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Connor raced into the lobby of Stratford Tower as fast as he could, chasing after the rogue deviant that Hank and he had been tracking. The android managed to evade the older lieutenant but it would be a lot harder to shake the android detective.
The deviant was a PL500 who had been robbing convenience stores for weeks. He always struck in a certain area so it didn’t take the two officers too long to find him. He weaved in between frightened humans and androids working and conversing on the main level of the building. He pulled a gun on the android who ran the security doors and ordered her to let him past. Frightened, she did so. Connor hurriedly followed, jumping over the bar as it closed down in front of him.
The PL500 ran to the elevators and, just his luck, one opened right as he came to a stop in front of it. A young woman, an intern at the radio tower, stared wide-eyed at the armed android before her. Before she could move, he rushed into the elevator with her and took hold of her, holding the gun to her head and taking her hostage. The doors closed on the scene just as Connor arrived. Frustrated and determined, Connor hurriedly smashed the elevator buttons nearby. The elevator wouldn’t re-open, but moments later, the one next to it did. Thankfully the number above the elevator had revealed what floor the two were going to, so he hit the top level too.
When the elevator doors opened, Connor caught the tail end of the hostage and hostage-taker heading into the radio room Markus had infiltrated nearly a year ago. He ran into the room after them, finding startled employees and the rooftop access door swinging. Connor swore under his breath and ran out after them.
Connor ran out onto the roof and was hit with a wave of anxiety, an emotion he’d only recently become aware of. The roof was covered in a light October, nearly November, snow, creating a similar scene to one he’d seen before. The deviant and young woman were nowhere in sight, however, Connor scanned the area and noticed footsteps leading to the edge roof.
He quickly ran to the fringe, coming to a skidding stop as he neared the edge and held on tightly to the rail, looking down with a pit forming in his stomach.
Connor had died before, had fallen before, more than once. Although every time he fell he had been replaced, the memories of death stuck with him and marred a piece of him inside each time. Now that he was a deviant, those deaths affected him even more and he’d come to realize he had developed a fear of heights. He knew that there was no coming back from the dead again, no coming back from a fall.
A light snow began to fall and being so high up, it looked as if Connor was right there in the clouds, watching them being made. They gently swirled around him, a gusty wind blowing them around as well as his stray lick of hair. He dared to look over the edge and felt his heart drop. His knees weakened a little and Connor squeezed the railing momentarily.
Suddenly, the deviant detective felt himself being shoved from behind. Before he could react, he went over the railing, completely losing his grip. Connor surprised himself by letting out a scream, squeezing his eyes shut as he plummeted to his death. However, he came in contact with the ground much sooner than he’d anticipated. After a few seconds, there was a loud thunk and the world around him stopped whooshing by.
Connor hesitantly opened his eyes and saw the icy sky and the clouds not too far above him. Confused, the deviant looked down to see a metal surface below him. He looked over the edge of the metal surface and realized where he had landed: a window cleaning platform. He tightly closed his eyes again and lay there, still, afraid to move since he was still so high up. His whole body ached and he wasn’t sure how many stories he’d just fallen. He was afraid to find out.
Without warning, a gunshot fired. Connor jerked at the sound, shaking the whole window cleaning platform and causing him to panic even more. He pressed against the metal surface, tightened his eyes more, and lay even more still.
A few moments later, Connor heard distant swearing and suddenly a familiar voice.
“Is he alive?! Connor!” Hank shouted down at the deviant. “Connor, say something if you’re okay! I heard you scream and you scared me half to death! You fell five stories! Say something if you’re okay!”
“I’m alive!” Connor tried to shout back, keeping his eyes shut. “I’m just not well!”
“Are you hurt?”
“I don’t know!” Connor hollered back.
“Can you move?”
“No!”
“So you are hurt.”
“I’m scared Hank!” Connor admitted. “I’m scared of heights.”
The lieutenant didn’t respond for a solid 10 seconds.
“Okay…” Hank started, trying to think of a solution, but a panicked Connor interrupted his thoughts.
“I’ve died from falling before. I don’t want to die.”
“No one’s going to die Connor. Well…except that hostage-taker we had to shoot to save that young woman. The other officers are with her right now.” Hank cleared his throat. “But I mean it. You’re not going to die.”
“You don’t know that!” Connor’s LED blared red and he pushed against the platform harder. He could feel his stress levels rising.
“Yes, I do. You’re not going to die because I’m coming to get you. Just hold on.”
Suddenly, the familiar and comforting voice disappeared and Connor was left to hang in absolute silence.
The deviant dared to open his eyes and sit up. On one side of him were tinted windows and on the other were grayish white clouds. He dared to look a little below the clouds and saw how small the city looked from up there, a choice he instantly regretted. He started at the view and the whole platform shook at his movement. He once again melted into the floor, screwing his eyes shut, trying to control his stress levels.
Connor wasn’t sure how long he lay in silence like that, the wind rushing past him, filling his ears. Suddenly, the familiar voice returned, breaking through his fatalistic thoughts.
“Connor! Connor look!”
Connor didn’t respond, scared to open his eyes.
“Connor, I need you to look at me. I’m right here. See?”
Hesitantly, Connor unscrewed his eyes and looked toward the tinted windows once again. One of them had been opened and Hank now stood there, level with him.
“H-Hi,” Connort stammered.
“I’m going to get you inside but I need you to help me, okay?”
Connor nodded.
“Good. Good…can you sit up for me?”
Connor hesitated but sat up slowly, trying hard not to look down. He took a deep breath and kept his eyes focused on Hank.
“Alright…now I need you to stand.”
“What?” Connor asked, his voice barely a squeak.
“I need you to stand so I can get you inside. It’ll make this much easier.”
Connor hesitated once again but slowly stood up. His legs shook greatly and he held onto the sides of the window cleaning platform with a death grip. It swayed as he did so and he felt his knees buckle. He leaned on the railing, clinging onto it like an awkward embraced.
“Hey, hey. It’s okay. You’re okay,” Hank assured the frightened deviant. “I need you to stand up straight and step over the edge, into the room, okay?”
Connor took another deep breath and with everything inside of him, willed himself to stand up straight. He had no choice but to look down as he took a step over the edge and into the room Hank stood in, but the glimpse of the ground he caught below him was enough to send him into a panic. With one foot inside and one still on the platform, he lost his footing and slipped.
He was falling.
He could feel himself falling with nothing to hold onto.
Suddenly, something took hold of him. Someone. A strong hand firmly gripping hold of his arm.
He felt himself falling into someone, hitting the floor instead of the icy ground.
He unscrewed his eyes and saw Hank lying beside him on the floor of Stratford Tower.
“I told you you weren’t going to die.”
To Hank’s surprise, Connor reached out and pulled the man into a tight hug as they lay on the floor. Hank didn’t know how to react at first, stiff and surprised, but then he hugged the deviant back tightly. He could feel him shake in his grip.
“Connor…hey, Connor. It’s okay. You’re okay now,” Hank said with great empathy. After all of the missions and close calls they’d had, he’d never seen the android detective so terrified before.
“Sorry…it’s just…sorry…” Connor managed to say, his voice somewhat muffled as his head lay on Hank’s shoulder. “The first time I died, I was on a rooftop in the middle of a hostage situation gone wrong. I just…I felt this overwhelming fear like never before. I couldn’t move. My whole body seized up and I—”
“You’re safe now, Connor,” Hank assured him, holding the back of the deviant’s head gently. “From now on, we leave the chasing deviants to the roof to other cops, okay? I don’t want you to have to end up in this kind of situation ever again. I’ve seen you face a lot of terrible things but I’ve never seen you so traumatized before. Let’s leave this to other cops until you get some help for this fear.”
Connor nodded, his face pressed down against Hank.
“Alright, now let’s move away from the ledge. Can you sit up and look at me?”
Connor hesitated but did as he was told, pulling away from Hank and looking at him, keeping his back turned to the outside world. Hank stood up and offered his deviant friend a hand.
“Let’s go find some solid ground.” The man gave the android a smile and the famous deviant detective took his hand with a smile, getting lifted to his feet once more.