"## Reyaansh ##" "The year is 2048." "Evolving technologies can no longer be regulated." "Dangerous advancements forever alter the criminal landscape." "Police are not prepared." "Law enforcement combats this corruption with a new line of defense." "But not all are created equal." "The idea behind the DRNs was to be as human as possible." "They were based on a program called Synthetic Soul." "That's one of the crazy ones." " I'll lead you in?" " Let's go." "Now all cops... human and manmade together... take on the battle to watch over us all." "Hey, hey." "We're not open yet." "But you gotta let me in, please!" "Ten minutes!" "Hey, what's wrong with you?" "Hey!" "Stop right there!" "Hey!" "Hey!" "Hey!" "Sir, come here." " Sir, I'm only gonna say this once..." " No, please!" "Sir!" "Please, they're gonna..." "they're gonna find me!" " Who's gonna find you?" " They know where I am!" " Calm down!" " They're gonna kill me!" " You don't understand!" " Calm down, sir!" "Please enjoy a hot beverage." "When you came to see me six months ago, your emotions were boiling over with hate." "You were seething with frustration and disgust at your neighbors, at your fellow workers, at our government." "But today... you are a different man." "And I am so proud of how far you've come." "What a complete and utter waste of my time." "I could not feel worse." "I don't feel at all better." "I hate everyone the same." "In fact, I think I hate you most." "Okay." "But, Jim... listen to yourself." "Listen to your words." "Two months ago, you would've been expressing this anger physically." "Now you're using your words." "When I get these damn bandages off," "I'll be physical again." "Well, you should be proud of yourself." "Okay, John." "What about you?" "How are you feeling?" "Doc, I'm feeling great." " Really?" " Yeah." "I'm feeling really good." "I don't want to encourage you to be angry, but I also don't want you to hide your feelings from us... and more importantly... from yourself." "No, uh, look..." "I'm the first to agree, you know?" "I'm all for sharing feelings." "Uh... but, uh..." "I feel good." "What can I say?" "John... your girlfriend not only abandoned you, but she was secretly working for one of the most..." "Yeah." "Infamous criminal organizations in this city." "The same organization that targeted and killed your entire squad... in a gun battle and left you for dead, and, ultimately, left you with a synthetic leg." "Yet, for the past several sessions, in what little you've told us, you're saying that... you have no problems and you... feel good?" "Are you really, truly saying that you're being honest?" "Look, Doc, we all hit bumps in the road." "You know?" "Everyone hits speed bumps, right?" "The thing is," "I got my health, you know?" "I got a job." "I got a new synthetic leg." "I can still... you know." "Comparatively speaking..." "I mean, I'm not like..." "like Marty over there." "I mean, no... no offense, Marty." "If I was in your shoes, pal, I tell you, I'd..." "I'd really... , you know?" "Every week I walk in here, I think, "Oh, my God, is Marty gonna be here?"" "And he is." "Week in, week out." "I gotta hand it to you." "I'd get a divorce, I'd put the dog down, and I'd just stay away from peanut butter." "It's as simple as that, really." "I feel good." "I really do, you know?" "What about you, uh..." "Anal?" "You're good?" "It's Aneal." "Okay." "Yeah." "Hey, Mr. Friendly." "How was Angry Class 101?" "Call me that again and I swear" "I'll stick my boot right in your face." "Clearly, it went well." "Detective Kennex." "Here's the preliminary report." "Detective Paul is up there, sir." "Oh, I'm sorry, there's not much we can do about that." "Victim is Anton Cross." "Lived in Lakeshore Heights." "Single gunshot wound to the upper torso." "Large caliber round." "What do you got?" "Looks like three shots fired." "One through the skylight, one through that guy's celo, and one into Mr. Lucky here, which fragmented on the wall." "The transit police said he was running." "They stopped him on the platform." "He was agitated, saying "They're gonna kill me."" "Three shots and no one saw a shooter?" "Correct." "And we only recovered one bullet." "One bullet?" "It is possible that a single bullet was responsible for all three impacts." "If fired from the perfect angle and traveling along a consistent trajectory," "I believe a bullet could have cut through the skylight, continued through the celo, bounced against the wall, ricocheted to the floor, and penetrated the victim's chest cavity." "Let me get this straight." "You're suggesting that a single bullet came through the skylight, ricocheted and bounced its way through the subway, and then just miraculously hit a man square in the chest... who was, according to witnesses, running, screaming," ""They're gonna kill me"?" "While the likelihood seems improbable, there is a .004% chance that a shooter firing with this morning's five miles per hour northwesterly winds, would release a bullet that would only increase speed until hitting the skylight," "where the trajectory would change nominally and the bullet would increase velocity due to air conditioning within the station." "A temporary deformation, coupled with inertia and the molecular structure of the wall, the celo, and the floor, would inevitably allow for a fatal impact." "Makes sense to me." "What do you think?" "Obviously, this is just a first look, but it appears that there's only residue from the skylight, and residue from the celo." "Yet there's no residue from the floor, making the likelihood that it bounced or ricocheted unlikely." "Detective Kennex." "I appreciate you seeking multiple scenarios as to how this homicide occurred." "And I understand your partner is trying to assist you." "However, I must remind you that your partner is a DRN." "A discontinued..." "Please, do continue." "If you look here, there seems to be some sort of circuitry that's embedded in the slug." "Now, we can't be sure until we a get a full analysis, but these markings don't look like scratches from a bullet hitting a wall." "Again, Detective Kennex, your DRN is inferior." "Its computing power is 18 billion trilihertz" " less than my own." " It's not something you see every day." "On top of that, I genuinely believe" " that one bullet did do..." " It does not have the ability" " all of this damage." " ... to rationalize, analyze or deduct." " His intelligence is subpar..." " Just not a ricochet, as suggested by..." "You are damaging your incident arrest quota" " Detective Paul's MX." " ... by having an obsolete DRN." "You are continuing to listen to a retired old system, believing the rambling and illogical theories of your appropriately canceled partner." "If you would like," "I can put in a request" "Are you out of your mind?" "You do not draw your weapon... let alone fire it in a public place unless you're in danger!" "Doesn't fire his weapon?" "Who cares about him firing his weapon?" "He's firing it at my MX!" "Come on." "Since when do you care about an MX?" "What if I put a bullet in Dorian's head?" " Hey." "Hey!" " Don't even look at Dorian!" "Nobody is shooting any police officers." "Let me explain something to you." "I'm a police officer." "You're a police officer." "And as much as it pains me to say it," "Richard is a police officer." "Now, you can dress these machines to look like cops." "You can program 'em to drive a car and shoot a gun like a cop." "But they're not cops." "They're bullet catchers." "And if you force me to work with a faulty machine, then I will dispose of it with the same degree of compassion that I would a toaster that burns my toast." "John, I don't know what to do with you." "I could give you a list of things I'd do with him." "Richard, let me handle this." "Wow." "You better watch your ass." "Your partner better watch his ass, too." "Richard, go down and find yourself another MX." "We've got a problem here, John." "Yeah, I agree." "I mean, what do you think he wants to do to my ass?" "You know, your anger issues and your short fuse are known way beyond this precinct." "You were supposed to participate in therapy." "I'm participating." "And it's working." "It was just a minor slip, okay?" "It could've been worse." "I mean, I could've shot Richard." "I understand Dorian found the victim's girlfriend." "Get into that." "See what you can find out." "Kira Larsen." "1,003 communications with Anton Cross in the last 12-week period." "Where does she work?" "Trope Software." "That's the same as Anton Cross." "Affirmative." "They work together." "Address, please." "What?" "You like me." " Sorry?" " You like me." " No, I don't." " Yes, you do." " No." " You definitely do." "How do you come by that conclusion?" "The MX." "You shot it because" " it insulted me." "You like me." " No." " I shot the MX 'cause it wouldn't shut up." " Nope." "You shot it because you like me." "Keep talking, I'll prove my point." "It's okay, John." "I like you, too." "Rudy, what's up?" "Uh, well, you were right, Dorian." "There is a power source in this bullet." "There are definitely, uh, micro-electro-mechanical systems embedded in... in the bullets." "Um, active aerodynamics, which can alter the course of the bullets in flight." "I've never seen anything like it." "Do we have any idea who might've made it or where it was manufactured?" "Not yet, but the MEMS circuits are highly specialized." "Whoever fires this can control where this bullet goes." "It could literally chase you around a corner." "If the shooter wants you dead, the bullet will find you." "Hi." "We need to speak to Kira Larsen." "Just one moment, Officer." "I'm Kira Larsen." "What's this about?" "I'm Detective John Kennex." "I'm afraid we have some very bad news." "I don't..." "Anton would never hurt anyone in his life." "Who would want to hurt him?" "Was he involved in any underground activities?" "Black market, drugs?" "Did he owe any money?" "No." "Black market?" "Anton was a gamer." "He was an elder in Warriors of Grun." "We're trying to find out information about the weapon he was killed with." "When was the last time you heard from him?" "Uh, he left me a message." " When?" " Last night." "Hey, K. You must be asleep." "Uh, of course you are." "Anyway, um, forget looking for the bio-stamp on the, uh... on the 318 liquifile." "I found it." "It's on my arm." "Anyway, uh... uh, I got to go." "Love you." "See you tomorrow." "He seems distracted." "Oh, he's... he's working." "That's how he always is." "I'm gonna need access to all of Anton's office files." "Of course." "I can take care of that right now." "... specializing in long-term backup of data." "Don't let your memories..." "Why, hello there, Dorian-0167." "Good day, Dorian." "Replace your worn-out objects with new..." "Hey, DRN-01..." "Kira, I need you to think." "Were there any new people in his life?" "He doesn't know a lot of people outside of work." "Anything out of the ordinary?" "He'd been meeting with a headhunter." "Was he looking to change jobs?" "No, when you have skills like..." "like Anton, you have options." "Do you remember the name?" "He, uh..." "It was a woman." "I think her name was Natalie." "She worked for a recruitment company called Kinsey." "Your company makes real-time tracking software for personalized advertising." "Yeah." "I think I know how Anton Cross was killed." "Anton's software exploits an obscure bug in the location-tracking protocols used by nearly all sensors." "Phones, cameras, retinal scanners, bio-stamps, even DNA readers, enabling them all to communicate in real time to precisely track virtually any person at any time." "So Anton created the guidance system for the bullet?" "Dorian, are you there?" "Hang on, it's Rudy." "I have some information about where the bullet came from." "According to Interpol, the MEMS circuit in the slug was a Russian Army design." "A batch was stolen from a Ukrainian armory three months ago." "And the theft was linked to a group called Revolution Now." "A new weapon for the black market." "Self-guided bullets that can track down and kill anyone." "Rudy thinks the MEMS in the bullet that killed Anton were stolen by gunrunners." "So, Anton sold his software to arms dealers." "And they killed him with it." "What a world." "The round was fired miles away." "It's a lot of money." "Don't you see what we have here?" "It's worth it." "When can I get it?" "Soon." "I want to see it work for myself." "Follow me." "We'll use her." "Have to kill her anyway." "So Anton sells his genius tracking software" " to arms dealers." " Who take it and use it to create a guidance system for a new kind of bullet that can track down anyone wherever they are." "And once they get what they needed from Anton, they kill him with it." "So, how do we know they haven't mass-produced them already?" " We don't." " Well, they just killed the man who designed the guidance system." "They wouldn't have done that unless R  D was already done." "We need to find these dealers and contain this." "We've already notified FBI and DHS." "I'll check Anton's financials." "Maybe we can find out who he sold the software to." "But I'm not optimistic... he was in tech." "He'd know how to hide money." "I'd be happy to help, Detective Stahl." "Don't stress yourself, bot." "There's an easier way." "Your daddy's really good at hiding money, right?" "Why don't we just ask him how it's done." "Stand up when you say that." "Oh, wait, you are." "Yeah, well, my parents didn't have the money to make me taller." "Or pretty." "Even if you were genetically enhanced, Richard, you would only be a taller jerk." "Anton's girlfriend said he'd been meeting a headhunter from a company called Kinsey." "It was the only new thing in his life." "All we have is her first name..." "Natalie." "Can you check it out?" "There are no Natalies currently employed by Kinsey." "Maybe Kira got the name wrong." "Or maybe she's lying." "Let's go ask her." "Hang on." "We know you were after something in the evidence vault when you assaulted the precinct with Insyndicate." "Are we really gonna go through this again?" "What was it?" "Asked but not answered." "The same as the last 50 times." "This time, it's different, Reinhardt." "This time," "I'm prepared to offer you a deal." "You tell us what is here, and we make a deal." "You're asking for a big piece of information." "For that, I get a full walk." "That's not gonna happen." "It's worth it." "So close, and yet so far away." "That must be frustrating." "Isn't that right, buddy?" "Your girlfriend Anna would be very impressed to see you walk me around." "You do know that's not her real name?" "Wouldn't you just love to get your hands around that chick's throat?" "I know where she is." "Would you like to know?" "How bad?" "Get her to let me walk." "We're gonna find her." "And we're gonna find what you were after anyway." "Yeah, eventually, I guess." "If you get enough time." "But, um, do you really think that I'm the only one coming for it?" "Get him out of here." "Thanks." "All right, let's go." "Were you really gonna offer him a deal?" "One I could live with, yeah." "A deal you could live with." "But what about the families of the 11 men killed in the ambush?" "And the men who died in the assault?" "Could they live with it?" "I've been working this nonstop to try to figure it out for them." "So you negotiate with a murderer?" "What are you afraid is in here?" "Something even worse." "Here you go." "Kira." "We need to talk." "We suspect Anton was selling your company's tech to people who killed him with it." "The headhunter you mentioned..." "Natalie?" "We checked at Kinsey, she doesn't exist." "You sure you got her name right?" "No, I'm not absolutely sure." "How did you get her name?" "I bumped into them on the street near our office." "A couple weeks ago." "They were coming back from lunch." "She had blonde hair," "Slavic accent." "Anton introduced her." "Could you identify her if you saw her?" "I think so, yes." "John..." "What?" "I thought you said it never missed." "You okay?" "Please remain still." "Thank you for your cooperation." "hugs, not drugs." "Stay on this side of the wall and respect authority." "How are your functions?" "You okay to continue?" "Fantastic." "Hey-hey, it's okay, it's okay." "You're safe in here, Kira." "This truck is made of titanium." "They can't track you in here." "I'd be dead if it weren't for you." "Thank you." "Kira, you must know something about Anton." "That's why they tried to kill you." "I don't." "If you're holding anything back, now is the time to tell us." "I don't." "I don't know anything." "I don't know why they would want me dead, too." "Okay." "We're gonna transfer you to a safe house, a place where you can't be tracked." "I'm not going anywhere without my daughter." "My best friend Janet has her." "I need to go see her right now." "She'll worry if I don't go home." "Okay." "We'll bring her to you." "What's her name?" "Aimee." "I can't find her." "She's not coming up." " Aimee!" " Mommy!" "I love you so much!" "Oh, bless you." "We've got men outside." "You'll be safe here." "For now, maybe, but they will find me." "You have no idea." "That's what this technology is designed to do." "I've seen what this technology can do." "Kira, I need you to be honest with yourself." "Is there any part of you that doubts Anton?" "Well..." " Yes." " Why?" "Because of how secretive he was about where he was going and who he was with." "Why didn't you tell me this before?" "Because I didn't want to believe it." "Whatever he was involved with, look what he's done to us." "He was like a father to her." "How could he do this to us?" "What if I got scrubbed?" " I could go to a scrubber..." " Kira... and erase everything I know about Anton." "Whatever they think that he told me," "I could have him extracted." "That might make sense to you now, but..." "I need to be here for her." "She's all that I've got." "And then maybe they'll leave me alone... when I'm no longer a threat to them." "It doesn't work like that." "It wouldn't matter." "Look, forgetting Anton is not the answer here." "Are you one of those anti-scrubbers or something?" "I don't agree with scrubbing." "Well, maybe if your life depended on it, you would." "You have more faith in the tech finding you than me stopping it." "I understand that." "But I need you to trust me." "Can you guarantee that you can protect us?" "No." "Look, I know you're worried about your daughter, but if this technology gets out, it'll change the world we live in." "It'll change the world that she lives in forever." "You know something." "We just gotta figure out what it is." "But I can promise you that my partner and I will do everything we can to protect you." "What do you need me to do?" "What's wrong with him?" "Sure, you got it." "Captain approves." "We're on." "Please make him stop." "It's a Korean pop song." "I find it catchy and soothing." "Rudy, if you don't do something about this, I'll shoot him, too." "Thank you." "So, you're using the young woman as bait?" "Yeah." "Kira's comm signals are down." "She's off the grid." "We're gonna move her from the safe house, put her somewhere underground, turn the comms back on." "Put her back on the grid?" "Draw the arms dealers to us." "Um, perhaps, do you need any undercover help?" "Does this in any way, even tangentially, involve sexbots?" "Because I am quite willing..." "Yeah, you know what, Rudy?" "We're, um... we're good." "Thanks." "Kennex." "Hey, it's me." "Hey, how are you?" "I got something for you." "Really?" "For me?" "Uh, that's sweet." "You, uh... you shouldn't have." "I meant on the case." "I have something for you on Anton." "Yeah, of course." "Yeah, I, uh..." "I knew that." "What do you got?" "Anton Cross's car has parking violations outside Merit Bank." "Once, three weeks ago, and then again a week after that." "We checked surveillance, and he did go inside the bank." "Now, there was no account under his name, but there was one under a "Mark Cross."" "Mark is Anton's middle name." "That's it." "That's the money trail." "Did you find the money he got for selling the software?" "No, there was no money in the account, but there was a safe-deposit box." "Maybe the money's in there." "I'm gonna send you the address now." "Okay, great." "Thanks, Val." "We'll check it." " Here you go." " Thanks." "No bitcoins." "Wasn't hiding any money." "A lot of personal effects." "What do you make of this?" "There's numbers on 'em." "Some sort of code." "A password maybe." "Video chip." "It's full." "Play it." "We can get to her at any time." "I think you know that." "Don't make a mistake that can't be undone." "Kira... do you think this will work?" "Can they protect you?" "Deliver the third part of the design schematic by Thursday." "There will be no more time." "Anton wasn't facilitating an arms deal." "He was being extorted." "Where is Kira Larsen?" " John?" " What?" "I just received notification that Kira Larsen has left the secure building five minutes ago." "She's gone." "Look, these guys aren't gonna stop until they find Kira." "Until we find her, the only lie we have left to chase is Natalie." "Anton lied about her for a reason." "Kira said she saw them outside and near their office two weeks ago coming back from lunch." "Yeah?" "Well, we know what Anton and Kira look like." "So why not use facial recog to search for them and another woman in the vicinity of their office a couple weeks ago?" "There's a lot of faces in the city." "There's something you need to see." "DHS was able to pull this off a black site which they were able to trace back as far as Estonia." "The language is Chechen." ""With a maximum range of two kilometers, the Magic Bullet can locate a single human target with an accuracy of 25 centimeters."" ""Fast, precise, and with little or no risk to operator exposure, the Magic Bullet is also a bargain at the designated price per round."" "Tie up a loose end and make an infomercial out of it." "That's pretty cool." "Cost-effective." "Captain, we just intercepted a signal from Kira Larsen's personal comm." "Bring it up." "Looks like Kira went with your plan." "Okay, now what?" "Now we wait." "All right." "Got her." "But she's underground." "The bullet can't reach her." "We'll have to go get her." "She still hasn't moved." "3435 Randall Avenue." "What's listed at 3435 Randall?" "It's listed as a plumbing supply, closed for the last 11 months." "Yeah, there's at least half a dozen memory shops on that block." "Bet she's gone to a scrubber." "Two lefts, then a right." "Hey, what are you doing?" "Beat it." "We got to go." " We don't have much time." " I want them to find me." "I want them to find me!" "And when they get here, they can watch me having my memory scrubbed!" "I don't know why they're trying to kill me, but I know it's gotta have something to do with Anton!" "I told you, if I get rid of everything in my head about him, they'll leave me alone." "It wouldn't matter." "Look, we think we know why they tried to kill you." "That woman you saw Anton with, Natalie, we believe she's an arms dealer, and you can identify her." "John." "We need to hurry." "Let's go, Kira." "Get down!" "Backup units will be here" " in under three minutes." " Great." "That should give them just enough time to kill us." "Can you draw their fire?" "!" "Go." "Mine's still alive." " Mine's done." " Police." "Get your hands up." "Hands up!" "Police!" " Let me see your hands!" " All clear." " Roger, Detective." " Clear!" "We got a code four!" "Kira." "Get her out of here." "Come on." "Let's go." "You're all right." "Come with us." "You've certainly taken your fair share today." "I'll send you the bill." "We can get to her at any time." "I think you know that." "Don't make a mistake that can't be undone." "Deliver the third part of the design schematic by Thursday." "There will be no more time." "Where did you get this?" "They're threats." "We found the videos in a safety-deposit box Anton had." "Wh... what?" "Anton traded his software to protect you." "They needed his expertise, and they used you to get it." "Anton traded his software to save your life and the life of your daughter." "We found these." "Do you know what these numbers mean?" "He said he would save them, and he did." "When we first met, he wrote down his phone number on a piece of paper with a pen, and... he was old-fashioned that way." "I ripped it up." "And he said he would win me over... and that he would keep this as a memento." "We used to write notes to each other... in pen." "I can't tell you how happy I am that I can remember that." "I want you to have this." "No, really, I..." "Please." "I wouldn't have any of him if it weren't for you." "Thank you." "Kira, I'll walk you out." "Could you please put that back into evidence?" "You know, I have something for you." " For me?" " Yeah." "You're pulling my leg." "No, I do this time." "I mean it." "I do." "It's an energy chew." " Oh, wow." " Yeah." "For me?" "I thought you might need it." " You shouldn't have." " I know." "I got something for you." " For me?" " Yeah." "Paper." "Is that a pen?" "Wow." "Sorry." "Uh, thanks for the chew." "Thank you." "End of watch." "All synthetics report to charging stations." "IP Sec already has a task force up and running." "They're confident they'll be able to plug the location-tracking exploit." " Until the next one pops up." " Yep." "John." "Thanks for not destroying any MX's today." "Yeah, well... the night is young." "## Reyaansh ##"