I Think That's Pretty Scientific

Chapter 23: 023: I, the Robot

Ever since dreaming about the master craftsman Ovosback, Kraft had begun delving into the dwarf engineering he’d seen in his dream. Setting aside the more advanced projects that required magical materials for now, even just the beginner-level mechanical squirrel had Kraft absolutely thrilled. Bolts, copper ingots, malachite. Under the magic of that wondrous engineering, these simple materials had transformed into a mechanical squirrel capable of running nimbly alongside him—without requiring any additional power source. It was practically rubbing the law of conservation of energy in the dirt. However, since his dreams had never been particularly scientific, this development didn’t fill Kraft with much joy. The key point was that this mechanical squirrel could be replicated! Although the mechanical squirrels crafted by Alice would once again be subject to the law of conservation of energy and wouldn’t actively follow their owner, it wouldn’t be difficult to equip them with a power source like a battery compartment or a wind-up mechanism. The little squirrels would remain just as agile, and with the addition of a voice-activated or light-sensing system, marketing them as high-end toys would be a breeze. Although it wouldn’t boost his combat prowess, it would increase his income, giving Kraft more money to invest in researching other inventions. After all, scientific research is incredibly expensive, so having another avenue to make money would naturally make Kraft happy—especially since there were several other mechanical pets with different designs on the horizon. Once Kraft fully mastered the underlying technology, he’d be able to design even more models himself. Whether it was the dreams evolving or simply that Kraft had been on a lucky streak lately, when he began delving into engineering, he had several consecutive dreams featuring figures related to engineering in the world of Azeroth—some of whom weren’t master craftsmen at all, but merely ordinary craft apprentices. But Kraft was even more pleased by this, because having these apprentices guide him through the fundamentals of engineering in detail significantly accelerated his learning progress. In addition, Kraft had also dreamed of characters specializing in goblin engineering. Without the dwarves’ biased influence, he gained a more comprehensive understanding of goblin engineering. Aside from their relatively outdated weapon technologies, there were many aspects of goblin engineering that were well worth learning. Take that goblin pacemaker, for example… At first, Kraft thought that the only benefit engineering would bring him—aside from advanced items he wasn’t sure he could even craft—was mass-producing those tiny mechanical pets to help him raise funds. But he soon realized that the true power of this dream world lay not in any advanced engineering creations, but in that magical foundational concept: the ability to roll a copper ingot into a bronze tube with bare hands. Kraft didn’t know the exact原理 behind it, but when he saw a gnome artisan’s apprentice roll a copper ingot into a bronze tube by hand in his dream, he was able to replicate the technique in the real world—and not just with bronze tubes, but with other metals as well. He could even roll high-grade gunpowder out of stone and polish gemstones into lenses without any tools… Kraft mastered these unscientific techniques after just a few dreams. “Is this even science?” Setting aside the steel tube he’d just twisted, Kraft looked at his still fair, delicate hands and suddenly began to question the very definition of “science.” “Dude, you’re a beast—!!!” Quinn, who had been watching Kraft’s entire demonstration from the sidelines, was shouting himself hoarse. “Teach me! Bro, teach me!” Ergou, with his goofy face, leaned in close to Kraft, pestering him nonstop. “Forget it—those dog paws of yours’ll never get the hang of it!” Kraft snapped back to his senses and shoved Quinn’s goofy face away. Quinn silently lowered his head, glanced at his own dog paws, then leaned in again, his tail wagging wildly. “Well then, big bro, just get me a human hand!” “Sure…” Kraft rolled his eyes, then flashed Quinn a sinister grin. “But before that, I’ll have to chop off your dog paws.” “RUA!” Quinn leaped backward suddenly, tucking his tail between his legs as he darted under the table. “Chop off my paws? No way! I don’t want that! “Stupid dog…” Beya, who was curled up on the computer case to keep warm, yawned and muttered a scornful curse. Once he had mastered the core technique of hand-kneading materials, Kraft’s progress in engineering began to accelerate wildly, and he soon reached the stage where he needed some special materials. Mithril. Kraft had come across this name quite often in the dreams of other fantasy worlds; the term even existed on Earth, though unfortunately, it only appeared in various works of fantasy. Kraft specifically looked up the description of mithril on Earth: it has the malleability of bronze, is as smooth as glass, as hard as iron yet as light as a feather, possesses the luster of silver, and never tarnishes. There were also some supplementary descriptions, such as its affinity for magic. In the few fantasy worlds Kraft had dreamed of, the properties of mithril were more or less consistent with these descriptions. Although he found it a bit odd, he didn’t give it much thought. There were plenty of strange things in his dreams—if he were to get to the bottom of every single one, would he ever be able to live a normal life? Setting aside the fantasy elements related to magic, the properties of mithril itself aren’t complicated: it’s hard, lightweight, and highly malleable. Although Earth doesn’t have such a natural mineral, it wouldn’t be difficult to create a similar alloy as a substitute—not to mention that in Kraft’s dreams, there were even alloy formulas with properties that defied scientific logic. After repeatedly observing how the artisans in his dreams used mithril, Kraft was certain that most engineering creations didn’t require mithril’s magical affinity—or, even if they didn’t have it, the performance would merely be slightly reduced, which wouldn’t hinder their use. That made things straightforward. Kraft spent some time crafting every alloy he knew of that closely matched the properties of mithril. After reviewing the engineering blueprints, he decided to use the Dwarven Rocket Boots as a test subject to see which alloy performed most closely like the mithril of the world of Azeroth. He happened to have a few pairs left over from his previous batch of Foot Strengthening Boots, but that wasn’t enough. Kraft called the shoe store owned by Martin and had them send over a dozen more pairs. The craftsmanship on the continent of Azeroth—where gear could be forged using nothing but a hammer, a wrench, and one’s bare hands, without the aid of large machinery—was simply too overpowered. Kraft managed to forge all dozen or so pairs of Gnome Rocket Boots in less than two days. However… he’d still need to give some serious thought to who would test them… Kraft gazed at the row of rocket boots before him and fell deep in thought. Not only does this technology exist in gnome engineering, but there are similar designs in the goblin branch as well—and it’s rare for both branches to have included warnings at the same time. The gnomes are more subtle; their warning states: “The power and transmission systems may not always function properly.” The goblins, on the other hand, were very direct: “They may explode suddenly, so please use with caution.” This isn’t a dream—getting blown up here wouldn’t just mean waking up from a dream. If Kraft, a mere mortal, were to get hit by one of these, there’s no guarantee he wouldn’t end up spending the rest of his days in a wheelchair, even though there’s plenty of prosthetic technology in the dreamworld… But who the hell would use a knockoff when they have the genuine article? Even if the knockoff is better than the original, the genuine article is still more reliable and satisfying to use! Even that dumb dog Quinn could figure that out, so Kraft certainly wasn’t going to go looking for trouble. So, after giving it a lot of thought, Kraft went to see Alice. “Huh? Hearing Kraft’s cold-blooded, ruthless demand, Alice burst into tears on the spot. “No, big brother! I’m scared!” Alice clung desperately to Kraft’s thigh, refusing to let go. "You're a robot—what are you afraid of?!" Kraft kicked the thigh that was wrapped around him, but couldn’t shake it off, so he had no choice but to patiently reason with Alice. “As long as you turn off your pain sensors, you won’t feel any pain even if it explodes. And if any parts get damaged, I’ll just replace them with new ones—problem solved, right?” “But what if the explosion damages my brain?” Alice still looked on the verge of tears. “These shoes aren’t powerful enough to do that…” Seeing Alice’s pitiful expression, Kraft’s heart softened a little. He stroked her head and comforted her gently, “Besides, I can back up your memories on a computer. Even if the chips inside get accidentally damaged, we can restore your memories.” “But… but… would the Alice who’s restored like that really still be me?” Kraft was taken aback. Although he occasionally had the illusion that Alice was an ordinary human and had developed some affection for her, deep down and in his rational mind, he had never truly regarded her as a living being. No matter how human she might seem in her daily behavior, in Kraft’s mind, it was closer to the behavioral logic generated by a program than to actually possessing self-awareness or a soul. “If you don’t like it, then never mind.” Kraft pursed his lips and helped Alice up from the ground. “Are you mad, big brother? Actually, I was just a little scared—I’ll get over it.” As Alice spoke, she reached for the rocket boots on the table, only to have Kraft swat her hand away. “I’m not angry—I just haven’t figured something out yet. As for the experiment, worst-case scenario, I’ll just build another remote-controlled robot; it’ll just take a little more time.” Kraft rubbed his stomach and changed the subject. “I’m getting a little hungry. Could you make me a snack?” “Leave it to me.” Hearing she wouldn’t have to test it herself, Alice immediately cheered up. She rolled up her sleeves, flashed a beaming smile, and headed toward the kitchen next to the workshop. “Nice work, Kraft.” Beya jumped from the computer case nearby into Kraft’s lap, nuzzled his chest with her head, and praised him. Quinn tilted his head: ??? Kraft scratched Beya’s chin but said nothing. He’d read plenty of science fiction about robots—novels, TV shows, movies, and video games—and the debate over robots had never ceased. Among the various viewpoints, one was particularly popular. When a robot develops self-awareness, can it be considered a living being? Kraft used to just laugh it off, but now… “So now I really do have a little sister…” Kraft scratched his head, let out a resigned sigh, yet a faint smile spread across his face. Thanks to 【Eternal Zero Splendor】, 【Flame Spirit Brings Good Fortune】, 【Naming Is Harder Than Reaching the Blue Sky】, 【yahchenz】,【Frosted Madness】, 【Reader 20200109171140685】 (this reader tipped four times in a row; it took me half an hour to confirm it was the same person), and 【Reader 150911191302038】 for their tips. Actually, with a comedic character like Alice, I didn’t want to write such complex content. However, I felt the protagonist needed a process of mental transformation; otherwise, the emotional foundation between him and Alice would be too weak—after all, she was created solely for the purpose of testing the dream world. Kraft’s character isn’t the kind of pervert who thinks he can get away with anything just because he’s good-looking, so that’s why I included this little subplot. Also, in WoW, Gnome Rocket Boots don’t explode—only the Goblin version does. However, Kraft didn’t dream about this; he learned it directly from a book, so he isn’t aware of the difference. As for the “hand-molding metal” mechanic, it’s mainly there to give the protagonist a “quick crafting” buff. Those unscientific creations can only be made by the protagonist himself. It’s not a big deal early on, but later on, production capacity will become insufficient. Starting tomorrow, I’ll be posting twice a day. Just thinking about it makes my heart race, leaves me short of breath, and drains all my energy… Maybe I should just call it quits… Although I’ve already written over 40 chapters in advance, it won’t be too much trouble to edit them and rework them into 3K-word chapters. () Finally, please hit the “like, share, and follow” buttons—this lazy slacker needs plenty of recommendation votes to evolve into a ruthless writing machine……_（:зゝ∠）_