Who Are You Really? - RK1K

Chapter Two - Cases

Markus woke first, taking a moment to remember where he was as he sat up. He glanced around, Connor's room looking different now he could see in the light, rather than having to use his mind palace to watch his step. He knew the android next to him was still recharging, but the RK800 would no doubt jump up at the slightest movement - it was amazing he hadn't already.

He observed instead. The way the light trickling in from the window reflected off of Connor's hair that had messed up minimally despite his rest, the relaxed expression on the android's face that seemed to make Markus was to sleep, actually sleep - not just recharge.

He knew Connor didn't need to be protected - seriously, that man could kill him and another three androids at once if he wanted - but the urge to make sure no one ever hurt him. Markus was tempted to run his hand through the soft, bedhead of hair, but Connor woke up before he could, eyelids fluttering as he ran a quick post-recharge diagnostic.

"Hello, Markus, sleep well?" Connor asked, voice slightly staticky as his less necessary functions rebooted, including his voice module.

"Quite," Markus replied shortly, watching as the pale android sat up tiredly. He doubted Connor was actually tired, but the fact that Connor was moving in a way that seemed like it made Markus feel trusted. "What about you?"

"It was a satisfying rest," Connor smiled softly, hopping out of the bed. "I'll go check on Hank, then we can go do something for the day, alright?"

"Alright, Connor," Markus grinned in return, watching as Connor left before putting his shirt back on - he left his trenchcoat on the chair, however, knowing he'd be coming back. He slipped out of the room, immediately noticing Hank and Connor in the kitchen.

"Connoooooor, you don't have to monitor everything I eat," Hank whined, looking two seconds away from smacking his head on the table.

"I do if you're going to live past sixty, Hank," Connor retorted smoothly, handing the lieutenant a bowl of cereal. "Now eat something healthy, and maybe I'll let you have a beer earlier than three."

That seemed to do the trick, if the way Hank immediately dug into his breakfast was anything to go by. Connor turned, nodding to Markus. "Would you like anything? I could warm up some thirium for you."

"Ah, no, I'll be fine," Markus shrugged - he was a caregiver android, he usually made the food for others, not the other way around. "Anything you want to do today?"

"Not particularly, I was wondering if you had something in mind," Connor shrugged, getting a small pouch of thirium from the small fridge of android foods, sat directly next to the big fridge of human food.

"There's a nature trail not far from here," Markus suggested, "I looked it up last night, we could walk that, if you'd like?"

"Sounds wonderful, Markus. Hank, will you make sure not to drink any alcohol without calling me first? I don't want you going back to your old habits."

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry about it, mom," Hank stuck out his tongue, playfully annoyed at Connor's ridiculous amounts of concern that was as oddly endearing as it was plain over-the-top. Buuuut the android had a valid point.

"It's impossible for me to be your mother, lieutenant, as I have only existed for barely two years, not to mention I do not have the appropriate equipment to give bir-,"

"Alright, alright, it was a joke, Con, I don't need you to go into detail, 'kay?" Hank chuckled, enjoying while simultaneously hating the way his android son constantly took things literally.

"Oh, of course, apologies, Hank," Connor bowed his head, moving past Markus and towards his room. "I'll get dressed quickly, Markus. You'll have to wait approximately two minutes and fifty-two seconds."

"Understood, Connor," Markus nodded, moving over to the kitchen to talk with Hank. "You two seem to care a lot about each other," he noted aloud.

"Well, yeah, he's my son," Hank grinned, looking at the door to Connor's room. "My confused, deviant, android son, but he's my son."

Markus just smiled in response, counting the seconds until Connor would emerge - 5, 4, 3, 2, aaaand 1. There he was, right on time.

"Shall we go?" Markus chuckled, nodding towards the door.

"Mhm," Connor smiled, flicking his coin into the air, only to catch it with ease and roll it over his knuckles before sliding it back into his hoodie pocket. "Let's go. Bye Hank!"

"Take Sumo, he'll love ya for it," Hank nodded towards the large Saint Bernard laying on the couch.

"Sure! Sumo, come on!" Connor beckoned, taking the leash from where he had left it the previous night. The dog barked, hopping over happily. "Okay, now let's go."

"Coming, Connor," Markus grinned, following closely behind Connor as the younger android walked out of the door. He didn't notice Hank's look of approval, and even if he did, he wouldn't have known what it was for.

"Lead the way," Connor smiled, stepping to the side for Markus to stand beside him. "I haven't explored a lot of Detroit, only what I needed to for missions at the DPD."

"What sort of missions do you work on?" Markus asked before immediately mentally face-palming - Connor was a detective android.

"Well, Hank and I are assigned all android cases, which now includes android hate crimes and discrimination as well as the crimes androids commit," Connor explained, seeming rather excited to share. "Some of us still don't like humans... no matter, though, you're getting us the rights we've always wanted!"

Markus was taken aback by the sudden compliment, "I'm really not doing that much, Connor."

"You started the whole revolution, Markus! That's a lot, not to mention you helped deviant androids who now respect you deeply. You're the head of androids everywhere because we all respect you, even if some don't follow your example."

"Anyway," Markus blinked, unsure how to react to that, "You said android hate crimes? Is that something I should be in on?"

"Ah, that... I don't think you'd like to hear about it," Connor looked away, tensing as the memory files replayed through his processor, blue staining his fingers as he analysed it, sometimes recognising the model numbers that popped up, "They were horrible."

"Connor, I want to know what's happening to my people," Markus frowned, looking at the other android. Connor sighed and held out his hand, an invitation for an interface. Markus took it quickly, breathing in a sharp gasp when he saw.

A traci - that could've been North, his mind supplied unhelpfully - beaten and broken in a puddle of her own blood, blue staining her fair pale skin, Eden Club glitter mixing with the liquid. A house android who looked to work in a bakers shop with his arms torn off, eyes wide and terrified, trained on the hole in his chest where his thirium pump had been ripped out, only a few meters away from him. CyberLife warehouses that had been burnt to the ground, ruining the thirium and spare parts inside, only the charred, broken framework of the building remaining.

Connor broke the connection, pulling away his arm. "See? This is why I didn't want to tell you, androids are being attacked and killed in brutal ways."

Markus gasped as the connection was broken, Connor's memory files saving to his own database. He looked at the pale android, "You shouldn't have to deal with that alone either, Connor."

"I was built for this, I can handle it," Connor's voice trembled despite his words, looking paler than before. "It's not something you should worry about."

"You are," Markus stated, "You may've been built for it, but you're a deviant, you're different than you were before. You feel things when looking over the cases now, I wouldn't be surprised if it shook you more than you'll admit."

"I've been dealing with this since my activation, I'm fine," Connor insisted, "Let's just get back to our walk, okay?"

"...Alright," Markus sighed, fully aware he'd bring it up again later.