Lunch time ends and I proceed to my computer.

Lily is still occupied with re-creating the simplistic lego building. It’s probably going to take this slowpoke a while, therefore I have time to skim over the PRD.

I open the other file Eric downloaded for me: “TsundereChan PRD 3.7.pdf”.

First, I skim over the general product descriptions and summaries. Though it’s coated in a businesslike tone, overall it pretty much just states that Tsundere-chan is designed to be a “a kid in a family”.

She can be configured as either “daughter” or “sister” and can even serve as both at once, depending on the dynamics of the family. Even though they currently block her ability to be anybody’s sister, she could still have two parents.

Further into introduction, I find a section about the term “Tsundere”. The character archetype is explained for dummies, including links to some websites and even to Youtube clips.

Even though I’m already familiar with all this info, I still find myself curious about the subject. More specifically, I’m curious about how the PRD tries to teach ignorant fools like Eric about the greatness of Tsundere.

The links lead to articles which try to explain the term, its appeal and its popularity. The Youtube video is straightforwardly called “What is Tsundere?”.

I find all of that rather hilarious.

There are even examples from popular western shows, for Tsundere is a japanese term merely because it’s tremendously popular in Japanese shows. The western equivalent would be something like “tough on the outside, soft on the inside”.

Once the introduction ends, the documents begins to bombard me with tons and tons of details. As Eric warned, much of these sections are unrefined and I spot many typos, lots of messy formatting and worse.

There’s no way I’ll remember all of this, no human being could.

But it’s fine... probably. Even if the PRD is the a QA’s bible, it doesn’t mean that I have to know every nook and cranny.

To find something in this messy sea of words, the only way to work is with... CTRL+F!

Until now, I have only been testing Lily’s ability to play games. Therefore, the results of these tests is the only data I can compare against the PRD’s demands.

I type the word “game” into the search box and end up jumping around the document a little. Eventually, I successfully excavate a list of games which she is expected to know by default.

The list isn’t too long, I should later confirm with Lily how accurate and up-to-date it is. The names “Word Chain” and “Lego” are absent from the document, as I expected..

The next words I search in the document are“video game”, knowing whether my daughter can play video games is very important!

Sadly, it’s labeled as “future requirement”, I can’t expect it to be properly implemented right now.

I look around some more and find a section which states that Lily should be capable of learning simple games with ease, like a human kid would. It’s obvious that this aspect is severely lacking in the practical implementation.

Lily constantly freezes while trying to learn new games, she can’t recognize her opponent as a cheater and she can’t think of anything original to construct with Lego.

Once I learn the proper procedure for reporting bugs , I’m going to flood the system with bug reports on this subject.

I close the PRD document once my brain starts melting. A document of this magnitude is best used as reference, there’s no need to remember every bit of it.

I stretch my arms and turn around... to see a small creature.

“... what’s wrong this time?”

“...”

Lily is standing beside my chair, fidgeting uncomfortably. No doubt she ran into a problem. Again.

“Well?”

I sigh and put a hand on her head.

“Ah.”

She’s startled a little and shifts her eyes away.

“C’mon, out with it.”

“There are... not enough...”

“Not enough of what?”

“Not enough parts, hmph! I can’t build it like this!”

She turns away from me, as if I’m to blame. Does she suspect that I planned it this way or something?

Besides, how could there not be enough parts... oh.

I look at the messy pile of lego. Rather, what USED to be a messy pile.

All bricks of the same shape have been tidily grouped together in order to tell apart which shapes are available.

“Did you order the pieces like this?”

“... was it something bad?”

She eyes me from the corner of her blonde bangs, with uncertainty fogging her blue crystal eyes.

“Not at all, it’s a great idea.”

“Really!?”

She jumps with a big smile and her eyes shine brightly.

“I-I mean, of course it was a great idea! hmph!”

She quickly crosses her arms and lifts her chin in arrogance.

“A-ah!”

I pinch her soft cheek, then pat her on the head.

After examining the lego groups in front of me, Lily’s words immediately become clear. There isn’t a single group dedicated for 2x1 bricks, which were the only pieces used to build my lazy prototype.

There are a couple of 4x1 bricks which could easily serve the same purpose, but I’d rather not confuse Lily right now; using bricks of unmatching colors shocked her enough.

“Okay, I’ll give you some extra bricks.”

“Papa, you have more?”

“Let’s recycle what we already have.”

I sit down in front of the first construct I built and target some blocks from its top.

CLACK

I detach four bricks from the tower.

“Ah!!”

Lily gasps in shock.

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

“Ah... uh...”

She is frozen in terror with her eyes glued to my hand.

“Lily...?”

“N-nothing... hmph...”

Her petite frame is shaking in rejection, making her hard to approach.

“Lily, what’s wrong?”

“I-I said it’s nothing! Hmph!”

She shows me an angry face as she yells. However, her anger seem to hide a layer of unexplained sadness in it.

CLACK

I remove more blocks from the prototype.

“Ah!!”

She jumps again and exhibits shock upon seeing the dismembered tower. Just what is wrong with her...?

It’s the first time I run into this sort of situation. Until now, no matter how much she tried to conceal her true feelings, it has always been easy enough to see through her acting.

But right now... I have no idea. I try calling her again, but she ignores me with another “hmph”.

Is there any way for me to extract the truth out of her? Anything I can say to make her open up?

........................... nothing comes to mind.

I press the back of my hand against my forehead and try to think. My eyes absentmindedly scan the room as I try to find a solution to predicament.

“Ah, right.”

On top of my table lies Lily’s remote controller, I immediately grab it. Sadly, there’s no button to make her “honest”, it should have been mandatory feature for a model who constantly tells small lies.

If I could at least make her less tsuntsun for a while... wait, there is a way: the “Attitude Meter”, or rather the “Tsundere Meter”. It can break the balance between her tsun and dere, tilting her closer to one end.

I bring my thumb toward the minus button, in hope of lowering her tsun levels and making her a little bit more honest.

It feels... weird.

If I change her personality at the click of a button, doesn’t that mean I practically erase the current Lily...?

B-but I can turn her back later, s-so there shouldn’t be a problem, right?

“Ugh...”

My thumb shakes, I’m unable to channel strength into it. I slowly turn toward Lily, who is still sulking for unexplained reasons.

“Hmph!”

She turns away once our eyes meet.

I can’t think of any other way to deal with it...

I’ll just...

Just...

...PRESS IT!

CLICK