Robot Protection Zone Chapter 73

The next day, as soon as I opened my eyes in the morning, I checked outside the window.

As if by a lie, the sky had cleared up. The rain that had been falling nonstop for about two weeks had stopped. It was finally time to leave.

Enoch took me to the place where we first met.

“Are you really okay with getting off here? I can give you a ride to wherever you’re going.”

“No, it’s okay. I’ll arrive if I just go a little further… I want to walk there myself.”

Enoch offered again, but I shook my head. Seeing my firm attitude, he spoke as if he had no choice.

“Well then… I hope you arrive safely.”

“Thank you.”

I looked at Enoch and Amy waving at me. Amy had been wailing since a while ago. Enoch smiled awkwardly as he wiped away the teardrops that fell one by one.

I gazed at Enoch and Amy with envy. They will surely be together for the rest of their lives. I imagined a future where an old master stood with me by his side, then quietly shook my head. That kind of future would not come for me.

I slowly started walking toward the unfamiliar road.

I had lied to Enoch. The truth was, I didn’t know where I was or how much further I had to go.

It would be easier to receive help, but I refused because I felt sorry that the kind Enoch was using his precious time with his master on me. And I also had a stubborn desire to find my old master’s mansion on my own, even if I couldn’t reach it.

My legs, moving without rest, faithfully did their job. On the first day my power was turned on by my new master, they took me to the place with the scenery I had briefly seen from the car on the day I left the mansion and headed to my new home.

A familiar landscape unfolded. From here on, I knew the way. If I walked for a full day, I would reach the mansion.

I smiled brightly at the thought of finally having found the path. But my joy was brief. I remembered that I was heading there to turn off my power, and I quickly became depressed.

And finally, in the middle of the night, I arrived at the mansion where I used to live with my old master.

“Ah… It’s the master’s house…”

The house I returned to after a long time was still abandoned, with no maintenance done at all. Having come from living in a clean house, the exterior covered in mistletoe looked even more eerie.

Creeeak.

“I’m home.”

The door opened with the sound of a rusty hinge creaking. The inside was dark without a single point of light, making it hard to see ahead, but this was a place I once lived. The layout of the house was clearly imprinted in my mind.

I climbed the stairs and headed to the second-floor room where I had woken up. Here, the moonlight faintly came in through the window, so I could see the interior a little.

A large glass tube in the center of the room, faintly reflecting the moonlight.

The glass tube, which occupied the largest space among the antique furniture, had its door wide open as if to welcome me.

I stopped in front of the glass tube and looked around for a moment. The room was filled with precious items full of memories with my old master. Soon, when my power is off, I too will become one of the pieces of furniture filling this room, just like those things.

I straightened my clothes and looked down at my body. I was glad I was in a clean state. My power will probably never be turned on for the rest of my life, but I wanted to close my eyes in a tidy appearance, at least.

“……”

I could finally accept it.

I am a robot. Even if I have emotions, the fact that I am a robot will never change.

I wanted to become a person. So I wanted to laugh, cry, and flounder in love. When I was by the master’s side, I would fall into the illusion that I had become a person, even for just a brief moment.

It was a short time, but I was happy. There were many sad memories and painful moments, but… now that everything has passed, I can say for certain that I was still happy.

I slowly stepped inside the glass tube, reminiscing over the brief memories. Then I carefully sat my body down on the rustling artificial flowers.

Ah… I’m tired.

My body was so heavy. I thought I would be scared when the time to turn off my power finally came, but it wasn’t as frightening as I expected. That was a relief.

I quietly leaned against the wall and closed my eyes. I fumbled for the cover on the back of my neck and opened it, then took one last deep breath.

Press, I pushed the button.

Thomas had been so busy lately he hadn’t had a chance to go home.

The moment Didi disappeared, William completely fell apart. It was a time when they needed to pour all their efforts into the new product launch, so Thomas had to work twice as hard to fill William’s empty spot.

On top of that, reports of robots’ abnormal behavior were being received from all over the streets. A robot with a problem could suddenly go on a rampage and harm people, so they were quickly retrieved.

After all sorts of hardships for several days, he was finally able to catch his breath. Thomas checked the schedule once more.

The new product was scheduled to be shipped out smoothly starting next week according to plan, and the retrieval of all the problematic robots was complete. Although William was in that sorry state, the important matters were somehow resolved.

“Phew… Now, shall I try to repair William’s robot…”

He would be busy again once the new product shipments began. Before that happened, he decided to focus on the task of restoring Eve’s memory chip, which he had put off for a while.

Thomas took a small chip out of a box. This tiny thing was Eve. The pitiful serving robot had gone out of the company for a moment and collided with a truck, returning as nothing but a small memory chip.

He felt responsible for this happening because he hadn’t managed her properly due to being so busy, so he intended to repair her. Nick, who had witnessed the accident right in front of him, had been extremely sad, so he had to do it if only to bring back Nick’s smile.

When he connected it to the computer, the chip itself thankfully didn’t seem to be damaged. That had been his biggest worry, so he was relieved. Would he be able to finish the repairs before Didi returned? He would have no choice but to replace the broken body with another one.

But…

“Hm?”

Looking again…

“Huh?”

Even rubbing his eyes…

“Wha-what the?!”

An unbelievable message was on the screen. Eve’s emotion process had been activated right up until the moment she broke!

Wh-what is this? There’s no way I would have put an emotion code into a simple serving robot, right?

Did an error occur due to the impact of hitting the truck? Or did I touch something when I connected the memory chip to the computer? If not that, am I hallucinating?

Thomas wracked his brain for a long time, but he couldn’t think of any possible reason.

He had promised himself he would leave work early today for sure, but Thomas ended up staying up all night, reading through Eve’s behavioral logs. And finally, he found the reason.

The basic code for all robots produced at Spenic was the same. On top of that, advanced functions or updates were added according to their individual purposes.

However, a part of the emotion code that had remained without being erased was activated the moment Didi’s voice was inputted.

What’s more, it was the same for all the other robots that had recently shown abnormal behavior in the city. This was also why the problem had only occurred in the nearby city and not nationwide.

All of them had their emotion codes activated after having a conversation with Didi at some point. The timing varied. There were robots for whom it happened before Didi ran away, and there were robots whose emotions manifested after Didi ran away.

He was suddenly reminded of the failed prototype left abandoned in the underground lab. He was certain… when its power had briefly turned on, Didi had been next to it. If so…?

If Didi really is the key to decrypting the code… then right now…!

Thomas immediately ran to the underground lab.

Without even a moment to catch his breath, he pressed the power button of the failed prototype that had been left in a corner. His heart, soaked with anticipation, pounded rapidly.

Twitch, the prototype’s body trembled slightly. The prototype, which should have only opened its eyes like an empty doll, slowly lifted its head and then greeted Thomas with a bright, smiling expression.

“Hello!”

“Ha, haha…”

Completely shocked, Thomas’s legs gave out and he collapsed onto the floor. A hollow laugh escaped his lips.

The key to the emotion process he had been trying so hard to find was Didi’s voice. To think the answer he had been searching for all this time was right beside him and he hadn’t even realized…

The only problem was that Didi was currently a runaway.

Thomas immediately called William.