PLUTO

It's no good!

The fire has spread to the forest in the Third District!

Can't we get more fire helicopters?

At this rate, all the mountains will be devastated!

Damn it. Why is it spreading so fast?

What happened here?

The trees are all uprooted.

Did something crash?

No, we haven't had any reports like that.

Mont Blanc...

Professor Reinhardt!

My Mont Blanc!

Professor!

Let me go!

No, Professor! It's dangerous to get any closer!

His signal is dead.

I've lost contact with Mont Blanc!

What's the matter, Gesicht?

Oh, well,

it's nothing.

You seem tired as of late.

Are you overworking yourself? Maybe you should take some time off...

I'm fine.

No need to worry.

As you can see, white smoke is still rising after two days,

and scattered fires are visible.

According to accident investigators,

the robot assigned to the Swiss Forestry Service, Mont Blanc,

was found in pieces within the confines of this forest fire.

Mont Blanc was a world-renowned mountain-guide robot

known for befriending scores of children and mountain climbers alike.

He also poured himself into programming a tree-clearing strategy

that allows us to coexist with nature.

Condolences for the beloved Mont Blanc are coming in

from all over the world.

Yes, this is Gesicht.

Yes. Understood. I'll be right there.

It's work. I've got to go.

But what about your breakfast?

Helena.

Shall we take a trip when I can take time off?

I should be getting more rest, right?

I never expected to hear you say that.

The victim resided in this apartment. Bernard Lanke, 42 years old.

He was a key advocate for the Robot Rights Protection Laws.

Was he human?

Oh, yes. He was.

Man, this is awful.

Hey, you!

Please don't step into the crime scene without permission.

Inspector, he's the one sent from Europol.

Nice to meet you.

I see. Pardon me.

I'm Inspector Wallace of the city police. Nice to meet you.

As you can see, the place has been turned upside down.

It'll take us a while to figure out if anything has been taken.

No, I don't believe this is the work of a thief.

Huh? How can you be sure?

There is no sign of ransacking.

Come now. With this much damage...

I can tell.

This room was merely damaged.

Then what do you make of this?

What are these horn-looking things sticking through the head?

Yes, it's me.

Right.

What?

Someone broke through a checkpoint!

Get an ambulance right away!

Were you the only one attacked, constable?

Robby was also at the checkpoint.

My partner...

I mean, a constable-bot.

Model PRC1332.

I can't believe that a constable-bot was destroyed so easily.

Inspector!

A male suspect in his twenties in a red cap with tattoos on both arms

seems to have fled toward the old city's redevelopment zone.

Okay then, pair up and search--

Hey! I said to pair up!

Damn it! Europol, my ass!

Stop resisting!

I didn't do anything!

There are traces of coating material from the constable-bot on that steel pipe.

A drug addict.

You are high on a drug called "noi."

Ingested about 40 minutes ago.

Is that about right?

Who's your dealer?

A guy named Shultz on Karl-Heinz Street.

What time did you meet him?

Before 5:00 a.m. this morning.

If the dealer corroborates your account, you have an alibi.

That's around the time when Bernard Lanke was murdered.

Murdered?

You only attacked the constable with a pipe to avoid arrest for illicit drugs.

And you destroyed a constable-bot, aka Robby.

I can read you your rights and arrest you quietly, or...

Please don't shoot me!

Relax.

This gun only shoots sleeping gas.

I'm built in such a way that I can't hurt humans.

I am a robot.

Hello, who is it?

My name is Gesicht. I'm a special investigator from Europol.

How can I help you?

You're Robby's wife?

Yes, I am.

I'm afraid I have tragic news.

Would you like some tea?

Being a robot as well, I'm sure you'll just go through the motions of drinking.

By living as humans do, they say we robots can upgrade our human-like senses.

That much is true.

But it's difficult to understand the joy of drinking tea.

Especially for an outdated model like me.

I work as a maid for a certain family.

And their boy. A human boy, of course.

The family had adopted a dog before the boy was born.

The boy and the dog grew up like siblings.

But the dog died.

Would you like me to erase a portion of your memory data?

Please don't erase the memories of my husband.

This is horrible.

The victim is Bernard Lanke.

Key advocate for the International Robot Laws.

I see.

There must be tons of people who think badly

of a scholar who insists on protecting the rights of robots like he did.

And this is the body that was found.

What are those horn-looking things?

I'm not sure.

However...

This is...

This is the site where Mont Blanc of the Swiss Forestry Service was destroyed.

Horns.

Are you saying the same person is responsible for both incidents?

Breaking a sturdy robot like Mont Blanc into pieces is impossible for humans.

In addition, at the time of his murder,

there was no trace of a human presence in Lanke's apartment.

"No trace of a human presence..."

Hold it, Gesicht.

Lanke was human!

Yes. Article 13 of the International Robot Laws says,

"A robot shall not be able to harm or kill humans."

If there's a robot out there that can kill a human,

it would be the first time since the incident eight years ago.

I will find the perpetrator.

Whether it be a robot or a human,

there is a devil inside them.

A strange pedestal, isn't it?

Originally, the plan was to build a bronze statue of Mont Blanc on it.

However, Mont Blanc objected to it.

He said it would be wrong

to ruin the scenic view of the Alps with a bronze statue of himself.

Not only that, he insisted he would one day become scrap iron.

"Please pulverize my entire body, melt it, and recycle it," he said.

But he was still in his prime.

Mont Blanc was a true hero.

He joined the 39th Central Asian War as a member of the peace-keeping forces.

He not only helped the Kingdom of Persia restore peace from the chaos and turmoil,

but he also managed to apprehend terrorists in hiding without bloodshed.

Without him, Asia could never have reached the state of peace it has now.

He was also a poet.

He was able to sing with birds and converse with the trees in the forest.

Those people over there volunteered to do this work with no compensation.

They all loved Mont Blanc, my son.

Mont Blanc. He was the guardian angel of the mountains.

In three days, tens of thousands...

no, hundreds of thousands will come to the memorial

to mourn the death of Mont Blanc.

Detective, this was no accident.

They say Mont Blanc was destroyed

because of the huge tornado that happened just before the forest fire,

but that's not true at all.

Detective, please catch the person responsible for this.

If you do, then with these hands,

with my own hands...

The pride of Switzerland, nay, the world.

Mont Blanc will forever live in our hearts.

Are you awake, Gesicht?

Your regular maintenance is finished.

Thank you, Professor Hoffman.

So, how did it go?

Oh, nothing out of the ordinary.

Except...

Yes?

Many people think robots don't get tired,

but when you're this similar to humans, a robot can feel exhaustion.

On the contrary. The human body itself is nothing but a mechanism.

With too much use, any mechanism can become fatigued.

Fatigued?

Looks like you're dealing with rather difficult cases.

I saw Mont Blanc's memorial on TV,

but I had to turn it off to keep from crying.

Some media have reported a theory that he self-destructed

from an electromagnetic wave anomaly in his body.

But as an expert on the subject,

I don't believe a high-performance robot like him

could experience such an elementary problem.

To destroy a robot that was loved by everyone...