Superman tears the panel off of the robot. Then he reaches into the cavity and silences the alarm. Once it’s opened, the robot sends out another wireless signal and shuts down completely.
“Why would a cleaning robot have an alarm system?” Superman wonders out loud.
Lois looks puzzled too. “What’s this?” She points at a red warning label on the LexClean’s back. “Return to LexCorp for service,” she reads. “Maybe that’s how Luthor plans to make his money? By servicing the free machines for a price?”
“Maybe…” Superman says. But he isn’t so sure. When he looks up he sees four more LexCleans coming toward them. “Maybe we can get some more information out of these guys,” he suggests.
He walks toward the robots with his hands held up. “Sorry about your friend,” he says. “I was just trying to get some information. Maybe one of you could help me out.”
“No need to be alarmed,” Superman says. He reaches for the back panel on one of the approaching LexCleans. He half-expects another alarm to sound, but does not expect what he finds. He yanks his hand back quickly when he touches something red-hot. The LexCleans have all activated heating elements on their back panels to keep them from being touched!
“524 must have been in communication with these other LexCleans,” Superman tells Lois. “It warned them that it’s back panel was tampered with. Now they’ve taken action to keep us out.”
“But why would cleaning robots need to communicate with each other?” Lois asks.
“These robots are definitely designed for more than just cleaning,” Superman says. “I’m sure they’re communicating with more than just one another. I suspect they’re gathering data and sending it to a database.”
“For LexCorp,” Lois finishes for him. “These robots are nothing but spyware!”