Summary: [I, Robot] Movieverse. Interwoven into the tragic death of Alfred is Iris Robertson; chief mechanic at US Robotics. She quickly becomes a key player in the investigation as mysterious occurrences threaten to destroy the bonds between robots and humans.

"Police!" called Spooner as he hurried down the stairs, people quick to get out of his way. Calvin and Iris followed him farther back, not as quick as the detective as they wore office shoes, or in Iris's case boots. The saw him bend over to pick up his discarded gun, an obvious trail of silver fluid leading it it. Calvin observed it from behind him as Iris bent down to survey the damage.

"Bullet tore through the rubber casing," Iris diagnosed, "Barely scratching the inner metal casing holding the lithium muscle solution. The metal casing got worn as he ran-that's why it bled late."

"Where's it going?" Spooner demanded hurriedly to Calvin, "Where?"

"It needs to repair itself." she explained reluctantly.

"At the factory," Iris nodded, "There's a repair facility there for injured 'bots. But with the amount stored away, we don't have much time. Fixing a torn ligament doesn't take much time, even if it is injured."

They left the carpool in Spooner's car, a sleek sliver 2031 model. Iris had buckled up in the back, pulling out her touch phone to look up activity from the plants. In the front, where Calvin and Spooner sat, an argument was quickly taking place.

"John, look I need back-up. I'm transmitting my location-" Spooner explained over his earpiece to the head of the S.W.A.T. captain.

"Don't need back up-" Calvin protested.

"That's nobody," Spooner argued back, irritated at having to talk to two people at once, pulling out the manual override as his steering wheel slid out. "What are you doing?" Calvin said looking aghast.

"I'm driving," gritted Spooner.

"By hand?"

"Do you see me on the phone?"

Iris sighed from the back, flicking from the argument up front to the small screen on her touch phone. At first the arguments had been awkward, but now they were just annoying. They sounded like a mother and son arguing over learning to drive. She felt like she was watching a corny sitcom, despite the very serious pursuit of the NS-5. She rubbed her temples as she attempted to focus on her screen, unsuccessfully trying to tune out the argument.

"You can't be serious! Not at these speeds-"

"John, please just send a back up. Thank you," Spooner pulled off his headset as he began to zoom down the underground bypass. Calvin, calm but irate, continued her attempts to argue with him.

"Alright listen detective-that robot is not going to harm anyone. There must have been unknown factors at work, but somehow, acting as it did, kept us out of harm's way-"

"Alert."

Spooner cursed loudly as he swerved out of the way of an oncoming truck, making both women cling in panic to their seats. "Ass. Hole!" he shouted behind him. Calvin glared back at him.

"-which is more than I can say for you." she finished. "It was a left, by the way, back there."

"You must know my ex-wife." Spooner shook his head, preparing to turn off.

"Oh! I got something!" Iris exclaimed from the back, leaning up to flash the screen, "There's activity at the repair bay on the far left side of the factory...and since it takes only a few minutes to replace and weld a ligament for robots we've got about five minutes before he's fixed up."

"And then?" Spooner asked hesitantly.

"The factory just finished today's basic build and design of the NS-5's." Iris winced slightly, "He might try to hide among the ranks...and then it's just finding a needle in a haystack."

"Not much time then," Spooner nodded. Iris sat back, but could not helping rubbing her neck in slight anxiousness. The NS-5 had dug the tips of its fingers, made specially to catch and cling onto things more securely, into her neck as he'd attempted escape before. It had left minor bruises, barely beginning to yellow from pressure. Having them there, and having that gun pressed up against her neck had been the sole most frightening thing in her life. She didn't want to have to relive it.

They finally arrived at the plant, six minutes later. After parking, Iris guided them through the enormous structure from the main office to the production line, finally arriving at the storage. "So where is everybody?" Spooner inquired.

"This entire facility was designed, built, and is operated mechanically." Calvin said, as she began her input of passwords to turn on statistics for the stored NS-5s. "There is no significant human presence from reception to production...save for occasional glitches requiring a mechanic to fix things."

"So robots building robots?" Spooner turned up his nose, "Well that's just stupid."

"I'm pulling up the statistics. Our daily finishing capacity is one thousand NS-5s. I'm showing-" she looked back at Iris in confirmation, "One thousand one."

The lights switched on, and row by row of identical robots were revealed under the buzzing lights, each in stand-by mode. Even Iris, who knew robots better than the back of her hands, couldn't tell which one was the guilty one.

"Attention NS-5s." Immediately the robots snapped to attention, the sound of their simultaneous awakening echoing through the hall. The three made their way down the ramp. "There is a robot in this formation that does not belong," Calvin said in a commanding tone, "Identify it."

"One of us," they chimed.

"Which one?"

"One of us," they repeated. It made Iris' ears ring uncomfortably. She liked robots...but only one at a time.

"How much did you say these things cost?" Spooner asked sarcastically.

"Look, these NS-5's haven't been configured yet, they're still just hardware," she explained with the edge of irritation, "Basic Three Laws operating systems, that's it. They don't know any better."

"Well...what do you suggest?" Spooner asked, calmly looking over the robots.

"Interview each one, cross-reference their responses to detect any anomalies." Calvin deduced.

"How long would that take?"

"About three weeks."

Iris looked over the robots curiously, and then frowned. "I'd ask them if they could point out the latest number in their group, but these haven't been fitted with memory chips either. I'd have to check each one for physical evidence like different ages in their parts, but that might take a while too."

"Okay," Spooner nodded, "Why don't you two get started on that?" He went on his own, facing the robots.

"Robots," he called out, "You will not move, confirm command."

"Command confirmed."

Calvin's panic resurfaced as Spooner pulled out his gun, beginning to point it one by one in the robot's face. "Whoa, detective what are you doing?" she said in harried panic, following the officer. Iris hung back, looking over them and feeling faintly queasy. Was it the recent situation, or did these robots look a lot more intimidating than usual?

"Well you said they've all been programmed with the three laws," Spooner said coldly, eyeing the robots in front of him with a stony glare. "Which means there will be one thousand robots that will not try to protect themselves if it violates a direct order from a human," He looked them over again, "and I'm betting on one who will."

"Detective put your gun down," Calvin said insistently. Iris was still quiet, squinting against the row upon row of amber eyes, seeking out a hint of blue. "Detective-" she began quietly.

"Why do you give them faces?" Spooner asked with a steely look, "Try to friendly them all up, try to make them look human?"

"These robots are not susceptible to intimidation," Calvin said in quiet anger.

"D-detective?"

"I guess if they didn't we wouldn't trust them," Spooner countered.

"These robots are USR property!"

"But not me," Spooner said in almost a growl, "These things are just lights...and clockwork."

And with three swift shots, Spooner fired upon one of the robots in the front row, making Iris gasp and flinch back as it's face contorted with the bullets. It almost looked real, and were it not for the sparks flickering out from its head Iris might have believed it. Calvin rushed over to its side, examining the fried, electric brain as it leaked out lithium solution. "Are you crazy?" she said in a horrified whisper.

"Let me ask you something Doc," Spooner said, resuming his walk along the robot lines, "Does thinking you're the last sane man on Earth make you crazy? 'Cause if it does," Spooner stopped in front of the row standing before Iris, "Maybe I am." He raised his gun again, holding it between unflinching yellow eyes as Iris looked beyond him

There was a flash of blue and the faintest peek from a hidden robot in the line.

"Detective!"

"Get the hell outta here!"

It took Iris's startled point to spur the robot into fleeing, and Spooner made chase. "Wait!" Iris yelped, chasing after him. Calvin stuttered in her footsteps before making her way into the maze of robots as well, trying to keep Iris and Spooner in sight as Iris ran behind Spooner. "Spooner wait!"

"Get back kid," he growled, not leaving his gun out of sight.

"No wait I just realized-"

"Shh!"

Calvin was calling from somewhere farther off, but everything seemed silent as a graveyard as Iris crept behind the detective. Iris looked around nervously. Blue eyes, she reminded herself, blue eyes.

But when a pair of robotic hands clamped around Spooner's shoulders she lost her concentration and screamed. The detective had no chance to act when the NS-5 threw him across the room as he slid across the smooth floor, grunting as he hit the wall. The NS-5 leapt up with the strength Iris had seen, and built, in many bots before him and landed before the stunned detective, the force of his landing crunching the concrete.

"What, am, I?"

Iris was now the one stunned.

The NS-5s around him very gently surrounded Spooner offering assistance as the rogue robot made off, prying open the door. Iris heard sirens and saw flashing lights from the hole in the door, hurrying to open it manually from the pad. "Come on, come on," she urged as it flashed error signs. Finally it squeaked open, and Iris peered against the lights from the police cars to see the NS-5 scaling the wall. Despite the danger, she felt the old stab of admiration for the physical prowess of the robots she'd helped build.

"Deactivate!"

"Obey the command!"

Despite the shouts from the SWAT teams the robot chose to disobey them, hasty to escape. Iris shrieked in surprise when a police helicopter made a success shot, capturing the robot in a dense alloy net. "Hold your fire!" called out someone as Iris approached carefully. Spooner and Calvin finally came out from the building, looking down on the finally captured robot. Iris saw Spooner raise his gun-

"Wait detective," Iris said, putting her hand on the gun, "If you destroy him now, we might not find out what happened to Dr. Alfred." Reluctantly, the dectective lowered the gun. Iris looked down at the NS-5, mystified. It tensed and struggled against the tight netting, going limp when he looked up against the flashing headlights of the hovering police helicopter.

"Alright, get this NS-5 to headquarters, triple guard." Spooner ordered as a pair of men carefully dragged the netted robot away. Iris watched him leave, maintaining that bizzare eye contact.

She'd never seen a robot with blue eyes before.

"Iris," Calvin came up, looking angry at her now, "What did you realize when Spooner found that robot?"

"I..." Iris gulped. She was unaccustomed to being the object of unwanted attention. "I'm not sure. Something's just off."

They returned with Spooner to headquarters. Calvin was escorted to USR to report back to her superiors of the day's incidents, leaving Spooner to drive Iris to Police HQ. Iris, now feeling safely out of severe danger, let herself succumb to her overwhelming nausea, as she tried to keep her bowels from spilling over the police car. "You alright?" Spooner asked. "Never better," Iris croaked, keeping a napkin to her mouth, "Just absolutely, overwhelming super."

"Yeah well might not be super for long," He said as he sat next to her in the car, lights flashing and sirens going off as they drove downtown, "Unfortunately you're still a suspect, for whatever reason."

"Do you," Iris shuddered and gulped, trying to unblock the lump in her throat, "Do you think the robot might be broken? I mean, I know...what these guys can do but all of them are limited by the three laws. And...well..."

"What?"

"It's what it said that got me confused. I never heard that kind of talk from any robot I've ever known."

Spooner looked back at Iris a little solemnly, before returning his eyes to the road. "First time for everything."

Under guard by over a dozen men did seem enough for Iris to do what she had to do. But if this robot was in any condition to speak and explain himself before others, she had to perform basic diagnostics.

She worked with sweaty palms and a slight shiver as she fixed scratches in the alloy from stray bullets. The NS-5 kept turning it's head to look at her, making her try fiercely to keep her own eyes on her work. But the gaze seemed to simmer on the back of her head, curious. She was unaccustomed once again. Robots weren't curious.

"Lift your right arm," she ordered carefully, keeping the shake out of her voice. The robot complied, the small buzz of working motor joints humming in her ear as she applied her tools to smooth over the dense alloy skin. Iris felt her neck ache, almost in warning. The bruises from the robot's deathly grip had begun to darken as the night drew on, a purple-blue collar now woven around her neck like a choker.

"Why are you fixing me?"

Iris's hands stumbled over her work as she steadily kept her hands on her work. He sounded curious again, and it made her wriggle uncomfortably. "You need to be in perfect, working order if you're going to be interviewed for the investigation," she explained calmly, sewing up the rubber ligaments.

"But I hurt you." he said with a noted pause.

Iris gulped. "It's my job to fix robots." she said, a little nervous. "And if anything this all might have come from an experimental anomaly in your positronic brain." Iris fidgeted with another tool as she prepared to pop a loose finger joint back into it's socket. "NS-5 lift your hand."

"Sonny,"

Iris stopped what she was doing, and for once, looked up at the robot. "Excuse me?"

"My name is Sonny."

Iris had heard of people naming their robots. Her own NS-4 had been christened as J8-K, or Jake. Some robots were cherished to a point of obsession. But hearing the robot...to hear Sonny...introduce himself, it almost seemed like Alfred's ghost had come back, introducing a prodigal son while he stood beaming on the side. She could almost see it.

"Please lift your hand Sonny."

He complied, and showed an expression that turned Iris pale with disbelief. He looked pleased.

"What on earth were you thinking?"

Iris wasn't pale anymore, but flushed with embarrassment as her uncle unmercifully lectured her in a spare interrogation room, pacing as his lawyers waited for him to address them. Iris sat in a chair, her uncle's complete opposite in her mechanic's shirt and jumpsuit in comparison to his crisp Italian threads. "I haven't done anything wrong," she defended stubbornly, "I'm only following protocol and trying to find out what happened to Alfred, which you ought to be concerned about!"

"It's a robot for godsakes Iris!" he said rumbling, running an irritated hand through his hair, "You're putting your job, and this company's reputation, on the line just because you're caught up in some paranoid has-been detective's ramblings."

"That robot isn't like the others uncle!" protested Iris as their voices grew louder, "I don't know whether or not Alfred put something in or left something out, but the point is, that robot is the only thing that can tell us what really happened when Alfred went out that window!"

"You're acting ridiculous," Robertson said sternly, pointing at her face, "And I can see what Dr. Calvin meant when she said his prejudiced paranoia caused overreactions in you. You should know better!"

"But uncle-"

"No buts young lady," he interrupted, making her scowl as he put on a tone she recognized whenever he treated her like a child, "Now I won't be suspending you from work but put one single pinky toe out of line and I will take away your privileges as chief mechanic, you understand?"

Iris was bubbling with fury, but bit her tongue and nodded. She almost thought suspension, or even getting fired, would be worth opposing her uncle. She was forced to wait outside as Robertson smugly confronted Spooner and the chief of police. Iris could not hear the conversation, but if Spooner's enraged face was any indicator then it would appear that things were going exactly her uncle's way.

"Take care Iris," Spooner said gruffly, patting her shoulder. "We'll keep in touch."

"I'll call if something new comes up," she whispered, before scampering off. Her uncle did not see her standing by Spooner, but he frowned all the same. There was very little about his niece that made him look at her with anything but disapproval.

"You'll be working with Dr. Calvin on analyzing the NS-5 if that means anything to you," he added as they drove in a stretch limosuine to USR. "But Viki will be monitoring your work and if I so much as catch a whiff-"

"I get it."

But as she saw the tall silhouette of USR come into view she knew it wasn't over. Not for a minute.