Ch.8080. Room.

“This is the best room in the city. There’s no owner, so feel free to use it as you wish.”

The city that was built for humans had become a place where only robots lived for a long time.

Nevertheless, it was continuously maintained so that humans could use it whenever they returned.

“Wow…”

Lucy’s claim that this was the best room in the city wasn’t an exaggeration.

Transparent walls and ceiling surrounded the entire room. A video of green meadows played as the background.

But until I approached and touched it with my hand, I couldn’t tell it was a wall because the image was so clear, and the room’s temperature, humidity, and overall environment were adjusted to match, giving the impression that I was actually in a meadow.

“Would you like to take off your shoes?”

At Lucy’s suggestion, I removed my shoes and entered the room. Immediately, the sensation of stepping on meadow grass was clearly transmitted through the soles of my feet.

A slightly ticklish feeling accompanied by the rustle of grass being stepped on.

Startled by the vivid sensation, I looked down at the floor, but there was only a beige carpet laid out.

Standing still, I could feel subtle vibrations, which suggested that my senses were being tricked through vibration.

Perhaps the reason the floor wasn’t transparent was to remind us that this was, after all, just a home.

“I’ll store your luggage and coat here. I’ve already drawn warm water, so if you wish to wash up, you can use the bathroom over there.”

All the furniture in this house could change shape according to need. More precisely, it felt like each small block changed its form according to the user’s will.

When Lucy touched an object that had been shaped like a tree to blend with the meadow video, it immediately transformed into a storage cabinet large enough to hold both a big bag and outerwear.

…I was used to seeing foldable appliances, but I never imagined something like this was possible. It felt like the boundary between reality and fantasy was blurring.

“Can I do it too?”

Thinking that if a robot could do it, I should be able to as well, I placed my hand on one of the prepared pieces of furniture and imagined in my mind.

The furniture began to change according to the image in my head.

“…It worked, but something seems off.”

“Human imagination isn’t as concrete as you might think.”

Unlike Lucy, who had created delicate objects suited to their purpose, the furniture I made was incredibly crude.

I clearly tried to make a soft sofa, but what emerged was something wave-like that I doubted a human could even sit on.

So I tried again several times, but I couldn’t create the sofa I wanted.

“Shall I try this time?”

Seeing the furniture that had lost its original form due to my unclear intentions, the robot shook her head and offered to try herself.

This time, a splendid sofa formed, clearly different from when I had touched it.

“Why can’t I do it properly…?”

“I suppose robots have an advantage with these things. Unlike humans who perceive objects subjectively, robots have clear blueprints and forms.”

Perhaps human perception is always subjective, and since we understand the world through that perception, it’s difficult to create objective objects.

Feeling unsatisfied, I tried to imagine as concretely as possible in my mind, but the result was the same.

“That’s okay. We exist to help realize those imperfect human imaginations.”

The robot, who smiled at my disappointment, said she understood what kind of sofa I wanted and touched the oval-shaped object.

And a long, pumpkin-shaped sofa, quite similar to what I had been imagining, was completed.

“A robot that fills in imperfect imagination—that’s quite a nice way to put it.”

I leaned back on the newly created sofa. Despite being made of blocks that had formed individually, it was very soft and plush.

If I hadn’t seen the creation process with my own eyes, I would have mistaken it for a sofa made of soft fabric and cotton from the beginning.

“How does it create this texture? I feel like I’m at a magic show.”

Meadows spread around me, the sensation of stepping on grass transmitted through my feet, and the sofa I leaned against was as fluffy as a cloud.

But none of these were real. What was real and what was fake? My body and mind were giving different answers, which made me laugh.

Afterward, I continued to adjust various furniture in the room, making it my own space.

I changed not only the shapes of furniture and accessories but also the scenery, brightness of lights, colors, and even the pattern and texture of the floor.

From meadows to seas, deserts, and even ordinary hot asphalt roads filled with people in summer.

In this house, which adjusted not only the floor material but also temperature and wind to match the video, I visited many places I had dreamed of.

It was an incredibly enjoyable time. But I couldn’t stay in fantasy forever.

A world filled only with things you like is very pleasant and happy, but if everyone only likes what they like and dislikes what they dislike…

I knew we couldn’t move forward that way.

“I’ve played enough, so I should wash up now. You guys rest here.”

“Woof!”

So I decided to return to reality. After appreciating the beautiful scene of the meadow sky turning orange and pink one last time, I closed my eyes.

Nothing visible, just cold gray walls. Back in the familiar world, I caught the puppy who had been running excitedly through the meadow and sat him on the sofa.

Since there were facilities in the city to monitor the outside situation through something like CCTV, I had brought Alexander and the puppy into the city earlier when the blizzard had calmed down a bit. It seemed cruel to leave them outside alone in such cold weather.

“As expected of a puppy, you really love running around.”

Seeing the puppy still panting even while sitting on the sofa made me smile. The fact that a robot puppy that doesn’t even need air was making such sounds probably meant it was that happy. I wonder how it endured being in the car all the time, it must have been boring.

After petting the wagging-tailed puppy for a while, I undressed and entered the bathroom.

“Really, I wonder how long it’s been since I last washed.”

In this world, finding enough hot water for one person to wash is incredibly difficult.

Of course, as I did at the train station, you can boil plenty of water and put it in a large container to wash.

But during the time it takes to dry your wet body, you have to endure even greater cold than usual with your bare skin.

The intensified cold from rising up could freeze you to death the moment you get out of the water, so I naturally gave up on the idea.

“Hmmm…”

Having missed the opportunity to wash in the fierce blizzard, and only having wiped myself with wet cloths, this moment felt precious.

The moment the bathroom door opened, warm steam gradually spread out. Perhaps they had added bath salts, as a soft fragrance came with the warm air, which made me feel very good.

The air in the bathroom, which had been filled with warm air for a long time, felt a bit stuffy, but for someone like me who had always been in air so cold it felt sharp, it was actually a positive feature.

“It feels like heaven…”

Under the soft lighting, immersing my body in water heated to just the right temperature to make me catch my breath, I let out a sigh of pleasure.

My frozen body and mind melted, and the stress and tension that had accumulated without my knowledge scattered like snow crystals. It was an incredibly pleasant sensation.

“—I’ll help you wash.”

That’s when it happened. The door I had closed opened, and Lucy, whom I hadn’t seen for a while, entered the bathroom.

“W-what did you say?”

I was so startled, not having imagined anyone would come in, that I instinctively shrank my body in the water.

Help me wash? As what I presumed to be a housekeeping robot, it wouldn’t be strange for her to have such a function, but it was difficult to accept so suddenly.

Moreover, even though she was a robot, Lucy’s appearance was modeled after a human—specifically, a woman.

For me, who still had a strong sense of self as a boy despite now having a female body, it was incredibly embarrassing.

“Excuse me.”

—I should say that while I appreciate the thought, it’s burdensome.

But before I could formulate my thoughts and speak them, Lucy approached me.

As if such situations were very familiar to her, Lucy approached me and adjusted the position of the toiletries, her expression and tone still impassive.

Initially startled and rolling my eyes around, I actually calmed down due to her impassive attitude, and responded aloud that I would appreciate her help.

Having someone help me wash was something I hadn’t experienced since my parents helped me as a child, so it was still unfamiliar and embarrassing—but equally curious.

“Detecting rough breathing. Would you like me to lower the temperature if it’s too hot?”

“…No, it’s just right as it is.”

“Understood. Please raise your upper body.”

I followed Lucy’s instruction and raised my upper body. Then Lucy took a soft towel from somewhere, applied foam to it, and began to scrub my body with it.

It was such a delicate touch that it didn’t match her robot-like speech at all. It felt like my body might melt like the foam dissolving in the water.

“Shall I do the front as well?”

“…Mmm.”

At first, I only offered my back, feeling strange and embarrassed about another’s touch… even if it was a robot.

But whether it was due to Lucy’s impassive attitude, or her skillful technique that suggested she hadn’t volunteered to help me wash for nothing, the barriers in my mind quickly crumbled.

“…Oh? You have a wound here?”

Having forgotten even my embarrassment and purely entrusting my entire body to Lucy, I soon noticed several wounds on Lucy’s arm.

“It’s damage from quite a long time ago. It doesn’t affect my operation at all, so you don’t need to worry.”

Lucy said impassively. It doesn’t look like major damage and seems like it could be easily fixed.

…I wonder if she’s deliberately not fixing it?