Kolev had never imagined that life could be so carefree and pleasant.
Oh, right. These days, he went by "Machilu Haddon," a moderately well-known wealthy man in the Kashi Federation. He was pondering how to invest in some idealistic young people and start up a few new industries that would keep the money rolling in even after he retired.
The first rays of morning sunlight slipped through a gap in the curtains and fell across Kolev's old face, giving his well-rested brain the signal to wake up.
When he opened his eyes, he saw a ceiling covered by a space-themed mural of starry skies and ocean voyages.
The two maids in the corner left their charging stations.
They had fair, delicate skin, bright, lively eyes, and nimble limbs indistinguishable from a human's. The only difference was that four of their joints—their knees and elbows—had been legally required to have silver-white alloy knobs, so that high-fidelity robots could be distinguished from humans.
Though that always seemed to excite certain mechaphiles even more.
Apart from the four alloy knobs, they were just like real people. Even their soft little hands would trigger a bashful routine when they touched their single male owner, after which they would give him a suggestive glance.
These were all hidden programs in high-end maid robots.
The manufacturers had designed these programs primarily to get single men to spend money upgrading them into more advanced, fully adaptive companion robots.
And once the owner started upgrading, these companion robots would keep hinting that their breasts could be bigger and softer, their waists slimmer and more supple, draining their owner's wallet bit by bit.
They even had competitive, jealousy, and affection-rating routines, and would demand that their owner keep upgrading their components, replacing their positronic brains with better ones, and giving them softer, younger skin...and so on.
It was a bottomless pit.
The wise Kolev wasn't about to fall for their tricks.
Kolev stretched and stood. With his arms spread wide, he let the two maid robots bustle around him, rising and crouching as they helped him wash his face and change clothes.
Then Kolev stepped across the soft leather carpet and left his bedroom, which spanned over a hundred square meters and displayed all kinds of industrial ornaments. In the hallway, he admired a series of self-portraits that were all more or less the same.
The cleaning robot bowed its head in greeting as it tidied up.
Nearby, the butler robot already held a Network Terminal, ready to report on the estate.
Kolev strolled to the elevator and rode it up to the fitness area on the villa's third floor. With the maid robots' help, he took off his shirt and lay on a microelectronic massage chair, letting magnetic fields and electric currents stimulate his muscle fibers. The chair's conveyor belt then carried him into the warm swimming pool, where he floated freely to the music before entering the comprehensive scanner.
By the time Kolev stretched and sat up, he had left the semi-solid pool. He accepted a soft jacket from one of the maids and settled into an antigravity sofa that could move freely around the castle. Bathed in the warm light of the star outside, he studied his health report by the window.
"Now this is the life."
Kolev muttered to himself, lit a cigar, and began to puff away.
"It's just a little boring."
"My esteemed master," the butler's deep, metallic voice rang out beside him. "Several young people with excellent ideas are waiting to meet with you."
"Any messages in my number three inbox?"
"No, master."
"Oh, well. Looks like my daughter still doesn't want to come over," Kolev said with a shrug, propping his legs up on the coffee table. "Let them in. They're all looking to get money out of me, so there's no need to be too polite."
"You truly are a great philanthropist," the butler said with a chuckle.
Kolev cursed. "Get lost! I'm an investor! I want to be a ruthless capitalist!"
"Of course, master. You're a great ruthless capitalist!" the butler declared passionately.
"That sounds much better."
Kolev snapped his fingers, and the butler immediately leaned down, catching the cigar butt in his large alloy hand.
"How long have I had you?" Kolev asked.
"We've been working for you for seven months."
"Seven months," Kolev murmured. "It's been eight months since I parted ways with that brat. Ah, old people's time sure does fly."
The butler chimed in. "Yes, master, time really does fly...Your guests have arrived, master."
Kolev nodded, pushing his thoughts aside. He placed his palm over the spherical button, and the sofa turned around by itself.
Several young men and women stood nervously in the spacious room. When they saw Kolev, their greeting came out somewhat out of sync.
"Hello, Mr. Haddon."
"Hello," Kolev said with a smile, raising an eyebrow. He glanced at the young woman with cute freckles and glasses, then turned his attention to their leader.
He was a tall, thin young man, with burning ambition in his eyes.
Kolev took a closer look at him. At first glance, the young man reminded him a little of that guy, which gave Kolev a slightly better impression of him.
"Go ahead. You have five minutes," Kolev said with a smile. "Whether you can talk your way into five hundred thousand Kashi dollars in angel investment depends on how silver-tongued you are."
The young people grew even more nervous.
Their leader frowned. "Respected Mr. Haddon, we're not here to swindle you. We've brought a product our team has spent three years developing. It's absolutely revolutionary and will make waves in the companion-robot industry!"
Kolev leisurely picked up the warm tea beside him and sipped it.
The butler, dressed in a crisp tailcoat, tapped his chest. A green countdown appeared there.
"Good! Get started!"
The young man in charge turned and urged the others on. They quickly split up, pulled several devices out of their backpacks, and fiddled with them for half a minute. Soon, they had set up a Projection screen and opened a presentation.
"Our product concept is to target a niche market for companion robots, identify gaps in the market, dig deep, and keep exploring! We'll do what other manufacturers haven't! That's where the opportunity lies!
"On that basis, we're here today to present our product, for which we've completed the circuit design and three rounds of simulation testing.
"Son Robot!"
Pfft!
Kolev turned his head and spat out a mouthful of hot tea. A maid hurried forward, gently wiped the corner of his mouth, and gave him a playful wink.
"What the hell is that?" Kolev frowned deeply. "A son robot?"
"Yes, sir!"
The young man giving the presentation pushed up his glasses, breathing a little fast.
"Today, an aging population remains a serious problem facing every nation in the galaxy. Only the Sherman Empire has mandatory birth laws. Other nations follow a policy of raising test-tube babies collectively, which has placed a tremendous burden on society when it comes to caring for the elderly.
"Who will meet the emotional needs of lonely old people?
"The answer is our product: Son Robot!"
Kolev's eyes went a little blank.
The young presenter grew even more excited, as if he wished he could cram his entire pitch into the angel investor's head.
"Our product has three main features, which are also our three major sources of profit.
"First: age upgrades.
"Our plan is to divide the robot into five stages: infant, child, adolescent, young adult, and middle-aged. Customers can buy the whole package at once, and enjoy the experience of raising the robot from a little baby.
"They can also buy each stage one at a time, starting with infancy, but they'll have to purchase the child-stage service after a few years.
"Of course, at this stage our robots can't actually grow, but we can develop robots in all five sizes. Reusing them will be no problem. In fact, we can produce only infant robots for the first few years, then child robots, then adolescent robots, and offer customers trade-in deals. They'll only need to pay a little extra to trade in an infant robot for a child robot, which guarantees us a second round of profits!
"Second: a pocket-money system.
"Our idea is that the robot is your son, and we grow alongside the product. Our customer-service and maintenance staff can also be your adopted sons..."
"Hey! Hey!"
Kolev interrupted the young man's rambling pitch and frowned. "Can I ask a question?"
"Of course," the presenter said, nervously swallowing.
"Do you know that social welfare homes exist?"
"Yes, sir, I do."
Kolev asked in confusion, "If you're trying to meet people's emotional needs for care and companionship, why wouldn't I just adopt a child and raise them?"
"It's not the same, sir," the young man answered seriously. "Young people grow up and leave the elderly behind."
"Then what do you think makes them different from her?" Kolev asked, pointing at the maid robot.
"You haven't given her fatherly love, sir."
"Then how am I supposed to give your product fatherly love?"
"Well..."
"Throw them out." Kolev waved a hand, his face full of disappointment. "Do some thorough research into the ethical regulations in different places before deciding what direction to take your business. This product will never make it to market. Trust me."
"Mr. Haddon!"
Several burly mechanical guards rushed over, covered the young people's mouths, and dragged them straight out of the reception room.
Kolev watched them being dragged out of his estate, his face full of disbelief. "Young people these days can't even swindle an old man out of his money."
"I think their idea was pretty good. I might need a son like that," the robot butler said with a chuckle. "Have you ever been swindled, master?"
"Of course," Kolev sighed quietly. "It was a young man, too. A few words from him were enough to swindle assets worth fifteen million from me. Later, he caused me losses of nearly a hundred million."
"Wow, what a con artist! You should report him to the police!"
"Report him?" Kolev gave a bitter smile. "I don't even know where he went."
The robot butler opened his mouth. "Mas—"
He and the maid robot beside him suddenly lost the light in their eyes. Their heads drooped slowly, and the ring at the back of each neck began to blink softly. They were in standby mode.
Kolev, however, had fallen into his memories. He murmured:
"It only took a few words for him to sink assets worth over a hundred million.
"When my daughter heard that something had happened to him, she even cried over it. He nearly won my daughter's heart, too. Oh, he...What's wrong with you?"
Kolev looked up at his butler and the maid.
He suddenly snapped to attention and reached into the gap behind the sofa, pulling out a pistol.
Several guard robots hurrying back across the estate stopped in their tracks and lowered their heads. Two gardener robots were in much the same state, and several patrol dogs had also gone into standby.
The lights in the reception room flickered softly.
Kolev narrowed his eyes.
Had someone hacked into his systems?
Was this revenge from those young people?
Oh, ho, ho! They'd picked the wrong man!
"Hmm-hmm-hmm~"
A man's humming came from the hallway.
Kolev sprang nimbly to his feet and rushed toward the reception-room door, Laser Pistol in hand. He held his breath, his Adam's apple bobbing as he calculated the distance between himself and the hummer.
Just like Hanton had taught him, he counted silently.
Three, two...one!
Kolev leaped out like an old leopard, clicked off the safety on his Laser Gun, and shouted toward the left, "Don't move! Ha-ha! Got—uh."
There was no one there.
Click.
A cold metal barrel pressed against Kolev's neck.
"Oh! Don't shoot! Oh!"
Kolev immediately raised both hands. "I swear, I was rude just now. I shouldn't have turned down your idea. It's good for young people to have dreams. I can invest in you."
The person behind him laughed. "Invest in that Son Robot?"
That voice?
Kolev froze for a moment, then began trembling from head to toe.
That familiar, damned, youthful male voice!
Hanton!
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