I'm a Robot

"Young master, are you going after that man yourself? What if..."

Shamira truly didn't want Luca to take any more risks.

The intruders today might have been dealt with with startling ease, but the enemy had dared to send gunmen to attack the villa so brazenly. If they really followed them all the way to the enemy's lair...

"If anything happens to you, young master, how am I supposed to explain it to Madam?"

In Shamira's view, the best way to handle the situation was to call the police and seek their protection.

As for taking revenge once they found the mastermind, she and the Assassination Squad could handle that themselves.

But Luca shook his head again.

He lightly tapped the Tracking Glasses. Noticing that the tracker was moving away from them faster, he guessed the surviving intruder had reached the parking spot, gotten into a car, and taken off. He then spoke again.

"Aunt Shamira, we're only following from a distance. We might not even do anything when we get there."

"We're short on time. Let's go get the car first."

Shamira still looked uneasy, but in the end she obeyed, turned around, and headed for the underground garage.

However, she also made up her mind.

Once they tracked the man down, she would make sure young master Luca didn't recklessly put himself in danger.

While Shamira went to get the car, Luca prepared to finish off the rest of the intruders one by one.

After giving it some thought, though, he decided to leave two of the more agreeable-looking men alive. Thanks to Castle Doctrine, he could kill all of them without any trouble, but he chose not to.

First, if he learned nothing from tracking down the man who'd escaped, he could come back and interrogate the others. And if the police got involved later, keeping a couple of witnesses alive would make it easier to obtain solid testimony.

The nonlethal electromagnetic anesthetic darts from the Dominator had at least put the two lucky survivors out for the night. There'd be plenty of time to question them after Luca and the others returned.

Of course, it would be even better if they could hurry and follow the target to find the real mastermind behind tonight's attack.

But as he went around finishing off the intruders, Luca was surprised to discover something.

Aside from the man he'd deliberately let escape and the four Shamira had killed, every other intruder was merely unconscious.

Most of them had suffered nothing beyond minor scrapes from the impact. Even the unluckiest one had only fractured his lower leg slightly.

And the one thing they all had in common was that Baymax had been the one to take them down.

Luca turned to look at Baymax, whose eyes still glowed red, and sighed inwardly before giving the order.

"Baymax, deactivate Destruction Mode."

(✪━✪)→(●-●)

"Understood... Hello, Luca."

Perhaps it was the change in his posture, or perhaps it was simply because the red glow had vanished from his eyes, but Baymax's whole demeanor suddenly changed.

Even his eyes, which should have been nothing more than two pitch-black cameras, seemed noticeably clearer.

"I violated my healthcare protocol. I... hurt a human."

Baymax's voice was as calm as ever.

But for a brief moment, Luca somehow thought he heard a hint of... grievance in it.

"Baymax, you did it to protect me."

Luca paused after saying that, surprised those words had come out of his own mouth.

Even more surprising was that he'd said them to a robot.

Silence fell over them for a moment. In the end, Baymax—the robot whose emotions were so hard to read—was the first to speak.

"The best healthcare is preventing every possible danger before the patient gets hurt."

As he spoke, Baymax raised his big hand and gave Luca a thumbs-up.

That only left Luca even more speechless.

In fact, the moment he'd realized all the enemies Baymax had "taken down" were merely unconscious, Luca had already understood.

Even in Destruction Mode, Baymax had still done his best to hold back and avoid hurting people.

Of course, this was also because Luca's earlier orders had all been vague things like "deal with the enemy," "attack," and "throw the tree." Baymax hadn't disobeyed him.

Luca knew full well that even if he ordered Baymax to "kill the enemy," the Zeroth Law would make Baymax carry it out without hesitation.

But...

"Is that really necessary?"

Should he really make this earnest marshmallow, with its emotional module, take a life with its own hands?

Forget it. This is fine. Just keep protecting my health and safety from now on, Baymax. Let someone else handle the killing.

Luca hadn't expected that even he—a bastard who wouldn't hesitate to take a life at a crucial moment like this—would want to protect a robot's "innocence."

He shook his head with a self-mocking smile and lightly patted the scratched armor on Baymax's body.

Baymax tilted his head in puzzlement and blinked at Luca as he patted the back of his hand.

"Is Luca concerned about me? I'm a robot. I don't need psychological counseling." (●-●)

Hearing that, Luca smiled again.

Unlike his self-mocking smile from a moment ago, this one came much more naturally.

"Tsk. This guy says he's a robot, but he's got more feelings than plenty of humans~"

While Luca was still making that remark to himself, Shamira had already driven the car out of the garage.

Since the trip might be dangerous, she'd chosen the bulletproof Cadillac the company had arranged for them earlier.

The car would be safer that way, but it also meant Baymax's size might make it tricky to squeeze into the vehicle.

Taking off his armor and returning to his carrying case would be no problem.

But if a fight broke out and Baymax got damaged without his armor on, Luca would be devastated.

Still, they didn't know how many crowded areas they'd have to pass through while following the target.

After hesitating briefly, Luca removed a few of the larger pieces of armor from Baymax and stuffed them all into the trunk.

"Baymax, give it some effort! Let a little air out. Almost there—there you go~"

Shamira glanced at the big, chubby Baymax filling the entire back seat. The corner of her mouth twitched almost imperceptibly, but she said nothing.

"Let's hope nobody checks us along the way..."

After getting back into the car, Luca reached behind him and patted Baymax.

Then Shamira stepped on the gas and drove toward Manhattan.