"God, you're like kids. I didn't ask for this."
"That's quite blatant with your performance in front of the captain earlier."
"You always gonna be this sarcastic? Connor don't you dare side with her."
"But Lieutenant she is correct-"
"Shut up, the both of ya!" Hank holds his head in his hands while your laugh melodiously drifts from the back seat. "Damnit Y/N. One pain in the ass isn't enough, apparently. Now I got two, and one of em isn't even human."
You feign offence. "That's not a very nice thing to say to a cadet."
"Not you- idiot..." Your laughter takes no pity for the old man.
The rain begins to pour heavily outside, and Hank pulls up to a deserted plaza with a single food truck open; 'Chicken Feed'. The time was 3:02 in the afternoon, and all day you had been visiting witnesses to other cases. When it came to lunch, you had no clue where to go - however you weren't driving, so Hank immediately chose the place.
He got out of the car quickly, and as he went to cross the road he immediately was almost hit by a car, making you snort in amusement.
————————————————————
Connor was sombrely silent. He had been pondering the case for the last few hours and his assigned team; Hank Anderson, a cop with little self control and a temper with a pre lit fuse.
Then there was her. A charming girl, aged 24 and in her prime - yet he could find no background to her other than the fact she had been born and raised in the UK for 8 years, proceeding to unexplainably move to Canada, an android free zone, for 16 years - only to come to the heart of the machine revolution of the century, Detroit, where it all began, hunting the very machines it had created.
An interesting story, he summed, but what drove you, and what importance did the android he had ordered for her over seas have? The machine would come in two weeks time, delivered to the nearest CyberLife store and fully operational -
No memory attached.
What the girl didn't know was that he had added the payment to the CyberLife funding Connor had due to his operations for the company - a minor dent in a fund, that was all, and as long as he could explain its importance to his conscious peers it was no trouble at all.
His eyes found the shining brown hair clip she twirled through her slender fingers as he sat beside her in the back, black leather seats of the Lieutenant's car. "We should follow him, you haven't had lunch yet and are probably due a meal - am I right?"
Her eyes become alight as she turns to him. "Oh, yeah. Right, forgot." She laughed awkwardly and shrugged.
For some reason inexplicable to his algorithm, his software instability raised - so subtle but a considerable amount for such a small action.
Connor got out of the car and glided over to the other passenger door she was getting out of and gracefully held out his hand for her. She took it gratefully and shut the door behind her with her hip as her fingers released his hand and trailed down his palm as she took back hers to rest it by her side.
Software instability^.
———————————————————
You saunter over to stand beside the Lieutenant who talks to a guy, lazily leaning with his back to the counter. "Connor, could you give me a rundown of who these people are?" You quickly murmur to the android next to you. You see his LED flutter yellow. "Pedro Aabdar, born 25th January 2005 - criminal record entails illegal gambling, fraud." He inclines his head to the man Hank talks to, then averts his eyes to the man behind the counter of the truck. "Gary Kayes, born 3rd December 1988 - criminal record of resisting arrest and breach of hygiene regulations. Lost his food hygiene licence in 2031 and has been operating without it ever since."
You nod. "Great place to eat, Hank," You say, then smile a little. Hank doesn't notice your presence and makes a bet with the gambler.
"Excuse me? Could I get what he's having?" You ask the man, Gary Kayes, behind the counter. "Sure, that'll be-"
Hank notices you both and holds up his hand. "I'll get it, Gary. Thanks."
You raise your eyebrows in surprise. "Oh, thanks. I can pay you back-"
"What are you, a kid? Don't." He grumbles, and your mouth pulls into a graceful smile, highlighting the dimples in and around your face as your nose crinkles with humour.
Connor's software instability heightens slightly without his awareness. "Don't you two ever do as your told? Look, you don't have to follow me around like, like-"
"Poodles?" You intervene, making him grumble all the more. After a short silence, Connor speaks; "We're sorry for our behaviour back at the police station - we didn't mean any unpleasantry."
"Wow, you've even got a brown-nosing apology program. Guys at CyberLife thought of everything, huh?"
The rain came down in great buckets outside of the cover the truck gave from the downpour. "Here you two go. Didn't know you had a daughter, Hank?"
"She's not my daughter, but thanks, Gary, I'm starving."
"Oh, right, my bad. Hey, don't leave that thing here, either."
"Hah! Not a chance. Damn thing follows me everywhere."
He hands you your lunch, and as Connor walks over he mutters "see?" Under his breath.
You all stand beneath a discoloured yellow umbrella sheltering a small stainless steel table near the truck. Rap music blares in the background noise of any conversation to the beat of glistening rain drumming the concrete to the rhythm of the city's heartbeat.
"This Pedro..." Connor starts. "He was proposing... illegal gambling. Am I right?"
Hank takes a bite out of his burger. "Yeah." He says shamelessly.
"And you made a bet?" Connor presses.
Hank furrows his brow like there's nothing wrong with a cop having illegal associations. "Yeah."
"Your meals contain 1.4 times the recommended daily intake of calories and twice the cholesterol level - you shouldn't eat it."
You look down and ponder the burger in your hands, when Hank steps in and rumbles," Well, everybody's gotta die of somethin'." Making you giggle to the thrum of the pulsing torrent. "Is there anything you would like to know about me?" Connor asks innocently. You open your mouth to speak but Hank is too quick. "Hell no- well, yeah, um, why did they make you look so goofy and give you that weird voice?"
To your surprise, Connor has an immediate answer. "CyberLife androids are designed to work harmoniously with humans. Both my appearance and voice were specifically designed to facilitate my integration."
Hank nods like he's overcome an epiphany, but then soundly states," Well, they fucked up." You laughed and smiled your disagreement. "I think his goofy look works wonders on unsuspecting witnesses. It's a major design perk." You state.
"Thank you, Y/N."
"You are most welcome." You take a large bite of your burger and slurp your soda loudly. "Goody two shoes kid... not surprised you got top with that attitude."
"Hey! I worked hard and did things you wouldn't dream of doing to get where I am right now!" You defend. "Give me a break, I can finally let loose and not worry about the constant surveillance of the top brass. It's hard living a decade under that consistent control."
"Ten years in the academy? When did you start?"
You make direct eye contact with the android questioning you, knowing well he was patiently bleeding information of your past from you. "When they finally caught me."
"If I'm correct, you would have entered training at 14 years old?"
"Yes, that's right."
"What do you mean by catch you?"
You turn your back to the table and the grin on your face turns dark as the storm that rolled over Detroit at that very moment. "When my days of being free of law ended, and when I entered the academy I began doing what I thought I never could with the permission of my higher peers."
"And what was that?" Hank frowns, concern evident in his grizzled voice.
You turn back and sweetly smile at the two. "Maybe another time, eh? Wouldn't wanna put you off your lunch!"
The silence you caused was almost amusing. After a moment, Connor perked up. "Maybe I should tell you what we know about deviants?"
"You read my mind," Hank says. "Proceed."
"We believe that a mutation occurs in the software of some androids which can lead to them emulating human emotion-"
"In English, please."
"What he's saying is, they don't really feel emotion, but-"
"Get overwhelmed by-"
"Irrational instructions." You both conclude together. "Which can lead to unpredictable behaviour." You finish.
Hank nods, knowingly, and after a small silence, says," Emotions always screw everything up. Maybe androids aren't as different from us as we thought."
"Can I ask you a personal question, Lieutenant?"
Hank remains silent. "Why do you hate androids so much?" Hank stares at him for a brief moment, then ultimates," I have my reasons. "
"So I guess you both have done all your homework, right?"
You and Connor nod. "Know everything there is to know about me, Connor?"
"I know you graduated top of your class, like Y/N, and made a name for yourself in several cases, became the youngest lieutenant in Detroit. I also know you've received several disciplinary warnings in recent years and spend a lot of time in bars."
"So what's your conclusion?"
"I think working with an officer with... personal issues is an added challenge, as well as working with a fully briefed cadet in deviant cases is an added bonus." He gestures to you. "But, adapting to human unpredictability is one of my features."
To your surprise he winks, almost mischievously, and your cheeks unknowingly flush. "I'll drink to that." You say, raising your soda cup, and take a last gulp of it before throwing it in the trash.
