Accident Prone - Becoming Human

Stomachache

In pain and barely able to walk Connor leaned heavily against Hank's shoulder as the senior detective supported the deviant's weight almost entirely as they stood in the ascending elevator together. What had been a routine drug bust had gone awry when Connor had sampled a fresh batch of 'red ice' crystals only to have a large portion of the crystalline drug break off under his fingertips and fall down his throat where it had become lodged in place in the coupling attached to the top of his artificial stomach. Despite his best efforts to engage his emergency 'expulsion program' to remove the potent toxin from his system the crystal had become lodged in the metal coupling and could not be removed via Thirium expulsion.

Hank tightened his grip around Connor's waist as he helped his pained partner and adoptive son out of the elevator and down the hall to his own apartment to get some help. Seeking privacy Connor wanted only to see Lucas and let his little brother aid him in his time of need.

"How're you holding up, son?"

"...It hurts." Connor confirmed as his L.E.D. pulsed yellow slowly. He had one arm wrapped around Hank's shoulders and the other arm protectively wrapped around his pained stomach. "The crystal is wedged in the valve of the biocomponent that allows Thirium to be consumed. Fortunately, the crystal is too large to fully enter my artificial stomach."

"Why's that fortunate?"

"If the 'red ice' were to enter the biocomponent my system would automatically begin breaking it down, effectively allowing the drug to enter my system." Wincing a little as he stood before his apartment door Connor's yellow L.E.D. flashed to red and then back to yellow in pain. "I do not know how 'red ice' would affect me, but I imagine it would be quite destructive."

"Lucas should be able to help you, right?"

"Correct." Connor outwardly flinched as he pressed the exposed palm of his right hand against the electronic lock beside his closed apartment door. There was a flash of light under his palm as it was scanned and an audible 'click' as the recognition unlocked the apartment door. "Lucas is the most skilled android technician in the country, and as such he will undoubtedly be able to assist me."

Hank pushed open the door as it unlocked and helped Connor to walk inside the apartment over to the lone blue couch against the far wall of the livingroom to rest for a moment. "Don't move too quickly. Let me help you."

Lucas was standing in the opposite corner of the livingroom with a large canvas perched on an easel, a wooden palette of multicolored paint in his left hand, and a long bristled brush in the right hand. Turning to look at Connor as Hank helped the distressed deviant to lay down on his left side on the couch Lucas put aside the paint and walked over to his older brother with a mixture of concern and confusion on his face.

"Connor? What's wrong?" The deviant technician asked as he pressed his right hand down against the center of Connor's chest to count his pulse while also feeling the physical exertion of his Thirium pump courtesy of the obvious discomfort. "Are you injured?"

"No." Connor admitted as he gracelessly slipped his arms out of his gray blazer and loosened the black tie around his neck. "I'm not damaged."

Hank explained things on Connor's behalf as he took the blazer from the ill deviant and hung it up on the hook by the front door. "He accidentally swallowed a large crystal of 'red ice' while running a sample and now he can't get it back out."

Lucas performed a cybernetic scan over Connor's body and located foreign substance trapped in the singular coupling valve of biocomponent 's8001'. The biocomponent itself was located toward the center of Connor's abdomen just as a human's stomach would be located in their own torsos. The biocomponent's placement was easily accessible to a technician for repairs and would only be mildly invasive.