Robot Protection Zone Chapter 11

The inside of the car on the way back home was submerged in a deep silence.

Not a single word was exchanged between my master and me. A silence so heavy that I could not even hear the sound of breathing choked my throat.

What has become of the humanbot that was sold to a strange person? Is the serving robot that was mercilessly kicked still lying collapsed on the cold floor?

The lights that were quickly passing by outside the window appeared blurry and spread out. The closer we got to home, the deeper the sense of gloom that was crushing me became.

The helplessness of only being able to watch the humanbot that had been asking for help. The guilt of having to turn away from the serving robot that had collapsed on the cold floor. Such feelings were all tangled up together, pressing down on my chest.

But the thing I feared more than anything else was….

I cautiously glanced at my master’s face, who was sitting quietly in the driver’s seat. My master, with his face completely crumpled, looked more upset than ever before.

Was it because my master had strictly warned me to stay still, but I had disobeyed that command and protected the serving robot?

If this continues….

I could not shake off the ominous premonition. If my master considered me useless, he might rummage through my memories and sell me off.

“We’re here. Get out.”

“Yes, master….”

It seemed that while I was lost in anxious thoughts, we had arrived home at some point. As I was nodding my head and about to get out of the car, a sharp pain pierced my heel.

“Ah….”

I belatedly remembered that my foot had been stinging as I walked through the party hall. The stiff dress shoes I had worn for the first time today had finally dug into the tender part of my skin.

My heel throbbed every time I walked, but it was nothing compared to my aching heart. While I was enduring the stabbing pain and limping toward the house, my master suddenly grabbed my arm.

“Are you hurt?”

My master asked, his face contorting into a harsh frown. At his expression, which was tinged with displeasure, I unknowingly shook my head in a hurry.

“No, I think my heel is just scraped.”

Does he think I got hurt while protecting the serving robot? My master looked extremely displeased. It seemed like he would scold me for getting hurt while doing something useless, so I hurriedly answered as if it were not a major injury. However, my master’s expression still did not soften.

I observed my master’s mood, feeling completely intimidated. Surely… he would not throw me away just because I have a scratch, would he?

A wave of anxiety suddenly washed over me. Over my master’s face, I saw an overlapping image of my previous master’s expression right before I was thrown away. As that same distorted expression was directed at me, my heart sank.

“…Go inside first.”

My master clicked his tongue briefly and commanded me. Then he took out his smartphone and started making a call to someone.

Is he really going to throw me away…?

Anxiety swelled up at my master’s chilly demeanor. I stared at my master’s back with trembling eyes, then ran into the house as if I were fleeing.

“Welcome, Didi.”

As I entered the house, Sophia greeted me, but I did not even have the composure to reply and ran straight up to my room. As soon as I closed the door and threw myself onto the bed, the emotions I had been holding back collapsed in an instant. Along with the sorrow, tears poured out.

Just like the first day I was abandoned.

Sob…

I’m going to be thrown away again. Because I’m a useless robot that only gets hurt and can’t do anything properly.

Was that why? The reason my previous master turned off my power. Because I was a hindrance that was of no help at all.

I pulled the covers over my head and sobbed loudly. In my mind, only the image of my previous master reaching out to turn off my power circled around. And now, the image of my new master was added to it.

I bit my lip hard and tried to hold back my tears, but sobs escaped along with my trembling breath.

I’ll be thrown away again. But I did not want to be abandoned.

In the midst of it all, I remembered my master saying that he loathed anything loud. I was crying with bated breath, worried that my sobs might leak out of the door, when suddenly the door swung open. I peeked out from under the blanket with just my eyes.

“Is he asleep already?”

My master muttered, looking at the dark room. Then he paused when he discovered me sniffling under the covers.

My eyes met my master’s, and I hurriedly lowered my head and wiped my tears. I did not want to show my master my tear-stained face.

“Are you crying?”

My master asked, narrowing his eyes. I could not give any answer and avoided his gaze. I silently curled my body up deeper and hugged my knees tightly.

“Does it hurt that much. The pain perception should be similar to a human’s.”

My master spoke to himself in a small voice and approached me. Is he going to turn off my power? In a state of resignation, I hung my head low to make it easier for him to turn off the power.

I can hear the rustling of my master’s clothes as he extends his arm. I hugged my trembling knees and squeezed my eyes shut. I tensed my body, waiting for the cool sensation I would soon feel on the back of my neck, but the place my master’s hand touched was not where the power button was.

A warm hand gently wrapped around my foot. I flinched and opened my eyes to see my master kneeling beside the bed. Without a word, he was carefully applying ointment to my heel.

“Master…?”

“Does it hurt?”

“Why the ointment….”

“I heard that the skin tissue of a humanbot is similar to a human’s, so you can just apply ointment to the injured area. Is that not right?”

“Ah, no…. That’s right.”

I belatedly recalled my master making a phone call to someone. It seemed he had called Thomas.

As I nodded, my master began to apply ointment to my foot again. My master placed the ointment on my red, scraped heel, spread the translucent formula, and then even put a small bandage on top of it.

Before I knew it, both of my feet had bandages on them. As I awkwardly looked back and forth between my two feet and blinked, my master asked me.

“It should heal quickly with this. Are you hurt anywhere else?”

“No….”

“Then that’s fine.”

“Master.”

Having finished the treatment, my master stood up from his spot. Without realizing it, I had inadvertently grabbed my master’s wrist.

Looking up at my master’s face as he turned back, I was swept up in complex emotions. The contrast between his cold gaze as he stared at the humanbot at the auction house and his gentle demeanor as he treated my wound now was confusing. My mind became a mess, unable to tell which was my master’s true self.

I asked my master in an anxious voice.

“Master, are you not going to turn off my power?”

“My power? Why would I?”

“Because… I’m useless….”

“Don’t think such useless thoughts and just go to sleep.”

“Yes….”

Was my question that strange? My master cut me off as if it was not even worth listening to and left the room.

In the end, my master did not turn off my power. The fear of being abandoned again subsided for a brief moment. But like the calm in the eye of a storm, I did not know how long this tenderness would last.

The morning after the charity party dawned.

Tossing and turning all night, I was ultimately unable to sleep. If I closed my eyes for a moment, I thought I could see myself on the auction block, and the images of the robots I could not help flickered before my eyes. My mind was in such a turmoil that I could not possibly sleep.

As these thoughts continued, the sun had already begun to rise. Realizing it was about time to get up, I slowly got out of bed.

“Gasp….”

I was horrified when I went into the bathroom to wash up. The face reflected in the mirror was a mess. Eyes swollen and puffy from crying, reddened rims of my eyes, and even a haggard complexion from lack of sleep.

I hurriedly washed my face and rubbed it, but no matter how much water I splashed on them, my swollen eyelids would not go down.

Eventually, I gave up on my unattractive face and went down to the first floor, where I saw my master sitting on the sofa. As I hesitated, unable to approach, my master sensed my presence and turned his head.

An achingly cold, piercing blue gaze ran through me. I did not dare to meet my master’s eyes and looked away first.

“If you’re up, come here.”

“Yes….”

Hearing my master’s call, I walked over quietly. I sat down on the sofa meekly, feeling utterly deflated and timid. Thinking that I must not make a mistake like yesterday and get on my master’s nerves, I was carefully keeping my mouth shut when my master asked.

“Is your ankle okay?”

My master first checked the condition of my ankle. Only then did I remember my scraped heel from yesterday. It had not hurt since I woke up this morning, so I had even forgotten that I was injured.

“Yes, it doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“Let me see.”

When I stood up and meekly lifted my foot, my master removed the bandage and checked the wound. The wound, which had been red with raw skin showing yesterday, was now beginning to heal.

Was it thanks to my master applying medicine? The wound looked much better than yesterday. My skin was still red, but I felt almost no pain.

I quietly watched my master as he examined my ankle.

If I manage to remember anything, would my master praise me, saying I am useful? But no matter how desperately I searched my memories, I could not find the information my master wanted. My previous master had spent most of his time with me, but he had always just taken care of me kindly.

“It won’t leave a scar.”

While I was lost in thought, my master let go of my ankle and spoke. For a moment, I almost mistook it for kindness, but I quickly understood the situation.

He is doing this because a product that will be sold one day should not have any flaws.

This is just a quality check. My chest throbbed. My heart ached more than my injured ankle.

I looked down at the ankle where my master’s hand had been, then suddenly felt a sense of emptiness and asked.

“By the way… where is Sophia?”

Come to think of it, something had felt empty since I came down to the first floor. Normally, Sophia would have been by my master’s side, but the spot where Sophia should have been standing was empty. I looked around for Sophia, but she was nowhere to be seen.