“Ah, this… Your palms are all scraped up. You must have taken a really bad fall, huh?”
“Looks like your knee will scar too…”
Each time Thomas murmured as he checked over Didi’s body, William’s expression grew darker.
These were all scenes he’d already watched over and over again through the roadside camera footage.
Didi, wandering past a restaurant, staring blankly because he was hungry, then tripping and falling.
Or stumbling over a toll barrier in the dark night, not noticing it at all.
William wanted to rush over right that moment, pick Didi up, bring him home, and apply medicine to his wounds.
But Didi had already left that place, and there was nothing he could do.
The utter helplessness pressed down on him.
The more he thought about it, the more miserable he felt.
After finishing his examination, Thomas spoke up.
“Luckily, there doesn’t seem to be anything broken. There’ll be some scars, but as long as you put on ointment after he’s powered on, the wounds will heal quickly.”
“Yeah.”
“Oh, and it’s best not to change his position. If he wakes up and his posture is different, his body might not adjust.”
William continued to gaze at Didi, who was still sitting slumped on the floor.
Elbows, knees, hands—there wasn’t a single spot left unscathed.
Through the torn clothes, the skin was scratched and stained with bruises. Every mark told the story of Didi’s hardships endured alone.
Still… Even though Didi had come back in such a mess, William could hardly believe he was seeing Didi with his own eyes again.
Just having Didi, the one he’d searched for so desperately, right in front of him made his heart swell with emotion.
William slowly reached out and gently stroked Didi’s cheek.
“…It’s cold.”
“Well, of course. The power’s off. Didi’s a robot, after all.”
William’s brow furrowed.
It was a phrase he’d always had on the tip of his tongue, but today, the word ‘robot’ felt strangely grating.
As William’s cold eyes turned toward him, Thomas, who’d been putting away his tools, flinched and asked,
“W-why are you looking at me like that?”
“Make a charger and send it to the house before the week is over.”
“No, that’s impossible… Hey, William!”
Whatever Thomas shouted, William was already carrying Didi in his arms and leaving the lab.
Thomas’s anxious voice echoed behind him, but William didn’t look back, not even once.
When William returned home with Didi in his arms, Sophia greeted them.
“Welcome home, William. Didi, you’re back.”
“Didi can’t answer. Go inside.”
“Yes.”
Sophia replied briefly and quietly disappeared into her room.
William watched her for a moment, then carried Didi upstairs.
William was about to head for Didi’s room as usual, but then remembered the chaos inside and changed direction.
His own room, which he hadn’t visited in a long time, was still clean.
While Didi’s room had fallen into disarray, Sophia had been steadily maintaining the rest of the house.
William sat Didi down on his own bed and stared at him in a daze.
On his face, relief and complicated emotions mingled together.
The relief of having found Didi again, and the sorrow of seeing Didi return with his whole body battered and numb.
William carefully carried Didi to the bathroom and washed him thoroughly.
He shampooed his hair, gently cleaned his injuries so they wouldn’t open up, and dried him with a soft towel.
After dressing him in clean clothes, William laid Didi down on the bed. Didi, still in a sitting posture, looked a little awkward lying on his side, but William didn’t mind.
Finally, Didi had returned to his rightful place, and the peaceful look on his sleeping face was more serene than anyone else’s.
“…Didi.”
In a low voice, William quietly called Didi’s name.
As he brushed the damp hair away, the fine, soft strands slipped gently through his fingers.
It felt as if Didi would toss and turn in his sleep at any moment, or open his eyes slightly and call out to him in a drowsy voice.
But the room was utterly silent—not even a breath, not a single small voice.
What was Didi feeling when he powered down?
The human-bot who had informed William of Didi’s whereabouts said Didi had looked out into the distance with an indescribably lonely expression.
But the Didi before William now, peacefully asleep with his eyes closed, looked more serene than anyone else in the world.
As if there was no longer any lingering attachment or sorrow left.
William quietly pulled Didi into his arms.
The sweet scent he’d longed for filled his lungs.
Tonight, for the first time in a long while, sleep came easily, without the help of sleeping pills or alcohol.
Within the peace he hadn’t felt in so long, William quietly closed his eyes.
***
From the next day, William refused to go to work.
For the time being, he decided to handle all company matters from home.
He told his secretary to send all documents to the house and instructed that all reports be delivered by email from now on.
With Didi in front of him, he couldn’t help but smile.
Just watching Didi, sitting on the bed with his eyes closed, made the whole day pass by in a flash.
He couldn’t focus on work at all.
Even with the documents spread out before him, he never turned a single page.
Then, with a quiet knock, Sophia entered the room.
“William, dinner is ready.”
“Bring it up.”
“Yes, sir.”
He couldn’t leave Didi’s side even for a moment.
Even though he knew Didi was powered off, he felt as if Didi would vanish like a mirage if he looked away, even briefly.
“I’ll come back in an hour to clean up.”
“All right.”
Soon, Sophia returned and set the tray on the desk, then quietly left the room.
William watched her as she closed the door and walked out.
Even though Sophia had spent time with Didi, she’d never developed any feelings.
She was a robot created by Grandfather.
Because Grandfather, who knew about Didi’s hidden features, hadn’t made the foolish mistake of modifying the human-bot code to manufacture robots like he and Thomas had done.
William still didn’t know exactly why Grandfather had left Didi to him.
Or maybe, just maybe, he was starting to understand.
He didn’t want to see Didi in pain.
If Didi ever saw others like himself being exploited by humans, he would surely be heartbroken.
A robot with emotions was no longer an ordinary machine.
They could think for themselves, feel sadness and joy.
Their bodies might be artificial, but inside, they were no different from humans.
To buy and sell such beings without any sense of responsibility—such things should never happen.
Grandfather must have realized that too.
And William, too, didn’t want to see such delicate, feeling robots being treated carelessly by ignorant people.
Just as he had once hurt Didi, he knew that someone else would inevitably wound a robot with emotions.
So time passed, and about a week later, the long-awaited package finally arrived.
-William, did you get the charger?
“Yes, it arrived safely.”
-By the way, about the humanoid whose release got cancelled…
Before Thomas could finish, William hung up.
He immediately opened the box, and inside was the neatly packaged charger.
His mood instantly lifted.
At last, he could see Didi again.
What kind of expression would Didi make when he opened his eyes?
What would he say first to the master he’d longed to see?
Just imagining it made William’s heart race—he couldn’t wait any longer.
William went upstairs, plugged in the charger, and connected it to the back of Didi’s neck.
After waiting a moment, Didi’s eyelids slowly, very slowly, fluttered open.
“Didi.”
William called Didi’s name in a bright voice.
Didi blinked a few times, then finally seemed to come to his senses and lifted his head.
The moment his dark eyes recognized William, his pupils trembled greatly.
“M-master…?”
“Didi, are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?”
“Why… am I… here…?”
Didi’s face grew more and more anxious as he looked around in confusion.
Maybe it was because the location had changed so suddenly.
William gently whispered to reassure him.
“Didi, it’s all right. I found you powered off and brought you home. Now…”
“…Why did you do that?”
Didi quietly interrupted William’s words.
Then he lowered his head, and tears began to fall, one by one.
“I… I didn’t want to wake up.”
“Didi…?”
“I just wanted to stay powered off forever…”
Only then did William realize something was terribly wrong.
He desperately grabbed Didi’s hand and pleaded.
“Didi, I love you. I realized it too late—after you were gone, I searched for you every day.”
“I…”
Didi slowly lifted his head.
Tears welled up on his battered face, and the eyes he turned to William were filled with pain.
His trembling lips parted, and he spoke with difficulty.
“I don’t love you anymore, Master…”