Just a Machine.

-Tension.-

Chapter 1.

The house was still, the distant buzz of cars passing on the freeway close by. Hank sat silently at the kitchen table, bottles surrounding him. A small cake stand in its unopened package on the table. Hank sat up, looking at the package. God. Here he was, celebrating Cole's 10th birthday; but no Cole. He inhaled sharply, resting his head upon the table with a sigh. He stayed still for what seemed like forever, before standing up and stretching with the pop of his joints. A low grunt escaped him as he stared down at the package. Despite being an inanimate object, it seemed to taunt the older male. Taunt him on how he was alone these days. Hank looked out the kitchen window, the clouds overhead making everything look gloomy and grey. It fit well. During his time admiring the sky, Hank had not noticed the shuffling of feet behind him. Bottles clinking brought him to attention, looking over to the android.

"Good evening, Lieutenant." Connor shifted, grabbing ahold of some of the bottles, throwing them away and looking back to Hank. He tilted his head. "Something the matter?"

The plain tone Connor had made Hank scoff, adverting his gaze back outside. "nothin." He huffs, reaching a hand up and rubbing his eye. Connor eyed him a second longer, speaking up again.

"I noticed the cake on the table. Is it your birthday?" There would be no answer, just the overwhelming silence and stale air. Connor moved over to a window, opening it to air out the room. Hank shook his head, sitting back at the table. He ran his finger along the rim of a lone bottle, staring.

"Connor, have you ever grieved for someone...lost them?" Hank knew the answer would be cold, but he couldn't help to ask. "No, Lieutenant. Its not in my programming to feel grief." Connor tilted his head slightly, sitting down at the table. Hank looked up, tears pricking at his eyes. He took another swig of his drink, huffing and rubbing his face.

"Yea, yeah." The officer continued to trace his finger along the rim of the glass. "I just..I miss him. It feels like there's a void in my chest and- I cant fill it no matter how hard I try." Hank lifted the glass to look at the hard liquor inside, before moving his attention back to Connor. Hank set the glass down. "God, Connor. Only if you knew."

Hank lifted himself from his chair, setting the glass down. He would clean up the table later, now was time to sulk. He made his way to the hallway, pausing at the doorframe, looking back to the confused android. "If only you really knew." He repeated, almost trying to comfort himself. And with that, he was gone.

Connor looked back to the mess on the table, sighing. "I suppose I do know, in a way." The android stood, quickly cleaning the mess. Connor threw the bottles away, moving out of the kitchen and back into the living room to sit and rest.

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