Work Text:
NOV 8th, 2038
PM 06:02:11
Sergeant Arief Holman had heard of the prototype detective android.
His name was Connor, an RK800. First of the series, apparently. He had seen the unit around Lieutenant Hank Anderson before. Seemed that the android was assigned to the Homicide team. Being in the Narcotics department, he didn't have the chance to interact with the android much.
Eerie, he thought, how human-like androids were.
He never liked those artificial intelligence programs which, in his opinion, were making people dumber.
But he couldn't help getting curious with this one.
So he listened intently when Detective Gavin Reed complained about the android while dropping off files for the Narcotics team.
"Fucking glorified genAI on legs," the Homicide detective muttered. "First they steal our ideas. Now they steal our jobs."
"A very good-looking genAI on legs," Detective Belle Harper chimed in, partly just to annoy Reed.
That successfully earned an eye-roll.
"You're lucky you're cute," Reed said with a sly grin. "Otherwise I'd throw you to the android landfill since you like them so much."
"Fuck off Gav," said Harper, flipping him off without looking up from her screen.
Gavin chuckled. "I'm grabbing a quick dinner with Ti and Chris before they check in for night patrol. Wanna come?"
"After I'm done with this report," she sighed. "This new cut of Red Ice is popping up everywhere. Maybe our department should request an android detective too, Sarge. We need the processing power."
"Just take ours. Can't stand that thing sitting right opposite my fuckin' desk," Gavin scoffed.
"Hey, I thought Chris was at Stratford Tower?" Arief interjected. "He's on night patrol too? Who the hell rostered him?"
Gavin shrugged. "He had to replace Wilson last-minute."
"Poor guy," Belle muttered. "Hope it'll be a quiet shift."
Arief shot her a look. "You do not say the Q word here, young lady."
"Oh come on, superstition in the big '38?"
"Superstitions didn't just appear out of thin air. There's gotta be something to it."
"There's our upright citizen, spirit-filled, church boy Arief Holman," Gavin clapped mockingly. "Nothing our godless souls can understand, Belle."
"Don't lump me together with you," Belle pouted.
Arief grinned. "You two are unbelievable."
.
.
.
—
Evening had turned into night, and the sun had given its reign to the moon for the day.
Arief was sipping his coffee on the rooftop, gazing upon the waxing gibbous apparition. Quietly thankful for the clear skies that night.
He had urged Belle to join Gavin and the rest for dinner before coming back to the precinct. The Narcotics team had been pulling a lot of overtime recently with the rising Red Ice cases. He had stayed behind himself to wait for an important document, forced to be satisfied with a sad-looking sandwich.
Arief thought of the earlier conversation. He mostly agreed with Gavin's stance—he had thought about how androids had contributed to the skyrocketing unemployment rate in the last decade.
And even before androids took over the workforce by a large margin, he was already critical of how genAI was technically a plagiarism machine, destroying human creativity and weakening their rational faculties in the name of "efficiency".
But after the broadcast yesterday, he began to wonder if androids were different from the genAI he had known from his youth.
…we are a new intelligent species, and the time has come for you to accept who we really are.
That skinless android at Stratford Tower demanded justice and equal rights. It had shocked the nation. Arief knew that deviancy had been happening—androids going rogue and rebelling against their humans—but this was a whole different ballgame.
If androids were really alive, he thought, then to some extent it wasn't their fault. They too, were born—assembled—into a system they didn't create.
Was there a way where androids and humans could co-exist without destroying each other?
"Sergeant Holman?"
Arief jolted from his musing. He turned slightly and briefly caught sight of the approaching android.
"Connor?"
"Excuse me, Sergeant. Lieutenant Anderson sent me to give you the old Red Ice casefile you requested."
Ah, Arief thought. Finally a chance to get to know his new android coworker.
He turned to look at Connor fully and was stunned by the sight. The android's shirt was torn, blue blood staining it, and Arief's pretty sure that there was supposed to be synthetic skin covering that exposed white cylinder on the torso. And for some reason, the android hadn't bothered to clean up or change into something else.
"What happened to you?"
The android was nonchalant. "A deviant attacked me. It was about to commit a massacre with a machine gun. I managed to neutralize it with a borrowed firearm."
"You killed him?"
Connor was silent for a few seconds. "…I did what was necessary to save human lives."
"How do you… feel? Having to… neutralize… one of your own?"
Arief felt conflicted. He was surprised at himself for asking that question. Not exactly good etiquette, Arief. Ah, might as well.
Connor opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Arief waited.
"I'm a machine designed to accomplish a task," the android finally said. "I don't feel anything. I'm not alive."
Arief thought the hesitation was interesting. Almost sounded like someone who was trying to convince himself.
The sergeant decided to drop the subject and invited the android to sit next to him. While glancing through the casefile Connor had given him, he saw how proper the android's posture was. He suppressed a chuckle.
"How has working with Hank been?"
"The lieutenant didn't seem to like me very much."
"…Figures."
"Although," Connor added, "he seemed to be grateful that I had saved his life twice."
"Twice?"
Connor told him about the time he saved Hank on a rooftop while chasing a deviant. Arief pondered if androids were programmed to prioritize human lives over their own.
But before he could ask, Connor spoke.
"Have you known the lieutenant for long, Sergeant Holman?"
Arief took a deep breath. "You can say so. I just started in Narcotics when Hank led the Red Ice Taskforce. We worked closely before he was transferred to Homicide a few years back. Man's a legend."
"So I've heard," the android replied coolly.
Arief studied Connor carefully. If it weren't for the uniform and that blue light, this android could really pass for a human. The design team at Cyberlife must've poured a lot of investment into this project. They even put pores and freckles on the synthetic skin.
"I'm worried about Hank," Connor said quietly, surprising Arief on many levels. "Two days ago, I found him passed out at his home from an alcohol-induced coma. There was a revolver next to him. He had been playing Russian Roulette. The next shot would have killed him."
Arief was alarmed. "Did you call an ambulance?"
Connor looked guilty for a second, before his face returned to that empty gaze. "…I didn't. I calculated that the lieutenant would still be able to function after I sobered him up. And we needed to go to a crime scene immediately."
"That was reckless, Connor," Arief said, displeased. "Don't do that again. It's not about functioning when someone's health is on the line. Next time, bring him straight to the hospital."
"Got it."
Arief sighed. Guess there were still things that differentiated humans and androids. Though he had heard stories where androids showed more compassion and empathy than humans. Again, he wondered whether these were part of their program, or signs that they were something more.
"Excuse me for asking this, Sergeant," Connor broke the silence again. "I found out that the lieutenant had lost his son. How did it happen?"
Arief narrowed his eyes. "Why do you want to know that?"
"I have a theory," Connor said, "that his alcoholism and suicidal tendencies are related to this. I just want to understand the lieutenant better, to be a better partner. It's difficult for me to be of assistance when he's closed off."
That made sense. Arief knew how hard it must be to work with someone who had shown hatred toward you from the start. He weighed his options. If Connor was the closest individual around Hank at this time, maybe letting him know what happened could help Hank the most.
It was public information anyway, if the android searched the news around that incident. Arief at least could frame it with his insight before Connor dug into the news himself.
"A truck skidded on ice," Arief began. "Hank's car rolled over. Cole was with him. It was just a normal Thursday... Hank was picking him up from school. Cole had just started first grade that year."
He sighed, recalling that painful memory. "An android did the emergency surgery... but it was too late. Cole had lost too much blood. The hospital took too long to tend to him. They couldn't find the doctor on duty so the android stepped up. But Hank hated androids since then."
The sergeant glanced at Connor, half-regretting that he might have shared too much.
"Just keep this to yourself," he continued. "I only shared this because you said it would help you understand Hank."
"I will," Connor replied.
They sat in silence while Arief peered through the file. A plane passed across the sky, distracting him. His eyes followed the blinking light above.
Connor's eyes followed his gaze.
"Bound for Los Angeles," Connor stated. "It will arrive in approximately five hours."
Arief nodded slowly. "You could scan that plane from this distance?"
Connor shook his head. "No… I just accessed the flight itinerary available to the public. Based on the departure time and the plane's angle, I made a deduction."
"Hmm. You really are a detective."
He thought he saw a faint shadow of a smile on the android's face.
"So…" Arief said carefully, "Are android detectives going to replace us all?"
Connor hesitated. "I was designed to assist human detectives. Not to replace."
"Gavin seems to think that you're here to replace us."
"Detective Reed was hostile toward me since the first second he saw me. I believe he has personal issues."
Arief chuckled at how the android was frowning slightly.
"Alright, you got me there. Gavin's a unique case," he said. "He—"
This time, he stopped himself. "Nevermind. Not my story to tell."
"Alright," Connor said, his tone neutral.
The android's expression didn't change, but Arief couldn't help wonder if that was disappointment in his eyes just for a second.
After he was done checking the file, Arief chugged his cold coffee and stood up.
"Looks fine. Thanks for this," he said, waving the file. "How are you getting home? Or… are you staying here in the precinct?"
"I am stationed here for the time being," Connor replied. "But I will need to return to the Cyberlife Tower every now and then. I need to get some minor repairs, so I'm heading there with a cab soon."
"Good to know," Arief said, suddenly aware again of Connor's disheveled state. "That, uh… that didn't hurt, did it?"
"Androids don't feel pain, Sergeant," Connor stated calmly. "I will return to optimal condition after a few adjustments. And a new shirt."
"I see."
Arief began making his way back before pausing at the door.
"Connor," he said, glancing over his shoulder.
The RK800 stood with his hands behind his back, as if waiting for an instruction.
"Take care of Hank," Arief said quietly. "And remember that… life is precious. Don't be drowned by your mission that you trample on what really matters."
Connor blinked slowly, as if processing something new.
"I understand."
Arief gave a small smile. "I'll see you around."
He descended the stairs, more thoughtful than ever.
The way Connor talked just now, the way he had asked about Hank's son… Arief doubted that these were purely part of an android's program.
Maybe, just maybe… that android at the Stratford Tower was right.
A new intelligent species had dawned upon humanity.