I Didn't Want This Either | Gavin Reed x Reader

A Lead

"So, what? They turned him into a deviant?" Gavin was speaking to you, and he looked to be on edge. His quick explanation seemed to make the most sense to you- Neil was a normal, obedient android. Some deviants came and woke him up for one reason or another, and the sudden onslaught of new emotions made him violent and unstable. 

"What model were the androids? What did they look like? Do you know anything else about them?" 

"They were kids- older kids, not the YK model. I don't know what model they were, but the one who spoke to me... she had..." Neil's voice was slowing, but he took a shaky, robotic breath and continued on, "She had blonde hair- in t-t-t-two pigtails on... on the side- of her head." You had pulled a pen from your pocket, scribbling these details furiously onto the skin of your palm, not having a notepad to write on. "The back of her head was g-g-g-gone, and f-f-flowers and p-plants grew out of it. She had blue- blue- blue... e-e-eyes." by the end of his sentence, Neil's voice was nothing more than a breath of air. 

"Do you know where they're hiding? Anything like that?" you pressed on, knowing that your time was running short.

"They... t-t-they tried to hide it, b-but when I was interfaced w-with by one of them I saw something. Art... gra-graffiti with an odd... s-s-symbol." Neil lurched forwards as his neck went slack, the thirium flow ebbing. "H-Hurry..." he breathed, and extending a trembling arm. The skin on it was coming in patches, showing the skeleton underneath as he fought to keep blue blood pumping through it. It extended in no particular direction, but once the skin began to peel away you knew it was meant for Nines to connect with. Nervously, after what had scared him earlier, he did just that, his own whitened hand resting on Neil's arm. His LED went yellow as he took in the information Neil was offering up. When the interface ended, Neil's LED was red and his blind eyes shifted with a snap to connect with Nines'. 

"You... You are..." he had something to say- something you knew was important. Nines knew it was important too, and so did Gavin. You were all waiting for his sentence to finish, but then the last of Neil's strength died and his gaze fell. "That..." Neil hissed, his eyelids drooping, "That's all... I... know..." the heavy whirring of his biocomponents slowed, slower, and then went completely silent, his blank eyes frozen on the floor. His entire body relaxed, his head dropping forwards. The exposed artificial vein in his stomach went empty as the last of his thirium pulsed through it. 

"Shit..." Gavin cursed, running a quick hand through his hair. He averted his gaze away from Neil's battered body, taking a step away. 

"Thank you, Neil." you said to the deactivated android, hoping, somehow, that he heard you. As a show of respect, you reached forward a hand, sliding his lids shut over his blind eyes. "Nines, what did he show you? Before he shut down?" you turn to your android partner, staring up at him. His ice blue eyes were trained on Neil, but they tore away to face you, and then shifted to Gavin before he spoke.

"A lead." he said, reaching his hands up to straighten his tie, "The graffiti he was speaking about shows hidden symbols that are decipherable by androids. If I am correct, then my predecessor, Connor, has some experience. I would like to speak with him if he and Lieutenant Anderson are still here reviewing evidence." Gavin let out a sigh, and grimaced at the thought of having to speak with Hank and Connor. 

"Fuckin' fine, but make it quick. I'm ready to go home." The three of you made your way back towards the exit, you stopping to shut down the terminal before you left. The evidence disappeared back behind a wall, Neil's disabled corpse hanging limply as it did so. Back upstairs, the bullpen was nearly empty. It was just about 8:00 pm, and the shift from day shift officers to night shift officers was just beginning. Passing Captain Fowler's office, you noticed that not even he was still here. Other than you, Gavin and Nines, the only other two people in, it seemed, the entirety of the building, was Hank and Connor. They were both absorbed in their terminals, tapping away at their holographic keyboards.