Chapter Text
Snow ceased it’s falling, RK900 turned his gaze to the sky, trying to push himself off the cold white blanket- although he can’t necessarily feel the cold, his system is slowly failing as it gets colder. His system working overtime to preserve, part of his skin have retracted, the color from his hair was bleached down into a snowy white, his clothes (heat sensitive) have faded from it’s original black and white look to completely white, the only colors remained was his red LED, blue android identification band and triangle tag on his jacket.
He has been thrown out after the revolution, Cyberlife wanted no thread leading to them for creating a combat military android, so once the revolution was announced successful, he was shut down and tossed into the wintery weather of Detroit.
Except, they didn’t completely shut him down, he was partly aware, something have happened, the fear have crept into his system, and slowly clawed at his wall till it crumbled down leaving a scared and cold android behind.
RK900’s internal system told him that he’s been in the snow for a little over two week, the weather have been tragic for the past couple of days, and no one has spotted him, it shouldn’t be unexpected, he was dumped somewhere outside of Detroit, or on the skirt of, he can’t tell. Using more processing power means that he dies faster, and he doesn’t want that, so he saved every watt of energy he can.
With a quiet thump, he fell back into the snow, charge close to 10%, he doesn’t know if he’ll make it till morning, his internal temperature is declining dangerously, and without heat or charge his system can’t keep itself functioning, not to forget the thirium he has lost, but long evaporated days ago. A timer was slowly ticking down, mocking the little time he had left to live.
It was a usual patrol night for Gavin Reed, driving through the streets, just making sure everything is fine and dandy. He reached over to the radio, turning the volume up, humming to one of the classics.
The night was mostly tranquil, pretty boring, which was unusual, considering the revolution happened only two weeks or so ago. He yawned as he skims through the streets he steers by. He doesn’t get why the fuck did Folwer insisted on those stupid nightly patrols, and today happens to be his shift and he finds it so boring, especially when he’s doing this alone. He understand that they need to maintain safety when there are some pretty nasty people who would still go after androids even after they gained their freedom. As for him, well he doesn’t dispute them like he did before the revolution, but that doesn’t mean he like them, he just stay out of their way and they do the same to him. He understands that they are sentient now, and he feels a bit of guilt toward treating them with disdain. Mostly cause well, they were created by his snobby brother.
Near the end of his shift however, a blinking red light caught his eyes, it seems to be coming from somewhere in the pile of snow. The car came to a halt to where he thinks he saw the red glow, and he stepped out of his car, trudging toward it. His shoes crushing snow with a crunch, he stopped dead when he was close enough to see the atrocity of what was before him.
An android was laying face down into the ground, snow coating his... everything. What was highly bizarre is that the android was completely white, camouflaging into the surrounding like one of those winter foxes.
"Uh, sir?" Gavin hates being this formal but it’s protocol, "Hey.. are you even on?" A few pokes to the android’s shoulder did little to nothing. He made a grab for his walkie-talkie when two icy blue eyes opened and looked up at him with an unfocused gaze.
Gavin kneeled by the android, "Can you stand?" He asked calmly, even though the sudden life that came to those eyes made him jump.
The android blinked twice.
Android didn’t need to...
Ah.. so it knows the blink once, blink twice system. He assumed blinking twice was a no. "Okay then, uh I’m gonna try to help you up now" he could have easily left the android, but something, something told him to help him, to take him to safety.
The android held his stare, but nothing else.
Gavin slowly took a hold of the Android’s shoulder and turned him over carefully. There were a couple of droplets of blue when he helped the android into a sitting position, giving him a look over, asserting what seems to be wrong with him. He’s no technician, but he knows something is seriously wrong here.
The android is a model he have not really seen before. They do have an annoying RK800 at the precinct, Hank’s partner, but he have never heard of an RK900, no one has. As far as they know Connor was the last of the line, apparently he’s not, this android right here is.
"I’m taking you to a Cyberlife shop to get you repaired, okay?" Gavin inquired as he assist the android into standing. The android blinker twice, then again, mouth moving voicelessly, panic is clear on his face. Shit.
"Hey hey, okay okay I’m not taking you to that damn shop." The android instantly relaxed. Looks like he doesn’t like Cyberlife either, honestly who can blame the poor thing. They sure did a number on him- yeah he has a small theory about Cyberlife trying to ‘bury evidence’ so to speak.
Taking careful steps, they slowly made it to the car, fortunately it was parked few steps away. Gavin helped the RK900 into the passenger seat. He rubbed his now frozen hands, trying to bring back some warmth into them.
Driving home, Gavin realized what kind of situation he got himself into. "Okay I can’t take you to a Cyberlife repair shop, then I’m taking you to the police station, I don’t know if you’re functional enough to notice, but I’m a detective so you’re in good hands"
The android moved his head from left to right.
"No?"
The android blinked once again, agreeing to the ‘no’.
"Fuck" Gavin said softly, "Okay what do you want to do tincan? Let you stay at my place and have me fucking fix you?"
The android blinked once.
Fuck.
Silence fell once again into the car, Gavin did not speak till he parked in front of his residential building.
Getting the android up to his apartment was not easy, the RK900 wasn’t necessarily heavy, but it was awkward to half assist, half carry the android up, and slowly lowered him onto the couch.
Ohh what did you get yourself into, Reed.
He doesn’t know how the android expect him to mend him, he must be short circuiting.
"What am I suppose to do now? I’m not a technician, I’m a detective." Gavin groused, receiving no reaction other than a half focused stare.
Gavin did what he usually do when he didn’t know how to do something, he used google, looking up articles about how to fix a half frozen android, finding a few that seem helpful, like ones that suggest he make sure he has thirium bags available, others suggested looking at the main processors and components to locate the one that seem to be the problem.
It was 7am on a Saturday morning, squinting at his tablet screen, a notebook at hand, Gavin took some damn notes about fixing some damn android he found in the goddamn snow. He let out an exaggerated groan, rubbing his tired eyes before he look down at his list that took hours to write down. Okay so he has some basic ideas of what he should be doing.. -ish.
He made a few orders online, it included thirium bags, tools and some equipment the Internet said he might need.
The RK900 laid down on his bare kitchen table, he guided Gavin to where his chest cavity is, there was this sort of tension in the room that felt kind of odd.
The detective made a face, "You want me to stick my hands.. in there? I’m not gonna like get electrocuted or some shit?"
RK900 have somehow managed to collect enough energy to look unamused by all of this.
"Yeah yeah I know, stop it with your damn creepy stares" Gavin wore gloves cause it’s something he feels he should be doing, safety, and hygiene and all that.
He poked inside, and it seems that the android has a few components that aren’t functioning properly, and some that just needed a bit of tweaking, others needed to be exchanged. Except that’s gonna be way too difficult with this android being the latest, finding spare components isn’t gonna be easily, and it sure as hell isn’t gonna be cheap either.
Making a quick phone call confirmed his suspicion, some components weren’t available in the shops and others costed an arm and a leg. Gavin rubbed his face tiredly, he’s been working on the RK for over 6 hours, it was now around 11am, and he have barely gotten any shut eyes.
Gavin left his seat to fix himself a cup of coffee, fortunately he had today off so he doesn’t have to worry about leaving an android alone in his apartment with his cat- speaking of which, where is that little spoiled brat?
"Dipshit?”
The RK900 tiled his head ever so slightly, indicating his confusion.
"No not you, my cat-"
The little brat knew she would get some attention, so she graced them with her presence, meowing at her human for some food.
He lowered himself to pick her up and give her a few pets, she might be a brat but he loves her.
The confusion on the Android’s face melted into something else, but Gavin wasn’t paying attention at that moment.
As he was leaving the kitchen a knocking noise caught his attention, and he remembered that he left the android on the table without him being able to support himself just yet. He puts his cat down, "Uh shit, right."
Once the android was settled comfortably on the larger couch, Gavin took up the other one, tv playing in the background. He had his phone in his hands, fumbling with it, unsure if it would be a mistake to text his brother. He needs those bio-components or else everything he did for this android would be flashed down the metaphorical toilet. The reason is still unclear, unsure what lead him to bring him home, and to fix him, but it felt wrong to just let him shut down in the snow because Cyberlife didn’t want a lawsuit. Pricks.
Little Bro: 11:20am
Hey u got bio components #356, #261, #790?
Snobby prick: 11:23am
Might. What do you need them for?
Snobby prick: 11:23am
Nice to hear from you lil bro
Little bro: 11:24am
Do u have them or not, asshole! 😤
Snobby prick: 11:25am
Yes. I can send them to you, but you’ll have to tell me what you need them for? These are all prototype components most of them are still undergoing test, so why would my dear brother who don’t know anything about androids need them, hm?
Little bro: 11:27am
Tell u later. Maybe.
Gavin didn’t receive any replies from his brother, but his message have been read. The orders should be arriving later today (including a small portable charging station), so at least he can work on those till his brother sends the bio components.
Some time later he opened his eyes, when did he even fall asleep?
With a foggy vision he looked to the left, where the android was still. Dipshit was rubbing herself all over the android, begging him for attention and pets, but it all seems to be lost on the android because he seems confused and lost on what he is suppose to do.
The RK900 looked toward Gavin who leaned over to pet Disphit, showing him what to do, and how to pet her and where to scratch her.
"She actually loves getting attention" Gavin leaned away but kept most of his attention on the android. "Anyway.. your new components and charging station should arrive later today"
Gavin huffed at the android weirdly cute way of showing confusion.
"I know people, don’t question me, you’re the one who trusted me with this whole thing, I had to pull a few strings cause apparently you’re a prototype and I can’t find parts compatible with your model number- I didn’t tell them your model number, calm down" he said when he saw the fear begin to creep up on the android, similarly to how he found him in the snow, and he didn’t like it.
The RK900 nodded, and then attempted to pet Gavin’s cat, similarly to the way he saw the human do it.
The rest of the day was pretty much, well normal. As normal as it can be when you have a hulk of metal that looks intimidating but seems as harmless as a two weeks old kitten.
Gavin spent most of the time studying the android, he have never seen one with white hair with matching clothes, kinda looks odd but also good on him?
There were parts of his face where some skin was missing, been through rough times, Gavin guessed. He realized he doesn’t know what happened to the android or how long the RK has been in the snow slowly freezing and shutting down.
It was late evening when everything he ordered have arrived, which means he’s gonna have another long ass night. The android sometimes would guide his hand, silently telling him what to do, and how to do it.
As he expected, working on the android took all night, the sun was up by the time he set down his tools, rubbing his exhausted eyes.
"There. All done, good as new and shit. It only took us, what, almost 6 hours?" Gavin groused, fatigue clear as a day in his voice, especially when he haven’t slept the night before either.
He gave the android one satisfied look, then disappeared into his bedroom for the ‘night’. He doesn’t think he can last one more minute awake, he is beyond tired, and that usually mean he’s grumpier than average.
Another problem presented itself after Gavin had his food early into the afternoon, he got an email reminding him of his late shift later this evening, which means he will have to leave the android alone at home with the cat.
He puts his dirty dishes aside, and before he got ready for work, he stood in front of the android that was still charging since he went to sleep hours ago.
"Okay robo giant, I’m heading to work so you better behave and not touch anything while I’m gone. Just, stay where you are, and don’t destroy my apartment, you hear me?" Gavin instructed, not sure if the RK understood what he is saying.
RK900 nodded, his vocal box is fixing itself while he charges, and should be fully charged and functional in exactly 3 hours and 10 minutes.
"Alright, so your blue blood or whatever is in the fridge, but you got one right here too, so, Uh, yeah" With that the detective headed to the precinct where he worked till 11pm.
Gavin wasn’t sure what he expected but if he was honest, the android barely moved an inch when he was finally back close to midnight. He was tired so he only sent a nod in 900’s direction as he made his way to his room.
RK900 blinked, the detective was back when he said he would, he acknowledged him with a nod before vanishing into what RK assumed is the detective’s bedroom. He was fully charged for the first time in weeks, and it feels absolutely wonderful not to be fearful for every percent he lost, dreading when his battery will die, and his body with it.
He have never met a human that was so brash, yet so kind, it’s quite endearing. He walked around the apartment today, scanning everything he can, his system finally working properly. Sure he knows that the Detective Reed- his facial recognition informed him- isn’t a mechanic, and doesn’t have any background of fixing androids but he did surprisingly a good job, and somehow got his hands on all the components that were supposedly hard to find.
The cat have kept him company most the time the human was out, he did not have the time to do something to show his gratitude toward the human. So naturally thought of cleaning the place would suffice, but he wasn’t programmed to, however he’s programmed to learn, so finding instructions weren’t hard. He faced some difficulties at first, but he got the hang of it very quickly, and by the time he was done, the place was spotless. Mission successful, so he returned to his place, back on the couch. The cat sadly followed her human into the bedroom which means the android will spend the night alone, so he decided to go into stasis feeling safe.
His system roused him at 6am sharp, he looked around and realized that Detective Reed was still asleep, so he waited for the human to come to.
Gavin woke up at 7am, he doesn’t have to rush this morning, as his shift starts at 2pm today, he completed his morning routine before heading to the kitchen with the desire to make himself a big cup of coffee to help him stay awake during the day- and cause he likes how it tastes.
While his coffee machine was doing it’s magic, a shadow emerged from behind him,
"Good morning Detective Reed" A stoic, almost robotic voiced said.
Gavin yelped in surprised, inhaled sharply as he whipped around, hand moving to his holster, only to remember that he was was home, and not wearing his holster.
"Jesus!! Fuck, didn’t think you even had the ability to fucking talk!"
He took a deep breaths, willing his frantic heart to calm down. He looked up at the stoic android. There was color slowly seeping back into the android’ jacket and hair, it was still white, just not as plainly as they were two days ago.
"I apologize, I did not mean to frighten you."
"Whatever" Gavin took angry gulps of his coffee, ignoring the fact that the android was still standing behind him, probably staring at him with his burning gaze.
They fell into an awkward silence, now that the android is able to speak, maybe he can find out more about what happened to him.
He leaned against his counter, pondering on what exactly does he want to ask the android as he was finish his breakfast.
"Uh, you’re not gonna try to explain to me why the fuck an advanced prototype android was tossed in the snow like some old broken house microwave?"
The little light by the RK900’e temple was blinking yellow, to red then back to yellow. He haven’t noticed that it even changed from the palpated red that it seems to be stuck on since he brought him in. Now that the android was fixed it probably will leave, right? But.. where the fuck will he go?
No word left RK’s mouth, he simply stared at the detective, gaze going out of focus for a split second.
"Alright. Not gonna explain anything then? This is not an interrogation." Gavin tried again, he’s quite intrigued by the whole thing, especially when it took him hours to fix whatever the fuck Cyberlife did to this android. Is he even deviant?
"Are you a deviant?"
More silence.
Gavin huffed impatiently, "Great, he’s broken again. I’m not fixing shit. Detective not mechanic, remember that, tincan" And made his way almost successfully to the couch before Dipshit almost tripped him over by rubbings against his leg and walking in his path.
He plummeted onto the couch, Dipshit taking the opportunity to sit on his lap and purr contently.
The android followed and sat on the other side of the couch, stiff and upright, it seems deviancy didn’t help that one with the stick stuck up his ass.
"Uh, you got a place to stay at?"
RK900 tilted his head, a neat curl fell into his eyes, as he blink in clear confusion then shook his head.
"Right." Gavin rubbed his face with his free hand. God that means the android will have to stay here till he finds a place he can move to.
"Have you tried to contact Jericho then?"
The light by the Android’s temple turned bright red. "I won’t be accepted there. I was built as a military android, but hunting deviants was also part of my programming, I wouldn’t be welcomed, Detective."
Well guess he knows what the RK900’s purpose was.
"I am the only android of my model, I was still undergoing tests, I wasn’t completely shut down when I was tossed away like an old broken microwave, as you eloquently put it, detective" Although his face displayed no emotions, there were clearly some in the air, Gavin can easily sense them.
"Did they throw you away because of the revolution?"
"Yes, they didn’t want to be caught red handed with an android like me, so the best option they could come up with was to toss me in the snow hoping that I’d never be found"
Gavin snorted, "Well they sure were wrong about that. So you’re like an upgraded android, you sure as hell look different"
Head tilted, "You must be referring to appearance, to preserve energy I am able to turn off a few things, and having white hair and clothes need less energy."
"What’s your original design, then?" Gavin inquired, curiosity yet again picking at him.
It wasn’t possible for an android to sound so smug, "You’ll have to find out"
But fuck if that wasn’t attractive.
"Alright you ungrateful piece of shit, there isn’t a need to be so goddamn sassy, you prick." Gavin groused, returning his attention back to the screen with some difficulty.
The day went on with the RK being mostly quiet, but it did ask Gavin a few questions, they weren’t too personal so Gavin had no problem answering them, till he asked if could accompany the detective to the DPD, he said he might try finding himself a job and the DPD seems like a good start.
"Alright Nines, guess you can talk to Fowler and if you like the work there then you can get recruited or whatever."
"Nines? Is that what you would like to call me?"
Gavin cursed, RK900 was we obviously too mouthful so he went for a nickname, he didn’t expect RK- Uh, Nines to pick it up so quickly.
"It sure as hell better than calling you RK900 all the damn time" Gavin said nonchalantly, waving his hand to emphasize.
Nines have only been with the detective two days and he can already tell that this whole macho act is nothing but a shell, and he is intrigued to find out more about this human.
The precinct was busy as ever, walking in, he asked Nines to stay close, he isn’t going to look for him got lost somewhere, not that the station is large enough for an android to get lost in.
Gavin can feel every eyeball on him as he cross the bullpen to Fowler’s glass office, the android proficiently behind him. He can almost hear their thoughts, wondering why is he being followed by an android, one they have never seen before, especially with all the whiteness that was almost blinding.
With a single knock, he pushed the glass door open and stopped into the office.
"At least you knocked this time" Fowler said with thinning patience.
"Captain, I’m just gonna spit it out-"
"That wouldn’t be sanitary" Nines said flatly.
"Shut the fuck up, Nines." Gavin growled, then continued as if he wasn’t interrupted by an android that seems to take things quite literally. "Found this scrape metal and he wants a tour around the precinct, if he likes it here, he’ll stay."
Fowler looked Nines up and down, trying to learn whatever he can from how the android looks. "What are your functions?"
Nines turned to Gavin, asking for permission, and Gavin just shrugged then nodded. "I’m not your owner, do whatever the fuck you want. You two ladies chat and I’m gonna go get some work done" with that the detective left the room, before the captain could ask him go baby sit the newbie.
He made it to his desk without any distractions, he got to work immediately, checking his emails, then the case files that were assigned to him.
"I am a military android, sir. I was also programmed with the ability to do most of police work, I reassure you I’d be capable to work here" Nines sounded almost robotic, but he never had any social practice, other than with Detective Reed. Surprisingly he wasn’t hard to communicate with.
Fowler considered this proposition for a moment. "Very well, I can give you a week trial, if you are as good as you say you are, then there will be no problem with hiring you"
For a moment a look crossed Nines’ face, then it disappeared. "Thank you for the opportunity, Captain" with a nod, he left the office, and made his way calmly to the detective who had his legs rudely propped on his desk.
Gavin had his tablet in hand, swiping through the file cases he had. He looked up when he heard perfect tip tap of oxford shoes hitting the floor. "How’d it go?"
"I got a trial week, if I did well, which I have no doubt I will, I could join the DPD."
"Yeah might want to lower the confidence there, rookie. You haven’t even started yet" He wonder which poor soul will be partnered with this idiot. Every new cop need a partner for a while, then they can decided whether they wanted to stay partners or not.
"Well would you teach me how to be a mediocre detective?" It seems this prick keeps getting sassier and sassier by the minute.
"Keep this up and I’m gonna make sure you stay buried in the goddamn snow next time" Gavin scowled, setting the tablet on the desk.
Nines’ face remained stoic, but his little light was glowing between blue and yellow.
"Would you give me a tour detective?" He didn’t need it, the android have already downloaded the whole place’s blue prints and knows where everything is.
"Well since you asked nicely" Gavin got to his feed, and moved to the break room with the frosty android behind him. "This is where you will be making me coffee everyday if you decided to work here"
The android ignored the little jab, and scan the room instead, while the detective seems to demonstrate how to make coffee, either that or he was simply making himself a cup.
"But you seem capable of making a cup yourself, you’re a big boy"
Gavin was mocking what the android said softly under his breath, not caring if the bastard can hear him. "I’m beginning to think if I really should be blaming Cyberlife for throwing you out"
The android only hummed, he knows, from his scans, that the detective was not being honest, which could only mean this is suppose to be a joke, so he will take it for what it is. "Your jokes are not funny, detective. I can recommend a few joke books for you to read"
Gavin snored, "You know, looks like you can break my record easily with how many partners requesting a new partner. Don’t think anyone that works here can handle all of that" he gestured vaguely at the android as a whole.
That have got the android thinking however, he isn’t sure he wants any partners, but a quick peek at the laws and regulations of this department have stated clearly that he needs a partner for at least three months before he can start working on his own, if he didn’t want to have a partner, that is.
Another one search have confirmed that the detective is indeed partnerless, which means he can fill in that slot. He felt a weird tug at the corner of lips, he wasn’t sure what that was exactly.
"Stop looking so smug, tincan." Gavin’s phone beeped in his pocket, indicating a new message arriving. He checked it quickly, "You enjoy your time here, newbie" it was another crime scene that he needed to investigate.
With that he left the break room with his freshly made cup of coffee. The android remained behind, he already know where the detective lives he can meet him there once he finish taking a look around the place.