Mr. X kicked open the door, startling the automatic cleaning robot inside.
“Sir! Please don’t be so rough! This is not our territory, and this kind of behavior will incur costs!” The cylindrical robot with a semi-circular top, resembling a silver mushroom, squealed. A small angry face with “>_<" characters popped up on the head screen about as high as X's waist.
Ignoring it, X placed the soft humanoid figure from his arms on the couch.
It was said that the drug he traded with Mr. Shachu had a stronger effect on androids than on humans. He had not tried it himself because dealing with such illegal substances was not his business. He had acquired it through connections to facilitate cooperation with the bosses in the Kabukicho district.
"C-7," X called out, "Fetch a screwdriver."
C-7 glided to the large suitcase, extended its arm with a clamp to open the lid, and complained while pulling out a drawer of tools, "Things not returned to their original place. I found a screwdriver on the toilet! Ridiculous… Here, remember to put it back in the drawer after use."
X took the screwdriver, absentmindedly responding, and turned the unconscious Elena over, gently parting her hair at the back of her head to reveal several flesh-colored screws, each sealed with a tag stating: 'Unauthorized dismantling voids warranty.'
Disregarding the tag, X efficiently unscrewed them, lifted the silver metal cover, revealing wires immersed in orange fluid.
"What a mess," the little robot came closer, "How would the inventor of Orange Medicine have thought it would also affect androids?"
"To evade legal responsibility," X reached out, "Water extractor."
C-7 squeaked over to the suitcase again, retrieved a small water extraction device, plugged it into its own power source on its head.
As the extractor hummed, X's voice merged in, "Although Orange Medicine is sold as a recreational drug, originally it had an organic certification number, listed with lubricants by the Commerce Department."
"The research company claimed it was an excitatory drug for androids, not for humans. However, it was a former employee of that company who first discovered that Orange Medicine had hallucinogenic effects. From the original purpose of research, certification numbers to market classification, everything does not correlate with human drugs. When the government found the abnormal surge in the sales of Orange Medicine and it became readily available in the market as a recreational drug, they couldn't even find a reason to penalize the research company because their packaging clearly stated for mechanical use only, not for humans, take responsibility for the consequences, leaving themselves unscathed."
"When Orange Medicine was forcibly taken off the shelves, the black market in the city was already overflowing, becoming the mainstream recreational drug of recent years."
Elena's Orange Medicine was almost extracted from her system, X turned off the extractor.
C-7 expressed anger, "Humans are despicable, willing to harm even their own kind for profit!"
"Even more despicable is that harmful substances to humans are strictly prohibited, but why can excitatory drugs harmful to android bodies be legally marketed?"
X wiped the residue of Orange Medicine from the scalp groove with a tissue, "Because in the human's definition, androids, robots, AI are all considered property, not life. Since they are property, there's only depreciation or appreciation, no state of 'being harmed'."
"I have always admired the social mechanism named 'morality' among humans, suppressing their beastly nature and striving to minimize harm to their own kind. But in this high-pressure societal environment, some desires must find an outlet, so the harm and abuse of androids and machine life forms serve as a pressure release valve in society, tolerated and subtly encouraged to exist."
"From their perspective, this is the 'morality' of the current specific civilization."
The door was knocked three times, and the hedgehog-headed teenager and scar-faced strong man squeezed into the room. The hedgehog head chewed gum, saying, "Sir, in the future, when you speak on our behalf, please keep your voice down a bit. The soundproofing here is very poor."
X closed the metal lid on Elena, skillfully twisting screws. "Oh, it doesn't matter if they hear, just a few words. They only care if we still have goods, not which faction we belong to."
Hedgehog Head: "Do we still have goods?"
X casually tossed the screwdriver, yawned, and lay down on the single sofa nearby. "No rush. Shachu is intentionally keeping us waiting, so let him come to us. You all go around, gather information about the surroundings."
Hedgehog Head: "And what about you? Where did you leave the intrusion program that was agreed upon before? When will the conference speech be ready? Only half of the organizational manifesto has been written, when will the executive meeting be held? Don't bring people back later, the base has nothing, others might think we're another group of synthetic human traffickers."
X nodded absentmindedly, covering his eyes with his arm, not caring that his neatly combed hair was messed up by the sofa. "Okay, okay, I got it. I'll just rest for a while…"
Hedgehog Head: "Sir!"
X: "zzzzz…"
The silent scar-faced man patted his shoulder and said in a deep voice, "Forget it, he's had procrastination issues for a long time. Let's focus on our own tasks first."
Hedgehog Head stomped his foot angrily, "Why did we choose such a lazy bone as our leader in the first place, huh? He'd be much better off as a mascot, when he's good, I'm good!"
The scar-faced man comforted him, gestured to C-7, and led the hedgehog head out.
C-7 let out a humanized sigh, was about to wake X up to work when he discovered that X, who was pretending to sleep to avoid work, had actually fallen asleep, emitting a soft, rhythmic snore.
Quietly, C-7 drew the curtains, checked if the door was locked, covered him with a blanket, and squatted down beside, entering a state of quiet hibernation.
"That guy can really hold his breath." The woman with pink high ponytail, her eyes reddened from staying up all night, spat, "He just stubbornly waited upstairs the whole night without coming down to demand an explanation?"
The young man with a monocle, his eyes also bloodshot, was doodling on the terminal screen. "People who can make a name in the metropolis are truly extraordinary… Whoever can endure longer is in a passive position. I have prepared five bidding proposals for him, just waiting for him to speak… But he just won't say a word, well, I've encountered a master…"
Mr. Shachu had rested his eyes closed all night, looking better than the two lackeys. He finally sat up from the sofa, stretched his metallic arms, and said hoarsely, "Alright, enough with the show of power, the attitude is clear too. Go talk to them."
His eyes turned sharp, "Ultimately, Kabukicho is still my territory."
As Shachu stood up and scanned the surroundings, he asked, "Where's Jimmy?"
Just then, a man with a limp entered, "Here I am!"
He had a mournful expression, tapping his leg supported by a brace, "Boss, I almost got crippled!"
The girl with a pink high ponytail sneered, "It's good that the leg is ruined, it's time to get a prosthetic leg to match your fake mouth."
Mr. Shachu asked, "What's going on?"
Jimmy, the fortune teller, quickly recounted what happened last night, embellishing the story, "Big brother, there are rumors everywhere about androids and AI gaining self-awareness, going out of control and rebelling. I think it's not just gossip!"
The man with a monocle stroked his chin thoughtfully, "That new model was supposed to be among the other 14 androids that were put on hold by that person. Now, it seems fortunate that we left her out, or else if she went out of control in that person's hands, wouldn't it be seen as us plotting against them?"
"You've also guessed wrong before!" Jimmy laughed and pointed at the ceiling, "That person was quite interested in Elena and even took the initiative to take her. Now, who knows if he has enjoyed her or dismantled her into pieces!"
"Really?" Mr. Shachu looked interested, letting the man with the monocle drape a coat over him, "Let's go see our new model and how she's been taken care of."
The bar had closed at five in the morning, the lobby outside was a mess, and a few cleaning robots resembling c-7, half the height of a person with silver mushroom-like heads, were picking up empty bottles and trash on the floor, occasionally finding some torn clothing or even body parts.
Another night of revelry and confusion had passed.
Led by Jimmy, the group ascended the stairs to the second floor and arrived at the door of Mr. X's room. Jimmy knocked lightly.
"Hello, room service?" he cleared his throat.
Someone tapped Jimmy's shoulder, and he turned around to see the men with hedgehog-like heads and scarred faces standing behind them.
He chuckled, "Haha, hello gentlemen, just a joke, just a little joke."
The man with the hedgehog head also smiled, "Don't be so formal, we are all familiar here, just come in."
With that, he knocked a few times on the door, which immediately opened from inside.
Out came C-7, with a smiling face on the electronic screen, "Welcome. Please come in."
The room was dimly lit, and a faint morning light seeped through the curtains. As they entered, they saw Elena lying peacefully on the long couch, fast asleep.
Mr. Shachu gestured for Jimmy to check. Jimmy accessed Elena's data from the android group at the bar using his personal terminal. Laughing to himself, he said, "What's this, couldn't satisfy Mr. X's taste after a whole night of antics?"
He could clearly see that Elena did not behave as expected last night. Did Mr. X just sit and watch her the whole night?
Or maybe the renowned Mr. X was actually—
Mr. X emerged from the bathroom, his firm and pale abdomen visible beneath his loose bathrobe. Unfazed by their sudden presence, he calmly remarked, "You overdosed her; I'm not interested in a doll that doesn't move."
"If you really intend to do business with me, you should at least understand the effects and dosages of the product," he glanced coldly at Mr. Shachu, "I am disappointed."
"From missing one android from yesterday's deposit, to this incident, you have made me have to seriously reconsider whether it is appropriate to entrust the agency of Orange Medicine in Kabukicho to you."
Jimmy went pale, beads of cold sweat forming on his forehead. What he thought was a way to mock the all-powerful Mr. X and impress Mr. Shachu had unexpectedly escalated into a big problem!
He hardly dared to look Mr. Shachu in the eye!
Mr. Shachu continued to squint his triangular eyes, leaning back on the single sofa with his legs crossed: "Sorry, in Kabukicho, you don't have a choice."
Mr. X threw a towel on the head of C-7, sat on the long sofa, gently stroking the sleeping Elena's silky long hair: "Mr. Shachu does have such confidence. But the unprofessionalism displayed by you is also evident. As a partner, you have to do something to reassure me."
Mr. Shachu felt X's intention was clear, to deliver this android as agreed upon, then raise the price.
Oh, but he couldn't let it go as he wished.
He clapped his hands, and the android hostess Mary walked in from the door, kneeling softly in front of X.
"This new model looks fresh, but in terms of performance, it is not as stable as the old one." Mr. Shachu's metal palm projected a holographic laser lamp, displaying a price 20 lower than they discussed yesterday.
"This android has been finely tuned in our shop, with a failure rate approaching zero. I reluctantly offer her to you to make up for yesterday's mistake. I require 200 kilograms in one go, at this price, how does it sound to you?"
"As for this new model, it injured one of my men yesterday. He was also careless, placing such a dangerous item near you. Rest assured, I will discipline him when we return."
He glanced over at Jimmy and said, "Get lost."
Jimmy limped out of the room.
Mr. Shachu clapped his hands; Elena's self-repair program had not finished running when she was forcibly activated, causing a sharp pain in her temple as she sat up abruptly.
A strand of hair was accidentally pressed under Mr. X, causing Elena to cry out in pain. Mr. Shachu nonchalantly said, "You, too, leave."
Mr. Shachu: … Is this android still malfunctioning? Is the medication power that strong?
X quickly lifted his leg, releasing the tress of hair.
Elena looked back at him discontentedly. With just one look, she stared fixedly.
"…I have a memory," she murmured.
A monocle retrieved Elena's file from the database, projecting it for examination. "You were activated only yesterday, and your first meeting with Mr. X was last night. When you say you've met him before, is this what you mean?"
Elena shook her head, her memory fuzzy from the medication she took last night.
X looked at her with interest, "Oh? Have you met me before yesterday?"
Elena shook her head again.
The monocle stated, "Clearly, she's still malfunctioning. Mr. X, please allow us to take her for repairs."
The burly triplets bodyguards squeezed into the room, the lead revealing a shutdown baton meant for androids, but Mr. X gestured to stop them at the door.
Elena gazed ahead with a puzzled expression, slowly climbing towards him on the sofa, reaching out her fair slender fingers, passing over his legs, beyond his loosely tied yukata sash, and directly touching his pale muscular abdomen.
"…This abdomen, I remember."
