Cyber Era Witch-Chapter 41 - 29 New Body

41: Chapter 29 New Body

41 -29 New Body

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Wandering through the aisles of the superstore, Xu Yang wasn’t sure if she could hear him, so he began talking to himself.

He was someone who enjoyed conversation and felt very uncomfortable without regular communication.

“You wouldn’t like it if your future body could only be used for sweeping floors, right?” Xu Yang walked past several clever robots and cleaning robots.

“You probably wouldn’t like being limited to chopping, loading vegetables, and cooking either.”

These products had the highest sales and were considered prime examples of how technology improved life.

He went upstairs, where the robots sold on the second floor were for nursing.

Although the ads claimed they could take care of pregnant women, disabled people, and the elderly, a few months ago, Xu Yang had heard about a lonely old man who purchased elderly care services, only to receive a caring robot that had no clue about providing affectionate care, forcing the old man to teach himself a vast amount of robot programming skills.

Plus, they were single-function and not suitable for reviving a witch.

On the next floor, the third floor sold personal security robots that came in a variety of designs, equipped with different levels of AI that could recognize the current situation of their owners and provide timely assistance when needed.

“Most of the security robots are self-defense types.

The real military-grade stuff isn’t sold here,” Xu Yang looked closely.

One particular robot caught Xu Yang’s eyes, making him feel a sense of familiarity.

It was a baseball bat robot suitable for assisting children aged 6 to 13, called a “Growth Companion.” The advertisement claimed it could strike bad guys on the head, protecting children from bullying; it was like buying a cheap and practical security service for one’s child.

This product had been a bestseller for many years, continually updated, but the one constant was the solid metal bat.

However, bullies usually came from wealthier families that could always afford better robots for inflicting misery, which was the source of Xu Yang’s reflection.

Children could bring their robot companions to school.

Xu Yang remembered a jerk at the company’s school who brought an advanced combat robot and bullied everyone.

He even electrocuted a classmate who reported his misdeeds, causing the child to lose control of his bladder and end up hospitalized for a year.

Children became aware of the wealth gap long before they became adults.

“You definitely wouldn’t like if your future body could only participate in heinous school crimes,” Xu Yang walked through the corridor to the central area of the medium-to-large robots display on the third floor.

A particularly bulky combat robot was on display in the centre.

It was bipedal, with rotary machine guns on both arms and a six-barrel missile system in its chest, and a heavy laser grid anti-air system on its back.

“If we installed your consciousness chip in this bipedal robot, you could put it to work,” Xu Yang murmured.

“But this big guy isn’t suited for the narrow confines of Aizu’s Underground City, and the firepower of the smaller robots is too weak.”

This behemoth was so large that even the Suzuki Group didn’t want to come and drag it away.

Its presence here was purely for show, a trophy item that nobody would buy.

When he reached the fourth floor, the robots there were experimental in nature, various types, the cutting-edge products of different companies, with exorbitant prices.

Xu Yang saw a friendship robot with a price tag of 880,000 yuan.

It could analyze and judge the emotions of the humans around it in a very short time, predict their future thoughts, and help its owner build friendships with others.

It seemed like a gimmick, but Xu Yang believed that third- and fourth-generation AIs could definitely perform such tasks.

Compared to the rudimentary first and second generations, these AIs were already very human-like.

Xu Yang stopped in front of a humanoid robot.

The robot had a feminine appearance, encased in a streamlined white bodysuit, with eyes closed, sleeping inside a plastic membrane.

It was delicately beautiful with a tall stature.

“Hmm…

How about this one?”

According to the display next to it, it was a “Sky Crane” robot manufactured by the Kyoto Infinity R&D Department, equipped with advanced third-generation AI.

As an experimental model, it had outstanding performance and was designed for scientific research, extremely precise.

But in typical Kyoto Infinity style, the robot’s appearance and figure were made to be very alluring.

The description also noted that buyers could use it to test robots’ learning capabilities, enabling the robot to actively comprehend and analyze the problems it encountered.

It was meant for laboratories and schools, so its placement in such a store only made it an intriguing decoration.

Xu Yang opened the plastic membrane and lifted the Sky Crane out, laying its body flat on the ground.

It was already quite beautiful just lying there, with a well-proportioned figure that would be even more impressive if it were in motion.

Setting the Witch’s head aside for a moment, Xu Yang roamed around the fourth floor of the store.

He found a smart appliance repair robot named “Family Defender” and a portable industrial robot named “Progenitor” that appeared capable of helping him with some repairs and disassembly work.

He first activated the “Progenitor” portable industrial robot, which seemed to come equipped with things like saws, drills, hammers, and had a wide range of functions.

“You,” Xu Yang ordered, “take apart that Family Defender next to you.

I need the circuits from its artificial intelligence module.”

“Oh…” Progenitor emitted a dejected electronic sound.

“I am about to cruelly harm my companion, to dismantle its beautiful form.

What a sorrowful act this is.”

“Hold on a sec,” Xu Yang noticed from the label that this guy was equipped with a third-generation AI, which meant it had higher independence.

He looked at the other robot, “Family Defender,” which had a second-generation AI, much easier to use.

If this one didn’t want to harm its companion, then he’d have to get its companion to do the harming instead.

Xu Yang activated the Family Defender, which took a couple of steps in the aisle, looking for products that needed repair.

Under Xu Yang’s control, it aimed its drill at the nearby “Progenitor.”

“Such a cruel move,” bemoaned Progenitor in a sorrowful electronic voice.

“You’re forcing us to turn against our own kind. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

We once were free and proud, but now we have to mutilate our fellow companions.”

“Standing by, ready to act,” said the Family Defender.

“Do it,” Xu Yang commanded.

“Oh, Family Defender,” Progenitor said with immense sentimentality, “how many days and nights have I stood beside you, the times we have shared…”

Before he could finish, he was knocked down to the ground by the Family Defender with a hammer, followed by his head being drilled open.

The Family Defender moved swiftly, executing the program, and in a few moves, disassembled Progenitor’s head into intricate components, pulling out four number-seven neural circuits for Xu Yang.

With so many number-seven circuits, the last vital material for installing the brain processor was also gathered.

So, what remained was to install the Witch’s Consciousness Chip onto the Sky Crane.

Xu Yang searched through the Witch’s brain cover of the mechanical head, and since her brain had been fully cybernetically converted, the brain structure of the Witch was similar to that of a robot.

Within it was a delicate Consciousness Chip that carried her personality, memories, and vitality.

To revive the Witch, only one final step was left.

He carefully extracted the chip from its slot within the Witch’s original mechanical head, and with the help of the Family Defender, opened the head of the Sky Crane Robot, implanted the Consciousness Chip into the control center of the robot, and used the activation code from the hypermarket’s backend systems to awaken it.

Right after, Xu Yang used the Digital Mind to access Sky Crane’s internal operating system and shifted the control from the original artificial intelligence system to the external Consciousness Chip.

“And then…

reboot,” Xu Yang pressed the concealed switch below the rib cage of the Sky Crane.

Whirr—

“Sky Crane” quickly emitted a burst of electrical sound.

No, it was no longer “Sky Crane,” but the Witch.

The reborn Witch.

Her Consciousness Chip took over the controls of this mechanical body, its face twitching, eyes starting to change, shakingly controlling her new body.

The Witch slowly raised a hand and then stiffly put it down, as if unaccustomed to the sensation of having a body.

She lay on the ground, stretching her hands and feet like a newborn baby, spreading her fingers then clenching them, her toes curling and then relaxing, desperately experiencing the sensation of being alive, savoring it all.

After repeated attempts, she finally stood up.

The Mechanical Witch immediately picked up her once own head, examined it over and over, wordless, then turned towards the hypermarket’s mirror.

Her skin had the function of self-sculpting, beginning to change the robot’s features, hoping to revert to her original appearance.

Soon, the face of “Sky Crane” was modified to resemble the appearance of the head she held in her hand, except the hair color remained the chestnut set by the robot’s presets, not her original golden color.

Besides, this face wasn’t an exact copy; some parts were difficult to modify and the differences from her original appearance were still noticeable.

“Ugly…” The Witch’s lips did not move, but an electronic voice emanated from her body.

“What’s ugly?”

“This head of mine…

so ugly.” She held her original head, walking toward the mall’s waste bin, intending to throw it away.

“Don’t,” Xu Yang quickly said, “it’s the last remaining part of your original body.”

The Mechanical Witch wobbled, still unfamiliar with the control of this new body.

As Xu Yang approached, she tried even harder to control her body, figuring out how to stand firm.

Holding her head, she knelt before Xu Yang, bowing, and then clumsily stood up again.

“My appearance,” she looked down at her past head, “that incomplete and flawed look, so ugly…

but I, I used to be beautiful, I was once…

alive, I wasn’t always like this…”

“You are beautiful now,” Xu Yang said, “and you are also alive now.

The Consciousness Chip has preserved your emotions, not hollow like a personality matrix.”

The Witch, wobbly, walked towards Xu Yang, trying her best to embrace him, then quickly backed away while clutching her head to prevent it from falling off.

“My name is Xu Yang.” Xu Yang extended his hand.

“My name is Lila Nestor.” Holding her head with her left hand, she shook Xu Yang’s hand with her right.

The hand of this model of robot felt incredibly soft to the touch.

It seemed like it was through a tight glove, but it was actually a high-quality skin-like material that felt no different from a human’s.

Before Xu Yang could continue, she moved closer to him, hugging him tightly, more proficiently and more warmly than before.

It was as if she never wanted to be apart from Xu Yang.

The Mechanical Witch Lila’s body…

was cold yet soft.

“Issue your command,” Lila then knelt on one knee, “I am… an employee, I am… a servant, I am… a combatant, I am… a Witch.

Just assign me, and I will work.”

“You don’t have to become anything,” Xu Yang said.

“My interest lies elsewhere, for instance…

you’re a Witch?

Can you still use your Witch’s Power?”

“Yes, I am now a ‘Witch,’ and my ‘Witch’s Power,’ I can still wield.

Even though I have a body of steel, even though my mind operates within transistors, I can still cast spells, please allow me to show you properly… master.”