This is a 8-tweet relay story that @FloorKist_SciFi and I wrote.
Enjoy!

Assassin Droid

“Softy, softy, catchy monkey,” the police commissioner Balfort said to the security minister. They had received intelligence that an assassin droid was targeting the emperor. Balfort was optimistic about a source that would give him more information on the attempt.

Minister Durges wasn’t so sure. Everyone’s career was on the line if the killer succeeded. Need-to-know compartmentalization excluded him from the actual raw intelligence data. And that made him nervous. He wished he could be as reassured as the jovial police commissioner.

Two days later, Balfort received more intel: the would-be assassin was someone inside the security services. This didn’t shock him, really. Bribes by organized crime weren’t very common but did happen. What the commissioner hoped for is to have information on a possible date.

Minister Durges grew pale: someone inside the services?! He hated being out of the loop like this. He phoned a old friend of his, a public prosecutor, so she could look into the matter. It was more than reasonable for her office to take an interest. She accepted the task.

Prosecutor Raines asked Balfort to inform her. He was reluctant. She then asked if he had a critical review of the available intelligence. Balfort realized Raines had a point. If things went wrong, they would share the blame. In the best case, Raines would uncover new leads.

She did! Raines managed to piece together when and where the attempt could take place. It would not be a public occasion, but a more private setting of a meeting in the palace.
They both realized that they needed to inform the emperor of this latest and very real threat.

“Minister Durges, Commissioner Balfort and Public Prosecutor Raines, your Majesty,” the majordomo announced.
The emperor liked the handsome Balfort, but thought Durges an alarmist and dull. He hadn’t met Raines and was pleasantly surprised by a good-looking competent woman.

“Everything went according to plan, Master,” the assassin gynoid reported. “As expected Durges reached out to Raines. It was easy to impersonate her, suggest a male assassin and arrange for the meeting. The handshake with the emperor was all I needed to transfer the poison.

You can read it on Twitter here.