The RC helicopter folded and reshaped with metallic clicks, its six rotor blades snapping into a fan-like cape behind Magic Cube's upgraded robot form—now sleeker but still blue-red with black mechanical accents.
"Now I get why people obsess over Transformers…" Zhang Xiaowen muttered, clutching infant formula and water.
"Aerial mode drains energy. Ground vehicle's better for now," Magic Cube grumbled, retracting its rotor-blade machete after decapitating a hallway zombie. Its new blade—crafted from propeller alloy—gleamed with brutal efficiency.
•••
At the mother's apartment, Magic Cube transformed into a rolling hotplate.
*Thunk.* Zhang Xiaowen plopped a kettle onto the robot's roof. "Boil water. Now."
"First a taxi, now a stove. What's next? A toaster?" Magic Cube's engine hummed indignantly as the kettle hissed to life.
Wang Nan, the gaunt young mother, gaped. "Is…is that toy car *boiling water*?"
"High-tech camping gear." Zhang Xiaowen stirred instant noodles in a soot-stained pot. "Eat. We leave for the mountains tomorrow."
As twilight painted the sky gunmetal gray, Magic Cube multitasked: heating formula, simmering soup, and projecting a subtle "FUEL LOW" warning. Wang Nan fed her baby with trembling hands, tears mixing with steam.
Downstairs, Feng Zhiwen's husky sniffed the air, drooling at the aroma of canned fish wafting through vents.
*Priority update,* Magic Cube mused, calculating ration distribution. *Infant: 30% calories. Dog: 40% calories. Feng Zhiwen: 20% calories. Remaining 10%: emergency battery reserve.*
Zhang Xiaowen ladled noodles into containers. "Deliver these to the girls and…*that guy*. And no snacking!"
"Affirmative," droned the robot, rotor-cape whirring as it levitated toward the balcony. *Humans. Always complicating survival with* feelings.*