Robot Protection Zone Chapter 75

William changed completely after that day.

Not only did he go to the company every day, a place he hadn’t shown up to for weeks, but he immersed himself in work to the point where one might wonder if he ever went home.

His former relaxed atmosphere was gone without a trace, and William had become a cold, mechanical person. His attitude toward people also changed, becoming as stiff and cold as if he were dealing with a robot.

The announcement such a William made at a recent official appearance was nothing short of shocking.

The content of William’s announcement was this. He revealed a blurry photograph of a male human-bot with an Asian appearance, estimated to be in his twenties, and stated that he would pay a huge reward to the person who brought this robot back safely, unharmed, and politely.

The amount was absurdly specific, and it was the figure of William’s entire fortune at the time of the announcement, converted into dollars.

The company’s stock, already unstable due to the withdrawal of the new product launch, was shaken even more by that announcement. Nevertheless, William was unfazed.

A fallen stock price is bound to rise over time, and money can be earned again. But Didi was different. If he missed the opportunity, he was certain he would never be able to meet him again.

He practically threatened the police to file Didi’s case not as a lost item report, but as a missing person report. Even so, the useless police hadn’t been able to find Didi for days.

Where could a robot with no battery have disappeared to?

They had thoroughly searched not only the building and forest where Didi was last seen, but also the surrounding areas, but no trace of Didi could be found anywhere. Someone had clearly taken him, but no matter how much money he offered, no one contacted him.

William had a dream every night. Of the time Didi was by his side.

He was happy for a brief moment in his dreams, but when he woke up, the reality of Didi’s absence was unbearably painful and miserable. His heart was torn with regret all his waking hours, and the only way to endure that pain was to lose himself in work.

And when night came again, he would hug a pile of clothes on Didi’s bed and pray. He would wonder if Didi would appear in his dream again tonight, and his own pathetic self would beg for him to appear.

William missed Didi. Just like the Didi of the past had waited for someone who did not return.

“William.”

Sophia approached William from behind as he sat on the sofa, staring blankly into the air.

“I’m not in the mood to talk. Go to your room.”

William waved his hand to shoo her away without looking back. However, Sophia did not move even after hearing William’s command.

“A witness statement about Didi has come in.”

William immediately lifted his head and looked at Sophia. It was the first news of Didi he had heard in weeks.

“There is a human-bot who said he met a robot whose battery was running out on a bench on Romaine Street, number 117. The description of his appearance and behavior matches Didi.”

William quickly drew a map in his head. That place was a completely outlying area, a dense forest path with not a single building. It was also quite a distance from where Didi was last seen.

“Anything else?”

“He said that he stayed at the witness’s house for a while to charge, and that they parted ways a week ago.”

Aha… he charged.

William felt a sense of relief without realizing it. If he had run out of battery and shut down somewhere, he would have surely been kidnapped by someone. But the fact that he charged meant that Didi could still move on his own.

He had to believe that. It was less worrying to think that Didi was walking around somewhere in this world.

“Contact the witness and tell them I’m coming over now. I need to meet them and talk in person.”

“Yes. Understood.”

William headed out of the house immediately.

The place where the human-bot who met Didi lived was, just as William had pictured in his head, in a quite distant, outlying area.

His mind was a tangled mess as he drove continuously down the road. Without a charger, how on earth did Didi walk all this way in that fragile body of his? The strong will to get away from him was evident, and a wave of bitterness and anxiety washed over him.

Even if he finds Didi like this, he will surely try to run away again. In that case… he had no choice but to tie Didi to his side, by any means necessary. William’s eyes glinted coldly.

Despite moving without rest, he only arrived at his destination at dawn. The address was in a secluded spot, a little away from the residential area even among the outskirts of the city.

He wondered if there was a house in such a remote place, but he understood the reason only after arriving. A mansion this huge would certainly be out of place in an ordinary residential area. It was a comfort to his heart that at least Didi hadn’t stayed in a shabby place.

William got out of the car and stood in front of the dark entrance. He couldn’t see a doorbell, so he clicked his tongue briefly and knocked on the door.

3 AM. It was a late hour for an ordinary person to be awake, but since Sophia had contacted them, the owner of this house should be waiting for William. Could they possibly be asleep when William Spencer was visiting?

As expected, after a short wait, the door opened quietly and a young man soon appeared. He looked to be around his own age.

So that’s it.

He had thought it was strange, since the wary Didi wouldn’t have carelessly followed a stranger, but he understood after meeting him. The man in front of him was similar to William in height, build, and even atmosphere.

“Welcome. I’ve been waiting.”

However, the way he smiled calmly and greeted him was quite different from William. The man’s gentle atmosphere was the complete opposite of William’s impression, which felt cold and frigid even when he was still.

“Would you like to come in and talk?”

William nodded wordlessly and stepped inside.

“You must be tired from the late hour, right? I’ll go prepare some coffee.”

The man, who had guided him to the drawing room, headed to the kitchen on his own accord without even being asked. He wanted to ask about Didi’s whereabouts right away, but the man had left before he could even open his mouth, so waiting became William’s lot.

“Haa…”

William leaned back in his chair and sighed. He didn’t need any coffee. Since Didi disappeared, the days of being unable to sleep without Didi’s scent had been repeating. He had been up all day today as well, but he didn’t even feel tired.

He looked around the drawing room while waiting for the man. A tranquil atmosphere emanated from the house, on which the silence of dawn had settled. But it was too quiet, which made it rather unsettling.

Not long after, the man appeared holding a coffee cup.

“It’s been a while since I’ve made coffee, so I’m not sure if it will suit your taste.”

From the way he spoke, it seemed he had made it himself instead of having someone else do it. He took a sip without much expectation, just to wet his throat, but it was surprisingly good.

William put down the cup and asked.

“By the way, when is the human-bot coming? I heard the witness was a human-bot.”

“I am that human-bot.”

“……?”

William’s eyebrow furrowed slightly. The man in front of him also shut his mouth and blinked. A moment of silence passed.

Soon, the man who grasped the situation let out a soft laugh and continued speaking.

“It’s alright. It’s originally difficult to distinguish between human-bots and humans.”

“……”

He hadn’t noticed at all. He had thought this man was the owner of the house.

To think that the CEO of a robot company couldn’t even distinguish something like this, no matter how much of a human-bot he was. He was well aware that human-bots resembled humans both externally and internally from living with Didi, but at times like these, he just thought the boundary between humans and robots was useless.

“I’d like to speak with your master.”

“Ah… my master is…”

The man opened his mouth with a rather troubled expression.

“He is sleeping, so it might be difficult right now. If you wish to speak with my master, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow morning…”

William’s eyebrow twitched again. William Spencer had come all the way to his house, and he was sleeping?

It was somewhat dumbfounding, but he decided to let this issue slide. William went straight to the main point.

“Is the robot you saw the man in this picture?”

William took out his smartphone and showed him the picture. The man looked at the screen for a moment and then nodded his head immediately without hesitation.

“Yes. Didi, right?”

“…That’s right.”

William flinched when Didi’s name came out of the man’s mouth. It was now certain, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the human-bot the man had met was Didi.

“He was crying on a bench, so I struck up a conversation with him, and it seemed he had no battery. He came to this house to borrow a charger and stayed here until the rain stopped.”

He was crying.

William held his breath. He had been following Didi’s trail all this time, but there hadn’t been a single scene of Didi crying.

In a way, it might have been a relief. If he had seen Didi crying, William wouldn’t have been able to maintain his sanity and would have crumbled.

Not noticing the guilt-ridden William, the man continued to speak.

“Didi stayed here for a while, and then we parted ways again at the place we had met before.”

“Do you remember the location where you parted?”

William displayed a map and held it out in front of the man.

“Ah, I dropped him off here. He said he had a place to go, but I didn’t hear exactly where his destination was.”

The man pointed out the exact location where he had dropped Didi off, and even the direction Didi had headed.

William was lost in thought as he looked at the place where Didi had been dropped off. He had to find Didi before it was too late. Considering that he had also charged, he probably moved without resting. He had to predict his current location based on Didi’s past travel speed and focus the search.