Jilted Ex-wife Billionaire Heiress novel Chapter 79

Chapter 79 Beta Test

Matthias found a final resting place for Daisy at a pet cemetery.

Darya never had another pet after that.

She didn’t want to go through that kind of loss again.

‘Hello, Marshmallow.‘ She patted the dog’s head, amazed by the realistic sensation.

It was just like petting a real puppy.

Marshmallow gave a happy yelp and tried to jump onto her knees.

‘Marsh, stop bothering our guest,‘ a female voice said.

Darya straightened up as a woman walked towards her.

She was clad, unsurprisingly, in a white lab coat.

Underneath, she wore a bright pink t–shirt emblazoned with the word ‘T–rex‘ and a pair of neon purple cropped pants, probably a silent protest against the all–white dress code.

She reached out a hand. ‘Hi, I’m Brooke Urner, Marshmallow’s babysitter.‘

‘And co–inventor,‘ Dr Code added.

‘Nice to meet you.‘ Darya shook hands with her.

‘She’ll be working on the Solaro project,‘ Reece said. ‘She holds a DEng, an engineering doctorate, and is one of

the foremost experts in mechatronics as well as chemical and electrical engineering.‘

Brooke stuck her hands into the pockets of her white lab coat. ‘I’m a girl who works with batteries.‘

Darya observed the young doctor.

She looked more like a freshman than a veteran engineer.

Her long hair was tied neatly into a ponytail.

Her face had a healthy pinkish glow and was free of makeup.

Her most attractive features were her eyes.

They were slightly slanted towards the end like a cat’s, and contained a mischievous glint.

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‘Time for your nap, Marsh.‘ Brooke picked up the dog.

She turned to Darya. ‘His battery needs some fine–tuning.”

“I don’t want to take a nap!‘ Marshmallow protested, pawing at the air. ‘I want to play with the pretty lady!‘

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Dr Code laughed, patting his belly. ‘I didn’t programme him to say that, I swear!‘

Darya asked Reece, ‘Is this what you wanted to show me?‘

Reece nodded. ‘Our healthcare robot shares a lot of similarities with Marshmallow in terms of coding and hardware. I’d like you to get a first look at the prototype.‘

‘Everything seems to be in working order, from what I can tell. But I’m an engineer or a programmer. I’d like to bring in someone to consult-‘

Reece laughed and patted her arm. ‘Relax, Miss Miller. This is not an official product review session. I just wanted to introduce you to the research team and to Marshmallow.‘

‘Are you here for me, pretty lady?‘ Marshmallow cut in with a happy bark.

‘In a way, yes.‘. Darya stroked the robot dog’s soft fur, wondering what kind of synthetic fabric they used to

mimic fur.

Of course, she was more interested in finding out what programme Marshmallow ran on.

The kind of personal healthcare robotic companion she had in mind was supposed to do more than just interact with a human being.

It had to be able to monitor a person’s health and make calls of judgement when necessary, such as calling for an ambulance if it detected an impending heart attack.

Did Marshmallow come with a database loaded with medical knowledge?

And could it connect to the internet?

Darya addressed her questions to Dr Code while Dr Urner took the reluctant Marshmallow away for a ‘nap.‘ Dr Code explained that Marshmallow was designed to emulate a live puppy’s appearance and behaviour.

It was mostly intended to be a companion robot offering emotional support and was not capable of performing medical diagnosis.

It was touch interactive, outfitted with artificial intelligence and facial–recognition technology, could listen and respond to voice commands, and came with an all–day battery.

It could keep a record of what it experienced and download new tricks from the cloud.

‘It can develop its own personality over time,‘ Dr Code said proudly.

‘I look forward to seeing it on the market,‘ Darya said diplomatically, though she had her reservations.

Dr Code was coy about the cost of development, but Darya could make her own deductions.

The 64–bit quad–core CPU, the LTE connectivity, the long–lasting battery, not to mention the expensive servo

motors.

Darya would be surprised if the price tag contained less than four zeros.

As the meeting drew to a close, Darya was about to take her leave when Dr Urner reappeared with Marshmallow.

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It pranced up to her. ‘Pretty lady, take me with you!”

‘Sorry, sweetie, I need to go home now. I’ll see you next time.‘

‘Brooke!‘ Marshmallow barked at the engineer. ‘I want to go home with the pretty lady!‘

It rubbed its head against Brooke’s pant leg. ‘Please!‘