Accident Prone - Becoming Human

A New Look

Standing before the bathroom mirror with reluctance plastered on his aged and experienced face, Hank pulled at a few stray locks of his long gray hair with his right fingers and thumb and let out a deep sigh. The longer hairstyle wasn't a fashion statement by any means, it was the result of Hank no longer caring about his appearance after the loss of his firstborn son, Cole. It had been longer than regulation standards for nearly six and half years at this point and Hank had gotten used to it. Every now and then he'd trim the hair to keep it from growing out to a 'rock star' length, but even so the longer hairstyle had become one he was content with.

Connor walked into the bathroom with a small set of grooming tools inside of a plastic case in his hands and stared at Hank in the mirror over the senior detective's left shoulder. He could sense Hank's reluctance to accept the haircut and was willing to give him more time before he made his final decision regarding the change in his look.

"If you'd prefer to wait go to a barber instead, I understand."

"No, kid. It's not that." Letting go of his hair Hank shook his head a little and stared at the deviant's reflection with a strangely bemused smirk on his face. "It's just that I haven't had my hair cut since... you know."

"Yes. I know."

"And I know that a haircut isn't going to change anything and what's done will stay done, but at the same time it's like I'm forcing myself to forget about that horrible night by going back to the way I used to look. I can't forget about it and I don't want to forget about it."

"You won't forget, Hank." Choosing to address the senior detective as such rather than 'dad' was meant to keep Hank's fear of forgetting about Cole from feeling anymore prevalent than it already was. "You'll just have a different reflection. That's all."

"What about you?" Turning around to face Connor with an inquisitive stare in his blue eyes Hank pulled at the rogue lock of dark hair that constantly hung down in Connor's face with a light grip. "How'd you get your hairstyle?"

"It was programmed to this particular style as a default. I had no preference in the matter."

"Even the color?"

"Yes." As if to prove a point Connor closed his eyes briefly and manually changed his hair's dark color to that of a golden blond hue right under Hank's fingertips like a wave of color washing over the brunette strands. "But I can change it whenever I feel it to be necessary."

"Fuck." Hank's hand dropped from Connor's hair as he took in the sight of the now blond deviant standing in front of him. "That must come in handy for undercover missions."

"Considering I've always worn a hat whenever I've gone undercover," Connor's hair shifted back to its darker color in a steady wave of transition. "there has been no need to change the color. You're not wrong, though."

"What about your eyes?"

"That can only be changed with a total optical unit transplant."

"Sounds... painful." Moving his right hand to under Connor's chin he gave the deviant another curious glance. "And what about facial hair? I've never seen an android with a mustache or a beard before."

"Beard? I was not programmed with artificial follicle sensors along my jawline to produce such an aesthetic."

"Why? Because it looks unprofessional?"

"Because I am a prototype." Pressing his right fingertips along his jawline near Hank's hand, then over his top lip Connor explained things casually and logically. "There was no need to add such trivial sensors to my person. Many androids do not have such a feature programmed into their beings as a 'standard option', if you will. It's consider cosmetic and entirely superfluous."