The sky was now lit and displayed a clouded blue, as white specks of soft snow drifted down from the sky. Lieutenant Anderson started the engine in his car to warm it up to counteract the cold environment. Erika was finishing up the last of the order as Connor sat at one of the bar seats in the cafe. He liked watching her create the intricate designs with the frothed milk as it was a skill not implemented into his programming.

"You are very skilled at that", Connor complimented the young woman as she finished the last cup. In return, she gave him a smile then capped the paper cup and placed it into a carrier. 

"Thank you, I can teach you sometime", She removed the apron and hung it along with other aprons on a wall hook," but for now we are expected at the DPD"

She grabbed the carrier with the two lattes while Connor grabbed the two travelers of freshly brewed coffee. They exited the cafe and Erika locked up the front doors until her mother would open up in the next hour. The two then piled into Hank's car and headed off to the station.

"Erika, I'm glad you caught on, if you didn't your mom would've found out", Hank told the woman who sat in the passenger's seat for the day as Connor sat in the back.

"Yeah she'd kill you if she knew I was a rookie detective", she put up her hands and made quotations marks with her fingers as she said the word rookie. Connor noticed the behavior as it was similar to the way the lieutenant did a while back. The two were really like a father and daughter--close and mirrored each other at certain points. 

The android began to think of their relationship and questions began to formulate in his mind: What else is there to their relationship? What does this mean for him? Does the lieutenant have more history that he is not aware of?

These questions duplicated themselves within his database as they became recorded, repeated and created other questions involving Natalie, Cole, and Erika's deceased father. Connor continued this question processing as the drive to the station commenced and the father and daughter figures talked about old memories. Things seemed that nothing was wrong, no issues about deviants or humanoids were present, the world felt peaceful.

As the snow sprinkled  itself onto the already blanketed road, Connor gazed out until the bright shimmer of the crystallized water became a dark flash. Connor blinked as his eyes adjusted to the snow-covered zen garden.

Amanda.

She would usually communicate with him when he was alone or at the cyberlife tower, so by contacting him in the middle of a car ride was out of the ordinary. Although given the fact that he did not report last night's findings clarified the sudden nature of the contact.

The android proceeded to search the garden for the woman and found her at the central pavilion with an umbrella to shield her from the soft snowfall. Amanda bore a blank face as usual, but the subtle aura of disappointment radiated out of her. 

"Connor, I've been expecting you", The woman gave him an empty smile and started to walk towards one of the out-branching bridges from the pavilion. Connor followed her in a haste as he did not want to draw any suspicion towards himself except that was already evident to the woman. She was after all his overseer and whatever he saw she did as well. Her face fell into a sour look as she turned to Connor who stumbled on his feet to regain balance.

"Your investigation into humanoids has brought you off course as predicted, and your involvement with Ms. Daniel has posed as a liability, she is valuable but not for the sake of locating a solution", the woman spat out stern words as each one was a knife in Connor's side for he knew what was to come.

"She's connected to the deviants and the humanoids, I just need more time to form a definitive connection", Connor proposed his pleas as he did not want to part from Erika as they had just started something. 

"We are aware of your intimate moments with Ms. Daniel, and they seem to not benefit your investigation", The woman sent Connor a sneering look as her distaste for this type of relationship became exposed.

"It's my strategy to get close to Lieutenant Anderson, they are close and it benefits my relationship with the old man", Connor proceeded to appear oblivious to accusation Amanda placed on him. He needed to fool her or else terrible things could occur soon after this meeting.

"Hmmm, so what did you find at the small company?", Connor nodded as He was relieved that the woman's attention went off to another topic.

"It was interesting, to say the least, the company's CEO claims to have been robbed of her innovations", he commented truthfully as this was the information given to him.

"Ms. Satchell is a mysterious woman, keep an eye on her for she may have a greater involvement", Amanda continued to walk until they made a full circle and landed at the central pavilion once again," her androids may be the cause, continue your investigation with lieutenant Anderson and put an end to this"

"I won't let you down Amanda", Connor nodded a reassuring gesture and closed his eyes. Once he reopened them, he saw that the car was in park and Erika was staring directly at him with troubled eyes. He wanted to take the worry away, but this soon was a moment a part of the past as Erika began to speak with a curious tone.

"I thought androids don't sleep", she looked at him with her hazel eyes.

"They don't, I was sending a report to CyberLife", Connor answered half truthfully.

"Oh, okay well Hank headed on in with the coffee", she faced towards the entrance and back to Connor," so are you ready to head on in or are you gonna send another report?"

"No, I'm coming", Connor answered in a happy tone as he eagerly exited the vehicle. Erika smiled at his actions and locked the car doors as he left the interior. As they walked over to the DPD entrance Connor received new information as indicated by the blinking yellow light if his LED. He responded with a confused look as it was an unusual source of information. The android shook off the suspicion and headed for his partner's desk. The old man turned to the two as they neared his location and gave them a serious look.

"We just received an anonymous tip on the location of Conan", the name alone made Erika tremble to the core. She then had a wave of worry wash over her as this would lead to something unpleasant.

"Erika, you can stay if you-", Hank started, but Erika stopped him with hesitant words.

"No, he's expecting me, so by going I'll lure him out", she looked at the old man with strong eyes. This confidence and certainty were enough for the old man to sway slightly. He nodded then handed her the same vest from the day before as a precaution. Connor looked at her with worried eyes as her safety was in peril--on the line. The three then headed into the captain's office to receive instructions.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Yes, another chapter! I hope you all are enjoying the story so far! Thank you for the support and love for this story! It really means a lot to me! Please leave your thoughts in the comments for they are very helpful and I'm curious about what you think will happen in the next chapter!