Chapter 93: Android Town

It took some time to subdue all the downed enemy ships. Well, the battleship was especially large after all. And since most of the enemy ships were stripped of their ability to move, the independent fleet also needed to set it up so they could tow the ships away.

Since we weren’t of any use for that kind of work, we were just ordered to stand by until they’ve finished everything. And so, we went back inside the civilian(?) cargo ship Pelican IVs hangar and stayed put. We did wait until they’ve taken full control of the battleship before we revealed ourselves though.

And since there probably won’t be any more pirate attacks, for the time being, the Pelican IV along with the rest of the independent anti-pirate fleet led by Major Serena went back to the Sierra Prime colony along with the rogue military ships that persistently attacked us earlier.

Since the fleet along with the Pelican IV needed to dock for an extended period in order to process the arrest and resupply, we were freed from guard duty. And since the regular pay agreed upon was 80,000 Enels per day, we received a total payment of 240,000 Enels for working as an escort ship for three days.

『……What about the bounty rewards?』

『Unfortunately, they weren’t pirates, so there’s none.』

After confirming that the ships we fought were part of a rogue imperial military unit, Major Serena displayed a delighted smile. Yeah, I kinda expected this…… Well, we really can’t do anything about it anyway.

We were then questioned by the military police regarding the entire fiasco.

We did record the attack perfectly, beginning with the Pelican IV getting hit with an interdictor, to the subsequent attack on our ship, so they were enough to serve as evidence of the other party’s guilt. Or rather, the guys from the military police kept saying things like ‘What’s with those weird maneuvers?’ or ‘It looks kinda disturbing.’ or even ‘It’s way too freakish, man.’. I do admit my unorthodox maneuvers are kinda weird-looking but don’t call it freaky!

And so, we ended up staying at the Sierra Prime colony as well.

“We’ll be off then.”

Today, I and May headed out of Krishna for some business.

We were waiting for Chris’s grandfather to arrive and take custody of Chris, so we had to stay inside the colony until then. There was also the option of coming back to the resort planet, but since we still weren’t sure if Chris’s uncle and his men had given up on taking her life or not, we decided it was safer to stay inside the colony.

And so, we decided to get May’s upgrades, which was put off because of Chris’s uncle, over and done with today. Sierra Prime had an Orient Corporation dealer shop available, and it also had a fully equipped workshop, so it was perfect.

I was wondering if they had the materials for May’s upgrade available since all the parts I specified while designing her were pretty high end, but it seems like the shop on Sierra Prime mainly catered to the rich and famous, so there were plenty of high-end parts and materials in stock.

“Well, I’m sure he can protect himself at least, but just in case, be sure to keep an eye on Hiro, May.”

“Yes. Please leave it to me.”

May nodded crisply at Elma’s request.

“She still hasn’t gotten her upgrades yet, so isn’t that a little unreasonable?”

“Even if she isn’t customized, she’s probably still stronger than you are.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I am approximately 1.5 to 2 times stronger than your average human.”

May flexed her arms as if to show off her supposed strength. But they still looked more delicate than mine. Well, I don’t think May is the type to bluff, so it’s probably true.

“Be careful out there, Hiro-sama.”

“We still don’t know whether or not my uncle’s men are still lurking out there, so please be careful.”

“Yeah. I’ll be fine. See you later guys.”

After waving goodbye to three, I opened the hatch, extended the ramp, and went down to the port grounds with May.

We’ve been able to procure enough food and water via Major Serena, so we can safely stay inside the Krishna for a full month. We really owe her one this time. I’m kinda worried owing her too much would come to bite us back later on though.

“I’ll be counting on you to guide me then.”

“Yes. Please leave it to me.”

May nodded briskly and led me out of the port area. We then went down to the area where the workshop was located via elevator. Even if she was mostly expressionless, I kinda felt that May was somewhat excited today. It was very subtle, but I could still sense that she was more cheerful than usual. It may just be my imagination though. But seeing her like this made me feel all warm inside as well.

After a few minutes of walking, we finally arrived at the area where the workshop was located. However……

“Haah. This sure is something.”

“?”

May tilted her head in puzzlement after hearing me sigh. Well, it looks like she has no particular opinion about the scene in front of us right now, but it wasn’t the same for me.

How should I describe it? Extremely decadent? Nah, that doesn’t even begin to cover it. Anyway, it was a real sleazy area.

There were lots of female androids, or should I say gynoids, walking about. The place was overflowing with them. The display windows of various shops all had different models of gynoids within them; from young girl-types to mature onee-san types. There were very few male androids on display.

They had everything; from the cute and cuddly to the risque and provocative. There was even a live demo where several gynoids were doing pole dances while wearing really skimpy outfits.

And furthermore, more than a few shops had gynoids trying to appeal to potential customers just like the ladies working for red-light leisure clubs back on Earth. Or rather, it was exactly the same. The only difference is that they had gynoids working for them instead of human women.

And it wasn’t just gynoids who were doing such things. There were a few male androids too. Now that I got a closer look, the customers coming inside those shops weren’t all males. There were quite a few women as well. Heck, I even saw one guy booking an android that looked female, but upon closer inspection, seemed like a male type… Let’s just pretend I didn’t see that.

“Is there something amiss, Master?”

“Uh, n-no. It’s nothing. Don’t mind me.”

May still looked puzzled at my reaction. It looks like she doesn’t get where I’m coming from at all. For AI that gained their official citizenship by ‘healing’ lots of imperial young lads and men (in various ways), this might be just like regular hometown scenery for them. Yeah, it should be like that, I guess. For them, it was quite normal to meet and get together with their potential ‘masters’ in places like this. Just like birds raised in cages……

After leaving the android town with May, we finally reached the section where the workshops were located. After coming here, the sleazy atmosphere more or less abated.

But this was compared to the scenery earlier. The workshops still advertised the latest gynoid models (loli-type) and hottest selling models (dynamite-body mature oneesan-type) on their holo-displays around the shop entrances.

They didn’t even use mosaic censoring! H-How depraved.

“Um, awe should be arriving soon, right?”

“Yes. It’s just over there.”

I moved my gaze toward the direction May pointed at, and saw a huge building with the company name displayed in big, bold letters out front. I thought we were just coming to a small branch office, but it was significantly larger than most of the other shops in the area. More specifically, it was three times as big.

“It’s huge.”

“The Orient Corporation is one of the top android manufacturers in the Sierra star system after all.”

“I see.”

Since it was a big company, it made sense that their facilities would also be grand. This is probably due to the customer base being large in number as well. So they needed a big facility to cater to all of them.

We finally entered the Orient Corporation building. Once we did, a female receptionist turned her gaze toward us straight away. Hm? Oh, so she wasn’t human either. She was a gynoid too.

“Welcome! Welcome to the workshop directly managed by the Orient Corporation! It’s about May’s upgrades, yes? Please follow me.”

We didn’t say anything yet, but the gynoid receptionist already began guiding us while sporting a bright smile. The moment she left her seat, another gynoid receptionist came out from a room at the back and took over her duties.

“We don’t really need to use words to communicate with each other.”

“I see.”

I nodded at May’s explanation. I couldn’t perceive it of course, but it seems they communicated via some form of data exchange earlier. Well, for androids like them, using words to communicate isn’t exactly necessary huh.

We were then led to another section of the building that looked similar to a coffee shop. It looks like there weren’t any other customers except for me.

“This is?”

“Yes! This is a space for customers to relax while waiting for their partner’s upgrades to be finished! I shall prepare some drinks for you right away!”

“O-Okay?”

“I will undergo my upgrades soon. Please take good care of Hiro-sama while I’m away.”

“Yes! Please leave it to me!”

May bowed her head toward me and walked away. Since I didn’t have anything better to do, I took up the receptionist gynoid’s offer and sat on the counter while waiting for May’s upgrades to finish.

“What kind of drink do you prefer?”

“Oh, um, some chilled tea would be nice.”

“Certainly!”

The receptionist gynoid cheerfully stepped inside the coffee shop’s counter and started preparing my drink. This receptionist gynoid sure is bubbly. I set May’s expression values at a low level, so she hardly changed facial expressions and generally felt like a cool and composed lady. I wonder what she would be like if her expression values were set higher? I can’t really imagine it though.

“Thank you for waiting!”

“Thanks. How long would the upgrading take?”

“Let’s see. In May’s case, she would need to be transferred instead of receiving regular upgrades, so it probably wouldn’t take long.”

“Transferred?”

“Yes! For example, in the case of minor artificial muscle upgrades or replacement of worn-out joints, we can keep most of the original body and just replace the requisite parts. But this time, most of May’s components would need to be replaced, so it would be faster to transfer her data to a fully prepared body built from the ground up instead of tampering with her old one. That would be more efficient after all.”

“I see.”

So it’s kinda like upgrading your PC. If you only want to add some memory or replace the CPU’s cooling fan, you can just swap the old ones for new parts. But if you want to replace most of the parts including the CPU, motherboard, and power supply, it would be better to just transfer your data to a completely new PC rig. Pros would suggest you do so as well.

“The data transfer would take approximately two hours. If you’d like, I can give you some pointers regarding your future life with May-san!”

“That sounds good. Go right ahead.”

While waiting for May, I spent my time listening to the gynoid receptionist’s lecture regarding maidroid maintenance and other stuff. She told me about all the required tools and equipment for maintenance. She also lectured me about troubleshooting as well as where to contact if said trouble was already out of my league. This went on for an entire two hours.

As a result, my Enel balance fell once more since I had to pay for the lecture. But I guess I did learn a lot, so it was more or less worth it. It kinda felt like I was taken for a ride again, but oh well.