Detroit: Beyond human

Prologue: A quiet winter morning

It was a silent, cold November morning in the city of Detroit. It wasn't that quiet just a few miles from here, Connor knew. Only a quarter of the city was already evacuated. Not too far away it was chaotic, perhaps violent, as the military was escorting citizens out of their homes. Citizens who were completely innocent, who had no idea what was going on. Perhaps they spent last night watching the news in bewilderment as the machines that they bought and used and discarded rose up and marched in a peaceful protest, declaring to the world that they are alive.

Connor sighed and rubbed his eyes in frustration, a human gesture that was completely unnecessary and very natural at the same time. He filed it under 'deviant_behavior/sg%human/RK800_313_248_317_51/unreviewed'. This folder was growing alarmingly large, as he spent the past few months ignoring it. He sighed again and added 'procrastination_itr#23_11_13_2038' to the same folder. Hank would probably tell him he is overthinking things, but there was nothing he could do about it. It was simply in his nature to do so.

A shuffling sound could be suddenly heard, which Connor recognized as a single persons footsteps in the snow, advancing slowly towards him. Taking a fraction of a second to analize the sound and pattern of the persons breath, just to be sure, he got up, straightend his clothes and marched over the corner to the closed fast food establishment where he knew Hank Anderson was waiting.

Hank was standing there, hands in pockets, looking the other way, and it suddenly struck Connor how lost and tired the old cop looked now. In the few months that they knew each other, he got to see his human partner in all sorts of difficult, often life threatening situations, but he always seemed to him... like a constant. A larger than life figure that would always be there, unchanged. But he wasn't. He was only human, after all. He wouldn't be able to replace his heart if he was shot, or analyze all outcomes of a situation to pick the best course of action. He would age and...

The detective finally noticed the android walking towards him and turned, a slow, warm smile spreading on his face. This seemed to have triggered something deep within his program, as Connor's mouth mimicked Hank's expression and he found himself smiling awkwardly, the first real smile in his entire life. He was already analyzing and filing this new change to his program, when Hank made a few steps forward, and then all of his thoughts abruptly stopped as he was engulfed in the human's arms.

He was still figuring out why his therium pump was suddenly working 1.34 times faster or why his processor's temperature rose by 0.91 degrees, when hank's arms released him and he had to reluctantly do the same.

"Well what do you know?" he said quietly. "We're still fucking alive. Who would have fucking thought."

"Yes," Connor answered, his voice sounding weird to his own ears. "Who, indeed."

"To tell you the truth," Hank continued, "I wasn't even sure you'd show up. Thought you might... I don't know, go lead the robot revolution or something."

"Someone else is already doing that. Besides, I'm not much of a leader."

"Bullshit. Who's your leader anyway? The guy who was singing? It was all over the news this morning."

Connor wasn't certain who Hank referred to, as he didn't have the time to check the news feed. A quick search on the internet brought him up to date.

"His name is Markus. He is quite... inspirational. But i'm not sure if he's my... leader," he said, squinting at the blindingly white winter sky.

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yes. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure of anything at the moment," his shoulders slumped. "I am completely without purpose, lieutenant."

"Pff, join the club. And would you quit it with the lieutenant? Name's Hank, for fuck's sake," Hank slapped him on the shoulder amicably.

"And anyway," he continued, "you can have all the purpose you want, back at the police station."

"What?" Connor's facial expression must not have been particularly smart, because Hank's smile grew even wider. He even let out a short laugh.

"Just spoke to Fowler. He asked if I can convince you to work with us. Apparently they're assembling a team that would deal with human-android situations. Especially when people will begin to return. But even now, they'll probably want us to help the with the evac ."

Connor didn't say anything, still processing the situation. He didn't even consider the possibility of working, actually working, at the station...

"What do you mean exactly, by work?" he asked, hoping he didn't sound too ungrateful.

"I mean, badge, paycheck and all the fucking doughnuts you want."

"Well, I think I'll pass on the doughnuts," Connor smiled, "But I wouldn't mind all the rest."

Hank looked actually relieved.

"Great... That's great, son," he slapped his back. "Common, then. We'll talk details on the way there."

As they were walking slowly towards Hank's car, Connor wondered if the detective noticed his small slip of the tongue. Asking was certainly out of the question, but he decided that finding out could wait. It seemed like he had plenty of time, after all. And plenty of purpose.

A/N: Well, hello there. As you can already tell, this story takes place in the best outcome continuity. Markus led a successful peaceful revolution, Hank and Connor are friends, Kara survived with her little family.

My English isn't perfect. As you probably noticed, it's not my native language. Hopefully, I can improve.

Oh, and I don't own DBH or any of the characters, if this wasn't obvious for some reason :)