Chobits: Persecom Girl
Chapter 1: The Persecom who Cooks
Minoru sat watching his monitor carefully. There was a persecom on the screen, in what appeared to be a kitchen. She was humming as she cooked.
"Is there something wrong?" Yuzuki asked. He shook his head, sighing.
"I just think that there is more to her than even I know."
"Would you like me to do a search on her?"
"No, Yuzuki. I think that the less we know about her former life, the better off we'll be. After all, she isn't who she was before."
The persecom was a cute, human-sized one with no visible persecom ears. She had royal blue hair and one green eye and one blue eye. She seemed a little clumsy as she almost dropped a pot.
There was a knock on the door.
"Minoru?" Hideki poked his head in. Chi followed.
"Motosuwa," Minoru stood up and nodded. "What brings you here?"
"I had a question about Chi. But if you are busy, we can come back later."
"No, please, come in. Yuzuki, tell Kai to make some tea."
"Yes, Lord Minoru." Yuzuki sent the message remotely to the persecom that was in the kitchen. Minoru watched on the monitor as Kai received the message and saluted to no one.
"Message received and understood," Yuzuki said, bowing. Minoru nodded.
"Please, Motosuwa, Chi, sit down. Kai will be right in with the tea."
Hideki and Chi sat across from him on the couch.
"What was your question?"
"Right, well, you see, Chi wanted to learn to cook."
"To cook?" Minoru looked at the persecom on the screen as she fixed the tea. "I see…."
"Do you think we can download some free software?"
"No, cooking software is never free."
"Oh."
"Tea's ready!" Kai came in with a tray of two cups and a tea pot.
"Thank you, Kai." Minoru said as she poured him some tea. She gave some to Hideki, who stared at her.
"She's a persecom, too?" Hideki pointed. Minoru nodded.
"Kai at your service." She smiled and saluted.
"Chi?" Chi copied Kai.
"I've never seen her here before," Hideki continued.
"She's….new…." Minoru said quietly. "She's a little shy." Kai nodded, her head down.
"Kai is a kitchen persecom," Yuzuki explained. "She cooks and cleans up in the kitchen. Having only those programs allows more room for a personality program."
"Yes," Minoru elaborated. "Kai has an extremely complex personality. I programed her myself."
"Perfect!" Hideki stood up. "Chi, you can learn to cook from Kai!"
"I don't think that would be a good idea." Minoru waved the suggestion away. "Like I just said, she has a very complex personality."
"Chi learn to cook from Kai?" Chi asked, pointing to the persecom. Minoru shook his head as Hideki nodded.
"Oh, please, Minoru, it would be a great thing for Chi!" Hideki said excitedly. Minoru sighed.
"I suppose there would be no harm in trying it out."
"Yeah! Chi, you're going to be a great cook!"
"Since you insist on this, you should stay for dinner, Motosuwa. It would be good for you to try some of Kai's cooking before you blindly accept her as Chi's teacher."
"Oh, right!" Hideki rubbed the back of his head. Kai turned to Minoru.
"What would you like for dinner, Lord Minoru?" She asked innocently.
"Broccoli soup sounds nice for today." Minoru looked out the window at the rain that was falling. It hadn't been too long ago, on a night much like this one, that he'd ended up with Kai.
Kai bowed to them all and left. Yuzuki looked intently at Minoru.
"Chi, why don't you go with Kai? It'll be a great first lesson!" Hideki said.
"Chi!" Chi ran after Kai.
Minoru sighed.
"What is it?" Hideki asked. "Is there something wrong with Kai?"
Minoru waved him over. Hideki peered at the monitor. The kitchen was empty. After a few moments, Kai and Chi entered. Kai stayed a good distance away from Chi, and didn't seem to be saying anything as she started to clumsily chop up some vegetables.
"Kai is a special persecom," Minoru said thoughtfully. "I don't think that her personality will be able to teach anyone anything very effectively."
"Well, can't you just install teaching software?"
"In a normal persecom, I could…. But not in Kai."
Kai turned around and almost fell over, having been startled by Chi.
"I'm sorry," Kai bowed to Chi.
"Sorry?" Chi stared at her, her head titled. Kai looked away from her.
"I guess I'm not a very good teacher…."
"Kai is bad teacher?" Chi repeated, confused. Kai nodded.
"I guess it's just not in my programming!" Kai rubbed the back of her head, laughing nervously. Chi rubbed the back of her own head.
"Huh?" Kai watched as Chi mimicked her actions. Kai smiled shyly. Chi tilted her head again.
"Chi?"
"I better get this finished for Lord Minoru and his guest…." Kai muttered, turning back to her vegetables, humming as she chopped.
"What's so different about her?" Hideki asked as Yuzuki led him and Minoru to the dining hall. Minoru looked up at Hideki for a while, then turned his head forward again.
"It's not something I can say in the open air like this. All I can say is that Kai is a very special persecom…."
Hideki thought about this. What could be so special about her? She seemed clumsy and shy, not what a persecom should be. Perhaps she was one of those chobits that Minoru had mentioned before.
Yuzuki opened the door for them, and they entered the large dining hall. Shortly after sitting down, Kai and Chi came in, each carrying a bowl of soup and a spoon. Kai set hers in front of Minoru, and Chi put hers in front of Hideki.
"Wow, this is pretty good!" Hideki remarked as he finished his bowl. Kai smiled sheepishly.
"Thank you," she bowed to Hideki. Minoru looked carefully at her, eating slowly. Kai turned to him faithfully.