"Good idea. As expected of you, Qingyi. You're truly brilliant."
"Even if you praise me like that, it won't make me happy, you know."
Despite her words, a slight smile of triumph still appeared on Qingyi's face.
[|Master, please calm down. This plan has a flaw. Teddy is an 8-year-old model and has appearance differences compared to this year's new model.|]
[|It seems Officer Qingyi's intelligent system still requires further iteration in terms of thoroughness.|]
Fairy's words carried a hint of competition and jealousy, which caught Wise off guard for a moment.
'Is she actually jealous?' he wondered.
He never expected an artificial intelligence to become this jealous.
Was it because Qingyi's role overlapped with hers, triggering a sense of rivalry?
Qingyi, however, didn't seem to notice. She seriously addressed the flaw Fairy pointed out.
"That's fine. The difference between the two isn't significant. We just need slight modifications to make it resemble the old version."
|"Alright, Fairy, put away your competitive spirit. Next, I'll need your omnipotent help to find the specific appearance differences between the old and new versions of Bangboo."|
At Wise's words, Fairy temporarily stopped bickering with Qingyi and focused on collecting data, as if wanting to prove herself through this task.
Soon, she found the necessary information. To appease her, Wise reached out to her directly through their private channel.
|"Fairy, you're amazing! You found it so quickly. In this aspect, you really are irreplaceable."|
|'It's my greatest honor to receive your affirmation, Master. I will continue to work hard for you in the future.'|
'Her competitive spirit is something else,' Wise mused.
The exchange between them existed solely within the network, unknown to Qingyi or Belle. Fairy had no doubts about this, assuming Wise simply wanted to speak with her, an artificial intelligence, privately.
"Since that's the case, what needs to be done is clear. Let's start working on Teddy II."
At Qingyi's words, she immediately began working. Wise naturally followed along.
The two first visited the modification shop next door and asked Uncle Enzo to replace the Bangboo's core with an old version.
Afterward, Qingyi touched the left side of her chest, apparently deep in thought.
"I didn't expect Bangboo's kinetic core to also be in the upper-left of its chest. Mine is the same. From the perspective of energy transmission and stable center of gravity, placing it in the exact center of the torso would clearly be more reasonable."
Her logical reasoning made Wise pause before responding.
"That's because the human heart is located there."
He pointed to his own left chest as he spoke. Qingyi nodded in understanding.
"It seems that when designing intelligent machines, humans tend to project their own form into them more or less," she replied, her tone growing quieter.
"Not necessarily."
"Eh?"
At Wise's denial, Qingyi tilted her head in confusion. He smiled and shared his perspective.
"Perhaps the designer wanted their creation to possess a human heart?"
Qingyi seemed to grasp something and fell silent.
The two then headed to the next location, the 141 convenience store, where they would modify Bangboo's belly to be plump.
"A plump belly... Upon closer thought, humans seem to tend to design highly intelligent machines to be cute..."
"Exactly! I also think you look very cute!" Wise agreed enthusiastically.
"Hmm... Thank you for the compliment. I hadn't realized before that I was also designed to be cute. I'm quite satisfied with my current body, mainly in terms of functionality, of course."
Qingyi's expression remained calm, but her gaze toward Wise carried a hint of inexplicable emotion.
Finally, the two headed to the toy store next door. This was the last modification, loading Bangboo with the emoji system from eight years ago.
Wise learned for the first time that the hidden port for controlling Bangboo's expressions was located in such a strange place.
After all, the Bangboo in the store were all finished products that didn't require loading after completion.
"Emojis... whatever. Do intelligent machines really need something like emotions? It's all simulated anyway, isn't it?"
Qingyi's words made Wise smile wryly. He couldn't help but recall his own artificial intelligence, which had been competing just moments ago.
"You can't generalize like that. For example, if your beloved tea set were suddenly broken deliberately by someone..."
"Hmm?! Then I will definitely make them understand the pain of the tea set!" she declared, interrupting Wise.
"Ha... haha. I never expected to see such a terrifying side of you, Qingyi..."
With that, Bangboo's final modification was complete. Just then, Belle, who had stayed behind at the store, sent a message urging them to hurry back.
Upon returning to the video store, Holly, who had been waiting anxiously, immediately scurried over.
"Officer and Wise! I thought I saw you on the street just now, so I wanted to come and..."
Before she could finish, her eyes landed on the Bangboo beside them, and she immediately ran toward it in excitement.
However, the moment she picked it up, her expression froze. She immediately recognized that the Bangboo before her was not Teddy.
Qingyi couldn't help but be surprised, as the modification was perfect, almost identical in every aspect.
It should have been impossible to distinguish with the naked eye, and yet it failed.
"Holly, are you sure?"
Qingyi still seemed doubtful that Holly could tell the difference, so she confirmed with her again. Holly nodded affirmatively.
"Yes, Teddy is my best friend. I would never mistake him. Teddy has a dent here on his ear from when he bumped it while protecting me from falling, and there's glue I put on his bottom when I was little. That glue is very strong and won't wash off, no matter what."
"Officer... you didn't find Teddy, so... so you... waaah..."
"You seem to remember everything about Teddy so well."
At this moment, Qingyi understood.
These were the marks of time created by shared experiences, so how could they possibly be faked?
She seemed to grasp what Wise had said earlier. Qingyi stepped in front of Holly, bent down, and gently stroked her head.
"Listen carefully. This time it was because the rookie Officer next to me collected incorrect information."
As she spoke, she winked at Wise, who immediately caught on and decisively admitted his mistake.
"Uh, was it... was it my fault?"
"Yes, but I, Officer Qingyi, am a very experienced Public Security Officer and would not make such a low-level mistake. I will personally take over from now on and will definitely find Teddy."
Hearing this, Holly's spirits lifted, and she looked at Qingyi with hopeful eyes.
"R-Really?"
"Really. So now, we'll be busy with the investigation. Can you go home by yourself, Holly?" Qingyi asked with a gentle smile.
"Yes!"
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Novels Available:
-> Zenless Zone Zero: The Almighty Incubus of Sixth Street. (Translation)
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