"That's not good enough!" The slam of Richard's hands on the captain's desk was almost deafening. His teeth clenched, jaw tight, as he glared at the slight woman sitting behind it. Amanda barely raised an eyebrow at the sudden outburst, hands still steady as she held her delicate cup and saucer barely two inches from her lips. She kept her dark eyes trained on Richard as she sipped, giving him a few moments to calm himself. It didn't surprise GV200. The news or the outburst. He kept his own head low, quietly thankful that the cap of his uniform hid the spinning LED on his forehead. It was surely spinning red beneath the brim. He was probably lucky that Amanda didn't think enough of androids to even look his way. He was just another piece of furniture to her as she sat back in her chair and surveyed the room.

"It's not a negotiation, Detective. The GV200 is an antiquated model. It's long past time for it to be replaced...It was fine when parts were still available, but there are fewer and fewer on the market, and those that are cost a small fortune! The GV900 is the latest prototype, a proper detective model rather than a glorified traffic warden." Richard was barely listening over the ringing in his ears. There had to be something he could do! They couldn't just take his partner like this! They had important cases to solve, and he was used to the older model. GV200 knew his routine and always had whatever he needed to hand before he even thought of it. He greeted him with that odd little smirk each morning, made sure he ate, and nagged him about going home on time and getting enough sleep.

"Don't call him that!" GV200 had been upgraded to function in his new role. He was a detective model, as good as any other on the market!

"Detective Anderson...Richard. I know you're fond of the GV200, but the fact of the matter is, this precinct can't afford the upkeep and repairs. It's classified as a vintage model now! Most of them were already decommissioned years ago! It's long past time for it to go...The GV900 shares a lot of its base design with this one, and I'm sure it will fill the role adequately...I suggest you download and save whatever data you need from the GV200 by the end of the week. It's scheduled to be picked up Friday evening after your shift." Richard's eyes widened at the news. So soon? That gave him barely any time to plan! Amanda gave a final sympathetic sigh before nodding to the door. The conversation was over. Richard gritted his teeth, giving a curt nod before turning heel and leaving. He didn't slam the door. That's the sort of churlish behaviour he left to Connor. He also knew GV200 was right behind him.

"Richard...Hey, Richard!" GV200 hurried to keep pace, looking around the bullpen warily to make sure they weren't being watched. Luckily, Connor and his meddling HK800 model were out on a case, so they had more freedom as Richard stormed down the hall. People hurried out of the way as he passed, deep frown lines and sharp silvery eyes giving away his dour mood. They headed down a small staircase into the bowels of the precinct. Few people used the older offices and storage rooms down there, and it was well known as a place for Detective Anderson to go and let off steam in private. "Richard, calm down!" GV200 could already see Richard's stress levels climbing into the low eighties, gripping his chest and making him gasp and rasp for breath.

Throwing open the door to one of the dusty old storage rooms, Richard took to pacing, ignoring the wheezing rasp of his breathing. GV200 wasn't sure if it was an asthma attack or a panic attack as he hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed his shoulders. Richard would have shrugged him off if he had the breath for it. Instead, he sagged into the grip and leaned his head on his shoulder, breathing in the comforting scent of thirium and worn cotton. His breathing pattern wasn't stabilising, likely worsened by the dusty air. GV200 dropped, lowering Richard's larger body to the floor and leaning him back against the rickety old bookcase as he reached out to search his blazer's inner pocket.

"Phcking idiot! This is why I told you to stop smoking!" He held back his own smirk as Richard's lips twitched. His programming didn't allow for swear words, so they always came out sounding strained and forced, even after all this time. "Breathe, Rich..." He spoke softly as he raised the inhaler to his lips, holding the back of his neck with his free hand for support. Richard did as he was told, taking a deep breath as GV200 pressed the capsule on top. Two puffs later, he could breathe again. "It's not like we didn't know this was coming. Our partnership was only supposed to be temporary because no human could handle you." That much was true. Human partners always left. He was too volatile, in a different way to Connor. Where Connor was loud and yelled at people until they left, Richard was deliberately abrasive, offering sarcasm and biting insults.

After going through around seven partners, all of them requesting transfers due to his cold, oppressive demeanour, Amanda had asked the technicians to retrofit the old GV200 as a joke. If he couldn't play nice with a human, he'd be saddled with a rickety old android instead. Unfortunately, that plan had backfired. She'd expected him to shape up and come crawling within a week, begging for a new partner, however he'd accepted the GV200 as one might accept a stray cat. GV200 had been uncertain of his new skills at first. He'd been originally designed for crowd control and had no idea how to use most of the fancy upgrades they'd foisted on him. Some of them, like the internal forensic lab, wouldn't work at all. It made his systems overheat whenever he turned it on, so Richard had ordered him to deactivate it.

Where humans took his attitude personally, GV200 didn't have the capacity to do that. Richard could call him any name under the sun and it wouldn't bother him. If he berated him for poor work, GV200 would accept that judgement and try hard to do better. It was that willingness to try, no matter how hard, that had endeared him to Richard. GV200 was doing what he'd wanted every other partner he'd been saddled with to do. Learn from their mistakes and do better. Richard wasn't there to hold anyone's hand. He wanted results. If you couldn't get him those results, you had no use, and if you wouldn't try harder, then he didn't want you. GV200 did get results. GV200 did try harder, even when he didn't have the programming for it.

Richard swallowed the lump in his throat as he looked across at GV200. He was settled on one knee, hands still resting on his shoulders where he'd been holding him up against the bookcase. He hated that GV200 was trying to justify things, speaking like it didn't matter, like it was inevitable. It pissed him off more that he was putting on an unconcerned front when he could see the rhythmic spin of red peeking out from under the brim of his hat. His jaw tightened as he looked into GV200's large green eyes. They were perfectly calm, not even pinching at the edges, but at the corner of the right was that steady red-red-red-

"Don't fucking do that! Don't pretend you're okay with this!" GV200 sighed as Richard flicked the brim of his hat and sent it toppling to the floor. His fluffed brunette locks didn't quite hide the red of his LED. He ran a hand through his hair to neaten it. It was a programmed quirk. Officers should always be neat and presentable. He paused as a large hand grabbed his wrist in a grip that would have been painful to a human. "Say it." GV200 clenched his jaw, lowering his eyes to his knees. His LED burned brighter at the conflicting orders. He couldn't say it. It was against his core programming to say it, though they both knew the words burned in his throat. Richard had ordered him to say it. Notifications flooded his vision with the clash. He winced as his old processors heated, swelling his chest with stress.

Although he could feel the fluttery, thrumming sensation in his upper chest cavity, he couldn't put a name to it. His programming absolutely rejected it. His aged thirium pump increased in speed, a dangerous thing for an old model like him. The quickened thuds reverberated through his chest and formed a tightness that he couldn't will away. His own stress levels had climbed from both dealing with Richard's outburst and his own internal conflict. He couldn't meet Richard's burning blue eyes. They asked too much of him.

"You know I can't do that." Richard scoffed and loosened his grip, glaring at the far wall as he sat back, almost sulking at GV200's lack of pushback. It was almost like he wanted to be deactivated. Like he wanted to leave him. The thought set an unfamiliar heat swirling in the pit of his stomach.

"There has to be a way around this!" GV200 softened a little at the desperation in his tone. He'd never thought on that first day, when he'd been assigned to Richard as a joke, that they'd end up like this. That he'd become important to the stoic human. "You're the only partner I've ever wanted to keep." GV200 felt his LED drop to yellow at the confession.

"Hey, back at you Meatballs." Richard let out an amused huff, blue eyes glittering as they filled with unshed tears, prompting him to look up so they didn't fall. "Don't worry about it...Decommission isn't so bad. It's fast, at least, and the GV900 will be a great partner! Especially once you upload all my memories. It'll be like I never left!" GV200 blinked as a hand fisted in his thick blue shirt and pulled him forward. Richard's head bumped his shoulder as he held tighter and rested his free hand on his waist. It was about as close to a hug as he'd ever gotten.

"Don't fucking say that! Don't act like you're not important!" But I'm not...It was amazing how attached some humans could get to inanimate objects. They cried over the smallest things. A lost teddy bear, a broken mug, an old car. Such sentimentality was strange, perhaps even a little endearing. "There has to be something we can do! Fuck, Friday's not enough time!" He couldn't help but wonder if Amanda had planned it that way, though he was sure she'd done it with the best intentions. Take him away quickly, but give him enough time to say goodbye first. There must be a way!

Perhaps he could ask Sixty to hack the DPD database and alter the order, or even just make the decommission papers disappear. It was a nice thought, but how long would something like that take? It would also put him in debt to his more mischievous brother. Not a wise position to be in. Was there anything Connor could do? Then again, with that HK800 android breathing down his neck, he probably wouldn't be able to help. The detective android had already been giving GV200 a little too much scrutiny. Did he have something to do with this? It didn't matter either way. He needed to focus on the problem first. Once GV200 was safely off the decommission list, he could worry about whom to blame.

"I don't see what. I'm a policing model, and with all that confidential information stored up here, I have to be destroyed...Wouldn't want those old records falling into the wrong hands now, would we?" The pout Richard gave him made his overheated chest flutter. It was an odd but not unfamiliar sensation at this point. It was one of those minor malfunctions that he should have seen a technician about ages ago, only he knew he was an old model. Such minor issues were bound to crop up over time and going to a technician could have seen him on the scrap heap a lot sooner. "I'm not even sure I could be retrofitted for new parts. Captain Stern is right when she says I'm old and outdated. My connection ports, bio-components, and shell casing are almost unique at this point. To keep running long term, I'd need to be rebuilt from the ground up!" They both knew it wouldn't really be him if that happened.

If they simply made a new body and copied his memories across, it would be no different to replacing him with the GV900 android. He knew that was the plan. His core data and memory storage would be ripped and uploaded into the new model, giving Richard a partner that's both brand new and familiar. GV200 wasn't entirely against it. Richard's job would be a lot faster and better with the upgraded GV900. They'd work together seamlessly and become a partnership to rival that of Connor and his HK800 android. Despite knowing it was the right choice, GV200 couldn't help the way his chest knotted at the thought that it wouldn't be him. Unaware of GV200's spiralling thoughts, Richard suddenly seemed more hopeful.

"Wait, there may be some compatible models on the market!" Huh? GV200 wasn't sure he was following. He was a policing model from the late 2020s. There was no way he was compatible with other active security models. "I might know someone who can help, but I'd have to get you to her first..." Get me to her? GV200 tilted his head curiously, almost falling against Richard's chest as he grabbed his cheeks and pulled him closer. "Do you trust me, GV?" GV200 wasn't sure he could follow anything with Richard's warm hands cupping his cheeks and their lips barely two inches apart. Their closeness was interfering with his sensors somewhat, making his thirium pump stutter.

"Um-I-yes?" Green eyes widened as soft lips caressed his own in an almost excited press. Moments later, Richard was on his feet and running for the door, blue eyes wide and vibrant. He was moving so fast that GV200 thought he might give himself another asthma attack.

"Go into stasis and wait for me! I'll be back tomorrow!" The door clicked shut as he left, leaving GV200 frozen on his knees, staring at the surface with wide, confused eyes. His insides stuttered as he listened to the retreating steps and raised a hand to his stunned lips. Phcking Meatballs...