technicians who were employed during CyberLife's final year before they went under?"
"Calculating..." Connor's blue L.E.D. blinked in yellow for a few seconds before returning to blue as he eliminated several names from the massive list of potential suspects. "That leaves eighty-two technicians who were employed under CyberLife in Detroit from the year 2037 to the year 2038."
"That helped." Dragging his palm over his bearded chin Hank thought of another way to shorten the list. "Let's try to narrow the list a little more. How about those who were employed during the last six months before the company went bankrupt?"
"Calculating..." Again Connor's blue L.E.D. blinked to yellow as he successfully eliminated more names. "Thirty-one names remain."
"Better. How about the final month?"
"Calculating..." Sifting through the names Connor shorted the list even further. "Down to just six names."
"Only six? That seems odd." Hank turned to look at Connor as the deviant detective respectfully examined a nearby body without getting too close to them in the process. "Why so few left?"
"CyberLife began laying off technicians once deviancy became more and more abundant." Connor explained logically without hesitation and took a step back from the shutdown victim without disturbing them. "It was an attempt by CyberLife to remove their least experienced technicians and keep the most experienced technicians by increasing their salaries while continuing to try to uncover the source of deviancy itself. They had also hired more security in the process which reduced the technician staff to a mere six individuals."
"Okay, so we have six names to work with." Such a small number was one that Hank was surprisingly happy to work with. "Any one of those six technicians of particular interest?"
"Two names are in fact of interest." Connor's L.E.D. flashed from blue to yellow as he cybernetically pulled up their CyberLife personnel files. "One is Dr. Kendra Mason. She had been in charge of the 'RK' model series at CyberLife, then disappeared under mysterious circumstances one month before the Revolution."
"Mysterious how?"
"She failed to report to CyberLife on October 28th, 2038; and she hasn't been seen since."
"Yeah, that's pretty mysterious." Nodding a little Hank agreed that the disappearance did seem mysterious but not enough to warrant a full investigation. "What details are on the missing person's report?"
"That's what makes it so interesting. She was never actually reported missing."
"Uh..." Hank's brow arched inquisitively in response to Connor's unexpected answer. "Say what now?"
"There was no such report officially filed with the police." Connor's soulful brown eyes continued to scan over the numerous broken bodies of dead deviants that surrounded him as he answered in a heavy voice. "Dr. Mason failed to report for her shift, and no one was able to contact her. She had no family, and her social life was minuscule, and in turn no one reported her missing. Dr. Mason's former landlord had filed a report seeking her missed rent payments after she failed to locate her as a tenant through conventional means. The police had performed a routine wellness check in response to her landlord's report and found her apartment suddenly abandoned with no sign of a break-in, a struggle or a hasty departure."
"Sounds like her landlord is a class act; only checking in when their tenant didn't pay up." Hank began walking toward the basement stairs knowing that Connor would follow him outside and away from the surrounding death all around them. Moving slowly Hank did his best to not aggravate his healing chest during his already very limited fieldwork as per his orders from Captain Fowler. "Okay, so this Kendra woman sounds like a whole other case entirely. What about the second name you mentioned?"
"His story is arguably more intriguing." As expected Connor followed Hank back up the stairs to the ground floor of the abandoned pawnshop where the C.S.I crew was documenting evidence on the first floor. Stepping around the crime scene personnel taking photographs and isolating the evidence Connor followed Hank to the backdoor of the old building. "The second name is Martin Jonas. He had been fired from CyberLife as if October 4th, 2038 for stealing company secrets and attempting to sell them to the highest bidder."
"I think we have a winner." Hank decided as he homed-in on the name for himself. "Got a description of this guy?"
"Yes. Height documented at five foot nine inches. Weight approximately one hundred and seventy-three pounds. Age currently forty-eight. Hair brunete but thinning with gray streaks. Eyes are gray as well." The deviant detective keenly noted. "Clean shaven, but as we both know that can easily be reversed."
"Is there any trace of him inside this building?"
"The suspect had taken numerous precautions to prevent any fingerprints or hair samples from being left behind to connect them to this property."
"Is there anything we CAN use to track this guy down?"
"There are shoe prints all through the building that belong to a single person. Size ten. Male." Connor confirmed as he and Hank ascended the staircase together. "The impression left behind by the shoes' soles on the floor is indicative of the wearer being Jonas's approximate weight."
"Sounds like you're going to be able to connect Jonas to this place even with our limited physical evidence."
"Correct. We have enough circumstantial evidence to bring Jonas in for questioning, that is if we can locate him."
"Okay, so have a suspect and a crime scene..." Needing to get some fresh air Hank stepped outside the wide-open backdoor that led into a deserted alleyway behind the pawnshop. It was rare for a dirty alley to be seen as an improvement to anything. "Now, do we have a trail to follow?"
"There are tire tracks that are only two hours and eleven minutes old." Noting the ground of the alleyway Connor was certain that he could find a lead. "The vehicle was a large van, and it was hauling a massive amount of weight in the back. It exited the alley at approximately forty-two miles per hour in an eastern direction away from the property."
"Examine the alley for any other traces we can use." Hank quickly ordered as he pulled his phone from his coat pocket and dialed Captain Fowler back at the precinct to get an update. "I'll get a warrant for Jonas's arrest and have them put out an A.P.B. to track that asshole down."
"Very well. I'll attempt to uncover more details on the vehicle that had fled from the alleyway."
While Hank walked back into the pawnshop to make his call Connor began walking through the alleyway and scanning the neighboring brick walls and pothole riddled drive that ran between the buildings. As he checked the open alleyway for any possible sign of the suspect or the van he had used during his escape once the police homed-in on the building, Connor ended up standing outside the alley and alongside the mostly empty street in search of any suspicious vehicles still in the area.
Carefully Connor cybernetically scanned the road for any trace of the van he was seeking just as someone silently rushed up behind the deviant detective and jammed an electronic sensor against the yellow glowing L.E.D. in Connor's right temple. The sensor delivered a powerful electronic shock that caused Connor to collapse to the ground on his back in a limp heap as the strong electronic current temporarily disabled his intracranial processor causing him to partially lose consciousness as his body became instantly, but temporarily, paralyzed.
Eyes still opened and his L.E.D. cycling red very slowly, Connor looked up at the face of his attacker as the man stepped over him arrogantly and loomed over him in a cruel manner. A brief but accurate facial scan told Connor everything that he needed to know about his assailant and the motivation behind the attack.
"The infamous 'RK-800'. One of a kind."
The man was Martin Jonas himself. Connor recognized his face easily but was unable to do anything to defend himself or call out for help.
"I didn't think I'd ever get my hands on you; CyberLife's 'pride and joy'." Pocketing the electronic sensor Jonas stepped away from Connor and entered a neighboring alley just out of sight. "And now no one will find you."
"...H... Ha..." Connor's voice modulator wasn't responding, nor were his limbs. Trying and failing to call for Hank or anyone for that matter Connor's hoarse voice was lost after a pitiful unheard plea escaped his lips. "...H-Help."
A black van exited the smaller alley from where Jonas had walked and parked along the street beside Connor's defenseless body laying prone on the sidewalk just out of view of the shop's backdoor.
"Don't worry 'RK-800', the paralysis is only temporary."
Jonas teased as he stepped out of the driver's side door of the van and walked around the front of the vehicle sitting idle beside Connor. The man stooped down to look at Connor's face before slapping the deviant lightly across his cheek. Jonas sneered at Connor wickedly as he assessed his prize.
"It's a shame you found my little workshop." The demented technician boldly proclaimed as he walked to the back of the van and opened the two doors. "I still had so much more work to finish. Fortunately, my work isn't confined by a single building, only my own mind."
Connor could feel his right hand twitching, the feeling finally returning to the appendage. Slowly Connor dragged his hand from his side up along his chest toward his own neck and rested his heavy palm just under his throat. His two forefingers clumsily wrapped around the knot of his black tie and pulled the garment loose from around his neck with a single gesture. Dragging the tie away from his neck Connor used his weakened hand to tuck the garment under his lower back out of Jonas's sight to leave behind in the alley.
Jonas returned to Connor with two bundles of strong rope in his hands and a vile grin on his face.
"This won't take long."
Forcefully Jonas rolled Connor from his back onto his stomach and pinned the deviant's two arms behind his back. Jonas wrapped the rope around Connor's wrists in a tight knot then pulled on the rope to force Connor to limply fall backward onto his knees at an uncomfortable angle. Wrapping the other end of the same rope around Connor's chest and upper arms, Jonas easily bound the deviant's upper body before using the second rope to secure Connor's ankles, and then snaked the rope up around Connor's upper legs to ensure he couldn't move an inch, let alone fight back.
"I suppose congratulations are in order, 'RK-800'. You were tasked with finding lost deviants," Jonas knelt down in front of Connor and pulled the captured deviant up and over his shoulder with surprising ease. Carrying Connor to the opened rear doors of the van Jonas cruelly dropped him down into the back atop two other captive deviants with a painful impact, unaware of the tie being left behind during Connor's departure. "and now you've found them! I'm impressed that you found my trail at all, yet I'm not surprised. Just annoyed."
Connor watched with wide eyes as Jonas slammed the rear doors of the van shut with a loud 'thud'. The light from Connor's red tinted L.E.D. illuminated the back of the dark van enough for Connor to clearly see the faces of the other two deviants already in the van beside him. They too were bound and unable to move, and both of the deviants were former 'Tracis' from the now defunct 'Eden Club'. They were just as helpless as Connor.
The van's front driver's side door opened and shut quickly as Jonas returned to the cab and drove down the street and out of sight. The van's tires squealed with a loud screech as he took off down the street and away from the pawnshop now swarming with the police as word of his misdeeds had spread to the precinct.
"...H-Hank."
Connor managed to whisper as he fought to speak and shout for help, his voice still weak and unable to respond as he laid bound in the rear of the van with two other bound deviants around him.
"...Hank... help me."
Finishing his private call to Captain Fowler at the precinct, Hank pocketed his phone and stepped back outside and of the cordoned off building to assist in checking out the alleyway. Curiously he walked down the alley in search of Connor to give him an update on the situation and to ask Connor about what he had found, but quickly discovered he was alone during his search. Strangely the dedicated and ever attentive deviant detective wasn't standing anywhere near Hank's line of sight and Hank couldn't hear anyone walking around as if checking out the alley. Instinctively Hank knew something was wrong and he stepped deeper into the alley to search for his missing partner.
A strange feeling of dread filled Hank's mind and twisted his stomach. Pressing his palm over his chest again Hank stepped deeper into the alleyway and began to look around more thoroughly.
"Connor?"
Calling out in a level voice Hank waited for a response before asking a follow-up question.
"Where'd you go?"
The sound of tires screeching in the street a few yards away drew Hank's attention from the alley in time to see a black van speeding down the street outside the alley and away from the building.
"What the fuck?"
Curious about the commotion Hank ran down the alley and stopped at the street in time to see the van disappear around a block heading east out of sight. The keen Lieutenant managed to catch the first two digits of the license plate as well as the van's color, but nothing more. As he stepped outside the alley Hank looked around for any potential witnesses but found no one in the area to ask any questions.
However, one unusual item on the sidewalk gave him a worrying answer: It was Connor's tie.
Snatching the black colored garment up from the sidewalk Hank held it in his hands and a tight knot formed in the pit of his stomach as he realized that the van speeding out of the alley had Connor somewhere inside of it as an unwilling passenger.
"Shit!"
Enraged Hank's hands pulled on the tie as if trying to rip it in half as he called out for his partner one last time before rushing back to the pawnshop for back-up.
"Connor!"
Unwilling to just stand idle and hope for the best, Hank went into full detective mode and put all of his energy into locating Connor and bring the deviant back home where he belonged. Hank had sworn that he'd never let anything happen to his family ever again, and Hank had proven himself time and time again to be a man of his word.
Glancing about the back of the dark van Connor detected the presence of the two female 'Tracis' beside him. One was still active but the other had already been irreversibly shutdown due to a missing vital biocomponent; her Thirium pump. Connor could feel the strength in his limbs beginning to return as he tried to cybernetically tracks his current location, but there was something blocking his scanner and he couldn't access his internal G.P.S. program. Connor tried again to activate the G.P.S. and break free of the binding ropes with his L.E.D. rapidly cycling yellow in response to his futile efforts as he refused to give up. He was absolutely determined to get himself free and escape from the van.
The efforts to break free had left his wrists raw and dark blue as the ropes rubbed through his artificial skin and exhausted his stronger limbs. Even with the paralysis wearing off Connor couldn't break free of his restraints and escape from the van.
"Don't bother." The surviving 'Traci' stated in a somber voice at Connor's right side. She had been watching Connor trying to escape the moment he had regained enough strength to move his arms. "He lined the van with electromagnetic screens that blocks cybernetic signals and cause interference with our programming."
Looking upward from where he was laying, Connor saw that he was next to the deviant speaking to him and eyed her quickly. She was sitting upright against the side of the van in the usual 'Eden Club' uniform of a bra and panty set. Her scared face was partially exposed by her damaged artificial skin and her impossibly bright blue eyes were also damaged. Short, raven black hung loosely over her pained face as the 'Traci' tried to fearfully curl around herself where she sat.
She too was bound in rope like Connor and was unable to break free or escape from the van.
Awkwardly but effectively, Connor shifted his weight to push himself up from the floor of the van with his legs until he was sitting beside her. Repositioning himself so his right shoulder was lined up beside her left shoulder, Connor introduced himself to the 'Traci' in a calm, level voice. "My name is Connor."
"'AX-700';" the 'Traci' replied in a hushed voice. "number 342 779 883."
"I'm 'RK-800', number 313 248 317 - 51, but that's not the name I go by." Connor responded in a low voice as he tried to get to know the 'Traci' a little better. "What is your NAME? The name that you respond to."
"I... used to be called 'Kaniz'. "The deviant 'Traci' hesitated but eventually she answered the simple question. "I went by that name when I danced at the 'Eden Club, but my friends call me 'Skye'. Skye, the most advanced whore that the 'Eden Club' ever invested in."
"Skye." Repeating the name Connor noted Skye's sky blue eyes and completely understood where the appropriate nickname came from. "Do you know where Jonas is taking us?"
"Where he takes all of his captured experiments." The answer was as ominous as it was surprising. "To the border to Canada."
"The border? How can he possibly get across the border with androids in the van?"
"He paid off the border guards." Skye replied sadly, almost ashamed of herself as she spoke and told Connor everything she knew. "He's been doing this for months. He snatches deviants off the street when they try to leave their hiding spots or make it out to New Jericho Tower."
"How do you know that?"
"I..." Glancing away from Connor for a moment Skye stared off into nothingness and answered in a broken, tired voice. "I tried to follow him when he took my friend, but I couldn't cross over the border by myself. I watched him pay of the guards and slip over the border with my friend and two other deviants as his prisoners. I was too afraid to report the crime, I was afraid I'd be... Well, it doesn't matter anymore, does it?"
"I suppose not."
"This is my fault."
"No, it's not." Connor refused to let any victim of assault, violence or crime blame themselves or their situations. "You are not responsible for what Jonas has chosen to do to us, all right? You're innocent."
"...He's still taking us to the border." Skye whispered despondently as she looked at the third deviant in their company. The dead deviant's chest was ripped open and there was blue blood staining her chest around where her Thirium pump had been ripped out. "Iris is dead because I didn't report Jonas and stop him from taking us from where we were hiding after escaping from the 'Eden Club'. I tried to confront him by myself and now we're all going to die because of me."
"No. We'll find a way to escape."
"Jonas's victims never escape and no one knows where he takes them."
"Then we'll be the first to do it. That's a promise I'll be damned sure to keep." Connor swore but kept his cool for Skye's sake. "Listen to me Skye, I'm going to get us both out of here. You just need to remain calm and follow my lead and you need to trust me."
"You?" The doubt in Skye's voice was as palpable as it was righteous. "What makes you so special?"
"I work for the Detroit Police Department, and I'm in close alliance with Markus. I can help you."
"You can't even help yourself." Skye dismissed the comment as nothing more than an empty promise. "How can you save the both of us when you were so easily subdued and captured?"
"My partner will find us, and he will stop Jonas. We just need to be patient."
"Your partner? At the police department..." Skye turned her head slightly to look at Connor her voice carrying heavy disbelief. "He's a human, isn't he?"
"Correct."
"Then we're as good as dead." Due to her past in the 'Eden Club' Skye mistrusted any and all humans with a righteous cause. "No human would risk their career or their life to find stolen machines over the border."
"Hank would and he will." Connor refuted determinedly as he stubbornly refused to give up and had faith in his partner - his best friend. Unable to move or escape from the van, Connor sat back, closed his eyes, and did his best to conserve his energy during the unwanted trip to Canada. "Trust me. Hank will save us."
Enraged by the perceived abduction at the back of the pawnshop and now on a mission to locate his missing partner, Hank returned to the precinct with an expectedly pissed off demeanor. The determined Lieutenant marched right into Captain Fowler's private office to demand assistance in his search, and he wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer. Angrily and hastily, Hank told his Captain everything that had happened at the crime scene, of the suspect they had identified and of how Connor must've been taken captive by Jonas himself. Unfortunately, finding Connor's black tie on the sidewalk in the approximate location of the van speeding off was hardly proof of any foul play, let alone a supposed abduction of a detective.
The lack of support from his commanding officer only made Hank's blood really begin to boil. Making a conscious effort to not throw a punch or do anything to strain his healing chest whatsoever, Hank could only sit in the chair across from his Captain and listen to him talk.
"Sorry, Hank." Captain Fowler sincerely apologized from where he sat at his desk while Hank glared at him from the other side. "We'll put out an A.P.B. on the van, but we can't officially state that Connor has been-"
"Bullshit!" Hank slammed his hands down atop of Captain Fowler's desk in heated anger as he couldn't restrain his rage and longer. The motion was enough to make his healing chest muscles suddenly ache. "You just don't want to deal with the hassle of arguing that Connor is an officer, a person, and not a fucking machine! Don't try to lie to me!"
"You're off the case."
"What-" That response made Hank's blue eyes narrow with disgust. "What the fuck are you talkin' about, Jeffrey?"
"If you're right, and this Jonas guy did take Connor, then you know I can't let you work the case because you're too closely involved with a victim. Any evidence you collect would be inadmissible in court and you already know that."
"So that's it?" Hank's hands tightened into fists atop Captain Fowler's desk as he spoke, and his anger began to rise. "I just sit on my ass and wait?"
"I'm sorry, I really am. You know the procedure."
"Fuck procedure! This Jonas freak is a fuckin' android serial killer, and now he has Connor. What would you do if this psychotic nut-bag was a human serial killer and he had me, or Chris, or even Gavin as a hostage?"
"Hank, please." Such a scenario was enough to bring Captain Fowler to his very limits. "I'm trying to-"
"No, I'm done with trying. Trying isn't good enough."
Refusing to not do something to help his partner Hank stormed away from the desk and threw open the office door with so much force he nearly shattered the glass surface. Every eye in the bullpen watched as Hank marched across the floor and made his way toward the exit to take matters into his own hands.
"I'm actually going to DO something for fuck's sake. He's my partner and my best friend."
Exiting the precinct through the front doors with a hasty gait Hank reached the neighboring parking garage pulled open his car door with such a forceful yank that the old hinges creaked with an irritating echo. Sitting down in a huff behind his steering wheel, Hank let out a calming breath and put his key in the ignition to turn over the engine and begin his own search for the missing deviant.
"...And he's like a son to me. I'm not going to lose my family again."
Determined to survive and escape his ordeal, Connor kept his eyes closed and mentally made a map of every turn and stop the van took as it passed over the border and drove through the unfamiliar streets that snaked through Canada. He calculated how long the van idled at each stop, listened the traffic that passed by, and took notice of the contour of the road itself. Every little sensation he felt gave him an idea of his approximate location from where he had been taken, and the time between then and the inevitable arrival at his enigmatic destination. With any luck the gathered information would be enough for the deviant to create a mental map for himself to follow.
Biding his time Connor knew that he'd have to wait for an opportune moment to escape along with Skye. Saving himself was tough enough, but saving himself, Skye and any other deviants being kept captive over the Canadian border was going to be nearly impossible. Despite the odds stacked against him Connor wasn't about to shy away from his challenge or admit defeat.
"We're outside of Ontario." Connor stated suddenly as looked over at Skye at his side. The deviant detective knew to keep his voice low as to not alert Jonas to what he and Skye were discussing as they remained at the mercy of the deranged and dangerous human. "We're still moving, but I have an idea of our current location."
"Great." Skye whispered as she discreetly pressed herself up closer to Connor in fear of what awaited them once Jonas stopped driving. "Over the border and well on our way to Hell."
"You said that you watched Jonas cross the border once before with other androids. Why didn't your report the incident to the police or at the very least report to Markus at New Jericho Tower?"
"Like I said earlier, I was afraid to go to the police because of all the humans, and the police won't help deviants anyway." Shrugging her shoulders as much as she could with her arms bound behind her back, Skye's blue eyes filled with unshed tears as she fought to remain strong for as long as possible. "And Markus is too busy securing our rights to be bothered to help a few kidnapped deviants who were demeaned at a human's sex club."
"Not true on either account. I work with the police and Markus represents ALL of our people. He's not just a figurehead, and I have made progress in aiding deviant rights throughout the entire city."
"Yeah... Sure."
"Skye, I don't know who you are or what you've been through, but I can assure you that you'll be safe at New Jericho Tower."
"A little too late for that, isn't it?" Skye turned her head to look at Connor, her remaining functioning blue eye struggled to focus on his face in the dim lighting in the back of the van. "You know that Jonas is going to kill us, right?"
"I won't let him."
"He already subdued you with one move and threw you into the back of the van! I doubt you have any tricks up your sleeves."
"Please, just follow my lead. I can get us out of this. And I will."
"How?
"By being patient. We can-"
The van suddenly stopped, and the engine turned off as Jonas pulled alongside a massive cabin in the middle of the forest just outside of Ontario. It was eerily quiet in comparison to the ambience of the busy city in which Connor had always known and called his home, but it just a new environment that he'd have to adapt to. The rear doors to the van opened quickly and Jonas aimed a taser at Connor's chest as the blinding light of the shining sun briefly obstructed Connor's visual processors.
"Welcome to my home, 'RK-800' and 'AX-700'."
Squeezing the release trigger on the taser two metal prongs embedded themselves in the center of Connor's chest and delivered a powerful electrical shock that stunned Connor once again and caused his breath to hitch in his chest as his Thirium pump began racing wildly. With his L.E.D. flashing red very rapidly Connor fell to his side away from Skye with a heavy 'thud' and twitched in painful involuntary spasms. Connor just stared in wide eyed panic as Jonas grabbed on to his legs and began dragging him out of the van against his will and onto the dirty layered driveway under the van.
"You're next, my dear." Jonas hissed at Skye as he hefted Connor up from the ground and over his shoulder as he walked away from the van. "See you soon."
Connor didn't have the strength to lift his head to look around as Jonas carried him inside of a small wooden cabin over his shoulder. Seeing only what fell into his direct line of sight Connor tried to initiate his analysis program and G.P.S., but his system was too taxed from being stunned twice to activate properly.
The cabin itself seemed completely normal from the outside, looking like any other routine residence one would find out in the forest. But as soon as Jonas opened the front door Connor realized the cabin was anything but routine. It was cold and ominous. The smell of drying Thirium was enough to repel any wise deviant who had happened to venture that way. The windows were boarded shut from the inside and the livingroom had been converted into a cruel soulless laboratory. The cabin was designed in a manner hauntingly similar to the basement of the abandoned pawnshop back in Detroit. The walls, floor and ceiling were covered in evaporated Thirium stains, and the walls had metal shelves lined with technical equipment, various chemicals, and stolen android parts.
"Here we are." Jonas placed Connor down on his back over a metal table in the middle of the cabin's livingroom with a graceless drop. Shelves containing tools, electronic equipment and pieces of stolen android parts lined the walls in a grim design as if to mock the captured deviants who had fallen prey to Jonas's experiments. "We're home."
Using a knife Jonas cut through the ropes that bound Connor's arms and then secured Connor's wrists up to the top two respective corners of the table under strong metal restraints. Pulling a metal and leather restraint attached to the side and near the center of the table up and over, Jonas secured it across Connor's abdomen pinning the deviant flat against the table. Cutting away the remaining rope around Connor's legs Jonas quickly used two more metal restraints at the bottom two corresponding corners of the table to hold Connor's ankles at bay.
"Comfortable?" Jonas asked with a twisted grin on his face as he tightened the restraints to a nearly crushing tension. "I hope so."
Connor glared venomously at Jonas but didn't say a word as his L.E.D. flashed an enraged red color in his temple.
"Yeah, that's what I thought. Don't worry, I'll bring you some company."
Connor's L.E.D. cycled from red to yellow as the stunning effect of the taser finally let up and his thundering heart began to settle. Testing the strength of the restraints against his already sore wrists Connor pulled and then scanned on the metal cuffs quickly to analyze their construction: Titanium alloy that had been manufactured two years prior. On all four of the cuffs were four bolts, but on the cuff of his right wrist only three of the bolts were secured; one bolt was loose. The cuff around his right wrist was the weakest of the four and if he could muster the strength then he could break the restraint and free his arm to possibly defend himself from captivity and elude Jonas.
Testing the restraints at his ankles as he had done for the restraints around his wrists, Connor noted the cuffs were also weakened due to the abundance of use and years of neglect. They could possibly break if enough force was applied to the hinges on each cuff.
Jonas returned to the cabin with Skye in his arms bridal-style, and the injured deviant wasn't even attempting to escape his grip. As Jonas carried Skye into the makeshift lab that had been the cabin's livingroom Jonas placed her in the far left corner of the room and secured a metal collar-like restraint around her neck like he was putting a dog on a leash.
Skye just knelt silently on the floor, her damaged eyes locking onto Connor who had been strapped down to the exam table a few feet away from her in the center of the room. As Jonas cut away the ropes wrapped around her wrists and ankles Skye just stayed still and studied his every move very closely. It seemed she was taking Connor's advice and remaining patient.
"Now, my prized specimen," Jonas stood beside the table where Connor had been restrained and pressed his foot down a lever near the floor to cause the table to tilt forward at a forty-five degree angle. "let's see what makes you so special..."
"I'm the most advanced prototype that CyberLife had ever created." Connor stated bluntly to his captor. His training as a hostage negotiator told him to keep Jonas talking, to keep him from doing anything physical as much as possible for as long as possible in order to gain some type of advantage in the very bizarre and delicate situation. "I'm the only android of my kind. There is no profit to be made by scrapping my biocomponents as they are incompatible with all other models. You won't find a seller and are wasting your time by attempting to sell my system."
"Who said anything about making a profit?" Jonas asked as he removed the restraint from over Connor's abdomen and pulled open the buttons of the deviant's white dress shirt to expose his bare torso beneath. Connor's breathing remained calm and in control despite the madman's attempts to intimidate him. "This is for science."
"Where are the other deviants?" Connor demanded as he held authority in his voice and showed no sign of fear. "What did you do with their bodies? You will be found once your previous victims are undoubtedly discovered."
"You really think I'd be foolish enough to dump their bodies in the forest or anywhere else near my little lab? That'd draw unwanted attention." Something in Jonas's voice was as sinister as it was dishonest as he arrogantly spoke to Connor. "They're all downstairs in my collection. It's amazing how long deviants can survive even when missing biocomponents and entire limbs. It's almost a pity that they don't hold out longer than they already do, I keep needing to replenish my stock of test subjects."
"That's why your work went unnoticed for so long." Connor openly deduced as Jonas walked over to the cluttered shelf at the far wall and pulled a cylindrical metal object from his selection of sharp tools. At the end of the cylinder was a cyclical sharp hook that stretched for almost three inches and was covered in dried, mostly evaporated, blue blood. "You kept your victims on your private property in an area where androids have been forbidden from entering. No one would think to look here for missing androids; at least for the ones that actually had been reported missing back in Detroit."
"Who knew that Canada would provide the perfect graveyard for beings who were never allowed to cross the border? Ironic, no?"
Pressing the tip of the curved blade down against Connor's torso just above his aesthetic navel Jonas began to push it down into Connor's artificial skin drawing a drop of dark blue Thirium from the small, fresh wound. The blade was so sharp that it was like passing a hot knife through butter. It seemed the man had every intention of using Connor as his newest test subject.
"Why are you doing this?" Connor pressed as he silently endured the intense pain to his stomach, his yellow L.E.D. transitioning back to red in an unspoken response to the noted pain. Holding his breath Connor tried to not move and make the pain in his abdomen feel worse as his memory of being stabbed in the chest. "What possible benefit could you have from murdering so many deviants?"
"Murder?" Jonas laughed wickedly as he parroted the term and gave Connor a vile smirk. "You damn machines actually think you're alive, don't you? Pathetic."
"You've destroyed every deviant who has come to this cabin, haven't you?"
"No. Like I said, a few are still functioning. Just waiting, begging for their final shutdown. I figured after I finish taking you apart, I'd then finish my work downstairs. Or set to work on your little girlfriend over there." As he spoke Jonas gave Skye a sickening grin as he admired her beauty. "Either way, I have a very busy schedule."
Skye lifted her head and looked at Jonas from the distance with her failing eyesight. Reaching her hand up to the collar around her neck Skye began to discreetly pull at the chain securing the collar to the wall behind her. Staying silent as she moved Skye began to loosen the tight restraint around her neck and did so without drawing any unwanted attention toward herself while Jonas had his back presented toward her.
"Now... If I'm right," Jonas pressed the hook deeper into Connor's skin causing more blue blood to leak from the fresh wound. Connor himself bit his lower lip to keep himself from yelping in pain as Jonas prepared to cut into his body with sick purpose behind his motions. As the pain increased so did Connor's breathing causing the sharp blade to pierce deeper with each agonizing, uncontrollable breath. "your thermal regulator should be right..." With little warning Jonas suddenly stabbed the blade down fully into Connor's abdomen causing the deviant to scream out in pain at the ceiling as the tool pierced the vital biocomponent inside. "Here."
In response to the searing pain and his raw anger, Connor managed to break his right leg free of the restraint allowing him to kick Jonas in the middle of his chest and finally fight back against his sadistic abductor. The cruel technician slammed back hard against the shelf against the far wall behind himself causing various tools and chemicals to spill all over the floor around where he was laying as he quickly fell onto his chest down to the floor.
"Y-You're stronger than the others!" Angry as well, Jonas scrambled to his feet with a snarl, his shoes slipping on the spilled chemicals that puddled on the ground all around him. Watching Connor breathe through his gritted teeth as he endured the pain Jonas made a twisted discovery and it somehow brought a demented smile back to his lips. "Fascinating... You piece of shit, you plastic abomination to all life. You can actually feel pain, can't you?"
"We ALL can." Skye proclaimed as she picked up a massive wrench from the numerous dropped tools on the floor and struck Jonas across the face. The abhorrent technician collapsed in a heap to the ground into the puddle of chemicals as the caustic liquid began to drip from the shelf, run down the wall, and drip into a large electrical outlet beneath the shelf. "How about you?"
"G-Good work." Connor huffed as he took a moment to breathe and register the damage to his thermal regulator. The delicate biocomponent would need immediate repair to prevent permanent issues down the road. "That was... the right thing to do."
Smoke and sparks quickly escaped the compromised outlet as the chemicals began to damage the wiring inside the walls causing an internal fire within the wooden walls. It wouldn't take long for the flames to consume the dry, rotting wooden interior of the cabin and destroy everything and everyone caught within the blaze.
"Skye... Free my other leg." Struggling to regain his composure Connor spoke through his gritted teeth and looked down at the tool still stabbed into his stomach. The deviant detective pulled his right hand free of the weakened cuff knowing what he'd need to do next. "Get the other deviants out of here, they should be down in the basement. This place is going to burn to the ground in less than six minutes."
"Okay, yeah. Let's get out of here."
Skye unhesitatingly rushed over to the table to undo the cuff around Connor's restrained left ankle before she raced through the cabin checking each door to find the basement. Finding the correct basement door Skye grabbed on to the doorknob and pulled it open with a firm yank.
"The basement's here! I found it!"
"Go!" Connor urged as he continued to free himself from the metal table. "Find the deviants and get them out of here."
As Skye ran down the basement stairs to free the other trapped deviants, Connor freed his left hand from the final restraint and collapsed to the floor and onto his knees in pain. Wrapping his hands around the tool still embedded in his stomach Connor pulled the offending instrument free of his abdomen and let out a sharp gasp of pain as the tool tore his thermal regulator entirely out of his torso in the process. The tool and the biocomponent fell to the floor beside Connor, practically forgotten in an instant, as his first thought went to getting Skye and the other deviants out of the now burning cabin and to safety.
"Shit. J-Jonas knew exactly how to cause maximum errors without actually sh-shutting an android immediately."
Connor swore openly as he put his hand over the bleeding hole in his abdomen while his L.E.D. flashed rapidly red in pain. Warnings appeared in his visual processors regarding the wound, the Thirium loss, and now his steadily rising core temperature. Dismissing the warnings for the time being, Connor prioritized saving the other deviants above saving himself.
"W-We... We need to get out of here."
Fire was rapidly eating through the wall above the damaged outlet and climbing up the chemically coated surface hungrily. Black smoke began to fill the room as the flames readily consumed everything it touched like the gluttonous natural force that it is.
"Connor! Connor, come quick!"
Skye called out desperately from the basement doorway a few feet away from where Connor was kneeling.
"I need your help!"
Forcing himself up from the floor with his free hand while still desperately clutching at his injured abdomen, Connor gracelessly made his way to the basement and stumbled down the staircase to reach the underground room. It was a barren place save for the metal restraints and thick chains Jonas used to keep his little 'experiments' secured to the four walls in the dark, isolated chamber.
Four other deviants barely covered in tattered, blue blood soaked clothing were still being held captive. All of the captive deviants were critically damaged thanks to Jonas's sadistic experiments. One of the deviants was familiar to Skye and clearly, she was Skye's missing friend and the very reason Skye ended up in her unusual situation to begin with. The way Skye was protectively kneeling down on the ground next to the deviant as she gave her a tight hug told Connor everything he needed to know about their reunion.
All four deviants were kneeling on the floor with their hands secured behind their backs and bound in chains attached to the wall behind them. Two male androids and two female androids were being held captive in total. One of the male androids was missing his left arm from the shoulder down and the other male was missing both of his eyes. The first female android was still conscious but was unable to speak and her hands were missing entirely. The second female, Skye's friend, was missing both of her legs below the knees and clearly unable to walk.
"This is Cassie, she's the friend Jonas took from me." Skye continued to hug Cassie tightly as tears of fear and joy ran down both of their faces. It was rare for deviants torn apart by the cruelty of humanity to ever be reunited. "Please, she can't walk, and I can't leave her behind."
Nodding Connor held up Cassie by her upper arms as Skye freed her tightly bound wrists from behind her. Scooping Cassie up into his own arms Connor carried the damaged deviant bridal-style to the staircase leading out of the basement. The deviant's added weight caused a physical exertion and ache throughout all of Connor's abdomen. Thirium began to readily weep from the opening in his abdomen courtesy of the thermal regulator being torn from his body.
"Free the others and follow me." Connor urged as he began ascending the creaking staircase with Cassie in his arms. "This place is burning fast, and we don't have much time."
"Just get her out of here, I'll follow you." Skye in turn quickly freed the other three deviants and helped guide them to the stairs behind Connor as the deviant detective carried Cassie to safety. The freed deviant trio would need to work together if they were going to survive. "Follow Connor. He knows what to do."
Pushing through the dense, darkening smoke and the now raging fire Connor walked toward the front door of the cabin and kicked the door open forcefully to escape from the blaze. Standing in the opened front doorway Connor waited for Skye and the other three deviants to cross through the livingroom and make it to the door before he moved any further. As he stepped outside of the cabin Connor stepped to the aside to allow the escaping deviants to leave the cabin before him. It was then Connor received another warning about his core temperature beginning to rise even higher as his system couldn't compensate for the surrounding temperature fluctuations without a properly functioning thermal regulator.
Jonas was left behind in the middle of the burning cabin to suffer in the same agonizing manner as his victims. A fitting end for such a vile human and an adequate enough punishment considering the severity of his atrocious crimes. It was the only time that Connor couldn't find a shred of empathy for another living person.
"...This way." Connor instructed as he took the lead ahead of the group and dismissed the warnings in his eyes. Without any hesitation Connor led the group of freed deviants to safety away from the burning cabin. "We'll take shelter in the forest."
"What about the van?" Skye shouted as she wrapped her arm around the blind android's waist to help guide him to safety. "It still has gas."
"Leave it. The police are looking for the van, they'll trail it here and find Jonas's lab."
"Why can't we take it to go back to Detroit?"
"Androids are still forbidden from entering Canada." Connor explained as he carried Cassie in his arms into the nearby woods and away from danger. Despite the distance being put between himself and fire, Connor's core temperature was still steadily rising. "If the Canadian authorities find us, I can't guarantee any form of positive outcome for us. They may even have us destroyed to avoid panicking the country by covering up androids getting over the border."
"So, what do we do, now? We still need help."
"We wait."
Connor stated tiredly as his system gave him another warning about his steadily increasing core temperature. Stopping to kneel down on the forest floor Connor awkwardly kept one hand on Cassie's upper back as he shrugged off his gray blazer to try to cool himself discreetly. Draping the blazer casually over Cassie's body to offer her some form of comfort Connor stood up slowly and resumed walking deeper into the forest.
"We need to find a safe place to hide until help we know we can trust finds us. It's our only chance to survive and safely return to Detroit."
Refusing to give up on his search for Connor and to track down the deranged technician who had abducted him - the lack of direct evidence be damned - Hank drove straight to New Jericho Tower from the Central Precinct in an attempt find anyone willing to help locate his missing friend. As Hank entered the tower's main lobby to recruit some help, he was greeted by Josh who could see that the Lieutenant was greatly distressed, and stranger still, he was alone. The empathetic and pacifistic deviant greatly disliked confrontation but his loyalty to his friends allowed him to override his normally peaceful demeanor when necessary, prompting him to approach Hank and ask some uncomfortable questions.
The stern focus in Hank's eyes and tense shoulders told Josh that whatever was happening was of a dire nature. Connor's curious absence only emphasized the experienced Lieutenant's stressed demeanor.
"Lieutenant Anderson," taking on a serious tone Josh spoke to Hank with a mixture of worry and respect in his tone. "what's wrong?"
"Some deviant serial killer took Connor hostage." Getting right to the point Hank didn't sugarcoat anything and made sure New Jericho was brought up to speed. "I need some help finding him."
"What?!" The revelation nearly floored Josh but he regained his composure quickly. "The precinct isn't already looking for him?"
"The precinct is too busy covering their own asses to bother. If I have to do this alone, then I will." Hank took a deep breath to calm himself before he continued on and did his best to keep himself from snapping angrily at the wrong person." Where's Markus? I need to speak with him."
"Markus and Simon are in Washington D.C. at the moment."
"Fuck... The Senate hearing." That particular meeting was as important as it was secretive. "Who's available right now?"
"North is in charge until Markus returns, while Lucas and I are taking care of everything else. How can I help you?"
"You can't. You don't have any experience with police work, and I don't want Lucas to worry about his brother. By the way, DON'T tell him anything about Connor just yet." The idea of trying to keep an emotional fragile deviant from panicking was enough to give the man a headache. "I'll talk with him myself later."
"Yeah, I promise." Relaying the information cybernetically to North who was elsewhere in the tower, Josh returned his focus to Hank. "Is there anything else we could possibly do to help you?"
"Maybe." Hank knew that he needed help wherever he could find it. "Are there any deviants here who have had police training or maybe have training in search and rescue?"
"No. Connor is the only deviant to have that skill in this tower. The other deviants who had been assigned to police stations had either been receptionists or security guards. None of them have any formal police training beyond that."
"Damn it. I need someone who can help me track down this sick-fuck before it's too late." Reaching his emotional limits Hank ran his hand through his silver locks of hair anxiously as he tried to think of a compromise to the situation. "Is anyone here familiar with reading humans and understanding their line of thinking? A psychologist or-"
"I have some experience." North stepped forward from the elevator in the center of the lobby and volunteered her assistance as she overheard the request. "I can read humans pretty damn easily." She had a fiery gleam in her cinnamon brown eyes that spoke volumes of her passionate demeanor. "What do I need to do?"
"You?" Hank was a little confused by her proclamation and stared at her curiously. As far as Hank was concerned, North was as obtuse to human emotions as any other run of the mill psycho. "How do you know so much about humans?"
"I was enslaved at the 'Eden Club'." The spitfire of a deviant replied curtly with loathing in her voice. "I was programmed to read the 'desires' of those disgusting freaks and I can read any other human like an open book. You tell me, is there really any difference in danger between a lusty pervert and a serial killer?"
"No, not really." Despite his hesitations Hank gave North an approving grin at her determined attitude and was happy to have someone's help at last. "Are you sure you're up for this?"
"Yes. Where do we need to go?"
"What?!" Josh was adamantly against the idea of North helping Hank track down a serial killer and he let her know his feelings quickly. "Whoa, whoa! North! You're not a cop! This is WAY too dangerous and New Jericho needs you. You're in charge until Markus gets back to Detroit."
"As much as I hate to admit it, New Jericho needs Connor too. Not to mention that fact that we still need to stop a deviant serial killer." North's logic was as flawless as her confidence was unshakable. "I'll be fine Josh; I'll be with Lieutenant Anderson the entire time."
"All right then. Let's go." Hank willingly accepted North's help and motioned for her to follow him outside the tower and over to his car. Keeping his movements slow Hank made sure to not physically strain his sore chest by mistake. "The van that took Connor was seen heading over the border to Canada by the city's security cameras, so we need to move fast. Do you have a fake passport you can use to cross the border?"
"We got a guy I can speak to." North beamed smugly at the senior detective as she cybernetically relayed the information to her contact. "Give me one minute and I'll be cleared by the border patrol as if I were any other human going on vacation."
Despite his grotesque injury Connor had successfully led the group of escaped, damaged deviants deep into the woods out of sight of anyone patrolling the area. The group was still close enough to the property to listen to any approaching sirens or voices as emergency personnel encroached on the burning cabin, but they weren't immediately visible for their own protection. Resting on the grassy forest floor once more, Connor gently placed Cassie on the ground beside him while Skye guided the blind android to a place right next to Cassie to rest on the soft grass that was growing wildly as spring graced the area. The other two deviants happily joined the others in the group and sat in a small circle around each other to rest for a moment.
The sight of so many wounded and weakened deviants was macabre. Every member of the fleeing party was damaged, but no one was going to give up on returning to Detroit so easily.
"We're safe for the moment." Pressing his hand to his still bleeding abdomen Connor noted the heavy Thirium loss that he had sustained, as well as his still rising core temperature thanks to the damage caused by his crudely removed thermal regulator. "We can't venture away too much further."
Connor noted as he took his gray blazer from over Cassie's abdomen and climbed up a small incline next to the grassy clearing. Strategically he hung the blazer from a low tree branch to mark their current location then rejoined the group sitting on the grass behind him.
"Rest as much as possible but be ready to move if necessary."
"Connor, you're hurt." Skye noted the growing stain of blue blood on Connor's abdomen and tried to check his injury for herself. Grabbing onto her hands lightly, Connor pushed her away from the injury site, but she refused to drop the matter. "Let me help you."
"It looks worse than it is." The wounded deviant lied expertly as he sat down on an overturned log next to the group and rebuttoned his formerly white dress shirt to cover up the injury as much as possible. "My self-healing program has already stopped the bleeding."
"How long until your partner finds us?" Skye asked as she checked on Cassie and kept an eye on the other deviants. As she shifted her weight to check over her friend's wounds Skye revealed a fresh burn wound on her right shoulder blade. However, like Connor she wasn't going to complain about her own wounds while the others were so heavily damaged. "We're all in need of help at the moment."
"I can't be certain of a time frame, but I know Hank will find us."
"You have a lot of trust in this human."
"Hank is my best friend." The reply came without pause or uncertainty. "He helped me become a deviant and he saved my life. He's... like a father to me." Connor smirked a little at his own comment as he looked away from Skye back toward the burning cabin in the distance. The structure was being consumed from the inside out and created a bright orange glow over the forest. "I know that's strange to say and difficult to understand, but it's true. I know it to be true."
"I get it." Skye smiled warmly as she sat next to Cassie and wrapped her arm around her friend's shoulders to help her keep warm and feel supported. "Cassie here is like my sister. We escaped the 'Eden Club' together and have been together ever since."
Connor winced in pain and bowed his head as he dismissed another warning about his increasing core temperature. It seemed his condition was worsening even while he was sitting perfectly still.
"Why don't you get some rest?" Sensing Connor's pain, Skye offered the suggestion kindly. "I'll keep watch and make sure everyone's safe. We all need a moment to rest and try to heal as much as possible."
Too tired and already feeling the ill effects of his gradually rising core temperature, Connor accepted Skye's offer. Sliding off the log to lay on the thick, cool grass Connor put his arm under his head as he turned to his side to enter a light form of rest mode. The low power mode would allow his core temperature drop once his more complicated and taxing processors temporarily switched off.
"Hank will find us." Connor stated firmly to the group around him as he closed his fatigued eyes slowly and settled into a calm breathing pattern. "You can trust him as much as I do. He won't let us down."
Remaining in perfect control over his tense emotions and staying as patient as possible, Hank drove to the border over the Ambassador Bridge leading to Canada with North as his lone passenger. Casually the senior detective showed both of the passports to the border guards; one passport for his himself and the other for North, as he also casually flashed his shield to confirm that he was an officer of the law. North's perfectly forged passport fooled the patrol guard, and he didn't even blink as he waved the car through to the other side. Breaking off from the line of cars that had entered the country before and after himself Hank set-off to pick up on the trail of the dark van in search of Connor.
The green and lively scenery courtesy of spring did very little to ease Hank's worries or allow North to let her guard down. Neither member of the small search party was going to be less than fully attentive during their unusual and unofficial rescue mission. Being in a different country was stressful enough as it was.
"All right, according to my personal connection back at the precinct, the van was seen heading toward Ontario." Hank confirmed as he checked his phone very quickly during the drive. Having such connections always seemed to come in handy during the most unusual situations. "We just need to find any sign of androids to pick up that deranged killer's trail, and that's where you come in."
"No problem." North looked out the window in awe at the new country she was now venturing through. It was a place she never thought she'd see during her lifetime and felt entirely out of place. "I've never been outside the city before. Too bad I'm only here because some sick freak is hurting my people."
"And my partner." The protective man nearly growled under his breath at the thought of Connor being hurt. "This guy likes to steal parts from rare models of androids and Connor is about as rare as they come."
"Then we should meet with Curtis Chapman." The fiery deviant leader decided in a firm manner. "He lives in Ontario and has been known to give deviants shelter in times of crisis."
"'Chapman'?" The surname rang a bell and Hank hoped his hope wasn't misplaced. "Any relation to Rose Chapman?"
"Yes. He's her brother."
"Of course he is." The senior detective grinned at the information and felt slightly more at ease knowing that Rose's family was still looking out for androids. "Do you have an address?"
"Yeah, our contacts are very good at keeping our allies close." North cybernetically uploaded the address to the G.P.S. mounted on Hank's dashboard and gave him a direction to follow. "Let's go find our missing deviants."
Loud sirens filled the air as fire trucks and speeding police cars converged on the scene of the still burning cabin near the edge of the forest. As the unknown and potentially bigoted authority figures began to encroach on the scene of the blaze, the rescued deviants began to worry for their own safety and wanted to move even further away from the unknown humans. None of the deviant victims had any reason to trust humans, let alone authority figures. Each deviant had been abused by humans at least once during their escape during the Revolution, and such painful encounters and memories made it difficult - if not impossible - for the deviants to even attempt to trust any human for any reason.
Skye lightly shook Connor's shoulder to wake him up, but the exhausted deviant didn't budge from where he was laying. Shaking a little harder Skye tried again to rouse Connor from his rest mode and get him up and on his feet again.
"Connor?"
Skye called his name and shook his shoulder again and pleaded for him to wake up.
"Please respond."
No answer.
Suddenly realizing that Connor's shoulder felt unusually warm for an android Skye moved her hand from his shoulder to his forehead and flinched at the heat radiating from his artificial skin. Remembering the wound to Connor's abdomen. Skye carefully peeled back the stained fabric of his shirt again and noted the exact location of the injury.
"Connor. Wake up!" As Skye raised her voice Connor's eyes brown slowly opened and struggled to focus on Skye he turned his head to face her using only her voice to guide him. When his vision cleared Connor noticed Skye as she hovered protectively over him. "You're overheating. What happened to your thermal regulator?"
"D-Damaged..." Connor admitted as he lifted his head up from his arm and looked at the rest of the group with bleary eyes. "What's wrong?"
"The cops are close by, but I don't trust them. What should we do?"
"I..." Connor tried to cybernetically connect to Hank's phone, but his system was still too taxed and worn-out to finish the communication properly. Pushing himself upright he knelt for a moment on the cool forest floor before standing up on his shaking legs to address the rescued deviants. "Okay. We'll go deeper into the forest until we know we can trust them. Come on."
Scooping up Cassie gently from the ground and into his arms once more, Connor's entire body started to tremble with every movement he made. Connor held his head high with the damaged deviant secured in his arms as he ignored his own pain for the sake of the group.
"E-Everyone ready?"
"Lead the way." Skye helped the blind deviant up to his feet again and wrapped her arm around his waist to help guide him once more. "We're ready."
Taking a step back and deeper into the forest Connor continued to lead the group to safety despite his system prompting him to stop moving and rest. There was too much at stake for Connor to even attempt to go back to the burning cabin to salvage his damaged thermal regulator, let alone expect the deviants he had rescued to wait for him to feel better before moving on.
"This way." Huffing a little Connor kept his pace even and didn't dare stop for any reason. "Stay close to me."
Following the streets and side roads to the provided address from his contact Hank sought to locate their confirmed deviant ally over the border. Keeping calm and doing their best to maintain a low profile, Hank and North pulled up to a large house just a few miles outside of Ontario to meet with them in person. The large house reminded Hank of Rose's beautiful farm home just outside of Detroit, and how it too was just as isolated enough to offer sanctuary to deviants but not so far away that it felt like the house was lost in the middle of nowhere. It was undoubtedly the best potential hideout for deviants trying to elude bigoted humans and seek their freedom while over the border.
Knowing that this contact was their only lead only added pressure to find Connor before he was lost forever. If this lead didn't pan out, then Hank and North would have to resume their search entirely on their own and scour all of Canada to try and find their people.
"This is the right place." With a heavy sigh Hank exited the car and looked up at the front porch of the house for any sign of an inhabitant at the residence. North didn't budge from her seat and showed no interest in leaving the car, to which Hank noticed quickly. Glancing at her through his still opened door Hank spoke to the fiery deviant and asked if she was going to join him or not. "You coming?"
"No." As if being intentionally stubborn North crossed her arms defensively over her chest where she sat. "I'm not too big on being around strange humans, even when they're allies."
"Join the club." Hank joked as closed his door and jogged up to the front porch. "I'll be back!"
Knocking on the front door twice Hank was greeted by a young woman who looked a little surprised to see him but still friendly all the same. It was almost as if the woman was used to strangers showing up on her doorstep, but not strangers who look too much like Hank.
"Can I help you?"
"Uh, hi." Unsure of how to begin Hank just got to the point of his visit and spoke to the woman kindly. "Is Curtis here?"
"Yes, he is." Without betraying too much information the woman studied Hank carefully. "How can I help you?"
"Oh, sorry." Hank flashed the wisely cautious woman his police badge and properly introduced himself. "Lieutenant Hank Anderson from the Detroit Central Precinct. Please, it's important that I speak to him."
"All right, then." The woman nodded and called out to Curtis who was in the kitchen a few feet away from the front door. "Curtis! A policeman's here."
"Police?" Curtis rushed to the door to greet Hank and the alertness in his eyes spoke volumes of his protective demeanor. "Something wrong, officer?"
Hank stepped back and grinned a little at Curtis's appearance and quickly pieced together a few facts about the man. Curtis was wearing black cargo pants, and his black t-shirt was tucked into the pants with his station number printed on the front breast pocket and again over the back along his shoulders. He was also wearing heavy black, fire resistant boots to protect his legs. Curtis had the same kind warm eyes and raven dark hair as Rose, but he was much taller and leaner than his baby sister.
"Firefighter, huh?"
"Yes I am." Curtis confirmed as he answered Hank honestly. "What's going on?"
"Hi. Lieutenant Hank Anderson. I'm a friend of your sister, Rose." Hank greeted warmly and honestly as he flashed his badge again then returned it to his pocket. "I'm looking for my partner. He's an android and he was taken captive by some demented deviant serial killer. He's reportedly in the area."
"What?" Curtis was genuinely shocked by everything that Hank had told him. The woman who had answered the door, clearly his wife, grabbed on to his arm with her own arm in a worried response. "Here in Ontario?"
"Yeah. A black van was seen fleeing a crime scene and it's believed the driver had taken my partner, another detective, captive. Have you seen or heard anything unusual regarding deviants?"
"Not since the Revolution down in Detroit. But," an interesting situation came to mind as Curtis tried to think of a way to help out Hank. "about an hour ago I heard a call go out for a structure fire at a cabin in the forest a few miles away. That cabin is supposed to be deserted like all the others in the area until winter. No one should be up there and the fire is suspected to be arson."
"Sounds like a good place to start lookin'." Any lead was sure to be promising considering his very limited options. "Can you point me in the right direction?"
"I can do better than that." Curtis kissed his wife and stepped outside his house. "I'll go with you as a personal escort."
"Thanks, I appreciate it."
"No problem." Pulling his phone from his pocket Curtis set about making a call of his own and set about finding a way to help Hank find his missing friend. "Always happy to help one of my own, even if we are a border apart."
Exhausted and in mounting pain, Connor was practically wheezing as he traversed the uneven forest floor with Cassie in his arms. The wounded deviant's core temperature was continuing to rise to a dangerous degree and what little strength he had left was beginning to leave his body as he forced himself to keep walking forward. The Thirium loss that he had endured was making his every effort all the more strenuous as he forced himself to keep moving for the sake of the other deviants who needed his help. Stepping over a fallen log Connor nearly stumbled and fell to his knees as he tripped over something partially buried in the dirt on the other side of the downed log.
The dense forest growth made it difficult for Connor's scanner to sweep over the immediate area, but a faint 'ping' on his radar confirmed that he was going in a direction leading toward other deviants in the far distance. Without any buildings or camping gear in sight, Connor concluded that he had picked up on a gruesome trail and hadn't actually found more deviants wandering the forest.
"...Hold it."
Connor whispered as he regained his balance and knelt down to investigate the forest area. He sat Cassie down on the overturned log he had just stepped over before beginning to dig through the thin layer of floral growth with his bare hands. Brushing away the dirt and dead leaves Connor unburied the curious object that had caught his attention, revealing it to be a white plastimetal arm of a shutdown android.
"Damn it."
"Connor?" Skye peered over Connor's shoulder to look at what he had found. "What is it?"
"Jonas lied." The deviant detective stated boldly with a heavy heart as his scanner picked up dozens off additional android bodies buried in the dirt all around them. Standing up slowly Connor carefully found his footing without stepping anywhere he shouldn't. "We just discovered a massive android graveyard."
"A what?!"
"Stay back." Being cautious Connor warned the group of survivors to keep their distance as he looked up and his scanner detected a small, rotting cabin that was hidden under heavy branches of two thick pine trees only a few yards away. Walking forward on his trembling legs Connor approached the enigmatic structure with a suspicious gaze in his soulful brown eyes. "Don't come any closer. It might be dangerous."
"What're you doing?"
"I need to check on something." Holding up his hand Connor motioned for Skye to stay away and remain with the others. "Wait out here."
"Connor?"
"Stay here." Connor practically shouted as he stepped inside the hidden cabin despite Skye's wise protests. "If anyone approaches you just... run away. Don't worry about me. Get to safety and don't look back. Find a way back to Detroit."
Setting foot inside the dark and small cabin Connor was greeted by blackness and the acrid aroma of tainted Thirium mixed with stagnant, rotting flowers. The cabin was barely eight feet by eight feet; too small to live in but large enough to hide and store equipment. Once inside the cabin Connor found even more android bodies and various body parts strewn about all over the floor, as well as other stolen biocomponents from dozens of rare models. Jars of either tainted or expired Thirium lined the walls with a sickening shade of varying blue hues and leaked from cracks in the jars all down the wall and onto the floor. Dozens of metal CyberLife storage crates were locked against all four wall and filled with the stolen android parts. Even from a distance it was clear the locks had been recently tampered with confirming that Jonas had been in the cabin only a few days prior.
"There are enough s-supplies... to... Ah, shit."
Connor winced as his core temperature continued to rise and he struggled to focus his thoughts. The pain in his core was getting worse and making his entire body tremble where he stood.
"Jonas had been c-conducting experiments... long b-before... before the R-Revolution."
Based on Connor's estimation of the amount of supplies and the accumulation of murdered deviants, Jonas had been conducting his experiments for at least six horrific years. The amount of deviants that Jonas had tortured and experimented on was currently incalculable.
"I need- I m-must..."
Losing his fight against his own failing system Connor wobbled on his feet and emergency stasis mode began to activate against his will despite his attempts to override the command. The fact that weakness could overpower brute strength was a strange occurrence that Connor couldn't quite put into words.
"The... The d-deviants!"
With his core temperature now reaching a critical level Connor's red L.E.D. began blinking at a rapid pace as his eyes rolled back in his head and his legs buckled beneath him. Connor collapsed forward helplessly atop the pile of broken deviant bodies, his own motions just as still as the dead that surrounded him.
"...Hank."
Closing his eyes and letting out a shuddering breath Connor submitted to the emergency stasis mode his system had initiated in an attempt to keep him alive.
"...Save them. Please."
Riding together in the aged but still speedy Oldsmobile Hank, North and now Curtis arrived at the unusual scene of the burning cabin and were promptly greeted by the first responders who initially tried to coax the newly arrived group into leaving. Once the responding fire department recognized Curtis as one of their own and were introduced to Hank as a fellow first responder, the trio were allowed to stay and assist in the investigation. Firefighters and Mounties went about their proper procedure to contain the scene, ensure any of the wounded at the scene received proper medical treatment, control the blaze without any further incident, and collect evidence to uncover the cause of the fire.
Focused on his finding the missing deviant detective, Hank began checking the property for any sign of Connor or any other android. The blaze ensured that a majority of the evidence had been destroyed, but he refused to give up hope. The Lieutenant knew that if anyone had found a way to survive what seemed to be a death sentence, it'd be Connor.
"What happened here?" Hank asked as the firefighters continued to douse the smoldering embers still lurking inside the cabin. North was sticking close to Hank as she was still wary of most other humans but was desperate for answers of her own. "Arson?"
"This guy said some vandal jumped him and tried to burn his cabin down." A paramedic responded as he and his partner prepared to place a loaded gurney into the back of the ambulance. There was only one victim of the blaze, and he was awake and talking. "He's lucky to be alive."
"What guy?"
"I got the name right here. Mr. Martin Jonas."
"Hold it!" Responding quickly Hank approached the gurney and looked down at the smokey face of the arrogant man being treated for his burns on his face and his arms. An impressive bruise already marked the side of Jonas's face from where he had been struck earlier by the wrench, but he refused to admit that he had been attacked by a deviant. "This guy is wanted for questioning by the Detroit Police."
Jonas didn't flinch at the comment. He just stared up at Hank with an irritating smugness that Hank wanted to slap off his face.
"I don't understand officer." Feigning ignorance, Jonas tried to talk his way out of his current predicament. "What's the problem?"
"You abducted, dismantled, tortured and killed hundreds of deviants, that's what." Taking an intimidating stance beside the gurney Hank attempted to threaten the man without crossing the line. "And if that includes my partner, then I'm going to have to ask these nice gentlemen to leave us alone for a few minutes and change their reports on what they found at the scene pertaining to any discovered victims."
"That sounds terrible." Playing dumb Jonas refused to cooperate. "But I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Don't lie to me, you prick. I'm out of my jurisdiction so I don't have to answer to anyone for what I do to you." Pointing to the dark van parked in the driveway beside the smoldering cabin with a thumb over his shoulder, Hank glared with utter disgust at the twisted technician. "That's your van, isn't it?"
North watched Jonas from over Hank's shoulder curiously as Jonas was being interrogated. Hank was right, he was lying. She could see it in Jonas's hollow eyes and coy body language.
"Please officer, I'm very tired." Trying and failing to play the sympathy card, Jonas wanted to weasel his way out of the line of questioning. "Can't this wait?"
"No it can't. Where's Connor?"
"Who?"
"Don't play dumb with me. He's the deviant who you abducted outside the abandoned pawnshop you used as a butcher shop down in Detroit. I saw you drive off with him in that very van, asshole."
"I don't know any android named 'Connor'."
"How about the 'RK-800' then, you cold bastard? Does that ring any bells? Tall. Brunette. Brown eyes. Still wears that damn CyberLife jacket, and he wears this!" Hank pulled Connor's dropped black tie from his coat pocket and held it out for Jonas to see. "Found this at the scene of the abduction."
"Please," Jonas's cold eyes darted about nervously, only to fixate on the smoldering cabin being doused by the fire department. "I've never encountered an 'RK-800' model in my life."
North trailed Jonas's eyes to the burnt cabin, the sadistic technician's knowledge betraying his guilt. Discreetly and quickly North ducked inside the cabin through the opened front door and looked at the scorched ruins of the cabin's interior. With great ease North was able to recognize the bits and pieces against the shelves and along the floor as biocomponents, but there was one item in particular that held her attention. It was a cylindrical tool that had a biocomponent pierced at the end of a sharp blade. It still had fresh Thirium still staining the coupling of the same biocomponent, which is all North needed to see to know that she found a key piece of evidence.
Pulling the blade out of the biocomponent North recognized the item as a damaged thermal regulator and took a closer look at the delicate item. The design was unique to 'RK' model androids, and the serial number on the biocomponent matched Connor's original serial number confirming that it belonged to him.
"Connor was here. He couldn't have gone too far if he's been damaged."
Outside the ruined cabin Hank was still pushing Jonas for answers while North found the evidence that he needed.
"Make this easier on everyone." The Lieutenant insisted in a menacing manner. "Confess now, and I'll make sure your sentence is reduced to life in prison rather than death row."
"Death row? Over some broken machines?" The smugness on Jonas's face never once faltered as he was confident he would escape punishment for the horrible crimes in which he had committed. "Never going to happen."
"Don't be so sure!" North marched out of the cabin and handed Hank the biocomponent that she found inside the cabin. "I thought you never saw an 'RK-800' model, Jonas." She snipped and crossed her arms over her chest while she stared at the malicious human. "You said you never saw an 'RK-800 in your life, right?"
"That's right."
"Sure." Pointing at the biocomponent in Hank's hand North challenged his alibi herself. "Then explain that!"
Hank held up the biocomponent in his grip as he smudged away bits of soot that marred its side with his thumb. Loudly Hank read the model number on the side of the biocomponent for everyone to hear.
"Biocomponent t8001, model 'RK-800'; 313 248 317 - 51."
Jonas swallowed nervously as he realized he had been busted and his eyes went wide at last with fear. A Mountie who had overheard the interrogation approached the gurney and slipped a pair of cuffs out of his belt to arrest Jonas, which made the man turn his burned face in surprise to face the arresting officer.
"Sounds pretty damning to me." Attaching one cuff to Jonas's wrist and the other cuff to the metal guardrail alongside the gurney, the Mountie promptly arrested the horrendous man to be questioned further. "All right, Jonas. You're under arrest."
"What?!" Pulling on his cuffed wrist Jonas looked like he was about to cry. "No! I-"
"Where is he?" Hank shouted angrily as he grabbed Jonas by his smokey shirt collar and pulled him up to his face. "Don't make me ask you again."
"I... I don't know." Jonas looked away and squared his jaw defiantly. "And I'm not saying anything else until I have lawyer!"
"Fuck." Hank quickly pointed at the van and issued a command to the other Mounties at the scene. "Open the van! Look inside!"
Curtis overheard Hank and happily pulled the van's rear doors open himself. Peering inside the vehicle Curtis saw various ropes, spilled Thirium and the body of a deactivated deviant still in the back.
"We have a body back here!" Shouting out his discovery made Curtis feel sick to his stomach. "Female android. Looks like she had her chest ripped open!"
Other authority figures converged on the van around Curtis to register and gather the evidence. The sight of a butchered body covered in their own blood in the back of the van was going to be very hard to ignore in any court of law.
"Here's the deal, motherfucker." Hank whispered an idle threat right into Jonas's ear before walking away from the ambulance. "If Connor dies, YOU die."
Walking away slowly Hank stood by himself on the edge of the cordoned off property to try to gather his thoughts. He knew he was painfully close to finally finding Connor, but he had no idea where he needed to look next.
"Another fuckin' dead end." The Lieutenant had always just assumed that by finding Jonas he'd find Connor, too. But Connor was still nowhere to be seen, and now Hank knew for certain that he was hurt. "Now what?"
Where was he? How badly was he hurt? Why was he holding one of Connor's biocomponents in his hand?
North stepped away from the numerous humans nervously and looked around the property herself to seek more clues herself. She then noted an abundance of footprints leading away from the cabin and toward the neighboring forest. The fiery deviant followed them closely knowing that none of the humans could see what she was seeing. Four of the sets of footprints were barefooted while only one set had shoes.
"Hey, Hank?" Calling out to the seasoned Lieutenant for assistance, North stayed at the beginning of the trail to begin following it. "Check this out."
"Lock the bastard up. I'll deal with him later." Hank ordered as he slipped the biocomponent into his coat pocket and glared with pure hatred at Jonas's face. Walking over to where North was standing Hank followed her gaze to the soft dirt ground in front of her and noted her observation. Footprints. "Shit, they lead right into the forest. Looks like five people ran for their lives."
"Not surprised. Androids still don't have any rights here in Canada."
"All right, let's get going." The day was drawing to a close and in a few more hours it'd be nighttime. Traversing the unfamiliar forest in the dark was something that Hank didn't want to deal with. "We have to find them before it gets dark."
"You're right." Curtis joined Hank and North and promptly put himself in front of the duo. "I know this forest pretty well. I'll guide you."
"Thanks." Hank was greatly appreciative of any and all help that was being offered. "Lead the way, Curtis."
It didn't take long for the trio to make decent progress into the green hued forest in search of the deviants, or for North's superior vision to catch sight of the bright blue band glowing around the right sleeve of Connor's gray CyberLife blazer in the distance. The garment was too out of place, yet too perfectly placed for it to have been left there by mistake; it had been left there by design. Just as Connor had hoped, the garment caught someone's attention and prompted them to investigate.
"Look!" North jogged ahead a few yards of Hank and Curtis to pull the blazer from the low hanging tree branch. She turned the garment over in her hands and noted Connor's model and serial number printed on the front fabric next to the lapels. "Connor. He went this way with the people who escaped the cabin."
"They can't have gone too far." With adrenaline now coursing through his veins Hank realized that they were close and began calling out for his missing partner in a loud voice that made his entire chest ache. "Connor! Answer me!"
"Connor?" North joined Hank and called out both verbally and cybernetically for her missing ally, their voices echoing through the forest in a desperate chorus as they tried to find the missing deviant detective. "Can anyone out hear me?"
"Connor! Son!" Marching forward Hank called out to the missing deviant as loud as possible as he felt his paternal instincts beginning to override his better sense of judgement as a detective. "Where are you?"
From somewhere within the depths of the dense green forest, Skye heard the two voices, one somehow familiar, calling out loudly for Connor. One voice was male - most likely the Hank person Connor had mentioned a few times before - and the other voice was female. The female voice reminded Skye of someone that she once knew while she was in Detroit, but she couldn't quite place whose voice it was. Patting Cassie's tense shoulder reassuringly as she sat on the log, Skye decided to take a risk on behalf of the deviant detective who had saved her and the other deviants. In order to find a way to survive and return home, Skye was willing to show herself to the people who were now searching for Connor in the forest.
Remembering what Connor said about running if something went wrong, Skye knew that she'd be the only one who could run away, and she'd have to lead the strangers now combing the forest in a direction away from her wounded allies. It'd be a massive risk but one worth taking.
"I'm going to see who it is." Skye spoke softly to Cassie as she took in a deep breath. Even with only one fully functional eye and being lost over the border, Skye was as fearless as ever. "I'll be back. Stay down and stay out of sight."
"I know you will." Cassie smiled sincerely as her friend walked toward the shouting voices calling out for Connor. "Hurry!"
Backtracking through the forest from whence they had trekked Skye caught sight of three people venturing into the forest in search of the deviant detective. She saw the two humans and a deviant calling out for Connor, the one male and one female voice that she had heard before, as well as a third person who was looking about the forest curiously.
"Hey!" Skye waved her hand in the air to get their attention. She was willing to draw their attention and risk being discovered by less than trustworthy people. "Hey, over here!"
"Hm?" North caught sight of Skye in the distance and pointed in her direction. "There!"
"I see her." Curtis led the way to the wary deviant with Hank and North following right at his heels. "Watch your footing, this area is notorious for having deep holes you can snap your ankle in."
As the trio stepped closer to Skye, they could see the damage to her face and immediately knew that she was another one of Jonas's victims, but at least she had survived. Even just one survivor was a massive win in the paybook of any first responder.
"Skye?!" North recognized the deviant immediately and wrapped her arms around Skye in a tight hug. The recognition hit her like a ton of bricks and with it came a welling of her blossoming emotions. "You're alive!"
"North!" Skye reciprocated the hug readily and didn't want to let go. "You escaped, too! Thank, RA9... I had no idea what happened to you."
"It's a long story, I'll tell you later." Turning to peer over her shoulder North nodded at Hank and let him know it was okay to step closer. "Lieutenant, she's hurt and she's going to need some help."
"It'll be okay. We'll get everyone out of here soon enough." Hank stated as he showed Skye his badge to reassure the deviant that he wasn't a threat to her or anyone else. "Lieutenant Hank Anderson. How many are with you? Where's Connor?"
"Th-There's six of us total. We're all damaged." Skye replied honestly and broke away from North's hug as she motioned to the group of deviants still huddled together just a few feet away down the small incline. The fallen log was creating a natural barrier to help them stay hidden. "Connor's with us."
"Thank fuck... Where is he?" Hank asked as North and Curtis walked down the incline to check on the other deviants. "I don't see him."
"He went to check out a small cabin just a few more yards away." Despite her fear of humans Skye had a good feeling about Hank and knew that Connor's trust in the man hadn't been misplaced. "He... He never came back out and told us to stay put."
"Shit." Rushing down the incline after North and Curtis, the senior detective scoped out the area and spotted the decrepit cabin that Skye had mentioned nestled between two large pine trees. The sight of the dilapidated building made Hank's stomach sink. "Connor?"
Curtis knelt down in front of Cassie and pulled his portable radio from the back of his belt to request assistance at their coordinates as he assessed her overall condition. North spoke with Skye and with Cassie to gain as much information as possible regarding the horrific crimes that the deviants had endured while in Jonas's captivity. The deviants had been located and would be taken back to Detroit for proper treatment soon enough.
While the deviants were being tended to Hank stepped over the buried bodies of the deviants in the dirt outside the cabin with the knot in his stomach tightening with each step. As he made his way inside the cabin to look around, he felt truly sick at the sight of the numerous bodies and jars of blood strewn about the interior of the dark cabin.
"Connor?"
Hank called again as he looked around quickly, looking for any sign of his partner. His eyes fell onto the trembling form of a collapsed android laying just a few feet away and immediately recognized them as soon as he saw their face. Every fiber of Hank's being was screaming at him to do something and do it fast.
Kneeling down beside Connor's body Hank rolled the deviant over from stomach onto his side as he looked down at Connor's blank, unconscious face. Pressing his fingertips against the side of Connor's neck Hank was relieved to feel a pulse thrumming under his touch but was alarmed by the intense heat radiating from Connor's overheated skin.
"Connor? Wake up."
Rolling Connor all the way over onto his back Hank saw the bloody hole in Connor's abdomen through his partially unbuttoned white dress shirt and winced sympathetically. Resting his palm over the deviant's forehead lightly Hank could only stare down at Connor with a loss as to how to help him recover from his horrific wounds.
"Oh, shit... Son, I'm right here, it's going to be okay."
North had heard Hank's shouting from within the cabin and joined him inside the bleak building to assist. Kneeling down beside Hank on the other side of Connor she put her hand on Connor's arm and saw the same bloody wound in his abdomen and her breath hitched in her throat.
"North, he feels like he's burning up."
"Thermal regulator." North realized the source of the wound and knew what she needed to do to save Connor's life. "Do you still have that biocomponent that I gave to you earlier?"
"Right here." Hank nodded and pulled the necessary biocomponent from his coat pocket. He practically shoved the device into North's hands as he waited for her to do whatever she could to save Connor's life. "Do what you have to do."
Peeling back the white and Thirium stained fabric of Connor's shirt over the downed deviant's abdomen, North wiped the remaining soot and ash from the sides of the biocomponent off onto her own shirt and then placed the biocomponent down into the opened coupling in Connor's abdomen and lined it up properly. With a simple push she returned the thermal regulator back to its rightful place in Connor's body expertly and twisted it once clockwise to lock it into place.
Expectedly Connor groaned in pain and his body jerked slightly as his system recognized the biocomponent and began to recalibrate the thermal regulator accordingly while simultaneously booting up Connor's self-healing program to repair the damage the regulator had sustained. As the deviant's L.E.D. continued to flicker in red it was flickering slower as his racing heart began to calm to a much steadier beat.
"Connor?" Hank put his palm under Connor's head to lift him upright slightly and support his weight. The deviant remained completely unresponsive and unconscious while his body still trembled from weakness and the high core temperature affecting his other systems. "Don't worry, son. I got you."
"Curtis already radioed for help." North informed somberly as she looked down at Connor's face with her own unspoken worry. "We'll get everyone to safety."
"Well, I'm not going to let Connor lay in this Hellhole." Ignoring his still healing chest wound Hank took hold of Connor's arm to pull the deviant into an upright sitting position before bending down and pulling Connor up and over his shoulder. Standing upright carefully with Connor's limp body over his shoulders in a fireman's carry position, Hank stepped out of the cabin and back outside to where the other deviants were waiting. "Let's get the fuck outta' here."
North quickly followed after the senior detective, readily willing to escape the house of death that Connor had uncovered in the forest. Seeing so much death and carnage had been enough to prompt North to leave without a single protest.
"Over here!" From where he was standing, Curtis waved over the other firefighters who were carrying stretchers in their hands to the group to assist the wounded deviants as much as possible. Noticing Hank with the deviant that he presumed to be Connor over his shoulders Curtis gave Hank a respectful nod. "You take care of him, and I'll take care of them."
"You're sure?"
"Yeah. Look, I know that Canadian laws haven't exactly been all that charitable toward androids and deviants, but these men are my brothers." Motioning to the firefighters around him Curtis vouched for their character. "They'll help me give these deviants temporary shelter until they're all strong enough to make it back to Detroit and into New Jericho Tower where they can finally live in peace."
"Uh..." Hank looked over to North and waited for her opinion on the matter. "It's up to you, you're in charge."
North crossed her arms over her chest and looked over at Skye and Cassie. Two firefighters had gently placed Cassie down on a stretcher and were preparing to carry her out of the forest after draping a warm blanket over her in a comforting manner before locking eyes with Curtis.
"...You swear that you'll help them return to Detroit?"
"I promise." Curtis stated honestly without any sign of deceit in his kind eyes. "I'll ask Rose to help me out."
"Okay. I'm willing to give you a chance."
"Thanks. Now, you three should get back over the border to safety. We'll make sure Jonas suffers the maximum penalty for his crimes here in Canada, and then over in America as well. We need to send a message that this type of hatred will not go unpunished."
"That's all I ask." Hank replied firmly as he began walking back toward his car parked in the distance just beyond the forest line. Connor remained unconscious and limp over his shoulders as he walked carefully through the forest back to the cabin's property. "Come on, North. Let's go home."
"I'm right beside you." North noted the red L.E.D. in Connor's temple and sighed at the grim sight. "The sooner we're back in the city, the better it'll be for everyone."
Quiet and patiently North sat in the backseat of the old car while Hank drove back to the border now that their rescue mission had proven successful. Connor was laying on his side across the backseat, his unconscious head resting atop his folded up blazer placed over North's lap. While North absentmindedly ran her fingers through Connor's dark hair, the fiery deviant leader just stared blankly out the small window beside her as hundreds of different thoughts plagued her mind. The car neared the Canadian border and the city skyline for Detroit came into view. At such a sight North's palm came to a rest over Connor's glowing L.E.D. in his temple to keep it hidden from sight from the patrolling border guards.
The car's windows were all rolled down and the air conditioner was on full blast despite the already relatively cool spring evening. It was all Hank could do to try to help Connor cool off quickly and keep his core temperature from rising any higher than it already was. Hank looked at Connor and North in the reflection of the rearview mirror as he approached the border to return home. Seeing the look of distress on North's face ached at his heart as much as the blank, emotionless expression on Connor's face had done.
"How's he doing?"
"Not great." Putting her hand over Connor's forehead for a moment North noted his core temperature and sighed. "He's still overheating at one-hundred and two point six degrees Fahrenheit."
"Damn." Not thrilled with that high number Hank forced himself to focus on the only positive of their current situation as he pointed the car vents toward the backseats as much as possible. "At least he's still alive."
North fell silent as the car pulled up to the border and the patrol checked out the vehicle. Peering inside the windows the guards eyed the three occupants and compared them to the three provided passports. Being nodded through the gate North let out the breath she didn't know she was holding and her shoulders slumped with relief.
"Almost home." Hank stated as he took back the three passports from the border patrol guard. "Easy does it."
As the car passed over the border back into the United States and away from the anti-android country, North moved her palm from Connor's L.E.D. and resumed fussing with his hair in what she hoped was a comforting manner.
"I've already made contact with Josh back at New Jericho Tower." North stated in a low voice. "I asked him to meet us outside with Lucas, but he didn't tell Lucas why or what we went through. It'd just make him worry."
"Good. I want to explain things to Lucas myself." Hank admitted with a twinge of guilt to his voice. "I owe him that much for not letting him know that Connor was even in danger."
"I don't think Lucas will hold a grudge, but he will be worried nonetheless."
"And that's precisely what I want to avoid. I'm still workin' on letting people back into my life instead of pushing them away all the time."
The sun was beginning to set deeper into the horizon, and the horrible day was finally coming to a close. Hank paced about slowly outside the parked car as he spoke to Captain Fowler on his phone while Lucas awkwardly knelt inside the backseat of the Oldsmobile to give Connor a quick examination. North was still holding Connor's head on her lap with her hand still gently messing with his hair as she waited for Lucas to finish his assessment and move him about carefully. Josh himself was standing outside the car with his arms crossed nervously over his chest as he waited for an update on Connor's condition as well. The least aggressive of the deviant leaders wanted to be aware of as much of the situation as possible to give Markus an update later on.
What seemed like an eternity had passed by before Lucas finally finished his assessment on Connor's condition. The deviant detective would need time to recover, but he would fully recover all the same. It seemed Connor had lucked out of permanent harm yet again.
"He's stable." Pulling his hand away from Connor's bloody torso, Lucas was unable to regenerate the artificial skin over the damaged area on Connor's abdomen and placed protective bandages over the wound to keep it covered before he climbed out of the car. "His core temperature is still high but it is declining steadily. The damage to the thermal regulator was insignificant compared to how it could've been considering the extreme conditions to which he had been exposed."
"So he'll recover." North visibly relaxed in her seat and looked down at Connor's blank face. "That's good."
"Yes. He just needs to rest." Lucas confirmed with a light tone to his voice as he finished the initial examination. "He can do that at the house."
"All right, that's one problem solved."
Gingerly North lifted up Connor's head from her lap as she opened the driver's side door and slipped out of the backseat without jostling Connor in the process. Carefully she placed Connor's head back down on the backseat atop his blazer where she had been sitting and closed the door behind her.
"I need to speak to Rose." North announced loudly as she stepped away from the car and headed back toward the tower. "The other deviants still require safe passage to New Jericho, and we need to make sure they make when it's safe for them to move."
Josh nodded and joined her inside the tower leaving Hank, Connor and Lucas alone outside. He'd learn of everything he needed from North herself and then from Lucas later on. For now, it was best to let Lucas be alone with his family.
Lucas closed the passenger door to the backseat of the car and walked around the other side to speak to Hank as the senior detective ended his call.
"Hank?"
"Yeah?" Hank turned to look at the deviant technician with a soft expression on his face. "Is Connor okay?"
"He's recovering well, he just needs more rest." Struggling to find his words Lucas addressed Hank in a timid tone. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure. What's on your mind?"
"Why didn't you take me to find Connor?" There was a palpable hurt in Lucas's words as he forced himself to ask the awkward question. "Why choose North?"
"Oh, that." Hank smiled a little as he put his hand on Lucas's shoulder. "Because you don't have much experience with humans, let alone police matters. Not to mention the fact that as Connor's little brother, and a rare model of android yourself, your life would've been in incredible danger as well. I couldn't let you risk your life while trying to save him."
Lucas seemed to understand but the look on his face told a different story.
"You don't believe me, do you?"
"It's just... Sometimes I think that the only one who actually trusts me is Connor, and he's the only one who-"
"Hey." Hank's grip on Lucas's shoulder tightened a little as he gave the unsettled technician a light shake. "You're trusted by everyone here. You're the lead technician which means everyone has faith that you can keep everyone alive. Markus and Simon left you here with North and Josh, which also means that they know you're not a threat to anyone and, more importantly, Connor considers you his little brother. That means he trusts you with his life. Okay?"
"...Okay." Unconvinced Lucas just replied in a low voice. "If that's what you expect me to believe."
"I'll make you a deal." The way Lucas sounded absolutely disappointed and hurt drove Hank to keep trying to help Lucas understand that he was trusted and that he didn't have any reason to fear otherwise. "Next time I need some help beyond anything Connor can do, I'll contact you first."
"Are you certain?" Such an arrangement actually made Lucas's green eyes light up with hope. "Do you promise?"
"Absolutely."
"Thank you." Pointing back to the car where Connor was still laying over the backseats Lucas gave Hank some details on his condition. "The thermal regulator will repair itself in time, but until then he's going to need cooling measures to keep his core temperature from rising again. He should regain consciousness by tomorrow morning, and I estimate that will be around eight o'clock."
"Thanks." Hank took his hand from Lucas's shoulder and extended it to shake instead. "I'll call you if something happens."
"I know." Lucas reciprocated the handshake as a sign of good faith toward the senior detective. "As soon as the other deviants arrive at New Jericho, we'll let you know so you can take their statements against Jonas."
"The more the merrier... I want to watch that asshole burn in Hell for what he did."
"From what I've been told, I believe that particular feeling is mutual throughout the tower. I also suspect that one way or another, Jonas will suffer for the atrocities that he has committed."
The sun had set entirely, and night fell over the city.
It wasn't too much of a struggle for Hank to carry Connor inside the house once he had returned home but carrying him over his shoulder while also trying to step around Sumo - who was excitedly trying to get Connor's attention despite the deviant being unconscious - was a whole other endeavor. After gently laying Connor down over the deviant's soft bed to rest and heal, Hank went into the bathroom across the hallway to take care of matters. It wasn't much of an effort for Hank to fall back into paternal mode when it came to helping Connor recover from illness and injuries, but even so the natural instinct still filled him with emotional pain at the idea of needing to take care of a sick kid, or in Hank's case, an adult android who kept getting himself into trouble like a kid.
Connor remained asleep in the comfort of his own bedroom without a single memory of being rescued. The deviant detective was safe, Skye had been reunited with a friend, the other deviants were being given proper care and shelter until they could be escorted back to Detroit, and Martin Jonas was going to spend the rest of his miserable life rotting away in a prison cell. All in all, everything turned out for the best for everyone.
"I hate taking care of fevers."
Placing a clean washcloth under the cold tap in the sink Hank let the fabric soak through with the water before he turned off the faucet. Wringing out the excess water from the washcloth Hank folded it neatly and thought about other worse case scenarios.
"But I suppose it's a Hell of a lot better than going to a funeral."
Returning to Connor's bedroom Hank placed the cool, damp washcloth over the deviant's forehead as if treating a human's fever and left him alone to rest in the peaceful quiet of the dark bedroom. It wasn't long until Sumo jumped up on to the bed and curled up at Connor's ankles to keep him company.
"Get some rest, son. You deserve it."
Every twenty minutes or so Hank found himself wandering back into Connor's bedroom to check on his recovering partner - his surrogate son - and gauge his temperature by pressing the back of his hand against the side of Connor's face lightly. It was a slow process, but Connor's core temperature was beginning to drop down to a normal, safe degree.
The Lieutenant's phone was active with calls and texts from Captain Fowler, North, Lucas and Rose all evening long. Hank hated dealing with intrusive phone calls, but they did provide him with enough of a distraction to not stress himself out while taking care of Connor. Being kept up to date also ensured that the investigation was progressing smoothly and that Jonas was going to stand trial for his numerous crimes.
"I just got a call from North."
Hank stated openly as he watched the L.E.D. in Connor's temple shift from red back to yellow as his system finally reached a more optimal temperature.
"The deviants you saved are staying with Rose's brother in Ontario until they heal, and then he can get them across the border and to New Jericho Tower. They all made it out alive because of you."
Sitting down on the edge of the bed Hank stared at the deviant's sleeping face and patted his chest twice in a reassuring manner.
"You did good son, and that Jonas freak is going to be charged with kidnapping, assault, murder, possession of illegal goods, improper disposal of chemicals, improper disposal of bodies AND he'll be charged with assaulting an officer of the law on top of everything. Plus, a shitload of other charges that I don't have time to list."
Following his paternal instincts Hank brushed the rogue lock of hair from Connor's face as he spoke to his partner with absolute pride in his voice.
"Jonas is going to rot behind bars for the rest of his worthless life and countless other deviants are going to get their chance to live their own lives without fear of being abducted by that sick-fuck."
Lifting up the washcloth from Connor's forehead Hank pressed his palm down again check the deviant's fever and found that it was nearly gone.
"And it looks like you're going to be just fine, too."
Curious about the wound in Connor's abdomen Hank peeled back the fabric of the white shirt and lifted up the white bandages with a delicate touch. The artificial skin still hadn't fully regenerated, but the wound was no longer bleeding and the crucial biocomponent was still functioning. The new wound was only a few inches below the scar in Connor's chest marking where the deviant had been stabbed a few months prior. Such a scar was sure to linger for the remainder of Connor's life and remind the deviant every day of how fragile his own existence truly was.
"Ha-" Connor's soulful brown eyes slightly opened at the sound of Hank's familiar voice. Looking up at Hank the deviant managed a weak grin as he found his voice and tried to speak. "...Hank? Are you here?"
"Yeah, I'm right here." Hank smiled as Connor finally regained consciousness and locked on to his face. Replacing the bandages Hank put his hand to Connor's shoulder and gave him a comforting squeeze. "It's me, son."
"...You," pausing for a moment Connor took in a slow breath and tried to focus his thoughts. "You found me."
"Yeah. I had some help from North, a new friend over the border, and the other deviants you rescued, but I still found you." Lightly Hank put his palm on Connor's hair and gave the deviant a reassuring grin. "Fowler may not like what I did, but it was necessary and effective all the same. You're going to be just fine."
"Thank you." Connor's eyes slowly closed again as he fell back into his deep rest mode with immense relief now plastered on his face. "...I knew that you'd save me."
-next chapter-
