Prologue

In the near future, automated mechanized police officers seem to be the last resource to combat the incessant criminal activity in the city of Detroit. There have reports of malfunctioning enforcement droids that have badly performed in public areas, creating collective hysteria among the population.

OCP Enforcement droid ED-209 series number 117 that is in charge of guarding the commercial buildings of Cadillac Heights seems to have lost control. His programming has been corrupted and it is slowly walking among scared civilians looking for potential threats. Many innocent lives will be lost if the Metropolitan police department doesn’t send immediate aid.

Unit 477 from Metro West attends the call. Although the police officers that are responding to the call don’t have enough firearm power to stop the mechanized threat, one of them seems to have an advantage over the crazed droid that is threatening civilians.

Officer RoboCop series number 001 is after several failed prototypes the most successful product ever developed by the multi-millionaire company OCP to fight crime; a state of the art cyborg programmed with a lifetime of on street law enforcement programs is proficient enough to stop the robotic threat.

His partner Officer Anne Lewis is beside him in the passenger’s seat; it was a chain of events in the past that lead to Anne becoming RoboCop’s best friend and ally by working alongside him on a daily basis.

ED-209 is walking on the streets firing erratically at a commercial center whilst his voice command is ordering people to surrender their weapons. The civilians around the robot are not holding any firearms and are desperately seeking for a hideout where the droid is not able to detect them. Fortunately and unlike RoboCop, ED-209 units have not been equipped with a thermographic vision feature making it easier for the people to hide away from it.

Unit 477 arrives to the place and both cops step out of the vehicle; “We will need better weapons to stop that thing…I will request a cobra canon through the dispatcher.” That’s what Lewis tells RoboCop, however he knows there is no time to wait for backup, his prime directives indicate he is there to protect the innocent and no civilian lives can be at stake.

“No. There is no time. What have we got in the car?” RoboCop replies in the meantime he is studying the trajectory of ED-209’s movements with his enhanced computerized vision.

Lewis desperately seeks in the patrol car’s trunk for more weapons, but just finds a semi-automatic Remington shotgun and two smoke grenades. She walks towards RoboCop and hands him the shotgun. Lewis knows RoboCop won’t wait for backup and hopes he has a plan as she fears for his physical safety.

RoboCop fears for his partner’s safety as well and asks her to put on her gear and stay behind him. His artificial body is mainly composed of titanium, laminated with Kevlar that makes him able to endure gunfire without feeling pain or getting harmed. Lewis should use him as a shield as they both walk towards the droid holding their weapons.

ED-209’s firepower is superior to any other common police officer and if RoboCop gets repeatedly shot by it, his armor can suffer major damage, exposing what remains of his human components and endangering his life. If the human part of RoboCop is ever separated from the machine, he would inevitably die.

RoboCop orders ED-209 to surrender its weapons, but instead of complying, the droid sees both cops as a new threat. It stops chasing civilians and starts to walk towards Robo and Lewis instead. “You are illegally parked in a commercial area, you have 20 seconds to move your vehicle” ED-209 keeps repeating like a broken record.

However, and as terrifying the situation might be for RoboCop and Lewis, they seem to have a plan. RoboCop had previously analyzed ED-209’s erratic moves and voice commands and realized ED-209’s corrupted programming is making him walk in circles, confused, looking for invisible threats.

Robo also noticed that every time he orders “You are under arrest” ED-209 is confused again and repeats the same phrase “You are illegally parked…” That means for Robo and Lewis that the 20 seconds that ED-209 keeps repeating they have to move their vehicle, keep restarting every time RoboCop tells the droid it is under arrest. RoboCop plays the broken machine as well, and keeps aiming the shotgun at the droid whilst repeating, “You are under arrest” over and over.

Lewis knows what to do. She runs back to get the cruiser and starts driving around ED-209 to gain time. The droid is paralyzed now, not knowing how to proceed. “You are illegally, illegally parked…” his voice commands malfunction now. Backup is on the way, but also, a TV news van from channel 5 is heading to the place. A faulty ED-209 unit creating problems is always exciting news for TV and online local channels.

RoboCop takes his chance and fires the shotgun aiming at ED-209’s back where he knows his main engine and controls are. Over time, RoboCop has learned to identify what the weak points of ED-209’s units are. He is successful as the droid starts pouring hydraulic liquid from one of its arms. Nevertheless, it is still functional enough to turn around and fire back at RoboCop using the remaining Gatling gun that is merged within its body and still works.

The shooting impact makes RoboCop fall back and crash on to a wall of the commercial center’s building. Lewis is still behind the wheel when she quickly grasps ED-209 has lost interest in following her car and is now walking towards an injured RoboCop to finish its work and terminate the one it acknowledges as a lawbreaker.

Lewis speeds up in no hesitation, driving as fast as she can towards the droid. She doesn’t even think the impact of the cruiser against the metallic giant can result in serious injury for her. The car crashes against the droid and the collision inflates the car’s airbag hitting Lewis in the head. She quickly removes her helmet struggling to get out of the car to be able to help her partner.

ED-209 has a new enemy now. The police cruiser that tried to helplessly knock it on the ground and the police officer that was driving it. Lewis finally manages to get out of the car just to see ED-209 is facing her now, “Surrender your weapon, you have 20 seconds to comply” ED-209 orders Lewis as she walks back firing her Glock gun at the droid even if she’s aware how futile that is, Lewis also knows that her bulletproof vest can be easily torn by ED-209’s shooting.

RoboCop manages to stand up and the realization that his partner is endangered and has been targeted by ED-209 for elimination makes him move fast, Robo pushes the limits of his strength by breaking a metallic tube that stood still on the street holding a neon sign. He uses it as a weapon to hit the droid from behind, creating a distraction that makes ED-209 misfire a missile, blowing the patrol car into pieces. “Run!” that is what Robo tells Lewis as he violently keeps hitting the droid with the improvised weapon.

Lewis is afraid this is a fight they can lose, although she is controlled enough to run away from the battling droids and seeks for the shotgun that RoboCop lost when ED-209 fired at him. Luckily, she finds it under the broken pieces of the wall where Robo crashed minutes earlier.

RoboCop has managed to use the tube as a lever and is on top on ED-209’s back now, trying to open a small compartment that is close to the joint where ED-209’s right arm is welded to the rest of its body. The tube is folded and useless now, Robo throws it away, he holds on to ED-209’s body with one arm and uses his free hand to keep breaking the metallic compartment where he knows the main controls are, he succeeds and ED-209’s control panel is exposed now.

Lewis is aiming at ED-209 now, using the Remington shotgun. RoboCop knows that a clean shot from his skilled partner will deactivate the droid for good now. “Now, shoot it!” Robo tells her, but Lewis hesitates to shoot, as ED-209 is moving erratically now, trying to shake Robo off its back.

Lewis is afraid she will shoot her partner by accident and doesn’t want to open fire yet. “No! get off him first, I am not going to shoot!” Lewis replies, hoping RoboCop jumps back on the ground so she can aim at the exposed controls. “I am holding the wires that prevent it from shooting back at you, shoot. I trust you” RoboCop replies as he struggles to remain on top of the droid with one arm whilst holding the exposed wiring with his free hand.

Lewis makes a conscious decision and shoots ED-209’s leg instead where its joints are making it lose balance and fall heavily on the ground. RoboCop loses control and rolls on the ground too, “Move away!” Lewis energetically orders RoboCop as she gets closer aiming at ED-209’s control panel. RoboCop drags himself away along the ground. He manages to open his right leg’s compartment and holds his auto 9 pistol aiming at ED-209’s functional arm.

Lewis shoots twice at the exposed controls of ED-209, deactivating the robot in a permanent way. There is black smoke coming from its head and the smell of the broken machine is unpleasant for both police officers. Lewis puts the weapon on the ground and runs towards Robo.

They are both distracted as backup is already there and some police officers from Metro West are controlling the scared people trying to restore order.

The sun is setting and the red-blue lights of the cruisers that are surrounding the area reflect on RoboCop’s battered armor. “Are you okay?” Lewis asks him as she helps her damaged partner to stand up. “Nothing that a toolbox can’t fix.” That is the reply Lewis gets from an expressionless RoboCop and as usual she is annoyed at him for being sarcastic about his cybernetic self; “Those things should have a remote to shut them off,” Lewis replies trying to ignore Robo’s previous comment.

RoboCop observes Lewis was also injured in the car crash against ED-209, as she only extended her right arm to help him; her left one is surely in pain as she barely moves it. There’s also a visible scratch on her forehead and it is slowly sinking in for him the danger he put his human partner through by asking her to attend the call and stop the faulty ED-209 together.

Robo tries to be protective and asks Lewis to approach the Medivac unit that just arrived for medical attention. Although she refuses as she observes that reporters are coming their way and Lewis just wants to get away from the place. Being RoboCop’s partner for years has put her in the public eye more than once.

Lewis dislikes exposure and hopes Robo stops being exciting news someday so they can be left alone.

Curious people start gathering around and some of them are taking photographs and filming the broken deactivated ED-209 with their mobile devices against the will of the police officers that are securing the area.

RoboCop and Lewis see the confusion as the perfect distraction to walk away from reporters and TV cameras. Their cruiser has been reduced to pieces and now they have to look for a new vehicle to go back to the police station.

Luckily, they find a parked patrol car that has its keys in the engine and they are able to drive away from the crime scene. Many videos and photographs ridiculing the faulty droid that almost killed dozens of innocent civilians in the commercial area of Cadillac Heights and destroyed thousands of dollars in private property will be uploaded online later on, tarnishing once again the public image of the OCP Corporation.