Accident Prone - Becoming Human

A Cold Case

The anniversary of the Revolution was close and the urge to aid his people motivated Connor to return to work as soon as possible after being shot. Busying himself with cold cases regarding deviants and previously ignored reports of bigoted abuse toward androids in general, Connor danced his quarter over the knuckles of his right hand as his soulful brown eyes rapidly scanned over every case, detail and word on his terminal's display screen with an intense focus. Eyeing each case warily, beginning with the earliest case and ending with the most recent report, Connor honed in on a single of case of interest with a fiery glare that made his L.E.D. flash from a content blue to an enraged red.

Hank wasn't ready for Connor to return to work just yet and was keeping close to the deviant in a protective manner. The way Connor was so preoccupied with his self imposed assignment sent of red flags regarding the deviant and his obsessive mindset kicking in.

"Kid?" From his own desk across from Connor the senior detective and father figure to the deviant noted the odd reaction. With a low voice Hank addressed the preoccupied deviant with a curious manner. "You okay? Your light is red."

"...I am fine."

"Really? Then why do you look like you want to punch someone?"

Looking at Hank around his terminal screen Connor gave the far more experienced and intuitive detective a somber glance. "...I was looking into previous cases regarding the police handling deviant matters."

"Oh." Such a reply explained everything. "Find something that needs to be looked into?"

"Yes. I believe so."

"What's up?"

"I... It might be a conflict of interest for either of us to look into this particular case."

"Why?" Now intrigued by the case despite having not even seen it Hank leaned back in his seat, crossed his arms over his chest and studied Connor's demeanor very carefully. "What's up?"

"The case revolves around a reported breaking and entering complaint on November 5th, 2038 at approximately 9:42 p.m. at 8941 Lafayette Avenue. The residence of the late Carl Manfred."

"Wait, are you talking about that night the cops showed up and-" Now fully aware of why Connor was tense and worried about reopening the case, Hank's blue eyes narrowed a little. "Damn it. I gotta' ask, why are you looking into this case?"

"That night the call to emergency services was placed by Markus himself." Recounting the details Connor eloquently explained his concerns. "He identified himself, the address of the house and the nature of the call. And yet when the police arrived at the scene they opened fire on Markus without any provocation."

"Shit... That's how he ended up at that old android junkyard, right? They shot him and dumped him off like a piece of garbage."

"Correct. According to the police report that had been filed Markus was in the process of attacking Leo Manfred while Carl Manfred was trying to fend him off. The two officers at the scene; Kendra MacClaine and Timothy White, claimed that they heard Carl Manfred shouting for help after Markus struck Leo in the back of the head and was attempting to strangle him. Their account doesn't line up with not only with the fact that it was Markus who had called for help, but Carl confirmed that Leo was the one who broke into the house and Markus and was just defending himself after being physically pushed around and insulted by Leo."

"And the two cops were never questioned?"

"Correct again. They filed their report and were commended for saving two lives from the malicious intent of a 'malfunctioning android'."