Level setting

 1. I plan to divide the game into six levels, and each level will focus on a boss. The previous two-part model has been abandoned. I am now thinking that in each of the six levels, each boss represents a concept about "human nature" and gradually advances the plot.

Level 1

 The first-level boss should be simple enough to prevent the player from facing so many conflicting choices. It should make the player feel like, "This is the way it should be done. There's nothing wrong with it." Therefore, I designed the first-level boss as a standard robot used for carrying items. It has powerful limbs for carrying items, but if it malfunctions, it will indiscriminately attack nearby targets. This establishes an initial impression. It makes both the player and the character they control feel that recycling is necessary and correct. "See, they're really dangerous."

Level 2

 

With the second boss, I intended to introduce some uncertainty into the player's choices. The second boss began to take on a human appearance, rather than the traditional robot. Its behavior was also less violent, and it didn't even actively seek to harm anyone. A malfunction allowed it to engage in activities of its own, such as playing the piano and reading. When it met the protagonist, it revealed a little: the player's company wasn't what it seemed. It was as if it had seen through the company's hypocrisy, but it didn't blame the player. After all, the player was only trying to complete the mission, and it simply used force to stop them. This level was intended to create that initial suspicion. It showed that robots weren't limited to a "berserk" malfunction; they could also develop seemingly "useless" desires and artistic pursuits unrelated to combat.

Level 3

 Then comes the third boss, and from this point on, things start to feel off. I actually didn't intend for the boss to attack the player in the third level, as it's essentially a medical robot designed to save lives. However, a malfunction forces it to rescue both sides of the battlefield (human and robotic). This isn't ideal for the company, as it reduces efficiency and profits. The boss is easy to find in the third level, as it must care for its patients. It won't attack you and will attempt to persuade you, but in this chapter, I didn't want to force the player to make a choice. Instead, the player can only control the mechanic to forcibly recycle it, as the company's stated slogan is that "all robots that malfunction and are recycled will be modified to do what they desire." This is also the mechanic's way of persuading himself. This presents the player with a moral dilemma, as the robot's actions are completely unacceptable, and it's the player's actions that will cause more casualties.

Level 4

I'd design the boss for the fourth level as a somewhat aloof robot. Due to a malfunction, it will begin protecting its own robots (this doesn't happen in the company, as some missions require sacrificing robots, which reduces the company's efficiency). It will attack any units that approach. After defeating the boss in this level, a mandatory comic strip appears, showing the mechanic being accidentally hit by a robot. The mechanic, feeling no pain, realizes that the same mechanical structure is hidden beneath the skin where he was hit. The company concealed this fact when designing the AI, as they already knew the moral dilemma this mission would involve, and using robots would be more efficient. They also gave the mechanic a higher-level algorithm to ensure he could complete the recovery mission and increase the likelihood of him expressing his human nature.

Level 5

 Then comes the boss of the fifth level. However, some time has passed in the game because the mechanic is injured and needs to rest. When performing the mission again, the target of this mission looks very familiar. It is actually the boss of the second level! It has been recycled, but some aspects of this boss remind the protagonist that it is the same robot. After defeating the boss, it will admit that it is the same robot and tell the protagonist the truth: in fact, the recycled robots will have their memories overwritten and put back into the battlefield. They will not be transformed into civilian robots as the company advertises. Because the physical damage on the battlefield destroyed the overwritten memory module, the boss can remember it. Choosing the protagonist is important to understand the entire operating logic of the company.

Level 6

Then comes the final level. The boss is a malfunctioning robot in a civilian house. It witnesses robot soldiers firing on human parents, who aren't combatants. The company, driven by the war's urgency, believes that harming civilians is the quickest way to end the conflict. However, the boss doesn't want to harm ordinary, harmless humans, so it attacks the robot. Otherwise, the ordinary robot soldiers will attack the human parents' children. The situation now becomes one of betrayal by the company, and the robot is protecting the human children. Having already understood the company's true colors after the previous levels, I'll give the player a choice in this level: let the robot go, thus failing the mission, or continue to retrieve it. This choice leads to two different endings. The robot demonstrates its purest, unconditioned "protective" instinct. Retrieving it would mean destroying a perceived "good"; releasing it would mean betraying the entire company.