Partners [Path Unlocked 🔓]

Chapter 32 - Machine on a Mission

Whatever Hank had been expecting when he opened his eyes, this certainly wasn't it.

Where the android had been prepared to see solid walls and digitally crafted pathways, all he saw was lines of code. The bar was gone. In its wake remained only billions of numbers fit into tight streams of binary and brackets that wavered under his feet where he stood and surrounded him on all sides, creating the world he knew to be reality and letting it disintegrate on the spot.

In the center of the mess Jeffrey yet remained, however, the man standing tall and solid even as the world collapsed around them, lines of binary disappearing and leaving blank nothingness at the edges of the false reality even as they stood. The man stared evenly at the android, silent and waiting for a report without so much as offering a comment about the state of the place, dark eyes fixed and steady.

"I have located the deviant hideout." Hank relayed mechanically, hands behind his back and head high as he held his body rigidly in the expected stance for a report without so much as twitching.

"Well done." Fowler acknowledged calmly, giving the android an approving nod. "Report to the nearest Cyberlife facility and you will be provided with a weapon to eliminate the target." The AI commanded shortly, turning his head and beginning to advert his attention elsewhere as if to end the conversation and inevitably the momentary admission into this coded world with it.

"Fowler," Hank prompted before the session could end, the reality fritzing out for a second and fading to the real, snow covered streets of the outside world for a moment before coming back into focus, though even then it remained slightly transparent in away. The android saw both the AI that existed only in his own coding and the true reality of the humans on the same plane, melding into each other in the mechanical world's weakness and leaving little differentiation between what was real and what was false.

"Speak, HK800. The deviants are preparing to march, we have little time." Fowler informed briskly, glaring impatiently at the robot and letting his lips twist into a sour frown as he waited.

"What cause had you to set manual blocks against me gaining Detective Anderson's trust?" The android questioned a tad bit sharper than he intended to, silently reminding himself that he wanted to know in the interest of simplifying the investigatory process alone and had no right to be sharp with an AI programmed solely to command him.

"I didn't see how you playing babysitter was relevant to the mission." Jeffrey replied shortly, casting a warning glare toward the android who stood before him despite the perfect reasonability of Hank's inquiry.

"I must disagree, Fowler." The HK800 argued immediately, words springing to his lips before his programming could remind him not to dispute a direct order from his superiors. "Establishing a relationship with one's partner is statistically proven to increase productivity and improve results in the workplace. Especially in the law enforcement field where trust-" Hank tried to defend his position, bringing up the numbers he himself had looked over a thousand times to convince himself his attraction to Connor served a practical purpose that could be quantified and proven in a logical manner.

"He is not your partner!" Fowler snapped before the android had a chance to finish out his explanation, bringing the stream of facts and studies to an untimely halt and burying them in an early grave with an agitated growl. "Connor Anderson is a means to an end." The AI informed coldly, slowly regaining his composure with a deep breath and dragging the words out slowly to emphasize their truth. "He has served his purpose and is no longer useful to us." The man elaborated flatly, staring evenly into the machine's eyes with a look as cold as ice that offered no room for debate.