“Useless old men…”
Ever since the meeting ended, Master’s mood had been at rock bottom.
Master let out a short sigh, pressing his deeply furrowed brow with his fingers.
I quietly sat still, holding my breath, sensing the mood—until Master called for me.
“Didi.”
“Yes, Master.”
“You still don’t remember anything? Any technology about Humanbots, or where my grandfather might have hidden classified documents?”
If I could remember anything at all, would the Master praise me for being useful?
With that hope in mind, I scoured my memory—but as expected, I couldn’t find anything related to what Master mentioned.
The more I tried to recall, the more memories of simply happy times with Master came flooding back, and they only made my heart ache.
In the past, the Master used to spend most of their time with me, always treating me kindly.
But what if… what if the Master never told me anything because they didn’t actually care about me?
I clamped my mouth shut, recalling the moment the Master turned off my power.
If that were true, and the new Master also found me useless… then I’d be abandoned again.
“How did you even know where the meeting room was?”
Pulled from my thoughts by Master’s question, I answered,
“A robot guided me.”
“A robot?”
“Yes. It had a white body with the company logo on it… and, oh! It was carrying some documents.”
When I described the robot’s appearance, Master muttered under their breath,
“…That’s not something a guide robot should know. Did Thomas add a new feature?”
Master looked somewhat uncomfortable, but didn’t press the issue further.
“Did you check on Sophia?”
“Yes. They said the repairs should be finished tonight.”
“Still not done? It’s taking a long time.”
Master sighed and leaned back in their chair, and the conversation ended there.
I watched Master quietly, noticing them massaging their furrowed brow in apparent fatigue.
As I wondered what I could do to help lift Master’s mood, I saw them stretch and rub their stiff shoulders.
A light bulb flicked on in my mind.
I used to give shoulder massages to my previous Master, too.
It was something I was pretty confident in.
“Master, would you like a shoulder massage?”
Master gave a small nod.
“Go ahead.”
“Yes!”
As soon as I got permission, I jumped to my feet.
When I approached from behind, a subtle scent of perfume wafted past.
I gently placed my hands on their shoulders and gave them a firm press.
Even through the soft suit fabric, I could feel the solid muscles underneath.
Harder than I expected…?
I was momentarily startled by how firm their shoulders were.
Could Master actually be a robot?
That was how rock-hard they felt.
But I quickly composed myself and focused all my effort on the massage, just like I used to for my previous Master.
I carefully kneaded and loosened the stiff muscles.
“You’re weak. No strength at all.”
Despite my best efforts, Master’s feedback was cold.
I immediately became downcast.
My previous Master had said it felt great…
I figured my grip strength must have weakened from being powered down for so long.
I made a mental note to ask Thomas later to check if something was broken.
Slowly, I began to lift my hands.
“Then… I’ll stop now…”
“No, keep going.”
Just as I was about to step back, Master spoke again.
I couldn’t disobey the order to continue, so I began massaging the stone-like shoulders once more.
Though they had called me weak, the Master didn’t tell me to stop for quite a while.
As I silently worked on the rock-hard shoulders, my hands started to ache, and I swallowed tears in silence.
***
I finally fell asleep after groaning all night from the pain in my arms.
When I opened my eyes, the seat next to me was empty again.
Master had gotten up first.
I yawned and started heading downstairs, only to freeze in place.
Standing beside the Master, who was sitting on the sofa drinking coffee, was Sophia.
Sensing my presence, Sophia looked my way.
Our eyes met—or at least, it felt like they did—and belatedly realizing the situation, I smiled brightly.
“Sophia!”
Just as I cheerfully called out to Sophia and was about to approach her, a familiar silhouette appeared beside her.
‘That robot…’
It was the serving robot I had met at the charity party.
In an instant, all my sleepiness vanished.
“M-Master!”
“Yes.”
“How…?”
I hurried down the stairs, and the serving robot came up and circled around me.
It was just spinning around me, but it somehow felt like it was greeting me warmly.
I was too confused to speak, glancing back and forth between Master and the serving robot, when Master explained.
“You’ve been out of sorts ever since the charity event, right? I thought maybe it was because of that robot. I checked with the organizers, and as it happened, they were about to throw it away since it was broken. So, Sophia and I repaired it together.”
“Master…!”
A wave of emotion washed over me.
I was overwhelmed and at a loss for words.
Then Sophia approached me.
“Didi, I heard you came to visit while I was being repaired. Thank you for worrying about me.”
Sophia thanked me.
I widened my eyes at her words.
She was powered off back then, wasn’t she…?
“Huh…? How did you know that…?”
“Sir Thomas told me that you came by.”
Ah, so Thomas told her I had visited.
For a moment, I thought she had heard our entire conversation—I would have been so embarrassed if she had heard me worrying about being abandoned by the Master.
Thankfully, it seemed Thomas had kept that part to himself.
“Didi, stop chatting and come here.”
“Yes!”
Just then, my Master called me.
I ended the conversation with Sophia and ran over to sit beside the Master.
He frowned as he looked at the serving robot following behind me.
“You, go away.”
— 🙁
With a firm command, Master drove the robot away, and it returned to Sophia’s side with a dejected expression.
I chuckled quietly at the sight and settled down next to the Master.
“Master, what should we name it?”
“A name?”
“Yes. The serving robot. We can’t just keep calling it ‘the serving robot,’ can we?”
“It’s here because of you, so name it whatever you want.”
“Hmm…”
Master showed no interest and left it entirely up to me.
After thinking for a while, a robot character from an old movie came to mind.
“Can I call it Eve?”
“Eve?”
“Yes. In that old movie I saw, there was a robot that looked like this one, and her name was Eve. The movie was set in the distant future…”
“Do as you like.”
Master didn’t even ask why I chose that name and simply ended the conversation.
Still, this robot was going to be part of our family now…
I already knew the Master was indifferent, but if I were Eve, I think I’d feel a bit hurt.
That thought made me feel a little sorry for Eve.
“That robot…”
“Eve, I mean…”
“…Eve doesn’t have legs, so she can’t go upstairs. I’ve set her to clean only the first floor. Sophia is getting old too, so it’s not a bad idea to bring in a new robot.”
Only then did I finally notice the changes made to Eve’s body.
Upon closer look, I saw that the part with wheels also had cleaning tools attached—something she didn’t have back when she was a serving robot.
Master really did bring Eve in with the intention of keeping her.
All just because I had been feeling down?
I turned to look at Master.
He was still calmly reading documents with his usual indifferent expression.
I realized then that I had been wrong.
Master does care about his robots.
Of course, maybe not all of them—but enough to change how I felt.
The disappointment and doubt I had toward my new master slowly began to fade.
Maybe…
I could trust this person again?
I made a quiet decision in my heart.
This person was now truly my new master.
“I should get going.”
While I was happily chatting with Eve, I saw Master heading upstairs.
He looked like he was getting ready for work.
“Master!”
Just before he entered the room, I rushed after him and grabbed hold of him.
“Can I go with you to work, Master?”
“Today too?”
“Not just today… I mean from now on.”
Even though I had been here for a while, I still didn’t know much about Master.
Since I would be serving him in the future, I wanted to learn more about him.
If I stayed by his side, I’d naturally come to understand what he liked and disliked.
I wanted to support him and be helpful.
Master looked like he was about to say no, so I quickly added:
“I’ll behave!”
“Behave? You?”
“Yes…”
I tried to sound confident, but all the trouble I had caused in the past flashed through my mind, and my voice grew quieter.