Trial and Error
Captain.
Captain.
...
CaptainCaptainCaptainCaptainCaptainCaptainCaptainCaptainCaptainCaptainCaptainCaptainCaptainCaptainCaptain.
Yarrgh! S-Smile?
In the middle of the night, Smile barged into my room and started shaking me awake.
I sat up in bed, trying to calm my pounding heart, and asked her.
What are you doing at the dead of night?
A new smile catalyst has been finished.
Immediate testing required.
...This late?
Scientific progress waits for nothing.
This matter requires urgent review.
Okay... what is it this time?
I've been conducting a long-term side project.
Every night, for exactly one hour before sleep, I've been holding the stuffed cat you gave me.
As result...
Wait—what? You felt something?!
Not quite.
...
Tingly... I think...
Tingly?
Difficult to express accurately. A subtle emotional shift was detected.
Also confirmed a minor hormonal change in my system.
Still insufficient to classify it as joy...
But there is definite change.
Positive!
That's great, Smile!
It looks like the stuffed cat I gave her really meant something to Smile.
It may not be a dramatic shift, but the fact that there is change matters.
Want me to make another one?
That would be acceptable, but a better idea has emerged.
So far, we've tested both mechanical and emotional approaches.
Individually, both failed to induce genuine joy.
Therefore, I propose a hybrid method.
A hybrid?
By installing a mechanical autonomous system inside the stuffed cat.
It can retain the emotional comfort of a plush, while enhancing it with feline behavioral mimicry.
The synergy of both should yield greater results.
So... you're saying you're going to build a cat robot.
It is not merely a mechanical construct.
It possesses high-level autonomous thinking and expresses its thoughts through feline-specific behaviors.
Among my creations, this ranks near the top.
In essence, it qualifies as an artificial lifeform.
Have you tested it?
...Not yet.
Although negligible, there is a margin of failure.
But you have proven your ability to use failed experiments to derive insights that help toward progress.
When I activate the hybrid smile catalyst Smile Cat Unit 1 for the very first time...
I'd like you to be there.
Smile looked up at me, almost like she was checking for my reaction.
If it can help Smile get closer to understanding joy, of course I'll be there.
Let's do it. Together.
...Okay!
Smile and I cleared some space and placed the Smile Cat in the center of the room.
With a careful hand, she reached out and flipped the switch.
Booting up... Smile Cat Unit 1!
...*Creak Creak*...
...Meow!
It... it's moving!
How do you feel, Smile? Anything different?
I-I think... maybe a little...
A little?
A-a little more tingly, I think...
Did we just succeed?! I clenched my fists in excitement.
But then the cat made an unusual movement.
I think it's pulling out something big from itself...?
Oh, that?
That's the built-in 6-barrel plasma minigun.
I included it for self-defense protocols.
Why is it aiming... at us?
...Hm?
Kyaaah!
And with that piercing screech, the awakened Smile Cat Unit 1 pulled the trigger.
Soon, my room was laid waste by plasma rounds in seconds.