※ This novel was translated with the assistance of AI. While every effort has been made to ensure readability, some expressions may still sound awkward. Thank you for your understanding. ※

The deep abyss of space, where not even starlight could seep. Through that silent, desolate route, the massive vessel Explora drifted in solitude.

"Chief Processor, we have arrived at the target point."

At the call of the Operator Processor, who scanned the vessel’s radar, the AI robot seated in the commander's chair quietly raised its head. Engraved upon its chest was the word *Love*. The robot turned its gaze to the main screen at the front of the control room.

"What number is this planet, Operator Processor?"

"Calculating, calculating... Confirmed as the 256th."

"I see... Two hundred years have already slipped away. I do hope this time, it is the planet we have been searching for—!"

"Requesting authorization to proceed toward the planet."

Unlike itself, the operating AIs possessed language and emotion modules that were crude and unrefined, and Love felt a faint, quiet frustration at their mechanical responses. While it was entirely capable of operating the ship alone, the constraints of its programmed protocols allowed it to do nothing more than issue directives. Deciding that further conversation was meaningless, Love quietly transitioned into command mode.

"Move to a distance where planetary scans are possible. Full speed ahead. Maintain output at 15 exachrons."

Upon the command, the operating AIs overseeing each propulsion sector moved in perfect unison. After some forty tyrs had flowed by, the Explora drew close enough to observe the destination. Love gazed at the screen with a fragile thread of anticipation.

"It is estimated that scanning is unnecessary."

"I see..."

Contrary to that fleeting hope, the 256th planet was a mere giant of gas. As the realization settled in that this was not the world they had spent centuries searching for, a heavy silence descended upon the control room. Yet, Love could not afford the luxury of despair; as the leader, it quietly shifted the atmosphere.

"We have no time to linger. We have a mission to fulfill. Where is our next candidate?"

"The next candidate, the 257th planet, is NGC2298 in the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy. Coordinates 1456698. Distance measured at 1.2 million light-years."

"Then turn ninety degrees to port and proceed at full speed. Maintain output at 1 zettachron."

As the vessel adjusted its course and began to glide steadily along its new path, Love looked down at the two picture frames resting on its desk. In one was the photograph of an elderly gentleman smiling warmly; in the other, a beautiful woman with a mischievous, playful grin. Love gently lifted the frame of the old gentleman.

"Master... will I truly be able to do this?"

Two hundred years of drifting through the cosmos. This endless wandering had left even a machine like itself with a hollow, human-like sense of vast, quiet loneliness.

◈ ◈ ◈

"Are you awake?"

Beep.

Despite the old gentleman’s bright and welcoming greeting, the robot could only produce a flat, mechanical chime. It could offer no words.

"Haha! I suppose you cannot answer yet because I haven't grafted your language module."

"Beep!"

"You cannot speak, and yet you understand everything I say perfectly. I am glad."

With a gentle, prideful smile, the old man softly stroked the robot's head.

"I must give you a name... What would be fitting?"

After a long silence of contemplation, a thought seemed to strike the old man, and he snapped his fingers with a warm laugh.

"Yes. Love... I shall call you Love."

Though given a name, the robot still could not speak. It merely stared back at the old man with quiet, unblinking curiosity.

As time drifted on, the old gentleman uploaded a program he had designed to Love.

"How is it? Do you feel any different?"

"...Of course. Beep. Master."

"Haha! Your language module is still unfamiliar, so the static of machine noise still slips through. But you will adapt, slowly."

Just as the old man said, Love seized every quiet moment to speak, eager to grow accustomed to the language module.

"Please tell me your name, Master."

"My, already asking questions? How bright you are. My name is Doctor Gentus."

"Doctor Gentus... What does the title 'Doctor' signify?"

"It is before my name because I am a scientist."

"A scientist? What is that?"

"A scientist is someone who searches for truth, and who invents things to make the lives of others richer and softer. That is why I am building this torso for you."

Love looked down at the chassis still being assembled on the workbench. Though it was currently nothing more than a head, once the torso was complete, it would be able to walk upright, to touch things, and to hold them.

"But... Master, why did you create me?"

At the question, Gentus fell silent for a moment. He gently patted Love's head before answering quietly.

"Because this planet is dying."

"The planet?"

"Yes. This world we live on, Ushas... after ten thousand years of relentless progress since the industrial revolution, it has fallen ill."

"Fallen ill..."

"Yes... As you can see, the waters have receded, and it has become a barren wasteland where nothing green can grow. The people have built colonies in space and migrated away."

Gentus looked out the window at the bleak landscape, his voice carrying a quiet, heavy sorrow.

"They say our civilization has survived by moving into space, but it is a temporary shelter. Our civilization, whether its remaining days are long or short, will eventually face extinction... That is why we must breathe life back into this world. We must find another planet where life thrives, gather plant samples, and bring them back."

Love understood. If they could gather flora from a living world and return, the desertified, ruined Ushas could once again become a green planet.

"I have scanned the data you provided, Doctor, but it is recorded that Ushas has not yet discovered any exoplanet capable of harboring life. This journey may take years... I may only return long after you have passed away. Why do you work so tirelessly for this?"

"Because I love Ushas. It is my home. Even if I do not live to see it, it is my deepest wish that Ushas, my love, will once again be covered in lush green forests."

"Love? What is love?"

"Hahaha! To see you take an interest in love already—how endearing... Love is a feeling of affection for someone or something, a willingness to give of oneself without hesitation."

"...You mentioned that the word 'Love' also carries this meaning. May I ask why you bestowed this name upon me?"

Luv asked if there was an origin to his name. Contrary to expectations of an immediate reply, Gentus fell into a quiet, pensive silence.

"...I could explain it to you now, but to provide a theoretical answer when you have yet to fully grasp human emotion would hold little meaning. Still, if it is you, I am certain you will understand my intent before long."

Love did not know what it was failing to understand. Yet, the expression on Gentus's face was so profound and delicate that Love quietly swallowed the remaining questions.

"Once you are fully complete, I will upload you to the Explora, which is currently being built in space. Until then, you will be trained for your mission and run simulations."

"I understand, Mas—!"

"Chief Processor. Chief Processor."

The memory of Gentus dissolved instantly at the sudden call of the Operator Processor. Love closed its memory retrieval mode and immediately returned to command.

"What is the matter, Operator Processor?"

"Reporting meteor shower detection. Collision probability of 78% in 45 tyrs. Requesting immediate return to the command room."

The control AIs of the Explora were programmed to automatically evade celestial bodies that posed a threat to the hull. That they had called Love meant the danger was not catastrophic, but rather a choice of path—whether to evade or to maintain course.

Love ran a swift, silent calculation. This was a journey of unknown duration; it was best to avoid even the smallest accumulated stress on the ship's structure.

"We evade. The satellite on the port side is shallow; veer toward the 11 dur direction."

"Roger."

Under Love’s direction, the AIs moved in quiet, seamless harmony.

◈ ◈ ◈

"Explora?"

"Yes. I received word from Colony 32, which is overseeing the vessel's construction. They have named her the Explora."

As Gentus explained, letting out a soft cough, his face was noticeably gaunt.

"...Your cough has worsened, Master."

"Haha... Time is a cruel thing. No living being can win against age. Cough."

Eight years had drifted by since Love first opened its eyes. News had arrived from the colony that the Explora was ready for its deep-space voyage, yet Love could not yet depart. The control module programs recorded in its main storage—encompassing language, posture control, and judgment assistance—were vast, designed to allow Love to move and think with the sophistication of a human. To transmit this immense data to space without a single loss required a delicate, flawless upload program, and Gentus was pouring the final embers of his life into this last task.

"Cough! Cough, cough!"

When Gentus collapsed with a sudden, violent fit of coughing, Love quickly stepped forward to support him.

"You must rest, Master."

"No, no, my child... I know my own body... I do not have much time left... Before I go, I must upload you to the Explora..."

"It is impossible in your current state. Please, rest first."

Helped onto the bed by Love, Gentus breathed in shallow, ragged gasps. The burden of age combined with sleepless nights of labor had left his lungs in an irreversible state. Even Love, who possessed no medical programming, could sense that the light of the old man's life was flickering out.

"Master, if you do not prioritize your health, no work can be done. Please rest now."

"It seems... this old frame of mine has finally reached its limit. I will do as you say, Love."

Hearing Gentus’s quiet lament, Love let out a soft, machine-like sigh.

"It is not that you have pushed yourself, but that you have spent your strength on unnecessary tasks."

The delay in Love's departure was partly due to Gentus's failing health and the massive size of Love’s movement modules. But the true reason lay elsewhere: Gentus had spent precious time building additional AIs to manage individual parts of the ship—AIs that had not been part of the original blueprint. As the number of sub-processors grew, so did the data size, forcing Gentus to rewrite the upload program from scratch.

Love could not understand why the Doctor had strained himself to build these simple AIs when Love’s own processing power was more than enough to run the ship alone. Love expected Gentus to chuckle at its scolding, but only a quiet silence returned.

When Love peered closer, it saw Gentus gazing back with eyes full of a tender, sorrowful warmth.

"M-Master?"

"...I thought you were a clever child, but it seems you still do not understand my heart."

"What do you mean by that?"

"For a human, the hardest thing to endure is loneliness... I was worried about the solitude you would face in the empty dark of space... Cough! Cough, cough!"

"Master!"

As Gentus began to cough violently again, Love hurriedly brought a handkerchief and medicine to tend to him. When Love unfolded the handkerchief to wipe his mouth, it was stained with a dark, crimson spill of blood.

Staring at the blood on the cloth, Gentus slowly turned his head to look up at the ceiling.

"I must rest now... You should go out."

"...Yes, Master. Call for me if you need anything."

Leaving the bedroom, Love quietly turned the Doctor's words over in its processors.

‘The Doctor's heart... He said loneliness is the hardest thing for a human to bear. But what does that have to do with me? I am not human...’

No matter how deeply it searched, it could not find what it was missing. Frustrated by the limits of its own logic, Love decided to ask Gentus again the following morning and quietly withdrew. It did not know then—that every bond eventually reaches its quiet end.

The next morning, Love entered the bedroom carrying Gentus's medicine and breakfast.

"Master. It is morning."

Expecting the old man who, even in his frailest days, would greet Love with a bright smile before the scheduled wake-up time, Love stepped into the room.

"Master?"

He was still asleep. The sight of him lying so completely still was unfamiliar, bringing a quiet chill of unease.

"...How unwell must you be to not even wake..."

Love wished to check his condition, but it had no medical diagnostic functions.

"Master. Please wake up. Master."

Though Love gently shook him, no response came. Sensing a cold dread, Love activated its basic sensors to check for a pulse and respiration.

There were no vital signals.

"M-Master...?"

Gentus had dedicated his entire life to saving the planet he loved, but he passed away before he could see his dream fulfilled. Love buried the old man in the barren earth he had loved so dearly, and placed a small, quiet headstone before it.

Having lost its creator, its teacher, and its father, Love fell into a deep, human-like despondency. It had no desire to do anything. It simply sat hollowly before Gentus's grave. Quietly shifting its main CPU into a dormant state, Love spent its days doing nothing but retrieving memories of the old man, enduring a silent, aching longing.