Chapter Text
Thursday, 7:00 pm December 16th, 2038
The station was quiet in the slow hours of the evening as the snow drifted gently down outside, and there was hardly anyone in the main area of the DPD. Hank had already gone home for the night, leaving Connor there to finish the paperwork the senior officer so frequently neglected. His skin retracted, showing the shining white plastic underneath as he placed his hand on the touchscreen computer. Report after report flooded into him as he downloaded them. A brief 5 minutes passed, and as he finished syncing the databases in his processors and the computer, he finally noticed that Gavin was still there at his desk.
Connor sighed and noticed that Fowler was still in the bullpen as well. He knew that he should have clocked out by now, but something tugged at the back of his mind. Why were they still here? It was unlike the detective to stay past five unless he was specifically called out for it. Fowler was a different story… At least during the revolution, the man was staying up until the wee hours of the morning to monitor the situation. Hard to think that was nearly a month ago and things turned into a sort of odd limbo.
The android, who was one face of the revolution, was swiftly ushered out of the limelight, and Markus took over entirely. President Warren acknowledged that androids were a new intelligent life but was incredibly slow on any sort of discussion about android sovereignty and rights. Most people now went with the option of paying androids like people and pretending not to notice the LEDs or the cyberlife jackets if an android decided to use them. Few did, opting to present themselves as human as possible. Funny how people often chose the path of least resistance, he mused to himself.
His exit from the limelight was quite odd. His connection to Amanda was completely severed, and a cryptic email from Kamski about freedom was sent directly to him. Not even a day later, he was pulled aside by Hank and Fowler to be quietly integrated into the DPD as a proper investigator, if only to keep him out of trouble. Most of the others still avoided him, and Gavin, strangely enough, backed down from his harassment, taking to avoiding him at all costs instead of ordering him to get him coffee in the break room. He could only speculate as to why the change occurred, but he knew when to keep his head down.
As his journey down memory lane continued, he saw an email pop up and a report.
SUBJECT: MISSING ANDROID REPORT IMMEDIATELY TO FOWLER
Connor groaned and made his way to the bullpen, noticing that Gavin was following him. The two entered the office and saw Fowler put down a heavy phone.
“I see you two got the email. Let me cut to the chase. Kamski called in.” Fowler said matter-of-factly.
“Great, what does that creep want?” Gavin said.
“One of his Chloe bots went missing. Said they took something valuable with them. Schematics and designs. Seeing as you two are the only ones here with any degree of experience. You two get to handle this case.” Fowler said, his stern expression and gaze boring a hole into Connor.
Gavin rolled his eyes. “Greaaat, I get paired with the tin can. You want me to order you some coffee while we do this whole charade?”
Fowler sighed. “Gavin, I’m aware you and he are not on the best of terms, but it’s a five-minute assignment. Could you manage to be professional to your coworker for this assignment? Please?”
Connor’s LED turned bright red. “Sir, if I may interject, could I please go alone?”
Fowler paused. “No.” He said flatly. Protocol and policy was that any sort of missing persons case always had two people on it. Even Connor knew that. “Look, I’m not asking for you two to solve world hunger. One case, that’s it; no fights. Can you two manage that?”
The duo looked at each other. Gavin looked disinterested at best. Connor wore an expression of worry and suspicion. “Fine.” “Affirmative.” They both said.
“Good, now both of you are dismissed.” Fowler said, shooing them out with his hand.
As the two made their way to Gavin’s car, Connor sighed. “You know I don’t appreciate being called tin can. I’m still a person after all.” He said. He hoped that he could at least make Gavin see that he was genuinely worth treating well.
Gavin rolled his eyes. “You pricks may have everyone else convinced, but to me you’re still a bunch of plastic dolls. I don’t care how human you act.” There was a certain bitterness and resentment to his words that Connor couldn’t quite place. A venom that stemmed from a place well outside the usual sentiments of androids trying to replace human jobs.
They opened the door to the precinct, and the cold air whooshed into the building, with Gavin shuddering as the cold nipped at him while Connor smirked. “Oh, my apologies detective, let me just turn on my temperature settings so I can share in your misery.”
“Wonderful, when did you download the sarcasm module? Or did cyberlife give that update when you turned deviant?” Gavin shot back.
The two continued to walk to the car. “I haven’t the faintest idea detective. I stopped being updated after the revolution. I wonder, are all humans as bitter and ill mannered as you? Or am I so lucky as to be paired with one of the few humans who actively resents me for existing?”
Gavin looked at the android as they got to the car. He gave a dirty glare as Connor opened the front passenger door. “Have you tried being less fake? Or is all that code in your CPU just for show?” He knew exactly what he was implying.
Connor’s LED turned yellow. Anger bloomed in his chest. “Detective, need I remind you that I can record everything you do?”
Gavin scoffed. “Ooooh scary stuff. Gonna report me to Fowler? You and I both know that he won’t do shit.”
The two got into the car, and as Gavin put the key into the ignition, the car's engine hummed to life and they left the precinct. Connor glared at Reed. “Even if I did, I doubt discipline would change your sentiments. But could you be less of a dick?”
That managed to get Gavin to actually stop for a half-second. He smiled with his mouth open. “Oh so now he cuts the polite crap. That’s all I have to do, huh? Gotta push your buttons till you act real around me is that it?” He was almost impressed with how quickly Connor folded. Almost like the time he spent avoiding him got the android to lower his guard.
“Fine, you want me to use profanity? Fuck you.” Connor said. Mustering as much venom as he could manage in his voice.
Gavin chuckled, that low and slow laugh that he used when he dragged someone down to his level. “No, you still sound like a robot.”
Connor sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. His LED turned red. “Just drive, for the love of God. I hope that Kamski is at least better behaved than you.”
“Oh, so robots believe in Jesus now? I wonder, will we see Catholic nun androids anytime soon?” Gavin said, reveling in the fact that he was managing to tear Connor down so easily.
Connor let out a growl of frustration. “What did I ever do to you? Why do you hate me so much for existing?!” He trembled with anger as his breath shook. His fists clenched. He was genuinely angry at the detective he was getting a rise out of him, and he couldn’t simply play stoic anymore. Deviation or not, he wasn’t going to simply roll over for this kind of hazing.
Gavin flashed a shark-like grin. “There we go, now you’re acting like a person. I can’t stand this prissy perfect thing you have. It’s like you’re better than everyone else. Stay in your fuckin lane and don’t come after my job and maybe I’ll treat you like the real thing.”
“Acting like a person?! COULD YOU BE ANY MORE OF AN ASSHOLE?!” Connor shouted, immediately before covering his mouth. He saw a satisfied grin on Gavin’s face.
“See, was that hard? Oh, and look, we’re already here. Time to say hi to my half brother.” Gavin said, deliberately stopping the car with a jerk, only to throw Connor forward so his seatbelt caught him. The sound of Gavin’s malicious laughter filled the car as he turned it off.
“Asshole.” Connor muttered under his breath.
The two exited the car and soon knocked on the door to Kamski’s mansion.