they found someone for him. connor's thoughts ran wild once more as he reached his house. was it a human? an android? what was their name? what were they like?
questions like this continued to swarm his head, even as he lays down for the night. were they going to be like hank? no, no one will ever be like him. but it didn't stop him from wondering. would they be stand-offish like he was at first? would they be uninterested? would they be older like hank? he didn't know of anyone as old as hank in the police department. connor laughed at the thought.
arriving at the police department has never been more nerve-racking. his mind had calmed down since last night, but he knew he was about to meet his new partner. a replacement. the word kept ringing in his head. they're a replacement.
he didn't bother going to his desk. instead, he walked right towards fowler's office. his hand froze as he reached for the handle. but, to his luck, fowler was quick to open the door.
"connor," he said, voice light, "come right in."
connor nodded, and walked into the office. fowler offered a seat, but he denied with a small shake of his head. he looked around the room, until his eyes landed on a taller man standing next to fowler's desk. the man was wearing all black, with sunglasses and an expensive looking tie.
fowler noticed connor's eyes on the man, and began talking.
"mr. kamski, do you mind introducing yourself?" connor's eyes widened in surprise at the name, his mouth opened just a bit.
"hello again, connor. nice to see you," he said, stepping forward, "I guess you really are a deviant, huh?"
"I am," he answered immediately, confident, "I always have been..."
elijah nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. when connor refused to shoot chloe, he knew it was just a matter of time before he realized his deviancy.
"I bet you're wondering why i'm here, so I might as well tell you," he examined connor's expression as he nodded, "you see, finding an android for you was... an experience, to say the least."
connor nodded, feeling as though it was the only thing he could do. so they did get him an android. fun. he wondered why or how, but he assumed that his questions would soon be answered.
"androids don't like working in this line anymore, and humans aren't very willing either," he said, pacing in front of the android. "however, we had one we thought would be rather... perfect, for this job. the rough parts, at least."
"to put it quick and simple, we got you an ex-sex android." fowler said from behind kamski, sitting at his desk where he usually was.
"he's nice, isn't he?" elijah's comment was quick and directed at connor. connor didn't do anything. "but he's right. we got you one that was rather troubled... but strong."
as kamski spoke, connor barely noticed the door begin to open. elijah had his arms open, motioning for whoever was in the doorway to come closer to him. and when he did, connor saw what he thought was the most beautiful android to ever exist.
he was just about an inch or two shorter than connor, with jet black hair and curtain bangs, and beautiful blue eyes. he noticed the outfit he was wearing, the number reading 'RK900'. however, the outfit wasn't what he'd seen before. it was nearly the same, with the same coloring and everything, but the jacket the android was wearing flowed down his back like a cape.
"this... was who you'd replace me with?" connor pointed at the android as it stared motionless at him. kamski laughed, shaking his head.
"no, don't worry. this is a model from before the android revolution. he... wasn't the most docile, and attacked a worker at the eden club." connor listened to his explanation intently.
"you see, ashton here," his name's ashton, connor noted. "assaulted his owner, a worker at the club." ashton's led flashed red at the information. so he remembers.
"after getting used four plus times a day, I think you could guess why," he walked around the android just like he had paced around chloe, "one day he just decided it was enough."
"but I mean, why am I just telling you, how about you connect to him and see everything for yourself?" connor panicked at the suggestion, not wanting to do it. connecting to another android was special, so special it was like marriage between humans. "come on, connor, don't be shy."
he watched as kamski took ashton's hand, slowly putting it in a position where, in any other circumstance, you'd guess he was asking for a high-five. he watched as the android's skin on his hand slowly disappeared.
connor stuttered, not knowing what to say. but he knew elijah was his creator, and that he had to do what he said if he wanted to keep his job. so he walked up to the android and asked,
"are you okay with this?" the android snapped out of whatever trance he was in, looked at connor, and nodded. he still didn't say anything, but connor saw his led flash yellow.
connor slowly connected their hands, and soon enough, it was as if connor was there— as if he worked at the eden club.
he saw where ashton's case was, the dancer in front of it getting rented a few times, but then he began noticing it. man after man, woman after woman, and many more renting him over and over again. he soon came to find out that ashton's real number was MJ600, and that he was one of a kind— ashton was the only known trans android. he was an experiment.
the only things running through connor's mind was about how cyberlife were sick bastards, and how terrible it must've felt for the android. how many people he had to pleasure in a day. he thought back to the two girls he'd let go with hank— how the blue haired traci talked about how awful it felt to be there, how disgusting it felt to be used over and over and over again.
he sees ashton's vision go back to his case, where he sees a man. the man pays for a 30 minute session with ashton, and the case door opens. however, ashton doesn't move. he stays where he was, completely motionless. he sees the man flag down a worker, an android worker, who then gets the attention of a human. the human comes over, and tries to force ashton to walk with the man.
ashton relents again, until the man pulls on his arm. every single customer, every single day, he felt their touches. he remembers the smell of their sweat. he sees as he raises his arm, steps out of the case, and begins to punch and kick at the worker as hard as he can. he begins crying. ashton goes until he's knocked out, and his tears stain his cheeks.
the next thing he knows, his vision is completely black, and it stays like that for quite a few moments. he remembers hearing a voice before it continues though, saying 'keep him. he's a good fighter. we may need him for something.'
connor thinks about how ashton was just inactivated, because they could use him for something else. he then sees ashton's vision turn back on, and is met with kamski's face.
"do you remember your name?" is all he asks.
"ashton, eden club model MJ600." kamski nods, and the last thing he remembers is,
"good. you will now be RK900, working alongside RK800 in the detroit police department. connor model #313 248 317. repeat your name and model, please."
"ashton, police officer model RK900."
connor disconnected as fast as he connected. slowly parting their hands, he looked at the other android. he knew his own led was flashing red, but ashton's kept going back and forth from yellow to blue. then he remembered, they connected. the android he'd never seen before, and whom probably knew nothing about connor himself, just saw all of connor's memories.
the first word out of the android's mouth took connor back.
"hank," he pauses, "your father?"
as connor began to nod, elijah laughed slightly as fowler gave a look to the both of them.
"I guess you could say that," kamski started, "hank anderson. lieutenant hank anderson. one of the police department's best workers. passed on august 12, 2048. what a tragedy."
connor looked down, and noticed that the android followed the motion. he saw the concern on his face as he asked if connor was alright. connor muttered an 'i'm fine' to which fowler interrupted this time.
"you were correct— they were like father and son," ashton's head snapped towards the man, "they were basically inseparable. but hank loved alcohol, and it seemed as though one night it got its revenge. that's why you're here now." the android nodded once again, looking back at connor. he gave a small apology, nearly in a whisper.
connor didn't back away from ashton. it was weird, ashton felt... familiar. like connecting to him made them that much closer. they looked each other in the eye as the humans continued talking. they stayed like that nearly the entire time they were in fowler's office.
"i'm sure you two will make a great team," fowler said, finally standing from his desk, "so why don't you two go prove it? get to work, new cases are assigned to the both of you. ashton will get hank's old desk."
connor didn't like that, but he knew why. it was the only empty desk next to his. they both nodded, and connor held the door open for ashton on their way out. he showed ashton to his new desk, and watched as the android analyzed it.
connor thinks back to when he did the same thing, when hank was still alive and working— how different it much be now. he tried not to dwell on it too much as ashton attempts to spark a conversation with him. however, he doesn't know what to talk about. they basically know everything about each other now. every part of their past, every thing they've ever done, every person that's ever truly mattered to them.
but ashton manages to start a conversation anyways; he asks how connor had been feeling, if he was alright, and ends the conversation with saying how good of partners they're going to be. connor winces at that, and ashton apologizes again.
"please," connor starts, "don't apologize. I don't mean to be so stand-offish, I just..."
"it's fine, connor. I stepped out of line." he didn't know how the other android was still so polite even after what he's been through. "don't think so hard on it."
the smile he gave him lightened connor's mood. it was by far the prettiest smile he's probably ever seen. he tries to convince himself it's apart of ashton's program, that he's supposed to look inviting. but he seems so genuine, so sincere, that connor can't help but smile back.
maybe they will be good partners. someday.