different blood

Chapter Two

As the car rolled down the road to the reported address, the air between the two was tense. Neither Gavin or Conan spoke. Conan decided to break the ice by asking a question.

"May I ask you a personal question, Detective?"

Gavin shook his head. "Don't talk to me."

Conan continued anyways. "Is there any particular reason you despise me?"

"Why won't you ever fucking shut up?" Gavin groaned in exasperation. "Stop asking me questions."

"Well, stop being an ass."

Gavin raised an eyebrow in surprise. He hadn't heard an android curse before. "I didn't know you could swear."

"There's a second thing you learned about me today." Conan replied, a sarcastic edge in his tone. "The world is a wonderful place to learn, isn't it?"

Fucking androids.

Gavin already despised this RK900. Especially when it talked back to him. It was a machine designed to obey, and he was its human superior. He'd never came across an android that acted like this one, or actually have a developed personality that is. Well, maybe except for Connor, that fucking tin can. Good thing it was long gone.

"Dickhead." Gavin mumbled in an undertone.

"What was that?" Conan responded with a falsely innocent smile.

"I'm going to fucking kill you."

"I'd like to see you try."

It took Gavin all his willpower to remain in his seat.

Five more minutes passed and the car rolled to a stop in front of a broken-down house, its rotting wood clearly visible. Wilting flowers were in the flowerbeds, the grass golden brown instead of its natural green. Yellow digital police tape surrounded the house, multiple officers milling around the yard. Gavin exited the car, slamming the door shut. Conan briefly examined the house before leaving the car.

Conan went in front of Gavin, going up the rickety wooden steps. The boards creaked beneath his feet as he stood at the front door, opening it cautiously and taking a quick peek inside. Inside the house was extremely dark before rays of sunlight leaked through once the door was opened. Conan could detect broken furniture and glass laying around.

Gavin had his gun out warily, taking a careful look around before entering the house with Conan following him from behind. Cobwebs hung from the ceiling and months worth of dust gathered up on shelves. The house looked like it had been abandoned ages ago.

So why was there a reported homicide here?

Conan paused, his LED blinking yellow and blue as he scanned his surroundings. An outline of a turned-over chair appeared in front of him and he crouched down, the outline disappearing. He carefully moved the chair, focusing on one of its legs.

There were skid marks one of the chair's leg, made recently based on the android's scan. Interesting. Conan stood up, looking around for anything else to inspect.

He was crouched down by a torn-up couch when he heard Gavin shout, "Holy shit!"

Conan leapt to his feet, going over to Gavin. He was standing in front of a corpse, a knife stabbed right in the man's head. There were several bruises visible on the limp body, along with scorch marks.