[Brave Police AU] 1/3

[alcesverdes]

Title: --
Fandom: Brave Police J-Decker
Wordcount: ~12600 in total | This part: ~4800
Rating: PG
Genre: AU
Warning(s): Violence, I guess
Notes: Cellphones didn't exist as we know them now when the original canon was created, so I went with that.

---

The former chief engineer of the Brave Police project was about to lock the door of the fanciest workshop he'd ever worked in. He had hated it and everything in it since before he got the key. No, that wasn't entirely true. There was one thing in the room he didn't hate at all.

Shunsuke Toudou looked up at his finest work, the BP-001, code name Deckerd. The robot with the most advanced artificial intelligence in the world.

"Behave yourself," he said despite knowing Deckerd was deactivated. Not to mention that even if he wasn't, he wouldn't be able to understand something so sentimental. "Be good. Be everything Commissioner Saejima always wanted you to be."

After this, Toudou closed the door behind him, shaking his head. He was getting old.

Power Dynamic Enterprises hadn't got what they wanted, but they'd secured the second best. They'd spent years working to privatize the police. Under their own payroll, of course. They planted agents in key places to lobby hard. The government fought against them, but in the end it gave up and offered an 'agreement'. Said agreement consisted of selling the Brave Police project to the PDE. Or more like pressuring Commissioner Juzo Saejima, the original founder of the project and one of Toudou's oldest friends, to sell it.

Toudou remembered how enthusiastic Saejima was when he approached him with the idea. A robot with an artificial intelligence so advanced it could understand complex verbal commands was a life-long dream for him. As a young man, Saejima belonged to the police division who dealt with criminals who used giant robots as a tool. The idea came from those experiences. And from too much manga and television. Saejima's division piloted armor of their own, but it wasn't enough anymore. The bad guys used bigger and bigger robots each time. Those crimes were too dangerous for human cops now. A robot capable of handling those tasks while taking orders from a distance was the next logical step from the authorities. And now it was in the hands of a group of buffoons Toudou didn't trust with a glass of water.

"As long as Deckerd helps others, the spirit of the Brave Police will carry on," Saejima had said, sad but refusing to give up hope, even after realizing he couldn't overturn the order over to hand the project.

The PDE made a point of paying back in full everything Saejima had invested, unable to understand it wasn't about the money. Nobody bothered to explain it to them. Except Saejima. He tried, but he still got his check. Adding insult to injury, they retained the Commissioner as a consultant in-name-only. A handful of PDE executives had as their only job to pretend to listen to him only to dismiss everything he said.

They also allowed the head mechanic of the project to carry on with his work until he finished uploading Deckerd's specifications to the main database. Yet, as soon as he finished, he was 'let go'. Although his pride didn't allow him to leave the project in anything less than perfect conditions, Toudou didn't give them all the codes. They'd have to figure out how to track Deckerd's signal on their own, for example. However, since the robot would work just fine for the longest time, there was no reason they would need to shut Deckerd off from a distance. Therefore, Toudou left them that one.

He put the key to the office and the identification card on the reception desk and waited until the security guard took them and wrote everything down on the log. Afterward, he resumed his exit. He hadn't been there long enough to bond with anyone, and he'd already said his goodbyes to the only one in that building he cared about.

The automatic door opened before Toudou reached it. One grave-looking middle-aged lady entered the PDE headquarters with a bunch of grade-schoolers behind her. These lucky kids who would see Deckerd in action for the first time in about one hour more. The PDE sent invitations to the elementary schools in the city asking them to send their finest and brightest students to watch Deckerd's first public appearance, with the company of a handful of politicians, and several reporters. Both to build good public relations and to convince them they wanted to work there when they grew up, no doubt. Therefore, all of these kids had been handpicked by the principals of their respective schools. True, chances were that some of them were not interested in robotics, but the opportunity to be among the first to see the giant policeman made of metal provided an excellent opportunity to brag. Children loved to brag, last Toudou knew.

One nervous 10-year-old stared at him. His already huge blue eyes widened when he was caught, and he hurried to look down at the floor.

"I must look like I just swallowed a dozen lemons," Toudou mumbled. He took a deep breath and shook his head again. Terrorizing children, the only thing missing from his day.

Once the youngsters were inside, he, the old man, left the building. It felt like a metaphor. Hands inside the pockets of his jacket, he closed his eyes in a silent goodbye and the official closing of one of the best times of his life, even if by the end it'd taken a turn to the sour. Yet, before he could say the words mentally, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"I was hoping to find you still here." It was Saejima. The PDE was decent enough to invite him to take part on today's exhibition.

Toudou turned around to greet his friend, a small smile upon his lips. Only the world on fire would make it hard to smile at Saejima. "I was just leaving." Toudou offered his hand to the other man for a handshake. "Good luck with the exhibition."

Saejima refused to take that hand. Instead, he raised both of his toward the sky and sighed dramatically. "I thought you'd stay with me so we can watch Deckerd's very first moment of triumph together!" He was pouting.

Toudou pressed the bridge of his nose. He'd lost count of how many times he'd asked himself why he couldn't simply say 'no' to this man. "I can't," he offered. "I already surrendered my ID. The security here is very picky, you know?"

The current president and oldest son of the owner, Kazuo Kimura, was terrible about that. Paranoid even. He talked all the time about confidential agreements, industrial espionage, the people who would benefit from kidnapping him, to the point everybody knew he carried a small gun concealed in his sleeve, even if he tried to keep it a secret. Also the main reason he paid so well: to minimize the risk of being betrayed.

Saejima smiled and rubbed his hands at Toudou's answer. "That's the problem?" His next movement consisted of pressing a badge to Toudou's chest. "There! Now you can come with me!"

Toudou took the badge out of reflex and read it. "Assistant?"

Saejima nodded happily. "I called Mr. Kimura this morning and insisted in having two assistants. Your coffee's not that good, but that's what Hamasaki here is for." He gestured towards a young man standing behind him whom Toudou hadn't noticed before.

Hamasaki bowed his head toward Toudou as a greeting. The poor kid looked resigned to his fate.

Toudou glared half-heartedly at his friend. He had defeated the old engineer again. Yet, as far a the Commissioner's schemes went, this was fairly innocuous. Fine. Toudou would play along. It would only take a couple of more hours and then he'd finally close that chapter of his life.

---

The exhibition began right on time and it was boring. Instead of darkening the room and having the master of ceremonies enter under a beam of stage lights, a group of people just walked to a table in the middle of the podium. Among them was the scary-looking man who stared at Yuuta near the door as he went inside the building. For a second, it was like he knew. But nothing happened. Now even he seemed more relaxed as he took his place on the table. It had been a coincidence. Just a coincidence.

Yuuta looked around as the names of the authorities were announced. They didn't interest him, and he could look for them in the brochure the lady at the door handed to him if the teacher asked, anyway. The seats in the auditorium were numbered, and they'd been previously assigned. As one of the youngest members of the audience, Yuuta's place was in the front row, between two other kids his age. Unlike him, they were paying attention. Yuuta frowned and tried to do the same. He couldn't. He got something about the PDE owner's wishes of making the world a better place took a big step forward that day.

"Of course Deckerd will be the best detective ever," he mumbled, maybe too loudly. The boy next to him shushed him. Yuuta winced and bit his lip. Yet, it was true. He and Deckerd had talked in great detail about good and evil. Catching criminals was a priority for the robot.

The speech continued for longer than necessary. Every second, every single word uttered worsened the wait. "Why don't they let Deckerd out already?" he whispered.

The boy shushed him again.

"Who's Deckerd?" the girl on the other side of him asked, but before Yuuta could say anything, the other boy began tapping the arm of his seat with his finger, glaring at them. The girl was amused and mouthed, "Tell me later," before turning her attention back to the speaker.

Yuuta looked forward as well, but the only thing he could think of was the day he found empty the place he'd considered his secret hideout for months. The nights he cried himself to sleep thinking his friend would forget about him. That Deckerd would get mad at him because of what he'd done to be there that day.

After the longest time, the president of the company, a tall man dressed all in dark gray whose name was Kazuo Kimura--the name was written all over the place, which made it hard to miss--, introduced Deckerd by name. Towering over 16 feet tall, built in red, white and blue, like if he was wearing a police uniform, the robot came out from behind a curtain at the back of the auditorium. People gasped and murmured as they looked at him. Deckerd really looked like a serious cop, but something wasn't right. The attention itself didn't bother him, but there was something off about him. He was too tense as he moved. Too stilted. Yuuta had helped him learn how to walk; he was familiar enough with him to tell. Deckerd stopped next to Mr. Kimura, remaining still except for his head, which moved around, scanning the public.

Then, he saw Yuuta. A smile appeared on his face. Not too big, but it was there. His shoulders relaxed, and he moved is right hand slightly, spreading his fingers as a greeting.

The kid smiled back, fighting the urge to cry in relief.

His friend remembered.

Deckerd remembered him.

Yuuta wanted to run and hug Deckerd's leg, but this wasn't the right time or place. Perhaps he could find a way to talk to him later. The boy only nodded to let the robot know he noticed.

"Deckerd," said the president of the PDE, "introduce yourself."

Deckerd nodded and took an step backwards. One of his hands moved to get his gun while the other took out his badge from a compartment on his chest. The giant robot pointed at the audience with the first item while he showed the second, which flashed like a police siren. "Hold up! I'm Deckerd from the Brave Police!" he claimed with a strong, firm voice.

Every person in the room kept silence for a second until Yuuta stood up, clapping. "You go, Deckerd!" Then, applause erupted, specially from the children. They had no way of knowing, but Yuuta had taught Deckerd that trick. The boy was so proud of his friend for perfecting it, and grateful that he'd used it on his first public appearance. Deckerd's smile grew bigger and he looked down, obviously happy with himself, after putting the revolver back in the holster. Although not without spinning it in his hand first.

Now Yuuta needed to find a way to talk to Deckerd in private. He'd gotten so far, further than he'd hoped, that he couldn't stop now. Besides, it'd be worth it to take the risk.

Mr. Kimura raised his hands to get the public's attention back to him. His smile was more plastic-like than before. "Ladies and gentlemen! Children! As you can see, Deckerd can be programmed with sequences that make him more dynamic and friendly without compromising its--his efficiency as an agent of justice! Now," he rubbed his hands together, "if you were so kind as to follow the lovely lady at the door on the left, she'll take you on a fascinating journey through the story of the family that made everything possible! Along with a tour around the headquarters of Power Dynamic Enterprises. I'll meet you outside for a final demonstration of Deckerd's driving skills."

This demonstration had been way too short that the disappointment was tangible. Still, the people got up from their seats and followed the lovely lady at the right door. It took nearly one second for said lady to transition from surprise to a wide smile before she would indeed lead the audience outside.

Yuuta took advantage of the confusion by hiding under a small table near said door on the right. He'd wait there for an opportunity to talk with Deckerd.

Soon, Deckerd, Mr. Kimura, a shorter man dressed in lighter gray, and a technician were the only ones left in the auditorium. All the lights but the one directly above them were turned off. Enough for such a small group of people, even if it left the rest of the room in the shadow.

Yuuta took a peek from a corner of the tablecloth that provided cover for him. Mr. Kimura wasn't smiling anymore. Yet, the sour expression seemed more fitting for him.

"What a disaster!"

"You didn't have to stop everything," said the shorter man in lighter gray. He looked younger than Mr. Kimura, and his voice sounded soft even as he scolded the company president. "If you weren't allergic to improvisation, you could've carried on with it as part of the show."

That only infuriated Mr. Kimura even more. "It. Was. Not. A. Show! It was a demonstration of how capable we are to uphold the law of this country. That… whimsical trick threw everything out of balance. What if all its programming is wrong? It could be dangerous!" He turned his attention to the technician. "This didn't happen in the rehearsals! Who modified it? The old man?"

The technician shook his head until it became a blur. "N--no, sir. Mr. Toudou had no time to do anything like that. No one has modified any code since before the first rehearsal."

Mr. Kimura's frown grew deeper. He kept his arms firm against his sides, but he was breathing faster. And his face got a darker shade of red. "I want an explanation. And a solution before one hour. We'll carry the rest of the demonstration in the parking lot. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," said the technician, and then hurried through a door in the back, presumably to warn his team and begin working.

Yuuta looked up at Deckerd. No one was paying attention to him, but he looked upset. Knowing him, Yuuta could tell he felt guilty for getting these people into trouble. However, only Yuuta was to blame, since the original idea had been his. The boy considered getting out from under the table to take the responsibility when Mr. Kimura spoke again.

"Go tell them to start working on the visor as well," he said to the man in lighter gray as he looked up at Deckerd. "Its face is too expressive. It creeps me out."

"But that's good for public relations," the other one replied. "Not that it creeps you out. That it's so expressive. The kids love him the way he is, you saw them cheering him up."

"It. It is a robot. A thing. Nothing will work if everyone starts getting so sentimental." He pouted. "We can say the visor is for protection if it makes you happy. Now go. I'll take it personally to the workshop once I'm done with a few things here."

The man in the lighter gray shrugged and spun around. "See you at the parking lot, bro." He smiled brightly at Mr. Kimura's wince. "Keep practicing that sense of fun! You'll get there one day," the younger man added before leaving after the technician.

Once he was alone, Mr. Kimura began pacing. "This is ridiculous! So ridiculous!" He glanced at Deckerd. "You're ridiculous too. Stupid contract. More black and a more aerodynamic model is what works!"

"Stop!" Yuuta yelled. "Stop being so mean to Deckerd! You're hurting his feelings!" He jumped up to his feet, his hands making tight fists. However, while doing this, he pushed backwards the table under which he'd been hiding, throwing it to the side.

"Who's there?"

Startled, both Deckerd and Mr. Kimura turned to Yuuta, the later pointing his hand toward him.

Yuuta saw Deckerd pushing the man with a quick movement right before the boy felt a sharp pain on his shoulder. An instant later, a metallic, huge and familiar hand lifted Yuuta.

Deckerd started running to pick him up, and used the momentum to crash against the wall.

---

Toudou and Saejima had taken the tour before, so they skipped it this once and went to the parking lot. Young Hamasaki followed them at a respectful distance. It was a nice day to be outside, with only members of the PDE security team for company. The rest of the employees surely were trying to do some damage control after Kimura's tantrum. That man had to be the less flexible human being on the planet. It was a real pain to work under him. Toudou was grateful he wouldn't have to do it anymore after today.

"I didn't know you programmed Deckerd with a sequence like that!" Saejima said, passing his arm around Toudou's shoulders. Back at the exhibition, the Commissioner had clapped as enthusiastically as the children, which didn't came as a surprise at all, unlike the event itself.

"I didn't," the engineer replied. Toudou was as stunned as the rest of the directive board. No one could introduce a sequence that complex in the few minutes since he stopped supervising the project. The PDE security protocols were so strict no one would dare to enter without authorization to the workshop. Or to any room, for that matter. They had a tight security system, a closed circuit that recorded everything from every angle, a log of visitors, and a log where all the changes made were recorded on detail. No. There simply was no way.

"You mean he learned it by himself?" Saejima asked. He sounded like a proud father. "Artificial intelligence is supposed to learn things over time, isn't it?"

"Well, yes. But Deckerd's AI hasn't interacted with anyone yet. And the only one I know who could've taught him anything like that is you."

Saejima raised his hands defensively. "It wasn't me." He smiled, although he had enough decency in him to look awkward.

Toudou let out a sigh. This man was impossible. Besides, there were other things that required his attention. Like the fact that the PDE executives would blame him for this. Better to be ready to prove he wasn't. So much for getting out of this early. He'd be lucky if he got home in time for dinner.

A little girl in a school uniform approached them and tugged Saejima's jacket. "Excuse me, sir, I'm looking for a boy missing for our group--"

In that moment, Deckerd came out from the wall a few feet from where they were standing, interrupting her. Saejima turned around  to shield the girl from the debris while Toudou protected his own face with his arms. When the dust settled down, the engineer saw that Deckerd held a child on his hands.  

"There he is!" the little girl exclaimed, as she pointed with her finger at the boy carried by the robot.

Before anyone else could react, Deckerd jumped over the fence of the parking lot and went into the trees that surrounded the PDE headquarters. He was out of sight within seconds.

"You!" Kimura exclaimed. He'd come out from the hole as well, holding his right arm, which hanged limp, with his left hand. "Your robot broke my arm and kidnapped that boy!"

"What?" Toudou and Saejima exclaimed at the same time.

"Deckerd would never do anything like that! Specially not without an order!" Toudou yelled back. "Which you would've had to give!"

Saejima put a hand on his arm. The message was clear: 'Let me handle this.' The old engineer backed off a couple of steps and looked aside for a moment. He saw then the medic of the company running to his boss with his first aid kit.

"After this, we'll destroy that defective unit and work with our own."

Saejima raised his hands preventing Toudou from answering.

The engineer had heard rumors that Kimura had ordered his technicians to build other robots following the basic diagrams they bought from Saejima, but more of Kimura's liking. Legally, he was within his right, but Toudou had discarded that information. His pride made him think that in case that were true, he would be asked to step in since he was the chief engineer of the original project. It was too late to realize how wrong he'd been, and he couldn't help but feel it like a personal insult.

"Deckerd's core programming has always being that of an officer of the law," Saejima told Kimura.

"It's in his prime directives," Toudou intervened. "He wouldn't hurt anyone."

Kimura pointed at his arm, which hung useless against his torso while the medic tried to get a hold of it to examine it. The man should be running high on adrenaline if he could make a scandal this big in that condition. "What about this, then?" His face had the deepest shade of red Toudou had ever seen on him. "If you refuse to see the evidence, that's your problem. I'll take care of this mess before any police unite arrives." He turned around. "But don't think I won't be having a nice, long talk with you, Mr. Toudou, when this is over," he added before striding back into the building, followed by a frantic medic.

Saejima frowned. He didn't appreciate being taunted. "Hamasaki, call headquarters. Tell them to assemble a team. We'll meet them there."

"Yes, sir." The young man bowed his head and hurried to follow his orders.

"We'll prove the worth of the police department and get back the child unharmed." Saejima began walking towards his car followed by Toudou. "I refuse to believe Deckerd would try to harm anyone. This has to be a misunderstanding."

"I thought they were friends," the girl said, walking right next to them. "Deckerd and Yuuta, I mean."

Toudou had forgotten she was there. Nevertheless, he felt embarrassed for having behaving like he did in front of a child. That was why he worked with machines.

"Friends?" Saejima asked.

"Yuuta said Deckerd was the greatest detective ever before that man said his name, like if he knew him from before."

Saejima and Toudou exchanged looks.

"Now more than ever we need to find them before Kimura does so we can set this straight," Saejima said.

Toudou's mouth formed half a smirk. "I can track Deckerd." He pointed at the PDE building with the thumb. "They can't."

Saejima stared at him in disbelief for a second. But then grinned and gave the mechanic a thumbs up. "I knew I could count on you."

"I'll get to work."

"I'll go tell Ms. Tanaka I found Tomonaga," the girl said.

"I think it'll be better if I tell her," Saejima said. "You go ahead," he added in direction to Toudou before he followed the girl to meet her teacher. "It won't take long"

Toudou nodded and went back to his car to get his tools. He'd never being more glad of keeping his toolbox withing reach at all times.

---

It took a while before Deckerd stopped running. When he did, Yuuta took a deep breath. The blood that trickled down his arm was dry already, and the pain had been reduced to a numb throb. Yet, the boy felt dizzy. He had no idea how long it had been since Deckerd took him away from the auditorium. Everything after Mr. Kimura scolded his friend was a blur. It could've happened the year before or the-blink-of-an-eye ago just as easily.

"Yuuta," Deckerd mumbled looking at the shoulder of the kid he held on his hands with a worried expression. "Are you…? I need to take you to a doctor."

"I'm-- Deckerd, what happened?"

Deckerd's face grew somber. "Kimura had a gun. He shot at you. I couldn't--" He turned his gaze aside. "I tried to stop him, but you still got hurt. I wasn't fast enough. I'm sorry."

Yuuta wasn't sure how to react. It was different to feel the pain on his shoulder and to know it'd been caused by a bullet. A bullet from a gun aimed at him.

Deckerd put the kid back to the ground. "I'll take you to a safe place."

Only until the moment the robot changed into a patrol car was that Yuuta realized they were at the border of a paved road. He figured it connected with the highway.

Yuuta nodded and climbed on Deckerd's cabin once he opened the door.

They reached the highway soon, just as Yuuta predicted it. The pair rode on in silence as Deckerd mixed with the rest of the traffic.

---

When Saejima came back to his car, Toudou was nearly done tinkering with his tracker.

"How was it?" he asked without raising his eyes.

Saejima sighed as he put on the security belt before starting the car. "Better than expected. While I talked to the teacher, one of the reporters who were eavesdropping remembered Deckerd's specifications. Kimura will have to handle a media circus before he can convince anyone he was sabotaged. There are many ways he could've broken that arm."

"So we have a head start."

"Yes."

"Why didn't he release the security footage?" Toudou grumbled. "With how much he likes to point fingers, anyone would've expected him to start from there. He has security footage of everything, after all."

Saejima frowned. "He does, doesn't he."

Toudou looked up from the tracker. "What is it, chief?"

"I believe," Saejima began, eyes focused on the road, his voice deep. "I believe we should start considering the possibility that the boy did know Deckerd from before, like the girl said."

"Sorry to say, but that's impossible."

"Is it? Well, humor me. Follow this idea and tell me how it would've happened."

Toudou sighed and scratched his chin. "Well, the boy should've found his way into the warehouse to activate Deckerd, and then interact with his A.I. long enough for him to imprint as Deckerd's default partner." Toudou shook his head. "It's all speculation, of course. Not only there wasn't a way for such thing to happen. It would've shown up in our tests. Deckerd would've refused to obey anyone who's not his partner."

"Refuse," Saejima repeated. "As if he had a choice."

"That's not what I meant!"

"I think you did."

To those words followed a silence in which Toudou contemplated the weight of what the Commissioner said. "That's impossible," he muttered.

"You said that already."

"We still need to gather more data before jumping to any conclusions."

"And that, my old friend, is exactly what we'll do now!"

"You've read one too many manga, chief!" Toudou protested as he held onto his seat.

Saejima was speeding now. The car's siren howled in perfect unison with his hearty laugh as they both echoed through the highway.

---

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