| TZ100 | [Detroit: Become Human] Connor x Android Reader

Chapter 9

"What are you talkin' about? Saw, what?" Hank quickly questions.

"It saw the deviant leave the room – A blue-haired Traci."

"Club policy is to wipe the androids' memory every two hours," Connor reminds you and Hank. "We only have a few minutes if we wanna find another witness!"

You nod and quickly head to a Traci dancing on a pole while Connor goes to another android in a tube with Hank. Now that time is of the essence, you quickly grab its arm without the uncomfortable hesitation. This one watched the deviant turn back into the club.

"This one saw it, too. I know which way it went!"

"Then go for it!" Hank commands. "But there're androids everywhere! How are you gonna tell which one saw the Traci with blue hair?"

"We know which direction it took. We just need to find another android on its path," Connor answers, then requests that Hank open another tube.

After letting go of the android's hand, Connor heads into the red room that branches off from the main part of the building. You quickly follow, grabbing the arm of another freely dancing android in the center of the room while Connor inspects one behind glass. It takes nearly a minute – and over $70 – before you discover the next deviant-sighting. The three of you rush into the blue room next to the red one, even more hurried than before.

Moments later, Connor saw that it hide in one of the rooms. While it checks, you grab the shoulder of an android busying itself with sweeping.

"It went through the staff door," you call to Hank and Connor, quickly following its path. They, too, quicken their pace – you only have seconds left.

"Fucking–A. This is crazy..." Hank exclaims. You reach the door at the end of a short corridor. As you prepare to open it, Hank stops you. "Wait!" You turn back to him. "I'll take it from here."

You and Connor trail behind him as he opens the door, gun poised to shoot. The large brick and cement room is eerily still, with only the sounds of basic machinery whirring in the walls.

"Shit... We're too late..." Hank curses, noticing the open door at the back.

There's no movement from the rows of androids in the back corner, and too many hiding places. The three of you fan out to search. You immediately approach the door with Hank to look for another lead. Connor inspects the rows of Tracis. It leans forward, finding one with bright blue hair and a yellow LED, easily giving it away. It shakes with fear. Before Connor can confront it, another android tackles Connor to the ground.

Hearing the commotion, you turn around and rush to them, failing to notice the deviant in the crowd. You body check it off of Connor, but it grabs you by the shoulders and takes you with it. It deals a solid punch to your jaw and you struggle to defend yourself. If it wasn't on top of you, you'd have no issue using your agility to your advantage.

Hank draws his gun and aims it at the android on top of you. "DON'T MOVE!"

The blue-haired Traci sprints at him and knees him in the gut. Connor, after recovering, throws the android off of you. You stand and gesture to Hank, silently saying that he needs more help than you do. Now that the odds are a bit more in your favor, you have no trouble dodging and countering its attacks. That is, however, until you see the other android about to stab Connor with a box cutter. Hank is stunned and lying on the ground, unable to help.

You punch the deviant near you, then grab the blue-haired Traci and put it in a choke hold, prying it off of him. It grabs at your arms for a moment before slashing through it, causing you to let go. It kicks you in the stomach, then turns to face Connor again. Thirium stains the sleeve of your CyberLife jacket. You have no time to assess the damage before the other club android begins to attack you again. You're so focused on not getting deactivated when it hits you in the head with a metal rack that you don't notice Connor get knocked to the ground as well.

All you know is that it's begun to run with the blue-haired Traci. They're making a break for the fence that leads into the dark streets of Detroit. As you fall, you finally see that your partners are in the same position. Connor is the first to rise, rushing after them at top speed.

"QUICK! THEY'RE GETTING AWAY!" Hank shouts.

You shakily rise to your feet, staring at the deviants running... hand in hand. They're escaping together. Connor pulls one from the fence when they begin to climb, and you realize that he won't be able to hold both of them off. So, despite the bright red warnings that flash before your eyes saying that something was knocked out of place when you were hit, you quickly do a lazy vault over the overturned shelves and defend him.

Software Instability: S-L-F dot H-M-N dot M-M-C-K equals ninety percent.

The two of you seem to be succeeding when one deals a solid hit to your head again with a crowbar. You collapse, and it bashes Connor across the back with a trash can. It rolls to the side and grabs the handgun that was knocked from Hank's hand, rapidly rising to its knees and taking aim at the two. You blink hard, static covering two thirds of your vision in your left eye.

Connor aims as the black-haired android sprints at it, but hesitates. The gun lowers for a moment before the android reaches him, kicking him in the chest. Connor lands on his back on the asphalt. He rises to his feet and his eyes find you, struggling to stand. After Connor offers you a hand, you're finally able to rise, static beginning to clear as you stare after the two deviants curiously.

"When that man broke the other Traci..." the blue-haired one begins with a quiet fury, "I knew I was next... I was so scared... I begged him to stop, but he wouldn't...

"And so I put my hands around his throat, and I squeezed..." she continues, "until he stopped moving... I didn't mean to kill him... I just wanted to stay alive..." the other woman approaches behind her, reaching for her hand, "get back to the one I love."

A pain shoots through your chest, which is something that you've never experienced before.

Software Instability: S-L-F dot H-M-N dot M-M-C-K equals ninety-one percent.

The two gaze at each other compassionately. "I wanted her to hold me in her arms again... make me forget about the humans... their smell of sweat and their dirty words..."

"Come on," the other comforts, "let's go."

With that, they run for the fence and escape, leaving you, Connor, and Hank to stand in the rain.

"It's probably better this way..." Hank says, turning and reentering the building.

For a reason unknown to you, you had been able to imagine what that Traci felt. What if you had just been trying to get back to– Your train of thought halts as you notice Connor looking at you with a familiar expression. You stare back at him, wondering if he could understand.

Two LEDs give off a warm yellow glow in the night rain.

"...Thank you," Connor finally breaks the silence.

You almost laugh. "For what? Getting my mechanisms knocked out of place?"

"Are you injured?"

"No, I'm fine. I think the second hit put everything back where it should be. Thanks."

There's another silence that falls between you two. "[Y/N]... Do you understand what they were talking about?"

"They'd developed romantic feelings for one another," you reply matter-of-factly.

"That's not what I meant. I was asking if you could... relate to those experiences... in any way, at all."

Software Instability: S-L-F dot H-M-N dot M-M-C-K equals ninety-seven percent.

You hesitate, unsure of how to answer. Do you understand how they were feeling? Luckily Connor saves you himself before you have to answer, noticing the thirium still trailing down your arm.

"Oh yeah... that," you say, noticing his stare. "Should probably get that fixed up."

"Let's go catch up with Hank and see what we can do."

He wraps an arm around you and guides you back into the club. You lean into him, hardly caring that you failed your minor mission.

I hope you liked this chapter of "TZ100". Thanks for reading. ~Blue