SENTIENT

Aptitude

The rattling of chains summoned her consciousness. AJ found the chains to be around her wrists and legs. There were chains on the floor and on the wall. She blinked away her blurry vision to fix it, but the industrial lights were too bright.

What sedated her must've been heavy, but worked fast enough to be metabolized out of her system. All of this was for a purpose. He wanted her to wake up in time to witness for herself. The Blueblood Ripper asked, "Do you like it?"

AJ looked up where the lights hurt her eyes. She couldn't help them as they widened in utter horror and disbelief. It was something a sick mind could only think of.

Suspended in chains to the steel beams of the shed, a decomposing half-human, half-android corpse, posed like a man on a life-sized crucifix. The awry smell of red and blue blood combined was not going to go away easily without therapy. She broke down in tears, "Oh, God..."

"What's that?" The man approached. He held a knife to her face, a replacement for his fingers to caress her soft, damp cheeks. "I know, it's amazing, isn't it?"

The Ripper then used the knife to poke the disturbing half-human creation. It's head hanging down by the strength of its spine. He appeared to be an older gentleman. His hair and beard white.

Both of his eyeballs have decomposed into a cloudy white orb. All of his blood drained under his naked skin. There was a large gaping wound sliced through his torso. The skin around it has been ripped and folded open to see inside, like a disturbing anatomy mannequin made out of real flesh. His organs replaced with those that the Ripper harvested from his victims. A twisted combination of android and human organs.

The Ripper looked up at his creation in awe, like he was about to make a confession, "You want to know what he used to say? It was brilliant really."

"The human body is flawed – it always fails itself – unlike the android body, designed to be immortal and disease-free," his voice thundered, but she didn't fear.

"You go to hell, you bastard!" AJ swore. She rattled her chains to weaken it, to no avail.

The Ripper chuckled, "Don't you see? We're already there."

A woman's scream for help was heard from the other room.

Back at the conference room, Dr. Galloway was a broken-down man. He cannot get himself to lift his head from the glass surface of Miller's desk. He wailed, "This is all my fault, Greg... I should've stopped her..."

"We all tried, Doctor," Captain Miller folded his arms. The anxiety is now seeping into his nails and skin, "Look, I have armed men securing the perimeter where Natalia Hansen and AJ was taken. Best thing you can do now is get yourself together."

Hearing this, Connor decided to speak up, "Forgive me, Captain, but shouldn't we be knocking on doors right now?"

"Damn it, Connor, did you hear the profile?" Captain Miller said, "We startle this guy and he's gonna do something worst. We might not find AJ alive and he might start running!"

Connor disagreed, "The lives of two people should not hinder us from our only opportunity at catching our killer. If my calculations are correct, he should be keeping Detective Whitley alive until he disposes the previous victim."

Captain Miller did not want to listen anymore. If the mayor of Detroit hears a police officer succumbed in the hands of the Blueblood Ripper, his career will be as good as dead.

"She has no gun or a badge. As long as she remains unthreatening to our suspect, he will stick to the plan and timeline," Connor added.

"I said, no!" Miller insisted.

Dr. Galloway spoke with whatever energy was left in him, "The kid might be right, Greg."

He gained the power to lift his chin from the desk. He said, "I don't usually agree to speaking outside of my profiling insights, but... we should be out there looking for the girls."

"Listen, Dr. Galloway. So far, every detail from your profile has been incredibly accurate," said Miller. "But sadly, it's also the reason why our suspect got hands on one of our best officers. I can't allow that to happen again!"

"Greg, that's enough!" Larrosa broke into the conversation. She can no longer deal with the finger-pointing, "I was the reason AJ got in contact with Dr. Galloway. If you want to suspend me for that too, I don't give a damn."

"You did what?!" Gregory has truly lost it. Between the stress at home and at work, he could no longer distinguish between what he has to say and how he has to say it.

He pointed his finger this time, "You know ever since Hank left, you have been trying to jeopardize my division for what? You want this title, Elizabeth? You can have it!"

Elizabeth returned, "Like they would ever hand a colored queer woman that title in fucking Detroit PD, but you already knew that, you backstabbing rat!"

As Gregory and Elizabeth fired out verbal jabs at each other, Connor made his choice. He typed into one of the terminals where the anonymous 911 calls had been triangulated. He used a series of algorithm to determine which cell towers were hit by the call.

The result isolated a few blocks in the area of Alma Oaks neighborhood. There were about 200 buildings. One of them has got to be the Blueblood Ripper's base. Connor fixed his suit and headed outside the building.

Out on the curb, he fixed his eyes on an unattended patrol motorbike and fired its engine with a twist of his electric palm.

Gregory, Elizabeth, and Angelo found themselves sitting in silence inside the glass boundary of the conference room.

Elizabeth hung her head over the conference table, she spoke calmly, "We all know the mayor is going to hear about this sooner or later, right?"

Gregory was leaning against the glass window of the room, staring up into the black sky. He was a man looking for mercy.

He no longer cared about what the mayor will do in his power to demote his ranks. He's about to let the Ripper kill one of his subordinates, and he was scared of what Lisa would say. He was scared of what Lisa would think about the man he has become.

"You really believe they wouldn't make unit captain out of someone with your aptitude and devotion?" He asked.

Elizabeth turned to her co-worker, "I don't know, I was just mad. Forget about it."

"No, you're probably right," he said. "I'll make sure that won't happen."

"What?"

When he spoke, his reflection in the glass stared back at him, "I'm retiring, Larrosa, and I'm recommending you as my successor. I think that's... what Lisa would've wanted."

"Retiring when?" Doctor Galloway jumped to the conversation.

"Lisa? I haven't talked to her since our diner party." Elizabeth asked, "Everything alright with Lisa?"

Gregory sighed, "Breast cancer. Stage three."

The three of them fell to a suspended silence. Each of them reflecting on the things they've said to each other they wish they could take back.

"Jesus, Greg, when were you going to tell us?" Elizabeth hung her head back down. Galloway does the same.

"Doesn't matter. I'll be out of this place in a week if the Ripper gets them both," said Gregory. He approached Dr. Galloway to say what he has been meaning to say this whole time.

"Doctor, your profile doesn't talk much about the accomplice. What do you have on the other guy?" Gregory asked.

"Well..." He sighed, "There's something else I've been thinking about... I'm not sure, but I think our unsub has multiple accomplices."

"You're sure about this?"

"That aligns with the different M.O. and the different ways that all of the victims were disposed," Elizabeth remarked, "How could a single killer has the same count of victims and accomplices?"