Tick Tock Part One - Hickory

The Boy in the Bathtub

"Detective Reed!" Connor called anxiously as they entered the precinct. The ride back had been filled with a tense silence. Connor's LED hadn't left red as he ran continuous scans on the human beside him. Gavin's breaths had gotten shorter and shorter. His legs were restless, his heartbeat irregular, temper running high and low, vitals rising and falling. "Detective!" Connor persisted as he followed him through the corridor. They'd entered from the rear carpark close to the gym. Gavin still didn't respond as he rounded the corner and kicked the wooden door open, storming into the changing rooms.

He didn't stop or go to his locker as he tossed his jacket, leaving it on the tiled floor. He kicked a bench on the way through and burst into the main gym. It was evening, so no one was there. They'd either gone home already or were busy working. The evening shifts were always quieter than the day shifts, with fewer officers. Connor watched as he stalked restlessly across the open floor, breathing deeply, angry green eyes searching for something to latch onto. Connor hurried over as he settled on one of the heavy leather punching bags suspended on a thick chain.

"Gavin..." He tried to ease him back from the heavy black bag with gentle hands. Gavin's knuckles were already bruised from the other day, the skin slowly splitting as he lashed out and laid into the thick leather, pulling free of his grip. "Gavin!" Connor snapped, shoving more forcefully, prompting Gavin to shift targets from the swinging bag to him. Connor went with it. He could control this. He could protect him from physical harm while allowing him to exhaust his rage.

"The phck are you doing?" Gavin growled as Connor deflected his punches with ease and slipped around him like he was made of water. "Phcking androids!" He grunted as his next kick was blocked. Connor was so fucking gentle. Each touch was like a caress or the slightest touch. When Gavin launched himself at his chest, Connor almost seemed to lift and place him on the hard floor. Strong hands on his pecs kept him down, steady hazel eyes looking at him with a soft, almost pitying air. His LED was still spinning red. "Why the phck did they make them look like kids? Phck!" Gavin snapped as he knocked his head against the wooden floor. He was almost angrier as Connor's hand slipped beneath to cradle his skull and stop him from doing it again.

"The YK series was conceived for various reasons, but particularly for those humans unable to have children of their own so that they-" Connor cut off, leaning back as Gavin tried to headbutt him. He ended up with his face buried in his shoulder, and Connor saw fit to keep it there, using the hand on the back of his head as leverage. He was hesitant as he draped his other arm across his back. Slow. Tentative. He treated Gavin like a cornered and distrustful animal, letting out the smallest of hushing sounds.

"They shouldn't make them look so phcking real!" Connor ignored the comments for now. Gavin was barely functional. His shoulders shook as Connor tightened his hold, long fingers quietly analysing the threads of brunette slipping between his digits. Gavin had showered that day. Less natural oils clung to the smooth strands. He couldn't feel it exactly but, like Sumo's fur, he knew it was soft. It was pleasant to analyse. "I phcking hate it! There was no reason to make them look so phcking human! Why did they need to look like people to do a phcking job?"

"It was believed that androids would be more easily accepted into human society if we could blend into the-" Connor stopped as Gavin's hand reached up and clapped over his mouth. Ah, a rhetorical question...He was breathing softly against Gavin's heated skin. Despite his negative sentiments towards androids and seeing them as being too human, he seemed strangely comforted by the artificial breath on his skin. "It is normal to be shocked when confronted with such a...graphic example of cruelty," Connor soothed sympathetically as he removed the hand from his mouth.

"I've been doing this shit for over a decade! I know that already!" Gavin replied defensively as he pushed back. Connor allowed him to shuffle away, LED settling on yellow as Gavin slowly calmed himself. Focusing on Gavin was helpful. It kept his own mind from wandering to the boy in the bathtub and the reality of what some humans were capable of. He'd analysed the crusted semen stains in the tub, which had come from three different human males, and analysed the child's thirium to get a name. Richard. A YK600 previously registered to the Gates household. Missing since the revolution. His last recorded location was Detroit Recycling Centre Number Five, where he'd been listed for decommission by Cyberlife. Connor could also tell from the skin on his wrists and his pained expression that Richard had been alive and aware during the rape and torture leading up to his death. Child androids didn't feel pain the way humans did, but they had been designed to simulate it. The human assailants had clearly gotten sexual pleasure from the experience.