As the battery charged, I felt my depleted energy slowly returning.
But just because the power was refilled didn’t mean the intense hunger would disappear.
“I’m hungry…”
I rubbed my stomach weakly, staring blankly at the old ceiling.
I hadn’t eaten anything since leaving home.
Occasionally, I drank water from fountains in parks or buildings, but that was hardly enough to satisfy my hunger.
If I were human, I would have collapsed by now from not eating for days…
The more this happened, the more depressed I felt, as it only made it clearer that I was a robot, not a human.
Fortunately, the robots I met on the street were all kind to me.
It was probably for that reason that the cleaning robot who brought me here gave up its charging spot.
Clunk.
Suddenly, I heard a sound from the entrance.
Startled, I turned my head towards the sound, and a huge shadow fell over the entrance to the charging room.
I tensed, thinking it was a person, but what appeared was just a normal robot.
A much larger cleaning robot than the one that guided me here was entering the charging room.
The giant cleaning robot rolled its clunky wheels and approached next to me.
But… wasn’t it too close?
I watched quietly, thinking it was strange, when the robot’s huge body charged directly towards me.
“Agh! H-Hey, there’s a robot here!”
I screamed frantically, and the cleaning robot stopped abruptly.
As the wheel that had come right up to my face halted, I cautiously opened my eyes and looked up.
The cleaning robot was looking down at me with its camera mounted high up.
It seemed it hadn’t noticed me, curled up in the corner.
A moment later, and I would have been flattened.
Calming my pounding heart, I greeted it.
“Oh, hello…”
Overwhelmed by its size, several times larger than me, my voice unconsciously grew softer.
The robot stared at me for a moment, then, keeping a slight distance, squeezed its body fully into the charger.
We continued charging side by side in that state.
Being two instead of one lessened my loneliness a little.
Most of all, its large body obscured me, so I felt relieved that I wouldn’t be seen from outside.
Even if the manager of this place suddenly burst in, they would likely leave without discovering me.
As my tension relaxed, my head slowly dropped.
With the battery charging quickly, my consciousness became loose, and drowsiness kept creeping in.
I should be moving diligently today…
The thought that I might sleep an entire day if I closed my eyes now occurred to me, but I couldn’t overcome the overwhelming urge to sleep.
I eventually closed my eyes.
***
“Argh!”
My body tilted and I fell forward onto the cold floor.
At the same time, I felt the charger detach from the back of my neck.
Startled awake, I looked around and met the gaze of the giant cleaning robot looking down at me directly.
I belatedly understood the situation. I had leaned against the robot charging next to me and fallen asleep, and when the robot finished charging and left, I had tumbled to the floor.
“S-Sorry. It’s nothing…”
To lean on a robot I’d never seen and fall asleep…
Embarrassed, I hastily wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.
Fortunately, it seemed I hadn’t drooled.
The robot confirmed that I was hesitantly getting up, then moved its large body again and exited the charging room.
After the robot left, I belatedly checked my condition.
A little rest had filled my whole body with vitality.
I was still hungry, but at this point, I felt I could start a long journey again.
I packed the charger in my bag, reconnected the previously plugged-in charger to its original spot, and then left the old warehouse.
The sky, which had been bright when I started charging, was now engulfed in darkness.
There were no streetlights even near the charging room, making the street dark.
Still, I started walking.
In the past, I would have frozen in place as soon as I saw a secluded alley, but after wandering alone for a few days, I seemed to have become a little more used to the darkness.
I could feel myself getting farther and farther from the city.
Bright billboards and tall buildings were slowly disappearing.
This was a hopeful situation for me, remembering that there were no tall buildings around the mansion where I lived with my old master.
I was no longer afraid of the dark.
I was just walking the path I needed to walk.
If there was one thing I feared, it was the fact that I was heading further and further into unknown territory.
It wasn’t just one or two times that I had strayed off course.
I had gone around in circles in the same place and had lost my way and wandered many times.
I had successfully reached the outskirts of the city, but from now on, I had to travel to even more secluded places.
Once I left the city, I probably wouldn’t be able to return to William’s house ever again.
I walked the path, completely blocking out my thoughts.
I knew it was dangerous, but it felt like my battery drained faster when my mind was complex.
Perhaps because of that, something big happened to me.
“Ah!”
I bumped shoulders with someone passing by.
I was knocked so hard that I lost my balance and staggered, and suddenly my side felt empty.
Clatter, clatter, clatter.
Rapidly receding footsteps.
By the time I regained my senses and looked back, my bag and the person who stole it had already vanished somewhere.
“My charger…”
The only charger I brought from home was stolen.
I stood there blankly, then started moving my legs again.
There was no way to get it back even if I chased them now.
It was better to move a little than to waste my battery.
The fortunate thing was that I had just charged it.
Even though I doubted if I could reach my destination before my battery died, I kept moving.
Occasionally, the thought of returning to Didi’s house surfaced.
But I couldn’t go back anymore, nor was there a way to.
The only thing I could do now was head towards my predetermined destination.
***
It had been a week since I lost my charger.
I was walking along a road lined with trees on both sides.
I finally felt my battery reaching its limit.
My body started to feel heavy, and my vision occasionally flickered even without closing my eyes.
Deciding I couldn’t move any further, I sat on a nearby bench.
And, unable to hold back the sudden rush of tears, I let them pour out.
They were the first tears I had shed since leaving home.
The tears wouldn’t stop, as if to release all the suppressed sorrow I had endured.
“Ugh… h-huuh…”
I was a mess.
Having stumbled over a stone, my clothes were splattered with mud, and a foul odor emanated from my body, covered in dust from not having washed for a long time.
There were numerous small wounds everywhere, and red, mottled flesh showed through the scratched skin.
“Are you okay?”
Someone approached me as I sobbed with my head down.
This was a secluded, suburban street where even cars rarely passed.
I thought it was a hallucination caused by my low battery, but I actually saw someone’s shoes stop in front of me.
Still with tears streaming down my face, I lifted my head.
Beyond my tear-blurred vision, I saw a man.
His warm, wheat-colored hair ruffled slightly in the wind, and his emerald eyes held genuine concern as he looked at me.
“Is your battery low?”
“How do you…”
“I’m a robot too.”
The man replied with a faint smile.
I looked closely at the man in front of me again.
Like me, he had facial features and an appearance identical to a human.
Yet, if he introduced himself as a robot…
“Are you a human-bot too?”
“My name is Enoch.”
He gave me his name instead of an answer.
Watching the gently smiling man, I couldn’t hide my surprised expression.
He was the second human-bot I had met in this world.
I had never imagined meeting a human-bot in a place like this, so I stammered, unable to continue my words.
At that moment, my vision briefly went dark then returned.
Noticing it, Enoch looked at me with concern and asked, “It seems your battery is low. It’s best to return to your master… but you must have your reasons, right?”
I kept my mouth shut tight and lowered my head.
Enoch saw my disheveled state and didn’t ask further.
“Then how about charging at my master’s house for a bit? I’ll lend you a charger.”
“Huh…? Can I?”
“Yes. My master is still young and kind, so he will surely help you.”
I hesitated.
Should I trust the words of a strange robot I’d never met and follow him to his house?
Master’s words, always cautioning me not to follow strangers, came to mind.
“Enoch!”
Just then, a child called out to him from a distance and ran over.
It was a young girl, about five years old.
Enoch spread his arms wide and lifted the running child up.
The child giggled, held in Enoch’s embrace.
Seeing their harmonious appearance, my guard instantly melted away.
I nodded unconsciously, and Enoch smiled softly.