Hank woke up at noon lying with his head on his kitchen table. He felt like he had been hit by a truck and backed over again. He sat up and looked at the paper under him. It was Connor's note covered in drool.
Hank groaned and stretched. Apparently he was too old to pass out at the table. Every joint popped as he stood. God he should have just gone to bed.
Sumo was scratching at the back door. Hank let him back in, thanking god he had gotten a dog with thick fur.
"Sorry, buddy."
Hank got the dog and himself some water and took a few aspirin. Then he dragged his sorry ass to bed. He was still too tired to think. Last night had been fucked.
He slept until his need to pee overcame the exhaustion. Let the dog out, made something to eat, let the dog back in. Each time he passed the table the picture frame caught his attention. It was face down. He left it there. He didn't want to confront that again.
Hank grabbed the memory stick and powered his computer on. He had an idea what was on it.
As soon as it connected to the computer, a file pulled up with instructions. The files on the stick were massive. It looked as though everything about Connor was here.
Hank followed the instructions and found himself watching through Connor's eyes as the android stepped into Jimmy's bar, looking for Hank. There were GUIs at the sides with several status panels. They showed things like error messages, preconstruction images and objective queues. Hank took a little time to figure the basic ones out, but some were more technical than he was.
It was 5pm when he started watching. Even with skipping all the down time, it was going to be a long task. He ended up only watching the memories Connor had marked. They seemed to be relatively important ones.
Hank finished watching through the first day around 6. He hadn't expected the android in the interrogation room to shoot Connor. He scowled at himself for jumping so bad. The viewpoint made it look as if the gun was pointed at him.
The next thing Connor remembered he was in a white room. Hank watched as two techs fixed shit in him without saying anything to him unless it was to get diagnostic data. Then he was up and moving, following the routines the techs ordered him through.
That was where Hank got lost. One second Connor was getting into a car, the next he was standing in a weird courtyard wandering around leisurely.
Hank watched as Connor spoke with the woman called Amanda. He didn't like her. She reeked of CyberLife propaganda. Yet Connor spoke freely to her. He seemed comfortable here in the mysterious garden.
A knock came to the door. Hank paused everything and turned off his screen before answering. It was Jeffrey and Reed.
"Hey, Hank." Jeff looked relieved to see him here. "I just wanted to check in on you, see how you're doing."
"What's Reed here for? I owe you money or some shit?" Hank had never liked Reed. Watching him be a jerk to Connor in the memories had settled his dislike. Reed was just a bastard.
"Look here, dipshit. If you didn't get yourself fucked over every other day we wouldn't need to check up on you like a fucking child."
"That's enough. God, you two are like preschoolers." Jeff groaned. "Can we come in?"
Hank pushed the door open, aware he was wearing the same shirt as yesterday and no pants.
"Let me just get some clothes on." Hank headed for his room. "Make yourselves at home."
When Hank emerged again Gavin was at the table. In one hand was Connor's letter,in the other was Cole's picture.
"Hey! Put that back!" Hank snapped as he grabbed the photo frame. Sumo raised his head from where he was in the corner and barked at Reed.
"Alright, sorry." Reed put the paper down and stepped back. He watched as Hank set the items back to the way Connor had originally put them. "I didn't know Connor dropped by."
"I didn't either." Hank ushered Reed back into the living room. "He must've stopped by before heading to CyberLife."
"Have you looked at the news?" Jeff asked as they all sat around the TV. It was off still.
"Not today, no."
"It's a shit show out there." Reed looked tired. "Even uniformed police are getting attacked."
Hank frowned. "Are the riots that bad?"
"It would be a lot better if the military wasn't still trying to round up androids." Fowler replied. "People are going to the hospital left and right. Citizens and officers. A couple people even died. If this keeps up there really will be a civil war."
"All over some peaceful android movement?"
"At this point I think it has less to do with the movements and more to do with what CyberLife did. The government is still fucking vouching for them, too." Reed laughed sadly. "Fucking corporations."
"Did you see what Connor did?" Jeff could apparently see the confusion on Hank's face.
"I mean, I know he put some of his memories online. Not anything to do with our case, but I didn't really have time to look through them."
"It's messed up." Reed shook his head. "Connor was probably one of the first androids to go deviant. And rather than just kill him like they did with the others they tortured him until he complied."
"What?" Hank thought back to the case he had just watched Connor work. He might have been different from a normal android, but he still had the feel of a machine. "How could CyberLife have gotten away with something like that?"
"Because Connor isn't human." Jeff sighed. "That's what's keeping CyberLife from any criminal charges. It's their whole defense. He might have acted human, but he never had any rights, so legally they can't be condemned."
"It's a fucking hoax and everyone's pissed about it." Reed growled. "But of course they're so focused on CyberLife that they completely forgot there are still androids in the camps."
"Uh, Jesus." Leave it to people to make a mess of things. "You'd think we'd learn."
Hank rubbed the back of his neck. His headache was getting worse the longer he was awake. He was sore all over and really needed a drink.
Jeff seemed to notice. "Sorry. I didn't mean to stress you out while you're still recovering."
"Eh. You can't change the times." Hank shrugged. "I doubt hiding in my house will help for long."
"By the way, what happened to your window?" Reed asked, motioning to the kitchen.
"No idea. It happened before the accident." Hank wished he knew. It was keeping the house freezing even with whatever shit he had put on it. "I didn't make a report for it?"
"I don't remember one, but I'll take another look." Fowler said as he stood. "We'll let you rest. Text me if you need anything."
Hank nodded, fully knowing he had no way to contact anyone. He figured it wouldn't be so bad to have a few days to himself.
He said his goodbyes and let them out. Sumo slipped out with them and ran off to do his thing, leaving Hank alone. He could go back the the memories Connor had given him, or he could make some dinner.
He opted for the latter. He wished there was some alcohol somewhere, but no luck. Just water and some crusty milk that would likely go bad in a few days. Oh well. He wasn't that thirsty.
He gathered his food and went back to his desk. It was 8pm now. He still had a few hours to work on this before bed. He just hoped to god something good came out of it.
