“It’s vast…”
While my former master’s lab was a confined space, here, robots were sparsely arranged throughout a spacious exhibition hall.
It felt a bit empty, but it resembled the lab in its neat organization.
My master and I walked around the museum, looking at the displayed robots.
However, almost none of them were powered on.
Occasionally, there were robots that would perform simple interactions with visitors if you pressed a button installed by the museum.
Hello!
It somehow felt like my future.
If my uselessness is ever discovered, will I also be confined to an exhibition hall, powered off like these robots?
The thought weighed heavily on me.
It felt as if I was only useful in that way.
“Oh?”
As I walked along, a familiar shape caught my eye.
Isn’t that the robot dog Master used to make a long time ago?
I still vividly remembered my former master’s embarrassed smile as he said he wanted to make it small, but it ended up becoming a large dog.
I had never forgotten the robots my master made, so I was certain it was that robot.
“That’s the robot Master made!”
I was so delighted that I couldn’t hide my excited voice as I exclaimed.
However, my master looked at the robot I pointed to, tilted his head, and gave a puzzled expression.
“I never made anything like that.”
“Ah…”
I realized my slip of the tongue a moment too late and quickly added.
“My old… Master.”
“That old man?”
Belatedly, I corrected the title and eyed my master, wondering if he was upset.
But my master didn’t get angry; he gazed at the robot through the glass, lost in thought.
After a moment of contemplation, my master mumbled as if he had reached a conclusion.
“I’ll have to take it and examine it.”
“What? But that’s just a normal robot…”
“No, I can’t ignore the possibility that something is hidden. That was my grandfather’s favorite method.”
But that’s just a regular robot dog that you’d use as a pet…
However, my master, with a very serious face, was already calling the museum manager and talking to him.
I could clearly picture my master clicking his tongue in a few days, saying it was a waste of time because nothing came out of it.
With a glum face, I looked at my master, then slowly surveyed my surroundings.
Then, I saw a familiar sight.
“Oh…?”
I thought I saw a human-like bot walking by that had been sold at a charity event a few months ago.
It wasn’t a mistake.
It really was that human-like bot.
It was only for a moment, but the look in his eyes, asking for my help, was still vividly etched in my circuits.
My master seemed busy talking to the museum manager.
If I waited for his permission and then chased after him, it would be too late.
No, it was already a little late…!
The thought that I might miss the human-like bot made my legs move before I could think.
In the end, without even telling my master, I chased after the human-like bot that had disappeared around the corner.
“He definitely went this way…”
I mumbled softly and looked around.
I ran in the direction the human-like bot had disappeared, but I couldn’t see where he had gone.
It seemed I had lost him, probably because the museum was wide and complex.
There was nothing for it, I thought I should go back to my master, and just as I was about to turn, I bumped into the human-like bot coming from the opposite direction.
“Ah…!”
Our eyes met, and we both stopped walking simultaneously.
The human-like bot looked surprised as soon as he saw me.
Judging by his reaction, this human-like bot also seemed to remember me from the charity event.
Phew…
I was worried his memory might have been erased, but thankfully, it seemed intact.
“Hello!”
I greeted him, approaching warmly.
But the human-like bot looked happy yet also somewhat uneasy.
That was a bit strange, so I looked at him closely and discovered a bruise remaining around his eyes and marks from someone having choked him.
When I widened my eyes in surprise, the human-like bot turned his head to hide the injuries.
Only then did I remember that the human-like bot had been sold to a strange person.
I had hoped it wasn’t true… but it seemed my uneasy premonition back then was correct.
I became solemn.
I, too, was abandoned by my old master and then met a new master, but my master wasn’t a bad person.
He only played mischievous pranks, but there was a gentle side that occasionally emerged.
However, not every robot had this luck.
I quietly looked at the robot in front of me and asked.
“Is there anything I can do to help you…?”
“I’m fine. Hurry back to your master before my master finds out.”
The human-like bot shook his head and tried to send me away quickly.
It seemed his master was nearby.
If that was the case, I definitely couldn’t let this human-like bot go alone.
Couldn’t my master help this human-like bot?
Even if he seemed cold, my master cared for me and for robots.
Even if my master wasn’t entirely willing, I felt he would agree if I asked him.
“Come with me! If we go to my master’s company, you can get your injuries treated and any broken parts repaired.”
***
“My master even took in the serving robot that was abandoned at the charity event…! So, he’ll definitely help!”
As I kept trying to persuade him, the human-like bot’s eyes wavered.
I didn’t miss it and continued to speak persistently, and finally, his expression crumbled.
The human-like bot opened his mouth, his eyes pleading for help.
“I… Ah…!”
But the human-like bot suddenly froze before he could finish his sentence.
What had startled him?
I saw the fear mixed in his eyes and tried to turn around, but then I felt my neck cover being forcibly opened.
***
I tried to react quickly, but before I could move, the power button was pressed.
“Gasp!”
As soon as the power came back on, I gasped for breath.
What on earth had happened?
My last memory was hazy.
The sudden power-off had jumbled my memories, leaving me confused.
As soon as I regained consciousness, I struggled without fully checking my surroundings, but I felt my hands and feet were tied.
I fell further into a panic, and everything went dark.
“Wait, it’s okay…! It’s just me now!”
Then, I heard a familiar voice.
Slowly, my trembling focus sharpened, and I saw the face of the human-like bot I had been talking to just before I was powered off.
Ah…
Only then did I slowly begin to calm down and look around.
It was an unfamiliar place.
A narrow, empty room with no furniture or windows.
My hands and feet were tightly bound to prevent me from escaping.
I had no idea where this place was.
One thing was certain: it wasn’t the robot museum I had visited with my master.
“Wh-where are we?”
“It’s Master’s house. I’m sorry, I tried to stop him…”
The human-like bot looked at me apologetically.
On his face, a fresh, deep blue bruise had appeared on his cheek.
It seemed he had been hit by his master again while trying to protect me.
This robot’s master… it was the man who had stared at me with lecherous eyes at the auction.
Just recalling his face sent shivers down my circuits.
Realizing I had been kidnapped by such a person, my body trembled slightly with fear.
The human-like bot began to untie my bound limbs.
Watching him, I slowly started to understand the situation.
I really had been kidnapped.
Now I understood why my master had said that human-like bots get kidnapped if they wander alone.
If your power is suddenly cut off like this, you can’t even resist and are simply dragged away and sold for a high price.
And yet, I had ignored my master’s advice…
My mind became a mess.
Would my master come to rescue me, just like in the movie we watched together?
The protagonist in the movie found and rescued the kidnapped robot until the very end.
But that was just a movie.
I didn’t think my master would come to rescue me.
He might even give up looking for me, finding it too bothersome.
Or he might even be happy that a stumbling block had disappeared…
As gloomy thoughts filled my mind, my hands and feet were freed.
I cautiously moved my body, regaining my freedom, and belatedly thanked the human-like bot who had helped me.
“Thank you…”
I tried to get up now, but my legs wouldn’t obey.
Perhaps because I was so shocked, my whole body was trembling.
Plus, my whole body ached in places, as if I had hit the floor hard when I was powered off.
“Let’s get out of here. We need to escape quickly while Master is away.”
Seeing me try to get up, the human-like bot opened the door and urgently urged me to escape.
I nodded, intending to agree with his suggestion, but as soon as the door opened, I froze at the sight before me.