•*•Astra's POV•*•

I rolled my suitcase over to the door. Although I'd lived in this apartment for almost a year, I had relatively few belongings. There wasn't really a point in having more than the basics as far as clothing was concerned, for me at least, because I rarely did anything beyond going to class and working.

Frankie emerged from her room and ran over to me, embracing me in a hug. "I'll see you soon, okay? You better text me every day."

"Frankie, I already text you every day and you sleep five feet from me," I laughed, hugging her back.

"I know," she said, stepping back. "I'm just gonna miss you, that's all."

The doorbell rang, and Frankie made eye contact with me.

"That's the Android," I said, unlocking the door.

The door swung wide open, revealing a tall, dark-haired Android in a suit jacket and jeans. If I didn't know better, I would've mistaken him for a human.

"Hello," he said abruptly. "My name is Connor, I'm the Android sent by Cyberlife and the Detroit Police Department."

"Hi. My name is Astra, and this is my best friend Frankie," I said, gesturing to my friend.

Connor looked from me to Frankie back to me again with mild disgust in his eyes. "We have to leave now or we'll miss our flight." He grabbed my suitcase by the door. "Is this all?"

I crossed my arms. "Yup, that's it." I hugged Frankie again as Connor walked the suitcase out to the taxi, whispering in her ear. "What a prick."

"Hey, at least he's a hot prick!"

I pulled away and grimaced. "Hardly."

"Are you finished, Miss Veda?" Connor asked as he crossed his arms, irritation dripping off his every word.

"Yes, I'm ready. Bye, Frankie."

I followed the Android out to the taxi where he, shockingly, opened and closed the door for me.

"Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, please," he asked the driver. The driver nodded and we set off.

The drive to the airport was quiet. The taxi driver said nothing. Connor said nothing. I said nothing.

I studied his face as we made our way up Interstate 5. As much as I hated to admit it, his face was spectacularly crafted. He had freckles across his cheeks and fine lines by his eyes.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer."

"Excuse me?" I scoffed. The audacity.

"I'm aware of you staring at me, Ms. Veda," he said, giving me a shit-eating grin.

"Deviancy really did make androids human, especially with the shitty personalities!" I shook my head and laughed incredulously. "Where do you get off?"

Connor's expression softened, but only slightly. "Pardon? I do not understand that expression."

I laughed and shook my head. "Of course you don't." I leaned my head back against my seat and closed my eyes.

"Please explain to me."

"No."

Connor sighed and slumped against the window. When we arrived at the airport, Connor helped me out of the car but was still obviously frustrated. We sat in silence until we boarded the plane. I got the window seat, and he sat on the aisle. Cyberlife had been so kind as to pay for first class seats. I relaxed and took a cat nap for most of the flight, my head against the window.

The flight attendant woke me to ask if I wanted a beverage, and handed me the ginger ale I requested. Connor was sat straight in his seat, still miffed.

I looked at him. "Wow, not knowing what that meant really ruffled your feathers, huh bud?" I laughed.

"As an Android, I am in a continual pursuit of knowledge. So yes, it did 'ruffle my feathers', as you put it."

"I haven't met a deviated Android that refers to itself as such. Usually they demand to be called human. That's rather fascinating," I remarked.

"I'm capable of feeling, yes, but I'm not foolish. Humans are not created, Androids are," he responded matter-of-factly.

"Shows how little you really know. Humans can definitely be created, and that's the best part of life. Baby making," I winked, laughing.

"You know what I meant. However, it is rather reckless of you humans to go around attempting to procreate with everything you see." Connor crossed his arms.

"Do Androids have sex with each other? I mean, do you all have the parts for it?" I asked, curious about the full spectrum of Android 'humanity'.

"I suppose intercourse is more common between deviants than non-deviants, but yes we do have the parts. It's my belief that Kamski, the creator of Androids, created us to eventually deviate. So he would've thought of everything," Connor replied, a light blush forming on his cheeks.

"Or he created the Androids to be the perfect sexual partners for humans," I offered.

Connor shifted in his seat. "There are certainly humans who purchase Androids for that reason."

Seeing he was uncomfortable, I decided to hold my questions for a more private setting. The plane landed shortly after our conversation. We waited for my bag in silence, then walked to Connor's car. Yet again, he opened the door for me and loaded my luggage in.

"So can deviants actually physically feel things? It seems pretty pointless to have sex if you can't," I prodded in the privacy of the car.

Connor stiffened slightly. "Yes. We can feel sensations on our skin. We can feel pain. We can feel pleasure."

"So sex is pleasurable? Are Androids capable of achieving orgasm?"

"I don't understand why you're asking these questions, Ms. Veda."

"It's an important piece to understanding deviants. That's why I'm here. To help make psychological assessments of deviants."

"True." Connor cleared his throat as he parked the car by the police station. "I assume intercourse is pleasurable because otherwise, as you noted, it would be pointless as we do not procreate in that manner."

"You assume?" I asked as Connor helped me out of the car and led me to the door.

"Yes, I assume," he said shortly. "Now, we're taking you in to meet Hank, then I will assist you in setting up your new apartment." Connor opened the door for me.

"Are you a virgin, Connor?" I laughed.

"I prioritize work above everything else, so yes, if you want to call me a virgin, sure. But work is my partner," Connor snapped, shaking his head and walking inside.

He led me all the way to a rugged older man with messy grey hair. "Hank, this is Ms. Veda."

Hank stood and grabbed my hand, shaking it firmly. "Very nice to meet you. Hope Connor wasn't too mean on the trip over," he laughed.

I laughed. "You both can call me Astra, and I was the one that was harassing him, Hank."

"It's true," Connor said with a scowl.

"Astra, what did you do to my poor boy? He looks even more distraught than when he left!" Hank teased.

"Did you know he's a virgin?" I asked.

Hank bellowed a laugh and put a hand on Connor's shoulder. "One thing you'll learn, Astra, is that this information comes as no surprise to me. He's a chronic workaholic."

Connor shrugged free of Hank's hand. "Working is not a bad thing!" he exclaimed, walking away to an interrogation observation room.

Hank rolled his eyes and led me to his desk. "His ego is just hurt that they decided to bring in an 'expert' to help with the cases. He'll warm up to you, and once he does, you won't be able to shake him. Hell, he's worse than my dog."

"I feel bad. I'm realizing my humor was poorly received."

"It's fine. If I'm being honest, I'm excited to have someone to pick on him with! He's such a goofy fucker."

We laughed and Hank took a seat.

"These are our desks. I'm on this side," he said, gesturing to the messy desk, "and Connor is on that side." He gestured to the neat desk.

"Shocking," I chuckled.

"Oh, fuck off. This is just how my brain works. You'll be sharing Connor's desk with him, but he doesn't know that yet, so let's wait till Monday to tell him. We work Monday through Friday from 2pm to 10pm every week, unless there's an incredibly pressing case, which there rarely is. Tomorrow we're heading down to Jimmy's Bar to watch the basketball game, and you're welcome to come. Sure, it'll piss Connor off but maybe that's why I'm inviting you. If you don't have any questions, Connor can take you to your new place. It's only a few doors down from Connor's," Hank said with a grin.

"Oh goody. That all sounds great. I'm gonna go find him," I replied, starting towards the observation room.

"Oh and Astra?" Hank called, causing me to turn around. "Give him a chance, will ya?"

I nodded and head to the room. I knocked on the door quietly. "Connor? Are you in there?" I called, opening the door and stepping in, closing the door behind me.

The room was dimly lit, and it took my eyes a moment to adjust. Connor was leaning against the wall at the far end of the room playing with a coin. His sleeves were rolled to his elbows.

"Hank said we should head over to the apartment now," I told him. "Looks like we're gonna be neighbors."

He caught the coin and started walking towards me. He said something that I couldn't quite hear.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear what you said," I responded.

Connor's eyes snapped up to mine and he backed me against the door, slamming one hand next to my head. My breath hitched.

"I said, don't ever humiliate me in front of Hank again," he yelled. He moved in next to my ear and I could feel his breath, hot on my neck. "Hear me that time?" he asked, almost a whisper.

I nodded, making eye contact with him. His soft brown eyes were almost black.

"You got it," I said slowly.

He straightened up and adjusted his tie. "Good. Now to get you settled into your new place," he said as he opened the door. He placed a hand on my back and led me out to the car, surprisingly not passing anyone.

I stayed silent on the ride to the new place. My mind whirring with thoughts. Connor seemed so composed, as if he didn't have a nasty temper that stemmed from his ego being hurt. Still a fragile new being learning to deal with his fragile emotions, I thought.

His dark eyes lingered in my mind. His little stunt back there triggered desires I'd forgotten I had. My mind trailed to the handcuffs and whip I'd brought with me.

No. Bad Astra. He's your coworker. But he's so naive. He hasn't experienced anything like it. I could corrupt him. I wondered if he'd like the smooth leather trailing across his skin. How he'd squirm with a silk blindfold over his eyes.

I caught myself letting out a tiny moan and shifted in my seat to press my legs closer together, hoping Connor wouldn't notice.

"Are you alright?" he asked. "Your heart rate appears to be elevated."

Fuck.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just thinking about things," I said, feeling color rushing to my cheeks.

Connor looked at me and studied my face, his LED blinking yellow. He looked back to the road and sighed. He pulled into a large, expensive looking apartment complex and parked. We sat for a few seconds in silence.

"I'm-," he started. "I'm sorry. For being so irritable earlier. It was highly irrational and my programming was overwritten."

I looked at him, genuinely surprised. "It's okay, Connor. Everybody gets angry. It's a common human reaction. You're still learning how to deal with these emotions. Be patient with yourself."

He rubbed his face with his hands and breathed out loudly. "There's just so much information for me to process. I'm constantly overwhelmed with information and emotions and I don't know how to handle it so I just bury myself in work as a distraction, but really these emotions just pile up and get worse." He rested his head on the steering wheel.

"Shit, man," I said, putting a cautious hand on his back. The tension eased under my touch. "Emotions are complicated and messy, but they add so much to life. You need to find a way to release your frustrations without hurting yourself or anyone else."

"What sorts of things do you recommend?" he asked, looking up at me. His eyes were soft brown again, and his LED flickered slowly from red back to blue.

"Let's check out this apartment, then we can talk, alright?" I said, pulling his keys out of the ignition.

"Okay," he agreed. "Let's head inside."