Shades of Colours

Chapter 9

Saturday November 6th 2038 - 3:02 pm

After hearing Captain Fowler yell at Uncle Hank again for not finding the AX400 this morning, he decided to take me out to a late lunch to take his mind off it. But of course, Connor had to follow us; it was a small little burger joint on the side of the road, and it was probably the best place in all of Detroit. We parked across the street and shut the car off; once we got out of the car, I noticed Connor didn't follow, and I turned back to see he was just watching us. I just rolled my eyes and hurried after my uncle once he crossed the street. "Hey Hank, kid, how you doing?" the owner greeted as he finished serving another customer. "Eh, same old shit," Uncle Hank mumbled. He looked up at our car, frowning when I assume he spotted Connor; "Plastic with you?" he asked. "Only temporary, then I'll throw a party once h- it leaves," I muttered, catching my mistake.

Neither of them seemed to have noticed the slip up; "The usual?" We both nodded in union, then I broke away from Uncle Hank's side and wandered over to the stands, leaning against one table. I looked up when I heard a car door slam closed, and I sighed when I saw Connor step out, making his way towards me. "What the hell do you want now?" I hissed when he stopped in front of me. "I'd like to apologize for my behaviour back at the station," he told me. "It seems like all you've been doing is just apologizing, are you sure your program isn't busted or something?" I snapped, turning away a little. "Yes, my program is running perfectly fine. I do routine check ups to ensure myself," he said. This guy really needs to learn about sarcasm. I looked back at him when he didn't walk away; "Okay, what do you want from me now?" I prompted, arching a brow.

He tilted his head; "Do you accept my apology?" What the hell...? I gave him a long, quizzical look before slowly nodding; "Yah...sure, I do," I mumbled. He gave me a quick, friendly smile, then stuck out his hand; "I believe this is what humans do as a sign of respect?" I opened my mouth to reply, but after seeing him wait so patiently, I just sighed and reached out with my left hand to shake. I jumped when his hand touched mine, and for a split second the image of someone standing on top of a roof flashed in front of my eyes, holding a little girl at gun point. I jumped back, recoiling away from Connor in fear; I looked down to see the skin on both of our hands had disappeared, revealing the white plastic. I turned away from Connor after seeing the look of shock, and I shoved my hands in my pockets, closing my eyes. Why was I so worried about what he was going to say?

"I...won't ask, if you're uncomfortable with talking about it," he mumbled. I opened one eye, turning a little to look at him, and he gave me a small smirk before turning away and walking over to Uncle Hank. I sighed, slamming my head down on the table and groaning - how could I have been so stupid? I watched as the two talked quietly, Uncle Hank a little aggrivated that he had to be talking to the android, before they finally walked over with our food. Connor was the one to hand me my lunch, but I didn't meet his gaze when I took it. "You know," he started. "Both of your meals contain 1.4 times the recommended daily intake of calories and twice the cholesterol level. You shouldn't eat that." I looked up at him after swallowing my first bite, then flipped him off as I took a second, bigger bite, making Uncle Hank snicker. Connor just nodded and continued; "This Pedro..."

I looked up at Uncle Hank, frowning; "He was proposing illegal gambling, am I right?" he said. I rolled my eyes, shaking my head in disapproval - when will he learn..? "Yah," Uncle Hank replied, avoiding my gaze. "And you made a bet?" Uncle Hank replied again, and Connor had a look of 'what?' on his face; "Yah, I'm just as confused as you," I whispered, taking a sip from my drink. "...maybe I should tell you what I know about deviants," Connor suggested shyly. "You read my mind. Proceed," Uncle Hank muttered. Connor looked a little more at ease, as if he completely disregarded the tension he caused. "We believe that a mutation occurs in the software of some androids, which can lead to them emulating a human emotion - " I rolled my eyes; "English, plastic boy."