SENTIENT

Antecedent

The Police Department of Detroit operates 25 hours a day. Each minute goes by as somebody commits a shooting, stabbing, robbery, or whatever it takes for them to make a quick stack.

Each time a question proposed about the crime rates, the statistic is always unjustly aimed at the poor, the addicts and those who are beyond help and have burned all their bridges.

The reality was that every person capable of crime, has committed a crime. They did to get something they feel they just had to have. Lately, she has been wondering if violence was built into our nature as humans and there is no way to rid ourselves of it.

Inside that basement, it was hard to tell where the sun rises or sets. Her wristwatch showed it was 10:55 PM. Her slender fingers typing away details of the vicious murder of a school teacher. She was shot execution style at home after she turned down the advances of a deviant.

This happened only six months ago. It was one of the cases Connor solved himself, with the leeway given to him by Captain Miller. AJ covered her mouth as she yawned.

"Hey," she called. "Think you can help me with something?"

Connor was flipping page after page of case reports, but he always had time for her. He got up from his seat and attended her desk.

"What happened to Joseph – the AV500 deviant model – after he shot Deborah McCain?" She read from her reports.

He came around the back of her seat to see the files for himself. His head tilted to one side, "He was sent to a destruction camp shortly after he's convicted guilty."

"Did you ever find out why he shot the victim?" AJ looked up to see his face. Not a sign of overwork to be seen, even in this close-up.

"The deviant and the victim developed a close relationship over time. It turned out to be a one-sided relationship," he remembered. "He must've felt betrayed or cheated."

"That's all? There's never an account on what happened before he pulled the trigger. Did he stalk her? Did he threaten her?"

Connor ran out of words. He only remembered, "There could have been an altercation, we never knew what it was about because he never confessed, but we linked the murder weapon to the deviant."

She sighed, "I guess I'm the only one dying to know what pushed him to finally pull the trigger."

She grabbed another file from one of the stacks, "What about this case of a TR500 model? He drugged and tortured his ex-employer. The victim died of a cardiac arrest."

"The information on the file should be sufficient for the database without an antecedent account," said Connor, having nothing else to share.

Of course, she rolled her eyes – having seen it countless times before in her days as a field officer. The term 'insufficient evidence' becomes a saving grace for those who cannot convince a jury or have successfully convinced a jury enough.

"I thought we were starting to get on the same page," she teased.

"AJ, I'm sure you're a great detective, but here, we rely on evidence and facts – not predictions."

"They're educated guesses!"

The two detectives involved in a staring contest to see which one of them yields first. Finally, it looks like her hazel eyes melted his processor out. He leaned against his desk with his arms fold.

"Can I be honest?" He began, "You're not the only one who wished to know what's going on inside these deviant minds."

"You understand." She smiled.