"Are important conversations supposed to happen at night, in bed?" Christian pondered loudly.
It was already the evening of the next day, after all. And from his sister's behavior when he saw her during the day, he could tell… she had already made her decision. Yet, for some reason, he still had to visit her "later" if he wanted to hear her answer.
Iris, seemingly still oblivious to his concerns, made her move first in the chess game they were playing.
She held the queen piece with her fingers then, moved it across the hologram chessboard, shifting it to the weakened kingside, according to how she pointed. Then, she lifted her gaze toward him and, with an even voice that sounded almost amused, said.
[Well, studies show that humans are more emotionally vulnerable and honest during late-night conversations, especially in private, low-light settings. It's tied to lowered cognitive defenses, circadian rhythm shifts, and increased melatonin levels.]
Pausing, she tilted her head slightly before adding.
[But... that's not what you want to hear, right?]
Christian, equally amused by her answer, leaned back in his chair, his eyes fixed on Iris's visage… her projected appearance through the flickering yet stable hologram, as she sat across from him
Her soft white skin was flawless, like porcelain. Her eyes glowed with an unnatural blue that pulsed gently, in sync with her thoughts. Her short, tousled white-blonde hair had bluish and pinkish edges, seemingly adding a subtle touch of color over her features.
She crossed one leg over the other, revealing her pale thigh through her very short jean shorts. And as she leaned toward the table, toward the chessboard, her small frame was also evident… her white crop top, which tried to emphasize her modest breasts but failed, still exposed a glimpse of her stomach and her slim waist.
Even though he knew she wasn't, she looked almost like a normal human girl in her late teens. Almost.
"You do know it was one of those questions you're not really supposed to answer, right?" Christian said with a smile.
Then, shaking his head, he made his move on the board too.
This time, unlike Iris's move, the piece slid across the board on its own. Christian watched with interest, curious how Iris would continue her attack.
He observed her… her young girl-like appearance, and couldn't help but think: even though she was beautiful, captivating even… she was still far from what he'd consider his type.
Why had she chosen this particular appearance for herself?
It was a question even he, the one who created her, couldn't find an answer to.
Because in the beginning, he'd designed Iris to match every one of his preferences: her appearance, her voice, everything. But later, he stopped doing that. He let her learn and grow on her own. From then on, he only upgraded her learning codes and system specs, leaving her personality untouched.
Was it supposed to change ?
He didn't know. But he was sure it wasn't that she hated him or anything like that. Because, despite how advanced her responses and understanding had become… so close to human they were now hard to distinguish, he knew everything was still driven by data, simulations, and patterns.
She hadn't truly created a unique personality for herself yet. Everything she said was still just modeled behavior based on existing character templates.
Not to mention, the main command of obeying him, making him her highest priority, was still firmly in place.
[Queen takes g2, check.]
While he was still thinking, Iris made her move. It seemed she was too absorbed in the game now, even stopping her usual antics of moving the chess pieces by hand… an attempt to simulate reality. But… was that truly the case?
Chuckling, in the end, he too made his next move.
He relaxed there in his chair, not minding the game that was now on the verge of ending, and found himself thinking about how much things had changed.
From his bedroom, which he used to think of as spacious, and where he once believed he would never step out from, to now, this.
Christian was currently inside the workshop, built beside the house. A place that had cost them more than fifty times the price of the house itself. Inside the office room that he had asked to include, thinking it would make the place feel more work-like... so there would be no one to call him jobless. And maybe, just maybe, it would feel like a proper job to him too.
He now understood that there was truly nothing money couldn't solve. Even a sci-fi setting , so, he can enjoy his free time after a productive day's work, could be created, as long as he had the funds.
[Knight to f4, check.]
Staring at the hologram chessboard, Christian couldn't help but wonder when he would finally be able to have a real match with Iris… one with actual physical pieces, a real board that would give the wooden clack.
Naturally, he had already begun his humanoid robot project. And it was even going smoothly. Even today, when he had to head down to the basement for a while to run some tests on the two criminals, he still found the time to make progress on the robot project.
'...Actually, am I not working too hard lately?'
It suddenly occurred to Christian that, somehow, he was drifting away from his once-idle life dream… even though his strength was still steadily increasing.
He needed to upgrade Iris every now and then.
He needed to monitor matters related to the other worlds.
He needed to keep track of the turbulent situation around the world.
And of course, he needed to continue developing his fighting robots.
And now, on top of all that, there were the ongoing tests on the criminals… and the need to come up with suitable training exercises for both his sister and Eva.
'Is that not too much?' He couldn't help but grumble.
So, with the cover girl's identity, finally revealed... did it come as a surprise? or did no even notice, the description properly?
Anyway, how was this chapter? And Iris's character?