^article from my school newspaper 😂😂

This chapter's short, the next one will be longer! Hope you like this one, though.

Weeks passed.

Yes, weeks.

Connor got used to things fairly quickly. He spent his days playing Mario Kart, walking Sumo, and waiting around for Hank to get home. It wasn't perfect, but it was freedom. As much as it could be, anyway.

Connor, other than brief walks around the neighborhood, hadn't left the house.

So now he sat once again in the living room, watching the news.

"Things finally seem to be settling down with the android situation in Detroit," said a female reporter. "Markus, the leader of the deviants, has been working with the U.S. government to make transportation for androids possible. They are being relocated anywhere they are welcome and systems to keep them housed and sheltered are underway. Many deviants have already been seen in cities wandering around. The..."

Connor tuned it out.

Outside.

He wanted to go outside.

He'd been silently begging the universe, every rock, floorboard and bread loaf to go out and do something for weeks. He didn't know what it was. He just wanted to be productive.

And it seems someone was listening to his silent prayer, because Hank walked out of the bathroom, teeth brushed and hair combed, approaching the android.

"Connor, I've got news."

"Yes?" Connor said expectantly, turning to Hank.

Hank looked at the time on his phone as he spoke. "I've got a homocide case, pretty serious. Most the guys are baffled, I'm gonna need your help on this one. You up for it?"

Hank watched as Connor's LED flashed from yellow to blue.

"Of course, it's what I was made for," Connor pointed out. "When do we leave?"

"Right now," Hank said, shrugging his coat on.
Connor creased his brow. "But you haven't eaten yet. It'll make you 28% less productive."

"We've got work to do, Connor," Hank argued, voice gruff and stubborn.

"At least take an apple and granola bar. It'll make you feel better."

Hank groaned. "Alright, fine. I'm not gonna argue with an android, too early."

Connor smiled to himself at his accomplishment.

•~•~•~•~•

Connor and Hank made their way into the station, the latter filling the former in on the information they had on the case so far.
They made it to Hank's desk and Connor occupied the one across from him, opening the computer.

"Share the file with me," Connor requested.
"You don't have an account in the police system," Hank mentioned.

"Your computer should pick up on my software, it'll share it straight to my central processing unit."

"That's not weird," Hank remarked, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "There. You get it?"

Connor suddenly saw the file. Based on the evidence gathered, he could see a common link between all the victims, and frankly, it was the usual.

Red Ice.

But it was more than that. They seemed to have gotten it from the same dealer.

Subject analyses: 4 subjects

>Albert Crocker, 32- poor financial situation, in debt to the IRS

>Samantha Sikorski, 27-poor financial situation, grew up poor

>Jeraldo Sanchez, 46- poor financial situation, probable debt to unknown entity

>Jackson Bullman, 25- poor financial situation, lost his job to androids

Connor finished his analysis. "They probably owed money to their Red Ice dealer. We should look in low income neighborhoods fo-"

"Well, didn't think I'd be seeing you here."

Gavin Reed.

>Negative work relationship status

-Best approach for mission success: Be friendly

"Hello, detective. It's good to see you, again," Connor greeted with a smile.

Gavin gave him a scowl and looked at Hank. "Why'd you bring it here?"

"Him," Hank said simply.

"Huh?"

"You mean why'd I bring him here. Not 'it'."

Reed scowled. "Look, I get that they're free, now. Don't give a shit. I just don't want any of 'em messing with the investigation."

"Detective, I was designed specifically for police work. I can assure you that I'll provide useful information t-"

"Last time you tried to help you turned into one of the things you were hunting down."

"That was different," Connor defended, his LED deciding between yellow and red. "This is a homocide case. I've worked with these before, and I've always been successful. I'm just taking orders from myself now."

Reed rolled his eyes. "Orders from yourself?"

"And Lieutenant Anderson."

"Wow," Gavin said, "that's ridiculous."

Hank scowled and Connor looked down shamefully.

"Get the hell outta here," Hank said through gritted teeth.

"With pleasure," Gavin snarked, leaving the two to themselves.

Hank looked at his computer screen angrily. "What a douchebag," he muttered, opening his file.

"Anyway, back to the case. We should look in low income neighborhoods that are more prone to drug deals and see if we can find any leads there."

Hank redirected his focus to Connor's words and nodded. "Sounds like a plan, but first, we need to go over their personal files and all that shit."

Connor almost vocalized his agreement, but suddenly got this... feeling. Was it a feeling? Was it just his software making him think he had feelings?

But the feeling was strange and unpleasant. Connor couldn't help but think about Reed's words. He didn't know why, he usually never responded to casual hostility or rude comments. But...

"Why'd you bring it here?"

It.

Hank said 'him'.

I'm a him.

Detective Reed called me an 'it'. And it felt... bad? Provoked insecurity?

Connor, snapping out of his thoughts but still feeling strangely discouraged, nodded. "I'll go... get you some coffee."

Hank raised an eyebrow. "Coffee? Don't you wanna work on this with me? Besides, I don't need coffee."

Connor gave him a half smile. "I just want to look around, that's all. I'll be back in a few minutes."

As the android turned to leave, Hank stood up.
"Connor."

Connor craned his neck.

"The hell is wrong with you?" Hank questioned seriously. "A minute ago you were all 'focus on the mission' and suddenly you're going to 'look around'? What's that about?"

Connor took a moment to process his options.

Hank is suspicious

Options:

>Insist I'm fine

>Truth

>Keep quiet and stay to work

Connor weighed his options. He didn't want to lie to Hank. He didn't like lying all that much. But he also didn't know exactly what he was experiencing.

But maybe Hank could help.

Option selected: Truth

Connor sighed and sat down in his office chair.

Speech options vary

"Hank... do you ever..." he struggled to find the right words, "does it ever occur in your life when someone says something and you... feel like it affects your state?"

"My state? What state?"

"Mental state?"

Hank huffed out a tiny laugh. "How? Like when someone says something that makes you feel shitty?"

Connor considered his friend's words. "Yes, you could say that..."

Hank nodded. "Yeah, I experience that, everyone does. Why?"

The android looked down. "Androids... aren't supposed to feel that way. It's not in our program..."

The lieutenant's attention was now officially piqued.

Connor finally said what he'd been struggling to convey. "But I think I feel it. And I don't like it."

Hank seemed shocked. "You're upset? Why? How?"
Connor shrugged. "I don't know, I was just thinking about what Detective Reed said and suddenly I..." his voice became delicate and quiet at the end, never finishing the sentence.

The man across from him sighed. "You shouldn't let that asshat get you in your head. But I didn't know you could feel bad about yourself... do you feel bad about yourself? Cus' of that?"

"He called me an 'it'."

Hank sighed. "Yeah, he did."

"You corrected him."

"Yeah."

"What if it wasn't correct?"

"What?"

Connor was suddenly a deep shade of... blue?

"Sorry, I'll shut up," he apologized, his strangely pigmented cheeks welling with more color each second.

"No no no, this is what we're talking about now. What do you mean 'what if it's not correct'?"

Connor made eye contact with Hank.

"What if I am just an 'it'?"

Hank scoffed. "Connor, after all this, you should know that you're not an 'it'. You hung out with Markus for a bit, right? You guys all must've called each other by human pronouns."

Connor shook his head. "You're right." His system told him he was being unreasonable, and he corrected himself.

"Let's get to work."

Yay, hope you liked it! This was meant mostly just to establish some ground on how Connor thinks of himself now. And to give him a moment of connection with Hank.
**********
February 1st, 2020