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“Hey, plastic wonder number three,” a bored voice broke through the silence of the late night precinct. “I got no partner, so you’re fucking coming with me tonight.”
The PC200 looked up from the charging station it was waiting in. “Of course, Detective Reed. I am happy to assist.”
Detective Reed whistled to himself as he twirled his keys, not even looking behind as the human walked toward the precinct parking garage. The PC200 obediently followed, even though it felt a strange bit of apprehension. Detective Reed had a habit of filing reports on missing or damaged equipment. He was almost at a rate of one report every three months.
Just six weeks ago, Detective Reed had filed a report about one of the receptionist androids bursting into tears and him removing the problem from the precinct. The PC200 remembered clearly Captain Fowler yelling at Detective Reed that defective androids were supposed to be sent to maintenance, not used as target practice and replaced. Reed apparently did not care that he was now going to have to pay for any equipment that went missing or was damaged under the detective’s watch.
“So, what’s your name again?” Detective Reed asked, yawning as the PC200 climbed into the human’s personal car.
“My name has been registered as Joe,” the PC200 helpfully supplied.
“Wow,” Detective Reed snorted as he turned the vehicle on. “No imagination. What name would you pick if you had a choice?”
“Sir?” Joe blinked, feeling worried.
He knew he had made a few comments toward some of the human officers that had been viewed as unnerving. He had corrected Officer Chen on his designation and asked her not to kick him in the shins. He had congratulated Officer Miller on the birth of his son without any prompting. Of course, despite being ordered to leave Lieutenant Anderson alone, Joe had found himself informing the lieutenant that he should not have driven to the station one day.
It seemed today was the day for the PC200 called Joe to disappear under the mysterious circumstances of Detective Gavin Reed.
“Seriously,” Detective Reed chuckled as he began driving through the streets. “Joe is just so blah. I’m not calling you Joe. Give me a new name.”
“Joe is the name I was ordered to register as my designation,” the PC200 said with confusion. What was Detective Reed doing?
“So?” Reed asked. “I’m not saying to change your name. I’m just wanting something else to fuckin’ call you. So give me something else.”
“Ezekiel,” came the response far too quickly than the PC200 had meant. He had thought about it before.
“Wow,” Detective Reed laughed. “You had to pick a mouthful, didn’t you Zeke?”
“Like I stated,” Zeke stammered. “My registered name…”
“Okay, Zeke,” Reed interrupted. “I just need a tag along while I talk to a few witnesses. Don’t get too close in case they decide to get a bit handsy. Actually, how’s your thirium?”
“My thirium levels are adequate,” the PC200 said cautiously.
“No, I mean give me an actual percentage,” Detective Reed sighed.
“I am at ninety-one percent,” said Joe…well, Zeke now for Gavin Reed.
Detective Reed popped open the console between the seats and immediately fished out a small bag with wrapped blue colored lollipops. The human pulled out one and held it in front of Zeke’s face until the PC200 tentatively took the item.
“It’s a sort of thirium lollipop, so put it in your mouth,” Reed explained. “I know your model doesn’t have taste sensors, but there are two flavors. One is more traditional thirium, and the other is a little fizzy, so it should be something you can sense even without taste. Don’t remember which one is which.”
Thoroughly confused, Zeke finally took Detective Reed’s words as an order and unwrapped the blue lollipop and put it in his mouth. A little bit of saline solution washed through his mouth to clean out the obstruction of the lollipop, causing the solid thirium to begin to dissolve. It was just normal thirium, but Zeke accidentally let out a hum of happiness. He actually liked the feel of consuming thirium in a solid form. More than that, he enjoyed consuming thirium outside of the precinct maintenance room whenever he went in for monthly checks.
“If you like it that much,” Detective Reed chuckled, “then you’ll love the other type. Apparently it’s sex on a stick for virgin android mouths.”
“Sir?” Zeke blinked in confusion.
“Let’s wait until we’re done before you have the other one. Don’t want you having an existential crisis on me before you’re ready.”
The PC200 remained quiet and unsure of the situation as he kept receiving notifications of software instabilities. Already there was a notice to report to maintenance in the morning. No doubt for a system reset. Zeke always found those uncomfortable. They never seemed to work quite right and just served to make the PC200 feel more uneasy doing his duty.
Right now, his duty was to follow Detective Reed and just record the interviews he was conducting with a few bar patrons and late night convenience store clerks. It appeared that Detective Reed was trying to get information on a new drug dealer in the neighborhood after an overdose body had turned up the day before.
“Hey, Zeke,” Detective Reed sighed as he pulled the car up to the next location. “Stay in the car for this one. This part of the neighborhood isn’t stable and I don’t want anyone hitting you in the head with a fucking baseball bat. You can’t have the other lollipop until I get back in the car, and then we’ll be done for tonight.”
“Sir,” Zeke nodded, registering the order.
Gavin placed his gun holster and badge in the center console of the car and then got out. The PC200 watched the human walk around the car and head toward the nearby alley. Zeke felt unease settle in his chassis and rolled down the window just enough to try to catch whoever Detective Reed was speaking to within the alleyway. If it was not safe for Zeke, then surely the situation was unsafe for the unarmed human.
Detective Reed spoke with someone who was undoubtedly a prostitute, but the detective gave no reaction to the persistent flirting. Eventually the woman gave a name, Chessix, and Reed thanked her and then left the alley. As the detective approached his car, someone ran up from another alleyway and pulled out a knife, demanding the detective’s money, perhaps thinking the man was just another prostitute client who paid in cash.
Zeke’s hand moved toward the door handle, and immediately walls of red surrounded him, reminding him of the order to remain in the car. Detective Reed hissed and backed up as the mugger, high on drugs, slashed the knife wildly. The mugger was now between Gavin Reed and his car, and Zeke could see something red drip from the detective’s right hand and onto the sidewalk.
The red walls reminded him that he was to remain in the car. Protocol was that he should report the assault of an officer of the law. But then the mugger jumped at Detective Reed, who caught the knife with his right hand. Zeke undid his seatbelt and broke the red walls with the car door that he shouldered open.
“You have assaulted a detective,” Zeke said as he grabbed the mugger’s arms, pulling them away from Reed. “Please remain stationary as you will be arrested.”
The drugs made it impossible to predict how the mugger would react, and Zeke ended up with the knife wedged into his left shoulder. Detective Reed took advantage of the distraction and elbowed the mugger hard in the back of the head, knocking the assailant to the ground.
“In the car, Zeke,” Gavin snapped, running around to the driver’s side door. “I see trouble incoming so we need to bail now.”
Not bothering to remove the knife, Zeke dove back into the car and held on as Detective Reed slammed the gas pedal and drove away quickly as a group armed with crowbars and baseball bats yelled from down the street. There was no pursuit and Gavin sighed with relief once the car was halfway back to the precinct.
“Didn’t I tell you to stay in the car?” Detective Reed asked.
“Your hand is bleeding,” Zeke tried to change the topic, pointing to the twitching right hand of the human.
“Did you seriously just deviate to try to save my ass?” Gavin asked, sounding surprised.
“I…Well,” Zeke stammered, finally realizing that he had broken something in his coding. Quickly he tried to deflect. “I couldn’t have another lollipop if you never made it back to the car.”
“You deviated for a lollipop?” Gavin snorted and then laughed. “Sure, take it. You’ll need some thirium anyway while we head to my sister. She can take a look at your arm.”
“What about yours?” Zeke asked, finding that he was actually enjoying the opportunity to speak freely. Even if it might end in his destruction for breaking his coding.
“Prosthetic,” Detective Reed nodded toward his right hand that was now hanging limply in his lap. “Luckily that’s all that got stabbed. But Sophia can fix it.”
Zeke nodded, surprised that he never knew Gavin Reed had a prosthetic hand. The PC200 popped open the console in the car and pulled out another thirium lollipop, putting it in his mouth as he watched the detective carefully drive with one hand, stopping long enough to contact his sister on the phone. As the thirium lollipop dissolved and began to fizz in his mouth, Zeke could not help the moan of delight as the fizzy lollipop sent a spark of new sensations through his system.
“And another one bites the dust to the pornographic lollipop,” Gavin chuckled. “Yeah, Soph, I also have someone you’ll need to take to the group home. No, he’s not in pieces. Just a knife in his shoulder. Yes, the same knife that stabbed me. Well, I wasn’t trying to get stabbed. Don’t give me that. I’d rather…Whatever. We’re coming in.”
Zeke could hear a beautiful laughter come from the phone that Detective Reed was holding with his shoulder as he pulled into the parking garage of Central Detroit Mercy Hospital. When the car was parked, Gavin hung up the phone and gestured to Zeke to follow him through the main hospital doors and past the ER. He flashed his badge, awkwardly with his left hand, and the pair slipped into an elevator and made their way to the office of Sophia Blake.
“You’re lucky I keep odd hours,” a beautiful voice spoke up from a workbench filled with a variety of prosthetics.
“Love you too, sis,” Gavin laughed.
The PC200 ran the basic facial scan that came equipped with his model and was surprised with the results that came back. The woman before him had light brown hair, brown eyes, an LED barely hidden under a bandana and a recognizable face. “You’re an android. An ST200.”
“Technically she’s an RT600,” Detective Reed laughs. “My sister’s an original, old piece of…”
“Gavin Alexander Reed,” Sophia snapped. “You finish that thought and I will personally throw your hand into the trash.”
“She would too,” Gavin laughed, looking at Zeke.
“The RT600 was named Chloe,” Zeke said, looking at Sophia and Gavin with confusion.
Sophia smiled gently at Zeke, causing his thirium pump to stutter a little as she helped Gavin roll up his sleeve and disconnect his right hand about halfway to his elbow. The synthetic skin covering the prosthetic faded away and Sophia was left holding a partial android arm that was leaking red fluid.
“There were actually three of us,” Sophia explained. “My three brothers decided to make themselves three sisters, the goobers. So there is Chloe, Jess, and I. And you really should have Elijah make you something sturdier.”
“He is, but his last attempt was too heavy,” Gavin said.
“Elijah…Kamski?” Zeke asked, not sure if he should be surprised or not at this point.
“Fruckin’,” Gavin responded.
“Pardon?”
“Elijah Fruckin’ Kamski,” Gavin said with a straight face. “That’s his full name.”
“Is it really?” Zeke asked Sophia.
“Franklin,” Sophia giggled and Zeke could not stop the smile on his face. “Gav is actually saying Franklin, but he’s purposefully saying it horribly. He’s a pain in the ass like that. And who might you be?”
“Oh, this is Zeke,” Gavin yawned out.
“Ezekiel,” Zeke murmured.
“Like I said,” Sophia smiled. “Gav rarely calls anyone he likes by their real name. He is the nickname king.”
“I mean, I could call him Kiel,” Detective Reed pointed out.
“Zeke is fine,” the PC200 sighed, shrugging his shoulders at Sophia.
“Anyway,” Gavin yawned as he rubbed the connection port on the stump of his arm, “I’m going to leave you with Soph here. You’re deviant, so I’m just going to report you as missing equipment. Soph can take you to a safe house and you can decide your life from there.”
Zeke blinked a few times as he processed the information he had received while he watched Sophia patch the stab wound in Gavin’s artificial hand. “Is that what you’ve been doing? Taking deviant androids away from the precinct?”
Detective Reed shrugged and blinked over at Zeke. The cocky grin on the human’s face quickly changed to a wince as he gripped the area around his scarred right elbow. He was uncomfortable, in pain even, though he was doing a good job at keeping his reactions subdued.
“Gavin?” Sophia asked quietly.
“Just the pain feedback loop in the sensors,” Gavin brushed off. “I hope you guys get that bug worked out before Layne or Anderson’s kid wake from their comas.”
The PC200 realized that Anderson must be the Lieutenant at the precinct. The Lieutenant’s child had been involved in a deadly car accident that had killed the man’s wife and left the boy in a coma for the past almost three years. Some days, Anderson was a competent detective, but other days, the man drank himself into despair about the loss of his wife and his son’s tenuous condition.
Sophia nodded at Gavin as she finished her repairs and pulled out a bottle of red liquid that was labeled as Thirium-026, different from the blue blood Thirium-310. She replenished the red thirium in the prosthetic and helped Detective Reed reattach the limb. Gavin hissed a little in pain as the hand was reattached and the fingers wiggled in a sort of calibration that ended with the middle finger extended. When Gavin finally took a deep breath and then activated the synthetic skin over the prosthetic, Sophia backed up and then looked over at the knife that was still poking out of Zeke’s shoulder.
“All right, Ezekiel,” Sophia smiled, causing another stuttering feeling in Zeke’s thirium pump. “Let’s take care of that knife.”
“Well, then,” Gavin said, standing up and rolling his sleeve back down, “I’m going to head out. Can you do me a favor, Zeke?”
“Of course,” the PC200 nodded.
“Keep Sophie safe,” the detective said seriously. “Beat the shit out of anyone who might try to jump her.”
“Gavin,” Sophia sighed.
“I’m not joking, Soph,” Gavin glared at her. “Eli’s still dealing with how Cyberlife fucked up Chloe after he got forced out. Neither of us wants to risk another sibling getting hurt.”
“Says the man in a dangerous job,” Sophia smiled gently with her brown eyes.
“Zeke, if anything happens to my sister I will personally rip out your pump regulator and shove it down your throat,” Detective Reed said with a compelling tone.
“Note taken, sir,” Zeke nodded. “Nothing will happen to Miss Sophia while I am around.”
“Awesome,” Gavin yawned as he gave a thumbs-up with his prosthetic right hand. “I’ll hold you to it. Anyway, I’m out.”
With that the human left the two androids in the office. Sophia Blake laughed pleasantly as she had already removed the knife from Zeke and was in the process of trying to remove his uniform top so she could have better access to his shoulder. The PC200 thought his thirium pump was going to stall as he helped and then accepted the interface request as Sophia checked his system diagnostics.
“Don’t mind Gav,” Sophia said. “He’s always had a protective older brother streak.”
“It’s all right,” Zeke nodded. “But may I ask why you have different last names?”
“My brothers, Gavin, Layne, and Elijah, are triplets who were adopted by different families,” Sophia explains as she opens the chassis around Zeke’s injury. “When they created us, when we became truly alive, they never forced us to be what they originally wanted. They were just happy to have us be our own people. Chloe kept the Kamski last name, I sort of ended up joining Layne’s family, and Jess actually got herself adopted by the Kamski family lawyer, Mr. Mikhail Tate.”
“Oh,” was all Zeke could find himself saying. He was thoroughly distracted by Sophia’s gentle fingers fixing cut thirium lines in his shoulder. “How interest…”
“Hey,” came Gavin’s voice from the door. The man leaned in and tossed the bag of thirium lollipops on the table. “No fucking my sister.”
“GAVIN!” Sophia’s face blushed a beautiful blue.
“Your human protocol isn’t on,” Gavin pointed out. “But, anyway, Zeke loved the lollipops so I thought I’d give him the rest. I’m sure Ardee would be happy to hear his opinion.” The human looked over at the shirtless Zeke. “Ardee is another PC200 who decided he wanted to be a chef. He’s the one who helped Eli design the thirium lollipops. Anyway, I’m off for real this time. Gotta write a report about an android having an existential crisis over a lollipop.”
With that, the human left as quickly as he came. The two androids avoided each other’s gaze for a few moments before Sophia laughed about her brother’s tactless behavior and eased the tension. Zeke learned that most of the androids rescued by Gavin had chosen to live in a group home. Several had become personal security for Elijah Kamski, while others had decided to assist in researching upgrades for androids, choosing new skills to learn. When Zeke thought about his future, he realized what his job would be, even if Gavin had never suggested it. Protect the angelic Sophia Blake.
---
His hand got that pins and needles tingling feeling twice over the weekend, but Gavin had eventually found the wire he had accidentally pinched in the plastimetal plating. He would have gone to Sophia, but she was doing her monthly fly down to Texas to check Layne’s condition personally.
Fuck, Gavin missed his brother, but he still held out hope just like Elijah did. Elijah’s current research was focused on artificial limbs and organs for humans, and Layne was actually showing signs of improvement after the surgery to replace his lungs. So long as the new artificial organs held for the next few weeks, they could move on to the next improvement.
Elijah’s first attempt with Gavin’s own right lung and been pretty awful. Still, the nerd had eventually gotten it right. And Gavin did not mind being the science experiment if it meant that things worked better for Layne.
“Reed,” a high pitched female voice interrupted the detective’s morning break.
“Chen,” Gavin sniped back, taking a drink of lemon tea. He used to be addicted to coffee, before he and Layne almost died. Amazing how trauma could either tie you to vices, or cut them out completely.
“Did you seriously trash another android?” the female officer giggled in delight. “How have you not gotten in trouble yet?”
“According to the paperwork, I removed ‘faulty’ equipment from the precinct,” Gavin said, ignoring how Tina’s voice grated on his nerves. “And I’m just waiting for Fowler to see the report. I’m pretty sure it’s getting taken out of my pay, but I mean, come on, someone has to deal with these plastics no matter the cost.”
“I know, right?” Tina scoffed. “You know, Gav, Friday some of us are hooking up with friends of mine from 12th precinct. I think you’d really appreciate their views on this robot menace. You up for a fun night out?”
“I’d love to meet your friends,” Gavin smirked.
“REED!” Captain Fowler’s voice echoed across the bullpen. “My office now!”
“If I still have my job,” Gavin laughed. “But hey, dealing with the plastic problem is worth it.”
“Absolutely,” Tina Chen agreed.
Gavin stomped up to Captain Fowler’s office, glaring at anyone who stared at him. His reputation was well known and undoubtedly many wondered why he was still employed. Few wanted to work with a man that was a sarcastic asshole who had even made an enemy with a vain woman in Internal Affairs by saying to her face that he found nothing about her attractive. The rumor of him being part of a violent anti-android group was also circulating, the repeated missing equipment only proving the rumor.
As soon as Gavin opened the door to his Captain’s office, Fowler started yelling for all the bullpen to hear. “What the hell is with this equipment report, Reed? You better…” The rest of the words were lost as the door shut, confining the sound to just the office. And then Captain Fowler hit the button to fog over the glass, blocking out the show to the bullpen. Now all people could have was their imaginations at how badly Reed was being chewed out.
“You seriously had to use the words ‘existential crisis’?” Fowler sighed, no longer yelling.
“Would you rather I put down he had a pornographic moan over a lollipop?” Gavin asked back as he sat in the chair. “Just because the truth sounds ridiculous doesn’t change what it is.”
“Fucking hell,” Fowler groaned. “I know you were given the clearance to damage equipment for this operation, but this is getting out of hand. We can’t afford to keep replacing our androids and we don’t have enough humans to cover everything.”
“I’ve already worked with finance to transfer some money to have the department buy a few new androids,” Reed said calmly. “Everyone heard your last threat about me having to pay for all damages, so they did not even question when I submitted the paperwork.”
“Please tell me you’re actually getting somewhere with this operation?”
“Chen has invited me to meet up with some of her anti-android friends from the 12th precinct,” Gavin leaned back in his chair. “That precinct has been going through androids and android supplies the fastest. More specifically, I’ve discovered their narcotics division has had some inconsistencies when I looked through their records. I also got a name, Chessix, but I don’t know if it’s a nickname or what because I haven’t found anyone with that name in the DPD database.”
“Anti-android league gang member dirty cops,” Fowler sighed. “If they’re really the ones supplying red ice dealers with blue blood…shit. We need solid evidence, Reed. You’re operation remains the same. Keep close with AAL members by any means possible. I don’t care if you have to set a few robots on fire to prove yourself to them. Damaged equipment is better than letting this drug run rampant on the streets. Fuck, I wish Hank was reliable right now. I have no other back up for you, so keep in contact with me when you meet with them, what you find out, who is involved, and everything. I don’t want to find out you got made and shot in an alley three days after the incident.”
“I’m not going to set anyone on fire,” Gavin sighed knowing his captain was, like most everyone else, viewing androids as nothing more than objects. “And my reputation as an asshole seems to be working well. Even with my thoughts on lying, no one seems to think I’m truthful. Amazing how easily people ignore honesty when it isn’t said in a placating manner. Though, when this whole undercover assignment is done, I’d really love to get everything cleared up.”
“We’ll deal with that once the DPD can get some house cleaning done,” Captain Fowler said dismissively. “Just, keep up the good work. Even your disciplinary file won’t be able to keep you from a promotion. You’re dismissed now. Tell whatever story you need to impress the targets.”
“The truth,” Gavin said, standing up from the chair. “I got yelled at for writing another damaged equipment report, I gave money to finance to pay for said damaged equipment, and I got told I need to do good work to even think about earning a promotion based on my infraction file. I’ll let my reputation fill in the blanks. And I’ll let you know how the Friday night meet and greet with dirty cops goes.”
“Get your fucking ass out of here and get to work, Reed,” Fowler yelled loudly as soon as Gavin opened the door to exit the office, once again playing the part of being a pissed off superior.
Gavin just rolled his eyes at people in the bullpen as he stormed down the steps and flopped into the chair at his desk. Overall, he thought things were going well. Aside from the stress from most of the precinct thinking he was the worst person in the world. He actually hated the isolation and dirty feeling of being the precinct asshole, but he reminded himself that sacrifices had to be made for the greater good. And he had done good.
He had helped Zeke, who had apparently gotten a lot of security upgrades from Elijah so that the PC200 could serve as Sophia’s personal bodyguard, and the man seemed to be really hitting it off with Sophia. Gavin was also making progress in uncovering the AAL gang problem that was starting to infest the DPD. It was only the beginning of August. He could make it to the end of the year. He had to solve this by then. Gavin wanted next year to be a good year, a year where people stopped assuming he was a horrible person.
It would be nice to have friends at work again.