DBH: A Dalliance with a Deviant

Returning Home

November 3rd, 2038

The smell of burnt coffee and stale doughnuts made you oddly nostalgic as you walk through the security checkpoint at the Detroit Police Department precinct. You used to come here all the time as a kid, but it's been a while since you visited. Aside from the obvious upgrades to the machinery and aesthetic of the building (it looks more like a laboratory now than a police station, with all the screens and gadgets filling the halls), you notice that most of the people here aren't really "people" at all. The entirety of the front desk staff, the janitors mopping the floor, and even some of the police officers have the telltale little LED circle on their temples. You knew that Detroit was where androids first emerged, but it's still jarring to see so many in just one building. As you continue on into the station you look around for the messy desk filled with personal touches you used to sit at and color as a child. It sticks out in the back of the room like a sore thumb, as it's the only desk that has any real clutter (or as Lt. Hank Anderson would say, "it has personality!"). You have fond memories of seeing your Uncle Hank in action taking down red ice rings and being a badass detective. The day he was promoted to lieutenant was one of your proudest moments with him. The look on all your friends faces when you bragged about him during lunch at school the next day was priceless. And you may or may not have threatened to have him arrest anyone who gave you a hard time (because let's be honest, 13 year old girls are much more ruthless than red ice dealers). But so much has changed since then. Back then he was like a father figure, especially since your own dad wasn't around much. Not that your biological dad was a bad guy, but he had his own demons he needed to fight and while you can empathize with him now as an adult, as a child you just needed someone to be in your corner. Your mother, Hank's older sister, worked hard to take care of you, but that meant working long hours at multiple odd jobs, so she wasn't really around all that much either. Your Uncle Hank always made time for you though. Spending the night at his house was basically a vacation and you could always count on him to make you feel safe and loved. When Cole came along it was like you got the sibling you had always wished for. You two were inseparable despite the age gap. It was like having your very own living baby doll, but better, and you made sure to spend as much time as you could with him and your favorite uncle.
Graduation came around a few years later and at the young age of 17 you made the decision to leave Detroit for college and ended up at a decent state school a few hours away. For a while life was good. Your grades stayed high while you managed to make time for making friends, kissing lots of boys (and some girls, after all what's college without a little experimentation?) and figuring out who you were and what you wanted from life. You had dreams of becoming a veterinarian, a mother, traveling with your family, owning your own hobby farm and so much more. But then came the winter of 2035. You were just 19 years old and in the blink of an eye your life was flipped upside down. Cole was dead, Uncle Hank was not ok and you needed to get back home. The drive home for the funeral felt like driving into the pits of hell. Coming back only made you realize how broken everyone had become and you couldn't take it. Your dad was still MIA, your mom couldn't miss any work but also couldn't keep from sobbing at the drop of a hat and Uncle Hank was hollow. Not in shock, not sad, just empty. Nothing you or your mom said or did seemed to help pull him from the pit of despair he has fallen into and honestly, who could blame him?
After a few weeks you just couldn't take it anymore. The day you were supposed to drive back to school you made a decision that had been a long time coming. Fuck school, fuck responsibility, you just wanted to stop the hurt. California seemed like the right option. A few thousand miles, some sunshine and sea air would do you good you figured. And it did; it worked for a while at least. Taking after your mother you took odd jobs here and there and made some friends along the way. You met a beautiful man with eyes like the ocean and fell in love. He broke your heart when you found out you were just one of many he was lying to and this hurt, but you were stronger. You moved on and kept your head held high, but then androids started to become more widespread. One by one the jobs you had worked at for years started to disappear. Android labor was cheaper and you just couldn't compete. Suddenly your friends were all leaving town and moving on. This mass exodus left you behind, alone once more and hurting. Mentally you were 19 again and on the edge of falling back into that dark space you had spent the last 3 years clawing your way out of. There was only one place you could think to go now. Back home. Back to Detroit.
So here you are now. Walking back through the doors of the modern yet tasteful police station ready to see the man you once considered a father figure for the first time in almost 3 years. You have no money, no plan and no place to stay, and at this point pride be damned, you've come back home to ask for help. Little did you know your Uncle Hank needed you as much as you needed him.