Reed stared intently at the screen of his terminal, ignoring the burning fatigue in his eyes. The grainy footage showed the female android, Avery, heading up yet another darkened street. She left her apartment and headed into town...Seems to be a familiar route. She isn't looking around for signs or directions...He occasionally glanced across at Nines, who seemed more focused on him than the video on the screen. Of course, he'd already watched through it and recorded everything. He was mostly waiting for his input so they could share theories.

"Well, she clearly knows the area and where she's going...She feels safe. See how she isn't checking around?" Reed added as he nudged the screen with his pen. Nines nodded as he glanced at the screen, mainly for Reed's benefit. He'd thought the same. Avery was a fairly basic model, built without the advanced sensors of the RK series. She wouldn't be able to scan the area without using her optical processors, like a human. The fact she never turned her head suggested she felt at ease. He couldn't detect anyone following her, either.

I have the next video feed. This is when she enters our catchment zone. Nines began the next feed. This one was clearer, and Reed could make out Avery's neat, brunette ponytail and slim figure. She was dressed nicely, in a short pleated skirt and a strappy top with a small jacket over the top. She walked in high heels, enhancing her shapely legs. She looks like she's ready for a night out...or maybe a job...Reed felt a grim sense of recognition as he watched her enter their catchment zone. She was close to one of the drug drop points, right in the middle of the red-light district.

"Uh-huh..." Reed hummed as he watched her slow and stop on the corner. That explains the lack of friends and family...She's trying to keep a low profile. Probably doesn't want anyone to know what she's up to. She remained standing idly on the corner with her hands in her pockets, waiting and looking around. He zoomed in a little. She didn't have an LED. Interesting...That means most of her clients might not even realise she's an android. Especially if they're not familiar with all the different models.

A car pulled up. Reed tapped the screen wordlessly, and Nines nodded his agreement. He'd already looked at and recorded the licence plate. The car pulled away with Avery inside. Reed couldn't get a good look at the driver in the darkness. Nines fast-forwarded the video by about twenty minutes and the car returned. Avery stepped out, tucking her purse away in her handbag before she waited once more. A few minutes later led to another car, and then another. She had a total of five clients that night, none of whom took her away for very long. She was working there for around four hours when a car pulled up further down the street.

"Shit..." Reed sighed as he watched a grey clad figure climb out the back and head into the alleyway with a rucksack. Seeing potential clients, Avery started to walk towards the car, sashaying her hips. Come on...turn around...walk away...Reed already knew she wasn't going to, but it didn't stop him from wishing. She reached the car and leaned down at the window. Her lips moved as she spoke. "Any idea what she's saying?" Reed asked as he eyed Nines, who remained across from him in his chair.

She is attempting to make a deal for her services...They are uninterested. Gavin nodded and returned his attention to the screen. They watched the third man return. Avery straightened up with a shrug, seemingly unbothered by their rejection. The third man paused as he opened the door, folding his arms and talking to her. There wasn't a clear view of his face. He wore a hood to hide himself as much as possible. Avery seemed cheerful as she gave him her attention. She has revealed herself as an android...He recognised her model from the Eden Club...They changed their minds, and have agreed to her usual rates.

"I take it..." Reed already guessed Nines' answer.

She does not return. This is the last image we have of her directly. The car, however...Nines skipped to a new recording, which followed the car as it drove through the city. It travelled east and left the CCTV footage heading out of town into one of the older warehouse districts. Of course, they wouldn't take her from such an obvious place if they could be traced.

"And the plates?" He could already guess the answer, but chased it up anyway.

Belong to a car that was retired some two years ago. Nines shared Reed's feelings as he watched his jaw tighten in annoyance, though he clearly wasn't surprised at the news. If anything, he'd expected it. Alright, we can count out the car. They probably change plates and models all the time. Reed's leg bounced restlessly as he thought it over. He looked away from the frozen screen, leaning on his desk with his arms folded.

"The original car with those plates...what was its last known location?" He waited as Nines looked up the information on the database. It took him seconds. His LED flashed yellow three times before his silvery eyes blinked and he met Reed's impatient gaze. He could almost see the thoughts ticking over in his head.

Holton's Scrap Incorporated. He anticipated Reed's next request and sent the address to his phone. Reed got to his feet and grabbed his phone. Now? Nines was surprised as he pulled his jacket on and allowed his human to lead the way. Reed turned and walked backwards down the corridor, occasionally looking over his shoulder to make sure he didn't walk into anyone.

"If they got those plates from the yard, chances are they go there regularly...They go in, look through a few vehicles, salvage what they can, and they're good to go. A near endless supply of new cars, all of them low key. If they avoid traffic cops and main streets, they're unlikely to get pulled over. No one's going to know they're using dead plates. We'll head there and look around, check out video feeds, speak to the staff and owners...see what we can shake up." Reed was buzzing with an enthusiasm Nines hadn't seen since he'd started. He finally had a real, tangible lead, and he had a gut feeling to go with it. He felt almost giddy as they entered the lift, bouncing on his heels as he waited to reach the carpark. There was an almost tense anticipation between them as they drove, just about keeping to the speed limits.

At the yard, Nines followed Reed's lead as he left their car parked outside the gates and headed into the small office. He scanned immediately, finding multiple camera feeds recording various parts of the yard. He watched Reed pause and sent a message, blinking moments later as he got a notification. Call Connor and keep him live...I have a feeling. Nines glanced across at him, watching the way his green eyes scanned the area warily. Nines joined him, taking in the burned up grey husk of a car that was still smoking. Three cameras had already turned to watch as they approached.

Nines did as he was told, and Connor answered without missing a beat. Once Nines told him to remain on the line, he automatically set up a GPS connection to ping their location, as well as recording a copy of the call. They kept conversation to a minimum as they shared Nines' eyes to take in everything. Reed knocked on the office door. It was a small wooden hut with a single long window. The metal blinds were pulled down to hide the inside. Reed called out to identify them as the police, pulling his badge as the door was opened.

"Yes, Detective. How can I help?" the kind-looking, silver-haired man asked as he opened the door. Nines scanned him. Tyler Jones. Sixty-nine-years-old. No criminal record. He'd owned the yard for twenty-three years. He seemed honest. Reed gave him his polite business smile as he started going over the details, and Nines did his part by watching his vitals. He was likely surprised, but there was no hint of dishonesty as he greeted them.

"We have reason to believe some plates were removed from a car here. They turned up in a current case we're working on, attached to a new car...My partner, Nines," Reed introduced politely as he waved in his direction. Jones seemed nervous as he noticed him, but that could be put down to the presence of an intimidating android. Nines knew he was built to be imposing, and a lot of the older generation tended to lean towards prejudiced. Jones stammered a little as he looked between the two officers before stepping inside and opening the door invitingly.

"I can't say for certain...People come in and out, buy parts, sell parts, kids hop the fences. You know how it is...I can give you access to my records if you like." Jones motioned to the tall filing cabinets. Reed nodded his appreciation as he handed him a picture of the car and a closeup of the plates. He didn't recognise the plates, but then, there were a lot of them coming in and out. The car he didn't know for sure, but he'd had a model just like it dropped off a few days ago, all burned out.

"We'd like to get your camera feeds for the past few weeks. Is that possible?" Reed asked as he looked out the window to see a couple of younger men in blue overalls milling around outside. He nodded to Nines, who blinked. He saw them. He zoomed in on their features, recording their builds and weights to compare to any footage they had.

"Oh, certainly...The cameras record over the feed every couple of days though. I don't have much memory space in the old hard drives." Jones seemed a little disturbed as Nines drew the skin of his hand back and immediately interfaced with the old computer system. He didn't bother viewing the feed. He wired it straight to Connor so it could be stored on the mainframe, giving him the freedom to focus on more important things. "What-uh-what is it doing?" Jones asked anxiously as he shuffled away from Nines' imposing form.

"Nothing to worry about, Sir. He's just saving the camera feeds so that we can look through them at a later time." Reed rested a hand on the grip of his gun as he waited. The two men outside were still hanging around. They were likely mid-twenties, which gave them maybe a decade on him. He could likely take out one of them if it came to a scrap, but two? One of them was on the phone, anxious eyes shifting to the hut every so often. Reed tried not to make it obvious. He turned his body away from the window and trusted Nines to monitor them.

"Convenient...How much did it set you back?" Jones asked curiously, apparently impressed at Nines' abilities. Reed's brow crease slightly at the question.

"Nines is my partner, Sir. A co-worker. He isn't owned by anyone." Jones seemed unconvinced, but he let the subject drop. Nines remained silent, not bothering to correct either of them. Reed was correct in that most androids were now free, but he wasn't. He did own him. He simply hadn't paid for the privilege. "That car you mentioned. Any chance we could take a look at it?" Reed asked, partly to change the subject and partly to get verbal clearance.

"Oh, absolutely...I'll call Matt in and have him show you...Not as spry as I used to be," Jones replied amicably as he hobbled towards the door. Nines drew his hand back with a nod. Connor had stored the camera feeds and was currently searching through them for their suspects. Reed stood back as Jones headed to the wooden door and pulled it open. "Matty! Come here and meet the detectives...They want to see that burnout that came in a couple days ago!" One of the young men looked up at the call and hurried up to meet them. Matt's stress levels spiked as he looked between Reed and Nines.

"Sure thing, Dad...This way," he added with a nervous smile. His overalls were covered in oil marks and dirt from working on cars and climbing through the yard. Nines' LED flashed yellow as he followed. He didn't want to turn his back on the other male, who seemed agitated as he watched Reed follow his friend. Matt seemed younger. He kept his blonde hair in a scruffy tail with a dirty cap on his head. The other man was taller, a little stockier, with short hair that was shaved so close he almost looked bald. He met Nines' eyes and looked away quickly.

"So, you're Matthew Jones? How long have you been helping your old man?" Reed asked conversationally as he ambled along beside Matt, seemingly oblivious to the second man watching them. Nines was reluctant to leave his back exposed, but he didn't want to let Reed out of his sight, either. He followed grudgingly, tuning his auditory sensors to focus on the man behind. Matt seemed fairly carefree as he responded that he'd been working in the yard since he was big enough to bend over a car. They seemed to have a shared love of cars and mechanics, rattling off terms Nines didn't care to look up.

"This is it...Came in two days ago," Matt said as they stopped by the burned out husk. Nines got to work, scanning and analysing every part he could reach. Burning it had been a good idea. Fingerprints, microfibers, thirium, it would all have been destroyed by the fire. Nines scanned just in case, but there wasn't much hope. "Think you'll find the folks you're looking for?" Reed almost scoffed with confidence. Nines knew it was a bluff, but he allowed him to continue.

"Well, this RK900 is the most advanced android Cyberlife ever developed...Was made to replace human detectives. You know what that means?" His almost conspiratorial tone made Matt nervous. He shook his head warily as Reed leaned in. "It means he can reconstruct a lot of evidence that we humans would find impossible...Take this car for instance...Inside's burned to a crisp. You'd think that would mean there's nothing to find, but with his software, the RK900 can find the tiniest particles and reconstruct it all. If anything was left behind...Prints, hair, blood, this android will find it." Reed was lying shamelessly. Nines said nothing to contradict him as he continued to look at the shell, crouching down to rest a hand against the crumbling metal.

"You're joking, there's no way!" Matt was so confident he almost laughed. Nines had to agree; it was farfetched. Luckily, Reed was on another level when it came to weaving stories and selling details. He also had a damned good poker face, so when he levelled a confident smirk at Matt, he was automatically believed. Matt's brow creased as he looked across at his friend, something Reed didn't miss as he rested a hand on his firearm. Nines tested the humans a little more, letting their vitals lead him as he examined parts of the car. They were especially nervous as he leaned down to examine the rear left seat. He took his time, reaching in and touching the ash before raising his fingers to his lips.

"Oh? I think he found something," Reed murmured as he nodded at Nines. The humans all watched as he licked his blackened fingertips to analyse the soot. He got a broken down makeup of the charred material, but nothing concrete. The humans didn't know that. He levelled his gaze at Reed and nodded, watching his human give him an almost feral grin as he played along. Everything seemed to slow down in the next instant as the two younger humans leapt into action. Reed drew his gun and got off a warning shot at Matt, who threw a small black disc at Nines.

As the black disc reached him, it almost seemed magnetised, which would make sense considering it was designed to lock onto androids. He barely had time to reach up before a shock ran through his systems, knocking him to his knees. This was definitely how they'd immobilised the other androids. He was lucky the RK900 series had been built to withstand much stronger shocks than this. Believing he'd been dealt with, the young men turned their attention to Reed. Nines couldn't move as he watched the second young man level a firearm at him. Reed was too busy wrestling Matt for his own gun to notice. No!

"Gavin!" Nines' voice was laced with static from the constant shock running through his system. Reed looked at him in surprise, but ducked at the warning just as the shot rang out. Nines roared as red splashed the air and splattered the ground. Reed's green eyes were wide as he toppled to his knees. Nines didn't even think as his thirium pump kicked into overdrive. The black disc was torn from his chest and crushed like tinfoil seconds before he launched himself in a blind rage.