I'm so sorry this is so late! This chapter gave me real trouble for some reason, but it's finally done.
A note for anyone that read the previous chapter before the edit - I changed the accomplice's name from Tom to Tim. Why, you ask? Because I realised I couldn't have TOM take JERRY lol whoops
PM 8:35:29
Simon noted that they had less than 25 minutes until Karen was expected at Frankie's Bar, according to the intel Connor had found.
They'd spent the last hour sitting in a van parked around the corner from the bar, helping Amelia adjust the settings of her synthetic skin to match the photos of Karen as closely as possible. When she'd suggested using her unique functionality for an undercover meet with the accomplice, Simon and Markus had both been against it. But knowing that this could lead to finding the decryption key Blaire so desperately needed had been enough to set her resolve so strongly, they knew there'd be no changing her mind. Connor and Hank had agreed that, although risky, this plan had a far better chance of actually yielding results, compared to hauling the guy down to the station and hoping he cracked.
And so, here they were, watching as Amelia's soft features slowly morphed into Karen's harsher, more angular appearance, her vibrant blue hair fading to a dull, murky brown.
"I have to say, I think that's as close as we're gonna get." Markus considered Amelia's (or rather, Karen's) face carefully after she completed the latest adjustment to her nose. Simon nodded in agreement, glancing between her and the tablet he held which displayed the images of the real Karen.
They all turned to look as they heard the van door open. Connor climbed in, pulling the doors closed behind him.
"Hank has taken Miss Bates down to the station, legally we can hold her for 24 hours so there's no chance of her dropping by unexpectedly." He reached out to take the tablet from Simon, transferring some data to it before handing it over to Amelia. "There's the recording from our meeting yesterday."
Amelia nodded, playing the short clip in order to sample the voice.
"This is a disgrace, you know that? Fucking plastic cops invading people's homes, I should file a complaint!"
"Well, she seems delightful." Markus commented, raising his eyebrows
"I can't say I'll be sorry to see her charged." Connor replied wryly. "And after tonight we should have enough to take them both down for assault, at the very least."
"So I need to get him to say he was involved in the attack?" Amelia tried out Karen's voice, the reedy sound matching her new visage. "And find out if he knows where they took Jerry?"
Connor nodded and leaned over to swipe the screen of the tablet, revealing a screen of text messages.
"This is everything we just took from her phone, it sounds like Tim-" he tapped, bringing up an image of the man. "-may have transported Jerry after he was taken. If you can find out the location he traveled to we can mount a rescue operation. But-" Connor's tone was serious as he spoke to Amelia. "Don't take any unnecessary risks, these people are dangerous. We'll be monitoring from here and if I think you've been compromised I'll pull you out immediately."
Simon sent her a reassuring smile as Markus put a comforting hand on her shoulder. A quiet alarm sounded from the tablet, a reminder set for the time of the meeting.
"It's time." Simon spoke, pushing open the doors and taking Amelia's hand to help her step out of the van.
"Good luck, Amelia." Connor told her, before raising a hand to his temple to update his partner.
"Be careful." Simon gave her hand a squeeze before releasing it and climbing back into the van.
"We'll be right here if you need us." Markus smiled encouragingly, his hand coming to rest on Simon's back.
"Don't worry, I've got this." Amelia replied confidently in her own voice, before setting her shoulders and closing the doors with a clang.
"Hey Con, everything good there?"
"Amelia just left for the meeting, is Karen Bates still in custody?"
"The Lieutenant has her in the interrogation room now, and then we figure we'll let her stew in a cell for a while. She was not happy when I confiscated her watch and phone, I thought she was gonna blow a gasket right there in the lobby!" Connor could feel Haley's mirth through the connection.
"I would've liked to have seen that." Connor replied, he could almost picture it: Haley, eyes wide with feigned innocence, as Karen ranted and raved about the injustice.
"Well maybe when all this is over we could have a memory movie night, have a good laugh at their expense." Haley suggested, the smile he couldn't see evident in her voice, before her tone became more serious. "You guys be careful, alright?"
"We will, have fun with your guest."
The amusement emanating from Haley faded as he closed the connection, ending the call.
"Here we go…" Markus said quietly, and all three androids closed their eyes as they focused on connecting to Amelia. The image feed from her visual processor was clear, a view of the inside of the bar as she scanned the patrons for Tim. He was sitting on a stool to the right, and he looked up and noticed Amelia, waving her over.
"As promised." Tim said, sliding a cocktail towards her as she sat down on the stool next to him.
Amelia grabbed it and Connor had a brief view of the ceiling as she downed the drink before placing the empty glass down and gesturing to the bartender for another.
"Straight in as usual, Karen." Tim laughed, before taking a gulp of his beer.
"Yeah well it's been a stressful couple of days." Amelia replied in Karen's voice. They knew Karen had told Tim of her visit from the police the day prior.
"They really sent a damn plastic cop to your place? What is this city coming to..." Tim said, shaking his head.
"Yeah well, that's why we're doing this right?" Amelia replied, grabbing her fresh drink and taking a sip.
"If those pricks would actually let us do anything." The frustration was evident in the man's voice. "It's been days and they haven't contacted us again."
"We should just drive on over there and confront them. Demand they include us in their shit." Amelia waved her glass, the liquid sloshing, before downing the rest of her drink.
"Careful, Amelia. Don't push too hard, he might start to suspect something." Markus warned her.
"Yeah, maybe we should." Tim snorted, looking down into his beer. He leaned closer to Amelia and there was a brief flicker of disgust as she registered the beer on his breath, his blood alcohol content appearing just next to his face. "We grabbed the fuckin' thing. Us. WE did that."
"So let's go tell them that." Amelia leaned towards him, his flushed face filling most of her vision. She lowered her voice to almost a whisper. "Where did you say you took it again?"
"It was…" his eyes unfocused slightly as he struggled to remember in his intoxicated state. "Some abandoned house on Ferguson Street, near the building site."
Connor registered movement as Simon shifted beside him.
"Got it. 476 Ferguson Street, condemned a year ago but looks like there's been unusual levels of electricity used there the last few days." Simon confirmed, having quickly checked the location.
"OK Amelia, get out of there." Connor commanded, turning his attention back to the scene in the bar.
Tim's face receded as Amelia abruptly leaned back, turning to wave the bartender over for the check.
"I'm feeling kinda shit, Tim. How about a rain-check?" She said as she pulled out some cash, placing it on the bar.
"Aww cmon! I thought we were gonna have some fun again." The man's voice was severely slurred now, and Connor noticed that his glass had been emptied at some point during the conversation. Tim put it down on the bar and it clinked against several others that were sitting empty as he pushed it away. He placed his now free hand on Amelia's thigh.
"DON'T TOUCH ME YOU FUCKING PIG."
Connor startled at the sudden outburst, feeling the others flinch beside him, and he was ready to run to the bar until he realised the words hadn't actually been spoken aloud.
Amelia was scanning the bar, and Connor watched with horror as she registered the empty glass within reach, the corkscrew on the shelf, the gun the bartender kept behind the till.
"AMELIA, DON'T-"
The image tilted as Amelia lurched forward and emitted a violent choking noise, Connor was confused for a moment before he noticed the command hovering to the left of her vision.
EMPTYING LIQUID CONTAINER: 79%
Amelia coughed slightly as the last of the viscous liquid left her mouth, landing on the soaked pair of jeans in front of her.
"WHAT THE FUCK!" Tim leapt to his feet in horror, looking at Amelia in disgust before running towards the restroom.
"Sorry." Amelia directed to the bartender, pulling out another bill to add to her payment before leaving the bar.
"That was…" Markus said aloud.
"Amazing." Simon finished for him.
Connor severed the connection as Amelia climbed into the van, her features changing smoothly back into the friendlier, more familiar face. The three men looked at her with a mixture of pride and disbelief.
"Mission accomplished." She grinned.
Simon retrieved the flashlights they'd brought from the van, and distributed them among the group. Time was of the essence as Tim could notify the ringleaders at any moment, so the decision had been made that they would investigate the building themselves. With the caveat that Hank, who had met them here after leaving the station, would go in first and clear the rooms.
The dilapidated building was barely illuminated by the streetlights, the windows were boarded and ripped, barricade tape dangled from the doorway.
Hank made his way up the path, his gun raised, resting on his other hand which held the flashlight. Connor was right behind him, the LED on his temple spinning yellow in concentration.
Simon shared an impressed look with Markus as Hank kicked open the front door, striding in and turning briskly to look around the entryway, before heading further in and disappearing from sight. Simon tried to quell the anxiety he felt as he watched Connor follow his partner into the empty house. As he glanced over at Amelia he saw that she looked equally concerned, her confidence from earlier having faded into nervousness.
They waited there for a few minutes, listening to the dull bangs as Hank swung open every door inside the house. Shortly after the sounds stopped, Hank appeared again in the doorway.
"Alright, looks like whoever was here is gone. You can have a look around, just try not to touch too much." He gave them a pointed look and they all nodded in agreement, following him into the house.
Connor was kneeling in the empty living area, hand held near his face with two fingers outstretched.
"They cleaned the place to destroy any evidence, there are traces of bleach on the floorboards." He stated, looking up at them.
"So they knew we were coming. Shit." Hank replied, holstering his gun.
"We should still check every room. They may have missed something." Connor stood, heading through a nearby doorway with Hank following behind him.
The others silently split up to check different rooms of the house, concentrating on the downstairs for now.
Simon was inspecting a tattered newspaper he'd found in the corner (2 years old, probably not relevant) when he heard a muffled exclamation from the next room followed by a loud thump. He walked through the doorway just in time to see Connor kneel down next to Hank, who lay unconscious on the floor.
"Lieutenant?" Connor's voice was laced with concern as Simon looked around before concluding that there was no attacker.
"Hank!" The panic in Connor's voice drew Simon's attention back to him, and he noticed that the other android's LED was red and flashing erratically. Connor raised his hand and Simon realized just in time what he intended to do. He leapt forward, grabbing Connor's wrist before the other android could bring his hand down across the unconscious man's face. He pulled Connor up and away from Hank, and shouted in the direction of the other room.
"Markus, we need help!"
Within seconds, Markus and Amelia appeared in the room, Amelia frozen in the doorway as she took in the scene. Markus knelt by the Lieutenant's prone form, looking him over as he scanned for injuries.
"He has medical programming." Simon explained to Connor, although the other android didn't give any sign he'd heard him, eyes glued to his friend on the ground.
"His heart has stopped." Markus stated, reaching over to pull a small device from the man's hand, discarding it on the floor beside them.
This broke Connor from his reverie, and Amelia jumped forward to help Simon restrain him as he lurched forward with a shout.
Markus had started chest compressions, relying on his programming to execute them in the perfect rhythm. Simon knew he'd been equipped with extensive emergency protocols from his former life caring for Carl, but he'd never seen it in action before now.
Markus stopped compressions and gently gripped Hank's nose as he tilted the man's head back. He took a simulated breath in before leaning forward to blow the air into Hank's lungs.
He lifted his hands to continue the chest compressions, but stopped when Hank abruptly sputtered, head turning to the side as he gasped.
Simon and Amelia released their hold on Connor, who dropped to his knees beside his partner as Markus helped the older man sit up.
"Argh, Jesus" Hank groaned, before lifting a hand to his mouth. "Don't tell me one of you goddamn androids just laid one on me."
Markus raised his hands placatingly.
"It was a necessary life saving action, that's all. And you're welcome, by the way." He replied, with a side glance to Simon, who raised his eyebrows with a relieved smile.
"Ugh, couldn't you have at least had her do it?" Hank grimaced, gesturing to Amelia who laughed and rested a comforting hand on Connor's shoulder.
"I'm afraid I'm taken." She teased
"So is Markus!" Simon replied indignantly, feeling the tension lifting from the room as the group joked. "Besides, Markus is the only one of us with medical programming, from… before."
Hank blinked at that, before turning back to Markus.
"You don't put as much shit in your mouth as he does, do you?" He asked with a wry smile, pointing at Connor. Simon glanced toward the android in question and was relieved to see his LED had returned to blue.
Markus merely laughed in response, as he and Connor carefully helped Hank stand and deposited him on a dusty chair that had been left in the room.
Simon looked down at the device that Markus had tossed aside, bending over to pick it up gingerly. It was small and metallic, with what appeared to be two electrodes on one side. He scanned it and with a jolt of recognition he realized it matched the specifications of what was used to incapacitate Blaire. The electrical shock that was designed to overload an android's processors in preparation for the virus had obviously been enough to stop the Lieutenant's heart. Simon looked up and saw a box sitting on the floor nearby, full of similar devices. Hank must have inadvertently activated one when he picked it up. Simon was about to warn the others to avoid touching them, when Amelia's voice called through from an adjacent room.
"Guys, I think I found something."
Simon pocketed the device and headed towards the sound of her voice, a shuffling noise accompanied by quiet arguing behind him as Markus and Connor attempted to aid Hank despite his protests.
Amelia was struggling to move a large wooden bookshelf that was stood against the far wall. Simon grabbed the other side and helped her slide it out of the way, revealing a door that was previously hidden behind it.
Hank shrugged off his helpers and raised his gun, nodding to Simon who grasped the doorknob and swung the door open.
The room beyond was even darker than the rest of the house, a heavy curtain blocking even the thin shafts of light from coming through the boarded window.
Amelia gasped in horror as Simon squinted, he could just about make out a seated figure surrounded by a sea of wires. Cloudy grey eyes stared in their direction, mouth moving silently as sparks crackled from exposed wiring where panels of his body had been ripped up.
"Oh god, what have they done to him?" Amelia whispered, voice shaking.
It was Jerry.