Droid

Droid – Droids are a part of the ID world - some appear to be quite human while others look mechanical, like robots or machines. They make reliable witnesses as they can provide playback from their memory databanks when necessary (though their memory can be tampered with); they can be programmed to perform numerous functions and may, or may not, be anatomically correct. A twenty-four/seven was a droid programmed for full operation without required rest or recharge periods.

• Action droids (such as made by Branson Tools and Toys; uniformed beat cop action-droid, street thief action-droid with airskates)
• Combat droid
  • 6 feet, 2 inches (187.96 cm); 210 pounds (95.25 kg); Caucasian; brown hair and brown eyes; sharp features; top-line model; combat trained.
  • Sparring droid - at Cop Central; also at Jim’s Gym
• Domestic droids - maids, butlers, household staff, cook vacuum, scrubber
• Pleasure/sex droids
  • Larinda Mars had a sex droid called Henri in Secrets in Death
• Messenger droid
• Pet/Animal droids
  • Feline droids
    • The one Celina Sanchez used to distract Annalisa Sommers in Visions in Death was manufactured by Petco, although presumably not the American pet retailer with corporate offices in San Diego and San Antonio.
    • Morris gave Amaryllis Coltraine a droid kitty that she called Sachmo for Louis Armstrong (his nickname was Satchmo).
  • Droid rats (racing)
  • Droid dogs patrolled the perimeter of Dockport Rehabilitation Center in Reunion in Death
• Droids for police (in New York City, that is the NYPSD) and/or security:
  • Beat droids, with broad shoulders and nonthreatening faces
    • In Obsession in Death, two beat droids stood on the sidewalk in front of the Square “looking as snarly as droids could, each with a hand on the butt of a riot stick.” One of them was described as being “created to resemble a black man in his early thirties with shoulders wide as the Great Wall of China.” He told Eve “we were called in to deal with crowd control when and if necessary, and keep a watch on any and all official vehicles. We’re programmed specifically to deal with the issues and culture of this area.”
    • Later in Obsession, the same beat droids were referred to as D-Officer, as in D-Officer Carter and D-Officer Bates.
  • Dispatch droids:
  • Eve called them to report an unattended death in Naked in Death
  • In Holiday in Death, Eve complained that they put droids on Dispatch, on the desk, every place, because it was Christmas.
  • When Eve called to request available units to 156 W. 89th St., Apt. 2119 (Georgie Castle’s home) in Naked in Death, this request was taken by a droid, saying that units five-oh and three-six were available.
  • In Imitation in Death, Eve went back to the scene of Jacie Wooten’s murder and saw a beat cop and the neighborhood security droid.
  • Forensic droids
  • Meter droids
  • Nuisance droids
  • Security droids
    • “Bug” droid for security: resemble “mutant spiders,” equipment included “stunners and signals”
• Recorder droid (in a courtroom)
• Research droids
• Service droids (including assistants/bartenders/cashiers/servers/cooks/other staff; see also Anna-6)
  • Bartender droid
• Supervisor (such as for teachers) or Child care droids
  • Ms. Sloop
• Translator droids (like Petrov)

Roarke’s at-home droids

Roarke preferred people to machines, most of the time. In Roarke’s mind, droids and computers were convenient but impersonal. He rarely used them.

Eve rarely saw droids in the house but was “always spooked” by them.

The mansion had the following known droids:

• Bedroom droid (to clean and straighten)
• Server droid
• Sparring droid
  • In Obsession in Death, the new sparring droid, Crusher, was programmed for boxing, kung fu, karate, street fighting, tae kwon do, wrestling, and more
• A little silver droid, a low, shiny box, busily sucking up leaves.
• A female domestic droid in black, with a body that’d rival a porn star’s and a husky voice.

(For Roarke’s at-home human help, please see Employees at Roarke’s Mansion)