“You’re going to do it yourself? You haven’t even touched a robot since college. Are you sure you’ll be okay?”
It was just as Thomas said.
After William entered university and started studying management in earnest, he gradually distanced himself from the technical side, and that situation continued up until now.
With Thomas, who loved developing robots, around, William never felt the need to get his hands dirty building robots himself.
After that, he focused solely on management, so it had been nearly ten years since he last worked in the technical field.
The reason he wanted to work on a robot again was simple.
He wanted to do something for Didi himself.
Didi had always felt sorry that Eve couldn’t move around freely, so if Eve got legs, Didi would surely be delighted.
Just like now.
***
But, can you turn that face you keep turning away, half of it, La-Noni-Ni, can you spin it around?
“What is this?”
“Ah, that needs to be connected over here.”
Since it had been so long since he’d modified a robot, William worked with Thomas’s help.
The robot dog built by his grandfather was an old model designed in a traditional way, so its structure was completely different from modern robots, and most of it had to be taken apart and rebuilt.
Thanks to that, it was quite a struggle.
No matter how many times they tried, the memory chip wouldn’t register, and after fumbling with it for a long time, they finally succeeded.
“Ah, it’s moving!”
Once the memory chip was recognized, the main body gave a small shudder and finally started operating.
The camera behind the black pupils whirred busily as it scanned its surroundings.
Its last memory was likely the moment of the accident, so it seemed to be assessing the situation.
“Eve, try getting up.”
Perhaps because its body had suddenly changed, Eve couldn’t move properly and flailed about.
At first, William thought there was a problem, but soon realized Eve was simply confused and didn’t know how to move its new body.
Even now, Eve was lying on the workbench, legs waving in the air.
For a robot that only knew how to roll wheels, walking on four legs wasn’t easy.
Even after quite a while, Eve still couldn’t stand up, and William clicked his tongue as he watched.
“It’s embarrassing to show you to Didi like this.”
Perhaps provoked, Eve began kicking its legs even more vigorously.
Well, if it keeps flailing like that, it’ll get used to it soon enough.
It just needs a little more time.
Come to think of it…
“Did you say the emotion code was activated?”
“Yeah. When I analysed it, it turns out it was already active from the moment you first brought it.”
Just as he thought.
From day one, Eve had only followed Didi around, and the feeling that it didn’t treat him as its master wasn’t just his imagination.
Having to bring home such a stubborn thing…
If it weren’t for Didi, he’d have locked it in storage ages ago.
Eve was still wriggling around noisily.
Unlike ordinary pet robots, it was as big as a large dog, so every time it twisted and thrashed its legs, the whole workbench rattled.
The tools nearby had long since rolled off onto the floor.
“Once it gets used to moving, it’ll be fine. Are you taking it home today?”
“Of course.”
He answered as he checked the time, and before he knew it, night had fallen deep.
Damn, he’d gotten so absorbed in working after so long that he lost track of time.
By the time he managed to get Eve, who still couldn’t support herself, ready and stepped outside, it was already midnight.
He’d told Didi he’d be back soon, but now it was far too late.
Hopefully Didi hadn’t left home again.
Suppressing his anxious thoughts, he loaded Eve into the back seat and hurried home.
***
After Master left for work, I looked around the room for my smartphone.
I was sure I’d left it on the bed when I left home, but it wasn’t anywhere near the bed.
I hesitated for a moment, thinking about asking Sophia, then opened the drawer next to the bed.
Inside was the red leather collar Master had given me as a gift long ago.
The marks left by the man who kidnapped me were still clearly visible.
Thinking back, that really did happen.
I gently closed the drawer, recalling the day Master came to rescue me.
Then I opened the lower drawer, and finally spotted my smartphone.
It seemed Sophia had put it there while tidying up the room.
Since it was powered off, I plugged it in to charge first.
Once it was fully charged, I put it in my pyjama pocket, just in case Master called, and headed back to the living room.
But even though Master had said he’d be back soon, night had grown deep and he still hadn’t returned.
He’d told me to answer right away if he called, but there was no contact.
He must have gotten busy all of a sudden.
By now, Master coming home late was nothing new.
Still, I wanted to at least say good night to him before sleeping…
As I thought that and started to get up, I caught sight of Sophia heading toward the front door.
Could it be Master coming home?
I quietly followed Sophia, and as I reached the entryway, I sensed some commotion beyond the door.
“Stop flailing around, will you? You can’t even walk yet, all you do is make things heavy… Do you think I want to be doing this?”
It was Master’s familiar voice coming from beyond the door.
But it sounded like he was talking to someone, with a hint of annoyance in his tone.
Soon the front door opened, and Master appeared, holding a large black object in his arms.
It was a familiar shape.
Looking closer, it was the robot dog Master had made long ago.
Amazingly, the robot dog was powered on and moving.
As Master carried it, it twisted and squirmed, and when it met my eyes, it struggled even more fiercely.
Thud.
The robot dog swung its leg and hit Master square in the face.
Master let out a brief groan and set the robot down on the floor.
It was nice to see the old robot he made moving again, but… why had Master brought home a different robot when he’d gone to fix Eve?
Curious, I asked,
“Master, why did you bring this robot home?”
“This is Eve.”
“Yes?”
“Since the main body was destroyed, I figured this would be better than a serving robot. This way, it can even go up stairs.”
I blinked slowly.
Then I looked back and forth between the robot dog, which Master called Eve, and Master standing next to it.
The robot dog on the floor couldn’t even stand properly and just lifted its head to look at me.
Its tail was wagging enthusiastically, though.
“Just like a dog… It learned how to wag its tail before it could walk.”
Master looked at the scene and muttered in disbelief.
I took a careful step toward the robot and asked,
“Is it really Eve?”
“Yeah. It probably can’t walk yet because it doesn’t know how to move its new body, but seeing it wag its tail, I bet it’ll be running around in no time.”
Those jet-black eyes stared at me quietly.
I had only ever met Eve through a screen, but I could tell by the look in those eyes.
This robot was really Eve.
Eve.
Unable to contain my joy, I hugged Eve tightly.
A big, hard body that filled my arms.
It was no longer a white serving robot, but a sleek black metal form, yet the presence inside was still Eve.
The cold metal surface pressed against my face.
I’d been worried after hearing its body was completely destroyed in the accident, but thankfully its memories seemed intact.
Even if the outside had changed, it was definitely Eve.
I smiled brightly, accepting that affectionate greeting, then suddenly felt Master’s gaze watching me and Eve from the side, so I spoke.
“Did you come home late because you were bringing Eve?”
“Yeah. It took longer than I thought to get the memory chip recognized.”
He must have spent late hours at the office for my sake, seeing how sad I was about Eve’s absence.
And to think I almost went to bed without knowing…
Stroking Eve, I quietly murmured,
“Thank you, Master…”
Master looked at my face for a moment, then turned away and said calmly,
“It’ll take some time for Eve to get used to the new body. Since that thing seems to hate me, take good care of it for me.”
Okay.
“I’m going upstairs to rest, so don’t stay up too late playing with Eve.”
Master passed by me, looking tired, and headed up to the second floor.
Still hugging Eve, I quietly watched until his figure disappeared from sight.