Not Quite Apt

The Smart Butler's "simulated personality" was set up as a mature, considerate homemaking gentleman, with a gentle, even voice. His announcement proceeded in an orderly fashion, carrying an air of leisure.

Yet the main hall and entryway were still riddled with holes pierced through by vines and tree roots. The mistress of the house lay collapsed on the floor, her body stiff, her legs bent at unnatural angles, partly retaining the posture from when she had nearly been violated.

In such circumstances, the butler's announcement seemed especially bizarre and absurd.

There were no cars parked outside the luxury villa either. In practical terms, the announcement merely declared that the intelligent system had submitted to its new master. Nothing more.

As the announcement sounded, the front door opened according to standard procedure. Ronan and Yin Le entered one after the other. Compared with the latter's wary, tense body language, Ronan seemed much more relaxed. He even paused in the entryway to deliberate.

"Should I take off my shoes?"

Although the housekeeping robots were already working hard, the holes of varying sizes in the floor, along with the jutting rocks and burrs around their edges, made him abandon the idea. He stepped directly onto the tatami and approached Kitayama Yukie, who lay on her back and could not rise. From close up, he carefully examined the exquisite, doll-like beauty before him several times, then nodded.

"It's her! Is this luck or skill?"

"Who?"

Yin Le already had some suspicions, but the answer was too unconventional for her to reach a conclusion lightly. She could only probe indirectly with another question.

"The 'Mr. Kitayama' mentioned by the Smart Butler..."

"It said 'Mr. Kitayama's car.'"

Ronan earnestly corrected this crucial detail. Considerately, he also had the External Neuron extract the key information from the