Robotic Hearts

Chapter One: A Gift from Fowler

Gavin's POV-
April 26, 2039
10:10am
Detective Gavin Reed's Residence

I laid on the living room floor staring up at the fan above. A Beautiful Morning by the Rascals blared in all the rooms of my shitty little apartment as Tina bangged on my door,"Gavin!We are late again!"I ignored her desperate calls and turned the speakers up all the way to drown her out.She eventually gave up and left to get to work without me.I had moved into the apartment across from her so we could ride to work together, but that never seemed to happen considering my morning routine being like this.We were an hour late for work but I couldn't find a reason to get off the floor yet. As the song repeated for the thirtieth time may phone buzzed:

Tina: Fuck it Gav, i gotta go. See you around lunch if you get up.

I smiled at her text.Stupid woman, waiting this long on me. I finally got up and walked over to my window to see Tina climbing on the back of her girl friends motorcycle. They zipped off without hesitation, which pissed me off a little.

"Good, I don't need your help anyway!" Looking around my apartment I felt all my pent up aggression .I screamed, but my voice was mute against the loud music.It felt good to let it all out, so I kept going. I put three new holes in my living room walls, flipped the chairs at my table, and swiped the mound of empty beer cans of the kitchen island, then opened a new one and downed it in one go then threw it across the room. I kicked the cans out of my way and marched to may room.There were mountains of dirty clothes but I ignored them and picked up my usual green v-neck and crappy blue jeans off my bed and decided to take a shower. The water washed warmly over my bare, scarred skin- reminding me of every injury that had caused the deep scarring on my back, chest, arms, and legs. I looked over the self inflicted ones carefully. My upper arms and legs had faded stripes all up and down them, but they were fading thankfully. I hated seeing them because I couldn't remember a time before I was covered in them.... I have been like this for so long, it's hard to imagine a time before they covered me.I stepped out of the shower and dried off while avoiding looking in the broken mirror. My clothes smelled like ashes and cheap beer, but I didn't have much of an option did I. when I got back to the living room I turned off the music and all the lights. I took a moment to clean up the mess I had made earlier before heading out and locking up my apartment-11:27am

Time skip

The walk to work took almost an hour, but I didn't have another option seeing that my old F-150 broke down and Tina had already left me in the dust.The DPD got quiet as I walked in. Roomba, Fowlers new android assistant, rolled up to me on her roller skates,"Good morning Detective Reed. You are two hours, twenty-five minutes and thirty-nine seconds late."her joyful tone never faulted as I walked along with her rolling circles around me,"Fowler would like to see you in his office before you get to work on those reports again, also they are all still late.Have a nice day!"She zipped off to pass out reports to other detectives. I glanced at Fowlers office,Phck it, if he needs me he'll come get me.I made my way to the break room, passing Tina and Chris on the way"Hey look who finally got his ass in gear!", the short asian woman called after me. I gave her a half hearted smile and made myself a coffee,"Sorry Tina, rough morning..." she didn't look convinced,"Isn't every morning?"I poured the bitter bean juice into a plastic cup,"Not always... I-I don't know honestly...you weren't too late were you?" she shrugged,"No, an hour and fifteen minutes, not as bad as it has been.But that's thanks to Ivy, you know she had to leave work to come get me though,and she is picking me up tonight so you're walking home."Damn it, I hate walking home. Could I blame her though,Ivy was pretty great. If I had someone like here to pick me up from work I'd abandon her here too. I looked down at my coffee, I was feeling lonely now, and jealous of Tina. well, if I only have reports to do then it couldn't hurt to spend some time in here. I stood at the table and got my phone out. I needed someone to ease this feeling,anyone really. I opened an old dating app and made a profile. I was honest with everything till it came to one question. Looking for: Male, female,either.Shit, I knew I would have to answer that eventually, but I was worried. What if co-workers saw this, but then again could I really use someone like that if I pick female? I sighed and clicked either just to be safe, so I could act like it was an accident if anyone saw. This was going to make me happy right?I nervously locked my phone and put it away. When I reached for my coffee again a hand grabbed my shoulder,"Hello Gavin!" I leapt out of my skin,"Phck! Connor don't scare me like that!" had he seen my phone? How long had he been there?"Sorry detective, I was sure you heard me approaching." Connor was very sincere and I calmed down a bit,"What did you want anyway?" He glanced back at Hank who was leaving Fowlers office red faced,"Fowler said he needs to see you right away, or else." I rolled my eyes back in my hollow head,"Whhhhyyyyy?!"Roomba whizzed past, setting more files on my desk,"More reports detective!" between all the reports and my boss, I just wanted to go home, but as I tried to sneak past his glass box Fowler knocked on the window near me and called muffled,"Ass in here now!"Caught,Phck! I turned and walked back to his door and clenched my jaw to keep quiet.He had me on a leash and it was starting to piss me off. His desk was buried in mounds of paperwork, but he pushed it away and pulled out a large yellow folder with a smirk,"So Gavin, its that time again."My eyes rolled again,"Come on, you know-" he cut me off with a quick snap of his fingers and pointed for me to sit across from him.I took my seat and crossed my arms,"Fowler I'm not some depressed teen!" Without looking up he responded with a chuckle ,"No,You're a depressed detective with access to a gun, so let's begin." He cleared his throat,"On a scale, of one to ten, how undercontrol are your emotions?" I held my arms tightly and looked away koi all of a sudden,"T-ten.", I lied.Fowler marked the page and moved on,"How often, if at all, do you have thoughts of suicide?" anytime I'm alone or in a quiet place for five phcking seconds,"Never." Fowler scowled,"It doesn't help if you lie to me."I bit the inside of my cheek,"Fine, twice a week."Still a lie, but who honestly gives a fuck?"Have you been going to your required therapist?" I couldn't take the questions any more and jumped up and rushed to the farthest wall from fowler,"Hell no!I'm-I'm fine, Fowler really!"He set the folder aside and watched me,"Are you Reed?"I didn't respond, his words echoed in my head for a minute before he sighed and turned away,"I hate when you lie to me Reed, but I hate it more when you lie to yourself ."His tone was softer and more concerned than threatening,"This is why I wanted to talk with you." My stomach lurched and I felt notts growing in it as Fowler pointed for me to sit down again,"Reed, have a seat." I fought it, I couldn't just sit here and listen to him list of all my shortcomings,"Anything you have to say just say it." His exhausted eyes sat sunken in his fat head, as he glared at me with authority. He was waiting for me to sit but a wave of anxiety held me against the far wall."Reed, I'm not firing you, just sit the hell down so we can talk like adults." Though his words words were calm and soft, I still didn't sit,"Okay, lets talk like this."