Android's Greatest Pleasure

2. A Deep, Deep Hole

Connor had gone over all the details of the missing persons case, including facts like the victim's parent's names, any hospitalizations, and her social media accounts in the past hour. Twenty-year-old female Catalina Funes had gone missing three days ago, on August 28. Still living with her parents since she attended classes at a nearby institution, Michigan International University, they phoned the police the morning after Catalina didn't return home.

"Throughout this case, we should pay special attention to—"

"Jeez, Connor, could you shut the hell up for two seconds? Been yappin' about that goddamn missing person case for the last hour."

Connor pauses and shifts his gaze from you to the lieutenant. He is currently squinting his eyes at something on his monitor you couldn't identify from your seat with an irritated expression.

"I'm simply reiterating critical aspects of the case that she should be aware of. Captain Fowler instructed me to be of utmost assistance since this is her first missing persons case," Connor explains. He showed no sign of offense taken from Lieutenant Anderson's comment, or at least, he didn't show it. This android never got pissed off.

He needed to deviate a bit more.

"Cool, whatever, then you should've sat at her desk and not by mine. Tryin' to figure out something of utmost importance," Lieutenant Anderson mocks. You stifle a grin, not wanting to offend Connor when he was only trying to be helpful—which he was!

"You're solving a sudoku puzzle, which, may I add, is set on the easiest difficulty."

Lieutenant Anderson mumbles a string of incoherent words, opting to drop the conversation instead of responding. It seems that Connor got the hint because he stops speaking. He shifts his attention towards you again.

"Ready to begin our first interview?" he asks, standing up from the rolling chair. A mixture of anxiety and excitement compete against each other in your stomach, but you try to remain calm. You didn't exactly want your super-experienced-prime-example-of-a-detective to look down on you for feeling so emotional about an interview for a missing person's case. Homicide—maybe you would let yourself be a bit more transparent with how you were feeling. Although rare, you've heard of detectives reconsidering their entire career path after their first homicide case.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

Today is your second official day partnered with Connor. Although you were assigned to the case yesterday, you both decided to wait until the next day to leave the station to interview any witnesses. Your first stop is the parent's house for a more in-depth interview in addition to standard protocol questions an officer back at the station had already asked.

The two of you walk to the parking garage to retrieve a police car. Connor debates offering you to drive for a moment, but after watching you head towards the passenger door without any comments, he decides against it.

"Approximately fifteen minutes until we arrive at their house. They live in a suburban neighborhood less than half a mile away from Catalina's university."

You try going over the information Connor had told you back at the department as you sat in comfortable silence, but it's all jumbling up in your head. You curse yourself for not paying a bit more attention. The parent's names were definitely relayed to you somehow, but that was way at the beginning, one of the first details you learned.

You didn't want to have to ask, but you decide that the parents weren't going to introduce themselves to detectives who were supposed to be investigating their daughter's disappearance. It would surely reflect poorly on you if you had to pause and ask for their names mid-conversation if it ever became relevant.