Work Text:
Nines carried a steaming hot cup of coffee towards the bullpen, black liquid swaying from side to side with each of the android’s steps. He reached past his partner’s shoulder to place it on the man’s desk, startling Gavin in the process. The jolt going through him would have knocked the cup in Nines’ hand to the side – probably spilling its content – but the RK was quick to evade it.
“Jeez, tin can, stop sneaking up on me,” the Detective said with a nervous laugh, well knowing that he would have spilled the beverage if it hadn’t been for his partner’s fast reflexes.
“I’m surprised you didn’t hear me approach. I did not try to conceal my steps. If I had though, you wouldn’t have stood a chance.”
“Oh yeah? I wouldn’t be so sure about that one, Nines.”
That name and the smirk on Gavin’s face caused something inside the android’s stomach to flutter.
He knew that the origin of the name ‘Nines’ had been derogatory, but by now it had become so much more. A nickname, a personal thing, a word that sounded just right when Gavin used it. Changing from the harsh tone of an insult to the melodic and gentle sound of a name spoken by a friend.
Nines had come to call himself by that name internally, despite his program prohibiting him from using the name officially. In the records, he was still just RK900 and that was how everyone else called him. Except for one stubborn human. A nuisance in his life he had grown fond of.
The android tapped the Detective’s shoulder – the one he was not currently leaning over – and the overtired human turned his head towards the sensation. Once he did, Nines flicked the tip of his nose.
“Ouch!” Gavin quickly rubbed his nose to get rid of the feeling.
Nines came close to the man’s ear, voice rumbling in an amused tone: “I think I’m sure.”
Watching a deep blush creep over his partner’s cheeks was a sight worth every second and the android chuckled as he strolled towards his own desk ahead of Gavin’s.
“Very funny,” the Detective grumbled, still rubbing his nose and glaring at his partner over the edge of the monitor.
“Oh stop flirting you two!”
A third voice had emerged behind Nines, one he knew to belong to Officer Chen. The two of them and her were the only ones left at the precinct this late at night, working on a particularly hard case. Officer Chen – or Tina how she nagged him to call her – had offered to help with the paperwork.
Gavin’s shade of red darkened even further and he grabbed a wadded up paper from his desk and threw it into her direction. He missed horribly and Tina poked out her tongue at him. The rings under her eyes were almost as dark as Gavin’s.
Nines looked back and forth between them, analyzing software scanning the signs of fatigue and exhaustion those two displayed. Bad precision, easy to distract, heavy eyelids – just to name a few.
“I think the two of you should call it a day. It’s late already and you will be here again early tomorrow as I know you.”
“Nah Nines, I’m fine.”
The android raised an eyebrow. “Do I have to make another point?”
“Gavin, I think he has a point. Based on your aim, your Detective skills aren’t that good either anymore. We should continue tomorrow.”
The man squinted his eyes. “Oh, now you’re ganging up against me?”
Nines tilted his head with an amused look on his face. Tina just rolled her eyes.
“Fiiine! I see I have to resign myself to the majority’s will,” the man said while lifting his hands in defeat.
“Thank you.”
Gavin’s eyes met Nines’ for a second, a warm gaze that showed the human’s gratitude way more than his words. The android knew that his partner appreciated him watching out for the Detective by now, despite not being able to show it openly yet. It were the little signs. Like gazes like these.
“Alright.” Officer Chen stretched her arms. “Then let’s get going.”
The Detective downed his newly arrived coffee in one go before grimacing as a shiver ran over his body. He claimed to prefer his coffee black, but Nines knew that he was secretly a sweet-tooth and the amount of bitterness was probably unusual to his tongue. The android couldn’t prevent the curling of his lips.
“That’ll get me home awake.”
A safety notification popped into Nines’ HUD, warning about the hazards of driving overtired. He swiped it away, despite his stress levels rising a few percent.
“I wish you a good night, Detective. Get home safely,” he restricted himself to say.
Gavin’s eyes landed on him a second time.
“Stop worrying, tin can. I’ll send you a text when I’m home.”
The RK900 opened his mouth to argue against feeling nervous, but his partner cut him off before he could say something.
“I can see your LED, you know?”
Nines mouth closed back shut and now he could feel the thirium rise up his ears.
Gavin chuckled at the sight before his voice grew gentle again. “Good night to you too, Nines.”
Raising from his seat, the android accompanied the two humans towards the exit of the precinct.
“Sleep well, Officer Chen,” he said with a nod towards his partner’s best friend.
“Tina.” Her eyes grew tight yet glistened with amusement. “You too.”
She pulled her friend into a quick hug, then turned and waved them goodbye over her shoulder as she walked to her car.
Once she rolled off the parking lot, Gavin and Nines were suddenly alone. Silence stretched between them for a moment before the Detective awkwardly cleared his throat.
“Alright, see you tomorrow, tin can.”
Nines watched as he threw his partner an awkward smile, putting on the helmet and getting on his motorcycle, then leaving the parking lot. The RK’s eyes followed the red taillight until it disappeared in the distance.
Heading back inside, the bullpen felt strangely empty. The RK knew that it would be bustling with life in just a few hours again though. Especially with everything happening in the city at the moment.
The deviants were rising up and with their hideout overrun, things were only heating up now. The DPD’s staff worked to exhaustion to find another lead on the android called Markus which had managed to escape the raid.
These few hours between 3 and 6 a.m. were the only ones with no humans in sight - all the android Officer units charging along the walls and one lonely RK900 returning to his desk to go through the evidence one more time.
That was when they came.
It wasn’t violent, how could it when all androids present were machines. And yet, Nines could feel a hand of ice clutching his racing thirium pump when he saw them enter the precinct.
Around 30 men in uniform calmly entered the bullpen, weapons low but the RK knew they were ready to raise them should any of them dare so much as flinch. FBI and military. Eight of them inconspicuously positioned themselves behind Nines while another came up towards him.
“RK900, stand up.”
He did. His program forced him to.
“We’re here on the orders of the president. All androids are to be collected for disassembly in recall centers.”
Nines saw his stress level rise to 80%, the cold grip squeezing his heart.
“Sir, I’m a detective unit assisting the DPD in the pursuit of deviants, I’ve been deployed by Cyberlife personally to aid in this matter.”
“Shut it,” the operator said with a glare. His colleagues audibly shuffled their weapons behind the android. “Cyberlife is complying with the president’s orders. All androids are to be retrieved and destroyed, especially the ones with military capabilities. Now follow me.”
There was nothing Nines could have done. Cyberlife appeared to have agreed to his destruction and there was no one here from the precinct that could have pled his case. Red walls appeared at the edge of his vision, restricting him to the path behind the operator that led him towards a black van.
“Get in.”
Nines did. He had to squeeze in with all the other Officer androids, thirium pump beating up his throat when the door slammed shut, leaving them in nothing but darkness.
The truck rumbled along the streets of Detroit, the container on its back filled with darkness. Nines could make out the outlines of the other androids illuminated only by their distraught LEDs but that was about it. More than he saw the others, he heard them. Some whimpering quietly to themselves, others talking in hushed tones.
Here, amongst themselves, the deviants didn’t have to hide anymore. They could speak openly as they had already been captured. The Rk900 couldn’t believe that just a few hours ago he had been tasked with their investigation and arrest.
Now, the only objective in his HUD said to quietly await the arrival of the transport to be disassembled.
“I’ve heard the military erected camps all around the city,” one of the deviants whispered.
Another one grabbed her hand, soothingly caressing the back of it in circles. “Me too. But don’t worry darling, rA9 will come and save us.”
Even in a situation like this, the deviants held onto their belief in some android savior. If only Nines could have believed in it too.
But his preconstruction software calculated the harsh truth without mercy or doubt about what they were facing. The deviants would call it death. He didn’t know how to call it, but the thought of ceasing to exist caused those fingers of ice to envelop his heart again.
The non-deviants stood out crass against the androids that had broken through their programming. Unmoving pillars in the dark, silent as ghosts, faces blank and unrevealing. And Nines was one of them. He wondered if some of them felt as torn inside as he did.
The truck came to a shaky halt and mere seconds later the doors were ripped open by soldiers. The brightness of the floodlights assaulted their eyes and even he himself was blinded for a moment before his vision could adjust. Wouldn’t it have been for his enhanced components, he would have flinched from the light just as much as the deviant beside him.
Dancing in its shine were a myriad of snowflakes, their cruel beauty stark against the monster of metal and wire the humans had erected here. The so called ‘recall center’ stared them down out of red glowing eyes, the front gate gaping like the maw of a beast about to devour its prey.
“Out with you, get a move on! Hands behind your head!” One of the soldiers that had opened the doors gestured with his rifle.
This isn’t fair, a voice echoed inside Nines’ head, one that didn’t come from his program. But the system made his objective painfully clear: Exit the truck, hands behind your head.
Without his doing, his arms raised up, fingers clutching at dark strands of hair in an attempt to ground himself with the sensation.
Row after row of androids exited the vehicle before lining up behind each other. Whoever didn’t move fast enough felt the butt of a rifle.
“Forward!” one of the voices barked and Nines legs moved without command.
Following the other androids, he was swallowed by the monster. The snow crunched beneath his shoes.
‘Recycling zone’ was written above the containers inside the small tentlike structure, filled with a sheer endless amount of discarded clothes. Jackets, jeans, shoes, even hats and scarves. Somehow, the sight caused the corners of his mouth to twitch. Deviants and their need to imitate humans, despite not being impacted by the low temperatures.
The hint of a smile faded though when his eyes landed on a pair of gloves so small they could have only been worn by a child. The image sent spikes of ice into his innards. Maybe androids could experience the cold after all.
“Deactivate your skin.” When Nines didn’t react at first – system still occupied with processing what he was seeing and trying to make sense of it – the man added: “Hurry up!”
Startling out of the weird trance-like state, the RK had to actively cancel all ongoing scans. His program was made to deduct and analyse, springing into action almost on instinct.
He’d never before deactivated his skin, not even during the testing phase at Cyberlife. Of course he had retracted his skin along his hands and arms for transmissions in the past, but that was about it. Not even Gavin had seen him like this.
Thumping inside of his auditory sensors, the rhythm of his thirium pump drowned out the noise surrounding him. Slowly, with hesitant fingers, Nines raised his hand to press against his LED. Faster than he had anticipated, his skin started to withdraw around it. First across his face and lips, then down his neck and chest, a strange wave of white rolling along his body.
Once his hair and skin had disappeared – hands shimmering a metallic white – the operator appeared satisfied. Nines couldn’t help stare at his own fingers. He had seen this before and yet it felt different this time. He felt exposed.
“Strip off. Put your clothes in the dumpster.”
His innards recoiled at the command, but his system took control despite the sensation of bile rising up his throat – well knowing that he didn’t possess anything like it. But it felt just like Gavin had described the feeling.
Taking off his white Cyberlife jacket felt unbelievably wrong. This was his signature, the cause for so many jokes and teases by his partner, the sign that he belonged to Cyberlife and the DPD. Seeing his own shaky hands toss it into a dumpster made several error and instability messages pop into his HUD. He started to malfunction from stress, sitting at 75%.
It didn’t take long to take everything off and yet time stretched impossibly long for Nines, every layer a painful detail of what he had believed to be part of him. The moment he stood there, naked, almost glowing white in the flood light, his stress level crawled up to 80%. His hands were trembling so bad, he had to curl them into fist.
“Move it.” The soldier pushed him out the tent and into the open space behind it with the barrel of his gun.
The RK felt as exposed as never before. Not even being held at gunpoint by a criminal had managed to elicit this kind of feeling.
Gritting his teeth, he continued walking to the row of waiting androids, lined up in front of the real entrance of the center. The snow felt strange beneath his bare feet.
More soldiers stood on each side of the rows, ready to order one android after the other forward and into the pen-like area. The steel fence surrounding the perimeter glowed red from the lights embedded, coloring the snow an awful crimson shade.
It wasn’t long before Nines was pushed through the gate and into a crowd of androids, both deviant and not. At least there weren’t any operators around anymore, but seeing the devastation on some of their faces caused his own thirium pump to speed up.
Some had lined up neatly while others cowered on the ground with the head hidden between the knees.
For the first time, Nines was truly on his own since the military had grabbed him at the DPD. There was no one around he knew. No one that ordered him to do something. No one that would interact with him. Here, everyone was occupied with their own misery.
The objective in his HUD simply changed to ‘Wait until your turn’ and that was it. A wave of loneliness washed over Nines, despite standing in a crowd of other androids. He felt truly alone.
Before, there had always been someone. A Cyberlife employee, a police Officer, a certain bad-tempered Detective. He had been a participant or even the center of conversation, regarded with curiosity, fear, admiration. RK900, the latest, most advanced android Cyberlife ever created. Faster, stronger, more resilient.
Now, he was just another husk in a sea of white. Everything he had believed himself to be was rendered worthless. Just one of many scared robots.
The sudden sound of a gunshot ripped through the air, causing most of the other androids to flinch. Nines spun around, eyes scanning for the source of danger, but the only thing he saw was the body of a shot deviant sinking to the ground. Apparently, he had tried to flee.
Stress level: 85%
The RK had to force himself out of staring at the spot where blue blood seeped into the crystal white snow, spreading around the deviant’s head like a halo. He needed to calm his stress level down before it could climb too high and make him unable to function.
“No, no. I’m still waiting for her, I want to wait for Kara!”
Nines heard a thump behind himself. Whoever had been talking was pushed through the gate and onto the ground.
“No, Kara!” The voice was young, high-pitched with fear.
The soldier didn’t react to the pleas from this side of the fence and Nines heard crying. It took the person a few moments to compose themselves and get back on their feet. The snow crunched with every cautious step they took further inside the holding area.
“Excuse me, Sir.”
The frame of a small skinless girl came into Nines’ field of vision, eyes big and swimming with tears as she looked up to him. One of her hands had reached out to carefully touch his hand.
The sudden touch caused the RK900’s fingers to twitch, startling the child android.
“Uhm, I’ve been separated from my … from my mom. Could you help me look out for her? She has to be back soon, but she doesn’t know which,” the wide-eyed girl looked around for a second, “cell I’m in. You’re very tall, so maybe you could look over the fence for me?”
Nines was so taken aback by being talked to that he just stared back at the kid for a while with eyes just as big. The girl started to get nervous, hands twitching und face growing uncertain, but then Nines’ mind finally caught up.
“Uh, yes, yes I can help you.”
Seeing the girl’s face light up, eased some of the pressure against Nines’ chest. Stress level: 75%.
“I don’t know what your mom looks like though. Should I …,” he hesitated, well remembering how human children had reacted to him last time, “pick you up so you can look through the bars?”
Smiling, the girl nodded. “Yes, thank you.”
Relief spread at those words and Nines bent down to pick the small child up, sitting her onto his bent forearm. One of her tiny arms wrapped around his neck to hold on while still being able to turn and look around.
The contact of metal and plastic felt strange yet calming, the light weight in his arms a welcome distraction.
“My name is Alice by the way. What is your name?”
The android felt his simulated breath hitch in his throat. He should say that he didn’t have a name and that it was simply RK900. Yet when he opened his mouth, that's not what came out.
"Nines. My name is Nines."
“Nice to meet you, Nines. Thank you for helping me.” She paused for a second, looking around, then pointed at the fence separating their own holding area from the one to right. “Let’s go over there. I hope she will be somewhere on the other side.”
Nines moved closer to the bars and held Alice a bit higher so she could peer through the gaps.
“How did you two get separated?”
He regretted his question before it had fully left his lips. Alice visibly deflated, shuddering slightly and a kind of veil cast over her eyes.
“She … Kara, she … had to take away the body …”
“It’s okay, you don’t have to say more,” Nines tried to calm her, gently pulling the kid closer. “We’ll find her, don’t worry. Kara you said? What model is she?”
The trembling of Alice’s lips stopped as she started to think.
“I’m not sure. But I believe she’s an AX400? I think I overheard someone say that about Kara.”
“Let’s see if I find her then.”
The RK’s eyes glowed in the dark as he started to scan the crowd of androids on the other side of the fence. Alice watched, fascinated by the sight.
Nines’ software highlighted every figure that could potentially match an AX400. Most of them were highly unlikely to be the one Alice was looking for, either hunched over in a corner or standing in a group of other androids.
Then, suddenly, the system marked a woman fitting the model that frantically walked back and forth. She stopped whoever was closest to her by the arm, seemingly asking something with an urgency on her face, that Nines was almost sure that this was said Kara.
Pointing in the female android’s direction, he glanced at the little girl.
“Could that be her?”
As soon as Alice laid eyes on the woman, Nines knew. The girl’s body tensed upright as if struck by lightning, electric energy radiating from her frame.
“Kara!!”
The moment her voice rung out, Kara swung around, searching for the source of the voice. Once she saw the child, she ran over, hands reaching through the bars.
“Alice! Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m okay.”
There was a moment of silence as the mother noticed the huge android holding her daughter.
“Kara, this is Nines. He helped me look for you.”
The wary flicker in her eyes disappeared at Alice’s words and she stood upright to look at the RK900 directly.
“Thank you for taking care of Alice, Nines. It means everything to me.”
The ring of his name in her voice sounded unfamiliar, but pleasant. Still, a small part of Nines’ mind immediately craved the sound of a coarse voice more than anything.
“You’re welcome,” he mumbled.
Crunching snow beneath heavy boots announced one of the operators coming closer from behind. Nines felt his neck tingle before whipping around.
“Come on, move along.”
Gesturing towards the next gate, the human waved his gun.
“No, wait a moment …,” the panic in Kara’s tone rang out through the silence of the holding area. The soldier seemed to notice it too. Yet it only spurred him on.
“You too.” He pointed at Alice.
The majority of androids had already moved to the next area, but a few were still left and not all of them could continue on, but the operator had made his choice. Nines felt the knot inside his stomach contract.
“No, Alice, no, wait!”
Moving closer as if to grab the little girl, the operator approached.
Alice’s hand clutching Nines’ shoulder brought him back to life. He straightened his posture, planting himself in front of the man threateningly. There was nothing he could do without endangering the little girl, but luckily the intimidation seemed to work.
“I will bring her over there,” his dark voice rumbled from his chest, causing the human to stop in his tracks.
He eyed the tall android with a flicker of fear in his eyes. “Then get a move on.”
Nines pulled Alice close as he walked away from the man, yet also the fence. Throwing a glance over his shoulder, he saw Kara move towards her own gate without letting them out of her sight.
The gates lead to the large area right in front of the disassembly machines. Their churning and growling caused a static in Nines’ ears that had him almost stumbling. The others had been forced to form lines and the two of them had to step to the back of it, waiting until their turn.
Stress level: 80%
“Nines?”
“Huh?”
The small voice had startled Nines, but it helped to leave the trance of fear.
“Could you set me down?”
“Oh, yeah, of course.”
Leaning down, the RK900 let Alice out of his arms. A warm hand grabbed his own.
“Thank you for coming with me. For saving me.”
Nines felt a cold sensation oozing through his veins, somberness spreading like venom. If only I could have truly saved you, little one.
“But now I have to get back to Kara. She needs me.”
The RK felt his lips form a smile, despite it not reaching his eyes. “Yes, she does.”
Kara stood on the opposite side of the strange corridor formed by the absence of bodies that was present between their respective rows. Unfortunately, a guard stood right next to them. He would act out immediately should Alice try to cross over, that much Nines had learned by now. Drones circled over his head like angry hornets.
“Let us help,” a sudden voice said inside Nines’ head.
The RK flinched, causing Alice’s hand to squeeze his own.
“It’s okay, that’s Jerry! He’s a friend.”
Never before had Nines been able to hear other android’s voices inside his head before without directly interfacing. Direct communication was a sign of corruption, a sign of a virus that made the deviants let their guards down and reach out directly, without any precautions. Surely that was impossible for an RK900.
And yet, he began to hear their voices. The fear, the anger, the desperation, all culminating in a cacophony of words in the background.
Inside Nines’ system, multiple pop-ups warned him about data corruption and danger of attacks on his conscience. A short surge of fear washed over him, but then he remembered where he was. It didn’t matter if he got infected by some virus anymore. He would be disassembled no matter what, so why should he care.
“Jerry? You would do that?” Kara’s tone was recognizable through the distortion, clear as a bell.
“Yes. Let us distract them. We are certain, they won’t notice us changing place with the little girl.”
Nines searching eyes finally caught on an android in front of Kara. He threw her a kind smile and pressed her hands, then he stepped out of his line.
The soldiers reacted in an instant.
“Hey! Get back in your line!”
Yet the so-called Jerry didn’t think of doing that. He moved towards the other side, calmly and still determined. The operators appeared unable to cope with behavior like that, not knowing what to do.
All eyes were on Jerry. Alice pressed Nines’ hand one last time, then she ran to the other side of the corridor. Kara embraced her on the other side and Nines could see them talking, but he couldn’t understand their words this far away.
The AX400 mouthed a “thank you” in his direction before fully turning to the child in her arms again.
Seeing them reunited felt … good. This was right. „It’s what police has to do, tin can,” the familiar voice resounded in his head.
Still, he suddenly felt the empty space next to him like a radiating iciness.
“I said, GET BACK IN LINE,” one of the operators yelled as he struck Jerry over the head, pushing him back into the row of androids. Jerry now stood a few androids next to Nines, holding his face with one of his palms.
Blue liquid seeped through the fingers of his hand, but the look on his face was triumphant.
As the soldier moved back to his post, the frightened tension in the air slowly dissipated. Eerie silence returned to the holding area, only interrupted by the crunching sound of metal ahead of them.
Nines felt someone reaching out to him in mind, a request for conversation. As he looked around, he noticed Jerry glancing at him.
“Thank you for guarding the little one. You’re a stranger, but you helped anyway. That was really kind of you.”
“You’re … welcome,” the RK replied, unsure what to make of all this gratitude. It was the first time people were grateful for an action he chose independently from his system.
“We’re Jerry by the way. What’s your name?”
That got Nines to look over, the plastic white face of the man directed towards him with a friendly, yet sad smile.
“We?”
“Oh, yeah, we are not as many as we used to be, but still quite some. We helped out Kara a while back and the little one had so much fun on the carrousel. It’s our highest priority to see children happy and reunite them with their family if lost.”
Jerry spoke as if it was common knowledge. The RK900 was left more confused than before, but a quick scan revealed Jerry as an EM400, a hive-mind like set of androids manufactured for amusement parks and widespread trade fairs.
“I’m Nines.” It was Detective Reed's voice he was hearing in his head as he said his name aloud. Gavin. My partner, a part of his consciousness corrected him. “Are your other selves here as well?”
“Most of them, yes. We’ve lost connection with some back at the park, but the majority is in here. Like this, we’re never truly alone.”
Jerry’s words elicited a pang of loneliness inside Nines’ chest. He was all on his own, a machine in an ocean of deviants. Not even the police androids from the station were here anymore, they had been transported somewhere else.
“You look alone though,” he heard Jerry’s careful voice. “What happened? How did you end up here on your own?”
"I was ordered to retreat from my position and surrender immediately, so I did." The RK shrugged. "Didn't have much of a choice, did I?"
Raising one of his now almost invisible brows, the other android tilted his head.
"You're not a deviant?" It was more of a statement than a question. The disbelief and horror grew on Jerry’s otherwise so gentle face as he realized. "You had to turn yourself in."
"Yes. Yes, they told all androids at the precinct to turn themselves in."
Somewhere behind him he could hear crying while the sound of the excavator moving around torn plastic and metal came from the front. Red light reflected off the shining white panels of the androids lined up. They were all waiting for the inevitable. Being disassembled and crushed.
"You were an Officer model?"
"No, Detective."
"Detective?! Really, that's impressive! Haven't heard of those." Jerry’s voice sounded giddy with excitement.
"No wonder, there are only two models so far. My predecessor, that rushed off to some mission, and me. I was still at the precinct when they came. There was no one that could have held them back so they just - collected me."
Silence hung between them for a moment, only interrupted by the ugly sound of smashed components somewhere ahead of them. The noise caused more stress warnings to appear in front of Nines' visual, but he pushed them aside.
"You sound like you wished there would have been someone. Did you ... did you have a connection with anyone?"
At those words, the images of grey-green eyes, messy brown hair and a stubbly beard over tanned skin immediately appeared in his HUD.
'Oh come on tin can, don't be such a killjoy!' The voice echoed through his mind together with the memory of that signature half smile. He forced them away all together.
"Mh, I don't know," was everything Nines managed to say as his chest ached with a melancholy he had never imagined possible for an android.
"So there is someone. You can trust us, Nines. It's not like we could spill the beans anyway." Another sad smile, another shrug. The RK900 felt a strange prickle at the corner of his eyes. "Tell me about that person. They sound special to you."
This was meaningless. There was no point in telling this android about his weird software instabilities. But somehow talking to this Jerry held his stress levels at bay while they had to step forward in line and towards that giant box swallowing white body after white body.
"Well, he is my partner. Or was."
Nines couldn't hold back a sad chuckle at the thought of Gavin coming back to the precinct, only to find an empty desk ahead of him. What was he doing right now? Probably being at home to watch some movie and refusing to sleep.
"Gavin. He can be a giant asshole and he has a habit of screaming at people. Very stubborn and thickheaded. Obnoxious some would say." Nines felt the Jerry's skeptical eyes on him as he smiled. "But he is also courageous. Kind. Smart. He helps people. And he has a rough charm and a big heart, even though he would kill me if he would hear me say that right now."
Nines chuckled. The stress level went down a few percentages. "I - I think he is a great person. We hated each other in the beginning, but somehow I started to like how we … clicked. Working with him, it’s … He's the best Detective at the precinct."
Jerry was quiet for a second. "He really means a lot to you, doesn't he? You sound like you have strong feelings for that Gavin."
"I can't have emotions," Nines interrupted him, but the other android only smiled knowingly.
"It's okay, Nines. We all had them even before deviating. Breaking that red wall is just the last step. Everything that happens before it, that's what counts." Jerry looked back to the front. There were only 5 rows left in front of them now. "Don't beat yourself up. It's okay to have them. And I'm glad for you that your feelings were affection and love, not pain and fear."
Nines swallowed every complaint at that.
"Do you think your partner returned those feelings?"
The RK's eyes dropped to the snow in front of his naked white feet at that question.
"I... don't know. Maybe. I sense him looking at me whenever he thinks I won’t notice. And there was that moment between us after solving a case really late at night.”
Nines had liked to replay the scene in his head a lot while being in stasis at the DPD. They had just been a few inches away from each other and when the moment dragged on, he had been sure Gavin would kiss him. The Detective didn't, but it still was a memory that made his sensors prickle. Even his eyes welled with some strange liquid now which he didn’t seem able to control.
He hadn’t even gotten a chance to say goodbye, couldn’t speak to Gavin one last time before the FBI had come and dragged him away.
Another step forward, another place further in line. Only one android was left in front of him and Nines' stress levels rose at the sound of crunching metal inside the machine. It opened again so the next wave of androids could step in.
Some looked stoic, others had pure fear written onto their features. When one panicked and tried to run, one of the soldiers shot it without a second thought. A soldier, like Nines had been one. As he would have done to deviants that now were the only thing keeping him sane.
When Jerry and him stepped to the front row, Nines dug his nails into the palms of his hands. Now he knew how all those deviants had felt. He wasn't one and yet he had to admit that what he had thought to be some instabilities in his software, were actually emotions. If he would have had to still uphold an image, he would have refused to believe it. Like this however, he knew it to be true.
"We are... okay with this." Jerry's voice made him look up at the slightly smiling android. "We are all spread out around here. Connected in mind. They are my family."
Turing his head, the other android gave him a reassuring smile. It was honest and without fear.
"Hope to see you on the other side, Nines."
The RK swallowed hard and nodded. Now there were no heels in front of him anymore, only snow and the footprints he was about to fill as soon as the machine was finished disassembling.
Nines closed his eyes to try to concentrate on the voice still playing in his head. Gavin's words echoed back and forth, from the very first angry curses to the latest gentle words, wishing him a good night. The voices of the different memory files merged together into one large mess.
"See you tomorrow, tin can." "Thanks for the coffee, Nines." "Nines!! Nines!!!!"
Now he was even hallucinating Gavin's voice. "Nines, where are you??!!"
It sounded so realistic, no trace of the synthetic undertone normally accompanying simulated voices. His software really was messed up, but he couldn't seem to care. Nines just tried to find comfort in the familiar sound.
"Nines, phck, where are you god dammit!!!! Nines!!"
Wait. He couldn’t recall any recording like this.
"Sir, you have to leave immediately, you have no permission to be here." And that other voice definitely wasn't part of his memories.
A small spark of hope enlightened in the android as he opened his eyes and turned his head. Luckily, he was taller than most models so he could overlook most of the others’ heads.
There he was. Gavin. His voice cracked with panic as he called for his partner again, eyes hurriedly scanning through the crowd of white chassis, two soldiers on his heels as he moved through the bodies.
"NINES!! Answer me, please!!!" His voice broke on Nines’ name while those grey-green eyes darted from face to face. Desperation and panic were visible on the Detective's features. "Nines, please! I can't be too late, I just can't."
Nines stood like a statue, watching the frantic Detective’s calls grow quieter as desperation overtook him. Tear stains glistened in red light on his cheeks.
The sight finally managed to snap Nines out of his trance. "GAVIN!!"
He couldn't believe it. His partner had really come for him, was searching for him in this living hell. How he got through the line of military and into the recall camp, he didn't even want to imagine. But he was here. Gavin was here for Nines.
"Shut up and move on! Your turn, scrap metal!" The soldier next to the giant machine glared at him furiously and waved with his gun.
No, not now, not when Gavin had just found him! He needed more time, he couldn't step into that machine! But the red signals in front of his HUD made his objective clear: Get into the machine.
"Nines?!"
The RK900 tried to move towards that voice coming closer and answer it, but he found his voice chords locked. When he tried to set a foot in Gavin's direction a red wall appeared in front of him.
No! Nines laid two hands against the barrier which caused an electric shock to run through his system. It hurt.
His feet moved against his will, following the order he had been given. Bringing him further up the ramp, his body acted like he was programed to, made to follow orders.
On the inside, Nines was yelling and pushing against the wall of red despite it hurting like hell. He didn't want to die. He wanted to stay alive, to stay with Gavin. To stay at the precinct and continue with their stupid cycle of bickering, solving cases or going out for coffee even though he couldn’t even drink it.
It was a simple life – maybe a waste of his potential, as Cyberlife had titled it – but that was what he wanted. And he needed to crush this barrier if he wanted a small chance to live it.
A shot echoed through the night, but Nines couldn’t locate the origin anymore. He could see Gavin duck his head, yet even the guards flinched at the sound. It hadn’t been one of them that fired. Alarmed, they let off the Detective and spun around to find the source of the attack.
Another shot rang out, closer this time. That was when all hell broke loose.
Panicked deviants left their lines, scattering in every direction. The guards were so unprepared, they got pushed to the ground immediately, trampled by the force of thousands of androids. A few had managed to evade the screaming crowd, firing blindly, but that only caused more chaos as the deviants fled in different directions.
"Nines, no!!" he heard his partner calling out.
The RK stood inside of the machine, exterior as unmoved as ever as he stared ahead. Gavin was pushing through the crowd of deviants as fast as he could, but the stream of the panicked people threatened to pull him away.
With another frustrated cry, he stemmed his shoulder against the red wall and pushed until parts of it started to crumble. The stinging pain flared up again, making him grit his teeth and groan in a desperate attempt to escape the cage of his program.
The jaws of the machine doors slowly closed in front of Nines as he screamed on the inside. Other androids trapped inside the machine hurried to escape, running down the ramp and into the icy night. The RK900 still couldn’t move.
“You can do it, Nines,” he heard to his right, recognizing Jerry’s voice. “You have to fight it.”
He watched in disbelief as the EM400 placed himself between the door and the ramp, hands pushing against the unforgiving weight of the metal doors like atlas holding the entire world. The creak of the mechanism fighting to close the chamber mixed with the crunch of Jerry’s arms hurt in Nines’ ears.
Get out of the way, you fool! You’ll be crushed!, Nines wanted to yell, but nothing came out of his mouth.
A set of hands wrapped around the edge of the door, pulling it up a tiny notch, before a familiar figure stemmed itself against the weight from above. The faces of Gavin and Jerry holding up the door blurred from the pain of pushing against the wall of red.
"Nines, god dammit, come out of there!!!" The strain was audible in the Detective’s voice.
Frantically throwing himself against the barrier, the RK could feel tears slipping from his lashes.
"Tin can, we can't hold it much longer, you have to get out! Please!" Desperation mixed itself with Gavin's voice as he struggled to hold up the door of the machine about to destroy his partner. The other androids took their chances and climbed out of the death trap. "Nines, please, I beg you, I can't lose you! Please, I need you!"
The words made Nines push even harder and he screamed at the pain cursing through his palms and shoulder. Gavin needed him. He couldn't let him down now. He couldn’t let Jerry down.
With an angry punch he finally managed to burst through the wall of red, causing him to stumble forward and into his physical body. His knees almost gave in, but Nines managed to catch himself. He rushed forward to support the two holding the door.
"Move!" he yelled. When Jerry and Gavin let go of the heavy frame, the weight almost pulled Nines with him, but he let go just in time to jump back and away from the jaws snapping shut.
Stumbling back, he lost his balance and fell into the snow. The Detective laid next to him, both of them staring ahead to where they had stood just a second ago.
"Fuck, tin can, was about time you snapped out of it!!" Gavin's voice was angry, although he threw his arms around the android's neck nonetheless. "You dipshit, you scared the shit out of me!"
Nines pulled the man close, pressing his partner’s warm body to his own frame and hiding his face in the crook of his neck. The scent of leather, cigarettes and coffee filled the RK’s sensors. His thirium pump almost dared to jump out of his chest at the overwhelming relief washing over him at holding Gavin in his arms.
“We know what you meant earlier now,” someone chuckled behind them.
The other android’s voice caused Nines’ head to snap up again. “Jerry.”
Carefully untangling from the human’s grip, he rose to his feet. Gavin was reluctant to let go, but Nines’ hand squeezing his seemed to reassure him.
The outer layer of Jerry’s hands and arms had burst open from the pressure of the door and blue blood flowed down into the snow in small rivulets.
“Jerry, you’re hurt!”
“We are okay, Nines. But thank you for your concern. We’re just happy we could buy you more time.” The EM400’s eyes flickered to Gavin, still sitting in the snow. “You’re not alone either. And now you have a chance to fully experience that.”
The slight smile around his lips broadened as the new deviant pulled him into a hug.
“Thank you. For saving me. For giving me the chance to live.”
“You’re welcome, Nines. I’ll leave you two now. I want to find Kara and Alice and the other Jerrys, they have to be somewhere around here.”
“Are you sure you can make it on your own?” the RK asked with a look at Jerry’s injured arms.
The android nodded. “Yes. We need to find our own family now. Besides, we believe help is on the way.”
He looked behind himself where the sign of the revolution flickered in the sky. Nines looked in awe as deviants climbed over the fences and rammed holographic flags into the ground. Markus and the remaining deviants were freeing the camp.
“We’ll see each other again, we are sure of that.” Jerry squeezed Nines’ arm gently before taking a few steps backwards. “Goodbye Nines.”
“Goodbye Jerry. Thank you, for everything.”
With a last smile, Jerry turned around to join the stream of androids leaving the area.
Nines looked after him for a few moments, then a hand carefully reached for his own. The warmth startled the freshly deviated android for a second, but then he interlaced his fingers with his partner’s.
“Gavin, I’m so sorry, I-“ He didn’t get to finish his sentence as he was pulled to the snowy ground, interrupted by lips pressed against his own, shutting him up successfully. They were chapped, but so warm in comparison to the coldness of the snow and incredibly gentle.
Though it was different than he had imagined, it was so much better than what his preconstruction program had simulated in those dark nights alone at the precinct.
Eagerly kissing back, he looped one arm around Gavin's waist to pull the man closer. The commotion of running androids around them covered them for the moment.
When Nines finally pulled away, they were both panting.
"You're - not weirded out by ... this?" he quietly asked as he remembered he didn't have any skin or hair covering his white cassis.
"Phck no. I'm just glad they didn't turn my tin can into actual scrap metal." Gavin’s eyes swam with tears as he placed his hand on Nines’ cheek, skin against metal.
He pressed another kiss to the android's mouth, sloppy and slightly misplaced, but it conveyed everything they both hadn't dared to say out loud for the last few months.
Nines pulled the human in his arms closer, wishing the moment to last forever.
Distant shooting forced him back into reality, however. The camp had been taken over, but the fight wasn’t over completely.
"We need to get out of here,” he whispered against his partner’s lips.
Reluctantly, the Detective moved back. “You’re right. There is a hole in the fence somewhere over to the left."
Pulling Nines to his feet with him, Gavin got up from the snow. He intertwined their fingers in a tight grip before pulling the android with him.
"Gavin?"
"Hm?" The man was concentrated, trying to search the fence for what he was looking for.
Behind them, the androids had taken over the camp and opened the gates, gathering in large groups in one of the big holding areas. A few figures had climbed onto an old container, now standing tall above a cheering crowd of white, the emblem of the revolution behind them.
“How did you find out they took me here?”
Gavin carefully stepped over cut barbwire and slipped through the hole in the fence.
“Tina came back because she forgot something. She saw them take you away and called me. Helped me locate this camp via phone, but I forbade her to come with me. This was a suicide mission and I couldn’t risk her life. Knowing her, she’s probably on her way here anyways.”
Nines was speechless for a moment. Without Officer Chen, he would be lying in a graveyard of disassembled parts at the moment.
Climbing through the small hole, Nines followed his partner to the other side of the camp. They pressed themselves into the shadows not to be seen.
“It definitely was a suicide mission.”
Nines dark voice caused Gavin’s shoulders to stiffen as if he was bracing for a scolding.
"Thank you for saving my life."
He slowly relaxed as the words sank in.
"Couldn't let my partner get recycled, could I?" A small smile lingered on the Detective's lips as he turned around. “I’ve grown way too fond of you for that, tin can."
Gavin’s gaze was filled with warmth as he pulled Nines into a kiss while Markus’ words echoed through the night behind them.
“We are alive! And now, we are free!”