"You're off the case. The FBI is taking over." My jaw drops when Fowler says it, and I know Hank's does too.

        "What?" he asks. The three of us look between each other. "But we're onto something! We...we just need more time. I'm sure we can-"

        "Hank, you don't get it," Fowler says. "This isn't just another investigation, it's a fucking civil war! It's out of our hands now. We're talking about national security here."

        "Fuck that! You can't just pull the plug now. Not when we're so close!" Fowler shakes his head.

        "You're always saying you can't stand androids!" he says. "Jesus, Hank, make up your mind! I thought you'd be happy about this!"

        "We're about to crack the case," he says, leaning on the chair in front of him. "I know we can solve it! For God's sake, Jeffrey, can't you back me up this one time?" Fowler sighs.

        "There's nothing I can do." I can tell from his voice that he means it. "You're back on homicide and the android returns to CyberLife." I look up at Connor with wide eyes, and he looks down at me, almost sadly. "And Arna-" I look at him, afraid he's going to arrest me. He sighs. "You'd better get out of here before the FBI shows up. They won't be so willing to let you walk." I look down at the floor and nod. "I'm sorry, Hank, but it's over." Hank sighs and storms out of the room, and I look at Connor, who nods at Fowler before we leave. We walk over to Hank's desk, where he's sitting and leaning on the surface in front of him. Connor sits on the desk as I cross my arms.

        "We could have solved this case!" Connor says. "We just needed more time." Hank turns to look at him.

        "So you're going back to CyberLife?" he asks. Connor nods.

        "I have no choice," he says. "I'll be deactivated and analyzed to find out why I failed." I look up at him.

        "What if we're on the wrong side, Connor?" Hank asks. "What if we're fighting against people who just wanna be free?" The android sighs.

        "When the deviants rise up, there will be chaos," he says simply. "We could have stopped it. But now it's too late." Hank leans back in his chair.

        "When you refused to kill that android at Kamski's place," he says, "you put yourself in her shoes. You showed empathy, Connor. Empathy is a human emotion." Connor frowns.

        "I don't know why I did it," he says. He looks between me and Hank. "I know it hasn't always been easy...but I want you to know I really appreciated working with the two of you. That's not just my Social Relations program talking, I-I really mean that. At least, I think I do." I chuckle but look up as Perkins walks through the door of the station.

        "Well, well," I say, "here comes Perkins, that motherfucker. Sure don't waste any time at the FBI." Connor looks back at him, then to us.

        "We can't give up," he says. "I know the answer is in the evidence we collected. If Perkins takes it, it's all over." Hank frowns.

        "There's no choice!" he says. "You heard Fowler, we're off the case." Connor drops off the desk to stand in front of him.

        "You've got to help me, Lieutenant," Connor says. "I need more time so I can find a lead in the evidence we collected. I know the solution is in there!" He points between me and himself. "The two of us can find it, I'm sure of it!" Hank holds up a hand to stop him.

        "Listen, Connor-"

        "If I don't solve this case, CyberLife will destroy me," he says. "Five minutes. It's all I ask." Hank sighs and stands up.

        "Key to the basement is on my desk," he says. He gestures to the small plastic card. "Get a move on! I can't distract them forever." He walks away, and Connor grabs the card and my hand, pulling me away from the desk. "Perkins!" we hear. "You fucking cocksucker!" I smirk as we make our way to the evidence room, but before Connor can open the door, we hear the asshole of the hour.

        "Hey, Connor!" Reed calls. "I'm talking to you, asshole! Where you going? We don't need any plastic pricks around here! Or didn't anybody tell you?" Connor slowly looks up at him.

        "I've been removed from the case," he says calmly. "I'm going to register the evidence in my possession and then I'm going to leave." Reed nods.

        "Good," he says. "Be careful on your way back." He chuckles. "Androids have a tendency of, huh...getting themselves set on fire these days." Before he can say anything else, Connor pulls open the door and we make our way downstairs. He uses Hank's key to open the door and touches the screen. It asks for a password.

        "Hank's password," he says. "What would a hard-boiled eccentric police lieutenant choose?" He eventually types FUCKINGPASSWORD, and it grants us access. I sigh.

        "Obviously," I say as the evidence rises from the floor. On the walls I can see a blond android whose face I can't see, Ortiz' android from our first case, and the station worker who let the deviants from Jericho into Stratford Tower, along with various artifacts we've collected through our cases. Connor walks over to the artifacts and picks up the statuette we found in Ortiz' house. He shakes his head and sets it down before picking up the memory recording of Ortiz' android.

        "The truth is inside," he says. I remember him saying that. I tried to get him to tell me what it meant, but he wouldn't. I frown, a thought crossing my mind, and pick up the statuette. I run my thumb over the rough carving before holding it up to my ear and shaking it. There's a faint rustling inside it, and I look up at Connor before smashing it against the shelf. Inside is a small piece of paper. I pull it out and unfold it.         

        "Jericho is somewhere in the Ferndale neighborhood," he says. "I can scan their memories and narrow the search." I nod, and he walks over to the android from Stratford. After a moment, he looks over at Ortiz' android and shakes his head before walking to the blond android on the far left. He looks him over and pulls a biocomponent out of his neck. He walks back over and inserts it into the station android, who then jumps to life. But his eyes. They're...blue.

        "It's dark," he says after a moment. "Where...where am I?"

        "I'm a deviant, like you," Connor says. "I need your help. I want to go to Jericho." The android shakes his head.

        "I don't recognize your voice," he says. "You're not one of us! I'll never tell you where Jericho is! Now leave me alone!" I look up at Connor, who sighs before grabbing the android's arm, his skin peeling back to reveal the white plastic exoskeleton. After a moment, he pulls away and looks at me.

        "I found it," he says. I nod. "We have to go, now." He grabs my hand and pulls me out of the evidence room. Instead of going straight into the main area of the station, we cut left and make our way down the hallway lined by cells, making it just in time to miss Perkins and his goons. As we leave the station, Connor grabs my arm and pulls me into a sidestreet.

        "You need to go home," he says. "I'll find Jericho and end this." I frown and shake my head.

        "Connor," I say, "you should have learned this when you met me." I reach down and grab his hand. "I don't take orders. I'm coming with you."

Software Instability^

        He sighs. "It's dangerous," he says softly. "You're not a deviant. We don't know what they'll do if they find that out." I roll my eyes.         "How're they gonna tell?" I ask. "Deviants can take out their LEDs, remember?" He frowns. "There's no way you're getting out of this. I'm going." He sighs, and I grin. "Besides. You can't go to Jericho looking like that."

-{}-

        We make our way to my apartment and rush inside.

        "Hadley!" I yell. "Get your lazy ass out of bed! We need your help!" They walk out of their room and sigh, the mess of blue on their head obscuring both their eyes.

        "We?" they ask. They move their hair out of their eyes and see Connor. "Okay, what the hell's going on?" I sigh, running a hand through my messy hair.

        "Not much time to explain," I say. "I promise I'll tell you later, but we need some clothes for this one." I point to Connor. They look at him, then at me.

        "Is he..." I shake my head. "No, he's not." They frown and open their mouth to respond, but I groan. "I swear to god, Hadley, if you bring this up again, I'm shoving my gun down your throat." Connor looks down at me, confused, and I just shake my head. Hadley crosses their arms.

        "If you want me to help you, you're gonna have to tell me what's going on." I sigh.

        "Anderson's off the case," I say, "which means me and Connor are off the case, meaning I'm back to being a criminal and Connor goes back to CyberLife to be deactivated." Their eyes widen, but I hold up a hand. "Unless...we solve the case now. Which we can." They nod.

        "So you, what...went through evidence to find what you needed?" I nod. "Oh. And no one questioned you?" I grimace.

        "Wellll..." They frown.

        "Arna. Who?"

        "Gavin Reed," Connor says. "He's-"

        "An arrogant bastard who likes to bully others into submission?" I shrug.

        "Yeah, pretty much," I say. I look up at the android next to me. "Connor managed to convince him we were just registerring evidence though. We were fine." I look at Hadley. "If we're gonna blend in with deviants, though, he's gonna need a change of clothes. Can you help us out?" They walk in a circle around Connor.

        "A little taller than me," they say. "But I should have some stuff he can wear." They nod. "Follow me." They lead Connor to their room as I walk to mine. I quickly change into some more neutral clothes as opposed to my wolf hoodie and ripped jeans and pull a beanie over my head as I walk back into the living room. After a few minutes, Hadley pulls Connor out of their room, and grins.

        "Tada!" they exclaim. I try to hide my smile at their excitement, and Connor just rolls his eyes. Hadley sighs, suddenly serious. "Arna...I want you to promise me that you'll be careful." I frown.

        "Hadley-"

        "I know you don't like promising people things," they say, "just...try, okay?" I sigh and nod. I look up at Connor.

        "Okay," I say. "Let's go."