Zeroth Law

Luca fixed his gaze on the sleek red case sitting squarely on the floor, then eagerly stepped forward and tapped its outer shell.

"Knock, knock, knock~"

"Hm? Nothing?"

"But the case seems to be made of carbon fiber too."

After fiddling with it for a while, he even pressed the conspicuous round compartment and popped Baymax's motherboard chip out, but the robot still showed no sign of starting up.

After putting the chip back in, Luca recalled the plot of the original Big Hero 6 and tentatively tried speaking.

"Ah~ That hurts~"

It had been nothing more than a pretend groan, but the red case, which had been completely still until then, suddenly lit up with a circular band of light around the chip compartment and let out a faint "beep, beep" alarm.

The red storage case quickly unfolded.

The white "filling" inside inflated rapidly like a balloon.

In no time at all, an inflatable robot resembling a Michelin Man stood atop the open case.

The chubby white robot first looked around, then blinked in confusion. Only then did it take its tiny steps out of the case and head toward Luca.

The villa's living room, where Luca was, was already cluttered with piles of deliveries, and plenty of junk was blocking the robot's way.

The chubby inflatable robot wasn't in a hurry. It began repeating the same actions at a leisurely pace.

Look down.

Bend over.

Move something.

Take a tiny step forward.

It actually planned to move every single obstacle out of its way, one by one.

The sight shattered Luca's high expectations.

He rushed over and hastily shoved all the items aside for it. Only then did the inflatable robot stop and look at him again.

The inflatable robot raised its right hand, which had only four fingers, and a gentle but somewhat stilted electronic voice sounded from within.

"I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion."

Seeing that Baymax had finally started working properly, Luca let out a sigh of relief.

But Baymax's next words left him rooted to the spot.

"Hello, Luca."

"Hmm??? You know my name??"

Luca's mind was now full of question marks.

Although the Synthesis Panel had earlier mentioned that Baymax contained "tens of thousands of medical knowledge entries,"

that meant the robot he had synthesized should have all the information loaded into the original version by Tadashi Hamada. Beyond that information and its artificial intelligence program, it might even include some of the original recordings.

Even so, there was no way Luca's name should be in Baymax's database.

Even the Dominator pistol he had synthesized earlier had only been granted use permissions after he entered information through its basic response program, voice recognition, fingerprints, and other such means.

Yet when Baymax heard Luca's question, it tilted its head at him in confusion.

(●-●)

"Yes. I know your name, Luca von Orange. I noticed that you need medical assistance because you cried out, 'That hurts.'"

"Wait, wait!"

Luca cut off Baymax's somewhat stilted recitation and continued with his earlier question.

"Why do you know my name??"

(●-●)

"According to the Zeroth Law, Luca von Orange is designated as the highest authority and must be obeyed completely." Baymax blinked its black camera lenses twice, then answered at once.

"The Zeroth Law? Does that mean there are also First and Second Laws?" Luca asked immediately.

"The Zeroth Law exists outside the program and takes precedence over everything. The First Law within the program states that a robot may not harm an individual human being, or allow one to come to harm through..."

Baymax's voice continued, but Luca had already fallen into thought.

"A law outside the program? And it specifies that I'm the highest authority?"

Even if he'd thought about it with his toes, Luca would have known this was definitely his cheat's power at work.

In fact, Luca had had similar concerns when he obtained Baymax's Core Component.

The few items he'd synthesized before, even the Dominator pistol with its intelligent chip, had only possessed basic functions like scanning, responding, and verifying identity. Only the Baymax he'd synthesized this time was an advanced AI with autonomous evolution and an emotional module.

With advanced AI creations like this—such as the Red Queen from Resident Evil or the T-800 from the Terminator series—if he couldn't guarantee their loyalty, he might synthesize one only for it to turn around and kill him. That would be a real joke.

The reason Luca had dared to synthesize Baymax so boldly this time was that his version was merely a medical care robot. He didn't have to worry about things like betrayal.

But it seemed his cheat had thoughtfully taken care of that problem too.

However, in Luca's eyes, this "law outside the program" had both pros and cons.

The benefits went without saying.

This was a power bestowed by his cheat. Even if someone tampered with his AI's program, one word from him would restore control to him. No one could take it away.

As for the downside...

The "law outside the program" also meant that even Luca himself couldn't copy the code.

If he later built a replica through technical means instead of using something created by the system, he probably wouldn't be able to enjoy the perk of "absolute loyalty."

"Yeah, I guess I'm being a little greedy. This situation is already as good as it gets. I'll be able to synthesize intelligent creations with a lot more confidence from now on."

Having received some very good news, Luca came back to himself. By then, Baymax had finished reciting all the scattered "laws" and resumed its previous work.

"Scan complete. No external injuries capable of causing pain were detected."

"Fluctuations detected in your neurotransmitters and hormones. Assessed as nervousness and mild anxiety. No treatment plan for this condition is available in the database. The database needs to be expanded."

"An absence of the forearm below your right elbow has been detected. It has been treated effectively, and you are wearing a mechanical prosthesis. Regular resistance training and muscle-contraction exercises are recommended to ensure the health of the limb."

As it spoke, Baymax's chest lit up, and an image of "rehabilitation exercises" began playing on its built-in projector.

"Stop, stop, stop. I'll do that later when I have time."

Luca waved his hand repeatedly, not having paid any attention to Baymax's previous sentence. Only after seeing the projection stop did he ask another question, his expression turning more serious.

"I want to know, does your database contain a treatment for Synaptic Cocooning Syndrome?"