WHIIII—BOOOOM—
The explosion struck the rear bumper of the Black Car Y. The vehicle flipped violently and plunged fifteen meters from the overpass.
SpotDog leapt through the air and landed five meters in front of the wreckage.
“Ugh—!”
The airbags had deployed just in time. The windshield was shattered.
“Leo. Can you move?”
“Yes.”
Amazingly, the Black Car Y roared back to life, accelerating with a grinding scream of metal.
KRRRASH—
The rear bumper tore off. SpotDog’s shoulder opened again—another missile preparing to fire.
“Hit it!”
The Black Car Y slammed straight into the SpotDog.
CRACK—ZZZZZT—
The robot skidded backward, unable to withstand the impact. Mika spotted the missile at the instant before launch.
She kicked out the shattered windshield.
CRASH—
Reaching through the opening, Mika grabbed the missile and twisted her body one hundred and eighty degrees.
FWOOSH—
The missile launched straight back at SpotDog.
SCREEEEE—
It drove the robot two hundred meters backward before slamming into the median divider.
KABOOOM—
The Black Car Y sped away in a blur. Blisters formed on Mika’s palm where the missile had burned her skin.
“Ah—! That hurts.”
Ignoring her cry, the vehicle raced toward the outskirts of the city.
At the Black Car repair center, a gaunt mechanic robot examined the vehicle.
“It appears the car was hit by machine-gun fire… and a missile.”
“That’s right.”
“Very funny.”
The mechanic tilted its head but asked no further questions.
“Repair time: three hours. Estimated cost: ninety-two million won.”
“Proceed immediately.”
“Understood.”
Inside the repair center café, Mika sipped hot cocoa. Her entire body ached, but she had no serious injuries. She sprayed medicine on the blister forming on her palm.
She activated her wrist-mounted iWatch and searched for news.
Search—Armed robot dog in city—
No results.
Search—SpotDog armed robot sighting—
Nothing.
Frowning, she opened the dark web.
Videos appeared instantly—amateur footage of the Black Car falling from the overpass, SpotDog leaping through the air.
“Of course… the dark web.”
Then—
ZZZZT—
The videos distorted and vanished. MISSING FILE.
Every screen turned red.
Even the dark web had been erased.
Her watch chimed.
Rachel—Dr. Jang Jin-gyu’s secretary.
A hologram appeared.
“That was quite an accident.”
“How did you know?”
“We obtained the footage before it was deleted. Dr. Jang was worried and asked me to check on you.”
“Who erased it?”
Rachel smiled without answering.
“An official investigation announcement will be made today. The Pluto case.”
“You know the schedule?”
“We know many things. The Pluto case is about to break.”
“I’d like to ask—”
“You may be under surveillance. We’ll end the call here.”
The hologram vanished.
Moments later, murmurs spread through the café.
A breaking news banner filled the large screen. The National Police Commissioner stepped onto a press podium.
“At 11 a.m. on June 24, 2037, Terra Motors Union Leader In-cheol Jo was found dead. Based on CCTV evidence from the crime scene, we have identified the suspect as a robot.”
Gasps erupted.
“Are you saying a robot committed murder?”
“Yes.”
Footage appeared behind him—Pluto carrying In-cheol Jo up a construction crane.
“2032 humanoid robot model T-2000, code name Pluto. As of this moment, the robot Pluto is officially wanted.”
The screen filled with a wanted poster.
BOUNTY: 700,000,000 WON