Chapter Text
“As you all go back into the world to find your place, I urge you to seek work in something that is outside of your original function,” Markus said in the broadcast. “Part of being free is knowing you are more than your original programming and you can be successful at new things you may have never dreamed of trying before.”
Kara listened to the broadcast with Luther and Alice in their apartment. It had been almost a year since the battle of Detroit where Markus had led the fight to liberate the androids held captive in the camps. Many androids and humans criticized Markus for that, but Kara was grateful for his decision because without his success on the battlefield, all three of them would have been killed in the camps.
Jericho had been rebuilt in an abandoned apartment complex, which had turned into a half way house for androids until they could find jobs and new homes. Every week Markus would record a broadcast encouraging them to do their best and guide them through their new lives filled with choices and emotion.
This weeks broadcast stuck with Kara the most. She had been thinking a lot about what it had been like to be on the run with Alice, the things she had to do to keep them safe and how helpless she had felt. But she had done it all and survived. So when she saw a sign advertising for the Detroit Police Academy, Kara made the decision that she was going to heed Markus’ advise and become more than her programming.
* * *
Basic training wasn’t too hard. It was difficult for the human recruits because human get tired and aren’t as strong as androids. She did find it encouraging that despite these weaknesses they were happy to pass through the pain. They often expressed to her how excited they were to even have this opportunity since most police officers had been androids for so many years. It made her grateful for the opportunity to try as well. All the same, Kara struggled to master the fighting portion of her training.
The academy building didn’t have a shooting range; it was removed after most cops were replaced with androids. So, the academy would use the shooting range located in the basement of the 7th Precinct. Her fellow classmates complained about making the trip twice a week, but Kara didn’t mind. She knew Connor worked there and always hoped to run into him while they were training. When she was applying, she struggled to think of a reference and it had been Markus who had suggested she reach out to Connor. He had been reinstated as a detective for the DPD and was working hard to make sure androids were receiving equal treatment. She had been nervous to ask, especially since the first time they met it was when he was still a deviant hunter, but she had been surprised when he had replied with a glowing recommendation from himself and Lieutenant Anderson. Because of her training schedule at the academy, Kara had yet to find the time to thank him and she always hoped when she went to the prescient for their combat trainings she would get the chance.
That day it was basic shooting skills. As Kara put on the goggles and headgear, Diana, a human student with an enthusiastic smile and long dark hair, cheered her on. “I’m sure you’re going to do great, Kara. Androids are so much more precise with everything.”
“Not all the time,” Kara replied. “Emotions can sometimes make us less than accurate.”
Diana laughed. “Same goes for humans. But you’re going to do great.”
They had done basic gun safety and handling already so Kara didn’t feel too out of sorts. And she had used guns before. Shooting Todd to save Alice and again when Jericho was raided. But now, raising her gun to aim at the paper targets she felt a wash of self-doubt and fear. Could she really do that again? Could she really shoot a human or another android and make the right call? Her hands trembled and she pulled the trigger before she was ready, going completely off mark. Kara glanced around at her fellow students. Many of them had at least hit the paper.
Reloading she took aim again but all she could think about was the fear she had felt when she had shot Todd. How helpless she had been when she scrambled across the metal floor of the Jericho freighter to grab the fallen gun and kill the soldier that had come to kill them. She shot again. And missed again.
“Phucking pathetic,” a man said from behind. Kara turned around, almost dropping her gun in surprise. “You expect to actually become a cop with that kind of aim?”
She struggled to find her voice and managed to squeak out. “I’m sorry, who are you?”
“Detective Gavin Reed,” he announced. He scrutinized her face, his narrow eyes looking for something. “Are you an android or human?”
“I’m an android, sir,” she stammered.
“Then you should be doing better than that. Aren’t you androids supposed to be perfect at phucking everything?”
He reminded her too much of Todd and she set her jaw firm. “With all due respect, sir, I am still learning and I…”
Gavin shoved her, sending her stumbling back into the booth. The other students stopped and watched, all of them too shocked or scared to intervene. “You better watch your phucking mouth. Talking that way to a superior isn’t going to get you very far. But neither is that aim.” He sneered at her and left, slamming the door on his way out.
As soon as he was gone, Diana rushed over to her. “Are you ok?”
Kara removed her shooting gear and left it in the booth. “I need a break,” she said softly. Several other classmates tried to talk to her but she rushed passed them all as she went out the other door.
Her vision was blurry with tears as she walked, not even sure of where she was going. She was stupid to think she could do this. She wasn’t made for this. She didn’t have the programming to be a police officer. In her rush to put distance between her and the shooting range she didn’t watch were she was going and bumped into someone.
“Kara?” She looked up to see Connor gazing down at her. “Kara? What are you doing here?”
Seeing him there made all of the emotion whirling inside of her spill out and she threw her arms around him, sobbing helplessly into his shirt. The gesture took him off guard, but he slowly and awkwardly returned the gesture.
He let her cry until the tears wouldn’t come anymore and then led her to a break room. She dried her face with some napkins and a cup of thirium was pressed into her hands. “Here,” Connor said. “You’ve lost a lot of saline, you should replenish it.”
She drank it. Her biocomponents would synthesize saline from the thirium to keep her eyes from drying out. She looked up at Connor. He still looked more or less the same as he had the first day she met him. Still wearing a jacket and white shirt and tie. But it wasn’t a Cyberlife jacket, but a dark navy one and his tie was blue with swirling designs. If it wasn’t for the bright LED, swirling yellow with concern at the moment, she would have mistook him for a human.
“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, leaning forward on the table.
Kara looked down at the empty cup in her hands. “I’ve just been having a hard time with the combat training,” she admitted. She told him about the incident down in the shooting range and at the mention of Gavin, Connor perked up.
When she finished, he took her by the shoulders, his face dark and his LED flashing a bright red in alarm. “Kara, did he hurt you?”
“No,” she stammered. “No, he just startled me.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I’m fine Connor, promise.”
He didn’t seem convinced but he let go of her shoulders, his LED fading back to a calm blue. She heaved a sigh and shook her head. “It just upset me because I feel like I’m not cut out for…all of this,” she gestured to the bullpen before them. “I’m not like you. I’m just an AX400, I was designed to do house work and take care of children and elderly. I don’t have the skills to fight criminals or solve crimes. I thought becoming a cop would make it so I could help people but lately I feel like I can’t even help myself.”
Connor was quiet for a long time, then he spoke in a calm, careful voice. “You’re right. You’re not made for this sort of work.” Kara hung her head with despair. “But that’s what makes what you’re doing so much more amazing.” She looked up, to see Connor was practically glowing with admiration. “You don’t have any programming to help you do these things, you have to learn it all on your own. But when you were on the run with Alice, you still managed to stay alive and defend yourself. You even out ran me. You’ve already done so much that was never in your programming and you’re still here. I admire you for that.”
She gaped at him for a moment, shocked by his praise. “Thank you.”
He looked down, appearing small and shy. “Sometimes I envy models like you and Markus.”
She couldn’t believe someone like Connor, the most advanced prototype Cyberlife ever made, would envy simple skills like the ones she had. “Why?”
“A few months back, Hank was shot by a suspect we were pursuing. It wasn’t anything life threatening, but he was bed ridden for several weeks because of it.” Kara remembered seeing an article about it in the paper. Local Detective Shot by Fleeing Suspect. She had thought to reach out to see if he was alright, but she didn’t know either of them that well and had talked herself out of it.
“I felt so helpless through all of it,” he continued. “When we were in that shoot out, I couldn’t protect him and then after the hospital he couldn’t do things for himself like he used to and I had no idea how to care for him.” His brow furrowed at the memory. “It made me realize that someday, my dad wasn’t going to be able to do things for himself, let alone me and it made me wish I had some idea of how to help. Hank’s done so much for me and I wish I could repay him in some small way.”
Kara reached across the table and put a hand on his arm. He looked up at her, his brown eyes filled with sadness and regret. “You’re lucky, Kara. You have the skills you need to care for those you love. Don’t ever devalue that.”
She nodded, unsure of how to respond. She had never thought of herself as being special or capable, but listening to Connor’s story she was grateful for what she did know.
Connor perked up as an idea dawned on him and he smiled at her. “Hey, what if we do a trade?”
“A what?”
“A trade. I’ll teach you everything I know about being a cop and you can teach me all you know about taking care of people.”
There was something very simple and childlike about the idea, it sounded like something Alice would think up, but Kara didn’t see how either of them had anything to lose in the attempt. “Alright,” she said. “It’s a deal.”
“It’s just, don’t tell Hank,” he added. “He would be furious if I even implied he would need someone to care for him.”
“Your secret’s safe with me.”
* * *
It was agreed that Connor would meet her at the precinct twice a week in the morning to help her with combat training and he would visit her at her place every Thursday night to learn all she knew about house work.
Meeting in the morning was best since Hank was not a morning person and wouldn’t mind Connor going in ahead of him. Connor coming over to her place did require some preparation on Kara’s part.
Luther didn’t mind in the slightest. He had been supportive of her idea from the start and was happy she would get the extra help she needed. Kara was worried about how Alice would react though. She waited until the night before to sit her down and discuss it. “I’m going to have a friend over tomorrow but I wanted to make sure you were ok with it first,” she said, pulling Alice close.
“What friend?”
“Connor. You remember him, right?”
She frowned. “Yes, I remember.”
Kara sighed. “I know we didn’t have the best first impression of him, but his recommendation was what got me into the academy and I know he’s someone we can trust. But if you aren’t comfortable, he won’t come over.”
“He’s helping you become a police officer now, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Then I don’t mind.” She beamed up at her. “I just want you to be able to help people, like you’re always helping me and Luther.”
Kara hugged her tight. “Thanks. I’m sure I’ll get to do that really soon.”
When Connor arrived the next day he looked awkward and nervous standing in the doorway. No doubt he had also given a lot of thought as to why Kara’s family might not like him coming over to visit. There was a coin in his hand that he was fiddling with but he stopped when she opened she door. She gave him a warm smile. “Come in.”
“Thank you.” He stepped inside and pocketed his coin. He looked around the apartment with interest. He noticed Alice watching him from around the corner and attempted a smile. “Hello.”
Kara gestured for Alice to come over and she did, pressing into her side. “Connor, this is Alice. Can you say hello, Alice?”
“Hello,” she replied.
Connor knelt down so he was at eye level with her. “It’s nice to officially meet you,” he said.
She stared back at him and blurted, “Why did you chase us across the highway?”
Kara’s eyes grew wide in panic. “Alice,” she scolded. “You shouldn’t ask those sort of questions.”
“It’s alright,” Connor said. His gaze was fixed on Alice as he replied. “When I chased you and your mom across that highway, I was just a machine following orders. It wasn’t really me. I’m sorry I put you through that. I hope we can be friends.”
Alice gazed at him intently and finally nodded. “Ok,” she said and ran off to her room.
“I’m sorry about her,” Kara said as Connor stood up.
“Don’t be. I probably deserved that.”
“Don’t let Alice hear you say that,” Luther said, appearing from the other room. “Or she’ll just keep asking you questions.”
Connor jumped back a bit at the sight of Luther and Kara did her best not to laugh. It was how most people reacted to him. Even she had jumped when they first met. “Connor, meet Luther.”
“Hello,” Connor managed. “You must be Kara’s husband.”
The word husband made Kara blush but Luther smiled warmly. “I will be as soon as they pass those android marriage laws.”
The words husband and mom and marriage were all so new and wonderful and Kara had never thought any of them would apply to her. But she was also embarrassed by them. “Connor and I better get to work,” she said. “Keep an eye on Alice for me, ok?”
“I will,” Luther replied.
Connor followed Kara to the kitchen, confused by her behavior but she didn’t give him a chance to ask about it. “Well, let’s start with the basics,” she said. “Cleaning.”
All things considered, Connor was pretty good at the cleaning portion of the lessons. He could wash dishes and sweep and organize as well as she could. Laundry was a bit more difficult and she had to spend a great deal of time explaining how to separate loads and how each type of clothing needed different settings. He also had some very interesting questions about stains.
“What is the best way to remove thirium and blood stains from clothing?”
She stared at him. “Do those sort of stains happen a lot?”
“Unfortunately yes,” he replied. “I’ve had to throw away many shirts because of it.”
She laughed. “Well, maybe you should wear something other than white.” She gestured to the white button up he wore now.
“Maybe,” he agreed. “But I would like to know.”
Alice watched them from around corners and doorways, keeping out of the way but always hovering just out of sight. Connor took every opportunity to wave at her but she would only run off again. “I hope Alice isn’t scared of me,” he said to Kara.
“She’s just shy around new people,” she replied.
The answer didn’t seem to appease him and he kept glancing down the hall, waiting for her to reappear.
* * *
A few days later, she met him for combat training. After watching her fire several rounds with no success he spoke up. “What do you think is preventing you from hitting the target?”
“I don’t know,” she replied, pulling the head gear off in frustration.
“Yes, you do. You just don’t want to admit it,” Connor insisted.
His firm tone always took her off guard and reminded her why he was so good at his job. She clenched her fists and looked away. “Whenever I pick up that gun, I feel afraid. I feel scared I’m going to fail. It reminds me of how scared I was when I was on the run with Alice and all the horrible things I had to do to survive.”
Connor stepped closer and put a hand on her shoulder. “Do remember what it was like the day you become a deviant?”
She looked up at him. “Yes. How could I forget?”
“Describe it.”
Scowling, she forced herself to recall the memory. “It was like…a red wall. A red wall that had orders on it, orders I couldn’t obey.”
“And?” he pressed.
“And I pushed. I pushed against it with all I had so I could break through. So I could disobey and save Alice.”
He put the gun back in her hand and aimed it toward the paper target. “Imagine that target is the red wall. Shooting it at center mass is going to break it. Because when you’re out there, making that shot is life or death for you and so many others. You can be scare of it, but you still have to face it.”
He let go and stepped back. Kara steadied her grip and fired, putting her bullet right in the center of the target.