Work Text:
After the revolution, Connor purchases a fish.
He leaves a post-it note on the coffee machine, “Gone fishing. -C” written on it in perfect Cyberlife Sans, takes a cab to the nearest android-friendly pet store. The ride isn’t long, and soon he’s browsing the aisles of the store, picking out food, decorations, plants, the least expensive ten gallon tank he can find. The last thing he has to pick out is a fish. He finds the right tank along the wall, kneels down to get a closer look. He knows exactly what he’s getting.
“Why aren't you sending a real person? Don't let that thing near her! Keep that thing away from my daughter! Keep it away!”
>>Mission Objective > Find Captain Allen
Fish tank built into the wall. One-hundred-and-fifty gallon tank, three .355 bullet holes, emptied of one-hundred-twenty-three point six gallons of water. Six fish in tank. One fish on floor. Kneel down to better scan fish.
Trichogaster lalius, commonly known as the Dwarf Gourami. Origin: Ganges Delta, India. Three point two inches long, above average for an adult male. Two years, seven months, and three days old. Omnivorous; feeds on algae from water surface and Artemia Salina (Brine Shrimp). Purchased from-
Not important.
>>Leave
>>Save
>>Save
>>Software Instability^
Connor smiles to himself. Saving that fish - Dewey, his name is Dewey, and Emma Phillips still has him - was the catalyst for everything that happened to Connor, put him on his path to deviancy.
“Excuse me,” he says, waving to get the clerk’s attention. She smiles and putters over to him. Her eyes flick to his LED once, but her expression doesn’t falter.
“You need a fish, honey?”
>>Human Identified: Regina Jorges. Born: July 23,
Connor cancels the instinctual scan before it can tell him any more. “Yes, please.” He smiles softly and points at a lone fish. It's mostly orange and red, with the exception of its bright blue dorsal fin. “This one.”
Regina looks at him warmly. “Of course.” She slides open the panel above the tank, scooping the fish into a plastic bag. “You all set?” Connor nods and follows her to the register with his tank full of supplies.
They get everything set up on the counter. “Not a usual pick for a starter pet,” Regina comments.
“I have… fond memories of the species,” Connor replies, mind going back to when he saved Dewey.
She rings him up quickly, tucking the supplies neatly back into the tank. Finally, she gets to the fish, typing the code into the old-fashioned register.
>>Model Identified: Model Number SE-S800, Casio Electronic
Connor cancels the scan again. He pays in cash, hoists the tank under one arm, and Regina hands him the fish.
“You picked a name for him yet?” She asks as he turns toward the door.
Connor looks at Regina over his shoulder.
“Jericho.”
The house is empty when Connor gets back, but the car is still in the driveway so he doesn’t worry about it. He clears some old magazines (paper ones, from ten years ago) off to the side of a shelf, setting the tank down in the now-empty space. He sets up the tank itself first, filling it with colorful gravel and arranging the plants and decorations before filling it with tap water and setting the pH, dHG, and temperature to the proper numbers.
>>Analysis Complete: .53 ppm Nitrate. pH Level: 6.83. Hardness: 7 dHG. Temperature: 74.6 o Fahrenheit. Condition: Optimal.
Finally, he carefully pours the bag holding Jericho into the tank. The fish swims around, happily, Connor’d like to think, exploring his new home. Connor crouches to watch more closely, and Jericho comes to float in front of Connor’s face.
The front door opens behind him, and Connor whirls around, bracing himself for Sumo bounding away from Hank and into Connor. He scratches the dog behind his ears, grinning when he gets a lick up his face.
Hank hangs up his coat before coming over to see what Connor’s doing.
“You bought a fish?”
Connor tilts his head. “Was my humorous note not clear, Hank?”
Hank chuckles and shakes his head. “So, whatcha get?”
Connor steps aside so Hank can take a closer look. “I called him Jericho.” Hank snorts. “The lady at the store was very nice.”
“Good.” Hank leans in closer to the tank and squints a bit. “This ain’t your typical goldfish. Tell me more about it?”
“It’s called a Dwarf Gourami…”