As Chen Hao folded the printed lecture materials into small squares and stuffed them into his pocket, Nana was standing in front of the entryway mirror adjusting her collar. She was wearing a light gray shirt and a black long skirt, her hair neatly combed. This outfit was a "formal social attire recommendation" retrieved from the database the night before.
"Are you sure you want me to go?" she asked.
"Of course." Chen Hao picked up his keys and jingled them a couple of times. "The neighborhood committee sent out a notice saying this is a neighborhood exchange meeting, everyone can just chat casually. Haven't you always wanted to learn how to interact with people?"
Nana looked down at her hands. "My movement precision can be controlled within 0.1 millimeters, but the range of human social error is too large to model."
"Don't think too much about it." Chen Hao opened the door. "Just think of it as visiting a large-scale live interactive game."
The community activity center is on the east side of the neighborhood, a ten-minute walk away. Nana walked ramrod straight, her arms pressed against her sides like a ruler. Chen Hao almost laughed several times, but held back.
A few people were already chatting at the entrance. Seeing them approach, a middle-aged man wearing glasses greeted them with a smile, "Xiao Chen, you're here too? Is this your girlfriend?"
"No," Chen Hao quickly waved his hand, "This is my... assistant."
"Hello." Nana immediately stepped forward and mechanically extended her hand. "I am Nana, model x7-2, with basic conversation, housework assistance and data analysis functions."
The air was silent for a second.
The man froze, while the woman next to him burst out laughing.
"Oh my, it's a robot!"
Nana withdrew her hand, her face expressionless, but a flash of blue light appeared in her eyes.
Chen Hao pulled her inside, saying, "Ignore her, her program is having some issues today."
The room was simply furnished. Several tables were pushed together, on which were placed fruit, snacks, and drinks. Some people were pouring red wine, some were cutting cake, and others were talking about the recent square dancing competition.
"Sit here first." Chen Hao found her a seat on the side. "I'll go get some drinks."
After sitting down, Nana began to observe the behavior of the people around her. She noticed that the woman on her left slightly raised her pinky finger when holding her cup, and that the man on her right would gently pat someone's shoulder when he smiled. She silently memorized these gestures, preparing to imitate them.
Five minutes later, Chen Hao returned with a glass of orange juice.
"Here you go, a non-alcoholic beverage."
Nana took the cup, and just as her fingers touched the rim, her wrist suddenly trembled slightly. Her pressure sensor system hadn't fully adapted to judging the weight of everyday objects, and the cup tilted, spilling orange juice directly onto her chest.
Dark liquid trickled down the shirt, quickly spreading a wet patch on the fabric.
"Contamination alert!" She immediately stood up, her voice rising eight octaves. "Liquid seepage detected. Initiate emergency cleaning protocol!"
After speaking, she raised her right arm and repeatedly wiped her front with her sleeve, making a very large movement, as if she were doing calisthenics.
"Please do not approach the stained area!" she announced loudly as she wiped. "Stain removal process in progress, estimated time 3 minutes and 17 seconds!"
The entire room fell silent for two seconds.
Then someone burst out laughing, and the whole room erupted in chaos.
"My goodness, this is even more exciting than a Spring Festival Gala skit!"
"Is she going to say 'Hello, everyone'?"
"Record it quickly, this is definitely the best show in the community this year!"
Nana stopped moving.
Her face slowly flushed, not from heat, but from the facial simulation system overloaded by the emotion module. She lowered her head, her voice barely audible: "The social error rate exceeded the predicted threshold… I'm sorry."
Chen Hao suppressed a laugh as he walked over to her and handed her some tissues. "It's okay. What you did just now was textbook perfect."
"But I got my clothes dirty."
"Clothes can be washed, but finding a good atmosphere team is hard to come by." He patted her shoulder. "That part just now is enough for everyone to talk about for half a month."
Someone approached with a wine glass, "Little girl, how about performing a dance next time?"
“I can load the dance module,” Nana replied earnestly. “Recommended tracks include ‘The Most Dazzling Ethnic Trend,’ ‘Gangnam Style,’ and ‘Ievan Polkka.’”
The audience burst into laughter again.
Chen Hao rubbed his forehead. "Stop, stop, don't say anymore."
Amid the laughter, Nana quietly tugged at her soaked clothes and whispered, "Did I embarrass you?"
"Embarrassing?" Chen Hao looked at her. "Do you know how many people came up to talk to you just now? Because of this, they thought you were cute."
"Cuteness is not a performance indicator."
"But it works better than performance."
The party continued. Someone suggested playing a guessing game, and Nana was pulled into a group. The question was, "What gets dirtier the more you wash it?" She blurted out, "According to chemical analysis, all fabrics retain trace amounts of detergent after washing, so strictly speaking—"
"It's water!" a child nearby answered quickly.
Nana paused for a moment, "The answer is correct. But my explanation is more scientific."
"We don't want scientific accuracy, we want fun!" The team leader laughed and handed her a piece of chocolate.
She held the candy, but didn't open it; she just stared at it.
Chen Hao sat not far away, watching her being surrounded by a group of people asking her all sorts of questions. Someone asked if she could cook, and she said, "I can precisely control the heat and the proportions of the ingredients." Someone asked if she could help tutor children with their homework, and she said, "My knowledge base covers general education courses from elementary school to university." In the end, even the director of the neighborhood committee came over to ask if she could do community file organization part-time.
"Your robot is really interesting," the director said with a smile. "It's much more reliable than the college student volunteer we hired last year."
The game ended, and everyone started packing up their things.
Chen Hao walked over and asked, "How are you feeling?"
Nana put the uneaten chocolate into her bag. "Summary of this social experiment: Three behavioral deviations occurred, two instances of inappropriate verbal expression, and one incident of serious damage to one's image. Overall score—unsatisfactory."
"But everyone likes you."
"Liking something is not the standard for completing a task."
"But it is the standard for integration."
Nana looked up at him. "What if I mess up again next time?"
"Then let's mess it up one more time," Chen Hao grinned. "Anyway, you're already the MVP tonight."
The blue light in her eyes flickered, as if she were recalculating something.
The way home was quiet. Streetlights shone one after another, casting two shadows, one long and one short.
As Nana walked downstairs, she suddenly stopped.
"Chen Hao".
"Um?"
"You said... if I made a similar mistake at your research presentation, would it affect your credibility?"
She realized her mistake as soon as the words left her mouth and quickly added, "I misspoke, it should be 'reputation'."
Chen Hao didn't correct her; instead, he laughed. "Impact? That's the highlight. From now on, every time I finish a serious talk, you come up here and do a cleaning dance. I guarantee everyone will remember our team."
Nana was silent for a few seconds, then whispered, "Thank you for your comfort."
"We're in this together."
The elevator doors opened, and the two stepped inside. The numbers slowly rose.
Nana looked at herself in the mirrored wall. Her wet shirt was half-dry, leaving a faint stain. She reached out and touched the stain very gently.
"I think...maybe it's not necessary to be perfect every time."
"Finally figured it out?"
"I just discovered that even erroneous data can bring positive feedback."
Chen Hao burst out laughing.
The elevator reached the seventh floor, and as soon as the door opened a crack, Nana suddenly turned to face him.
"Can I try wearing red to the next party?"
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