ANGELEYES, dbh connor

TWENTY

PEOPLE I DON'T LIKE
━━━━━━(●'ω｀●)━

AMANDA'S ZEN GARDEN LOOKS beautiful as ever as you stroll around, taking the time to admire the tall plants. It looks slightly different than usual, with more muted colors and fewer flowering bushes, but you can still appreciate it.

Strangely enough, though, her garden hasn't caught up to the sudden change in Detroit's weather. There's not a snowflake in sight.

You cross the white bridge peacefully and notice Amanda sitting in a long row-boat, holding an umbrella. She seems relaxed, which is very surprising. With a polite smile, you approach her and step into the boat.

"Hello, Y/N," she greets. "I thought you might enjoy a little cruise."

Silently, you push the rowboat away from the pathway and begin rowing at a leisurely pace as Amanda stares at the scenery. The boat gently rocks as you steer it, and for a moment, you smile at the way the current drags you.

"I love this place..." Amanda comments as you pass under the bridge. "Everything is so calm and peaceful... Far from the noise of the world..."

After a long moment of admiring the nearby reeds and toweringly tall trees, Amanda redirects her attention to you, "Tell me, what have you discovered?"

"I found two deviants at the Eden Club... I hoped to learn something but," you avoid her gaze, shamefully, "they managed to escape..." ⍌

Amanda frowns. "That's too bad... You seemed so close to stopping them." She studies you closely. From the way you stiffly row your boat, to your uncharacteristically intense expression, and she even manages to notice the small frown on your face.

"You seem...lost, Y/N. Lost and perturbed..."

"I'm neither lost nor perturbed, Amanda," you say, quickly, and grip the paddles harder. "Why would I be?" ⍌

You're lying... Why are you lying?

SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ⍓...

"You had your gun trained on those deviants at the Eden Club. Why didn't you shoot?"

You hesitate before answering, only just realizing how hard it is to impress Amanda, even slightly. She's disappointed in you. "Shooting them would not have furthered the investigation. We need them intact. My only other option was to let them go..."

She frowns at you and sighs.

Slowly, you row the boat back toward the shore.

"If your investigation doesn't make progress soon, I may have to replace you, Y/N," says Amanda and her tone is icy.

"I understand."

SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ⍓...

Suddenly, Amanda stares at you with intense eyes. The color slowly drains from her face until she is left looking like she's seen something horrible.

"Something's happening... Something serious. Hurry, Y/N. Time is running out."

YOUR EYES FLUTTER OPEN only to reveal the inside of an elevator. Hank stands to your left and Connor to your right, and both men seem to be on edge. Tension chokes the elevator out like smoke in a wasp nest and you're forced to distract yourself by thinking of Amanda's words.

Connor toys with a coin by your right.

"You're starting to piss me off with that coin, Connor," grumbles Hank as he makes a grab for it.

Connor swiftly dodges and puts the coin into his pocket with an accomplished grin, "You were already pissed off, Hank."

Hank huffs but you get the feeling that he's not particularly mad.

"79th floor," chimes the elevator's robotic voice, and the doors slide open, slowly.

Hank leaves the elevator and stops, suddenly, as if surprised by the scene, "Shit, what's going on here? There was a party and nobody told me about it?"

Officer Chris Miller nods, "Yeah, it's all over the news, so everybody's butting their nose in..." They both look at the groups of people suited up to collect evidence. "Even the FBI wants a piece of the action."

Connor joins them.

"Ah Christ, now we got the Feds on our back... I knew this was gonna be a shitty day... So what do we got?" Hank huffs, already looking exhausted beyond repair.

"A group of four androids," says Chris as he starts leading Hank and Connor toward the broadcasting room. Naturally, you follow, "They knew the building, and they were very well organized. I'm still trying to figure out how they got this far without being noticed."

"Oh yeah?" Connor raises a brow. "They did all of this just to broadcast a message?"

"Uhuh," Chris nods, "They attacked two guards in the hallway, too. They probably thought the androids were coming to do maintenance. They got taken down before they could react... One of the station employees managed to get away. He's in shock, not sure when we'll be able to talk to him."

Hank looks around the hallway. "How many people were working here?"

"Just two employees and three androids," is Chris's answer, "The deviants took the humans hostage and broadcast their message live. They made their getaway from the roof."

"The roof?" Connor says, surprised.

"Yeah, they jumped with parachutes... We're still trying to figure out where they landed, but the weather's not helping... If you want to take a look at the video broadcast by the deviants, it's on that screen over there."

The three of you walk into the broadcasting room which is buzzing with FEDS. In the middle of the room stands a man with his arms folded behind his back.

"Oh, Lieutenant, Detective, this is Special Agent Perkins from the FBI. Lieutenant Anderson is in charge of investigating for Detroit police." Chris says, politely.

As Agent Perkins turns around, you sense tension coming from your partners. Perkins has an interesting face with a long, pinched nose, thin lips, and sunken-in eyes. In more way than one, he reminds you of a walking corpse.

He stares at you judgementally, "What's that?" and Connor visibly bristles.

"My name is Y/N. I'm the... Android sent by CyberLife."

Perkins snorts in your face and spittle shoots out from his mouth, "Androids investigating androids, huh? You sure you want an android hanging around? After everything that happened..." He sends Hank a meaningful stare.

Hank glares at him stiffly and Connor scoffs, "She's doing her job."

"Whatever, the FBI will take over the investigation, you'll soon be off the case," Perkins says, a bitter smile on his face.

"Pleasure meeting you. Have a nice day," Hank says. He and Connor approach the big screen with the Androids' faces on it.

"And you watch your step," says Perkins as he walks away. "Don't fuck up my crime scene!"

He soon disappears from sight and Hank growls.

"What a fuckin' prick!"

"Right?" Connor scoffs.

Chris clears his throat awkwardly, "I'll be nearby. If you need anything, just ask."

"Uh, let's have a look around," Hank says. "If either of you two sees anything, let me know."

"Of course, Lieutenant."