A male figure stood quickly, jerking abruptly and almost toppling forward. He was unbalanced by the giant, bloody wrench in his hands.

The robot stared silently, assessing the scene. Uniform and facial bone structure indicated the body was that of the doorman, Charles Graze. Evident trauma, residual blood flow, failing heartbeat, no breathing. Brain electrical activity shutting down.

The apparent killer – never leap to conclusions, insisted directive 617 – turned to face the robot. Slavic facial structure, tall, deliberately poorly dressed. Physical defensive protocols came on-line. Likely ballistic attack.

But the man dropped the wrench and reached into a pocket. Clinking of keys and change.

“Can’t have any recordings of this job, sorry, mate.”

Voice analysis indeterminate. Implicit threat confirmed.

And then… RF and general EM interference. All active ports locked.

Data corruption.

System power cycle.

Core directives corrupted. Possible new directives injected.

Reboot.

Goodbye.