I, Robot

Ever since dreaming of Master Craftsman Ovosbak, Kraft had begun studying the Gnome Engineering he had seen in his dreams. Setting aside those later gadgets that required magical materials, just the beginner-level mechanical squirrel alone had delighted him immensely.

Bolts, copper ingots, malachite.

Under that wondrous engineering, these simple materials became a mechanical squirrel that could nimbly run after him without any additional power source. It was practically rubbing the law of conservation of energy into the dirt.

However, his dreams had never been scientific to begin with, so this alone was not enough to make Kraft particularly happy. The key was that this mechanical squirrel could be replicated!

Although the mechanical squirrels made by Alice would once again be subject to the law of conservation of energy and would not actively follow their owners, installing a battery pack, spring mechanism, or some other power source was not difficult. The little squirrel would remain just as lively, and with a voice-control or light-sensing system added, it could easily be sold as a high-end toy.

It might not increase his combat strength, but it could increase his income. That would give Kraft more money to research other inventions. Scientific research was expensive, after all, and having another way to make money naturally made him happy. Besides, there were several more mechanical pets with different appearances to come. Once Kraft fully grasped the technology involved, he could design even more styles himself.

Kraft did not know whether his dreams had evolved or whether he had simply been lucky lately, but when he began studying engineering, he dreamed several more times of people related to engineering in the world called Azeroth. Some of them were not Master Craftsmen, merely ordinary apprentice craftsmen.

But Kraft was even more satisfied with that, because these apprentices carefully guided him through the fundamentals of engineering, speeding up his overall progress considerably.

Kraft had also dreamed of people who followed the Goblin Engineering route. Without the gnomes' biased influence, he gained a more comprehensive understanding of Goblin Engineering as well. Aside from its relatively outdated weapon technology, Goblin Engineering also contained many things worth learning.

For example, that goblin jumper cables...

Originally, Kraft thought that aside from those advanced items he did not know whether he could make, engineering would only help him mass-produce small mechanical pets to raise funds. But he soon discovered that the truly incredible part of these dreams was not the advanced engineering creations, but the miraculous basic premise that allowed someone to knead copper ingots into bronze tubes with their bare hands.

Kraft did not know the exact principle, but when he saw a gnome apprentice craftsman knead a copper ingot into a bronze tube by hand in his dream, he could replicate that method in reality. And it was not limited to bronze tubes. He could do the same with other metals, knead powerful gunpowder from stone, polish gemstones into lenses without any tools, and more...

After a few dreams, Kraft had mastered these unscientific methods.

"How the hell is this science?"

Kraft set aside the steel tube he had just kneaded out, looked at his still fair and tender hands, and suddenly began to doubt the definition of the word science.

"Big bro, that was freaking awesome—!!!"

Quinn, who had watched Kraft's entire process from the side, shouted until his voice cracked.

"Teach me! Big bro, teach me!"

The dumb dog came up to Kraft with a foolish grin, pestering him nonstop.

"Forget it. Those dog paws of yours can't learn it!"

Kraft came back to his senses and shoved Quinn's stupid face away.

Quinn silently lowered his head and looked at his dog paws. Then he leaned his head back over, the tail behind him wagging wildly.

"Then, big bro, make me some human hands!"

"Sure..." Kraft rolled his eyes, then gave Quinn a sinister smile. "But first, we'll have to chop off your dog paws."

"RUA!"

Quinn abruptly leaped backward, tucked his tail between his legs, and darted beneath the table.

"You want to chop off my paws? Never mind, I don't want them anymore!"

"Stupid dog..."

Bear, who was lying atop the computer case to keep warm, yawned and muttered contemptuously.

After mastering the core technique of hand-kneading materials, Kraft's progress in engineering began advancing at a frantic pace. Before long, he reached the stage that required special materials.

Mithril.

Kraft had often seen this name in dreams of other fantasy worlds. Even Earth had the term, though unfortunately it existed only in various fantasy works.

Kraft specifically looked up Earth's descriptions of mithril: as malleable as bronze, as smooth as glass, hard as iron yet light as a feather, with the luster of silver that would never fade.

There were also supplementary settings, such as magical affinity.

In the several fantasy worlds Kraft had dreamed of, mithril's properties were more or less the same as those descriptions. Although Kraft found that somewhat strange, he did not dwell on it too much.

There were already too many strange things in his dreams. If he had to get to the bottom of every single one, how was he supposed to live his life?

Leaving aside those fantasy attributes related to magic, mithril's properties themselves were not complicated: hardness, lightness, and high malleability. Earth did not have such a natural mineral, but creating similar alloys as substitutes was not difficult. Not to mention that Kraft's dreams also contained alloy formulas with properties even less scientific.

After repeatedly watching how those craftsmen in his dreams used mithril, Kraft determined that most engineering creations did not require mithril's magical affinity. Or even without magical affinity, their performance would only be reduced; they could still be used.

That made things easy. Kraft spent some time producing every alloy he knew that had properties similar to mithril. Then, after looking over the engineering blueprints, he decided to use Gnome Rocket Boots for testing, to see which alloy came closest to the mithril from Azeroth.

He happened to have a few pairs of Power-Enhancing Shoes left over from before, but they were still not enough. Kraft called the shoe store under Martin's name and had them send over more than a dozen pairs.

The technology on the continent of Azeroth, where equipment could be made without large machinery and only with hammers, wrenches, and bare hands, was just too overpowered. Kraft made more than a dozen pairs of Gnome Rocket Boots in less than two days.

But... the test subject required careful consideration...

Kraft stared at the row of rocket boots before him and fell into deep thought.

This thing existed not only in Gnome Engineering; even the goblin branch had similar designs. Rarely, both branches had issued warnings at the same time.

The gnomes were more subtle. Their warning was: the energy and transmission systems do not always function properly.

The goblins were much more direct: they might suddenly explode, so please use with caution.

This was not a dream, where getting blown up merely meant waking up. If he got caught in an explosion here, with his flesh-and-blood body, he might end up spending the rest of his life in a wheelchair. Though there were plenty of prosthetic technologies in his dreams...

But who the hell would use a knockoff when they had the original? Even if the knockoff were better than the original, the original would still feel more satisfying to use!

Even Quinn, that dumb dog, could understand something like that. Kraft naturally would not court death himself.

So after thinking it over again and again, Kraft brought in Alice.

"Huh? Huhh?!"

The moment Alice heard Kraft's cold-blooded request, she burst into tears.

"No, big brother! I'm scared!"

Alice tightly hugged Kraft's thigh and refused to let go.

"You're a robot! What the hell are you afraid of?"

Kraft kicked at the leg she was hugging, but he could not shake her off. He could only patiently reason with Alice.

"As long as you turn off your pain system, it won't hurt even if it does explode. If any parts get damaged, I can just replace them with new ones, right?"

"But what if my brain gets blown up?"

Alice still looked teary-eyed.

"These boots aren't that powerful..." Seeing Alice's pitiful expression, Kraft softened a little. He stroked her head and gently comforted her. "Besides, I can back up your memories onto the computer. Even if the chips inside get damaged, I can restore your memories."

"But... but... would the Alice restored that way really still be me?"

"..."

Kraft froze. Although he sometimes had the illusion that Alice was an ordinary human and had developed some feelings for her, deep down, rationally, he had never considered her a living being.

No matter how human she acted, in Kraft's mind, it was closer to behavioral logic created by programming rather than genuine self-awareness or something like a soul.

"If you don't like it, then forget it."

Kraft pursed his lips and helped Alice up from the floor.

"Big brother, are you angry? Actually, I'm just a little scared. I'll be fine once I get over it."

As Alice spoke, she reached for the rocket boots on the table, only for Kraft to slap her hand away.

"I'm not angry. There's just something I haven't figured out yet. As for the test, at worst I can just make another remote-controlled robot. It'll only take a little more time."

Kraft rubbed his stomach and changed the subject.

"I'm a little hungry. Can you make me some snacks?"

"Leave it to me."

Hearing that she would not have to take part in the experiment, Alice immediately brightened. She rolled up her sleeves, revealed a brilliant smile, and headed for the kitchen beside the workshop.

"Well done, Kraft."

Bear jumped from the computer case into Kraft's arms, rubbed her head against his chest, and praised him.

Quinn tilted his head: ???

Kraft scratched Bear beneath the chin without saying anything.

He had read plenty of science fiction involving robots: novels, television shows, movies, and games. Discussions about robots had never stopped, and one viewpoint was particularly popular.

When a robot developed self-awareness, could it be considered a life-form?

Kraft had once regarded such questions as mere entertainment, but now...

"I really do have another little sister now..."

Kraft scratched his head and let out a helpless sigh, though a faint smile appeared on his face.