Accident Prone - Becoming Human

Self Preservation

The city was in an uproar over the failed arrest of the two members of Quondam - the masked man who was leading the violence and his strongest supporter and possible lover, Marcia Stack. Two days after Quondam's threat to attack the city was thwarted, a cruel and myopic attempt to prove that deviant androids were only defective machines and that humans were superior to them, the police force was still struggling to locate the elusive duo that the comprised the small hate-filled group of domestic terrorists. Hank and Connor were still in charge of the investigation and neither detective was going to back down from their investigation easily.

Sitting behind his terminal screen Connor pressed his palm over his abdomen where his fully healed injury still ached and danced his quarter over his opposite knuckles to hone his reflexes and timing. Lost in thought as he waited for any reported sighting of either the masked man or Marcia to appear on the display before him, the deviant detective was completely oblivious to Hank walking up behind him to check on his progress.

Peering over Connor's right shoulder Hank noticed the blank screen and shook his head. "Staring at the screen isn't going to make a lead pop up, kid."

"Huh?" Turning to look up at Hank, the senior detective still sporting a swollen nose and two black eyes, standing behind him Connor's brow furrowed with absolute puzzlement. Connor's coin continued its dance uninhibited over the back of his right hand as he spoke in a casual tone. "What do mean?"

"Ever hear the phrase 'a watched pot never boils'?"

"No."

"Well, it applies here. The more you sit and wait the more you're going to drive yourself crazy." Glancing at the quarter on the deviant's knuckles Hank grabbed the coin and held it in a tight fist to get it away from Connor. "And knock it off with that damn coin. It pisses me off."

"Why?"

"Because the only time I see you messing with this thing," Hank held up the quarter between his index finger and thumb as if emphasizing a point. "is when you're thinking. And your thinking always teeters dangerously close to obsession."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, kid. Just focus on something else for a while, all right?"

"All right. I'll handle another case for the time being."

Crossing his arms over his chest Hank gave the deviant an odd glance. "Are you feelin' okay?"

"I'm fine." Connor replied honestly with only a hint of offense behind his words. "Why do you ask?"

"You're obsessive little mind is never this agreeable with me."

"I assure you that I'm fine. And I have already made a promise to you in the past that I would stop obsessing over the little things that I cannot change. I intend to keep my promise."

Before the senior detective had the chance to say another word Tina rushed over to the two conversing detectives and handed Hank an electronic tablet. "Hey Captain, look at this."

Accepting the tablet Hank scanned over the details and clapped his free hand on Connor's shoulder and offered him back his coin. "You're up, kid. Marcia was just spotted in Midtown."

"How close is she to New Jericho Tower?" The cautious deviant asked as he rose from his chair quickly, pocketing his quarter and pressing his hand back to his sore abdomen in the process. He took the tablet from Hank's hand to view for himself and quickly chronicled the details in his memorybank. "I don't want her to get too close to the tower."

"She's about four blocks West of New Jericho as of this moment. Police drones are watching her from a safe distance."

"I'll go alone."