Ascending the staircase was quite the journey for the young woman. The cold crisp air of winter flowed through space as its only occupant neared the other side. During her way up the steps she put on the denim trucker jacket, she brought along.  Once finished she braced herself for the unpleasant weather. Her eyes widen at the sight of a white blanket of thin snow. She casually walked out to the rooftop and took in the peaceful surroundings.

Androids escaped from the rooftop.

Erika blinked as she remembered the briefing Chris gave her when she arrived before Hank and Connor. Her eyes began to scan the area for anything out of place. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, so she decided to explore the open area. She checked behind the ventilation units and even over the railing at the edge of the building. Erika let out a huff as she was stumped and started to walk aimlessly.

Thud.

The young woman was now on the snow-covered floor with a small pain in her rear end. She rubbed the spot and felt a bruise forming. Erika looked up from her place on the concrete roofing to see what caused her to fall and before her eyes was a duffle bag. It appeared to still have an item contained within the zipper.

Curious as usual, she approached the bag and found it opened with a package-like item, as she looked closer she discovered it to be a parachute. She nodded at the item as it went along the claims of the androids jumping off the roof with such equipment. Although what did not add up was that there was an extra parachute. From her memory, she recalled that the report stated that there were four androids that infiltrated the broadcast tower. If one was left behind, then...Erika brought herself back on her feet and started to search the area. The possibility of one of the involved androids being present on the same rooftop as she made her shiver and not due to the cold weather. She cautiously made her way around the rooftop to locate a structure or container that a deviant would find refuge in. 

All that was heard was the sound of her boots making contact with the snow. The subtle crunching of the solid form of precipitate made the air feel eerie. She was alone up there and if something were to happen no one would know until they decided to investigate the are. Driven by fear and worry, Erika walked at a slower pace and made sure to stay calm as she may stress the deviant if she appeared as a threat. A quite large metal container stood in the middle of the roof and had a locker look to them. The young woman proceeded to walk towards the storage unit and addressed herself to who may be hidden within one of the compartments.

"Is someone there? I'm not here to hurt you, I just want to talk", she started at the right end of the container and opened it slowly. Her heart started to race as each second passed during her deathly slow attempt to open the metal door. To her relief, she let out a sigh as the compartment was empty. 

"Dammit, one down a billion to go", she softly cursed then mustered up her courage and checked compartment after compartment until she made it to the third to last one on the left end. Suddenly the fear of the deviant having possession of a firearm scared her. She looked at the door and turned around to collect herself once more. The woman let out a deep sigh as she positioned herself in front of the metal door. Every action she made from then on out would be vital and one wrong move could cost her, her life. 

"My name is Erika, I work for the DPD", she stated her temporary position to the metal surface. A rustle within was audible to the ear and she took that as a signal to continue.

"I'm unarmed and alone", she put her hands up in a surrendering stand a couple feet away from the door," I just want to talk, you have my word"

The silence of the air was all that she got in return. She let out a sigh as it may have been just her imagination, but held her ground for a couple more second. Her arms began to tire as the seconds transitioned into minutes and at that moment she started to believe that no one was actually there. When she started to lower her arms slightly the metal door gave way to a small opening. A voice soon exited the compartment--its tone shook in fear.

"Hi there, as I said before I won't hurt you", she stiffened as the door opened fully to the sight of a damaged android. A bullet wound was evident in its chest area and blue blood stained its uniform. It appeared weak but the will to live burned strong inside its eyes. Erika took a small step forward, but the android panicked and aimed a gun at her. She dared not to move and took in a gulp of fear.

"How do I know you're not lying", the android demanded as it waved the firearm with its words. She took another cautious step and looked at its face. 

"Well I have my badge right here, see", she moved her hip to expose the temporary ID she received just hours ago along with the absence of a firearm," and I don't have any type of weapon on me"

It kept its guard up as it moved its hand with the gun in a gesture that granted her permission to approach. The woman walked on over at a slow pace and kneeled down with her hands still up. At this distance, she was able to inspect the android at a better view. Based on his facial features he looked like any normal person as do any android she has encountered. A pain surged through her head as she saw the blue blood at a closer look. Her sudden discomfort made the android react and reach out for her as she fell forward. It released its weapon during the action and now held Erika in its arms. The pain continued as she flinched in the foreign arms. As her mind showed images of her chaotic past the skin that covered her arm began to dissolve and exposed the white casing. Shocked at what happened the android shook her to awaken her from the episode she was having. After few more attempts, Erika awoke to concerned eyes. Her vision was blurry as she spoke a name in a questioning manner.

"Connor?", she asked the figure and placed her right arm on its cheek. Her eyes soon regained its vision and she looked again at the figure holding her. Erika jumped slightly at the deviant as she was closest to him as they occupied the small compartment.

"Simon", it stated, she looked at it with a confused face as her capacity to think as lagging," my name is Simon"

"I'm sorry about what happened", she apologized for the unpredictable behavior," but thank you for catching me"

"You fell on me, so I had no choice", it answered in a direct tone. She nodded as that was probably what happened. The young woman then stood up from the compartment and patted herself down. Fresh blue blood stained the denim on her jacket slightly and she let out a sigh as she would need to explain for it when returning to Hank. Simon looked at her with eyes that held a question. Erika turned to him as initiated a conversation.

"Is something on your mind?", she casually asked the now calm android.

"Your hand it like ours", Simon looked at her right hand as it as still exposed. She moved it behind her to conceal it, but the android already saw his unique feature.

"Yeah, but I don't feel like talking about it-", she said and prepared herself to question the android, but the sound of a loud bang echoed from the staircase. Fear filled her eyes as she turned towards the direction of the noise, she turned back at the injured android and was torn at the two decisions she could make. Without hesitation she ran towards the staircase entrance after telling Simon she'll help him out of the building after. The wounded android had no choice and sat at the hiding spot.

"Connor, Hank it better not be neither of you", she raced down the steps to the broadcast room and into the hall. Her world froze as she ran into the line of fire of a deviant JB300. It had an assault rifle readied for a headshot and the target was Erika. Fear filled her eyes as her pupils constricted to match the terror she felt. 

"Erika!", Connor ran after the woman as she ran for the hall. Hank looked at the deviant with a confused look as he registered what was happening. As seconds passed Connor was forced to make a decision and as Erika became one of the variables in the equation he knew what had to be done. In one swift movement, he grabbed a gun from an officer's holster and shot the deviant, killing it with one bullet. Shocked at the bullet flying by her she turned around to the detective android and punched him on the chest--unaware of the bloodied mess on his exposed chest.

"Don't scare me like that! I thought you--or Hank..." she started to mumbled as held onto the android--tears began to flow out of her ducts. In return, Connor held her close, stoking her honey locks as a means to comfort the woman. 

Public Opinion ^

"I'm here Erika, I'm right here", he held her in a protective embrace as the officers and Hank watched the two. Without their knowledge a camera viewed the whole scene unfold as a figure watched the last bit over and over. Intrigued by the behavior the android it exhibited the figure took a sip from a glass of wine and smirked devilishly.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It's currently 1:02 am and I here I am updating another chapter. I couldn't help but finish it since I was so engrossed in typing. So there might be only one chapter up later instead of two. Sorry about that! Don't forget to leave your thoughts in the comments and I'm curious what would you like to see in upcoming chapters? They can be small scenes I can integrate into my story!!!

Also, I decided to share this lyric college I made of Connor! Gold stars to the people that know the song!! I immediately thought of this song when I watched DBH for the first time
😁😁😁

Here's the song for those that would like to listen to the inspiration for this edit!

https://youtu.be/r2Kh_XMIDPU