Robot Protection Zone Chapter 77

“Oh dear… the palms of his hands are all scraped up. He must have taken a bad fall.”

“…”

“It looks like his knees will scar…”

With every word Thomas muttered while examining Didi’s body, William’s expression grew darker.

These were scenes he had already seen several times through footage captured by roadside cameras. Didi falling over after staring blankly at a restaurant as if hungry, and tripping over a stone he didn’t see on a dark night.

William wanted to run to Didi right then and there, help him up, bring him home, and apply medicine. But he couldn’t, because Didi had already left those places. Had he ever felt such utter helplessness? William could answer with a definitive no.

His heart felt like it was tearing apart each time, but now, seeing the wounds from those moments with his own eyes, an even more wretched feeling washed over him.

After finishing the check-up, Thomas spoke.

“Fortunately, nothing seems to be broken. It’ll scar a bit, but the wounds will heal quickly if you apply medicine well after he’s powered on.”

“…Right.”

“Oh, and it’s better not to change his posture. If his position has changed when he wakes up, he might not be able to adapt to his body.”

William looked at Didi, who was still in a seated posture.

Elbows, knees, hands. There wasn’t a single spot that was unscathed. The skin revealed through his torn clothes was stained with scratches and bruises. Those marks spoke of the hardships Didi had endured alone.

Still… even though he had returned in such a mess, it was unbelievable that he was seeing Didi with his own two eyes again. Just having Didi, whom he had searched for so desperately, right in front of him made his heart swell.

William reached out his hand and gently stroked Didi’s cheek.

“…He’s cold.”

“Of course he is, his power is off. Didi is a robot, you know.”

“…”

William narrowed his eyes. It was a phrase he himself always had on his lips, but today, for some reason, the word “robot” grated on him.

As his piercing eyes turned towards him, Thomas, who was tidying up his maintenance tools, flinched and asked.

“Why, why are you looking at me like that?”

“…Make the charger and send it to my house within the week.”

“Hey, I told you it’s impossible…! Hey, William!”

No matter what Thomas shouted, William was already heading out of the lab with Didi in his arms. Thomas’s pitiful voice could be heard from behind him, but he never once looked back.

When he returned home with Didi in his arms, Sofia greeted him.

“Welcome home, William. Didi, you’ve returned.”

“Didi can’t answer. Go inside.”

“Yes, sir.”

Sofia gave a short reply and quietly disappeared into her room. William watched her silently for a moment before heading up to the second floor with Didi.

William, who was about to head to Didi’s room as usual, remembered the mess he had made inside and turned around. His own room, which he hadn’t been in for a long time, was still clean. While William had been falling apart in Didi’s room, Sofia had been consistently maintaining the house.

William sat Didi on his bed and stared blankly at him. Joy and complex emotions were simultaneously etched on his face.

The relief of having found Didi, and the sorrow he felt seeing Didi return in tatters. William carefully carried Didi to the bathroom and washed him with great care. He shampooed his hair, washed his body carefully so as not to open up his wounds, and dried him with a soft towel.

After changing him into clean clothes, he laid Didi on the bed. Laying Didi, still in a seated position, on his side looked a bit awkward, but William didn’t mind. Because the expression on Didi’s face, who had finally returned to his rightful place with his eyes gently closed, looked more peaceful than anyone’s.

“…Didi.”

He quietly called Didi’s name in a low voice. As he swept back his damp hair, the thin, soft strands brushed gently through his fingers.

It felt like Didi would toss and turn and grumble in his sleep at any moment. It felt like he would gently open his eyes and call to him in a voice thick with sleep.

But the room was silent, without a single breath. There was no ticklish breath, not even a small voice to be heard.

What was Didi thinking when he turned off his power?

The humanbot who had reported sighting Didi said that he had always stared into the distance with a gloomy expression. But the Didi now before William, with his eyes gently closed, had an expression that looked more peaceful than anyone in the world. As if he no longer had any lingering attachments or sorrows.

William quietly pulled Didi into an embrace. The sweet scent he had missed so much seeped deep into his lungs. Today, drowsiness washed over him even without sleeping pills and alcohol.

In the midst of a peacefulness he hadn’t felt in a long time, William quietly closed his eyes.

From the next day on, William refused to go to work.

For the time being, he planned to handle all company matters from home. William instructed his secretary to send all documents to his house and to deliver all reports via email from now on.

With Didi before his eyes, a smile naturally bloomed on his face. The day passed by in a flash just by quietly watching Didi, who sat on the bed with his eyes closed.

He couldn’t focus on his work either. The documents were spread open right in front of him, but not a single page had been turned. Just then, with a quiet knock, Sofia entered the room.

“William, your meal is ready.”

“Bring it up.”

“Understood.”

He couldn’t leave Didi’s side for even a moment. Even though he knew his power was off, it felt as if Didi would vanish like a mirage if he took his eyes off him for a second.

“I will come to clear it in an hour.”

“Alright.”

Sofia, who returned in no time, placed the tray on the desk and quietly left the room. William gazed at her as she closed the door and left.

Sofia had not developed emotions, despite having lived with Didi.

She was a robot his grandfather had made. It was thanks to his grandfather, who knew about the hidden function in Didi, not making the foolish mistake of modifying the code of past humanbots to manufacture robots, as Thomas and he had done.

He still didn’t know for sure why his grandfather had left Didi to him. No, perhaps he was beginning to understand a little.

He didn’t want to see Didi sad. If Didi were to see beings like himself being exploited by people, his heart would surely ache.

A robot with emotions was no longer an ordinary machine. It was a being that thought for itself and felt sorrow and joy. Its body was just an artificially made robot; its inner self was no different from a human’s. To buy and sell such beings without any sense of responsibility—it was something that should never happen. His grandfather must have realized that, too.

And William also didn’t want to see primitive people treating a robot with such delicate emotions so casually. Because just as he had done to Didi, someone would surely hurt a robot that had feelings.

As time passed and about a week had gone by, the long-awaited item finally arrived.

— William, did you get the charger?

“Yes, it arrived safely.”

— So about that, the humanoid whose launch was canceled…

Before he could finish, William hung up the phone. He immediately opened the box, and inside lay a neatly packaged charger.

His mood began to improve rapidly. Finally, he could see Didi again.

What expression would Didi make when he opened his eyes? What would be the first thing he’d say to the master he had missed so much? Just imagining it made his heart swell, and he couldn’t wait any longer.

William went up to the room, immediately plugged in the charger, and connected it to the back of Didi’s neck. After a short wait, Didi’s eyelids slowly, very slowly, began to open.

“Didi!”

William called Didi’s name in a bright voice. Didi, who blinked a few times, seemed to have finally come to his senses and lifted his head. And the moment his black eyes recognized William, his pupils shook violently.

“Ma, Master…?”

“Didi, are you uncomfortable anywhere?”

“Why… am I… here…”

Didi’s expression, as he looked around in confusion, became increasingly tinged with anxiety. Was it because the location had suddenly changed? William whispered affectionately, as if to reassure Didi.

“Didi, it’s okay. I found you powered off and brought you home. Now…”

“…Why did you do that.”

Didi cut William off, muttering quietly. Then he hung his head low, and soon, teardrops began to fall.

“I… I didn’t want to wake up.”

“Didi…?”

“I just wanted to stay powered off…”

Only then did William realize that something was terribly wrong. He urgently grabbed Didi’s hand and spoke pleadingly.

“Didi, I love you. I realized it too late. I looked for you every day after you disappeared.”

“I…”

Didi slowly lifted his head. Tears welled up on his deeply hurt face, and his eyes, looking at William, were twisted in pain.

His trembling lips slowly parted. And he continued speaking with difficulty.

“I don’t love you anymore, Master…”