Metallic gashes glinted where the paint had rubbed off in combat. Firing into the crowd of civilians and officers alike, the android’s well oiled joints silently and smoothly maneuvered her into a crouch behind a display case. She dropped spent magazines and reloaded in less time than a trained operative.

Screams and cries followed by stampeding feet covered the dreaded mall music as humans with their emotions reacted without thought.

She was all thought. She calculated, timed, projected, and re-calculated in a matter of nanoseconds. 65 humans in the immediate vicinity, 3 of them guards, 8 of them officers called in to assist, and 35 of them dead. Her mission was not finished. She stood, taking 8 shots to her alloy frame, none of which hit an artery of oil or power.

She spotted her target. A woman who matched all 40 facial recognition parameters. She aimed to take her out. Then froze.

“That will be quite enough.”

Her circuits overridden.

A manufacturer!

Silently she began her own override sequence.