Robot Protection Zone Chapter 47

My master began to eat.

I watched his reaction, tense. The moment a bite of the scrambled eggs entered his mouth, my master’s movements paused for a moment.

“This tastes a little different than usual.”

My master mumbled as if something was strange and looked down at the food. Before his gaze could turn to Sophia, I spoke up urgently.

“Master, I made that.”

“You did?”

“Yes… I asked Sophia if I could and prepared dinner with her.”

Hearing that I had made dinner with Sophia, my master’s face crumpled into a frown. Was it that bad…? I asked dejectedly.

“Is it… bad?”

“…No. It’s not bad.”

It was an ambiguous response. It wasn’t clear whether he meant it was good or bad.

I also picked up my spoon and tasted the food I had made. After one bite, I could tell it was definitely a bit drier than the soft scrambled eggs Sophia used to make.

Was it a failure? My spirits fell, but I steeled myself again.

It was too early to give up already. The more I tried, the better I would get. If I helped Sophia well and the frequency of her breaking down decreased, my master might one day acknowledge my usefulness.

I imagined such a future and ate my food in silence, thinking that although I was clumsy now, the day would come when I would be acknowledged by my master.

Morning came. As always, I woke up again today in my master’s arms in the early dawn. When I turned toward the warmth, I saw my master holding me.

“Did I have another nightmare…?”

“You did.”

It seemed I had tossed and turned again from a nightmare in my sleep. I had told my master multiple times that it was okay and that he could ignore me, but he would always dismiss my words, replying that he couldn’t sleep because it was too noisy.

It had been like this lately. When I had nightmares and tossed and turned all night, my master would hold me. Several days had passed since the kidnapping incident, and this repeated every morning, which gave rise to a concern.

Was it possible my master couldn’t sleep comfortably because of me? Far from being helpful, I felt like I was only being a hindrance. I figured it would be better to sleep separately at this rate, and after worrying about it all day, I cautiously brought it up that night.

“Master, I’ll sleep in my room starting today.”

At my words, my master looked at me with a narrowed brow.

“You want to sleep separately? Why?”

“Because I feel like I’m disturbing you, Master…”

I didn’t expect my master to ask for a reason. I answered haltingly, and my master’s face turned displeased.

I had thought my master would welcome my request, thinking he could finally sleep comfortably, but I was flustered by a reaction that was a little different from what I had expected.

“Do as you please.”

“Okay…”

Still, now I would really be sleeping separately.

Today, I lay in bed alone in my room. It had been a long time since I slept alone, so it felt a little scary and somehow lonely. I would probably have a nightmare again, but I closed my eyes, thinking it was still better to sleep alone.

How much time passed like that?

“Ah…!”

I shot up, drenched in a cold sweat.

I had a nightmare.

It was a dream about being abandoned by my old master. My current master was also in the dream, but he was only watching me on the auction block with a chillingly heartless expression. I begged my master, but in the end, I was sold to the man who had kidnapped me. I woke up with a sharp intake of breath after groaning and struggling.

With my face a mess of tears, I looked around. Thankfully, it wasn’t the auction house, but my master’s familiar home. I belatedly noticed the clock hanging on one wall, and saw that it was well past the time my master should have left for work.

“Gasp…”

Could it be that my master left for work without me?

I hastily got out of bed and went out of the room. But my master was nowhere to be seen, not in his room, not in the living room.

I sat down on the sofa, dejected. It seemed my master had seen me oversleeping and had left alone without even waking me. It was my fault for oversleeping, but a wave of disappointment washed over me at my master leaving without even waking me.

“Didi, you’re up?”

Just then, a door opened somewhere and I heard my master’s voice. I thought he really had left without me, but when I turned my head, I saw my master coming out of the study.

“Master…! I thought you had already gone to work!”

“I was about to…”

My master looked at my face and stopped talking. I belatedly realized that my face was a mess because of the nightmare. I quickly wiped my eyes with my sleeve to hide the tear tracks from my master.

“Didi, go to the company today and have Thomas check you over again.”

“Okay…”

I nodded my head obediently. I was thinking the same thing as my master. It wasn’t normal to keep having nightmares. I might really be broken somewhere. It would be nice if there was a way to fix it….

Worried about my condition, I headed to the company with my master late in the afternoon.

As soon as we arrived at the company, my master took me straight to Mr. Thomas’s lab. It was the first time I had come back here since my master had not allowed me to wander around after being kidnapped.

I wonder if that human-bot is doing okay? I set aside my worries about my body for a moment and walked with a sense of anticipation at the thought of meeting a human-bot like myself after a long time.

When I opened the lab door, Thomas greeted me happily.

“William! You came at a good time. I’ve got the analysis results for that robot dog you sent over.”

As soon as I heard Thomas’s words, I remembered my old master’s robot dog that I had found at the museum. I had been so preoccupied with anxious thoughts and nightmares that I had completely forgotten about it. It seemed my master had brought the robot from the museum for research and had entrusted Thomas with its analysis.

“And the results?”

“There was nothing special. It was just an ordinary robot dog.”

As I thought….

It was just as I had expected. There was no hidden function, no concealed secret information. There was no twist where a secret was hidden in the robot my old master had made.

My master’s expression hardened. Thomas, on the other hand, continued speaking with an excited air.

“Wow, as expected of something the former chairman made, its joints are incredibly flexible. Its movements are so natural, it’s hard to believe it’s a robot made long ago. If we touch it up a little and release it as a pet robot, I think it would be quite good.”

“This company has no need for such a useless robot.”

My master’s cold voice echoed in the lab. No need for a useless robot…. Listening in on the conversation from behind, my heart dropped. It was because it felt as if he were talking to me.

“Thomas, I need you to re-examine Didi. Something’s wrong with him.”

“Oh, really? There weren’t any problems last time…”

“Contact me when the check-up is done.”

“Got it.”

My master didn’t wait for me as usual and left the lab just like that.

A brief silence fell after my master closed the door and left. Thomas examined my condition and asked.

“Didi, what’s wrong?”

“I keep having nightmares. My head is a mess… and I can’t sleep well either…”

“Hmm… Could there be a problem with the device in your brain? I’ll have to do a detailed inspection.”

Thomas muttered with a serious expression. I quietly nodded my head. I could endure any kind of scary check-up. As long as I could stop being a hindrance to my master….

Come to think of it, I couldn’t see the human-bot. I looked around for a moment before asking.

“By the way, what about the human-bot who came with me last time?”

“Ah, he’s in the repair room. Nick!”

When Thomas called, the repair room door opened and the human-bot appeared.

He had healed a lot since the last time I saw him, and his complexion looked much brighter. We had parted ways without even a proper goodbye, so I couldn’t hide my happy feelings and smiled.

“Mr. Thomas, did you call?”

“Nick, say hello. This is Didi.”

“Hello, it’s a pleasure to meet you for the first time.”

The human-bot greeted me politely.

But something was strange. The human-bot greeted me as if he were meeting me for the first time. I realized it in that moment.

His memory was erased….

“Ah…”

A complex mix of emotions tangled together and escaped as a small breath. Thomas looked at me, unable to continue, and whispered quietly.

“Nick asked me to erase his memory. And he asked me to tell you thank you.”

Thomas relayed the message the human-bot had left for me. The human-bot I hadn’t even been able to say goodbye to was now standing before me with a new name, Nick.

Nick was smiling happily. My heart felt heavy, but I respected his choice. After all, there are memories in the world you want to forget, and memories you must forget to be happy.

He had gotten a new name, Nick, and it seemed he had decided to live with Thomas. As expected, I could feel that Thomas cared for him a great deal.

Nick looked happy with his new master. That sight… made me a little envious.

I entered the repair room and began my check-up.

Today, various tests were conducted with a machine connected to my head. Thomas investigated this and that, saying it didn’t seem like the brain device was broken but that he needed to look into it a little more, and concluded the examination by saying he would analyze the results and let me know for sure in a few days.

The examination took longer than I thought, making my body stiff. I slowly got up from my seat and kneaded my stiff body.

When I came out of the repair room, I saw Nick tidying up the inside of the lab. It seemed Nick was helping Thomas here, assisting with lab work like the other assistant robots. Watching that scene, it suddenly occurred to me.

If that’s the case, couldn’t I work here too…?

“Um… Mr. Thomas.”

“Hm? Is there something else bothering you?”

“It’s not that…. Is it possible for me to work here too?”

I approached Thomas hesitantly and asked cautiously. Although there wasn’t anything I knew how to do properly, I was confident I could learn diligently.

Upon hearing my words, Thomas’s eyes widened, and unable to hide the corners of his mouth from creeping up, he broke into a wide smile.

“What a windfall… ahem, ahem… Didi is welcome anytime!”

Thomas suddenly wrapped an arm around my shoulder. Unlike my master, his was a fiercely welcoming reaction. Seeing him grin from ear to ear, I couldn’t help but smile myself. However, Thomas soon continued, his expression as if something was bothering him.

“But… I think I have to get William’s permission first…”

Following Thomas’s small mumble, my expression also darkened a little. Would my master really allow it? My master seemed displeased even with me helping Sophia, so I thought he wouldn’t be happy about me saying I would help Thomas either.