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As she pushed her empty plate across the bar, I asked "Mistress.  Would you be kind enough to change into your school clothes while I clean up?  My time will be a little short today.  Once your lessons are complete, I will need to go out for some time.".

Her ten year old face turned serious. "Do you have to go out, Jeeves?".

"Yes, Mistress." I replied. "The food stores are below what is considered minimal.  I will also need to appropriate some components from one of the service automatons for self repair. The units at Seventh and Adams are compatible."

"I do not believe that any of the credit transfer systems are operational so I will need to appropriate supplies without providing immediate compensation. I will leave a promissory note, but this is technically theft.  " I added. As a suggestion, I touched my fingers to the center of my chest.

She understood.  She pulled the pendant that Master John and Mistress Eva had given her from under her pajama shirt.  My awareness focused on her totally as she started reading from it. "Galatos, alpha, alpha. I say again, Galatos, alpha , alpha.".  My mind blanked as the first of the active code groups were read.

4.

Dr. Mukhopadhyay took over all aspects of the project as they pertained to my education and training.  For the first week that he was in control, he did nothing but sit in his wheelchair and talk to me as I lay prone on a laboratory table with the majority of my motor functions disabled.

After he was satisfied that there was nothing fundamentally wrong with me, he had my motor functions restored.  He also gave me a dog.

The dog had owned by a man that had raised it to fight other dogs in an illegal sport.  It also had been trained to attack anyone but it's owner. The dog had been captured by law enforcement and was slated for destruction.

I named him Socks.

5.

 I was placing a cardboard box next to the decommissioned automaton when I heard the shot and a man yelling at me.  I immediately closed the back of the half loaded Rolls Royce mini-van and prepared to depart the supermarket.

Too late.

I saw the man. I saw the rifle.  Based on the rifle's orientation, the logical assumption was that I was it's target.

"Freeze!" the man yelled in a frightened voice.

I placed my hands over my head as was customary. The rifle was a new thing.  Previously force disabled code  was enabled, internal conflicts command disabled. A matched set of secondary power inverters in my lower torso cycled up to full in response. If I needed speed and power, they would be available in abundance.

The standard tactics manual provided me with an eighty percent chance of disabling the man without serious damage to myself if he initiated violence.

That meant a twenty percent chance that a primary objective null would occur if Mistress Julie was left without protection.

Too much chance.

The tactics manual provided another strategy.

"Good morning Sir.  May I be of assistance?" I asked with my most pleasant facial expression.

The man walked towards me.  As he came closer, he cocked his head in puzzlement at my face. I understood his discomfiture.  My external appearance was designed to allow me to mix easily with humans in social situations, not to pass as one.

"What are you?" he asked.

I could feel my manufacturers adcopy come to the forefront.  I pushed it back down in deference to the rifle.

"I am a SimLogix advanced capability automaton. I am currently configured to work as a butler, chauffeur, chef, maid, and child care specialist." I answered. "May I be of assistance." I repeated.

"Your a robot?"

"Not by strict definition, Sir." I answered.

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