Capítulo 5: Chapter Five: Russian Roulette
DATE
NOV 6TH, 2038
TIME
PM 07:51:04
THE LIGHT, CONTINUOUS PITTER PATTER OF RAIN greeted Connor's ears even before he reopened his eyes. Once he did, he found puddles forming at his feet as more droplets of water dropped onto the ground. The Zen Garden was grey and gloomy which was completely different from the bright, pristine white appearance it usually had. He held a black umbrella in his hand tightly as he started to march in the direction of Amanda.
The African-American woman was dressed in a white and grey dress with a yellow half-cardigan while she waited patiently for Connor's arrival. It was a common occurrence to see her waiting for the android and his daily report. She stood completely still, like a wall, as a few raindrops greeted her skin while she stared at Connor as he marched towards her through the light rain.
After crossing the bridge, Connor finally stood in front of the woman, "Hello, Amanda." He greeted her accordingly.
"Connor," there was no emotion in her voice, nor her face, as she stared at him blankly. Her feelings were hidden, tucked away for the time being, as she returned the androids greeting. "I've been expecting you… Would you mind a little walk?" Wordlessly, Connor moved to stand by her side while opening up the umbrella to cover both himself and Amanda. They began to walk along the stone path that surrounded the Zen Garden. "That deviant seemed to be an intriguing case." She started up the conversation while staring straight. Her lips were pulled back in a thin line as her expression was blank. There wasn't any indication to what she was feeling! She glanced at Connor briefly, "a pity you didn't manage to capture it…"
Connor stood rigidly next to her as he continued to march next to her. He understood that he had failed to capture the deviant earlier in that day, however, he had a reasonable explanation for his failure. "I had to make sure that Natalie was kept safe. Which resulted in the deviant's escape."
Amanda turned her head as she raised her nose into the air. "No matter. Did you manage to learn anything?"
"I found its diary," He started, "but it was encrypted. It may take weeks to decipher."
"What else?" Amanda still did not turn to Connor.
He continued on with another one of the findings that they had found in the deviant's apartment. "The walls of the apartment were covered with drawings of labyrinths and other symbols. Like the other deviants, it seemed obsessed with rA9."
Amanda hummed and shook her head in seeming disappointment. "You came very close to capturing that deviant…" Connor was supposed to be the leading edge in technology. He was created to accomplish his missions with accuracy and precision while grantee that the job would get done. He failed once so far and if he proved to be defective and unable to finish the job he was created to do, then they would need to replace him.
Connor continued on, "it was also fascinated by birds. We've seen deviants interested in other lifeforms like insects for pets, but nothing like this."
"How is your relationship with the Lieutenant developing?"
"It's improving. I've come to understand him better, and he's growing accustomed to my presence."
"And I hope the technician is not proving to be… difficult to comply with."
"So far, Natalie has shown to be a worthy partner and is doing well with making sure that none of my operating systems malfunction." He paused for a short moment as if debating internally about what he was going to say next. "She seemed grateful that I saved his life on the roof. She expressed it quite openly-"
"She does not pose a distraction to the investigation?" Amanda cut in before Connor could continue to talk about Natalie. She was obviously not happy with the fact that Connor was slowly becoming attached to the technician. At the moment, it didn't seem to pose any sort of problem for the prototype, however, the moment that Miss. Tyler became one, Amanda would be more than happy to rectify it.
"Not at all." Connor instantly said, "she has provided insight that have helped us with the investigation."
The two of them walked on a bridge that rested above the small pond in the Zen Garden. As Connor continued to walk for a few more paces, Amanda halted as she stared at the android with narrowed eyes. She allowed the small raindrops to kiss her skin as she pursed her lips. "We don't have much time." She warned Connor, "Deviancy continues to spread. It's only a matter of time before the media finds out about it. We need to stop this, whatever it takes."
Connor nodded his head firmly and his posture became even straighter (though it didn't seem possible that it could). "I will solve this investigation, Amanda. I won't disappoint you."
There was a pregnant pause before Amanda continued to speak while keeping a keen eye on the prototype. "A new case just came in. Find Anderson and Tyler and investigate it."
---
Natalie sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She laid on the cool, stiff mattress in her bedroom as she stared at the bland, monotone colors of her ceiling. The plain surface stared back at her blankly as her eyes dropped slightly. It seemed like it was that time of the day again…
She cursed herself for being so depressed. Then again, who isn't depressed nowadays? She scoffed lightly in her head, Ethan isn't, I guess. She wouldn't admit it out loud, but she envied her half-brother's ability to be so optimistic. She wished she could see the world through his eyes just for a day to see all of the good parts. She'd like to see herself in a good light again…
She turned over on her side and let the glowing red letters of her alarm clock glare back at her. "8:03," She deadpanned. Ethan had left an hour ago to go to his classes. It was obviously a common occurrence for him to leave their apartment to head to his university. She was proud of her brother for the fact that he had decided to go to college and delighted that he had chosen to take after her and study Physics. She suspected that after hearing about her go on and on about the subject for years he had decided to go to school for it. But she always hated how she was left alone with her own thoughts when he went to school.
She sighed through her nose and sat up slowly. Perhaps she could read something to keep her mind from drifting too far off the deep end. She reached for the book tablet that was on her nightstand and sat against her headboard. She scrolled through the news articles, nonfiction stories and fiction stories that were on the tablet. She couldn't find anything too interesting to read which ended with her throwing the book tablet onto her bed in slight frustration.
She needed something to distract her!
The voices drenched in malice and hatred were slowly seeping into her mind as they replayed their spiteful words over and over. Despite the words and voices being in her head, it was as if they were bouncing off the walls
"You've completely destroyed our family!"
"She's not my daughter!"
"You're not Natalie anymore!"
"Why didn't you just die?!"
"She's a freak of nature!
"An abomination! "
Natalie whimpered slightly at the voices of her family and buried her head in her hands as it felt like the walls were closing in on her. To think, those were the words that had slapped her in the face after she had woken up from her coma. Not only that, but they had come from the lips of her family. The people she had grown up with her entire life, the people who knew everything about her, and the people who were meant to love her unconditionally no matter what had shouted their displeasure in her survival. They had made it very clear that they would rather have her dead and buried than living and breathing as some sort of… 'abomination' as her step-father had labeled her. But he was right about what she was. She knew that now.
She let out a shaky breath before swallowing thickly. The next best thing to distract herself was to talk to someone, she realized. She couldn't call Ethan as he was in the middle of his classes, obviously. Maybe she could call Lieutenant Anderson and just go over the investigations, but she had no doubt that the man was getting drunk at a bar, so she couldn't call him either. Connor was another option, but she was sure that he must have been busy with work at CyberLife. It was quite sad to think that a woman in her late twenties barely had anyone to consider friends. Three years of solitude had cut her off completely from the outside world and effectively caused her to not only lose friends but also not gain any new ones. That could also be due to her "family" running any remaining friends she had left away from her. Seeing as she didn't have any other friends to call… There was only one other person she could think of calling.
"Evening, baby cousin." The cocky voice of Elijah Kamski greeted her ears as the image of him appeared in front of her. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your call, Nat?"
She sniffed and tried to keep her voice level, "I just needed a distraction."
Elijah's eyebrows furrowed as he leaned forward in his chair that placed in front of a window that looked out across the city. He placed down the glass of alcohol onto the table next to him as he focused on their conversation completely. He could hear the waver in her voice as it betrayed her in her attempt to hide her sorrow. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "what's wrong?"
"Nothing," Natalie denied and shook her head while fiddling with her fingers in anxiety. "Ethan's at school and I just wanted to talk to someone."
"About what?"
She bit her lip and tried to come up with something, "I-I don't know… Anything?"
"Natalie," Elijah started off sternly, "you sound upset." She stayed silent on the other end of the line. "Why do you need a distraction?"
After a moment of silence, Elijah could hear a shuddered breath from his cousin. "Do you regret what you did?" Her voice was soft and barely above a whisper. She disregarded his question as it seemed that she was lost in her own self-degrading thoughts.
"I've done a lot of things, Natalie," he sighed out, but he had an inkling feeling of what she was referring to.
"T-to me?" To hear her ask that broke his heart. "The procedure?"
He shook his head as not only the feeling of melancholy swarmed him but also rage. "I would never regret what I did for you, Natalie." His words were firm and full of outrage at the idea that she would even consider the notion he regretted even a fraction of what he did. "I saved your life, Nat, I don't regret and will never regret keeping you alive!"
He heard her sniff again on the other end of the call and he hated the fact that she questioned if he regretted saving her life. He hated how the spiteful words of their family plagued her so much. Their displeasing words had broken her down into a shell of who she used to be! There was no denying that his cousin was a spitfire in every scene of the word. She was outspoken, rebellious, cheeky, stubborn and headstrong. However, it seemed that what their family had said to her years ago were slowly eating at her from the inside. He had noticed how she became depressed after seemingly being cut off from her family three years ago. He could understand why that would happen.
He loathed his step-uncle for the blatant manipulation he had over his aunt and cousins. He detested how Ronald Tyler, his step-uncle, had forced his views on androids (Elijah's own creations) onto his children and wife. In doing so, he had forced his family to cast out Natalie, one of his own children, from their family! His hatred not only forced Natalie out of her own family but also cursed Natalie to be plagued by nightmares and doubts about her own existence. What kind of person would do that to someone they had supposedly "loved"?
"But they were right, about me being some sort of… abomination." Her voice was strained and soft, and Elijah knew that she was going to start crying. "They have a good reason to hate me…"
"Stop it, Natalie!" Elijah snapped, "they were never given a reason to hate you! They were your family who are supposed to love you no matter what. If a surgery that kept you alive caused them to hate you… then they're complete morons."
It was silent on both ends of the phone call. Neither of the cousins wanted to speak at all as they tried to collect their thoughts. Natalie's mind had halted in its downward spiral of depression as she allowed Elijah's words to consume every corner of her thoughts. She was glad that someone who was apart of her family expressed how she did matter in some way. She was delighted to hear that her cousin didn't think she was a freak experiment that he regretted creating.
Elijah coughed uncomfortably from the other end of the line, "now, if we're done with the waterworks, how's Ethan?"
Natalie sniffed and rubbed her puffy red eyes to rid herself of the tears that had started to fall. "He's f-fine," her voice squeaked out. "Fine. He's doing well at school and stuff." She smiled slightly as she was glad Elijah was trying to divert the conversation away from the sad topic. Elijah wasn't always good with different emotions, especially ones like depression.
"And how's the new job?"
She pursed her lips, "so far, it's, um… pretty good."
Elijah smiled slightly as he heard the heavy emotions dissipating from her voice. "Pretty good? I thought you would love your job, Nat!"
"I do!" Natalie exclaimed, "It's very… interesting, to say the least, but I'm enjoying it so far."
"There aren't any problems?"
Natalie hesitated and thought for a moment, "actually… we've been stuck on something that's a part of the investigation. I hope that you might know something." There was no harm in asking the creator of androids about an aspect that they had just discovered. She should at least try to cover all of her bases.
"Ask away, baby cousin!"
"Do you know anything about rA9?" She waited for an answer, but her cousin was silent on the other end of the line. She suspected that he was mulling over her question. However, she didn't know that at that moment, Elijah was having a debate internally over telling her what rA9 really was. "If you don't know, that's fine. I was just wondering if you possibly knew-"
"I've heard the term in the past," Elijah commented offhandedly.
Natalie straightened at his words, "anything about it that is… I don't know how to put it, um, peculiar?"
"I don't remember much about it, Nat." He replied quickly while trying to shield all emotion from his voice. He didn't want her to know that he did know what rA9 was.
Natalie deflated, "oh, alright. It was worth a shot." If the creator of androids didn't know what rA9 was… then who would? Before the two could continue their conversation, Natalie heard a knock from her front door. She jumped slightly due to the noise breaking her out of her thoughts and started to get out of her bed.
"It sounds like you have a guest," Elijah commented.
Natalie shuffled out of her bedroom and towards the front door with her eyebrows furrowed. "I wasn't expecting anyone, and Ethan doesn't get home until 10:30." She peered through the peephole to see who had turned up at her door so late. As soon as she saw the CyberLife prototype on the other side of the door, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Huh."
"Who's at the door?"
"Connor." She answered in slight confusion. Why was the android at her apartment?
Elijah hummed in understanding, "I guess that prototype just doesn't want to leave you alone, huh, baby cousin."
Natalie could hear the teasing behind his words which caused her to roll her eyes. Though she couldn't help herself from her lips twitching up in a smile. "Goodbye, Eli."
Elijah chuckled at how she dismissed his statement. He always loved to tease her in any way he could. He could barely count the number of times he had embarrassed her about her crushes in school. He loved seeing how flustered she would get due to his teasing! She tried to make herself out as a tough woman to just about everyone. She liked to portray herself as someone who was strong, tough, fiery along with rational and kind when needed. But he knew that she could melt into an awkward puddle if you pushed her buttons right and embarrassed her enough.
"Talk to you later, Nat."
The phone call ended with Natalie feeling far better than she was beforehand. It would surprise anyone that Elijah was able to actually display emotions such as comfort. He was only ever portrayed as a genius, emotionless, cocky inventor. There were no articles or interviews that displayed how compassionate Elijah really could be. Natalie was just glad that the image of Elijah that was shown to the public wasn't the only side that he had. If that were true, she would have hated to be related to a man like that.
More knocking pulled her out of her thoughts. "Natalie?" Connor questioned through the door. She sighed and messed around with her hair to make sure that it wasn't as messy as she knew it was. She glanced down at the clothes that she was wearing and shrugged her shoulders. She wore a baggy t-shirt(that she had a feeling was Ethan's), some short shorts and mitch-matched socks. She would definitely have to change clothes if she had to leave. She swung the door open quickly and came face to face with the android she was tasked with looking after.
Connor surveyed Natalie. Her eyes were slightly red and blotchy which were obvious signs of crying. Her cheeks were flushed and painted in tear tracks that were barely visible to any normal person, but he could see them clearly. Why was she crying? And why did his circuits tingled uncomfortably with the idea of her crying?
"Connor," Natalie breathed out through a smile as her words were drenched in confusion. "What are you doing here? I hope nothing's wrong?" She moved aside and allowed the android to enter her apartment. She ran a hand through her hair to try and tame her unruly knots. She knew that she must look a mess. With her hair knotted, face obviously flustered and clothes diseviled, Natalie was certain Connor thought something was wrong with her.
"There's a new case that we have to investigate," he explained to her.
Natalie's eyes grew wide as she bit her lip. She didn't think that there would be another case so soon! Though she wouldn't say she wasn't at least somewhat excited to do some more work with Connor and the Lieutenant. She kinda felt like she should redeem herself after she was the reason they lost the deviant. Though she has to admit that she didn't want another android to be captured and torn apart because some people didn't understand how they were developing some semblance of emotions and a conscious. "Really? Where?"
"The Eden Club," Connor started, "an android killed one of the patrons there." Natalie cringed at the mention of the infamous men's club. "We'll have to go get Lieutenant Anderson before we arrive at the crime scene."
Natalie nodded her head stiffly. As much as she didn't like the place they had to go to, she couldn't really argue. She now had a job that she had to do! "Right, where's the Lieutenant?" She asked while looking over his shoulder to find the moody, older man. However, the man was not in sight.
"I looked for Lieutenant Anderson at Jimmy's bar, but he wasn't there. So I decided to see if you were home before going to find the Lieutenant."
"Oh, alright, just give me a second to get ready!" With that said, she bounced away towards her bedroom which left Connor to gaze around the room.
When he and the Lieutenant were in the moderately sized apartment Connor didn't get a good look at the apartment itself. It was a cozy place and seemed like the perfect place to live. Connor observed the many documents and awards that were on the light colored walls. They were mainly awards and degrees that were given to Natalie for school and scientific achievements. It was a surprise to see that a woman that young could have been awarded these many awards in quite a few subjects. Natalie had degrees in physics, engineering, and criminal justice. It was obvious that Natalie was somewhat of a genius!
There were a few pictures scattered on the walls which mainly consisted of Ethan and Natalie in different places. There were a few pictures of the two Tyler siblings when they were younger with a few other people. There was an older man who Connor instantly identified as Carl Manfred, the famous painter. There were also multiple pictures of Natalie and Elijah Kamski, the creator of androids. He didn't realize that Natalie knew him! However, he supposed he found out how Natalie acquired her job so quickly. Just how she knew one of the richest men in the world was unknown to him. A final picture that was resting on a table was of an older man with short brown hair, green eyes, and a bright smile.
'DECEASED
KAMSKI, NOAH
Born: 1/15/1977 - Died: 8/5/2013
Lived: 54 Ebony Court - Detroit'
Connor stared at the picture for a long moment as he tried to find a link between Natalie and the uncle of the creator of androids. He couldn't come up with something right away. However, there was no doubt with his extensive knowledge and ability to access records Connor would be able to find the relation that the two engineers had. He could also result to actually asking Natalie about it. Perhaps that would be better.
Natalie's footsteps bounced off the walls of the small apartment as she sauntered down the hall towards Connor. He turned to see her dressed in a red t-shirt, black leggings, a pair of white sneakers and her white beanie she was currently adjusting to fit on her head. "Right, I'm ready to go," she commented as she grabbed her green sweatshirt off of a hook on the wall. It felt like her nervousness and excitement was going to fry a circuit due to the overwhelming emotions.
Connor nodded his head and smiled slightly as he saw the wide smile on her own lips. He noticed the bounce in her step as she approached him and started to lead him towards the door, "good."
---
Natalie hummed an unfamiliar tune as she watched the plethora of houses pass by the window. She tapped her fingers against her leg in time with the song as she tried to bide her time while they traveled to the Lieutenant's home. She didn't think that Lieutenant Anderson lived far away from her, but she was wrong. It "You have reached your destination. Thank you for traveling with Detroit Taxis. We look forward to seeing you again soon." The taxi's automated voice pulled Natalie from her thoughts.
Connor and Natalie stepped out of the self-driving taxi and approached the house in front of them. It wasn't a terrible looking house. If anything, Natalie thought that it would be a nice house to live in. Though she did think that it would need some fixing up as the paint appeared to be chipped on the outside and the yard was slightly overgrown.
The two of them approached the door of the Lieutenant's home and Connor knocked on the door. "Lieutenant Anderson? Anybody home?" There was no answer. The android then tried the doorbell which allowed the obnoxious sound to ring loudly.
"Are you sure he's home?" Natalie couldn't help but ask with a sigh as she looked at Connor.
The android nodded his head firmly, "I am certain that he is here."
"Well, maybe he's asleep or something?" She suggested weakly. She didn't really want to admit that it was possible that the Lieutenant was ignoring their calls because he didn't want to be bothered with them. He was slightly annoyed with their presence beforehand, at least Natalie thought he was. Connor disregarded her thoughts and rang the doorbell again which still did not receive an answer. Natalie played with the ends of her hair as she shrugged her shoulders, "what do we do now?"
Connor stood for a moment and contemplated his choices. He had to get Hank in order to continue his investigation. He could have traveled with Natalie to the Eden Club and looked around themselves, however, he was instructed to investigate with Hank. There was no other choice but to go with him. "We need to find a way in."
Natalie watched with skeptical eyes as Connor walked down the steps and began to look through the windows. She hesitated slightly as she watched him peer through the front windows before moving to go to the back of the house. Natalie quickly followed after him to make sure that he didn't do anything rash.
Natalie trailed after Connor as they walked around the back of the home. She felt quite weird that she was peeking into the Lieutenant's windows. She also didn't want a neighbor to see them peaking in and confront them about it. Though as soon as they looked through the window that led into the kitchen, she was glad that Connor was adamant about getting the Lieutenant.
"My God!"
Inside his kitchen, the Lieutenant was lying unconscious on the ground. Why he was on the ground was unknown to either of the two but that didn't really matter. What mattered was making sure that the man was at least okay.
Without a second's hesitation, Connor broke the window and tumbled through it. Natalie watched with wide eyes and her mouth agape in shock. She watched as Connor came face to face with a large Saint Bernard dog, Sumo. "Argh!.. Easy!.. Sumo… I'm your friend, see?.. I know your name… I'm here to save your owner…"
Natalie nimbly climbed through the window, unlike Connor who had jumped through clumsily, and tripped over her own feet onto the android. "Sorry!" She quickly climbed off of Connor with embarrassment washing each of her circuits. She cleared her throat and walked over towards the unmoving man.
They maneuvered around the kitchen to get closer to the unconscious Lieutenant's side to examine him. They could both tell that he was still alive due to his shallow breathing which caused Natalie to sigh in relief. She had no idea what she would do if the lieutenant had died. Considering she had only known the man barely a day… no, she wouldn't dwell on that. What mattered was waking the poor man up. Though Natalie's stomach flipped when she noticed the .357 Magnum that rested next to his head. There was only one bullet remaining and Natalie had a feeling she knew why. Oh god… She thought in dismay.
"Lieutenant?" Natalie bent down asked shakily while shaking his shoulder which got her no reaction.
She glanced up at Connor for help, "Lieutenant?" He asked and patted the man on his cheek. "Wake up, Lieutenant!" Natalie had to hold in her laughter when Connor suddenly slapped Hank across the face in order to get him to wake up. "It's us, Connor and Natalie! I'm going to sober you up for your own safety." He lifted Hank by his arm and started to pull him up. Natalie jumped over to his other side and helped Connor lift the man up.
"Hey!.. Leave me alone, you fuckin' android!" Hank grumbled out as it was still clear he was being affected by the alcohol.
Connor disregarded his exclamation as did Natalie, "I have to warn you, this may be unpleasant."
"Get the fuck outta my house!"
Natalie huffed as the two lifted him up properly as he swayed on his feet, "Not a chance, Lieutenant."
"Thank you in advance for your cooperation," Connor commented as the two started to drag Hank on his feet to walk out of his messy kitchen.
"Hey! Get the fuck outta here!" They hefted Hank towards the bathroom in hopes of actually sobering the drunk man up. "Sumo! Attack!" His dog only baked in reply which caused Natalie to laugh lightly. She couldn't see that large furball really hurting anyone. "Good dog. Attack!" They got to the bathroom door and Natalie moved to wretch it open as Connor continued to hold the swaying drunk from falling over. "Fuck, I think I'm gonna be sick…"
"That's what happens when you drink too much, Lieutenant!" Natalie sassed as she moved to grab him again and bring him into the bathroom along with Connor.
"Ah! Leave me alone, you assholes! I'm not going anywhere…" Hank tried to stop his two partners from dragging him further by grabbing the wall. However, that didn't work well for him as he was still highly intoxicated and had little strength when compared to the other two who were carrying his ass towards the bath. "What the hell are you doing?.." They set him down on the edge of his tub, "I don't wanna bath, thank you…"
Natalie chuckled and pushed him back into the tub which caused him to fall in completely, "like you have a choice."
"Sorry, Lieutenant." Connor commented as the two gazed down at the intoxicated man, "it's for your own good."
Natalie motioned at the knobs of the bathtub to Connor with mischief swimming in her eyes as she pressed her lips together to stop herself from snickering. Connor shrugged his shoulders and moved towards the knobs in order to turn them on. Cold water sprayed down onto Hank from the shower head above him.
The method instantly seemed to sober him up as he began flailing about in the tub and begging for either one of them to turn it off. "TURN IT OFF! TURN IT OFF!" Connor finally let the man's misery end as he turned the water off once he saw that Hank was awake enough. Hank took big deep breaths to calm himself down as his mind became clear enough to ask rational questions. "What the fuck are you two doing here?"
Natalie snorted at him which earned a glare from the soaking wet Lieutenant. She tried to flash him her most teasing smile but a weight settled in her stomach as she recalled how they found the Lieutenant in his kitchen. Russian Roulette, she sighed in her mind. She now realized why Hank may have been acting so moody and agitated. Honestly, she couldn't blame him for it, as she has been in the same dark hole as him. She was quite sure that she still hadn't crawled out of it.
"A homicide was reported 43 minutes ago." Connor started to explain as neither of them noticed the turmoil that swirled in Natalie. "I couldn't find you at Jimmy's bar, so I found Natalie and the two of us came to see if you were at home."
"Jesus, I must be the only cop in the world that gets assaulted in his own house by his own fuckin' android and its babysitter…" Natalie opened her mouth to interject on his comment but she bit her tongue. "Can't you guys just leave me alone?"
"Unfortunately, we cannot. I've been programmed to investigate this case and we can't do it without you."
Hank rolled his eyes, "I don't give a shit about your goddamn case!"
"Lieutenant," Natalie sighed and tried to reason with him the best she could with a soft voice, "you're not yourself. You should-"
"Beat it! You hear me?!" She jumped at his sudden shout though she couldn't blame him for his agitated behavior. "Get the hell outta here!"
The trio was silent for a moment as Hank's shout resonated slightly in the room. Natalie sighed through her nose heavily and shook her head slightly. Connor noticed Natalie's slight jump and cleared his throat, "I understand. It probably wasn't interesting anyway…" Natalie watched him with a raised eyebrow as his voice held a teasing tone. Connor turned to start leaving the room. "A man found dead in a sex club downtown... Guess they'll have to solve the case without us…"
Hank hesitated, but Natalie was able to tell that Connor's teasing had gotten to him. She couldn't help herself but smirk as she knew Hank was suddenly interested in the case. Of course, as soon as Connor mentioned it was at a sex club, Hank was definitely going to be interested in it. "You know, probably wouldn't do me any harm to get some air... There're some clothes in the bedroom there."
Natalie swore she saw Connor smirk in triumph, "I'll go get them." As Connor went into Hank's bedroom in search of some clothes, Natalie crossed her arms over her chest. She watched Hank with a calculating stare as she assessed the obviously depressed man. She observed the rest of the bathroom and noticed the sticky notes that were obviously there to encourage him through his day. God, she and the lieutenant were far more alike than she first thought… "What do you want to wear?"
"Whatever," Hank grumbled out as it looked like he was about to be sick.
Connor came back into the bathroom just as Hank had started to throw up into the toilet after scrambling over to it. Natalie's eyes flashed in concern, an emotion she would exhibit for the Lieutenant at any point. Her voice was soft and had an undertone of understanding that went over the older man's head, as he was too busy being sick. Of course, Connor noticed it, however. "Are you all right, Lieutenant?"
"Yeah...yeah...wonderful... Just a... Give me five minutes, okay?"
Connor nodded his head, "Sure." He and Natalie then exited the bathroom to give Hank privacy and time to collect himself. Natalie shot him one final unsure look before closing the door.
The two were left with nothing to do but wait for the Lieutenant to finish getting ready for the case that they had to get to. Natalie looked around the home just as Connor did in hers and he was doing at that moment. She avoided the gun that was laying on the kitchen floor next to a half-empty bottle of alcohol. Even its close proximity to her brought back horrible memories.
Though she could help herself but glance at the doorway to the kitchen where she knew it was quickly a few times as she tried to busy herself with looking at the jazz albums that Hank had. To think, Natalie and Hank were in the same position as each other when they didn't seem to share any other sort of traits.
"Sorry about the window, Lieutenant," Connor called as he looked at the broken window that he and Natalie had climbed through(more like jumped through, in his case). "I really thought you'd been attacked. Of course, CyberLife will pay for the damage."
They heard Hank grunt, "yeah, trust me, I'll send 'em a bill…"
Connor continued to look around the kitchen as he came to stand above the revolver that they found next to the Lieutenant. "What were you doing with the gun?" Out of the corner of his eye, he was able to see Natalie flinch. He noticed that ever since she had first seen the gun, she had become far more quiet and jumpy. Perhaps she just feared guns. But that theory didn't add up, as she'd been around quite a few in the past few hours due to her new job working with him at the police station. Why was it that this gun caused her to become squeamish?
"Russian roulette!" Hank called like it was no big deal. "Wanted to see how long I could last... Must've collapsed before I found out…"
Natalie took in a shuttered breath and tried to disregard his offhand comment. She tried to ignore it in hopes of warning away any sort of… less than happy thoughts that had only just stopped invading her mind ever since Connor had picked her up.
"You were lucky, the next shot would have killed you." He observed the revolver as Natalie moved over to the table that was littered with trash. His home was in a dire need of a thorough cleaning. Also on the table was a picture frame that was flipped upside down. Curiosity got the better of her as she flipped it over to come face to face with a small boy. He looked quite happy and lively and appeared to be maybe six years old. Of course, the facts slapped Natalie in the face when the world seemed to stop around her and the information about the poor boy appeared next to the picture frame.
'DECEASED
ANDERSON, COLE
Born: 9/23/2020 - Died: 10/11/2035
Lived: 115 Michigan Drive - Detroit'
"Oh," was all she could get out quietly as he throat became dry. Connor looked over the woman's shoulder and found the same information as she did. However, due to him being an android, his reaction was far less emotional than her own.
Natalie reluctantly placed the picture down on the table neatly and properly. Just then, Hank's bathroom door was ripped open as the man himself came shuffling out. He was an outfit that could really only be described as 'streaky'.
Natalie tried to collect herself after finding out about the Lieutenant's apparent dead son. "Looking good, Lieutenant," Natalie flashed him a smirk that didn't reach her ears.
Hank rolled his eyes at her comment that he knew was meant to be teasing. He nodded to his large dog, "Be a good dog, Sumo. I won't be long." With that said, he led the other two out of his home and towards his car. They all hopped into it (Natalie opted for the back seat so she could lay down) and allowed Connor to drive to the newest crime scene at the Eden Club.
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