Nines slowly forced his eyes open. He felt groggy. At least, it's what he thought groggy would feel like. Everything was out of focus. At first, there was only darkness, a few shadowy shapes dancing in his blackened vision. His audio processor was malfunctioning. Sounds were muffled and distorted. He was lying on a flat surface. It was hard, but he couldn't feel the texture to figure out what it was. It was like his tactile sensors were blocked. He wasn't strapped down, but he couldn't move. He tried. It was like he had no muscles. Panic flooded his chest. It rushed through his core, making him open his communications array and dial Gavin on reflex.
Gavin! I need help! Please, don't leave me! Had he even picked up? He wasn't aware of any ringing. The world was eerily silent, inside and out. Panic and despair gripped his chest, leaving him crying into the abyss for help. His primary tracker had been blocked, and he didn't know if the backup was working or if the signal was getting through. He was lost. Trapped. Just as Gavin had feared. Where was Gavin? Would he make it in time? I need to assess the situation like an android. I need data. I need control. He reviewed his memory logs.
Gavin had headed into the Eden Club, leaving him trying not to feel exposed as he crouched in the alley with his back to the entrance. He'd run continuous scans of the area, somewhat comforted by the fact that Connor and Hank were parked one street over. It helped that Connor had called his internal line to keep him apprised of activity in the area. Apparently, the street was quiet over there, too. Perhaps they'd need to rethink things, to give up and try a new approach. The thought was somewhat comforting.
Gavin had barely been gone for five minutes, and he already felt vulnerable and alone. He pushed the feeling aside, keeping his focus on the ground. He recorded the cracks beneath his fingertips. Sharp fragments of stone that a human wouldn't even notice. It was damp out. The evening air was heavy with humidity. A human may feel a slight chill, which would contrast with the day's heat. The dumpsters nearby were full, leeching out a smell that humans would find unpleasant. He could identify various rotting food items. Banana peels, chicken flesh, and a myriad of other things.
More time passed. He moved to new patches of cement every few minutes. He even went right up to the dumpsters, though he refrained from putting anything else in his mouth. There was no need. He just had to appear as if he were working. After almost an hour, he heard footsteps. A few quiet words were exchanged, pointing him out as if they'd been told where to find him. Was someone watching? Did someone know about the mission? The figures approached. He told Connor, clicking an image of the masked trio just before the disc was thrown.
It was like the one used before, but stronger. The electric shock sent him to his knees with a whine he was glad Gavin wasn't around to hear. He couldn't help it. He was scared. His silvery eyes were wide and soft as he looked up, unable to identify the men, but knowing he could have taken them out in a fairer fight. They weren't even as toned as Gavin, and clearly unused to physical work. A static cry fled his lips as a metal rod was pushed against his chest, sending a surge through his power core. That agonising shock was the last memory he had before he'd opened his eyes on the table.
Now, back in the present, he did his best to focus his vision and get a clearer look at his surroundings, even though he couldn't move his head. The darkness gradually brightened, remaining dull and grey but betraying shapes. He was in a warehouse, given away by the high ceiling and faded skylights above. He could make out tubes running from his body to somewhere beyond his sight. Tubes filled with blue. My thirium. They were siphoning off his thirium. He ran a scan to check his internal levels. There was twenty percent left, which explained his lack of mobility. He barely had enough to keep his internal systems running.
"Are you crazy? You abducted a fucking detective?" Nines blinked in surprise. He'd thought his audio processors had shut down, but he could hear the man yelling and footsteps pounding across the ground. It was a little faint and distorted, but he could hear it. A cement floor, littered with something…Metal fragments? Plastic shards? Are they left over from the previous victims? Nines strained to listen. This human was clearly displeased. He was likely the brains of the group. It was always a bad idea to get on the police's bad side. Once things became personal, it meant trouble.
"Don't worry about it! By the time we're finished with it, they won't even recognise it!" The second voice sounded closer. It was a slightly younger man, with a very smug tone. Anticipation hung in the air as the young man leaned over him. His face was covered by a bandana as he reached out and stroked his cheek with a rough hand. It was calloused, perhaps from handling tools. Could he be the one responsible for hooking him up to be drained? Or was he one of the more physical members of the group?
"The thirium retains the model numbers, you idiot! How did you think they identified the others?" The older man was clearly unimpressed. Nines tried again to refocus. Was his communications array working? He tried to call again. His heart pinched as it bounced back. Please…I don't want to die here…The hand was back, stroking him almost affectionately. Nines' silvery eyes blinked as he tried to focus more on the covered face. Grey eyes. Younger than Gavin. He looked cruel. The other man was smaller. Timid. Clearly more of a behind-the-scenes type than he was active in the streets.
"Then let's make use of it…When they find this one, they'll send out the other RK…Once we get rid of that, they'll be stuck! They've already struggled to find us with this plastic's help. They'll be useless without it. Especially with the guys we still have on the inside covering for us." Nines' eyes sharpened at that as he recorded their conversation on his backup processors. He had to focus. Even if he didn't make it out of this, his backup memory core would be found intact. If he could record everything now, then Gavin and Connor could use that to find the inside men. Maybe they could stop this from happening to Connor.
"They've already arrested three of our members! They're getting closer!" The younger man drew back a little as he checked the tubing. Nines only had eighteen percent of his thirium left. His pump pounded as he started shutting down non-essential functions. He even tried to seal off a small amount of thirium to keep his internal organs working after the drain had completed.
"Then we target the whole team…It's not like we haven't killed humans before," the younger man added as they moved away. Gavin? No…No, you can't…Don't hurt him! Nines rebooted his trackers and internal communications array again. He tried to call repeatedly. Connor. Gavin. Hank. Elijah. He didn't care who! He just needed to tell someone! They needed to know! The two humans were still arguing as they moved away. The older man didn't think their leaders would agree to killing human officers, but the younger didn't seem to care all that much. Nines could feel his LED spinning red. Someone had to hear him! Someone had to answer!
Nines…Nines, can you hear me? Gavin's voice filled in his head. He whimpered out loud at the sound. Saline pricked his eyes and leaked down his cheeks as he struggled to form words in his mind. All he could do was cry out for Gavin as his levels dropped to ten percent. Errors began popping up. He wouldn't be able to keep his tracker and communications array running. I'm coming, Nines! Hold on, do you hear me? You phcking hang in there! The roar in the background told Nines he was on the road.
Thirium level depleting…Can't keep…tracker…communications…drain…Nines' vision blurred slightly. His thirium pump clenched as he cut the call and deactivated his tracker. Gavin knew where he was. He had to. There wasn't much more he could do. He cleared his vision, determined to record as much as possible. He took in a shaky synthetic breath as he heard footsteps. A lot of them. Voices. Five? Six?
"Transfer's complete. Unhook this fucker! I want the first swing." The large man was almost gleeful as he grinned at him. Nines' chest clenched as he took in the thick metal pipe in his hand. It had been torn off a larger item, perhaps the handle of an old machine that had once stood in the warehouse. Nines felt a rough pull on his arm. The tubing was carelessly ripped loose. The long needle tore from his forearm, leaving a blue trail behind.
"Roll it over there!" Nines felt the table tip. He couldn't do anything as his body fell to the dirty cement floor with a plastic clack. His synthetic skin layer had almost completely dissipated. He watched the world turn as he was moved. Rough kicks and shoves rolled him a few feet away to a large, empty area. Humans wouldn't be able to see it, but he could see the dried out puddle of thirium left behind. Terror rose in his chest, escaping his lips as a whimper. This was the place! He was on the very spot where all those other androids had been destroyed. No! Gavin!
"Alright, boys! Choose your weapons, and remember, this one's made of thick stuff, so go big!" The voices scoffed and laughed at the excited reminder as they rummaged somewhere nearby. They had some sort of heavy wooden box, likely filled with various tools. Nines shivered as he heard the whirr of a chainsaw come to life. Someone objected, saying they could cut him up later after they'd made a start with the smashing. Gavin…Please…
"He's still awake! I love it when they get to watch!" A boot pressed down on his chest. He blinked, lips quivering as the large man returned. His long hair was tied in a messy tail, and a tight T-shirt left his large arms on display. He raised the pole and swung it down. The impact bounced off Nines' diaphragm. He whimpered on reflex, and would have curled up if he'd been able. He couldn't feel pain from physical impacts like that, but it did knock and jolt his internal components. His systems blinked in objection. It had been close to his thirium pump. Hard enough to dislodge it in a lesser model.
"Ha! Poor baby! Look at it, so pathetic!" A thick wooden post was smashed down on his head, splitting his remaining synthetic skin but not damaging his skull plating. Yet. The humans were laughing. Nines felt cold. He wasn't supposed to feel it, but it was like ice trickling down his spine. A side effect of the shutdown? This was a side of humanity he'd never seen up close. He'd heard about it, seen the results of it, but to experience it himself was somehow surreal. The men in the lab had been clinical and cold. These men were far worse. They were burning with pleasure and glee as they struck him again and again.
"Four!" Something thin and hard smashed against his temple. A golf club. His LED circled red. A shoe prodded his head to the side so that they could all laugh about it. This was worse than the Cyberlife lab. At least at Cyberlife, they'd been fairly impersonal. They'd kept any hatred to a minimum, just methodically testing things out. His lips trembled as saline leaked from his eyes. Gavin-Gavin-Gavin-Gavin!
"Look! It's crying! Most advanced android, my ass!" The cruel mockery made the saline drip faster. Were they right? Would one of the other RK900s have been more effective? More efficient? Would they have seen a way out of this without help? A shard of metal stabbed down and ground into one of his shoulders. His casing managed to hold off the assault this time, but it annoyed the humans to no end. A foot stamped on his knee in frustration.
"Damn! This one isn't breaking up like the others at all!" A hammer knocked his collarbone and bounced off. His synthetic skin was wavering further, both from thirium loss and the abuse on certain joints. Another human slammed down a baseball bat right against his power core. A warning flashed up. A few more hits and it would knock it out of alignment. Gavin…
"Hey, more smashy-smashy time for us!" A foot ground between his thighs almost smugly as the young man grinned. They seemed to forget that he didn't feel pain the way they did. The man was disappointed by his lack of reaction and kicked him harder in retaliation. Gavin…Hurry…I'm scared…He didn't even know how long it had been going on for, or how long it continued. All he could do was cry internally for Gavin and hope he arrived in time. I don't want to die here!
"Back the phck off!" The gruff bellow set Nines' thirium pump racing as he searched around with helpless eyes. "Detroit Police! Get back! Get the phck back!" A couple of shots rang out as pounding feet raced across the cement towards him. A second voice chimed in. Connor was there, too. More feet. There was a scuffle close by, shouting that Nines couldn't decipher as he tried and failed to turn his head.
"Hey! Hey! Don't you fucking move!" Hank's gruff voice yelled as more voices argued. Shots rang out and a warm weight landed against his chest. Eye he knew were green looked down at him in terror. Gentle hands grabbed his pale cheeks and stared at his face searchingly. Gavin! Nines blinked as more saline trickled down his cheeks.
"Nines! You alright? Can you hear me?" His lips twitched as he tried and failed to speak. He took in a sharp breath, silvery eyes wide in warning. Gavin turned to see the large man with the wooden post ready to swing down. Gavin! Get away! Nines let out a whimper of objection as Gavin held one arm over the back of his own head and threw his body down to protect his power core. GAVIN!
The post swung. An almost sickening crunch sounded as Gavin grunted. His body fell limp. Nines couldn't see the damage. He couldn't scan him from this position, not with the power levels he had available. More saline rolled down his cheeks as the man raised the beam and took a second swing to the same spot. A gun fired. The man didn't get a third attempt. Connor still had his gun raised as he approached, lowering it only as he assessed the man was no longer a threat.
"Hank! I'm calling an ambulance now!" Connor called as he crouched beside them. One gentle hand rested on Nines' smooth head as concerned hazel eyes looked down at Gavin's limp body. His LED was spinning red. He didn't give Nines any assurances as he raised his eyes to examine him. His lips were a thin line as he looked at the figures moving around them. "Rest for now and save your energy reserves. I've already informed Mr Kamski." His voice was quivering, clearly shaken by what he'd seen.
Nines' breaths became more urgent. Small whining sounds escaped as saline blurred his vision. Connor tried to hush him as he reached down to his chest port. Nines could feel him opening it up. He would have shaken his head if he could move. All he could do was whimper as he felt gentle fingers reaching inside. No! Stop! Don't do it! Gavin! What about Gavin? Connor! Connor-don't! Silvery eyes implored him, begging him not to do it. A small apology escaped Connor's lips before his vision went black and he was forced into stasis.