The next morning, I wake up from a nightmare. Not unusual. Instead of going back to sleep for fear of another one, I get dressed and leave a note on Hadley's side table before heading out of the apartment.

          Not telling you where I'm going or how long I'll be because I know you'll freak out and I                    don't know when I'll get back, but I haven't been kidnapped. Don't worry.

-Lizzie

Because this was sometimes a regular occurrence, Hadley made me promise to sign my notes as Lizzie, instead of Arna. This was on account of the fact that they're the only person still alive who knows my middle name, so they would know it was actually me writing.

I walk down the sidewalk silently, not listening to anything for once. I take in my surroundings. Plenty of decrepit buildings, homeless people sleeping on the sidewalk, and fights going on in alleyways. Yeah, I don't exactly live in a great neighborhood. One fight in particular, I notice, involves a child android. I sigh and make my way across the street.

"Hey!" I yell. The two older boys look up at me. They're probably early twenties, maybe a little younger. "That's enough, guys. You've had your fun. Leave her alone." They look at each other, then back at me.

"And if we don't?" the taller, blond one of the two asks. "What'll you do?" I stick my hands in my pockets before shrugging. They chuckle. "Get out of here, little girl." My smirk turns to a scowl.

"The fuck did you just say?" I ask. They glance at each other, still smiling.

"He said get outta here," the shorter, black haired one says. I shake my head.

"No, I heard that," I say. "Not gonna happen. But...I could be mistaken...but I thought you called me little." The blond one laughs and nods. I smirk. "That was your first mistake." The boys' smirks falter, and I take that chance to run forward and kick the black haired one in the stomach as I grab the blond one's hair and pull him backwards, kneeing him in the back. He stumbles forward as the other regains his balance and attempts to throw a punch at me. I grab his fist and pull him forward as I move out of the way, making him run into the wall. He falls to the ground, holding his head as blood drips between his fingers, and the other pulls him to his feet and drags him out of the alley. I sigh and look back at the young android, who's crouched against the wall, trembling.

"Are you okay?" I ask. He nods shakily, and I hold out a hand, noticing a figure in my peripheral vision. He takes my hand, and I pull him up, looking over him. "Did they hurt you?" He shakes his head quickly, and I nod. "You better get back to wherever you were going?" He nods and runs off, right past Connor, who's standing in the mouth of the alleyway. Connor looks after him as he runs away.

"Connor," I say. "What are you doing here?" He looks back at me abruptly and straightens up.

"Lieutenant Anderson said yesterday that you were to help him when he needs you," he says. "And I've been assigned to help Lieutenant Anderson. I was coming to get you on my way to the station when I heard you fighting those two boys." I nod, brushing the dust off my sleeves, which are now tinted a pale brown.

"Well?" I ask. "Let's go!" His LED rolls yellow for a moment, but he nods. As I follow him back to the station, I can't help but glance up at him occasionally. I mean, wouldn't you if the first person in five years to manage to catch you was an android that just so happened to be somewhat good looking and you then ended up working with him? We walk inside, and I try to ignore the weird looks I'm getting. I follow Connor as he walks up to the front desk.

"Can I help you?" the android receptionist asks. He nods.

"We're here to see Lieutenant Anderson," he tells her.

"Do you have authorization?" Connor looks at me, then back at her, and nods.

"Yes." Her LED flashes for a moment, then she smiles at us.

"Lieutenant Anderson hasn't arrived yet, but you can wait at his desk." Connor nods and looks back at me. I shrug and motion for him to go first. I follow him through the gate to the office, where I get even more dirty looks from cops I've resisted arrest from. Especially the ones that I had to fight off. He walks up to a police android by the wall.

"I'm looking for Lieutenant Anderson's desk," he says. The android points to a desk across the room.

"It's that desk right there." Connor looks over and nods. I look toward the holding cells and, after a second, start walking toward them, not caring if Connor follows me or not. I walk over to the farthest cell, where the deviant from yesterday is standing in front of the glass. He looks up slowly when I stop in front of him, and I hear footsteps stop behind me. Connor, I'm guessing.

"They're gonna destroy me," he says quietly. I frown sadly.

"I'm sorry," Connor says from behind me. "It's not what I wanted...but there's nothing I can do." I sigh and step closer to the glass.

"I know there's something you didn't tell us," I say, trying to be as gentle as I can. "I need to know, before they take you away." I look up at Connor, then back at the deviant. "What you said yesterday..."the truth is inside"...What does it mean?" He looks down at the floor, then back at me. He opens his mouth hesitantly, and I think he's going to tell me, but then he shakes his head.

"I'm going to die," he whispers. I sigh and look back at Connor, shaking my head. We go to walk away but hear a loud banging and look back. The deviant is banging his head against the wall, where thirium is dripping down the glass.

"Open the cell, quick!" someone exclaims. Two officers rush forward to open the door. "Hurry!" Before they can do anything, the deviant falls to the ground. They sigh. "I'll call CyberLife. Clean this mess up." I frown but say nothing, instead walking away.

"Arna," I hear. I look back at Connor. "Are you okay? You seem distressed." I shake my head, my frown deepening.

"It's too early for this," I tell him. "I need coffee if I'm gonna deal with this crap all day." I walk into the break room, Connor close behind me, and immediately hear the voice of an asshole.

"Fuck, look at that," Reed says. "Our friend, the plastic detective, is back in town!" I look back at him, my glare never ceasing. "Congratulations on last night, very impressive!" Connor slowly looks at him, and I glance between the two. Before anything can happen, Connor simply turns back to me and nods. I nod back and move toward the coffee maker. "Never seen an android like you before. What model are you?" What I want to say is, RK-800. Look at his jacket, dipshit. Instead, I just bite my tongue as Connor once again says nothing. "Hey, asshole, I'm talkin' to you!" When he gets no response, he stoops as low as he could go, which is pretty low, considering it's him. "Hey, bring me a coffee, dipshit! GET A MOVE ON!"

"I'm sorry," Connor says, "but I only take orders from Lieutenant Anderson." Reed looks back at the other officer in the room.

"Oh...Oh..." He quickly turns back and punches Connor in the stomach. He backs away as Connor drops to his knee. I grit my teeth.

"Hey!" I exclaim. He looks at me, and I return the favor he imparted on Connor. He groans in pain and leans on the table to hold himself up. Connor looks up at me, LED solid yellow, and Reed growls.

"If Hank hadn't got in the way yesterday," he says, "I would've fucked you two up." He pushes himself up off the table. "Stay outta my way 'cause next time...you won't get off so easy." With that, he walks out of the break room, his friend following behind him. What are we, high school cheerleaders? I walk over to Connor, extending a hand. He looks up at me and grabs my hand. I pull him up off the ground, and his LED goes back to blue.

"Thank you," he says. I nod, looking after Reed.

"You know the crap I was talking about earlier?" I ask. He nods, and I sigh. "That's part of what I was talking about." He nods, and we head back to Hank's desk. I look over the desk a bit, noticing a few things, but eventually just sit on the floor, leaning back on it, while Connor sits in the chair next to me. When we see Hank walk up, Connor gets out of his seat. I just stay where I am.

"It's good to see you again, Lieutenant," Connor says. Hank looks at him, then sighs.

"Uh, Jesus..." He looks down at me. "Oh, you're here. Wasn't expecting that." I shrug.

"I'll do what I have to to get my necklace back," I tell him. He arches a brow, but Fowler yells out the door before he can say anything.

"Hank!" he yells. "In my office!" Hank sighs and walks off. I look up at Connor, who's looking down at me questioningly, and shrug before following Hank to Fowler's office.

"I've got ten new cases involving androids on my desk every day," Fowler says as the two of us stand in the back, me mostly because I don't particularly want to be noticed. "We've always had isolated incidents, old ladies losing their android maid and that kind of crap. But now, we're getting reports of assaults and even homicides, like that guy last night. This isn't just CyberLife's problem anymore. It's now a criminal investigation and we've gotta deal with it before the shit hits the fan. I want you to investigate these cases and see if there's any link."

"Why me?" Hank asks. "Why do I gotta be the one to deal with this shit? I am the least qualified cop in the country to handle this case! I know jack shit about androids, Jeffrey! I can barely change the settings on my own phone." I stifle a laugh, but they both look back at me before continuing.

"Everybody's overloaded," Fowler says. "I think you're perfectly qualified for this type of investigation." Hank scoffs.

"Bullshit!" he exclaims. "The truth is nobody wants to investigate these fuckin' androids and you left me holdin' the bag!" Fowler sighs.

"CyberLife sent over this android to help with the investigation," he says, gesturing to Connor. "It's a state-of-the-art prototype. It'll act as your partner." He looks at me. "Plus, it was your call to bring in...Ortega. Not sure anyone else woulda."

"No fuckin' way!" Hank exclaims. "I don't need a partner, and certainly not this plastic prick! The kid's only here so I can make sure she doesn't screw up my cases again!" Fowler sighs.

"Hank, you are seriously starting to piss me off! You are a police lieutenant, you are supposed to do what I say and shut your goddamn mouth!" Hank chuckles coldly.

"You know what my goddamn mouth has to say to you, huh?"

"Ok, ok... I'll pretend like I didn't hear that, so I don't have to add any more pages to your disciplinary folder 'cause it already looks like a fuckin' novel! This conversation is over!" Hank sighs.

"Jeffrey, Jesus Christ! Why are you doin' this to me? You know how much I hate these fuckin' things. Why you doin' this to me?"

"Listen, I've had just about enough of your bitching. Either you do your job or you hand in your badge. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got work to do." Hank stands angrily and storms out of the room. I glance up at Connor.

"Have a nice day, Captain," he says before heading toward the door with me close behind. I follow him back to Hank's desk, where Hank is pouting.

"I get the impression my presence causes you some inconvenience, Lieutenant," Connor says. "I'd like you to know I'm very sorry about that." When Hank doesn't respond, he nods. "Is there a desk anywhere I could use?" Hank gestures to the empty one in front of him.

"No one's using that one," he says. Connor sits calmly at the desk, whereas I drag a chair away from another desk and sit in it, resting my head in my hands.

"You have a dog, right?" Connor asks Hank. I look up at him, frowning.

"How do you know that?" Hank asks him. Connor shrugs.

"The dog hairs on your chair," he replies. "I like dogs. What's your dog's name?" I'm holding back a chuckle at this point.

"What's it to you?" Connor nods and looks back at the terminal. "Sumo, I call him Sumo." I lift an eyebrow and nod.

"Nice name," I say. "Cute." Connor looks at me.

"What's your dog's name, Arna?" he asks. I laugh.

"How did you know I had a dog?" I ask. "You didn't see him." He shrugs.

"There was a picture in your living room of you and Hadley. In it, you were holding a cat, and Hadley was petting a dog." I chuckle. 

"My dog's name is Alba," I say. "Means 'ice.' Thought it was appropriate. And the cat's Cal."

Software Instability^

He nods, and I look back down at the desk.

"Do you listen to Knights of the Black Death?" Connor asks. "I really like that music. It's...full of energy." Hank looks at him, as do I.

"You listen to Heavy Metal?" he asks. I nod.

"Well, I don't really listen to music, as such," Connor says, "but I'd like to." I laugh quietly, and he looks at me.

"If you really want to listen to music, I'm not sure that's where I'd start," I tell him. "Not the worst you could do though. It is pretty good." I swear I see Connor smile.

"Have you known captain Fowler for long?" he asks Hank. Hank nods.

"Yeah," he says. "Too long." I laugh. Connor nods.

"If you have any files on deviants, I'd like to take a look at them." Hank sighs and points to the terminal.

"Terminal's on your desk," he says. "Knock yourself out." Connor pulls up the files, and I roll my chair around the end of the desk so I can look at them too. I look at a few of them, but he soon scans them.

"Two hundred forty-three files," he says. I nod. "The first dates back nine months. It all started in Detroit, and quickly spread across the country." He looks at Hank, then at me. "An AX400 is reported to have assaulted a man last night. That could be a good starting point for our investigation." I nod, and Connor gets up to walk over to Hank, but he turns away.

"Uh, Jesus," Hank mutters.

"I know you didn't ask for this investigation, Lieutenant," Connor says, "but I'm sure you're a professional." Hank looks up at him as I stand up, crossing my arms.

"Why don't you go fuck yourself?" Hank asks. I lift an eyebrow but say nothing. Hank turns away again, but Connor leans down, placing his hands on the desk.

"I've been assigned this mission, Lieutenant," he says. "I didn't come here to wait until you feel like working." I hold back a laugh as, knowing Hank, it would only make him more angry. Before I can say anything, Hank stands up, grabs Connor's collar, and slams him up against the wall.

"Hey!" I yell, but it's no use.

"Listen, asshole," Hank says. "If it was up to me, I'd throw the lot of you in a dumpster and set a match to it." I grit my teeth. "So, stop pissing me off, or things are gonna get nasty." I sigh.

"Anderson, this isn't going to do anything," I say as calmly as I can. "You can't threaten an android that's programmed to finish its mission." He looks over at me.

"What would you know about it?" he asks. "You're lucky I haven't thrown you in a cell yet." Before things can go any farther, Chris walks up.

"Lieutenant, uh, sorry to disturb you," he says. "I have some information on the AX400 that attacked the guy last night. It's been seen in the Ravendale district." I look at Hank expectantly.

"I'm on it," he says. He walks away, and I walk up to Connor.

"You good?" I ask. He looks down at me and nods. I nod back and motion with my head toward Hank. He nods again, and we turn to follow Hank out of the station.