Disclaimer: I Robot belongs to people much older than me.
A/N: Sorry this took so long. Been busy with school and stuff.
"I can't believe you're still using that thing. Don't you know how dangerous it is?"
"Well, hello to you too, Doctor Calvin." Del opened the kickstand on his motorbike and left it standing. "I came as soon as I got your call," he said. "So, doc, what's shakin'?"
Dr Calvin gave the homicide detective a withering look. "Listen, if you don't want to hear what I have to say, then by all means feel free to go back to work."
"This is work," Del said darkly. "I'm investigating a homicide, and an escaped robot, at the same time. Remember?"
"Yes, I heard you were investigating the Martin Massacres." Dr Calvin turned her back on Spooner and typed a security code into the side of the building. "How's that coming?"
Del grunted. "Barely. I mean, what with the thefts at the crime scene, and now with the rest of the company is tearing itself apart in order to get more money, there isn't really much to go on."
Dr Calvin turned back to Del. "Maybe it would help if you knew what the company actually did."
"You know, my boss suggested the same thing," Spooner smiled.
Susan didn't return the smile. She pulled a small holodisk out of her jacket pocket and handed it to Spooner. "This is a compilation of data regarding the Three R's."
Del frowned. "The what?"
"It's the name of the company that Samuel and David Martin started and owned. The Three R's." Susan gave Del another withering look. "Don't tell me you haven't even researched that yet."
"Alright," Del said, tucking the holodisk into his pocket, "I won't tell you."
Dr Calvin rolled her eyes, then opened the door. Del followed her into the darkness.
"Remind me where I am again?"
"An abandoned warehouse."
"Ah. So, no names, nothing?"
"If it helps," a third voice answered smoothly, "This used to be one of the Martin's warehouses. It was one of the first seized when the stocks and assets were sold. It now lies empty and abandoned."
A small blue-green glow lit up three faces - Spooner's, Calvin's, ands Sonny's.
"How the hell," Del said, trying to get his heart-rate under control, "Did you get out here?"
Sonny smiled, the light on his chest growing slowly stronger. It was Dr Calvin, however, that answered: "I brought him out here. Don't worry," she added calmly, ignoring Del's glare, "His absence won't be noticed."
"Yeah, I'll bet." Spooner crossed his arms. "You noticed when one robot went missing - people will really start talking once the word gets out that two are gone."
"I am not missing." Sonny said calmly. "I am here, under escort, to give the police information regarding the rogue NS-5."
That had Spooner's attention, but he couldn't resist one last jab. "Oh, so he's a 'rogue' now, is he? Not just 'troubled' anymore?"
Susan gave Del a dirty look, but Sonny had the grace to ignore both of them. "He contacted me only a few hours ago. He had seen Andrea speaking on television, and heard that she had adopted a son, Nathan." Sonny looked worried. "For some reason, he wanted to know how Andrea could have adopted a child. He wanted to learn about the adoption process."
"And, let me guess… you told him."
"I merely thought that additional information may make him return. However, my idea did not go as planned. My belief is that the NS-5 has moved from merely 'troubled' to very dangerous."
Spooner frowned. "Sonny, what exactly did you tell… the rogue?"
Sonny shifted a little. "I told him that humans adopted children if they could not have any of their own, or if they felt compassion for a fellow human being."
"And then what?"
Susan took over. "The NS-5 asked about Andrea's records, which Sonny did not know. The NS-5 said something about Andrea's criminal records making her an unsuitable candidate for adopting another human being." The blue-green light coming out of Sonny cast dark shadows across Dr Calvin's face.
Spooner frowned. "What is this robot planning, Sonny? You said he was 'troubled' before. What does that mean? Troubled-obsessive? Troubled-curious? Troubled-homicidal?"
Sonny sighed and shrugged. It seemed an oddly human gesture; Del was almost startled by it. "I don't know. As I told you, he had an interest in the Martin case, and with Andrea in particular, but I do not think her life is in any danger."
"But you don't know for sure, do you."
"No." Sonny admitted.
"And you did just say he was dangerous."
"Yes."
"Am I going to get any definitive answers from you?" Del raised an eyebrow.
"I'm not an eight-ball," Sonny said, a little angrily. "I don't know everything. I only came to tell you what I know."
Del held up his hands, apologetically. "Sonny, I've got two cases I'm working on right now. I'm sorry if I seem a little tense, but it's kinda hard to deal, okay?"
"We'd better go," Calvin said softly. She nodded at Spooner. "Thanks for coming."
"Anytime," Spooner said, turning to go.
"Detective," Sonny said softly; Del turned back. "He also asked whether Andrea placed any value on the adopted boy, Nathan." Sonny looked pained, guiltily. "I told him that I thought she cared for him very much." Sonny's voice sounded pained. "The NS-5 said nothing. And then he said 'good', and cut communication with me."
"If that's not dangerous," Del said coldly, "I don't know what is."
Andrea and Nathan repaired the second robot without too much fuss, but Andrea could tell that Nathan was uneasy. Maybe because he'd made the Freudian slip of calling her 'Andrea', when he felt that he should have been more respectful. Considering, she had adopted him. Considering that good manners were something Nathan prided himself on. Considering his family history…
But mostly, Andrea figured, it had to do with the robots. Something about robots made Nathan uneasy. It might have been that they looked so human. And they were so cold. It was like… repairing a corpse.
Nathan wiped the oil from his hands on a soiled rag, his eyes deliberately moving away from the robot's staring eyes.
Andrea bit her lip, thoughtfully, then stood up. She went over to the piles of broken and damaged artefacts that lined the walls, filled almost the whole room, and looked carefully. Her brother had left the things which could be easily repaired at the front, so if ever he had the free time after work…
He can never come home from work now… Andrea blinked away tears. "Nathan?" She called, in a voice that was a little unsteady, "Could you come here please?"
Nathan stood up and moved away, looking glad to do so. "Yes, ma'am?"
Andrea handed Nathan a cardboard box, and smiled at him. The box was full of watches, electric timers… clocks, mostly. Simple things with small fiddly parts that Andrea did not have the patience to repair. "Work your magic, Nathan."
Nathan smiled shyly, and bobbed his head. "Yes, ma'am." He hurried to the corner of the room, sat down, and tipped the contents of the box onto the floor. Barely pausing, he picked up one of the broken clocks and got to work.
Andrea marvelled at him, silently, for a moment. He seemed to know exactly what he was doing. Well, Nathan had told her that he could fix things - that was one of the reasons she had invited him home in the first place - and seeing how he'd fixed a vintage 2004 model laptop computer with little more than wire and a welder on his first day as her son, Andrea had the utmost confidence that Nathan could fix those clocks. All of them.
And if the museum idea didn't get off the ground, there would always be people willing to buy a collector's piece.
Suddenly, Andrea heard her computer trill and beep from the next room. Without even a second's thought, she dropped her tools and ran for it.
"I'm in!" She crowed, feeling the old familiar rush of a successful hack. Her fingers flew over the keyboard as she delved into the company's mainframe, seeking that one, elusive program…
There!
Andrea watched as a second screen opened. Live feed from the security cameras inside the adoption centre building. Del Spooner - the detective - was there. She swore. And then swore again. Then she swore in French because the French swear so well, and then she swore in Gaelic because nothing beats the Irish for insults.
"Something wrong, ma'am?" Nathan asked.
"Forget what you just heard me say," Andrea said, gritting her teeth and typing rapidly, "And everything will be just fine."
I wasn't going to do this yet, detective, Andrea thought, every keystroke bringing her one step closer to what she was looking for, but you made me do this!
A second screen opened. Andrea's fingers were a blur, but she kept one eye on the live feed. Hoping that Detective Del Spooner wouldn't notice what she was doing to the adoption centre records.
Del flashed his badge at the receptionist. "I'm detective Del Spooner. I'd like to ask a few questions about one of your adoptees, if you don't mind?"
"Certainly," the woman replied, a little flustered. The nametag on her lapel read 'Libby'.
"A boy was recently adopted from this centre by a Ms Andrea Martin," Del Spooner said, watching Libby's face carefully. "Do you think you could bring up the record?"
Libby smiled. "Oh yes, Andrea. Such a sweet girl. She comes in here a lot." The receptionist started typing, searching through files. "Lovely girl. Well, not a girl any more - a woman now, all on her own." Libby stopped for a second, and looked up at Del sadly. "Such a terrible thing what happened. No-one should have to go through something like that. But sadly, so many people do."
"Did Andrea come in here before her family was murdered?"
Libby shook her head. "Only afterwards. She seemed incredibly distraught, which is why we weren't going to let her adopt at the time. Plus, she had a minor criminal record, which meant she would have to be 'considered'. In layman's terms, that means a big fat 'no'."
"So why has Andrea Martin currently adopted if the answer was no?" Del frowned.
Libby smiled. "As I said, it was only a minor criminal record." She went back to typing.
Del looked around the lobby. A shiny new plate on the wall caught his eye. While the receptionist waded through the files, Spooner went over to read it.
"Andrea Jane Martin: for her love and devotion to helping other's lives."
Del frowned as he read the rest of the plate. So little Ms Martin made a hefty donation to the adoption centre. That might explain why the centre was so willing to bend the rules.
"May I ask what you need this information for, Detective?" The receptionist asked. She was frowning slightly as she peeled through the files.
"Just background information, ma'am." Del smiled.
I wanna know who this 'Nathan' is. I wanna know why Andrea adopted him. I wanna know why an NS-5 would be so interested in the pair of them. And I really really really wanna know why David and Samuel Martin were murdered.
"What did you say the boy's name was, sir?" The receptionist looked up.
"I didn't," Del said, frowning slightly, "But Andrea told me the boy's name was Nathan." Libby smiled placidly and returned to her work.
Something's wrong, Del thought to himself. There's no way that the simple pulling up of a name should take this long.
"Won't be a moment," Libby trilled, trying not to look anxious, "The information from the adoption papers is still being finalised." She shrugged and smiled. "Computers. You know how temperamental they can get."
Andrea looked up briefly, and saw Nathan standing in the doorway, watching her. He had one of the clocks in his hands.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
"What's your middle name again, Nathan?" Andrea asked. "Saul?" When Nathan pulled a face, Andrea remembered, "Silas! Silas, right? You liked Silas better?" At Nathan's nod, Andrea's fingers flew. Now he's 'Nathan Silas Martin'…
"Are you hacking?" Nathan looked slightly alarmed. "I thought you promised your brother…"
"Desperate times, honey," Andrea said, frowning with concentration. "Desperate times."