The novella “Home Is the Hangman” by Roger Zelazny was published for the first time in 1975. It won the Hugo and Nebula Awards as the best novella of the year.

A sentient android, technically called a telefactor, was programmed by its creators to make it totally autonomous in its space exploration missions. The result was too good and the telefactor went off on its own and disappeared into space. Years later, its space capsule returns to Earth and a short time later one of its creators is killed.

Determining whether the telefactor has returned to Earth to kill its creators is crucial. Regardless of the results, finding it is absolutely a priority but it’s an extremely delicate investigation. The assignment is entrusted to a person who has experience in the field of technology to the point of being able to keep his identity out of the Central Data Bank and to use false identities.