"Beep— beep—"
Before they'd even reached the entrance to Svarog's base, Perkins, the robot usually on gate duty, had already booted up on its own.
"Detecting individuals attempting to access the premises. Scanning... Beep. Identity confirmed: Miss Lynelle. Access granted. Protocol module activated. Welcome to the Robot Settlement."
As it spoke, Perkins began hopping up and down on the spot.
"Pfft, these little bots really know you... But this 'protocol module'—don't tell me you got the idea from the little Hertas?"
Herta glanced at Lynelle, a hint of surprise in her eyes.
"Of course! I've repaired pretty much every Automaton here. For them, swapping out parts and such is no issue—they can handle that themselves. But when it comes to the operating system and deeper problems, aside from Svarog, I'm the only one who can fix them."
Lynelle immediately puffed out her chest with pride. "As for the protocol module... maybe that's just a universal thing?"
"I doubt that," Herta replied. "At the very least, the Intellitrons on Screwllum's homeworld don't jump up and down, waving their arms and shouting my name when they see me."
Screwllum sounded puzzled. "Perhaps it is... a local custom here?"
"Perkins, are Svarog and Clara currently in the settlement?"
"Accessing logs... Miss Clara went out a short while ago, but she has just returned with Miss Stelle. They also brought back a severely damaged Automaton."
"Stelle's here too?"
Lynelle was taken aback. "And they brought an Automaton?"
Just then, Lynelle's comm terminal chimed.
"This is... a message from Stelle?"
"Worry not. If the young lady fused with the Stellaron requires assistance, it would be best to address her troubles first."
Screwllum, noticing Lynelle's hesitation, spoke up proactively.
"Our survey of the Robot Settlement is not urgent. I intend to remain here for another two days, so we have ample time."
"It's not that, I just have a feeling..."
Following Perkins' description, Lynelle immediately recalled Clara's companion mission from the game. "The trouble Stelle's run into might just align with our survey."
As she spoke, Lynelle opened her terminal. Instantly, several messages popped up in rapid succession.
[Lynelle, Lynelle, help!]
[A while back, Clara and I caught a strange Automaton that was stealing parts. We did some searching, temporarily fixed it up, but Clara couldn't figure out where it came from, why it was stealing parts, or how it developed emotions.]
[So, since we had time today, I came to help Clara investigate further. We went to Rivet Town and found out this bot was one of the Automatons originally guarding the town. After the incident there, Pascal's backup power activated, only to find the town completely empty.]
[So, it started collecting parts and repairing the town, waiting for everyone to return. During that time, it developed self-awareness. But, for some reason, the other Automatons identify it as a Fragmentum creature and attack it on sight.]
[Because of all that chaos, its emotional module kept taking damage... until it ended up in its current state.]
[We brought it back to the Robot Settlement, hoping Svarog could help. But Svarog says to fix it properly, we'd need to format it and reconnect it to the settlement's Automaton network. That would mean its self-awareness would be completely erased...]
[Clara thinks Pascal developing sentience is a lot like how Svarog did, and she doesn't want to give up on it. Svarog mentioned you might have a way to fix it properly, so... please!]
The three of them standing at the entrance to Svarog's base fell into a momentary silence after reading Stelle's long string of messages.
"Now this is quite the coincidence, Screwllum," Herta said, a smirk playing on her lips. "Haven't you always been researching the process of how silicon-based constructs develop emotions?"
"Well, a living case study has just dropped into your lap. Gotta say, if I had your luck, a lot of my experiments would've gone much smoother."
"I must thank Lynelle for providing me with this opportunity," Screwllum replied with a gentle smile.
"In that case, let us proceed quickly to examine this Automaton named Pascal."
Led by Lynelle, the trio soon entered Svarog's base and found Svarog and Clara at their usual spot. Of course, Stelle was there too, looking worried, alongside a somewhat damaged Automaton.
"Ah, Lynelle, you're already here?"
Seeing Lynelle, Stelle's eyes immediately lit up. She quickly rushed over to her, as if finding her pillar of support.
"Thank goodness! Clara's almost in tears over this. For an Automaton, formatting is like erasing its life with your own hands... For a child Clara's age, that kind of choice is just too cruel."
"Don't get so worked up... I was already at the settlement's entrance when I got your message."
Lynelle patted Stelle's head. "Besides, strictly speaking, you're physically younger than Clara. I've got the gist of the situation. Leave the rest to me."
"Mm. Svarog and Clara are still over there trying to figure out how to preserve Pascal's emotions, but it doesn't seem to be going well. Clara proposed a method, but Svarog thinks its success rate is practically zero."
Stelle nodded obediently. "Oh, right, this is...?"
"Screwllum, a member of the Genius Society."
A mysterious smile touched Lynelle's lips. "Consider him... reinforcement I called in for Svarog and the others."
"Eh?"
Stelle immediately turned a curious gaze towards the elegant Intellitron.
"Greetings. You must be the one Herta often mentions, the one coexisting with a Stellaron."
Screwllum's voice was gentle. "I am honored to have received Lynelle's invitation to observe the birth of a silicon-based civilization's spark on this planet."
"Please rest assured, neither I nor Lynelle would stand idly by and watch a newly born Intellitron life fade away before our eyes."
While Stelle and Screwllum were talking, Lynelle examined Pascal's condition.
"Big sister... Can Pascal really be fixed?"
"Don't worry, it's absolutely possible."
After a brief inspection of the Automaton, Lynelle already had a rough idea.
"The hardware issues are simple. The main difficulty lies in separating the information noise from the core sector that holds its emotions, and performing targeted cleanup without damaging the emotional module itself."
"For conventional methods, that task is nearly impossible. But for me... it's a piece of cake."
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.