Piece It Together - Gavin Reed

21

A week had gone by since the Androids had been given freedom and rights. Clutching the coffee cup in her hands, she waddled into the precinct where she was hit with cold air. Shivering, she scanned her ID and rushed to her desk, putting her stuff down before sipping on the warm drink to warm herself up. Gavin waltzed in some time after her, not a care in the world for the weather. He sipped on his coffee, pausing when he saw someone standing by his desk.

"Who the fuck are you?"

"L/n, Reed! My office!" Looking at each other, the two walked into his office. Nearly dying at how warm his office was, she took a seat while Gavin stood behind the other seat and the android stayed stood at the back of the room. "You may be wondering why I called you in here-"

"Are you fuckin' replacing us?!"

"Gavin, let him speak!"

"ENOUGH!" Both stayed quiet, "This is the newest prototype: RK900. After all of the stuff that happened with the Android's revolution crime rates went up, especially in homicide and red ice deals." She froze at the mention of red ice, the sight of Jamie's dead body flashing in her mind, "RK900 is here to assist with your cases so we can shut down as many as we can. Luckily, you're up to date on paperwork thanks to L/n."

"So, we have to work with this fuckin' tin can?"

"Androids got their rights, Reed. So, suck it up or you can kiss your badge goodbye." Scoffing, he turned on his heel and pushed past the robot.

"I'm sorry for him, sir." Standing up from her seat, she walked to the robot and gestured for him to follow her, leaving the office with him. A chill went up her spine as she walked to her desk, RK900 in tow. Sitting at her desk and taking a sip of her coffee, she spun to look at the android who stood over, analysing the things on her desk. "So, do you have a name?"

"My name is Connor." Sucking in a breath, she shook her head.

"Is there anything else we can call you? We already have a Connor."

"Ah, yes, RK800." His LED flashed yellow and blue as if he was thinking.

"We could call him Con." The two looked over at Gavin who was now standing by her chair, "Since he is one."

Elbowing him in the side, he held his hip in pain, "You said that you'd play nice with androids. He's here to help - he means no harm."

"I am here to assist in your cases, not steal your job, Detective Reed." The android scanned his grey eyes over the human, "Maybe if you were not so insufferable you wouldn't be so insecure about losing your job to me."

In a flash, Gavin had his hands on the android's collar and had him up against the wall. The android, just like Connor, had a significant height difference compared to him. "Okay, break it up you two." Gavin let go, but not before spitting profanities under his breath as he walked away. "I'm sorry about him, he can be difficult when he wants to be."

"I believe he was experiencing jealousy."

"Yeah, he's a jealous nut." She took another sip of coffee, warming up a little bit, "How about we call you Nines?"

"That would be... nice."

"Good. Now," Turning to her desk, she checked on the cases they had, "Which case should we tackle..."

"There was a homicide that was just reported. Perhaps we should make a start there."

"Perfect. I'll get the jealous nut."

Three sat in Gavin's car, the brunette grumbling about an even more insufferable Connor being inside his car whilst Nines stayed quiet and the woman read over the file. "Oh my God..."

"Hm?"

"You'll see."

Arriving at the scene, they got out of the car to find a nice-looking house. A man wearing his pyjamas was holding his two children close to him, his eyes scanning the scene frantically. "Sir, you must be Gareth."

"Y-yes. Are you the detectives?"

"We are. Is there anything you can tell me about what happened?" She asked, holding a recorder up as he spoke with a shaky voice.

"I-I don't know what time it was, maybe 2 in the morning? My wife, Alice, got out of bed to get a glass of water and I was half asleep so I just left her to her own devices... God, I wish I had gone with her. I could have saved her...!"

"I understand, Sir, but this is not your fault. Who found the body?"

"My daughter, Katie. She woke up in the morning and went to the kitchen to get something to eat and I woke up to her screams."

Meanwhile, Gavin and Nines were analysing the body. "Now I know what Y/n was on about..."

"Alice Price, age 36, worked as an accountant." Nines finished his analysis, "Did you know her?"

"I went to high school with her. She was a pretty smart kid back then. We had a short fling back in Sophomore year." He knelt down, analysing her, "Who would kill her? Surely she had no enemies who would want to do this to her?"

"That is true. She's an accountant with a husband and children; she seems to have a very normal life."

"The cause of death must have been this hole in her chest." He looked over the wound, the blood staining her pyjamas to the point that you couldn't recognise what the original colour was. That was when he noticed the shape that was carved into her skin: a heart. The skin had been ripped off to open her heart to the killer before it was ripped out. "Or the suffocation."

"The suffocation knocked her unconscious. The killer then used this to their advantage."

"Right." The two walked around the scene, Y/n joining them soon after she finished her questioning.

"We may have a lead."

"Who?"

"Do you have any numbers of your high school hook-ups?"

"Probably not. I never kept any fling's number besides you."

"Wow, I'm flattered, but I need Gemma's number."

"Gemma? God, she was a fuckin' nutcase."

"Yeah, well, she may be our killer." Sitting the two down, she stood before them, "Apparently they were fighting over a promotion."

"A promotion? There's no fuckin' way someone would kill over a promotion."

"You said she was a nutcase."

"Yeah, a nutcase, not batshit crazy!"

"Well, even if she isn't our killer, she's a lead."