Robot Protection Zone Chapter 94

After that day, the Master sometimes went to the company.

He didn’t go every day like before, but he still came back before it got too late. And he never forgot to contact me if he was going to be late. Even though I told him he didn’t need to do that every time.

Today too, I was seeing off the Master who was leaving early in the morning, when the Master, who was about to leave the house, turned to look at me and asked.

“Didi, you don’t feel like going to the company today either?”

“I’ll stay home.”

As always, the Master asked if I wanted to go with him, but I shook my head. Even if I followed him to the company, all I would do was sit on the sofa and wait. I decided to stay and watch the house, thinking that my mind would get cluttered with old memories for no reason.

My day only began after I saw the Master off.

My routine at home was simple. I helped Sophia clean the large house, and when the cleaning was done, I would exchange short messages with Enok or play with Eve to pass the time.

Today, as usual, I was playing with Eve when she suddenly perked up her ears and looked behind me. I turned my head and saw Sophia heading towards the entrance, leaving the dinner preparations.

Only then did I realize the Master had returned, and I also got up from my seat and headed towards the entrance after Sophia. Sophia, Eve, and I all lined up in front of the door, waiting for the Master.

As we stood there for a moment, the front door soon opened.

The Master, who was coming into the house, paused when he saw me, who had come out to greet him at the entrance. For the past few days, I had been coming out to greet the Master every time he returned from an outing, but he still didn’t seem used to it. The same was true for me, so the Master and I exchanged glances for a moment in silence.

“Welcome, William.”

Sophia greeted him first. Only then did I also carefully open my mouth.

“Welcome back, Master?”

“…Yeah.”

The Master answered softly. Now that the greetings were over, I was about to go back inside, but the Master’s voice stopped me again.

“Didi, come outside for a moment.”

“What? Right now?”

I was a little flustered and looked down at my clothes. I was in thin indoor clothes and slippers, which was not an appropriate outfit for going out….

Suddenly, I remembered the time he had forcibly taken me outside when I was in my pajamas. As I hesitated and stepped back, the Master added an explanation as if to reassure me.

“I have something to give you. You don’t have to change your clothes.”

“…Yes.”

Without letting my guard down, I followed the Master outside.

The first thing that greeted me was the cool air. The temperature seemed to have dropped significantly since the last time I went out. I hadn’t even realized the weather had changed like this because I’d only been at home.

As I was unconsciously rubbing my arms over my thin pajamas, something was draped over my shoulders. It was the Master’s suit jacket. It was warm with his lingering body heat and a little heavy.

It wasn’t so cold that I needed to take the Master’s jacket, so I was about to give it back, saying I was fine, but I felt the chilly wind coming through the collar and pulled the jacket tighter around me.

The sun was slowly starting to set. I looked up at the sky, which was being gently tinged with the red sunset.

Perhaps because I had only been at home, I hadn’t been able to feel the passage of time well lately. Seeing that the days had already gotten shorter, I figured autumn would also pass by quickly.

“Didi, take this.”

The Master held out a document envelope that he had been holding in his hand. I took it and asked the Master.

“What is this?”

“Take it out and see.”

I nodded, opened the envelope, and checked what was inside. There was a single document and a small booklet, and I paused when I saw the words written on them.

“Master, this is…”

“One is a certificate of citizenship, and the other is a passport.”

The document with “Certificate of Citizenship” written at the top had a picture of me attached, though I had no idea when it was taken.

The quality of the picture was slightly blurry, and my gaze was subtly off-center. Seeing that I was wearing the same clothes I had on when I briefly stopped by the company a while ago, it seemed to be a picture taken from the CCTV footage that had recorded me at that time.

The other item in the document envelope was a small, palm-sized passport. The passport, similarly, had my name engraved on it along with the same picture as soon as I opened it.

After confirming my name on the certificate of citizenship and the passport, I looked at the Master with trembling eyes. As I was confused, the Master opened his mouth and continued to explain.

“I thought about it, and this was the surest way for you to become a person.”

“A person?”

“With this, you can prove that you’re a person. I could also get you a driver’s license, but we decided you’d get that yourself after you learn to drive.”

I stammered as I asked the Master, who was speaking as casually as ever.

“B-but I’m not even a person, so how did you get a certificate of citizenship?”

“Who do you think I am? Something like this isn’t difficult.”

“But I’m not a real person, I’m a robot made of machinery?”

“These days, there are many people who live with artificial organs. That’s not a problem.”

The Master added that he wanted to give it to me sooner, but the process of creating it was complicated because there was no birth record, so it took a long time. Perhaps because of that, the date of birth was not my manufacturing year but a different date.

I looked down at the documents in my hand, quite flustered. Could it be that the reason he had often been away from home recently was actually to prepare this…?

I couldn’t readily be happy, because I didn’t know if I deserved to receive something like this. I wasn’t even a person in the first place, so a certificate of citizenship and a passport.

“Didi, you’re a person now too.”

A stiff piece of paper and a small booklet.

Could I become a person with just these things? A sense of emptiness washed over me along with the question. But the thought that I could also become a person if I just had this, made a feeling of not wanting to let go also rear its head.

“And from now on, don’t use the title ‘Master.’ You’re a person now, not a robot, right?”

“What? Then what should I call you…”

“Call me by my name.”

To even call the Master by his name. Flustered, I raised my head towards the Master, and he was quietly looking at me, waiting for me to say his name. I hesitated with my lips pressed tightly together, then with difficulty, my lips moved.

“Wi- William…?”

The Master’s name flowing from between my lips felt awkward and unfamiliar.

Savoring the sensation of the Master’s name echoing in my mouth, I glanced at the Master. The Master… no, William, was looking at me with the corners of his mouth raised in satisfaction. I had only called his name, but it felt ticklish, so I couldn’t meet his eyes for no reason and just fiddled with the documents in my hands.

I held the paper envelope containing the documents precious and followed the Master back into the house.

I thought he would ask something of me in return for making me a certificate of citizenship, but the Master didn’t. After coming into the house, eating dinner, and even when I went up to my room again, he just asked what I had done today.

After returning to my room with Eve, I sat on the bed and stared at the certificate of citizenship and the passport.

Along with my picture, my name, Didi, was written in four letters of the alphabet, the gender was male, and the address listed was the address of the Master’s house where I was currently living. On one side of the document, a citizen number and a passport number were also engraved, like the serial number given to a machine.

To think that I had become a person with just a document like this….

It felt as if all the worries and anxieties that had been tormenting me had become futile. If I had known I could become a person with just a single document, I at least wouldn’t have suffered for that reason.

“…”

In the place where the feeling of emptiness had faded, a soft, fluffy emotion began to fill up slowly.

I looked back on how the Master had consistently been treating me since I returned home. I had kept denying it, thinking it might be a passing whim, but at this point, I had no choice but to admit it. That the Master’s feelings for me were sincere.

According to the documents the Master gave me, I was a person now, so… maybe it would be okay to trust him one more time without pushing him away for the reason that I’m a robot anymore.

I placed the documents on the blanket and got up from the bed.

“Eve, tonight I’ll sleep in the Master’s room…”

I discovered the sleeping Eve and closed my mouth.

Perhaps bored of watching me stare at the papers for so long, Eve had curled up in a corner of the bed and fallen asleep at some point.

Eve, who had always been awake except when charging, had started sleeping like this after developing emotions. Seeing her toss and turn sometimes, I wondered if she might even be dreaming. Just like a living creature….

Yes, our appearances were those of robots, but with emotions, we were no different from living beings. All this time, I might have been trapped in the stereotype that I was a robot and had been keeping too much distance from those around me.

I quietly stroked Eve and left the room.