❛ Hunter’s Awakening • Detroit Become Human.

Her hands rose to her temples, gently caressing them as she closed her eyes. She parted her lips, releasing a soft sigh. She didn't know how long she had been gathering information about the different cases of androids rebelling in Detroit, but she suspected it had been more than two hours.

Her head throbbed, and even the painkillers didn't seem to have any effect. How much longer should she torture herself until an idea formed in her mind? She let out another soft sigh as she relaxed in the reclining chair at the precinct.

— Can't find anything? — a male voice caught her attention, and she shook her head in response —. Take a break.

She tilted her head back, closing her eyelids again. She nodded at the words of the gray-haired man. He was right; forcing an idea into her dry mind was counterproductive.

— I've been taking a break for weeks, Hank. I need to write something, even if they're just simple ideas.

She opened her eyes again, meeting her companion's tired face. He shrugged and sat down in front of her, placing two cups on the table: one with coffee for him and another with chocolate for her.

— The cases you're investigating aren't getting you anywhere. They're just minor leaks and robberies. Frankly, I wouldn't read a book where the only crime is the theft of a gas station — Hanako nodded again, agreeing with the man —. If things continue as they are, you'll probably have more ideas as the days go by.

She reached out for the white cup, grabbing the handle and gently bringing the contents to her lips. It wasn't as hot anymore, so she could take a brief sip before responding. A soft sigh escaped from her nostrils, revealing how delicious the chocolate was and how much she needed it to regain some energy.

— Do you think this whole android business will escalate? — Hank didn't hesitate in his response, nodding repeatedly —. All the cases so far are in Detroit. Maybe if we quickly figure out why they're acting like this, we can contain the situation.

The older man quickly averted his gaze from his computer screen to meet his companion's green eyes. He recognized the look, one he had seen countless times since they had known each other: Hank was about to tease her.

— Do you really think so? Well, then get ready to take my place. I won't object, of course — Hanako shot him a playful look and then showed him her middle finger. She was used to Hank's jokes —. Go talk to Fowler and ask him to give you my position.

— Sorry for giving you competition, but after six long years, some of your police experience has rubbed off on me.

Hank was about to respond with a joke, as indicated by the smile forming on his face, but a voice behind him resonated before he could say anything. Captain Fowler was calling him from his office, and Hank could only grunt in response, unwilling to hear what he had to say.

— I'll keep pondering over my ideas. Go and don't get too angry. You're too old for that.

Hank let out a fake laugh as he reluctantly got up from the chair and headed towards the captain's office.

She immersed herself again among the screens surrounding her: her laptop screen and the precinct computer screen, where she had the different incident reports that had occurred in that time frame. She reviewed them one by one. They all seemed the same to her: boring. Hank was completely right, who would be interested in reading a book about what was happening in real life? For that, they could watch the news.

She tapped softly with her fingers on the white lacquered metal desk, focusing on the reports and the blank screen of her laptop. She hadn't written anything yet, and that worried her. She couldn't remember having had a block like this in several years, and that thought only made it worse. She didn't know what to do. Should she continue with the detective-style novels? It had been her trademark for exactly five years, so changing it would be very difficult for her.

Lost in her thoughts, she decided to exit the PDF document she had started writing. Or rather, that she had just opened and titled as "New Book". She opted to search the internet for reviews of her latest book, which had been released a year ago. She knew that the reviews weren't always kind and could affect her self-esteem, but she decided to ignore that possibility and focus on the positive comments that highlighted having read it to the end.

That's how time passed, although from her position she could hear the "lively" conversation her partner was having with Captain Fowler.

The dusk began to spread across the Detroit sky. She turned her face, noting that it was already eight-thirty in the evening. She let out another sigh, regretting the time wasted without drawing clear conclusions.

She hadn't achieved anything more than understanding her readers' preferences. And to top it off, a large majority suggested adding a romantic subplot to her books. At first, she resisted the idea, mainly because she lacked skill in that genre. She had never been interested in those types of books, and she had never specialized in them either, so her mind resisted writing something related. But maybe trying wouldn't be so bad.

She glanced again at Hank, who had returned after his conversation with Fowler and had remained silent the whole time, probably annoyed by what she had said. He was already standing up, putting an old jacket over his shoulders and gathering his few personal belongings.

She supposed that if he was leaving, it was time for her to go home and rest too.

— You're dozing off. You should go home now — he said. She nodded, closing the screen of her laptop and turning off the other one. She stood up and put on her brown jacket —. Haven't you achieved anything?"

— I've been trying to find ideas among the readers' reviews. But I'm not sure if what they want is what I really want to write — the gray-haired man gestured for her to continue explaining —, they say that maybe adding a romantic touch to the plot could give it a twist. But I don't know what kind of twist it could really be. In my opinion, it doesn't add much more.

Hank remained silent for a moment as he watched the young woman pack up her laptop and stand by his side. Then he met her green eyes again, indicating that they could leave.

— If you're not comfortable with that genre, just follow your instinct. Those who like your novels will keep reading them, regardless of the content.

She shook her head. She didn't agree with that.

— No. Those who don't like it or don't get hooked immediately will probably set them aside.

He made a guttural sound in his throat, as if he wanted to show his agreement without hurting her too much.

— So, what now?

— I'll try to start as usual, focusing only on mystery and cases. If from there, with the characters I introduce, I find something that fits, I'll add it. But if it seems forced, I'll just continue as usual, and that's it.

He nodded slightly as he let out a sigh of resignation. Hank placed his hand on his companion's right shoulder, trying to comfort her a bit, as she seemed more affected than usual. He offered her a gentle smile, and she tried to return it, as he was her biggest support.

— And if not, you always have my position as an option — he continued with that slight smile, causing Hanako to widen hers. —. Well, I'm off to watch the basketball game. You'll tell me tomorrow if you've made progress in your story.

— Sure, enjoy.

They said goodbye with a soft smile, and although Hanako was curious to ask him what he had talked to Fowler about to make him angry, she decided to bite her tongue, knowing it wasn't the best. Despite her natural inclination to insist, she chose to let it go. She supposed that if he hadn't told her anything, it probably was just a scolding for being late again.

She left the precinct, noticing how besides the fact that the night was getting darker, it would start raining in a short time. Luckily, that comforted her, as she usually liked the rain quite a bit on those nights when she felt so fatigued.

Hanako didn't know why, but she had the feeling that tonight would be longer than she would like.

Hello everyone! Here I come with my Detroit: Become Human story, but translated into English.

Why did I do this? Well, thanks to TikTok, I've seen that the majority of the fandom for this game that is still active is Anglophone, so I've decided to bring the story to them to make it more widely known. Likewise, its original language is Spanish (my native language, lol), so it will continue to be published in Spanish as well.

So, if there are many things that are not fully understood or sound repetitive, I apologize in advance, but English and I don't get along very well.

With nothing else to clarify, thanks to everyone who is also reading it now in English. Thank you and see you in the next one!