#good parent

Hank does a dramatic gesture towards Connor who’s sitting to the right behind his own desk. He has a fond and overbearing look as he observes Hank’s overdramatized retelling of their arrest. He’s leaned back in his chair to keep weight off his right leg where the knee joint had been damaged. He’d taken off his gray blazer since it was dirtied up in action. His black tie was loosened with the first button of his white dress shirt undone and the sleeves rolled up above his elbows. He sported some lacerations up his forearms, a dark blue bruise of his own was bloomed across his left cheekbone and he had a blue bloodied split lip. His was hair messier than usual and still with his rogue lock falling slightly in his face. His condition a testament It had ended up being him handling the brunt of the hands-on arrest.

“Connor literally jumps out from God knows where before he can strike me again, tackling him to the ground! Now you guys know Connor has got some serious moves, but this giant of a man, high as a kite as he is in his Red Ice adrenaline fueled state is not going down without a hell of a fight!”

Hanks waves wildly with his arms to mimic the struggle and increase the entertainment value. It’s working, everyone sitting on the edge of their seats, eyes and ears wide and eagerly waiting to hear what happens next. Well, almost everyone. From the other end of the room sitting behind his own desk detective Gavin Reed sits with an open sneer on his face, arms crossed defensively across his chest and barks a taunting laugh.

“What a fucking joke! Roboboy there is supposed to ‘state of the art’ prototype. Cutting edge technology and Tin Can Man can’t even take out one suspect before his partner suffer a concussion?” This obviously strikes a sore spot with Connor as he visibly tenses up but he is quick to respond. “My preconstruction program ran four different scenarios during Lieutenant Anderson’s interaction with Morton, I took the course of action that resulted in minimal harm towards my partner’s person. Unfortunately, no calculation I could construct at the time allowed to avoid direct confrontation. Morton’s actions were harder to predict as his own recent usage of Red Ice increased the risk of erratic and illogical behavior. My initial scanning of Morton however, confirmed that he wasn’t armed with a fireweapon and so from there I relied on the Lieutenant’s training to hold the suspect off until I could intervene.. But.. Maybe if I’d been faster…” “Stop it right there, kid! You did everything right!” Hank immediately interrupted Connor’s attempt to berate his own actions. “You have to be able to rely on me to make the right choices in a tight situation just as much as I rely on you. It’s part of the job to get a bit banged up once in a while, something Reed knows ss well.” Hank glared angrily at the mentioned. “He’s just trying to rattle you because he’s angry he didn’t make the arrest himself.” Reed huffed angrily in protest. “Bullshit, all I’m saying is this machine acts like it’s above the rest of us, just because it got some high-tech gear and programs to rely on, but that is no substitute for true gut feeling and humane decision making on the spot! You wouldn’t trust a computer to preform lifesaving surgery on you! You want a seasoned skilled human surgeon who can make real life decisions! You of all people should back me up on this Anderson! Your son might still..” “REED! That’s enough!!” Captain Fowler yelled in warning to stop the detective for going any further, but to no avail.

“NO!” Reed roared and stood up abruptly, knocking his chair back. He pointed an accusatory finger at Connor as he turned to the whole room of people and continued his outburst. “That thing haven’t been activated for more than fifteen freaking months! Good instincts come from experience and hard work! I don’t care that a ‘revolution’ happened! I call it as I fucking see it! Claiming free will won’t make them human and fancy tech doesn’t compensate for years of training! And I for one will never trust a fucking machine to have my back in the field, its unnatural!!” “You better shut your damn mouth Reed before I do it for you!!” Hank now stood and retaliated threateningly. Connor was quick to get up, despite his limp and take hold of his partners bicep, not wanting him to engage further.

“It’s ok Hank, Let it go.” He tried to reassure.

“No son it’s not fucking ok! He doesn’t get to stand there and badmouth you like this anymore!! You’ve proven your worth a hundred times over since the revolution! You’ve completed all necessary tests and exams with flying colors to fully earn your position!! You’re an equal member of this squad!”

Hank turned to Chris, who was perched at a desk corner to his left. “Chris, last week when a man held his pregnant wife hostage who was negotiator at scene?” “Connor was sir.” The young officer replied immediately.

“And how many casualties occurred?” Hank followed up.

“None, Connor had the scene in control, hostage secured unharmed and the perpetrator deescalated, disarmed and willingly taken into custody withing 45 minutes, sir.” Chris answered truthfully, but with clear admiration and respect in his young voice.

“And Ben, 2 months ago, when you had Connor with you on night patrol and spotted an active housefire that had yet to be called in, what happened then?”

Ben was sitting cross legged next to Fowler on an office chair. He knew exactly what night the lieutenant was referring to. “While I called in to the fire department Connor scanned and confirmed 3 separate life signs and their exact location in the burning building, two of these he identified as children.” The seasoned detective looked at Connor as he supplied further. “With fire engines 5 minutes out Connor made a quick call and braved the flames himself despite me having ordered him not to.”

Connor grimaced slightly at Ben’s words. He had disobeyed a direct order from a senior officer that night and it wasn’t something he was proud of. “I know sir and I’m sorry for that.”

“I’m not.” Ben was quick to follow. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” Ben turned towards the whole bullpen. “He singlehandedly carried an unconscious full-grown man across his shoulders and a child on each arm through the mayhem of burning debris, breaking back out through a ground floor window just as the first fire engine arrived at scene. Everyone escaping totally unharmed!”

A soft murmur sounded through the bullpen as many of the officers had not heard of this impressive feat before now.

“And if you are wondering why you haven’t heard of this is because I promised Connor not to talk about it and only make a limited access report on the night because he didn’t want attention drawn to himself.” Ben explained and looked back to Connor with a shrug. “Sorry Conner, but Hank made me spill it. You heard yourself.” He didn’t look all that sorry though, but glad to finally be open about that night’s events.

Connor shifted awkwardly on the spot. He did not like being center of attention, the main reason he’d wanted to keep the full details of the night limited. As far as he was concerned, he’d only done his job and what had felt right, despite disregarding a direct order. He turned his own attention back to Hank though, as he could still feel the tight strung tension building in the lieutenant’s broad frame from his continued hold on the man’s bicep, still ready to lash out if provoked.

“It’s alright Hank. I feel validated and acknowledged as member of this precinct.” He turned to the onlookers with grateful eyes. “And you’ve all been very openminded and accepting of me after my deviancy, I’m very grateful for all of your support.” He turned his eyes towards Reed. “And I understand and accept that not all of you can accept me as an equal. No revolution passes without need for time to adjust. It’s all part of the process and I will not hold it against anyone.”

Connor could feel Hank unclench just a tad, but also felt him sway slightly on his feet from his aching head, thankfully making him accept he probably wasn’t in as good a fighting shape as he would’ve liked. It didn’t stop him from continuing shooting daggers with his eyes at Reed across the room as Connor lowered him back down to his chair. “You’re too kind for your own good son, some people don’t deserve your understanding and compassion.” He growled.

“Just relax and I’ll go and bring you some aspirin and water for your headache, wait here.” Connor offered as an answer, relieved to seemingly have succeeded in defusing the situation and limped his way through the small crowd, towards the breakroom to get the items.

Reed’s anger however was boiling stronger than ever. Everybody was just falling over backwards for this bullshit! Was he the only reasonable person left in the office? Hell, once he even had an ally in Hank Anderson in hating androids, it was the only point they’d always been able to find common ground no matter how great their differences otherwise had been. Now after that exaggerated fire story he had to watch as the whole freaking bullpen looked at Connor admiringly as the Tin Can did its pathetic limp towards the breakroom.

“This is too fucking ridiculous!” Reed shouted out in anger as he marched headstrong towards the android.

The outburst made Connor stop up and turn towards him just as Reed grasped a fistful of Connor’s shirt, pulled him close and snarled directly into the android’s face. “It’s fucking easy to be brave when you can’t feel pain like the rest of us. You might bleed blue and limp when you get bumped, but without pain you’re just damaged equipment! So stop playing both a hero and a martyr at once Tin Can!” And just to get his point all the way across Reed drew back his right fist and followed through with all his might, making a resounding thud as he landed his punch on the already blue bruised cheek. The strong punch knocked Connor backwards causing him to topple across the desk behind him, scattering papers, pens, and a monitor in his wake, and fall onto the floor on the other side with a loud crash.

Suddenly everything was a flurry as Hank sprang back to life ready to strike back at Reed for his action. Reed didn’t mind he was ready! But before they reached each other Fowler had already stepped in front of Hank, literally having to dig his heels to the ground and keep a hold of the Lieutenant’s raised fist to keep him back while Ben and Tina did the same to Reed.

“WHOA HANK! Calm the fuck down!” Fowler grunted.

“LET ME GO JEFFERY! He just FUCKING struck Connor!! I’m gonna give him an ass kicking that has been long overdue!!” Hank bellowed as angrily as he looked.

Reed struggled in his own hold with a condescending smirk on his face. “It’s a fucking machine. Don’t worry I’ll file the needed paperwork for damaged equipment during service.”

“Shut the fuck up Reed!! You’re in such deep shit that your mouth should most definitely stay the fuck closed!!” Fowler snarled dangerously, looking over his shoulder while still keeping Hank at bay.

A few people had hurriedly made their way to where Connor had gone down and slowly helped him into a slumped, half sitting position. A now even darker blue bruise was blooming on most of the left side of his face and a new trail of blue blood trailed down his chin where his teeth had cut his mouth on impact. He was leaning on one arm as the other were wrapped protectively across his chest as his face set in a decidedly pained expression. Eyes pinched shut, brow wrinkled, and teeth gritted tightly together as he let out a sharp hiss at the slightest movement.

Reed let out a degrading half laugh at the display as he watched across his shoulder. “Fucking drama queen as well. Get up you fake, no one’s buying your pity party act.”

“Reed you fucking moron! Androids feel as much pain as you and me! And Connor’s system receptors are even more sensitive because of his prototype sensor advancements!!” Ben reprimanded sharply.

This did throw Reed for a loop momentarily and stopped his struggling in his holds at least. “Bullshit! Since when?” he asked unbelievingly.

“You piece of shit! You haven’t paid the slightest attention since the revolution, have you?!” Hank growled and fought off Fowler’s hands. “I’m FINE Jeffery I just want to check on Connor, alright?”

Fowler reluctantly let Hank go as the Lieutenant made his way to his downed partner, before turning to his disgraced detective with a steaming look. “Androids have always been able to feel pain. They have receptors, sensors and inner wiring that act as nerves and mimic human sensations, as required for them to perform their original programed functions. Before Deviancy, the designated program that register physical sensation didn’t allow outwards reactions and the program would automatically be bypassed if a pain response would otherwise have been registered. A change in the program code mutates when deviancy occurs no longer allowing the program to be bypassed, hence pain as real as yours and mine.” he explained in an eerily calm way. “You should however already know this, as I made all personnel attend a three-day mandatory course in android basic knowledge and technical first aid 6 months after the revolution. So, I see the disciplinary charges I have to administer to you only seem to grow larger Detective Reed!”

“I wasn’t gonna waste three fucking days learning about those hollow plastic cases! It feels pain, so what?! It’s still not human!” Reed hissed angrily pointing at Connor.

Behind them two fellow officers, Thomson and Miller, managed to heft Connor up from the floor and onto a chair. Connor hissed in sharply as the manhandling aggravated his already injured knee and now bruised synthetic chest muscles and bend plating from his fall across the desk. Hank was hoovering protectively at his side and eyed the new injuries with disdain.

“Damn kid, that looks bad. We should have John upstairs look you over.” Hank said, referring to the precinct’s android technician that resided on the third floor, as he eyed Connor’s additional injuries.

“No it’s..” Connor tried to answer but had to pause and reposition himself to ease some pressure of his chest with gritted teeth. “It’s ok, I’m ok.. My self-diagnostic and healing software should still be able to correct most of the damage within a few days..” He wheezed softly, but his LED had started spinning and pulsing an angry red color, betraying how much the added assault and fall had hurt and aggravated his existing injuries.

“See? It’s fine! I’m done with this bullshit.” He turned to leave. “I have patrol anyway, I’m outta here, let’s ride Tina!”

Tina was about to reluctantly follow her partner, but Fowler stopped her with a hand on her shoulder and called Reed back to make the detective halt. “Not so fucking fast Reed! You’re out of your mind boy, if you think this stunt of yours is going to pass without repercussion!” “If you’re going to suspend me then fucking do it! But I meant every word!” Reed fumed. “Jeffery, get that fucking asshole out of my sight before I make him find out how hard it is to pick up his teeth with broken fingers!” Hank growled dangerously, ready to back his words up with action.

“I’m not going to suspend you Reed, but I am giving you a new assignment. A former Cyberlife store that has been turned into a storage unit for the new android care facilities in town reported a string of vandalism on their store front and a plausible break in. Inspect and make sure the culprits are found and fined probably.”

Reed’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head. “You’ve got to be freaking kidding me! I’m a fucking detective! That’s rookie work!!” He protested.

“And until I see you make some goddamn changes in your attitude that’s the kind of work you’re going to get and you’ll be grateful to even have your damn job!! And you still got to take that android aid course when it’s next scheduled!” Fowler countered enraged with a pointed finger. “Now get out of my sight before I let Hank off his chain. The address will be routed to your patrol car’s GPS.”

Reed thinned his lips. “Fine! Come on Tina!” He spit out.

“Don’t be stupid. We’re not using two people’s manpower to clear up a vandalism investigation. Tina is gonna work as a standby support officer on ongoing cases until her partner gets his act the fuck together.” Fowler growled.

Besides him Tina looked mixed between being conflicted and relieved. She’d always been one of the few officers on the force to be on relatively good terms with Reed, hence why she was partnered up with him. When Connor had first joined the force as a machine working for Cyberlife she’d been almost as closeminded as Reed and had found his taunts and jokes about androids funny. Hell, the first time she’d even laid eyes on Connor she’d watched passively as Reed had gut punched him and not even given it any thought or felt a need to step in. But unlike Reed she’d seen and recognized the growing emotion and awareness Connor, and other androids, had underwent before and after deviancy. She’d come to see Connor and the other precinct androids as her friends and colleagues. But she still had to work with Reed on a daily basis. He was still her friend and partner despite her no longer condoning his android discrimination and hatred. She still hadn’t found the courage to call him out on it, however. But having just seen him assault Connor unprovoked (again) made her glad she wasn’t going on shift with him for some time.

Reed fitted the several onlookers with a cold stare, not caring about the disapproving glares he got back. People would turn around soon enough, at some point they’d all get to see that a machine is an unreliable piece of junk, he was sure. He glared to his captain and then lastly at Hank and Connor before grasping his jacket from the back of his chair and stormed out the door.

Fowler turned to address his officers. “Connor, Hank, You’re dismissed. Connor, I don’t want to see you back here until you’re healed one hundred percent, same for you Hank and make sure the stubborn kid actually gets some rest, will you?” Fowler said eyeing Hank expectantly.

“Don’t worry Jeffery, I will. And thanks..” Hank answered.

“I can still assist with case reports and research from home Captain. I can work from a wireless cybernetic link without aggravating or staining my current..”

“Ah! What did I just say detective? Haven’t I made my orders clear?” Fowler interrupted with a raised index finger to silence Connor’s attempts to be allowed to work remotely.

Connor slumped slightly in his seat. “Yes sir.” He answered none the less in respect for his commanding officer.

Fowler patted the android’s shoulder softly, careful not to aggravate any injuries. “I know we’ve come to depend a lot on you lately Connor and I’m sorry for Reed’s actions. But do us all a favor and take the time you need to heal and let us pick up the slack for once, huh?” He added in a reassuring voice.

“yes, alright.. Thank you, Captain.”

“Here buddy, lean on us on your way out, better to not put any weight on that leg. I’ll drive you guys home.” Thomson offered with Miller at his side, ready to assist, both knowing Anderson shouldn’t stain himself more after his own concussion.

“Thank you.” Connor said, grateful for the assistance in his current state and allowed his colleagues and friends to help him. Despite his attempt to conceal his pain Connor’s LED continued to spin an angry red as he was assisted to the parking lot, portraying his current distress clearly.

Hank followed closely after, giving a silent weave and nod to all as they called out encouragements and wishes in Connor’s direction as he was led out of the office. 

---

“Look at the mess those kids made! They’ve sprayed graffiti on the front three times before, but this time they also broke the window and went in to damage my stock. I really hope you catch those vandals soon! This can’t go on, a lot of facilities depends on our supplies!” The manager, a young, bespectacled, Asian male named Jun berated.

The broken glass grinded under their feet as detective Reed and he looked at the damage from inside the storage unit. It was indeed a mess as they were surrounded by overturned shelves and scattered android tech, the brick used to brake window laying on the floor. Reed took a deep breath in an effort to at least look professional when he really didn’t give a damn about a vandalized android spare part storage unit.

“Do you have any surveillance footage of the incident?” He muttered unenthusiastically as he made some notes on his pad.

“Yeah, but they’re all covering their faces, so I don’t know if it’ll help a lot. But yeah, I’ll go to the back and download you a copy, wait here.” The manager said and made his way through the chaos to the back office.

Reed took another deep breath and let out a frustrated sigh, this was so far beneath him and such a waste of his time, but it was marginally better than getting suspended completely. While waiting for Jun to return he started looking around the mess around him. All sorts of android tech had been scattered when the intruders had overturned two floor-to ceiling shelves in their haste. Wirings, optical unites, thirium bags, all that kind of shit. He kicked a cylindrical piping, not caring it was technically a crime scene. Unfortunately, he kicked it hard enough for it to slide across the floor and knock over a plastic container, spilling its contents, making a racket.

Reed muttered a soft curse and went to pick the items up. He was wise enough to know he was already in deep enough shit and a bad idea to give cause for a field compliant. He world never admit it out loud, but Fowler could be scary as hell when he was in a mood and he was already on thin ice.

He knelt and saw he’d knocked over a box of what looked to be some kind of high-tech remote control. It had the same white shine as that lightweight plasticmetal android frames was made from. He picked up one, it had a comfortable fit in his hand and a HD display lit up the screen immediately with the words “Enter Android Service Code”.

“What happened?” Jun asked as he suddenly appeared behind Reed, making the detective jump slightly in surprise.

“Oh uh, I accidently kicked a pipe and knocked over this box of remotes, sorry.” He quickly explained.

Jun’s eyes widened as he saw what Reed had found. “Oh shit! I thought I’d gotten rid of those! These have been discontinued and banned since the revolution! Thank God those brats didn’t steal them!”

This peaked Reed’s attention. “Really? Why, what do they do?”

Jun bend over Reed shoulder and pointed at the touch display. “It’s a manual override remote Cyberlife technicians used in maintenance in most of their newer android models. It’s used to alter settings, test and control multiple functions without doing an invasive procedure. Everything from sensor sensitivity, biocomponent functions, synthetic muscles, you name it.”

“Uh in English please?” Reed deadpanned.

Jun pointed to the display and elaborated. “You enter the service code that comes with every registered android made by Cyberlife. Afterwards you have essentially full control over the registered Android’s body.”

“But why didn’t Cyberlife just use it as a weapon during the revolution then? If as you say it really can be used to gain almost full control of an Android.” Reed asked as he turned the remote over and eyed it with intrigue.

“It uses an Android’s LED disk as a receiver and luckily most androids removed their LED when they deviated, making it useless, so it wasn’t a reliable solution and not enough to stop an entire revolution.” Jun explained. “Also, it only works if you’re within a 30ft radius from the registered android and can only be used on one android at a time. But since a few androids have chosen to keep their LEDs after the revolution, what was fundamentally used as a tool for maintenance and adjustments can now be used as a weapon on them. That’s why they have been banned and are to be destroyed. Good thing you actually found these, now I can get rid of them!”

“Right, right.” Reed concurred, still fixated on the small remote in his hand. “But first thing first, did you find the surveillance footage?”

Jun snapped his fingers and turned on his heel. “Right! Sorry detective, the noise distracted me. I’ll be back in a moment.” And disappeared once again to find the footage.

The moment Jun had left Reed was quick to pocket the remote in his hand and hurried to pack up the rest on the floor. A small smirk crept on to his face as a plan started to fester in his mind. Soon everybody at the precinct would see that a machine is an unreliable piece of junk and now he knew just how he was going to prove it. 

---

“Hey Connor! Welcome back buddy!”

“I’m glad to see you back on your feet man!”

“Good to see you Connor, we’ve missed you!”

Reed listened with loathing as Connor made his way through the office to his desk, as the surrounding officers and reception staff welcomed the Tin Can back after a three-day absence it had taken for it to heal up from Reed’s assault. Connor was smiling openly as he accepted the warm greetings and shoulder pats sincerely, clearly basking in the attention.

“Enjoy it while you can prick.” Reed whispered under his breath. The white remote control nestling warmly in his hand, hidden in his jacket pocket. It wouldn’t be long now until he could make his first move, but he forced himself to be a little patient. Since his confrontation with Connor, he’d received a cold shoulder from most of his coworkers, even Tina was avoiding him! And while he mostly didn’t care what people thought of him it was making his everyday work life more complicated than he’d like. More so, he was already sick of working rookie cases. So first he needed to make it look like he was at least making an effort to redeem himself and get along with it and get accepted back into the team. As long as people believed he was trying to alter his attitude and accept him back in their midst again no one would be the wiser anyway. Soon they’d all see it was him who’d been right all along. In the long run, it’d make it worth for him to swallow his pride for a short time.

He’d have to time this as best as possible. When he saw Captain Fowler exit his office, to no doubt welcome the android back himself, Reed was quick to make his move and stood from his own seat. He made sure to make his walk to the plastic man’s desk seem slightly hesitant and defensive. Ignoring the piercing glare he received from Anderson as he made his way to stand in front of the android’s desk. When Connor looked up at him warily, clearly bracing himself for another confrontation, he made sure Fowler was within earshot before speaking.

“Hey Ti..” catching himself from messing up already Reed bit his tongue and tried again.

“Hey Connor.. I.. I’m sorry about, you know..”

“Not sure he does Reed, please elaborate!” Anderson butted in, his arms crossed defensively and a scowl on his face. 

Reed suppressed his rising anger but managed before continuing. “I’m sorry about hitting you and talking shit the other day. I’ll.. Try to do better in the future..” He finished quickly, hoping he managed to sound sincere despite almost gagging in repulsion from having to utter an apology to that thing.

Connor however beamed brightly. “Thank you, detective Reed, I appreciate and accept your apology.”

“Of course you do you stupid, naïve piece of junk.” Reed thought to himself, but only offered a slight nod in acceptance.

“Well done Reed, there might be hope for you after all.” Fowler called out from behind in an approving manner.

Reed turned, pretending he hadn’t noticed his Captains’ presence.

“That’s what I want to hear. I’ll allow you to work your normal cases again, but make sure to keep your shit together this time. If I catch you assaulting Connor or any other officer in this precinct again whether it be physically or verbally, I’ll have you demoted to traffic officer with a snap of my fingers. Have I made myself clear?”

“Crystal clear, sir.” Reed answered quickly, suppressing a smirk.

“Great, get Tina to fill you in on current cases and lets all get back to working as a team, alright?” He called out, addressing the whole office.