## Chapter 1 — Rogue's Booth Afterlife was louder than usual. Not because anything important was happening. Quite the opposite. The important things had already happened. The city had survived another week. Corps had stolen from corps. Gangs had shot at gangs. Mercs had lied about how close they came to dying. Night City considered this stability. Ace pushed through the crowd with the familiar ease of someone who had long ago stopped caring whether people moved out of her way voluntarily. Most did. The rest learned quickly. Mai walked beside her, calm as ever, silver hair catching fragments of neon and smoke. Shammy followed half a step behind, somehow making a crowded room feel less crowded simply by existing inside it. The trio crossed the main floor toward Rogue's booth. Several regulars nodded. A few wisely didn't. One drunk tried staring at Ace. Then noticed Ace staring back. The drunk discovered a sudden interest in his drink. Shammy smiled faintly. "Still effective." Ace shrugged. "I didn't do anything." "You looked at him." "Exactly." Mai's lips twitched. That counted as laughter from Mai. Mostly. When they reached Rogue's booth, they immediately noticed something was wrong. Not danger wrong. Not ambush wrong. Not "Afterlife is about to explode" wrong. Just... Wrong. Rogue was sitting alone. One arm resting on the table. Drink untouched. Expression sour enough to curdle milk. Ace stopped. "What's broken?" Rogue looked up. "Good to see you too." "You look annoyed." "I am annoyed." "Then my diagnosis was accurate." Rogue sighed. "I hate talking to you." "No you don't." "Fair." Mai slid into the booth. Shammy sat beside her. Ace remained standing for another moment before finally taking her usual spot. Nobody spoke. The silence stretched. Then stretched a little further. Finally Shammy tilted her head. "You've been staring at that package for at least twenty seconds." Rogue closed her eyes. "Thirty-seven." Ace followed her gaze. A small box sat on the table. Nothing special. Black. Plain. No markings. No labels. No logos. No corporate branding. Which, in Night City, was usually corporate branding. Mai noticed it too. "You scanned it." "Three times." "You opened it." "No." "You X-rayed it." "Twice." "Mass spectrometry?" Rogue pointed at her. "That one." Mai nodded. "Results?" Rogue took a drink. "Nothing." "Nothing?" "Nothing." Ace frowned. "That's impossible." "I know." "Everything has something." "I know." "You sound upset." "I am upset." Shammy looked between them. "I feel like I'm missing context." Rogue pointed at the box. "That is the context." Shammy blinked. "That's not context." "Exactly." Mai folded her hands. "Someone delivered it to you." "Correct." "When?" "Three days ago." Ace raised an eyebrow. "You've been staring at a box for three days?" Rogue pointed a finger at her. "Don't start." "I wasn't." "You were about to." "I was." "See?" Ace nodded. "Fair." For the first time since they arrived, Rogue almost smiled. Almost. Then she looked at the box again. The smile vanished instantly. Shammy leaned forward slightly. "Who sent it?" "No idea." "No message?" "No." "Threat?" "No." "Demand?" "No." "Contract?" "No." Mai frowned. "No sender." "No." "No tracking route." "No." "No hidden compartment." "No." "No radiation." "No." "No biological signature." "No." "No electronics." "No." Ace looked at Rogue. Then at the box. Then back at Rogue. "You hate this." "I hate this." "Because you don't know what it is." "Because I don't know what it is." Mai nodded. That explanation made perfect sense. Rogue didn't fear the unknown. Rogue feared the unknown that refused to become known. Those were different categories. One could be shot. The other became paperwork. And Rogue hated paperwork. Shammy finally laughed. A quiet, musical sound. "That's actually kind of adorable." Rogue stared at her. "Take it." Shammy blinked. "What?" "Take it." Ace immediately shook her head. "No." "Yes." "No." "Absolutely yes." Mai looked amused. A dangerous sign. "What exactly are we taking?" "The box." "Why?" "Because I don't want it." Ace crossed her arms. "That sounds like a trap." Rogue pointed at her. "Everything sounds like a trap to you." "Because most things are." "Annoyingly true." Shammy glanced at Mai. Mai glanced at Ace. Ace glanced at the box. Nobody touched it. The box sat there. Menacingly. Mostly because nobody understood why it wasn't menacing. Rogue finally exhaled. Long and slow. Then admitted the real problem. "I've already spent money on this." The trio looked at her. Rogue continued. "I had people scan it." Pause. "I had specialists look at it." Pause. "I had a tech team examine it." Pause. "I had a netrunner inspect it." Longer pause. "And?" Mai asked. Rogue rubbed her forehead. "And they all told me the same thing." "What?" "Nothing." The silence that followed lasted several seconds. Then Ace started laughing. Not loudly. Not dramatically. Just enough. Rogue stared. Mai looked surprised. Shammy looked delighted. Ace kept laughing. Rogue pointed at her. "You find this funny?" "Someone successfully weaponized confusion." "I don't see the joke." "I do." Rogue groaned. "This is why I drink." "That's not why." "No." "It really isn't." "No." Shammy was now openly smiling. "You know what's worse?" Rogue looked at her. "What?" "You've spent three days being defeated by a cardboard box." Mai immediately covered her mouth. Not because she was shocked. Because she was trying not to laugh. Rogue stared at all three of them. Slowly. Carefully. Like she was reconsidering several life choices. Finally she pointed at the package. "Take it." Ace immediately answered. "No." Rogue pulled a credchip from her pocket. Set it on the table. Ace looked at it. Mai looked at it. Shammy looked at it. Rogue slid it forward. "Take it." Ace stared. "Are you bribing us?" "Yes." "That's not usually how jobs work." "I don't care." Mai examined the credchip. "You're serious." "Deadly." Shammy looked genuinely fascinated now. "You really want this thing gone." "More than you understand." Ace looked at the package. Then at the credchip. Then at the package again. Rogue saw the moment she lost. A tiny shift. A tiny hesitation. The kind Ace only showed when curiosity won a fight against common sense. Rogue smiled. A dangerous smile. "You already decided." Ace pointed at her. "I hate when you do that." "You absolutely decided." "I didn't." "You did." "I didn't." "You did." Mai calmly reached over. Picked up the box. Shammy immediately sat up straighter. Ace groaned. Rogue visibly relaxed for the first time all afternoon. The reaction was so obvious that all three noticed it. Ace narrowed her eyes. "That's suspicious." "Not my problem anymore." "That's even more suspicious." "Also not my problem." Shammy laughed again. Rogue finished her drink. Then stood. Conversation over. "Good luck." Mai looked up. "That's all?" "That's all." Ace frowned. "You don't usually say good luck." "I don't." "Then why now?" Rogue started walking away. Halfway out of the booth she stopped. Looked over her shoulder. Then delivered the single least reassuring thing she could have said. "I have absolutely no idea what's inside that box." And kept walking. The three watched her disappear into the chaos of Afterlife. Then looked down at the package. Silence. A very specific silence. The kind that usually preceded bad decisions. Shammy spoke first. "We're opening it, right?" Mai nodded immediately. "Obviously." Ace sighed. The sigh of someone who already knew how this story would end. Unfortunately. Nobody listened. --- One hour later. Safehouse. The package sat in the middle of the table. Mai carefully disengaged the final seal. The lid clicked open. Inside sat a small metallic robot. No weapon. No display. No visible power source. No explanation. The three stared at it. The robot stared back. Five seconds passed. Ten. Nothing happened. Ace folded her arms. "That's it?" Then the robot's eyes lit up. Bright green. Its head rotated. It looked directly at Ace. And cheerfully announced: > **"HELLOU!"** Silence. Absolute silence. Ace blinked once. Then looked at Mai. Then at Shammy. Then back at the robot. "...what?" --- ## Chapter 2 — HELLOU! The robot continued staring at Ace. Ace continued staring at the robot. Nobody moved. Nobody blinked. Nobody spoke. The robot's tiny green eyes remained lit. Perfectly innocent. Perfectly cheerful. Perfectly suspicious. Finally Ace pointed at it. "What is that." Mai leaned forward. "Robot." "I can see that." Shammy tilted her head. "It seems happy." The robot immediately responded. > **"HELLOU!"** Ace closed her eyes. "Stop doing that." > **"HELLOU!"** "It understood me." "It did not," Mai said. "How do you know?" "Because that would somehow make this worse." "Fair." For several seconds they simply observed it. The robot sat motionless. No wheels. No visible joints. No visible weapons. No display. No markings. No serial numbers. Nothing. Just a tiny metallic body and two glowing green eyes. Mai carefully reached forward. The robot looked at her. Nothing happened. Mai poked it. Nothing happened. She picked it up. Still nothing. Shammy leaned over. "What does it do?" Mai rotated the robot slowly. Examining every surface. "Currently?" "Yes." "It says HELLOU." Ace rubbed her forehead. "Excellent." --- Ten minutes later the robot had been partially disassembled. Or rather... Mai had tried. The table was covered with tools. Scanners. Diagnostic equipment. A portable analyzer. Three separate sensor arrays. The robot sat in the middle of it all. Entirely unconcerned. Mai frowned. Shammy watched. Ace watched Mai. Which was significantly more entertaining. "You look annoyed." Mai did not look up. "I'm not annoyed." "You are." "I'm curious." "You are annoyed." Mai finally looked up. "I have removed three panels." "Yes." "I found no internal structure." "Yes." "I found no power source." "Yes." "I found no processor." "Yes." "I found no storage." "Yes." Mai gestured at the robot. "Then what exactly is this?" Ace pointed. "Robot." Mai stared at her. Shammy laughed. --- Five minutes later. The robot remained on the table. Mai remained confused. Shammy remained entertained. Ace finally stood. "Move." Mai looked up. "No." "Move." "Ace." "Move." Mai sighed. Then moved her equipment aside. Shammy immediately sat up straighter. "Oh no." Ace picked up the robot. The robot looked at her. Its eyes blinked. Twice. Ace narrowed her eyes. The robot blinked again. Shammy pointed. "It knows." "It does not know." "It absolutely knows." "It does not." Mai quietly moved all expensive equipment further away. A very wise decision. Ace held the robot at eye level. "You are annoying." The robot seemed delighted. Ace looked at Mai. "Question." Mai already knew. "No." "You haven't heard the question." "I know the question." "Answer anyway." "No." "Ace..." "No." "Ace." "No." Shammy slowly leaned back in her chair. "I think she should." Mai looked at her. "You are not helping." "I know." --- The robot lasted exactly one second. Ace squeezed. Metal folded. Cracked. Collapsed. The tiny machine vanished inside her fist with a sharp crunch. Several small pieces bounced across the table. One landed near Mai. One near Shammy. One rolled onto the floor. Silence. Ace opened her hand. The robot was gone. Destroyed. Absolutely destroyed. Mai looked down at the wreckage. Then at Ace. Then at the wreckage again. "Happy?" "Yes." Shammy looked disappointed. "A little." --- The next fifteen minutes were peaceful. Unexpectedly peaceful. Mai continued scanning the fragments. Shammy made tea. Ace sat on the couch. Victory achieved. Problem solved. Life was good. For exactly fifteen minutes. --- At fourteen minutes and fifty-three seconds Mai looked up from her analyzer. At fourteen minutes and fifty-six seconds she frowned. At fourteen minutes and fifty-eight seconds she looked at the clock. At fourteen minutes and fifty-nine seconds she stood. Ace noticed. "What?" Mai opened her mouth. Then— > **"HELLOU!"** Silence. Absolute silence. Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. Nobody blinked. The voice had not come from the table. Or the floor. Or the fragments. It had come from somewhere behind them. Very slowly. Very carefully. All three turned. The robot sat on the kitchen counter. Completely intact. Tiny green eyes glowing. Looking directly at Ace. Cheerful as ever. > **"HELLOU!"** Ace stared. Mai stared. Shammy stared. The robot stared back. Ace finally spoke. Very calmly. Very quietly. Very dangerously. "...Mai." "Yes." "Tell me you see that." "I see that." "Good." Shammy covered her mouth. Too late. The laughter escaped anyway. The robot looked delighted. Ace pointed at it. "You." > **"HELLOU!"** "Don't." > **"HELLOU!"** Ace stood. Slowly. The Shadow Aura stirred. Not enough to distort reality. Just enough to suggest reality should start paying attention. The robot remained entirely fearless. Which somehow made everything worse. Mai looked from Ace... ...to the robot... ...and back. Then she reached for her datapad. "Ace." "What." "I need fifteen minutes." Ace looked at her. "Why." Mai's eyes lit up. The same way they always did whenever she encountered something impossible. "I need to know how it did that." Ace looked at the robot. The robot looked at Ace. Then: > **"HELLOU!"** Ace closed her eyes. Somewhere deep inside Zetatech, a project manager was about to have the worst month of their career. --- ## Chapter 3 — The Fifteen Minute Rule The second appearance changed everything. Not because the robot had returned. That was already bad. The problem was how it had returned. Mai spent the next hour proving things that should not have needed proving. The robot remained on the kitchen counter. Mai scanned it. Again. And again. And again. The results never changed. Ace sat on the couch watching. Shammy sat nearby with tea. The robot sat in the middle of the room. Entirely unconcerned. Exactly fifteen minutes after its previous greeting: > **HELLOU!** Ace's eye twitched. --- By the fourth cycle, the apartment looked like a temporary research lab. Portable analyzers. Field scanners. Sensor arrays. Three holographic displays. Two improvised monitoring rigs. One increasingly annoyed Ace. And one increasingly fascinated Mai. The robot sat at the center of it all. Occasionally announcing its continued existence. Precisely every fifteen minutes. No more. No less. --- Mai stared at a growing wall of data. Ace walked behind her. "Anything?" "Yes." "Good." "Nothing makes sense." Ace stopped. "That's not good." "No." "It sounds bad." "It is bad." Shammy looked up from her tea. "What have we learned?" Mai pointed at the display. "It does not move." Ace blinked. "What." "It does not move." "The robot moves." "No." "It keeps appearing in different places." "Correct." "That's moving." Mai sighed. "The object we destroy never leaves." "The object that appears never arrives." Ace stared. Shammy stared. Mai stared back. Nobody said anything. Finally Ace pointed at the robot. "You're doing that thing again." "What thing?" "The thing where you stop speaking human." Mai considered this. "Fair." --- At exactly fifteen minutes: > **HELLOU!** Ace did not even look at it this time. Progress. Or surrender. Neither possibility was encouraging. --- Mai expanded a graph. Then another. Then a third. The data aligned perfectly. Every cycle. Every appearance. Every greeting. Every reconstruction. Every event happened at the exact same interval. Not approximately. Not close. Exactly. --- Shammy eventually stood and walked behind Mai's chair. "You're smiling." Mai didn't look away from the display. "No." "Yes." "No." "Yes." Mai finally looked up. A tiny smile escaped. Shammy immediately pointed. "There." Mai looked offended. "I encountered an impossible engineering problem." "Yes." "It appears to violate multiple physical laws." "Yes." "It reconstructs itself without observable material input." "Yes." "It ignores conventional causality." "Yes." "And yet somehow..." Shammy smiled. "You like it." Mai sighed. "Unfortunately." --- From the couch: "I heard that." Mai didn't turn around. "I know." "You are not adopting the robot." "I know." "You sounded like you were thinking about it." "I was not." "You absolutely were." --- Fifteen minutes later: > **HELLOU!** Ace threw a pillow at it. The pillow missed. The robot remained emotionally unaffected. --- By evening, Mai had filled an entire wall display. Cycle numbers. Timestamps. Measurements. Observations. Failed theories. Rejected hypotheses. A growing list of things reality was apparently no longer interested in obeying. Ace studied the board. Then studied the clock. Then studied the robot. The robot stared back. Green eyes glowing. Silent. Waiting. --- "How long?" Mai looked up. "For what?" "Until the next one." Mai checked the display. "Forty-two seconds." Ace sat down. Crossed her arms. And waited. --- Shammy immediately noticed. "Oh no." Ace ignored her. Thirty-five seconds. Thirty. Twenty-five. Twenty. Fifteen. Ten. --- Mai noticed too. "Ace." "What." "Are you timing it?" "No." "You absolutely are." "No." --- Five seconds. Four. Three. Two. One. --- > **HELLOU!** Ace closed her eyes. Very slowly. Very deliberately. Like someone experiencing a spiritual crisis. --- Shammy immediately laughed. Mai tried not to. Failed. --- "I hate this." "Why?" Shammy asked. "Because I knew exactly when it would happen." "That's normal." "No." "It is." "No." Mai pointed at the wall. "Statistically speaking, yes." Ace pointed at the robot. "Statistically speaking, I am going to throw that out the window." The robot seemed unconcerned. --- The apartment fell quiet again. For almost fifteen entire minutes. Then— > **HELLOU!** --- Ace stood. Walked to the kitchen. Opened a cabinet. Removed a heavy metal mixing bowl. Walked back. Placed it upside down over the robot. The robot disappeared beneath it. Silence. At last. Peace. --- Three seconds later: > **HELLOU!** From inside the bowl. --- Shammy collapsed into laughter. Mai buried her face in one hand. Ace stared at the bowl. The bowl stared back. Metaphorically. --- Very slowly. Very carefully. Ace pointed at it. "I am declaring war." Mai immediately nodded. "Reasonable." Shammy nodded too. "Completely reasonable." The bowl answered: > **HELLOU!** --- At that exact moment, somewhere deep inside Zetatech's R&D division, an engineer was probably imagining this outcome very differently. And somewhere else in Night City... A certain red-haired mercenary had just received a message from Mai. **Need second opinion.** **Not joking.** **Come over.** A few seconds later the reply arrived. **How bad is it?** Mai looked at the robot. The robot looked at Mai. Then cheerfully announced: > **HELLOU!** Mai typed a single response. **Worse than that sounds.** --- ## Chapter 4 — Ace Declares War Reyes arrived twenty-three minutes later. The timing was unfortunate. Or perfect. Depending on perspective. Mostly unfortunate for Ace. --- The apartment door opened. Reyes stepped inside. Closed the door behind her. Looked around. Immediately noticed the wall-sized research display. Then the portable scanners. Then the sensor arrays. Then Mai. Then Shammy. Then Ace. Then the upside-down metal bowl sitting in the middle of the living room floor. --- Silence. A very long silence. --- Reyes pointed at the bowl. "What is that." Nobody answered. --- Reyes pointed again. "What." Is. That." Mai looked up from her workstation. "It's complicated." "That's a bowl." "Correct." "Ace." "What." "Why is there a bowl in the middle of your floor?" --- Before Ace could answer— > **HELLOU!** —from inside the bowl. --- Reyes froze. The room froze. The bowl remained professionally committed to being a bowl. --- Another silence. Longer this time. --- Reyes looked at the bowl. Then at Ace. Then at the bowl. Then at Mai. Then at Shammy. Then back at the bowl. --- "..." --- "..." --- "..." --- Then Reyes sat down. Very carefully. Like she had just entered a hostage negotiation. --- "Start talking." --- Five minutes later. --- Reyes was laughing so hard she couldn't breathe. --- Ace hated everything. --- "No." Reyes wiped tears from her eyes. "No." --- "It is not funny." --- "It is _extremely_ funny." --- "It is not." --- "Ace." --- "What." --- "You put a bowl over it." --- "Yes." --- "Because you thought that would help." --- "It was worth testing." --- "It talks through the bowl." --- "I noticed." --- Reyes completely lost control again. --- Mai continued working. Ignoring the chaos. Mostly. --- Shammy looked entirely too pleased with herself. --- "I told you she would react like this." --- Ace pointed at her. "You are also part of the problem." --- "Probably." --- "Definitely." --- The bowl suddenly announced: > **HELLOU!** --- Reyes nearly fell off the couch. --- Twenty minutes later she had finally recovered enough to function. Mostly. --- Mai projected several schematics. Several graphs. Several pages of increasingly disturbing data. --- Reyes read them. Her smile slowly faded. --- "Huh." --- Mai looked up. "Huh?" --- "Huh." --- Ace frowned. "That's not useful." --- "No." Reyes pointed at one of the displays. "That's Zetatech architecture." --- Mai nodded. "I know." --- Reyes stared. Then stared again. --- "They built this?" --- "Apparently." --- "Why?" --- Nobody answered. --- The robot answered. > **HELLOU!** --- "Not helpful." --- Mai zoomed in on a molecular reconstruction model. --- "I estimated resource consumption." --- Reyes immediately looked concerned. --- "How bad?" --- Mai hesitated. --- Which was never good. --- "Mai." --- "Very bad." --- "Numbers." --- Mai enlarged another display. --- "Conservative estimate." --- Pause. --- "Several million eurodollars." --- The room went silent. --- Even Ace blinked. --- Reyes stared. --- Then laughed. --- Not because it was funny. --- Because it was insane. --- "They spent millions..." --- "Yes." --- "...to annoy you." --- "Yes." --- "..." --- "..." --- "..." --- The bowl spoke. > **HELLOU!** --- Reyes pointed dramatically at it. --- "Best investment they ever made." --- Ace threw another pillow. --- The pillow hit Reyes. --- Which somehow made everything worse. --- An hour later the war escalated. --- Because Ace finally stopped trying to understand the robot. --- And started trying to win. --- The first experiment involved a freezer. --- The robot went inside. Door closed. Timer started. --- Exactly fifteen minutes later: > **HELLOU!** --- From the living room. --- The robot sat on the coffee table. --- The freezer still contained frozen fragments. --- Mai immediately took notes. --- Ace immediately swore. --- Reyes immediately laughed. --- Shammy made tea. --- The second experiment involved a hydraulic press. --- The third involved industrial acid. --- The fourth involved a rented crusher. --- The fifth involved methods Mai politely requested not be documented. --- Every single attempt ended exactly the same way. --- Fifteen minutes. --- Then: > **HELLOU!** --- The apartment slowly transformed into the battlefield of the world's least dignified war. --- At 2:15 AM— > **HELLOU!** --- At 2:30 AM— > **HELLOU!** --- At 2:45 AM— > **HELLOU!** --- By 3:00 AM nobody was sleeping. --- Not because the robot was loud. --- Because everyone was waiting for it. --- And that realization somehow felt worse. --- Shammy was the first to say it. --- "You know what's happening, right?" --- Nobody answered. --- "We're synchronizing to it." --- That got everyone's attention. --- Mai looked up. --- Reyes stopped laughing. --- Even Ace frowned. --- "What do you mean?" --- Shammy pointed at the clock. --- "Nobody has checked the time in hours." --- Silence. --- "..." --- "..." --- "..." --- Then: > **HELLOU!** --- Shammy smiled. --- "There." --- The room collectively realized she was right. --- And for the first time since the package had arrived... That thought was significantly more terrifying than the robot itself. --- ## Chapter 5 — Mai Declares Science The next morning began badly. Not catastrophically. Not explosively. Not even unusually by Night City standards. Just... Badly. --- Because nobody had slept properly. --- At 06:00: > **HELLOU!** --- At 06:15: > **HELLOU!** --- At 06:30: > **HELLOU!** --- Ace opened one eye. Very slowly. Very murderously. --- The robot sat on the bedside table. --- Ace did not remember putting it there. --- The robot seemed extremely pleased with itself. --- > **HELLOU!** --- "No." --- The robot remained optimistic. --- Across the room, Shammy was laughing into a pillow. --- "Ace." --- "What." --- "You look tired." --- "I am going to commit engineering." --- "I don't think that's a crime." --- "It should be." --- --- Meanwhile. --- Mai had not slept at all. --- Which, somehow, was worse. --- The apartment living room now looked less like a home and more like the aftermath of a corporate acquisition. --- Displays. Schematics. Models. Research notes. Projected simulations. Three empty coffee cups. One forgotten breakfast. --- And one increasingly excited Mai. --- Shammy walked into the room. Stopped. Looked around. --- "Oh." --- Mai didn't look up. --- "Hm?" --- "Oh no." --- Mai finally looked up. --- "What?" --- Shammy pointed. --- "You've entered research mode." --- Mai blinked. --- "No." --- "You absolutely have." --- "I have not." --- "You haven't blinked in six minutes." --- Mai considered that. --- "...fair." --- --- The robot announced itself. > **HELLOU!** --- Mai pointed at it immediately. --- "See?" --- Shammy stared. --- "What am I seeing?" --- Mai stood up. Energy suddenly returning. --- "The problem." --- "The robot." --- "The opportunity." --- Shammy narrowed her eyes. --- "Mai." --- "Yes." --- "That's the same look Kiro gets before terrible decisions." --- Mai looked offended. --- "Kiro makes terrible decisions." --- "Yes." --- "You make scientifically justified terrible decisions." --- "..." --- "..." --- "...fair." --- --- An hour later Kiro arrived. --- The apartment door opened. --- Kiro stepped inside. Took one look around. Then immediately froze. --- "What happened." --- Nobody answered. --- Kiro pointed at the wall. --- "Why does your living room look like a conspiracy documentary?" --- The robot answered first. --- > **HELLOU!** --- Kiro jumped. --- "What the hell was that?" --- Reyes, still occupying half the couch: --- "There she is." --- Kiro stared. --- "What." --- Reyes pointed. --- "The second victim." --- "I'm not a victim." --- The robot: > **HELLOU!** --- "..." --- "..." --- "..." --- Kiro pointed. --- "Okay what is that." --- --- Twenty minutes later. --- Kiro was sitting next to Mai. --- Both staring at data. --- Both completely ignoring everyone else. --- Which was never a good sign. --- Ace knew that sign. --- Shammy knew that sign. --- Even Reyes knew that sign. --- It was the sign of two very smart people discovering something very stupid. --- The most dangerous combination known to humanity. --- --- Mai zoomed in on a reconstruction model. --- Kiro zoomed in further. --- Mai rotated it. --- Kiro enhanced it. --- Mai stopped. --- Kiro stopped. --- The two looked at each other. --- Simultaneously. --- "Oh no." --- Ace immediately sat up. --- "What." --- Mai looked concerned. --- Kiro looked impressed. --- Neither expression was reassuring. --- --- Mai pointed at the projection. --- "This isn't a product." --- Reyes frowned. --- "What does that mean?" --- Kiro answered. --- "It means nobody sane would sell this." --- Mai nodded. --- "This is a prototype." --- Silence. --- --- The implications slowly settled into the room. --- Reyes spoke first. --- "Wait." --- "Yes." --- "Someone built a self-repairing nanotech prototype." --- "Yes." --- "Spent millions." --- "Yes." --- "Then used it..." --- Pause. --- "...to annoy Ace." --- Mai nodded. --- Kiro nodded. --- Shammy nodded. --- The robot nodded. --- Then: > **HELLOU!** --- The room collapsed. --- Reyes laughed first. --- Then Kiro. --- Then Shammy. --- Even Mai lost the battle. --- Ace sat in complete silence. --- Watching everyone. --- Watching the robot. --- Watching her life choices. --- --- Five minutes later. --- Kiro wiped tears from her eyes. --- "This is the dumbest thing Zetatech has ever done." --- Mai nodded. --- "Top three at least." --- "Top one." --- "Fair." --- --- Then Kiro noticed something. --- A tiny detail. --- A very dangerous detail. --- She stopped laughing. --- Looked at the robot. --- Then at Mai. --- Then back at the robot. --- "Oh no." --- Mai immediately recognized the tone. --- "Oh no?" --- "Oh no." --- Ace pointed. --- "Use actual words." --- Kiro slowly pointed at the robot. --- "Mai." --- "Yes." --- "If we can understand how this works..." --- Mai's eyes widened. --- "No." --- "Yes." --- "No." --- "Yes." --- "No." --- "Yes." --- Shammy buried her face in her hands. --- Ace stood up. --- "A absolutely not." --- Neither scientist heard her. --- Mai was already thinking. --- Kiro was already calculating. --- The robot watched. --- Waiting. --- Exactly fifteen minutes after the previous cycle: > **HELLOU!** --- And for the first time since it had arrived... The robot was no longer the most dangerous thing in the room. --- Mai and Kiro were. --- ## Chapter 6 — Zetatech Confirmed The apartment had reached a new stage of dysfunction. Not because of the robot. The robot was predictable. The robot was consistent. The robot was, somehow, the most emotionally stable thing in the room. The problem was the scientists. --- Mai and Kiro had entered what Reyes privately referred to as: **"The Zone."** --- A place where: - food became optional - sleep became theoretical - conversations became incomprehensible --- And everyone else suffered. --- The robot announced itself. > **HELLOU!** --- Neither scientist reacted. --- Ace pointed. --- "See." --- Reyes nodded. --- "I see." --- "They didn't even hear it." --- "They absolutely heard it." --- "Then why didn't they react?" --- "Because they're doing science." --- Ace frowned. --- "That isn't an answer." --- "It is if you've known Kiro long enough." --- --- Across the room. --- Mai rotated a molecular simulation. --- Kiro expanded another. --- Both frowned simultaneously. --- Both leaned closer. --- Both spoke simultaneously. --- "That can't work." --- "It absolutely can't." --- "Then why does it?" --- "No idea." --- "Interesting." --- "Oh, very." --- Ace looked at Shammy. --- Shammy looked back. --- Neither needed words. --- This was becoming dangerous. --- --- The robot cheerfully interrupted. > **HELLOU!** --- Kiro pointed without looking. --- "There." --- Mai nodded. --- "There." --- Ace blinked. --- "What." --- Kiro finally looked up. --- "The signal." --- "What signal?" --- "The HELLOU." --- Ace immediately regretted asking. --- --- Ten minutes later she regretted it more. --- Because Kiro and Mai had built a chart. --- A giant chart. --- The chart contained: - waveforms - harmonics - resonance models - atmospheric measurements - probability trees --- And somehow all of it related to a tiny robot saying: > **HELLOU!** every fifteen minutes. --- Reyes stared at the display. --- "..." --- "..." --- "..." --- Finally: --- "You two are insane." --- Mai nodded. --- "Correct." --- Kiro nodded. --- "Fair." --- --- The robot announced itself again. > **HELLOU!** --- The graph updated automatically. --- Ace hated everything. --- --- Then Mai stopped. --- Completely stopped. --- The way she did whenever she found something important. --- Kiro noticed instantly. --- "What." --- Mai enlarged a section of the model. --- Then another. --- Then another. --- Silence filled the room. --- Shammy sat up. --- Reyes stopped scrolling her agent. --- Even Ace paid attention. --- Which was saying something. --- --- Mai looked at everyone. --- Slowly. --- Carefully. --- Then: --- "I know where the nanotech comes from." --- The room froze. --- --- "Zetatech." --- Nobody looked surprised. --- Mai shook her head. --- "No." --- Now everyone looked surprised. --- --- Mai expanded another layer. --- "This isn't current Zetatech." --- Kiro's eyes widened. --- "Oh." --- Mai nodded. --- "Oh." --- Reyes frowned. --- "What does that mean?" --- Kiro answered first. --- "It means this wasn't built by a product division." --- Mai nodded. --- "It wasn't built by R&D either." --- Ace folded her arms. --- "Then who built it?" --- Mai zoomed further. --- The room waited. --- --- Then she pointed. --- "Black budget." --- Silence. --- Long silence. --- Very long silence. --- --- Reyes finally sat up. --- "Oh you're kidding." --- Mai shook her head. --- "No." --- Kiro looked almost impressed. --- "They used black-budget nanotech." --- "Yes." --- "For this." --- "Yes." --- The robot: > **HELLOU!** --- Nobody reacted. --- Because everyone was staring at the implications. --- --- Millions. --- Maybe tens of millions. --- Possibly more. --- One of Zetatech's most advanced internal projects. --- Turned into... --- Ace pointed at the robot. --- "...that." --- Mai nodded. --- "That." --- --- For several seconds nobody spoke. --- Then Reyes started laughing. --- Again. --- Harder than before. --- Because now she understood. --- --- "They actually did it." --- Nobody answered. --- "They actually weaponized annoyance." --- The robot: > **HELLOU!** --- Reyes nearly fell off the couch. --- --- At that exact moment the apartment door buzzer sounded. --- Everyone looked up. --- Mai checked the camera feed. --- "Oh." --- Shammy smiled. --- "Oh no." --- Ace immediately recognized that tone. --- "What." --- Mai turned the display around. --- The camera showed two familiar figures. --- Marco. --- And Lena. --- Standing outside. --- Marco was carrying a paper bag. --- Lena looked curious. --- Which meant somebody had talked. --- Ace slowly turned toward Reyes. --- Reyes raised both hands. --- "I didn't." --- Ace looked at Kiro. --- "I absolutely did." --- "KIRO." --- "What?" --- "It was funny." --- "It is not funny." --- The robot immediately disagreed. > **HELLOU!** --- The buzzer sounded again. --- Marco's voice came through the intercom. --- "Open up." --- Pause. --- Then: --- "WE CAME TO MEET THE ROBOT." --- Ace closed her eyes. --- Very slowly. --- Very painfully. --- Because somehow... --- Somehow... --- The situation was about to get worse. --- And for the first time in two days... --- It wasn't going to be the robot's fault. --- _LOL_ Täytyy myöntää, että tämä on kyllä erittäin tehokas tapa aloittaa maanantai. Normaalisti Ace & Mai -maailmassa maanantaiaamun sisältö olisi jotain tyyliin: - anomalioita - korporaatioita - rituaaleja - murhia - Foundationin ongelmia Mutta tänään: > **HELLOU!** 🤣 Ja mikä parasta, nyt ollaan juuri siinä kohdassa missä tarina tekee seuraavan loogisen harppauksen. Tähän asti: - Rogue kärsi - Triad kärsi - Reyes nauroi Nyt alkaa: **Orbit contamination phase.** Ja Marco on vaarallisin mahdollinen henkilö esitellä tilanteeseen. Koska Marco ei näe ongelmaa. Marco näkee ystävän. --- ## Chapter 7 — Visitors The buzzer rang again. Not impatiently. Not aggressively. Just confidently. The way Marco did most things. --- Ace stared at the intercom. --- The intercom stared back. Metaphorically. --- Marco's voice returned. --- "Come on." --- Pause. --- "I know you're all in there." --- Another pause. --- Then: --- "I literally saw Kiro wave at the camera." --- Everyone slowly turned toward Kiro. --- Kiro froze. --- "..." --- "..." --- "..." --- "It was instinct." --- Ace pointed at the door. --- "Never do that again." --- --- The robot announced: > **HELLOU!** --- From somewhere under a pile of equipment. --- Marco immediately responded through the intercom. --- "THERE IT IS." --- Ace closed her eyes. --- "No." --- --- Three minutes later. --- The apartment door opened. --- Marco entered first. --- Lena followed. --- Marco carried a large paper bag. --- The smell of food immediately invaded the apartment. --- Everyone noticed. --- Especially Kiro. --- Who hadn't eaten since yesterday. --- --- Marco stopped. --- Looked around. --- Took in: - the displays - the research station - the wall of data - the exhausted occupants --- Then nodded. --- "Yep." --- Lena looked around too. --- She took noticeably less time. --- "Nobody has slept." --- "Correct." --- "Nobody has eaten properly." --- "Correct." --- "Mai and Kiro are in research mode." --- "Correct." --- "The robot is somehow responsible." --- "Correct." --- Lena nodded. --- "Okay." --- Ace blinked. --- "That's all?" --- Lena shrugged. --- "I know all of you." --- Fair. --- --- Then Marco spotted the robot. --- The robot spotted Marco. --- For one brief moment. --- They simply looked at each other. --- --- Then: > **HELLOU!** --- Marco's entire face lit up. --- "Oh my god." --- Ace immediately pointed. --- "No." --- "What?" --- "No." --- "What?" --- "Don't." --- Marco looked genuinely confused. --- "Don't what?" --- "Whatever you're about to do." --- "I'm saying hello." --- "No." --- --- Marco crouched. --- The robot looked up at him. --- Marco looked down at the robot. --- Then smiled. --- "HELLOU!" --- The robot answered immediately. --- > **HELLOU!** --- Marco burst out laughing. --- The robot repeated: > **HELLOU!** --- Lena pinched the bridge of her nose. --- "Oh no." --- Shammy was already laughing. --- Reyes was trying and failing to maintain dignity. --- Ace looked ready to jump out a window. --- --- Marco sat down on the floor. --- Next to the robot. --- "He's great." --- "He's not." --- "He absolutely is." --- "Marco." --- "What?" --- "Do not bond with it." --- Marco looked offended. --- "Why would you assume I'm bonding with it?" --- The robot: > **HELLOU!** --- Marco nodded. --- "Exactly." --- --- Lena sat beside Shammy. --- Watching the disaster unfold. --- "How long has this been going on?" --- "Two days." --- "Only two?" --- "Feels like two years." --- Fair. --- --- The paper bag finally opened. --- Food emerged. --- Real food. --- Actual food. --- Not whatever Kiro considered food. --- Everyone immediately migrated toward it. --- Even Mai. --- Even Kiro. --- Which was how Lena knew things were serious. --- --- The apartment grew quieter. --- People eating. --- People talking. --- People resting. --- For the first time since the package arrived... The place felt normal. --- Almost. --- Then: > **HELLOU!** --- Everyone looked up automatically. --- Every single person. --- At exactly the same time. --- Silence. --- --- Marco noticed first. --- "Oh." --- Nobody answered. --- --- "Oh." --- Still nobody answered. --- --- "Oh, that's bad." --- Reyes nodded. --- "Now you get it." --- "Yeah." --- "What?" --- Marco pointed around the room. --- "You all reacted." --- Shammy blinked. --- "So?" --- "You all reacted at the exact same moment." --- Pause. --- Long pause. --- The realization spread. --- Lena slowly lowered her coffee. --- Kiro stopped chewing. --- Mai looked at the clock. --- Ace immediately hated where this was going. --- --- Marco smiled. --- The kind of smile that meant trouble. --- "Guys." --- "No." Ace answered immediately. --- "I haven't even said anything." --- "I know." --- "No." --- The robot cheerfully contributed: > **HELLOU!** --- Marco pointed at it. --- "We should bring him to Community Day." --- The apartment exploded. --- ## Chapter 8 — Community Negotiations The apartment exploded. Not literally. For once. --- "No." Ace answered immediately. --- Marco blinked. --- "I literally just suggested—" --- "No." --- "You don't know what I was going to say." --- "I do." --- "You don't." --- "You want to bring it to Community Day." --- "..." --- "..." --- "...yes." --- "Then I know." --- --- The robot chose that moment. > **HELLOU!** --- Marco pointed dramatically. --- "See? He's excited." --- "He is not." --- "Look at him." --- "I refuse." --- --- Lena quietly sipped her coffee. Watching the argument with the calm expression of someone observing a natural disaster from a safe distance. --- Shammy was less helpful. --- "To be fair..." --- Ace immediately turned. --- "No." --- "I haven't even finished." --- "No." --- "To be fair—" --- "No." --- Marco looked delighted. --- "She's on my side." --- Shammy smiled. --- "I didn't say that." --- "You implied it." --- "I implied nothing." --- The robot contributed: > **HELLOU!** --- --- Meanwhile. --- Mai and Kiro were no longer paying attention. --- Which was arguably worse. --- Because they had started whispering. --- Scientists whispering is never good. --- Especially not when both of them look excited. --- --- Lena noticed. --- "Oh no." --- Reyes immediately nodded. --- "Yep." --- "What?" --- "Look." --- Lena followed Reyes' gaze. --- Mai. Kiro. Data. Whispering. --- "Oh." --- "Yep." --- "Oh no." --- "Exactly." --- --- Ace noticed. --- "What are they doing." --- Nobody answered. --- Because nobody wanted to know. --- --- Then Mai stood. --- Everyone immediately became nervous. --- Mai looked around the room. --- "I have news." --- Nobody looked reassured. --- --- Kiro stood too. --- Which made everything worse. --- --- Mai activated a display. --- Graphs appeared. --- Models appeared. --- Equations appeared. --- Ace visibly regretted asking. --- --- "After extensive analysis—" --- "No." Ace interrupted. --- Mai blinked. --- "What." --- "Use normal words." --- Kiro nodded. --- "Fair." --- Mai sighed. --- Then started over. --- "We figured out why it always comes back." --- The room became interested immediately. --- Even Marco. --- Even the robot. --- --- Mai pointed at the display. --- "The unit doesn't rebuild itself." --- Silence. --- --- "What." Ace finally said. --- "It doesn't rebuild." --- "It obviously rebuilds." --- "No." --- "Mai." --- "It doesn't." --- "Mai." --- "It doesn't." --- "Then explain the robot." --- --- Mai enlarged another projection. --- "The robot on the floor." --- Everyone looked down. --- "The robot in the freezer." --- Everyone looked at the freezer. --- "The robot in the acid." --- Everyone looked at Ace. --- "Don't." --- "The robot under the hydraulic press." --- Everyone still looked at Ace. --- "Don't." --- --- Mai pointed again. --- "They all stayed where they were." --- Silence. --- --- Then Kiro finished the thought. --- "The one that appears every fifteen minutes is a completely new unit." --- The room froze. --- --- "..." --- "..." --- "..." --- --- Reyes slowly sat forward. --- "Wait." --- "Yes." --- "You're saying there isn't one robot." --- "Correct." --- "There's an unlimited number of robots." --- Mai nodded. --- --- Nobody liked that. --- --- The robot liked that. --- > **HELLOU!** --- --- Marco looked impressed. --- "Honestly?" --- "No." Ace answered immediately. --- "That's kind of amazing." --- "Marco." --- "What?" --- "Stop encouraging it." --- --- The debate continued for another thirty minutes. --- Which was exactly long enough for: > **HELLOU!** > **HELLOU!** --- Two additional cycles. --- --- Marco's position remained unchanged. --- Community Day. --- Ace's position remained unchanged. --- Absolutely not. --- --- Lena eventually set her coffee down. --- Which immediately got everyone's attention. --- Because Lena only did that when she actually wanted to say something. --- --- "Can I ask a question?" --- "Sure." Marco said. --- "Why do you want to bring it?" --- Marco looked surprised. --- Then smiled. --- "Because the kids would love it." --- Nobody had an immediate answer. --- --- Marco continued. --- "It's weird." --- True. --- "It's harmless." --- Mostly true. --- "It's impossible." --- Definitely true. --- "And it says hello every fifteen minutes." --- The robot: > **HELLOU!** --- Marco pointed triumphantly. --- "Exactly." --- --- Lena looked toward Shammy. --- "What do you think?" --- Shammy considered. --- Actually considered. --- Which meant the question mattered. --- --- Finally: --- "I think..." --- Pause. --- "...it would make people smile." --- The room fell quiet. --- --- Even Ace. --- --- Because that was the problem. --- Not that Marco was wrong. --- But that he was right. --- --- The robot chose that exact moment. --- Of course it did. --- > **HELLOU!** --- --- Marco looked victorious. --- Ace looked betrayed. --- Shammy looked amused. --- Lena looked unsurprised. --- Reyes looked like she was witnessing history. --- Mai wasn't listening. --- Kiro was already calculating crowd reaction probabilities. --- --- Ace slowly looked around the room. --- At every face. --- One by one. --- Then realized something horrifying. --- Nobody was actually against the idea anymore. --- --- Not even herself. --- Not completely. --- --- The realization hit. --- Hard. --- --- "..." --- "..." --- "..." --- Then Ace pointed at Marco. --- "You planned this." --- Marco grinned. --- "No." --- Pause. --- Then: --- "Not until I got here." --- The robot immediately approved. --- > **HELLOU!** --- ## Chapter 9 — Community Day The argument officially ended three days later. Not because anyone won. Not because anyone surrendered. Not because a compromise had been reached. The argument ended because Marco simply announced a date and started making preparations. Which, Ace had discovered, was one of Marco's most dangerous abilities. --- "That's not how negotiations work." --- Marco looked up from his agent. --- "Sure it is." --- "No." --- "People discuss things." --- "We did." --- "People reach agreements." --- "We did." --- Ace pointed. --- "No we didn't." --- Marco smiled. --- "We agreed I was right." --- Ace stared. --- Shammy immediately looked away. --- Which was effectively an admission of guilt. --- --- The robot contributed. --- > **HELLOU!** --- --- Marco pointed at it. --- "See?" --- "No." --- --- Three days later. --- Pacifica. --- Not the Pacifica tourists imagined. Not the Pacifica corps imagined. Not the Pacifica shown on newsfeeds. --- The real Pacifica. --- The one that still contained people. --- People living. --- People rebuilding. --- People stubborn enough to insist that community still mattered. --- Which was exactly why Marco liked the place. --- And exactly why Lena kept coming back. --- --- The event occupied a partially restored community block. --- A small plaza. --- Several food stands. --- A temporary stage. --- Tables. --- Children running around. --- Music drifting through the afternoon air. --- Nothing spectacular. --- Just people. --- The kind of thing Night City rarely appreciated enough. --- --- Ace stepped out of the vehicle. --- Looked around. --- Then reluctantly admitted something. --- The atmosphere was nice. --- She hated admitting that. --- --- Shammy stepped beside her. --- "You like it." --- "No." --- "You do." --- "No." --- "You absolutely do." --- "No." --- Shammy smiled. --- "Okay." --- --- The robot sat in a carrier box beside them. --- Silent. --- Waiting. --- Which somehow felt suspicious. --- --- Marco appeared almost immediately. --- Because apparently he could smell when people arrived. --- --- "You're here!" --- Ace pointed. --- "We were threatened." --- "Encouraged." --- "Threatened." --- "Encouraged." --- --- Lena arrived a few moments later. --- Carrying a clipboard. --- Which immediately made her look more dangerous. --- --- "Morning." --- "Afternoon." Ace corrected. --- Lena checked her agent. --- "...fair." --- --- The robot chose that exact moment. --- > **HELLOU!** --- Several nearby people looked over. --- Briefly. --- Then went back to what they were doing. --- Nobody seemed particularly concerned. --- Which was honestly reassuring. --- --- Marco looked pleased. --- Ace immediately noticed. --- "No." --- "What?" --- "You have a look." --- "I always have a look." --- "This is a specific look." --- Marco grinned. --- "It is." --- --- The event began properly. --- And for a while... --- Nothing happened. --- --- Which surprised everyone. --- Including Ace. --- --- People talked. --- People ate. --- People laughed. --- Children played. --- Volunteers moved supplies. --- Lena coordinated logistics. --- Marco solved three unrelated problems before lunch. --- Shammy somehow became involved in six different conversations simultaneously. --- Mai answered technical questions she never intended to answer. --- Kiro found local infrastructure systems. --- Again. --- Nobody knew how. --- --- The robot remained beside the supply table. --- Mostly ignored. --- Mostly. --- --- At exactly fifteen minutes: --- > **HELLOU!** --- A nearby child looked over. --- Curious. --- Nothing more. --- Then returned to playing. --- --- Fifteen minutes later. --- > **HELLOU!** --- The same child looked again. --- This time longer. --- --- Ace noticed. --- The child noticed Ace noticing. --- Then immediately pretended not to notice. --- Children were surprisingly good at that. --- --- Another fifteen minutes passed. --- > **HELLOU!** --- Two children looked over this time. --- Then three. --- Then one wandered closer. --- --- Ace saw it happening. --- The way a storm begins. --- Small. --- Almost invisible. --- Completely inevitable. --- --- Marco appeared beside her. --- Watching the exact same thing. --- --- "..." --- "..." --- "..." --- Neither said anything. --- Because both knew. --- --- The robot sat quietly. --- Harmlessly. --- Patiently. --- Waiting. --- --- Then: > **HELLOU!** --- The nearest child laughed. --- A second one laughed too. --- --- Marco slowly looked at Ace. --- Ace slowly looked at Marco. --- --- Marco smiled. --- Very slowly. --- Very dangerously. --- --- "No." Ace said immediately. --- "I didn't say anything." --- "You were about to." --- "I was." --- "Don't." --- --- Across the plaza. --- Lena noticed the growing cluster too. --- So did Shammy. --- So did Mai. --- And unfortunately... --- So did Kiro. --- --- Kiro immediately pulled out her agent. --- "No." Ace said. --- Kiro looked up. --- "What?" --- "No statistics." --- "I wasn't—" --- "Yes you were." --- "..." --- "..." --- "...maybe." --- --- The robot announced itself once more. --- > **HELLOU!** --- This time four children laughed. --- --- The storm was forming. --- Slowly. --- Naturally. --- And for the first time all day... --- Ace had a very bad feeling. --- Not because something terrible was about to happen. --- But because something incredibly stupid was. --- And somehow... --- Those were often harder to stop. --- ## Chapter 10 — The Event Ace had been right. Unfortunately. The stupid thing was happening. --- Slowly. --- Patiently. --- With the determination only children could bring to a completely unnecessary project. --- The first child approached HELLOU! voluntarily. --- The second arrived because the first had. --- The third arrived because there were already two. --- By Night City's ancient and sacred laws of childhood: If three children were staring at something... It was automatically interesting. --- The robot sat on the supply table. --- Waiting. --- Exactly fifteen minutes after the previous cycle: > **HELLOU!** --- The nearest child immediately laughed. --- A second child laughed too. --- A third copied the sound. --- --- Marco appeared beside Ace. --- Hands in pockets. --- Far too pleased with himself. --- --- "You see it too, right?" --- "No." --- "You do." --- "No." --- "You absolutely do." --- "No." --- The robot: > **HELLOU!** --- Marco pointed. --- "There." --- "No." --- --- Across the plaza. --- Shammy was helping organize supplies. --- Or at least pretending to. --- Because every few minutes she found herself looking back toward the growing crowd around HELLOU!. --- --- Lena noticed. --- "You're enjoying this." --- "A little." --- "A little?" --- "A lot." --- "Fair." --- --- Meanwhile. --- Mai and Kiro had somehow started collecting data again. --- Because of course they had. --- --- "What are you measuring now?" --- Kiro looked up. --- "Engagement patterns." --- Mai nodded. --- "Behavioral response clustering." --- Lena stared. --- --- "..." --- "..." --- "..." --- "You two need hobbies." --- "We have hobbies." --- "No." --- "This is a hobby." --- "That's exactly the problem." --- --- At exactly 14:15— --- > **HELLOU!** --- Seven children answered immediately. --- Not because they had planned to. --- Because they were already waiting. --- --- The synchronized response rolled across the plaza. --- A wave of laughter followed. --- --- Ace closed her eyes. --- Very slowly. --- --- "Oh no." --- Marco looked delighted. --- "Oh yes." --- --- The problem wasn't the robot anymore. --- The problem was anticipation. --- People were waiting for it. --- Children had started counting. --- --- Ten seconds. --- Five. --- Three. --- Two. --- One. --- > **HELLOU!** --- Laughter. --- Every single time. --- --- Ace watched in horror. --- The robot had somehow become entertainment. --- Without doing anything. --- --- Reyes arrived thirty minutes later. --- Coffee in one hand. --- Sunglasses on. --- The expression of someone expecting a normal afternoon. --- --- A fatal mistake. --- --- She stopped. --- Looked at the crowd. --- Looked at the children. --- Looked at the robot. --- Looked at Marco. --- Then looked at Ace. --- --- "..." --- "..." --- "..." --- "You lost." --- Ace immediately pointed. --- "Not helping." --- --- Reyes walked closer. --- Studied the situation. --- Then slowly nodded. --- --- "No." --- "What." --- "No." --- "What." --- "No." --- "What." --- Reyes pointed at the children. --- "They've synchronized." --- --- Everyone looked. --- And immediately realized she was right. --- --- The children weren't reacting randomly anymore. --- They were waiting. --- Counting. --- Predicting. --- Then celebrating. --- Every single cycle. --- --- The robot sat motionless. --- Doing absolutely nothing. --- And somehow controlling an entire section of the plaza. --- --- "That is deeply concerning." Lena observed. --- Marco disagreed. --- "It's adorable." --- "It can be both." --- "Fair." --- --- At 14:45— --- > **HELLOU!** --- The response was louder this time. --- Not just children anymore. --- A couple of volunteers joined in. --- Someone near a food stand laughed. --- One elderly woman waved at the robot. --- The robot responded. --- > **HELLOU!** --- --- Marco completely lost control. --- He was laughing so hard he had to sit down. --- --- "This is the best thing Zetatech has ever built." --- Mai looked genuinely offended. --- "They built combat drones." --- Marco pointed. --- "And yet." --- --- The robot announced another cycle. --- > **HELLOU!** --- More laughter. --- More smiles. --- More people drifting toward the area. --- --- Ace looked around the plaza. --- Then at the robot. --- Then at the people. --- Then back at the robot. --- --- The realization hit. --- Slowly. --- Painfully. --- --- This wasn't going away. --- --- Not because the robot was impossible. --- Not because Zetatech had built something unstoppable. --- Not because the technology was beyond understanding. --- --- It wasn't going away because people liked it. --- --- And that was somehow the one thing Ace couldn't fight. --- --- The robot chose that exact moment. --- Of course it did. --- Its eyes glowed. --- Its head turned. --- And with perfect timing: > **HELLOU!** --- The crowd laughed. --- Marco laughed. --- Shammy laughed. --- Lena smiled. --- Reyes shook her head. --- Mai started taking notes. --- Kiro started taking more notes. --- --- And for the first time all day... --- Ace felt the horrifying certainty that this story was about to get significantly worse. --- Because nobody had named the thing yet. --- _ROTFLMAO_ Nyt ollaan siinä pisteessä, jossa tarina on lakannut kysymästä: > "Miten HELLOU! toimii?" ja alkanut kysyä: > "Kuinka monta ihmistä HELLOU! onnistuu tartuttamaan ennen auringonlaskua?" 🤣 Ja pahinta on, että tähän mennessä HELLOU! ei ole tehnyt yhtään mitään muuta kuin ollut olemassa. --- ## Chapter 11 — HELLOU! The catastrophe reached critical mass at 15:00. Nobody noticed immediately. Because everyone was busy. --- Children playing. --- Volunteers working. --- Families talking. --- Food stands operating. --- The plaza alive with the quiet, stubborn energy that kept Pacifica going. --- And somewhere in the middle of it all... --- A tiny robot sat on a folding table. --- Waiting. --- --- Ten seconds. --- Five. --- Three. --- Two. --- One. --- > **HELLOU!** --- The response came instantly. --- "HELLOU!" --- The children shouted it back. --- Laughing. --- Pointing. --- Celebrating another successful cycle. --- --- Then something changed. --- A little girl near the front tilted her head. --- Studying the robot. --- Thinking. --- The kind of serious thinking only children and very dangerous scientists did. --- --- Then she pointed. --- Directly at the robot. --- "His name is HELLOU!" --- Silence. --- A dangerous silence. --- --- The girl nodded confidently. --- "Because he says HELLOU!" --- --- Nobody immediately challenged the logic. --- Which was mistake number one. --- --- Marco was first. --- "Honestly?" --- He considered it. --- For almost a full second. --- "That's pretty solid." --- --- Mistake number two. --- --- Ace pointed immediately. --- "No." --- Marco looked offended. --- "What?" --- "No." --- "It's a name." --- "No." --- "It literally introduces itself." --- "It literally doesn't." --- --- The robot disagreed. --- > **HELLOU!** --- --- The little girl pointed triumphantly. --- "See?" --- --- Several children immediately nodded. --- Because of course they did. --- Children could smell consensus. --- --- Within seconds: --- "HELLOU!" --- "HELLOU!" --- "HELLOU!" --- --- The name began spreading. --- Like a virus. --- Or a meme. --- Which in Night City were functionally the same thing. --- --- Shammy appeared beside Ace. --- Watching the disaster unfold. --- --- "..." --- "..." --- "..." --- "You've lost." --- Ace looked betrayed. --- "You too?" --- "A little." --- --- Across the plaza. --- Lena had noticed. --- And worse... --- She was smiling. --- --- Ace pointed. --- "No." --- Lena blinked. --- "What?" --- "No." --- "I didn't say anything." --- "You were going to." --- "...fair." --- --- The robot announced itself again. --- > **HELLOU!** --- Now twenty people answered. --- --- Twenty. --- --- Marco nearly fell over laughing. --- --- "This is amazing." --- "No." --- "It is." --- "No." --- "It really is." --- "No." --- --- Meanwhile. --- Mai had stopped working. --- Which was unusual. --- Very unusual. --- --- Kiro noticed immediately. --- "What." --- Mai pointed. --- At the children. --- At the crowd. --- At HELLOU!. --- --- "Do you realize what's happening?" --- Kiro looked. --- Then looked again. --- Then froze. --- --- "Oh." --- --- Mai nodded. --- "Oh." --- --- Reyes immediately became suspicious. --- "I don't like that tone." --- --- Mai enlarged a graph. --- Nobody knew where the graph came from. --- At this point everyone had stopped asking. --- --- She pointed at a curve. --- Then another. --- Then another. --- --- "It's spreading." --- Silence. --- --- Ace stared. --- "What is spreading?" --- Mai looked at the crowd. --- Then at HELLOU!. --- Then back at Ace. --- --- "Anticipation." --- --- The room— --- Or technically the plaza— --- Went silent. --- --- Kiro's eyes widened. --- "Oh no." --- --- Mai nodded. --- --- "People are organizing around the interval." --- --- Everyone looked. --- And immediately saw it. --- --- People were timing conversations. --- Timing breaks. --- Timing activities. --- Waiting for the next cycle. --- --- Not consciously. --- Just naturally. --- --- The robot had become part of the event's rhythm. --- --- The realization hit everyone at once. --- Even Ace. --- --- Especially Ace. --- --- The robot announced itself. --- > **HELLOU!** --- And thirty people answered back. --- --- Thirty. --- --- Marco sat down. --- Very suddenly. --- --- Lena sat down beside him. --- --- Shammy sat down too. --- --- Even Reyes looked concerned. --- --- Ace looked around the plaza. --- At the children. --- At the volunteers. --- At the families. --- At HELLOU!. --- --- Then she delivered the most horrifying sentence of the day. --- "...it's becoming a mascot." --- Silence. --- --- Nobody could argue. --- Because it was true. --- --- The little girl from earlier walked up again. --- Placed a tiny hand-drawn sticker next to the robot. --- A smiling face. --- With the word: --- **HELLOU!** --- Written underneath. --- --- The robot looked at it. --- The sticker looked at the robot. --- The crowd looked at both. --- --- Then: > **HELLOU!** --- The entire nearby section of Pacifica answered back: --- "HELLOU!" --- --- Ace slowly covered her face with both hands. --- Because deep down... --- Deep, deep down... --- She knew. --- The war was over. --- And HELLOU! had won. --- ## Chapter 12 — The Clock The problem became apparent three days later. Not immediately. Not dramatically. Not even intentionally. --- Which somehow made it worse. --- The Community Day event had ended. People had gone home. Life had returned to normal. --- Except it hadn't. --- Because HELLOU! had come home with them. --- Not physically. --- Conceptually. --- --- Pacifica had adopted it. --- Nobody remembered making that decision. --- Nobody remembered agreeing. --- Yet somehow everyone had. --- --- The first warning sign appeared when Lena received a message. --- She stared at it. --- Read it twice. --- Then showed it to Marco. --- --- Marco read it. --- Paused. --- Then laughed so hard he nearly dropped his coffee. --- --- "What." Lena asked. --- He turned the screen around. --- The message came from one of the volunteers. --- **Running late.** **Meet you after the next HELLOU!** --- --- Silence. --- --- Marco laughed harder. --- --- "Oh no." --- --- Lena stared. --- Then sighed. --- --- "Oh no." --- --- --- Elsewhere. --- Ace was trying to enjoy breakfast. --- Trying. --- Not succeeding. --- --- Mai sat across from her. --- Reviewing notes. --- Kiro occupied half the couch. --- Somehow. --- --- The robot sat on the kitchen counter. --- Waiting. --- --- The apartment had unconsciously arranged itself around the interval. --- Nobody had noticed. --- Until now. --- --- Mai looked up. --- "Tea will be ready in three minutes." --- Pause. --- --- Ace blinked. --- "How do you know?" --- Mai froze. --- Very slightly. --- --- "..." --- "..." --- "..." --- Then: --- "HELLOU! is in three minutes." --- --- Silence. --- --- Ace slowly lowered her coffee. --- --- "You used it as a timer." --- --- "No." --- "You did." --- "No." --- "You absolutely did." --- --- Kiro looked up. --- "...I do too." --- --- Ace pointed. --- "No." --- --- Kiro checked her agent. --- --- "Actually I use it for work blocks." --- --- "No." --- --- "Fifteen minute intervals are very productive." --- --- "No." --- --- "Twenty-four cycles is six hours." --- --- "KIRO." --- --- The robot announced itself. --- > **HELLOU!** --- --- Kiro nodded. --- --- "There." --- --- Ace looked physically pained. --- --- --- It got worse. --- Much worse. --- --- Because Reyes stopped by that afternoon. --- And immediately noticed something. --- --- She entered. --- Looked around. --- Then frowned. --- --- "What time is it?" --- --- Nobody answered. --- --- The room simply waited. --- --- Five seconds. --- Ten. --- Fifteen. --- --- > **HELLOU!** --- --- Mai looked up. --- "Four fifteen." --- --- Kiro nodded. --- "Exactly." --- --- Reyes slowly removed her sunglasses. --- --- "..." --- "..." --- "..." --- "Oh my god." --- --- Ace pointed. --- "THANK YOU." --- --- Reyes stared at everyone. --- --- "You've replaced clocks." --- --- "No." Mai answered. --- "Yes." Reyes answered. --- --- "No." --- "Yes." --- --- The robot: > **HELLOU!** --- --- "STOP ENCOURAGING THEM." Ace shouted. --- --- --- The final confirmation came that evening. --- --- Marco called. --- --- Shammy answered. --- Normal conversation. --- Community planning. --- Volunteer scheduling. --- Routine things. --- --- Then Marco suddenly said: --- "Hold on." --- Pause. --- --- Everyone listened. --- --- Silence. --- --- Then: > **HELLOU!** --- --- Marco immediately continued. --- "Okay, where was I?" --- --- The room froze. --- --- Shammy froze. --- Mai froze. --- Kiro froze. --- Even Reyes froze. --- --- Ace slowly turned. --- Very slowly. --- Very carefully. --- --- "Marco." --- Speakerphone. --- "Yeah?" --- --- "Did you just use HELLOU! as a conversation bookmark?" --- --- Pause. --- --- Long pause. --- --- "...maybe." --- --- "MARCO." --- --- Lena's laughter exploded through the speaker. --- --- Marco immediately surrendered. --- --- "Okay in my defense—" --- "No." --- "It works." --- "No." --- "It actually works." --- "No." --- "It really does." --- "No." --- --- The robot waited patiently for the argument to finish. --- Then: > **HELLOU!** --- --- Everyone looked at it. --- Automatically. --- Without thinking. --- --- And that was the moment. --- The exact moment. --- The horrible realization. --- --- Nobody was adapting to HELLOU! anymore. --- HELLOU! had become part of their routine. --- --- Ace stared at the robot. --- The robot stared back. --- Its tiny green eyes glowing innocently. --- Waiting. --- Always waiting. --- For the next fifteen minutes. --- --- And somewhere in the deepest, darkest corner of her mind... --- A truly horrifying thought appeared. --- --- What if it stopped? --- --- Ace immediately hated that thought. --- Because it implied something far worse than annoyance. --- --- It implied she would notice. --- --- The robot cheerfully announced another cycle. --- > **HELLOU!** --- --- Nobody laughed this time. --- Because everyone had just realized the same thing. --- And nobody liked it. --- ## Chapter 13 — The Silence Nobody mentioned it. For two entire days. Nobody. --- Not Ace. --- Not Mai. --- Not Shammy. --- Not Kiro. --- Not Reyes. --- Not Marco. --- Not Lena. --- Nobody acknowledged the thought. --- Because acknowledging it would make it real. --- And nobody wanted that. --- --- The robot continued its routine. --- > **HELLOU!** --- Fifteen minutes. --- > **HELLOU!** --- Fifteen minutes. --- > **HELLOU!** --- --- Life continued. --- Almost normally. --- --- Then came Tuesday. --- And everything broke. --- --- It happened at 14:15. --- Or rather... --- It didn't happen. --- --- The apartment was quiet. --- Mai was working. --- Kiro was pretending not to be working. --- Ace was reading. --- Shammy was watering plants. --- --- Nobody was paying attention. --- At least consciously. --- --- 14:14:50. --- 14:14:55. --- 14:14:58. --- 14:14:59. --- --- Nothing. --- --- 14:15:01. --- 14:15:02. --- 14:15:03. --- --- Nothing. --- --- Nobody reacted. --- Yet. --- --- 14:15:10. --- 14:15:15. --- 14:15:20. --- --- Still nothing. --- --- Shammy slowly looked up. --- Mai stopped typing. --- Kiro stopped scrolling. --- Ace lowered her book. --- --- Nobody spoke. --- --- 14:15:30. --- --- The silence felt wrong. --- --- 14:15:45. --- --- Very wrong. --- --- 14:16. --- --- Still nothing. --- --- Finally. --- Shammy spoke. --- Quietly. --- --- "..." --- "..." --- "..." --- "Did we miss one?" --- --- Nobody answered. --- Because everyone had already checked. --- --- Ace looked at the counter. --- Empty. --- --- The robot wasn't there. --- --- For the first time in weeks. --- --- Ace stood. --- Immediately. --- Without thinking. --- --- Then froze. --- Because she had stood. --- Immediately. --- Without thinking. --- --- Mai noticed. --- Unfortunately. --- --- "..." --- "..." --- "..." --- "Ace." --- "What." --- "Why did you stand up?" --- --- Ace pointed. --- At absolutely nothing. --- --- "I was stretching." --- --- "No." --- --- "I was." --- --- "No." --- --- Kiro looked up. --- "Ace." --- "What." --- "You just performed the most suspicious stretch in human history." --- --- "I hate all of you." --- --- --- 14:17. --- --- Still nothing. --- --- Now people were checking rooms. --- Without discussing it. --- Without coordinating it. --- Without admitting it. --- --- Shammy checked the kitchen. --- Mai checked her workstation. --- Kiro checked under the couch. --- Ace checked the balcony. --- --- Nobody commented on this. --- Because commenting would make it worse. --- --- Then Ace's agent rang. --- --- She answered. --- Immediately. --- --- Marco. --- --- "Please tell me you called for a normal reason." --- --- Silence. --- --- "..." --- "..." --- "..." --- "Have you heard HELLOU! today?" --- --- Ace closed her eyes. --- --- "No." --- --- "Oh thank god." --- --- Ace blinked. --- --- "What." --- --- Lena's voice appeared in the background. --- "We thought it was just us." --- --- Marco returned. --- --- "It's late." --- --- "It is." --- --- "It has never been late." --- --- "I know." --- --- "That's bad." --- --- "I know." --- --- Silence. --- --- Then: --- "Should we be worried?" --- --- Ace answered instantly. --- "No." --- Pause. --- Long pause. --- Then: --- "...probably." --- --- The call disconnected. --- --- Ace stared at her agent. --- Then looked around the room. --- --- Everyone else was already staring at her. --- --- Nobody needed to ask. --- --- Because they all knew exactly why Marco had called. --- --- The same reason everyone in the apartment was suddenly uncomfortable. --- --- Nobody cared about the robot. --- --- Not really. --- --- The problem was the missing interval. --- --- The missing certainty. --- --- The missing rhythm. --- --- The thing that should have happened. --- And hadn't. --- --- Then another message arrived. --- From Reyes. --- Of course it was Reyes. --- --- **Tell me the robot isn't missing.** --- --- Ace stared. --- --- Another message. --- Immediately. --- --- **You know what.** **Never mind.** **The fact that I even asked means we're all screwed.** --- --- For the first time all day... --- Ace laughed. --- Once. --- Against her will. --- --- Then the apartment buzzer rang. --- --- Everyone froze. --- --- Once. --- Twice. --- Three times. --- --- Someone was downstairs. --- --- Mai checked the camera. --- --- Silence. --- Then: --- "Oh no." --- --- "What." --- --- Mai rotated the screen. --- --- The camera showed: --- Marco. --- Lena. --- And Reyes. --- --- Standing outside. --- --- Nobody looked embarrassed. --- --- Nobody looked ashamed. --- --- Nobody looked like they had any excuse whatsoever. --- --- They all looked exactly the same. --- --- Concerned. --- --- About a tiny robot that said one word every fifteen minutes. --- --- Ace slowly covered her face. --- --- "No." --- --- The buzzer rang again. --- --- Marco's voice came through the intercom. --- --- "Open up." --- --- "No." --- --- "Open up." --- --- "No." --- --- "We are conducting an investigation." --- --- Reyes immediately added: --- "Officially the stupidest investigation of my career." --- --- Lena added: --- "She's not wrong." --- --- Silence. --- --- Then from somewhere deep inside the building's ventilation system... --- Very faintly. --- Very far away. --- Almost impossible to hear. --- --- "...hellou..." --- --- The entire apartment froze. --- --- Nobody moved. --- Nobody breathed. --- Nobody blinked. --- --- Then every single person in the room spoke at once. --- "THERE!" --- ## Chapter 14 — Search Operation The investigation began immediately. Which was impressive. Because nobody had prepared for it. Nobody had planned it. And nobody wanted to explain it. --- Five minutes later. --- Everyone was in the apartment. --- Marco. Lena. Reyes. Ace. Mai. Shammy. Kiro. --- The entire orbit. --- Gathered together. --- For reasons nobody intended to discuss. --- --- Ace pointed at the group. --- "This is ridiculous." --- Nobody disagreed. --- --- Marco immediately grabbed a marker. --- Which was the first warning sign. --- --- Lena saw it. --- "Oh no." --- --- "What?" Marco asked. --- "You have an idea." --- "I have several." --- "That's worse." --- --- Three minutes later. --- There was a whiteboard. --- Nobody knew where it came from. --- Kiro claimed it had always been there. --- Nobody believed her. --- --- At the top: --- **FIND HELLOU!** --- --- Ace stared at it. --- --- "No." --- --- Marco pointed. --- "Yes." --- --- "No." --- --- "Yes." --- --- The board remained. --- --- The robot did not. --- --- Which was the problem. --- --- Mai stepped forward. --- Professional. --- Focused. --- Terrifying. --- --- "We know the sound came from the ventilation system." --- Everyone nodded. --- --- "We know it was weak." --- More nodding. --- --- "We know it was delayed." --- Again. --- --- "We know this has never happened before." --- Silence. --- --- Then Reyes raised a hand. --- --- "Question." --- --- Mai nodded. --- --- "Why are we treating this like a missing person case?" --- --- Silence. --- --- Nobody had an answer. --- --- Because the answer was embarrassing. --- --- The answer was: Because they were. --- --- The buzzer interrupted. --- --- A child stood outside. --- One of the Community Day regulars. --- --- Marco opened the door. --- The child looked around. --- --- "Have you found HELLOU! yet?" --- --- The room froze. --- --- Ace looked at Marco. --- Marco looked at Lena. --- Lena looked at the ceiling. --- Reyes started laughing. --- --- "Oh my god." --- --- The child continued. --- --- "Everybody's looking." --- --- "What." Ace said. --- --- The child blinked. --- --- "Yeah." --- --- "What." --- --- "The neighborhood chat." --- --- "What." --- --- "The volunteers." --- --- "What." --- --- "The old ladies." --- --- Silence. --- --- Absolute silence. --- --- Then Lena slowly sat down. --- --- "The old ladies?" --- --- The child nodded. --- --- "They think HELLOU! got lost." --- --- Marco collapsed into a chair. --- --- Reyes stopped functioning. --- --- Kiro slid down the wall. --- --- Shammy buried her face in her hands. --- --- Mai looked like she was trying to decide whether this was sociology or psychology. --- --- Ace looked like she wanted a meteor. --- --- --- The search expanded. --- Rapidly. --- Far too rapidly. --- --- Within twenty minutes: --- - Pacifica community volunteers were searching. - Three neighborhood groups were searching. - One food vendor was searching. - Two retired mechanics were searching. - Somebody had apparently printed flyers. --- --- "WHO PRINTED FLYERS?" Ace demanded. --- --- Nobody knew. --- --- Which somehow made it worse. --- --- The ventilation trail eventually led into the basement. --- --- An old maintenance area beneath the building. --- Dust. Pipes. Storage. Ancient wiring. --- The sort of place nobody wanted to visit. --- Which meant Ace was in front. --- Naturally. --- --- Marco carried a flashlight. --- Lena carried another. --- Mai carried a scanner. --- Kiro carried three scanners. --- Nobody knew why. --- --- The group moved deeper. --- Following faint audio traces. --- --- Then: --- "...hellou..." --- --- Very faint. --- Very distant. --- --- Everyone stopped. --- --- "There!" Marco whispered. --- --- "Why are you whispering?" Reyes asked. --- --- "I don't know." --- --- Fair. --- --- The sound came again. --- --- "...hellou..." --- --- The entire group followed it. --- Through pipes. Around storage shelves. Past forgotten maintenance rooms. --- Until finally— --- Mai stopped. --- --- "There." --- --- A narrow drainage access. --- Half-hidden behind old equipment. --- --- Everyone looked. --- --- Silence. --- --- Then Marco slowly aimed the flashlight. --- Into the darkness. --- --- Two tiny green eyes reflected back. --- --- The entire orbit collectively exhaled. --- --- "..." --- "..." --- "..." --- Then: --- > **HELLOU!** --- --- The relief was immediate. --- And horrifying. --- Because everyone felt it. --- Every single person. --- --- Reyes noticed first. --- Of course she did. --- --- "Oh no." --- --- Nobody answered. --- --- "Oh no." --- --- Lena nodded. --- --- "Oh no." --- --- Marco nodded. --- --- "Oh no." --- --- Ace already knew. --- --- They had found it. --- And everyone was happy about it. --- --- Which meant the situation had become far worse than anyone had realized. --- ## Chapter 15 — Recovery Nobody talked about the relief. That was the first rule. The unspoken rule. The rule everyone agreed to without agreeing. --- Nobody. --- Absolutely nobody. --- Was going to discuss why finding HELLOU! felt good. --- That conversation would never happen. --- Ever. --- --- Reyes immediately violated the rule. --- Of course she did. --- --- "You all felt that." --- --- "No." Ace answered instantly. --- --- "Yes." --- --- "No." --- --- "Yes." --- --- "No." --- --- The robot contributed: > **HELLOU!** --- --- Reyes pointed triumphantly. --- "There." --- --- "There what?" --- --- "Evidence." --- --- "That's not evidence." --- --- "It's emotional evidence." --- --- "That's not a thing." --- --- "It absolutely is." --- --- --- The rescue operation returned upstairs. --- With significantly more dignity than it deserved. --- Which wasn't saying much. --- --- HELLOU! rode in Marco's arms. --- Like a celebrity. --- --- Ace hated every second of it. --- --- The robot seemed delighted. --- --- > **HELLOU!** --- --- "Stop encouraging it." --- --- "I'm not." --- --- "You're carrying it." --- --- "It just got rescued." --- --- "It fell into a maintenance drain." --- --- "Exactly." --- --- "That doesn't make it a victim." --- --- Marco looked genuinely confused. --- --- "How does it not?" --- --- --- Lena was laughing again. --- Which wasn't helping. --- --- Shammy was worse. --- She had entered the dangerous stage where she wasn't even pretending neutrality anymore. --- --- "You know..." --- Ace immediately pointed. --- "No." --- --- "I haven't said anything." --- --- "No." --- --- "It was brave." --- --- "IT IS A ROBOT." --- --- The robot: > **HELLOU!** --- --- "See?" --- --- "I SEE NOTHING." --- --- --- Back upstairs. --- The neighborhood had somehow learned the search was over. --- Nobody knew how. --- Nobody asked. --- Because nobody wanted the answer. --- --- Several volunteers were waiting. --- One food vendor. --- Two retired mechanics. --- Three children. --- And, somehow... --- The old ladies. --- --- The old ladies immediately applauded. --- --- Ace stared. --- --- "What." --- --- Nobody answered. --- Because nobody had an explanation. --- --- The robot announced: > **HELLOU!** --- --- The applause became louder. --- --- Marco nearly died laughing. --- --- --- Later that evening. --- The apartment was quiet again. --- Mostly. --- --- Everyone had gone home. --- Except the core group. --- --- Ace. Mai. Shammy. Reyes. Kiro. --- And HELLOU!. --- Unfortunately. --- --- The robot sat on the kitchen counter. --- Exactly where it always sat. --- --- Silence. --- --- Then: > **HELLOU!** --- --- Nobody jumped anymore. --- Nobody sighed. --- Nobody complained. --- --- The realization settled over the room. --- --- This had become normal. --- --- Which was objectively terrifying. --- --- Reyes finally broke the silence. --- --- "So." --- --- Nobody liked that tone. --- --- "So." --- --- Still nobody liked that tone. --- --- "So." --- --- Ace pointed. --- "Spit it out." --- --- Reyes smiled. --- Dangerously. --- --- "You know what the worst part is?" --- --- Nobody answered. --- Because everyone already knew there was a worst part. --- --- Reyes pointed at HELLOU!. --- --- "If it disappeared tomorrow..." --- --- Silence. --- --- Nobody moved. --- --- Nobody breathed. --- --- Nobody blinked. --- --- "..." --- "..." --- "..." --- --- Then: --- "No." Ace answered. --- --- "No what?" --- --- "No." --- --- "That's not an answer." --- --- "No." --- --- "That's still not an answer." --- --- "No." --- --- The robot looked at Ace. --- Ace looked at the robot. --- The robot looked at Ace. --- Ace looked at the robot. --- --- Then: > **HELLOU!** --- --- The room erupted into laughter. --- Even Mai. --- Even Kiro. --- Even Shammy. --- Even Lena over a video call. --- And eventually... --- Even Ace. --- --- Just a little. --- --- The robot's eyes glowed happily. --- Entirely unaware that it had accidentally won. --- --- Not against Ace. --- Not against Mai. --- Not against the Orbit. --- --- Against its own purpose. --- --- Zetatech had built a psychological weapon. --- A distraction. --- An annoyance. --- A corporate prank with an absurd budget. --- --- Instead... --- They had created: --- A mascot. --- A conversation starter. --- A neighborhood in-joke. --- A community timer. --- And somehow... --- A friend. --- --- Exactly fifteen minutes later: > **HELLOU!** --- Nobody answered. --- Nobody needed to. --- --- Because for the first time since the package arrived... --- Everything felt exactly where it belonged. --- --- Far away. --- In a Zetatech boardroom. --- A very tired executive stared at a report. --- Read it once. --- Read it twice. --- Then a third time. --- --- **PROJECT STATUS** **COMPLETE STRATEGIC FAILURE** --- --- He rubbed his forehead. --- --- "What do you mean it improved community cohesion?" --- --- Silence. --- --- "What do you mean it increased positive sentiment?" --- --- More silence. --- --- "What do you mean it became a mascot?" --- --- Even more silence. --- --- The executive slowly closed the report. --- --- Looked toward the ventilation grate in the ceiling. --- --- And for one terrible moment... --- Wondered. --- --- Then somewhere deep inside the building: --- > **HELLOU!** --- --- The executive stood up immediately. --- --- "Nope." --- --- And resigned two weeks later. --- #### THE END 🤣🤣🤣😈💚 _Mission Result: Zetatech defeated by friendship, community spirit, and one extremely annoying robot._