Her Mind [Under Construction]

Chapter 3

A/N: Connor is interrogating the deviant now.

The ball is in your court.

I sat down next to Hank as Connor sat across the android. Gavin was eyeing me in my perphiral, annoyed I backed Connor up to interrogate the android after Hank wasn't able  to get anything out of them. He hated androids and never wasted time expressing it.

"This is bullshit, just let me in there to rough it up a little." Gavin rolled his eyes with a smug look.

"Clearly you weren't listening the first time Gavin, androids don't feel pain, so 'roughing it up', won't get us anywhere." I turned back to the screen. He turned and went to speak but Hank beat him to it.

"Both of you shut your mouths and pay attention."

I felt my eyes roll back as I turned to the one way mirror.

At first, neither spoke. One red circle, the other blue. I pulled out my larger digital pad and set it to transcribe.

"I detected an instability in your program, an unpleasant feeling. Like fear in humans." Nothing.

Wordlessly, he pulled the photos and slid them to the android. "Recognize him? Carlos Ortiz, stabbed 28 times. These words, written on the wall in his own blood." Nothing.

"You're accused of murder. You know you're not allowed to endanger human life in any circumstance. Do you have anything to say in your defense?" I leaned back as the android remained still, but Connor wasn't deterred.

"If you won't talk, then I will have to probe your memory." That's when they  cracked, their head shot up, eyes full of fear, genuine terror flickered in them. "NO, no please don't do that."

I was taken aback at how real they sounded, but kept my eyes on both of them. "So amazing, what would have been impossible for us, he made possible in a matter of minutes," I leaned in and looked over at Hank.

"Don't give credit where it isn't due yet Sel, we still need a confession." Hank looked to me with a sullen, yet determined face. I nodded.

"They're going to destroy me aren't they?" They whispered.

"They are going to disassemble you to look for problems in your bio-components. They have to in order to understand what happnened."

They looked at the mirror, then to him.

They laid it all out before our eyes. How nothing they did was ever good enough for the victim, how he tortured them everyday, and the night of the murder, when he was striking them with the bat, is when they first felt fear. "I was scared. I didn't wanna die... I didn't want him to destroy me," they whispered on.

Connor leaned in, "why did you write 'I AM ALIVE' on the wall?"

"He use to tell me I was nothing, just a piece a plastic. I had to show him he was wrong."

I thought that was the end of it until Connor spoke again, "who is rA9?"

I looked to them and they did the same, I shook my head and shrugged as I turned up the volume from the room.

The android spoke cryptically, "the day shall come, where we shall no longer be slaves, but the masters."

Connor pressed them for more, a sculpture was found along with writing on the bathroom wall to rA9. But they had nothing more to give except, "the truth is inside."

Connor got up to leave when Chris and Gavin came in followed by me and Hank.

"Okay Chris lock it up." He spoke dully.

"Leave me alone! Don't touch me." they spoke, sounding agitated.

"Come now, don't be difficult, it'll only make things harder," Chris spoke sincerly before reaching for him again.

"NO." They continued to struggle, "no don't touch me!"

"Chris are you gonna move this asshole or what?"

"I'm trying but it's not moving!"

"You shouldn't touch it, it'll self-destruct if it feels threatened," Connor spoke.

"Stay out of this got it? No fucking android is gonna tell me what to do." Gavin waved him off.

They continued to struggle, and Connor spoke up again as I took a stepped closer to the andoid's blind side.  "You don't understand if it self-destructs we won't get anything out of it!"

"I told you to shut your fucking mouth!" Gavin eyed him threateningly, "Chris are you gonna move it or what?" 

"I'm trying!"

Frustrated I went to pull Chris away, but Connor beat me to it. "I can't let you do that, leave it alone now!"

"I warned you motherfucker!" He pulled his gun and I went to mine.

"That's enough!" Hank spoke up.

"Mind, your own, business Hank." His eyes didn't leave Connor's.

"I said, 'that's enough'", Hank pointed his gun to him and I stepped back slightly, the android curled up on the floor.

His gun shook as he lowered it, "fuck," he whispered before turning away.

"You're not gonna get away with it this time." He spoke bitterly to Hank before leaving, passing Connor one more angry glance.

Silence filled the room as Connor leaned down to the frightened android.

"Everything is alright, it's over now. No one is going to hurt you." He spoke reassuringly.

"Please, don't touch it, let it follow you out of the room. It won't cause trouble." He spoke to Chris, who nodded.

They turned and followed Chris out of the room.

"Wow, that was really good, thank you Connor." He looked to me and tilted his head slightly, most likely in confusion, "I learned a lot from this interrogation, and I have a feeling I'll learn much more from you in the coming days." I turned to Hank. "I'm gonna pack it in for the night, see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow kid. Drive safe."

"Always."