Malcolm Reed

Malcolm Reed
Biographical information
Occupation	Salvage yard employee
Physical description
Race	Human
Gender	Male

Malcolm Reed was a special with the ability to detect emotions.

Biography

As an adolescent, Reed was diagnosed with schizoprenia. After being exposed to radioactive dust, Reed was designated as a special and his brain developed a node that allowed him to detect other peoples' emotions. This ability was suppressed by the use of medication.

One morning, after Reed woke up for work, he was greeted by the bounty hunter Charlie Victor, who informed him that he had been reassigned from the salvage yard to assisting Victor. Victor confiscated Reed's medication and explained that he was searching for a group of C-V model androids and that Reed's abilities would help track them down, as the C-V model could not experience emotion.

His last dose wearing off, Reed began to feel the emotions of everyone they walked past on the street, but noted that he was unable to detect Victor's. Reed asked why this was and Victor answered plainly that he was an android. Victor then led Reed to an office building, learning that one of the androids was briefly employed there. As they went back on the streets, Reed begged for his medication and questioned why he was needed, to which Victor explained that the city's CCTV facial recognition software was down, thus needed Reed to find the androids.

Reed and Victor reached the last known address of the android who had been employed at the office. Reed detected no signs of emotion inside, so Victor kicked the door in, revealing to them that the apartment was full of dead animals. When Reed questioned why an android would do this, Victor reasoned that the android desired to watch animals decay, a quality that Reed then compared to that of a serial killer. Victor noted that this was a worse quality in androids and the two exited the building.

Outside, Reed spotted a man standing at a bus stop, expressing no emotion. The man darted away when Victor called out to him, leading to a pursuit to the San Francisco Public Library. Detecting no emotion inside, Reed stayed behind as Victor searched the seemingly-abandoned library.

Victor soon emerged, having obtained from the android an ID badge for the Presidio. There, they requested help from Dr. Samantha Wu. Reed, who began to hallucinate, found a restroom. There, he washed his face and reflected upon his powers and questioned the nature of reality. Faith then found him and ushered him out of the building at gunpoint.

He was taken to the rogue androids' hideout, where the leader Talus demanded to know how he could identify androids. Reed's mind – without the effect of medication or presence of emotions – was at ease, leading him to believe that he was perhaps imagining his situation. Talus recounted to him an experience during the war where he disregarded an order to minimize civilian casualties. Reed compared him to a paranoid schizophrenic and openly doubted that his current circumstance was real. Talus then brought him to a window, ordering him to identify androids on the street. Reed accurately did so, prompting Talus to again question his abilities.

Later, as Reed reflected on his situation, he realized that perhaps it was real, summoning a fear in him if Victor were to find out. He was then greeted by the androids who armed themselves to prepare for Victor's arrival, should he survive a planned attack.

As he continued to wonder about the reality of the situation, he asked Faith why she was employed at the Presidio, learning that Talus wanted the latest information on dust research. Again testing Reed's ability, Talus brought him two men, and Reed correctly identified the human, who Talus promptly killed. Fully convinced of Reed's ability, Talus said the group would use him to identify anyone attacking the group. He further told Reed that once Victor was dealt with, the group's "real" plans would unfold.

Left with more time to think, Reed reached the conclusion that the lack of medication or emotions had brought him to a state of happiness. He told Talus that he enjoyed being around them more than humans, to which Talus said would not be a problem for much longer. Talus later told Reed that the group had plans to eliminate human life from the city the following day.

Victor and Sam soon arrived at the apartment, with Sam's emotions once again activating Reed's powers. This again put him in a state of unease and he asked Sam if she could stop feeling afraid. After Sam overwhelmed Talus with an EMP device and Victor managed to disarm the other two androids, the remaining ones were recalled to the apartment. Upon their arrival, Victor revealed to have been outfitted with a bomb and told Sam to get herself and Reed to safety. Shortly after leaving the building, the bomb detonated, killing Victor and the rogue androids. Reed and Sam briefly reflected on Mercer's call to "kill only the killers" before they fled the scene.

One year later, Reed and Sam were living together. One evening, Reed watched the news as it reported the Grozzi Corporation's promises for better safety protocols in their products. As he awaited the premiere of Buster Friendly and His Friendly Friends, Reed watched an advertisement for electric animals, mentioning to Sam that he might get one.