Chapter 76: Chasing Down a Crying Robot

Now, I had heard everything I needed to.

I tried to get up from my seat, but suddenly, something weighed on my mind.

The fact that Didi had stayed here for quite a long time.

No matter how much he needed to recharge, it was unlike Didi, who had never lingered in one place for long before.

William glanced at the humanoid bot in front of him.

Didi tended to feel a deeper sense of closeness to robots than to people.

If that was the case, maybe he had confided something to this man.

“By any chance.”

William opened his mouth.

A brief silence passed.

William stared at the man before him.

William’s attitude seemed indifferent at first glance, but in it was an urgency he could not quite hide.

“He said his Master no longer needed him, so he left home.”

Enoch answered that way.

William couldn’t say anything.

No longer needed—did he think that way after seeing the rumors with the new partner?

Is that why he made up his mind and left, never to look back?

“…Then, why did you tell me where Didi went, even after hearing that?”

“If Didi really believed he wasn’t needed anymore, I don’t think he would have tried to find him. That’s why, when I heard someone was looking for Didi, I contacted you.”

The man closed his mouth for a moment, then added,

“Didi cried every day. He’d stare blankly out the window every time… and sometimes, when he talked about Master, his eyes would shine. That’s how I knew. He wasn’t ready to say goodbye yet, but he forced himself to leave.”

“I know how that feels, since I’m a fellow humanoid bot. Not wanting to part from your Master, but knowing you can’t stay any longer.”

William couldn’t say anything.

All this time, he’d only thought about why Didi left home, and what he himself had done wrong.

He’d never even imagined what kind of feelings Didi might have had, wandering outside after leaving.

Barely pulling himself together, William finished the coffee left in his cup and stood up.

“Thank you for your cooperation. If I find Didi based on what you told me, I’ll pay the reward I promised—”

“Ah, I don’t need the reward.”

The man firmly shook his head.

William was momentarily taken aback.

He’d offered so much money, and yet he was turning it down?

The amount he’d offered was by no means small.

Even if the owner of this robot lived with humanoid bots in a house like this, it wasn’t the kind of sum one could easily give up.

With that money, he could live in luxury for a lifetime, and buy several more houses like this all around the world.

“Then, is there something else you’d like?”

“If you see Didi again, could you tell him he’s welcome to visit here anytime?”

“…Is that really all?”

“Yes. I really enjoyed the time I spent with Didi. Of course, my Master also misses Didi very much.”

William’s expression hardened slightly.

It seemed Didi had lived very well here.

Not satisfied with just my father, in that short time, he managed to captivate yet another person.

“I understand.”

Rather than delivering that message, he would have preferred to give away his entire fortune and warn them never to come near Didi again.

But these were the people who told him Didi’s whereabouts, when he’d thought he was lost for good.

William had no choice but to nod.

Back in his car, William immediately pulled out his tablet and opened the map.

“The place I need to go… the place I need to go is…”

The places where Didi had been found so far were marked on the map.

After marking this latest location, he could finally make out a direction.

At first, the sightings were scattered toward the outskirts, so he couldn’t tell where Didi was heading.

But after marking a new, distant spot, he got a sense of Didi’s destination.

Far away, a place you’d have to drive for quite a while to reach—a decrepit old mansion, once owned by his grandfather, and Didi’s former Master.

William’s teeth clenched with a grinding sound.

It was clear now that the place Didi meant as “the place I need to go” was there.

Why hadn’t he realized this sooner?

The only places Didi could go were his own house, or that rundown mansion where Didi had been locked up.

William immediately started the car and stepped hard on the accelerator.

It was late at night and the outskirts, so luckily there weren’t many cars on the road.

If he drove like this in the city, he would surely have gotten into an accident.

William’s car sped through the darkness at a dangerously high speed, heading for where Didi was.

All the way to the mansion, he kept checking the roadside, worried Didi might have collapsed somewhere.

His eyes grew crazily tired.

If it hadn’t been for the coffee he drank at that house, his vision would already have been blurry.

It felt as if he’d used up all the gravity of his life in one go; he was exhausted.

By the time he arrived at his grandfather’s mansion, the sky was still dark.

In the gloom stood the lonely, dilapidated mansion, long abandoned by human feet and completely neglected.

William entered the mansion, quietly moving through each corner with his eyes.

Unlike the urgent way he’d rushed here, William now moved with caution.

He couldn’t be sure Didi wouldn’t run away again if he saw him.

And if Didi ran again, there was no telling whether he’d be able to find him next time.

He searched the first floor carefully, but Didi was nowhere to be seen.

Then…

William’s gaze turned to the stairs leading up to the second floor.

He quietly climbed the stairs and opened the door to a room.

Inside was dark and silent.

He fumbled for the switch, and as soon as the lights came on, he saw the back of the head he’d longed for so much.

Didi was sitting slumped inside a glass chamber.

“Didi…”

Even though the room had suddenly brightened, Didi didn’t move at all.

Holding his breath, William approached, and saw Didi sitting inside with his eyes closed, just like the first time they met.

It seemed his power was off.

Didi’s body was a mess.

Maybe because he’d walked such a long distance, he was covered in injuries here and there.

There was no blood, but the patches of scraped skin made William’s heart ache all the more.

Even the clothes Didi cherished were torn and tattered, surely causing him pain.

William carefully opened the panel at the back of Didi’s neck and pressed the power button, but there was no response.

He was startled for a moment, but quickly calmed himself.

The battery must be dead.

He’d wake up if he recharged him.

William gently lifted Didi.

He thought about straightening out Didi’s stiff, slumped body, but left him as he was in case he got hurt.

He carried the cold, lifeless Didi in his arms and hurried out of the mansion.

Just as dawn was breaking, the sky began to brighten with a faint blue hue.

He carefully placed Didi in the back seat and slowly drove toward Spennic Headquarters.

As soon as William arrived at the company, he made his way straight to Thomas’s laboratory.

“Whoa! Wi—William?”

He threw open the door, and Thomas, just arriving for work, shouted in surprise.

Then, realizing it was William who’d come without warning, he relaxed—only to widen his eyes again at the sight of the pitiful robot awkwardly cradled in William’s arms.

“Didi…? It really is Didi! Where did you find him?”

But there was no time to explain.

William asked immediately.

“Do you have any humanoid bot chargers in stock?”

“Ah… Sorry, but we don’t. Nick just went out on an errand and won’t be back until next week…”

“Not even a compatible charger?”

“We’ll have to make a dedicated charger.”

William’s brow furrowed.

He’d finally found Didi, only to discover he couldn’t wake him because there was no charger.

Still, just having Didi in his arms was enough to reassure him; he could wait a day or two with some patience.

“Will a day be enough?”

“Are you crazy?”

“Just one day.”

“You’ve lost your mind, haven’t you?”

“…How long will it take, then?”

William’s brow furrowed again.

Seeing William demand such an absurd timeline, Thomas let out a deep sigh.

“It’ll take at least a week.”

“Give me three days.”

“A week, at the very least.”

“…Not even four days?”

“Let’s check him over first. Looks like he’s been through a lot.”

Thomas changed the subject.

William hesitated, reluctant to let go of Didi, but when Thomas urged him again, he finally, reluctantly, laid Didi on the repair table.

William glared fiercely at the hands touching Didi for inspection, as if even contact for repair was unpleasant.

Thomas, who had always seen robots as mere machines, realized now that his close friend and boss was completely taken with Didi.

He clicked his tongue inwardly; at this point, even William couldn’t deny it.

He wanted to tease him to his heart’s content, but William looked ready to kill him with his eyes at any moment.

Before that could happen, Thomas quickly focused on checking Didi’s condition.