Chapter Twenty-Eight – Following the Trail
Reed stared at the screen of his terminal. The grainy footage showed the android heading up yet another darkened street. She left her apartment and headed into town…Seems to be a familiar route, she isn't looking around for signs or directions…He observed, occasionally glancing across at his partner, who seemed more focused on him than the video on the screen. Of course, the android had already watched through it and recorded everything. He was mostly waiting for Gavin's input.
"Well, she clearly knows the area, and where she's going…She feels safe. See how she isn't checking around?" Reed added as he nudged the screen with a pen. Nines nodded as he glanced at the screen, mainly for Reed's benefit. He'd thought the same. The android was a fairly basic model, built without the advanced sensors of the RK series. It wouldn't be able to scan the area without using its optical processors, like a human. The fact she never turned her head suggested she felt at ease. He couldn't detect anyone following her either.
I have the next video feed. This is when she enters our catchment zone. Nines reported as he began the next feed. This one was clearer, and Reed could clearly make out the neat brunette ponytail and slim figure. She was dressed nicely, in a short pleated skirt and strappy top with a small jacket over the top. She walked in high heels, enhancing her shapely legs. She looks like she's ready for a night out…or maybe a job…Reed thought with a grim sense of recognition as he watched her enter the zone. She was close to a drug drop point, right in the middle of the red light district.
"Uh-huh…" Reed hummed as he watched her slow and stop on the corner. This explains the lack of friends and family…She's trying to keep a low profile, probably doesn't want anyone to know what she's up to. He thought as she remained standing idly on the corner with her hands in her pockets. He zoomed in a little. She didn't have an LED. Interesting…That means most of her clients might not even realise she's an android, especially if they're not familiar with all the different models.
A car pulled up. Reed tapped the screen wordlessly, Nines nodding his agreement. He'd already looked at and recorded the licence plate. The car pulled away with Avery inside. Reed couldn't get a good look at the driver in the darkness. Nines fast-forwarded the video by about twenty minutes and the car returned. Avery stepped out, tucking her purse away in her handbag before she waited once more. A few minutes later led to another car, and then another. She had a total of five clients, none of whom took her away for long. She was working there for around four hours when a car pulled up further down the street.
"Shit…" Reed sighed as he watched a grey clad figure climb out the back and head into the alleyway with a rucksack. Seeing potential clients Avery started to walk towards the car, sashaying her hips. Come on…turn around…walk away…Reed urged silently, despite knowing she wasn't going to. She reached the car and leaned down at the window, her lips moving as she spoke. "Any idea what she's saying?" Reed asked as he eyed the android across from him.
She is attempting to form a deal for her services…They are uninterested. Nines reported as they watched the third man return. Avery straightened up with a shrug, seemingly unbothered by the rejection. The third man paused as he opened the door, folding his arms and talking to her. There wasn't a clear view of his face. He wore a hood to hide himself as much as possible. Avery seemed cheerful as she gave him her attention. She has revealed herself as an android…He recognised her model…They changed their minds, and have agreed to her usual rates. His partner continued to translate.
"I take it…" Reed trailed off, though he'd already guessed.
She does not return. This is the last image we have of her directly. The car however…Nines continued as he skipped to a new recording, which followed the car as it drove through the city. It travelled east, and left the CCTV footage heading out of town. Of course they wouldn't take her in such an obvious place if they could be traced.
"And the plates?" Reed asked in a resigned tone, deciding to chase it up anyway.
Belong to a car that was retired some two years ago. Nines reported, watching Reed's jaw tighten in annoyance, though he clearly wasn't surprised at the news. If anything he'd expected it. Alright, we can count out the car. They probably change plates and models all the time. Reed thought as his leg bounced. He looked away from the frozen screen, leaning forward on his desk with his arms folded beneath him.
"The original car with those plates…what was its last known location?" He asked, waiting as Nines looked the information up on the database. It took him seconds, LED flashing yellow three times before his blue eyes blinked and he met Reed's pressing gaze.
Holton's Scrap Incorporated. He replied simply, sending the address to Reed's phone. Reed got to his feet and grabbed his phone. Now? Nines asked in surprise as he pulled his jacket on and allowed his human to lead the way. Reed turned and walked backwards down the corridor, occasionally looking over his shoulder to make sure he didn't walk into anyone.
"If they got those plates from the yard chances are they go there regularly…They go in, look through a few vehicles, salvage what they can, and they're good to go. A near endless supply of new cars, all of them low key. If they avoid traffic cops and main streets they're unlikely to get pulled over. No one's going to know they're using dead plates. We'll head there and look around, check out video feeds, speak to the staff and owners…See what we can shake up." Reed suggested with an enthusiasm Nines hadn't seen since he'd started. Reed finally had a real tangible lead, and he had a gut feeling to go with it. He felt almost giddy as they entered the lift, bouncing on his heels as he waited to reach the carpark. There was an almost tense anticipation between them as they drove, just about keeping to the speed limits.
At the yard Nines followed Reed as he left their car parked outside the gates and headed into the small office. He scanned immediately, finding multiple camera feeds recording various parts of the yard. He watched Reed pause and send a message, blinking moments later as he got a notification. Call Connor and keep him live…I have a feeling. Nines shifted his blue gaze to his partner, watching the way his green eyes scanned the area warily. Nines joined him, taking in the burned up grey husk that was still smoking. Three cameras had already turned to watch as they approached.
Nines did as he was told, and Connor answered without missing a beat. Once Nines told him to remain on the line he automatically set up a GPS connection to record their location, as well as recording a copy of the call. They kept conversation to a minimum as they shared Nines' eyes to look at everything. Gavin knocked on the office door. It was a small wooden hut with a long window, metal blinds pulled down to hide the inside. Gavin called out to identify them, pulling his badge as the door was opened.
"Yes Detective, how can I help?" The silver haired man asked. Nines scanned him. Tyler Jones, sixty-nine years old, no criminal record. He'd owned the yard for twenty three years. He seemed kind. Reed gave him his polite business smile as he started going into details, and Nines did his part by watching the man's vitals.
"We have reason to believe some plates were removed from a car here. They turned up in a current case we're working on, attached to a new car…My partner, Nines." Reed introduced as he swept his arm out to indicate Nines. The old man was nervous, but that could be put down to the presence of an android. Nines knew he was built to be imposing, and a lot of the older generation tended to lean towards prejudiced. Jones stammered a little as he looked between the two officers before stepping inside, opening the door invitingly.
"I can't say for certain…People come in and out, buy parts, sell parts, kids hop the fences, you know how it is…I can give you access to my records if you like." The man replied as he motioned to the tall filing cabinets. Reed nodded his appreciation as he handed the man a picture of the car and close up of the plates. He didn't recognise the plates, but then there were a lot of them coming in and out. The car he didn't know, but he'd had a model just like it dropped off a few days ago, all burned out.
"We'd like to get your camera feeds for the past few weeks. Is that possible?" Reed asked as he looked out the window to see a couple of younger men in blue overalls milling around outside. He nodded to Nines, who blinked. He saw them. He made sure to zoom in one their features, recording their builds and weights to compare to any footage they had.
"Oh, certainly…The cameras record over the feed every couple days, I don't have much memory space in the old hard drives." Jones replied, a little disturbed as Nines drew the skin of his hand back and immediately interfaced. He didn't bother viewing the feed. He wired it straight to Connor so it could be stored on the mainframe, giving Nines the freedom to focus on more areas. "What-uh-what is it doing?" The old man asked anxiously as he shuffled away from the imposing machine.
"Nothing to worry about Sir, he's just saving the camera feeds so that we can look through them." Reed assured, resting a hand on the grip of his gun. The two men outside were still hanging around. They were likely mid-twenties, which gave them maybe a decade on Reed. He could likely take out one of them if it came to a scrap. One of them was on a phone, eyes shifting to the hut every so often. Reed tried not to make it obvious, turning his body away from the window and trusting Nines to keep an eye on them.
"Convenient…How much did it set you back?" He asked curiously, watching Reed's brow crease slightly.
"Nines is my partner Sir, a co-worker. He isn't owned by anyone." He replied in a light tone. The old man seemed unconvinced, but let the subject drop. Nines remained silent, not bothering to correct either of them. "That car you mentioned. Any chance we could take a look at it?" Reed asked, partly to change the subject and partly to get verbal clearance.
"Oh, absolutely…I'll call Matt in and have him show you…Not as spry as I used to be." Jones replied amicably. Nines drew his hand back with a nod. Connor had stored the camera feeds and was currently searching through them for their suspects. Reed stood back as the old man headed to the wooden door and pulled it open. "Matthew! Come here and meet the detectives…They want to see that burnout that came in a couple days ago." He called as one of the young men approached. The young man's stress levels spiked as he looked between Reed and Nines.
"Sure Dad…This way." He added with a nervous smile. His overalls were covered in oil marks and dirt from working on the cars and climbing through the yard. Nines' LED flashed yellow as he followed, not wanting to turn his back on the other male, who seemed agitated as he watched Reed following his friend. Matt seemed younger, his blonde hair kept in a scruffy tail with a dirty cap on his head. The other was taller, a little stockier with short hair, almost shaved to his head. He met Nines' eyes and looked away quickly.
"So, you're Matthew Jones? How long have you been helping your old man?" Reed asked conversationally as he ambled along beside Matt, seemingly oblivious to the second man watching them. Nines was reluctant to leave his back exposed, but he didn't want to let Reed out of his sight either. He followed reluctantly, tuning his auditory sensors to focus more on the man behind him. Matt seemed fairly carefree as he responded that he'd been working in the yard since he was big enough to bend over a car. They seemed to have a shared love of cars and mechanics, rattling off terms Nines didn't care to look up.
"This is it…Came in two days ago." The young man said as they stopped by the burned out husk. Nines got to work, scanning and analysing every part he could reach. Burning it had been a good idea. Fingerprints, microfibres, thirium, it would all have been destroyed by the fire. Nines scanned just in case anyway, but there wasn't much hope. "Think you'll find the folks you're looking for?" Matt asked curiously, Reed almost scoffing with his confidence.
"Well, this RK900 is the most advanced android Cyberlife ever developed…Was made to replace human detectives. You know what that means?" He asked in an almost conspiratorial tone that made Matt nervous. He shook his head warily as Reed leaned in. "It means he can reconstruct a lot of evidence that we humans would find impossible…Take this car for instance…Inside's burned to a crisp. You'd think that would mean there's nothing to find, but with his software the RK900 can find the tiniest particles and reconstruct it all. If anything was left behind…Prints, hair, blood, this android will find it." The detectives lied. Nines said nothing to contradict him as he continued to look at the shell, crouching down to rest a hand on the metal.
"You're joking, there's no way!" Matt insisted, and Nines had to agree it was farfetched. Luckily Reed was on another level when it came to weaving stories. He also had a damn good poker face, so when he levelled a confident smirk at the young man he was automatically believed. Matt looked across at his friend, something Reed didn't miss as he rested a hand on his firearm once more. Nines tested the humans a little more, letting their vitals lead him as he examined parts of the car. They were especially nervous as he leaned down to the rear left back seat. He took his time, reaching in and touching the ash before raising it to his mouth.
"Oh? I think he found something." Reed murmured as he nodded at Nines, who touched his fingers to his tongue and analysed the soot. He got a broken down makeup of the charred material, but nothing concrete. The humans didn't know that though. He levelled his eyes at Gavin and nodded, watching his human give an almost feral grin as he played along. Everything seemed to slow down in the next instant as the two younger humans leapt into action. Reed drew his gun and got one warning shot off at Matt, who threw a small black disc at Nines.
As the black disc reached him it almost seemed magnetised, which would make sense considering it was designed to lock onto androids. He barely had time to reach up before a shock ran through his systems, knocking him to his knees. This was definitely how they'd immobilised the other androids. The RK900 was lucky it had been built to withstand much stronger shocks than this. Believing he'd been dealt with, the young men turned their attention to Reed. Nines couldn't move as he watched the second young human level a firearm at Reed, who was currently wrestling with Matt for his own gun. No!
"Gavin!" Nines shouted, his voice laced with static from the constant shock running through his system. Reed looked at him in surprise, but ducked with the warning just as a shot rang out. Nines roared as red tore the air and splattered the ground, Reed's green eyes wide as he toppled to his knees. Nines didn't even think as his thirium pump kicked into overdrive. The black disc was ripped from his chest and crushed like tinfoil seconds before he launched himself in a blind rage.