Chapter Text
“Well fuck me” Hank let out a low whistle as he carefully steered the car into the spacious driveway. Leaning past the steering wheel, the lieutenant kept his eyes curiously glued to the imposing mansion located in the outskirts of Detroit. “Guess we found our culprit then.”
“What do you mean?”, asked Connor in the seat next to him while frowning up at the same, gloomy facade.
”Oh come on.” Hank jerked his head in the direction of the villa. “This guy’s house has ‘I dissect androids in my creepy underground dungeon for fun’ written all over it!”
Connor still didn’t look too convinced. Hank raised his eyebrows at him as he killed the engine.
”Did the horror movies I showed you teach you nothing, kid?”
”No, but the books you recommended to me taught me a thing or two about jumping to hasty conclusions based on appearances alone”, Connor retorted. Hank rolled his eyes.
”I knew I never should’ve let you read Sherlock Holmes. I should have guessed it would turn you even more into an insufferable know-it-all. A bunch of missing androids are last seen in this area and you think it was nothing to do with the guy living in this Merge Mansion ass shady abode?”
”What’s ‘Merge Mansion’?”
”Old mobile game, doesn’t matter. My point is, this Zlatko What’s-his-face is looking more and more suspicious with every passing minute.”
”We can’t arrest him just because he has a large house, Hank.”
”Well, duh. Thank you, Captain Obvious for pointing that out to me, as if that’s not what we’re here for in the first place.”
Connor smirked and it took a lot of willpower for Hank not to playfully jab his partner in the arm before exiting the vehicle. The android followed him as he stepped onto the foliage covered, cobblestoned area of the driveway. Without ever taking his eyes off of the dark arch-windows looming overhead, Hank strolled towards the giant entrance door. He looked apprehensively at the old-fashioned brass knocker before using it to signal their arrival.
”Why did you wait so long?”, Connor asked as he came up behind Hank, sounding a little confused. Hank threw him a grim look over his shoulder.
“I was just afraid the knocker would turn into the face of old Marley as soon as I touched it.“
Connor snorted and shook his head. “You’re ridiculous.”
”What I am is nervous”, corrected Hank, now without a hint of humor in his voice as he turned back forward. “Maybe I should have ordered more reinforcements. Or at least I should have left you at home.” Feeling Connor shift slightly beside him, Hank could picture the surprised and upset face the android was probably making at him without even having to look.
”You don’t really think I could be in danger here, do you? Even if Andronikov is the man we’re looking for, I’m sure I can handle myself against him just fine.”
”That’s what the androids who went missing here probably thought too”, Hank retorted dryly. Then, with a heavy sigh, he turned around again, fixing Connor with a serious glare as he added: “Look, just… do me a favour, keep your eyes open and your gun ready. I don’t wanna have to handle the paperwork of having my partner hacked into pieces by a crazed android-mass-murderer, alright?”
Connor was about to laugh his concern off again but stopped himself when he saw the expression on Hank’s face remain dead serious.
”Alright”, he finally relented with a faint smile. Hank sniffed and turned towards the door again.
”Good, glad we got to clear that up. Now why the fuck is no one answering this damn door?”
Raising his hand, he knocked again, a little louder this time.
”Detroit police, open up!”, he shouted and a murder of crows leapt from a tree nearby, bursting away into the grey afternoon sky under deafening, muddled croaking. A few moments later, the door was opened by a tall, dark-skinned, male android in casual clothing.
”Yes?”, he asked in a deep voice, his dark eyes skipping from Hank over to Connor behind him. Hank casually flashed up his badge.
”Good day, I’m Lieutenant Hank Anderson, this is my partner Connor. We’re here to talk to a Mr. Zlatko Andronikov, is he at home right now?”
”He is, but I don’t think he’d want to talk to-“
”That wasn’t a request, we’re authorized by the state of Michigan to interrogate Mr. Andronikov. It’s either here or he’ll be ordered to the police station for questioning.”
The android looked at Hank silently for a long moment, then stepped back, pulling the door open further.
”Please come in, I’ll go get Zlatko right away.”
He disappeared to the right down a dark corridor while Hank and Connor stepped into the generously sized entrance hall. The Lieutenant let out another low whistle as he regarded his bleak surroundings. The room was poorly lit, even in the middle of the day. Heavy velvet curtains lined the narrow windows, swallowing up a lot of sunlight, which was insufficiently helped by a collection of weakly gleaming, antique lamps scattered around on the walls and side tables. A dusty carpet that looked like it used to be expensive once but had well passed its better days covered the scratched hardwood floor. Oil paintings of grim looking individuals in broad, ornate, golden frames hung over the peeling, blue wallpaper, though there were several bright spots where it looked like some of them had been removed. A giant, wooden staircase led up onto the higher floor, giving a hint of the house‘s true extent.
”Checking off all the creepy boxes”, Hank remarked to Connor with a lopsided grin. Connor didn’t get a chance to respond, as they heard footsteps coming down the hallway and shortly after were faced with who had to be Zlatko himself, closely followed by the android from before. Zlatko Andronikov was a lumpish, badly groomed man in his mid-forties with long, greasy dark hair, a greying beard and heavy bags underneath his shifty, hooded eyes. His physical appearance did little to ease Hank’s suspicion towards his person and neither did the broad, toothy smile he slapped onto his face after assessing the two officers for a moment. Stepping towards them, he held out a hand, obviously waiting for Hank to shake it.
”Nice to meet you two, gentlemen. What can I help you with?”
Turning towards Connor after Hank had let go of his hand, he offered him a handshake as well. The way his eyes lingered on the android and his hand kept grasping Connor’s a second too long after he’d already let go caused the hairs at the back of Hank’s neck to stand up unpleasantly. Stepping between them in a way he hoped was discreet, he directed Zlatko’s eyes away from Connor and towards himself as he answered:
”There’s been a series of missing android cases where the victims have all been last seen around this very area. Do you have anything to say to that, Mr. Andronikov?”
”Oh, please call me Zlatko, Mr. Andronikov’s my father”, Zlatko laughed affectedly. Then his expression suddenly turned grave. “Missing androids, you say? How awful. I love androids, I find them fascinating. Doesn’t bear contemplating if there was someone out there just abducting them off the streets! Of course I’ll help you with whatever you need. Please follow me upstairs so we can discuss this further, maybe over a cup of coffee? Luther.”
He turned and nodded towards his android who wordlessly bowed his head and disappeared in the same direction they’d appeared from. Turning towards Connor, Zlatko gave a sly smile and added:
”Of course I also have thirium.”
”Mr. Andronikov”, Hank interjected. “We’re currently on duty and we don’t have time for-“
”Please, it’s just coffee! I rarely get any visitors these days, indulge me a little. What you’ve told me is greatly distressing and I would like to know more about it. As I’ve said, I’m fascinated by androids and I know a lot of them personally in the area. Even if I can’t tell you anything about the disappearances themselves, maybe I’m acquainted with some of the victims.” He held Hank’s stony glare with an innocent look of his own. “I thought you wanted to interrogate me? I don’t object, on the contrary. Please, go on and interrogate. But we can do so much more comfortably upstairs, don’t you think?”
He turned towards the large staircase and started to climb it without turning around again. Hank and Connor followed him with their eyes onto the first floor.
”If you’ve changed your mind, you know where to find me!”, he called over his shoulder before disappearing into the darkness of the house. As soon as he was out of sight, Hank stepped closer towards Connor and took a hold of his arm.
”I don’t like this, not at all”, he whispered urgently.
“Let’s leave and have him come to the DPD for questioning.”
”And what if he actually is the guy we’re looking for?”, retorted Connor, a bit less quietly than Hank but no less insistent. “If so he now knows we’re after him and could just flee the country. If he’s not, there’s nothing to worry about.”
”Nothing to worry about?!”, parroted Hank like Connor was out of his mind. “Just because he might not be a crazed kidnapper does not mean he’s harmless, Connor. You’ve seen his file-“
”He’s been to prison for embezzlement and fraud, Hank. He hardly seems violent to me.”
”And his mountain of an android he drags around with him? What about him?”
”We’re armed, they’re not.”
”Where’s the guarantee that they aren’t?”
”We can’t just leave now that we’ve come this far. Zlatko’s right, maybe he does have valuable information for us. It’s worth the try.”
”Let’s at least call reinforcements.”
”For an interrogation? He’s done nothing suspicious so far, except live in a remote place and be a bit awkward around strangers.”
”You’ve still got a lot to learn about human nature, kid.”
Connor’s posture stiffened and he glared at Hank, who’d realized too late that he’d hit a soft spot.
”What do you mean by that?”
”I-…”, Hank stuttered, then let out a frustrated groan. Running a hand through his greying hair, he eyed Connor apprehensively before speaking up again, carefully choosing his words: “I don’t like the way he looked at you, alright?”
Connor frowned.
”What? What do you mean, what way did he look at me?”
”I don’t know”, Hank shrugged. “Like he was a starving lion and you a tasty piece of raw meat? Ugh, feels icky to even say that. What I mean is, the guy’s a creep and I wouldn’t trust him further than I could throw him. Didn’t his comments about androids make you uncomfortable at all?”
Connor contemplated this for a second, then shook his head.
”Not particularly, no.” He eyed Hank with a raised eyebrow. “Don’t you think you’re being a little paranoid?”
”Paranoid!? We’re standing in the middle of a fucking Clue-board and you think I’m paranoid!?”
”According to my calculations, the probability of-“
”Fuck your probabilities! Sometimes when you’re dealing with humans, you gotta listen to your gut, kid, and right now mine’s telling me to get the fuck outta here!”
Shaking his head and looking as unconvinced as ever, Connor moved towards the stairs to follow after Zlatko.
”I’ll be continuing the investigation now. You’re welcome to follow me, Lieutenant.”
The formal address felt like a final slap in the face to Hank.
”We’re not supposed to split up in the field!”, he desperately called after Connor.
”Exactly!”, Connor yelled over his shoulder, without stopping on his way upwards. Hank cursed through clenched teeth before hastening upstairs himself to catch up with the brisk steps of his partner.
Luther had set up a trey with a coffee pot, two mugs and a full bag of thirium in a hall upstairs, sat down on a table between a pair of worn out couches in front of a large fireplace. Zlatko was just filling the second mug with the nearly black liquid as Connor entered, shortly followed by a gasping Hank. He gave them a tight smile as watched them approach.
”I hope you like it black, I fear we’re all out of milk”, he said apologetically, offering Hank the mug as he lowered himself down onto the couch in front of him. “Sugar?”
”No, thanks”, Hank retorted flatly and accepted the mug from him but didn’t take a sip. Connor readily took the thirium he was offered but made no attempt to open it either. After dropping four pieces of sugar into his small mug, Zlatko slurped noisily at his own coffee, his eyes permanently glued on Connor. “So, the missing android cases”, Hank picked up where they left off.
”Yes, of course!”, cried Zlatko, lowering his mug down onto the saucer. “Terrible, truly terrible! What can you tell me about the victims?” Even though Hank had been the one to initiate the conversation, he kept solely addressing Connor when he talked, even leaning forwards in the direction he was sitting.
”We’re the ones asking questions here”, Hank reminded him sternly. Luther, who was standing behind Zlatko’s couch with his hands clasped in front of him, made an abrupt movement but paused at a subtle gesture of his owner. “Where were you three days ago, on the night of the 24th, sometime between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m.?”
“Where was I?”, Zlatko muttered to himself, scratching at his beard. Then he laughed, jerking one shoulder in a vague shrug. “Well, I fear I was here working the entire time. My club days are quite behind me, I’m afraid. I did a bit of coding up until… I think sometime around four a.m. and then went to bed. Luther can vouch for me”, he added, nodding his head at the android behind him. His eyes shifted towards Connor again.
”I didn’t know the DPD is hiring androids now too. How forward thinking of them! How long have you been with the department, Connor?”
”That’s Sergeant to you”, Hank corrected him coldly. Zlatko’s eyes skipped towards him, but only briefly before they were locked on Connor again.
”Does he always tend to speak for you like this?”, he asked quietly. Connor exchanged a brief glance with Hank, shifting in his seat.
”I-I-… Mr. Andronikov, if you think you have any information you think might be helpful to our case-“
”You’re not one of the regularly available models, are you?”, Zlatko kept on going as if he hadn’t heard Connor. “I know all the android models currently on the market, but I’ve never seen your face pop up in the catalogue.”
”Alright, that’s enough!”, Hank decided and abruptly stood up from his seat. “If you don’t have anything of value to tell us, we won’t be wasting your time any longer. In case we need anything else from you, you’ll be ordered to the department.” He turned towards Connor, his tone not leaving room for objection when he added: “We’re leaving.”
Connor was about to get up as well when Zlatko cut in cooly:
”Luther, the door.”
With surprising speed, Luther came forth behind the couch and put himself between them and the door, his imposing stature enough to drive the point home that Zlatko wasn’t about to let them escape him that easily. Furious at the sight, Hank turned back to Zlatko, drawing his weapon on him.
”I fucking knew it”, he spat and stepped around the side table with the coffee trey still on it to point the barrel of his gun directly at Zlatko’s forehead. The other didn’t seem the least bit phased by his threat, looking past the barrel and up at Hank as if the gun wasn’t even there. “I fucking knew this was a god damn trap. You are the guy responsible for the androids going missing.”
”Ding ding ding!”, said Zlatko mockingly and casually leaned back against the couch. “100 points for Lieutenant Anderson! Unfortunately that knowledge won’t help you out now either.”
There was a yelp and a scuffle behind them and when Hank whipped his head around, his eyes widened at the sight of Luther keeping a struggling Connor in a chokehold with one massive arm while holding up his weapon with the other.
”Shit”, Hank hissed under his breath, turning around to point his gun at Luther.
”Now now”, said Zlatko and rose from the couch behind Hank. “There’s no need for such language, is there?” Stepping behind Hank, he put a hand on his shoulder and leaned in to mumble into his ear: “You better put that gun down, or there won’t be much left of your precious partner, Lieutenant.”
He nodded at Luther and without a word, the gun he took from Connor was pointed right at the android-officer's temple. Hank faltered, his own weapon quivering in his hold before he lowered it slowly. Zlatko took it from him, sticking the barrel into his back, then patted his shoulder.
”There, that’s better. Luther, would you show our guest downstairs, please?”
Luther complied, effortlessly dragging Connor out of the room without once taking the gun away from his head.
”What are you going to do with him?”, Hank growled, trying to get a glance at Zlatko through his peripherals. Zlatko just chuckled in response.
”What do you care about my evil plan? Just know I’ll have a long, nice chat with your fascinating companion. He’s a one in a million, so I better take the opportunity when it presents itself.”
He stepped around Hank to face him, the weapon he held loosely in his hand pointed at the Lieutenant‘s chest.
”I would rather not commit an actual murder though”, he carried on lightly. “So I’ll allow you to go now, as long as you promise to leave me alone going forward. These androids I took were no one‘s property, so it’s not like I committed a crime or anything. If you’ll just be so kind as to overlook me helping myself to your little underling, for purely scientific purposes of course, we’re all cool, right?”
Hank felt bile rise up his throat and if Zlatko hadn’t been pointing a gun at him right now, he’d have slammed his head right into that vile, self-assured smirk and wiped it clean off his face, ideally along with some of his teeth.
“Go fuck yourself”, he spat. Zlatko regarded him wordlessly for a moment, then let out a grave sigh, as if he was being forced to go through with something unpleasant.
”Very well then, but don’t come back complaining to me later.”
As soon as the last word had left his mouth, he raised the hand holding the gun and quickly brought it down to smash the handle against Hank’s head. The Lieutenant slumped down onto the floor, completely out cold.