Reader's perspective

"Calm your farm, I'm coming dammit!" (Y/N) yelled from the front door as Hank impatiently honked the horn. She pressed a kiss to her dog's head.

"I'll be back soon bud. Don't trash the house."

Hank beeped the car horn even more now.

"Alright! Alright! Jesus." She gave Blue's fur a ruffle before locking the door behind her, pulling the jacket over her red t-shirt before hastily reaching down to tie up her shoes, her elbows scuffed against the texture of her washed out jeans.

"I realise it's that time of day & you're hungry but can you please have some freaking patience?" She didn't say this directly to Hank, but more to herself, jumping down the small lot of stairs that led away from her house.

She slid into the backseat.

"'Afternoon to you both."

"We're heading to the usual place, you want anything?"

"No thanks, I'm not hungry. Let's just duck in, get this all done, duck out."

That was the last thing that was said before she strapped on her seatbelt & the car started moving.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The car pulled to a halt, signalling to a dazed (Y/N) that they'd arrived at the Chicken Feed. She watched Hank walk across the road, almost getting run down by a passing vehicle.

"Whoa! Hey! Hey! Hey!"

"Even when he's sobered up, sometimes I question his sanity." (Y/N) shook her head, exiting the car.

"Hank. How' you going?"

"Eh, you know, same old shit."

"Plastic with you?"

"Only temporary..."

Whilst she waited for Hank to finish his conversation, she heard a door close behind her. Connor gave her a confused look, his LED yellow as he tried to define what was going on.

"Hey, hey, hey! Hank! How you doin' man?"

(Y/N) shook her head, knowing what Pedro was about to propose to her partner.

"Come on Connor, 'can't leave Anderson unattended."

They both made their way to the small sandwich joint.

"Hey, listen, I got a shit-hot tip for you. Number five in the third, Lickety-split!  That filly's one hell of a chaser. You wanna flutter?"

"The last shit-hot tip you gave me set me back a week's wage, Pedro." (Y/N) walked up to them both, her hands in her pockets.

"Had to listen to him whinge about it when he was deadbeat drunk, too." She rolled her eyes.

"Come on, this is different, it's 100% guaranteed. You can't go wrong."

"Yeah, right...
Alright, I'm in."

She watched Hank hand Pedro the money.

"Damn straight! You won't regret this. What 'bout you (Y/N)?"
"Pedro, you know exactly what I'm going to say.  Not interested in betting, never will be."

Pedro nodded, walking away. (Y/N) heaved a sigh.

"I have a feeling you will regret this Anderson."
"Meh. You win some you lose some."

Connor approached them both, placing himself in the space between Hank & (Y/N). The Lieutenant noticed this.

"What is your problem? Don't you ever do as you're told?"

Connor didn't respond.

"Look, you don't have to follow me around like a poodle."

(Y/N) saw the android blink repeatedly, not as if he was taken aback by the words but as if he was determining his next move.

"I'm sorry for my behaviour back at the police station. I didn't mean to be unpleasant."

"Oh wow." Hank chuckled. "You've even got a brown-nosing apology program. Guys at Cyberlife thought of everything, huh?"

The RK800 collected his hands behind his back. Gary passed Hank's sandwich & drink to him.

"Here you go."

"Ah. Thanks Gary, I'm starving."

"Good to see you (Y/N), can I get you anything?"
"Nice seeing you too Gary, but I'll pass."

The two human partners started walking towards a table.

"Don't leave that thing here!" Gary exclaimed.
"Huh, not a chance! Follows me everywhere..." Hank huffed.

The two officers planted themselves near a table, Connor following.

"See?"

Hank was already stuffing his face with food.

"This Pedro...He was proposing illegal gambling. Am I right?" Connor asked.
"Yeah."
"And you made a bet?"
"Yeah."

He leaned back after hearing Hank's response.

"Your meal contains 1.4 times the recommended daily intake of calories & twice the cholesterol level, Detective (L/N) was right to turn it down. You shouldn't eat that."
"Everybody's gotta die of something."

(Y/N) sneezed, breaking the silence.

"Bless you."
"Thank you, Connor. Now, I'm allergic to awkward silences so can we please talk like normal people do?"

The RK800 focused back on Hank.

"Is there anything you'd like to know about me?"

"Actually-"
"Hell no." Anderson interrupted (L/N), causing the woman to roll her eyes, leaning her elbows on the tabletop.

"Well, yeah, um. Why did they make you look so goofy & give you that weird voice?"
"Cyberlife androids are designed to work harmoniously with humans. Both my appearance, & voice were specifically designed to facilitate my integration."

"Well they fucked up."
(Y/N) shook her head.

"Maybe I should tell you what we know about deviants?"
"You read my mind. Proceed."

"We believe that a mutation occurs in the software of some androids, which can lead to them emulating a human emotion."

"In English please." Hank heaved a sigh.
This time (Y/N) answered.
"Shit happens, the android has no choice but to react in an unpredictable way. People think they don't exactly 'feel' but instead 'act' their emotions since they're...."

Machines.

They're Machines.

Just say it.

But...was it true? Were they?

Were they just machines?

Or were they alive & capable of doing spectacular things?

Were they living beings who could laugh & love the same way humans do?
Was deviation....

Really such a bad thing?

"Machines. They're machines, Detective."

"Sure, whatever." She spat harshly.

"Emotions always screw everything up." Hank sat his drink down.

"Amen to that..." The woman muttered under her breath.

"Maybe androids aren't as different from us as we thought. Hm. You ever dealt with deviants before?"

Connor seemed to be staring off into space for a brief minute.

"A few months back...A deviant was threatening to jump off the roof with a little girl." (Y/N)'s eyes widened & her breath hitched in the back of her throat.

"I managed to save her."

"God, I feel sorry for her parents." She held the bridge of her nose.

"So I guess you've done all your homework, right? Know everything there is to know about us?"

"I know you graduated top of your class. You made a name for yourself in several cases, & became the youngest Lieutenant in Detroit. I also know you've received several disciplinary warnings in recent years & you spend a lot of time in bars.
As for Detective (L/N), you were assigned to a higher rank than what was expected of your age group. Your supervising major said you were 'hot-headed but cunning' & that was what made you such a great officer. I know you lost your parents on a flight to Tokyo & because of that you left Australia to join the DPD. Their death was also the reason you acquired a drinking habit earlier in your career, but you picked yourself up & that only made you better at your job."

"Easy there, Connor. Don't go feeding the hounds known as (L/N)'s ego."

"You're full of shit, Anderson. My ego's the size of a Pomeranian." She turned back to Connor. "So, what's your conclusion? How would you sum us knuckleheads up?" (Y/N) asked with a lopsided smile.

"I think...working with two officers with personal issues is an added challenge, but, adapting to human unpredictability is one of my features." He stated smugly, throwing a wink in at the last phrase which made (Y/N)'s cheeks warm up. His LED flashed a bright yellow.

"I just got a report of a suspected deviant. It's a few blocks away." His eyes wandered to the car. "We should go have a look. I'll let you finish your meal. I'll be in the car if you need me."

They watched him walk away, Hank realising the pink flush that still sat across the woman's cheeks.

"I don't fucking believe it."

"W-what?"

"You're crushing on the plastic asshole, aren't you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." She turned her face away from him.

"Yeah, sure you don't. Not like you love the plastic prick."

"Love? Do you know what love is, Hank?" She smirked.

"Don't come at me with that fucking Johnny Cash shit or I swear to god, (L/N)." He pointed an accusing finger at her.

There was a brief silence.

"Love, is a burning thing." She whispered under her breath.

"That's it. I'm quitting."