Smalltalk in the car continued for a short while, eventually giving way to silence. Both of them had rolled their windows down, the cold night breeze flowing through the dark interior of the car. Jack held the steering wheel with his organic arm, reaching into his pocket to retrieve a pack of cigarettes. High quality natural tobacco, none of that synthetic stuff that was popular among the lower rung for its cheap price. He plucked a pair out, passing one to Anne, and stowed the rest back into the pocket of his shirt. The cigarette found its way between his teeth, and the tip of his robotic arm's thumb parted slightly, the plates moving aside to allow a lighter mechanism to emerge. He made a motion like snapping his fingers, and a small flame lit on the tip of his digit. He held it to his cigarette to light it, then did the same for Anne, the fire going out as his thumb closed back into its initial state.<br/><br/>Anne took a slow drag, turning her head to blow the smoke out the window. She held the cigarette in her fingers, her arm bent up at the elbow to hold the burning end just outside the car. "Thanks," She began, pausing for some time before speaking again. "You know, I'm thinking about that news on the radio." Once more, she turned her head, this time looking at Jack. Her irises made some small motions as the mechanical parts of them opened her pupils a bit more to adjust to the darker interior of the car. "That guy on the motorcycle, you think that's our guy?" One of the cases they'd been on had been open for upwards of a month with little progress. Mass murders and serial killings were hardly uncommon in the bad parts of the city, but a recent string had some linking similarities. Criminals targeted, deaths by extremely precise shooting, and chaotic crime scenes. Still, their perp went unknown. Any recoverable bullets didn't match any gun on registry, and security systems were always cut before the murders began.<br/><br/>Jack shrugged. "Could be. Could also be any number of punk vigilantes trying to be copycats. Motorcycles are pretty popular with the kids these days." Eyewitness accounts were important, but a vague few sentences on a music station weren't really viable proof. "Maybe we'll catch a big break if the investigators bring something new in. It all depends on what they find." The thought of finally finding the one doing the street cleaning and closing the case was nice, but he doubted any sudden developments with what they'd been leaving behind. It was all the same, every time. "If they call us in to look around, it might mean they found something useful for us. Til then, all we can do is work on other stuff they give us." It had been a mercifully long time since they'd had an active engagement, at least a few weeks without having to face down a rogue cyborg or killer robot. Both knew the relative peace wouldn't last forever, and despite being a period of relative downtime, both were anxious that something big was around the corner.<br/><br/>Plugged into the dashboard, Jack's phone began to ring. He reached for it, but Anne lightly pushed his hand back. "You focus on the road. I'll get it," She ordered. Jack nodded and kept driving. Anne touched the phone's screen, and communications information appeared on her section of the windshield, set at an angle that wouldn't interrupt the driver seat's line of sight. A picture of a work accomplice and something similar to a wavelength graph were projected onto the interior of the glass. "Vance here. What do you need?"<br/><br/>Immediately, the person on the other line responded. "Just got a call from a block in Manhattan. Get to the station as quick as you can, people are saying there's an armed and augmented individual going through it. No shots fired yet. Let's try to keep it that way. We'll set you up with your gear and send you out. Don't take too long."<br/><br/>"On our way." Anne's response ended the call. She turned to Jack once more, who was looking toward her after the information was given. "Let's not keep them waiting," She suggested."<br/><br/>"Wouldn't even think of it." Jack rolled his shoulders and took his steering wheel with both hands, twisting a section of it forward. From the front bumper and roof, red and blue lights emerged and began to shine, and a siren began to ring. The car's AI automatically kicked in, forming a route to the police station that took the least amount of time to reach. Other drivers began to move out of the way, allowing the vehicle to pick up speed and barrel down the highway. Some strategic lane swaps were necessary to avoid larger vehicles, but they soon reached an exit that led them toward the station. The car's AI automatically kicked in, forming a route to the police station that took the least amount of time to take. Finally, they pulled into the parking lot, the siren silenced after entering the premises. Jack twisted the wheel back into its normal position, deactivating the lights, then turned off the ignition and plucked his phone from its plug on the dashboard.<br/><br/>Anne got out as well, moving around the front of the vehicle to begin heading toward the building's entrance. Before entering, she passed her cigarette to Jack, who snuffed out the end of both hers and his with his robotic finger, then slipped them back into their case. Upon entering, she approached the front desk attendant, who was distracted by a set of bulky headphones playing music and projecting some sort of hologram visor over his eyes, doing a sort of dance with his arms while seated. "Hey, Bucky." She failed to catch his attention, so she rang the bell sitting on the desktop. Again, there was no response. She pursed her lips, but Jack managed to get him to look over by slamming his robotic fist down near it, shaking much of the desktop's items around, including the attendant's feet that were resting atop it.<br/><br/>Bucky nearly fell out of his chair trying to immediately straighten up, tearing the headphones off at lightning speed. He looked up at the officers in a panic, but let out a sigh of relief when he noticed it wasn't his boss come to scold him. "Oh, hey guys." A meek wave was given, which Anne responded to with a small one of her own, and Jack with a quick two fingered salute. "You here for the call?"<br/><br/>"That we are," Jack answered, slipping his hands into his coat pockets. "Something about a guy with a gun in a Manhattan block."<br/><br/>Bucky nodded. "Right, right, yeah. Just head on up to Jamison's office and she'll give you the details. And, uh, can I ask you a favor? Don't tell her about these headphones, please?"<br/><br/>"Sure thing, kid. But be careful with that stuff while you're on the job. Ya never know when the chief will come check up on you." Jack turned on his heel and started to walk away, while Bucky turned off the headset and hid it in one of his desk's drawers. Anne gave him a small smile and thanked him, then left as well, walking alongside Jack to the office they were called in to.<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>Out on the streets, a girl seated on a bench was typing away on a phone, sending a message to a friend.<span style="font-style: italic">"Hey, Juzo, it's Heather. The drone tests are going pretty good. At this rate we'll be able to get these things into their final stage by the end of the month. How are you doing with the materials?"</span>It had been a couple days since she'd seen him face to face, but she eagerly awaited that time to come again. With her message sent, she put the phone into her pocket and adjusted the long coat she was wearing. It wasn't merely to keep warm; beneath its length, her limb pack was worn, four mechanical arms currently in an inactive and partially retracted state hanging off of her back. Above her, partially obscured by the dark under the highway she was sitting beneath, multiple drones were flying around seemingly of their own volition.<br/><br/>Heather looked up at them, and they began to descend closer to her. Each was a bit blocky, not very sleek and clearly homemade, welding marks visible on a few of them. Their propellers kept them aloft, and with two fingers, she began to make circular motions. The drones followed them, hovering around her in a circle. Progress on them was going good, despite a recent dry spell in parts. For now, they'd proved satisfactory. Once she had the means to, surveillance and defense features would be added to all of them. Her mental augmentation's link to the machines would provide her with a means of viewing things from afar once they were implemented, and with shielding and something to shoot, they'd be extremely useful for her line of work. The drones stopped spinning and ascended again as she stood up, hiding themselves in the dark overhead once more.<br/><br/>It was about time to head home, she thought. Another quick adjustment was made to her coat, and she began to walk down the street, keeping her guard up. The ground level could be quite dangerous, but with her extra limbs, she felt like she'd be fine on the way out.