Detroit: Become Corrupt

Chapter 9 - Betrayal [REWRITTEN]

[Original - 762 words, Rewritten - 863 words.]

Hank groaned as he roused, the bright light flooding his vision made his eyes hurt, the small headache becoming apparent as he regained consciousness. Everything felt light an airy, almost surreal. Was he dead? Dreaming? No... he was definitely still alive. He could hear voices talking faintly, one familiar, one not.

As his eyes got used to the brightness, he opened them up a bit more, raising his head to look around, noticing he was now situated in a rather fancy office. They weren't in the basement of the establishment anymore, that was apparent. He tried to move his arms but realised they were bound behind him, trapping him to the chair he was sat in.

In front of him was a desk with a man he didn't recognise sat behind it. The man had greasy black hair, smooth tanned skin with rough stubble littering his jaw. He was leaning his head on his hand as he talked to an android stood next to him. Wait... was that Conan? So he really did work beside the master.

Hank struggled against the restraints slightly, trying to loosen them as they were digging into him. This caught the attention of the man behind the desk.

"Ah! They're awake," He said with a grin that sent a sinking feeling into the pit of Hank's stomach. Hank glanced to the side and saw Gavin tied in the same way he was, only he was still unconscious, "I suppose I should introduce myself! My name is Ethan Sterling, I run the operations on this side of town. I'm surprised you were able to find this place! Although... you didn't do it on your own, did you now?" Hank realised he was talking about Joanna.

"It's a shame really, I honestly did care about my sister, but she just couldn't keep her mouth shut. I had no choice but to silence her," he said with a disinterested shrug. Hank's eyes narrowed in disgust. A light groan became audible and Hank glanced over to his left, Gavin was waking up.

"The fuck...?" Gavin mumbled confused, completely disoriented. He suddenly realised what was going on and his eyes widened, face going slightly pale, "Oh shit."

Ethan stood up and walked around the desk, moving to stand in front of the two, arms crossed and a smug look on his face. 

"You two were so close to outing the whole operation here, it's lucky my men found you when they did! I heard from them you met my old friend, Connor! It's such a shame they had to destroy him..." Ethan sighed sarcastically, his voice held no empathy at all. Out of the corner of his eye Hank saw Conan's face change into one of shock, his LED flashing red. He was clearly not aware of Connor's demise.

"You're an asshole. A complete asshole for what you've done to those androids. For what happened to Connor," Hank growled, glaring at Ethan with hatred. Ethan laughed loudly, almost hysterically.

"Oh you are a funny man, Lieutenant! I can see why you're such a highly respected officer, oh wait! You're not. You're an introverted and spiteful alcoholic that no one gives a shit about. Your colleagues hate how much of a lazy prick you've become," he hissed viciously, a sinister grin adorning his face. Hank looked to the floor, the words hitting him hard. Ethan then turned his attention to Gavin.

"And of course I can't forget about you, Detective Reed. The most disliked detective in the whole of the Detroit Police Department! Everyone thinks you're arrogant, selfish, worthless. You have no family left to care about you, so who's going to miss you when you're gone? That's right! No one!!" Hank could tell those words effected Gavin heavily by his darkening eyes.

Ethan grinned at the emotional damage inflicted and wandered back over to the other side of the desk, opening a drawer and pulling out a handgun. He turned and placed the gun into Conan's hand.

"I'd rather not get my clothes dirty. Kill them for me, Conan," Ethan commanded. Conan held the gun firmly in his hand and walked over to Gavin, standing in front of them with emotionless eyes. He raised the gun and put the barrel to Gavin's forehead, his finger on the trigger. Gavin looked up at Conan with wide, teary eyes, his bottom lip trembling.

"Please don't..." Gavin whispered, voice shaking in fear. Hank couldn't bare to watch, turning his head away and closing his eyes. Back in the basement Hank thought that Conan and Gavin had grown fairly close, but now the android was actually going to kill him.

Gavin couldn't believe this was happening. He'd grown to care for Conan, despite their previous incident, he'd forgiven him for it, and now they were back at square one, but this time Conan was going to finish the job. Gavin wanted to scream, he wanted to yell at Conan, but he was frozen, quietly hyperventilating as the cold metal of the gun kept him aware of the daunting reality he was in.

Conan clicked the safety off the gun, his hand not wavering, his stare unmoving. Gavin felt numb. He squeezed his eyes shut, just hoping this would be quick and painless.

BANG!