THE CHASE - Connor x OC (I Am Sequel)

Chapter 31

Christen handed me the flash drive. I shoved it in my pocket, thinking that to some degree, I could manage to see it before Ethan would ask about it. Before he would see it, that is. I would rather see it first...and for that matter figure out what Christen is so sensitive about regarding it.

"What are you waiting for?" Christen asked, leaning against the counter.

"My partner...Ethan. He headed down to speak with Kamski."

"About what?" Christen asked.

"I'm not sure," I shrugged.

"Nick told me about Ethan before he left," Christen answered, rolling her eyes.

"Oh? What did he say?"

"That he's a classified federal prick," Christen smiled. The elevator bell dinged and out stepped Fiona and Ethan.

"Well, that went well," Ethan said, adjusting his shirt sleeve.

"Did it really?" I asked, turning to Fiona.

"Yes, actually," Fiona answered.

"Oh, you don't believe me, Charlotte?" Ethan asked, giving a slight smirk.

"Unsurprisingly so. Alright, let's head out," Ethan said, tapping his watch. "I ought to call my supervisor. He's been riding my ass about all of this."

I nodded to Christen, and she gave me a quick hug. I waved goodbye to them and headed to Ethan's car.

"Still wanna drive?" He asked. I nodded and he threw the keys to me, and we climbed into our respective spots.

I drove us back to the precinct, and we sat in the car for a moment.

"What's wrong?" Ethan asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You drove the whole time in absolute silence."

"Well, you didn't mention it while I was driving," I sighed in response.

"Well-huh-well...fair enough," Ethan shrugged. "I suppose I just feel like things are tense."

"Things are always tense."

"I thought we had gotten over that this morning."

"Apparently we haven't. Here are your keys. Why don't you...head back to your hotel? I think I'm going to do some work here at the precinct. I don't think we can get much more done today," I answered.

"I'd rather not. Plus, what about when you need to go home? Connor left," Ethan answered.

I nodded. That was a good point, I suppose. I just, really, do not want Ethan to see what's on this flash drive before I get a chance.

"Alright. Fair enough," I said, climbing out of the car. Ethan followed, and as we walked in the back door. As we walked in, Ethan's phone rang and he paused in his steps.

"What is it?" I asked as I opened the back door.

"I'll head inside after you. Let me take this," He nodded. I shrugged, entering the door, and letting it close behind me. 

I sat down at my desk, and put in the flash drive, beginning to glance over it. There were hundreds, no thousands of files. Each one was independently named. Some were clearly daily logs, and others were audio logs. Some just looked like files full of data. How did Christen even have this organized? Or...were they never organized?

I sighed, contemplating how I could even begin to sort through this all, and then it suddenly occurred to me. The files were like this, not for me to scan over them visually, but for me to plug them into myself. I trust Christen, I really do, but I suppose the idea of plugging myself into her random flash drive..well...it's terrifying. 

"What's that?" Ethan asked suddenly appearing behind me. I yanked it out of the computer, and immediately regretting it. There was a full petabyte of data on that drive...

"It's nothing. What was your phone call about?" I asked. I had become familiar with Ethan. He may be quite interested in our precinct, and everyone in it, but suddenly, when you ask him about himself, he gets distracted.

"It was my supervisor, calling to check up on me," Ethan answered. "I'm going to need to leave in a week or two. That's just the reality."

"Alright..."

"And take Kam with me," Ethan continued.

I sat for a moment. I could feel something tugging at me. That's not okay, but I'm not sure why. It's not that I'm necessarily upset about being rushed, or feeling like things are coming down. It has everything to do with Kam being with the Feds.

"You can't do that," I answered, holding my ground. 

"Why?" Ethan asked.

"I think he should go to Jericho," I nodded.

"So what? They can let him off scot-free?"

"I can trust Markus. Can't you?"

"Not really. Regardless of whether or not he freed us, he did so illegally. He hasn't been a leader for much longer than you've been alive. I cannot trust him with someone like this."

"You...you can't make that call. I'm the arresting officer, and he's in my jurisdiction."

"Did you forget? I'm here. He is now in my jurisdiction," Ethan smirked.

"It would be wrong. The Feds will kill him. Do you know the uprising that'll cause?"

"The death penalty is unconstitutional now."

"For humans. Don't you think that the quandary about whether or not they can repair him will cause a problem? Do you think they'll listen to Jericho's opinion? No. They'll destroy him."

"It doesn't matter at that point. It's out of my hands at that point. I'm, frankly, more inclined to trust the federal courts than a group of ragtag robots."

"Aren't you more robot than American?" I sassed back.

"Listen, stay out of my way, Charlotte. It's less your business than it is mine what happens to Kam after we get him in court," Ethan shrugged, sitting down at his desk. I sighed and fumbled with the drive in my hand.

--

Hey guys. It's Andrea again.

Thanks for bearing with me as I recovered from the accident. I'm not sure if I'm fully recovered, so bear in mind that the chapters might be a little sporadic, but I hope to be back on schedule in the coming week.

Thanks, everyone,

Andrea