The Man made from Machine

Chapter 5: The Interrogation

12:39am

The last hour had been a blur for Lily as she sat in the kitchen of the bungalow. They were still at the crime scene, and her anxious mind was still trying to process all that had happened. A brief touch on her arm let her know that Hank wanted her attention.

"You sure it didn't hurt you in any way?", he asked the same question as earlier in the evening, as he took the seat at the other end of the small kitchen table.

"I'm fine, Hank", she said, looking out of the window to see the heavy rain falling.

Despite her best efforts, Lily had been powerless as Connor had briskly pulled the deviant, Thomas, from where he stood and forced him through the attic's hatch, where DCPD officers had searched and then handcuffed the android. Thomas was then marched through the crime scene, and Lily had noticed how the poor guy had trembled in regret and fright as he saw the fly-ridden corpse of his dead owner.

He was currently stuck inside one of the police cars, as the rest of the DCPD there began to clear up the crime scene. Lily had been out of it all, she hadn't even batted an eye as Connor had practically carried her down and became increasingly concerned when she didn't respond to his questions. She had been given to Hank, who himself was worried she had been traumatised by whatever was up there, although he knew that it would be eventually be added to the report.

Lily wasn't traumatised, she knew that much. She wasn't frightened, just sad. She had seen how unstable and petrified Thomas was, and it made her worry for his well-being; the cops in Detroit, like every other city, didn't treat androids well in the slightest.

"Are you alright?", Hank clicked his fingers in front of her face as she regained focus of her surroundings. "I'm a little worried about you, kid. Sure you're up for taking the deviant down the station?".

"Absolutely", she immediately decided. If she accompanied the police force as they took Thomas to the holding cell, she might be able to convince Captain Fowler of the deviant's case. Besides, she had been a part of previous investigations that involved arresting and detaining people before, except it had never been an android like this, and the suspect had never been a likely victim of abuse...

"Alright then", Hank eyed his partner, curiously. He always wondered what went on in her head. Connor came into the kitchen, telling the two of them that the DCPD was starting to return to the station. Connor looked straight at Lily as he spoke, but she didn't meet his eye.

He knew she was upset with him, he could tell by her obvious refusal to communicate. Feeling there was little he could do to re-gain her trust, the android turned to follow Hank who had already left the kitchen and was talking to Detective Collins.

"Connor"

At the mention of his name, the RK-800 turned to face Lily who was finally acknowledging him.

"Yes, Lieutenant? Can I help you?", he asked in earnest.

"Why did you reveal that we found the Deviant?", she turned around to face him, but still wouldn't look him in the eye. The android's LED flickered yellow.

"It was my mission to locate the main suspect, Lieutenant. I only carried out the protocol my programming requires me to complete", he said as she looked up to reach his eyes.

"But I told you I had it under control", she insisted. Connor looked sheepishly at the ground.

"I am sorry I disobeyed your instructions, Lieutenant. I thought that simply finding the deviant was accomplishing the mission, so my analysation of the situation decided there wasn't any point in waiting any longer in arresting the suspect". He tilted his head to the side.