[EDITING] wanderlust | detroit: become human

seven - dancing with danger

mr. anderson and i made it to stratford tower safe and sound. as he checked us both in, connor was already waiting for us.

"ajax, i see mr. anderson accepted the message i gave him." connor smiled at me.

software instability: please contact nearby cyberlife store.

i nodded, "yes, he did! i'm actually really excited to be able to shadow you both." smiling, i walked with connor to the elevator.

as we all settled in, silence loomed over us. it was a long way up to the seventy ninth floor. connor began to play with a quarter, bouncing it off one hand to the other, spinning it on his fingertips. it was a skill i've never seen before. hell, i've never seen coins as much a dime or penny occasionally stuck to some gum on the street.

"you're starting to piss me off with that coin, connor." mr. anderson said, pulling it out of connor's hand and into his pocket.

connor's led ring flashed between a tuscan sun yellow before it loaded back to blue, "sorry, lieutenant."

"don't listen to him, connor. i think it was pretty cool." i smiled.

connor turned to me, his eyes sparkling under the elevator lighting, "thank you, ajax."

software instability: please contact nearby cyberlife store.

floor number seventy nine arrived all too slowly. as soon as the doors opened, we all scrambled out.

"hi, hank." another officer greeted.

mr. anderson took a look around, "shit, what's going on here? there was a party and nobody told me about it?"

the other police officer gave a chuckle, "yea, it's all over the news, so everybody's butting their nose in... even the fbi wants a piece of the action..."

"ah christ, now we got the feds on our back... i knew this was gonna be a shitty day..." mr. anderson stated, "so, what do we got?"

"a group of four androids. they knew the building, and they were very well organized. i'm still trying to figure out how they got this far without being noticed."

while i continued to listen to the report, i was suddenly stopped.

"hey, you can't be here. this is private police business." a man stated in a leather jacket.

i paused, "o... oh, i... i'm he... he... here -"

"spit it out!"

"wi... with lieutenant anderson." i mumbled under my breath.

the man gave a cocky smile, "nice try, but lieutenant anderson hates people." he grabbed me by the arm, pulling me towards the elevator.

"he... hey, i... i'm tel... telling.... the... the... the truth." i stuttered. god, curse me for being so terrible with people, i thought. "hey! stop grabbing me like that!" i pulled my arm out of his grip. as he continued to explain how i wasn't allowed in the center, my anger only boiled more.

i knew the led light was quickly changing from the three colors all at the same time and it took everything in me to keep from telling the man that he can go fuck himself.

before i could do anything, connor approached from behind, "detective reed, she's with us."

the man, now known as detective reed, let go of my arm and gave a sigh, "i guess you were telling the truth."

"yea, i fucking told you, didn't i?" i furrowed my brows, walking past the detective.

"watch your mouth!" he shouted.

my anger only grew more, "work on your detective skills, and maybe you'd find out i wasn't lying." i approached the detective, but connor caught me by the wrist and pulled me away. "hey, connor! let me go."

"no can do, ajax. i can't let you get into a fight on your first day." connor turned to me, his hand quickly pulling away before he noticed the plastic shell underneath the skin. "do you have any history of rage disorder?"

"not that i know of, no." i sighed, "i'm sorry if you feel troubled taking care of me."

connor shook his head, giving me a sweet smile, "of course not, ajax. i don't feel troubled."

i nodded, blushing lightly.

"what the fuck are you two doing?" mr. anderson asked, catching us talking in the middle of the hallway, "c'mon, let's get this over with."

connor and i followed mr. anderson into the news room where the androids broadcasted their message. as i stepped in, i looked around in wonder. i've never been in news room.

connor looked at me, his smile glowing, "it's nothing too impressive, ajax. you shouldn't be so shocked."

"i... it's ju... just i haven't seen such a big screen, and..." i paused, "wow." is all i said.

"will you two stop flirting and start looking around for anything?"

the other police officer stopped the three of us, "oh, lieutenant, this is special agent perkins from the fbi. lieutenant anderson is in charge of investigating for detroit police."

the fbi agent scoffed, turning to face connor and i, "what's that?"

"my name is connor. i'm the android sent by cyberlife."

"my name is ajax. i'm shadowing lieutenant anderson."

"androids investigating androids, huh? you sure you want an android hanging around?" perkins paused, "after everything that happened... whatever." he waved it off, "the fbi will take over the investigation, you'll soon be off the case."

"pleasure meeting you. have a nice day."

"and you watch your step. don't fuck up my crime scene."

mr. anderson rolled his eyes, "what a fuckin' prick." mr. anderson looked to us, "let's take a look around. let me know if you find anything."

"okay, lieutenant." connor nodded, "ajax, would you like to help me?"

"of course, connor." i smiled, standing next to him as he decided to play the video.

"we ask that you recognize our dignity, our hopes, and our rights. together, we can live in peace and build a better future, for human and androids. this message is the hope of a people. you gave us life. and now the time has come for you to give us freedom."

i looked up at the screen, both in awe and shock. there are androids like me out there. one's who want to just be treated as everyone else. as my eyes scanned the screen, my heart only seemed to beat in my ears as i watched the android, free of the fake flesh, speak in all his glory.

i had to find these people. i needed to. so i can be free as well.