I Think That's Pretty Scientific

Chapter 12: 012: My Robot Little Sister

With practiced ease, he called Liao the Fat and asked him to request a day off for him. Then, Kraft grabbed some milk and bread from the fridge for breakfast and ran off to his workshop. Pushing open the studio door, Kraft popped the cap off the milk and took two big gulps, then swallowed the piece of bread he’d stuffed into his mouth on the way. “Phew—I almost choked to death…” Kraft gently pounded his chest with his fist, then took two more gulps of milk to calm his nerves. After tossing the empty milk carton into the trash can, Kraft began sketching the robot’s blueprints. Although Kraft could have done without the blueprints—relying entirely on his memories from the dream to replicate the construction process step by step—that approach wouldn’t do much to hone his skills. Since he now had ample funds and time, along with plenty of room for trial and error, he naturally chose the method that would best sharpen his technical abilities. Kraft had no intention of altering the initial design blueprints, even though many of the elements seemed rather baffling to him—such as the USB port on the toes, the toaster-shaped head, and the oversized mainspring that the robot itself couldn’t remove. But to play it safe, Kraft tried to avoid making any modifications during his first attempt at building it. “Hm?” Kraft, who was drawing the blueprints, suddenly turned his head and glanced back in confusion. He then stopped what he was doing and pulled up the studio’s surveillance feed, only to find that he was the only person in the studio from start to finish. “An illusion, perhaps…” Kraft scratched his head but still cast a few wary glances over his shoulder. Just moments ago, while sketching the design, he’d had a faint sensation that someone was watching him from behind. Kraft’s intuition was extremely keen. For as long as he could remember, this peculiar intuition had been a part of him; it had saved his life several times during his days as a drifter, so he trusted it implicitly. However, occasionally his intuition would fail him—especially when he first realized how reliable it was. At the slightest disturbance, he’d become extremely nervous, only to later discover it was all in his head. It took Kraft quite some time to adjust to this, so after checking the surveillance footage and finding nothing out of the ordinary, he didn’t give it another thought. Back at work, Kraft quickly finished drawing the blueprints. He then proactively blocked out his memories of Dr. Higashikumo building the robot—a process he had mastered by now. which was also related to the nature of his dream memories. Unlike ordinary memories, all dreams related to invention and creation existed as individual files that he could access at any time—somewhat akin to a so-called “memory palace,” though this applied only to Kraft’s own dream memories. After blocking the relevant memories, Kraft began building the robot according to the blueprints he had drawn. He spent over a week holed up in his workshop working on it. Even after Martin Lee returned from his business trip, Kraft was still holed up in his workshop and hadn’t emerged. Dr. Dongyun had built the robot in less than a day… Kraft had only blocked out the memories related to the actual construction; he still retained impressions of the other minor details. If only he’d blocked those out too… Kraft ran his fingers through his hair, which had become a tangled mess from lack of grooming, and sighed inwardly. “Hey! Kraft, did you pull another all-nighter last night?” Martin Lee walked in carrying a bag of xiaolongbao and frowned at Kraft’s bloodshot eyes. “No, no.” Kraft frantically waved his hands. His project was nearly finished—it would be such a shame if Martin dragged him back just now. “I just strained my eyes a bit. If you don’t believe me, you can check last night’s security footage—I went to bed just after 11!” “Is that so? But you promised me you’d be in bed by 10.” Martin said, his face stern as he stared at Kraft. “I just got so absorbed in my work that I forgot…” Kraft leaned in close to Martin, flashing a conciliatory smile. “I’ll set an alarm tonight—I’ll definitely be in bed before 10!” Anyway, it’ll all be over today—I’ll just fudge my way through it for now! “You said it!” Martin had no idea what Kraft was really thinking. He reached out and playfully tapped Kraft on the forehead twice; a smile finally spread across his face, and he handed him the steamed bun he was holding. “Go ahead and eat your breakfast.” “Oh! David’s steamed buns!” Just as Kraft was about to reach out to take them, Martin suddenly pulled his hand back. “You haven’t washed up yet.” “…All right…” Kraft’s hands froze mid-air, then he let his arms drop in resignation and shuffled toward the bathroom, glancing back every few steps. After finishing the breakfast Martin had brought, Kraft stretched his limbs and got back to work on the robot. By now, the robot’s main structure was almost complete; all that remained were a few finishing touches and the final connection of the power source. The so-called power source wasn’t the huge wind-up mechanism on its back, but a device that converted food into energy. According to the blueprints, this device was positioned in the robot’s abdomen—in short, Dr. Higashikumo had actually designed a “stomach” for the robot. Relying on ingested food to convert it into power… That’s just not scientific at all! After returning from his business trip, Martin Lee—whose workload had lightened considerably—didn’t rush off. Instead, he watched with great interest as Kraft pieced together the nearly finished robot girl, bit by bit. She’s all grown up… Looking at the robot girl’s adorable face before him, Martin Lee rested his chin in his hand and shot Kraft a meaningful glance. Kraft: ??? “Hey! Martin! Why are you giving me that weird look?” Uncomfortable under his gaze, Kraft couldn’t help but protest. “No, nothing…” Martin Lee looked away, then said earnestly, “Even though this robot looks cute, she’s not a real human after all.” “Of course I know that—I built it with my own two hands!” Kraft rolled his eyes at Martin, completely baffled. “Oh, okay, maybe I misunderstood…” Martin smacked his lips; Kraft’s reaction made him realize he’d probably read too much into it. “You’re talking nonsense…” Kraft pursed his lips, choosing not to probe further into what exactly his adoptive father had misunderstood. The robot’s construction had reached its final stage, and he simply didn’t have the mind to worry about anything else right now. After installing the final power unit in the robot, Kraft closed the hatch on its abdomen, pulled down the fabric that had ridden up, and smoothed it out. With a flutter of excitement, he flipped the final switch. “Click… click-click-click…” As the wind-up mechanism behind her turned, the robot girl slowly opened her eyes. “Kraft?” The robot girl tilted her head and, drawing on the data stored in her brain, called out the name of the boy standing before her. “Hahaha! I did it!” Kraft excitedly hugged Martin beside him, then wildly shook his head up and down. “That’s right! It’s me!” Kraft rushed over to the robot girl and started patting her all over. “I actually managed to build it—it’s unbelievable!” “Wait… wait a minute…” The robot girl shyly covered herself and began to cry out in a soft, trembling voice. “T-That’s bad behavior!” “H you big idiot!” Kraft snapped his hand out and slapped the robot girl on the forehead. “You’re a robot! What’s there to be ‘H’ about!” “Waaah!” The robot girl let out a cute little whimper, crouched down clutching her forehead, and with tear-filled eyes, accused Kraft of his brutal act. Martin Lee stared blankly at his adopted son interacting with the robot he’d created, his mind in turmoil. Is this a fucking robot?!!! The robot Kraft had built had far exceeded Martin’s expectations. He’d assumed Kraft would at most create a mechanical doll that looked human but was essentially just a giant toy—but now, seeing the rich expressions and intelligence this robot girl displayed as she interacted… If you took that wind-up mechanism off her back, she’d be no different from an ordinary human, right?! After interacting with the robot enthusiastically for a while, Kraft turned to look at Martin Lee, who appeared calm on the surface but was already a whirlwind of emotions inside. “Martin, could you help get Alice some identification?” “Alice?” Martin snapped out of his daze and looked at Kraft. “Yeah, that’s the name I gave her.” Kraft pointed to the robot girl he’d built and shared the backstory he’d already thought out with Martin: “Alice Li—her Chinese name is Li Mingnai—your distant niece and my cousin.” There was no need to give Mingnai a Japanese identity; just keeping her name was enough. As for “Alice,” it was taken from *Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland*, which had a bit to do with dreams. “But she clearly looks older than you, doesn’t she?” “It’s a matter of family hierarchy! Family hierarchy!” Kraft waved his hand dismissively, looking thoroughly annoyed. After all, Mingnai in the dream appeared as a high school student, but there was absolutely no way he was going to call her “sister”! “Fine,” Martin clicked his tongue. It was Kraft’s own doing anyway, so he could call her whatever he wanted. “But…” Martin pointed at the wind-up mechanism on Alice’s back. “With that thing there, won’t others get suspicious of Alice’s identity? Can’t we take it off?” “Sure.” Kraft casually pulled the wind-up mechanism off Alice’s back. “It’s just a decoration.” “Huh? Alice Lee stared at the wind-up mechanism in Kraft’s hand, her face a picture of shock, and asked the question that cut to the core: “Then why did you put this on me in the first place?!” “Um…” Kraft paused for a moment, then replied using Dr. Higashigumo’s exact words: “Because it’s cuter that way?” As he spoke, Kraft casually slipped the key back into the clockwork mechanism. “Click-click-click…” The reinserted mainspring spun mischievously for half a turn. Alice Nao Lee: “That’s not cute at all!!!” Kraft: “Suddenly, I understand why Dr. Shinonome designed the wind-up mechanism~” I’ve actually been pretty torn about Meino’s wind-up mechanism—if I keep it, it’ll attract S. H. I. E. L. D. too easily; if I take it out, it feels like Meino loses a lot of her charm. That silly cat, Nakamoto, has started fighting with his own hind legs again recently. He was just grooming himself, but as he was licking away, he accidentally kicked himself. After a bit of a struggle, he clamped his teeth down on his bed and kept growling… I guess he thinks his bed beat him up…