Your POV
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I wrap my arms around myself as we go up in the elevator, waiting until we reach the right floor. Once we do, Hank and I step out, but Connor stays back.

We turn and look at him in partial confusion, Hank asking him, "Hey, Connor! You ran outta batteries or what?"

"I'm sorry, I was making a report to CyberLife," he tells us after opening his eyes.

"Uh... Well, do you plan on staying in the elevator?"

"No! I'm coming."

I chuckle a little at his reaction, causing him to glance at me and grin as he exits said elevator. I trail behind Hank with Connor right behind me.

We're in an apartment complex, heading straight for the room where the complaint had said the sounds were coming from.

"What do we know about this guy?" Hank questions as the RK800 sped up to stroll beside me.

"Not much. Just that a neighbor reported that he heard strange noises coming from this floor. Nobody's supposed to be living here, but the neighbor said he saw a man hiding a LED under his cap."

"Oh Christ, if we have to investigate every time someone hears a strange noise, we're gonna need more cops," Hank responds, tone slightly dripping in sarcasm.

"Hey, Connor, were you really making a report back there in the elevator? Just by closing your eyes?" I inquire, looking into his chocolatey brown orbs.

"Correct," he nods.

"Shit... Wish I could do that..." Hank trails off.

"Don't we all?" I joke, shaking my head.

Hank leans against the doorframe and I stand off to the side as Connor knocks on the door, calling out, "Anybody home?"

He knocks again, this time louder, "Open up! Detroit police!"

Some scuttering can be heard from behind the door, the three of us sharing a look as Hank and I pull out our guns.

"Stay behind us," Hank orders Connor, who replies as he steps behind me, "Got it."

We manage to get inside after kicking the door open, guns raised in case someone attacks. What we find instead of that is a whole bunch of birds covering the floors, countertops, everything.

"Jesus," I mutter, my senses getting obstructed by the presumptuous odor. "Pigeons?"

"What the fuck is this?!" Hank exclaims, disgusted. "Jesus, this place stinks... Uh, looks like we came for nothin', our man's gone."

"We still need to investigate," I point out before wandering around, keeping my guard up.

I cautiously open a closet, a few of the pigeons trapped inside immediately flying out above my head. I gasp a little, startled.

"Found something?" I hear Hank's voice in the background.

"I don't know... It looks like a notebook, but it's...indecipherable," Connor replies.

I find myself in the apartment's bathroom, my eyes drawn to the sink. I take a closer look, realizing that the LED of that android is lying on the outer rim of it.

"It's LED is in the sink!" I call out to the guys.

"Not surprised it was an android," Hank responds. "No human could live with all these fuckin' pigeons..."

I turn around and examine the obsessive writing on the bathroom walls.

After a moment, I hear footfalls approaching and I glance back to see that it's Connor.

"rA9," I say, "just like before."

"Any idea what it means?" Hank questions, having joined us too, apparently.

"rA9...written 2471 times. It's the same sign Ortiz's android wrote on the shower wall. Why are they obsessed with this sign..?" Connor mumbles, puzzled.

I shake my head, clueless.

Other than the whole religion and freedom aspect of it, I have no idea. Especially about where exactly it came from and why all deviants suddenly know about it.

"Looks like mazes or something," Hank comments and we all leave the bathroom.

Connor searches in a drawer and picks something up, "The driver's license is fake."

"Cool," I reply, not paying much attention as I study a jacket lying nearby.

"At least we didn't come for nothing," Hank states.

The jacket has the letters "R.T." on it, and I say to myself, "Maybe the initials."

"He put his initials on his jacket?" Hank questions, surprisingly catching what I had uttered. "That's something your mom does when you're in first grade."

"Deviants have a habit of putting their names on things," Connor responds. "It seems important to them."

I wander around some more, almost stepping on a pigeon, who flaps its wings angrily at me and flies away. I flinched from the sudden movement, hoping I didn't hurt the poor thing.

"Birdseed. I can't believe it. This nutjob was actually feeding these fuckers."

"Well, there was something about the android being from the country or farm or whatever somewhere over there," I mention, waving in some random direction. "That would explain why he's taking care of them."

Seconds later and Hank proclaims, "Agh! Jesus, I hate these things!"

I snicker at that, finding this to be rather entertaining.

Swift movement can be heard and I twist around, the deviant running away.

Hank yells, "God damn fuckin' pigeons! What are you waiting for?! Chase it!"

And just like that, Connor is after it.

We sprint after them, ending up on a rooftop minutes later as we try to cut it off.

"Stop right there!" Hank shouts at the deviant, but gets pushed over the edge.

"Hank!" I exclaim in a panic, rushing over.

He falls, clutching onto the side of the roof for dear life as he hangs, struggling to pull himself up.

The deviant runs, but I pay no mind to that as I take one of Hank's hands. Connor is by my side in an instant, taking his other hand and we get him back to safety.

"Shit! Oh shit! We had it! Fuck!" Hank exclaims in aggravation.

"It's my fault, I should have been faster," Connor states, taking the blame.

"Hey, no," I retort, setting my hand on his upper arm. "It's not your fault. It's not anyone's fault, okay? We can't catch them all the time—it's just not realistic."

Connor stares into my eyes for a moment before nodding, his features softening from his previous self-disappointment.

"You'd have caught it if it weren't for me... That's alright. We know what it looks like. We'll find it," Hank replies, walking towards the door we busted through.

"Hey, guys..?" he adds as we follow, pausing to look back at us. He hesitates before shaking his head, "Nothing."

I grin a little, knowing that that was his way of giving thanks for rescuing him.

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R U P E R T
{ Chapter Eight }

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-CastrarWolf