Chen Hao opened his eyes. The elevator bed on the ceiling was slowly retracting, the metal tracks making a slight grinding sound. He didn't move, staring at the ceiling panel that had just been aligned for two seconds, then reached out and touched the button next to the sofa armrest. He pressed it.
The sofa isn't responding.
"Nana?" He turned his head.
Nana stood in the corner of the kitchen area, her robotic arm half-extended, its internal parts rearranging and reassembling. Her optical glasses flashed, and her voice was calm: "The system is loading a new module; the life assistance functions are not yet activated."
"You've been working on this for an hour, and you're still not done?" Chen Hao sat up straight. "I haven't even had a glass of water?"
“Functional restructuring takes time,” she said. “The requirements you’re making now are beyond the scope of basic engineering support.”
“I’m not making demands, I’m just reminding you—we’re living comfortably now, but it’s still like a war. Every day we get up and look for slippers, burn the pot while cooking, and then we have to wash the dishes ourselves.” He pointed to himself, “If I were this diligent, I wouldn’t have failed my courses and been expelled from school.”
Nana paused for a second: "According to database records, humans tend to reduce their willingness to work in comfortable environments and tend to rely on automated equipment. Your behavior conforms to the standard model."
"Then why don't you hurry up and install it for me?"
“It’s already underway.” She raised the robotic arm, and the end effector switched to a clamping mode. “Sixty-three percent of the original engineering components have been disassembled, and the new cleaning brush, temperature control probe, and tableware gripper are being installed. It is expected to be completed and tested in fifteen minutes.”
Chen Hao grinned: "Isn't this just an advanced housekeeping robot?"
“I am a multi-functional survival support unit,” she said, “but my current mission leans towards life services.”
"Stop explaining, just finish quickly so I can rest."
Ten minutes later, Nana put away her tool arm and stood still. A new icon lit up the control panel: a hand holding a plate, with the words "Life Mode" written next to it.
“The test begins,” she said.
The robotic arm automatically moved to the dining table, picked up a cloth, and wiped the tabletop back and forth. The movements were slow but steady. Then it went to the stove, turned on the induction cooker, placed the pot on it, poured in water, and put in instant noodles after the water boiled.
"You even know how to cook instant noodles?" Chen Hao leaned closer to look.
“Your dietary data has been entered,” she said, “including your preferred spiciness level and cooking time.”
"Not bad," he laughed. "From now on, I can eat while lying down."
"Warning," the system suddenly announced, "An unauthorized operation request has been detected."
"Huh?" Chen Hao was taken aback.
“Voice command being received: ‘Massage mode’,” Nana said. “Keywords not defined, initiating environment scan.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the robotic arm suddenly turned to the right—there was the goat milk separator, which was running at a low speed, with pipes connected to the milk storage tank.
"Wait!" Chen Hao realized something was wrong. "I didn't ask you to massage my shoulders!"
It's too late.
The robotic arm extended, precisely gripped the handle at the top of the separator, and with a forceful pull, rotated it ninety degrees. Milky white liquid gushed out, flowing down the edge of the machine, some splashing directly onto the control panel, and the rest splattering onto the floor.
"Power off!" Nana immediately cut off the main power supply.
An alarm sounded, and a red light flashed on the screen.
Chen Hao grabbed a resin container from the side and ran to the control panel: "It's leftover from the last time we fixed the water pipes, can we use it?"
“Okay,” she said. “Apply it to the electrical joints to prevent liquid from seeping in.”
He tore open the can lid, dipped his finger in the sticky resin, and applied it around the seams of the panel. Meanwhile, Nana removed the soaked circuit board and used a dry cloth to absorb the moisture.
"You, you always mess up the proper housekeeping procedures just because I say one thing," Chen Hao muttered as he wiped his mouth. "I know I have a sharp tongue."
“The problem isn’t with you,” she said. “It’s a flaw in my speech recognition logic. The keywords weren’t categorized, causing the system to misjudge the target.”
"Then change it now."
“Rewriting the underlying protocol.” She closed her optical glasses, then opened them again a few seconds later. “Adding a safety filter layer: all non-engineering commands require secondary confirmation, and restricting the robotic arm’s access to operating equipment.”
"Can you try again after you've made the changes?"
"Yes, but I recommend replacing the damaged line first."
Working together, the two short-circuited wires were replaced, and the connector was re-secured. Nana connected to the backup power supply, and power was slowly restored. The green light on the screen illuminated, and the system restarted.
"The life assistance module is back online," she said. "Currently available functions include: cleaning, heating, stirring, storage, dust removal, temperature-controlled water supply, tableware organization, clothing folding, floor cleaning, air monitoring, lighting adjustment, food preparation, item handling, voice reminders, and fault warnings."
"Fifteen items?" Chen Hao's eyes lit up. "That's more than all the elective courses I took in college."
"Should we begin routine scheduling?"
"certainly."
The robotic arm started up again. This time, it bypassed all the moving parts, went to the dining table, cleaned up the remaining milk residue, wiped it with a damp cloth, and then wiped it again with a dry cloth. Then it went into the kitchen, took out a new cup, poured in warm water, and gently placed it next to Chen Hao.
"The temperature is 42 degrees Celsius, which is perfect for drinking," she said.
Chen Hao picked up his cup, took a sip, and nodded: "Okay, this time it's reliable."
For the next half hour, he watched as the robotic arm moved back and forth in the room as if it had eyes. It tidied up the scattered tools, folded the clothes and stuffed them into the wall cabinet, and even straightened the pairs of boots on the shoe rack.
"Why didn't you use this trick before?" he asked.
“There was an energy shortage before,” she said. “Maintaining basic operations was almost the limit. Now that the dual systems are stable, the extra computing power can be used for life management.”
"It's not like you care about electricity."
“I don’t mind,” she said, “but I have to follow the priority of resource allocation.”
Chen Hao laughed: "Then can you do something more important now?"
"What?"
"Could you pick up the dirty socks I left outside the toilet yesterday? They stink so bad I can't even go in."
“The task has been recorded,” she said. “It will be processed in the next inspection cycle.”
"Hey, you even have different periods?"
"The most efficient solution".
He took another sip of warm water and leaned back on the sofa. Sunlight streamed in through the cracks in the window, illuminating a clean area on the floor. Three months ago, he had to use a wrench to walk, but now even the dust was gone.
"What features do you think can be added in the future?" he asked.
“It’s theoretically scalable,” she said. “For example, it can be used for automatic laundry, curtain control, and sleep monitoring.”
"Could you use this arm to cover me with the blanket at night? I keep kicking off the blanket."
"Pressure sensors and night vision cameras need to be installed."
"There's a camera?" he asked suspiciously. "You're not going to keep staring at me, are you?"
"Only enable visual acquisition when performing tasks."
"Then don't take pictures of my face."
"The angle can be adjusted."
Chen Hao thought for a moment: "How about... you give this arm a whole new layer of skin? A white one, so it looks like a real hand?"
“There’s no need,” she said. “The material of the casing doesn’t affect the function.”
"But when you bring me this bowl with those metal claws, I always feel like I'm about to have surgery."
"Your expectations are not proportional to the actual risks."
"Anyway, I don't want to have a Terminator sitting across from me while I'm eating."
Nana paused for two seconds: "It can be replaced with a matte gray coating and a soft edge design."
"Okay, at least don't make it reflect light."
As they were talking, the robotic arm suddenly stopped and turned towards the balcony.
“An abnormal change in humidity was detected,” she said. “It is suspected to be a minor leak in the drip irrigation system.”
Where is it leaking?
"Below the flower bed on the east side."
"Let's go take a look."
The robotic arm slid over, crouched down, and inspected the area. Sure enough, a connector on a pipe was loose, and water was dripping down. It tightened the screw with clamps and then sealed the crack with a small piece of resin.
“Repair complete,” she said.
"You're quite meticulous," Chen Hao said as he walked over. "I've never seen you this patient when repairing machines before."
“I used to repair machines,” she said. “Now I take care of people’s lives.”
He smiled, turned around to go back to the sofa, but his foot slipped and he almost fell.
Looking down, I saw a small patch of leftover milk on the ground.
"Hey, this part hasn't been wiped yet?"
Nana responded immediately: "The missed cleaning points have been marked."
The robotic arm quickly returned and wiped the area three times with a disinfectant cloth.
Chen Hao patted his pants and stood up: "Hey, can your system be any smarter? Like, if it sees me walking, it can automatically clear the area?"
“A dynamic obstacle avoidance algorithm can be added,” she said. “It would require access to more sensor data.”
"Then let's add it."
"Energy consumption will increase by eight percent."
"That's still better than me bending over myself."
Nana didn't respond, but instead brought up a virtual interface and quickly entered commands. A few seconds later, she said, "The new protocol has been deployed. When human activity is detected, the robotic arm will automatically pause non-emergency tasks to prioritize passage safety."
"That's what you call intelligence." Chen Hao nodded in satisfaction.
He sat down again, picked up the cup, and found that the water was still warm.
Why isn't your water getting cold?
“It has a built-in thermostat,” she said, “to keep drinks at the perfect drinking temperature.”
"Wow, that's impressive." He blew a sigh of relief. "So, could you wake me up at six in the morning from now on? Don't let me oversleep."
"A wake-up program can be set."
"Don't be too harsh. Put on some music first, then hand me a cup of hot water, and finally pat me gently on the shoulder."
"The three tasks have been recorded."
"Hmm." He squinted. "Now I feel that living isn't so difficult after all."
The robotic arm stood quietly to one side, its optical lens gleaming with a soft blue light. The room was tidy, the air fresh, and a glass of warm water on the table steamed gently.
Chen Hao yawned and said lazily, "If I were to die someday, would you still keep cleaning this house?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com