Zoey (Sunset Era)

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Zoey (full name: Zhou Yi, Chinese: 周易 “the Book of Change”) is a scientist at the United Nations International Space Cooperation, based in Songshan Lake, Dongguan City. He serves as the chief engineer of Alice‘s artificial intelligence and robotic bodies. He is an easy-going and witty scientist who excels at artificial intelligence, applied robotics, and aerospace engineering.

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Personality

Light-hearted and thick-skin: Zoey is a light-hearted man who likes fooling around. He takes a casual, laid-back approach to work and life, never overly concerned about gains and losses. He has a thick skin, doesn’t take criticism personally, and can readily admit his own mistakes.

Confident and eager for challenges: Zoey is confident in his abilities and embraces challenges when others hesitate. However, he occasionally faces setbacks as he took on more than he can handle.

Humble: Zoey’s colleagues view him as a genius, but he often downplays his role. He refers to Alice as the child of the whole UN community, built on numerous prior projects, that his contribution is merely a small piece of the puzzle.

Highly focused and workaholic: Zoey has strong focus at work, enjoying the feeling of being immersed in the flow. He doesn’t mind working overtime.

Savvy and adaptable: Zoey is a shrewd and sophisticated person who quickly adjusts to his surroundings.

Specialties

A genius scientist, engineer, and programmer: Zoey is an expert in artificial intelligence, applied robotics, and aerospace engineering. He views his research as a way to “peek into the secrets of the universe” and “expand the boundaries of imagination.” He is known for his innovative and easy-to-produce designs and exceptional programming skills.

Making the most out of limited resources: Zoey consistently achieves remarkable results on a very low budget.

Poor drawing skills but a competent storyteller: Zoey’s drawing skills are lacking, but he can convey complex ideas effectively through his simple and amusing scribbles.

Falls asleep easily, sleeps soundly, and sleepwalks: Zoey suffers from chronic sleep deprivation due to his tight schedule. As soon as he finishes his tasks, he falls asleep immediately and nothing can wake him up. He sometimes works while sleepwalking, having written significant portions of Alice‘s AI code in this state – now he struggles to understand those codes himself.

Extensive connections: Zoey often assists colleagues with their tasks (if the subject interests him), earning a lot of goodwill. When he needs help, he can tap into a broad network for support.

Severe myopia: Zoey has severe myopia in both eyes due to excessive eye strain from overworking. Without glasses, he struggles to see things clearly.

Life

Disorganized lifestyle: Zoey pays little attention to luxuries, investing minimal energy in food, clothing, and other necessities. His home is chaotic; he rarely cleans or organizes the place. He often sleeps in the office, the lab, or his minivan. Tonyn regularly helps tidy up his apartment and reminds him to be neater when meeting others.

Frequent business trips: Zoey is a United Nations staff, his duty in the International Space Cooperation requires him to travel around the world frequently. He spends less than half the year in his hometown, Dongguan.

Accompanying his daughter: Zoey understood that he can’t be with Alice often, so he entrusts her to Tonyn. Whenever he returns to Dongguan, he makes sure to spend some time with Alice.

Mobile workstation: Zoe drives a work-issued electric mini-van – it’s a common, cheap model but packed with tools, equipment, and even some hidden features. The van is basically as his mobile workstation. Sometimes he also uses a flatbed tricycle.

Relationships

Alice, Zoey’s robot daughter: Zoey treats Alice like his daughter. Due to his busy work schedule and frequent business trips, he entrusts her care to Tonyn. However, when in Dongguan, he occasionally brings her new gadgets for testing (toys to play with) or takes her to factories to learn about how things (especially herself) are made. If Alice behaves well, he beams with pride and boasts, “My daughter did this and that.” As a parent who spoils his child, Zoey prioritizes Alice’s creativity but neglects her manners. Consequently, Alice often pushes boundaries with her mischievous behavior.

Tonyn, Zoey’s close friend, old classmate and the co-guardian of Alice: Zoey and Tonyn were middle school classmates. Despite their different specialties, interests, and personalities, they maintained a close friendship. Zoey enjoys teasing the over-serious Tonyn but also relies on him for help with tasks that he is not good at.

Alice was largely the result of the collaboration between Zoey and Tonyn. Tonyn not only provided Alice’s appearance design, but also took on the main responsibility of her guardianship. However, Zoey and Tonyn have very different ideas when it comes to engineering and parenting, and they often have arguments because of this.

Zoey appreciates Tonyn’s cooking; whenever he is in Dongguan, Tonyn either invites him over for dinner or delivers meals to him directly. However, Tonyn can’t stand Zoey’s messy apartment resembling a garbage dump, so he occasionally helps tidy it up.

Cloud, Alice’s pet rabbit: Alice’s pet rabbit, Cloud, is intensely hostile towards Zoey. However, due to his daughter, there is nothing he can do to this unruly rabbit.

Old neighbors in the town: Zoey, Tonyn, Libbie and Bailian were old neighbors with a bond so close they felt like family.

Role in Aizu Worship

Alice occasionally sees Zoey as a sable, but as soon as she closes her eyes for a few seconds or opens or closes the door, Zoey will return to his normal human form. She believes this is a glitch in her visual system. As a result, Zoey is typically depicted as a sable in Aizu worship among the Evernight Era robots.