2019, Los Angeles

 
Los Angeles. 2013.
LAPD
Office of Captain Harry Bryant

Bryant was grim. Deckard didn't see so much as a smirk from him through the entire briefing. That meant things were even worse than they looked, and they didn’t look good.

“Two skin-jobs. NEXUS-4. Both military-grade, re-tasked to industrial hazard detail two years after incept date. No recorded irregularities of service until they got assigned to a routine upgrade of a high-energy conduit. Looks like handling all that juice scrambled their cog systems bad enough to get them to make a break for Earth. Who the hell knows why."

“Unstable?”

“You could say that.” He was already pouring out shots. That meant the kicker was on its way.

“Tyrell himself is watching the case.”

“Tyrell? What’s he--?”

“You tell me, pal. It’s his company, his replicants. If he’s going to take a special interest in two of them going off the rails, I don’t know anybody’s gonna tell him he can’t.”

“What’s that mean to me?”

“Nothing, if I can help it. I’m just telling you now, in case I can’t.”

----------

That was this morning. Deckard figured it would take a couple of days to track the replicants down, but they left a trail of bodies only a rookie could miss. One of the replicants had already gone down hard, but not before Deckard got himself smacked around pretty good. Now he has the other one cornered, which would be fine except the replicant knows it. Things are about to get really messy.

Deckard’s face is set as he pauses a few paces down from the door of the apartment to double-check his gun. The building's the kind of shithole that made you want to get a hosed down, and then disinfected, just for setting foot there. Not the kind of place a guy wants to get shot in, much less have an arm ripped off. Deckard thinks about backup, then slams the magazine home and starts down the hallway.

They aren't paying him to call for backup.

He takes one last moment to clear his head, then kicks the door hard enough to snap the rusting hinges clean off and trains his gun on the room beyond.