(I am so sorry if I butcher the speech patterns here.)

_____

[SUBJECT UNSTABLE. DANGER LEVELS UNKNOWN. BURN DAMAGE SUSTAINED, MODERATE INTERNAL DAMAGE. COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS MAY BE AFFECTED.]

As soon as the damaged male android came into view, two things were apparent: he was leery and distrusting of Gavin and yourself, and Gavin was incredibly close to firing.

Stepping aside, you reached and laid a hand on top of the human's firearm, gently forcing it down and pointed away from this Ralph. "Please," you murmured softly, "put the weapon away, sir. He is anxious."

He's also an awful fucking mess...

Exhaling loud, Reed holstered his gun into the harness around his chest. Only then did you turn to the damaged male android, seeing the extent of the damage and feeling whatever served as a heart break a bit. With the human's gun tucked away, the tension in the air released... but only a little. "Ralph?" Your voice was quiet, mostly blocking his view of your directive. "We're sorry for breaking in, we don't want to scare you."

"They always- always say that. Always. Ralph hears it, he never believes it. Not- not anymore." His speech pattern was faulty, stuck in a third-person manner and jittery. Though it may have been coming from his nervous aura.

"Ralph, we are detectives. We protect others, not hurt them." Taking a chance, a small step brought you a little closer; the blond didn't back off, but he didn't exactly relax, either. "... It's nice to meet you, Ralph, thank you for telling us your name. Can we ask a question or two before we go?"

Oddly enough, being thanked and showing your manners did calm Ralph. A little. "N-name, please. Ralph wants to know your names."

Behind you, Gavin's mind was reeling; the danger seemed to be fading, but his skin crawled all the same. What the fuck had happened to this guy?

"Nove. Ralph can call me Nove. The human is Gavin." Before anything further could be said, there was a flurry of shuffling and quiet thumping sounds upstairs.

Reed whipped his head towards the staircase before meeting your eyes. "How do we go about this?"

Someone had to venture to the second floor, and it was obvious the male wanted nothing to do with the damaged android you were trying to make friends with. Still; Ralph claimed the ruined house, and if he knew anything, you were the best bet to get those answers. So you turned back, a small, soft smile on your face as you took another step forward. "Is it okay if we go upstairs? We are looking for someone, Ralph. Not to hurt them. Just to know why they're hurt and why they're running."

Gazing between you and the antsy human, he nodded... sort of. "The detective can go, yes. Human detective." There was an attempt to smile, as well, and your LED went blue. "M-Miss Nove can stay with Ralph, please. She is nice to him. Doesn't yell, doesn't make him scared. Nice."

Squeezing your shoulder, your directive murmured, "Be careful, cara mia." Turning towards the stairs, he glanced back, almost like an afterthought. "... thanks, Ralph," he added, nodding before quietly climbing the staircase.

Man, I've never been so weirded out. What the fuck happened to the guy?

Now that you were left alone, another step was taken to the battered male, your head tilting. "... May I sit down, please? Would that help?" You were given another jerky pseudo-nod, so you carefully occupied a dining chair nearby, hands in your lap. "Will Ralph be upset if I ask him questions?"

Trying to follow his faulty speech seemed to help, but then again it could have been because Reed wasn't in the room with his gun. "Questions? Questions. Yes-yes, yes, Miss Nove can ask Ralph. Questions don't hurt. Questions."

"Thank you. Ralph doesn't have to answer if he's scared, but if he knows anything to help, that would be nice." There was another attempt at a smile, and the blond succeeded in holding it this time. "There is an android who is hurt, Ralph. Bleeding and scared. He might have been chased by someone." Your voice softened. "Ralph, we want to find him and help him. He's been missing for days, and someone wants to find him again. His name is Isaiah. Is he here?"

At first there was silence. Unsteady gaze darting about, your immediate thought was that he may lie, but you held your tongue. "Isaiah? Isa-- no. No, no android with Ralph. No. Isaiah not with Ralph." His mouth worked. "Not with... not... not good. Isaiah is hurt and scared like Ralph. Hunted. Scared, hiding, don't-- don't hurt Ralph's new friend."

[Hunted. Who is hunting androids?]

Shaking your head, your indicator flickered yellow, sending a warning to Gavin not to harm the injured android, that there was more to it than you realized. "Ralph, we don't want to hurt him or you. But thank you for telling me the truth, it's very helpful."

Your smile was enough to get him to walk into the main room entirely, though he was still visibly nervous. "Hunted. Android hunters, not kind at all. Worse than humans that hurt Ralph. Hunters-- all human, all hiding. Hate-- ha-hate androids. Leave clues, Ralph sees them. Don't follow, bad for Miss Nove. Bad. Bad."

Clues to these hunters? "Ralph, we--"

"CARA MIA!!" The shout preceeded the flurry of thumping noises: heavy footsteps rushing towards the staircase. Two pairs: Reed was chasing Isaiah, who was trying to flee in a panic.

Before either of them came into view from the second floor, you were out of your seat in a nanosecond. "Isaiah!!" you called out, "We don't intend to harm you!!"

It didn't matter; the AP700 came barreling down, LED red and visibly terrified. There was a gash in his shoulder, too deep to heal on its own. He made an attempt to head for the door, meaning to shove you aside, but your directive got a hold of his good shoulder to turn him around. Reed's gun was still in the holster but that made no difference; Isaiah had something sharp in his grasp.

Maybe he intended to use it to get past you, but Gavin spun him around with the intention to get him to stop moving. So the human met the sharp end of the glass shard instead, a fine spray of red following his swinging arm.

[NO]

"GAVIN!!!"

The scream echoed the house for one moment; you were pushed aside so the AP700 could get to the only exit. You'd completely abandoned any thought of the android, only seeing your sole function with a hand at the side of his face, scarlet blood running between his fingers and down his arm.

There was groaning and a lot of swearing, the human close to tripping on the steps as he backed away blindly. Only when you took his upper arms did Gavin stop, letting you guide him to sitting down. "Fucking shithole piece of cocksucking--"

The crash was immense and ear-splitting. Everything was chaos, and while every line of code demanded you tend to your angry human, you tore your gaze away to find the source: Isaiah had been stopped, after all. But only because Ralph had grabbed and pinned him to the wall beside the door. And... maybe breaking the wall a good deal.

Both eyes, one damaged and one good, found yours before he spoke. "R-Ralph is sorry. Isaiah, sorry, sorry. Ralph means well. Means.... n-not be mean. Sorry. Miss Nove and her Detective want to help. Want... help. Help you. Stay."