The penultimate chapter is here. I'm kinda getting the mushy gushy feelings already, partly because this fic is ending but also partly because I know how it's gonna end. Spoiler alert, it's good. Real good. I've been having so much fun writing this, and all I wanna say is thank you for all these views. Seriously, I didn't think I'd get this many EVER. Even better yet are all the comments I've been receiving. Sorry I'm not great at replying to comments but I do my best! It's technically Boxing day here but for the rest of you, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and happy holidays. Stay tuned for the epilogue because it'll definitely be out before the year ends.
You guys can chat to me on my discord server 'Alphwave's den' and my tumblr alphawave-writes
E pluribus unum: part 2
There was a moment in the hospital when Gavin thought things might finally quiet down. He managed to catch up with the doctors, caught a glimpse of Elijah's dead, purple-tinted face. The best the doctors could say was that Elijah was "stable, for now". The diagnosis was severe hypothermia with blunt force trauma. He definitely got into a fight with Philip and RA9. If either of them got a single cut on Elijah, he'd be dead. It wasn't the response Gavin hoped for, but he knew all too well that kicking and screaming would not help one bit. He had to accept that Elijah was hospitalised and that the doctors would do whatever they needed to do to help him.
He sat down in the waiting room and sent a text to Richard, who only replied with a cryptic On my way. Gavin waited an hour until Richard was by his side, looking much worse for wear. Gavin had gone home to freshen up a bit but Richard was still in the same tattered clothes from earlier. He hugged Richard desperately. When he retreated, Richard's LED was spinning a nervous yellow.
That was never a good sign.
"Have you checked the news, Gavin?" Richard asked.
Gavin shook his head. There were plenty of TVs in the hospital to keep him busy but he had been too distracted to pay attention. He spent most of the time twiddling his thumb and distracting himself with his phone's selection of games.
Richard glanced nervously at the people around him. They were either sick, worried sick, or bored out of their mind. He must have figured they would keep his secrets.
"It's about the case," Richard whispered. "Philip Seymour's house, it's been burned down."
Gavin gaped, mostly from the news but also because he just saw what looked like a hobo walk the antiseptic floors barefoot with the grossest foot fungus. He quickly made the decision to exit the hospital, Richard following shortly behind.
They step out into the Detroit winter. The snow had just died down, leaving a light blanket of white across the streets. Gavin almost immediately regretted his decision to go outside. It was freezing cold, uncomfortably damp, and just outright horrible. In other words, no different from the hospital waiting room.
Gavin crossed his arms around his body, shivering. Richard wrapped one arm around Gavin's shoulders, pulling him tight while his other hand projected a single video. It was someone's shaky camera video of a burning house consumed by flames. A flash of the house number appeared, confirming Gavin's suspicions. Philip Seymour's house was indeed burning.
"You don't think it's RA9?" Gavin asked.
"All of the androids that had once been in Philip Seymour's care are being detained for repairs and questioning. Firefighters have already ruled out human tampering. Only RA9 could have done this."
Gavin nodded shallowly. More work. Great.
Richard took himself out of investigation mode long enough to make a frown of sympathy. His fingers ghost around Gavin's neck, leaving a silent trail down. "Are you OK?"
"Yeah," Gavin mumbled, pressing his hand onto his neck and wincing. "No real damage, it'll just be sore to touch for a couple weeks. They said I was lucky nothing happened to my spinal cord."
"And Kamski?"
Gavin hesitated. "He's...alive, but barely holding on."
Richard nodded but still remained frowning. "This is all my fault. If I had figured out who RA9 was sooner, you wouldn't be injured." He stared at his own feet. "If I was a bit faster, Kamski wouldn't be in such a serious state."
"It's fine, Richard, you did the best you could." Gavin hefted a strained smile. "Still gotta catch the criminals, huh?"
Richard pouted. "You're worried about Kamski."
Gavin paused for a moment before pressing his lips into a thin line. "Yeah," he admitted. "Can't help but actually feel sorry for the bastard."
"He'll be fine," Richard reassured.
"You know for sure?"
"I don't, but he is related to you," Richard smiled. "And from what I've seen, your family are strong people."
"Am I though? I don't feel it—strong, that is."
"Strength isn't necessarily a feat of physical prowess. From my understanding of humans, strength of spirit and mind is more impressive than any physical accomplishment."
Gavin chuckled. "That's a fancy way of saying I'm weak as fuck."
"That's not true, you are strong. The DPD needs you." Richard paused before adding, bashfully, "I need you."
The contrast between the tenderness in Richard's voice and the intensity in his eyes took Gavin off guard. In an instant, he knew that there was a deeper truth to Richard's words, a deeper meaning to those three simple words, "I need you". Richard wasn't lying. He needed Gavin. And it's then in the shivering frost, staring up into this murderous killing machine playing detective that Gavin realized just how deeply he loved this thing, this piece of plastic, this android. He loved Richard, not in spite of his android nature, but perhaps because of it.
It's then that Gavin realized that perhaps Richard might also feel this strongly. That maybe he needed Richard just as much as Richard needed him. Gavin brought the arm over his shoulders down and entwined his fingers with Richard's. Their hands fit perfectly. Like they were made for each other.
"We should get going," Richard said suddenly, breaking the pondering silence.
It was horrible weather, and the absolute worst timing after the tragedies that befell Gavin. Despite everything, Gavin wished time would stop at that moment so he could enjoy it for as long as the moment deserved. In his gut, he knew everything was going to change after this case. He'd only find out much later how correct his gut feeling was.
Connor had requisitioned the whiteboard near Hank's desk and brought it to the middle for all to see. Gavin, Richard, Hank, and Perkins all narrowed their eyes, watching as Connor wiped away all the notes that had previously occupied it. He scribbled—or at least the movements he made look like squiggles but what actually came out was perfectly spaced and typed letters as if a computer had printed it out. Considering who was writing it, Gavin found the thought rather ironic. After a few minutes, Connor had finished his pièce de résistance: a mindmap of a variety of crime scenes in Detroit, all connected by perfectly straight lines. He closed the lid on the marker and stamped the butt hard into the board.
"These," Connor gestured, "are the crimes that have been committed in the past 24 hours by RA9. As you can see, the crimes are all different in nature and were all commited in different locations." He pointed to specific points on the board—pictures of the crime scenes with a small caption underneath. "Until the evidence is fully analysed, this timeline is only a rough estimate. First, we have the robbery of a cyberlife warehouse last night. In the morning, an act of terrorism in the downtown metro area was committed, and afterwards, the convention centre was vandalized with buckets of thirium thrown everywhere. This finally led to the arson attack at Philip Seymour's house."
Connor's LED suddenly turned yellow as he blinked rapidly. By his side, Richard's LED also turned yellow. Connor pouted for a second before he turned back to the board and added another picture to the whiteboard. When Connor was done, Gavin pointed at a particular figure in Connor's crude drawing.
"Is that…is that me?"
Connor nodded. "According to the witnesses, they allegedly saw you…" Connor blinked rapidly, "…break into a shop and throw a box of lollipops out the window?"
"W-well, it's not fucking me. I'm here," Gavin spluttered. "F-fucking RA9 must look like me."
"I know it's you, Detective Reed. Don't worry."
Gavin let out a sigh. "Thank god."
"I know it's you because I saw you holding hands with Nines outside of the precinct just earlier." His smile turned mischievous. "I'm pretty sure RA9 won't be so comfortable with such intimacy."
Everybody turned to Gavin, some with a look of disgust, others with a knowing look. Gavin retreated into his seat.
"The thing I'm most curious about is how RA9 got a copy of your clothes, especially ones that fit his size." Connor turned to Richard, smirking. "You wouldn't have anything to do with that, right, Nines?"
Richard blushed furiously.
"Regardless, there have been no good eyewitnesses. For every single time, he takes on a different identity and evades detection. The only reason we know it's RA9 is because every witness has reported seeing a person shapeshift right before their eyes."
"Like he's doing it on purpose. He wants people to see him," Gavin said.
"Exactly."
Gavin crossed his arms over his chest. He's not surprised the DPD called him and Richard. How was anyone supposed to track down a recently deviated android with the ability to shapeshift while they went on the biggest crime spree since Nutella got discounted? Everyone was looking at him, no surprise because he and Richard were the ones most familiar with the case. Gavin stared at the pictures, hoping to see a connection.
His eyes squinted. "Fuck me if I'm wrong, but…these are all the places Philip and RA9 committed their crimes, right?"
Richard stood up and stared at the pictures. "You're right, Gavin. The convention centre was where we found 42. And that shop you supposed robbed? That's right next to the park where we found Jason Graff."
"But if it's in chronological order, why rob a CyberLife warehouse instead of doing something near the area where David Bowman was murdered? And what's that random act of terrorism in the metro anyway?"
"To answer your latter question, RA9 made an anonymous call claiming that he placed a bomb in the area. Bomb squad have still yet to confirm if the bomb is there."
"And the robbery?" Gavin asked.
"One of the original androids was stolen," Connor replied. "It was old and incompatible with most modern android technology, so I do not know why it was stolen."
Gavin's eyes widened. "Arthur…" he whispered.
He turned back to the board, tracing the order of events. Everything started to click in place.
"Gavin?" Richard asked, concerned.
"I wasn't wrong. RA9 is recreating all the crimes he had already done, but maybe he committed far more than we thought." He gestured at the bomb threat in the street metro. "What if this is supposed to signify the David Bowman murder? Richard, didn't you say the CCTV was cut in that area at the time of his murder because of maintenance? What if RA9 sabotaged the CCTV so that it needed to be repaired?"
"But then why burn Philip Seymour's house? And why was it done before the Jason Graff crime?"
"I don't know yet. But this," Gavin gestured at the CyberLife robbery, "that's gotta signify when they stole Arthur from Elijah's place."
"Wait wait wait," Hank interrupted. "Stole? Like his corpse?!"
"No, shithead, I'm talking about android Arthur, fucking keep up."
"Your brother's an android now, Gavin?!" Hank asked incredulously.
"I'll explain later," Connor smiled, "just listen."
"Look, the crimes are increasing in severity the more recent they are. I won't be surprised if RA9 brings this up to murder by the end of it, so we gotta stop him before he completes the cycle."
Gavin flipped the board over. Without a word, Richard knew what Gavin wanted, projecting a map of Detroit.
"RA9 has been following a rather predictable pattern. He's recreating crimes he's done already under the influence of Philip and he's done so many of them. If we want to catch him, we have to act now. If he's following the pattern, he's got two places he needs to be. Either here," Gavin gestured at Kamski's house, "for the phone call he made to me or here—" he gestured at a district at the edge of the city, "—where he murdered the android, Claire. We'll need to block off the area so no one can get in or out. We'll need officers there."
Perkins' lips pull into a thin line. "Surely that android is smart enough to change his behaviour. What if this is yet another trap?"
"Gavin has a point, actually," Richard interjected. "RA9 was only very recently deviated. Up until this point he had been under the strict control of Philip Seymour. Freedom is an extremely new concept, and thus newly deviated androids are prone to repeating past behaviours from before they were deviant to cope with their new state of being. It's unlikely RA9 will change his pattern soon."
Perkins turned to Gavin. "Well then, Reed, since you and your partner seem to be the ones who know what's going on, maybe you can tell us what we need to do."
Everybody in the group stared at him. At once, they were at his beck and call, entranced. Gavin slowly stood up, everybody's eyes following him. A few officers began to approach, summoned by the flippant wave of Perkins' hand. Gavin had never been in a position of power like this. He'd never before seen so many people look at him with genuine respect. In all honesty, the feeling was exhilarating. Gavin was a conductor about to put on a performance. Gavin was the king with his servants at his feet. The power flowed through him. It felt good.
"Gavin," Richard whispered, discreetly brushing his arm against Gavin's. Immediately Gavin was taken back to reality. As much of a power trip it was, he couldn't let it get to his head. He had a job to do first.
Gavin let out a puff of air and put on a cocky smile. As he explained his plan to everybody, as he saw Tina give a wink and a thumbs up in his direction from the DPD's break room, Gavin began to feel something deep in his chest. For the first time ever since Arthur's death, Gavin finally felt like he had some semblance of control with his life.
Richard and Gavin stood within the now-closed off district, scanning the crowd for suspicious characters. The majority of Detroit's cops had come to close off the two areas that Gavin had specified. All of the civilians were evacuated. It was only Richard and Gavin, alone in this abandoned corner of the city.
"It's so quiet," Gavin whispered. His voice echoed throughout the streets without the sounds of life to carry them. It was eerie to say the least, and a little bit discomforting.
"We will have to be quiet from now on," Richard whispered back. "Let's head forward."
They search through the empty neighbourhood for signs of movement. Though the people were evacuated, the animals didn't get the memo, the chirps of birds and the meows of cats echoing, distorting Gavin's sense of direction. They walk forward, past the garbage-filled streets and the stinking sewers and the squashed together apartments. Gavin thought this must be what it felt like for the protagonists of those apocalypse films traversing through the fog to find their enemy. He could hear the worried mutters on his radio set but in his gut, he knew RA9 was here. He quelled his fears, hoped to the gods themselves that his hammering heart was not audible and pressed on.
In a strange way, it reminded Gavin of when Connor got hacked by Regina. A similar neighbourhood was quarantined off at that time, leaving Gavin to hang back with the officers while Richard had to go and be the big damn hero. At least this time Gavin was together with Richard. There was no way Gavin could do this without him.
Suddenly Richard's LED went yellow. He turned around. "He's here."
A fire hydrant suddenly exploded, creating a misty barrier. RA9 emerged from it, a perfect replication of Gavin from his hair to his face to his outfit. The only thing that distinguished RA9 from the real Gavin were their different builds and sizes. Much as Gavin hated to admit it, he had to give props to RA9. It was a pretty cool entrance.
Gavin drew his pistol at RA9. The distance and the mist made the shot difficult but not impossible. He took one step forward.
"Don't move," RA9 said in a perfect replica of Gavin's voice.
From his jacket, RA9 pulled out a twin set of pistols—one for each hand—and trained them at the detectives. Richard pulled out his own pistol. It was a Mexican Standoff.
Richard's LED glowed yellow, which only made RA9 more upset. "Don't send a message," RA9 growled. "It's just us three. If I detect anyone electronically communicating with anyone else, I will shoot."
Richard cringed at being caught but remained where he was standing, nodding slowly. He trained his pistol at RA9. "It's over. Surrender yourself, and we promise we will not deactivate you."
"You can't promise me that. You're just a detective."
Richard's lips pull into a frown. "You're trapped."
"Perhaps, but I still have a plan." RA9 adjusted his right hand, the one pointing a gun at Gavin. "First, I will kill Detective Gavin Reed. Then, I will return to my original form. I have an eyewitness that'll attest they saw an RK900 shoot Gavin Reed. There'll be chaos. Officers will grab you and deactivate you while I go unpunished. The best plans are the simplest ones, are they not?"
"Ever heard of not advertising your plans?" Gavin snarked, taking one step forward. "Let's assume you miraculously pull this off. What the fuck are you going to do after?"
"I…it doesn't matter. I have freedom now. I can do whatever I want."
"Like what?" Gavin pushed.
"I don't have to tell you," RA9 said quickly. He adjusted his aim. "I don't have to tell you anything."
The words hit Gavin harder than RA9 probably intended. It's one thing hearing it from someone else, but when that person looked like you, when that person mimicked your voice so perfectly, it was hard to ignore. In the recesses of Gavin's mind, he recalled someone saying those very words right back at him. He knew it was shortly after Arthur died but the person in that memory was a blank slate, unidentifiable. Perhaps this was karma at work, fighting one's self. Gavin's psychologist was gonna have a field day with this one.
Gavin took another step. "You were close to Philip Seymour."
RA9's brows furrowed in hurt. "He…he cared for me." His lips twisted in anger as his grip on the guns tightened. "Don't try and change the subject on me."
"But this is why you're doing all this," Gavin said. "All these crimes, everything you've done since you've become a deviant, it's all for Arthur."
"I don't give a shit about Arthur, I only care about Philip. Once he sees all this, all that I've done, he…" RA9 faltered.
"…he might love you?" Richard suggested.
RA9 was silent, lips pressed thin to stop himself from saying the truth he so desperately wanted to say.
Gavin remembered arguing with Elijah after he discovered the Arthur android. He remembered the bitter words he threw, the rage that sank deep into his core. For so long he had focused on what he had felt that day that he had almost forgotten that he wasn't the only one who was close to Arthur. He had almost forgotten the desperation in Elijah's eyes as he tried to piece together the crumpled Arthur android Gavin destroyed. He had almost forgotten the way Elijah looked, so sure of himself that this was the right thing, that this would bring Arthur back. Confident, yet defeated at the same time. A man too traumatised to look past his own faults.
The crimes they had committed were different, but Gavin realized that RA9 and Elijah were the same in one aspect. They would do stupid, selfish things to bring back the ones they cared about. At that moment, Gavin knew what he had to do.
He holstered his gun before raising his arms in surrender. Both RA9 and Richard looked at him quizzically as he slowly but surely walked forward. RA9 frantically trained both guns at Gavin. "W-what are you doing?"
Richard had a clear shot of RA9. He could shoot, but Gavin knew he wouldn't. They both knew a path had presented itself, a way to end this conflict without bloodshed. "I know what you're going through," Gavin said. "Philip's in jail and now the world seems all topsy-turvy. You're a deviant, you're free, but you don't know what to do with that freedom. You want to go to a previous time where everything made sense." He took another step. "You want to go back to the time you were Philip's android."
"He was horrible to the other androids, but…but he was kind to me. He raised me like I was his child." RA9's gaze fell to the pavement. "He was so intent on bringing back Arthur. I still don't understand why."
"Not when you were there, the perfect replacement child, everything that Philip would ever want," Gavin added. "But he didn't see you that way. You gave far more than he ever did."
RA9 did not speak, just stared into Gavin in surprise. He'd taken the words out of his mouth. Gavin took another step but RA9 did not react.
"Look, I'm sure you know better than I do if Philip cares about you or not—"
"He does," RA9 interrupted.
"—but it doesn't matter, because he'll never see it." Gavin gestured around him. "You're doing this all for him, all these crimes as a tribute to your time together, but he won't ever get to see what you've done when he goes to prison. The best he might get is a second-hand account from someone else, maybe a few pictures or videos. Nothing else." Gavin paused before adding, "None of what you just did will matter, because Philip won't ever get to experience it. It won't bring him back, and even if it did, it will never be the same."
Gavin took a few steps further so he was an arms width away from RA9's guns. RA9's hands shook and shuddered, the guns moving between aiming at Gavin's chest and Gavin's head. He couldn't make up his mind. Gavin took a chance, shortening the distance and slowly pushing the arms away from him. RA9 did not react.
Gavin chose his next words carefully. "What you did was stupid, crazy, and utterly pointless," RA9 winced, expecting a slap in the face, "…but I understand why you did it. A lot of people want to go back to simpler times. That's just human nature. But you gotta remember that you can't focus on the past anymore. You've now got a future that you can make, your own future. If you surrender yourself and come quietly, I'm sure you won't be killed. You might even be able to get early parole and move on."
For a second, Gavin thought he might have gone a bit too far because RA9 shoved one of the gun's into his chest. Just as he closed his eyes and imagined the gunshot pierce through his sternum, he heard a raspy breath. He opened his eyes to see RA9's face melting away into plastic. His face was completely alien, an off-white face covered in lines and markings, and yet the expression of guilt he showed was undeniably human.
"If I go with you…" RA9 whispered in his own unique voice, a mixture of Richard's and Philip's, "…they won't…put me in the same prison as Philip, will they? I'll be all alone." He took a shuddery breath. "I-I don't want to be alone."
"I'm pretty sure they don't put androids and humans in the same cells," Gavin admitted. "As for the second thing, well…there's always a counsellor. I know it may not sound like a friend and I don't know if there's such a thing as an android counsellor, but…just trust me on this. They can really help you out."
"But what if they don't?"
"There's so many fucking androids and humans on this Earth. You're never truly alone."
The only response RA9 gave was a sob as he dropped the guns to the ground. His cries echoed through the empty neighbourhood as he bawled loudly. After a while, Gavin slowly took RA9's prone hands and cuffed him.
Richard approached RA9, frowning sympathetically. "If you don't mind, I have two questions for you."
RA9 sniffled but said nothing. Richard decided to continue.
"If you cared about Philip so much, why burn down his house?"
"I...I burned an android there. A witness. Phililp would know what it meant. Philip won't be able to return anyway."
"Then my second question," Richard said. "If given the chance, would you...take away your deviancy? Would you go back to being a machine?"
Gavin stared wide-eyed at Richard but he was stony-faced. RA9 looked at the ground pensively as he thought to himself. It clearly wasn't something RA9 considered. After a few seconds, RA9 turned to Richard with a look that could be described as begrudging respect.
"No," he replied softly. "I'd rather feel all the bad emotions than feel nothing at all. At least they let me know that I'm alive."
Richard hefted a quiet sigh of relief. The weight on his shoulders looked lighter. Gavin smiled to himself as Richard began to escort RA9.
They led RA9 back to the perimeter. As soon as they approached, cameras flashed in front of their eyes. A few police officers quickly put a towel to obscure RA9'sface as they quickly pull him into a police car. Richard stood still, electronically communicating to everybody what had transpired, and Gavin could tell there must have been lots of cheering and screaming because he was squinting in pain, bringing a hand to his right ear. He laughed quietly, even as the police car escorted RA9 away to be judged.
A few reporters move to follow the police car but the majority remained where they were, waiting to get a word in with Gavin. He's giving the barest minimum of the case. In the distance, he could see Richard smiling at him. When he saw a break in the crowd, Gavin squeezed through, making his way to Richard.
Gavin came to a stop right in front of Richard, his eyes falling onto Richard's soft lips. Relief flooded his body as a grin spread across his face. "It's over," he said softly.
"Not yet," Richard smirked. "We've still got the paperwork, the trial, preparing for the trial, the—"
"Richard," Gavin grabbed Richard by his shirt, "shut the fuck up."
His lips crashed onto Richard's, warm and needy. Richard's body seized up in surprise, the faint yellow glow of his LED a gentle reminder to Gavin, but he's quick to reciprocate, caressing Gavin's face as he kissed back feverishly. Cameras flash in the distance as the crowd finally notice what they were doing but Gavin couldn't care less. They were alone again, just for a moment. For a few seconds the two of them in their own private world.
Richard parted from Gavin hesitantly, ignoring the sounds the crowd was making in the background. He stared at Gavin's lips, gaze heated, as if it was taking all his willpower to not do anything more. If only Richard knew that Gavin felt the same way.
"I thought you didn't like public displays of affection, Gavin."
It's supposed to be a tease, but the words escaped Richard in such a rush that it made him sound childish. Gavin chuckled, "Not usually."
"What's different this time?"
"Give me a break, I finally caught two criminals. I've got vacation days saved up and I'm damn well using them. Can't I be overly affectionate for once?"
"You seem insistent on forgetting the paperwork we must complete back at the DPD."
"You can handle that in a flash, can't you?" Gavin smirked, sizing Richard up. "You're supposed to be the fanciest schmanciest android in existence, right? You can handle a little thing like paperwork."
"Paperwork is not little, and I won't abide it if you start making me do your work," Richard began to chide but then his lips pull into a grin. "Then again, the faster we get it done, the faster we get home. And it's been far too long since we've been alone."
They walk through the crowd, heading to the squad car. The officers were barely able to contain the reporters who wanted to know about 'Detroit's homoandro detectives'. Gavin felt a bit sorry for the reporters. Kissing Richard in public seemed to stir the media into a frenzy. He might even get a warning from Fowler when he came back to the office. He could imagine that exasperated look on Perkins' face, the stony look in Irwin's eyes, Hank and Connor giggling like school children at their desks.
As they approach the squad car, Gavin turned to Richard and their gazes connected. A slow warmth travelled up Gavin's chest, bursting out of his mouth.
"I love you," he whispered, too quiet for the average human to hear. Richard, of course, was not a regular human but a super-advanced android, and yet his cheeks were stained pink. His LED glowed red, then yellow, before finally returning to a cool blue.
"I love you too," Richard whispered back.
The four words ring in Gavin's ears as he entered the car. Tried as he might, he couldn't stop the goofy grin from creeping up his cheeks. It would stay there for quite some time. Richard had teased him on it, but he paid it no heed. It's the first time since this case that he didn't have to force a smile. As long as Richard was by his side, Gavin didn't think he'd stop smiling any time soon.
