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When Connor comes into his senses, he realizes that he's in the bathroom. He looks down on his hands, there're strange spots on them. He deactivates his synthetic skin but the stains don't go away, so he decides to wash them. The sink's water is already running. He doesn't remember turning it on.
He doesn't remember coming to the bathroom.
So much dirt and dust rinses off of his hands that the entire sink is caked with mud. Connor leaves without cleaning it. He hopes Hank doesn't get angry.
He goes inside to find the smell of cake lingering in the air. That's right, today's new year's eve, how could he forget? Hank must be trying to bake a cake in the kitchen, like he said he would. Lieutenant had promised to celebrate Connor's very first new year's eve by making silly cake. Connor can't wait to try it out, even though he can't properly eat food yet. The smell makes him smile.
There's music playing somewhere in the house. It's a weird one, Connor can't seem to remember it. Once he listens closer, he realizes the singer isn't even speaking a real language. Oh well.
A truck passes in front of the house. Connor looks out from the window just in time to see its license plate. When the truck is out of sight, he sees a woman sitting on a bank. She's looking directly at him, smiling. There's a hollow look in her eyes. Connor leaves the window.
He decides to help Hank with the cake, there's no need to give the old man a hard time. Connor looks at the clock, it's 8:35 pm. The hallway to the kitchen seems to stretch forever. He walks, walks and walks; for so long, before he realizes he's going in circles. He passes the same door again and again. Connor creak opens the door to see what's inside. It's Hank and him, at their last crime scene. He checks what's inside the room everytime he walks past it, they're filled with variations of them in the same crime scene. The farther he walks, the more deformed they become.
Connor doesn't stop. He doesn't want to stop. He needs to find Hank.
He hears wind chimes outside but he can't detect where they're coming from. The air crackles around him. Dampness in the house presses heavy on his skin. He is not alone. Something is behind the corner. Something is behind every corner. Connor doesn't think he's brave enough to look.
Error messages pop up on his vision. He must turn around. He must see what is it.
With a quick movement, he turns around on his feet.
He faces with the front door.
There is a clock right next to it. It says 8:36 pm.
The loud knocking on the door is what makes Connor tear his eyes from the clock. Why is it so loud? It shouldn't be. He opens the door. There is a child in front of him, who looks pretty familiar.
The boy's arms are full of tangerines. He takes one of them and offers to Connor.
Take it.
Connor takes the tangerine slowly. An odd fruit but that's okay. The boy leaves without saying anything after that. When the small body of the child is gone, Connor hears a truck's engine. That's the same truck he'd seen earlier, it's getting creepy. The truck never stops. When it's out of sight, Connor sees the woman on the bank again. She's still looking at him, smiling. Connor can swear she has more teeth now.
Eventually he closes the door to stop seeing the woman. The woman doesn't stop seeing him.
His eyes catches the documents sprawled across the coffee table. Of he can't help with the cake, he might help with the paperwork. While making his way to the desk, Connor looks down and realizes the tangerine in his hand has worms living in it. He drops it in disgust. And doesn't clean it either.
He sits on the couch and places the laptop next to the papers on the coffee table. The song in the background is changed now. It's playing "Let It Snow". On a loop.
Connor starts working without losing time. The documents are about the last mission they went with Hank. He should write a report about it. He opens flips the papers to see what's written, his eyes catches words like "gunshot", "blood loss" and "death". He sees Hank's name a couple of times. Connor blinks. Now there's nothing but Hank's name on the paper. The longer he stares, the less they look like letters. These words are not in English. They are not written in any language Connor knows. They are not written in any language Connor doesn't know. He flips over the papers before it can look back. The sky is a different colour than when he closed his eyes.
Connor decides to write the report first. He works on it until there's nothing in his mind. When he's done, he activates spellcheck. He has misspelled every word. A dozen error messages pop up on his vision. He starts fixing them. He writes a word. He clicks save. He writes another word. He clicks save. He writes another word. He clicks save. He writes another wo-
The same truck passes again. Are there howls coming from it? Connor turns his head to get a better view, but he only catches a glimpse before the truck's gone. He doesn't see the woman this time. Instead, he sees birds. Hundreds of them, swooping down. Coming up with red faces. "What are they eating?" Hank does not answer. "What are they eating?"
Connor gets worried. There is something wrong but he can't seem to figure it out. He walks to the door slowly, maybe he should check what's going on. Connor opens the door with hesitation.
He leaves the house only to find himself back in the house. There's snow on his shoulders. It's time to head back.
Connor realizes that the record has broken. Earlier, it was "Let It Snow"; now it's just the lyric "The weather outside is frightful" plays on a loop.
Hank is in the living room too, this time. He is filling Sumo's foodbowl. With gummy worms. Connor doesn't even know where to start with the questions. Besides, where is Sumo anyway? Hank disappears for a second before he comes back with a plate full of berries, he places them on the coffee table and gestures Connor to sit.
Hank doesn't say anything, but Connor knows he is going to get presents when he walks back into the hallway. He tries the berries in the mean time. They have a strange, metallic taste. Their juices stain his mouth red. Connor keeps eating them anyway.
By the time Hank is back, that stage truck passes once again. There are definitely howls coming from it.
Connor grabs his present and meets Hank under the christmas tree happily. He doesn't forget to turn on the TV as well, just to fill the silence. He gives Hank his present first.
While opening it, Hank has a hollow smile on his face. The present box is empty. But Connor was so excited for today. Why is it empty?
Before he can say anything, Hank holds out his present. Connor takes it, and opens it slowly. There's a newspaper article in it.
"Lieutenant shot on duty." It says. "Hank Anderson was killed by the criminal in a crime scene."
No. That is not true. Hank is right there with him, Connor thinks. He looks up and sees Hank, with a bullet wound right in the middle of his forehead. It isn't bleeding anymore. Hank is already dead.
That can't be happening. Connor feels furious like he never felt before. He throws what's in his hands and punches the wall next to him. But the wall is damaged already. What has happened? What is happening?
When Connor comes into his senses, he realizes that he's in the bathroom. He looks down on his hands, there're strange spots on them. He deactivates his synthetic skin but the stains don't go away, so he decides to wash them. The sink's water is already running. He doesn't remember turning it on.
He doesn't remember coming to the bathroom.