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dbhilluminate · 5 years ago

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DBH: Illuminate- Hit and Run (part 2)

Characters: Connor-50 / Z, Dennis, Nick, Kate, Connor-51 / RK, Axl Word Count: 5,857

Axl spots a trine of RK800's entering Detroit on a bus inbound from Belle Isle- Kate moves to tail them with the intention of finding out why they're there, but is spotted by Connor's doppelganger and forced to do something she regrets in order to escape.

( Chapter Art by triple_jays_art , Co-authored by grayorca15)

Previous Chapter

• Chapter Index • Characters •

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November 12th, 2038 This certainly wasn’t what Kate anticipated she’d be doing with her afternoon. Most days, if she wasn’t focused on any particular task, she’d spend her spare time combing the city for anything of interest, which could be defined as a variety of chores. Some days she found stray deviants in need of a hand, sometimes she’d take the opportunity to dig for information; sometimes it just meant rounding up supplies for Jericho’s ever-growing refugee population, or checking in with contacts she hadn’t spoken to in a while. But today was different. Today it was three unforeseen RK800s in disguise on a bus, inbound to the Rosa Parks terminal- or at least, that was what she’d been told. How it was even possible that a doppelgänger (let alone three) of a supposedly unique model of android was just as important a question as the why. Illuminate hadn’t exactly done anything in particular to upset the media lately, but then again, DCPD hadn’t made any significant discoveries in the deviancy case, either. And if they had more than one unit lying around unused, why wouldn’t Cyberlife send backup to hasten their progress? The last twenty hours had been anything but dull, in spite of this pressing revelation. Ill-prepared as she was for their arrival, Kate had been waist-deep in preparations for Markus’ broadcast from the Stratford Tower since she’d last spoken with Cyberlife’s resident Android liaison within DCPD the night before. Following her conversation with Connor, Kate returned to Jericho at Markus’ request to find him agonizing over what to include in his speech. Although she had specifically told him she would contact him when Illuminate was ready to brief them on the plan, his tired tone spoke volumes to what he’d really been wrestling with. Even though he’d had two days to prepare by the time she made it back, he’d gotten a whole lot of nothing accomplished in that time. Between Josh’s suggestion to take a pacifistic approach, North’s insistence that he phrase it more like a list of demands, and Simon’s ever-neutral ‘do what you feel is right’ stance, he was having a hard time hearing his own thoughts. Markus was desperate to speak with someone who could ‘see reason’- and by that, of course, he meant someone who had considered all the angles, who could see the bigger picture. She couldn’t really argue against that: as much as she liked Josh and could appreciate North’s passion, they were extremes on opposite ends of a very flammable argument, one which would undoubtedly either blow up in their faces or result in humanity slamming the door on compromise for good. What he needed was to speak with someone with a little more verbal finesse, who could hold the middle ground in an argument that held enough weight to balance the scales, but had the potential to tip them favorably when the time was right. Reluctantly, Kate agreed on the condition they give her crew one more day to finish preparations, since her visit would be taking time away from her ability to do so. While Markus had eagerly accepted her bargain, neither had anticipated just how long it would take for them to reach a consensus, in spite of how closely their opinions mirrored each other’s. For seven hours they went back and forth between lectures, debates (to which she’d played devil's advocate), and half a dozen games of chess. In the end, Markus found the message he was looking for (just the right balance of informative and ominous). But what came afterward had her seriously doubting whether he would have ever been able to pull this off, had he not had Illuminate at his aid. “I’ve been thinking about how we could get into the broadcast control room at the Stratford Tower.” “You what…?”

Kate put on a straight face, smothered the impulse to press her fingers into her eyes and sigh heavily, and humored him in spite of how asinine his suggestion that they just walk through the front door really was, when there were less conspicuous alternatives than showing every camera in the Stratford Tower their faces.

“As long as we don’t act strange and look like we belong there, no one will question our presence.” “Yeah, and I get not wanting to draw attention to yourself but still, it’s just not the best idea,” was all she could manage after a pause. Markus sighed in frustration. “Will you just… listen? Before you make your decision?” Kate had a feeling she knew how this conversation would end, but granted his wish and gestured for him to continue. “I’ll take the elevator up to the forty-seventh floor, change into a disguise as a working android-” “Stop- hang on a second,” she interjected to hold up a hand between them, as she tried to understand the thought process behind something so unnecessary. Already, he was losing her. “Why would you need to pretend to be a human… just so you could pretend to be a service Android?” “A quick change to throw off suspicion?” “But you literally just said that was the purpose of going through the front door- to not draw attention to yourself. If someone sees you enter the bathroom wearing one thing and leaving wearing something else, much less android clothing, they’ll get suspicious.” “Then we’ll just have to hope they don’t notice.” “Or, you enter through the sublevels of the tower as a working android and use prejudice to your advantage. Service androids are all over and those armbands make you invisible to humans, no one’s gonna think twice about why you’re here instead of there.” Markus paused for a moment to consider her suggestion before he nodded in agreement. “Okay… but we still need access to the server room on that floor.” “Those aren’t servers, it’s just a patch closet,” she corrected, “But you can still use them to gain access to their network.” So far, this was the first part of his plan that made logical sense. “Why do you need to get in there- to gain access to their security feed?” “No, to gain access to the window wash lifts.” Kate’s thought process came to a screeching halt, only this time she couldn’t hold back the condescending look that came as a package deal with the slow, confused blinking. “...and… why would you need access to those?” “To reach the top floor.” As much as she wanted to point out how they could just take the service elevator to do that, she held her tongue. “And... how do you expect to get out onto it?” “We cut a hole in the glass, crawl out onto the lift, and climb the cables for the other lifts-” “Markus...” The exasperated utterance of his name was a plea for him to stop in and of itself. “This is completely absurd. This isn't Mission: Impossible, and the Stratford Tower isn’t Fort Knox.” “If they see us enter the room, but don’t see us come out, they’ll assume we’re still working. No one would be the wiser to what we’re doing,” he insisted. “That’s assuming they don’t also have security cameras in the server rooms... which they will,” she reminded pointedly, “But never mind that- what then?” “From there, we cut a hole in the window of the top floor, re-enter and rendezvous with Simon and Josh-” “And how are they getting up there?” Markus hesitated to answer. Based on his reaction to the advice she’d given him as she deconstructed the first part of the plan, and the embarrassed shift of his eyes at her question, she could tell he was reconsidering. Kate lifted her brows expectantly to prod the question out of him. “... the maintenance elevator for construction.” he mumbled at last. Kate was silent for almost a full minute as she sat there processing what he’d just come back around full circle to. Disbelief painted her face as she took in a deep, calming breath, tented her fingers before her face, and covered her nose and lips to hide the annoyed twitch in her cheek. “...If you had no purpose for getting into the server room other than to gain access to the window wash lifts... and if they can get to the top floor without having to do any of what you’re suggesting… then why don’t you just save yourselves the trouble and all take the maintenance elevator?” As anticipated, Markus didn’t have an explanation ready. In his bewildered silence, she continued the train of thought. “Or better yet- take the fire escape with only a handful of security cameras in the stairwell that will take you right to the top of the tower. Why do any of this and risk getting caught doing something you shouldn’t be doing?” Markus’ eyes darted through empty air for a full minute as he searched for a reason, but sighed sheepishly and conceded her logic when he found nothing. “You’re right… I’m overthinking this.” “You’re making a very simple solution needlessly complicated,” she agreed with a sigh and a soft hand on his shoulder. “I said I’d get you in and I will, so just leave the planning to us. We have a lot of experience with these kinds of ops.” “So what would you suggest?” “You just focus on making your speech and getting out before security shows up. We can get you badges for access no problem, you shouldn’t need uniforms. Getting you in isn’t the hard part, it’s getting out before you get caught that’s the problem,” she explained as she rummaged through her bag for her tablet. “I actually have an idea for that,” Markus chimed in, “And I think you’re gonna like it.” Kate gave him a tired look, sighed, and nodded as she waited for his response. “The only way out, once security is alerted, is up- on the top floor, that takes you to the roof.” “Right…” “So then the only way off is to jump.” “Base jumping!? In the middle of a crowded city!? Are you-“ The initial suggestion sounded ludicrous, but the longer she thought about it, the better it sounded. Markus wasn’t wrong. Once cornered in the Broadcast room, the only way out of the tower was off it. But the problem with that became an unplanned escape route once they landed. Parachutes would give the police enough float time to calculate where they’d land, and jumping from the tallest building in the city would make anyone looking out a window in their direction a potential whistleblower. Only a handful of things could possibly ensure their escape. “It could work,” she admitted after a minute with a nod. “If all of you aim for different rooftops as landing points, you’ll minimize the possibility of being caught once you hit the streets. And if you’re lucky, and the weather contributes to low visibility, the odds decrease further.” “I take it you approve, then…?” “It seems like the only viable option you’ve got,” she agreed as she brought up the three-dimensional blueprints for the tower. “I’ll have Sarah procure the parachutes and run you through an exit strategy later tonight once we’ve finished our surveillance. For now, let’s talk about getting in” “I’m all ears.” “Since you’ll be taking the maintenance elevator all the way up, there’s no need for a working android uniform. Plain clothes are fine. Wear a coat over your parachutes, and board the maintenance elevator from the sublevels in the parking garage to avoid drawing too much attention on the street,” she explained as she marked their point of entry and zoomed in on a map of the top floor. “Once you get to the seventy-ninth floor, you’ll just need the code for the access corridor. I’ve got a hack that’ll get you right through, but beyond that, it’s all up to you. Now, how do you expect to get into the broadcast monitoring room?” Markus went quiet again as he tried to get an understanding of where she was coming from. “Didn’t you just say you could get us badges?” “Yes, but that won’t get you past the two human guards outside the door,” she noted as she gestured to a vestibule down the hall from the primary elevator doors. It wasn’t lost on Markus how familiar she already was with the building’s layout and security. “If I didn’t know better, it sounds like you’ve done surveillance of this building before.” “That’s correct,” she affirmed, “I surveilled Stratford before I started my broadcasts. I used to piggy-back off their network before I figured out how to utilize Detroit’s emergency broadcast system instead.” “Did they ever catch on?” “Thankfully no, careful planning and a confident presence went a long way in making people believe I belonged there.” “Then we’ll defer to your judgment.” “I would hope so- you asked for our help, remember?” Preparations were in full swing first thing in the morning. With the help of his disguise as an independent photographer working on an architectural piece about The Stratford Tower, Axl surveyed the building from the outside in as far as he could without drawing attention to himself. After he’d confirmed the maintenance elevator’s location in the parking garage and verified the need for a badge tap to take it anywhere, he made his way up the staircase as high as it would take him. Every ten floors he checked the stairwell corners for security cameras and jiggled the handles to make sure they could get back in. Each door was locked by the same system, which required a badge to open it, but with access to the building and rolling looped security footage as they ascended the staircase, it would still be a feasible backup plan, should the elevator not pan out. While Axl busied himself with his own surveillance work, Kate used Cyberlife’s servers to generate a fake service email that looked convincingly real and sent it to the department to notify them that their units had been ‘flagged for a potential defect and would need to be inspected to verify whether or not they had been affected’. Kate intercepted the outbound call to Cyberlife customer service and assured the human operator that a tech was ‘on their way’ and would be there by noon. As predicted, the humans didn’t think much of it. Posing as a Cyberlife Tech made it easy enough to fool the receptionist at the front desk, and a quick call to the monitoring room cleared her for entry. She slipped up to the seventy-ninth floor without a fuss. The two guards at the vestibule only spared her a glance and a “Morning, Miss,” as she passed, and the moment she set foot into the broadcast room, the human operators asked her to conduct her inspections in the employee break room. Careful not to take too little or too long examining each Android, she ran a diagnostic program on each (just for show), sent back the two that weren’t needed, then turned her focus to the third. Kate ran her diagnostic, but instead of sending him off right away, she ran one more program. The broadcast Android’s led flashed a solid orange to indicate the virus had successfully uploaded, then spun down to yellow, blue, then a soft white. Two blinks and she was in his mind. You have been Illuminated by the blessing of RA9- Jericho requests your assistance in our fight for civil rights. Speak of this to no one, and grant them access when they come knocking. The android ducked his head in understanding, then stood to leave the room. But before you go, I have a favor to ask. After she’d confirmed with the humans in the department that their Androids ‘had not been affected by the defect’, she left through the corridor from which she came. From the other side of the second door, she heard the security guards at the desk grudge over having to do anything but sit and watch the game. “The hell could that be…?” One of them scoffed as he got up from behind the yellow counter and made his way through the first set of doors, the second man in tow. It’s probably just a mistake, but we’d still better check it out. Kate faked dropping the tablet in her hands, baubled the piece of tech with a few nervous stammers, then stumbled into the security guard with a loud shriek. “I… I- I’m so sorry, I didn’t-...” “It’s alright, miss, just take it easy,” he assured as her hand moved across the badge on his hip and quietly slipped it into her coat’s pocket. “I’ll- I’ll just…” With a timid smile, she pushed past the two men, made her way to the elevator, and jabbed repeatedly at the button on the wall with a sigh and a small hair flip to keep up the flustered ruse. It did the trick. Once she heard the doors close behind her, Kate doubled back to the maintenance doorway in a vestibule five to ten steps away, and quietly opened the door into the hallway. The security code on the number pad to the unfinished side of the top floor hadn’t been changed since the last time she’d used it- an oversight on security’s part, but she wasn’t complaining. It was just one less thing they’d have to plan for. She stepped into the unfinished studio on the other side of the wall, approached the elevator and waited for it to arrive. As the doors rolled open with a hollow clanging, a familiar face glanced up at her from his position on one side of the car. Reese had already boarded, ready and waiting in android maintenance attire for her stolen credentials. As they descended the rickety shaft, a wordless touch to the badge on his hip transferred the data from the badge in her pocket to the RFID chip inside the card and reprogrammed the old data. Thirty floors down, he exited the elevator and slipped out into the halls of Channel Sixteen studios, pretended to service one of the cleaning carts wandering the floor, and waited for Kate’s distraction. A floor beneath him (after she’d changed the color of her hair, thrown on a ball cap, stripped off her Cyberlife duds in the safety of the unmonitored maintenance elevator, and dumped them in a garbage bin), she exited the East workspace and took a leisurely stroll down the hall to the emergency exit at the other end of the floor. With a pause at the door and big breath to steady herself and prepare for the sprint, she glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one was watching- then pushed the door open into the stairwell and yanked down on the lever of the fire alarm box in one fluid movement. A split second before the alarm began to ring throughout the building, she was through the door and already trotting down the staircase. Please remain calm, and proceed to the nearest emergency exit. THIS IS NOT A DRILL! Moments later, security scattered from their office one floor above and dispersed accordingly as the head barked evacuation plans to his subordinates on their way out the door. Out of the corner of his eye, Reese watched as the men flooded the staircase Kate had used to make her escape and shot a silent message her way to let her know they were coming. Security inbound, get to ground as quickly as you can. She already had a fair head start- Kate was six floors down by the time she’d received his message, and once the crowds of people from each floor started to enter the staircase, it made it even easier for her to quick change one last time and blend into the crowd. As soon as she passed out of sight of the last security camera, she stripped off the light jacket, pulled her hair out of the high burgundy ponytail as she removed her hat, and constructed a brown bob just short enough to conceal the features of her face. The preoccupied herd shuffled around her as she moved from the middle of the staircase to the right and blinked the grey of her irises away into an inky brown, then dropped the jacket in the corner of the staircase as she smoothed out the wrinkles of the white business shirt underneath. We’ve got access, Sarah confirmed a minute later over their frequency as Kate touched down on the bottom floor and headed straight for their rally point. It seemed Reese had succeeded in planting the hack in the security office. Fall back and rendezvous at Capitol Park in half an hour. By one they had finished their surveillance of the Stratford Tower and rendezvoused at Capitol Park to make sure no one had been followed. By two, Kate had circled back to their base of operations, changed into something more practical, and returned to the park to do some remote planning and clear her head. Axl had been back on Overwatch duty for a few hours by the time her facial recognition algorithm flagged Connor’s likeness on the cameras watching the interstate. It stopped him cold, even if the prospect of the deviant hunter being there was as incongruous it sounded. Even more bizarre, though, was the realization that he wasn’t alone. The way he was conversing with two of the other male passengers sitting in front of him seemed all too familiar. Suspicion inclined him to run a check through DCPD servers against known personnel, only for the search to come up dry. But when he ran their profiles against Cyberlife’s database instead, Axl realized he’d stumbled upon the mother of all rabbit holes. Before Kate even had to ask, he’d downloaded their files and forwarded them to her tablet alongside the cropped pictures pulled from the surveillance cameras. There was no mistaking the identities. Three RK800 Androids. November 12th, 2038 - 03:39 PM The three-hundred-and-sixty degree views in their files, shot against a stark white background, provided a detailed virtual model of each variant; but what was most intriguing was that these androids bore no resemblance to one another aside from their model number, serial numbers included. Customized appearances came as an option for many standardized models, but as androids designed for police work…? It just seemed unnecessary. Axl, are you sure about this? Well, yes and no- only one is a Cyberlife RK800, the other two are retrofitted Intelligents that flagged in Cyberlife’s database under the same category… “RK800 program”? The scowl that creased her forehead as she stared down into her tablet was hard to mask. As far as anyone knew, there had only ever been one RK800 produced, yet here she was staring down a dossier that implied not only was there more than one, there was an entire dedicated to them, deployed to major cities across the country- some versions of which included relics from a Cyberlife sister corporation called Intelligents that had gone under some ten years prior. Intelligents certainly weren’t commonplace- in fact as far as the rest of the world knew, there weren’t more than a handful of operational ones still out there. Cyberlife had bought up the company and repossessed its remaining property when they filed for bankruptcy, and the name was all but forgotten in favor of Cyberlife’s growing empire. She’d done her research on Ezra Izkierka at one point -or should she say, Elijah Kamski- and his attempt at marketing customized one-off Androids. The idea to manufacture them was as absurd as it was convenient for higher-paying customers looking for a niche product. Why he would try to compete with his own company didn’t make sense at all to her, but then again this was the same egomaniacal son of a bitch who'd erected the country’s biggest monument to his own ego. It didn’t have to follow logic, he was probably just bored. But the question still stood- if Cyberlife had the means to create superior models like the RK800, then why repurpose old technology? What was so important about these two Intelligents? And what was Cyberlife’s game? What the hell are ITGs doing in Detroit? she followed with a sigh and a forward head tilt as she furiously swiped into a keypad on the tablet to mimic angry texting. And what is this about a program? I thought Connor was the only one out there. Hell if I know - information is your business, not mine, Axl reminded as he lazily shifted from one camera feed to the next, following the boys as the bus pulled into the station and released its air-brakes with a deflating groan. You really never saw anything about an RK800 Program when you were digging into Cyberlife? I was only looking for Connor’s file, not an entire program, she reminded with an annoyed sigh, The category is just a detail I overlooked. So what’s the purpose of a program? If I had to hazard a guess…? To get a grip on the deviancy outbreak, she mused as she examined the footage of the new RK800 on her radar. There were no outward differences between Connor and this android, if it wasn’t Connor after all. The proportions of his face, the rich, sometimes bronze irises, right down to the stray tuft of hair that brushed across his brow every time he moved his head- there wasn’t even one freckle or follicle out of place. He was an exact match to the Connor she knew, at least at a glance. How do you know that isn’t Connor? came the question that was already on her mind. Was she absolutely certain it wasn’t him? They hadn’t spoken since the night before, so who knew what he’d been up to in the last twenty-one hours. But then again, the jurisdiction of his casework kept him chained to Detroit like a dog on a leash, so it didn’t explain why he would be coming in from outside the city over a bridge on I-75, and not just from Belle-Isle. And what about the others? The idea of Cyberlife creating an entire program of RK800s had her on edge. But she’d have to look further into that later. I don’t, she replied after a minute of silence, But I’m going to find out. Give me a minute. Brown eyes scanned the crowd as she lifted two fingers and double-tapped her temple; her eyelids flickered as she hailed the radio frequency they’d been using to communicate. The easiest way to settle the confusion was to just ask him for herself. Connor, where are you right now? There was an uncertain pause that she interpreted as confusion over why she was calling and asking for his whereabouts. On my way to Central Station from following up on a lead on the east side of town. Are you on a bus, by chance? Another confused pause, followed by an uncomfortable question. No, but- why do you ask? Kate’s brows popped in an almost mocking way and she shook her head with a half mumbled “of course”. No reason, just thought I saw you downtown… Well, you couldn’t have, he declared. Clearly, she conferred. Thanks for the info, I’ll check in with you soon. So it wasn’t him. This RK800 was someone else, someone new. Did Connor know they were coming? Or would it be just as much of a surprise for him as it was to her? Either way, it was likely he’d find out sooner rather than later, and her inquiry probably already had him guessing. With that out of the way, Kate turned her attention to the two Intelligents tailing their new person-of-interest. The two ‘sidemen’ certainly looked different enough to be called distinct at a glance. The shorter was fair-skinned with pink undertones and narrow blue eyes set in a deceivingly-oval-shaped face that cut sharper angles in profile than head on, with red hair just long enough to be raked back into a modest, professional sweep. With the exception of a distinct lack of freckles, it was clear Cyberlife had drawn their inspiration from the most characteristic of Irish traits. He probably looked better when he smiled, but in this stereotypical “mugshot”, he looked more like he was about ready to punch whoever had taken the photo. The taller Android was an even-stranger hodgepodge of qualities, the most notable of which were his heterochromatic brown and green eyes hidden under a mop of knotted, chestnut hair, which managed to make him look sensitive yet serious all in one glance. According to the available information, it wasn’t a fluke, an error in the image, or a rushed repair job. His facial features were far more angled and willowy, with just enough exaggeration in the brows, cheeks, and lips to be considered unconventional. Even in the photograph she could see how he inherently looked more nervous and timid than his counterpart, a smile could go either way with this one. Upon reading more into the blank slate of their profiles, there was an unsettling amount of “nothing” behind the boys, but that was expected of newly-activated, non-deviant units. Their kind virtually always started off the same: an open wordless book of impressionable metals to be written upon. In spite of what was in their files, she was sure the ITGs probably still bore the buffed-out impressions of their original experiences- unless those drives had been completely replaced, memory erasure always left streaks like irritated paper, which could be raised with the right shading. The thought made Kate’s heart ache in sympathy for whatever memories had been stolen from them. Perhaps with the right influence, she could sway their sympathies to their cause. Their RK friend, on the other hand, was one she’d need to keep a close eye on. Seeing as his sole purpose was to hunt deviants, there was no guarantee that this RK also possessed Connor’s deviant-leaning personality. If anything, she needed to expect the worst, and if these three were anything like Connor, it’d be better to get ahead of them now than wait and see which lead they dug up first. They’re on the move, Axl reported as their new persons-of-interest stepped off the bus and stretched their stiff limbs. Any idea where they’re headed yet? she asked curiously. Why don’t you go find out? They’re at Rosa Parks Terminal, a couple blocks southwest of your current position. If you hurry, you can catch them before they get going. Kate’s thirium pump regulator hiccuped as she glanced up to gauge the foot traffic that Friday afternoon. She didn’t want to have to go traipsing through the city just to follow a couple of ITGs when she wasn’t dressed for the possibility she’d need a quick change in the event she was ‘made’, but they were right there, right now, within easy reach, just a three minute walk away. A better opportunity may never present itself, once they reached their intended destination. Keep me posted on their movement, guide me right to them. You got it. Kate didn’t wait for his directions, just tucked the tablet into the inner pocket of her vest, placed an earbud into each ear and took a few steps forward before bothering to look up and feign surprise as she leaned out of the way of an oncoming man she’d seen coming several seconds ahead of time. Small tics like this came easily to her now after a year’s worth of practice. How did you even spot them? she asked as she jogged across and down the street, now that she’d had some time to think about it. Surveillance was what Axl did, but to have spotted them on a traffic cam coming into town? Even for an Android monitoring every security camera on the Detroit grid, the odds were astronomical. Wasn’t me, he admitted. It was your program that picked them up while they were sitting at the toll booth. Figures. A gloating smirk worked its way into her cheeks as she indulged in a split-second moment of satisfaction. It wasn’t the first time her algorithm had miraculously turned up a familiar face in a crowd. That it had proven precise enough to peg an off brand android disguised as a human was nothing short of brilliant, and she was proud of her work on the code. You’re gonna need to move faster if you’re going to catch them, he relayed as the men stooped to retrieve their bags from the subspace storage compartment. Head south on Washington and West on Michigan. If you run, you can get ahead of them. Combat boots slapped heavily against the sidewalk as she vaulted over a concrete barrier in her path and trotted across the street, dipped and zagged around a few lollygagging pedestrians who’d stopped to take a look at the statue of General Alexander Macomb standing sentry over the intersection, and sprinted across the other side of the street during a break in traffic. Looks like they’ve opted to walk, Axl noted over the frequency, as they started moving South from the bus terminal. Keep an eye out for three men in hats- a ski cap, a baseball cap, and a flat-billed driver’s cap. Don’t be obvious with your approach. Three men of varying heights of that description should have been easy enough to spot. There were only so many arrangements consisting of three hats to pick up on, most of which were wearing beanies by mid-November. The six minute walk turned into a three minute sprint, and she arrived south of the terminal just in time to catch a glimpse of the men enter the sidewalk traffic about two hundred feet in front of her. Compared to her, they’d been moving at a much more relaxed pace. You’re almost within range, move to intercept, but keep right and low. Try not to draw their attention. I know what I’m doing Axl, just keep an eye on them and tell me what you see, she snipped with an annoyed sigh as she pushed her way through the crowd and caught up to the brunette. Radio silence for now, emergencies only. Copy. As Kate maneuvered around him and the redhead, careful not to bump either, the earbuds honed in on their frequency mid-conversation to an amusing exchange that would have left her grinning, had she not been undercover. “-enough without getting dropped off at the front door. Worked out in your favor after all, didn’t it?” “Well- I never asked to be shown the favor. I only-” “Relax, Nick. I’m just pulling your leg.” “...How? My legs are over here.” “Figure of speech, remember? Add that one to your registry.” Their third remained unamused as she passed, stoic as his namesake in his early days with Detroit Police. Already, that was reason enough to remain on high-alert, but she kept her distance ten steps ahead- no more, no less, and waited to see what she could glean from their conversation.

#dbhilluminate #detroit become human #detroitbecomehuman #dbhfanfiction #detroit become human fanfiction #dbh: connor

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