Neo Tropolis Police Department
Case File #2: A New Partner
by Justin Swartz
Neo Tropolis Police
Department: Case Files are copyright Justin Swartz 2002. Any reproduction of this document for purposes
of publication, data storage, archiving, or adaptation, without the expressed
consent of the author, is strictly prohibited and subject to proper legal
action. Yes, this means you. And by the way, all rights reserved.
4:00pm, June 5th
Year 2012
Yuki stood in front of the soda machine and inserted his credit slip into it, watched as two cans of cola ejected from its chamber. He picked them up and put his slip back into his pocket, and froze as he stared at his image in the mirror.
The full-length one was positioned across from the machines in the precinct recreation room, and was mostly meant as a decoration. In the harsh peach light against the yellow walls and vanilla tile, Yuki felt as though he were trapped in some kind of madman’s funhouse. His eyes had bags that would have made raccoons jealous, his black hair was a bit messy from the haste of putting on his collared shirt, and even that shirt appeared tired.
Sleep had been a luxury that he simply had ignored during the day. It wasn’t like he was going to get any sleep anyway…the memories of David kept haunting him, haunting him and annoying him like a collection agency brought back from the grave. He frowned at himself, blinked a few times, and then started walking out the door and up the stairs to the squad’s office space. He had no more answers as to David’s death then he had owned the previous night, but he intended to research some of his suspicions tonight.
He stopped with his hand on the doorknob as he heard one of the showers kick off. Disturbing silence ensued, and he ventured a glance with his right eye in the direction of the showers, wondering who would emerge. There’s only one person who would be adventurous to take a shower this close to shift turnover, he thought.
Mia emerged from the area wearing a similar white collared shirt and tight black pants with green trim. Her blonde mane was soaked, but she was smiling as she caught his glance.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey,” he muttered. “Only you.”
She shrugged. “It’s not like you were going to join me or anything.”
His cheeks burned. I hate it when she talks like that. “Sure.”
“Really, you don’t look very well.” Her voice went from playful to concern. “You should take this night off and leave everything to me.”
“I need to find out what happened to David,” he said evenly, turning around to face her. “I don’t care if I don’t sleep the rest of this week, Mia. I need to know.”
“Why don’t you leave that to the higher-ups?” she asked, running a towel through her hair.
“Because he was my superior.”
“That doesn’t mean he was your responsibility.”
“I’m not arguing this with you.”
“But you are.”
He wanted to squeeze his soda cans until they popped; he hated it when she started trying to talk sense into him. He had always guessed that she had the “hots” for him, but he had never been able to figure out why, especially now, with the way he looked. He took a moment while her back was turned and took her in. She wasn’t a supermodel by anyone’s definition, but she wasn’t Weight Watcher’s next victim either. It was clear that she had toughness to her, but also a class that made most of the other men stumble over their feet. Her blonde hair ended in small curls, and her blue eyes were rather dashing for a woman.
“Quit staring,” she teased.
“I’m not staring,” he said. “I phased out.”
“Sure you did.”
“Enough of this,” he grumbled, and closed the door behind him. He walked up the yellow stairs and to the right, where the slate blue and maroon offices awaited him. He dodged two or three interns, trying not to juggle his soda too much, and finally reached his desk in the fury of computer typing, phones ringing from all directions, and several radios playing every kind of music imaginable.
He walked behind his cubicle wall and took a moment to stare at the picture on it of a cross planted in someone’s garden. It was a painting his mother in Japan had sent him once, one that she had created herself, to remind him of his unique upbringing (his father was a Catholic), and that they still loved him. They would have loved him more if he had never went to Neotropolis, but he knew that running a sushi shop was not for him.
But is
this for me, then?
“Good afternoon,” a polite voice said to him.
He turned; putting his soda cans on the slate-colored desk, and realized that there had been someone sitting in the chair across from his the entire time. She was young, maybe nineteen at the most (with him being only three years older). She had honey blonde hair, unlike Mia’s golden hair, with a texture that shined in the lights of the office. It ran down her shoulders and almost to her thighs. Her face was almost aquiline in nature, but her almost yellow irises made Yuki suck in his breath. She was wearing a long black coat with white gloves and some kind of black dress on underneath. A black hat that was done in a French style accented the coat.
“Are you finished?” she asked, again in the polite voice.
“Finished what?” he asked, then blinked and sat down in his leather chair. “Sorry. I wasn’t aware that I had any appointments today.”
“You don’t.”
Great, she talks just like Mia. “Then what are you doing here?”
“I am your new partner.”
Yuki blinked. “This isn’t a detective unit. We all work as a team, we don’t have partners.”
“You do now.” She handed him a piece of paper sitting by her feet. “This is from the District Attorney’s office. Per order of the mayor, I am to be assigned to your squad as your partner until further notice or however long I choose to stay.”
Yuki gave the memo a good once-over, then put into his “to be read later” pile (which seemed awfully big). “Name?”
“Melanie.”
He waited…and waited…and waited. “Last name?”
“There is none.”
“You have to have a last name, Melanie,” Yuki insisted.
“It is not a requirement for employment here.”
Yuki could feel a headache coming on. “Okay then. What is it that you do?”
“I am an android.”
Yuki’s mouth went dry. “You’re what?”
“An android. I am a machine made in the image of a human being.”
“I know what an android is, thank you,” he said. “How is that even possible?”
“You should direct your question to the mayor. I believe that he has all of the details on my creation.”
“You mean that you don’t know who made you?”
“It has not been divulged to me, no,” she said quietly.
Yuki ran his hand through his hair. “So, what is it that you want me to do?”
“I would like you to show me around the precinct, then explain to me the shift duties. I can then better adapt myself to your work here.”
“For one thing, you had better change out of those clothes,” he said, then felt his cheeks burning red again. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way.”
“In what way did you mean it? Am I misinterpreting you?”
She
didn’t get it. Good. “What I mean is, you’re attracting too
much attention dressed up like that.
You need to be more casual.”
“I was told that I could wear
what I wanted.”
“Who told you that?”
“The mayor.”
Can’t argue that one. “Okay then. Well, Melanie, I need to ask you a few questions for my own state of mind, okay?”
“Very well, but you just said okay twice in the last five seconds. Are you nervous or tired?”
“What kind of a question is that?” he blasted, trying to keep his voice down. “How are you supposed to…” he let his voice trail off as she smiled politely at him.
“Please, try to be more calm. I am not here to take away your job. I am here because I was designed for police operations. I am also not here to become someone’s pleasure machine, although there are many androids in the world that are used for that purpose. I am here to fulfill my function, that is all.”
She has
a point, Yuki thought. Boy, I
must be some kind of ultra-grump.
“I’m sorry,” he said, looking into her pink eyes. “I didn’t mean to insult you or belittle you.”
“You are forgiven. As I said, you are either nervous or tired, or both.” She smiled. “It is a common human error.”
He frowned. “What do you mean by that?”
She blinked slowly at him. “I mean to say that you are simply human. Errors are to be expected.”
“And you don’t make errors?”
“No.”
It was said with such honesty, minus an ego, that Yuki had no other words to say. He made thinking noises instead and reached for one of his soda cans. Upon opening it, the cola exploded from its opening and spilled onto the desk and almost splashed Melanie, were it not for her quick scoot of her chair.
Yuki reached for some napkins that he kept in one of his desk drawers, and quickly wiped the mess. During that time, Melanie kept her eyes on him, and finally he met hers.
“What is it?”
She smiled, and Yuki could have sworn that she was laughing. “Human error.”
He smiled, turned away for a moment, and then looked back at her. “I guess so.” He extended his hand across the desk, and she took it. “Welcome to the Domestic Violence and Disturbance Squad Two, Melanie.”
“Thank you, Yuki. It will be my pleasure to work with you.”
Her words struck Yuki as being rather funny; it was similar to something that Mia would have said, but without the turn-on. He found that he rather liked her voice, too.
Maybe
having her as a partner won’t be so bad after all.
“Hey, can I get you anything?” he asked.
“I don’t require any nourishment, thank you,” she told him. “May we take the tour now?”
He guzzled some of the cola, nodded to her. She stood up and waited as he came around the desk and led her back into the frenzy of the office, then pulled her down into the recreation room.
“You can guess what this is,” he said to her. She didn’t seem to be paying any attention to the room, though…she was paying more attention to him. “Is there something wrong, Melanie?”
“Are you sure that you are stable enough to perform this tour?” she asked. “You are extremely fatigued by the tone of your voice, your eye quality, and your mannerisms.”
“I can make it,” he said. “It’s what working the night shift is all about.”
“I see,” she said. “Could you then please tell me what happened on your last shift?”
Yuki froze. “Why do you want to know that?”
She smiled. “You are wondering why a neoroid would attack a human being, are you not? You are wondering where the tip came from, are you not?”
Yuki stepped back. “How much did the D.A. tell you?”
“Enough, but not enough to satisfy me,” she said earnestly. “I need to know from your perspective…I think I may have the answers you’re looking for.”
