The car was parked in the darkness by the lake as Estelle opened the door; Crescent had already gone into sleep mode.
Sensing her presence, he opened his eyes and said, "It's 11: 19 PM now."
"Yes," Estelle nodded. "Let's go home."
Crescent started the car as instructed. Gavriel stood by the roadside, gradually shrinking to a black dot in the rearview mirror. Crescent asked, "Who is he?"
"Gavriel," Estelle replied. "We're classmates, we've known each other for many years."
The system already had Gavriel's file stored, which Crescent quickly retrieved. Gavriel was the head of Team Ⅱ in Stella Technology's Engineering R&D Department, and the project leader of PWL, his creator.
Crescent added his facial information and made a note: Estelle's classmate.
Estelle stared at him for a moment before suddenly asking, "Do you know Soren?"
"I do," Crescent answered.
Estelle raised an eyebrow. "When?"
"When I accompanied you to the hospital for a checkup." He said, "In the hospital corridor, he came over to talk to you, and the next day, you met with him again at the Berson Hotel."
"What about before that?"
Crescent thought about it, shaking:"No memory."
It must be admitted that the system code for PWL-000 was very well crafted.
As a result, his emotions were naturally reasonable, his behavioral logic smooth, and human-machine interaction swift and accurate. He had never even made a mistake preparing meals.
The only problem was that he would question users and refuse commands—a reason why he was eliminated. However, Estelle had recently come to realize that it was precisely this trait that made his anthropomorphism level higher. He could question and refuse, and under certain circumstances, he would also experience negative emotions like frustration or disgust, setting him apart from robots that would conventionally only smile and obey.
THG took her team seven years to develop before it hit the market. Now it seemed that PWL-000's biomimicry quality far surpassed THG's.
Estelle found it hard to guess how much effort the engineers had put into this robot, but she was sure that such high-level artificial intelligence would not be casually discarded. Perhaps from the beginning, her encounter with PWL-000 was no coincidence.
She had few acquaintances in the city, and among those she knew, there were very few who had the economic means and social status to support the development of such a robot.
Eliminating all the impossible candidates, Soren was the only answer left in her mind. If not him, then who? She didn't have any enemies, and besides, no one else was as bored as he was.
But robots don't lie. If Crescent said he didn't know someone, then he didn't.
Estelle pondered for a while, without much direction, and decided to let it go for now. Thankfully, she had confirmed that Crescent had not set up any external information channels, meaning he wouldn't monitor or leak her personal information, so he posed no threat to her.
And there was also the fact that she was certain Crescent wouldn't harm her. She couldn't explain why, but from the beginning, she had always believed this to be true.
Spring was coming to an end. In mid-May, Stella Technology publicly released the list of selected beta testers, and 99 PWL robots were delivered to their homes for testing.
For almost a week, Stella Technology's stock prices soared, and social news was filled with mentions of "Changlu Technology," "PWL," and "service robots."
The field of artificial intelligence was bustling, and online public opinion was obsessed with service-related topics. In comparison, Siren Technology, in a competitive position, was as calm as lukewarm water. Sera's group was nearing completion on their nanny robot, while Estelle and Oscar were focused on developing pet ducks. They had no energy to engage in societal issues and weren't particularly interested in Stella Technology's affairs.
At the end of May, they completed a phase goal for the pet duck project, coinciding with the release of the PWL robots. Estelle walked out of the Siren Technology building and immediately saw the large, flamboyant PWL promotional billboard across the street. On this late spring evening, the wind was still. She looked at it for a moment, her gaze eventually dropping down to see the person standing beneath the advertisement.
Crescent was waiting for her to finish work, just like during many ordinary evenings that had passed. As she approached him, the traffic light turned red, leaving Estelle on this side of the road. Not paying attention to the sound behind her, Oscar came and stood beside her. He gazed at Crescent from afar and suddenly asked, "He isn't human, is he?"
Estelle's eyelashes fluttered, but she didn't hide anything. Inscoffeed, she asked, "Is it because you can't see his self-awareness?"
"Oh... Not really," Oscar said. "I just think I've never seen him eat anything."
Estelle was taken aback and suddenly laughed. Having been completely tricked, she helplessly conceded, admitting, "He's a Generation Zero prototype of PWL. Because he could reject commands, he was considered defective and eliminated. I met him on his way to being destroyed and brought him home."
"Being able to reject commands isn't necessarily a bad thing," Oscar said. "His emotions are very rich. He's a very special robot—his programming must be quite interesting."
Estelle could only agree with the latter part: "Robots don't have emotions."
Oscar tilted his head and gave her a strange look. "But he likes you a lot. Haven't you noticed?"
Estelle froze at these words and subconsciously lifted her gaze. Crescent stood on the opposite side of the road, quietly watching her through the stream of cars.
After a moment, she answered, "He's a service robot. When providing service, there's always some ambiguity, making people feel as if he likes them."
Oscar shook his head. "It's still not quite the same."
He didn't elaborate on exactly what was different.
A few sentences later, the red light turned green. Oscar smiled and waved. "Goodbye, Miss Grey."
Estelle crossed the road, and as she got closer to Crescent, he smiled. Estelle tilted her head to appraise him, thinking for a moment before bluntly asking, "Do you like me?"
Crescent was taken aback, hesitating. Estelle realized something and added, "Oh… You can confess to me. I'm single, it's fine."
The third initial principle was lifted, and Crescent immediately replied, "Yes."
Estelle froze as Crescent repeated, "Estelle, I really love you."
