Tick Tock Part Three - Dock

Growth and Maturity

"I knew the peace wouldn't last," Reed sighed a few days later, quietly relieved they were dealing with an android homicide. The heat of summer had arrived in full force. Nines hadn't checked yet, but the area looked like it had been abandoned for at least a decade. The call had been anonymous; probably a group of kids looking for somewhere to party. It happened sometimes. They were in an old mechanic workshop. It was pretty much just a huge empty space with a couple of rotting work benches now, but there were bolts and attachments left behind where machinery had once been fixed to the walls and floors.

"This building has been deserted for some time...I believe this happened a long time ago." Nines roved his piercing gaze over the dim interior. Well, that's something at least...The AAL and the AHL had both been quiet since the shooting. The longer they stayed that way, the better. Just because this body is older than a few weeks, doesn't mean it isn't AAL related though. The group had been active for years at this point. There were likely dozens of bodies they hadn't found, from both before and after the revolution. Reed sighed as he looked at the body.

He wasn't sure whether it was because it had been left inactive for so long, or if the damage had caused it. Either way, the artificial skin had fully deactivated to leave the white and grey shell casing on display. He crouched beside the body, sharp eyes tracing the cracks littering the surface. There was no thirium. It was far too old for that. It was still there, but it was invisible. As he chanced touching the dirty cement, he couldn't even feel the oily patch that was usually left behind. There was a dry but slightly smooth texture that could have been the thirium, but Nines would have to confirm it. It was hard to make out the facial features through the spiderweb of cracks covering the side of its broken face. His face...flat chest, wide shoulders, muscular build...There was no genital component, but he was pretty sure it had been a male model. He couldn't find the serial number. It was probably lost somewhere in the shards of plastic littering the dirty floor.

"You alright? I mean, I know it's pretty..." Reed trailed off with a wave of his arm, gesturing towards the smashed up android. The body was still android shaped, but someone had certainly gone to town on it. It was the definition of overkill. It could have been discrimination, or it could have been personal. There was no way of knowing without more details. To his knowledge, there wasn't any gang active in this area, so that ruled that out. It seemed a little far out for the AAL, but they couldn't be discounted, not with the amount of hatred that had gone into the attack. Could it have been a crime of passion? Some sort of falling out?

"Excessive?" Nines finally joined him by the body, having circled and scanned the empty warehouse for clues. There were multiple footprints, but it was almost impossible to match them to any particular person or timeframe. They didn't even know who'd called it in. Some of the prints outside were fairly small, suggesting young teens had been in the area. There were thin tyre tracks from push bikes and less defined marks from skateboards. He'd noted a few soda cans left scattered around and fully intended to take samples later, but they likely belonged to the callers. Nothing of use had been left behind inside the warehouse. Whoever did it had likely worn gloves and disposable clothing, and taken the weapons with them, if it was recent enough to matter.

"Phck, you can say that again." Reed couldn't help wondering if there was anyone out there waiting for this guy. Nines reached out and ran his fingers over the damaged cranium, brow pinching a little as he rubbed his fingers on the shell. Reed watched as he licked his fingers, LED spinning yellow as he searched the serial number and checked the database for any missing person reports. It still amazed Reed how fast he did it. A couple of blinks later, and his LED returned to blue.

"His name was Ani Ling, an AL300 assisted living model. They are quite rare by android standards. He was an old model, even before the revolution," Nines reported as he scanned the shell. Reed nodded along as Nines spoke, not wanting to interrupt him as he worked. It was interesting to know, but was it relevant? Hard to say...It explained the lack of a genital component though. Older models wouldn't have them, and may not even have the compatibility to have them fitted. "He shut down approximately nine months ago." That still put it after the revolution, so it was definitely a homicide. It won't be easy to track down the killer after all this time though...CCTV would be useless. There were no cameras in the immediate vicinity, and those further out had probably recorded over the footage already.