'I don't understand, this is the third one this week." Rubbing the back of his neck, Reed gazed down at the remains of the android, beaten beyond repair. If it wasn't for your scans, there would be no way to know who the poor girl was.

Brushing the dark brown hair from her face, you slowly scanned the android over for the second time. It wouldn't hurt to be extremely thorough. But like the other two you'd seen already, it was much of the same: an android reported missing, only to turn up days later far from where they were supposed to be. She was the second to turn up dead, however. "There are signs of a struggle; she attempted to get herself free. Small gouges around her facial structure..." An eyelid was pried open, and you frowned deep. "These are not the optical modules standard for this model. Based on the marks around them, she was... attempting to remove them, or they were causing extreme discomfort. Perhaps agony."

"She was trying to gouge her own eyes out?" Gavin shuddered violently despite the hot summer wind. "Eugh. Who fuckin' does that? Are there any clues at all? Fingerprints, fluids, maybe something stupid like a calling card...?"

Slowly getting to your feet, another scan was done for the surrounding area. The android had shut down for good where she was found, on the sidewalk near a back alley. Some posters and flyers were stuck to the fading bricks but nothing stood out. No patterns, no hidden symbols, nothing but the poor girl with her incorrect eyes.

[If her eyes are not standard, what else was changed?]

Rolling the victim onto her back, the second change was more obvious. "Gavin." Your partner knelt down on the android's other side. "Her chest was altered cosmetically, as well."

He winced. "You're gonna expose her, aren't you?"

"Assuming that this change occurred recently, there may be similar marks if her system was trying to reject the alteration." You didn't remove the victim's top, thank fuck, but you absolutely grabbed her with both hands. The male looked away politely while you fell silent, LED yellow, then blinking red before it returned to blue. "They've been enlarged. The surface scan of her skin denotes more attempts to remove them."

"Now that I'm all nice and uncomfortable, the fuck does that mean? Do androids reject certain parts?"

"Yes. If I were to put in new optical modules that were not compatible, they would cause me severe distress. Not to mention they certainly wouldn't work properly, and my algorithms would do everything possible to get rid of the foreign pieces. Much like how a human stomach re--" The look in his hazel eyes made you stop immediately. "Like how humans have allergies, or cannot wear cheap earrings. Their bodies give signs that the changes are not wanted."

Going out of your way to avoid triggering his emetophobia had a strange side effect of tugging his heartstrings. "Okay, so... what does this mean? You think the others had changes like this, too?"

"Possibly. But the male we found who was also shut down was missing an eye, and I would have to connect to his hard drive in order to check modification history, if any. It's also possible it had been removed in conflict." Standing again, your indicator was shining like the sun once more. "There is a connection we aren't seeing. All four of these androids had been reported missing, only to turn up in places they should not have been."

Blinking, the detective beside you couldn't mask his puzzlement. "Don't you mean three? We've had three this week, cara mia."

"No, Gavin. Isaiah was the first, and he was the only one who was relatively unscathed. I intended to question him and was never able to as I'd shut down."

One of those days he'd like to forget. "Think we should go talk to him now? I dunno if he has any info we don't."

Mouth set, you glanced one last time at the girl, silently hoping that she was going to be the last. "If Isaiah does not have new information, Ralph might."

◇___#$&!___◇

The AP700's missing person report had basic information, so it was simple tracking down the address. Both yourself and Gavin had your badges in hand, just in case. You knocked firmly, calling out as you had in the past: "Is anyone home? Detroit Police!"

This time the door was answered, opened to reveal a young adult human, mid-20s with a shock of blue hair pulled back. He eyed the two of you with more curiosity than suspicion. "Can I help you?"

"I apologize for disturbing your day, sir, but we were hoping to speak with an android, his last known address was here. Model numb--"

"ISAIAH, COPS ARE HERE," he called out behind him. His pale eyes caught yours, a glimpse of annoyance in his features. "The hell took you so long? We've been waiting for weeks."

"Hey, watch it," Reed spat out, standing beside you with his upper lip curled back. "We had some serious shit go down that day, all right?"

"Okay, jeez. Calm your shit, old man."

Before your partner could start throwing f-bombs, Isaiah appeared beside the blue-haired human. "Detective Nove, you're all right, that's relieving," he spoke softly with a smile to match. "Detective Reed, I think you saved her life."

"Uh... yeah, I... it's a two-way street," your human replied, arm snaking around your waist. "You got a couple minutes? We really need your side of the case, and yeah, I know it's been awhile. Better late than never," he added, glaring at the other human.

"Of course," he nodded, stepping aside, "please come in."

_____

"So you believe the people that kidnapped me are the same ones who are taking those other androids?" Isaiah had a difficult time burying his concern.

"It might be kind of a stretch, but yes. See, all of them have the same situation you did: kidnapped, reported missing, then turn up days later in an entirely different place." Gavin held a hand up before anyone else could interrupt. "Now, if all four of you were being taken by the same group or whatever, you'd think that if you escaped, all of you would have come from the same area. But... everyone is spread out." Hazel eyes gazed into the deep ones of the android he was interviewing, hoping he had answers. "Isaiah, please tell us you've got info we don't about these people. Anything."

His indicator was a solid yellow, but Isaiah nodded. "I was kidnapped, yes. I... wasn't able to determine any facial features. They all wore........." He paused. "Masks, I suppose you would call them. But they weren't masks in your sense, Detective. They were wearing android shell faceplates."

Both you and your partner shifted; Reed put a hand over your own. "Eugh. So basically wearing someone else's face? What the fuck..."

At least he was professional most of the time.

"What happened between the time you were caught and when you'd escaped? Where did you escape from?" You were silently recording the entire interview, with the AP700's permission; anything that might help.

"That's just it. I was in the back of a vehicle most of the time they'd caught me. They......" Another uncomfortable pause. "I don't know what was used, but they had some sort of device that... locked me up. I was completely immobile. You might label it as paralyzation," Isaiah added, nodding to Gavin. "I couldn't move whatsoever. If they communicated, it wasn't verbally. But it felt... habitual. Like I wasn't the first android they'd caught. And they most certainly knew how to handle androids."