Code of Ethics: Part 11.

They set up in a small office off the main floor of the facility and Jacobsen went about interviewing the twenty or so workers that Susan brought in front of him. All were polite and a little intimidated at the prospect of an interview with someone from Rep Detect, which was hardly a surprise to Jacobsen. The process took a little over 5 hours with occasional breaks for tea and the lavatory but at the end no one had given Jacobsen as much as a scrap of evidence. That part hadn't really been a surprise to Jacobsen either. If Taccarin was running something dirty here, he had probably instilled the fear of God into his human and replicant workers but he had to at least try.

Susan came in as the last worker left and sat across from him. " Did you want to ask me questions as well Detective or is that it?"

Jacobsen loosened his tie a little more and leaned back in his chair. " Why, do you have something you'd like to tell me?"

Susan looked at the table and ran her fingers along the edge of it. " I don't think so."

" Well I can't say that I blame you. After I leave, you have to stay here. I'd probably do the same thing. Tell me Susan, was Jennifer romantically linked to anyone that you know of."

Susan looked up in surprise. " Jennifer? Why no. Um, why do you ask?" Jacobsen pretended to fiddle with his KIA but merely adjusted the display settings of the palmtop computer. " Was Jennifer sexually linked to anyone that you know of?"

Susan sat silently and Jacobsen let the quiet hang in the air, let it settle around the shoulders of the both of them.

" Susan, when I'm pursuing a Replicant involved in illegal activity I try to determine what may have motivated them to run in the first place. I think I've got the obvious reasons but then you and Mister Taccarin already know that. I think, though, that Katja chose to run for another reason entirely. Maybe a couple of reasons. And I know for a fact that I haven't found out what those reasons are. Now you face a tough choice here and I understand that. You can either help me, which means almost certain death for Katja because I don't imagine she wants to come back here any time soon. Or you can not help me, which means that Katja runs free a little while longer and whatever is going on here just keeps on going on. Either way, I'm going to get Katja so why don't you think about you and your fellow workers here."

Susan looked as if she'd been physically assaulted. Jacobsen let her stew in the silence while he took a pronounced sip from his tea. After almost a full minute, she took a deep breath and looked like she was going to say something when she suddenly shook her head.

Jacobsen shook his head and reached for his coat. " Suit yourself. You've got my contact information so if you think of something, just let me know. I'll be in touch soon."

Outside in the rain, Jacobsen let out a long slow breath. He'd been close to something there. Real close. Problem was, it may or may not lead him to Katja. If it did, fine. If it didn't, Bryant would almost certainly get on his ass about being some kind of softhearted social crusader instead of a cop. So now what? Jacobsen cursed his luck. Shit, can't I just get some nut job that leaves convenient clues in his wake?

It hadn't happened in a long time and Jacobsen didn't know if he'd ever see the day that it would again.

The newer Nexus models were clever, even though they lacked emotional maturity. They killed when they had to as a matter of survival and tried for the most part to blend into the society around them. Of course, someone always found them. Sometimes a Blade Runner. Sometimes, the local Sheriff of some out of the way county. The statistics of Replicants that escaped and then stayed that way were miniscule. Inevitably, they were found and retired and that was that. Jacobsen knew for certain that Katja would end up on the retirement list so pursuing this connection with Tacarrin wasn't exactly necessary. Still, running down this lead had made him feel like a real street cop again and that had felt good. Not that he hated Rep Detect. No. Not at all. But being a part of the Blade Runner unit meant being almost a separate force from the rest of the department. A part of the department that with rare exceptions, was beyond reproach. In fact, under a mandate from the Chief himself, Blade Runners could only work alongside regular Police units in emergency circumstances like shootings. As such, more and more of the Patrol Officers regarded the Rep Detect unit with equal parts admiration and suspicion.

He decided to give it a couple more days, and than go after Tacarrin himself. If nothing panned out there, he'd drop the whole angle and go back to more traditional methods.

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