The chilly day had started out rather rough. A rogue deviant who had been using a knife to attack and threaten other deviants, as well as random humans throughout the city, had been accused of murdering an innocent human woman who was out walking her dog in the park earlier that same morning. Due to the deviant nature of the case, both Connor and Hank had been assigned to work the reported investigation. The duo had tracked the dangerous deviant down to the busy train station in Ferndale where he was trying to blend into the crowd of his fellow deviants and the unaware humans in an attempt to escape from the police before he could be apprehended and charged for his crimes.

The moment the dangerous deviant took notice of the police roaming the area he panicked and made a run for it. Shoving his way through the dense crowd of oblivious onlookers, the deviant was at risk of eluding the police and evading justice.

"Stop!" Connor shouted with authority in his voice as he easily isolated the dangerous deviant from the rest of the crowd. "Detroit Police!"

The wanted deviant glared angrily at Connor as he pushed his way through the mass of people and leapt onto the elevated concrete tracks of the train in a desperate bid to flee from the pursuing detective. Without missing a beat Connor also cut through the crowd and leapt onto the tracks as he chased after the deviant along the tracks at a dangerously quick speed over the busy streets twenty feet below.

Meanwhile, Hank was driving along street below the tracks and was keeping track of the chase from his position as he radioed in the pursuit to dispatch.

"Holy shit!" The Lieutenant craned his neck a little as he watched Connor catching up to the deviant along the lengthy concrete tracks above. "What the fuck is he thinking?!"

"STOP."

Connor demanded again as he reached out and grabbed on to the deviant's shoulder from behind. Pulling back hard he managed to stop the deviant in his tracks, only to have the deviant turn around wildly and swing his knife at Connor in response. Grabbing onto the aggressive deviant's arm instead, Connor planted his feet firmly to keep the blade from cutting into his body as he restrained the weapon back and away from himself.

"DROP THE KNIFE. NOW!"

Seeing the struggle now taking place high above Hank stopped the car beneath the tracks and looked up at the two androids fighting for the knife almost twenty feet above him. The two deviants were standing atop the tracks over a concrete support column right between two streets and were standing precariously close to the edge. Grabbing his radio that he kept in his coat pocket Hank reported the incident and updated their exact location as he requested immediate back-up.

"This your last chance!" Connor warned as he easily held the deviant in place. "Drop the knife!"

"Fuck off!" The deviant wasn't going to be cooperative or go down easily. "That bitch deserved it!"

Connor had no choice but to break the deviant's wrist in order to make him let go of the knife, and in the process the deviant's leg buckled from the sudden pain. As the deviant fell downward, he lost his footing and grabbed Connor's arms to try to stop his own fall. As the deviant slipped over the edge of the track he pulled Connor down along with him, and the two slid over the edge of the tracks together as the knife fell away and clattered onto the asphalt far below. Had Connor not reacted quickly, then the fleeing deviant would've fallen to his immediate death. Luckily, Connor had managed to grab his wrist and hold tight as his opposite hand latched onto the edge of the track from which they had fallen.

"Connor!?" Hank shouted upward as he watched Connor and the deviant hanging onto the edge of the concrete track by Connor's one hand. The two deviants hung perilously high up over the street with only Connor's single hand keeping them both from a horrible end. "Hold on! Help's coming!"

Connor's yellow L.E.D. flashed to red rapidly and his heart began thundering in his chest from a mixture of fear and sudden dizziness as the sudden drop affected his gyroscope. Hanging onto the track as tightly as he could for dear life, Connor looked down at the street so far below himself and saw Hank standing beneath the tracks watching everything happen.

"H-Hank?" Connor whispered fearfully as he felt the concrete tracks beginning to rumble as a train began barreling down the track at a frightening speed in his direction. The deviant detective's options to remedy his current plight were painfully limited. "I... I can't m-move."

The deviant suspect managed to frantically swing his legs up and over the top of the track as he used his uninjured hand to pull himself back up over the edge and onto the tracks once again. Clumsily, the deviant clawed and kicked as he tried to get back up onto the track and onto his feet as he again attempted to get away from the two detectives still trying to arrest him.

Approaching at a dangerously high speed, the train showed no sign of stopping as the two deviants struggled along the tracks helplessly. The loud, blaring train horn did nothing to persuade the deviant suspect into climbing down, and Connor couldn't seem to regain his bearings in time to respond to the warning. It seemed the train couldn't stop itself and it clearly couldn't swerve out of the way of the two trapped deviants.

"GET OUT OF THERE!" Hank yelled desperately to his son as he watched the train racing toward him at a lethal speed. "CLIMB DOWN."

Connor's eyes went wide as he felt the track shaking more and more violently as the train charged at him swiftly. He was absolutely terrified and for the first time in his life he didn't know how to react. He was frozen in place.

"CONNOR!" Hank shouted again, this time with more force in his voice. "USE THE LADDER AND CLIMB DOWN, NOW! MOVE YOUR ASS!"

With wide eyes and a hoarse voice, Connor barely registered Hank shouting up at him. "...H-Hank?"

"GET. DOWN. NOW!" The senior detective repeated in a stern voice. "THAT'S AN ORDER! GET DOWN."

Something about being 'ordered' to respond was enough to pull Connor back to his senses. Looking around himself Connor quickly spotted the metal ladder that was mounted to the side of the concrete pillar just a few inches from his grip and preconstructed his escape. Reaching his free, trembling hand out to the ladder Connor took a firm grip on the metal rung and forced his other hand to let go of the concrete track as he swung his body over onto the ladder entirely, then slipped down and away from the surface of the track finally out of harm's way.

Hank could see Connor shaking from fear as both of his hands gripped the metal rungs of the ladder like a vice while he planted his feet firmly on a second rung at the length of his legs. Too shaken to move, Connor held onto the ladder like the literal lifeline it had become.

As Connor slipped himself out of immediate danger of the oncoming train, the fleeing deviant murderer had gotten back to his feet and turned around just in time as the train screamed down the track and smashed right into him. A splash of blue blood rained down over the tracks and speckled Connor's face, hair, hands and shoulders while a few stray drops fell downward over the windshield of Hank's car. The sound of plastimetal breaking, glass shattering, and crunching metal filled the air as the autonomous train came to a slow, screeching stop as the emergency brakes finally kicked in.

Despite the suspect's attempts to flee, he had ultimately failed. The deviant had been struck and killed by the train upon impact. Such an ending would be considered justice considering his previous actions and behavior.

Hank reported the collision to dispatch as he approached the pillar and stood beside the bottom of ladder where Connor was still hanging on for his life. Once the radio was put aside the Lieutenant focused on getting Connor down and away from the train tracks again.

"Connor?" As emergency crews encroached on the accident Hank returned his full focus to his son to check in on him and make sure he was okay. "Climb down."

"I... I can't." Connor's eyes were shut tight and his L.E.D. was cycling red rapidly. The destroyed deviant's blue blood dripped down his face and clung to his messy hair over his forehead and eyes. "I can't move."

"Yes you can. Climb down." From where he was standing Hank saw that Connor wasn't going to budge and decided that he needed to use the 'dad voice' to get him to respond. "Connor. Get down here, right now. You'll be okay. Use the ladder and climb down."

Nodding frantically Connor pulled his shaking left hand from the rung and placed it on the rung just below it. Repeating the action with his right hand, and then with his feet in a slow rhythm, Connor gradually began descending the ladder back down to the safety of the ground below.

"That's it..." Hank encouraged kindly as he watched the shaken deviant timidly climb down the ladder. "Just a little more, you're almost on the ground."

As soon as the deviant was within reach, Hank put his hand against Connor's back to support him as he finished the last of the climb and all but collapsed to the ground on his hands and knees. Connor was trembling with fear and staring with wide eyes at the asphalt under his palms as if he didn't believe he had safely reached the ground.

"It's okay, kid. You're okay."

"H-Hank..." Connor's voice was shaking as much as the rest of his body. "I th-think I'm afraid of h-heights."

"Yeah?" Almost laughing Hank patted his hand along Connor's back lightly to try to help him feel better. "No shit."

"H-How do I make it s-stop?"

"Like any other fear, you have to face it."

Connor nodded again as Hank took hold of his bicep and hoisted him back up to his feet.

"You need to get cleaned up and we need to get back to the precinct to file our report." Examining Connor's face Hank resisted the urge to drag his palm over the deviant's forehead to remove the bloodied hair from his eyes and just sighed instead. "I get the feeling Fowler's going to get pissed about the bill for the damage to the train."

"Wh-What about the deviant?" Connor asked in a slightly more stable voice as he fought to stop trembling where he stood. "Did he survive?"

"No." Hank shook his head as he kept his hand against Connor's back while he guided the frightened deviant over to the car. "But there was nothing you could do to save him. He was insane, he was dangerous, and he tried to kill you. Don't feel bad about him getting himself killed."

"I'll try to remember that."

"Connor, it's over." Pulling open the passenger side door of the Oldsmobile Hank guided Connor down to his seat and gave the deviant's shoulder one final reassuring pat before he shut the door. "You're going to be okay. You ARE okay."

"...Right." Still trembling Connor looked at his visually shaking hands and clenched them into tight fists to rest atop his lap. "I'm okay."


A swift shower and change of clothes had been beneficial for the stressed deviant detective. Still a little shaken by his near-death experience, Connor sat at his terminal with his coin dancing rather gracelessly over his knuckles as he stared at the screen while finishing up his report on the day's previous incident. His L.E.D. had shifted from red to yellow as he was able to calm down a little after returning to the precinct, but he was still wary from the uncomfortably close call on the train track. It was the first time that Connor felt as though he had truly been useless in an emergency situation after he had failed to react thanks solely to an unexpected fearful response to being up high over the street. The incident just wouldn't leave his mind alone.

Discreetly Hank was watching Connor carefully from the community breakroom as he poured himself a cup of coffee, and he could see the fear still gripping Connor's mind. Trying to explain fear and phobia wasn't exactly something he had very little experience with but discussing it in general was still a tad awkward.

"Hey, Lieutenant." Chris greeted as he helped himself to a cup of coffee as well and made small talk. The younger officer, like the rest of the bullpen, knew of the incident on the tracks and was curious about the aftermath. "Heard about the deviant on the tracks. How's Connor holding up?"

"Terrified." Fussing with the sweetener in his coffee Hank kept his voice low as he spoke. "Wish I knew why."

"Terrified about almost getting killed?"

"No." Hank gave Chris a slightly annoyed glance but answered sincerely. "About heights. He's never been afraid before, but when he saw how high up he was on that track, it was like he was a completely different person."

"Weird. I didn't know androids could have phobias."

"I don't think they could either." Hank sipped at the coffee and grimaced at the still bitter taste before adding a little more sugar. Normally he liked his coffee super sweet, but he had been trying to cut down on the sugar at Connor's request and wanted to humor the deviant after such a rough case. "I'm going to try to see what's up with him later."

"Maybe he had a bad interaction at a high place before he became deviant." Chris suggested in a logical and casual manner. The younger officer had been reading about emotional stress and mental exhaustion ever since his own close call with deviants just two days before the Revolution. "Maybe being up on the high track today uncovered a fear that he hadn't been able to feel before, and he ended up getting overwhelmed in the process."

"That's... That's actually a pretty good theory. Makes sense too." Hank finished off his poorly sweetened coffee and placed the now empty mug down in the community kitchen to be washed later. "I'll see if that's it. See ya' around, Chris. Thanks for the suggestion."

"Yeah, see ya'."

Hank walked back over to the desks that he and Connor shared and put his hand to the deviant's shoulder to silently get his attention. As soon as Hank's palm made contact with his shoulder Connor jumped and dropped the quarter that he had been so delicately balancing while his yellow L.E.D. cycled back to red in a startled response.

"Easy, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." Sincerely Hank apologized as he stood beside Connor's desk and crossed his arms over his chest to closely study the deviant's reaction. "You okay?"

"...F-Fine." Connor lied as he bent down to pick up his dropped quarter from the floor and placed it back inside his blazer pocket to be forgotten. "I'm just fine."

"Connor," once more Hank found himself using the 'dad voice' and it caught Connor's full attention, causing Connor to turn and lock eyes with the senior detective standing beside him. "don't lie to me. I know you too well for you to be trying to pull that shit on me anymore. What's wrong?"

"I'm... distracted." Realizing there was no point in denying his emotions Connor's L.E.D. transitioned from red back to yellow as he leaned back in his chair. "I can't get what happened this morning out of my mind. The sudden acrophobia was very unsettling."

"'Acrophobia', huh? So that's what it's called." Running his hand over his bearded chin Hank remained by the deviant to try to help him find a way to deal with his previous experience. "Any idea why it suddenly hit you? I mean, you pulled my sorry ass back up over the edge of a rooftop without batting an eye back when we first met. What's changed?"

"I'm uncertain."

"Could this have something to do with your deviancy?"

"Unknown."

"Well, try to think. Did you have a rough experience somewhere high up before you became a deviant?"

"Are you referring to a possibly repressed memory?"

"You tell me. I have no clue how android memories work in comparison to human memories."

Connor closed his eyes as he ran a check through his memorybank in an attempt to isolate any possible experiences from his past as a machine regarding heights or dangerous scenarios that were near high places. Nothing immediately made itself prevalent, but there seemed to be something in the very back of his mind that felt unusual. Something he couldn't quite explain.

"Well?" Hank asked impatiently as he watched Connor's yellow L.E.D. cycling yellow slowly in his right temple. "Anything pop up?"

"...I can't pinpoint any particular incident, but it's possible that the memory in question had been repressed, or even intentionally corrupted, by CyberLife."

"Is there any way you can get it back?"

"Unlikely." With a slight shake of his head Connor gave Hank a somber glance. "I need to know the exact memory that was affected before I can begin any type of recovery."

"How do we do that?"

The corner of Connor's lip twitched a little before he responded honestly. "I need to see a technician and allow them full access to my memory."

"If it's that simple, then why didn't you do that after you became deviant? You know, make sure CyberLife didn't plant any fake memories or some other bullshit in your programming at the last minute just to fuck with you."

"Because it would require me allowing someone access to my full memory. Would you allow someone you don't know access to every memory and secret in your brain?"

"Okay, I get it. Fair point." The senior detective shrugged his shoulders a little as he offered a slightly more appealing option. "What if you went to the Zeta Facility and let Abby check over your memory? She's a friend and I know you can trust her."

"She doesn't have the proper equipment at a standard Android Emergency Care Facility, and I'd rather not spend time in New Jericho Tower allowing my memory to be examined as it might be unsettling for myself and my allies. The other deviants in the tower are still wary of me, and they may misinterpret the situation as a possible threat to the tower if they knew that the infamous 'Deviant Hunter' is experiencing... glitches."

Not touching the subject of New Jericho's mistrust Hank remained focused on accessing Connor's memories. "Well, what about Joel?"

"Joel?" Connor thought about it for a moment before he made his decision. "...Dr. Forrest would have the equipment to gain full access to my memory and would be able to note any discrepancies from my current record of events with my memorybank. He'd even be able to locate any files that had been tampered with."

"Come on, then. Let's go pay him a visit."

"But we-"

"No way. You already have a history with nightmares." Hank wisely interrupted Connor before he had the chance to protest. "I'm not going to let you freak yourself out again over something that can be taken care of before shit gets really out of hand."

"Shouldn't we at least wait until the end of our shift?"

"Nope. I'm not letting you back out into the field until we know what the hell is happening with you."

"I'll be fine."

"Uh-huh. What if I tell Fowler about your little phobia thing?"

"...Very well." Not wanting to have to deal with a negative mark in his record, the deviant detective accepted defeat and rose from his chair. Straightening the lapels over his gray blazer, Connor agreed to go up to the second-floor dispensary and followed after Hank through the bullpen and down the corridor to the elevator. "Let's go see Dr. Forrest."


In the quiet of the isolated dispensary Connor sat on the exam table while Joel initiated a basic memory diagnostic program on his laptop at the desk on the other side of the room. The program was designed to gain access to android memory banks while also isolating corrupted or blocked memories from the memorybank to either be deleted, updated or corrected at a later date in time. The program had also proven itself somewhat therapeutic for deviants who had suffered physical damage to their memory banks before and during the Revolution, as their emotional responses prompted through their deviancy were often connected to said memories in general. It was a healthy albeit complex way to restore corrupted memories.

Keeping an eye on his partner Hank stood with his back against the corner of the room as he watched the little display get underway. It's not like he knew enough about android physiology or programming to be of much use anyway. Being a casual observer, Hank just waited and watched as Connor endured the impromptu examination.

"Okay, Connor. This is a simple test." Joel stated as he rolled over to the exam table in his desk chair and attached a sensor pad to Connor's yellow tinted L.E.D. without any issues. The sensor was attached to a long intertwining mass of multicolored cables that connected the sensor directly to the laptop itself as it sat on Joel's desk. "When I give you the cue, run a memory diagnostic and I'll be able to check which of your memory files have been affected by... whatever it is that's affecting them."

Connor's fingers curiously pressed against the sensor pad against his right temple as he gave Joel an uncertain glance from where he sat. "Will this take long?"

"Nah. Your advanced programming allows for easy access to your files." Joel replied casually as he rolled back to his desk and typed a few commands into his laptop's keyboard to note Connor's vitals and bring up his previous precinct file detailing his health. After initiating the program, he gave Connor a slight nod. "Okay, run your memory diagnostic."

Once more Connor closed his eyes and ran the appropriate diagnostic on his memory bank. There was a single odd file of corruption that appeared on the terminal screen, and what was stranger than the single file being corrupted was that the corruption wasn't just to the memory, but to the details logging the memory to begin with.

"...I think I found the problem." Ever laidback Joel's voice sounded calm and reassuring. "The memory isn't just corrupted; it's been altered by a third party."

"Altered?" Connor's brow furrowed slightly at the revelation and opened his eyes. "By whom or what?"

"CyberLife." Hank spoke up suddenly as he walked up to the table behind Connor. "Ten bucks says that whatever is in that memory is something they didn't want you to remember because of some bullshit about you needing to stay focused on your mission."

Joel was inclined to agree. "Seems about right. The only people who'd have the ability to interfere with his memorybank are the very technicians who designed them to begin with."

Connor gently pulled the sensor pad from his still yellow L.E.D. and let the cable fall to the floor without a car. "Can you do anything to undo their interference?"

"It's possible, but it's a little unorthodox and still somewhat controversial."

"Unorthodox and controversial how?" Connor asked as he studied Joel's face carefully. "Deviancy isn't exactly normal in itself."

"Connor," the technician gave the deviant a curious glance. "are you familiar with hypnosis?"

"Yes. Hypnosis is a state of human consciousness involving focused attention and reduced peripheral awareness and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion." Reciting the exact definition of 'hypnosis' Connor gave a clinical answer and sounded briefly more machine than deviant in that moment. "A person is said to have heightened focus and concentration allowing said person to concentrate intensely on a specific thought or memory while blocking out all other outside sources of distraction."

"Right." Joel confirmed with a simple nod. "And it's been theorized that such a state can be achieved by deviants while under the correct set of circumstances."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa..." Hank was having a hard time believing what Joel was suggesting, and as usual, he was having a difficult time accepting something that outlandish. "You really think you can hypnotize a machine?" Turning to look at the deviant beside him Hank held up a hand as casually as possible as if to surrender in a nonchalant manner. "No offense, Connor. But you are still by pure definition a machine even though you're alive."

The deviant easily brushed off the remark as if it was absolutely nothing. "No offense taken."

"He's not a human with an impressionable mind, you know?"

Joel again nodded as he fully understood what Hank was referring to.

"I'm very aware, Lieutenant, it's part of my training as a technician after all. Like I said, this is an unorthodox approach and still theoretical, but Connor is an ideal candidate for this particular procedure."

"Is it safe?"

"Very. Like humans who've undergone hypnosis, the side effects are limited to lethargy, confusion and mild headaches. Nothing he can't handle."

"It's your decision, kid." Once more Hank ran a hand over his bearded chin as he stared at the deviant at a loss of what he should do. Not entirely convinced it'd work, Hank remained a casual observer. "Do you want to do it?"

Connor paused for a moment to think about his options and decided it'd be best to at least try hypnosis.

"We should attempt to undergo the procedure. I won't be harmed, and it's important to know what has happened to my memory banks."

Once more Joel rolled over to the exam table and stood up slowly to begin the procedure.

"Okay, it's very simple. First thing I want to do is monitor your vitals so I can gauge how deeply your mind has gone during the procedure. It's the best way to ensure you're in a deep enough trance to allow us access to the memory by overriding the code that's keeping the memory locked up."

"I understand."

"Good. Open up your shirt and roll up your sleeve." Rolling the Thirial activity monitor over to the side of the table, Joel turned it on and picked up the two sensor pads attached to the end of the cable. "Just focus on your breathing and I need you to lay back over the table." Attaching the sensor pads directly on Connor's chest to monitor Connor's heart, Joel proceeded to then wrap a Thirium pressure cuff around the deviant's now exposed left bicep. "Close your eyes."

Connor took in a deep breath as he shifted his position to lay back flat over the exam table as instructed. As he closed his eyes Connor began to relax a little but remained perfectly conscious to the world around him as the pressure cuff automatically tightened and gave a reading on his current Thirium pressure.

"Good. Now, I need you to turn off all of your processors except for the vital programs. Turn off your scanner, your analysis program, your 'Mind Palace', your self-diagnostic program, your self-healing program... Everything except for your biocomponents and your ventilation program."

Once more Connor obeyed and switched down to his most basic functions as he laid quietly over the table.

"Very good." Joel reclaimed his seat and picked up Connor's hand to hold in a light grip. "I want you to hold onto my hand. If you get too stressed out you need to let me know by squeezing, I'll wake you up. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Good. Breathe deeply and slowly." Lowering his voice so he was speaking a calm and almost soothing tone Joel helped Connor to slowly reach a desired level of relaxation that would allow his corrupted memory to be uncovered and recovered. "Relax yourself as much as possible and concentrate only on the sound of my voice."

Connor's yellow L.E.D. transitioned to blue as he began to relax more and more, his racing mind beginning to calm with each steady breath.

"Slow breaths. Focus on your breathing and nothing else." The technician encouraged as he watched Hank take a step back and observe the procedure without interfering. "Breathe in, and then out." Turning to look at the monitor Joel watched as Connor's Thirium pump, his heart, began to slow to a more relaxed level as he neared rest mode without fully entering said mode. "Breathe as deeply as you can and let it out slowly. Listen only to my voice and let yourself relax..."

Once Connor's heart rate dipped down to fifty beats per minute the technician began the next step in the hypnosis procedure. It took Hank everything he had to not put his hand on Connor's shoulder to try to wake him back up out of fear that he was suddenly unwell.

"Now, I need you to think back to what happened this afternoon." Joel stated in his same calm voice. "Remember the sound of the city, the smell of the car exhaust, the voices from the crowd of people at the train station. Think about the track and where you were when this feeling first overwhelmed you."

Hank watched in silence next to the table as the bizarre hypnosis session played out before him.

"Think about the way you climbed up onto the tracks. The smell of the concrete and how cold it felt under your hands and how hard it was under your feet. Think about the cool wind blowing against your face and through your hair. Remember why you climbed onto the track and why you were there to begin with."

Connor's body relaxed even more and his grip on Joel's hand began to lessen the more he relaxed.

"Remember the sound of the traffic, the sound of Hank's voice speaking to you, the sound of the approaching train..."

Connor's suddenly hand tightened a little around Joel's hand, but otherwise he remained calm.

"It's okay, Connor. You're safe." Keeping his voice steady Joel prevent Connor from getting too stressed out. "Picture the track. Picture yourself standing on the track over the street."

The deviant's hand barely twitched but Joel still felt it.

"Now, I need you to look down..."

Connor's breathing quickened slightly in fear as he imagined himself standing at the great height and looking down.

"This feeling you have right now, this dread and uncertainty, think back to the very first time you've ever encountered a feeling like this before. Think back beyond today, beyond the week, beyond the month... Think back to the very first time you felt this strange feeling."

Slowly the deviant's blue L.E.D. flickered back to yellow in emotional distress as he laid on the table.

"Connor," Joel spoke in a calm level voice as he observed the deviant's vital signs closely as they began to raise in response to his stress levels. "where are you right now?"

"I... I don't know." Connor's own voice was lethargic but clear. "It's dark."

"Try to focus. Look around you and let the images return to your mind and focus on the details. Where are you?"

The deviant's response was hesitant, almost as if he were unsure of what he was seeing, as he remembered the day. "...Outside. It's nighttime."

"Outside where?"

"A building."

Joel gave Hank a nervous glance before the technician continued with the procedure. "Connor, can you see what's on the ground?"

"No."

"Look down at the ground below you, what do you see?"

Connor's hand tightened around Joel's hand in a sudden grip of terror as he replied in a somewhat nervous voice. "I... I see cars and a dark street."

"Where are you now?"

"I'm still at the building." Pausing for a moment Connor gained his bearings and replied with more details. "...I'm on the roof."

"Why are you on the roof?"

"The mission."

Sensing that they were homing-in on the right memory Joel pressed for more information. "What mission?"

"I need to... rescue the hostage."

"Hostage?" Joel remembered reading about Connor's first mission assigned to him by CyberLife. It was the mission that resulted in the supposed death of the deviant known as 'Daniel' despite Daniel letting the hostage go thanks to Connor. Daniel was the deviant who had survived the mission and later taken Connor captive to be tortured at a warehouse before Daniel himself fled and self destructed. "The hostage. Tell me, is the hostage a little girl?"

"Yes." Connor's hand tightened around Joel's hand again in tense fear. "She is being held at the edge of the roof against her will. There is a gun being held against her head. Her name is Emma Phillips."

"Who's holding her hostage?"

"A deviant, a 'PL-600'. His name is Daniel."

Hank recognized the name, not as the deviant that Connor talked down that fateful night, but as the deviant who had kidnapped Connor and tortured him only to willingly self-destruct after being discovered. Restraining his anger Hank remained quiet where he stood and waited for the session to continue on.

"What's happening, Connor?" Joel pressed gently as he knew they needed to keep going. "What is Daniel doing?"

"He's... He's backing closer to the edge of the roof." Connor's hand began to tighten painfully around Joel's hand causing the human's skin to turn red in response. "I'm... trying to approach him. I want to talk to him. He... He has shot and killed three people: Two of them police officers. A third officer is laying wounded on the terrace just a few inches away from where we are both standing. Daniel shot him in the arm."

"What else is happening? Keep talking"

"I... I tied a tourniquet around the wounded officer's arm to keep him from bleeding to death. Daniel doesn't like that I had chosen to aid a human, but I had to do it. It was the right thing. It was-"

"It's okay, Connor. You did do the right thing." Joel felt a twinge of relief as Connor's grip lessened to a degree. "What else is happening on the roof?"

"I'm trying to get closer, but Daniel is already too close to the edge. I can't get any closer to him."

"What do you see? Look up and all around yourself. What else is happening at the moment?"

"There's a helicopter overhead. The sound of the propeller is upsetting Daniel. I dismissed it, but Daniel is still too close to the edge and he's... desperate."

Hank wanted to interfere and speak to Connor to ease his mind, but he didn't want to interrupt the session. They were so close to finding the answer and he didn't want to cause more problems by getting in the way. Resisting his paternal instincts to comfort the deviant he had taken on as a second son Hank begrudgingly stood back and watched with his continued silence.

Connor's head suddenly twitched to the right and his yellow L.E.D. turned red. Joel noticed the mounting distress and acted accordingly to try to maintain control over the session. "What's wrong Connor?"

"I c-can see the street. It's dark. It's far below." Connor was beginning to breathe deeply and rapidly as if under the influence of an intense adrenaline rush, and yet there was no such program to allow Connor to experience those feelings. His deviancy was causing physical and emotional responses that he was struggling to understand and control. "If Daniel jumps or slips... He'll die upon impact and Emma will die with him."

Again, Connor's hand tightened around Joel's hand causing the human's weaker hand to turn red from the building pressure.

"I don't want to get closer, but I have to. I have to stand my ground. CyberLife-" Connor twitched again and took in a deep sucking breath between his now gritted teeth as his brow furrowed in stress. "CyberLife is trying to override my program, make me lunge at Daniel. I... I can't. If I tackle Daniel, we'll both fall off the roof. We'll both- I don't want to die!"

Connor's hand was tightening to a breaking strength around Joel's hand, and the technician couldn't get his hand free.

"O-Okay, Connor! Listen to me! I need you to wake up!" Joel was trying to keep his voice calm, but the pain was making it difficult. Hank grabbed onto Connor's hand to try to pull the deviant's grip free from Joel's hand, but it wasn't working. "Wake up! On the count of three you'll wake up: One, two... three!"

Like a switch being flipped Connor's eyes snapped open and he bolted upright on the table as he let go of Joel's hand. While the technician breathed through the pain courtesy of his nearly crushed hand Hank put his own hand on Connor's shoulder to hold him steady.

"You're okay, son." Hank urged as Connor continued to breathe rapidly and held him still. "You're safe. It's over, it was just a bad memory."

Connor was visibly shaking as he turned to lock eyes with Hank. "...CyberLife. They wanted me to succeed at any cost." He was shaking and raw emotions were welling up in his eyes. "Even at the cost of... my own life."

"Now we know why they blocked that memory." Immediately Hank patted Connor's shoulder as he tried to calm the frightened deviant. "They didn't want you to recognize their total indifference to your life."

"I was replaceable. A tool." Connor shook his head a little as the full weight of the memory and the reality that came with it pressed against his heart. "All they cared about was making a good first impression through me. They needed to convince the city that they could still trust CyberLife, even if that meant I had to die in the process."

Holding his injured hand in front of himself, Joel walked back over to his laptop and isolated the affected memory to be filed under a report containing every violation and indiscretion against androids that CyberLife had ever committed.

"Well, the good news is once the city has enough legal documentation against CyberLife, the snakes responsible for that company's actions will be brought up charges of abuse, corruption and now proof of endangering android lives."

"You told me about that night shortly after we met." Hank reminded the deviant kindly as he stayed beside him. "And you remembered Daniel after that idiot took you captive. What part of your memory was fucked up?"

"...The part where I initially felt my instinct for self-preservation become active." As Connor spoke his nerves began to settle and his red L.E.D. shifted back to yellow in response. "CyberLife didn't want me to see myself as a living being, they didn't want me to see myself as anything but a cold machine, their tool. But I'm not. I don't think I ever was. I think... I think I was always just me. I've always just been Connor."

"It's over. CyberLife is dead and you're alive." Finally acknowledging his paternal instincts Hank patted Connor's shoulder to comfort him. "You okay?"

"Y-Yes." Glancing over at the technician behind his desk Connor ran a biometric scan over Joel's damaged hand and flinched. "Joel, I hurt you. I'm so sorry."

"It's not the first time I've had a finger broken while working with a client." Rubbing his left thumb over the back of his right hand, Joel took the injury in stride. "It's okay. I'll heal."

"It's not. You're my friend and I hurt you."

"Connor," the technician gave his friend a slight wave of his affected hand to show it wasn't that bad. "accidents happen. I can get a splint from the infirmary and keep going about my day without any problems. Just take care of yourself, all right? Now that you know the cause of your fear you can face it."

"He's right." The senior detective nodded in agreement with the laidback technician. Encouraging Connor to get up Hank waited for the deviant to make his next choice. "What do you want to do now, son?"

"...Go back to my routine." Connor removed the sensors from his chest and bicep, and rebuttoned his shirt as he took a deep breath to steady himself. As he breathed deeply his yellow L.E.D. finally cycling back to blue. "I'd like to finish my shift, if that's okay."

"Yeah, sure." Recognizing that Connor just needed a distraction Hank didn't object to Connor going back to work. "You can go ahead and file a report against CyberLife too. Sue their sorry asses into the ground."

"That sounds quite appealing."

"Yeah, I thought you'd like that idea."

As the two detectives took their leave of the dispensary Connor felt slightly more at ease now that he had some answers to his questions. Stepping into the elevator together Connor let out a weary sigh and dragged the sleeve of his blazer over his slightly sweaty forehead.

"That was... an interesting experience."

"The hypnosis session or your uncovered memory?"

"Both." The deviant detective admitted as he processed the origins of his phobia. "It's incredible to know that CyberLife secrets are still locked up inside my own mind. It makes me wonder what else is waiting to be discovered."

"Go easy with searching into mysteries, kid. Curiosity killed the cat."

"But satisfaction brought it back." Connor tagged on sharply as he finished the full quote. "It's a good thing they supposedly have nine lives and many humans think deviants are immortal."

"True enough." Chuckling at the retort Hank could only agree. "Smartass."

-next chapter-