"Better then human and beyond human" was the slogan so clearly hovering over the extra long table in the boardroom of Omashi Bioworks Enterprises. The faint blue holographic projection flickered lightly as the red and green lettering scrolled over the projected banner. The whole room had an almost hospital type feel about it, white walls with wooden panels running along horizontally the surface with a flawless oak finish. The room was wide and spacious at the entrance point and narrowed down to a point as the walls begin to mesh into window that wraps around to the end. Brilliant and full of sunlight, the sun's rays that come streaming in like heaven's light illuminate the entire room. At the apex of the window-wall stands the head of the company, Takari Omashi, a middle aged Japanese man wearing his hand tailored silk suit. It was light gray in color with a gold engraved lapels and cuffs. A typical white collared shirt could be seen underneath and instead of wearing a tie; he bore a jet-black ascot that had a pattern of Japanese characters in a deep red. His short crop of black hair was growing dim with grey on the sides, giving him a distinguished and clean-cut look. Yet his face was not wrinkled or showed signs of being aged, if somewhere to look at him they would swear he was still in his early thirties. Takari liked to keep fit and active, as did all those in his family before, staying young was his obsession and he instilled that on all his relatives. He was a man that felt the only way to stay in the game of business is to remain fit and mentally sharp. And for nearly twenty years, that way of life made him a success.
A soft musical ping sounded in the room, a female voice now followed in a soft manner that seemed almost cold and robotic.
"Mr. Omashi, there is a Blade Runner officer named Derek Mason here to see you. Registered code BRU two, one-six-six-two-four dash five"
Takari remained in his stance near the window as he continued to look of it like a god surveying his kingdom.
"Send him in Alice." The man replied.
The sound of the doors clicking at the other end could be heard as Derek now stepped inside the hospital like boardroom. The doors themselves were made of the same wood as the paneling and looked more like a traditional Japanese designed door that might have existed in ancient times. However these did not slide off to one side, but swung out ward as Mason came in. Omashi turned around with a friendly grin at him and walked towards the large oak finished boardroom table. His hand gestured for the Blade Runner to come forward and meet with him at his end.
"Ah mister Mason. How good of you to come, please come in and make yourself comfortable."
"Mr. Omashi I presume." Derek said as he walked over to shake the Japanese man's hand. "You seem much younger for someone that started so long ago."
"I get that all the time." Takari smiled. "Many have envied my healthy lifestyle and keep insisting that I'm getting cosmetic surgery done to remain youthful. But none of those rumors are true. I stay fit and eat right. After all, the human body needs to keep active if it is to stay alive. Is that not so Mr. Mason?"
"I wouldn't know." He replied back after letting go of his hand and gazing around the room with interest. "The last time I did anything healthy was when I ordered a salad with my hamburger."
The Japanese owner laughed at his absurd answer and watched the officer continue too look about his boardroom.
"You need to exercise my friend. Trust me. The more you stay in shape, the better you will feel and the better you will age."
Mason turned back to look at the smiling company owner and gave a sheepish smirk at his quirky behavior. He then proceeded to walk over to the table and took out ah book-sized device from his pocket. He tapped the center button highlighted in green and the device slowly unfolded as it expanded out of it's compact size.
"If you don't mind sir. I'd very much like to get started on the tests." Mason stated as he cleared his throat. "That is why you wanted me here wasn't it? Not to discuss healthy living, but to do a Voight-Komff test on your new models…yes?"
The Japanese man rubbed his hands slightly and gave a light nod in response.
"I did bring you here for that, yes."
"Well then Mr. Omashi, if you would be so kind as to bring in the subjects for testing…"
The middle-aged owner watched the device unfurl the eye scanner arm as it completed its transformation. This was a totally new Voight-Komff, redesigned and made much more compact for Blade Runners and others that needed to do Nexus model testing. Now they were equipped better to get a full scan of the eye of the subject as it calculated the response better and sent out a signal to trigger the nano-tag embedded on the back of the iris. This is the new standard that all Nexus models had to be fitted with after the government made it law for any company manufacturing the bio-android models.
"Before we start…" Takari interrupted him. "I need to ask you something."
Mason pulled up one of the dark leather chairs that surrounded the table, they were rather plush and comfortable to sit into as he soon discovered. A slight look of surprised pleasure washed over his face as he leaned back and looked up at Omashi standing in front of him. Derek just gestured his hand for the man to speak as he watched him with inquisitive eyes.
"You were investigating a murder last night I believe. At the Rendezvous Noir boutique?" Takari asked in a coy manner.
"Yes." The Blade Runner admitted. "How did you know about that?"
"Lets just say I'm well aware of all functions of Blade Runner activity in New York."
This made Derek suspicious. But rather then dispute the man's claim, he allowed him to continue to speak.
"May I ask you what model it was? More specifically…what generation of Nexus was it?"
"It wasn't Nexus model. She was human."
"Human?" The man's voice twinged as he glared at him. "Are you sure it was human?"
"Yes." Mason said tilting his head back with curious eyes. "A human woman. A rather wealthy old broad that felt the need to be in the company of a Nexus Delta Model male."
"So there was one involved was there?"
"Look, Mr. Omashi…" Derek said getting out of his chair. "This is obviously had nothing to do with you. I mean, if it's a series ten or twelve, she's had it for a good while now. The warranty-contract is more then expired and now all owned on her."
"Perhaps." The middle aged owner replied as he tapped his upper lip.
Warranty-contracts were the new method of handing over full ownership of the Nexus model to those that bought them. It basically and legally states that once the payment transaction is complete, the buyer is now responsible for the action of it's bio-humanoid. Since many didn't argue with this and the fact that it was in such small print on the contract, Omashi was safe from any reprisals from either the police or being sued by the buyer for damages. Takari wasn't interested about all that at the moment, for even Mason could see it in his eyes that he was more interested on the murdered woman. The Asian gentleman let out a sigh as he stared out the windows again and folded his arms together lost in thought.
"We've had some problems with our newer models lately." Omashi admitted. "But until I heard of this new murder, we were led to believe the other accident was just a fluke."
"What other accident?" Mason questioned.
"Understand Mr. Mason, that what goes on in this company is our own business and that we are a self contained corporation with our own security. If you so much as try to have the NYPD sticking their noses into our affairs…"
"There's no need to for you to spill all that on me. What accident are you talking about?"
Omashi gestures to Mason to sit back down in his chair as the Japanese man sits across from him leaning against the table. Derek sits back down and gets comfortable as the owner clasps his hands together and stares at him.
"Two months ago, we had a murder of our own to deal with. A member of my staff was thrown off the top of this tower late one night, our security found his remains quite literally all over the lower lab quarter. The force of the impact shattered him to bits."
"Ouch." Derek reacted.
"He was a brilliant man, one of the few that helped to design the Delta generation of Replicants. Security was suspicious of the death and investigated our staff immediately, we managed to keep it quiet from the city police in order to save face, but the inquiry into the matter came to a dead end."
"Why was that?"
"It was soon discovered that an Nexus Delta Replicant murdered him."
This fact made Derek sit up and raised his eyebrow.
"Why didn't you inform the Blade Runner Unit? A murder of that nature is a clear violation of standard government protocol with your company, is it not?"
"As I said, we needed to keep a low profile on this." Omashi stated as he leaned back in his chair. "Last thing we need is the government shutting us down and taking over the investigation. Anyway, by the time our own inquiry began, the one in question had already been sold and given to its owner. It was quite literally out of our hands, rather then recall the Replicant we simply kept an observant eye on the owner and made sure the model wasn't malfunctioning again."
"And?" Mason asked.
"And nothing." The Japanese man said proudfully. "As far as we know the customer is fine, the Replciant is working without a hitch and nothing further has developed."
Mason's eye flutter about with confusion and soon he leans in onto the table as he looks directly at the smiling CEO.
"I must have missed something in this…what exactly are you trying to ask me Mr. Omashi? Am I here for a real reason or are you just wasting my time with these confessions? I'm not a priest you know…and I'm not obligated to report this to the government standard practices. You've sold the Replicant, it's off the grounds of your factory, and so you have nothing further to worry about."
"Yes, yes…" The man grumbled back at him. "I'm merely asking that you keep an eye out for us. We've managed to stay in business this long because we've corrected the flaws that Tyrell Corporation had in their Replicant models. To have such a lapse in our production line is virtually unthinkable, we need to weed out the weaker Nexus Generations and keep our record spotless. You understand don't you?"
"Mr. Omashi, I understand that you called me here to do a test on your Reps, now if that's not the case then I'm leaving. I don't have time to sit here and tell you that whatever happens isn't your fault. You make the Reps; I just retire them, that's the way it goes. Personally I couldn't care if your company needs to maintain a polished look to the shareholders and the government. I just want to know one thing…am I here to test a subject or not?"
As the two share a moment of silence across the table, Takari looks over at the Voight-Komff machine as it beeps and hums with the sound of power flowing through it. The man smiles again at Mason and nods as he respectfully acknowledges the Blade Runner's need to continue with his job.
"But of course. I do tend to get side tracked Mr. Mason, I apologize." The silk suited man said as he rose up out of his chair. "You are very direct man and I admire that. Yes I have brought you here to test our newest generation of model."
"Why didn't you just test it yourself?" Mason questions. "What do you need me for any way? You guys have the latest in VK as well…so why ask for me personally?"
"We do." The man bowed slightly. "But we need to see what the results are from a test done by a Blade Runner such as yourself. After all, you are more qualified to notice a Replicant when you see one and who other then you Mr. Mason has had more experience in the matter. I chose you because you have an open mind and you have a knack, or a institution shall we say, to know a real human from a Replicant."
Mason was never thrilled to hear such flattery. He hated people being impressed with his talent, if they only saw the carnage and brutality of his daily life, they'd all think twice before saying such things. Instead of answering the businessman, he simply winced and turned back to looking at his machine waiting for a test subject.
"I'll go fetch them now." Takari bowed to him. "I'm very interested in seeing the results myself."
As the Japanese man leaves the room, Derek spins his black leather type chair around to face the large windows over looking the city. His gaze is that of a man lost in thought, the memory of ocean waves crashing on the shores sounds away in his brain as he tires to relax before administrating the long test process on the Replicants. He could here the sounds of the water so clearly, the distant cry of the gulls, the calming feel of being in that place in his mind. As he closed his eyes, he could see the images now joining with the sounds. The sandy beach looked warm as the sun shone down on it, the bright blue sky that seemed to merge with the vast stretch of ocean beyond. This was his rest, his perfect utopia, the only escape he'll ever know.
"Mr. Mason?"
Omashi's voice broke his vision quickly as he snapped out of his deep concentration and looked up to see the man standing in front of him.
"Are you alright?" He inquired.
"Fine." Derek smirked. "Shall we begin?"
Mason turned around and saw three Caucasian brunettes standing near the opposite side of the long boardroom table. They were triplets. Everything about them was identical, their hair, their lipstick, their white business attire…everything. While it looked very pleasing to see these women to him, his mind couldn't help but ask the one question to the CEO.
"Which one am I testing here?"
"All of them." The Japanese man chuckled. "These are the ones I want you to test…but…I need to know if you can spot which one of them is the original. The human template as it were."
Derek turned to look over at the giddy businessman. His eyes full of confusion as he glared at the man.
"The original? You mean one of them is actually human?"
"One? Both? Or all? You tell me Mr. Mason…you tell me."
"This isn't a guessing game Mr. Omashi." Derek states in a firm tone. "Just what are you trying to do here?"
"Please Mr. Mason." He said raising his hand to calm him. "Show me your skill."
Mason slowly spinned back to face the women who were all now taking their seats. Each one smiled at him in a similar fashion, a delightful flirt they all seemed to give to him as he gave a queer smile and breathed out nervously.
"Ok…it's your money Omashi."