Clockwork Bride

The seven seconds, which felt like an eternity, passed just like that.

Then the magic finally dissipated, and a miraculous silence filled the studio once more. Hayden slumped, one hand on his knee, panting heavily, like an athlete after a marathon.

But he was shocked by the situation before him, and even broke out in a cold sweat. Now he suddenly remembered what stupid things he had done, and he quickly looked up at the wind-up doll on the control panel.

The doll had already opened its eyes.

Her emerald eyes adjusted their focus several times, as if she had suddenly awoke from a dream, looking at Hayden with a surprised expression. Yet this expression was also like a withered tree blossoming, making the doll's expression seem lifelike.

Her movements were initially a little stiff, but quickly became fluid. She stepped off the control panel and landed on the concrete floor as lightly as a feather. This was the effect of the gravity control system being activated, allowing her to take light and precise steps. Her pure white attire draped her slender body like a wedding dress.

Then, the wind-up doll politely bowed:

"Good evening, Master."

As she spoke, Shuhui smiled, her voice as clear and melodious as a music box.

"I was born to fulfill your wishes. I love you and I want to help you achieve happiness."

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[Wind-up Key]

It's not the power source for the wind-up doll, but rather the controller, which also functions similarly to a car key.

It is a wind-up key for the owner's exclusive use; it cannot be started by any other key.

003: Make your wishes carefully

The wind-up doll, with a flower-like smile, gazed at Hayden with her emerald eyes.

Her movements were completely natural, and she did not deliberately show her identity as a robot. It was as if she had captured the most radiant youth of a human girl, along with the wonderful atmosphere she created, pure and flawless.

But, but...

Looking at the successfully activated doll in front of him, Hayden's sober mind went blank for a moment.

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

Then he regained his composure.

The primitive wish-granting magic, and the kind that was casually cast while drunk, actually granted him an AI?

That's fantastic! — But Hayden isn't stupid either.

"Machine, your name is now officially registered."

He held up the platinum-haired bar key in his hand towards the doll, issuing commands with developer privileges to test the AI's status.

"Angela."

This is a name Hayden read in ancient mythological texts, representing a powerful magical creature that serves and obeys humans. Furthermore, for one creature to name another is tantamount to the namer defining the named, a powerful constraint in ancient magic, signifying the establishment of a hierarchical relationship.

"Okay, I'm Angela."

But the clockwork doll accepted the name without hesitation, whether because she was truly obedient or because her AI did not understand the meaning of this action.

At least her first performance was good. More testing is needed next.

However, before Hayden could utter his next command,

"I see. So my current performance hasn't met Master's requirements. Is that it?"

Angela, however, had already smiled slightly.

“I understand. From now on, I will show you my love without reservation. Please confirm this carefully, Master.”

Ah this.

Hayden, who had never had a girlfriend before, was completely at a loss for words after hearing such blatant declarations of love. Thinking back, he realized he'd said those things while drunk, making it even more awkward.

"...Uh, okay then."

But Hayden at least didn't show his embarrassment on his face.

"Please tidy up the studio first."

He pointed to the various things around him that had been blown away and shattered by the out-of-control magic.

The simplest way to test the state of AI is to observe how it completes the task.

In fact, Hayden had pre-equipped the wind-up doll with the ability to perform household magic. These days, even if you don't know magic, as long as you have a little money, you can download all sorts of household magic apps on your phone—vacuuming, quick stain removal, multiple telekinetic hands… But not everyone can effectively use these apps. Every day, there are people online complaining about how difficult these household magic apps are to use.

By observing how well Angela uses her housework magic, Hayden can roughly assess the quality of her AI.

"Okay, master."

Angela immediately and happily began to take action.

She is only 158 centimeters tall, but due to the large number of internal components, she weighs a hefty 107 kilograms. Fortunately, the gravity control system that Hayden installed for her allows her to still take light, feather-light steps. So, Angela took a few steps, pointed to the broken and overturned objects around the studio, and waved her hands like a conductor of a symphony orchestra.

Then something unbelievable happened.

Suddenly, a breeze seemed to sweep through the studio, infusing everything with life and vitality. Suddenly, everything in the room seemed to jump up and come alive. They jumped and hopped joyfully, each piece returning to its original place. Broken bottles and jars sprouted arms and pieced themselves back together; they grew legs and hopped onto the studio shelves, arranging themselves neatly.

"Hey! Hey! Let's sing a happy song! Work together to the rhythm, and we'll get it done in no time!"

Even the dust and stains come alive, singing as they walk away from the corners of the room and the old books, dancing and lining up as they leave the room.

Before long, the places in the room that had been torn apart by the out-of-control magic were restored to their original state, and even all the dirty places were clean and new.

This was clearly not the housework magic Hayden had prepared for her beforehand.

Hayden was actually dumbfounded.

Hayden did want to observe how this AI would complete the task, but what the heck is this? The art style is completely off! Did it wander into the wrong movie?! This isn't modern arcane magic at all! What kind of household magic has escaped from a children's cartoon?!

But no matter how bewildered he was, the things that had come to life continued to sort themselves out. Eventually, as the overturned table grew legs and set itself right, Hayden's workshop was reborn: a workbench stood in the center of the room, with three tables arranged against the three surrounding walls. Above the tables, shelves were neatly arranged various boxes, bottles, jars, labeled containers, several ancient paper books, scrolls, Norse runestones, and a few genuine clay tablets.

This workshop contained everything Hayden had ever found related to magical research. For ten years, he had collected all the knowledge he could find, absorbing everything useful to him to the best of his ability. Given Hayden's thick skin, such a workshop could hardly have been very well organized.

However, Angela has now tidied them up like the office of a prestigious university professor, even making them open to the public for tours. In other words, Angela's AI not only possesses the ability to perform strange magic, but also has its own "taste," going beyond simply restoring Hayden's messed-up studio.

What exactly is this AI?

"Your studio is ready, master."

Angela lowered her hands, which were controlling the magic, and turned to look at Hayden with an expectant expression for some reason.

"...Activation magic?"

Hayden finally couldn't help but ask.

Angela tilted her head upon hearing this, looking as if she didn't understand what he was talking about.

“Okay, things are getting more interesting.” Hayden rubbed his temples. “Next test. Go prepare some warm, soupy, sweet food for me.”

The doll immediately turned around and ran towards the kitchen with great interest.

Since her AI could easily do that incredible cleaning, preparing food should be even easier for her—however, to Hayden's surprise, when he followed her into the kitchen, he saw Angela standing blankly in the small kitchen, staring wide-eyed at the synthetic food cooking machine on the table.

"I'm very sorry, Master. May I ask what this device is?"

She seemed somewhat at a loss.

That's quite an interesting reaction. Is it because her AI was created using primitive magic, so she doesn't know how to use modern magical items?

Hayden pondered for a moment while explaining to the doll: "See this three columns by eight rows of buttons? You can use the button combinations to select what you want to eat. The first column of buttons is for flavor, the second column is for shape, and the third column is for temperature. It's easy to understand, right?"

"No, Master, it's not that I don't understand the buttons."

But after hearing Hayden's explanation, Angela still stared at the synthetic food cooking machine with confusion.

Hayden's cooking machine is a cheap, outdated model, but at least it has buttons for various flavors. The first column has eight flavors from "sweet" to "spicy," the second column has eight shapes from "hard" to "soft," and the third column has eight temperatures from "hot" to "cold." If you select the wrong one, something resembling cold vomit will come out, which is quite horrible.

Even after hearing Hayden's explanation, Angela still hesitated, unsure of what she was hesitating about. Finally, following Hayden's instructions, she pressed the button three times and watched as the food processor vomited a pool of red, soup-like, slightly sticky substance into a stainless steel bowl.

"Isn't this fine?"

Hayden picked up a spoon and took a bite. The taste was no different from usual; it was awful, but most people ate this these days.

However, Angela stared at the contents of Hayden's bowl with a strange look, as if she were looking at a monster.

"...This is a serious mistake."

She suddenly said something strange.

Hayden was baffled by her words: "Huh?"

"As the saying goes, 'Only when one is well-fed and clothed can one know honor and shame.' Food is not only a substance to supply the body, but also nourishment to nourish the soul. Master, you should not eat this kind of thing... This is a serious mistake."

Angela found the situation increasingly strange. Why did this doll's AI even know how to quote ancient texts? Was it because she was created by ancient magic?

Hayden could understand what she was saying, but the reality was just that harsh. The poor of this era ate high-sugar, high-fat synthetic foods, such as artificial meat cultivated from flatworms, vegetables made from seaweed, and synthetic eggs. High-end restaurants and supermarkets also sold natural foods, but the prices were only affordable for the wealthy. Hayden had been busy spending a fortune building his wind-up bride for over a year, and had almost no money left, so he had to be extremely frugal with his food.

So he decided not to get entangled with the doll any longer. Judging from her AI, although it was a bit erratic, it was generally functioning normally. Hayden had initially thought she would speak in broken, fragmented sentences, but at least it wasn't a major problem.

"I'm very tired today. You can wait here, I'm going to take a nap."

He was exhausted. Not only had he drunk too much, but casting primal magic had also depleted his magical power and even damaged his life force. Hayden now felt his headache growing worse and worse, as if it were about to explode.

No wonder people in ancient times rarely used magic.

After giving Anjie the standby order, he went to his messy bed and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

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Perhaps because the spellcasting today had taken too much to bear, Hayden's sleep was not restful.

He hadn't dreamed in a long time. But incredibly, sometimes he was aware that he was dreaming, and that was exactly what was happening now.

He dreamt of his father, who was very old, with a long chin, a buzz cut, and always frowning, with crow's feet around his eyes; he dreamt of his mother, who was somewhat round and a little plump, with only average facial features, but her smile was as bright as the sun.

They've been gone for almost ten years.

During Hayden's sophomore year, a previously unknown new infectious disease broke out in the American Federation. Its mortality rate was not particularly high, but it was extremely contagious and could induce allergy-like symptoms. Many infected people eventually died from suffocation due to airway swelling.

Theoretically, the federal government should have contained the source of the infectious disease as soon as it broke out. But if the source were contained, the city's economy would collapse. Moreover, if it triggered panic, even the national stock market could be affected.

Wouldn't that mean people would die? -- Of course not!

First, in upscale districts of major cities like New Jersey, all the anti-epidemic magical barriers were immediately activated. The barriers instantly acted like a giant immune system, detecting the virus and eradicating it all in a flash.

But what about areas outside the upper-class districts? No problem! The medical departments of several large companies immediately launched special magic potions, guaranteeing a cure. The only problem is that they are a bit expensive.

Advances in modern technology have long since triumphed over disease and death!

Therefore, the lower classes who couldn't afford medicine had no choice but to obediently die.

Hayden's parents weren't stupid; they realized early on that things were going badly, but what could they do? Their savings were already going towards Hayden's college education. The Irvine State University he was accepted to was a prestigious public university, and they couldn't afford to drop out halfway through.

So, if you can't afford medicine and don't want to get infected, you should wash your hands more often, right? But the water company immediately raised the water price.

You want to stay home and not go out, right? But if you don't go out to work, where will you get the money to eat?

The company certainly won't pay you or provide you with meals. After all, companies are in it to make money, not to run a charity. And they aren't responsible for how many people die from the disease. Ordinary people should actually thank them, because without companies, who would develop effective treatments?

So in the end, Hayden's parents died. They had no right to be free from disease, because they would starve if they didn't go out to work. They did die of disease, but in reality, they also died of poverty.

Hayden survived only because the New Seattle academic district where he attended university also had a pandemic prevention barrier. In short, it was the sacrifice of his parents that allowed Hayden to live.

He sometimes felt a slight envy for characters in novels, games, and movies whose parents were murdered by enemies, because at least they had enemies to avenge. However, Hayden's parents weren't killed by any individual or group. He didn't even know who to retaliate against, but he resolved from that moment on to never be a slave to those big corporations and never trust them.

The only people you can truly trust in this world are your family, and maybe a few close friends.

So Hayden has lived alone ever since.

...until today.

"Breakfast is ready. Are you awake?"

The light shone on his skin, and the clear sound tickled his ears, causing Hayden to suddenly open his eyes.

Angela was gazing at him quietly with her emerald green eyes.

"Master, please wash your face after getting out of bed."

what?

"When getting out of bed, please put your right foot down first..."

Perhaps misunderstanding Hayden's puzzled expression, Angela actually began to explain to him how to get out of bed.

So Hayden immediately interrupted her rambling: "Why are you here? Didn't I tell you to standby?"

"I used sensors to check your eye movements and found that you had completed a full sleep cycle, so I took the opportunity to wake you up."