Title: Overly Drastic Measures
Characters: MX-43, OFC; John Kennex, Dorian, Valerie Stahl, Sandra Maldonado, Rudy Lom, Richard Paul
Tags: Friendship!MX-43/OFC, Implied!John/Valerie, BrOTP!John/Dorian, genfic, old meets new, K9 units are very rare now in this time, OFC's canine partner is wary of MX at first but eventually likes him, MX has no idea what to do with dog drool, author has weird sense of humor, humor might not be funny to most people, semi-serious, purposely questionable plotline, is there even a plot, AU
Rating: T (for minor violence and some swear words)
Genre: General/Friendship
Summary: The criminal organizations in the city now have technology capable of disabling the MX-43s. Confronted with potential, horrifying possibilities, the city's Police Department decides to temporarily revive the now obsolete K9 unit program. Which turns out to be more of a bad than good idea. AU. Potential Crack.
Disclaimer/Author's Note/Warning: First off, I want to sincerely apologize to my ghost in the shell readers, and I want to thank you for your patience and kindness. *grovels* I have Part II finished, it's only one vital section that I'm missing and cannot for the life of me write. So while I'm trying to get over that block, I tried venting my energy elsewhere until the juices start flowing. Hence, this monstrosity.
I don't own Almost Human, and I know you're happy for that. Second, I'm operating under the assumption that K9 divisions no longer exist in many cities, including the one in the show, because the MX-43s have the benefits of being formidable, (mostly) bulletproof weapons and are walking bio-scanners/drug-weapon-etc detectors. Also, the central MX character has the appearance of the first one we see in the pilot episode (he's an actual unit in the show). First one that figures which episode he comes up and what he does gets to give me a fanfic request/prompt? xD Has to involve an MX though (sorry, I can't not write about these guys, it's a curse x_x ), and is within reason of what I can write (ex: PG-13 and below, lol), since I'm not a good writer. Also, city names are made up and entirely fictional since the TV show still hasn't told us what the city is called.
Warning is that while I researched about K9 officers and dogs, I do not have personal knowledge on the subject so there is a high chance of misinformation/mis-portrayal (especially fight scenes). A few parts are actually intentional for the sake of comedy, or just because there is no possible way to know (ex: how a dog would react to an android). If you do have knowledge on the subject, feel free to point it out. I love learning new things, and I will try my best to correct my mistakes.
PART I
Kaci didn't remember pissing off this many people.
There was a group of four K9 officers huddled around her table – which was to say, the entire K9 division of Cape Duncan, minus herself, the Lieutenant, and Anthony who was on patrol. They were gesturing at something propped on her desk, angry and intent expressions as they furiously discussed something. They were so focused on whatever it was on her desk, that they didn't even notice her and Timber.
She considered slowly backtracking out the door before that changed, but one of the dogs – Sam's – barked at her.
Her colleagues glanced up at her almost simultaneously.
"Hey Kase, come over here! I saved some coffee for you," Sam called out.
Oh good. Kaci relaxed. Sam saving her coffee meant that she hadn't accidentally offended anyone at all. She and Timber walked over. She sat in the chair Sam had pushed to her, while her German Shepherd settled beside the other, lounging police dogs.
Kaci looked at her desk. There was a tablet, its screen flickering with a live news report. 'Breaking News: Arcus Police Dept. Overtaken by Insyndicate.'
Sam handed her a mug. "It's crazy," the dark-skinned woman explained in a hushed voice, not wanting to distract the K9 officers from the report. "This gang made a bioweapon that can negate all those inoculations. They just stormed the station like nobody's business."
Kaci's mouth went slack. "How is that – how many people died?"
"Two or three. They managed to stop them in time, but this is still a serious blow to their image."
"I bet," Kaci murmured, still astonished. Even a small city like Cape Duncan still had drug and weapon problems, but for a gang to bulldoze its way into the heart of police headquarters? And one in a big city, well-funded, nonetheless – that was horrifying to hear. She turned her attention to the tablet.
" – the Commissioner's denying it, but we've heard rumors," the red-haired anchor was now saying. "Apparently the reason why Insyndicate was so successful in storming the Department is because they disabled all the MXs in the building. The MXs, as you know, replaced the DRNs four years ago – "
"What the hell!" Connor exclaimed. "Disabled a building full of MXs? They're depending too much on those things, if they can't even stop a gang from knocking down their doors!"
"Insyndicate isn't your normal street gang," Kaci reminded him. "Remember – big city, insane crime rate? We're tame compared to them."
"It's ridiculous though." Sam gestured at the tablet with her mug, the coffee lapping dangerously close to the edge. "Those 'bots are supposed to be state-of-the-art, almost military-level. It's a total waste of money anyway. At the crime rate Arcus is going through, they shouldn't be that surprised if the perps adapted. I bet you anything that by next month, the news'll report a massive droid heap in the junkyard."
"I thought those things were supposed to be indestructible," Peter murmured, looking aghast.
Sam snorted into her coffee. "Indestructible? I have a cousin that works there – different precinct though – and he tells me that at least five MXs get blown up per week."
Peter gaped. "Are you serious? It must be crazy expensive!"
"Exactly why we're not wasting money on 'em," Connor declared, looking disgusted. "Don't know why the big cities are draining their money on those worthless pieces of shit – "
"Oi, Connor," Kaci interrupted him, annoyed. There had been a sense of wrongness she felt when she saw how casually they had addressed the MXs like objects, but she had kept quiet about it, seeing no reason to start off a philosophical discussion that she was going to lose anyway. But then Connor's comment made her resignation snap. "Don't be vulgar. And maybe they get blown up a lot because oh, I don't know, they put themselves on the front line so we won't get killed?"
"You're watching the same news, right? It sure doesn't look like that." Connor sneered. "Don't tell me you're one of those pro-synthetic, politically correct fanatics."
Kaci narrowed her eyes. When she spoke, her voice was deathly calm. "There's a difference between a fanatic and not being a disgusting, disrespectful jerk –"
"Children, children, calm down please!" Sam said over the rising voices. They all started when she slammed her mug back on her desk. There was exasperation on her face. "And you – Connor – Kaci's got a point. Stop being a disgusting pig."
"They're freaking synthetics. They don't even have emotions!" Connor said defensively.
"No, they don't," Sam agreed. "But that doesn't mean you can call them that when they're built to protect you. If you lived there, it would be an MX covering your sorry butt."
He let out a bark of humorless laughter. "Maybe if the statistics of my survival were high enough – " Connor broke off when Timber let out a low growl, agitated by the man's increasingly hostile gestures.
"What is going on here?"
Everyone stilled at the sound of the commanding voice. They slowly turned their heads toward the direction it came from. There was an irritated man standing at the top of the steps, arms crossed in front of his chest, and an expectant look on his face.
Kaci quickly glanced at the sullen-faced Connor, and then at Sam, who subtly shook her head. "Nothing, Lieutenant. We were just debating whether the 49'ers were going to win."
The dark-haired man arched an eyebrow. "Sounded rather serious for a sport debate," he commented flatly.
"We football fans take things very seriously," Kaci solemnly said.
Lieutenant Grecu examined Kaci for several seconds. "Soccer is better," he finally said, lips twitching slightly when Sam booed and Peter groaned loudly. "Anyway, I need to see you in my office, Tran. With Timber, too."
"Yes, sir." She accepted her mug from Sam, who had quickly refilled it with coffee, and nodded gratefully to her friend. On her signal, Timber leapt back up to his paws, and kept a steady pace beside her as the two followed the Lieutenant out of the room.
"That wasn't a sport debate," he stated matter-of-factly when they stepped out of earshot.
Kaci shot him a half-hearted smile. "Nah, it wasn't. How'd you guess?"
"You're a terrible liar," he deadpanned. When she gave him a mock, offended look, the corners of his eyes crinkled. "I could hear the conversation, Kaci. And Sam likes hockey more than football."
"Aw, shoot. I forgot about that."
They stopped outside his office. He opened the door for her. "Some friend you are," he said dryly.
She and Timber stepped in. Kaci headed straight for the chair in front of his desk. "You're the one to talk." Kaci sat down, while Timber settled near her feet. "So, what's the news, Chris?"
He walked behind his desk and pulled out his chair, sitting heavily onto it, as if he was reluctant to be the bearer of bad news. Kaci immediately went on alert. "Good and bad. Which one do you want first?"
She reached down and scratched the spot behind Timber's ear, feeling nervous. "Bad."
"We're loaning you and Anthony to Arcus."
A moment of silence. Kaci stared blankly at him, her fingers pausing. The German Shepherd whined and twisted his head around, nudging her hand with his wet nose. She immediately started scratching him again, and Timber settled back down, tail thumping lightly against the linoleum floor. "Wait, what? Did you just say – "
"Yes I did," Chris said patiently. "I'm pretty sure you know why, considering you were just talking about it with the others earlier."
"I thought that was just the media making up rumors!" Kaci was stunned. "They actually developed tech to knock out the MXs?"
Chris grimaced. "They tried real hard to cover that up, but yes…Insyndicate took out an entire building of MXs. The hotshots are afraid something like that will happen again. They're already seeing some criminals using similar tech on the patrolling MXs." He pushed his tablet over to her. "So your job is to help them start a K9 division, Anthony's going to be doing the same thing but at a different precinct – "
"Wait wait wait, what?" She still couldn't believe she was having this conversation. Kaci didn't even look at the tablet he had offered her. "Wouldn't it be easier to get a team of techs or something to develop a counter, o-or some mechanism that reboots them? I mean, lending officers is one thing – but starting a K9 unit from scratch? Are they crazy?"
Chris shrugged. "What can I say – they're the ones with the robo-cops. I don't know anything about that tech."
Kaci sputtered. "B-but they're making everything ridiculously complicated!"
"We help our brothers and sisters," he said firmly. "You shouldn't be like this –"
"They're five hours away! Are you telling me there are no K9 units in that area – "
"Big cities, remember?" Chris tapped his chin, looking thoughtful. "Now that I think about it, there's only five total K9 divisions left in the state, and we're the closest ones…"
Kaci felt as if she entered the Twilight Zone. She was pretty sure things like this didn't work this way in the police departments. It was beginning to sound like one of those very inaccurately written cop shows she and Sam watched and made fun of. "And you're okay with this? We only have six K9 officers here, and we're already stretched out thin!"
"Normally, no…but they've offered a stimulus for our troubles, so the hotshots are fine with that."
Kaci groaned, her face falling into the cradle of her hands. So now they were selling her and Anthony for free money or something of the like? "Nothing makes sense," she mumbled. "Where is the logic, I don't even…"
"Would you like to hear the good news?" Chris asked innocently.
She didn't lift up her head. "Go ahead."
"On the bright side, we get to keep our jobs!" Chris said cheerfully. "The Chief's been thinking about getting those MXs, but this should change his mind!"
Only unintelligible words came from the Asian woman.
Captain Maldonado had been through many trials in her career. Some of which nearly put her life or job on the line, some that killed her men and women, some that put numerous civilian lives in jeopardy. And then there were the ones that involved damning use of tech, or the advancement of it in a very detrimental way.
The fiasco with Insyndicate was only barely a week old before it caught on with the other resident gangs in the city. Thankfully, it had nothing to do with the fatal combination of Myklon Red and programmable DNA, but it was crippling enough to send the Department into a panic.
The MXs.
With half of the police force consisting of the androids, the higher-ups quickly became concerned when reports came in of criminals disabling MXs with new tech – ones that were faster and less bulky than that of the machine Insyndicate had used on the rooftops. It didn't cover as much of a radius, but it was worrying nonetheless. And so, the Department came up with a game plan.
An incredibly idiotic game plan that Maldonado was sure she didn't vote for.
In fact, the idiocy of the suggestion was so illogical that she spent six minutes re-reading the same sentence, before finally reaching out for her phone and dialing the Commissioner's number.
The line clicked. "Captain Maldonado –"
"Have you even tried talking to Rudy Lom? The guy's a genius! He can make a counter or a failsafe that reboots them. Why are we wasting more money on something that requires at least two years to be set up?"
"I see you've read the email."
She rolled her eyes upward. "Yes, I have. And I think it's too time consuming when we already have a fully capable Chief Technician downstairs."
A sigh warbled through on the other side of the line. "Captain, how long do you think it'll take them to develop a counter for that? Maybe today Mr. Lom can prevent them from getting shut down, but what about the next? We can't place our full faith on the bots. We need a backup plan for the backup plan."
Maldonado was beginning to wonder if she was actually speaking to the Commissioner, or some politician doppelganger Insyndicate had cleverly placed. "What's to stop them from doing the same thing to the dogs?"
"The dogs will get full inoculations and bullet-proof vests."
She couldn't believe it. Insyndicate really had done it. "That's not what – "
The Commissioner gasped. "Oh, look at the time! I got a conference in two minutes. Sorry Captain, I got to go. Email me if you have any further concerns." The line clicked dead before she could get in a word edgewise.
Maldonado slowly lowered her phone and stared blankly at the screen. Calmly, she set her phone back on her desk and opened her top drawer. She reached for the bottle of Tylenol pills in the top corner and took two out from it.
She had been through many trials in her career, but there were just some days where nothing made sense and everything conspired to give her the biggest migraine of the century.
This was one of those days.
Driving through a big city's streets was possibly the scariest thing Kaci had ever done.
She swore in Vietnamese when she narrowly avoided a collision with a car for the seventh time. The driver had the audacity to honk her and stick the finger out through his window. Miraculously, he managed all this without crashing into the other cars. Timber growled from his place in the backseat.
Kaci gave up.
She pulled up into the nearest gas station and parked right outside the convenience store. It was only then that she slowly unclenched her death grip from the steering wheel. She exhaled slowly, the tension easing from her shoulders. Kaci turned her head to look at Timber. "What do you say we grab some snacks, boy?"
Timber's tail thumped loudly against the faux leather seats.
The two got out of the car and headed for the convenience store. The clerk glanced up, his eyes landing on Timber first and his mouth quirked downwards. Kaci, immediately understanding what was going through his mind, hastily explained, "Police dog. Don't worry."
His eyes shot up to her, and understanding and confusion flickered across his face when he saw her uniform peeking through the opening of her jacket. "K9 officer? Haven't seen one of you guys in a long while."
She gave him a strained smile. "We're a commodity now."
They headed to the back of the store where the fountain drink and coffee dispensers were. Timber sat on his haunches, eyes gazing hungrily at the hot dogs and taquitos slowly rotating on the heater stands. Kaci laughed when she saw this, and crouched beside the German Shepherd. She rubbed the side of his neck, his dark fur coarse against her skin.
"Don't worry, I'll get you something more edible." She gazed meditatively through the windows. They were only twenty-three minutes from the station, but Kaci felt leery about hitting Arcus's streets so soon again. Sure, she had the training to safely navigate through crazy drivers, but utilizing them every second was quickly becoming old. "You know what would have been a good idea? If Chris let us take the cruiser with us. But, nope. We're stuck with this one instead, and now we're getting run all over."
Timber whined.
She sighed. "Yeah, you got a point, boy. It would be totally out of place." Kaci grinned suddenly, and reached down to scratch the spot behind Timber's ears. The German Shepherd's tongue lolled out, his eyes glazed with bliss. She only faintly registered the sound of the door being opened again, but Kaci was behind the shelves and did not bother glancing up. "You know what, maybe so many MXs get destroyed per week because of the crazy road rage here. That makes more sense, doesn't it? I mean, how the heck do you get a 400 percent crime rate –"
Bang!
Kaci ducked instinctively, pushing Timber's head down. When it quickly became clear that the shot was not aimed at them, Kaci turned around and cautiously peered through the slim openings of the shelves.
She caught a glimpse of the pale clerk raising his hands in the air. The gunman's back was toward her, his arm raised toward the other man. Kaci glanced at the glass door. His reflection on it was blurry, but from what Kaci could make of it, the gunman was wearing a balaclava, and his weapon was one she recognized as banned from street use.
" – Gimme your money," she heard the gunman say, voice muffled. "And don't even think about tripping the alarm."
The clerk complied, not even glancing toward the shelves where Kaci and Timber were. She inwardly thanked the man when she realized he was subtly shifting in a way that made the burglar turn away from the glass windows and doors. She and Timber carefully crawled around the shelves, moving closer to the two civilians.
The thief didn't know what hit him.
A loud bark made the gunman spin around, but eighty-eight pounds of dog muscle barreled into him before he could react. He yelped in surprise when Timber bit his shoulder, hand letting go of his weapon. The gun skittered across the floor. Kaci kicked the weapon away before he could twist around to retrieve it, and helped her canine partner subdue the man. Behind the counter, the clerk had already dialed 911 and was frantically speaking to the dispatcher.
Fortunately, the gunman had been foolish enough to try and rob a store in the inner parts of the city, and a nearby MX patrolling the streets was able to respond quickly.
When the MX burst through the door, gun out, he skidded to a stop when he saw the burglar sprawled on the ground, a German Shepherd sitting heavily on his back. A woman was kneeling on the ground beside him, and already had the man's hands pulled behind his back and was snapping the handcuffs on.
She looked up in surprise and stared at him, mouth agape when the android's red processor lights flickered and ran across the side of his face.
He slowly approached them, gun aimed at the man on the ground, and stopped by the woman. Timber stiffened and twisted his head around, lips bared back as a low growl rumbled in his throat. The noise jerked Kaci out of her stupor and briefly earned the dog a speculative glance from the MX. Kaci murmured the command for Timber to stand down, he's a friendly. Timber's muscles did not relax, and his ears were still flattened against the skull of his head, but the growl dwindled to silence. She turned back to face the android and was startled at the strange, lifeless blue eyes that stared down at her.
"Officer Tran," the MX addressed her. Though the android's voice was inflectionless, his expression was so impassive and grim, that for a moment, Kaci thought he was going to arrest her. "You are supposed to be at the station, meeting with Captain Maldonado."
"Uh, yeah…I was just taking a short stop. Y'know, five hour drive and all," she said lamely. "And then this guy sorta happened. So yeah. Oh!" Kaci raised a cylindrical object toward him, the weapon carefully held between her fingers. "Found this on the perp. Looks like a grenade, but I've never seen this kind before."
The red lights winked on his face again. "It is a modified pulse grenade, designed to render MXs offline in a five yard radius." He carefully accepted the grenade from her and slipped it into an empty pocket on his vest. "Carrying this will automatically give you a year in prison," he told the man on the ground.
The gunman, unable to move with Timber's weight on his back, cursed a blue streak, voice muffled by the linoleum floor. The two cops paid him no mind.
Kaci looked uncertainly at the pocket. "Are you sure you should be putting that on yourself?"
"It will not go off," he said plainly.
"Oh. Okay."
The MX stared unblinkingly at her.
She rubbed the back of her neck, feeling like a specimen under a microscope. Dang it, why can't he sit down too so I don't have to break my neck looking up at him? "So I guess you're an MX? Nice gear. Our SWAT team is rarely deployed, so we have second-rated stuff."
He tilted his head slightly. "Arcus's crime rate is at 400 percent. Utilizing poor gear is an unwise decision."
"Yeah, I bet." A long beat of silence. Kaci began to fidget and glanced out the window. There was a police-issue motorcycle parked beside her vehicle, red and blue lights flashing. There were no squad cars on the scene yet, but Kaci could hear the faint, tunneling sound of approaching sirens. When she looked back at the android and saw that he was still looking at her, she blurted the first thing that came to mind.
"This sounds kinda weird, but wow, you look so human, it's kinda like the uncanny valley – not that that's bad, it's just that where I'm from we don't have many androids and this is the first time –" Kaci stopped herself, realizing she was just rambling and he was still staring at her like she was a time bomb. She gave him an uncertain smile. "Uh, nice to meet you?"
The MX slowly lowered his gun.
The cops that arrived minutes later decided that it was best to send Kaci and Timber off on their way to the station to be interviewed there, since they were supposed to meet with Maldonado anyway. The first MX that had responded – Unit 115 – offered to lead her the rest of the way.
Kaci thought it was strange since the MX had his own schedule to get back to, but happily agreed. He would be an excellent police deterrent to crazy city drivers, and she wasn't too keen on being a recipient of a car crash. The rest of the drive to her new job was the most peaceful twenty minutes she ever had since her car slipped behind the city's boundaries.
And then she saw her place of work.
"Oh my goodness." She gaped at the tall, steel-and-glass building, nearly missing 115's signal for her to turn into the parking lot. Kaci quickly complied and followed 115's motorcycle, and parked beside him.
"Man, that thing has ten stories. Ours only has one floor!" she told the MX when they got out of the car. Timber stuck close to her heels, warily eyeing the android.
"Your department serves a city of 13,439 people," he intoned, leading her to the front of the building. "Therefore, not as much space is required."
But then, the moment they stepped into the lobby, Kaci's awe quickly vaporized.
Timber had halted as soon as he saw the MXs milling about, and started to step back. He stood erectly, weight evenly balanced on his fore and rear legs, tail high and rigid. No noise came from his throat, but his lips were drawn back, revealing his teeth.
Kaci slowly reached down and pressed her hand against his neck. His muscles were taut beneath her hand. She could feel curious eyes lingering on them, but she ignored it all, murmuring a command to her canine. Timber's tail lowered and his lips closed over his teeth, but his eyes were darting around, taking account of the MXs within proximity. She patted his head and straightened.
Kaci met 115's gaze, who had been silently observing their interaction.
"Not many androids at our city," she explained. "Besides you, this is the first time Timber has seen so many at once." Kaci pursed her lips. That statement would ring true for nearly all police dogs, considering that they were now found only in small cities who couldn't afford the MXs and police drones. "This might be a problem, actually. I'll have to work around it once we get the other dogs from the Academy."
"The dogs do not pose a danger to us," 115 pointed out.
"Probably not," Kaci said dryly, suddenly given the mental picture of Timber gnawing on 115's hand, who looked entirely unconcerned. "But they gotta learn to work well with you, or the handlers will have problems keeping them under control. And that's a big no-no right there."
They continued their trek to Maldonado's office and took an elevator to the sixth floor. Timber stood on the opposite side from where 115 was, and walked so closely to her legs that Kaci almost tripped several times.
She let out a low whistle when they entered the Investigative Division's bullpen. "This totally isn't fair. You guys have all the current tech."
115 directed her to the receptionist. "You will need to sign in first."
The other woman – Julie Whitson, on her name tag – handed her a tablet. She smiled widely when she caught sight of the German Shepherd beside the K9 officer's legs. "Oh! So you're the new cop from Cape Duncan!"
Kaci gave her a weak smile, finger tapping on the tablet's screen. "Already got people talking about me and Timber?"
"Who wouldn't be? You're bringing the first police dog this place has seen in years." Julie beamed at Timber.
Kaci chose not to comment on that, and returned the tablet to the woman and wished her a good day. 115 lead her to one of the offices on the other side of the room. Kaci couldn't help but look down at the work area. MXs, stationed at certain points or just sitting by their human partner's desk, gave her cursory glances before returning their gazes straight ahead. It was a strange sight, and she wondered why the androids just sat or stood there, instead of interacting with the rest of the environment. The detectives though, made their curiosity obvious, outright staring at her and Timber, some even leaning toward their colleagues to whisper something. Her cheeks flushed at the unwarranted attention, and she averted her eyes.
"Captain Maldonado's office," 115 announced, stopping by the door. An older, brown-haired woman was inside the office behind her desk. She looked up from the reports on her table and gave Kaci a thin smile, and gestured for her to come in.
Kaci mouthed 'one moment' and turned to the MX. "Thanks for all the help today. Guess we'll see you around?"
He blinked. "It depends on when you are done talking to Captain Maldonado."
She had no idea how to respond to that. "Uh, yeah, I guess it does. Thanks again." Kaci turned and pushed the door open.
"Nice to finally meet you, Officer Tran," the Captain said. Kaci sat onto the chair across from her table, while Timber settled onto his haunches beside her. "And Timber, is it? Hope that welcoming party wasn't too hard on you."
Kaci chuckled nervously. "Eh. I didn't expect to run into a perp so soon. But everything turned out alright."
The woman didn't laugh. "You'll have to file a report today, but now, let's talk about that K9 Unit. You know what you're supposed to do?" she asked brusquely.
Ohhoho, yes, she did. Kaci nearly had a heart attack when saw her new work schedule in her email, and promptly went on a coffee-buying spree in preparation for her move to Arcus.
"Find candidates, get the dogs, train them, and train them again," Kaci intoned dutifully. "I'll also be pulling double shifts with Timber, and respond to situations where the MXs can't…at least, until we get this ship set up and steady. And I'll be reporting to you."
Maldonado hummed and pushed a tablet over to her. "That's a list of people wanting in. When do you plan on testing them?"
Kaci took the tablet, brow furrowing in thought. There were at least thirty officers who were interested in joining. "Tomorrow." When Maldonado arched an eyebrow, she quickly added, "I know the dogs won't be coming in until Thursday, but it's best to weed them out now and get our fifteen K9 officers. There's a lot of stuff they gotta learn."
"Wise decision." The Captain paused. "Lieutenant Grecu tells me that Cape Duncan doesn't have many MXs."
Kaci rubbed the back of her neck, surprised at the sudden change in topic. "Er, actually we don't have any. At all. Lack of funds and lower crime rate, y'know…not that there's anything wrong with this city," she quickly added.
The older woman gave her a tight smile. "Well, you'll have to get used to it here. It's regulation that every cop gets paired with an MX. I'm afraid I'll have to saddle you up with one."
Kaci balked. While she was confident in making sure Timber behaved (she didn't make it past all that preparatory training for nothing), she had seen earlier how he had reacted to the MXs. To have one in her cruiser, by her side at all times…it was going to be a learning experience for both her and Timber. She could only place hope in her abilities to keep Timber from doing anything untoward to the MX.
Oh shoot, what if he pees on the guy?
"I – I…is there anything I need to know?"
Maldonado looked slightly relieved – perhaps because she hadn't protested at the idea of an MX partner? "No, not really. Although, quick warning – MXs are logic-based. They follow protocol to the dot, and won't hesitate to write anyone up, including their partner. Not that I'm accusing you of anything, but I'm aware that cops in smaller cities are…a little nicer."
"That's just stereotyping," Kaci grumbled, earning a small smile from the captain. "So, when do I get to meet him? Or her?"
"They're all he's," Maldonado said dryly. She raised her index finger, pointing over Kaci's shoulder. "And he's just outside the door."
Kaci, a foreboding feeling creeping upon her, followed the direction of Maldonado's finger, and turned around. Sure enough, there was a familiar android standing outside the office by the door, hands straight by his sides. He was facing away from them. The numbers '115' were emblazoned in bold, white characters on the back of his bulletproof vest.
Apparently, he hadn't left when she entered the office.
'He couldn't have just told me then?' she thought, exasperated.
But then she recalled his answer to her question – one where she had thought he was responding in the literal sense to her at first – and then she realized that the MX had thought she already knew.
She mentally facepalmed, feeling embarrassed. Wow, that must've been the dumbest question he had ever been asked.
Kaci stared hard at the android, remembering how far she had to crane her neck back to meet his eyes. She had nothing against him, and considering they already met was an additional plus, but…
Kaci turned back to Maldonado, a nervous smile on her face.
"Uh, do you have any shorter MXs? I kind of…have a neck problem…being short and all…"
Maldonado raised her eyebrows. And just gave Kaci a long, hard stare. "He's the only available one we have," she said flatly. A pause. "How did you manage to pass the test?"
Kaci immediately knew what she was talking about. The infamous, get-your-canine-partner-over-a-six-feet-wall-or-fail test. Her cheeks flushed. "Lots of jumping. But the tech department developed this booster, springy thing I can put on my shoes –"
The captain looked like she didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"Hey man, you should have told me earlier you were going to be my partner!" Kaci said when she and Timber stepped out of Maldonado's office.
His expression didn't shift even in the slightest. "It is city-wide regulation that all cops are partnered with an MX. I assumed that you were already familiar with protocol."
Ooh, burn. Kaci was slightly offended, but pushed the feeling away. MXs weren't programmed with emotions; he was just being his matter-of-fact self. And besides, the ignorance went both ways. "Well, K9 officers only have their canines as partners. We're never a three-man show. But yeah, you're right, I should've checked to see if the regs here are any different." She paused. "We've never done a proper meet-and-greet, have we?" Kaci stuck her hand out. "Pleasure to meet you again, 115. Me and Timber look forward to working with you. Well, Timber's a work in progress," she corrected.
The android's blue eyes fell to her hand. Several seconds passed, and Kaci, wondering if MXs weren't programmed with abilities to react to social cues, was about to withdraw her hand, but then he slowly reached out and took it.
What occurred next was the stiffest, awkwardly one-sided handshake ever.
But it was a start, and so Kaci beamed at the impassive android. "The three of us will be great partners!"
"As long as you follow protocol and regulations, I am sure we will work efficiently," was his inflectionless reply.
Kaci's smile faltered.
Day 1, and her MX partner was already harping on her about potential misbehavior.
This might be a little harder than she thought.
Author's Note Spam Part II:
I have this feeling that none of you read my ridiculously long Author's Notes (which is understandable, because I wouldn't either), but what the heck. Let me spam you with another paragraph(s). 8D *gets shot*
If you've read my posts on Tumblr, then you know how bewildered I am at everyone treating their MXs like things. Yes, I know they're creepy (I don't think so 8D *gets shot for unpopular opinion*), yes, I know they're jerks (but come on, they were programmed that way, they can't help it - *gets shot*), but I mean seriously – I've seen people who treat their cars, cellphones, and laptops like humans and give names – names! – to them, these inanimate objects. And the MXs are similar in a way – goodness, it sounds horrible of me to write that, but compared to Dorian, they really are computers, albeit highly advanced and sentient to a certain degree. And they look human to boot! You'd think some would develop a sort of platonic fondness for their MXs.
So yeah. This is my answer to it. Although it's not really serious answer, as you can tell. No pseudo/fail attempt at philosophy or what not, because I can't write well. (But it totally will be serious in the sequel, yes there is a sequel, I don't care if no one likes it, I'm totally invested in the MXs, yes, I have a soft spot for underrated, secondary characters and nearly any certifiable Red Shirt of any universe because dang it they have lives too, I blame George Lucas for traumatizing me with the unjustifiable use of the clone troopers as meat shields).
…So yeah.
If you were wondering why my fanfics are so MX-centric, I guess that explains a lot of things. o_0
This story can also be found on Archive of Our Own and Tumblr under the same pen-name (argent_snow and argent-snow respectively), in case you've come across it before.