I'm Trapped in the Block

Chapter 303: Chapter 300: The Machine’s Function

Unlike the other robots, the cleaning robot didn’t seem to express any strong emotions, nor did it have any human-like reactions to Li Luo’s various, deliberate provocations.

But Mo Ling could tell this wasn’t some kind of emotional sluggishness—it was simply the robot’s personality.

The cleaning robot was just that ”calm,” indifferent to everything around it. It answered Li Luo’s questions earnestly, but only because that was its role. In reality, it couldn’t care less what Li Luo was doing, nor what she wanted to know.

There is a difference between being slow-witted and being indifferent, one that’s easy to distinguish in humans.

And Mo Ling could indeed see the expression of this ”personality” in the robot; the little movements that betray emotion are hard to hide.

Just then, the cleaning robot reached out one hand to lean against the wall, setting its broom gently to the side. The cleaning tools held by its other arms were also shifted into positions that required minimal effort to hold.

Its humanoid mechanical head hung down in a very relaxed posture as it nonchalantly waited for Li Luo to ask her questions, not at all in a hurry.

Watching the robot, Mo Ling was suddenly struck by a sense of déjà vu.

’Is it slacking off?’

Mo Ling had done the same thing many times. When he was a kid on cleaning duty, he’d be sent to take out the trash, and if a teacher stopped him on the way, he would adopt this exact same posture.

His whole body would go slack, his replies would be brief and noncommittal, and he’d deliberately slow his speech to drag things out as long as possible. The teacher’s words went in one ear and out the other as his mind wandered completely.

It was the perfect opportunity to slack off. He didn’t have to work, and he couldn’t be blamed for it by his classmates. Life was good.

As for what the teacher was saying, that was another story. All he had to do was look like he was paying attention and give the right answers.

Right now, this cleaning robot was doing the exact same thing Mo Ling used to do as a child.

The more Mo Ling watched, the more uncanny the resemblance felt.

The robot didn’t seem to think Li Luo was interrupting its work, nor did it seem bothered by her constant questions. On the contrary, it actually looked like it was enjoying itself.

”Who is this ’teacher’ you’re talking about? Is it someone on Paradise Island? Do humans actually teach you how to do your jobs in person?” Li Luo asked, tilting her head up at the robot.

The robot’s reply was extremely brief. Just as Mo Ling suspected, it was deliberately stalling.

”Not human.”

An ambiguous answer like that would only lead Li Luo to press on with her questions.

”Is it some kind of instructional program, then?”

”No, not that either.”

It answered Li Luo’s questions earnestly, responding to exactly what she asked and no more, never volunteering any information.

”Then who is the teacher?”

”A robot. A robot just like us,” it answered slowly.

”A robot?” Li Luo clearly hadn’t expected their skills to be taught by another robot.

”Is it another cleaning robot? Did it teach you how to clean?”

”No.”

”What kind of robot is it, then?”

”A teacher robot.”

At that, Li Luo froze. She had clearly been led in circles by the cleaning robot’s answers and stood there thinking for a long time.

”A robot that’s called ’Teacher’?”

”No. It *is* a teacher. Its role is ’teacher.’ It only teaches.”

The cleaning robot’s tone remained placid. Its answers were brief, and it still refused to give a direct response.

But after talking this much, Li Luo was finally starting to understand.

”You all have roles. You’re in charge of cleaning, some robots teach fitness, and others teach knowledge. The one that teaches knowledge is your teacher—the teacher robot. Right?”

”Yes. Your understanding is correct.”

The cleaning robot finally nodded.

After all those twists and turns, she had finally gotten a clear answer. Li Luo breathed a sigh of relief.

”Does the teacher robot also know how to clean?”

”Yes. It can do basically anything.”

”Then isn’t it an all-purpose model? I mean, it could do the cleaning, teach fitness, or even be a captain, right? So why isn’t it responsible for those things? Why is it just a teacher?”

In response to Li Luo’s question, the cleaning robot gave another extremely brief answer:

”Because it is a teacher robot...”

”...”

They had talked in circles and ended up right back where they started. Li Luo and the cleaning robot, one short and one tall, stared blankly at each other, nothing having been made any clearer.

Li Luo thought for a long time before speaking again.

”So because it’s a teacher robot, it can only teach and can’t do anything else?”

”Yes. Our roles determine our actions.”

”Roles... Are all your roles fixed?”

”Of course. You should know that as robots, we must perform our duties according to the roles assigned to us by humans.”

The cleaning robot’s words left Li Luo stunned once again.

”I guess that makes sense,” Li Luo nodded, but something still felt off.

”I’ll let you get back to your work,” she said, stepping aside and walking down the other corridor at the junction.

”Thank you for your cooperation.” After thanking her, the cleaning robot resumed its sweeping and slowly headed in the opposite direction.

Li Luo was still lost in thought, muttering to herself in confusion.

”I remember the slogans for the sixth-generation intelligent machinery were ’All-Purpose Machine’ and ’Perfectly Humanoid.’ They shouldn’t have these kinds of role divisions.”

She watched the tall robot move down the narrow corridor, her eyes filled with suspicion.

”Don’t you find that strange?” Li Luo asked Block.

Mo Ling, of course, also found it extremely strange. All these robots looked identical and had no functional differences, so why assign them distinct roles?

”In the past, when we assigned roles to robots, we would match them with corresponding designs. In other words, a robot’s form determined its function and role.”

”A cleaning bot doesn’t need a huge body, just a vacuum and a mobility module. The smaller, the better.”

”Take an assembly-line robot, for example. All it needs is a single mechanical arm. Since all the robots on this ship have this humanoid form, they should be just as Yuanxin Technology originally designed them: all-purpose machines. But instead, they’ve had these role settings forced upon them.”

Li Luo voiced her doubts to Block as she mulled it over.

The cleaning robot’s tall frame was clearly not designed for cleaning; this role restriction must have been added later.

Why would the people on Paradise Island add such an obviously superfluous setting to these all-purpose robots, which were designed to be multi-functional?

If they had wanted robots for specific tasks from the beginning, they wouldn’t have needed to imitate the sixth-generation intelligent machinery’s design. They could have just custom-built forms for each job.

This obvious contradiction made the whole situation seem even stranger.

Li Luo watched the cleaning robot’s retreating back and concluded firmly.

”Even if there’s nothing wrong with the robots themselves, the people of Paradise Island are definitely hiding something.”