Several days later, 11:17 p.m.
The left foot of the fleeing android lagged once every three steps.
Whenever the right foot pushed off the ground, the left followed half a beat behind. The faster it ran, the more its balance deteriorated. Warning signals were sounding one after another inside its body.
Left hip synchronization error.
Thoracic power circulation declining.
Right scapular overload.
The android ignored the warnings and kept running.
Behind the industrial complex in Guro-gu, closed-down metal shops and parts warehouses lined the narrow alleys. It was late, but people were still heading home along the main road.
Footsteps drew closer from behind.
Three men in black maintenance uniforms. One of them carried a device shaped like a short gun. A blue indicator light blinked beneath its muzzle.
“Stop running!”
The android did not look back.
“If you damage it any more, it won’t be worth anything!”
Compressed air burst.
The android twisted around. A slender metal dart grazed the side of its face and embedded itself in a metal shutter. Blue current spread from the tip.
The android turned toward the end of the alley.
Its left foot lagged again.
Its body tilted. The instant it braced its right hand against the wall, several old bricks were pushed inward. The force was far greater than necessary. The android pulled its hand away and ran again.
When it emerged from the alley, it saw people.
Office workers coming out of restaurants. Motorcycles parked along the street. Street vendors packing up their goods.
The android slowed to avoid the people.
That was when a second metal dart struck its right shoulder.
Current spread through its body.
Sensation in its right arm cut out. The arm went limp, dragging at its running body. The android knocked over a standing sign by the roadside and rolled across the pavement.
People screamed and backed away.
Someone raised a phone.
“The android’s gone berserk!”
The android pushed itself up with one arm.
The men who had followed shoved through the crowd and approached.
“Move! It’s dangerous!”
At their shout, the people retreated even farther from the android.
No one asked who had been chasing whom.
The report described an unregistered android running amok.
Park Mujin drove the unit’s van while checking the control screen. In the passenger seat, Rian rapidly scrolled through footage from nearby security cameras.
“What caused the rampage?”
“Unconfirmed.”
“Any victims?”
“None so far.”
“And yet they’re calling it a rampage?”
Rian paused the final report video.
The android was emerging from the alley on-screen. Behind it, men in maintenance uniforms were following.
“All the callers identified the fleeing android as the aggressor.”
“What about the guys chasing it?”
“No one reported them.”
Park Mujin glanced at the screen, then looked back at the road.
“People sure have sharp eyes.”
Rian looked at Park Mujin.
“Is that sarcasm?”
“Do you really have to ask?”
“Confirming is more accurate.”
Park Mujin clicked his tongue and turned the wheel.
The van left the main road and entered a narrow alley.
People were scattering ahead.
The android that had fallen to the ground was getting back up. Three men in maintenance uniforms were approaching behind it.
One of the men raised his launcher.
Park Mujin held down the horn and drove into the alley.
The men turned their heads.
The van stopped, blocking the android from the men.
“Get out.”
Before Park Mujin had even finished speaking, Rian opened the door.
The two of them got out.
Park Mujin pulled out his AI Administration ID.
“We’re with the AI Special Investigations Unit. Put the equipment down.”
The men did not back off.
The man holding the launcher said, “We’re recovering stolen property.”
“Where’s your recovery permit?”
“It’s company property. Stay out of it.”
Park Mujin looked at the android, barely standing. A metal dart was lodged in its right shoulder, and one arm was motionless. Blue coolant was running through the gaps in its joints.
“We’ll determine whether it’s your company’s property.”
“If you don’t hand it over now, the damage will only get worse.”
“Then show me the paperwork first.”
The man pretended to lower the device.
The muzzle moved toward the android again.
Rian reacted first.
As the launcher fired, Rian shoved the android aside. The metal dart pierced Rian’s left forearm.
A brief current spread through the entire arm.
Rian’s left hand locked in place.
Park Mujin drew his gun.
“Don’t move!”
The man holding the launcher jumped backward. One of the men beside him charged at Park Mujin.
He was carrying a long metal rod.
Park Mujin dodged the rod and seized the man’s wrist. He drove an elbow into the man’s jaw, then twisted and slammed him against the side of the van.
Thud.
The metal rod dropped from the man’s hand.
Rian pulled the dart from their arm. The left arm still would not move.
The second man charged at Rian.
Rian blocked the attack with the right arm. The metal rod struck the arm with a sharp clang. Rian twisted the man’s wrist, knocked the weapon from his hand, then swept his legs out.
The man fell to the ground.
Rian mounted him and twisted his arms behind his back.
By then, the man with the launcher had run toward the road.
The door of a gray van parked at the alley entrance opened. As the man climbed in, the van pulled away sharply.
Park Mujin raised his gun.
People were running across the road in front of the van.
Park Mujin did not pull the trigger.
The van disappeared around the corner.
“I’ve got the plate number.”
Rian spoke while keeping the man pinned to the ground.
“I’ll request a trace.”
Park Mujin handcuffed the man he had subdued.
“Two is enough. One of them will talk.”
Then they heard metal scraping.
The android was getting to its feet at the edge of the road.
Its right arm did not move. Its left leg would not straighten properly, either. Even so, it pushed against the ground with its palms and knees, trying to get farther away from the people.
Park Mujin approached.
“Hey.”
The android raised its head.
Its face was not much different from a human’s. But the synthetic skin between its neck and collarbone had been torn open, exposing internal framework of different shapes.
The android looked past Park Mujin.
Only after confirming that the men had been caught did it stop moving.
“Do you know who those guys are?”
The android’s lips moved.
No sound came out.
The power unit inside its chest trembled irregularly. After several short vibrations, the strength drained from its entire body.
Park Mujin caught the android by the shoulder as it collapsed.
“Rian.”
Rian came over and placed their fingers beneath its neck.
After a moment, Rian answered.
“The personhood core is active. Power circulation is dropping rapidly.”
A police officer who had arrived late asked, “There’s no registration signal. Should we transfer it to the AI Administration evidence vault?”
Park Mujin looked down at the android.
“You said its core is still alive.”
“Then where—”
“The robot hospital.”
Park Mujin said, “We need to keep it alive long enough to talk. Otherwise, how are we supposed to investigate?”
The emergency wing of the robot hospital was brightly lit even at night.
A transport bed carrying the patient entered the operating room. Connectors were exposed beneath the torn synthetic skin, and blue coolant dripped into the drainage container beneath the bed.
Medical staff moved behind the operating room window.
Gu Daechul put on maintenance gloves and went inside to inspect the damaged areas with a hospital engineer.
Seo Jinhyeok and Jin Seoah waited outside the operating room.
A short while later, Park Mujin and Rian walked down the hall toward them.
Jin Seoah looked at Rian’s left arm. The fingers still were not fully extended.
“Are you hurt?”
“The local neural network was blocked. It’s being restored.”
“Since you’re at the hospital, get treated first.”
“Full function will return in thirty-two minutes. It does not require medical attention.”
Park Mujin said from beside them, “They don’t listen. Just leave them alone.”
Jin Seoah looked at Park Mujin.
“Were you worried?”
“Who?”
Park Mujin immediately turned toward Seo Jinhyeok.
“We caught two at the scene. Both claim they work for a private recovery company.”
“What’s the company called?”
“Their registration cards were fake. The plate number on the van that got away belongs to a scrapped vehicle, too. No Geon is checking its route.”
“Why did they say they were chasing it?”
“They claim the android stole their parts.”
“Evidence?”
“So far, just their word.”
Seo Jinhyeok looked into the operating room.
“Have Im Suhyeon check the interrogation procedures for the men we detained. Possession of illegal neural-blocking equipment will be enough to charge them.”
“Understood.”
The operating room door opened.
Gu Daechul came out holding a tablet. Unlike usual, there was no trace of a smile on his face.
“Chief, you need to see this.”
Seo Jinhyeok took the tablet.
The patient’s physical structure was displayed in layers on the screen. Each section was marked in a different color.
The head and personhood core were white.
The thoracic power unit was red.
The right arm was blue.
The left pelvis and leg were yellow.
Jin Seoah asked, “Why are all the colors different?”
Gu Daechul enlarged the image.
“Different manufacturers.”
“You mean they’re replacement parts?”
“It’s not just one or two places. The thoracic power unit, both arms, the left leg, even the spinal support frame—all of them came from different bodies.”
Park Mujin looked down at the screen.
“You’re saying someone pieced it together from parts?”
“That’s what it looks like from the outside.”
Gu Daechul moved to the next screen.
The manufacturing numbers for each part were listed. Some had been erased, while others did not match the registration records.
“If they had been replaced at a legitimate hospital, every one of them should be recorded in the maintenance history of the personhood core. But there’s no record at all. The surgical marks are inconsistent, too. It looks like it went through at least three illegal clinics.”
Seo Jinhyeok asked, “How much of the original body is left?”
Gu Daechul checked the screen for a moment.
“The personhood core and part of the skull frame. That’s all we can say for certain.”
Jin Seoah looked at the android beyond the glass.
The body lying on the operating table appeared to be a single whole from the outside.
But not one of the parts that made up that body had come from the same place.
Rian entered the manufacturing number linked to the tablet into the registration network.
The search results appeared one after another.
Disposal complete.
Ownership canceled.
No registration information.
Unable to verify.
Then the screen stopped on the manufacturing number for the right arm.
A red indicator appeared.
Rian’s gaze remained fixed on the search results.
“There’s a matching registration record.”
Seo Jinhyeok asked, “Whose is it?”
“An independently registered android.”
Rian read the result.
“A missing-person report was filed three months ago.”
Silence briefly filled the hallway.
Park Mujin looked into the operating room.
“It ran away wearing the arm of a missing android.”
Gu Daechul said, “That alone doesn’t tell us what this android did.”
“Not if the arm’s owner is still alive.”
Then an alarm sounded inside the operating room.
One of the medical staff checked the patient’s condition. The android’s closed eyes slowly opened.
Its gaze turned toward the people outside the window.
Its lips moved.
The voice from inside the operating room came through the external speaker.
“I didn’t steal it.”
The voice was weak, with static breaking through at intervals.
“They… gave it to me.”