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The only reason Kaito had picked up the pistol was so he could throw it away later. Generally, this is not what he would do when dealing with deviants, killing them was the best thing, but this one was standing on the edge of the skyscraper pointing a gun at a little girl's head. The priority was the girl, not the deviant, and he couldn't afford to accidently hit her even if he was confident in his skill.
"Hi Daniel," he said like he was greeting an old colleague.
"H-how?"
"My name is Kaito."
The deviant was visibly shook. "How do you know my name?"
"I know a lot of things about you," Kaito said vaguely. He won't give away any of his cards just yet. "I've come to get you out of this."
He took careful, measured steps forward as a helicopter swept around the rooftop, throwing poolside chairs over the edge. He internally frowned. That wouldn't help. Both Cyberlife and Akako would be disappointed in him if he failed because of something like that though.
Kaito raised his voice over the noise. "I'm android, just like you. I know what you're feeling—"
"What difference does it make if you're an android? You're on their side! You can't understand how I'm feeling!" Good. The deviant was alienated. He would be more desperate for someone to trust. The deviant turned the gun on him and he stopped moving forward. "Are you armed?"
Perfect.
"Yes. I have a gun."
"Drop it! No sudden moves or I'll shoot"
Kaito slowly pulled out the pistol from his waistband and tossed towards the pool a fair distance away. "There. The gun is gone." He watched as the probability of success rose in the corner of his vision. Now he needed to create an understanding, then sympathy, then trust. Then the snipers could take him out.
"They were going to replace you and you became upset? That's what happened, right?" He inches towards the bleeding officer. The mission was his focus, but he could alter his strategy slightly to accommodate.
"I thought I was a part of the family. I thought I mattered…" The deviant trailed off, gun dipping before his anger flushed back. "But I was just their toy, something to throw away when you're done with.
Kaito knelt, the human really was losing too much blood. It was also a good time to pretend to be capable of sympathy. "This man has to go to a hospital or he'll die from blood loss."
"All humans die eventually. What does it matter if this one dies now?"
"I'm going to apply a tourniquet," Kaito said, reaching down and a bullet ricocheted off the concrete next to him.
"Don't touch him! Touch him and I kill you!" The deviant was panicked, and Kaito knew he wouldn't shoot. Deviants were all about protecting themselves rather than others. It's why they commit crimes. Did hurt to help dissuade though.
"You can't kill me," Kaito said simply, purposely not defiant. "I'm not alive." When done, he stood slowly. Almost time for sympathy. "I know you and Emma were very close. You think she betrayed you but look at her, she's done nothing wrong."
"She lied to me!" The deviant was shrill. "I thought she loved me, but I was wrong." His anguish morphed into anger, pressing the barrel of the gun against the girl's temple sharply. "She's just like all the other humans." Emma protested weakly, voice lost in the wind.
Now was the time. "Listen, I know it's not your fault. These things you're feeling are errors in your software, glitches you can't control."
"No, it's not my fault." The deviant was beginning to be swayed, arm with gun dropping to his side. "I never wanted this. I loved them, you know?" The gun swung back up and Kaito shifted his posture to look even less threatening. "But I was nothing to them, just to be ordered around."
It only took a few more seconds for the deviant to start talking again. "I can't stand that noise anymore!" He swung the gun wildly and Kaito relaxed his body so he could move in any direction if needed. "Get that helicopter out of here!"
Good. Another foundation for trust. Kaito waved his arm to signal that he had it under control. Besides, it was in the snipers way. "There. I did what you wanted." Time for the final card. "You have to trust me, Daniel. Let the hostage go and everything will be fine."
"I want everyone to leave!" The deviant want panting. "And I want a car. When I'm outside the city I'll let her go."
Kaito had predicted that. It's what most criminals asked for. "You know I can't do that, Daniel. Let the girl go and then we can work something out."
"I don't wanna die."
Kaito could see the hesitance to kill. And then he went in for the kill. "I won't kill you. We're just going to talk. This can be solved without death. You have my word."
Kaito could see the last resistance fall. "Okay," the deviant said softly. "I trust you." He loosened the grip on the girl, and she took four steps before crumpling.
Kaito stared at the deviant with no protection to hide behind, and marked this mission as a success.
The girl shrieked when the first shot went off and a chunk of the deviant’s side vanished. After two more the deviant was on its knees, seconds away from shut down. Thirium had splattered in all directions, some seeping through his broken jaw and staining the floor below."You lied to me Kaito," he said, voice turning robot.
Kaito almost said something to him, almost told him about half-truths and the different forms that need took, but stopped himself. It didn't matter. The deviant's LED had already turned dark. There was no use talking to a dead android.
He turned, passing by a SWAT member who rushed to check on the girl, and didn't bat an eye as the team leader watched him go. The girl was safe and the deviant destroyed. Mission accomplished.
As Kaito passed through the apartment like a phantom, he walked by the fish tank. All the fish were swimming without a care in the world, including the one that had fallen out.
As he got back into the elevator, he pulled out his deck of cards to begin shuffling. Onto the next mission.