Chapter 34: 'After All, Noting Has Happened Yet.'

Charlotte arrived home late in the night.

The lights automatically turned on one by one when she walked in.

She scanned the apartment and it seemed a bit cleaner than when she left it that morning. She noticed the dishes in the sink has been washed off and were put away neatly inside the cupboard.

While thinking of her little robot friend, when you speak of the devil, he will appear. The robot rolled into the living from her bedroom, the door automatically shuts as it rolls in. Charlotte shuddered a bit seeing its natural movements, not completely used to a life-like robot rolling around her apartment.

"Ms. Charlotte! You came home quite late today. Was there something the matter?" the cheerful voice sounded out.

"No, I just met a few... acquaintances and we chatted late into the night."

"I just saw the new Ms. Charlotte. It seems that there was a commotion not far away from our location."

"Ah, I saw it in person. It was about a young man who got detained correct?"

"Yes! He broke a rule and was brought to the station and got judged by the authorities. This is a reminder, Ms. Charlotte, to not break any rules."

"...Yes, a very important reminder."

Charlotte looked at the little robot with caution. She felt the chill of a childish voice threatening out a warning. It wasn't just a simple reminder, it was a reminder of the constant monitoring and constant watch of those in charge. The voice seemed more like a mask, covering its fierce persona.

Of course, Charlotte didn't want any trouble and she would happily obey the laws of this world, just like any other mindless person who walked through the street of this city.

"Ms. Charlotte, you should wash up. You have an important appointment tomorrow."

Without explaining any further, the robot rolled back into her room and made its exit.

'Appointment? Appointment for what?'

She took off her shoes and went to the bathroom that was placed close to the living room. Even though she liked the house, she would have designed the bathroom to be a bit closer to the bedroom.

As she got ready for bed, she still tried to decipher what appointment she possibly could have booked.

'It has to do something with the original story and relate to the main character. Who would the main character be anyway?'

'Although we chatted, I am not even sure if Lucian is the main character. For all I know, he could be some really pretty guy that she happened to meet. But he could also be the antagonist of the story for all I cared. His aura screamed innocent though, but he isn't exactly completely dense out of his mind. He is self-aware of the problems of this society, or at least I drilled it into his brain enough to be aware of it. The author could develop that understanding further and create a dying world or something.'

'What do I know anyways? I might as well just go with the flow and enjoy the story bit by bit. The whole secret street thing is also an interesting feature. A form of hidden rebellion. I wonder how far the author developed this world since it seemed to be centered on world-building.'

'Also, that weird hood guy we met at the ramen shop. He directly confronted Lucian, who I assume is a somewhat important character, which means he is plot-relevant. The action of grabbing his wrist before Lucian reached his hood provokes secrecy but also strength over him. Is he some hidden strong character or am I just looking too much into it?'

'I should just not think too much and let the story take charge.'

She has completely freshened up and now was on her bed.

'Now, how do I turn off the lights? There is no switch...' she wondered.

"Turn off the lights."

The lights followed her command and switched off.

'What mechanism controls the lights? It's voice-sensitive, right? Can they hear me? If so, that's just creepy. But, what do I have to hide?'

'I wonder what other robots are there installed inside this apartment. How many cameras and microphones are installed in those devices? Do people still use cameras and microphones anymore in this era? I don't know enough about how this technological world functions. This is set in the future so it has to be a futuristic setting.'

'Usually, these settings would have something that feels off. Something that is so clearly wrong in "our" day and age but the people in these settings seem to be ignorant of it. Like a frog cooked in hot water, they were slowly introduced to these rules and just mindlessly abide by them without stopping and asking why. Finding those people in his setting would be odd.'

'No, maybe the people know, deep down. They are too afraid to speak out about it because they know best of the consequences that follow. Humans aren't as stupid as one might think and are intelligent enough to jump out of the boiling pot of water. So, how many do know but are afraid to speak out? That's an interesting distinction.'

'I wonder if the younger generations know since they don't have knowledge prior to the changes. The offspring that live in a boiling water environment only know the boiling water environment. I guess that is what makes people more ignorant, with time and change. But humans still aren't stupid. Of the bunch of kids, there should be one who can see the wrongs very clearly, the minority. Of course, this is still based on the theory that all kids are blind to the problem while adults keep quiet about the ugly world. Is it some sort of duty to hide the slowly crippling world? If we hide it from the future generation, how do we expect them to take over?'

'The author really chose a good setting. What an interesting topic. Well, I get all the time in the world to discuss this after when I fully witness the story. After all, nothing has happened yet.'

With that thought in mind, she drifted off to sleep.