Blade Runner Unit

The hunters who walk the razor's edge between human and machine.

The Blade Runner Unit is a specialized division of the Los Angeles Police Department. Its officers, known as blade runners, hunt and "retire" (kill) rogue replicant models. In 2049, K, a Nexus-9 replicant, works for the LAPD as a blade runner. The unit operates under Lt. Joshi, K's superior. The nature of the work involves psychological testing; K fails a "baseline test," marking him as rogue, and Joshi gives him 48 hours to pass or be retired himself.

Quick Facts

Notable members

Rick Deckard
Gaff
K (KD6-3.7)
Lt. Joshi

Lore & Background

The Blade Runner Unit is tasked with hunting and retiring rogue replicants. In 2049, K (serial number KD6-3.7), a Nexus-9 replicant, serves as a blade runner for the LAPD. His superior is Lt. Joshi. After K retires replicant Sapper Morton, he uncovers evidence that a replicant could reproduce biologically, previously thought impossible.

Joshi fears this knowledge will lead to war between humans and replicants and orders K to retire the replicant child and destroy all evidence. K later fails a baseline test, marking him as rogue, and Joshi gives him 48 hours to pass or be retired. The unit's work involves tracking replicants using records and DNA archives, as when K visits the Wallace Corporation to identify the deceased female replicant. The unit also uses psychological testing, such as the baseline test K fails.

K's investigation leads him to the ruins of a radioactive Las Vegas, where he finds former blade runner Rick Deckard. Deckard had helped the Replicant Freedom Movement scramble birth records to protect the identity of Rachael's child. Luv, a replicant enforcer for Niander Wallace, kills Joshi and tracks K to Las Vegas, kidnapping Deckard and destroying K's AI girlfriend Joi. The Replicant Freedom Movement rescues K, and their leader Freysa reveals that Rachael's child was a girl.

K deduces that the memory of a toy horse belongs to Dr. Ana Stelline, who is Rachael's daughter. K fights and drowns Luv but is mortally wounded. He takes Deckard to Dr. Stelline's facility, where Deckard meets his daughter, and K dies on the front steps.

Reader's Guide

In 2049, K (serial number KD6-3.7), a Nexus-9 replicant, works for the LAPD as a blade runner. His superior is Lt. Joshi. The unit's primary objective is to identify and retire rogue replicants. They use records and DNA archives, as when K visits the Wallace Corporation to identify a deceased female replicant. They also use psychological testing, such as the baseline test K fails, which marks him as rogue. Joshi gives K 48 hours to pass the test or be retired himself. The conflict is philosophical: officers question their own humanity while hunting beings that display passion and desire for life.