Joe didn't know that something as simple as going back to his bed would make him feel so ...... Magical. He and Maggie had only been away for about ten days, but somehow, it felt much longer than that. Of course, this is a mysterious thing that has nothing to do with the fact that this person spends most of his time in a virtual reality that is four times faster than the real world. Either way, Joe is glad that interstellar travel is finally over. He silently hoped that the return trip would be easier than the first time, but it was not. To make matters worse, she knew it was completely unnecessary, as Maggie could easily solve all the copyright issues. He couldn't keep being angry with her, though. Partly because he doesn't like to dwell on the little things, but mostly because Maggie is like that. Being upset by her insatiable curiosity is like yelling at the sun that it's too bright.

"Sorry to interrupt, Master Mulligan." A synthesized sound fills the bedroom. "I have something you need your attention."

"What's wrong, Gilves?" He cried out, his face buried in the pillow.

"I need your permission to schedule a meeting with the robotics technicians in the building."

Joe looked up and looked at the robot hovering in the air in confusion. He wondered why it was the robot butler who asked him, not Maggie, but he noticed that the girl had already taken a "do not disturb" pose. Therefore, as the second owner, it is his responsibility to deal with this matter. He sat up, looked at the thing more closely, and sighed, a little annoyed.

"You don't look bad," he said.

"Indeed, sir. You'll find me intact and functioning well. ”

"Then why do you need robotics?"

"In order to keep my warranty valid I have to do routine maintenance, sir."

"Ahh Yes, of course, do what you need to do. ”

"Before that, sir, what date and time do you think is appropriate?"

“…… For me?"

"Yes, sir."

"Do I have to come?"

"My procedures do not allow me to leave the premises to which I have been assigned, sir. I can't venture out five meters beyond the front door unless there's an emergency. "The robot technician's office is outside of this range, so I need to go offline and be sent there by one of my hosts. Madame is not feeling well right now, so the responsibility falls on you. ”

"Ah," shouted Joe. "Can't the technicians come to us?"

"I'm afraid not, sir. The equipment required for the routine maintenance of my model is not portable. ”

"Dude...... Can we, I don't know, stop going on a date?"

"Of course, sir. This is highly undesirable, though, as it would void my guarantee. ”

"Well, if something happens, Maggie can arrange it for you."

He really didn't want to drag this pile of metal around.

"I must remind Mr. that custom modifications will also void my warranty."

Joe was a little surprised by this answer. Before that, the conversation had gone so smoothly that he had almost forgotten that he was talking to a highly advanced device, not a sentient creature. Normally, he would have Gievs's logic circuit flipped in two sentences, but it handles this particular topic very well. Maintenance is one of the common topics that every owner inevitably brings up at least once, and is therefore better developed than the rest of their session modules.

"Joe," said Maggie suddenly in a loud voice, "will you please take Geeves to the appointment?"

In her opinion, a warranty is essentially a contract – an agreement between the manufacturer and the customer. Therefore, she naturally hoped for support, but at the moment her eyes were full of tears. Joe seemed to understand what she meant, and her heart softened. It would be selfish for him to refuse to take on this little responsibility because he was a little lazy today.

"yes, okay. Gives, schedule that appointment as soon as possible and let's get it done. ”

"The next visit is three hours later. Is that all right, sir?"

"Hmm. Well, yes, of course. ”

Joe was a little surprised that the robot technician couldn't see them right away. He thinks those people will get bored and will take the opportunity to practice their craft, like Ma Hongsheng or those lawyers. This is absolutely not true. While few people have a personal robot like Jeffs, every superscraper has a large number of maintenance robots that need to be taken care of. In addition, becoming a certified robotics technician is an incredibly difficult thing to do because of the ridiculously high level of technical knowledge required. All of these circumstances leave not enough people to meet the demand, resulting in chronic understaffing and overwork of robotics technicians. At least the pay is not bad.

When Joe takes Chefs into the robot pit, he gets his first glimpse of what it looks like. The air inside was not fresh, with a faint smell of burning plastic. And it's very, very loud. Somewhere in the back, huge machines kept spinning and buzzing. Worst of all, the lights on the ceiling were so bright that Joe had to squint and try to adjust.

As he got used to the chaos a little, he noticed something that seemed to be the front desk of the bay. That is, it was a table near the front door. A guy in a welding mask and dirty overalls sat there, feverishly burning something with a spray gun. Joe stepped forward and tried to get his attention, but without success. He hovered between the mask that obscured his view and the terrible noise coming from the device - he didn't notice the visitor at all. So, in true British style, Joe just stood there awkwardly, waiting for the technician to finish or notice him.

At least that's how it was planned, but after a few minutes, the man's arms began to get tired. After all, he was holding Gieves by the hand. The robot butler isn't as heavy as it seems, but it's not without weight either. Joe began to wonder if it could be placed on an almost spotless metal floor. Before he could make his decision, some strange smoke hit his nostrils, causing him to sneeze and fall the automaton in the process. The half-humanoid chassis made a loud bang when it fell to the ground, which seemed to be enough to get the attention of the technicians. The welding mask is ripped off, but the face underneath doesn't belong to one person as Joe imagined. It was a freckled ginger woman who looked as if she hadn't slept in days, relying only on tea and sugar to refresh herself.

"Are you alright, man?" She asked casually.

"Huh? yes, sorry. I didn't mean to cause a commotion. ”

"Don't worry. You're the guy you made an appointment, aren't you?"

"I think so. This thing needs a warranty check or something. He pointed to the floor.

When she saw Gilves, her tired eyes almost lit up.

"Well, give me trouble with a balsha bread box, it's a chic canned box, right?"

"I ...... Guess?"

The woman stood up briskly, walked over to the visitor, and easily picked up the robot, which could hurt Joe's self-esteem if he had it. She violently shoved what she had on the floor, slamming the immobile butler on the table. The instrument seemed to come out of nowhere in her hands, and within seconds, she was trapped in the mechanical entrails of the machine.

"Don't worry, it won't take too long," she comforted Joe. "There aren't a lot of moving parts in these things, and if you know what I mean, there's more bits and pieces than bolts."

"Since you say so. By the way, my name is Joe. ”

"Mary," she replied briefly. "I'm sorry I didn't shake your hand, but you probably don't want the oil to spill on you."

"Not specially, no," he replied humorously.

There was a brief pause in the conversation, and Mary connected some cables to the inside of the robot.

"Where did you get this?" She asked as she typed on the diagnostic computer. "Didn't know there was an S3-T1 in the building."

"Oh, not mine. This is my girlfriend's. She got it when we moved into the suite on the 170th floor. ”

Mary froze and looked at him suspiciously. She stared intently at the man, making him feel uncomfortable at once.

"What? He frowned. "What's on my face?"

The woman did not answer, but narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"That's it! She suddenly shouted. "You're the one in the trial!" I knew where I had seen you!"

"Trial? What?"

"You know, the trial. And copyright, diplomatic immunity, and so on. ”

"How do you know?"

"Because I watched the video?" Huh?"

"Video what?"

"Highlights from the community message board?"

"And the highlights?!"

"Well, really? The video went viral for an entire hour. ”

As one might expect, Joe's first thought wasn't privacy. As long as someone walks out the front door of their house, such a thing no longer exists, and the hearing is as public as possible. What bothered Joe the most was how quickly it came. Neither he nor Maggie brought any video of the trial, and even if they did, they didn't get a chance to share it. They're not the only locals to go to Lancaster 3, though. Mr. Charles was there too. Judging by the process of elimination, he is the only one who can make and share this highlight reel.

If it's going viral, then it might be a real good thing.

“…… Does it look good in it?" He asked

"If by 'good' you mean 'silly,' then yes," Mary said with a smirk. "That lawsuit is so unfair to you, man."

"Uh, don't let me speak. Anyway, is there a public terminal here? I want to see it for myself. ”

"Of course, it's in the corner over there."

"Thank you."

He quickly found the tape. Or rather, if he bothered to check the message board, it was impossible to miss it. There are dozens of topics, each with hundreds of comments. The video itself was good, but browsing the post made Joe feel quite ...... Under the weather. It's not because people praise Maggie as a "pale goddess." "It's nothing new, it's just that the Internet is the Internet, and the joke is too much." However, there seems to be quite a bit of negativity, especially against Joe. People rated him from mean to malicious. Everyone seems to agree that an ordinary fool like him is not qualified to be Maggie's boyfriend, and these self-proclaimed "stallions" are better suited for Maggie. Of course, they were just talking, but Joe couldn't help but be a little worried.

"Hey, Mary?" He shouted.

"Really?"

"Can you do me a favor and don't tell me where I live?"

"Oh. Uh, oh?"

"You've already posted about me, haven't you?"

"One thing, yes."

Robotics technicians don't usually have a lot of breaks, so they learn to make the most of the precious time they have. In Mary's case, she had nothing to do while diagnosing Gives, so she used the opportunity to engage in some high-speed cyberattacks.

"Ah, good. He shrugged. "How long will it take you to complete the repairs?"

"Okay," she said, turning to the screen. "Looks like I don't need to change any parts this time. This jar is pretty good, you know? It only takes a few minutes of diagnosis and you're good to go. ”

Sure enough, Jeffs immediately closed the door again, looking just as beautiful as ever. To make it easier to transport, Mary even loaded him into a small cart. Joe thanked her and pushed the butler out of the basement towards the elevator. However, his earlier assertion that those people were "just talking" and that things would "get better" were soon proven wrong. There were seven people waiting for him in the elevator. They were all men of Joe's age, and had an almost morbid physique with him, but they didn't imitate his laid-back mannerisms. In fact, quite the opposite.

"Oi! The woman is there! One of them pointed at him.

The man looked around in case there was anyone else but him who might be insulted, but, alas, in this narrow corridor he was the only viable "woman".

"Well, that's kind of rude." He frowned. "Gentlemen, is there anything you can help with?"

The two strangers looked at each other, smiled dryly, and walked towards him without saying a word. Each of them tried to make themselves look strong and scary, but it didn't work out considering their narrow build. Joe just stood there, unable to comprehend what these people might want him to do in a clumsy attempt to wring their necks and knuckles and fail. At least not at first. Somewhere in the back of his tiny brain, he noticed the possibility that they might have bad intentions, given the mountain of negativity he'd just learned about a few minutes ago. Joe doesn't like to look badly at people he doesn't know because of their superficial appearance or behavior, but this time he made an exception and put this extremely obvious hostility on the surface. Of course, this is an impressive feat of self-awareness.

"Wow, guys, don't be nervous," he said, holding up his hands and taking a step back from the tram. "Let's not do what we'll all regret, okay?"

"Hah! That bastard thinks he's awesome or something! The tallest one giggled.

"No, really." He urged them, his voice filled with panic. "If you become violent, the outcome will be terrible. Very, very bad. ”

He turned his head to the surveillance camera above, and the glowing eye was barely visible in the lens. The hooligans giggled arrogantly again.

One of them claimed: "This video will never be seen by anyone, and I'm sure of that." "Besides, who said violence?"

"Yes, no one needs to be hurt," the other chimed in.

“R-

eally ?” Joe asked hopefully.

"Definitely! All you have to do is stop polluting the pale goddess's eyesight with your presence!"

"Hmm...... What?"

The tallest one seemed to be the de facto leader of the group of little thugs, and he stood in front of Joe.

"I say," he growled, "you're going to break up with the goddess, and you're clearly not worthy!"

"That'...... Not really an option. He winced. Listen, man, I see. You're lonely, and I've had too, but what's the use of you doing this to me?"

"Shut up! Disappear, garbage!"

As he spoke, the leader swung at Joe with all his strength. He's never punched a real punch before, that's telling. He wanted to punch him in the face, but it ended to hit him in the shoulder. The awkward angle of his fists touching may have caused him and the victim the same pain. It was a rather sad brawl, to say the least. Unfortunately for this loveless loser, this could still technically count as an attack on Joe Mulligan.

"Ṭ̵̗̟ reinsurance ̙͍̲̦͙͜m̞̩̩͘b͕̰͔̗l̸͇̱̜͈̙̤̮e̷͖͈̥̱̦, ̡̬͇̮̝m̴̙̘̹o̢̩̭̙

̴͇̞̰̞t̞͙̘̲̬̠ a ͈͓͇̤̜ͅl͎̗̙̭̘̯̭ ̜̝̱̟̭͎, ̼̟̞̝̟͝

͚͈̤̣d̨͔͙̲̻̻̦͍̘̞́ͅd̴͖̟͚̼e̠̘̩͎̫Age, ̬̝̬͎̪̥p̬̙͓͇̬ai̦̻̱̪̯̼

,҉͇̪f͔͚͇̻̲͝o̤̙̮̮͞

̗͖̹̝̙̪̞̺̪͝Th̺̝̳̣ẹ̙̜̣̹o̝͇͍͉̠͠b͏̹͍͍̬̻ years, ҉͖̮̲͙e̵̮, RV ̻͎͍ȩ̳̻͈͍̻

̲͕̬̺͠h̝ͅ一̖͕̖̭ ̻͈̜̟̥̻͝w̩͓̤̦̠͡ I ͔̩̻̼ͅt̢̟͔͖̭̗

͕̙͜e͠s̩̺̬͈ Chrono ̺̝͉̗͍e̹̥ḍ̶̼̝y͓̟̜̯͔o̹u̥͘

҉̙̳͍̱̦̼͕͚͓͝t̠̺͕̜͍̦̹

̸̠̩ a ͈̱̯

̸̺͖͍ years ͎̥̟̫̣̯̙g͢

̜͕̳̯̪̙̼͟e̸̥̖̗̰͖͍ ̩̯̗̤ ̭̮̰̤ I ̬̬̘͉͈ in ͈̘͜ ̢̝̬̬̳. ”

A terrifying, heart-rending sound echoed through the hallways, sending the hooligans to the ground, screaming and clutching their heads.

"Oh my God," Joe sighed. "I warned you too."

None of the lonely people who went astray heard him as things became more and more bizarre. The lights flickered, the floor grilles rattled, the air hissed, and the walls began to bleed. The little hooligans acted accordingly, screaming and scrambling to flee from this terrible scene. Unfortunately, the door won't open and there is nowhere to go in this narrow corridor. The silhouette of something terrible, almost invisible, moved in and out of their sight, while unfamiliar voices whispered strange words in their ears. What really pushed these ignorant thugs to the brink of collapse was that countless eyes began to appear everywhere, even popping out of their own hands and arms.

Of course, Joe didn't go through it all. Based on previous experience, he knew that whenever Maggie was doing her thing, he closed his eyes and heard her "outside voice" give him enough warning. He couldn't see anything, but he could still hear the wails and whimpering of the hooligans as their minds were ravaged by terrible hallucinations. He felt sorry for them, but couldn't intervene. After about a minute, everything was quiet, and he took a chance glance. His attackers were unconscious, lying on the floor, bleeding from every hole in their face.

"I hope you're not being too rough with them," he looked up at the camera.

"The strength of my revenge is proportional to the severity of their transgression," Maggie's voice echoed in his head.

"So...... They're going to be fine?"

"Definitely. I implanted a hint of real fear in their subconscious. After a few minutes, when they wake up, they will no longer have the ability to carry out this insignificant attack on you. Or anyone, for that matter. ”

"This ...... Good, I think. Joe breathed a sigh of relief. I don't want them to be blown out of their minds by something stupid like that. ”

"I know, and I've considered your kindness. But if circumstances force me to take more extreme measures, I hope you don't blame me. ”

"We'll talk later, shall we?" I just want to get Geeves back online so he can make me a cup of tea. ”

However, as he looked at the robot, he couldn't help but notice strange wisps of smoke coming out of its chest.

"Maggie, I think you broke Geeves," he said, pointing at it.

"Ahh Oops. ”

The girl didn't take into account the side effects of her "serious mode" on electronics, although this was mainly because she had more pressing things to consider.

"Fixing Graves is a trifle," she was quick to add. "However, this incident highlights a problem that has not been noticed by me until now. I have to fix this as soon as possible. ”

"What's the problem?" Joe raised an eyebrow.

"I may not have fulfilled an obligation."

The man was confused by this revelation because he was completely fine. Well, aside from a slight headache and a tingling pain in the shoulder that quickly disappears, there is certainly no need to make a fuss about these minor discomforts. He then realized that she might be referring to the extremely lengthy contract with the government, but there were so many contracts that he had no hope of figuring out which one she was referring to. So, he asked.

"What did you do?"

"I accidentally started a church."