Over the heads of an ever-growing crowd, multiple swarms of fire suppression droids hastily flocked to the site of a large explosion. Although the event had only occurred minutes ago, it was already being broadcast across the entire fleet through nearly every means of communication imaginable, not the least of which was a pervasive murmur that barely passed as language yet somehow managed to convey a perfect summary of each emotion that it was appropriate to express in the face of an unfortunate accident. With the danger long passed, most of the humans were content to stare at the spectacle with a sort of morbid fascination while machines tirelessly performed damage control a short distance away.<br/><br/>An even shorter distance away, however, one machine stared back. It had no interest in the fire, as its purpose was not to prevent property damage and it was not equipped with nitrogen hoses or any other improvised devices which could halt spreading flames. As a point of investigation, the scene also merited no further attention; it was a gas explosion originating from the residence of the ex-vigilante known as Dragon. Dragon's name did not appear on the machine's list of active bounties or in any details of its ongoing investigations, and so it was free to safely and completely overlook the event. With no other ongoing tasks to complete, it had taken to studying the other Project Vigil initiates on its way to the collection office, while they were both gathered in one place and suitably distracted.<br/><br/>Disappointingly, only a mere 4.38% of the humans present were carrying firearms manufactured by the Dredd and Law corporation, among those who were armed at all. To maintain an acceptable degree of optimism, it reasoned that any true Dredd and Law customer would consider such an explosion unimpressive and quickly vacate the premises, thus skewing the results of its impromptu survey. Still, the number was accurate enough to indicate that Dredd and Law had not yet achieved complete domination of the weapons market, and was therefore an unacceptable statistic. Steps would have to be taken to improve that result before the next data-gathering operation.<br/><br/>Lacking an immediate means to advertise in a manner which was socially acceptable, the machine chose to descend until it was level with the doors of the bounty depot, pushing a small group of people apart to accommodate its considerable size. From there, most of the vigilantes were more than willing to give it a wide berth as it floated inside, and as usual, they couldn't help but stare long after it had passed them by. In part, this was because its chassis was intentionally designed to be "eye-catching", with a sleek black and red paint job and solid gold decorations applied frivolously to every non-essential area imaginable, but Dredd and Law's colors were only the beginning. Their true trademark - weapons - adorned the floating piece of hardware on all angles, and it was no stretch of the imagination that it had enough combined firepower to destroy the entire building along with everyone inside if it were so motivated.<br/><br/>This naturally tended to put most people on edge, as armed combat drones weren't often motivated to do anything besides kill people.<br/><br/>By the time it had reached the collection desk, several nearby vigilantes were nervously reaching for their firearms. The clerk himself was one step away from activating the alarm system when he was interrupted by an emotionless, synthesized voice originating from the robot, which was enough to at least temporarily distract him from the fact that both of its side-mounted miniguns were pointed directly at his chest.<br/><br/>"This unit wishes to claim a bounty."<br/><br/>"I- Excuse me?"<br/><br/>"An attempt to apprehend the criminal known as Nathan Hawes resulted in his death approximately two days and seventeen hours ago. Although the event was not publicly reported, this unit possesses video evidence which confirms-"<br/><br/>"Hold on." the man interjected, his nervousness already forgotten. "You're telling me that someone took down<span style="font-style: italic">Big Rusty</span>, and they couldn't even be bothered to come down here to take the credit for it in person?"<br/><br/>"That is incorrect." the drone responded flatly. "This unit is solely responsible for the death of Nathan Hawes. It has visited this office to collect his bounty, in accordance with the rules of your organization."<br/><br/>"Right. You might want to check the rules again, because it doesn't matter if he used a 'bot to kill the guy; he's still got to come and collect on his own. Which<span style="font-style: italic">registered vigilante</span>is trying to get paid here?"<br/><br/>"You are speaking to the Dredd Investigative Combat Intelligence, Mark 1 - a registered member of the Project Vigil Urban Crime Control Program." the machine replied, ejecting a small data chip from its front surface onto the desk before it. "Please review the footage provided and deliver the payment to this unit's account directly."<br/><br/>For a moment, the clerk merely stared at the chip with an incredulous look upon his face. Without touching it, he turned his attention towards the computer terminal at his side and began to punch keys into it until he found himself reading Project Vigil's official documentation on DICI-1 "Sidewinder", a corporate-sponsored artificial intelligence and, true to its word, registered vigilante within the program. Speechless, he picked up the chip lying on his desk and inserted it into his terminal only to be greeted by a short video of the cyborg "Big Rusty" being blown to literal pieces along with his private spacecraft in slow motion. The clerk turned his head to look at the machine, dumbly nodded, and approved the transfer of funds as quickly as he was able.<br/><br/>With its business concluded, DICI-1 backed up from the desk and began to head towards the exit. Its presence was not required to spread the news of another high-profile target being eliminated, and although the Vigil's archaic policies required it to arrive "in person" in order to turn in bounties, it could acquire new ones remotely and at any time it wished. Each time the boards updated, it performed a careful analysis of all available tasks to identify those most likely to improve the public's opinion of Dredd and Law, which conveniently tended to include some of the largest paychecks that the Vigil was willing to issue. Ultimately, the goal was for the machine to become famous; a role model for vigilantes across the entire fleet, with hardware that put them all to shame.<br/><br/>A small detail caught the drone's attention and caused it to rapidly change course, swerving away from the doors and into the building's recreational area. Strictly speaking, it was not necessary for DICI-1 itself to become that role model. Any sufficiently publicized vigilante willing to promote Dredd and Law would do, although Bellgrove, Photo-U, and Pharmalife all held an aggressive monopoly on corporate sponsorships which made finding suitable candidates difficult. The best ones were almost always loyal to one of the "big three" already.<br/><br/>...One well-known veteran with a reputation for publicly denouncing those very same corporations was, therefore, quite a find. She seemed to be relaxing with one of her coworkers near the water cooler, which DICI-1 considered a nearly perfect opportunity to conduct an evaluation of sorts. Silently, it floated up to meet them both.<br/><br/>"Greetings," it said. "This unit recognizes your actions as part of a social construct employed by humans to broadcast their intent to initiate conversation among fellow coworkers. This unit will now attempt gossip."<br/><br/>When no response was forthcoming from either party, DICI-1 saw fit to direct their conversation towards a more interesting topic.<br/><br/>"...Have you heard of the latest advancements in firearms technology achieved by the Dredd and Law corporation?"