Chapter Two: Waiting for Hank...

DATE

NOV 6TH 2038

TIME

AM 09:23:08

"YOU'RE THE TECHNICIAN CYBERLIFE SENT TO HELP with the prototype?" The gruff voice of Captain Fowler, a large, bald, black man, asked as he walked over to the petite woman who waited patiently in his office. He offered his hand to her to shake and, to his surprise, found that she had quite a tight grip.

Natalie smiled politely, "yes, sir, that's me. I'm Natalie Tyler." She wore her usual attire, jeans, sneakers, a green hoodie, light blue t-shirt and her beanie stuffed in her pocket. She hadn't been prepared to get the job so suddenly and didn't dress professionally. Her and Elijah had only spoken yesterday! Surprisingly, he had gotten in contact with his colleagues at Cyberlife quickly and almost instantly got a job for Natalie. With an impressive resume, there was no way the Cyberlife could turn her down. Plus to be recommended by their founder, she has to be something.

"Well, so far the android has only dealt with a few cases, a few months ago with an android taking a hostage and last night, a homicide."

"Homicide?" Natalie wondered out loud. An android shouldn't be capable of causing harm to their owners, but it seems that they are changing. Evolving, if you will.

The captain nodded his head, "afraid so, we've tried to keep this under wrap to keep the public from panicking, but it seems they're already going crazy over the fact that Connor is working on these investigations."

"Connor?"

"Yes, that's what the android is called. Shouldn't you know this?"

Natalie chuckled and nodded her head, "I know him by his model and serial number, it seems Cyberlife didn't give me that piece of information." To be honest, she had been pushed into this job so suddenly that she knew she most likely is missing some information on what's going on.

"Well, the android is working with one of our lieutenants for these investigations, Lieutenant Anderson."

She had heard that name before, though, really she must have read the name on a report that had circulated through her mind at one point. "Yes, I was told about that," she nodded her head towards the other desks outside in the precinct. "Is he here yet? I'd like to go over some of the details of the cases."

"I'm afraid he isn't here, not sure when he's going to come in." Fowler paused and looked the girl up and down as he assessed her. "Why do you want to look over the case files?"

Natalie's eyebrows raised as she chuckled slightly, "well, I need to understand exactly what sort of cases Connor would be dealing with and if any aspects of the cases could cause problems to his software." She explained, "plus, I have a masters in criminal justice and might be able to help with the investigations."

Fowler stared at her for a second, "okay. Anyway, Anderson's desk is over there." He pointed out of the floor-length, glass window to a desk that rested on the right. "You can wait there for Connor and Anderson, they can brief you more on what you're dealing with."

Natalie smiled and stood up from the seat she was in, "thank you, captain." Fowler nodded his head and gestured to the door of his office.

"Good luck."

Natalie's eyebrows furrowed at his words but headed out of the door anyway. What does he mean by 'good luck'? Natalie shrugged her shoulders and didn't think anything of it as she headed over to Lieutenant Anderson's desk. His desk is covered with many different clues that Natalie observed, even though she didn't want to. She would much rather talk with the lieutenant and find out about him that way. But from the pictures and articles around his desk, dog hair on his chair and the heavy metal music playing from his headset, Natalie was clued in on a few aspects of what Luitenant Anderson is like.

From the pictures and articles on his desk, Natalie could tell that he use to be a decorated officer and very well known for his work on the Red Ice epidemic. The dog hair on his chair tells her that he has a Saint Bernard. She likes dogs, especially large ones like Saint Bernards. I think we had a dog when I was younger, she thought to herself before sighing, I wish I remembered. She sat down on the chair that was next to the Lieutenants desk and relaxed in it. She has no idea how long she is going to be waiting, but she feels like it is going to be a long time.

She sat and watched as police walked about the precinct, some of them appeared to be in a hurry while others lazily walked around and chatted with friends. Pursing her lips, Natalie found herself bored. Knowing that she has to find out exactly what cases her, the lieutenant and the prototype would be dealing with is important, she glanced at the desk that appeared to be empty next to her. She took a quick glance around the room to see that no one was paying attention to her and hoped out of her chair to sit at the one at the unoccupied desk. If she's going to have to wait for quite some time, then she might as well as study what sort of deviants she would be dealing with.

She turned the terminal on and began to scour the reports. There appears to be hundreds of reports and would take her quite a while to get through all of them. She pursed her lips, "God, I'm really going to hate this." The only plausible way she could think of sifting through so many reports is to use her… cyborg abilities. Is that what I'm calling them? she scoffed to herself. She ignored that thought while lifting her hand and watching as her skin seemed to disappear into thin air. That is definitely something she isn't going to get used to. She rested her now exposed robotic hand on the keyboard of the terminal before closing her eyes.

It was as if the world had stopped once she reopened her eyes. She suspected that her mind had the capability to process files and data at fast rates, like an android. That's beside the point, she must focus on the reports and worry about what exactly she's capable of now later. (You would think she would know all about what she is capable of since she's been like this for three years, but she barely did anything in her apartment aside from reading and eat so she didn't get to use her new advancements that much around her home.)

She read a few of the files extensively. An AV500 model was suspected of trying to assault a consumer, an AP700 model attacked her owner and ruined their home, an AX400 reported to have also attacked her owner and showed signs of aggression in the past and a WR400 model that was reported missing from the Eden Club were only a few of the reports that Natalie read over. Though one did catch her eye quite quickly and caused her to pause for a moment. A prototype android owned by Carl Manfred had been destroyed after the artists' witness statement attested to a fight that occurred between his son and the android.

Natalie's eyes widened, Markus? What the hell-

"Excuse me," a voice pulled her out of her troubled thoughts. Natalie quickly withdrew her hand from the terminal and allowed her skin to appear on the robotic appendage. Blinking her eyes rapidly to stop a headache she knew would form right behind her eyes, she turned to her right to find an android standing tall next to her. "Are you waiting for Lieutenant Anderson?" Natalie studied the android.

He wore the usual attire for an android with his model number printed on the upper right side of his jacket. The RK800, called Connor, stood at about six feet with brunette hair, white skin, and brown eyes. Natalie looked the android up and down before nodding her head once she realized she has been staring at him for too long, which is evident from the expectant look on the androids face. She cleared her throat, "yeah, I am. You must be Connor, right? The android that Cyberlife sent to help the DPD."

Connor nodded his head and couldn't help but let his eyes drift to the woman's hand where he had seen it look seemingly android-like. 

He scanned her:

'Tyler, Natalie

Born: 4/7/2009 // Cyberlife engineer.

Criminal record: None.'

"You are the engineer that Cyberlife sent to make sure my software and programming runs efficiently." It wasn't a question. He knew who she was, after all, Amanda had informed him that Cyberlife was sending an engineer to help him.

"That I am, I suspect Lieutenant Anderson isn't with you. Captain Fowler said he wasn't sure when the Lieutenant was coming in."

"The lieutenant is not with me, I'm afraid."

Natalie sighed, "well, I suppose we have to wait for him to show up," she paused for a moment in thought. "The android that you interrogated last night, he's in a holding cell, right?"

Connor nodded his head as he eyed her skeptically, "yes, it was placed in holding cell number one. I believe that Cyberlife will be here to collect the android soon, then they will deactivate and analyze its programming to understand what's wrong within its code."

Natalie winced at that. They were going to kill the poor guy just to understand what may have gone "wrong" in his coding. It's stupid to think like that. The android has become sentient, that's what deviants are! They are waking up and realizing they are not slaves, but instead alive! "Would you mind showing me where it is, perhaps I can take a look at it quickly to see if I can understand how deviants… operate."

Connor watched her closely for a moment and tilted his head. His scans had shown that she is human, at least, she is registered as a human. However, he saw the robotic arm she possessed and he assumes that she was using it to look over case files involving deviants. But to help with the success of his mission, perhaps allowing the woman to take a closer look at the deviant from the other night will help with the progression of it.

"If you follow me, I can show you where it is."

Natalie smiled widely and jumped up from her seat, "lead the way, Connor!" She needed something to distract herself for the time being. Learning that there was a possible attack at Carl's house that involved Leo and Markus, not to mention the possible destruction of Markus, had definitely put her on edge. Of course, she couldn't leave at that moment. Even if the Lieutenant wasn't there, Connor was and she now has a job to attend to. She would go to Carl's home as soon as possible.

The android nodded his head and started to walk away from the desk with Natalie following as he explained some aspects of the other night. "The deviant was close to self-destruction the other night because of the interrogation, I advise caution when speaking with it."

Natalie nodded her head in understanding, "the deviant must have experienced extreme trauma to lash out as he did." She muttered to herself, "I can only imagine how scared he felt."

"Deviants do not feel fear, Ms. Tyler," Connor couldn't help but correct her, "you should know that it is nothing but an error within their systems that overload them and cause them to act out in unpredictable ways."

Natalie didn't say anything else as she realized there was no reason to argue with him. It was within his program to believe that as a fact, however, Natalie would like to think that if Connor was as sophisticated as Elijah told her, he would be able to express empathy and understand the deviants better. If androids were starting to revolt against their owners now, it is only a matter of time when all androids… woke up.

"Yes. I know," she muttered to herself as they finally stood in front of the holding cell where the deviant stood motionless. Natalie stared at the android and sadly smiled at him. He is covered in blood and even without her ability to scan the blood, she could tell that it must be his owner's blood. "Hello, my names Natalie."

The deviant only continued to stare off into space, however, Natalie could see a statistic popped up into her view as it displayed his stress level.

'76% Level of Stress'

Natalie nodded her head at the information as she formulated a plan to gain his trust. "I understand that you've been through some hard times lately, but I'm not here to talk about that." The android still didn't look at her. Connor watched her in curiosity as he tried to figure out what she was trying to accomplish and whether it was important to his mission. "I just want to talk to you about… whatever!" She smiled at the android, "specifically about who you are, I told you my name, what's yours?" The android didn't give a reply. Natalie pursed her lips, "I know that you're an HK400, but that is just a title, you know, I want to know about you, who you are," the android slowly turned to her, "who you want to be."

"...I-I don't have a name."

Natalie smiled as she now realized she is getting somewhere with the nameless android. "You don't? Then maybe you can choose one!"

Connor watched as the android seemed to contemplate the woman's offer. The deviant choosing a name was not important to his mission, but perhaps she had bigger plans for the information.

"I l-like the name Gideon."

Natalie nodded her head and smiled widely, "Gideon, it suits you. Now, I'm here to help you. I work with Cyberlife-" She noticed his stress level increased five percent, "but you don't need to worry. I'm not here to kill you, I just want to… understand who you are."

"Why?"

"Because things are changing, Gideon. You and I both know that humans are not always the best when it comes to dealing with change, and we," she gestured between her and Connor, "want to make sure that everyone understands what is going on so no one else gets hurt, not humans and not androids." Gideon became silent and stared at the woman in front of him.

Connor stood still behind her and noticed the sympathetic expression that washed over her face. Her soft features seemed to be used to having such an expression, that and joy or happiness were the only emotions he could imagine her displaying. Her slightly round cheeks and button-like nose didn't seem capable of displaying harsh emotions like anger or frustration.

"Connor," Natalie pulled him out of his thoughts (were they thoughts? He was supposed to be unable to have such a human-like quality) and didn't even turn away from looking at the newly named android. "Can you open the cell for me?"

"I have to advise, that opening the cell-"

Natalie chuckled under her breath and turned to him, "don't worry, Connor, Gideon and I are just going to talk. He won't hurt me, right?" She turned back to the android. She noticed his stress level had gone down to sixty-three percent, and he visibly appeared to calm down.

Connor weighed his options before firmly nodding his head, "if it helps with our investigation, then I will help." The two of them moved over to the door of the cell and Connor opened the cell door. Natalie slipped into the room before the door closed behind her. She smiled at Gideon and slowly moved towards him with raised hands.

"I just want to help, Gideon. And I know it's hard to have to think about it, but I'd like for you to tell me about what happened to you."

Gideon bowed his head as she requested that of him. Relive the trauma he had gone through? Didn't he do enough of that last night? "I already told them about it last night."

Natalie flinched slightly at the harshness behind his words and sighed but continued to smile reassuringly. "I know, but… I just want to know how you felt about it." She paused as Gideon shot her a confused and surprised look. "I can imagine that what you had been through was scary, and I want to know what… emotions caused you to attack him."

Gideon looked back up to her, "you're supposed to be an engineer for Cyberlife." She nodded at his statement. "Then why do you believe I can show emotions?"

Natalie smiled reassuringly, "because I'd like to believe that humans and androids are far more alike than others see. And you, Gideon, are an example that they are."

"You say 'they'…" Gideon started confused, "like you're not… human?"

Natalie decided against lying to him if she lied he might not trust her. Telling the truth seemed to be the only option to help gain his trust and information she'd like to know. "Hm, nothing gets past you, Gideon." She commented quietly and moved closer to him. "I'll tell you a secret if you answer my questions."

Gideon nodded his head and smiled slightly. It seemed like he hadn't smiled in such a long time. "Alright."

"Good, now, you need to make sure you don't tell anyone, got it?" She asked half-jokingly.

Gideon glanced behind her at Connor and nodded his head towards him, "what about him? He can hear you."

Natalie nodded her head and looked at Connor as well, "I feel like he already knows."

Connor stared at her with a calculating stare. There is a challenge behind her words. As if she is daring him to contradict her in her statement. However, he had already seen what she was hiding, there was no denying that fact, and they both know it. Both of their eyes peered into each other. Though, hers seemed to hold a warm glow to them that caused Connor to look away from them. A feeling bubbled up in him that he couldn't explain and seemed to resemble that of embarrassment.

Natalie turned back to the Android and smiled gently. "Now, give me your hand." Gideon reached out cautiously for her hand and stared in astonishment as her sink disappeared to reveal a white hand that matched his own. She held his hand tightly to show that the security she could provide for him. "See, I'm like you, you can trust me." Gideon looked up from their arms and gulped.

"I trust you, Natalie."

---

Both Natalie and Connor headed back towards Lieutenant Anderson's desk. Natalie was exceptionally happy with the information that Gideon had provided her with. He explained, in such great detail, about his experiences and his emotions all throughout them. Their conversation gave her a better understanding of just how far deviants have overcome their previous programming. She is certain that if humans continue to treat androids as just objects that are easily disposable, then even more androids would lash out. That outcome isn't good for anyone, whether they are android or human.

"Is the lieutenant ever going to show up," Natalie scoffed as she looked at her watch to see that it was mid-morning. She might be able to understand turning up to work a tad bit late, but nearly three hours! It's a surprise that this Lieutenant Anderson hadn't been fired yet. She turned to Connor as the two of them stood at his desk. "Is he usually this late to work, Connor?"

Connor looked at her with an emotionless expression, "I don't know, Ms. Tyler. I have only been working with Lieutenant Anderson for a short time."

Natalie nodded her head and smiled lightly, "you know you don't have to call me, Ms. Tyler," Connor raised an eyebrow and stared at her questionably. It seemed informal to call her anything else. The two of them were partners and they were assigned to work together, it only seemed professional to use such formalities. "Natalie's fine, honestly." She flashed him a small smile and turned when a scruffy looking man approached the two of them. She hadn't even realized that her words (and smile) had rendered the prototype android speechless.

Connor couldn't tear his eyes from the brunette engineer as she brightened at the appearance of Lieutenant Anderson who was approaching his desk. He was still trying to figure out why his programming seemed to be malfunctioning. I should ask Natalie to check it, he thought to himself, perhaps it was a good idea to send her to make sure I functioned properly.

Lieutenant Hank Anderson grumbled under his breath as he stocked towards his desk. He was not ready to have to deal with any more cases involving androids. He already hated those pieces of technology enough and now, after all of these reports, he had been given even more reasons to hate them. Hank is more than ready to ignore those reports and drink himself silly. (This time, he would make sure no stupid android would interrupt him.) However, as soon as he looked up he stopped.

The android, Connor, who worked with him on the case last night stood at his desk, unmoving. He groaned outwardly at his appearance, he really didn't want to have to deal with him again.

"It's good to see you again, Lieutenant." Greeted the grumpy man who rolled his eyes.

"Uh, Jesus…" He turned his eyes to the shorter woman with brunette hair who stuck out her hand with a calculating stare. However, she just kept a polite smile on her face. "And you are…?

"Natalie Tyler, Lieutenant. I was assigned to help look after Connor." She kept her smile tight as Hank shook her hand with narrowed eyes.

"Great, not only do I have android, but also the androids babysitter to deal with," Hank grumbled to himself. Though, both Natalie and Connor could hear him as the two shared a look. Connor looked to be slightly confused where Natalie looked irritated.

Before Natalie could resort to the grumpy man, Captain Fowler leaned out of his office door. "Hank! In my office!"

Hank's jaw tightened as he sighed angrily. He turned on his heels before marching towards the captain's office. Natalie shook her head as she realized this Lieutenant was going to be somewhat of a problem. She didn't say anything further as she watched Hank stomp into the office and slam the glass door close. It was a miracle the glass had not shattered.

"I guess he doesn't like us," Natalie commented with a glare pointed through the glass at Hank. She rolled her eyes and huffed, "honestly, I can't work with a man like that!"

"Lieutenant Anderson does have slight difficulty working with me," Connor commented as Natalie turned to him with an arched eyebrow. 'Slight difficulty'? Natalie questioned. "However, all three of us were assigned to work on this investigation, so we must work on these cases together."

Natalie nodded her head sarcastically, "you really think he'll work well with us?" Connor nodded his head with wide, confused eyes. "Your optimism is humans baffles me."

The two of them turned back to the office to see Hank screaming at the captain. The displeasure he had for working with the Android and, what he dubbed, the android's babysitter was clear in his shouts. Natalie sighed as she realized that working with this man was going to be harder than she thought. Honestly, what was so wrong with working with androids?

"Right well while he's bitching about us, I need a coffee," Natalie offhandedly commented as she strutted away from the Lieutenants desk and towards the back of the precinct where she was sure the break room was. She hadn't even turned when she heard Connor's footsteps behind her. She walked into the room to see two officers standing at one of the tables. One, a female, was dressed in a uniform while the other, a male, wore a hoodie, black shirt, and jeans. From the look that the man shot Connor behind her, she knew that things would not go well for him.

"Look at that," the man, Natalie now identified him as Detective Gavin Reed, chuckled to the other officer. "It seems Hank has a new partner." The patronizing tone that laid in his voice irritated Natalie, but she opted to just grab a cup of coffee instead of saying something. "Fucking plastic detective! Hey! You his drinking buddy? You bring him home when he's too drunk to find his car?" Gavin laughed. "Ha, he stinks of booze!"

Natalie took a gulp of the scorching liquid and turned around to watch the altercation between the Android and douche. If things escalated too far, then she would intervene. Until then, she leaned back against the counter and watched the two with a calculating stare.

"Hello, Detective Reed." Connor greeted the unpleasant man with no emotion.

Gavin stood up from his slouched position at the table and stalked over to Connor with a glare, "never seen an android like you before… What model are you?"

"RK800," Connor recited as if he were reading off of a script, which essentially he was. "I'm a prototype."

"A prototype?" Gavin asked with mock curiosity, he turned back to the other officer and pointed at Connor, "android detective…" He glared back at Connor. "So machines are gonna… replace us all… is that it?"

Connor became silent as he couldn't come up with an answer to the douchey detective's question. Logically, yes, androids were going to replace humans in many professionals, as they already have, because they are more efficient when it comes to their work. However, Connor could tell saying that out loud would only cause even more problems with the temperamental detective.

Gavin surveyed the android with his glare never wavering, "bring me a coffee, dipshit." Connor tilted his head and furrowed his eyebrows at his order. "Get a move on!" Connor didn't move, and that obviously frustrated Gavin even further, "I gave you an order!"

"I'm sorry," Connor started, though there wasn't any remorse in his voice, "but I only take orders from Lieutenant Anderson and Natalie."

Natalie placed down her coffee as she realized things were definitely going to escalate quickly. "Oh… Oh…" He chuckled and looked at his friend who still stood at the table. He then abruptly turned his body and threw his fist forward to punch Connor in the gut. However, Natalie predicted that he was going to try and harm Connor in someway and was able to stop his hand just an inch from Connor's stomach.

"I advise you from not damaging Connor, or else I'm afraid you would have to pay for it, Detective Reed." Natalie's voice was soft and sweet, but beneath her warning, there was a threat obvious to everyone in the room.

Gavin ripped back his hand and turned his glare from Connor to the woman who somehow was able to stop his punch. "Androids are meant to follow a humans orders, they are supposed to obey us, little lady."

"Some androids are, but I'm afraid Connor only listens to humans who actually hold some sort of authority, douchebag."

Gavin ground his teeth and glared at the short brunette harder, "what are you? Some sort of Android Sympathiser?" He spat his words out as if they were a disease. To him, being considered an Android Sympathiser only meant you didn't have a say in anything. To think that these… plastic toys deserved some sort of respect was repulsive.

"Sure, why not? I'm an Android Sympathiser. But let's look at it this way, there are a lot of androids who are lashing out against humans… who do you think they're going to hurt first? An Android sympathizer or an Android Antagonizer?" She ground out as the sweetness in her voice seemed to disappear in a split second. For a moment, Gavin appeared to be frightened by the woman. She only turned away from him and grabbed Connor's arm, "come on, Connor." Connor allowed himself to be dragged away from the flabbergasted detective and back towards Hank's desk.

"You didn't have to stand up for me, Natalie." Connor finally spoke after what felt like an eternity of staying silent.

Natalie turned to him slightly and smiled softly, "it's alright, I don't like when people talk badly to anyone, human or not." That was her only reasoning once they made it back to Hank's desk where the lieutenant sat in his chair with his arms crossed. He looks like a pouting toddler, Natalie mused and sat in the chair next to his desk.

Connor took the initiative and spoke to Hank, "I get the impression our presence causes you some inconvenience, Lieutenant." Hank didn't look up at him and only continued to stare at his desk in frustration. "I'd like you to know I'm very sorry about that." Hank didn't look up. Connor tried to get a reaction out of him again, "now that we're partners, it would be great to get to know each other better." Connor tried to smile and be civil, but Hank wouldn't budge.

Natalie watched them with a tilted head. Hank is literally an overgrown toddler. She concluded. From the way that the man was acting, Natalie could definitely tell that he wasn't fond of androids in the slightest, but this was his job. The least he could do was act professionally so that it would make their investigations easier.

"Why don't we just get started on the cases?" Natalie asked once she saw that Connor wasn't getting anywhere with Hank. "I already looked over the reports that have been made, but you should look at them, Connor. Maybe I missed something." She tried to make the air around them less tense, and it worked, slightly. Hank finally looked up from his sulking at the two of them and nodded his head stiffly.

"No one's using that desk," he pointed at the desk that Natalie was using earlier to look over the files. Connor nodded his head and moved to sit down in the chair at that desk. Before he started to work, however, he found it to be appropriate to try and start a conversation with his partner.

"Do you listen to Knights of the Black Death? I really like that music. It's… full of… energy." Connor stated as both Natalie and Hank's eyebrows furrowed as they turned to him.

"You listen to Heavy Metal?" Hank asked in disbelief.

"Well, I don't really listen to music, as such…" He trailed off as both Natalie and Hank waited for him to continue. "But I'd like to." Natalie smiled at the small talk that Connor was trying to make with the agitated man. She could tell that Connor was trying to make the tension between them not as thick as it had been. It seemed that his method was working, at least, a little bit. He continued to try and get to know Hank, "you have a dog, right?"

Hank turned to him with narrowed eyes, "how do you know that?"

"The dog hairs on your chair," Connor supplied, "I like dogs."

Natalie decided to pitch into the conversation, "what's your dog's name? If you don't mind me asking." She leaned against Hanks desk with a pleasant smile to show that she was willing to be civil with him, unlike himself.

His narrowed eyes turned from Connor to Natalie, "What's it to you?"

Natalie raised her hands in surrender and chuckled lightly, "just trying to make conversation, Lieutenant."

He shrugged his shoulders and reminisce of a smile brushed over his face as he turned to his terminal. "Sumo," Natalie smiled as she saw they were finally getting somewhere with him. "I call him Sumo."

After a moment of silence between the trio, Connor spoke up again, "a lot of people don't appreciate having androids around…" From the anti-android stickers she saw on the man's desk, she could imagine his dislike for them and if Connor was going to bring that up, she knew wouldn't fare well. Especially from the look of anger that had swallowed Hank's face. Natalie cringed, oh, no. "I was wondering… Is there any reason, in particular, you despise me?"

"Yeah… there is one."

Connor seemed to be waiting for an answer from the man, but a few seconds passed and Hank still stared at his terminal. Natalie cleared her throat as she saw the conversation not going anywhere. She rolled the chair she was sitting in towards the desk Connor was sitting in and gestured to the terminal on it with her head. "Let's focus on all the cases, shall we."

"Yes, I would like to take a look at the files on the deviants."

"Right there, Connor." She pointed to the terminal. Connor nodded his head in thanks and used his now uncovered robotic hand to look through the files. It took him only a few minutes to go through all of the files, just like it did with Natalie.

"Two-hundred and forty-three files…" He started, "the first dates back nine months…" He assessed."

Natalie nodded her head before pitching in her own observations of the files, "The first reports came from here and Detroit before others popped up all over the country." Connor turned to her and tilted his head as he took in her information. There was something going on, and it was happening right under their noses. 

He looked between Hank and Natalie, "an AX400 is reported to have assaulted a man last night. That could be a good starting point for our investigation." Natalie stood up from her seat and adjusted her hoodie as she understood Connor wanted to get right on the task of finding the AX400. Hank didn't move.

Connor stood up from his seat as well and moved to stand next to Natalie, in front of Hank, who was still trying to ignore their existence. "Uh, Jesus…" he turned away from them. What is his problem!? Natalie thought hotly.

"I know you didn't ask for this investigation, Lieutenant. But I'm sure you're a professional-"

Hank cut him off, "why don't you go fuck yourself?"

Natalie rolled her eyes, "real professional."

"I've been assigned this mission, Lieutenant. I didn't come here to wait until you feel like working." Natalie covered her mouth and snorted as her shoulders shook with surprised laughter. But through her laughter, Hank stood up, grabbed Connor by the lapels of his suit and pushed him against the wall. Natalie was quick to try and push the two apart or at least defuse the situation.

"Whoa, calm down, Lieutenant. We're just trying to do our job."

Hank shook off her hand that was resting on his shoulder and glared at her, "fuck off, girly." He then turned to Connor who didn't look fazed by the sudden, violent movement. "Listen, asshole. If it was up to me, I'd throw the lot of you in a dumpster and set a match to it. So, stop pissing me off… or things are gonna get nasty."

"Lieutenant," an approaching officer cut off any other threats that Hank may have had for Connor. "Uh… Sorry to disturb you." He looked between the three of them as Hank set down Connor. "I have some information on the AX400 that attacked the guy last night… It's been seen in the Ravendale district."

Natalie jumped at the opportunity to get them out of the awkward situation, "great! We're on it." She exclaimed as Hank glared at Connor. Finally, after a few more seconds of silence and glaring, Hank turned away and started to head out of the precinct. Connor readjusted his suit and watched as Hank stalked away. "You alright?" Connor spun to Natalie as if he forgot she was there and stared at her for a moment. "I don't imagine the Lieutenant was able to damage anything, right?"

"I'm fine, Natalie, but thank you for your concern."

Natalie smiled softly, "no worries, besides as your babysitter I have to make sure that you're fully functional." She joked and used the term that Hank coined for her earlier. "Come on, I doubt the Lieutenant's going to wait for us long."

She sauntered off and didn't even notice the confused expression that Connor displayed as he watched her go. He blinked a couple of times and found that he felt… strange after Natalie made sure that he was okay. He stood for a moment more before following after his partner and… babysitter.