With Civil Hearts and Hands: A DHB Story

Chapter 8: Roles and Invitations

Connor pulled up into Clara's driveway, coming to a stop at the bottom of the stairs. He turned his car off and climbed out, making his way up the few steps to Clara's front door. As he halted in front of the door, he moved his hands to his collar to straighten his tie, then froze, remembering he wasn't wearing one. He settled instead for adjusting his cuffs and straightening his jacket, trying to fight the restless energy bubbling beneath his synthetic skin. He'd been undercover before, so he wasn't sure why the prospect of going on this mission made him so nervous. He took a deep breath, manually resetting his system, then knocked on the door.

A shuffling sound echoed from beyond, followed by the click of a lock. The door pulled open, revealing a familiar face. Jennifer Grey, aka Jinx.

"Oh. It's you." She gave him a cursory glance, then stepped aside, allowing him in. "Clara's just finishing getting ready."

Connor nodded, entering the familiar opulent entry to the large home. He looked around, analyzing the space again. It was well-maintained despite the size, holding no trace of dust or debris. He wondered if Clara had help keeping up with it.

"Clara pick your outfit?" Ms. Grey spoke, looking him over as she leaned casually against the rail to the stairs.

Connor glanced at her, answering cautiously. "She did. Is it that easy to tell?"

Ms. Grey blinked at him, something flashing across her face, but it was gone before Connor could decipher it. "She tends toward the same kinds of styles when she dresses people up."

His brows furrowed, and he felt a flash of an unfamiliar emotion. "Does she...do that often?"

"She used to." Ms. Grey half shrugged. "It was something she enjoyed doing back when Zion was first starting. All the androids she rescued personally were given a specially curated wardrobe."

"Really?" Connor half listened, stifling a growing sense of irritation.

"Mhmm." Ms. Grey inspected her fingernails, appearing disinterested. "I can't even tell you how many androids here have some aspect of her in their homes."

See? She treats everyone this way. You're not special. Ms. Grey didn't say the words, but Connor could feel them in her tone. He felt another surge of that unfamiliar emotion.

She looked him over again. "Yours is showing her high class taste though. You'll fit right in at the Menagerie." The way she said it almost sounded like an insult.

Connor ignored the implication, instead focusing on the last part. The Menagerie. "You've been there?"

Ms. Grey shook her head. "No, but I've scouted it. When you told Clara it could be involved with the disappearances, I did some recon. Nothing too in-depth though. Security's tight."

"Ah." Connor nodded, mildly impressed. Then a thought struck him. "What exactly is it that you do for Clara?"

Ms. Grey scoffed. "Wouldn't you like to know, little cop?"

Connor frowned, rolling his eyes. "Fine. Don't tell me." He slipped his fingers into his pocket, fingering his quarter. After a moment, he pulled it out and began rolling it across his knuckles in the familiar motion of calibration. "Will she be down soon?" He nodded toward the staircase the wound up the side of the entry way.

"I'll check." Ms. Grey gave him a bored look, then set off up the stairs.

Connor watched as she disappeared into a hallway, then heard the sound of muffled voices. Connor tuned his hearing, trying to pick it up, then stopped scolding himself. He shouldn't eavesdrop. A few more minutes passed, the muttering continuing. Then one voice, Clara's he guessed, rose in pitch, and he could no longer fight the curiosity. He climbed partially up the steps, and peeked into the hallway at the top. The hallway was dark aside from a slice of light shining through a crack at the bottom of the closest door. Connor tuned his audio processors, making them sensitive enough to pick up the voices, then applied filters to block out the ambient sounds of the house. He tuned them further, training the processors to seek out Clara and Ms. Grey's voices based on audio samples from his memories. After a few seconds, he could hear them nearly perfectly.