“Is there anywhere that feels particularly uncomfortable?”
“Hmm… I think my stomach is a bit upset.”
“Aha… I see, it’s the stomach.”
You haven’t emptied your stomach, so the food from before is probably still inside…
I worried about the mess inside, but Thomas, seemingly unconcerned, focused on my body, looking intently inside me.
“The stomach is definitely broken. For now, I’ll attach something similar temporarily, and later I’ll remake and replace it for you.”
As Thomas finished speaking, the queasy feeling in my stomach eased a little.
A moment later, it seemed that the inspection was done, and both my owner and Thomas stopped looking at me, engaging in a conversation.
I lay still on the table, with my stomach still open, quietly eavesdropping on their conversation.
“How’s the condition?”
“There’s no major problem. Looks like it’s been well-maintained.”
“Do you need any parts? I’ll have them ready by next week. Is there anything else to check?”
When Thomas asked, my owner paused to think for a moment before speaking.
“Is there any way to look into the memories?”
“I can’t do that.”
“Why? Other robots can do it.”
“Humanoid robots have a complicated structure, so there’s a high chance of failure. If you mess up, all the data could disappear.”
My owner’s face twisted in dissatisfaction.
Suddenly, the questions he had asked me back at the mansion came to mind.
I had told him I didn’t know anything…
Could he still think I’m hiding something?
Even if they looked into my memories, it wouldn’t help.
I really don’t know anything.
Still, I wanted to be helpful to my new owner.
The man I would serve now resembled my previous owner.
As I tried to recall any memories that could be useful to my new owner, I heard my owner’s voice casually speaking.
“It doesn’t matter if the memories are erased. As long as we get useful data.”
My heart seemed to drop.
What… Did I just hear?
He said it doesn’t matter if the memories are erased…?
Frozen in shock, I stared at my owner.
Their conversation tangled in my mind, and I was confused.
I couldn’t believe my owner had said such a thing.
Thomas hesitated for a moment before answering.
“Hmm… If that’s the case, we could try it.”
Seeing Thomas nodding with a hesitant expression made my heart race even more with unease.
If my data is erased, all the memories of my previous owner would vanish too.
No.
Fear overwhelmed me like a wave.
If my memories were really erased, all the moments I loved would be gone.
The moment when my previous owner kindly smiled at me when I first powered on, all the happy times we spent together—everything would be erased and become dust.
Though there had been the pain of being abandoned by my owner, even that sorrow had been part of my life.
Every moment with my owner has been precious to me.
The sadness, the joy—none of it was something I wanted to lose.
“Ah… No.”
My voice trembled.
The two of them, who had been talking, both turned to look at me.
Their gazes, as they stared at the terrified me, suddenly felt so cold and frightening.
I was so scared that tears began to fall from my eyes.
“I… I’ll tell you everything I know. My memories… Please don’t erase them… Please…”
I pleaded desperately.
Even though my master had abandoned me, I still loved him.
The memories of him were like life itself to me.
They were the reason I lived, the parts that made up my existence.
If all those memories disappeared, I would no longer have any meaning to my existence.
“Master, please… I’ll remember all the memories you want. I’ll do anything you ask. So… please…”
Tears wouldn’t stop.
I wanted to kneel and beg, but with my belly open, I felt like if I moved even a little, the parts inside me would spill out.
I just lay there helplessly, crying and desperately pleading.
A crackling sound echoed, and a foul odor began to waft through the air.
I could swear that it was the smell of my heart burning black.
Thomas glanced at my master with a look of panic.
“Uh… he’s crying, so the circuits are getting dangerous. Is it okay if I turn it off?”
“…Fine.”
With my master’s cold reply, Thomas’s hand moved to the back of my neck.
A chill ran down my spine, and my body stiffened.
Just as the power was about to be turned off, an intense fear overwhelmed me.
I was scared that when I opened my eyes again, all the memories would be gone, that all my memories with my master would have disappeared.
“Master…”
I looked at him, teary-eyed, for the last time.
His face was still cold, but there was something stiff about his expression.
His deep, dark blue eyes.
As I felt myself suffocating, as if drowning in them, my vision faded to black.
When Didi’s power was turned off, the laboratory fell into a deep silence.
William stared at Didi, who appeared to be sleeping with red-rimmed eyes, in silence.
After a while, Thomas was the first to speak.
“I didn’t expect you’d bring another robot besides Sophia. A human bot, no less.”
William didn’t respond.
It was more of a comment of admiration, so even though his words were cleanly ignored, Thomas didn’t mind.
Instead, he shrugged lightly and continued.
“So, you’re finally interested in robots?”
“Not really. I was planning to put it up for auction at the charity party.”
“What? That precious thing?”
“That was the plan, but it seems like my grandfather really cherished it. He might know something about it, so it’s better to keep it for now.”
William naturally sat down in the chair beside him.
His attitude was cold, almost indifferent, and Thomas shook his head in disbelief.
Thomas continued assembling Didi while sighing repeatedly.
Didi seemed almost regretful as his eyes wiped away tears, pretending to be upset.
William stared at him in disbelief before turning his attention back to Didi, who was quietly lying there.
Spencer muttered quietly, his voice barely audible.
“To think, a robot…”
Now I could understand a little bit why people were fascinated by human bots.
Even someone who wasn’t moved by robots like me felt a moment of guilt seeing Didi cry and wipe his eyes.
If he expressed emotions so vividly, someone who didn’t know she was a robot might even believe he was human.
Thomas quickly finished the work.
The completed Didi now looked like a person deeply asleep.
How strange it was that this was a robot.
The more I looked, the more unsettling the dissonance became.
“So, what will you do with the data?”
Thomas asked.
William, seeming to think for a moment, slowly took his eyes off Didi, and then stood up.
“Later. I’ll leave for now.”
William looked at Didi again, who was lying motionless, almost dead.
He silently watched him for a moment, then wrapped his light body in the large coat he had been wearing and gently picked him up.
“You’re leaving already? You could stay a bit longer, couldn’t you?”
Thomas expressed his regret that William was leaving so soon, but William left the laboratory without responding.
Spencer immediately headed toward the parking lot after leaving.
He laid Didi in the backseat of his car and drove home.
“Welcome back, William.”
As William opened the front door, Sophia greeted him.
It was the same calm greeting as usual, but today, her voice, devoid of emotion, felt out of place.
William didn’t respond.
He walked past Sophia and headed for his room.
He laid Didi on the bed and turned the power on.
He could feel his skin warming up rapidly.
Unlike the long wait for the power to turn on the first time, this time, the reaction came much more quickly.
Didi’s eyelids trembled slightly before his eyes slowly opened.