Chapter 6: The side we choose
Warnings: Canon typical dbh violence, murder investigation, blood (blue and human), brief descriptions of abuse, police confrontation, anxiety/panic, anti-android prejudice, mention of suicidal tendencies.
Additional tags may be added as story progresses
Summary: As Connor's investigation into deviants continues, Elise finds herself navigating increasingly dangerous rescue missions while Detroit grows more hostile by the day.
November 6th, 2038, 03:35pm, Suspected Deviant Apartment Complex
The two make their way to an old, run down apartment complex. The walls look worn, like no one has done work on this place in awhile.
Hank and Connor enter the elevator, waiting to be taken to a higher floor. Hank steps out of the elevator as the door opens, but notices Connor hasn’t moved.
He turns back, looking at Connor who has his eyes closed, “Hey Connor! You ran outta batteries or what?”
Connor opens his eyes and tilts his head at Hank, “I'm sorry, I was making a report to CyberLife.”
Hank laughs, “Uh... Well, do you plan on staying in the elevator?”
Connor, still unmoving from the elevator, responds, “No! I'm coming.”
When Connor makes his way out of the elevator, walking down the dark, dusty hallway, Hank asks, “ What do we know about this guy?”
“Not much. Just that a neighbor reported that he heard strange noises coming from this floor. Nobody’s supposed to be living here, but the neighbor said he saw a man hiding a LED under his cap.”
Hank puts his head in his hands, seeming tired, “Oh Christ, if we have to investigate every time someone hears a strange noise, we’re gonna need more cops.”
Suddenly, he turns to Connor, “Hey, were you really makin' a report back there in the elevator? Just by closing your eyes?”
“Correct.” Connor states plainly.
“Shit... Wish I could do that…” Hank sighs, the corner of Connor's mouth twitched upward before he caught himself.
They’re on a mission right now, there’s no time for distractions, even if he did find that amusing.
The pair approach the door, Connor taking the lead. He knocks on the door, “Anybody home?” No Answer. He knocks harder this time, “Open up! Detroit Police!”
There is suddenly a loud crash. Hank and Connor look at each other, both making the same decision: investigate
Hank draws his weapon, “Stay behind me.” he orders.
Connor steps behind him, “Got it.”
However, Connor does not understand why he should stay behind the lieutenant. Sure, Hank is the one with a weapon, but Hank is also the one who could die if this became dangerous. Connor could be damaged, but he would come back. Hank does not have that luxury.
Connor quietly decides to himself, if the situation escalates, he will put himself between Hank and the danger. Hank kicks in the door and enters with his weapon drawn. Pigeons start to fly everywhere, at him, at Connor, into the hallway.
Hank stumbles over something on the floor, “What the fuck is this?! Jesus, this place stinks…”
When the birds finally settle, they make their way through every room in the apartment.
Hank sighs, “Uh, looks like we came for nothin', our man's gone…”
Connor makes his way around the room, looking for evidence the deviant had been here.
He notices a poster on the wall, but something is off about it, so he analyzes it.
URBAN FARM POSTERFields in the heart of the city265 Acre Avn. Detroit
POSTER CORNER100% recycled paperRecently moved
He notes the poster has been recently moved… interesting. So someone has been here. Connor walks to a bookshelf, finding a small diary. He studies it carefully, but none of it makes sense. Hank notices the focused look on Connor’s face, “Found something?”
Still flipping through the pages, very focused, Connor responds, “I don't know... It looks like a notebook but it's... indecipherable.”
He keeps the notebook with him, moving to a new area of the room. On a shelf he finds a driver’s license.
Connor turns the license in his hands, continuing to study it, “The driver's license is fake.”
Hank scoffs, “Cool! At least we didn't come for nothing…”
Interesting, Connor thinks to himself, a deviant would have use for a fake license, especially if they were trying to blend in with humans.
He makes his way to the bathroom now, finding an LED in the sink. Bingo, he thinks to himself as he picks it up, analyzing it for information.
LED
Biocomponent #9301
Deactivated: 11/06/2038 - 11:36
BLUE BLOOD
MODEL WB200 #847 004 961
Reported Missing - 10/11/2036
“Its LED is in the sink.” He calls out to Hank.
Entering the bathroom to have a look for himself, Hank responds, “Not surprised it was an android. No human could live with all these fuckin' pigeons…”
To their right, the same phrase from before, ra9 is written all over the wall.
“Any idea what it means?” Hank asks.
“rA9… written 2471 times… It's the same sign Ortiz’s android wrote on the shower wall… Why are they obsessed with this sign?..”
“Looks like mazes or something…” Hank says to Connor as he walks back to the living room.
None of this makes sense to Connor. Why was every deviant obsessed with ra9? He needed to find answers. He makes his way out of the bathroom, back into the living room. He notices a stool and bird cage on the floor. Could this have been the loud noise they heard earlier?
WOODEN STOOL
Recently disturbed
Traces of avian fecal matter
SKID MARK - RECENT
Trail width: 19.6 inches
Traces of galvanized steel
FINGER MARKS - RECENT
Traces of avian fecal matter
No fingerprints
METAL HOOK
Recently broken
100% stainless steel
Connor is trying to piece the information together, but he still does not have enough. Suddenly he is interrupted by Hank, who is not even helping him.
“Real books… I thought I was the last guy in Detroit to keep some… electronic books you can't… smell the paper… see the pages turning yellow… you have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?” Connor ignores him.
He’s feeling.. frustrated? He isn’t sure. All he knows is he wishes the lieutenant would stop goofing around and help him look at the evidence. He keeps the thought to himself though.
Hank walks over an area where there is some bird food, “ Birdseed… I can't believe it. This nutjob was actually feeding these fuckers…” Again, Connor ignores the comment.
Suddenly, Connor hears something shift above them. Before either can react, pigeons are everywhere and the deviant falls onto Connor, knocking him to the ground. The deviant instantly rises, and runs out of the apartment.
Hank, swatting the pigeons away yells, “God damn fuckin' pigeons! What are you waiting for?! Chase it!”
Connor took off after the deviant without hesitation.
Rupert moved with surprising speed, vaulting over rusted railings and weaving effortlessly through Detroit's rooftops.
Connor calculated the quickest path after him, shortening corners whenever possible, but every time he thought he was gaining ground, Rupert was already leaping to the next rooftop.
The chase carried them through an abandoned rooftop garden, rows of overgrown corn brushing against Connor's jacket as he pushed through them.
Broken glass crunched beneath his shoes as Rupert disappeared through the remains of an old greenhouse. Connor followed without slowing, his processors constantly recalculating the fastest route forward.
Distance to suspect: 18 meters.
Rupert glanced back only once before throwing himself over another gap between buildings. Connor didn't hesitate, he jumped after him.
Rupert shoves Hank, causing him to fall over the roof of the urban farm. Luckily, the lieutenant is quick and manages to hold on.
Connor has to make a decision. Should he chase Rupert and advance the case, or should he help Hank? He knows what Amanda would want him to do. Within seconds, he calculates the probabilities of each scenario.
Chase Rupert: 100% success rate
Save Hank: probability of survival if not helped: 89%
Connor decides to save his partner, he runs over to Hank, extending his hand and pulling him up.
Hank, breathing heavy exclaims, “Shit! Oh SHIT! We had it! FUCK!”
“It's my fault, I should have been faster.” Connor says, looking to the direction Rupert ran to.
He thinks to himself, this is my fault. I should have looked at the evidence faster, ran faster, i could have caught him.
Noticing Connor’s disappointment, Hank says, “You’d have caught it if it weren’t for me… That's alright. We know what it looks like. We'll find it…”
He turns to start walking to the car, “Hey, Connor…”
“Nothing.” Hank says, walking away.
November 6th, 2038 6:30pm, Elise’s apartment
Elise tries to go about her evening. She has a few hours before she needs to start getting ready to go to Rose’s farm. She took a quick nap, because she is sure she will be out late, especially now that the police are investigating deviants.
She decides to walk to a nearby coffee shop. Elise pulls on her gloves, and new coat she just bought that morning with Violet and makes her way there.
For some reason, the city seems.. Off. She notices there are police cruisers everywhere, and in every store window or speakers the news of “deviant investigations” is playing.
Elise feels her chest tighten. She thinks to herself:
There’s so much going on. So much news coverage
What if we get caught tonight?
What if something goes wrong?
She quickly dismisses the thought as she opens the door to the coffee shop, she stands in line to order. When it is almost her turn, she overhears a woman say, “They’re going to have to do something about those things. They’re getting out of control.”
She feels her stomach drop, she quickly orders and takes a seat near a window to wait. As she’s waiting, she is going over her route in her head. She’s done it plenty of times by now, but she always wants to be prepared. It helps her calm down when she thinks she might freak out.
“Elise!” The android barista calls.
“Thank you” she says, picking up her coffee and quickly leaving the shop.
As she steps into the crisp Detroit air, she can’t help but notice how other people interact with androids. Yelling at them, shoving them, talking down to them. And yet… people wonder why there is a deviant ‘problem’.
She makes her way back home, throwing her gloves on the counter, and hanging her coat on the door. Knowing she’ll need both for tonight. Elise decides she should make something for dinner, but she does not really feel like it. She is trying to mentally prepare for her insanely stressful night.
She has just started to make pasta when her phone dings. A text from Violet
Hey!! Wanna go out tonight???
Elise feels guilty already. Earlier, she had told Violet she had no plans this weekend, and she finally was able to act normal again. She’s worried Violet will know something is up.
Of course she wants to go out with Violet, but she can’t. She has already promised Rose, and deep down she knows even if she had agreed to go with Violet, she would drop anything to help Rose.
She texts back:
I’m sorry, Vi. I’m not feeling too great. I kinda wanna stay in.
Violet texts back almost immediately: You’ve been saying that a lot…
Elise closes her eyes. She hates lying to her friend, but she cannot drag her into this too.
Work’s just been… a lot recently.
Okay. Is all that Violet says.
A few minutes later, Elise gets another message:
If you’re lying to me, I won’t be mad. I just want you to know you can tell me if something’s wrong.
Elise types something, but then deletes it. She doesn’t even know what to say to her. Instead, she just continues making dinner, hoping this night will go smoothly and quickly.
November 6th, 2039 07:51pm, Zen Garden
Connor opens his eyes, and once again he is surrounded by the endless stretch of cherry blossom trees. However, it is raining this time, so Connor has an umbrella. He quickly locates Amanda, and makes his way to her.
“Hello, Amanda.” He says as he approaches, opening the umbrella to shield her from the rain.
“Connor, I’ve been expecting you… Would you mind a little walk?” she says in a gentle tone.
As they stroll through the garden, Amanda says, “That deviant seemed to be an intriguing case. A pity you didn’t manage to capture it…”
Connor considers his response carefully before finally speaking, “Deviants are completely irrational, which makes it difficult to anticipate their behavior… but I should have been more effective.”
He just wants her to understand he did try, but he should have done better. He knows that.
Amanda smiles, but there is something underneath, “Did you manage to learn anything?”
“I found its diary, but it was encrypted. It may take weeks to decipher.”
“What else?” She says in the same sweet tone.
“The walls of the apartment were covered with drawings of labyrinths and other symbols. Like the other deviants, it seemed obsessed with rA9.”
She moves on, “You came very close to capturing that deviant.. How is your relationship with the Lieutenant developing?”
Connor pauses, “He seemed grateful that I saved his life on the roof. He didn’t say anything, but he expressed it in his own way…”
He continues walking a few steps before he notices Amanda is not following him. He turns around to look at her.
She has a disappointed look on her face as she speaks, “We don't have much time. Deviancy continues to spread. It’s only a matter of time before the media finds out about it. We need to stop this, whatever it takes.”
“ I will solve this investigation, Amanda. I won’t disappoint you.” He says, so surely.
Connor meant it. He would not disappoint her again. Was he doing the wrong thing by being friendly with Hank? Should he stop and focus only on the mission?
She never criticized him directly for saving Hank... yet Connor could not shake the feeling that he had somehow failed again.
Harshly, she says, “A new case just came in. Find Anderson and investigate it.”
Connor watches her with a somewhat shocked expression as she walks past him, not looking back.
As he opens his eyes, he is now in a taxi on his way to the lieutenant’s house. As he steps out, the taxi plays a generic message, “You have reached your destination. Thank you for travelling with Detroit Taxis. We look forward to seeing you again soon.”
Connor makes his way to the front door of Hank’s house. He knocks on the door as he says, “Lieutenant Anderson?”
He tries the door bell after he gets no response, “Anybody home?”
Still, he is met with no response. He rings the door bell once more, pressing down longer this time. Connor decides to look for another way inside, he makes his way to the back side of the house.
He looks in the kitchen window, and sees Hank on the floor. He quickly analyzes him, noting he is unconscious, but alive.
Connor quickly elbows the window, shattering it instantly. He takes a few steps back before running and jumping through the window, landing on the kitchen floor.
Hank’s dog, already aware of the commotion, is standing in front of Connor before he can react. Connor reaches his hand out, as if to protect himself if needed, “Argh!.. Easy!.. Sumo… I'm your friend, see?.. I know your name... I'm here to save your owner…”
Sumo looks at Connor, then turns away making his way to his food bowl.
Connor lifts himself, making his way to Hank. He quickly examines him to make sure he’s alright.
TRACES OF ALCOHOL
Scotch Whisky
40% Alcohol content
HEART
Slight arrhythmia
No signs of trauma
BLACK LAMB
Scotch Whisky
40% Alcohol content
REVOLVER
.357 Magnum
1 bullet remaining
“Lieutentant” Connor says softly, before gently tapping Hank’s face.
Hank stirs slightly, but does not wake up. “Wake up, Lieutenant!” He says louder this time. This does cause Hank to wake up, but he quickly falls back into unconsciousness.
Connor smacks Hank across the face hard, “It's me, Connor!”
Still, Hank does not move or wake up. He decides to take measures into his own hands. He starts to lift the lieutenant off of the floor, “I’m going to sober you up for your own safety.”
“I have to warn you, this may be unpleasant”.
Hank is drunkenly trying to protest, “Hey!.. Leave me alone, you fuckin' android!”
Hank looks at Connor, “Get the fuck outta my house!”
Connor manages to get the lieutenant to his feet, and walk him towards the bathroom, “I'm sorry, Lieutenant, but I need you. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.”
Hank is still protesting, “Hey! Get the fuck outta here!”
“Sumo! Attack! Good dog. Attack!” Sumo does not move from where he is lying down, he simply lets out a bark.
Connor leans Hank against the wall so he can open the bathroom door.
Hank makes a noise, “Fuck, I think I'm gonna be sick…”
Connor supports Hank again, helping him into the bathroom, but he is met by more protesting from Hank.
“Ah! Leave me alone, you asshole! I'm not going anywhere…”
As Connor sets him down on the side of the bath rub, Hank says, “What the hell are you doing?.. I don’t wanna bath, thank you…”
Connor shoves Hank into the tub and as he turns on the water he says, “Sorry, Lieutenant. It's for your own good.”
Hank starts yelling, “TURN IT OFF! TURN IT OFF! What the fuck are you doing here?”
“A homicide was reported 43 minutes ago. I couldn’t find you at Jimmy’s bar, so I came to see if you were at home.”
Hank sighs, “Jesus, I must be the only cop in the world that gets assaulted in his own house by his own fuckin' android… Can’t you just leave me alone?”
Connor decides to tease him, “I understand. It probably wasn’t interesting anyway... A man found dead in a sex club downtown… Guess they’ll have to solve the case without us…”
“You know, probably wouldn't do me any harm to get some air… There're some clothes in the bedroom there.”
“ I'll go get them. What do you want to wear?” Connor asks.
“Whatever” Hank responds.
Connor makes his way to Hank's room, grabbing the first outfit he can find. He hopes it will do. He returns to the bathroom and sets the clothes down.
“Are you all right, Lieutenant?”
Hank, hovering over his toilet responds, “yeah... yeah... wonderful… Just a… Give me five minutes, okay?”
“Sure.” Connor responds, closing the door to give him some privacy.
Connor decides this is a perfect time to learn more about the lieutenant. He makes his way to the dining table. He picks up a photo that is overturned and analyzes it:
Born: 09/23/2029 - Died: 10/11/2035
Lived: 115 Michigan Drive – Detroit
He finds himself holding the photograph for several seconds. He continues to wander around the house, he finds records, learning Hank's music taste. He also, of course, pets sumo.
As he makes his way back to the kitchen to wait on Hank, he notices the gun still on the floor. He could question Hank, but decides against it.
Connecting the dots from the photo of his deceased son, the gun, and alcholol, he determines Hank has suicidal tendencies.
Hank walks out, fully dressed and ready to go. As they head out he looks back at Sumo, “Be a good dog, Sumo. I won’t be long.”
November 6th, 2038, 08:17, The Eden Club
As they pull to the front of the eden club, Hank grabs his head and whines, “ Aw… Feels like somebody’s playing with a drill inside my skull… You sure this is the place?”
Connor turns the car off, “It's the address in the report.”
The pair exits the car, making their way to the front of the building.
“Jesus… Sexiest androids in town… Now I know why you insisted on coming here! Oh, boy…” Hank says sarcastically.
As they make their way inside, Hank books it through the entrance.
Connor lingers for a brief moment. The android behind the glass moved with perfect precision, smiling at patrons who barely seemed to acknowledge her existence.
Her movements were programmed, yet after everything he had seen over the past two days, Connor found himself wondering if she truly felt nothing at all.
Hank notices Connor is not behind him, but looking at the android, “Connor! The fuck are you doin'?”
Connor quickly follows him, “Coming, Lieutenant.”
As the two approach Ben, he is talking with the owner of the club.
“You're not gonna take my license, are you? I mean, ha, I had nothing to do with this!” the owner exclaims
“The investigation's ongoing, sir, I can't tell you anything for the moment. Hey, Hank!”
“Hey, Ben. How's it goin'?”
“It’s that room there. Oh, uh, by the way… Gavin's in there too.” Ben says pointing at the crime scene.
“Oh, great! A dead body and an asshole, just what I needed…”
As Connor and Hank enter the room where the man was murdered, Gavin insists on being a menace. “Lieutenant Anderson and his plastic pet… The fuck are you two doin' here?”
Connor replies, “We’ve been assigned all cases involving androids.”
Gavin laughs, “Oh, yeah? Well, you're wasting your time. Just some pervert who, uh, got more action than he could handle.”
Hank smiles weakly, “We'll have a look anyway, if you don’t mind.”
Gavin snorts, “ Come on, let's go… It's, uh, starting to stink of booze in here…”
Chris shoots an apologetic look at Hank, “Night, Lieutenant.”
Connor approaches the victim and starts to analyze him:
GRAHAM, MICHAEL
Height: 6' 2'' - Weight: 192.4 lbs
Estimated time of death: 06:24 pm
SEVERE BRUISING
Signs of strangulation
Cause of death: Asphyxiation
CARDIAC ARREST
No sign of cardiac event
Heart attack not cause of death
He notices a puddle of blue blood near the Traci. Connor extends two fingers, sliding them through the puddle and lifting them to his mouth.
Hank, noticing, is disgusted, “Whoa! Hey! Hey! Hey! Argh, Connor, you’re so disgusting… Think I’m gonna puke again…”
Serial number #429 671 942
Connor had consumed blue blood countless times during investigations. It was simply another method of collecting evidence.
Yet every time Lieutenant Anderson reacted with visible disgust, Connor found himself hesitating for the briefest fraction of a second before continuing.
He starts to reconstruct the murder, quickly he realizes the man did not have a heart attack, he was strangled by the deviant.
“He didn't die of a heart attack, he was strangled.” He says to Hank
“Yeah, I saw the bruising on the neck. Doesn’t prove anything though. Could’ve been rough play…” Hank responds
Connor frustratedly says, “We’re missing something here…”
“Think you can read the android’s memory? Maybe you can see what happened…” Hank asks, remembering that is how he figured out what happened with Carlos Ortiz’s android.
As Connor connects the Traci’s wires, he says “The only way to access its memory is to reactivate it.”
“Think you can do it?” Hank questions.
Connor, still working, replies “It’s badly damaged… If I can, it'll only be for a minute, maybe less… I just hope it’s long enough to learn something.”
The Traci suddenly jerks awake. She starts looking around the room, and backs away from Connor. He holds his hands where she can see them.
Softly, he says, “Calm down... everything’s all right. All we want is to know what happened.”
Connor noticed the android shrinking away from him despite the damage to her systems. Fear. Genuine fear. It matched the Ortiz android almost perfectly
Still breathing heavily, she asks, “Is he… is he dead?..
Traci, still scared, starts to speak, “ He... he started... hitting me… again... and again. I begged him to stop, but he wouldn’t. It was like he was enjoying it…”
“Were you alone in the room? Was there anyone else with you?” Connor pushes.
“ He wanted to play with two girls… That’s what he said, there were two of us…” And suddenly, she shuts down.
‘So, there was another android… This happened over an hour ago, it's probably long gone…” Hank says
“No… It couldn't go outside dressed like that unnoticed… It might still be here.” Connor responds.
“Think you could find a deviant among all the other androids in this place?” Hank says, looking at him.
“Deviants aren't easily detected", Connor frowns.
“Ah, shit... There's gotta be some other way… Maybe an eyewitness? Somebody who saw it leaving the room… I'm gonna go ask the manager a few questions about what he saw. You let me know if you think of anything.”
“The deviant didn’t just disappear. It's gotta be here somewhere… Just, give me one more minute, ok?” Connor asks.
“Alright. Be quick about it or it might get ugly.” Hank says as he walks back up to Ben.
Connor goes up to a Traci, places his hand on the machine as if he is going to rent her.
The machine states, "No fingerprint detected. Please try again." Connor makes a frustrated sound.
“Excuse me, Lieutenant. Can you come here a second?” He calls.
“Maybe… Can you rent this Traci?”
“For fuck's sake, Connor, we got better things to do…” Hank scoffs.
“Please, Lieutenant! Just trust me.”
Machine: Hello. A 30 minute session costs $29.99. Please confirm your purchase.
Hank sighs, “This is not gonna look good on my expense account…”
Machine: Purchase confirmed. Eden Club wishes you a pleasant experience.
“Delighted to meet you. Follow me, I’ll take you to your room.” Traci says, pulling on Hank’s hand, trying to guide him to the room.
“Ok, now what?” He asks, looking at Connor. Connor grabs her arm, probing her memory.
“Holy shit, Connor... What the hell are you doin'?”
“It saw something.” Connor says as he lets go of her arm.
“What are you talkin' about? Saw, what?” Hank asks confusedly.
“The deviant leave the room… A blue-haired Traci. Club policy is to wipe the androids’ memory every two hours. We only have a few minutes if we wanna find another witness!” Connor says as he is looking around the room for which android to check next.
“What are you gonna do? You can’t check the memory of all these androids…”
“I know which direction it went. I just need to find another android that saw it…”
Connor replayed the reconstructed route through his processors. The blue-haired Traci had exited here… crossed the lobby… turned left… Any witness would have needed a direct line of sight
“This better be worth it!”, Hank says
“it saw the blue-haired Traci, I know which way it went!” Connor exclaims, already running to the next section of the club.
“Then go for it! There're androids everywhere! How are you gonna tell which one saw the Traci with blue hair?”
“I know which direction it took. I just need to find another android on its path!” Connor says, and as he makes his way, connecting to the memory of an android mopping the floor, he sees the android go through a staff door.
“I know where it went! Follow me!” Connor exclaims
“ Fucking-A. This is crazy…” Hank says as he rubs his head.
As they’re about to enter the warehouse, Hank says, Wait! I'll take it from here.”, signaling for Connor to get behind him. When the pair enter and see rows and rows of androids standing, Hank says, “Shit… We're too late…”
Hank starts to walk around, noticing all the broken androids, “Christ, look at them… They get used till they break, then they get tossed out…People are fucking insane… They don’t want relationships anymore, everybody just gets an android… They cook what you want, they screw when you want, you don't have to worry about how they feel… Next thing you know, we’re gonna be extinct, because everybody would rather buy a piece of plastic than love another human being… Beats me…”
Connor looks across hundreds of inactive androids. Until two days ago, he would have considered them nothing more than decommissioned machines. Now... he wasn't entirely certain.
Connor makes his way to the back of the warehouse, looking through the group of androids, but suddenly one jumps out at him, and one jumps out at Hank
The two Tracis moved as one, whenever Connor reached for one, the other was already there, forcing him to split his attention. They weren't trained fighters, but desperation made them unpredictable.
One shoved him back just long enough for the other to sprint toward the exit. Connor caught her wrist, but she twisted free. Another blow struck him from the side, sending him stumbling into a row of inactive androids. Plastic bodies rocked on their charging stands as Connor regained his balance.
"Connor!" Hank shouted somewhere behind him.
The Tracis were almost outside, Connor ran after them.
Connor manages to corner both outside, still struggling to keep up with two. He finally gains an upper hand, knocking one down, and steadying his weapon on the other.
Probability of successful shot: 98%.
He only needs to squeeze the trigger. Then… the blue-haired Traci reaches for the other's hand, and their fingers intertwine. Connor hesitates. They're afraid, they're protecting each other. It reminds him of Carlos Ortiz's android shielding itself, of Ralph lying, and of Rupert running.
None of them had fought to hurt anyone, they had fought to survive. As he lowers the gun, he watches the two climb the fence and run into the rainy night.
“It's probably better this way…” Hank says, heading to exit the club.
November 6th, 2038, 11:57pm, Rose’s farm
Elise arrived at the farm right on time. Rose was already waiting outside.
The older woman’s shoulders were tense, her eyes constantly scanning the road behind Elise as though expecting headlights to appear any second.
“Did you see the news?” Rose asked the moment Elise stepped out of the car.
“No, I haven’t”, Elise frowned, “ Did something happen?”
Rose nodded, “Yes, a cyberlife warehouse was broken into around 8:30. Police are everywhere because of it, we have to be extremely careful tonight.”
Elise’s stomach tightened. Usually Rose was calm. Even on difficult nights, she had a quiet confidence that made everyone around her feel safe. Tonight was different. Rose looked afraid and somehow that frightened Elise more than the news.
Elise followed Rose into the house, and she notices instead of three or four androids, there’s ten. Some sat silently on the floor, others stood near the windows, anxiously peering through the curtains. One clutched another's hand so tightly their fingers trembled.
Elise’s eyes widened, there’s no way this is going to work.
“Rose..” she says nervously, “This is a lot more than I expected.”
“We have to split up,” Rose said gently, “it’s the only way.”
She had expected that. They'd been able to go together less and less since the investigation started.
She had almost calmed herself down until Rose folded a map over the kitchen table and said, “Study this route. We leave in one hour and we can’t use our usual route.”
Elise’s heart sinks. She had just gotten used to their route, every hiding place, every spot along the road they couldn’t be seen from, and now she has one hour to learn a route on paper. Not even the actual route.
She repeated it silently over and over, terrified she'd forget one turn once she was alone in the dark. The hour came and went in what felt like five minutes. Elise and five androids loaded into her car.
Rose walks up to her window, “remember what we talked about. If you are about to get caught, everyone runs.”
She steps back, only then did Elise notice how tired Rose looked. Yet, she still managed a small smile.
“Please be careful Elise.” A pause
“If you don’t call me at the designated time..” her voice caught slightly, “I will come looking for you.”
“I will.” Elise forced herself to smile, but she wasn’t nearly as confident as she sounded.
No one says anything as Elise drives. Usually, there is small talk, but everyone knows this night is different. More police, more border patrol, even a check point on the usual route. The police are getting suspicious.
Elise is trying very hard not to have a panic attack. She tells herself:
You felt this way when you first started and you have always been fine
But everyone always thinks they’re fine until they’re not
Oh god if i get caught this is a felony.
For the first time since moving to Detroit, Elise realized she had stopped pretending she was neutral. She had chosen a side, and she was willing to risk everything for it.
They reached the point where the road ended.
“The rest is on foot.” Elise says to the group. Everyone stepped out quietly.
They disappeared into the tree line, moving as quickly and quietly as they could. The woods were almost silent.
Then…. Headlights. Elise froze. She hears an engine coming towards them.
"Everyone hide," she whispered sharply. "Now."
The group scattered between the trees. One android stumbled, another grabbed their hand, pulling them behind a fallen log. Elise crouched beside a tree, barely daring to breathe.
The patrol car rolled to a stop, and the door opened.
"Michigan State Police!", A flashlight swept slowly across the woods.
Another beam of light, right beside Elise.
"We had reports of a group. Possibly androids."
"If anyone's out there, come out now!", the officer yells into the woods.
Elise's pulse pounded in her ears. The flashlight was getting closer.
One of the androids reached for her sleeve, "Please don't leave us." Their voice shook.
Elise looked back at them, then toward the road. Someone had to distract him. Otherwise… he'd eventually search the trees where they were all hiding.
She leaned close, "I'm going to make him look at me."
The android's grip tightened, "No..."
"You all need to run." Elise says, looking at them.
"But-" One tries to protest.
"You have to trust me.", She says calmly.
She looked at each of them, "When you hear me say 'Hello, officer'..."
She swallowed, "...change your route."
"Don't go where I told you."
"Just keep heading north."
She slowly stepped out from behind the trees, raising both hands.
The flashlight immediately swung toward her, the officer frowned.
"What are you doing out here?"
"I'm camping.", She pointed vaguely behind her.
"My campsite's about a five-minute walk."
He looked past her into the darkness, "Camping by yourself?"
"My friends went into town earlier." She forced a nervous laugh.
He studied her for another second, "You haven't seen a group come through here?"
"No." She shook her head.
"I was asleep until I heard you calling."
The officer looked into the woods one last time, then back at Elise.
He lowered the flashlight, "Sorry to disturb you."
As soon as the patrol car disappeared around the bend, Elise let out a shaky breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.
Her hands were trembling, but she dug into her pockets looking for her phone. She called Rose immediately. After explaining what happened, Rose didn't hesitate.
"Don't try to catch them."
"What?" Elise sounds confused
"They'll change the route. You go back to your car. They know what to do."
Elise nodded, even though Rose couldn't see her.
The walk back felt impossibly long. Every snapping branch made her jump, and every shadow looked like another patrol officer.
When she finally reached her car… It was completely silent.
No voices, no headlights, no sign the group had ever been there.
She rested both hands on the roof of the car for a moment, trying to steady herself.
Or had she sent them deeper into the woods for nothing?
She wouldn't know until Rose called.
Had so much fun with this💙 it’s getting tense!!! This also took me so long bc I had to replay the chapters to see how the characters interacted lmao. hope yall enjoyyy!!
We are getting closer and closer to Elise and Connor’s story overlapping 🤭
