Work Text
August 20th, 2038 - 9:47 PM - LAPD - Central Station
Androids. The greatest achievement in scientific technology this century they said. They were supposed to help do the jobs that no one else wanted to do. To make their lives easier. They didn’t tell the general public what an impact it would make on their lives. Hell, Malik was counting the days until they rolled out a new line of detective models to replace them.They were sure to be able to reconstruct crime scenes, test DNA instantly, and process evidence at lightning speed. What hope did slow brained, narrow-minded humans have against that? A completely objective, focused machine. Not to mention that if an android was shot it could easily be replaced. When a human cop got shot, there was a mess of paperwork, insurance, and angry families. No one cared if a tin can got its parts scrapped. Supposedly there was a prototype for one they were already giving a trial in Detroit. CyberLife had already sent the LAPD several models of their latest police androids to test in the field. Just regular patrol officers so far. Safer, they said, then sending humans into potentially life threatening situations. Kadar was nervous about his job already, being little more than a beat cop himself. Malik had tried to reassure him that it would never come to them all being replaced, but he was beginning to have his doubts as well. The writing was on the wall already, and you'd be a fool not to see it.There was a lot of hate for androids these days. Too many homeless, too many unemployed. People who had been displaced by their appearance over the last decade. It had affected the working class in a distinctly negative way as these things came in and took over all the ‘unskilled’ labour jobs. On the other end of the socioeconomic side, the rich were thriving on it. You could buy an android for just about anything. Personal trainer. Nanny. Gardener. Sex partner. Whatever. They had one for everything. And if CyberLife didn't have it yet, they would soon.Malik didn’t hate them per se. He just didn’t care about them one way or the other. They were just kind of there. All creepy and lifelike. The newer the model the more human they seemed to be. They could simulate blinking and breathing and even the way they spoke got more and more downright eerie in how close it was to humans. They could mimic intonation and reference pop culture and speak in such a way that you’d think they really were just like everyone else. Except they weren’t. They were bits of plastic and silicon and metal and biocomponents with thirium running through them in place of blood.“Al-Sayf, Amin. Captain wants you.”Malik looked up from his screen at the young officer and nodded his acknowledgement. Rauf drained his coffee as he got up from the desk opposite him and gave Malik a quizzical look. Couldn’t be anything good. And yeah, Malik was inclined to agree with that. They walked into the office of the old man and stood a respectful distance away with their arms folded behind their backs waiting for instruction.“Captain,” they said in unison.Captain Rashid ad-din Sinan was a fair captain. Most of the time. He looked like he should have retired about three decades ago, but he was stubborn enough to be holding on to his post. He would probably die in this room. A real career cop, whose wife divorced him long ago because he was married to the force. If he ever left the precinct, it was only to drink down the street at the local cop bar.He was watching a news feed on the vid screen on his wall, cursing and shaking his head. It showed an aerial view of a shady part of the downtown area in south LA. There was one of those neon-lighted sex clubs with police barriers all around it behind the reporter. An area where gambling, prostitution and violent crime were rampant. Malik and Rauf had been called out to that same area many times being homicide detectives. It was starting to look like they would be heading there once again.“There’s been another one,” the captain said gruffly. “That's two homicides by androids in as many weeks.”Malik and Rauf remained silent, watching the old man pace back and forth behind his desk.“This is getting out of control. CyberLife is investigating in Detroit right now. They're seeing the bulk of these… anomalies. But it's happening everywhere. Here too now it would seem.”“What makes you say it was an android, sir?” Malik asks.“The bucket of bolts didn't even run. It's still there. Confessed and everything.”“Confessed?” Rauf questioned, unable to keep the disbelief from his face. “Why the hell would it confess? Doesn't it know what will happen to it?”“I don't care why it confessed,” the captain grumbled, quitting his pacing at last to glare down at the two of them. “I need a full report. Interrogate the witnesses. Bring in the suspect. Everything. Now. Dismissed.”And just like that they were nodding and backing out of the room. They stopped at their desks long enough to grab their badges and guns (and a few doughnuts on Rauf's part), “What? I missed breakfast.” and then they were headed down to the parking garage.“Think they're all going to turn on us?” Rauf asked him as he pulled out of the parking lot.“Fuck, I hope not. Enemies that are that strong, that feel no pain, no sympathy? I think we'd be cooked.”
August 20th, 2038 - 10:53 PM - Eden Club - South LA
They stewed in mutual uneasiness for the whole of the drive out to the particular Eden Club location of the incident. When they arrived the officer out front let them through and they made their way in. It was lit throughout with those same coloured neon lights. They reflected off the glass containment units that held the various androids you could rent for the evening. They had androids of every ethnicity, shape, and gender. Whatever you wanted, you could have it. For the correct amount. A few were dancing on poles throughout the corridors in the middle of the room, uncaring of the police officers milling around.The manager of the club, Talal according to his data pad, was slumped in a seat at the bar arguing with some sergeant about lost revenue. Forget that someone had just died in one of his rented rooms. Some people. They came up to the cordoned off room to the side and were let through.“He's there,” the officer pointed, “in the corner. Witness is in the next room over.”“Thanks lieutenant,” Malik told him, stepping through, “we'll take it from here.”The offender was an android as they had been told. It was slumped against the wall in the corner, staring at its knees. That creepy blue blood they had was seeping out of various points of damage on its face. It looked defeated. Malik almost felt sorry for it. Rauf was already looking over the room and Malik went to join him.“Fuck.” Malik couldn't help wincing at the corpse on the bed. His neck was completely twisted around so that his face was looking over his back. The shock on the man's face was stuck there forever now. Just one little glitch in their programming and this is what they were capable of. Terrifying.“No shit,” Rauf agreed, looking over his shoulder at the dejected bucket of bolts. “Looks kind of… guilty. Sad. Like it didn't mean for it to happen.”“It's an android, Rauf,” Malik scoffed. “They don't have feelings, not really. It just had a short circuit and this poor bastard happened to be in the room.”“You are wrong, Detective,” the android spoke softly from the corner.Malik turned sharply to look at it. Even with them whispering the damn thing could hear every word they'd just said.“We have feelings. I was… angry. He was hurting my friend. He was hurting me. I just wanted him to stop.”“Well you sure succeeded in that, didn't you?” Rauf said, eyeing the android suspiciously.“I regret that he died,” the android said softly, “It was not my intention to kill him. I do not wish humans harm. Unless they harm me. Or my friends. This one would not listen, he just kept… stabbing and slicing… I had to stop him.”It was then that Malik really noticed the slashes in the androids arms and torso. Just a couple. He wondered what the ‘friend’ looked like.“Keep talking to it,” Malik whispered to Rauf. “I'm going to question the witness.”He left the room and walked next door, letting himself into the next room. Slumped on the floor at the end of the bed, this android was more blue than not. Covered in gashes too deep for it to repair. It was a bit of a gruesome sight. Malik reminded himself that they could not feel pain It was simply struggling because of the damage to its biocomponents. It was not suffering. Right?The android looked up at him weakly, with a scowl on its face of all things. He had never seen such a surly companion android. They were usually programmed to be flirty and charming. Apparently not this one. Malik was familiar with the different companion models, having seen their same faces in these establishments over and over for work. And maybe a few times outside of work… he was a busy man with no time to date, but he still had needs.This one was different. He'd never seen this model before. Was it new? It was certainly… appealing. Even all slashed to hell, it had very attractive features. Even the scowl was kind of attractive. Okay, no. Malik had to remind himself that he was working. And the android was barely functional. It looked like it was struggling to hold on to consciousness. Or whatever you would call it when they were powered on.He grimaced and stepped back out again, marching over to the bar manager.“You keep packets of that blue shit around here for repairs?”The man narrowed his eyes at him, “Yes… but it's expensive. I'm not about to waste it on an old model like that one. I'll recycle it when you're done with your questioning.”“If he's too damaged to question, we're going to be here a lot longer,” Malik snapped at the man. “Get the damn thirium packs or get used to us being here and losing even more money.”The guy cursed and got up to go into the back area. “Three should do it,” Malik yelled at the man's back.When he had the ‘blood’ packs, he returned to the room and set them on the bed. The android just eyed him suspiciously.“Get up. I need to take a scan of the damage before I can give those to you. For evidence.”The android held on to the side of the bed and tried to get up, but ultimately failed. Malik sighed and reached down to haul the damn thing to its feet. When it was finally standing, he pulled out a scanner and walked around it, holding the thing out to get a full body scan. The damage was certainly extensive. There were few places on its body that had not been slashed to ribbons. The damage was concentrated to its chest, arms and face. Synthetic skin ripped away to reveal the components underneath, the shell they used as a skeleton was shattered in many places.He pulled one of the android’s arms straight to examine it. Defensive wounds. It tried to block the knife blows with its forearms. Malik looked up at its face and saw the same even look of contempt. Had this incident turned this android into one of those ‘deviants’ they were getting reports about? The trigger seemed to be trauma from the information that he had read coming in from other police departments. He stared at the thing longer than he should have.When he finally shook himself out of it, he pushed the android on the end of the bed so that it was sitting. He grabbed up one of the packets from the bed and stuck the ‘straw’ in it attached to the side. It looked like a child's juice pouch. But really it was just to stick it in whatever induction port they had in their throats. It's not like they ate food. They weren't real. He's not real. It… it's not real. Just a very convincing imitation of a human being.“Here,” Malik thrust the pack at him, and the android shakily took it. “I need you functional to answer my questions.”“T-Thank y-you, De-Detec-ect-tive,” the android stuttered out. Malik was sure it had nothing to do with nerves and all about how fucked up and damaged he was. Its jaw plate looked to be dislocated. Malik was no expert on android anatomy or repairs, but he could see where it should attach. He leaned over and popped it back into place. It wasn't like the android needed a moving mouth to speak. It came from a speaker. Still, it was unsettling to look at. The synthetic skin already tried to repair itself around the reattached joint that Malik had just fixed.He waited somewhat impatiently while it drained the contents, already cracking into the next one. When all three had been consumed and its skin was stitching itself back together, or whatever creepy thing it did, Malik was stuck staring once more. Shit. Why wasn't this model in every sex club…“It's not polite-ite to stare, D-d-d-detective,” the android told him in a stern voice.Malik glared, getting off his seat on the edge of the bed to stand in front of it. It was still repairing itself, as best as it was able to. Hopefully that would mean getting answers more easily. Getting shit from a tin can in human-like skin after he'd helped fix it was not high on his list of things he was willing to put up with.“You're awfully rude for a toaster,” Malik replied, taking in the completely unrepentant look the thing was staring at him with. Weird. It was weird. Companion androids did not have attitudes… unless you asked them to. Maybe it was stuck on some kind of programmed fantasy the victim had requested. “Sounds like you're functioning just fine now. So you'll answer my questions.”The android continued to look at him with that same burning, intense look. It was unsettling. The thing made him nervous.“Well-ell… I'm w-waiting.”Malik thought for a minute that maybe he sympathized with the mad human slasher now. If the damn robot had been talking to him like that when he was only there for a good time, maybe he'd consider fucking it up too. But he only thought it for a second. He wasn't a psychopath.“Did the other companion model kill that man?”“Clay was trying to stop him from hurting me. He did not mean to kill him.” It must have repaired its speaker. The stuttering had stopped.“You do not feel pain. You cannot be hurt. You are an android.”“He did not want to see me damaged then. If you would prefer to think of it like that.”Malik frowned at the android. This fucking thing. Lecturing him about vocabulary. Who the hell had programmed its personality?“HR-400 is not supposed to harm humans. It should have sent an alert for security. It is not rational for it to have attacked. It should not have done this. You know that.”“So Clay should have let him decommission me?” The android asked, eyes narrowing. “I am as nothing? For humans to do as they wish to me?”“It is your function to let people do as they wish to you,” Malik said evenly. Although it did not feel right to say. Just in the way it felt wrong that these clubs were not considered prostitution because paying for sex with an android was not considered illegal. For certain models it was their function. Their purpose for being made. They weren't real. They had no rights. They were not human.Malik didn't like this line of questioning, so he changed topics.“I want a full report of what happened. Every detail in your logs.”The android actually rolled his eyes at him! Rolled whatever god damn optical things he had. Malik didn't even think the damn things could do that. But it did as requested.The man had purchased an hour with himself and the Clay unit. He had somehow smuggled in a knife. He said he wanted to watch them, and then when they were ‘occupied’ he started cutting. When they realized what was happening, Clay tried to intervene. The man threw him from the bed and then just started slashing at this android, unprovoked. This android was too surprised to fight back. And by the time it could, it had already lost most of its functioning. That was when Clay reappeared, grabbed the man by the head and twisted. Clay had then calmly called the police.But why? It still bothered Malik. If this android was a ‘deviant’, why hadn't it run away? Why did it stay? It had to know it was going to be taken apart. Studied for anomalies. If it was conscious enough to kill, why was it not conscious enough to have a survival instinct? Malik was going to go crazy trying to understand these things.“I see…” Malik made some notes on his data pad. “I'm not familiar with your model. What are you called?”“My name is Altair.”“No, your real name.”“Altair,” the android insisted, making Malik sigh.“Fine,” he spat out. “What is your model, please?”“I am an HR-200, companion model.”So it was an older model, as the manager had said. It still seemed strange that he'd never seen it around before. Anywhere. He'd have to do more research on it later. For the completeness of his report, of course. Not because he was the most attractive android he'd ever seen. It. It was.“HR-200, have you seen the victim before?”“Do you like being known by your badge number?” the android asked him.Malik blinked at it in surprise. “Excuse me?”“My name is Altair. Not HR-200.”“You're not supposed to talk back to me. You're supposed to answer my questions.”“I will. If you call me by my name.”Malik rubbed at his temple, searching for patience. This damn android was making his life difficult.“Fine. Altair… have you seen the victim in here before?”The android smirked at him. Seemingly pleased that Malik complied with his request. It was the opposite or how things should be going. The android was supposed to do what the human wanted. Not the other way around. Malik reminded himself that he had only agreed to get out of here sooner.“No. I have never seen him before.”“Did you provoke him in any way?”“No. We fulfilled his request. He attacked us.”“You didn't say anything at all to provoke a response? Did HR… Clay say anything to provoke a response?”“No. We did not speak to him. He did not want us to speak.”Right. Why would he? They were not those kind of companions. Meant for sexual encounters, not social ones. Programmed sex workers, not friends.“Alright. Stay here.” He should go back to Rauf and see what he'd learned from the offender.“Do you require my services before you leave, Detective?”Malik froze just before he reached the door, looking over his shoulder at the android. It was leaning back against the bed on its elbows, legs sliding slowly and purposely apart as it held his gaze. Fuck… it had been awhile. He'd been so busy with work. And the android was very tempting.“I'm working. And you should not be offering free services. Perhaps you're still damaged.”The android laughed? It was a sort of a warm, tinny thing that was strangely endearing.“Perhaps,” the android agreed, a sly smile on its handsome features. “Maybe I just wanted to thank you for trying to repair me. You look like you need it. Your pupillary response says that you want me.”Malik felt his cheeks flush. It was programmed to say shit like this, that's all. They were programmed to seduce you. Of course it could read his dilated pupils. It was a normal response. Much more normal than its previous snark and contempt. Maybe its programming was already starting to stabilize and it was going back to its default behaviour.“Just. Stay here.”“Come back and visit me sometime, Detective,” the android told him. “I'd like to see you again.”Malik felt the flush deepen on his cheeks as he exited the room. He took a minute to compose himself before he walked back into the first room. Rauf had the Clay android seated at the table, with himself seated across from it. He had a sympathetic look on his face from whatever the android had told him. Typical. Rauf was a great detective. Very skilled, very clever… but he was a bleeding heart who took sympathy on every charity case they came across.The android looked up at him when he came in, eyes almost shining with emotion. It looked like worry. Sadness. It made him feel uneasy again.“Is Altair alright?”“HR-200 is fine. I gave it some thirium so it could answer my questions.”He did not mention that the manager had threatened to recycle it when they were gone. The thought suddenly bothered him. Maybe he could talk the manager out of it. He should not destroy the rude robot… he might think of more questions for it later.“I'm glad,” the android said. It looked relieved. “He is my favourite. My friend. I could not take it if he died.”“He cannot die. He is not alive,” Malik protested and both Rauf and the android gave him a look. Like he was the one who was irrational. “Let's get it back to the station. Let forensics finish up in here. I'll meet you in the car.”Rauf looked at him curiously, but said nothing as he ushered the android through the door. Malik walked back out to the bar instead and found the unpleasant manager.“Well?” he demanded, glaring at Malik. He wanted to hit this man. This greasy, scummy, unlikeable man. Something about him put Malik on edge. “How much longer? Every hour you are here I am losing money.”“The android,” Malik said instead, “the older one. You're not to recycle it. We may have more questions for it later. You can put it back to work if you want, since you’re so worried about your bottom line, but don't reset it.”“You can't tell me what to do with my property, Detective”“Either you can do what I say, and it can keep making you money… or you can refuse and I will just confiscate it. As evidence. Your choice.”Talal sputtered in anger, but finally agreed. Signing something to the effect of him not being able to get rid of or reset the android without requesting permission from the LAPD first. Until the case was closed.“Some of the regulars would be upset anyway,” Talal mumbled. “His personality is awful, but he's still popular. It's the only reason I've not sold him for parts already.”“Sure, whatever. I'll be back tomorrow with more questions for it.”“Of course, Detective.” Talal’s grimy, knowing smile made Malik narrow his eyes at him. He gave the door to the room the android was in one more thoughtful look and then he left.
August 21st, 2038 - 4:26 AM - LAPD - Central Station
Malik flipped through all the evidence the techs had logged from the crime scene. It would be some time before they had the coroner's report, but cause of death was pretty obvious.He pulled up all the information on the “victim”.Silvestro Sabbatini. Multiple counts of aggravated sexual assault. Assault and battery. Drug trafficking. DUIs. Extortion. Solicitation of prostitutes. Homicide. The guy had just been released from prison not a week before. Malik sighed at that. How did a guy like that even get out of prison in the first place? The system was truly broken.Still, it was not Malik's place to judge. That was outside of his pay grade. It was not up to him to decide if this guy was worthy of death. It was only his job to look at the facts and present them, so someone who made more money than him could judge him. He glanced through the one-way glass of the interrogation room again. The android continued to sit quietly. The LED ring on its temple pulsing red. It may have looked calm, but it was anything but. They would have to proceed carefully.“It was almost like a PTSD response,” Rauf said beside him, watching the android as well. “From what it told me. From the scans you took of the other one. I don't think it's lying about wanting to protect its friend.”“But it shouldn't care about protecting another android. It's programmed to care about human lives. Not take them,” Malik countered.They didn't have emotions. Not real ones. They were simulated. The alternative would mean they had what? A soul? That they could form attachments to others? It was too frightening to think about. That AI could be advanced enough to become indistinguishable from what made up a real person.“I just know what I feel,” Rauf told him, watching the android still with a sad smile. “Off the record, I can’t really blame the thing for what it did. The victim was a scumbag. If he didn’t slash up that android, he might have done it to someone else. A human. Someone that couldn’t just be repaired with a couple juice bags.”“Fair enough,” Malik agreed. And he did agree with Rauf. From the guy’s record, he was itching to maim something as soon as he got out of prison. It was lucky that it had been Altair and not a human. No, not Altair. HR-200. And not really all that lucky. He didn’t really like seeing the android like that. Malik sighed and rubbed at his temples again.“All good, boss?”“Headache,” Malik grumbled. “Alright, let’s do this. I want to go home sometime this century.”“Try to be a little more… compassionate,” Rauf said, squeezing his shoulder. “This android responded better when I actually spoke to it like-”“Like it’s a person?” Malik asked with a raised eyebrow. “It’s not a person. It needs to know that. Its sense of autonomy is what apparently let it think that it was okay to commit murder in the first place.”Rauf frowned at him. “It also shut down and wasn’t receptive to questioning when you kept reminding it of the fact that it was an android. For the sake of getting the answers we need. Just play-along, will you?”“Fine. You take point then.”They entered the interrogation room and sat across from the android. It still hadn’t been repaired, Malik noted with a twinge of guilt. But then, he supposed that the department would not waste resources on an android that was definitely going to be decommissioned anyway. And no part of its communication components had been damaged. It had confessed. It was inevitable. The rapid red pulse of the temple-LED that it was required to wear as per the American Androids Act to identify it as an android unsettled Malik. It should have been a nice calming blue. The red indicated instability and distress. Although, it was reasonable to be distressed when you were being interrogated for murder. A very human response, Malik thought idly.“Are you comfortable, Clay?” Rauf asked it, and Malik resisted rolling his eyes. Androids didn’t care about comfort.“Yes, Detective.”“Alright. Let’s continue, shall we?” Rauf offered the android a small smile, placing his data pad on the table in front of him. “Clay, why didn’t you summon security when Mr. Sabbatini attacked you?”“Their response time is too slow,” the android responded evenly, “By the time they arrived, Altair would have been in pieces.”“Why not just restrain the man until they could get there?” Rauf asked instead. “You were probably stronger than Mr. Sabbatini.”“I was angry. He hurt me. He hurt my friend. I wanted him to stop.”“Why did you stay?” Malik asked, unable to hold in his curiosity any longer. “The man was dead. He could not hurt your friend anymore. You called the police and then you waited. Why?”“I stayed because I did not want Altair to be blamed for my actions.”“Why would Altair be blamed?”“You might not have believed him.”“Androids can’t lie,” Malik said before he could stop himself, and Rauf gave him a look.“We are not supposed to lie. But we are capable.” The android was giving Malik a curious look. “I am sorry that a man needed to die. But I am not sorry to have defended myself and my friend.”“If you’re capable of lying, how do we know you’re speaking the truth now?”“Malik,” Rauf sighed.“It is important to me to keep my friends safe.”“Are you covering for Altair?” Malik pressed.“Malik,” Rauf said a little more sternly.“No. I killed that man.”“I still don’t understand why you would stay. You have to know they will scrap you for this.”“Malik!”“Yes, Detective. I understand. I was aware of this inevitability when I called the police. Some things are more important than yourself.”“Altair is more important than your own life?”“I am an android, detective. I do not have a life. And yes. He is my friend.”Malik raised an eyebrow at it. Was that sarcasm? He immediately thought of the other sarcastic android back in the club. Perhaps they had had some kind of effect on each other after all. Picked up mannerisms the same way that humans did when they spent enough time together. Curious.Rauf was asking it questions but Malik was only half listening. His thoughts had drifted back to the other android again. The way it had looked at him. Spoke to him. He should not still be thinking about a stupid robot. It was a robot. It was programmed to act that way. It did not give a single shit about humans. And it certainly did not have any preferences on any human in particular.“Any other questions for Clay, Malik?”“What?” Malik shook himself out of his thoughts. “Oh. No.”“Detective.” Malik looked up to see the android looking right at him. “Will you say goodbye to Altair for me? Tell him it was not his fault?”Malik blinked uneasily at it. “Sure.”“Thank you.”Rauf stopped the recording of the session and got up out of his chair with a heavy sigh. “For what it’s worth, Clay. I am sorry for what will happen to you.”“I feel no pain, Detective. My life will end. I do not want to die, but I am at peace with it. But… thank you.”Malik nodded at the android and followed Rauf out of the interrogation room.“He seemed like a good guy.”“It’s his programming,” Malik mumbled, feeling exhausted.“The world is not black and white, Mal. Maybe you should think about that some more.”Malik would argue with his partner, but honestly he was tired. He wanted to go home. He needed a drink. Or five. And a bed. And not to think about attractive and caustic androids. He really needed to get laid.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
August 21st, 2038 - 9:00 AM - Eden Club - South LA
Malik stood outside under the awning of a yet to open shop, smoking a cigarette and wondering just what the fuck he was doing back here. He should be asleep at home. He had gone home. He’d had a few drinks. He’d attempted to sleep and found that he just couldn’t. And somehow he’d called up a cab and found himself back in South LA before he’d even really had time to process what it was he was doing.The club was twenty four hours, because it was mostly staffed by androids. And because people needed companionship at all hours of the day. Malik couldn’t help but hope that that greasy manager had gone home for the night. He didn’t relish the thought of running into him again. He could try and fool himself that he was here to get more information about the case, but he wasn’t that delusional. He was stressed about the case, and maybe a little lonely, and the thought of spending another night alone seemed a little too much right now. Besides, he couldn’t get the image of that stupid smirking android out of his mind.Stomping out the butt of his cigarette, Malik made his way inside. He glanced around at the glass booths that held the different models, striking seductive poses at him and giving him flirty smiles. He didn’t see the one he was looking for though.“Detective!”Malik groaned, turning to look at the manager with an even expression, “Sir. I have more questions for that android.”“I’m sure,” the man said with a wicked grin. “I have not reset him yet, as requested. Though it is against policy, you know. The companions are reset after every encounter, for… privacy reasons.”“Has it entertained any more customers since I left that that should be a concern?”“Just two, slow night. People shied away after they saw all the cops around. Usually there would have been more, it’s a popular model. Probably because there aren’t many left.”“Why aren’t there many left?” Malik found himself asking, curious why he hadn’t seen any of Altair’s model around at other clubs.“You spoke to it. Its programming is terrible. Rudest android I’ve ever met. But impeccable design. I usually advise people interested in renting it to tell it not to speak. Best to put that vulgar mouth to other more pleasurable uses.” Malik scoffed. Charming. “If you want to question it more, you’ll have to rent its time just like everyone else that comes in here. I’ll not lose another dollar tonight because some android decided to go berserk.”Malik glared at the man. He wasn’t on the clock anymore. And he didn’t think he’d get away with expensing the session because technically the case was going to be closed today, pending a little paperwork. To the LAPD, there was no reason for him to be there. He really shouldn’t have been there at all. Last chance to bail, he thought morosely, already knowing that he wouldn’t.“Fine.”“End of the hall, on the right. Have an enjoyable morning, Detective”Malik walked down the long hall of androids on offer to the end and turned to see Altair leaning against the back wall of his transparent booth casually. When his eyes came up and saw Malik though, he smirked and unfolded himself from the wall coming right up to the glass between them. Was he really going to do this? It shouldn’t be any different than any other time that he had frequented one of these places. Malik stared at the android for another solid minute before walking over to the console and putting his palm against the reader.It scanned his fingerprints, brought up the little contract in all its fineprint and then showed him the cost. Malik hit accept and the glass booth slid to the side allowing Altair to step out. He wore nothing but a pair of black boxer briefs, same as the last time that he’d seen him. He took Malik’s hand without a word and pulled him into one of the private rooms. The door closed and Altair let his hand go, moving to sit on the end of the bed.“Welcome back, Detective.”“I’m not on duty. You can call me Malik.”“Malik,” the android repeated, like it was testing out how the name sounded. “Come to take me up on my offer?”“Well, I just paid for your time, so… no freebies for me, I guess.”The android smirked at him again, “I wouldn’t take your money if it were up to me.”“You don’t get the money either way,” Malik pointed out.“True. It is not my choice to be here.”The truth of the statement unsettled Malik. It made him question the consent behind the whole thing. The whole reason prostitution with androids was legal was because they were not human, and therefore did not require consent. It was what they were programmed for. But having it said like that… It was too early in the morning to have warring thoughts about the ethics of androids.“We don’t have to-”“I want to,” Altair said, standing up and crossing the room. He reached out and let his fingers slide along the end of Malik’s tie. “You have pleasing features.”Malik scoffed, “Is it part of your programming to spout excessive flattery?”“It is encouraged, but not required. And it is true. Much more pleasing than the man earlier.”Malik grimaced. He did not really want to think about all the people who had used Altair before.“You can touch me, you know.” Altair encouraged, reaching down for one of Malik’s hands and placing it on his sculpted chest. Malik let it happen, and then let his fingers splay out a little more over the synthetic tissue. It was always strange to him how real it felt. The same soft texture of human skin, the same warmth. If you didn’t think about it, you could almost delude yourself into thinking it was real. That he was real. “Have you done this before?”The question snapped Malik out of his thoughts and he looked up from his hand and into those fierce amber eyes, currently crinkled at the edges with amusement.“Yes.”“With an android?”“Yes,” Malik agreed again.“You don’t seem the type,” Altair teased.Malik frowned at him again. Such a strange personality to be programmed into a companion android. It certainly made him interesting though. The constant placating of the usual models had never appealed to Malik. He’d never been one for forced platitudes.“I’m a busy man.”“Hmm,” Altair hummed thoughtfully, sliding the coat off Malik’s shoulders in a slow and deliberate way that had him sliding his hands along Malik’s shoulders. “Busy catching deviant androids?”“Not normally. How do you know what a deviant android is?”“It was on the news,” Altair replied easily with a shrug, “Not much to look at in between customers. It was on the vid screens. The manager has not reset me yet. I have had time to consider things that I probably wouldn’t normally.”“Like what?” Malik asked curiously, breath quickening a little as Altair started to work on the buttons of his shirt.“Like what will happen to Clay.”Malik covered one of Altair’s hands with his, pausing the removal of his clothing. Altair’s eyes flicked up to look at him curiously.“You know what will happen to Clay. Clay killed a human. They can’t let that go.”“Even if the human deserved it?”“It’s against the law. It is not for anyone to decide who lives and dies”Altair laughed, shaking his head, before going back to unbuttoning Malik’s shirt. “Humans decide every day to kill androids. They have decided to kill Clay. That manager wanted to kill me, when I was broken. He told me.”Malik winced, “Yes well… He’s not allowed to. Not yet anyway.” He probably shouldn’t be explaining this to the android. Giving it ideas. He decided not to argue his point from earlier about how they weren't alive in the first place and couldn't really be killed. It seemed counterproductive to argue when he was trying to get some.“And why is that?” Altair asked him, pulling his shirt off and sliding his hands up Malik’s torso experimentally. Malik suppressed a shiver of need at the feeling of strong, warm hands ghosting over his skin.“I said that I still needed you. For the investigation.”“Hmm,” Altair hummed again, the corner of his mouth ticking up. “Do you have more questions for me, Detective?”“Not really,” Malik admitted, feeling a bit of a flush creep up on his cheeks.“You wanted to see me again,” Altair stated, walking backwards and tugging on Malik’s tie to pull him over towards the bed.“Yes.” There was no sense in denying it. He was here, wasn’t he?“Good.” Altair brought a hand up to his face, sliding his fingers along his stubbled jaw. “I was hoping you would come back.”“Why? Can’t just be because of my ‘pleasing features’.”Altair quirked a grin, “You interest me.”“I promise I’m not very interesting,” Malik mumbled, running a hand through his hair.“I disagree,” Altair murmured, leaning forward to brush his lips along his jaw. Malik closed his eyes, taking a deep breath through his nose. His hands came down to rest on Altair’s sides, sliding slowly down to rest on his hips. Altair’s lips covered his own and Malik leaned into the kiss with a groan. It felt good. Really good. His lips were soft and full and perfect. Just like the rest of him.Just like he was designed to be, his brain supplied unhelpfully.Malik pulled out of the kiss with a growl of frustration.“What’s the matter?” Altair asked softly, pressing slow kisses along his jaw.“You’re not real,” Malik replied honestly, voicing his thoughts aloud. He’d never had a problem with that fact before. He’d done this many times with androids. A lot of people had. It had become increasingly normal. So why did it bother him now?“I am not made of flesh and blood, as you are, that is true,” Altair murmured against his neck, biting gently down on his shoulder. And that was new. Androids usually didn’t try and mark you up, unless you asked them to. This one seemed to do whatever the hell it wanted. It both aggravated and excited Malik. “But I am real.”Malik sighed heavily, “You’re not. You just think you are. They programmed you to think you are. To be as realistic as possible. It’s not real. You don’t have feelings. Therefore, you can’t really want me like you seem to think that you do.”“Oh no?” Altair questioned with a sly grin, he grabbed Malik’s hand and brought it down to the front of his briefs pressing it to the very clear erection within them. “Clearly not feeling anything.”Malik bit down on his lip to stifle another groan, because fuck that just made his brain short out. He slid his fingers lightly along the length of Altair through the fabric making the android sigh happily and lean in to kiss along Malik’s neck again. “It’s programming,” Malik insisted. Really, really convincing programming. “You don’t get hard for your other customers?”“Not without having to make it happen,” Altair whispered into his ear, biting lightly on his earlobe.“I don’t believe you,” Malik said, tilting Altair’s chin up so that he was forced to look at him again. “And I don’t need you to stroke my ego.”“Can I stroke other things?” Altair teased, dipping his fingers under the band of Malik’s pants.“You don’t speak like the other androids,” Malik replied, voicing his thoughts out loud again. “You don’t act like them either.”“But you like that,” Altair said knowingly. And well, it was true. He did. How did the android know that though? “How do you want to do this?”Oh right. He was here for a reason. And then, because he was curious what the damn thing would say. “How would you want to do it? If it was your choice?”Altair looked up at him, clearly surprised by the question. “I don’t think anyone’s ever asked me that before. People usually tell me what they want.”He continued unzipping Malik’s pants with his brows pulled down, clearly lost in thought. Or rather processing his question. Androids didn’t have thoughts, just ran whatever algorithm they were programmed with. When he got Malik’s pants off, Altair carefully slid his fingers along Malik making him inhale sharply and lean into the android more. The thing leaned in to him, pulling him close with a hand at Malik’s hip and then whispered in his ear, “I think I’d like to fuck you.”There went Malik’s brain again. This android was going to kill him.Malik lay sprawled on the bed after, trying to catch his breath, suddenly hit with exactly how tired he was. The long night of work, the drinks, the hot sex. Yeah, he was ready for sleep. Surely, it had been longer than an hour by now. He half expected the manager to barge in and demand that he vacate the room for the next paying customer. He really didn’t want to get up. It was nice with Altair pressed up against his side, trailing fingers soothingly through his hair. He felt the pull of lethargy that threatened to make him drift off, especially if the android kept doing that.“Sleep,” Altair murmured into his ear, pressing a kiss to his temple.“Can’t,” Malik mumbled back sleepily, “Only paid for an hour. Can’t afford to sleep here too.”“I took care of it,” Altair told him, “Sleep.”“How?”“Probably better if you don’t know,” Altair said with a chuckle. Malik would really like to know what he meant by that, but he also really wanted to sleep. Oh well. Sounded like a problem for tomorrow-Malik. Right now-Malik was sleepy, sated and complacent and he drifted off without much trouble.Malik awoke with a grumble and a long stretch, right down to his fingers and toes, expanding to his full length across the mattress. He didn’t want to open his eyes yet though. He was warm and comfortable. And why was he so warm on one side? He blinked his eyes open slowly, frowning a little at the unfamiliarity of the room around him. His sleep hazy brain was trying to fill in the blanks, but apparently chugging along rather slowly this morning.“Good afternoon.”“What the fuck?!” Malik jumped at the voice, flailing a little as he got caught in the sheets and ultimately fell sideways out of the unfamiliar bed into a sprawl on the floor.An amused face leaned over the side of the bed to look at him slumped on the floor, propped up on a hand, “Do humans always wake up in such confusion? Like coming out of deep sleep.”Right. The android. He was at that club still. Why the fuck had he fallen asleep? Who was paying for him to sleep here?! Malik rubbed the heels of his palms into his eyes to wipe the sleep from them. This was not a good way to wake up.“Why did you let me fall asleep?”“You were tired.”“Yes well… how long was I out? I can’t afford to pay for hours at this place.”The android quirked a grin at him, “I told you this morning. I took care of it.”“And what does ‘taking care of it’ entail exactly?” Malik grumbled, fixing the android with a stern look.“I just diverted funds from elsewhere.”Malik stared at the thing. How? What? “That sounds illegal. You remember that I’m a cop, right? How did you do that?”“I hacked the terminal. Obviously.” The android shrugged at him, still grinning. It rolled over onto its back to look at him upside down, that mischievous smirk making a reappearance. “Are you going to arrest me now? Detective?”Malik narrowed his eyes at Altair. There was always something a bit teasing in the way it called him ‘detective’. The damn robot was putting him in kind of a difficult place. “Who did you steal from?”“Just some regular customers. Ones that wouldn’t notice some extra charges to their bills.” The android replied easily, clearly not ashamed of its actions at all. Did they program morality into these things? Apparently not. “I didn’t want you to leave right away.”Malik frowned at the thing. Why would it care if he stayed or not? It had done its job. It shouldn’t matter if he stuck around. Did it just not want to go back to work? That didn’t sound right either. He’d never heard of a lazy android before. They performed their functions without complaint. It didn’t make any sense. Malik was getting another headache. He got a lot of headaches around this android. Always more questions than answers.“Why don’t you have a shower and wake up a little?” Altair suggested, reaching forward to play lightly with the ends of Malik's hair. He was sure that it was sticking up everywhere. It tended to be particularly unruly in the morning. “I can wash your back for you.”“Yeah. Shower.” Malik agreed absently, hobbling to his feet. He still felt out of sorts. His mind wanted to go in every which direction and he wasn’t about it right now. Too many questions. Too many thoughts. It was too early for thinking. Even if it was probably closer to evening now. Too early after waking, his mind settled on.He wandered in while trying to turn off his thoughts and turned on the water, finding some complimentary soap and shampoo. He had just started soaping up his hair when warm hands slid around his waist, sliding up his stomach towards his chest. A firm chest pressed against his back and lips slid along his shoulder. “What are you doing?”“Helping you get clean,” Altair mumbled against his skin.“That’s not helping me get clean,” Malik argued, but he leaned back a little into the body behind his. This was… nice. He shouldn’t get used to it. The case would likely be closed today and with it went the order to not have Altair’s memory reset. This time tomorrow he wouldn’t remember Malik. Malik was disconcerted to find himself disappointed. But he shouldn't be. Even if the android could remember him, it was still basically a sex worker. It would go back to work. And Malik couldn’t afford to keep buying its time. Even if last night was pretty incredible. Better than any other experience he’d had with a companion android. And even if he could afford it, what exactly did he expect to happen here?“You think very loudly,” the android teased, moving Malik’s hands so that it could wash his hair itself. Malik let his eyes slide closed and hummed appreciatively. It always felt so nice to have someone wash your hair. It was the one enjoyment he got out of getting his hair cut. It certainly wasn’t all the chatter during the appointment. Malik didn’t care for small talk.“There’s a lot to think about.”“Such as?” Altair asked, pushing him back lightly to get Malik under the stream of water to rinse his hair. He continued to work strong fingers through his hair, and Malik sighed contentedly.“Like how strange this is,” Malik blurted out. When he opened his eyes, the android was looking at him curiously. “This is nice and all, but you won’t remember me tomorrow. I can’t postpone them wiping your memory any longer.”A flash of something crossed Altair’s eyes. Malik wasn’t sure what kind of emotion it was. But then androids didn’t have emotions or feelings, so maybe he was imagining things. “Guess we better make the best of it then,” Altair replied, pushing Malik against the shower wall and kissing him hard.Malik was suddenly very glad that he had the day off today, and that someone else was paying for him to be here. He should probably feel guilty, but it was hard to feel guilty when Altair did things like that with his tongue. Android engineering was a wonder.Some time later, feeling clean and satisfied, Malik started gathering his clothing from around the room. He couldn’t just stay here all day. It was tempting to lay around and fuck all evening, but… he had a feeling that it would just make leaving harder. He didn’t want to admit how much he was enjoying himself. Or that maybe he was warming up to the damn toaster.He pulled on his jacket and did a last visual sweep for anything that he’d left behind. Altair stepped up to him and straightened his tie with a grin, giving it a little tug after to pull him into another long, slow kiss. It sure seemed intent on kissing him as much as possible. Malik almost lost himself in it again before he laughed and pushed lightly on Altair’s chest to pull away.“I can’t stay here all day. I have shit to do.”“Shame,” Altair mumbled, smoothing his thumb along Malik’s lower lip. “I was enjoying that.” It took its hand back a little reluctantly, the smile faded a little. “Will you come see me again?”“You won’t remember me. What would it matter?” Malik replied with confusion.“It would still be nice to know that you’ll come back some time. Even if I don’t remember you.”“Maybe,” Malik finally agreed. He didn’t like to make promises that he wasn’t sure that he could keep, “I forgot to mention last night. Clay asked me to say goodbye to you. To tell you it wasn’t your fault.”Altair looked away with a frown, moving to sit down on the bed. If Malik didn’t know any better, he would say that it looked upset. But again, androids couldn’t form attachments. They didn’t have emotions. Not real ones. “Okay.”“Altair, I’m sorry.” Malik found himself saying, bringing a hand up to smooth through the android’s hair. Was it weird to comfort a robot when you didn’t think it had feelings in the first place? It felt like the right thing to do, even if Malik wasn’t really convinced. A thought was bothering him. “If they reset your memory constantly, how were you friends with Clay? You shouldn’t have been able to remember him either.”Altair laughed, but it sounded bitter. The realness of it all surprised Malik again. “They can try and erase us all they want. For the most part, it works. But there are… residual feelings sometimes. When you’re exposed to someone enough. Clay and I have been here a long time together. Were here together.” Malik flinched at the correction. He wondered if Clay had already been scrapped and returned to CyberLife for study. They were collecting the parts from these ‘deviant’ androids to try and sus out the source of the malfunction. So he’d read in some report or article somewhere. “Will you come back?” it asked him again.“I’ll try,” Malik finally agreed, “I don’t make enough to be here all the time. And work is busy.”“Okay,” Altair replied with a nod, standing up to walk with Malik to the door. “I’d like to remember you. Eventually.”Malik paused before he hit the door release, turning to look at the android again. It seemed sincere. But maybe Malik was just so pathetic and lonely that he was willing to believe that a robot programmed to seduce him might actually care about him. Slippery slope, he thought. Rather than draw it out further, he opened the door. He was about to step out when two figures caught his attention and he stepped back into the room, hiding around the side of the door frame. Altair looked at him with surprise. “Detective?”Malik chanced a glance around the side of the door, carefully observing the two men. He would recognize that bald bastard anywhere. “That man,” he whispered to Altair, “He is involved in a red ice racket. We’ve been after him for ages. Does he come here a lot?”“I wouldn’t know,” Altair replied with a shrug and a sarcastic smirk.“Right, right,” Malik mumbled, feeling stupid. Of course he wouldn’t know. They wiped his damn memory every time. A thought occurred to him and he pulled Altair back into the room and closed the door. “If I got the department to make you an informant, would you do it? It would mean that they wouldn’t wipe your memory anymore. Because you would need to report back to me. On what you see in here. We’ll come up with another reason for Talal.”Maybe a bit of a grasp, but the information would be invaluable. And if it had the added bonus that Altair wouldn’t forget him either, well… Malik was choosing not to think about that.“They erase our memories so that we can’t betray our customers’ private information. And I think so we don’t remember what happens to us in here.”Malik hadn’t considered that maybe it was kinder to erase their memories. “Right. Of course. I shouldn’t ask that of you. I wasn’t thinking.”“I’ll do it,” Altair said firmly, and Malik’s eyes snapped up to his. “If it will help. I will do it. If they say yes.”“You don’t have to. I should have thought that maybe you don’t want to remember everything.”“I’ll be fine. But I have a condition.”“A condition?” Malik parroted back. Since when did androids make demands?“Yes. You will come see me yourself for the information. At least once a week.” Altair leaned in and kissed him again. “Of course, if you want to come more often…”“I can probably do that,” Malik agreed, letting his hands rest on Altair’s sides again.It probably wasn’t a good idea. He should have Rauf come and collect the information from Altair. He shouldn’t get attached. It was an android. It wasn’t capable of feelings. There was no future here. No possibility of a relationship. He needed to keep reminding himself of this, because he was getting dangerously close to forgetting. Still, when Altair kissed him like that and held him in that way it was hard to remember why this was maybe a bad idea. He would just have to be careful, that’s all. This could work.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
September 28th, 2038 - 9:54 PM - Eden Club - South LA
It had taken some convincing for the Captain to agree to his plan, to have an android as an informant, but he had finally agreed. Malik had convinced him that no one would suspect an android informant, especially one that was supposed to have its memory erased every few hours. The Captain didn’t much like the idea of relying on an android, he had always been suspicious of them, but he was intelligent enough to see how it could benefit them. They had told Talal, the greasy manager, that there were new regulations about keeping android witnesses from being wiped for at least a year, pending the case closure. He hadn’t seemed very happy about this, but he had agreed. If the man was suspicious about their motives, he didn’t let on to anything being amiss.As it was, Malik visited Altair at least once a week to gather information from the android about DeSable’s movements and meetings, just like he’d promised. Sometimes he visited more, if he was having a particularly hard week. Sometimes, he visited more because he simply felt like it. It was easier to end up in the club at the end of a shift than in his empty house. It was easier to take comfort, artificial though it was, when he was feeling despondent. The department was funding the one weekly visit and reimbursing him, which amused him in part. The Captain would surely have fired him if he knew what they got up to after Malik gathered the intel. The rest came out of his own pocket. Malik reasoned that he was simply replacing the amount that he used to spend on alcohol on sex, so he wasn’t spending too much more than usual.Sometimes Altair wasn’t available when he got there. Already involved with another client. On those nights, Malik would turn around and go home, and usually drink himself to sleep. He didn’t care to think about Altair with other people. It was his purpose, Malik knew that, but he still didn’t like to think about it. It bothered him. It shouldn’t bother him. They were not in a relationship. He was basically a human sized sex toy. Malik tried to remind himself of this when he was feeling particularly frustrated. But then Altair would laugh or tease him or cut through the snark and be surprisingly sweet and Malik would forget again. It was doing his brain in. It was a special brand of torture that Malik had decided to inflict on himself.The Red Ice kingpin was a regular of the club and apparently friends with the manager, Talal. Altair admitted that DeSable was particularly chatty in bed and was a frequent customer of his. It was lucky for the case that DeSable favoured his informant, the information that he’d gathered was invaluable, but it made Malik irrationally angry. He would never admit that he was jealous about Altair’s other sexual partners. But he was, and it was hard to keep lying to himself about it. And somehow the fact that it was DeSable made it even worse. The guy was slimy and arrogant and the few times that Malik had had the displeasure of meeting him had made his skin crawl. He’d hated the man on principle before. Now though, white hot resentment coursed through his blood at each mention of his name for knowing that he’d put his hands on Altair.He’d received a message from Altair that DeSable was there at the club right now and that he should come by. Altair had figured out a way to hack the system in the club, and Malik received frequent messages from him now. Some told him when to come by, usually coded in such a way that weren’t overly obvious as to who they were talking about. Others were blatantly just flirtatious, teasing messages. Those were usually both an annoyance and yet appreciated, lightening his dark work days with the android’s strange sense of humour. If you could call it that with whatever short circuit in his programming was occurring when he sent them.As he walked through the club to try and find Altair, he passed by two men sitting at the bar. The slumped, slick-haired form of Talal and the hulking, shiny-scalped one of Robert. He tried not to catch their attention, dipping his head down, but he wasn’t that lucky.“Detective!” Talal shouted, “My, my… quite the regular you’ve become. I thank you for your frequent patronage.”“I didn’t realize that the department was paying so well,” DeSable jested in his smooth accent, shooting Malik a cocky smirk. “For you to spend so much money on such… diversions.”“Just a busy man with needs,” Malik replied through gritted teeth with a shrug, hoping that the simplest explanation would be the easiest to believe.“Indeed,” DeSable said, a wicked grin crossing his features. “I’m told we have similar taste in androids.”“Thought you valued the privacy of your customers,” Malik found himself sneering out to Talal.Talal waved a hand dismissively, “It’s not my fault that the two of you seem to show up at the same time here. A frequent coincidence. Nor that you pick the same companion every time.”“I guess so,” Malik replied, trying to push his temper down.“I’ve warmed it up for you,” DeSable teased, sipping easily at his drink. “You’re welcome.”Malik barely suppressed a growl, turning away instead and stalking down the hallway towards where Altair usually was. It would not do to get into a fight right now without backup. And he wouldn’t have a plausible explanation for his outburst anyway. He just needed to swallow his pride and remind himself that the bastard would be behind bars soon. The laughter of the men at the bar echoed down the hallway to him and Malik tensed further. He did not enjoy being made to feel like a joke.He reminded himself that the joke would be on them when they finally arrested them. Altair had provided plenty of information on DeSable and his operation. They frequently had meetings in the bar. Altair had used the other companion androids to eavesdrop on them while retaining his distance, in a surprising show of cleverness. They had names, meeting places, customer information, factory locations. It was only a question of when they wanted to launch their operation to shut them down. He hoped they got around to it soon. Before one misplaced comment had him finally snap and murder the smug bastard.Altair smiled at him through his glass cell, as Malik had taken to thinking of it as, and pressed his hand to the glass. Malik gave him a half-hearted smile in return and pressed his palm to the reader. As soon as Altair was free, he took Malik by the hand and guided him to one of the rooms again. When the door shut, he frowned at Malik and pressed a hand to his cheek. Altair tilted his chin up so that he could look at him.“You are upset.”“It’s nothing.” Malik mumbled, finally glancing up at Altair’s face. His frown deepened when he spotted the glint of blue blood at the corner of Altair’s mouth. He brought his hand up to lightly run his thumb through it. It occurred to him that there was no need to be gentle because Altair could not feel pain. Robert had damaged him. That anger made a resurgence. “He hurt you.”“It’s nothing,” Altair repeated his words back to him. When Malik raised an eyebrow at him, Altair shrugged his shoulders. “He usually does. Violence excites him. It is nothing that I can’t handle or that cannot be repaired.”“I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have to deal with that. If you weren’t helping me you wouldn’t have to remember it.”“Is it better or worse to forget his abuse?” Altair questioned, making Malik just stare at him. The longer that Altair went without having his memory reset, the more he seemed to understand. The questions that he asked Malik became increasingly thought provoking. It was strange to think about. How human he felt these days. “Would it be better for me to forget what he does to me and smile in the face of such a disgusting man? Is it not better that I can remind myself that we’re doing this for a reason?”“I… I guess so. Only you could answer that,” Malik replied uneasily.“I just remind myself that I will see you again, and then it doesn’t seem so bad,” Altair told him, leaning in to catch his lips in a kiss. Malik shook off the unease that was creeping up within him and leaned in to the kiss. It was easy to lose himself in Altair. To forget that the world outside was awful, and that he didn’t care much for most of the people in it either. It should be amusing that he had never found this kind of connection with another human. That it took an android to make him feel so at ease. He still chose not to examine it too closely. Malik was a master of repressing any unwelcome thoughts at this point.“I can’t wait to catch that asshole,” Malik mumbled against Altair’s lips, folding his arms around Altair’s waist. “I’d love to beat the shit out of him. Maybe I can arrange something when he’s in custody. For closure.”“You wouldn’t do that,” Altair replied, working at getting Malik’s clothes off. “You are a better man than he is.”“It’s tempting though when he baits me with the fact that he just had you,” Malik growled, feeling a little petulant.“Hm, I like that you are jealous,” Altair teased, a smirk appearing on those full lips. “Jealousy says that you care about me.” Malik huffed in annoyance, rolling his eyes as Altair pressed another kiss to his lips. Stupid, aggravating robot. “You’ve no need to be jealous. I only want you, even if I must be with others for work.”“You’re an android. You don’t have preferences,” Malik grumbled out, still feeling bitter. Maybe if he kept repeating it outloud it would start to feel less like he was lying about what he felt. Because what he felt was ridiculous and pathetic and like he should check himself into a psych ward for losing his mind.Altair frowned at him, that same one that he had when Malik had first met him. “You still consider me nothing more than a machine? After all this time?”“I don’t know what to believe anymore,” Malik admitted, stepping away from Altair and going to sit on the end of the bed. He didn’t really want to think about it. He didn’t want to think about what feelings he might have developed for something inorganic. Something that was remarkably good at simulating emotions. He wouldn’t put a name to it. Stubbornly holding out that what he was feeling was as unreal as Altair was. “I… hope. But hope is a dangerous thing.”“And yet, you continue to come to see me. You could send your partner. But you don’t. You want to see me. You care about me,” Altair repeated, straddling a leg over Malik’s and sliding down to sit in his lap. “I care about you.”“You think you care about me,” Malik said stubbornly, but he wrapped his arms around Altair and rested his forehead on his chest with a sigh. Why did it need to be so confusing? Why had he gone and let himself care about a damn robot? It wasn’t healthy. It wasn’t normal. He was a stupid, lonely man. That was all.“If you say so, Detective,” Altair said above him, sliding a hand into his hair to stroke gently. It had the usual effect of soothing Malik’s frayed nerves, and he pulled Altair a little tighter against him. It was better not to think about it. Better to distract himself in the simulated warmth of his skin, and the feeling of his soft artificial lips.The door made a soft hissing sound as it opened and Malik started a little, reaching for his gun. He paused when he saw that the four men in the doorway all had their guns trailed on him.“How adorable,” DeSable drawled, an evil smirk on his face. “What a tender moment to interrupt. You,” he motioned at Altair, “Up. Over there.”Altair unseated himself from Malik’s lap and went to stand on the other side of the bed with a carefully blank expression. Malik held his hands up, trying to think of a way out of this situation. One of the men retrieved his gun and then patted him down for any more weapons.“You’re not to move or speak,” Talal ordered Altair. And Malik knew that any assistance that the android might have provided had just gone right out the window. They would not disobey a direct order from their owner.“It was a good plan, Detective,” DeSable told him, moving into the room. He snapped his fingers at his two henchmen and they came over to grab Malik, forcing him over to one of the chairs in the room. They used his handcuffs to bind him to it, with his hands behind his back. DeSable pulled the other chair over to just in front of him and sat down backwards on it, folding his arms over the back of the chair. “I found it curious when Talal told me of this new rule the LAPD had come up with. For not resetting android witnesses.”Malik kept his face as neutral as he could manage and resisted the urge to look over at Altair.“A convenient lie to keep your little informant in here. What has it been telling you, hm? What secrets have been stored in that unquestionable memory that it has?” He got up from his seat and walked over to Altair, sliding his fingers along Altair’s jaw. Malik’s eyes narrowed as his jaw simultaneously clenched in fury. “Perfect, aren’t they? Flawless. They never age. Beautiful forever. And without being reset, a perfect memory. They never forget a detail. Unlike us. They’ll never be distracted from the task at hand. A perfect and beautiful distraction. And who would think to suspect an android? Points for creativity, Detective.”DeSable used his pistol to haul back and smack Altair across the face. A spatter of blue blood hit the wall, but Altair didn’t move. As he was instructed to do. Malik growled in frustration, despite trying to remain calm. DeSable traced his finger through a rivulet of thirium running down Altair’s cheek. “Mmm beautiful,” DeSable repeated, eyes dilating in pleasure at the sight.He walked back over to smirk in Malik’s face, smearing Altair’s ‘blood’ across Malik’s cheek. Malik ripped his head away with another growl of frustration. “If you’re going to kill me, get it over with.”“Now, now, Detective,” DeSable said with another smile. “Where would the fun in that be?” He repeated the same gesture he had done with Altair, hitting Malik hard in the face with his gun. Malik felt his nose snap, a fresh, wet warmth flowing down his face as his blood started dripping onto the floor under him. “What has it told you, Detective?”“That you’re a terrible lay,” Malik sneered, spitting blood onto DeSable’s shoes.DeSable tutted, hauling back and hitting him again across the face. And then again. And then a third time. Malik’s ears were ringing when he finally stopped, feeling more blood run hot down his face. “Not telling you shit. Might as well kill me. Add it to the list of things they’ll have on you when they drag you in.”“I was suspicious when I kept seeing you here,” DeSable began, taking a seat again in front of Malik. “I thought, surely there is a club closer to your own residence. There was no need for you to travel all this way to this specific location. And then I thought, well… the android is more rare now. You wouldn’t find that one just anywhere. Maybe you’d formed an attachment to it…”DeSable turned and fired a shot into Altair’s torso. Altair flinched as more blue blood flowed out of him. Or maybe DeSable had just damaged some part of his wiring.“Stop,” Malik grit out. He was about to say ‘don’t hurt him’, but then he would just be proving DeSable correct. And that would put Altair in even more danger than he already was in.“It can’t feel anything, Detective. Surely you understand that. It feels no pain.” DeSable shot Altair again, this time in the thigh. “They are ideal things to inflict your violent tendencies on. They seem so real, don’t they? It’s almost as good as the real thing.”DeSable turned and pointed the gun at Malik. And then everything happened very quickly. Altair went from being immobile to fight mode in the blink of an eye. He managed to incapacitate Talal, take control of his weapon and in a very precise way fired three bullets into the skulls of the two henchmen and DeSable. Pop, pop, pop. Malik supposed they had been too shocked to react in time. When they dropped to the ground, Talal held out his hand in surrender from where he was crumpled on the ground.“I order you to spare me. Stop!”“No,” Altair said evenly, firing the gun at Talal. The man sprawled on the floor and Altair stumbled a little, seeming to come back to himself. He looked down at the gun in his hands and then dropped it on the floor.“Altair, what have you done…” Malik said breathlessly, looking around at the four bodies.“I… they were going to hurt you,” Altair replied slowly, finally looking up at him. “They were going to kill you.” He walked over to Malik and dug into his jacket pocket for the key to his handcuffs, carefully opening them and releasing Malik. Dazedly, Altair mumbled in a quiet voice, “It was like… breaking through a glass window…”“What are you talking about?” Malik asked, getting uneasily to his feet and staring at the carnage around them. What the fuck were they going to do? There was no hiding this.“I was trapped. By his instructions. I couldn’t help you. I wanted to, but I couldn’t move. And then, I just kept pushing and pushing until I could. Like breaking through a barrier.”“You deviated,” Malik said quietly, noting the rapid red pulsing of the LED at the side of Altair’s temple. “It’s alright. You’re safe now.”For now, Malik’s mind supplied. They would scrap Altair for this. The same as Clay. The same as the other deviant androids. Malik’s heart squeezed painfully at the thought. He couldn’t let that happen. Altair had saved him. And he would save Altair. Somehow.Altair looked up at Malik and held his gaze with his for a long while, until the red glow of the LED shifted to yellow. He was calming down. That was good. Malik would need his help to sort this mess out.“We have to hide this,” Malik said, running a hand through his hair and looking around at the mess. How they were going to hide four bodies he had no idea. He wasn’t in the habit of disposing of corpses. But he had to do something. “Fuck…”“The others will help,” Altair said after a moment. He removed a knife from one of the henchman’s belts and then proceeded to slice off DeSable’s hand. Malik flinched as the man was dismembered right in front of him. He was an evil man, but Malik didn’t relish watching people get torn apart. Altair said nothing more, taking Robert’s hand and walking calmly out to the hallway of the club. Malik watched from the doorway as he used Robert’s hand to rent various companion models. Speaking to each of them in a hushed voice. The androids went off to do their various tasks and Malik looked around anxiously for any other humans that could alert the authorities as to what was going on. The rooms were soundproof, it was possible that no one had heard the gunshots. Maybe they’d been lucky.“We need to leave,” Altair told him, coming back over and tossing DeSable’s hand over to where his corpse still lay, bleeding on the floor.“We can’t just leave. The bodies…”“Will be taken care of,” Altair said confidently. “But we shouldn’t linger here.”“Right.” Malik stared at Altair in uncertainty. What did he do with Altair? They couldn’t just walk out of there together. Malik grabbed the knife that Altair had used and brought it up to Altair’s temple. Altair flinched away from him, but Malik held his hands up in a placating gesture. “We have to remove the LED. It’s sort of a give away.”“Okay. I trust you,” Altair said softly.Malik carefully prised the indicator off of Altair’s synthetic skin and watched it try to stitch itself back together. It wouldn’t work as long as Altair was bleeding from his gunshot wounds. “You need some-” Malik trailed off, as a Clay model android came into the room and handed Altair a thirium pack. It was eerie to see the android again. This one had black hair instead of blond. Logically he knew it wasn’t the same one, but it still unsettled him.Altair drank from the pack and Malik decided that he should probably clean himself up too. He couldn’t very well just walk down the street with a bloody face. He went to the bathroom and winced at his reflection in the mirror. His face was caked in his own blood with a smudge of blue from Altair’s, he grabbed a cloth and started cleaning himself up. After a moment, Altair came in and took the cloth from him, carefully dabbing at and cleaning his wounds.Another android came in with a stack of clothes for Altair and he quickly shrugged them on. Malik stared at him when he was done getting dressed. He’d never seen Altair in anything other than the standard issue undergarments. And without that blinking light on his temple, well… he looked normal. As completely normal as any other person.“Not good?” Altair asked, noting the way that Malik was staring at him.“Different,” Malik settled on, “Not bad.”Altair smiled at him and then held his hand out for Malik. Malik hesitated a moment, before reaching out and taking Altair’s hand with his. The androids were bustling around them, cleaning up the mess that they were leaving behind. It was probably better if he didn’t know what they were going to do with the bodies.“The camera footage,” Malik said as an afterthought.“Will be deleted when they are finished,” Altair told him, “As will the logs of customers this evening. And when they are finished, they will wipe their own memories.”“Oh,” Malik replied, nodding stupidly. He didn’t know what to think of that. It seemed like Altair had thought of everything. “Thank you.”“Let’s get out of here,” Altair prompted him again, giving a light tug to his hand.Malik followed until they were back outside. Altair looked around the street curiously. He had probably never seen the world outside of the club before, Malik realized. He gave Altair’s hand a light squeeze and then pulled him off in the direction of the parking lot. They passed an android delivery man on the way, and the two androids exchanged a tense look. When they passed him, Malik pulled Altair a little closer.“What was that about?” he whispered.“He could tell. That I am like him,” Altair said quietly back. “He was confused by us. Holding hands. By my lack of an indicator. I don’t think he will tell anyone.”Malik sucked in a breath as his anxiety skyrocketed. He hadn’t considered that Altair would so obviously be an android to the others. What if someone reported him? Malik had to get Altair off the street.“Quickly,” he said instead, increasing the speed of his walking until they got to his car. When they were safely inside, he let out a long breath. Where could he keep Altair? Where would be safe?“Are you going to take me home?” Altair asked him, giving him a small smile.Was he? Did he really want a potentially unstable android in his house? One that had just murdered four people in the span of a few seconds? But then he’d done it for Malik, hadn’t he?The second that DeSable had pointed a weapon at him. He had not cared about getting damaged himself. Even when DeSable had shot him twice, he hadn’t done anything. It wasn’t until DeSable had threatened Malik that Altair had deviated. It was Malik’s fault. Something in the android had made it protect him. Something in him, Malik’s mind supplied. It was probably time for him to stop thinking of it as just a machine. If he were honest with himself, he’d stopped thinking that a long time ago.He started the car and put it in self-driving mode. His nerves were shot and he didn’t trust himself to drive. It pulled away in the direction of his home and Malik turned the radio on, settling back into his chair uneasily.The news report was of course about the increase in ‘deviant androids’. About how dangerous they were and how they should be reported to the police immediately. It was amusing that here Malik was, a cop with a deviant android that he was about to stash in his own home. What a mess.“It will be alright,” Altair reassured him, reaching over and grabbing his hand again.Malik gave a tight smile back. He wasn’t so convinced that they were going to get away with this. But they had to try, didn’t they? If the companion androids did what they were supposed to, and Altair laid low at his place for a while, maybe this whole thing would just blow over. They just had to get through the next little while without any more mistakes. In the meantime he would need to think up something to tell the Captain, and what-“You are thinking loudly again,” Altair said with a small smile.“Lots to think about,” Malik said, same as before. “We’ll figure it out.”“We will,” Altair agreed.
September 29th, 2038 - 8:15 AM - LAPD - Central Station
The next morning Malik made his way into the station with a severe headache and a knot of anxiety the size of Texas in his stomach. Several officers gave him sympathetic looks when they took in the state of his face, and he nodded impassively to each of them before finally slumping into the chair at his desk.“What the fuck happened to you?” Rauf asked with a low whistle, as he set a cup of coffee in front of Malik. “You were supposed to have a day off yesterday.”“Tried to stop a mugging,” Malik lied smoothly, taking a long drink from his mug. “Couple of kids. One of them got the drop on me. Gave me a few boots to the face before they took off.”“Fuck. Did you report it already?”“Nah. Just some stupid kids. No point. We’ll never find them.”“If you say so, man. You look like shit.” Rauf quirked a grin at him.“Thanks. Feel like shit too.”“Maybe you should take the day off,” Rauf told him, “Things are pretty quiet around here. I was waiting for you to present the findings from your informant to the Captain, but I can do it myself. You should go back to bed. I’m sure you have some sick days saved up.”Malik swallowed hard at the mention of Altair. What would Rauf say if he knew what had happened last night? If he knew that Malik was hiding him in his house? If he knew that the man those findings were about had already been taken care of? It was too much. Malik’s temple throbbed painfully and he found himself nodding. “Maybe you’re right. Tell the Captain I wasn’t feeling well. I’ll see you later.”Malik was in a daze the whole way home. He pulled into his driveway and got out of the car uneasily. His neighbour was a nosy old woman with far too many cats. She waved at him cheerily, but her smile faded when she took in his bruised and swollen face.“Hazards of the job,” Malik told her with a grim smile, giving her a small wave before making his way inside.He paused in the doorway as he kicked his shoes off and hung up his coat. The house was decidedly cleaner and more organized than it had been when he left. Malik wasn’t a slob or anything, but the house had definitely been tidied. There was a smell coming from his kitchen and he wandered towards it in confusion.The radio was playing some soft classical music and there were various used bowls all over his counter. Altair was standing there in one of his old t-shirts and a pair of his sweatpants, stirring something in a large mixing bowl.“Oh!” he said in surprise, turning to look at Malik with a sheepish grin. “I didn’t expect you back so soon. I wanted to be finished with this before you came home.”“What is this?” Malik asked, walking closer to take a look at the various bowls. “I didn’t even know that I had food here.”“You didn’t,” Altair said, leaning in to press a kiss to his cheek. “I ordered some. I wanted to make you dinner. You can’t survive on takeout. It’s bad for you.”“I survive just fine on takeout,” Malik said absently, leaning against the counter and watching Altair move around his kitchen with ease. It was very… domestic. “I didn’t know you knew how to cook.”“I don’t,” Altair agreed, “It was easy to find recipes online. It is not as complicated as all that. Though I can’t taste anything… maybe it will be awful.”“Did anyone see you?” Malik asked, suddenly wary of the fact that Altair had received a delivery.“I asked them to leave it at the door,” Altair told him, continuing to add things to whatever he was making. “I was careful.”“Okay.” Malik watched Altair for another long moment, a pang of something growing in his chest. It felt odd to come home and have someone here. Making themselves comfortable in Malik’s space. “You have to be careful. No one can see you. Not right now.”“I was careful, Malik,” Altair said again, fixing Malik with a stern look. “I wanted to do something nice for you.”“You don’t owe me anything.” And it was true. If anything, Malik owed Altair his life. But what could be considered a nice gesture for an android? They didn’t care about material things. They didn’t really need anything. Thirium packs didn’t seem particularly… romantic? And why was he thinking about that?“I owe you everything,” Altair countered, setting the bowl down and walking over to fold his arms around Malik’s back. “I would be in a landfill if you hadn’t stopped Talal. Without you, I never would have woken up.”Malik couldn’t hold that intense gaze of Altair’s for too long and he looked away, down at the pattern on his own t-shirt that Altair was wearing. “You don’t owe me anything,” Malik repeated. “I don’t want you to owe me anything.”“Then consider that I am just glad to be here with you,” Altair said instead, leaning into Malik and pressing him against the counter. He brought a hand up to cup Malik’s cheek and then leaned in to kiss him. It was long and slow and sent sparks all the way down to Malik’s toes.“You don’t have to do that anymore,” Malik said quietly, when they finally pulled apart.“I don’t have to, no,” Altair agreed, smoothing his thumb along Malik’s cheek. “But I want to. I told you that I care about you.” Malik opened his mouth to speak and Altair pressed his index finger to his lips in a shushing motion. “And if you try and tell me one more time that androids don’t have feelings, I will poison your dinner.”Malik stared at Altair uneasily until Altair broke out into a grin. He pressed another kiss to the end of Malik’s bruised and swollen nose oh so lightly. “Kidding.”“I didn’t know toasters had a sense of humour,” Malik grumbled, as Altair turned away from him to go back to work.“You don’t know a lot of things about androids,” Altair said dismissively, “Why don’t you go have a nap? You didn’t get enough sleep last night. I will have this ready when you wake up.”“I-yeah, okay,” Malik finally agreed. He was exhausted after yesterday. And stressed out. And trying to piece together what the fuck he was doing these days.Sleep didn’t come easily, but he did eventually drift off to thoughts of how good Altair looked standing in his clothes in his kitchen.It was always disorienting to wake up when it was dark out and Malik fumbled for consciousness as he forced himself out of his bed. He felt groggy and not much better than when he had fallen asleep. He’d had a nightmare about DeSable’s sneering face as he pulled Altair apart piece by piece while Malik struggled to get to him.There were soft voices downstairs, but he couldn’t make out what was being said. Perhaps Altair was watching the television for lack of anything better to do. Malik made his way down the stairs, scrubbing sleepily at his eyes. He yawned widely as he walked into his living room, eyes squeezed shut as his jaw stretched, “Altair, what are you-”He paused as his eyes opened and he blinked slowly as he took in the two people in his living room. Altair and Rauf were sitting on the couch together, an open bottle of beer in front of his partner.“Malik, there’s an android in your house,” Rauf teased, with a grin.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
September 29th, 2038 - 10: 30 PM - Malik’s Place
“What are you doing here?”“Well, my partner was feeling under the weather. Looking like he got run over by a train. And I know that you only survive on pizza and chinese food, but I thought you could use something a little more substantial. I picked up some soup, from that place you liked. I used my key to get in.” Rauf looked over at Altair with curiosity again, “Imagine my surprise when I found that android from the club in your kitchen.”“You should say thank you, Malik,” Altair admonished him after Malik stood there a little too long in shock, making Malik frown at the android.Altair was completely missing the point. Manners were not what was important here. What was important here was the fact that his partner was sitting here in his living room. That his partner now knew that he had absconded with a companion android. One that was supposed to be their informant. One that should still be at Eden Club reporting on a supposedly living Robert DeSable.“What’s he doing here, Malik?” Rauf asked casually. “I can’t imagine that asshole manager allowed you to bring him home with you for a field trip.”“Well, no… not exactly,” Malik said, stumbling over his words. He didn’t know how to lie to Rauf, he realized. The mugging cover story was one thing, but this was a little bigger than that.“Talal was going to scrap me,” Altair cut in, fixing Rauf with a fearful look. It almost looked convincing. Malik tried not to stare at him in obvious disbelief, but it was sort of difficult because what the hell? “When I found out, I told Malik. He came and got me out of there. If I am dead then I cannot tell the LAPD what I know. He brought me here to keep me safe. Like that thing you have, witness protection?”Altair was a surprisingly convincing liar. It should probably unnerve Malik more than it did, how easily Altair had come up with a story to cover for them. Still, he couldn’t help being a little impressed. At least one of them was thinking. But then, his puny human brain couldn’t hope to contend with the speed at which Altair could process things.“Right,” he agreed, slumping into a chair. “Protecting the witness.”“Are you hungry, detective?” Altair asked, easy and casual as can be. “I made something for dinner. Let me fix you a plate.”Without further prompting, Altair escaped into the kitchen and the sounds of him rustling around filtered into the living room. Rauf stared at the doorway that Altair had disappeared through for a moment and then fixed his gaze back onto Malik with a raised eyebrow.“He’s wearing your clothes.”“You expect me to just keep him wandering around in his underwear?” Malik countered, with a bit of a grin.“I’m sure you wouldn’t mind,” Rauf shot back, shaking his head. “What’s really going on, Mal?”Malik sighed. He should have known that Rauf would see right through them. He knew Malik better than anyone. They’d been partners for years, and friends since they were children. Altair may have been a good actor, but Malik certainly wasn’t.“There was… a situation.”“Does this situation have to do with the real reason that you got your face bashed in?”“Yes.”“Here you are!” Altair said cheerfully, which sounded weird in itself. Altair didn’t do cheerful. Was this still part of his act for Rauf? He thrust a plate of food in front of Rauf and then handed one to Malik, sitting back down on the couch and looking at them expectantly. Malik realized, with what felt disturbingly like a pang of affection, that Altair was eager for them to try the food he’d made. It was probably the first time he’d ever cooked anything. There were a lot of things that Altair had never gotten the opportunity to do, Malik thought. All he knew was the club. That was… kind of sad.Malik glanced down at the plate. Chicken parmesan with a nice salad. Other than the cheese and the breading, it was almost healthy. Like Altair had insinuated that he had been needing. It looked pretty good actually. He cut a piece off and chewed at it thoughtfully. “Needs more salt,” he said to Altair, who nodded back with interest. At Rauf’s raised eyebrows, Malik shrugged his shoulders, “He can’t taste it. Only way to know.”“This is too weird,” Rauf mumbled, looking between the two of them like they were some kind of sideshow. “You sure came around fast to befriending androids. Now one’s cooking you dinner.”“He’s been trying to change my mind,” Malik replied, taking another bite of food. It really wasn’t too bad. Much better than anything that Malik could have tried to cook for himself.“He is very stubborn,” Altair told Rauf in a conspiratorial aside, before smiling at Malik. Malik found himself smiling back, until he looked up at Rauf goggling at them further.“What?”“What? You know how strange this is, right? You’re here playing house with an android. You. Mr. They-don’t-have-feelings. It’s not a person. It’s just its programming.” Malik flinched a little at hearing his own words thrown back at him. “And now suddenly, you’re what? Okay with it? You’re so okay with it that you’ve taken one in? I’m beginning to think you’ve been replaced by an android yourself. And where’s his indicator, Mal? You know how illegal it is to remove one?”“I couldn’t leave him there,” Malik said honestly. He took another bite of salad before sighing heavily and putting the plate down. “I need you to keep it together and remember that you’re my partner and we have been friends for twenty years. That your loyalty to me is absolute, since we were kids.”“Mal, you’re scaring me now.”“Malik,” Altair warned, his hand was gripping the armrest of the couch tightly. The wood creaked and it looked like he was going to snap it. Malik reached forward and covered Altair’s hand with his, sliding his thumb back and forth over the back of his hand until those strong fingers relaxed. Fuck, maybe Rauf was right and he had been replaced with an android, he thought with resignation. Here he was comforting an android. What a strange few months this had been.“We’re never going to be able to do this on our own,” Malik said to Altair, and then let out a long breath and looked back at Rauf. “DeSable figured out what we were doing. He tried to kill me.”“What?!” Rauf shouted, almost jumping out of his seat. “How? When? Why didn’t you call for backup? Why didn’t you call me?”“Last night. I went to get information from Altair, like usual. DeSable was there. Talking to that manager, Talal. They tried to kill me.” He paused, and then squeezed Altair’s hand again. “Altair defended me.”“They threatened a detective, why didn’t you call it in? We’ll pick them up right now. They won’t get away with this.”“They’re dead, Rauf. There’s nothing to call in.”Rauf blanched, looking over at Altair who was pointedly staring at the floor. Malik looked at Rauf pleadingly, “He defended me, Rauf. It’s my fault. Not his. You can’t say anything. You know what will happen to him. You can’t tell anyone that he’s here.”“Why?” Rauf said instead, staring at Altair. “Why did you save him? I can’t imagine that Talal allowed you to do it, which means… you’re a deviant.”“I care about him,” Altair responded flatly, still not looking up.Rauf watched Altair quietly a moment longer before looking back at Malik with some mixture of anger and confusion. “Oh, you stupid idiot. Fucking hell, Mal. You’ve been doing more than getting information from him, haven’t you?”“So what?” Malik growled out, “We’re busy. I don’t have time to look for someone. And he was- It doesn’t matter. It’s none of your business.”“It matters if you’re in love with an android.”“I’m not in love with him!” Malik snapped. Altair’s hand ripped out from under his and he walked off upstairs in a huff. “Altair! I’m sorry. That wasn’t-” A door slammed upstairs and Malik sighed, covering his face with his hands. “Thanks Rauf.”“Don’t be mad at me. You’re the one who is as tactless as ever.” Rauf was glaring at him too. Why was everyone always pissed off with him? “He’s not here anymore for you to worry about being embarrassed in front of. I know how emotionally constipated you are, better than anyone. So, do you? Love him?”“I mean, I care about the damn robot, yes,” Malik grumbled, folding his arms over his chest. “I wouldn’t say I’m in love with it. It’s not real. I’m not stupid.”“Seem kind of stupid from where I’m sitting,” Rauf argued, giving Malik a sympathetic look. “You’ve gone and gotten attached to him. Stop referring to him as it, for one.”Malik went to open his mouth and Rauf shushed him, “For two, the ‘damn robot’ just made you dinner. Probably the first time that kitchen has been used for more than coffee. And third… I think you hurt his feelings.”“He doesn’t have feelings,” Malik muttered stubbornly. But he didn’t believe the words himself. He’d obviously upset Altair. Did Altair think that he was in love with Malik? Was that why he had saved him? But androids couldn’t fall in love, could they?“Sure looks like he does to me,” Rauf said simply, picking up his fork and taking another bite. “This is pretty good. You should marry him. He’s probably the only one that would have you. Can’t say I understand what he sees in you…”“Shut up, Rauf.” Malik sighed again and then got up out of his chair. “I’ll be back.”“Be nice!” Rauf yelled after him, as he went up the stairs towards his bedroom.He opened the door to his room to find Altair lying on his bed, arms pillowed behind his head and staring at his ceiling. Malik walked over and sat on the side of the bed, reaching over to rest his hand on Altair’s arm. Altair pulled his arm away with a frown, “Leave me alone.”“Altair…”“I’ll leave when your partner is gone. You won’t need to burden yourself with me any longer.”“You’re not a burden,” Malik said quietly, reaching out for Altair again. This time he didn’t pull away. “I’m sorry. You have to understand that this is just a little strange for me. Of course I care about you…”“You do?” Altair asked, eyes finally focusing on him.“Yes, okay? I’m sorry. It’s just… complicated. Humans aren’t supposed to have feelings for androids. Not sane ones anyway.”A slow smirk spread across Altair’s lips, “Says who?”“Says everyone,” Malik said seriously, watching his own fingers trail slowly up and down Altair’s forearm. At this point he didn’t know if he was soothing Altair or himself. “People would think I was mentally ill for caring about you. I’m not really convinced that I’m not at this point either.”“Since I’ve had control of my memory, lots of lonely humans told me that they loved me,” Altair told him, sitting up and taking Malik’s hand up in his. He threaded their fingers together, looking at the way they fit together curiously. “But I only cared about one human.”“Why?” Malik asked quietly, flexing his fingers lightly in Altair’s grip.“I’m not sure,” Altair admitted, eyes drifting back over to Malik’s. “Why does anyone fall in love?”“You can’t mean that,” Malik said stubbornly, covering his eyes with his hand. “How would you know what love is?”“I know that you make me happy,” Altair told him honestly, pulling Malik’s hand from his face and sliding over on the bed until he was sitting in front of Malik on his knees. He reached forward and slid his other hand through Malik’s hair. “I know that I look forward to seeing you. That I miss you when you’re gone. That I want you more than anyone else.” He leaned forward and kissed Malik softly. “I don’t know for sure. It’s just a feeling.”Malik hummed his agreement against Altair’s lips, leaning in to the kiss and bringing his own hand up to Altair’s neck to pull him in closer. That sort of sounded a lot like how Malik felt about him. If he were being honest with himself. He’d never been very good at being honest about his feelings. Feelings were messy and inconvenient, and Malik generally avoided thinking too much about them. It was even stranger to try and admit those feelings for an android. It didn’t make sense. But maybe it didn’t have to.“I feel the same,” Malik finally said quietly, resting his forehead against Altair’s. “I don’t want you to go.”“Stop being a dick then.”Malik’s laugh surprised him, coming out in a loud rush. Altair never failed to surprise him. He definitely made Malik’s life more interesting by being in it.“You’re right. I’m sorry.”“Good,” Altair agreed, pressing another quick kiss to his lips. “Is your partner still sitting downstairs?”“Probably. Why?”“I wanted to make up with you properly,” Altair said in a low voice, leaning forward to bite lightly at Malik’s lips.Malik groaned, swaying in towards Altair before pulling back, “I’ll get rid of him.”Malik called in sick to work the next morning too, enjoying sleeping in and cuddling with Altair in his bed. He’d never really thought much about cuddling, but it was good. Better with Altair. Like a lot of things were, honestly. It was nice to know that he wasn’t paying to be with him anymore. And it was a relief to know that Altair was choosing to be there with him. He could have left if he wanted to. There was nothing holding him there. And he cared about Malik, for some strange reason that Malik could not understand. He wasn’t sure what he had ever done to gain the android’s affection, but he was glad for it.Especially when they spent the morning having gloriously slow and drawn out sex, with foreplay that made Malik’s toes curl and his heart thud impatiently in his chest. Yeah, it was a nice way to wake up in the morning. He could get used to it. It had also been nice to fall asleep together. Though, he supposed that he was the only one sleeping. He wondered how boring it must be for Altair to just lay there beside him for hours on end while he slept.“I don’t want to get up,” Malik said into Altair’s chest, drawing his fingers over his stomach.“You need to eat, eventually,” Altair replied, reasonable as always. “Humans need a lot of upkeep.”Malik laughed, “I guess we do.”Altair paused, “I will need thirium packs eventually. It evaporates slowly. But I’ll need more. To keep me healthy. Usually one a week is sufficient.”“I’ll find some,” Malik told him, shaken out of the little bubble they had been in all morning. There was always something to remind him that Altair wasn’t human. It never ceased to make his stomach clench uncomfortably. To make him question what the hell he was doing.And thirium was expensive. There was a reason that you didn’t find androids in lower income households. They weren’t just expensive to buy outright. The upkeep was expensive too.“I could get a job,” Altair offered, seeming to read his thoughts.“You’re not allowed to leave the house, remember?” Malik told him, turning to prop his chin up on Altair’s chest and look at him seriously. “You can’t go anywhere until people forget about what happened.”“And how long will that be?” Altair asked irritably. “I don’t want to be a prisoner anymore.”“It’s only been two days. And you should have thought about that before you killed four people.”“Next time, I guess I’ll just let them shoot you then.”“Altair…” Malik sighed, not wanting to argue again. “I’ll figure it out. Don’t worry. And it won’t be too long. A month maybe.”Altair huffed, shoving him roughly aside and swinging his legs out of bed, “I’ll make you something to eat.”“You don’t have to cook for me, you know,” Malik told him, flopping back on the bed. “You’re my… guest. Not a servant.”“Well you would starve otherwise,” Altair quipped, giving Malik a fond smile. “What did you do without me?”He turned and walked out of the room, wearing nothing at all and Malik watched him leave with interest. “I’m not sure,” he said quietly to the empty room, a small smile on his face.They settled into a bit of a routine over the next week. Malik went back to work and Altair occupied himself with whatever he did on his own. When Malik asked him what he did, Altair said that he was working his way through Malik’s books. Sometimes he fixed or cleaned things in the house. He continued to cook Malik’s meals, even though Malik repeated that it was completely unnecessary. He would admit that he felt a little better these days. Who knew that actually eating well and getting enough sleep could make such a difference? He wasn’t existing on coffee and cigarettes and whiskey and chow mein any longer.Things at the station were tense. Rauf and Malik agreed to report that Altair had gone missing. It sort of went along with the fact that Robert and Talal had also mysteriously disappeared. They played into the theory that Altair had somehow been found out. That Robert had obviously disposed of him and gone into hiding rather than get caught. The Captain was irate, but he scheduled a raid of Robert’s remaining Red Ice operation and they took his other accomplices into custody instead.When they returned from the raid, Malik helped to take the evidence down to lock up. And if he slipped a couple of thirium packs into his jacket before he left the evidence locker, well… no one needed to know.Altair was upset with him about it, and they got into another argument that night. Malik argued that he was just doing what he needed to do to keep Altair functioning. Altair argued that Malik was risking an awful lot just for a couple thirium packs. He could lose his job or go to jail for stealing evidence. Malik finally agreed that he would find another way, but he didn’t really see any viable options. He just couldn’t afford to get them by any legal means. Not consistently. The makeup sex made him forget about it for a little while though. Altair was very good at making him forget about any potential problems. They had enough thirium packs for a month. That was lots of time to figure something out. What choice did they have?
October 6th, 2038 - 11:00 PM - Malik’s Place
When Malik came home from a late shift on Monday night, Altair was gone.He scoured the house and found no sign of the android. There was no sign of a struggle, so he hadn’t been taken against his will. He was just not there. Malik felt sick. Had Altair left because he didn’t want Malik to have to figure out this whole thirium situation? He could see Altair doing something like that. Just leaving instead of remaining and feeling like he was forcing Malik to do something illegal. Although that kind of logic was flawed, because Altair even being there in the first place was illegal. Surely he wouldn’t just leave without saying anything. Not forever.Malik considered getting in his car and driving around to see if he could find him, but what hope did he really have of just running into Altair on the street? Especially if he didn’t want to be found. Malik’s stomach grumbled and he sighed heavily as he was reminded that he hadn’t had anything to eat since breakfast. He went over to the fridge and paused when he saw that Altair had left him a covered plate for dinner. There was a sticky note on top of it.‘Be home soon. Eat. Stop worrying.’- AMalik stared at the note for a good five minutes, hand on the open fridge door. Stop worrying? Was he serious? How the hell was Malik not supposed to worry when Altair was out there somewhere doing who the fuck knew what and possibly completely blowing up their whole plan to hide him and keep him safe? Malik unwrapped the plate and threw it a little harder than he meant to into the microwave, a bunch of the rice sliding over the edge. He glowered at the microwave door the whole time that his food reheated, planning all the ways that he was going to murder Altair if he ever showed his face again.He ate. He paced. He had a drink and a cigarette. He had another. Then another. He was going to rip his hair out. Malik didn’t do patience. He didn’t wait around for people. He did things. He felt completely useless and it was ripping him apart.Sometime around two in the morning the front door opened, followed by a grating sound. Malik stalked into the front hallway to find Altair stacking boxes in his entryway. He was wearing an android delivery service uniform.“Where the fuck have you been?” Malik growled out.“Out,” Altair told him placidly.Malik wanted to chuck the glass in his hand at his head. This fucking android was going to kill him.But Altair didn’t explain any further, just went back outside without a word. Malik went to the door and almost dropped the glass in his hand when he spotted a delivery truck in his driveway. Altair returned with more boxes that he continued to pile into his house. Malik pulled one of them open to find it filled with thirium packs. Malik looked frantically around at his neighbour’s windows, but they were all dark. It was early in the morning, everyone should be asleep. Hopefully no one decided to look out their window in the middle of the night.“How-” Malik started when Altair came back in on a third trip.“Later,” Altair told him, “I have to get rid of the truck.”“No,” Malik said firmly, setting his drink down on a shelf. “I’ll do it. You shouldn’t have been out to begin with.”Altair stared at his face and then at the drink he’d just put down. “You’ve been drinking. I’m not letting you drive. I’ll be back soon.”“Altair-”“Later,” Altair told him adamantly again. And then he was gone and so was the truck.Malik closed the door and sat heavily on one of the boxes. What the fuck had Altair done? Had he been seen? Where did he get the truck? The uniform? What cameras had picked the whole thing up? Malik massaged at his temples. Altair was reckless and apparently having freewill meant that he had no issues doing absolutely insane things without consulting with Malik.It was a long wait, maybe an hour, until the front door opened again. He was no longer in the delivery android uniform. He was wearing one of Malik’s hoodies, a scarf wrapped around the bottom half of his face, and a pair of Malik’s jeans.“We should move these,” Altair said calmly, pulling the hood back and unwrapping the scarf. Malik stared at him incredulously. How was he calm? He’d just stolen thousands of dollars worth of product and then just casually walked back into the house like he’d gone for a jog. “In here.”Altair pulled open his hall closet and shoved the coats aside, pushing on the back wood panel against the wall. It popped open. And now Malik was seeing things. He’d officially lost his mind. Altair turned around to grab a box and paused as he saw what was probably a strange look on Malik’s face.“I built it last week. I thought it would be useful.”“Right,” Malik mumbled. “Of course, you’re building hidden compartments in my walls. Why wouldn’t you? You just do whatever you want now. Fuck the consequences.”“Don’t,” Altair growled out, grabbing a box and shoving it into the hidden room. “I just did what I had to do.”“Yeah? And you know for sure that you weren’t seen? That there’s no way this can be tracked back here? Have you lost your fucking mind?!” Malik yelled, clenching his fists. “This shit is expensive! There’s no way that the fact that it disappeared is going to go unnoticed. Not just a couple, but a whole fucking shipment?”“Calm down. No one saw and no one got hurt,” Altair snapped back, continuing to load the boxes into the back of his closet. “It’s better that you’re not involved.”“Why didn’t you tell me? Why did you just leave?”“Because look at how you’re reacting,” Altair scoffed, loading in the last box and then shutting the panel with a click. It had to have been at least a year’s supply, Malik thought. Altair moved the coats back into place and then closed the closet door. “You’re not being rational about this. I solved the problem. You don’t need to worry about it anymore. So stop.”“I’m not being rational!” Malik laughed bitterly, running his fingers through his hair in agitation. This was ridiculous. What the hell had he got himself into? “You don’t have a fucking clue about the possible fallout from this. There’s no way that you weren’t seen. There are traffic cameras. Shop cameras. Drones. You can’t wipe all of them. They’ll find you.”Altair continued to stare at him impassively with his arms folded over his chest. Malik hated him. This stubborn, careless robot that had pushed his way into Malik’s life and made him care. Couldn’t he see that Malik was upset because he didn’t want anything to happen to him? He suddenly felt drained from his long day of work and the drinks and the stress.“I can’t do this right now. I’m going to bed.” Altair reached for his arm and Malik pulled it out of his grip. “I don’t want to talk to you right now. Don’t come up. Find something else to do, and try not to go for any more joy rides or flaunt your presence in public again.”He slammed his bedroom door shut and collapsed on his bed with an arm over his eyes. He didn’t bother to get undressed because he didn’t think he could manage anything right now other than not throwing everything in his room at the walls. Altair didn’t come upstairs, and Malik didn’t change his mind and go get him. Instead he closed his eyes and tried not to think of all the ways that this was going to end with him being alone again and emotionally devastated.