Hoping that my master might return, I curled up in front of the cafe and decided to wait a little longer.
The chill of the night air was growing more biting, and my internal temperature regulators worked harder to maintain my core functions.
Every time a car passed on the road, its headlights cutting through the growing darkness, I eagerly lifted my head, wondering if it was my master.
My optical sensors strained to identify the vehicle, my hope rising with each approaching hum of an engine.
But the cars sped past me without slowing down, their tail lights quickly disappearing into the distance.
Then, I would slump back down, pulling my knees to my chest and crouching, a small, solitary figure against the imposing cafe facade.
The disappointment was a cold, spreading sensation in my chest.
How long did I wait?
Hours blurred into a timeless void, marked only by the deepening cold and the growing sense of abandonment.
My power reserves were slowly draining, but the thought of returning to an empty home, or worse, to a master who no longer wanted me, kept me rooted to the spot.
Finally, driven by an unshakeable despair, I raised my tired body, brushed the dust off my knees, and turned to walk in the opposite direction from home.
Each step felt heavy, burdened by the uncertainty of my future.
If my master knew I was gone, would he come looking for me?
The question, cold and sharp, pierced through my processors.
I wasn’t sure. He might never look for me, thinking it was too much trouble, or simply not caring enough to initiate a search for a ‘scratched property’.
The thought was a raw wound, more painful than the stitches on my arm.
The air was mild during the day, but as night fell, the temperature plummeted, and the wind fiercely permeated through my clothes, chilling my internal components.
My body shivered, a physical manifestation of my emotional distress.
Bang—. As I took a step, my trembling body hunched against the biting wind, the sky lit up brightly, and I heard the sound of fireworks in the distance.
The sudden burst of light and sound was startling, a jarring contrast to the quiet despair that had settled over me.
I looked up and saw a small fireworks display starting not too far away, their vibrant colors exploding against the dark canvas of the sky.
Suddenly, I recalled the fireworks I had watched with my master on the cruise, a memory of warmth and closeness.
Unlike this dark and desolate place where I now stood, the location where the fireworks exploded looked bright and warm, filled with the promise of joy and celebration.
I unconsciously walked towards that light, drawn by an innate yearning for warmth and companionship, a desperate hope that perhaps, just perhaps, my master might be there.
A little further, I came upon a small park, its sparse trees silhouetted against the colorful bursts of light.
There, a family was gathered, laughing and chatting while setting off fireworks, their voices carrying softly on the wind.
I sat on a bench in a corner of the park, partially hidden by a cluster of bushes, staring blankly at the scene.
A harmonious and happy family.
Their joyous sounds, the warmth of their interaction, pricked at my core.
I envied them.
Could I ever have a family like that?
A yearning, deep and aching, resonated through my systems.
Images of my master, Sophia, and Eve living under a warm roof passed through my mind, a fleeting vision of a life I desperately craved.
But my own image, together with them, was difficult to conjure.
The stark reality of my situation, of my perceived inadequacy, pushed against the hopeful fantasy.
Yes, a discarded robot like me…
I shouldn’t have such excessive expectations.
The self-deprecating thought was a cold, hard truth.
But what if I was truly abandoned this time, too…?
The question loomed large, a terrifying abyss.
My heart grew heavy, a leaden weight in my chest.
The sound of fireworks lighting up the sky violently shook a corner of my chest, each boom a painful echo of my growing despair.
Feeling a stinging sensation in my optical sensors, a prelude to tears, I buried my head between my knees to hide my blurring vision, attempting to contain the overwhelming flood of emotion.
***
“Haa…”
William got out of the car, stretching his stiff body and letting out a long sigh.
The day had been interminably long, filled with unexpected complications.
He had received an urgent call while out and had been dealing with a problem at the company, a sudden crisis demanding his immediate attention.
By the time he was done, it was already the middle of the night, long past the hour he usually retired.
He dragged his tired body and opened the front door of his silent mansion.
“Welcome home, William.”
Sophia’s calm, synthesized voice greeted him, a familiar and comforting sound.
“Everything alright?” he asked, not expecting any issues.
“Yes. Nothing out of the ordinary.” Sophia’s routine reply was reassuring.
He took off his coat and handed it to Sophia, who greeted him with her usual stiff voice.
As he was about to go upstairs, his mind already drifting to the prospect of sleep, he heard a strange sound from behind him.
Thump—
hump—.
A sound of something hard hitting repeatedly.
He turned around and saw Eve repeatedly bumping her body against the front door, a peculiar, insistent rhythm.
“What’s wrong with her now?” he muttered, a flicker of irritation rising.
She hadn’t been here long, and she was already broken?
It was incredibly annoying.
He thought he should scold Didi for not managing her properly…
Wait, Didi?
“…Damn it.”
The curse slipped from his lips, a sudden, sharp realization hitting him.
He had completely forgotten.
He belatedly remembered Didi, whom he had left at the cafe hours ago.
The weight of his oversight settled heavily on him.
“William, are you going out again?”
Sophia inquired, her voice betraying no judgment, only factual observation.
“I left Didi behind. I’ll bring him back right away.”
He grabbed his coat from Sophia, his weariness momentarily forgotten, replaced by a surge of urgency and a prickle of something akin to guilt.
“Understood.”
William hastily put his coat back on and went out again, the night air now feeling colder and more unforgiving.
He chastised himself for his lapse in memory, for leaving Didi alone for so long.
He drove quickly towards the cafe he had visited with Didi earlier in the day.
But by this late hour, the cafe was already closed, its windows dark and unwelcoming.
“Didi!”
He called out, his voice sharp against the quiet night.
He got out of the car and called out his name several times, his voice echoing in the empty street, but there was no answer.
The silence was unnerving.
“I told you to wait here, where did you go?” he mumbled to himself, a mix of frustration and growing concern.
The house was empty, so he hadn’t gone home.
He hadn’t seen Didi on the way to the cafe either.
Had he gotten lost trying to return home?
Or… had he been kidnapped after being discovered as a human-bot?
His thoughts spiraled, his mind becoming complicated, the implications of Didi’s vulnerability weighing on him.
Bang!
Far in the distance, towards the small park, fireworks shot into the sky, illuminating the night with bursts of color.
The scene of the fireworks he had watched with Didi on the cruise flashed through his mind, a vivid, almost nostalgic image.
‘No way?’
The possibility, however remote, sparked a new direction for his search.
William quickly moved towards the park, his long strides covering the ground swiftly.
***
In the park, a family was enjoying a small fireworks display, their laughter carrying on the wind.
As William scanned the surroundings, his gaze sweeping over the various figures, a familiar silhouette curled up on a secluded bench entered his vision.
A small, hunched form, distinct from the other human figures.
Ha, found him.
A wave of relief washed over William, followed by a surge of exasperation.
“Didi!”
William called his name, his voice firm but now laced with relief.
When William called his name, Didi slowly lifted his head, his face streaked with dirt and moisture.
And the moment his large eyes, red-rimmed and swollen, met William’s, they trembled greatly, a visible tremor of shock and disbelief.
“Master…!”
Didi’s voice was a choked sob.
His dark eyes quickly became moist, and then tears welled up, overflowing and running down his dirty cheeks.
Didi sprang up from the bench with a sudden burst of energy, and ran to William, embracing him.
He clung with arms that were desperate, almost embarrassingly so, burying his face in William’s coat.
William, caught off guard by the intensity of the embrace, instinctively hugged Didi, who burrowed into his embrace, seeking warmth and comfort.
Didi’s body was as cold as ice, indicating how long he had waited in the cold wearing only thin clothes, a stark contrast to the comfortable environment he usually inhabited.
The small body in his arms was trembling violently, the shuddering a clear sign of prolonged exposure and fear.
William quietly clicked his tongue, a soft sound of frustration and concern, and took off his jacket, draping it over Didi’s shoulders, wrapping the smaller robot in its warmth.
“If I was too late, you should have gone home. Why are you in a place like this?”
William’s voice was gruff, an attempt to mask his own burgeoning guilt and concern.
“I thought… you had abandoned me…”
Didi mumbled, his voice muffled by William’s coat, sniffling sorrowfully.
His pronunciation was so slurred from crying continuously that it was hard to understand everything, but William could guess what he was saying, the implication striking him with unexpected force.
William sighed deeply, a long, weary sound, and hugged Didi, who was still trembling, even tighter.
The small, cold body in his arms felt fragile.
“I was going to scold him when I found him, but seeing him like this, I can’t even get angry.”
William thought to himself, the anger he had felt earlier dissipating in the face of Didi’s obvious distress.
“Hmph… huh…”
Didi continued to sob sorrowfully in his arms, his shoulders shaking uncontrollably.
William silently pulled Didi closer, rubbing his back gently, trying to impart warmth and comfort.
The park grew quieter as the fireworks ended.
Families who had been enjoying the fireworks were slowly preparing to leave, tidying up their surroundings one by one, their happy chatter fading into the background.
“Let’s go back. The fireworks are over,” William said softly, his voice devoid of its usual sharpness.
“Yes…”
Didi replied, his voice still hoarse but with a hint of quiet compliance.
William took Didi’s sniffling hand, his own hand warm around Didi’s cold one, and quietly returned to the car.
Under the dim interior light of the car, Didi’s face was bright red, from his eyes to his nose, a testament to the hours of crying.
William noticed his hands were red and cold from the chill, and his body was trembling slightly, still not entirely recovered from the cold.
Without a word, he increased the car’s internal temperature, flooding the space with warmth.
Didi, who was seated in the back seat, kept sniffling softly the entire way home, the occasional wet sniffle breaking the quiet hum of the engine.
He might have resented his owner for leaving him alone in the cold for so long, for the fear and despair he had endured, but there was no sign of that in his demeanor, only tears.
Because of this, William’s guilt only grew.
It was his fault, his oversight, that Didi had been left alone.
He couldn’t bring himself to order Didi to stop crying, and yet, a part of him still struggled with the idea of apologizing to a mere robot.
The internal conflict was a new and uncomfortable sensation.
William glanced at Didi for a moment in the rearview mirror, then looked forward again, focusing on the road.
A strange, heavy silence filled the car, a mix of Didi’s lingering sadness and William’s burgeoning guilt.
***
“Welcome home, William, Didi.”
Sophia’s familiar, calm voice greeted them as they entered the house.
“We’re back…”
Didi still sniffled softly as he entered the house, his shoulders still hunched.
However, once they arrived home, the familiar surroundings seemed to bring him some relief, and his crying seemed to quiet down a bit, subsiding into soft whimpers.
Seeing Didi enter the house, sniffling, Sophia and Eve silently stared at William.
He felt a pang of guilt, as if the emotionless robots were somehow criticizing him, their unblinking gazes a silent judgment.
“What are you looking at?”
He snapped irritably, the unacknowledged guilt making him lash out.
Only then did the two robots simultaneously turn their gaze away, their attention returning to their duties.
William sighed, a frustrated exhale, and went upstairs with Didi.
However, once upstairs, Didi, instead of heading towards William’s room as he usually did, headed toward his own room, his small form disappearing inside.
William watched him silently, a flicker of surprise in his eyes, then opened the door and entered his own room without a word.
As always, Didi would finish preparing for bed and then shamelessly enter William’s room, seeking comfort and proximity.
After all, Didi had been sleeping in William’s room every night until now, a routine they had established.
But a long time passed, and Didi didn’t come.
The silence in his room stretched, growing heavier with each passing minute.
While waiting for Didi, William decided to organize the documents he would handle tomorrow, a way to occupy his mind.
He mechanically worked, the rhythmic clicking of his pen the only sound, until the firmly closed door to Didi’s room remained shut, and by then, the clock showed 1 AM.
There were no more documents to check.
No, he had already finished work a while ago, but had continued to occupy himself, waiting.
William tapped the desk with his finger, the sound echoing in the quiet room, then finally pushed himself up and went to sit on the bed.
“He always came to sleep with me every night…”
William muttered to himself, the uncharacteristic silence of his bedchamber feeling oddly empty.
The night grew deeper.
William had intended to forgive Didi if he came now, to offer some words of comfort, but Didi showed no sign of coming.
William, who had been waiting with open eyes, his patience finally wearing thin, couldn’t stand it any longer and headed to Didi’s room, a knot of unease tightening in his stomach.
“Didi!”
He burst open Didi’s firmly closed door, the sudden noise startling the small lump curled up under the covers on the bed.
The lump jolted in surprise, a small, sudden movement.
Silence hung in the air for a moment, thick with unspoken emotions.
After patiently waiting, Didi poked his head out, his face still red and puffy.
“Master…?”
His voice was a mere whisper, hoarse from crying continuously.
He had thought Didi had stopped crying after arriving home, but it seemed he hadn’t.
His face was wet with tears and a complete mess, a visible testament to his prolonged distress.
Seeing this, William muttered a small curse under his breath and roughly ruffled his hair, a gesture of frustration and a strange kind of helplessness.
“Didi, come here.”
William’s voice was firm, yet held a hint of his underlying concern.
Didi hesitated for a moment, then got out of bed and shuffled over, his small frame still radiating a lingering sadness.
“Why did you call me, Master…?”
Didi asked, his voice still hoarse.
William furrowed his brow.
The distance between them was subtly farther than usual, a conscious gap Didi seemed to be maintaining.
Was he protesting because William had forgotten him?
The thought, though irritating, held a kernel of truth.
He was clearly keeping his distance on purpose, a silent reproach.
William looked at Didi with a dissatisfied expression and asked,
“Did you put medicine on your arm?”
“No…”
Didi hunched his shoulders, as if expecting to be scolded, his gaze averted.
William instructed him to get the medicine.
Didi picked up the ointment from the table, opened the lid, and tried to apply it himself, his uninjured hand fumbling slightly.
“Who told you to put it on yourself?”
William approached and snatched the ointment from Didi’s hand, his movements decisive.
He ignored Didi, who flinched and looked up at him with wide, uncertain eyes, and began to apply the ointment himself, his touch surprisingly gentle.
“Stay still.”
William commanded, his voice now softer.
“Yes…”
Didi flinched when the cold ointment touched his wound, a small shudder passing through him.
Was it that painful, even with just this much?
William carefully applied the ointment, taking more strength out of his fingertips, a focused intensity in his movements as he tended to the small wound.
He smoothed the cream over the stitches, his brow furrowed in concentration.
The scent of antiseptic filled the air, a stark contrast to the earlier smell of fireworks.
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