Life Finds A Way (A Detroit Become Human Fanfiction)

Chapter 12: In The Hot Spotlight

Kara didn't mind the isolation. Being able to look out and see no one didn't really bother her. Having Alice near felt nice enough. Hank had gone out to get her some toys. She had some crayons, a coloring book, she got her favorite book, and a teddy. Not hard. Alice wasn't real hard to please. It would help occupy her and getting near the hotel for anything wasn't a good idea, so she was grateful. She watched Connor come around the corner again from the cell. He opened it and went in.

"The repair machine should be coming soon. We'll be able to check up on you," he answered her. He looked toward Alice, like he was trying to figure out how to approach her. Connor had seen her around Kara, and at the hotel where Markus couldn't do the checkups. They never properly connected. Hopefully, he could. Having had a taste of what some of his power could do, she didn't doubt it.

Connor scanned around the cell, trying to find something to connect to them with. Alice had an Alice in Wonderland book. No, too obvious, that would never make a connection. Keep looking. Crayons. Coloring book. "You like to color, Alice?" She looked up toward him. "It sounds like a great activity. Staying between the lines." A little janky but his adaptation would get him there. "What's your favorite color?"

Huh. She didn't seem to know quite how to take his enquiries. Much like Hank at first. "Red I guess?"

"I like blue. Light blue." He bent down toward the blue and red crayon. "They aren't complementary colors but they look nice."

"What are complementary colors?"

She didn't even know that. I will go for a simple explanation. "Opposite colors on a color wheel. Nevermind. Blue and red are strong colors."

"Oh. Blue is pretty too," she decided. She brought out a light grey. "Soft gray is Kara's favorite color. Not real strong, but pretty." She smiled at Connor.

Connor couldn't hit the meanings of that one as hard, but he didn't want to seem to be covering it up. "Gray isn't as strong. It's never glamorous; it's more quiet and reserved. It really doesn't like the spotlight at all. That's not bad though." He gestured to the crayons and placed grey between. "Softer colors mixed between stronger colors can make a bold message too."

"Not too bold," Kara said from her tablet. "I think gray would rather remain in the background."

"But gray went out of its comfort level for a greater cause," he said to her, getting the point it wasn't about the colors with her. "It definitely raises it next to red and blue."

"And my baby brother is deep blue." Alice laid out another crayon for him.

"Right. Detroit is the color of Thirium," Connor said. "Are you excited for a little brother?"

"I've seen a human baby once," Alice said, "briefly. It was scary. They were outside." She picked the deep blue crayon back up. "I still wonder what happened to him."

"He was human, Alice," Kara said. "He had a mother and a father, and he wasn't in the middle of being chosen for elimination. They would find a way. We wouldn't. I don't regret taking those bus tickets."

"I . . ." Alice nodded.

"Not every decision in life is so simple," Connor backed Kara up. He didn't know the exact situation, but he could guess. Kara stole tickets to get her and Alice and Luther to Canada safely back then. "There are shades of grey throughout life. Dark gray. Light gray. There isn't a nice gray and a bad gray. While the humans might have had a rougher night with their baby? Had Kara given the tickets back, your future might have been much worse. She went with her instinct."

"Like . . . Chloe?" Alice said softly.

Connor nodded, but wouldn't go deeper than that.

When the repair machine came, it was even better than the one Markus had snagged. Connor had only heard of the type, but never seen it. It was a new type, supposed to be released in late 2039. The checking component they needed was compact, small enough to fit nearby. The whole checking was done by a small monitor placed on the hand and hooking it up to a computer. Connor checked the readouts. "Detroit's doing great. Slow installing and fine. You're getting better too," he said looking at her. "Fewer installs." She seemed a little sad about that.