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Hank and Connor arrive to a crime scene on the outskirts of Detroit. It has been a couple months since the Revolution event and things have both changed drastically and stayed the same. Androids were now no longer allowed to be in indentured servitude and were more or less allowed to coexist as free persons alongside humans. However, Androids still needed work and, although the were no longer to be treated as slaves with free labor, they were not entitled to equal human pay like minimum wage, justified that androids don’t have the same amount of living expenses as humans do.
When Connor had reunited with Hank a few days after the revolution, he ended up staying at Hank’s place for a several days while the evacuation and curfew were still in effect. This lead to a heart-to-heart on the third night about Connor’s newfound freedom and what he wanted. After a brief existential crisis, Connor decided that he wanted to go back to work with the Detroit Police… and Hank.
It was a crazy idea at first, but in the end, it wasn’t too hard to convince Captain Fowler that Connor should come back to work with them, seeing as he would be a useful asset to the departement. Not only was he the most high-tech portable forensic analyst, but he also had good investigative and interrogation skills. Plus, with tensions still high between humans and androids, it would be extraordinarily useful to have someone on the team who completely understood and could communicate with androids and deviants.
The pay was laughable, and Hank tried to argue how unfair it was, but Captain Fowler shut him up, saying how he was lucky he was letting an android work at the precinct at all, especially one who had an active role in the revolution (though that wasn’t public knowledge). Connor assured Hank it was okay, but the meger pay wasn’t enough for Connor afford even a tiny apartment, so Hank insisted he stay at his house.
Now, it was mid-February and a cold front had moved into the area. Hank stepped out of the car when they arrived at the crime scene, a small house with a little field behind it. His thick boots crunched the icy snow; he was bundled up with a pair of thermal pants under his jeans, as well as a thermal shirt and a hoodie under his thick coat. The sun had already started to set and he was hoping they’d be able to clear this crime scene quickly before the next wave of winter storm started that was predicted for that night. His gloved hands closed the door and he walked around to the other side as Connor was getting out.
His partner looked out of place in this weather wearing nothing but his usual outfit. Connor had only recently stopped wearing his usual Cyberlife uniform jacket--mostly at the insistence of Hank--but he had simply substituted it with a navy blue blazer. He still wore his dress shoes, dark wash trousers, and white button-down shirt with a tie. Hank had long since given up on trying to convince Connor to dress more appropriately for the weather; Connor always insists that he was still an android and androids don’t feel cold. Hank just rolled his eyes at his stubborn partner. It was hard to convince him to do anything once he made up his mind about something, even before he became a deviant. Heck, he hadn’t even removed his LED from his temple, even though most androids had done so now that they were free. Hank was worried that Connor’s continuing to be easily identified as an android while tensions were still high would make Connor an easy target, but any time Hank would try to talk to Connor about it, the android would look away and avoid the subject.
Connor followed Hank into the old house to meet the responding officer and start looking for evidence. It seemed that the altercation started inside the dwelling, Connor determined after examining a small blood spatter and an overturned end table, but it moved in the direction of the back door. Making sure Hank wasn’t looking, Connor quickly bent down and took a sample of the blood to analyze. This sample belonged to an Erik Purcell, the owner of the house. Hank and Connor were called to this scene because Mr. Purcell had previously owned an android that was reported missing a month and a half ago. Although there wasn’t any apparent evidence of android involvement in the crime itself, the pair had to investigate since there was still a lot of grey-area about missing androids after the Revolution. Were they kidnapped? Destroyed? An attempt at insurance fraud? Or were those androids simply released or able to escape for their new right to freedom? These were the questions Connor and Hank were assigned to answer.
Eventually, the investigation moved to the backyard where most of the scene seemed to be, so the pair trudged through several inches of snow looking at the body and other items of evidence. Connor knelt down in the snow examining a discarded tablet across from the victim. Removing the skin from his fingertips, Connor connected with the device to run a scan and get the data off of it.
As he stood up, he grimaced at his discomfort. Not only were his shoes and lower legs now wet from kneeling in the deep snow, but Connor noticed how the cold wind was piercing through the fibers of his clothing. He has been out in the snow and rain before, but he had never felt like this. Perhaps it was a result of his new deviance--his programming was sending mixed signals simulating human feelings. He was still getting used to it, having to ignore warnings that flashed at the edges of his vision, alerting him to danger from emotions that weren’t there. Regardless, he found himself wrapping his arms around himself, trying to keep the temperature around his Therium pump regulator stabilized. Hands gripped tight around himself, he walked over to the victim’s body, across from where Hank was standing. Snow was starting to fall as the clouds rolled in against the purple sky.
Connor started to investigate the victim’s wounds when, suddenly, his scan was interrupted by bright red warning signs over his vision.
>WARNING: LOW Internal Temperature
>ERROR: Internal.Temperature.Regulator Malfunctioning
>Unable to Bring Components to Advised Temperature Range
Connor furrowed his brow and glanced at Hank, who was looking at a bloodied rock near the victim. Last time he felt like this was during his final confrontation with Amanda the night of the Revolution. He remembered shivering and stumbling desperately to find the back-door to his programming. Connor shuddered, more at the memory than the cold itself. He remembered wrapping his arms around himself in that simulation but he never had alerts like this before. Sure, it had taken place in his headspace, but other notifications and alerts had popped up in his vision during it. His LED spun yellow at the memories.
>WARNING: Therium Circulation Compromised
>Seek Warmer Shelter or Alert Nearest Human for Assistance
Perhaps this was just a malfunction.
>WARNING: Therium Circulation Compromised
>Alert: Diverting Power from Non-Essential Functions
>ERROR: Internal.Temperature.Regulator Malfunctioning
>Alert: Non-Essential Functions Powering Down
Connor felt his limbs start to lock in place. The normal buzz of Therium pulsing throughout his body began to slow and settle in his chest and abdomen in an attempt to insulate his core components. His LED flashes red.
>Alert: Seek Warmer Shelter Immediately
>WARNING: Calculating Estimated Time to Shutdown
Okay, so maybe it was more than just a malfunction.
_______________
After looking around in silence for a while, Hank looked up. Connor was usually always moving and walking around the crime scene, processing evidence at high speeds. He also usually talked through possible scenarios with Hank. At first, Hank thought Connor was simply humoring him since he knew Connor could point out the flaws in each proposed scenario. Recently, though, Connor explained that science values peer review so it is always beneficial to get a second opinion. Plus, he had quietly admitted, Hank sometimes pointed out rationalities that were so uniquely human that he would have missed them otherwise. Now, going through a crime scene without his partner’s constant presence was unusual.
He located Connor, who was still over by the body near the house. His brows knit in concern when he noticed his partner’s posture. Connor had his shoulders hunched and his arms wrapped so tightly around himself. He started walking over to the cold-looking android preparing a half-hearted quip about not listening to Hank’s advice on wearing a coat. Though, as he closed the distance between the two, Hank noticed that Connor’s LED was a glaring red. His blood ran cold.
“Connor!” Hank put his hands on Connor’s shoulder, concerned. “Are you alright? What’s going on?”
“Temperature regulation... failing,” he muttered. Connor’s voice was quiet and struggling; It wasn’t the soft tone it normally was; His voice synthesizer seemed to be malfunctioning considering the electronic static sounds when he spoke. “Non-essential systems... shutting down.”
Hank blinked and realized Connor was standing in deep snow with nothing but his flimsy shoes, jeans, nothing insulating. His blazer was more of an aesthetic choice, it wasn’t shielding him from the cold at all, as evidenced by snow soaking through to the now-damp button-down shirt beneath it.
“Jesus, Connor, you’re cold? You’ve got to tell me these things!” Hank looked toward the house and saw the responding officer still standing by the front door, facing away from them. “Can you walk?”
Connor blinked at Hank as it took him longer to process that question than it should have for his state-of-the-art processor. “Yes, I believe I can manually restore function to my lower extremities for a short amount of time.”
“Well, let’s just get you to my car over there,” he said pointing to the old vehicle still parked on the street a few yards away. “We’ll get you warmed up.”
Connor managed to get his legs working but his walking movements were stiff. Hank put his arms around his partner and helped guide him to the car. As they arrived at the old vehicle, Hank took off his coat and draped it around Connor’s shoulders while he unlocked the car.
“Lieutenant--”
“Shut up,” Hank interrupted before Connor could finish his protest about the coat. He finally got the door open and all but shoved the android into the passenger seat.
Hank walked over to the driver’s side to turn the car on and blast the heater as he said, “I’ll be right back,” and left Connor in the car.
Connor sat in the warming vehicle while the ice that had crystallized on his clothing started to melt. One by one, the warnings and alerts in his vision started to disappear, starting with the ‘time until shutdown’ timer. The car may be old, but it certainly had a good heating mechanic. It wasn’t long before all his systems came back online and he was able to move again, his processors almost back at full functioning capacity.
The driver’s side door opened and Hank slid in just as Connor unclenched his arms from around himself, now that he could move his limbs again. His LED finally moved back to a spinning yellow.
“How are you doing, Connor?”
Connor turned his head to look at the other man. “Better now,” he said as the last alert disappeared from his vision. He flexed his fingers, checking their functionality before he added, “I’m sorry about that, Lieutenant.”
Hank waved off the apology. “Don’t worry about it, kid. But if you’re freezing, or anything else is going on with you, you gotta tell me, alright?”
Connor looked down and for some reason avoided the Lieutenant’s eyes. “I... I apologize Lieutenant. I- I misjudged the initial discomfort as newfound feelings and sensations after... becoming deviant. I should have recognized it as the preliminary warning my system is designed for alerting about internal errors.”
Hank watched Connor’s honest admission with intrigue. “Yeah, well, I’m not surprised you got cold. It’s minus two degrees* out right now and your clothes are paper-thin.”
Connor said nothing as he looked down at his now-soaked button-down shirt and uniform.
“You want to go home?” Hank asked.
“I’m fine to return to the crime scene, Lieutenant.” Though, even he realized that wasn’t entirely true considering the state of his wet clothes.
Hank scoffed, “Like hell you are.”
He bucked his seatbelt and told Connor to do the same as he switched gears and started driving. “I already told that officer that we’re done for the day. We pretty much saw everything anyways, but we can come back tomorrow if you want. Right now, let’s get you some clothes, for Christ’s sake.”
“My uniform should be sufficient-“
“Oh, whatever. You should have some boots and a good coat for winter in Detroit, at the very least. Probably some thermals, too, but nothing I own will fit that lanky form of yours.”
It was true. When Connor went to go infiltrate the deviants at Jericho those few months ago, Hank loaned him some old clothes so he wouldn’t stick out as much with his crisp Cyberlife uniform. But they were just as ill-fitting as he’d expected. He had to wear a belt on its tightest setting to keep the baggy jeans from falling. Besides, the old leather coat now had a couple bullet holes through it, so its insulating properties were no longer sufficient.
“I think there’s a place not too far from here that should still be open.”
Connor simply nodded, shrugged off his soaked blazer, and pulled Hank’s warm coat tighter around himself.
__________
Once they arrived at the nice second-hand clothing store, Hank picked up a couple pairs of thermal pants and a shirt for Connor (“You’re probably a size medium, right?”) while he pointed to the racks of thick jackets. “There, go find a coat you like.”
“Any of them should be sufficient, Lieu-“
“Sure, but might as well find one you like, right?” He insisted, with a small smile.
Connor blinked and then returned a hesitant smile back. He had never chosen his own clothing before. The closest he came was buying the navy blazer that was in the car to replace his Cyberlife-branded uniform jacket. And even that was less of a choice than it could have been. When his uniform jacket got destroyed during one particular investigation, Connor used his small savings at the time to quickly buy a cheap jacket after work that was similar to the one he was used to. That piece of clothing was bought more out of an irrational anxiety due to the sudden change--since Cyberlife no longer made those uniforms, for good reason--than a conscious stylistic choice.
Connor nervously nodded and turned toward the coat section. There were so many options and he could pick whatever he wanted. The freedom of choice was almost paralyzing.
After a while, Hank joined Connor in the coat section carrying the few thermals, a couple of basic sweaters, and a scarf. “Find anything?”
Connor turned around in a charcoal-colored wool peacoat. It managed to fit him almost perfectly- it was trim and tailored in a way that accentuated his slender but fit figure. And despite it being in a second-hand clothing store, it still looked sleek and stylish, especially with the double-breasted button rows. “What do you think, Lieutenant?”
Hank gave him a once-over and nodded. “Looks good,” he said, vaguely impressed. “You like that one?”
Connor looked back at the mirror he was studying himself in. “I do think it is the most optimal out of the others I have tried.”
Hank resisted rolling his eyes. “Alright, well then get that one and let’s go find you some boots and head out of here.”
They managed to quickly find Connor some nice, waterproof, faux-leather winter boots that were a rich dark brown color. Hank realized that his partner was going to look really stylish.
They walked to the self-checkout and Hank pulled out his wallet.
“You don’t need to pay for this, Lieutenant. I can-“
Hank cut him off. “Forget about it, Connor. Consider it a gift.”
Connor blinked a couple times before smiling fondly, “Thank you, Hank.”
Hank turned to look at him at the sincerity in his voice and was taken aback by the dopey expression of genuine appreciation on the android’s face. It was as if no one had done anything this nice for him. Well, they probably haven’t, Hank thought with a start.
While some of the other officers were coming around to the idea of Connor and android equality as a whole, not everyone approved of Connor’s employment with the department. Even those that did like him at the station were more of friendly work-acquaintances than actual friends. Connor didn’t seem to have many android friends either, besides Markus and maybe a couple others from Jericho. But, pretty much all androids were struggling to make ends meet themselves, so there was not much opportunity for generosity besides sharing life-saving necessities like Therium or excess parts. Besides, Hank remembered Connor admitting recently that there were still a few androids that still held animosity toward him due to his infamous reputation as the Deviant Hunter, despite Markus’ endorsement on his behalf. So he tried to help as much as he could while also keeping his distance, for those androids’ sake.
Hank realizes he’s the closest friend Connor has, and if that means buying him some clothes so he doesn’t freeze to death, it’s a small price to pay to see that goofy smile on his partner’s face.
Hank smiled back. “No problem. Just promise you’ll warn a guy next time you’re about to shut down due to the weather, okay? I can see the headlines now: ‘ State-of-the-Art Android Detective Dies Because He Forgot to Wear a Jacket. ’”
Connor chuckled as he grabbed the bag of his new items and handed Hank’s borrowed coat back to him. “I promise.”