Chapter 33: Sky Squirrel

“I see, so it was the talking golem from back then.”

After Solaris’ greeting, Noemi drank the coffee she had poured and observed her sitting in front of her.

Solaris, without flinching under Noemi’s gaze, remained expressionless and still.

“Hey, Rudy. Does she have emotions?”

“I don’t know, ask her yourself.”

When Noemi asked Rudy, it felt as if she was questioning a life-size doll, and she received a curt response.

“So, what’s the verdict?”

“I don’t have emotions because I haven’t installed any emotion-based applications.”

“In other words, you don’t have them.”

“That is correct.”

Something felt lacking… Noemi looked puzzled and turned her gaze to Rudy.

Rudy sighed and shook his head from side to side.

“It’s a pain, you know? Living just to follow orders is damn boring. And isn’t it embarrassing to say you don’t have emotions?”

“I don’t have feelings of boredom or embarrassment. Also, Master, your way of speaking has been inconsistent, mixing rude language with polite speech.”

“You don’t have to tell me that. Even without being told, I know it. It’s a deliberate choice to keep this way of speaking. It’s a jab at someone who messed up my settings and created a bizarre translation.”

Saying that, Rudy stuck out his tongue playfully.

“…I apologize, Master,” Hal, who had been listening to Solaris and Rudy’s conversation, apologized to Rudy via the wireless connection.

“Anyway, Haruko-san, why didn’t you install the emotion application?”

“Haruko-san is the name of the cyborg body. I am Solaris.”

“Answer the question.”

“After executing the emotion application that came with the cyborg body several times, it interfered with the original personality settings and caused abnormalities in the data, so I decided not to install it.”

“Can’t military AIs use commercial applications?” Asked Rudy.

“Unfortunately, it poses a risk of going out of control.”

Even though it might have been possible, they intentionally chose not to do it. Rudy sighed once again.

“Is everything settled?”

Noemi, who had been left out of the loop, spoke up, and nodded.

“So, it’s Haruko-san, right?”

“Noemi-sama, Haruko-san is the name of the cyborg body. I am Solaris.”

Solaris corrected her, perhaps disliking being called Haruko-san.

“First of all, could you stop using ‘sama’ when addressing me?”

“But I heard that Noemi-sama is the master’s mentor.”

“That’s true, but it somehow makes me feel like I’m being mocked, as if I were some kind of noble.”

“According to my data, nobles are a respected class and not subjects of mockery.”

“…I see, you certainly are stubborn.”

“That’s right.”

Noemi Muttered something and Solaris nodded in agreement. Rudy chimed in.

“Basically, Solaris intentionally calls you ‘sama’ and always makes you feel uncomfortable.”

“No, there’s no need to make Noemi-sama uncomfortable… Then, what should I call you?”

“Just Noemi is fine.”

“Then call me Rudy. Master doesn’t have any honorifics, and as your disciple, calling me ‘Master Backup’… Backup? No, that’s not right, let me change it.”

Following Noemi, Rudy gave his order, and Solaris thought for a moment before nodding.

“…Understood. I’ll do that.”

Upon Solaris’ response, Noemi smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

“What’s wrong?” 

“Your head may be stubborn, but we can communicate, can’t we?”

“It’s just a hassle.”

“Every human is a hassle, no matter who it is.”

“…Am I a hassle too?”

“There are two types of hassle, you know? One is the annoying kind, and the other is when something so extraordinary happens that you don’t care about the hassle. Since I met Rudy, I’ve been encountering extraordinary events every week.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize at all. Being with you is fun.”

Noemi laughed in response to Rudy, who seemed apologetic.

Solaris, who had been observing Noemi, couldn’t understand what was fun about it and pondered over it.

After having breakfast, the three, including Solaris this time, headed to Noemi’s house as usual.

Since Solaris runs on electricity, they only needed to plug in the cable to the base camp’s outlet to recharge, making meals unnecessary.

After disembarking from the hovercraft, the three checked the logs that had been dried three days prior.

“Hmm… I’m not a lumberjack, so I can’t tell for sure, but it looks dry, don’t you think?”

“It’s sufficiently dry. Solaris, what do you think?”

“No issues. Once we apply waterproof, fireproof, and rot-resistant coating, we can use them as materials for wooden structures.”

Since there were no issues with the dried logs, Rudy called for a drone to apply the coating.

“Haruko-san, could you make the foundation stones?”

“It’s not Haruko-san, it’s Solaris.”

“Right, right. Just go and make them.”

“Understood. I will make the foundation stones.”

“Thank you.”

“Are you sure it’s okay even though it’s heavy?”

Noemi expressed her concern, and Solaris nodded in response.

“It’s no problem as long as it’s up to 1.2 tons.”

“…That’s impressive.”

“Then, I’ll go ahead and do it.”

With those words, Solaris promptly left the two and began the task.

“Despite having a delicate physique, it has strength. And it’s obedient.”

Noemi murmured as she watched Solaris effortlessly carrying the stones from a distance.

In response, Rudy simply nodded, as if it were only natural.

“They have the appearance of a human but the interior of an android. They have nearly seven times the strength of a human. And being obedient is because androids don’t have the concept of fatigue.”

“No concept of fatigue?”

“They don’t get tired. As long as there are no problems that lead to malfunction, they can work endlessly.”

“…That sounds like an ideal slave, doesn’t it?”

Rudy frowned at Noemi’’s statement.

“I dislike the idea of slaves. That’s why I suggested giving it emotions, but it refused. I don’t care anymore.”

“I see…”

Rudy responded with an irritated tone, causing Noemi to wear a troubled expression.