More Than Human – Chapter 1

Those dark brown eyebrows were furrowed and were even more deepest than normal and the frown was curved so far down it almost reached his chin. "Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," the mocha colored man raised a brow, his vivid blue eyes curious but knowing. John Kennex was well known for being grumpy. They hadn't worked together long but he was starting to get a handle on the differences between just…John, grumpy John, and 'don't fuck with me' John. Usually the latter occurred when he had a bad dream, as noted by the dark bags under his dark hazel-green eyes.

"It's nothing," John grumbled, shutting his car door and walking around towards the precinct. Though, in fact, it was quite the opposite. As of late he had been having reoccurring nightmares of being in a gun fight and this woman is in danger but he could never reach her. Whatever, they were just dreams. Pushing open the doors, John didn't wait for Dorian before as he walked ahead, "I ate some bad noodles is all."

"Whatever you say, man," Dorian shrugged. It was like pulling teeth to get John to talk about anything personal. Which was good and bad, he supposed. "Captain wanted to see us. It sounded pretty urgent." He eyed the man's cup. It had been full when he heated it. Now it was more than half gone. Definitely had a bad night. He'd have to be more alert to compensate...though John always managed to surprise him. Whether he got enough sleep or not didn't seem to affect him like it would most.

Nodding, John veered away from his desk to make a new course to the Captain's office. He took another swig of the coffee, frowning at how it was colder than he'd like, but he didn't want to risk the Bleeding Heart sticking his damn finger in it. He opened the glass doors of Sandra's office after knocking, "You wanted to see me? I can assure you whatever happened wasn't my fault."

Sandra rolled her eyes, but a smile quirked at her lips anyway, "No, it has nothing to do with you." She nudged the case file towards him, "A man by the name of Dr. Weiskei was found dead in a gheto dumpster with a bullet through the back of his head. We don't know who shot him, but we know why. He's been working on advanced technology, but has kept a majority of his works secret. He's patented a couple small things, like tools that are used to work on androids," she motioned to Dorian, "But nothing spectacular. Only those who try and stay secret have something to hide. When his attackers went after him and didn't get the information they wanted, they killed him."

Raising a brow, John picked up the file, glancing over the contents. "Any leads as of yet?" he asked, pausing when a picture popped up on the screen paper of the doctor next to an Asian woman in what looks like a lab. Both were grinning widely and holding a frame with a document inside, likely the patent Sandra spoke of. She looked familiar... "Or do you just want us to do the digging ourselves?"

"Only place we got is the coffee shop he always went to, and this chip. It was sent to us anonymously and we got it not too long after we received the repot about Dr. Weiskei," Sandra explained, reaching into her desk drawer and placing the unsealed envelop on the desk as well.

"A chip?" the detective frowned, picking up the envelope. He titled it so that the microchip slipped out into his palm. "Do you think the killers sent it out? What's on it?"

"That's the thing," Sandra sighed, shaking her head, "Nothing we have will accept this. It's encrypted to the point it'll only work in whatever it was made to sync with. Like a key to a lock. Dorian, if you want to give it a try you can. None of the MXs were able to, but since you have a different software system, it might work."

Dorian nodded and stepped forward, taking the chip from John. He took a good look at it, taking in all it's slots and size before placing it where it should go. He tried scanning it, downloading, updating, took an extra minute to hopefully decrypt it, but...the only thing that happened was a symbol appeared in hs vision. What looked like a butterfly cocoon, and it wanted a password, "I think this is a memory card. My system recognized it, but I can't get any further besides the password screen."

"Well...that's better than what we had," Sandra held her hands out palms up helplessly, "I'm not supposed to let you guys have it, but whatever it goes to must obviously have similar programming to you, Dorian, so keep it with you. At least if anyone comes here looking for it, we'll know it's safe. In any case," she leaned back in her chair, "You guys head to the coffee shop and find out what you can. I'll let Dorian know if we get any new leads."

"Right, I could use more coffee anyway," John smirked before he motioned for Dorian to follow him. He sighed when he slipped into his car once they exited the building. "So we've got a dead doctor who apparently has a lot of secrets and memory chip. Sounds like illegal trade gone bad."

"Illegal something, that's more than likely true," Dorian nodded, "Well, the shop's downtown. Let's see what we find."

Pulling up to the street where the coffee shop was supposed to be, the detective frowned at the scenery. This was where the doc would spend most of his days? Granted this wasn't as bad as most of the places John got sent to, but still. It seemed so crowded, too crowded for any seasoned criminal to make any deals here. John pulled over and parked in a free spot a ways down from the shop. Of course all the others were full. Damn limited parking. "Come on, let's get this over with so I can get my coffee." he grumbled to Dorian, slipping out of the car.

Upon opening the door to the coffee shop, John paused to take in the scent. Ah, they brew the real stuff here. Not the genetically altered crap most sell now. Granted the organic stuff was more expensive, shops that still use it tended to bring in a good crowd. He glanced at Dorian when he slipped in behind him. Right. Murdered doc first. Walking up to the counter, he nodded to the middle aged man who stood ready to take an order. "Hello-"

"Let me guess, you like your coffee black, no sugar, no cream," the man chuckled warmly.

"Yes, but that's besides the point. For now at least." John stated rather seriously. Damn, he needed some sleep. "I'm detective John Kennex. I have some questions to ask about one of your customers. We were informed that he was a regular here, and hoped you could help us out."

A woman who looked about the same age as the man eyed him, "We have quite a few regulars here, sir. You'll have to be more specific."

"He may have brought his computer with him here a lot," Dorian threw out a speculation.

"Well that does narrow down the list, since we only have so many plug-ins. What did he look like?" she asked.

Noticing the subtle change in both workers, John had feeling they knew exactly who he was asking about. "He'd been around both of your ages, brown hair, blue eyes, around 5'7. His name is Dr. Weikiei. Can you tell us anything you can about this man?"

"Dr. Weiskei would always sit over at the corner chair, against the wall," the woman pointed to the table with one seat with the back against the wall.

Dorian glanced over and took note of the positioning of the chair and table. It was where the person would be able to see the entire store and would have his right side and back covered. A tactical seat. Snipers or anyone looking through the window wouldn't be able to see him. He would notice anyone and everyone that walked in the door, as well. He obviously knew he was being looked for or knew the dangers of his work. He looked back at the two. By the rings on their fingers, they were husband and wife. "Did you know him? What was he like?"

"He was always a quiet one," the man answered hesitantly after glancing at his wife, "Kept to himself, never caused any trouble. A model customer actually. Always tipping before he left. Jacob got the same thing everyday: a blueberry muffin and Columbia roast with Irish cream and a generous amount of sugar."

"Jacob? So you did know the doctor." John pushed, narrowing his eyes.

He nodded, "We went to the same school back in the day, yes. Jacob comes in so much now that we even started reserving that seat just for him. Least I could do for him really. He kept my nose clean through some rough years. I think he only came here to be around people. See his wife died the year, and his daughter is off across seas studying abroad, so he gets lonely."

"I'm sorry officers, I know nothing about this." the man stated firmly, reaching out and taking his wife's hand, "Now if you could be so kind as to order or leave. We have customers to tend to."

"In a minute, now don't make me bring the law into this. A man is dead, and you two know more than your telling us. If you don't start talking, we'll shut this place down while we wait for a warrant. Your choice." the detective shot back, locking his eyes with the man's. "So..." John glanced at the man's name tag, "Raiden, what's it going to be?"

Dorian took note of the woman's nametag as well, "Eri...We're just trying to help. I'm sure whatever the doctor was up to wasn't as bad as what the men who killed him were - are - trying to do."

Eri bit her lip and the ginger looked to her black haired husband, "Should we? They might be able to keep /her/ safe. What are we going to do? Keep her there?"

"Keep who where?" John looked between the two, "Who is this 'her' you're talking about?"

Closing his eyes with a sigh, Raiden shook his head, "Fine...I hate keeping her in there anyway...Listen, we can't talk here." Not letting Eri's hand go, Raiden waved over one of his employees to watch the counter while he lead the way into the back room. "Before we explain...My wife and I have nothing to do with any of this, alright. We're honest people, making an honest living. All we're guilty of is helping out a friend."

"Alright," turning to Dorian John gave him a pointed look, "They don't get reported. Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir," Dorian nodded. What was so important they had to keep it a secret?

Eri rubbed Raiden's arm where he had his tiger tattoo...it usually calmed either or both of them down, "Don't hurt her, when you find her. Don't let /anyone/ hurt her. If she has to be deactivated, don't let a stranger do it. That's all /I/ have to ask."

"Are you withholding an android?" Dorian was surprised.

"Not quite..." Eri looked away.

Exchanging glances with Dorian, John glanced passed the couple to an oddly placed shelf of pans and other items the shop used daily. "What do you mean 'not quite'?"

Raiden stepped between the detective and the shelf. He may not have completely agreed with what Jacob had done, but she... Raiden and Eri both had been there the day she was born. Sure, they weren't as close as her Godmother, but hell, they still cared. "...Jacob came to us a few months ago asking if he could use our store as...a cover for his lab. He needed somewhere safe and trusted because what he was going to do was considered...unethical to say the least. He help us our more times than either of us could count, kept our heads above water when we were drowning in debt. We agreed. We...looked after someone for him when he needed us to."

"Who?" John pushed, tired of them beating around the bush. "Who are you looking after?"

"...Her name is Sarrina..." Raiden caved, placing his free hand over Eri's hand.

"If we swear we won't do anything to her, will you take us to her?" Dorian asked gently.

Eri shook her head, "You'll have to go there yourselves. There's an alternate exit. You can't get out here, only go in."

"It was a sure safe that Jacob did to insure that no one could get in without his say so." Raiden pulled away from his wife to walk over to the shelf. Pulling it out, he revealed a metal door. "There's a tunnel on the other side. You have to take it all the way down to the other door down there...Sarrina will be in the lab..."

John motioned for Dorian to follow as he walked up to the door. It had some heavy duty works to it, made to keep unwanted things out. "Right so how do you open it?"

Raiden reached over to a panel on the side and typed in a quick code. The light above the panel flashed green while an audible sounds of the door unlocking followed. "Once I close the door, I can't reopen it for several hours so get to the other door quick. It'll remain unlocked for ten minutes, so don't take the scenic pace. You'll be trapped in there if you do."

"Got it," Dorian confirmed and followed after John when he entered. The door closed behind them leaving them in the dark, and Dorian activated his built-in flashlight, shining it ahead of them. The tunnel was only wide enough fro two people to walk side-by-side and it was musky and damp. They made their way across the tunnel at a quickened pace, "Sarrina must've been very important to the doctor in order to go though such great lengths to protect her."

"Or dangerous. Maybe the good doctor went a little crazy in the head when his wife died." John suggested, his nose scrunching up at the smell. For going to such lengths to hide this Sarrina, they couldn't even keep water out. Reaching the other door, John took a silent breath. Whatever laid on the other side might not be too welcoming of two strangers. "Right, be ready for anything." John murmured, his hand hovering over his gun before he opened the door.

Inside the pure white coloring of the lab was almost blinding in comparison to the dark tunnel. White tiles, white walls and ceilings. Most of the items all suggested medical usage while some things, such as the room off to the side, suggested otherwise. Moving in farther, John could see into the small room clearly. A small bed, dresser, desk, and a bookshelf. Stuff confirming that someone lived there.

"Police, is anyone there?" John called out, cautiously watching for movement.

Dorian scanned the area, "John...there's a heat signature, but it's really faint. Almost...dormant. It's not getting colder and it's not getting warmer. It's coming from inside that room," he pointed, "There's nothing or no one else here."

"Well let's go check it out then," he walked over to the room, glancing around inside. Some generic pictures of landscapes hung on the soft blue walls to give some personality to it all. John checked the bed, but there wasn't anyone on top or bottom. "You sure you're not broken? There's no one in here."

There was a large box set in plain sight and Dorian walked over to it. He knelt down beside it, and grabbed the edges of the lid, "No, I'm not broken," he lifted it and in the box was a half naked woman curled in the fetal position, with brown hair down her back, "The heat signature is coming from her. This must be Sarrina..." he saw a pendant...resting on the bottom of the box, the silver chain around her neck. His database booted up and his cybernetics glowed as he looked up what kind of butterfly that was, since it wasn't the common Monarch most people wore. As he thought...it was the Purple Spotted Swallowtail, or scientifically known as...Graphium Weiskei. The Doctor's last name.

John rolled his eyes as he started over to see this Sarrina when a picture on the nightstand caught his eye. It was of the doctor and a young woman very similar in appearance. Picking up the photo, John walked over to stand beside Dorian. His brows immediately furrowed as he glanced between the picture and the woman. "Looks like the doctor was trying to make an android of this woman." John offered the photo to Dorian as he knelt down to get a closer look. "Is she off or something?"

"Looks like it. Though, it's strange…she has vitals. A pulse, slow but there, internal organs…everything suggests she's human, but…" Dorian reached out and brushed her hair from her face, "She has cybernetics. I think what Eri meant by 'not quite' is that…Sarrina's a cyborg. That is the only logical conclusion I can come up with at the moment."

"What? You mean she's part android?" John made a face as looked over the...sleeping woman. "You know what this means right? The good doctor has been performing human experiments. That would explain why he was killed. Either he tried selling her and the buyers didn't like what they were going to be given; or he was just doing the experiments and some crime group caught wind of it. Either way we need to take her to the Captain. Can you turn her on?" He snickered at his half joke as he motioned to the woman.

Dorian didn't respond, just rolled his eyes and reached into the box, hauling her out of it, "C'mon, let's see what we can do for ya," he murmured and moved over to the bed. He laid her down, and straightened her necklace out before he began looking for, more or less, the 'power' button. He tucked his hand under her neck to move he head, when he felt an indent. Feeling it a bit more he was able to use his pinky and reach in, pressing the small button.

Sarrina's eyes snapped open in an instant, her mouth dropping as she gasped and arched up into a sitting position. She...she had been in such a calm state, and to be woken like that felt similar to being hit with a bag of bricks. Blinking her unique violet-green eyes, she looked around her. Two men watched her. Where was her father? Where was she? Alerts flashed in her inner eyes, showing errors in central memory processor. Sarrina couldn't remember anything before they started on the procedure.

John raised a brow as he watched her, "Sarrina?" Her head turned in his direction, meaning that really was her name, "My name is John Kennex. I'm a detective. Do you understand me?"

When she thought of speaking, more alerts appeared. Her vocal processors weren't working either. She could speak... Placing her hand against her throat, Sarrina bowed her head in frustration. Why was this happening? She wasn't supposed to be conscious until she was fully functional...why was she being activated now?

"You're mute?" Dorian frowned, "We'll stick to yes or no questions, okay, Sarrina? Do you understand us?" He shrugged off his jacket and put it around her since all she wore was a purple tube top and black short shorts, more than likely for easier access to parts of her body to do work on them. "My name is Dorian," he explained gently.

Curling her legs to her body, she tugged the jacket over her as must as she could after being made suddenly aware of how little clothing she wore. She gave Dorian a firm nod to answer his question.

"Can you fix her? Yes and no questions aren't going to cut it. We need more information, and she's the only one who can answer." the detective asked, walking over to the dresser. "Sarrina, we need you to come with us alright? We'll find you some cloths first though."

"I won't be able to here, her voice box is missing," Dorian shook his head and stood up, "We could take her to Rudy. I'm worried the Captain will want to deactivate her once we get the information we need." He glanced back at her, feeling protective. She looked so...frail, confused, and innocent. He'd already watched a droid who could've lived be shut down because she had human skin. Even to someone like him, he...didn't like it. The thought of this cyborg woman being shut down, as the saying went, 'made his stomach turn' even though of course he didn't have one and didn't eat.

"Right..." John drew out as he found a large t-shirt and pair of pants. He didn't bother with the fact that the shirt was a size too big, nor did he bother pointing out the fact that the Captain could still have her deactivated. "Well, then once she's changed and ready to go, we can take her to Rudy. He's going to have a field day..."

Sarrina tilted her head as the detective tossed her the clothing. Keeping the jacket around her shoulders, she gripped the pieces. Glancing between the two of them she made a grunting noise, gesturing with her hands to turn around. She was only going to slip into the clothes, but the thought of them watching her made her nervous.

Dorian smiled reassuringly at her and walked over to John, the both of them turning to face the wall, "We promised that we wouldn't hurt her. Try and be nice. She's not like me, or the MXs, she's got a heart and mind, okay? Don't treat her like a tool. I get we need information, but if we scare he we might not get what we need."

"I'm not trying to scare her," John grumbled, "and I am nice." A small silence settled over the two, making Kennex shift around. "I am nice. I just have...moods." Upon seeing Dorian's snickering look, John grumbled under his breath about the DRN never believing him.

A tap on the shoulder signaled that Sarrina had finished. John turned, and gave her a once over. The baggy shirt almost looked like a dress on her short frame. The pants seemed to fit other than the fact she had to pull them up often. Feeling his partner's eyes on him, John mentally grumbled, "You, uh, you look great."

Dorian reached out, pulling her hair out from under the shirt as well as the necklace, "Let's get out of here, and see if our scientist can give you your voice back, okay?" he placed his arm around her shoulders, and looked at John, "Once we know where the exit is, we can send someone down here to confiscate everything and use it as evidence."

"Yeah, we'll have to figure out a way to explain why the lab was connected to the coffee shop while we're at it." John, raised a brow at his synthetic partner. That was the second time he messed with that necklace. "Fond of jewelry, are we?"

Sarrina tilted her head at she watched the two. Most curious. She couldn't tell if either acted seriously towards another or not. Reaching up, Sarrina touched his temple causing his systems to respond by granting her the information she sought. The back of her mind hold her that this was an attempt to restore what she has lost, like restoring a file. Dorian's mind however did not provide the data that she needed, though did quite entertained her briefly with his own memories. Sarrina stored this shared data for a later time to observe, and pulled her hand away. If she could apologize she would have, instead bowed her head.

"It's okay, I don't mind. That must how you get information," Dorian patted her arm and the three of them made their way towards one of the doors at the back. There was another tunnel, and this was longer than the first. He turned on his flashlight and shined it ahead of them, "You first, John."

The detective took point of the group, making his way at a quickened pace since neither knew whether or not this tunnel would seal up too, "This doctor had a thing for tunnels." He chuckled, glancing over his shoulder, "You two keeping up?"

Sarrina kept close to Dorian, her sensors switching to allow her to see in the dark. This didn't exactly calm her nerves, however. This would be the first time, since her she came here with her father, that she left the lab, and these sensors were so weird. They triggered without her really even thinking of it, and heightened everything around her. Sarrina could scan the man's heart rate and other vitals just by looking at him. According to what she remembers of the preparations for her procedure, when her father had completed everything, he was going to train her to get used to these changes. In fact, her just walking around like this sent alerts flashing in her mind, warning of overstimulation.

"Hey, calm down," Dorian soothed, feeling her tense and he saw how her eyes darted around, like they were trying to take in everything at once, "Try and focus on one thing at a time. Deep breaths. This is all new to you, right?" To John he said, "We're keeping up just fine. Keep going."

"Noted," Dorian nodded and his cybernetics glowed, "This is the warehouse behind the coffee shop. It's in use, so no one would think to look here. There's an alleyway in the back where he could easily slip out of unnoticed, and the crowd around here is dense so he would easily be able to blend. Dr. Weiskei was very thorough to make sure Sarrina or his work wasn't found."

Sarrina hesitated at the entrance way, something like a tingling sensation making her want to stay in place. She would have if the two men didn't seem to want to head out. John turned to her, still holding open the door. "You okay?" he asked, raising a brow, "Look I promise you everything is going to be just fine. You just have to trust us on this. Okay? Come on, lets go get you fixed up. I bet you have a wonderful voice."

A small smile tugged at Sarrina's lips, noting how he seemed to be talking to her as if she were a small child, not that she blamed him. She /felt/ like a child right now, not wanting to leave...but she trusted them. Taking a breath, she forced herself away from the tingling feeling and immediately warning flashed in her mind. Her eyes widened and she ran forward, grabbing John's and Dorian's arms. She pulled hurriedly at them to get them out into the ally way.

"Hey, hey, hey!" John tried to stop her once outside, "What's-" A thunderous /boom/ shook the ground, followed by several car alarms and screams. "What the hell was that?!"

His cybernetics flared to life as he scanned everything, "A security system must've been set up to detonate and destroy the lab if Sarrina left!" Dorian turned on her, "Did you know about that? Is that why you hesitated and then rushed us out here?" he demanded. All of that information...gone. The doctor would've made sure it would all be burned to a crisp, and unsalvageable.

Sarrina moved back away from Dorian, her eyes wide as she shook her head. How could she tell them what she had felt? What she saw in her mind? Honest to God, the woman had no earthly idea that her father would have set something like that up. Looking to John, he wasn't any more pleased about this than Dorian so there was no help from him. Her sensors plotted various escape routes, but Sarrina figured running wouldn't do any good.

"Damnit," John growled, kicking a rock in frustration. There went any and all leads they had. The detective had to admit that the doctor had been extremely thorough in setting everything up. What the hell were they supposed to do now? Sighing darkly, John turned to the...cyborg-whatever, woman, "Let's just get to the car and get her to Rudy. I want answers, and the only way to get them now is through her."

Dorian pressed his lips together in a thin line, and reached out, taking her arm, "Come on, the car's this way." He wasn't happy about what happened, but there wasn't anything to do now. He led the way this time and the three of them moved into the crowd and to the police car. "I sent the Captain a message about the lab and how to get in through the warehouse entrance, that way Raiden and Eri won't be incriminated."

"Alright, good." John sighed when they reached his cruiser. Opening the back door, he motioned for Dorian to put Sarrina in. The moment she was released from his grip, she scooted to the farthest side away from the two, bringing her legs up to her chest. She wouldn't even look at them now, great. Getting the information they needed would be ten times harder now. John closed the door and opened the drivers' side, "Come on, let's get this over with."