Accident Prone - Becoming Human

Birthday

It was almost nine in the morning and Hank found himself holding a mug of coffee in his right hand and standing outside Connor's bedroom door watching the deviant sleeping peacefully on his right side in the bed with Sumo cuddled up at the foot of the bed with him. Connor's left shoulder, arm and entire hand had been heavily bandaged the night before by Hank himself after the duo returned home the previous night, and was now outstretched away from the rest of his body as if the limb was still too sore to be touched. The only reason Connor hadn't been taken to a facility for treatment was because Hank didn't want to make Connor do something he didn't want to do, especially on his birthday.

Content that Connor wasn't hiding any pain as he slept or in any danger, Hank quietly walked away from the bedroom and sat down on the couch in the livingroom to turn on the television. As Hank found the morning news talking about the weather forecast his phone began to 'buzz' on the small table next to the couch. With a heavy sigh Hank picked up the phone and quickly answered the intrusive call as soon as he saw the caller I.D. on the display.

"Yeah, Jeffrey, what's up?" Hank listened for a few seconds as he sipped his coffee then made a grab for the remote. Increasing the volume Hank confirmed his superior's request. "Yeah, I'm watching the news right now."

'This is a special bulletin regarding unscrupulous and illegal underground activities by the perceived bankrupt company CyberLife.' The female news reporter was as indifferent as usual, but her voice carried the severity of the situation with her report as she addressed the public. 'Last night two local police detectives uncovered a plot by former CyberLife employees and technicians who were attempting to unleash an E.M.P. - that is an electromagnetic pulse, over the city of Detroit and wipe out all electronic devices within the city limits.'

"Son of a- Jeffrey, what did Markus tell you? No, wait, I'll ask him myself." Without even a 'goodbye' Hank ended the call and casually tossed the phone aside on to the table as he leaned forward with great interest toward the television screen as the report continued. "We turn our backs for one minute and everything in this city goes bat-shit..."

'-the former technicians for the company had been hacking into the processors of prototype androids and instructing them against their own programming to engage in illegal activities to plant electronic devices designed to focus the E.M.P. throughout the immediate area. Authorities speculate that the goal of the company was to eradicate electronic devices and androids alike to rebuild the company from the ground up using the sudden increase of supply and demand to fund their research and to eliminate androids rights as sentience has been legally confirmed as a necessity for the rights in general.'

"They make it sound like a simple money-making scheme or an attempt to erase their past mistakes. The fuckers were trying to kill deviants."

'-all suspected personnel have been detained by the F.B.I. and are awaiting charges. Meanwhile the two detectives who uncovered the activity, Lieutenant Hank Anderson and his partner, who is also the first android detective permitted to the police force, Detective Connor Anderson, have been praised as heroes for their hard work.'

"Heroes? More like we got fuckin' lucky." Disgusted by the report Hank turned off the television and leaned back against the couch only to have Sumo pop up from behind the furniture and lick the side of his face. "Gross..." Hank tilted his head back to look at Sumo and noticed that Connor was standing at the end of the hallway with a somewhat puzzled look on his face. "Connor! When'd you wake up?"

"Two minutes, seven seconds ago. My processor cybernetically alerted me to the phone call from Captain Fowler. Also," pointing to Sumo as the massive dog continued to wag his tail and seek Hank's approval. "Sumo found you again. He's getting quite good at identifying unique scents."