dualisnet | (no subject)

[Text]

This is Hank Anderson, and I recently got my promotion so it's now Det. Hank Anderson. Which is why I wanted to make this announcement.

[Hank still wants to research into the missing people and initiate his vague plan to devalue the iterations. Right now the public see them as a protective force for good. Hank wants the people to see other fucking people as their reliable protective force. That in the many variations of temperaments and personalities and creative resolutions to conflict, they can find their safety.]

I have a case that could use some assistance from some specialized outsiders. If you could come to me and lay out your experience and training, I would like to offer you temporary deputy work in helping solve this case.

Necessary qualifications include:
-Combat against armed opponents
-Negotiation and Interrogation
-Ability to secure an area until CSI arrives (cursory crime scene analysis a bonus)

Due to Dualis's policy on providing payment through credit, if you would want rewards we would have to attach a name to your activities. However if you'd want to work off-record [which is as close to anonymously as he can get] we could come to some sort of arrangement such as donated payment.

I'll be at the cat cafe to conduct interviews 4:00 to 6:00 in the afternoon for the next week. You can show up when it's convenient to talk. Sounds like a fucking weird place for it, yes, it'll make more sense when you're there.

I've also arranged for donated goods to be offered when people come in and might find themselves in a state of disrepair or any nicer version of saying fucked the hell up. New clothes, medical things like crutches for people with chronic conditions, sanitary supplies like soap and toothbrushes, things of that nature. So if you want to donate something to the people coming in there's a donation box in the dormitory's lower entryway and they'll be taken to the temple.

[Action]

Like he promises, Hank's waiting around at the cat cafe whenever someone shows up. Usually reading a book, sometimes bored, sometimes deeply into it. Right by his side though? A mammoth green cat, purring and resting her head against his arm. She's twitching her tail to and fro.

Hank is pretty sure he'll be able to tell if someone is bullshitting their credentials and whether they'll do intentional harm with their new role. It's hard to do background checks when different universes are involved, but he thinks he's figured out a way to beat the system without having to use any of the department's lie detectors.

Note: Plotting post here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Connor's fingers wrap around Hank's automatically, the most natural thing in the world, like he was programmed for it, as he listens to Hank so intently there might be nothing else in the room, let alone a cat busy kneading Connor's thighs and another one the size of a large dog disdainfully licking its paw by Hank's feet.

"It's worth it," he affirms, barely loudly enough for Hank to hear him. He always assumed Hank would remain a detective, one way or another, somehow. His mental association of Hank is that of a detective, it's hard to break that. But somehow Hank is more ready to change himself than Connor is to change a perception.

"Whatever I do, I always planned on it being compatible with my life with you," he says, then pauses, just to make sure he's got his feelings in order, that he can say them. He can. "Making a life with you instead of around you sounds perfect."

"Wanna know something funny? I kinda wanted to do the same thing with you." He would have supported Connor, probably even foolishly attempted to do something that he wasn't fond of just to help his love pave his own path. That might have made him become bitter, unhappy, regretful in the long run. This is a better idea.

"So if I did do the private thing, maybe I could do it on behalf of androids somehow. Make the world a little safer for us." Us. Not just Connor. So they can love each other freely, and won't get in trouble for sharing that. "Hunt down perps who assault androids where people like Gavin Reed might let 'em get off scott free. Social media can be a hell of a thing. Throw some info up and pressure could land them in jail."

And Hank is grinning now, happy at the prospect. They're gonna make it work. The idea of losing Connor for his own good, his own freedom, seems less likely. He can still find good and freedom with him. He's practically fucking beaming, actual real hope radiating from the seams in his battered face.

"So…" The smile spreading across Connor's face is like a force of nature, unstoppable. "You wanna go into business together?"

The smile becomes a delighted sort of laugh, a feeling so intense it can't stay inside him, he can't contain it. He recognises it - excitement, true, actual hope, anticipation for the future that he's never really had before. He hasn't known what it would be, hasn't been able to place himself in it with any more than vague impressions. Now, he sees that place forming, concrete and real.

And that place involves something that could really help people, really help not only androids, but the humans who want to spend their lives with them. Connor couldn't build a new society or negotiate rights - that's Markus's role. But he can find justice for those who have never been allowed it. He and Hank both.

"I think there'll be real demand for that when we go back," he says, voice a little strained with the emotion, the excitement, bit steady all the same. "Missing people, victims of hate crime, androids who don't feel like they have a place in society or don't know where to turn. We both know people with connections, there has to be a lot we can do with that."

Androids in Connor's place, humans in Hank's. Between them, they can be something of a bridge between two worlds as they come together a bit at a time.