Detroit: Reality Shift

Inconclusive

Moira had dropped Connor off before setting out for her place. As she drove off, Connor noted that it was beginning to lightly rain. He was not going to stand outside longer than he needed to. He spun around and made a beeline for the front door. Reaching into his suit, he took out the key for the front door to Hank's house.

Since it would be rather difficult for Connor to buy his own place for some time, and no longer had influence from Cyberlife, he needed a new place to live. Hank didn't hesitate in offering Connor the spare bedroom in his home. Hank never really used it, except to use the closest to store a few boxes of trinkets. He went out and even had keys made for the front and back doors. Hank didn't want Connor busting in any more windows and made that very clear when he gave Connor his own set of keys.

A turn of the keys and the knob of the door was all Connor needed to push the door open. He quickly walked in and shut it as Sumo came up to greet his plastic-smelling friend.

"Hey there, Sumo." Connor knelt and pet Sumo oh his head and back. "I see you have guarded the house successfully again. Allow me to reward you for your hard work." He stood up and walked into the kitchen, reaching up on top of the fridge to grab the red box. Of course, Sumo was a foot away from Connor, sitting patiently for his reward.

"Alright, Sumo." Connor tilted the box, a treat falling out onto his left hand. "You know what to do." Connor held the treat out. Sumo slowly inched his head forward and gently pulled the treat from Connor's hand. Sumo then walked off to eat it on his bed in the living room. Connor put the box of treats back and went to sit on the couch in the living room.

Once he was seated, Connor's mind once more went to an intense mode of processing and analyzing all data that was relevant to the task he had set his functions to ponder about. The tasks: Figuring out any viable answers for the lack of informational data on Moira Winters; and all data on the current case Moira, he and Hank were assigned to.

Time flowed ceaselessly. The drizzle outside would turn into a downpour for several minutes before going back to a light shower. Sumo fell asleep about an hour after Connor's return and a snore from the slumbering beast could be heard every now and then. Raindrops and snores. That was all the noise within the vicinity of Hank's house. However, if Connor was an older model of android with worn parts, he would have been hearing his own processors running at near maximum effort.

The lack of evidence at the crime scene was unusual. How the victim was burned from the inside out and at the speed they were was not possible. Plain and simple. Yet, it happened. There were crucial pieces of the puzzle missing. There was a frame that surrounded a void. It frustrated Connor to no end. He just wanted to make any little progress in these two mysteries but was stuck.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was around two-thirty when Hank slowly walked through the front door. Sumo didn't move but looked up to make certain that it was his close friend that had entered the house. When he was satisfied that it was his friend, he closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

"Hey, Connor." Hank greeted as he headed for the kitchen to grab something to munch on. Walking past his friend, Hank saw that Connor was still thinking intensely. Whether it was about the case or Moira or both remained to be known to the lieutenant. "What's on your mind? Is it the case or with Moira?"

"Both," Connor got up from the couch and went into the kitchen to talk to Hank about this. He placed himself in a chair just as Hank was sitting down at the table, placing a plate of leftover pizza and an ice-cold bottle of beer down.

"I'm all ears." Hank said.

After that, Hank let Connor talk through both issues without interrupting once. Connor's style of speech always made feel as though he was hearing an audible version of case files. Simplistic, very detailed and boring. However, Hank listened diligently as he casually munched on his pizza slices and sipped his beer. By the time Connor had delved all the information, the pizza and beer were gone.

"That's all you know?" Hank asked.

Connor nodded, "Yeah."

"Damn. Out of all my time being on the force, I've never had a case this weird. As for Moira, she's definitely hiding something."

Connor leaned back in his chair, "I've thought through both these problems over and over again. Every clue, every evidence piece we have, all databases that I can access. All of my programming and I can't solve either one."

"Sometimes, cases can't be solved." Hank said. "There are thousands of cold cases that will probably never be solved, because of the lack or mishandling of evidence. Perhaps we won't solve this murder case. Same goes for Moira, maybe we won't ever figure out who she really is and that's okay, so long as she doesn't hurt anyone in the process."

Connor gave Hank a questionable look. "You aren't a bit curious as to why there is a lack of data on her in any public or official databases?"

"Of course I'm curious." Hank answered. "But, I'm going to respect her decision to keep her past hidden until she proves me wrong otherwise."

"What do you mean?" Connor asked.

"She has worked several cases with the department before, each case ending in an arrest. Each of those criminals that were arrested all claimed they were guilty before they ever went to trial. She's very smart. Plus, I've seen her several times while she wasn't working on a case. She acts just as smart and is very nice and respectful to anyone she comes across. Has she been acting weird lately? Yes. Is her past basically erased? Sure. But she's a nice person at heart. You know as they say. Actions speak louder than words."

Connor did not respond back. He simply thought on that old saying for a bit. He related it almost immediately to Markus. The humans never listened intently when Markus spoke. They did have perfect sight of him though. Markus could have easily used his influence on Jericho to start deadly riots, but he didn't. He never started a fight. He chose to just stand, as well as Jericho. They stood to peacefully argue the problems with society and won a huge step towards equality for androids. Had Markus been different, acted violently, then humans would have seen androids as nothing more than killing machines that must destroyed with extreme prejudice.

Hank is right. Actions do speak louder than words.