Chapter Text
It had been ten weeks since Whiskers had died. Two weeks he mourned. He properly buried his beloved asshole of a pet. Held an after funeral party with Tina that had involved a lot of super cheap alcohol, that tasted dastardly enough to briefly make him forget about the emptyness of his flat. He had put everything cat related away and had looked through his huge folder of Whisker photos and short movie clips. And then he had promised himself to live a cat free life. Because pets made you unflexible and he hadn't had a proper vacation in years. (He could have had one, of course. Tina would have jumped at the chance to cat-sit. It was more that he didn't want to leave his furry best friend alone.)
Of course, like all pet owners sooner or later realize, living without a pet just isn't worth it. By week four he doubted he would even ever go on a vacation. That he probably just used his cat as an excuse not to go, anyway. Next he noticed, that he wasn't a particularly social person. So there really was no need for flexibility in his management of meager freetime.
He went catless through week five to ten through sheer stubborness alone. But the craving just got worse and worse as the days went by. More often than not he would find himself petting and cooing at random street cats. In breaks he would watch cat videos and scroll through endless pictures of the more or less graceful felines. Heck even his dreams had started to fill up with the furry companions. By the end of it all he was consumed by the need to have one again.
And he caved.
One, sunny saturday afternoon he just snapped.
As if on autopilot he stood from the coffee table, walked to his car and drove to the nearest animal shelter. He had spaced out so much during these acts that he had jumped when the car had parked, wondering how the hell he had gotten to where he was at that moment.
Nothing compared to the feeling he experienced when he walked through the doors. It was better than drinking his first sip of coffee in the morning. Better than watching his favourite hockey team win (which they rarely did). He would even argue that it was better than any orgasm he ever had. (Which he didn't. Because that would have been sad. Even if it was probably true.)
A twitchy looking dude greeted him at the front desk, all bright smiles. Politely Gavin was asked about the reason for his visit. When he asked to see the cats the guy visibly deflated and started to twitch suspiciously. Enough so that it made his detective sense tingle.
„What is it? Don't you have any cats?“ That would be impossible. There were always dicks, young pairs or families, who abandoned their loved ones.
„No. That's not the problem...“ the guy stammered.
„Then what is it?!“
„Well. We have a bit...We might have a bit of an Android problem.“
„What? Why? Why didn't you call the police?“
The man sighed, as if he had heard that question a lot already.
„It's probably best if I show you.“
Gavin was led down a narrow hallway. Behind the glass doors he saw large rooms, clean and homey. All of them were occupied. One held large cages with colourful birds in them. Another had its walls stocked with fish tanks. Some held huge glass cages with reptiles and again in others dogs played with each other.
They stopped at a door about two thirds of the way down and immediately Gavin saw the problem. An Android who looked eerily like Connor, sat on the bright red carpet of the room. A bunch of small kittens played around him or slept in his lap. Some of the older cats butted their heads against him occasionally, seeking affection the huge Android was all too willing to give.
Gavin stared blankly at the employee, who could only shrug.
„He came here after the revolution, scared and confused and wet from the snow. The shelter owner thought it best to get him into one of the pens so he could pet the animals and calm down. He refused to go to the dogs. The loud barking must have been painful to his sound processors or something. He felt right at home with the cats, though. Only...Well, he refuses to leave now. He always panics whenever someone tries to get him out. And he has kind of adopted all of them? He won't let us take any of the cats.“
„Again. Why the fuck didn't you just call the police?“
„Because we feel sorry for him? And he is a little bit intimidating? He also takes great care of them. He feeds them, grooms them, plays with them. He cleans the place. And all that for free! So...it's not that bad of a trade off?“ the guy looked a bit unsure at that.
Gavin huffed. „Great. Can I at least go in?“
„Sure. But don't get too attached to any of them. You won't be able to get one away from him.“
Gavin gently opened the door to the pen, shooing the employee away as he did. Immediately he was swarmed by cats. A cacaphony of meows, purrs and squeaks bombarded his ear drums and formed the best symphony he had heard in a long while. Briefly he forgot all about the Android in the room. Like a man being given a drink after days in the desert he soaked up the attention of the furry beasts.
Gavin only remembered that he wasn't alone when he caught movement from the corner of his eye. The Android was staring at him curiously and Gavin suddenly found that this one didn't look like Connor at all. He looked like his big brother, yes. But the differences up close were big enough to easily distinguish between them. The next thing he noticed was that the employee must be a damn whimp. Nothing about the Androids demeanor screamed intimidating. He was just sitting there. Watching him. Head occasionally coming down to nudge against one of the cats'.
„Hi.“ Gavin opted to say. He itched to play with the kittens, but the huge fucker was hording them all. Best play nice for now and see where it got him.
„Hello.“ came the meek echo.
„Can I play with them?“ Gavin felt ridiculous asking that. He shouldn't have needed to!
The Android seemed unsure for a moment, but then nodded. „Don't lift them up, please. I don't want them to get hurt if they fall.“
„I wouldn't fucking let them.“
They sat in silence for what felt like hours, both fully focused on the kittens and cats. Gavin was in heaven. Or was at least pretty close to it. He was sure Androids had their own weird form of afterlife. At least he hoped so. It was bad enough that he had to share earth with these talking toasters.
Time raced by and before he knew it the employee from before was knocking at the door to get his attention.
„Visiting hours are over, sir.“
„Damn.“
Begrudgingly Gavin said goodbye to the cats and reluctantly waved back at the Android. When they were out of hearing range for even the most superior sound processor Gavin spoke up again.
„I'm going to come back next week. I'm still undecided on which one to get.“
„Sir, I already told you. He won't let you take any of them.“
„We'll see about that.“
~~~
Over the course of the week Gavin intently studied the shelters website, reading through the history of the pets there. His heart bled when he read that the bunch of adorable kittens he had been playing with were outcasts. They had been dropped into the river to drown by some sick son of a bitch and were nearly dead when they had been swept onto the river bank and been found by a kind citizen. Other sob stories soon followed these, making his belief in humanity plummet. Others were understandable. Sometimes people just got sick or couldn't afford pets anymore. Sometimes they had to move and couldn't take their loved ones with them. It was all very tragic and put him in a bad mood, that made even Tina avoid him.
The next saturday he was so giddy he could barely wait for the shelter to open. He had bought some very pricy, very exclusive cat food and some new toys. The little fuckers deserved some pampering after what they had gone through.
The employee made a strangled sound when he saw Gavin enter, but begrudingly led him back to the cat pen.
„Why don't you get a bird? Or a dog? They are very lovely animals, too.“
„I don't want either of those. Now piss off.“
„Alright. Let Nines tell you how much to feed the cats. Or better let him measure it himself. Just give him the food.“
Gavin would have said something very insulting. And it would have been a harsh blow to the employees already crumbled self confidence. Only the guy had seemingly vanished. Maybe Gavin shouldn't have watched the Android interact with the pets for so long.
„Soooo. Your name is Nines?“ Gavin asked as he strutted through the door. „Awww, hello to you too Marble~ Yes, yess you're getting pets as well Rico.“
A chuckle came from the middle of the room. Quick hands took the bag of toys and cat food from him before the little devils could get to it. Curious blue eyes peaked into the bag and Gavin froze as he heard surprised, staticy noise. When he looked up he felt like his eyes were being burned out by the sun. A very ugly sun that was green instead of yellow because it didn't know how to do its job. Nines' twitching lips were a car crash of a smile, closer to a glitching video game character than a real expression. And yet...Gavin could clearly see the joy reflected in those twinkling blue pools. No wait. Those weren't blue. Shit he was going colour blind. Those were grey!
„I'm RK900.“
„Huh?“
Nines shifted his weight and drew into himself when Gavins eyes focussed back into the present. „My name. They call me Nines 'cause it's shorter...“
„Could you maybe speak a little louder? Not everyone around here has super hearing.“
Gavin hadn't even meant to be rude. But the words must have hit some sensitive spot. Nines went entirely silent after that. Not that it was a bad thing. A small, delighted voice in his head sung Asshoooolee~ at which Gavin could only mentally shrug. Yeah. What else was new.
At least he was allowed to feed the cats himself. Nines measured the cups, every move carefully calculated, as if only one foodblob more would kill the felines. Then he gave the bowls to Gavin, who squatted down to give the loud choir their deserved treat.
After that they both went about cleaning the toilets and cat towers. It seemed like Gavin barely had time to play and cuddle with the cats when the employee came back to tell him to leave.
Which was unfair.
Nines didn't have to leave either.
„I'm coming back next week.“
~~~
Two more times he came until it felt like a new tradition. Nines had not said anything to him these instances, but that hadn't bothered Gavin much. He had fully accepted the anti social side of himself, which he had found out about once his dear Whiskers had died. And Nines was an Android anyway. He didn't count as people.
„How about a lizard?“ The employee greeted him. The man had obviously started his emo phase or something. He had cut all of his right hair short and let the left side grow over his eye. The bright red made him noticable from a mile away. He had even painted his nails a dark green.
„The hell do you look like?“
„I just felt like changing my style. You know. Change is sometimes a good thing. Like getting a different animal for a pet.“
„I've bought some cat treats and catnip for my dears. I'm giving them to Nines.“ Gavin said as he walked by the man and straight to the cat pen.
The employee sighed. „We are an animal shelter...Not a people shelter.“ he muttered dejectedly.
Nines was laying on the floor when Gavin came in. The detective chuckled at the sight. Cats were walking all over the Android, who made a very good impression of an overpriced doormat. Gavin could not help himself, he sprinkled some of the catnip on Nines face.
Nines didn't move an inch. Even when some went into his eyes. Some of the adult cats ran over to see if it was food that Gavin had bestowed upon them, disappointed when it was not. Only two cats took a good whiff of the drug and started smearing themselves all over Nines' face.
„You know. This would be far funnier if you had decided to react.“
„Apologies.“ came the muffled reply.
Snickering Gavin decided to be a little less of an asshole today and freed the Android of the drugged out cats.
„Thank you.“ Nines whispered as he finally stood.
„Huh, you're in a good mood today. Haven't heard you talk in awhile.“
The Android glanced away at that, trying to grab Gavins bag like he always did. Not saying a word. Gavin immediately took a step back and hugged the bag close.
„Nuhu, no way are you giving me the fucking silent treatment again. That shit gets boring.“
„What do you want me to say?“
„I don't know? You ever heard of small talk?“
„No.“
Gavin loosened his grip on the treats a bit. „What? Seriously?“
Nines folded in on himself more, something he always did when he felt unsure or overwhelmed. As if he ever could make himself small enough not to tower over anyone. Poor guy was probably horrible at hide and seek. Or maybe not. Maybe he could just pin himself to the ceiling. But then that blue band and white jacket would give him away pretty fast.
„Hey. Nothing to be embarassed about. You're like...a baby in human standards.“
„Cyberlife didn't deem it important to give me social protocolls...I was only to take orders and fulfill them to perfection...“
„But you have internet access?“
Again Nines looked at him as if he had just said the name of a long dead, nearly forgotten evil deity.
„You know what the internet is, right?“
„...Yes.“
„Holy shit, you don't! How the hell is that even possible?!“
They continued their „small talk“ while cleaning. Gavin was soon adding another sob story to the long list of sob stories accumulating about the inhabitants of the animal shelter. Nines, apparently, had been left in the Cyberlife Tower. He had been kept in the basement in a lone pod, where programmers were still trying to make him absolutely deviant proof. He was left alone there after the revolution. No one knew of him. And those who had worked on him would not tell anyone else. Probably as a last act of rebellion against the new rights for Androids.
Nines had written the last lines of his code himself, his algorithms far enough in their intelligence to continue building the required softwares and programs to make him function. He woke up and everything around him was dark. Core features had not yet been installed into him and his exoskeleton had been incomplete. He had inserted his own voicebox, working in front of a mirror to get everything right. Gavin predicted he probably screwed up there a little, because Nines voice just wouldn't go above a whisper. The RK900 unit had needed to install some other parts, but Gavin kinda zoned out after the second overly complicated technical term.
When he had been done with assembling himself he aimlessly roamed the empty tower and finally wandered out into the streets. The rest Gavin had already known. He had been found by the owner of the shelter and been taken in, refusing to leave again.
Gavin awkwardly patted him on the shoulder as he left. After what he had heard he started doubting his worldview. Maybe Androids were people, after all. Very weird, superpowered, crazy people, who could pretty much build themselves after a certain point. But people.