15 – She’s Bored

Bonnie jumped off her E.E.S. and waved to Liz. "Hey there. My name is Bonnie. Welcome to our home."

"Nice to meet you." The mechanic slightly bowed. "I'm Liz."

"No attack on our house or anything, Bonnie?" I asked the tiny girl.

She shook her head. "None at all. I spend my time cleaning, fixing things in the house, and masturbating… That last one was a joke… Aah, you guys brought a hoop and a basketball already, huh?"

Ciara held up the two objects. "Yeah, we found this and some canned food..."

"So, when are you going to travel again, Axel?" Bonnie turned to speak to me. "I want to accompany you."

I paused. Her words got me caught off guard. "We just got home, Bonnie. Yes, I don't need to rest. But I must accompany Liz to do many things, including attaching the drill to your E.E.S."

"After that, can we really? You probably need something else. Instant concrete to make a basketball court and walls for the well, maybe?"

"We also need additional spare parts to make a water pump." Liz chimed in. "Even before the war, no one used that technology anymore because the urban water system was very advanced. So, we can't just pick it up at any store or warehouse."

"Yeah." Bonnie gets excited. "There's no reason not to make the next trip soon."

"You're feeling adventurous already, huh?" I sighed. I suspect she's not completely bored but might want to escape this place for a while. Being alone in a location similar to her former shelter made her remember her late friends. "Okay, after you drill the well and Liz sets up the house, we'll go."

As usual, I have to maintain my colonists' mentality.

"Yay!" The tiny girl jumped for joy. "I will work on that as soon as possible."

***

"Isn't it time for you to rest, Bonnie!?" Against the sound of the drill, I screamed in the middle of the night. She had drilled the ground deep enough.

"Ciara said she wouldn't be disturbed by loud noises as long as it wasn't an attack!" Bonnie replied to me. "I want to finish this quickly so I can immediately collect resources!"

This girl…

"If you don't stop now, I will delay our journey!" I added.

"Okay, okay! Jeez!" The armored girl grumbled. "Just a little longer, I'll go up!"

I'm hovering back home. Taking care of colonists in the real world is even more challenging. They are real-life beings who are more dynamic than N.P.C.s, who are only made of a collection of programming code.

Just as I was about to reach the back door, Liz came out of the house.

"I've fixed the homecare system in this house. The temperature control is good, and you can already use security cameras. Unfortunately, the internet and T.V. cannot be used because the network no longer exists. And as per your orders, I did not activate the A.I. in this house." The mechanic robot explained. "You just need to use a wireless connection to manage everything."

"Thanks." I followed her words. And it didn't take long to connect to the house system. Besides being able to adjust the temperature inside, I can also access surveillance cameras in various corners of the building.

I could leave all those tasks to the default A.I. of this house, but that's prone to hacking. I'd rather take care of this house system. After all, I am a piece of military-grade equipment….

Ah, I'm starting to really think of myself as a robot.

"This is great, Liz." I gave my approval. "As thanks, you can request something from me. If it's still within my reach, I'll grant it. You deserve it."

Liz crossed her arms over her chest and was silent for a moment. "I have no special wishes in particular. My purpose is just to help other people's work, after all."

"Is that true?" Finally, Bonnie climbed out. "You've been serving humans for a long time, right? I think any android like you will emulate human values…. Ah, I'm not good at saying it. The point is an android like you must be capable of dreaming. Not a dream when you sleep, but a big desire that you want to achieve."

"Dream, huh?" The mechanic robot fell silent again. "Since a long time ago, I wanted to become a human. Not that I don't like this metal body. I want to experience life as a human being…. Ah, I knew it was ridiculous."

I can make that happen, though not completely. I approached Liz's face. "I've seen a cosmetic robot workshop that's still quite intact, even though it's a bit far from here."

"Ah." Liz, fresh out of her E.E.S., snapped her fingers. "That workshop is close to the electronics warehouse where we fought that damn tentacle monster, right?"