Abomination

The Bridge

DATE

NOV 7TH, 2038

TIME

AM 01:19:06

JUST AS NATALIE THOUGHT, THE CAR RIDE was pretty stiff and the air between the three was thick with tension. Natalie knew that she had to address what Hank had seen from her but didn't know how to bring it up. So she resorted to just sitting in the back seat and keeping quiet. She could feel so many different emotions radiating off of the older man and knew that if she so much as whispered he would most likely explode.

She knows that she probably shouldn't have kept the fact that she wasn't completely human from him. Sure, they weren't partners in the sense of her being a police officer or anything. However, they were still working together and knew that what she was should have been disclosed.

Hank had driven aimlessly in silence. They left the sketchy streets and roads that the Eden Club was on and soon ended up in a more quiet area of the city. Hank had pulled up to a small children's playground that overlooked the city. He climbed out of the car with a beer in hand and slammed the door shut. Natalie cringed at it and jumped slightly. She and Connor watched as the man stomped through the playground and towards a bench that rested near the edge of the water.

Natalie gulped and took a slow, deep breath. There was a slight internal conflict within her on whether she should make the right choice but in the end, she came to a decision. She slowly climbed out of the car and hesitantly followed the route that Hank had taken. Connor watched her stiffly before following after the woman and towards his partner. A slow progression of snowflakes fell from the sky and decorated the ground, playground and the trio in a think blanket.

"Nice view, huh?..." Hank asked as the two approached him slowly as he looked across the horizon, "I used to come here a lot before..." He trailed off before shaking his head and taking a swig of his beer.

The silence between the trio was starting to become deafening. Natalie was starting to become uncomfortable as she knew there was a large topic that they needed to address. It was on the tip of her tongue but she just couldn't get it out. She hated talking to people about her... predicament. She hesitated a few times and tried to speak, but Connor beat her to it. "Can I ask you a personal question, Lieutenant?"

Hank scoffed, "do all androids ask so many personal questions or are it just you?"

"Why are you so determined to kill yourself?" Connor continued on when Hank didn't say 'no'.

"Some things, I just can't forget... Whatever I do, they're always there... Eating away at me..." Natalie could relate to that completely. "I don't have the guts to pull the trigger... So, I kill myself a little every day... That's probably difficult for you to understand, huh, Connor?" Hank turned to look at the android while taking a swig from his beer. "Nothing very rational about it..."

The group was bathed in silence once again, "it's late. Maybe you two should go home."

"I'm not tired..." Hank gruffly said before turning to the woman who stood awkwardly by Connor, "guess you aren't."

Natalie blinked at the fact that Hank had addressed her in any way, "I've got no place to be right now."

Connor paced away from the two and towards the railing of the walkway, "we're not making any progress on this investigation..." The facts of the case were being pieced together in his mind, yet nothing fit. "The deviants have nothing in common. They're all different models, produced at different times, in different places..."