NOV 6TH, 2038

PM 03:38

THE TOP FLOOR WAS eerie and dirty. Hank and I had just left the elevator, and Connor stayed behind. Hank swiftly turned around, confusion evident.

"Hey, Connor! Did you run out of batteries or what?" Hank stood outside the elevator as Connor opened his eyes. He blinked rapidly, "I'm sorry, I was making a report to CyberLife."

Impressive. Connor still lingered in the elevator. Hank and I continued to stand in front of it. Hank's eye twitched, "Uh, do you plan on staying in there?" Connor still stood in the elevator, "No! I'm coming!"

The tiles on the top floor were dirty and ugly. No one should be living up here. Hank seemed as disgusted as I, "What do we know about the guy?"

"Not much. A neighbor reported that he heard strange noises coming from this floor. Nobody's supposed to be living here, but the neighbor said he saw a man hiding a LED under his cap." Connor looked around the top floor, meeting Hank in front of the door of the suspected apartment.

"Fuck, if we investigate every weird noise, we'll need more cops," I mumbled my words. Hank seemed amused, and Connor was indifferent. Hank turned to look at Connor, "Were you really making a report? By just closing your eyes?" Connor met Hank's gaze and nodded, "Correct."

"I wish I could do that!" I whined. Connor had many abilities that made me jealous. Hank agreed before knocking on the door. Connor decided to yell out a warning, "Anybody home? Open up! Detroit police!"

"Stand behind me." Hank gestured for the two of us to stand back. "Got it." Connor and I said simultaneously, I glanced at him to see if he reacted, but he was stone-faced.

Hank, in one quick kick, opened the door. I hadn't even noticed Hank had his gun out until now. He led the way into the apartment. Connor drifted off into the first room on the right, scanning to see if anything interesting resided there.

Connor caught up to us as Hank kicked open another door. Dozens of pigeons flew out, startling us. Hank coughed violently from the smell, "What the fuck is this!?" I thought the same. It smelled rancid in the apartment.

"Jesus, this place stinks. Uh, it looks like we came for nothing. Our man's gone." The pigeons cooed on the ground, scattering when we walked through them.

"Someone must've been caring for them. There's so many that there has to be a food supply." I studied the birds covering the apartment. Connor hummed, holding up a bag of birdseed, "You may be right, detective." Hank made a disgusted sound, "I can't believe it. This nutjob was feeding these fuckers."

"Hank, you realize I feed the local birds, too, right?" I smiled awkwardly. I decided to peel back a poster that looked out of place. Sure enough, behind the UFD poster lay a book. Opening it showed an encrypted mess of writing, "Hey, Connor?"

"Yes, detective?" Connor peeked his head out from the bathroom, a tinge of blue on his lips. I motioned for him to come here. He noticed the coded diary in my hands, "Can you decode this?" I asked him. His eyes glazed over the pages, then he shook his head, "No, it'll take weeks to decode. I'm sorry."

"This guy put his initials on his jacket. That's something your mom does when you're in first grade." Hank snorted, staring at a grey jacket sitting on a cabinet.

"The driver's license is fake," Connor called, staring at an I.D. that previously sat on a shelf. I stumbled into the bathroom, greeted with a wall covered in obsessive writing. Repetitively written was the phrase 'RA9'.

"Interesting, isn't it? RA9 was written 2471 times on this wall." Connor crept up behind me. I jumped slightly, sighing at the sight of the oblivious android.

"You scared me, Connor. But I wonder why RA9 is the common link between deviant cases." Connor's voice box thrummed in agreement. It was a little off-putting hearing him sound robotic. He almost fooled me into believing he was human.

Connor gazed at a knocked-over stool on the ground. I watched as gears turned in his head, presumably reconstructing what happened here. Connor suddenly left the bathroom to analyze a birdcage. His eyes wandered to the chair in the corner of the room.

Connor looked up into a hole in the ceiling until unexpectedly being knocked down by the deviant. The deviant dashed out the door, "What are you waiting for, Connor? Chase it!" Hank ordered, and Connor quickly followed after it.

I ran after both of them. I watched as the deviant knocked over a shelf, but Connor jumped over it, and so did I. The exit door was abruptly closed. That didn't stop Connor as he slammed it open. The brightness outside caught me off-guard, but I still chased after them.

Connor hopped down into a field of wheat. He ran at incredible speeds, and I knew I couldn't keep up with them. Connor made an admittedly risky choice, jumping onto a moving hay truck and the higher platform.

I had lost sight of both Connor and the deviant. I was too slow for two androids. I made it up to the roof of the UFD building, watching Connor jump onto a moving train after the deviant.

Hank caught up behind me, "Holy shit!" He exclaimed, watching with me as they ran through the UFD. Hank and I tried our best to guess where they would end up.

Hank and I caught up, "Stop right there!" Hank yelled at the deviant, only for it to push him. Hank clung onto the edge of the building, "Get the deviant, Connor! I've got Hank!" I shouted, but Connor didn't listen to me and aided me in helping Hank up.

"Shit! Oh, shit!" Hank rolled over the side and stood up to brush himself off. "Fuck! We had it!" Hank grumbled, still brushing off his pants. I sighed, looking at Connor.

"It's my fault. I should have been faster." Connor pursed his lips, his gaze on the ground. I put my hand on his shoulder, and our eyes locked. My heart skipped a beat, but I shoved it down, "It's okay. We know what it looks like." I gave a reassuring smile to Connor. He smiled back, "Thank you, Detective Perkins."

"Hey, Connor." We turned to Hank, but then he waved us off with a sad smile, "Nothing."

"That's his way of saying thanks," I whispered to Connor. He nodded, his smile still lingering. I licked my lips, "I have a question for you." I proposed. Connor turned to face me, a curious glint in his eyes.

"Where do you stay at night?" I questioned. Connor seemed relieved, "I usually stay at the station, but if you're offering a space for me, I won't deny it." I beamed at this, "Come visit my house. You should meet my cat."

Connor was more than happy to agree. The ghost of a smile rested on his face when the taxi stopped, "Thank you for using Detroit's taxi service. We hope to see you again." The voice sounded from the vehicle as Connor and I left.

"Well, welcome to my humble abode." I introduced Connor to my house, opening the door. Smudge bolted for the door, "No, you don't!" I pushed her back with my foot as she meowed frantically.

Connor came in through the door, slipping past me. He picked up Smudge, to which she immediately started purring. I chuckled to myself but also at the scene before me. Connor was holding Smudge by her top half at a distance, almost like he was analyzing her.

"She's very cuddly and purrs in self-defense," I said as I hung up my coat. I rubbed my hand over Smudge's head, and she, naturally, started to purr loudly. Connor set down the cat, not expecting her to bunt his legs immediately.

"Is there anything you need? A blanket, fresh clothes, battery acid?" I threw in the last one as a joke, and Connor seemed to pick up on it. A short snicker left him, "Thank you for the offer, but I don't need anything." Connor fixated on my cassette collection.

"I didn't realize you were interested in music, Connor." I came up behind him. He leaned his head toward me, "Lieutenant Anderson has a music collection too." He noted.

"Would you like me to put on some music? I'm going to take a shower and probably pass out. You're welcome to sleep here in the living room. Try not to break anything." I poked a little fun at Connor. Connor smiled, "I'd like that. I'll do my best not to damage your home, detective." I rolled my eyes as he called me detective again.

"You can call me Y/N." I blurted out. I decided to put on some Rick James, much older music than most people liked, but disco and funk were always my grooves.

"Well, I'm going to take a shower now. Goodnight, Connor!" I called out as I walked down the hall to the bedroom. "Goodnight, Y/N!" He yelled back as I grabbed a fresh pair of clothes.

My shower was quick and uneventful. But I didn't expect Connor to be waiting in my bedroom for me when I only had on a towel. I coughed in shock, "Uh, what are you doing?"

Connor didn't seem to care, "I was looking at your wardrobe. You have interesting taste in fashion, Y/N." He tilted his head innocently, "Well, I need to get dressed; could you please leave?" My lips twitched a little in annoyance.

Connor did as told and left the room. I let out a relieved breath and got changed. I got into bed and curled up under the covers, quickly falling asleep.