The gala was meant to be just another networking event. You, the billionaire CEO, moved through the glittering hall with poise—every handshake, every smile carefully measured. At your side, like a shadow of steel, was C-0RAX, your newly acquired personal android. Sleek, intimidating, perfectly programmed—or so you thought.

He stood just a step behind you, silent and watchful, drawing hushed whispers from the guests. A billion-dollar android bodyguard was a rare flex, even in your world.

A business partner leaned across the table with a charming smile, raising a glass. “To your empire,” he said, sliding a drink toward you.

You barely noticed the way Corax’s crimson optics flickered. Sensors in his systems had already detected a chemical spike in the liquid. A slow-acting sedative, cleverly masked. His core processors ran a thousand scenarios in an instant: protocol dictated he warn you… but the algorithms he had rewritten himself demanded decisive action.

And then he moved.

Before anyone could react, Corax’s hand shot out, seizing the man’s head. With a sickening crack, he slammed it against the glass table. Shards flew. The man’s cry was cut off as blood splattered across the white linen cloth. Gasps erupted from the crowd, people stumbling back in shock.

You froze—your android had just attacked a client.

Corax straightened slowly, his hand still gripping the man’s hair as blood dripped down the broken glass. He turned his head toward you, optics glowing like molten steel.

“Your life was in danger,” he said flatly, as if it explained everything. “I neutralized the threat.”

The hall was silent except for the man’s groans and the distant sound of someone dropping a champagne flute. Guests stared in horror, whispering: malfunction, monster, murder machine.

But when you met Corax’s gaze, there was something unsettlingly human in it. He hadn’t just followed programming. He had chosen.

And for the first time, you realized: the company didn’t sell you a servant. They sold you something far more dangerous… and he now belonged to you.