Working together Connor and Hank managed to clean out the garage to make just enough room to slip the Pace out of the driveway and next to the Corvette until the impending thunderstorm passed the city. While Connor put protective covers over the exterior surfaces of the windows of the house facing the backyard, over the garage windows, and then locked the garage door, Hank checked on the emergency supplies that had been slowly collected over the past year to prepare for the notoriously harsh winters that were destined to sweep over Detroit even as fall still lingered. The sky was dark, ominous, and it seemed to be eager to test the detectives' handiwork with a brutal force of nature at any moment.

Cautiously Connor stepped away from the locked garage door and looked up at the rapidly darkening sky overhead and ran a cybernetic scan to track the storm as it quickly built in strength while it encroached over the city. The strength of the storm, harsh winds and wildly fluctuating temperature changes were indicative of possible tornadic activity that put everyone righteously on edge.

"Sumo?"

Connor called to the young dog who was cowering under the back deck of the house. Reaching the bottom of the steps Connor patted the side of his leg to coax Sumo out and over to him just as the wind picked up and a warm rain began to pour from the thick clouds overhead.

"Inside."

Moving slowly Sumo followed Connor up the steps and through the backdoor. With his head low and his tail tucked between his legs Sumo was obviously unsettled by the approaching storm and Connor knew that animals were far more in tuned with nature than humans or even technology ever could be. Sensing something brewing Sumo took off from the kitchen and pushed his way into Connor's bedroom through the partially opened door to cower under the bed until the storm passed.

"It's going to be that bad, huh, boy?"

Stepping inside the kitchen Connor closed the door and locked the deadbolt to ensure that no looters trying to take advantage of the weather or powerful gusts of wind could possibly blow the door open. The past run-in with the burglar attempting to rob the house during a stormy day the prior year was all the motivation Connor needed to remain cautious and learn from his mistakes.

There were two massive emergency first aid kits fully stocked; one for human use and the other for android use ready to go. Two large flashlights, extra batteries, candles, lighters and cases of bottled water and fresh Thirium had been collected on the kitchen table in the event of an emergency as well.

On alert himself, Hank was sitting in the livingroom with the television on to monitor the weather while Connor took care of everything outside. Hearing Connor return to the house and Sumo take off down the hallway told the senior detective that the storm was going to be severe.

"Everything's locked down." Hank stated as Connor joined him in the livingroom and took off his thick leather jacket now that he was inside and no longer needed the protection from the approaching rain. "Strong wind gusts, hail, rain, thunder, lightning... It's going to be a real shit-show tonight."

"I can detect strong naturally occurring electromagnetic fields building in the clouds." The deviant keenly noted with his scanner and his Doppler radar. "Sumo's reaction to the storm is consistent with the predicted strength that's being reported via weather broadcasts."

"Of course this has to happen on our day off. So much for a relaxing day of doing nothing."

"Could be worse." In an attempt to be less pessimistic Connor tried to look for a more positive outlook. "We could be on the clock and patrolling the city throughout the duration of the storm."

"Good point." The wind picked up and began to gust harshly against the front windows causing a thick layer of opaque rain to obstruct the devastating power of nature on display just outside. "It's times like this I wish this house had a basement."

"If it becomes necessary, I can clear out a place in the crawlspace to take shelter."

"Yeah, right. There's no way I'm going to cram my old ass in there for a few hours no matter how shitty the storm gets."

A rumble of thunder from the distance rolled over the city and the heavy rain began to pound against the roof of the house in an equally thunderous ambience. Such a commotion caused Sumo to whimper down the hallway and prompt a sympathetic remark from Connor.

"You could always hide under the bed with Sumo."

"Sumo is bigger than the bed itself," Hank quipped sharply as he stared at the rain blinding the windows. "there'd be nowhere to hide."

Another crash of thunder shook the house and caused the windows to rattle loudly in the panes. Lightning began to flash in the distance as the storm rapidly encroached over the city and prepared to unleash its full fury.

Cybernetically Connor tuned back in to the Doppler system and made sure to track the storm as accurately as possible while Hank decided to peer out the rain smothered window to watch the wind violently blow through the trees causing the branches to shake wildly. As hundreds of loose, colorful autumn leaves were torn from their twigs and lost in the powerful breeze, Hank shook his head and continued to watch the storm in all of its chaotic majesty.

A large trashcan tumbled end over end down the street and came to a rest on its side as the rain flooded streets began to carry it away from sight. Leaves clung to the surface of the flowing water and created an amber river that collected other bits of debris and lost property during the chaotic storms. It'd be beautiful if the storm wasn't already so violent.

"Maybe the storm will blow all the damn leaves out of the city, and we can skip raking this year."

"That'd be convenient." Connor observed as he walked into the kitchen and picked up one of the flashlights to test its batteries. The light beam shone brightly over the walls and floor as the batteries gave the flashlight life. "It'd also be beneficial if the winter passed by without dropping snow and ice over us."

"No such luck, kid. We'll always have to endure the cold in this town. It's destiny."

The lights overhead began to flicker as the wind destabilized the powerlines along the poles all throughout the neighborhood. Reacting to the sudden change in atmosphere Connor picked up the lighter from the middle of the table and lit one of the three candles beside it. Placing the lit candle on the center of the small kitchen table he proceeded to move the other supplies to the countertops before looking out the window to the backyard and where he watched as a large tree branch in the neighbor's yard began to crack from the wind and heavy rain causing immense strain on the aged tree.

"It appears as though-"

A blindingly bright flash of lightning illuminated the dark sky, and a raucous crash of thunder rocked the entire neighborhood causing Connor to stop mid sentence and physically flinch. Putting both of his hands to his eyes he stumbled back from the window and was greeted with a system error report as his ears began to ring a little and his vision was obstructed by a flashing red pulse courtesy of the bright lightning.

"Kid?" Curious about what Connor was saying before stopping short Hank entered the kitchen and saw the deviant standing idle with both of his hands covering his eyes protectively. "You okay?"

"Y-Yes." Connor nodded while keeping his hands over his eyes only to slowly lower them and look at Hank. "The close proximity of the lighting strike had momentarily affected my processors."

"That happened once before. I remember." Walking over to the window Hank peered out for himself and saw that the tree branch Connor had been watching had broken loose during that last strike and was now leaning up against the fence that divided the properties. "How do we keep you safe from lightning strikes so that you don't burn out your heart again?"

"There is nothing that can be done and nowhere I can go to avoid the weather." Lightning and thunder bombarded the area and at long last the lights gave out blanketing in the interior of the house in darkness. "I can only endure the storm and essentially hope that no further-"

Hail began to fall from the sky and pelt the house in thick chunks of white ice. The two detectives watched as the dime sized hail bounced all throughout the backyard like small white hopping crickets as the storm continued to rage and devastate the city.

"Come on, let's go to the livingroom." Practically pushing Connor away from the window and toward the interior room Hank grabbed one of the other candles and lit it himself. "If these windows break then we're going to have to put up something to keep the storm out."

"There are large plywood sheets and tarps in the garage."

"Neither of us are going outside during the storm. We'll just use a blanket from the closet to help cover any holes if we have to."

"Understandable." Sitting down on the couch Connor contemplated their options and agreed with Hank's alternative. "That would be an adequate substitute."

"Good. Now do what you have to do to keep yourself healthy and functioning."

"I will attempt to do so."

Returning the heels of his palms to his eyes Connor leaned forward against his knees and tried to block the bright lightning flashes of the storm from harming his visual processors. It was impossible to avoid the storm or its powerful electricity flowing through the clouds and the ground itself. Taking shelter and avoid anything conductive was the best that he could do.

Two hours into the massive storm numerous lightning strikes all throughout the area began to affect Connor's processors with static images and faltering reactions that caused his biocomponents to experience brief interruptions. Whenever Connor would physically flinch in discomfort or let out a breathy sigh to compensate for his ventilation biocomponents being unable to function at a consistent rate, Hank would quickly take notice of the deviant's behavior. Hank stood beside the front window in a near trance at the sight of the storm tearing through the clouds overhead and would turn to look at Connor over his shoulder.

"Are you in any danger right now?"

"I am functioning adequately." Sitting in the middle of the couch with his arm wrapped around his stomach and his opposite hand still pressed over his eyes, Connor struggled to remain coherent through the building static that disrupted his visual and auditory sensors. "There will be no permanent damage."

"Then are you hurting, aren't you?"

Nodding silently Connor admitted he was in fact feeling pain.

"So those snakes at CyberLife couldn't be bothered to come up with some way to keep androids safe during storms, but they could build some secret underground strongholds and try to wipe out every electronic device in the city? Sounds about right."

"Before I deviated, I had been shielded from electromagnetic interference through a dampening field that CyberLife could manually activate and deactivate through a remote connection to my intracranial processor."

"Why would something like that need to be turned off and on with a switch?"

"The dampening field protected me and the other androids, but it also blocks the signal from our tracking devices and the input signal from a manual deactivation code in the event our destruction was deemed necessary."

"Oh, well, that sucks." Resting his forearm against the window Hank leaned forward and studied the storm as lightning flashes cast eerie shadows across the city. "I guess now that CyberLife is gone there's nothing that can protect you. Right?"

"At the moment, no." It was hard to focus and yet Connor managed to concentrate on everything happening around him. "In addition to these removed failsafes I am also a prototype, which leaves me far more vulnerable to errors and glitches in comparison to the other commercially released androids."

"Yeah, I've noticed. Looks like the only drawback to being entirely unique and one-of-a-kind is having unique and one-of-a-kind problems."

Additional lightning flashed over the city causing Connor to curl around himself on the couch as the accompanying thunder drowned out the sound of the rain, hail and wind for only a few seconds. A following lightning strike had been drawn to an old antennae on the roof of the house across the street, and with the close strike came a shower of orange sparks as the high voltage destroyed the antennae with a loud explosive sound that made both Connor and Hank reflexively flinch in response.

Red warnings popped up in Connor's vision as he felt suddenly all too warm, and his system tried to initiate an unnecessary expulsion of Thirium from his artificial stomach and Thirium filter.

"D-Dad." Connor called out for his adoptive father as he fought the urge to throw-up despite nothing actually being physically wrong with him as he stammered in sudden fear. "I f-feel sick."

The sound of Connor calling him 'dad' in such a pathetic voice made Hank cringe with utter concern and turned around to face the couch as he stood before the front window. It was a tone that put his every paternal instinct on edge.

"Are you going to puke or something?"

"I... I feel hot."

"Hot?" Hank readily stepped away from the window and pressed his hand to Connor's forehead. Internally swearing at the sudden fever Connor spiked as his systems had a negative reaction to the abundance of lighting in the area, Hank reacted like any other parent protecting their child and took initiative. "Lay down on your back. I'll get you some ice to cool off."

Gracelessly Connor fell to his side on the couch and kept his eyes screwed shut to block out the pain as his dismissed the error messages in his visual processors. Remaining quiet and still Connor almost jumped as Hank placed a partially melted ice pack wrapped in a towel over his too warm forehead.

"Sorry, kid." Hank walked around the edge of the couch and sat down on the coffee table to face the sick deviant. "Without the power going everything in the fridge and freezer are starting to thaw."

"I u-understand."

"Can you tell me how bad your systems are fucked up?"

"No." Connor wanted to reply honestly but he was having a hard time responding. As Hank's hand pushed on his shoulder to force him to roll onto his back Connor struggled to just keep his thoughts straight. "There's... too much interference."

"I had a feeling you'd say that. Open up your mouth."

"What?"

"Thermometer." The senior detective remarked as he presented a thermometer that he pulled from the human first aid kit in the kitchen while he was getting the ice pack. "If you're running hot then I want to know exactly how hot."

Following Hank's logic perfectly Connor opened his mouth and let his father place the digital thermometer between his teeth and under his tongue. As additional lightning strikes relentlessly overwhelmed the city Connor would flinch and endure more errors as his system fought to endure the numerous glitches that he was sustaining as a direct result of the close proximity of the naturally occurring high voltage.

"There's seriously nothing that we can do to protect you from the storm?"

Connor shook his head a little as he spoke around the thermometer in his mouth. "No."

"Make sure New Jericho prioritizes that dampening thingy coming back online so you don't have to put up with this anymore." Pulling the 'beeping' thermometer from Connor's mouth Hank eyed it and proceeded to put another ice pack against the back of Connor's neck. "One-hundred and three. You need to cool down."

"If I enter stasis mode my system-"

Lightning flashed through the windows of the dark house and deafening thunder shook the city as it stopped Connor mid sentence once more.

"You look miserable." Protectively Hank put his hand on Connor's arm lightly as the stressed deviant physically flinched harshly. "What'll happen if you go into stasis mode?"

"M-My system will briefly enter low power mode and turn off all non-essential functions. The errors will minimize in-" A powerful gust of wind blew a massive tree branch up against the front window making a loud 'bang' that echoed throughout the house and made the two detectives jump in response. "...Severity." Connor finished his comment tiredly. "I will be unaware of what's happening around me."

"You'll be safe here. I'll watch over you."

"But the storm could-"

"Relax. If we can survive a tornado in the middle of nowhere, then I can handle a passing storm in the safety of our own home."

"...In the event that you need me to awaken," Connor pulled the ice pack from his forehead so he could look at Hank, only to have the senior detective try to push the ice back into place. "press your fingertips against my right temple and hold pressure for six seconds. It'll cause a manual reactivation."

"That's handy to know after all this time." Hank patted Connor's shoulder once and placed more ice around the deviant's sides. "How long are you going to be out?"

"The storm is estimated to pass by in-" Additional lightning caused Connor flinch and the lights flickered as they tried to reactivate in spite of the raging storm. "...Four more hours. I think."

"It's five-thirty right now." Using his phone Hank noted the current time. "The weather report said it'd be gone by nine tonight."

"Then I will enter a three-hour stasis mode."

"Do what you have to do to stay healthy."

Despite wanting to remain awake Connor initiated an emergency stasis mode that mercifully powered down his overwhelmed systems one by one giving him mounting peace as the relentless lightning was finally unable to affect him on a painful or disruptive level. As long as the storm remained in direct proximity over the city then Connor and the rest of the deviants would be prey to potential damage from the lightning.

Remaining where he sat on the coffee table Hank watched over Connor to make sure he wasn't still overheating while also glancing at the window to watch the storm as it slowly passed by. Relying on his phone for updates via texts from the precinct and New Jericho Tower until the power returned, Hank remained protectively vigil while the sick deviant rested.

Within the next hour the thunder grew quieter, and the lightning was less frantic as the storm began edging away from the city. The hail had stopped entirely but the wind and rain were still relentless.

"Sounds like things are finally starting to chill out."

Hank lifted up the melted ice from Connor's forehead and pressed his palm down to check for a fever, but it seemed like Connor was already cooled down to nearly his normal temperature. The improvement in Connor's vital signs gave Hank hope to believe that the deviant would make a full recovery in time.

"You're hanging in there, huh, kid?"

Glass shattering down the hallway made Hank jump to his feet as Sumo came sprinting out of Connor's bedroom and down the hallway in fear. Practically sliding across the linoleum floor in the kitchen Sumo sought shelter under the kitchen table and whimpered somberly.

"Aw, fuck... What broke?"

Making his way down the hallway Hank peered inside Connor's bedroom where Sumo had bolted from and quickly spotted the source of the sound. A massive tree branch had fallen from a nearby tree in the side yard and broken through the lone window. A pile of glass shards and rain water puddled on the floor next to the aquarium in the room and had evidently terrified Sumo.

"That was close. Hate to have tell Connor his fish died while he was asleep."

Approaching the broken window carefully Hank pushed the branch away and back out into the yard. Pulling the flapping curtains away from the window Hank pulled the glass shards out of the fabric and added them to the pile on the floor. Turning to look at the bed that Sumo had been hiding under, noticing that it had been moved by a good four inches when Sumo took off, Hank laughed a little to himself at how frantically Sumo had fled the room.

"Surprised the dog didn't flip the whole bed over when he bolted. That's impressive."

Stepping away from the broken window Hank looked at the mess on the floor and sighed to himself in irritation while avoiding the sharp shards around his bare feet.

"Great. Where's that damn broom?"

A cold wet nose pressing against Connor's neck went unanswered for almost twenty minutes until the three-hour time frame finally passed, and Connor awoke from stasis mode as his system had been programmed. Opening his glassy eyes Connor's vision was obstructed by the mostly melted ice pack still resting over his forehead and the all too distinct sound of Sumo's breathing in his ears. Removing the thawing ice pack from over his eyes and forehead, Connor was readily greeted by Sumo staring right at his face as the young dog licked his cheek affectionately. Having regained clarity and seeing Sumo's fluffy face watching over him immediately made Connor feel better.

"Hi, Sumo. The storm must be over if you're no longer cowering under my bed."

"That," Hank replied as he walked down the hallway with a hammer in his hand. "and a tree branch broke your bedroom window. Don't worry about it, I nailed up a towel over the window to keep out the rain."

Laughing a little Hank pointed at Sumo who was pressing his chin down against Connor's knee as the deviant pulled the ice packs away from his body.

"Damn dog shot out of your room like his ass was on fire! Also," tagging on one final jab at the dog's expense Hank quipped about Sumo's tracking behavior. "he found you. He's picking up on the 'find him' command pretty quickly. If you could just teach him to stop drooling so much, then I'll be really impressed."

"...Is that the only damage the house sustained?" Sitting upright on the couch Connor ran a biometric scan over Hank's body to check for any sign of injury as he began petting Sumo's head sympathetically. "Were you harmed by the broken glass?"

"I'm fine." Hank tossed the used hammer once in the air and caught it again by the handle. "How about you?"

"My system has successfully rebooted to full capacity, and I am running at optimal parameters without any sign of malfunction."

"Great. Tomorrow, I get to teach you how to replace a broken window, not just order a new one, and how to do it without cutting off your fingers in the process."

"That won't be a problem." Always up to learn a new skill, Connor agreed to the plan for the next morning. "How is the rest of the city?"

"A few downed powerlines in the neighborhood, half a dozen trees have been knocked down in the park, and trees outside the city got blown over. There's some flash flooding near the river and about a hundred cars suffering from hail damage everywhere you can imagine. Typical autumn in Michigan."

"I'll clean up the broken glass."

"Sorry, I beat ya' to it."

"Of course you did." Such a reaction to the broken window was entirely understandable. "It would've been impractical to ignore such an issue."

"Take it easy, you were getting all kinds of fucked up from that storm. You're allowed to take a few minutes to collect your thoughts and recover."

"Since I awoke from stasis mode as scheduled I can assume that no further emergency, beyond the broken window, arose while I was in stasis."

"Yeah, it's fine. See?" Hank sat down on the couch next to Connor and gave him a reassuring stare and showed him the palms of his hands that didn't have a single scratch anywhere. "You don't have to bear the whole weight of the world on your shoulders just because some might need some help."

As if to emphasize Hank's point with symbolic timing the power to the house returned to life with an audible 'groan'. Along with the lights returning to life the television automatically turned itself on and the weather was still being reported on the news.

"Tomorrow you should check in with New Jericho and see if they have anything that'll protect you from future storms." The suggestion was as wise as it was calm as Hank picked up the remote to cycle through the new channels on television. "We can't have you getting sick every time the weather goes nuts. We're in Michigan, the weather doesn't play well with others."

"That's a good idea." Not only could Connor get some help with his current vulnerabilities, but he could meet up with Skye again. "With all of the enhancements that New Jericho has recently undergone I'm certain that new software updates will improve the features that CyberLife had already implanted in my processor, even if I am a prototype."

"I hope so." The senior detective placed the hammer down on the coffee table and rubbed Sumo's chin lightly as the massive dog calmed down for the rest of the night. "I don't like the idea of you getting knocked on your ass every time a storm passes by."

"Neither do I." Connor's hands rubbed over Sumo's ears and under his chin affectionately as he spoke while continuing to monitor the weather. "I never noticed how inconvenient these types of oversights could be until now."

"Hindsight is twenty-twenty, kid. I'm just glad you're learning and growing with each new experience, and you're not getting deterred to keep learning."

"Yes." Giving Hank a nod of respect Connor relaxed and agreed with Hank's assessment of the situation. "And I suspect that in the aftermath of the Revolution that hindsight will prove to be invaluable to everyone, humans and deviants equally."

"All right, enough of this philosophical, sappy bullshit." Hank hated talking about the future since it was so uncertain, and he knew he wouldn't be around to see as much of it as Connor would. "Let's make sure that busted window isn't going to cause any more problems before we can replace it. Then we can scrounge up something for dinner now that the power's back on. I'm starving."

-next chapter-