Robot Protection Zone Chapter 23

It was a small wound to begin with, so it didn’t take long to apply the ointment. Didi watched as the ointment was being applied, then looked up at William with eyes that seemed to ask if it was over now.

Somehow, the sight of him cowering and constantly looking around was displeasing. William silently grabbed Didi’s arm and headed somewhere.

“Ma-Master? Where are we going?”

When William left the room without answering his question, Didi, seemingly frightened, took a step back. Didi tried to put up a weak resistance, but due to the difference in strength, he couldn’t pull his hand away and ultimately had no choice but to follow William as if being dragged.

The place William headed to after coming out into the hallway was his room. He had tried to resist, but as the place he was dragged to was a familiar room, Didi seemed to relax, and his resistance died down.

Didi let down his guard and quietly followed him into the room. Thanks to that, William, who had easily dragged Didi to the front of the bed, pushed Didi onto the bed just like that.

“Uwaa…!”

Suddenly thrown onto the bed, Didi looked up at William with surprised eyes. William glanced down at Didi’s face, a mess from crying, then nonchalantly flopped down on the spot next to him.

“Master…?”

“I’m going to sleep now, so be quiet. And don’t cry, it’s noisy.”

“Yes….”

When he said that and lay down, covering himself with the blanket, Didi obediently nodded and genuinely tried to stop crying. However, it seemed he couldn’t help the small sobs that occasionally escaped, as a tear-soaked sound could be heard from time to time.

Is he dumb, or just obedient….

As time passed, the room gradually became quiet. I can finally sleep now. He thought so and closed his eyes, but a rustling sound kept coming from the direction where Didi was lying.

“Stop tossing and turning.”

He had tried to let it slide the first few times, but when the number of times he tossed and turned surpassed a single digit, his patience reached its limit. William, suddenly annoyed, pulled Didi into a tight embrace to keep him from moving at all.

“Master… it’s tight….”

“Endure it.”

“Yes….”

Held so tightly that it was hard to breathe, Didi couldn’t move. But strangely… he felt a sense of relief instead.

Didi finally closed his eyes.

The weekend passed, and I went to work with my master as if nothing had happened. It was a peaceful, and sometimes boring, time as usual.

I had returned to my ordinary daily life, but for some reason, I had no energy.

It was because I had keenly realized my helplessness after being left alone at the café. If I were to be abandoned by my master, I would have nowhere to go. I would wander the streets aimlessly like an abandoned pet, or I would be put up for auction and sold to a stranger.

Either way, it was not a very good situation. I sat hunched on the sofa in the corner of the office with my shoulders slumped. Even the snacks that were prepared for me every morning as I waited for my master all day, I didn’t feel much like eating today.

The quiet office, as always, was filled only with the sound of my master’s typing.

Just as the morning was almost over, my master’s secretary came, breaking the quiet atmosphere. In his hands were two small boxes.

“Chairman, these are the items you requested yesterday.”

“Leave them here.”

“Understood.”

The secretary placed the boxes on my master’s desk and left immediately. My master checked the contents for a moment, then called me.

“Didi.”

“Yes, Master.”

I stood up from my seat as soon as my name was called. My feet were numb from sitting hunched over for a long time, but worried that he might abandon me for having a displeasing gait, I did my best to act like nothing was wrong and walked toward my master.

When I stopped in front of my master, he held out the boxes to me.

“Take them.”

“These are….”

A smartphone and… a dog collar?

What was in the boxes was the latest model smartphone and a red dog collar that looked like a leather belt.

“It’s a present.”

“But this is….”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“It’s a dog collar….”

I wanted to believe that at least the dog collar wasn’t mine, but the swaying letters on the silver ornament hanging from the end of the collar caught my eye. Engraved on it, helpfully, were my name and what appeared to be my master’s phone number.

“Why red, of all colors?”

“I thought it would suit you well.”

Since it’s red, it seems like it will stand out even if I cover it with clothes. As I hesitated to put it around my neck, my master put the collar on my neck himself.

“See. It suits you well.”

“…”

I had nothing to say since he said it suited me well….

I’m not even a dog, yet a dog collar. It must be strange. I checked my faint reflection in the window and fiddled with the innocent collar.

“It also has a location tracking function, so wear it at all times.”

“Yes….”

It wasn’t a gift I particularly liked, but I nodded for the time being.

Next was the smartphone. My master instructed me to save the number written on the collar.

But a problem arose here. The device my master handed me looked very different from the smartphones I knew.

The thin device… no matter how I turned it, I couldn’t see a power button.

“Um… Master.”

“What is it now?”

“How do I turn this on?”

“…”

He’s not some person from the old days….

William stared at Didi, who was standing there blankly holding the smartphone. He furrowed his brow as if in disbelief, then it suddenly dawned on him.

Ah, right. A person from the old days. He had been asleep for almost half a century, so it was only natural that he couldn’t handle cutting-edge technology with ease.

Only then did he remember the sight of Didi unable to properly operate a single home appliance. He’s really a high-maintenance robot. William let out a sigh, found the instruction manual he had taken out of the packaging, and held it out to Didi.

“Learn how to use the smartphone by the time we go home. You can do that much, since you’re a robot, right?”

“Yes…!”

Didi nodded with a determined look.

It was my master’s order. If I failed at something as simple as this, it would be too embarrassing for a robot. I am a robot, after all, so I had to be able to do at least this much…!

Just then, my master’s smartphone vibrated. My master glanced down at the screen for a moment, then stood up from his seat.

“Didi, there’s something I need to check. Follow me.”

“Yes.”

We left the office, took the elevator, and went down to the basement. I thought we were going to see Thomas, of course, but my master got off on an unfamiliar floor I had never been to before.

Thomas’s lab isn’t this way…. As I walked down the long corridor, I looked around and asked.

“Master, where are we going now?”

“To check the prototype of the next robot to be released.”

“A robot… a robot like Sophia?”

“No, this time it’s a little different.”

I listened to my master’s explanation as we moved toward our destination. The robot scheduled for release this time is said to be a mass-market version of a human-bot. Only then did I remember the story I had heard at the last meeting.

A mass-market human-bot…. Then I wondered if it would be a little similar to me. Since turning on in the distant future, I had rarely seen a robot similar to myself, so my curiosity reared its head even more. I walked with a subtle sense of anticipation.

When we arrived at the underground research lab, the cold air brushed against my skin. Perhaps because it was underground, it was quite chilly. I unconsciously rubbed my arms and met my master’s eyes.

“Did you catch a cold?”

“No, it’s not that… it’s just a little cold.”

“I wonder if it’s because you were outside for a long time yesterday.”

My master naturally took off his outer coat and handed it to me.

I put on the coat my master gave me and fastened it meticulously. Suddenly, I felt a gaze from somewhere and turned my head to see Thomas watching me and my master with a confused expression.

“You’re here?”

Thomas greeted me with what seemed like a reluctant expression. While we were exchanging greetings, Thomas’s gaze stopped at my neck.

“A dog collar…?”

Thomas noticed the collar and muttered softly.

“Did William give it to you?”

“Yes….”

When I nodded in embarrassment, Thomas patted my shoulder with an understanding look.

“How’s your arm? Has it healed much?”

“Yes. I think the flesh has grown back to some extent now.”

I lifted my arm and rolled up the sleeve slightly. It wasn’t a deep wound to begin with, and now the wound area was healing so quickly that it was itchy. Thomas, who was checking its condition, seemed to think so too, and said he would remove the stitches if I came to his lab.

As I was awkwardly rolling down the sleeve I had rolled up to show him the wound, Thomas apologized with a sorry expression.

“I’m sorry about last time. I didn’t know William would react like that. You didn’t get scolded too much, did you?”

“It’s alright. My master even put medicine on it for me himself.”

“William did?”

Thomas was taken aback and asked back in a shocked voice.

Is it something to be that surprised about? My master may be chilly, but he has a gentle side too. Just like how he ran to me as soon as he found me at the park yesterday….

I glanced at my master.

Last night, my anxious heart just wouldn’t calm down, and I was crying in my room, but my master brought me to his room and put me to sleep. When I couldn’t fall asleep easily and kept tossing and turning, he even held me tight.

Thanks to my master, I was able to fall asleep quickly with peace of mind. Of course, I didn’t have any nightmares either.

At first, I thought he was a cold person, but I gradually came to realize that wasn’t the case. I had started to think so since he brought Eve, and I became more certain after yesterday. That even though he wasn’t like my old master, my new master is also a gentle person.

I fiddled with the red dog collar that made its presence known around my neck and added a minor assessment.

…Of course, his taste is a little strange.