-{6}-
"Hey Connor! You ran outta batteries or what?" I look back at Connor, who's still standing in the elevator. He opens his eyes, and I look around the seemingly abandoned apartment building we were called to.
"I'm sorry," Connor says. "I was making a report to CyberLife."
"Uh, well, do you plan on staying in the elevator?"
"No! I'm coming." I look at them as Connor follows us down the hall.
"What do we know about this guy?" I notice a pile of feathers on the floor and kneel down to pick one up.
"Not much," Connor says. He sounds close, so I glance back, holding up a feather. He takes it as I stand up. "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." He looks down at me. "Pigeon feathers." I nod and follow Hank down the hallway.
"Oh Christ," Hank says. "If we have to investigate every time someone hears a strange noise, we're gonna need more cops." He looks at Connor. "Hey, were you really making a report back there in the elevator? Just by closing your eyes?" Connor nods.
"Correct." I chuckle.
"Shit," I say quietly. "Wish I could do that." We stop at the door, and Connor knocks on the door. When there's no answer, he knocks harder.
"Anybody home?" he calls. There's no response. He looks at us, then back at the door. "Open up! Detroit Police!" We hear a loud clatter, and my eyes widen. Hank puts an arm in front of both of us.
"Stay behind me," he says.
"Got it," Connor replies. Hank kicks the door open, and pigeons fly out of the room.
"What the fuck is this?!" Hank exclaims. I glance in the side rooms, only to find nothing but old furniture and more birds. Hank pushes open the door at the end of the hall to be met with more pigeons than I've ever seen. "Jesus, this place stinks. Uh, looks like we came for nothin', our man's gone." I look around, careful not to step on the birds crowding the room. After a minute, Connor walks over holding a book.
"Found something?" I ask. He sighs.
"I don't know," he says. "It looks like a notebook but it's...indecipherable." He opens it and flicks through a few pages. I frown at the...labyrinths cluttering the paper. I walk around the edge of the room, looking for any detail that might tell us where the deviant went.
"Real books," I hear Hank say. I look over to see him looking at a bookshelf. "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?" I chuckle.
"You're not alone," I say, smiling softly. "I can't smell the pages, but there's...something appealing about the feel of old paper under your fingers." Whenever I'm down or upset about something, Hadley's made it a habit to go out and find me a new paper book. It works every time. I look up to see Hank staring at me, visibly confused.
"Yeah..." I smile, shaking my head, and walk away. I notice a jacket on the dresser and look over it. There are letters stitched into the front.
"'R.T.'" Probably initials," I say.
"He put his initials on his jacket?" Hank asks. "That's something your mom does when you're in first grade." I frown and put the jacket down, walking into the bathroom, where Connor is. He's holding a small metal circle.
"Its LED is in the sink," he says. I nod.
"Android."
"Not surprised it was an android," Hank says, walking into the room. "No human could live with all these fuckin' pigeons." Connor sets down the LED and turns to the writing on the wall. rA9.
"Any idea what it means?" Hank asks.
"rA9...written 2471 times," he says. I sigh.
"Damn," I say quietly. Hank nods.
"It's the same sign Ortiz's android wrote on the shower wall," Connor says. "Why are they obsessed with this sign?" Hank traces the labyrinths on the wall.
"Looks like mazes or something..." I kneel down as Connor looks at the stool, laying on the floor. I pick up a marker lying on the ground and carefully touch the tip. Ink rubs off on the tip of my fingers, which I rub together to get some of the color off.
"Marker's still wet," I say. "Deviant was just here." Connor nods and walks into the living room, kneeling down to examine a fallen birdcage. He then quickly stands up and makes his way to the chair in the corner. I follow and look up at the hole in the ceiling. A figure drops down out of it, knocking both of us over and sending the birds flying. I look back as it runs out of the room.
"God damn fuckin' pigeons!" Hank exclaims. "What are you waiting for?! Chase it!" I jump up and run after the android, Connor close behind. The deviant knocks over furniture in an attempt to slow us down, but it does nothing as we simply jump over it. He shoves open the door to the roof, and I follow as he leaps over anything in the way. I follow as he jumps off the edge of the low building and into the crops below. I roll as I land, quickly following after him.
I jump on top of a bunch of crates and leap onto the wall, pulling myself up as Connor catches up. He simply climbs the wall, and we're running side-by-side. We run across the field, and I see a truck approaching where the deviant is climbing another wall. Connor glances at me as we run.
"Arna, don't," he says. I shake my head and jump onto another crate, leaping off and landing on top of the truck before jumping to the roof. I look around and see a greenhouse. Connor heads for the door to the building, and I run around the outside, weaving in between crates and people. I see Connor again as the deviant jumps off the edge of the building. I jump the ledge and slide down the glass, Connor close once again, and push off the edge into a hole in the building of another building. We run through the machines and off to the side as the door closes behind the deviant. We run through rows of flowers and up a ramp to climb to another roof, but we quickly jump down again, sliding down glass panes. I roll to the side, preparing to jump.
"Arna, stop!" Connor exclaims. "I'll get him!" I sigh and jump, landing shakily on top of the train. I jump after the deviant, grabbing onto a ladder and climbing up. I slow down, letting Connor catch up and sigh.
"This is getting us nowhere," I say. "You keep following him. I'll take a shortcut and cut him off." He nods, and I run off to the side. I climb up the side of another, taller building, and I end up running above the deviant as he runs through the doors of a greenhouse. I jump to a lower roof as he runs through a cornfield and drop down as he emerges, cutting him off. He throws a punch my way, but I dodge his fist. He takes the chance to shove me backwards. I trip on the ledge and fall over the edge of the building, catching myself at the last second. As I try to pull myself up, a hand grasps mine and heaves me over the edge of the building. We both collapse onto the roof, and I look up. Connor. I sigh and look after the deviant as Hank runs up.
"Shit!" he exclaims. "Oh shit! We had it! Fuck!" Connor shakes his head.
"It's my fault," he says. "I should have been faster." I sigh.
"You'd have caught it if it weren't for me," I say. "I should've been able to fight it off." I look down as Hank sighs.
"That's alright," he says. "We know what it looks like. We'll find it." He starts to walk away but looks at me, then back at Connor. "Hey, Connor..." Said android looks at him, but he shakes his head. "Nothing."
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