Robot Protection Zone Chapter 83

“You’re going to do it yourself? You haven’t touched a robot since you were in college. Will you be okay?”

What Thomas said was true. After entering college, William began to study business management in earnest and gradually stepped away from the technical side of things, a situation that had continued until now.

With Thomas, who loved robot development, around, he didn’t feel the need to get his hands dirty with oil to build robots. He had only been managing the business since then, meaning he had been away from the technical field for nearly ten years.

The reason he was trying to work on a robot again was simple.

It was because he wanted to do something for Didi himself. Didi had always felt sorry for Eve not being able to move around freely, so he would surely be happy if Eve had legs. Just like the four-legged walking robot now in front of him.

He wanted to see Didi smile again. He didn’t think something like this would be enough to appease Didi, but if he could see Didi’s happy face, even for a moment, that alone would be enough.

“What’s this?”

“Ah, that needs to be connected to this side.”

It had been a long time since he had modified a robot, so he worked with Thomas’s help. The robot dog his grandfather had made was a model designed in an old-fashioned way, so its structure was completely different from the latest robots, requiring almost a complete overhaul.

Thanks to that, it was quite a struggle. He tried several times but the memory chip wouldn’t be recognized, and after fumbling for a long time, he finally succeeded.

“Ah, it’s moving!”

As if the memory chip had been recognized, the main body twitched slightly and finally began to operate.

The camera behind the black eyes rolled busily, scanning the surroundings. Her last memory must have been the moment of the accident, so she was likely trying to grasp the situation.

“Eve, try to get up.”

Perhaps because her body had suddenly changed, Eve couldn’t move properly and just flailed. At first, he thought there was a problem, but he soon realized she was simply struggling because she didn’t know how to move her body.

Even now, Eve was lying on the repair table, just waving her legs in the air.

It seemed that quadrupedal walking was not easy for a robot that had only known how to roll its wheels. A considerable amount of time had passed since she started moving, but seeing Eve still unable to even stand up, William clicked his tongue.

“This is embarrassing to bring in front of Didi.”

As if provoked by the little taunt, Eve began to thrash her legs even more violently. Well, if she kept struggling like that, she would get used to it soon enough. It would just take a little time.

Come to think of it….

“You said her emotional code was activated?”

“That’s right. When I analyzed it, it was already activated from the first time you brought her in.”

Just as I thought. She had strangely followed only Didi from the first day, and the feeling that she didn’t treat him as her master wasn’t a misconception. To think he had to bring such an impudent thing back home. If it weren’t for Didi, he would have thrown her in the storage room long ago.

Eve was still thrashing about wildly. Unlike ordinary pet robots, she was the size of a large dog, so every time she twisted her body and flailed her legs, the repair table clattered and shook. The tools that had been next to her had already rolled onto the floor long ago.

“She just needs to get used to moving. Are you taking her home today?”

“I have to.”

Replying as such, he checked the time, and it was already late at night.

Damn, I was so engrossed in work for the first time in a while that I didn’t even notice the time passing.

By the time he took care of the barely-able-to-control-her-body Eve and went outside, it was already the middle of the night. He had told Didi he would be back soon, but he was far too late.

Didi wouldn’t have left the house again, would he? He tried to suppress his anxious feelings as he placed Eve in the back seat and hurried home.

After the Master left for the company, I looked around the room, searching for my smartphone.

I was sure I had left it on the bed when I left the house, but it was nowhere to be seen near the bed. I hesitated for a moment, wondering if I should ask Sophia, then opened the drawer next to the bed.

Inside, the red leather collar the Master had once gifted me was resting neatly. The marks from being trampled by the man who had kidnapped me were still clearly visible. Come to think of it, something like that had happened.

Remembering the day the Master had come to rescue me, I gently closed the drawer. Then I opened the one below, and only then did my smartphone come into view.

It seemed Sophia had put it in here while tidying up the room. The power was off, so I plugged in the charger first. After it finished charging, I put it in my pajama pocket, not knowing when the Master might call, and headed back to the living room.

However, the Master, who had said he would be back soon, did not return even as the night deepened. He had told me to answer the phone right away, but there was no call.

Something urgent must have come up. The Master being late was no longer something new.

Still, I had wanted to say good night to him before sleeping…. Just as I was thinking I should just go to bed first and was about to get up, I saw Sophia heading toward the front door.

Could the Master be here?

I quietly followed Sophia, and I could feel a commotion from beyond the front door.

“Can’t you just stop struggling? You can’t even walk yet. You’re just heavy…. Do you think I want to do this?”

What I heard from beyond the door was the Master’s familiar voice. But he sounded somewhat annoyed, as if he were talking to someone.

Soon, the front door opened, and in the arms of the Master who appeared was a large, black object. It was a familiar shape. Looking closely, it was the robot dog my former master had made.

What’s more, the robot dog was powered on and moving. It twisted and turned in the Master’s arms, and when its eyes met mine, it struggled even more fiercely.

“Ugh!”

Thwack. The leg the robot dog swung struck the Master squarely in the face.

The Master let out a short groan and placed the robot on the floor. It was nice to see the robot my former master had made moving again after a long time, but…. why did the Master, who had gone to hurry Eve’s repairs, suddenly bring back a different robot?

Feeling a little puzzled, I asked.

“Master, why did you bring this robot?”

“This is Eve.”

“What?”

“Her main body was broken anyway, so I thought this would be better than a serving robot. This way, she’ll be able to climb the stairs, too.”

I slowly blinked my eyes. Then I looked back and forth between the robot dog the Master had explained was Eve, and the Master standing beside her.

The robot dog, placed on the floor, couldn’t even stand properly and just lifted its head to look at me. Though its tail was wagging furiously.

“Just like a dog…. Learned to wag its tail before it learned to walk.”

The Master watched the scene and muttered as if he was dumbfounded.

I took a step toward the robot and asked carefully.

“Is it really Eve?”

“Yes. It seems she can’t walk yet because she doesn’t know how to move, but seeing her wag her tail, I bet she’ll be running around soon.”

The jet-black eyes gazed steadily at me. I had always only ever faced Eve through a screen, but I could be sure from that look in her eyes. This robot was really Eve.

“Eve!”

Unable to contain my joy, I hugged Eve right then and there.

A large, solid body that filled my arms. She was no longer a white serving robot but had a form made of sleek, shining black metal, but the fact that the being within her was Eve had not changed.

A cold, metal tongue licked my face. I had been worried when I heard her body was completely destroyed in the accident, but thankfully, her memory seemed to be intact. As expected, even though her appearance had changed, it was still Eve.

I smiled brightly and accepted her affectionate greeting, then I felt the Master’s gaze watching Eve and me from the side and opened my mouth.

“Were you late because you were bringing Eve back?”

“Yes. Implanting the memory chip took longer than I thought.”

It seemed he had spent his time at the company until late at night for me, who had been gloomy after seeing Eve’s empty spot. And I, not knowing that, had been about to go to sleep first…. I gently stroked Eve and muttered quietly.

“Thank you, Master….”

The Master looked at my face for a moment, then turned his head away and said calmly.

“It’ll take some time for her to adapt to her new body. It seems that thing dislikes me, so please take good care of her for me.”

“Yes…!”

“I’m going up to rest, so you play with Eve and don’t go to bed too late.”

The Master passed me by with a tired expression and headed for the second floor. I remained, still hugging Eve, and watched silently until his back disappeared from view.