Robot Protection Zone Chapter 14

“Excuse me….”

Just as I was about to say my previous master’s name, the robot stopped its wheels.

When I stopped and raised my head, I saw Thomas’s lab, the one I had come to with my master before.

“Is there anything else I can help you with?”

The robot asked, but I kept my mouth shut and shook my head. I was curious about how my previous master had been doing after my power was turned off, but I felt that now was not the time.

After waving my hand at the departing robot, I knocked on the lab door. Then I heard a voice from inside telling me to come in.

“Didi? Where’s William?”

When I opened the door and entered the lab, Thomas greeted me warmly. But then he realized I had come alone without my master and tilted his head in confusion.

“My master is busy, so I came alone.”

“Is that so? Are you here because something is broken?”

“No, I came to see Sophia.”

“Aha, you mean the housekeeper robot that William brought in? Her repairs are not finished yet, so I can’t turn her on…. But since you came all this way, you should see her before you go.”

She’s still being repaired….

A wave of disappointment washed over me. I had so many things I wanted to say to Sophia…. I would not be able to talk to her, but I was still worried, so I decided to just see her face as Thomas suggested.

Thomas said Sophia was in the repair room and led me to the place where he had opened up my body before.

Recalling what had happened in the repair room, I instinctively felt a sense of aversion, but I quietly walked on to see Sophia.

When I entered the repair room, Sophia was sitting on the operating table where I had lain before. Since her power was off, she was motionless with her head bowed.

It would have been nice if I could have greeted her….

As I was making a dejected face, Thomas looked at my face and asked.

“You don’t look so good. Did something happen?”

Unlike my master, Thomas was a kind person to robots. Moreover, since he was my master’s old friend, he would know my master well. This meant he was the perfect person to consult about my worries.

“I don’t think I’m being helpful to my master…. I feel like I’m only causing trouble every day….”

After hesitating, I cautiously confided my inner thoughts. But then I suddenly felt a strange sensation and raised my head, and my eyes met with Thomas, who was looking at me with a pleased smile. No, in a way, he seemed to be moved.

“How could you think of such an admirable thing….”

Thomas muttered in admiration and then said, as if to comfort me.

“William’s personality is a bit prickly, isn’t it? Don’t worry. It’ll be fine.”

“But what if I get thrown away for being useless…?”

“That won’t happen. Even though William seems cold, he doesn’t throw away a robot once he’s taken it in. If you really think you’re going to be thrown away, will you come to me? I’ll treat you well.”

Thomas playfully smiled and patted my shoulder. I forced a smile, but even after hearing his comfort, my mood did not get much better.

As Thomas said, my master did not throw away the broken Sophia and had her repaired. However, that did not guarantee that he would keep her until the end. No matter how many years you spend together, being thrown away happens in an instant. Just like it did to me.

“Since you’re here, should I check if there’s anything broken?”

“No, it’s alright. My master might be looking for me, so I should go back now.”

I shook my head and stood up from my seat. I did not think my master would be looking for me, but if I disturbed Thomas for too long, Sophia’s repairs would be delayed that much.

I left Thomas, who seemed disappointed, behind and came out of the lab. And as I was about to return to my master’s office, my legs stopped as soon as I saw the wide hallway.

Where… am I?

The company was too big, and the hallways were long.

I tried to retrace the path I had taken with the guide robot, but I could not remember anything. If this is the case, it’s impossible for me to go back alone….

In the end, I decided to get help from a guide robot on the way back as well. As I peeked around the hallway, waiting for a guide robot to pass by, I soon saw a robot in the distance, diligently rolling its wheels and heading somewhere. It looked exactly the same as the one before, but it was a different individual.

“Hello, I would like to go back to my master….”

“I will guide you to William Spencer!”

I had not even said my master’s name, but the robot immediately mentioned my master. It seemed that the information had been shared in the meantime, perhaps because the robot was connected to the company’s internal network.

I should be a competent robot like that too….

Suddenly, I remembered my master’s face looking at me pathetically. A corner of my heart grew heavy again.

“We have arrived at the location of William Spencer! Is there anything else I can help you with?”

With the guide robot leading the way, we arrived at our destination quickly. However, the place we arrived at was not my master’s office that I had seen earlier.

“This isn’t my master’s office…?”

I looked around with a bewildered expression. It was definitely a different place from my master’s office, no matter how I looked at it. The atmosphere of the hallway was different, and the door looked different, so I was sure.

“Is my master really here?”

“Yes! William Spencer is here!”

I asked again, but the robot only answered in a confident voice that my master was here. I tilted my head and fell into thought. Is this another one of my master’s offices? Unlike the other places, the door is ornate, so maybe….

Just in case, I slightly opened the door to check.

“So, you’re saying it’s impossible?”

I heard my master’s voice from inside. Ah, this is the right place. I quietly thanked the robot that had guided me here and then stepped inside.

“…….”

From the entrance, the inside was not clearly visible. Only my master’s low and angry-sounding voice could be heard from beyond the passageway.

Is he on a call?

It did not seem like he was in a good mood. In that case, I thought I should enter more quietly and carefully moved my feet.

As I took a few more steps inside, I paused. The moment I peeked my head out from the end of the passageway, countless pairs of eyes turned to me at once.

“Ah….”

Flustered, I turned my head and saw a huge screen placed next to me.

A solemn atmosphere and a screen filled with complex numbers and graphs.

He was in a meeting.

I grasped the situation belatedly. This was a conference room. I had not noticed because there was no particular sign on the door.

Oops…. Come to think of it, my master had been busy preparing for a meeting since this morning.

I made a mistake.

As I slowly turned my gaze towards my master, my eyes met with my master, who, as expected, looked extremely displeased. Thinking this was a disaster, I hurriedly turned to leave, but I heard my master’s low, sunken voice.

“Didi, come in.”

My master commanded. I hesitated for a moment, but seeing my master’s expression worsen, I hurriedly moved my feet.

“Excuse me….”

“…….”

I passed by people with scary expressions and firmly shut mouths and approached my master’s side. My master gestured to the chair next to him with his eyes, so I quietly sat down.

“Continue.”

The meeting, which had been briefly interrupted because of me, resumed.

“As I mentioned earlier, the manufacturing of humanbots is currently prohibited by law.”

“No matter how much we revise the law, it won’t be easy to break down the existing perception….”

“Can the robots being released this time be called humanbots? They don’t actually have emotions, they just resemble humans in appearance.”

“But….”

I quietly held my breath. I did not know the exact details because I had not heard the conversation from the beginning, but it seemed they were having a meeting related to humanbots.

I mulled over the conversation I had first heard.

So the manufacturing of humanbots is prohibited. It was the first time I learned this fact. That must be why I had not been able to see other humanbots until now.

While I was carefully mulling over the new fact I had learned, the conference room was enveloped in silence. People were just anxiously watching my master’s mood. My master, who was quietly tapping on the desk, opened his mouth.

“The one sitting next to me now is a humanbot that my grandfather owned. A few days ago, I attended a charity event with this, and the demand was overwhelming.”

“A humanbot?”

The conference room momentarily stirred, and people’s gazes focused on me. Noticing their agitation, my master continued to speak.

“I don’t care how people use this. We just need to produce them as needed and sell them to those who want them.”

My master added with a nod of his head.

“It’s just a robot, anyway, right?”

Just a robot, anyway….

My master’s last words pierced my heart like a dagger.

“Focus on restoring the humanbot technology. Quietly proceed with the law revision by lobbying the higher-ups.”

Although there were those who objected until the end, the meeting gradually flowed into an atmosphere of agreeing with my master’s opinion.