Detroit: Become Human - The Outsider (Connor x OC fanfic)

Games of Life and Death

Connor didn't lose. 

He perched in a spare seat between Howie La Crux -- a tattooed man draped in a velvet suit and shirt which wound with patterns Lieutenant Anderson might have liked -- and a set of twins, Oliver and Olivia Bellamy. These guests clearly hadn't paid Earl to clear their records, because when Connor scanned them he found a list of violations as long as his arm. Arson, prison break, fraud, attempted murders. 

Now, Connor was playing cards with some of Detroit's most prosperous criminals, and he was making them mad. 

"Fuckin androids," Howie grunted, hand after hand after hand, the shine of a gold tooth whenever his lips parted. When Connor inquired as to why he had such a disliking for androids, he regarded him with a side eye and shuffled deeper into his seat. 

"It isn't androids Howie hates," Lia purred, "but losing. And you're awfully good at cards." 

"It's a matter of predictions and observation," Connor answered frankly. 

"Fuckin' pigs," Howie scowled. 

Hand after hand, Connor traced his gaze across the CyberLife androids that circled them, searching for glitches and information which could be useful to the case. They waited for their masters to complete their games, all staring blankly into a space beyond. Except, of course, Rina. 

She was losing. 

Laughing, carelessly, as if she were one of them. She slouched around her chair and made dramatic faces when the players prodded at her indiscretion. Connor could judge miniscule tells -- Howie went stiller, attempting to mask his nerves, Lia grew bolder, compensating, and the twins' grips grew tighter the more confident they were. All discreet, tiny things that only an observant android could see this quickly into a game. 

But Rina. 

She was bold in her tells. Rina tilted her chin and grew redder when people stared. She folded easily and bit her lip. It was as if she had never played poker before. Another fascination with her programming, her design. 

RINA REIBOT'S CASE FILE

It has a proclivity for intelligence, but this seems highly limited in certain situations. 

Connor had just finished filing this information when Rina's voice slipped into his senses. 

You're staring, she said. 

Her gaze ripped from him to her hand. He looked somewhere else. I'm observing. It's my job. 

Anything worth reporting? 

Telling you would put my investigation at risk. He sent. And, it might help you win.

Rina smiled into her cards, calling Lia's bet. Is it the dress?

What? 

"Well, well, well," a voice like poison parted the androids surrounding them. He was swarmed by CyberLife androids -- models mostly found in places like the Eden Club and brothels, -- who all had their eyes etched to the ground. Whilst his name glittered proudly across Connor's interface, his history didn't. Yet Joseph Riggard was so well-known that even a clean swipe couldn't get rid of all of the history on CyberLife's systems. 

The Riggard's were large donors to the police department, and Joseph was the middle child. His riches oozed from him, golden chains and sweat-drenched hair which contained traces of extremely expensive gels. Earlier, Connor had watched how Joseph's grin grew seeing how Rina fell to the dying deer's side. He had nudged the men around him. Perhaps it was his family or the undeniable cruelty that hung from his eyes that made others follow, but they did. He seemed to own any space he stood in -- broad chested, moving without regard.