"Affirmative, host. The system can produce medicine for any kind of disease provided that you build the technology it needs." The female voice answered Maru.
"Do you know what disease my mother has, madame?" Maru asked the lady voice.
"Negative, host. Do you want the system to scan your mother?" the female voice asked Maru.
"Yes! Yes, please!" Maru answered the lady's voice excitedly.
"Affirmative, host.
System scanning…
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The system found that your mother has polymyositis. This disease deteriorates all the muscles of the body and causes them to ultimately collapse making even simple motions extremely hard." The female voice reported her diagnosis to Maru.
"What technology would I need to cure my mother's disease, madame?" Maru asked the lady voice after he finally knew what was causing all of her mom's suffering.
"You need a Medicine Fabricator, host. This device contains cure for every known disease and viruses throughout the realms." the female voice answered Maru.
"Food fabricator or medicine fabricator. What do I get first? Hmmm. Let me check something first." Maru thought. He was conflicted on what to get. His mother would need the medicine fabricator to assuage her worsening condition. But that would leave them all in hunger. He could also get the food fabricator first to satisfy their most immediate need of sustenance. But that would also make his mom continue to suffer in silence with her disease. His brain was telling him to do the latter but his heart was moving him to choose the former choice of the two. Maru was in a quandary.
"How can I use world energy to make either device, madame?" Maru asked the lady voice.
"You need 1,000 world energy to make each of those devices, host. When you reach the required amount of world energy, you only have to command me for the task and the device will materialize before you if you wish it so. If not, it will be stored inside the system inventory for later use." The female voice informed Maru.
"How do I get world energy, madame?" Maru asked quickly. He wanted to know everything he could to acquire food for his family and cure his mother's sickness. He was not satisfied with one because what he wanted was to get both of those goals realized. For only a year of scavenging and begging, he was not tired at all. Seeing his mother and sister okay and having something to eat, even how little it was, brought immeasurable strength to Maru. His motivation unequaled and determination undiminished in his work.
He will have to die first before he gives up on them. Even if he had to face a thousand beatings from those bullies again, he won't ever cower from them all. Just for the chance to give what his mother and sister needs. No matter the odds and difficulties, he must get his hands on those two devices mentioned by the lady voice. For them, nothing was impossible for him. They were all that really mattered to Maru. After all, what are you without your family?
"Nothing." Maru answered the question in his thoughts.
"The system automatically absorbed world energy starting last night, host. You currently get 1 unit of world energy per minute. You now have 788 world energy available for use." The female voice answered Maru.
"If I get those precious metals you were saying earlier, could you combine both those materials and this world energy magic to produce a food fabricator or a medicine fabricator, madame?" Maru asked the lady voice. They were different things. He wished that both were possible to combine because if it did, he would have a faster way of creating those two important devices.
"Affirmative, host. The system could convert any of those components to world energy for your convenience. Would you like to apply the change to the default settings?" the female voice asked Maru.
"Yes! Please do that, madame!" Maru hastily replied. He was glad that his prayers were heard. This new helper has given him so much already. Its advantages were endless. Maru would use it wisely to live a life that he wanted. Just as the one who gave it to him desired.
"Affirmative, host.
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Changes to the system settings have been applied." The female voice reported to Maru.
"Thank you, madame!" Maru said to the lady voice. If she did not come on time, he would have long gone to meet his ancestors. His family would have been left alone and helpless. The thought of what could have been almost made him cry.
"You don't have to thank me, host. The system exists to serve you." The female voice replied to Maru.
"Is that true? Would you really obey my every command, madame?" Maru asked in surprise.
"Affirmative, host. The master designed and created the system. Its purpose is irrevocable." The emotionless female voice answered Maru.
"I see. But I don't want to use you like a slave, madame. I want us to be friends. From now on, you shall call me Maru. Host seems unusual to the ears. I don't like it." Maru said to the lady voice.
"Affirmative, Maru." The female voice replied.
"Good. Do you have a name, madame?" Maru asked once more to the lady's voice. He was curious about this woman.
"Affirmative, Maru. I'm an Artificial Intelligence System." The female voice responded to Maru.
"Okay. You shall be called Madame Ais." Maru told the lady voice. He just can't refer to her as madame forever. Maru believed that every living being should have their own names. It is what makes them who they are. This defines them as they take that name into what they want to be. He believed that a name is not just a simple word.
In the end, a name is a mark of how you lived your life in which all people would be remembered by their deeds and misdeeds. This was the reason why Maru was proud of his name. It has many meanings but he wanted it to be recalled by everyone as the one who never gives up. His name, just like everything that he was, only hopes to give his family a better life. This thought was what kept him going.
"Affirmative, Maru." Madame Ais replied to Maru.
"Nice. Let's be friends from now on, Madame Ais." Maru said. His innocence showed through his simple words."...…." Madame Ais did not deem what Maru said worthy of a response. She was not built to have complex algorithms to emulate feelings or emotions."Okay. Scan the area for the nearest deposits of any of those precious metals, Madame Ais." Maru instructed the system."Affirmative, Maru.System scanning…1%2%3%99%100% completeFound 1,946 valuable and precious metal components within a 5 kilometer radius. The nearest is approximately fifty feet to the west." Madame Ais answered Maru."Nice. Thank you, Madame Ais. We'll get a fabricator by noon!" Maru was excited to start this new adventure. He looked unto the future with bright prospects.1 hour2 hour
"No! Please, don't!" Maru yelled and started to run away from the ugly looking man. He got only a few feet before he was stopped by the unwelcome intruder. His neck got held so tightly that he could barely get air to come into his lungs. He was slowly suffocating. Maru cried from fear and tears went flowing freely down his cheeks."You better cooperate, kid. Or else, it might get bad for you real quick. Hehehe. You will have to serve me well.You can do it with pain or no pain. Either way, your ass is mine. Hahaha! Choose wisely, kid." The ugly looking man said to Maru after he released his tight grip from the boy's scrawny neck."Hah.. hahh… hahhh…." Maru was gasping for breath. His neck hurt a lot. Deep imprints of the ugly man's fingers were decorating his neck like an unnerving collar. A mark of doom and a symbol of possession."Please. I will do anything. Just don't kill me. My family won't survive without me!"
"Please! Wait. I'm coming." Maru said as he stood on shaky legs."You seem to forget something, kid." The ugly looking man reminded Maru."I'm coming, daddy." Maru indulged the sick fantasy of the ugly looking man. The weak have no right to complain. He was determined to do this and get it over with. Maru only wished to live through this ordeal."Hahaha! Smart kid! You will see your family again after this. I promise." The ugly looking man said to Maru. Lying was a way of life for him. He felt no guilt whatsoever in toying with the boy."Thank you, daddy." Maru replied towards the ugly looking man. There was hope as long as he still lives. No matter what he will go through, the word surrender would never be his. For he knew that there were people waiting for him to come back home safely. Maru would go through hell and back just to see them once more. To be with his mother and sister, that was all that mattered
The dagger aimed for the fatal spot in one of the carotid arteries located at the neck of the boy. The ugly looking man was successful in his right handed slash but the tip of the dagger missed by a mere centimeter. His attack was dodged. He tried to do a second combination offense by throwing a left punch but he was stopped in his tracks by a heavy force."Thank you for giving me the opportunity to get out. Too bad you lasted prematurely. I would have loved to give you a ride you won't forget. Goodbye." Madame Ais said in farewell. Her right hand had gone through the ribcage and crushed the ugly looking man's heart, literally. Her victim tried to open his mouth to say his last words but he was not given the luxury of it. He died with his eyes open in disbelief."What happened, Madame Ais? Maru asked when he was forced to awake from his slumber."The target has been eliminated, Maru." Madame Ais replied."Is he dead
"I know, brother. I'm big now and very responsible." Uwyn said as she smiled at Maru. He was the foundation of the family since her mother succumbed to sickness. She looked at him with love and adoration."Yes. You're a big girl now, Uwyn. Wait here." Maru said to his sister. He went outside to kill the light from the torch in order to conserve it for further usage."Come here, Uwyn. Don't make a noise, okay? We don't want to disturb mom's sleep." Maru said after he went inside and closed the door of the hut. He was now sitting on his bed. Both then huddled in the corner, away from their mother's ears."Okay, brother. Where's the surprise?" Uwyn whispered to her brother. She looked at Maru's hands to see if he was holding something but was disappointed. Her brother's palms were empty."Wait a moment, Uwyn. Just stay quiet for now." Maru said to his sister. He deliberately closed his eyes to give a mystical effect on
"Okay, brother." Uwyn replied. Her eyes were wide in excitement as she waited for her brother to do some magic."How come I know which are the food fabricator and the medicine fabricator, Madame Ais?" Maru asked the system after he closed his eyes in front of his sister. He and Uwyn don't know how to read. Even his mother, Olivia, also didn't know how to read and write. No books were present in their humble home. They could barely find food to eat. How could they afford those expensive books which contain knowledge from their ancestors? But Maru could see the different letters in the book and instinctively knows which is which between the two books."You are connected to the system, Maru. Items on your inventory will be recognized by you spontaneously." Madame Ais replied
"Okay. But first wait, Uwyn. I have something left to show you." Maru said to his sister."What is it, brother?" Uwyn asked Maru. She was curious about what other magical things her brother would let her see. Maybe another delicious food, she guessed cheerfully."It's a secret for now. Let me concentrate, okay? So that my magic can work." Maru asked his sister, Uwyn.".........…." Uwyn didn't reply with words but only motioned a zipping action with a hand on her mouth as her bright big eyes waited for another surprise, expecting to see her brother's magic once again. She was quite playful and energetic after she consumed one Fairy Yumyum and finished her milk.
"Get your sister to her bed, Maru." Olivia said to her son. After ten minutes of crying, she saw her daughter had fallen asleep already. Her position was quite uncomfortable as her knees were alighted in the hard wood of her brother's makeshift bed. Maru perfectly mirrored her situation."Okay, mom." Maru answered his mother. His voice was hoarse from crying so much. He went around his mother's cot and lifted Uwyn. Although he was thinner than his sister, that doesn't mean that he was weaker. His year in the slums, hiding and running away from the bullies, had raised his strength as well as his physical endurance. Maru even felt stronger now since Madame Ais had healed him. Uwyn weighed like feathers in his arms."Can you tell me what happened, Maru? Why were you two cryi