"I’m back," Anastasia said, her voice bright just like the sun itself.
And Christian found himself unable to maintain his aggrieved expression any longer. His face naturally changed to a smiling one, and he found himself instinctively tightening his arms around her waist.
Anastasia didn’t say anything about his possessive move though. Instead, she added casually, "Actually, if it’s something in regard to your work on androids, then... you can take Shae’s help from now on."
At Shae’s name being mentioned, Christian didn’t have any particular reaction at first. But then, as Anastasia waved her hand gracefully and the said Shae suddenly appeared in the room... everything changed completely.
No, wait... she is really Shae?
Christian was utterly stunned, his eyes widening in disbelief.
And no, it wasn’t because of her professional secretary attire — the pencil skirt and crisp top combination.
No, it was because of her overwhelming strength... because of her commanding presence... and most importantly, because of her penetrating gaze.
To him, it felt remarkably different from the gaze of his other androids.
Others might not notice the difference, but to him, their creator, that subtle robotic touch in them was quite apparent no matter how advanced they were... but that mechanical quality had completely vanished in Shae.
Her eyes felt genuinely alive... far more vibrant than even Zero, who he took immense pride in developing.
... But how was this possible?
Christian was immediately tempted to stand up and carefully dismantle her body, just to take a good look at what was inside.
He was tempted to ask Iris to hack directly into her main system and find out exactly what was happening there.
But in the end, before he do any of that, he decided to take a more civilized, human approach to his curiosity.
Which was to simply ask directly.
"What happened to her?"
At his bewildered question, Anastasia smiled proudly, and in a distinctly smug tone said, "Nothing much? I simply gave her a few minor upgrades."
Would a few minor upgrades really make this drastic difference?
Christian was nearly certain that all those outsiders on Earth currently should not be able to hold a candle against Shae’s newfound power.
Aside from the one from the Eternal Light Order who Anastasia had talked about, everyone else should be reduced to dust in front of the current Shae.
That’s what his instincts told him. And so Christian, feeling like everything he once learned had become useless, asked, "How did you do this?"
But Anastasia shook her head playfully and said, "Ahm, that’s a secret for now."
Christian didn’t insist when he saw her teasing reaction. Instead, he asked again with hope, "Then, can you give Iris a few upgrades too after I finish building her?"
He was not shameless enough to ask her to upgrade all his androids indiscriminately.
But Iris was fundamentally different.
She was the one project he had poured the most effort into throughout his entire life.
She was special to him.
So if possible, he really wanted to see her upgraded too.
... That she would become incredibly strong and would take nearly all of his combat burdens if her strength increased to that extent... that was naturally not at all on his mind.
"Well..." Anastasia looked at him with a playful smile, deliberately stretching her word. Then she finally tilted her head adorably and said, "Maybe later?"
Christian’s expression turned visibly disappointed at her reply, but he didn’t insist any further.
At least not with words... but his burning gaze as he looked at her told an entirely different story.
And Anastasia, feeling increasingly awkward since even if she wanted to give the said upgrades herself, she technically couldn’t, found herself unable to meet his eyes and couldn’t help but avert her gaze uncomfortably.
Is it too late to tell him that it’s actually her friends’ blessings that transformed Shae ?
She wondered anxiously.
It’s not like Anastasia couldn’t give an upgrade to his androids and make them far stronger herself.
No, she certainly could.
It just couldn’t be this remarkably comprehensive, with the many divine blessings she had convinced her friends to bestow upon her android.
Still, feeling like she had to give in to his adorable puppy-dog gaze, she coughed lightly and added, "Okay, okay, I will give it a basic upgrade after you finish making it. But the same level as Shae will have to wait for later, alright?"
Anastasia’s concession finally let the intense pressure coming from Christian’s eyes lessen noticeably.
He was still slightly disappointed, but in the end, he decided to be satisfied with this much for now. Then he finally turned his head to properly observe Shae.
As he stared at her standing there silently, having not uttered even a single word until now, Christian seemed to admire just how far his androids could potentially reach.
But... could they still be called his androids? His creation? When they had changed to this extraordinary extent?
... And why was her gaze so cold like that?
Christian wondered as he looked at Shae’s cold and distinctly aloof gaze.
He tried hard to remember the original template of her character programming, and he couldn’t help but realize that he had definitely not made her to be .
He had made her strict, yes.
But he had also given her a endearingly clumsy side.
Slight playfulness and genuine gentleness were core traits.
But nothing freezing cold gaze that seemed to pierce through everything.
"Why has Shae’s gaze changed to be like that?" Christian decided to ask directly.
And Anastasia said vaguely, not explaining much, "It’s due to one of the special upgrades."
What kind of upgrade would fundamentally change her personality?
Christian raised his eyebrow in deep thought. Then suddenly something important occurred to him, and he asked again, "You know? I just remembered that you talked about the soul problem before."
"But with how incredibly alive Shae feels now, have you actually solved that?"
Anastasia fell silent at those probing words. If he had not asked so directly, then she could have smoothly slipped out of the topic. But now that he did, that became utterly impossible.
"Well, it’s literally like you said — she was given Life."
"Not a soul exactly, but life itself."
Anastasia explained, and Christian, not fully understanding, asked, "And what’s the practical difference?"
"With the immense life force that was blown into her, she already has an embryonic soul that will gradually bloom into a proper soul with time... all due to that immense life force nurturing it." Fresh chapters posted on novel⦿fire.net
"What I originally wanted was to literally create a soul from nothing. And because that seemed impossible, then to divide a very small part of my own soul without injuring it, and then carefully putting it into the puppet. So it’s quite different."
Christian hummed thoughtfully at first and didn’t say anything immediately.
He felt that either way, it was absolutely amazing. But more than that, at the topic of Life, he was naturally reminded of Eva, who had a special physique related to the life attribute.
And so, he intended to ask further about the topic, hoping to find something that could potentially help Eva.
But then he suddenly went through her word choice again more carefully, and he seemed to catch onto something crucial, as he asked suspiciously, "It’s you who blew life into her, right?"
"... No, it’s not," Anastasia admitted reluctantly.
And Christian needed to hear nothing else... the few upgrades that Shae had gone through were definitely not by Anastasia’s hands alone.
He was absolutely certain of that now.