Chapter 1: Reflashing the Robot
1501 Words
Chapter 1: Reflashing the Robot
Watching the installation progress bar near the end, Jiang Yuesheng anxiously clenched his right fist, which was already sweating, and pounded it hard twice against his thigh. He wished the robot would reboot faster!
Flashing a robot is quite similar to flashing a phone, except when flashing a robot, you need to operate through a specialized maintenance terminal.
All you need to do is import the new version from the storage card into the robot's memory, and the new version will automatically overwrite the old one.
After flashing his combat robot with the new version, Jiang Yuesheng felt a little excited and couldn’t wait to test the results.
To avoid being injured by the robot, Jiang Yuesheng strapped on protective gear around his calves and waist, put on his helmet and boxing gloves, then ordered his combat robot, “Sparring mode!”
Upon hearing the command, the robot raised its gloved fists and struck a sparring posture.
Its small eyes began to scan him up and down repeatedly, almost as if it were saying, “Come on, make your move!”
Jiang Yuesheng took a small step back, then powered up with his legs, stepping forward quickly with his right leg, swinging his left foot to sweep at the robot's right calf.
This was actually a feint. If the robot lifted its right leg to dodge the low sweep, he would immediately plant his left foot and use his right foot to launch a high sidekick to the robot's left face.
However, the robot noticed that the gap between his move change was a little too wide. It seized this fleeting opportunity, thrust its hips forward, leaned its torso back, and instantly turned its raised right leg into a straight kick, delivering a powerful blow to Jiang Yuesheng's stomach.
The move was smooth, fast, and precise, executed flawlessly by the robot.
Jiang Yuesheng immediately lost his balance and flew backward, crashing hard into the couch with a "poof" sound.
“Sparring stopped!”
He quickly shouted the stop command to the robot.
If he hadn’t called for a stop in time, the robot might have charged forward and continued pounding him.
Subconsciously, he touched his stomach. Thankfully, the protective gear had blocked the blow.
“Not bad?!”
He hadn’t expected the robot to be this effective after the new version was installed. It didn’t even let him land a single hit.
His slight delay in changing moves had exposed a gap, which the robot exploited.
“Looks like I’ve definitely won the match next week! Hahaha!”
He excitedly punched the air.
“Doo-doo-doo!”
Suddenly, he heard the alarm sound from his combat robot.
“What’s going on?”
“Maintenance mode!” He immediately ordered the robot.
The beeping sound from the robot's alarm meant a serious malfunction, and he had to deal with it immediately.
He hurriedly removed his helmet and gloves, took the maintenance terminal from the tool rack, and expertly connected the terminal’s interface cable to the robot’s rear waist port.
He pressed the power button on the terminal, waited for the system to boot up, then clicked on “Fault Scan.”
After a moment, the scan results appeared: Left shoulder deltoid malfunction.
“Command mode!”
“Raise your left arm!” Jiang Yuesheng commanded the robot.
The robot’s left shoulder emitted a series of "squeak-squeak" sounds, but its left arm didn’t budge.
“Command mode!”
“Raise your left hand!” Jiang Yuesheng commanded again.
The same "squeak-squeak" sounds came from the robot’s left shoulder, but the arm remained immobile.
“Want me to kick you to death?!”
Jiang Yuesheng gritted his teeth, raised his foot, made a motion as if to kick, but then lowered his foot again.
“Every time it matters, it breaks down!”
He angrily slumped onto the couch, breathing heavily as he mentally cursed the robot’s manufacturer and their key female relatives. After a while, he calmed down.
“Still, I should ask Mom!”
Jiang Yuesheng suddenly remembered his mother.
Though he didn’t want to trouble her all the time, the competition was so close, and he couldn’t let the championship slip away after all the hard work!
His mom was a renowned roboticist, working at the Lunar Base of the Academy of Sciences. Jiang Yuesheng had learned robot programming from her.
After calling his mom, he explained the issue with his combat robot's deltoid malfunction.
“It might be static electricity causing leakage in the muscles… or it could be a short circuit. You should first check for any leakage,” his mother said with her unique scholarly accent, not even pausing to think.
“Maintenance mode!” Jiang Yuesheng commanded the robot.
Following his mom’s instructions, he immediately disassembled the skin and fiber layer of the robot’s shoulder, then used a leakage tester to measure the static muscle. The tester immediately emitted a “squeak-squeak-squeak” sound.
Sure enough, there was leakage.
“Mom, it’s really leaking!” Jiang Yuesheng’s face lit up with excitement.
“Probably the insulation inside has aged. If it’s bad, just replace it,” his mom shrugged and smiled, indicating she couldn’t fix it.
“Mom, you’re amazing! I thought it was an issue with the power supply or the controller,” Jiang Yuesheng complained, pouting.
“Hahaha, well, let me tell you the truth. That static muscle? I invented it myself. No one knows it better than I do.”
“Wait… you invented it?! Then… why didn’t you use better insulation materials?” Jiang Yuesheng started complaining to his mom.
“Kid, inventing and manufacturing are two different things. The materials used are the manufacturer’s responsibility, not mine. I just invent, got it?” His mom half-closed her eyes, pretending to be annoyed as she explained.
“Ohhh… I get it. After you invent something, you sell the patent, get the money, and don’t have to worry about anything anymore, right?” Jiang Yuesheng said, half-teasing.
“Selling the patent doesn’t mean the money goes to me. It’s considered research institute income… Silly child, do you think making money is that easy? Hmph!” His mom pretended to be angry.
“Ohhh… So that’s how it is?… But if I invent something in my own house and sell it, the money would be mine, right?” Jiang Yuesheng’s expression suddenly turned serious.
“Of course. The inventor is an individual, so the income belongs to the individual,” his mom explained.
“Mom, teach me how to invent! I want to make more money so I can visit you on the Moon.”
“Okay! Mom supports you… Invention is actually not that difficult, but it requires both experience and inspiration. Inspiration can’t be learned—it’s innate. Experience, though, can be accumulated. The more you practice and explore, the more experience you’ll gain, and maybe inspiration will come to you one day.”
“Okay, Mom… I have to hang up now. I need to go buy a static muscle.”
“Why not just shop online? The market in Cang’er City is so small, you think you can find a good one?”
“I’m afraid it’ll be too late if I shop online. The competition is just a week away. I’ll hang up now.”
“Come back early, and say hi to Grandma before you leave!” Mom waved at him.
“Got it!” Jiang Yuesheng waved back at his mom.
After hanging up the video call with his mom, Jiang Yuesheng immediately ordered a taxi through a ride-hailing app.
A few minutes later, an unmanned taxi pulled up in front of his house.
“Grandma, I’m heading to the electronics market, I’ll be right back!”
As he passed by the kitchen, he shouted at his grandmother, who was picking vegetables.
“Be careful! Come back early! I’m making braised pork ribs for you,” Grandma Jiang Hui called out to her grandson.
Jiang Yuesheng hopped into the taxi and, before the door even fully closed, told the car in front of him, “Take me to Xiaguan Yangbi Road Market.”
“Are you going to the Cang’er City Xiaguan Yangbi Road Electronics Trading Market?” the unmanned taxi confirmed.
“Yes!” Jiang Yuesheng replied.
“To reach your destination, it will take approximately thirty-five minutes. Please sit tight and hold on; I’m closing the door now,” the taxi said as the door gently closed and the vehicle began moving.
Jiang Yuesheng, as usual, pulled out his phone and started playing a mobile game.
He had only been playing for a few minutes when, as he glanced out the window, he suddenly felt something was wrong. The car seemed to have taken a wrong turn and was heading down a narrow dirt road.
“Hey, you moron, you’re going the wrong way!” he quickly shouted at the unmanned taxi.
- Writer
