Chapter 4The Price They Paid: Ruining My Foster Family

I was locked in my room for a whole month.

Relying on the residual charge in my system to maintain awareness of the outside world.

Otherwise, I was basically a useless lump.

Just before the residual charge ran out, I was finally let out.

Not because my parents had a change of heart, but because school was starting.

They dropped me off at the school gate.

They bought me a pretty new backpack and gave me a fancy watch as a back-to-school gift.

The old security guard watching us interact remarked, "You three look like such a happy family."

My dad replied with a smile, "Our Summer? Yeah, she's growing up spoiled rotten, practically lives in a candy store."

My mom put her arm around my shoulder affectionately, chiming in, "That's right, I wouldn't dream of letting my baby suffer even a little bit."

But then they turned and lowered their voices, speaking only to me: "Study hard this time, okay? Don't let us down again."

"The quarterly review is coming up. If you don't perform, you know the consequences."

My core system issued an alert at the words "quarterly review."

It was the nightmare of all digital children.

If the review rating was too low, we'd be returned to the factory for mass decommissioning.

That meant our existence would end.

My predecessor, Unit 2, only survived two quarters before being "re-engineered."

Unit 1 had it even worse, pushed into the decommissioning chute after just one quarter.

Only by surviving all four annual assessments could I become their "real" child, protected by law like any human.

Enjoying equal rights, fulfilling equal obligations.

If I wanted to stay permanently…

Then, in the time remaining, I had to give my absolute all to meet their demands.

But human desires are endless.

I got first place in the school-wide standardized tests.

I pulled out all the stops to get them to mark "Satisfactory" on my review form.

But then, using the next quarterly review as leverage, they demanded I achieve the highest level in piano certification.

Because the granddaughter of Mrs. Liu next door had reached level eight by age 13.

Three months. Even with learning capabilities dozens of times faster than a human's…

It was incredibly difficult for someone with zero foundation to reach the highest piano level.

But to survive, I had no choice.

Enduring the agony of my chip nearing overload, I practiced day and night.

Finally, for the second quarterly review, I successfully met the standard again.