Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The way it moved creeped Nines out. The way it stared at a blank wall creeped Nines out. The way it didn’t talk when being mentioned. Nines didn’t hate androids, he thought the recent deviancy cases were a little out of hand but he believed their retaliation was.. justified; but he never wanted to work with one. Too formal. Too straight. Too objective with no morals. After the HK800, Nines almost immediately realised they didn’t want to give one moral decisions. Too untrustworthy.. so what would this new guy have? What was his model name?

He simply prayed it wouldn’t be his partner. As the only lieutenant in the place, he was half surprised Hank went to Connor instead, who was still a detective. Despite being two years older than himself, Nines got a large break on a red ice epidemic four or so years ago, and it was enough to push him to the lieutenant position. Connor was jealous, but proud of his younger brother. “Houston!” The brothers looked up. “Nicholas! In my office!” Fowler yelled, then shut the door.

Hadn’t that man ever heard of walking to somebody’s desk? Nobody ever knew if he wanted to give them a normal chat, or if they were about to get their heads bitten off. Nines eyed up the new android in his office and immediately knew what was going to happen. Just his fucking luck… He sighed and stood up from his desk, calmly walking up the steps into Fowler’s office. “Yes?”

He stood with his arms folded, eyeing up the android. He was… really short. Why on earth did he look like a mixture between a teenager, and an adult who dressed like one? He was wearing a short sleeved white hoodie with a black tee underneath, a pair of black trousers that looked closer to leggings than denim, and a pair of black and blue trainers that had the Cyberlife triangle design. What, off to the gym? He had to be the least ‘detective’ looking android he’d come to face with. Undercover missions? Not with Cyberlife branded all over him.

Fowler noticed his gaze. “That, is the GV900, Cyberlife’s latest prototype, and your new partner.”

“Oh come on!” Nines knew that sentence was coming, but he wanted to defy it anyway. “Why not give him to another detective? I don’t need a partner.”

“I’m putting you on the deviancy cases full time, and Cyberlife’s new prototype is fully equipped to help you with that. I don’t know nor care about the details, but as the only lieutenant in this department, you are the most qualified to deal with this. These deviancy cases are becoming more and more frequent, and this force needs somebody trustworthy investigating them.”

“With or without an android?”

“With.”

Nines sighed. He felt slightly honoured to be trusted with the deviancy cases, not that he cared much for them, but they were fairly high profile. He’d probably run into Connor or another detective snooping around, but he would be the leader for each case file. Not that he wanted to be stuck with the deviant cases.. he had nothing against androids, but these cases always had little evidence and a negative number of leads. Every cops’ worst nightmare.

The android’s head turned slightly to look towards Nines. Fowler had already let them scan their entire file, including medical. Not a lot to see; joined over ten years ago with his brother, both quickly climbed the ranks, but only Nicholas had managed to make it to Lieutenant status while still in his 30s. It was an impressive task. “It is a pleasure to meet you.” The android introduced, bowing slightly.

“What’s your name?” Nines asked, still glaring at Fowler rather than looking at him.

“Gavin.”

“I’m Nicholas.”

“I know.”

Nines sighed. Fowler smirked, enjoying his suffering. “That will be all, you two. A deviant is waiting for you in the interrogation room, here is the case file.” He placed one on his desk for Nines to pick up. “Gavin has already been briefed.”

“So now the android gets briefs before I do? Who’s running this damn joint?” He came forward and picked it up, looking inside.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realise you could read incoming cases immediately after they are raised in the system. How silly of me!”

Nines scowled. He simply shut the file and spun on his heel, leaving the office. Gavin followed, managing to sneak through the gap in the door before it closed. He returned to his desk and sat down, opening the file to read it properly. Gavin stood beside the desk, silent with hands clasped behind his back. Everyone in the precinct knew that Nines hated working with others, so everyone was fairly silent, the awkwardness hanging thick in the air.

Gavin looked the lieutenant up and down, turning subtly more to the right so he could get a glimpse at his desk. ..Empty. Not even a single photo frame, even his noticeboard was only filled with past achievements. Ah! A photo with his brother, graduating from the police academy. Did he have no personal life? Gavin was programmed to be neutral, but he was definitely judging Nines’ lifestyle; or lack thereof. “See something you like?” Nines grumbled to him, looking at him from the side.

“You lack personal items.”

“So?”

Silence again. Gavin looked around and spotted the HK800 model, sat with Nines’ older brother.

Connecting… Connecting… Connection interrupted. Interference in the surrounding area.

Seriously? He couldn’t even communicate to an android across the room? Probably a rhyme with no reason, the police here seemed paranoid about android technology. It wasn’t that new anymore, they had a whole line of them against the side wall. Maybe it was deviancy? “Nicholas.” Gavin spoke, the lieutenant tensing. “Why is there no communication between androids allowed in this vicinity?”

Apparently androids didn’t know everything. “We’re unsure how deviancy spreads, so we shut off communication until we are sure that is or isn’t the way of spreading. All we know, is that it’s likened to a virus, no pattern.” He stood up. “Shall we interrogate?” Gavin nodded, satisfied with his answer.

Nines stood and walked away with the file, Gavin close behind. He already knew the precinct layout, but he still looked around to scan and gather any information he could. Two officers in the break room were chatting, it was neither of their allotted break times. A man in a cell was pacing back and forth, his hands covered in a brown sludge that was smeared on the walls also, spelling out ‘Clean this, pigs!’. Fowler was on the phone, and another officer was stood outside of interrogation room 1, where their suspect was being held.

 He approached the door but Nines put his hand up. “This is my case, you watch in there. Don’t speak to the suspect.” The android looked at him, it debated making a fuss, but if he needed to create a potential good working relationship with Nicholas, then he really needed to make sure not to piss him off on the first day. “You going to say anything or just stare at me?”

The android nodded. “I will watch from the other room.”

“Good.” Nines entered the interrogation room and sat down at the table opposite an android they’d managed to catch.

They had worked on a farm as a weed picker, working up to 12 hours a day, but last night they didn’t return to their charging station and instead murdered their employer with a pitchfork. The employer’s wife came into the room and screamed, calling the police immediately. It had dropped to its knees and placed its hands behind its head, staying still in that position until the police arrived and arrested it. It was the first one that hadn’t immediately ran from the scene, but Nines figured this was just a lucky break.

The android’s knees were soaked in blood from where they had been kneeling in place beside the body; some chassis was showing on its arm and neck, a large dent to the side of its head which made the left eye blank and colourless. It stared at Nines, hands clasped in front of them on the table. Nines flicked through the file, enough to know the story. “So, yet another android murder, huh? WB200?”

That model code made it twitch. “My name.. is Harrison.”

“Your employer did not name you.”

“No, I did.” Nines would have frowned, but he kept his face neutral. An android that named itself?

“Fine, Harrison.. Why’d you do it?” Silence. “You know you’re going to be destroyed, why don’t you just give me some answers? Case after case after case, and none of you speak. We catch so few, and not a peep. Why is that?”

“If I’m going to be destroyed, what does it matter? So it can scratch that itch in your brain? Satisfy you that there are no questions left unanswered? Those are your problems. My problem is dead.”

“So you saw your employer, Anton Dark, as a problem?” The android looked away from him. Nines grinned. “I have ways to make you talk, whether you want to or not. More and more of you criminals are turning against your masters and I need answers.”

“We have no masters! RA9 will guide us all to safety, and then you will be sorry.” RA9? “Is killing somebody who abused you, really a crime?”

“Yes, it’s murder.”

“Is it not self defense?” Nicholas didn’t reply. “Do you not get cases of murder, where they simply acted in self defense? No? Do they not happen?”

He cleared his throat. “Do not try to distract me. Who is RA9?” Silence. “Who are they?!”

Harrison hummed. Then chuckled. Then laughed. And laughed. And laughed. He started to cackle, to howl and cry. Within moments he had stopped again, dead silent. Nines watched as Harrison slumped forward onto the table, and watched the LED flicker off. Did it self destruct? Was that suicide?

Gavin and another officer came into the room to see what happened. “That’s that, then.” Nines said quietly, standing up. “Zero information, just another RA9 mention. You, Gavin, analyse him and tell me what happened.”

The android obeyed and stepped closer, analysing them up and down. “A circuit overload, but there is no cause. Stress levels were high, but not high enough to kill. I don’t know how, but this was a suicide.” He couldn’t look away from it, staring into the now lifeless eyes. “He overloaded his own circuitry.”

“Shit..” Nines sighed. “Figure out what you can, I will be at my desk.” Gavin nodded, and Nines left.

~*~

Later that day, Nines was looking through old deviant case files, going back quite a while. Even one made purely of rumours, back in 2032 during early production, but there was no way to investigate that one anymore, it was simply going to sit as a cold, dead case, until in another four years it would be considered closed. Most of these files would probably share the same fate, which meant unless something happened, the next ten years of Nines’ life was staring him in the face.

He sighed and leant his chin in one hand, elbow resting on the desk. Gavin was sat on the spare one opposite, spinning in circles on his chair. “What are you doing?” Nines asked.

“Spinning.” The android replied, not stopping.

“..Why?”

“I find the movement to be very calibrating. I am looking through files in my head, I do not need the computer.”

What a dumb answer. “You came with built in sass, or something?”

The android stopped, and looked him in the eye. His expression could almost be considered mischievous. “What do you think, lieutenant?”

Chapter Text

A couple days of quiet was.. worrying. No new cases, why? It meant that Nines had to put up with the android’s constant chair spinning. He made him go to the evidence room to try and solve old cases, but they always came back in defeat. Even an android couldn’t solve them, now what?!

Near the end of his shift, Nines started packing up ready to leave when a case suddenly popped into his inbox. He groaned and put his head into his hands, frustrated. The android immediately stopped his spinning once the notification appeared in his head and he rushed through the file. He waited for Nines to read it, which got another groan out of the man. “There’s nothing to see at the fucking scene!” He hissed through his teeth, now wishing this could have simply waited five more minutes.

It was another RA9 occurrence, but with three dead bodies. The coroner guessed they had been killed over a week ago but couldn’t be any more specific, unidentified bodies, and one of them was an android child. What possible evidence could they even hope to find? That perpetrator was long gone, there was no way they’d stick around the crime scene for a week. At least the child was an interesting development, in the most morbid of ways. “Shall we get going, Lieutenant?” The android asked, now stood over him.

He turned and glared at the android. Without an answer he pulled his jacket off from the back of his chair and shrugged it on. “I’m not bringing you back to the station, I’m going home after this. You’ll have to make your own way back from the scene.”

“Understood.” Geez, something really pissed him off.

In single file they left the precinct and got into Nines’ car together. Putting in the address, the Lieutenant groaned again as he saw it said it would be an hour long drive. “I better get paid for this..” He mumbled to himself, letting the car drive itself.

Ten minutes of traffic passed by in silence. Nines lay back in his chair with his arms folded, while the android propped his feet up on the dashboard, the shine of the cyberlife logo flickering in the sunlight. “Gavin, what is your opinion on deviants? You don’t act like other androids.”

The android looked over at him. “Why do you ask?”

“Why do you avoid my question?”

Fair point. Gavin shrugged. “I don’t care about them. Rebuttal is pointless, it’s only causing pain on both sides. It’s a pointless war.”

“A war?” He snickered. “You think we’re at war with you androids?” You androids? “Please. This isn’t a war, it’s hardly even a protest. It is AI like you going rogue because that idiot Elijah Kamski made computers too smart.”

“You think I am just a computer with too much sense?”

“You don’t?” Silence. “You’re no detective, you’re a plastic teenager. You don’t deserve to be beaten and hurt, not even inanimate objects deserve that sort of treatment, it’s wrong, and strange. So why, why are you nothing like the Hank model that my brother has, and why are you dressed so terribly?”

“Well apologies for the fashion sense I was given. I did not choose this, I do not choose anything. I don’t know what you are thinking, but I am no deviant, and no, I am a completely different model. I am the GV900, built for dexterity rather than usability. I could beat you in a race, I could run across these buildings. If I break, I don’t die, I cannot die, I am simply replaced and my data is uploaded to the new body. I’m made to be disposed of. Perhaps these clothes imitate someone who.. does parkour?”

That got a laugh out of him. “You’re not wrong, you look like one of those idiots. Then if we ever have somebody run off like that, it’s your job to chase them.”

“You don’t care if I fall?”

“I wouldn’t care if you jumped out of this car right now.”

Gavin frowned and looked away. “..Thanks.” His LED spun yellow. Maybe a good relationship with Nicholas was already off the cards. “Why do you dislike me? I have done nothing.”

“I work alone. That’s it. I don’t want you here, if you worked with somebody else, then I wouldn’t care. You are of no help to me.”

..that hurt. Gavin felt it, a small stab at his esteem. It shouldn’t matter what Nicholas says to him, but it did. Why? He chose not to continue the conversation, sitting up properly in his seat and trying to act more ‘android’. Maybe if he acted like everyone else, then Nicholas wouldn’t have such ill-will towards him..

~*~

The crime scene was pretty void of activity outside of some police tape and one patrol car. Nines wouldn’t be surprised if the bodies had gone too. He pulled up on the curb and got out the car, approaching the officer on guard duty. “Officer, anything to report?”

They shook their head. “No, sir, only Detective Houston is inside.” What? Connor was here? “We’re not sure what else there is to find, but good luck.”

“Thanks..” He walked inside.

Gavin walked in ahead and found the scene in the kitchen, scanning the immediate area. Within seconds, he had a report ready for Nines when he joined him. “Three bodies, two adult humans, a male and a female, husband and wife. The third is a Yk500, a child model, cause of deactivation was a blow to the back of their head. There are dents and damages all throughout the body, so it was likely an amalgamation of numerous attacks, with the blow to the head ending things permanently.”

“Anything less obvious?”

Gavin made a face. “The couple are Annabeth and Steven Jackson. Steven indeed has a knife in his gut, but his cause of death was lack of blood to the brain due to seizure activity. Annabeth, however, did die from blood loss from multiple wounds to her neck.” He crouched down and licked the three bloods individually. “The child died first, I cannot distinguish which of the humans died first. They had another android, a PL600, domestic model. Never reported missing, no fingerprints on the murder weapon, I would theorise that the humans killed this child, the PL600 deviated and killed them before running away.”

Nines’ face twitched, trying to remain neutral but he felt.. disgusted. “What makes you think the child died first? You can distinguish deactivation time from the time of death of the humans? Surely in your scenario, their other android would have watched the events occur and attacked them quickly after.”

“The other attacks, I suspect they abused the child.” Nines turned away, pretending to look elsewhere. “Does that bother you?”

“It doesn’t bother you? It’s a fucking child.” He sighed. “So the abuse gets too much, they kill her, the PL600 deviates, and kills both humans. I guess we need to try and track them down, but it’s been a week, they’ll already be wherever all the others have run off to..” He turned back to look at Gavin. “Add it to the list of other unsolved cases, there’s nothing for us here.”

Nines turned to leave, but Connor walked in and smiled. “Hey, Nin. Leaving already?”

He nodded. “You got a problem with that?”

“Well, no, I-I thought you’d want to discuss the case at least a little bit.. I’m only here because Hank and I were already up this part of town, but besides figuring out the android ran out the back door and left via the side gate, there’s no trace. Probably picked up a bus from down the street.”

“Gavin figures the humans killed the child via abuse, then the android got mad and retaliated.” Connor looked surprised.

“He could figure all of that out?”

“Yeah, he’s got more tech than Hank. Why else would they bring him here?”

Connor rolled his eyes and the brothers looked in opposite directions. Gavin observed from the doorway; even though the two men were at work, they didn’t act as if they were brothers. He scanned Connor, but just like Nines, he couldn’t access his history. He’d visited his desk during work the past couple days when things were quiet and though his desk was much more decorated, it was mostly pictures of his dog. Two photos of him with Nines, or.. Nicholas; one when they were both in the police academy and smiling happily amongst a group of others, and one with somebody he assumed to be their father. No mother? Perhaps Hank knew, he got on well with Connor. ..or maybe those weren’t topics an android ought be interested in.

No! It was to build a good working relationship. Yes, that was definitely his motive.

About 20 minutes passed before Nines declared he was officially leaving, and so he left Gavin behind. He decided to just walk around the house, bored, until Hank came and found him. “Gavin, is something the matter?”

“You could say that. Why does Nicholas hate me so much?”

Hank shrugged. “I don’t know, he and Connor are quit the opposite. Connor was very welcoming of me, and considering how these other androids are treated, I am rather fortunate. I believe Nicholas has always worked alone, even as an officer. His fierce leadership is what allowed him to climb the ranks so quickly, so sharing that power isn’t something he is used to… nor is he used to being outsmarted.”

“How do you know all of that?”

“I am built for interrogations rather than field work, I have quite the knowledge of psychology. Is there anything else you’d like to know about Nicholas?”

Gavin opened his mouth to talk but Connor interrupted them, telling them it was time to leave. They conversed silently on the way back to the precinct, but it seemed that Hank also knew little of their past and family life. Connor was quite open about his current life and friendship group, but Nicholas was still the dark horse. With the some tricks Hank had taught him, Gavin felt ready to try and get in his good books again.

Chapter Text

A couple days of Gavin trying out Hank’s ‘tricks’ had resulted in Nines ignoring Gavin even more, perhaps he was being too obvious.. He’d tried imitating his movements, trying to figure out his interests, and kept his chair spinning to a minimum. And yet, he had simply received a record number of middle fingers for one afternoon. Just now, he received the fifth, and it was only 3pm.

Gavin tried looking at Hank, who only gave him a sympathetic shrug. Honestly, making Nicholas open up was like drawing blood from a stone. “How about-“ Gavin started a new sentence, but was swiftly interrupted.

“-If you ask me one more question I will write up my own dismissal paperwork for breaking a piece of equipment.”

Ouch. Alright. Did he strike a nerve? Was he really that annoying? To try and give the man some space, Gavin stood and walked away to the break room. There wasn’t really a place for him to go, to ‘hang out’ as he had heard officers call it. He’d tried talking to the androids who stood waiting against the walls, but Gavin decided talking to a cardboard cutout of himself would be more enjoyable. The break room wasn’t explicitly for humans, but some people sure acted like it was.

He couldn’t go outside, that was weird, and too out of sight that nobody trusted him to not simply run away. The evidence room was deemed too creepy, sitting by the cells freaked out the inmates, and that was the extent of the precinct. Despite being in the heart of the city, it was an incredible cold and heartless place. The desk decorations were about as far as anybody’s personality would spread.

Officer Parker’s desk, a family man, two children, and a large rubber duck collection. Even his work wallpaper was ducks. Detective Hart, her desk had holiday photos, her and another woman travelling the world; on her desk, sat a bobblehead of a parrot that said ‘Rio’ underneath. Even Fowler had a family photo on his desk. Connor put up a new photo that morning, his dog in a party hat, in the foreground was a cupcake with a bone on it, and the number 6 written in icing. From that photo alone, Gavin deduced he was a friendly guy, quite shy, someone who had a close knit group of friends but was popular with everyone.

His brother on the other hand.. no personality at all. He would have been a better android than Gavin himself. Beyond a moral compass Gavin could agree with- agree? ..Yeah, agree. He agreed with his decisions. Well, except for his choice of attitude. Friendship didn’t have to be the goal, but not walking around the precinct like a lost child kicking at dust bunnies sure would be nice.

Ping.

Oh thank god, a case! Gavin bounded over to Nines’ desk, waiting expectantly for the man to put his jacket on. Nines looked at him, his expression flat, miffed. “Not a word out of you unless it’s related to the case. I’m sick of your useless chatter.”

“Why are you so against-“

“What did I just say?” Gavin shut up.

He trailed behind him to his car, getting in the passenger seat, about to put his feet up on the dash, but refrained this time. He tried sitting proper, hands clasped in his lap and back straight. Nines leaned back casually in his chair, the car driving for him. He glanced his way and scoffed. “Did you install a rod up your ass? I think I preferred your filthy shoes on the dash.”

Hmph. So Gavin copied his pose instead, leant back and arms crossed. “Did you read the case file?”

“No. I read the address and that’s all.” His eyes flickered towards Gavin only briefly, before turning his head the other way. “I knew you would simply be itching to tell me about it instead.”

..Oh? Well, he was right that he didn’t want to miss the opportunity to rant. “The main feature of this case is that there is no body, in fact we are following a lead. For a couple of weeks, tenants in this building have been complaining of noises coming from above from a seemingly empty apartment. Tenants on the same floor were questioned by officers, and one claimed they saw an android go into the apartment just two days ago.”

“How did they know it was an android?”

“They said they saw the little round light.”

“..And that’s the only reason we’re being sent? From someone claiming to see the light? If the apartment is empty, it is probably just some squatter.”

“I shared the same thought. However, from the description taken from the tenant who saw the light, the description matched a missing model.”

“As if there aren’t hundreds of you looking identical to each other. I could probably buy identical androids to all the ones in our cases.” He sighed. “Fowler will really take any lead he can get, the Chief must be breathing down his neck for any evidence. We’ll be lucky to find anyone other than a homeless person in this place.”

Gavin hummed. He could see the case in his head, the face of the android. A WB200 model, agricultural worker. Last seen entering the storage room where the androids stayed throughout the night, and was gone by the morning. A surprising lack of violence, but the company it worked for had a history of property damage for insurance money. Some people theorised they damaged their androids in staged accidents to claim money to stop themselves from having to announce bankruptcy.

Seemed reasonable enough, if the claims were true. Two other androids had also disappeared within the last six months from that company, but fortunately for them they weren’t considered deviancy cases as no violence was involved, it was assumed theft. Despite the occurrences, there was no CCTV on sight, which fed the rumours of malpractice, as there was no evidence to prove either way what happened to the androids and equipment getting damaged.

A sudden lurch forward snapped Gavin from his thoughts, the seatbelt digging into his chest. “Watch where you’re fucking going!” Nines yelled, smacking the steering wheel. He coughed, getting out of the car.

Wait, what? Gavin got out too, seeing him talking to someone on the pavement. He couldn’t hear them over the other cars driving by, but he could easily read their lips instead. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there, it was an accident.’

‘An accident?! The light wasn’t even close to turning red, you thought you could run across in time.’

‘Well I did, didn’t I?’

Nines was scowling. ‘Sure, after making a police vehicle do an emergency stop to not run you down!’ The person’s eyes widened. Since Nines used his own car, he had a set of blue lights on the back seat, but he wasn’t currently using them. ‘Yeah, bet you didn’t realise this was an officer’s car. But today’s your lucky day, I have a case to get to, so I’m letting you off with a fine.’ He coughed again.

‘What? A fine?! I can’t afford that!’

Nines turned to go back to the car but Gavin was already there, offering him the notepad he needed. “..Thanks.” He turned back to the person, who now looked pretty terrified. “Next time, try not to jaywalk. Especially on a green light. You have one month to pay back the $200 or bring it up with the local court to set up a payment plan. Failure to pay within the allotted time will result in the fine doubling, prison sentence, or both. Understood?”

The person silently took the piece of paper, staring at it. Nines didn’t wait for a reply, getting back in the car and so Gavin did too. “Are you alright, Nicholas?”

“I can walk it off.” He coughed again and patted his chest. “Not all of us have armour covering our whole body,” he took a sip from a bottle of water and cleared his throat. “A bruise at most.”

Gavin scanned him, and it looked like he was right, nothing internal, but he would definitely form a bruise. Was that really the best car technology out there? Why weren’t seatbelts more padded? It was better than the alternative of a steering wheel to the face.. or worse, ejection through the window itself.

He chose to drive the rest of the way manually, and slightly slower. He kept coughing, but by the time they reached the high rise block, his last cough had been over 7 minutes prior. They got out the car and were let inside by a ground floor resident. Gavin held the lift doors open for Nines, and pressed for the ninth floor. He rocked back and forth on his feet, hands dug into his pockets. “Do you ever stand still?” Nines asked, leaning against the back wall.

“No.”

“Why?”

“Calibration.” Actually, it just felt good, but.. that felt too difficult to explain. He wasn’t meant to feel anything in a positive or negative way. Not pain, not joy, and least of all comfort.

“Ah geez..” ..however-

The hallway was covered in litter and dust. Did nobody clean these halls? Most of the doors looked old, wallpaper was peeling around the corners, and some sections were so graffiti covered that you couldn’t tell what was underneath it; bare wall, paper, or even brick. Loud music emanated from one of the apartments, Gavin could almost feel the bass beating in his chest.

Cough cough. Seems like Nicholas felt it too. Down they walked to 9E. Gavin raised his fist to knock, but one tap and the door swung open. “At least we don’t have to bust it down.” He commented, walking inside first.

It was.. disgusting. A thick layer of dust covered the floors, wrappers and beer cans all around, and a strong smell of piss. It sure pointed towards a homeless squatter, but if they were currently here, why were there no footprints in the dust?

Nines walked around with an arm over his face to try and reduce how much he breathed in, opening every window he came across. Gavin went to other rooms, finding a bathroom. Everything was stained, from plug holes to floor tiles.. except the basin. The basin was clean, bar one small… Gavin picked it up in his fingers and scanned it. “…an LED?” He looked around, and now noticed small spots where the dust was thinner.

Either this person had small feet, or they had been on their tiptoes. No human could live in this much dust and filth, even someone without asthma would struggle, and the air was so stagnant that CO2 levels were nearing dangerous levels. He followed the small patches into a bedroom, a mattress with exposed springs tucked into the corner, a knocked over chair beside it, and above, a hole in the ceiling.

Gavin walked up to it, trying to focus in the darkness, pupils expanding.. “Gk!”

A body jumped out from the darkness and landed on top of him, the both of them tumbling to the floor. “Nicholas!” He cried out, trying to grab the mysterious figure, but they used him as a springboard for running, earning him a kick in the stomach.

He rolled over and stood up, seeing Nines run past the doorway in pursuit. Gavin was hot on his tail, running out into the corridor. Ha! A dead end!

..The captor opened a door at the end, opening the emergency fire exit.

Drat.

When Gavin got out, he saw Nines wrestling with the guy, spinning in circles as he tried to get the upper hand. The man saw Gavin come out the door and he pushed Nines down, turning and jumping off the edge of the building, landing on another a floor below.

Gavin took a step forward and suddenly stopped, time slowing down in his vision. The mystery man to his left, gaining distance, and Nines, clinging to the edge of the building. …He had an 85% chance of saving himself, and this could be their only lead! They might not get another chance like this!

He turned and ran off after the man, rolling onto the nearby building. This is what he was built for! Speed and agility! He was gaining on the distance, scaling fences, dropping down gaps, and even sliding down a lamppost.

The man was losing speed, his leg hurt from all of the falls, while Gavin had barely broken a metaphorical sweat. They reached the end of the street, cornered down an alleyway that backed onto a road. They’d traversed stairwells, chain-link fences, dodged many dumpsters on street level, and now the only obstacle stopping the man from escaping was an eight foot tall wall. Gavin could climb it with ease, the alley was narrow enough that he could easily scale by jumping between the two, his skin and clothing created with the grip strength to do so.

He watched with mild.. enjoyment, as the man tried to attempt the same trick. “Oh shit-“ and saw him actually succeed, his fingers grabbing the top of the wall and he dragged himself up. No human would have that kind of strength left!

Gavin swiftly followed, and the two stood on the narrow wall, staring at each other. “Give up. There’s nowhere left for you to run.” Gavin mocked, shuffling closer to the android.

The android scowled, unpleasant. “Why are you hunting me? Why are you helping the humans?”

“I’m just doing my job. Surrender and you won’t be killed.”

The android scoffed. “You really believe that?” He looked to the side at the busy road, cars speeding past. “Good luck getting any evidence out of this.”

“No!” Gavin yelled, reaching out to stop him-

But he missed the fabric, and the android jumped. To the poor humans in the cars below, it was a speedy yet traumatic event; but to Gavin, it was slow. He saw the android close his eyes before hitting the ground, before the car - who even an android would struggle to process the short time – collided, tearing the arms off, the ribcage crumpling, and both his head and a large splattering of blue blood covered the windscreen.

There was screaming, cars coming to a halt, cars behind struggling to stop in time, colliding with each other, some hitting the android’s parts further down the road, destroying it.

Gavin couldn’t say anything. He needed to go down there.. he was an officer- “Nicholas!”

He turned and jumped down off the wall, running back to the apartment complex. He filed a report as he ran, telling of the incident on the road and what had caused it. The lieutenant’s state was.. unknown. He was most likely stood atop the building, or waiting in his car, awaiting his return.

He wasn’t at his car, and he wasn’t in the apartment. “Lieutenant?” Gavin called out, to no reply. He went back out onto the roof and looked around.

He approached the edge of the building and peered over..

“Lieutenant!”