The number of androids turning deviant was skyrocketing. The machines rebelling against their masters and turning on those who built them were multiplying by the day with the threat of an actual uprising only becoming more realistic by the hour. Once only a crazy fantasy babbled by old anti-android loons who feared doomsday would fall upon the world in vengeance for creating the hodgepodge semblance of life in metal and plastic -- An uprising now seemed an impending reality.

The newly advanced Hunt-Kill model android was designed to locate these malfunctioning machines and terminate them before they became a threat to humanity or, more importantly, Cyberlife's reputation. The creation was a prototype, designed specifically for this mission and well equipped to carry it out however its million dollar processing system deemed necessary. Cold, unfeeling, and wholeheartedly unalive, the android was designed to succeed where all else failed.

The machine's title was shortened to HK800 for convenience sake (And likely to lessen the number of nightmares such a title gave. He was well aware of this. The information was ever present in his endless memory storage unit and accessible to him in a moment's notice along with the collective information pool of the web, giving the android access to virtually all human knowledge in a millisecond's time. What the police prototype did not know, however, was why he was still standing in front of an aggravatingly person-less desk at half past noon.

Despite Cyberlife's boundless assurances that HK800 could handle itself, the Captain of the force, one Amanda Stern, had insisted that she had no desire for a masterless android to be running amuck in her department. So, per the woman's request, the prototype was assigned a human companion to look over the investigation. A "partner" on paper but cataloged as nothing but a ticket into android free zones in HK800's data storage.

However, the android was quite near considering changing this previous title to "Hindrance." The prototype police model was currently standing stiff legged staring at an empty chair alongside a messy desk in the middle of the bustling Detroit Police Department as if simply glaring at the piece of furniture hard enough would cause it to bend under his will and call forth the human who was supposed to have sat in it four hours ago. Four hours. That's how long HK800 had been in this goddamned police department with not a single sign of a Detective Connor Anderson to show for it.

HK800 had been running searches to gather information on the absent person since his Cyberlife handler - an AI by the name of Jeffrey who must have some sort of design flaw because no one in their right mind would ever purposely program such a goddamn prick - had given him the name. A few quick Google searches had brought forth the knowledge that Detective Anderson played a key role in the breakup of the rapidly mounting party scene. Apparently, the guy was solely responsible for infiltrating and exposing Eden Club, previously the biggest party joint in town, for the underground hub of dirty deals and dark secrets it truly was.

As androids were introduced to the world, thirium came with them, the complex substance coursing through the wires every moving machine to power their biocomponents and keep them running. An unexpected complication came along with this new development, however: The opioid effects of the engineering miracle. Newer, better drugs with a stronger high and an even stronger crash to match were produced by the bucket loads and the underground industry had been thriving - with thirium at the root of it all. This increase led to a sudden influx of crime on the party scene, quickly shifting the scale from minor vandalism and occasional overdoses to cartels and homicides. Detroit had been a mess but; under Detective Anderson's crafty direction, the city had since been cleaned up immensely. At least you could walk outside without seeing someone shoot up on the street corner nowadays.

Hitherto, HK800 had cataloged this as the most noteworthy thing about the man he was supposedly assigned to act as a partner to but the android since bumped the knowledge down on his list to prioritize the new found discovery that the famed detective was, in no one's book, punctual.

"What time should I expect Detective Anderson to arrive?" The police model prototype abruptly posed the sudden inquisition to the nearest human in his vicinity, a man of African descent who set off no immediate warnings in the android's processing system and continued to show no signs of hostility as he turned to glance back in the machine's direction.

"Ah man, we'll be lucky if we see Connor before tomorrow." The man scoffed lightly, his voice far higher pitched than the deep tones HK800 had been expecting. The guy shook his head almost sympathetically and an apologetic smile tugged gently at the right corner of his full lips as he spoke. The android's processors instantly classified the reaction as positive and registered to his social relations protocol for future reference if interaction with this individual were to occur again. "If he ain't in by noon, he's probably not coming." The guy explained, likely urged to elaborate by the befuddled frown HK800 felt his lips tug down into at the response. Even though the android could feel no actual emotion, he had been programmed to express a reflection of such to better meld with humans.

"Thank you." HK800 dismissed the man politely, letting the glowing ring fit into his temple pulse yellow for a moment as his processors ran a brief facial scan of the policeman and identified him as Chris Miller - Husband to Elina Miller and father to one child, a Damian Miller, no crime record to speak of, and, now, "non-hostile" under HK800's relations data.

"Have you tried calling him?" Chris suggested helpfully, obviously trying to aid the android as the man was actually already beginning to reach for his own phone lying on the edge of his desk, which HK800 had to note was immeasurably more well-organized than Connor's. "Connor's a lazy bum but he's an alright guy. If he knows someone's waiting for him, he'll probably show." The policeman explained his reasoning with a light shrug, seeming more amused by his coworker's inability to show up to work than anything else.

"I contacted his cell through the station's phone upon arrival." HK800 confirmed professionally, his voice as flat and emotionless as ever even in the face of Chris's casual attitude and laid back view of the situation. To the android, Detective Anderson failing to show up entirely was no excusable matter. It was the machine's soul purpose to solve this case and the fact that this unreliable human was already slowing that process officially sealed the detective's fate in HK800's eyes. The android officially was no longer tempted to label the detective as "Hindrance" in his relations data but was actually doing so.

Jeffrey Fowler: Trusted

Chris Miller: Non-Hostile

Connor Anderson: Hindrance

"Ah, waste of time." Chris dismissed the new piece of information with an offhanded wave. "Connor won't answer the station number when he's off. Gimme a sec, I'll call him." The policeman offered, plucking his phone from where it still sat at the edge of his desk and listlessly beginning to poke at a few buttons with what could only be well-practiced routine before HK800 could even get out his preprogrammed gratitudinal response.

"Thank you." The android still offered despite the fact that Chris was already bringing the phone to his ear and likely wasn't listening to anything in the police station anymore. A dial tone sounded lightly through the relative silence that succeeded the conversation, the only other sound besides the constant thrum of soft background noise pulsing through the bustling police department. The gurgle of coffee being poured and the hiss of steam that came with it. A woman giddily whispering about her boyfriend finally popping the question followed by hushed aws and congratulations. The pointed buzz of a hand scanner denying an unaccompanied android access to a side room before a more pleasant sounding beep indicated a human had joined the wayward droid and opened the door.

The sound of the line being picked up could barely be heard before HK800 blinked his stormy blue eyes once and tapped into the call, toning out the world around him as mere white noise in the shadows as he pulled the electronic device's audio into his own head and put it at the foreground of his attention. Usually, the android would refrain from such behavior as he was well aware most humans would consider such a thing rude but all the internet had to offer the police prototype on his unwanted accomplice was that Detective Anderson was good at his job when he actually showed up to it - Not much information to form a "partnership" on. Unfortunately, HK800 should probably strive to do just that if he wanted to ensure their investigation ran as smoothly as possible.

Form Partnership With Connor

→ Learn more about Connor

The side mission presented itself in the corner of HK800's vision, a translucent gray square with bold white text printed across it in Cyberlife Sans, and the android categorized the task just below his primary mission - Creating a subsect of the investigation the machine would strive to achieve but would never prioritize over his main goal.

"Hello..?" A groggy voice groaned tiredly through Chris's phone, light and lilting even through the thick syrup of mumbled exhaustion that nearly smothered the word out entirely. Detective Anderson's voice was sticky with sleep and drug on every syllable like honey that had been left in a refrigerator too long.

"Were you seriously sleeping?" Chris snorted sharply. The guy shook his head exasperatedly and rolled his dark eyes heavily toward the back of his skull despite the fact that Connor obviously could see neither of these pointed gestures.

"Yes." The freshly woken detective grumbled in a practically miffed tone, Detective Anderson apparently too disoriented with the haze of sleep to understand such a complex concept as rhetorical questions at the moment.

"Connor, it's half past noon!" Chris groaned heavily, throwing an annoyed hand against his forehead with a smack loud enough even Connor had to be able to hear it before dragging the limb slowly down his face to stretch the malleable skin there with a moan of utter disappointment.

"Your point being?" Connor inquired snarkily; but all the jibe elicited from Chris was a sharp snort that somehow managed to sound as friendly as it did chiding. "Look, Chris, I didn't sleep well last night. I'm tired." The detective went on, the utter exhaustion clinging to every moaned word leaving no doubt that the statement was entirely true. "Please lemme go back to sleep, man." Anderson finally finished with a hint of begging making his already lilting voice waiver into whiny territory but his friend merely sighed out a heavy breath of air in response.

"No, dude, you gotta come in." Chris insisted far more gently than HK800 would've. Yet the response still tore an absolutely miserable groan of protest from Connor's mouth that the android could've heard even had he not been tapped into the call itself and Chris pulled the phone away from his ear with a disgruntled grimace. "You've got a silver fox waiting for you." The policeman offered cheekily, pausing to cast a quick glance back at HK800 only to shoot the machine a awkward smile upon finding the android's gaze upon him. The officer moved the electronic communications device back towards its normal position; but the man inherently had no need to perform the miniscule action of bringing the phone back to his ear... HK800 had never heard anyone hang up a phone so fast.

"He's on his way." Chris merrily informed the android, turning back to shoot the machine an almost victorious looking smile as he spoke and placed his phone back on his desk.