A/N:
Androids. Also inspired by HAL the movie (NOT a parody) but still. Androids.
The water felt so nice. It was so clear and clean, and the small creature swimming closer looked funny. They tried to catch the creature within their hands, but a splash behind them told them they had only grasped water. Trying their best to creep over to where the finned creature escaped to, they stood up and splashed about upstream.
A shout from Master and her friend and they left the creek to Master's side. Master's mobile device buzzed when they arrived next to her. They looked up, down, and around curiously, searching for more objects of interest to learn of. The weather was at its best for the season, allowing almost no clouds to interfere with the bright blue of the sky. Birds chirped in the trees, cicadas buzzed, and insects flew from plants to flowers.
Roaring came from above as they watched Master, and they turned their eyes upward to see an aircraft flying ahead, leaving a trail of white in its path. In the background, they heard Master grumbling to the screen of her phone but it eventually faded away to nothing as the aircraft wavered from side to side, black replacing the white trail.
From their knowledge, aircrafts carrying persons like Master were not supposed to erupt and combust. The noise, even at their distance on the ground, was terrible.
They could not tear their eyes away, absorbing the sight above them. Red completely filled their vision, and with a last explosion, it dispersed to pieces.
They almost didn't hear the distress from Master, who had dropped her phone with a desperate cry, her emotions fluctuating wildly as she collapsed. When they had hurried to Master's side, she was gripping her wrinkled face tightly, tears spilling through the cracks of her wizened fingers.
What had caused Master to feel such sadness?
...
Kuroko has died.
The Kuroko who almost never leaves Kagami's side has died.
Kagami can't laugh.
Can't sleep.
Won't listen.
Won't eat.
Can't cry.
...
"Q11, help us save that child."
Q11 was peering down at the still person laid before them among a bed of flowers. The sight of the person, set within the flowers so it looked as if they were in a peaceful sleep, made Master sad knowing someone precious to them was not with them any longer.
"Are you willing, Q11?"
Master continued speaking to Q11 quietly from the other room. She was sitting at a table with a cube in her hands facing Q11 and the bed of flowers. Her voice was firm yet forlorn, already having shed many tears for the loss. If Master wished, they would do anything to relieve her of the current torment plaguing them, if only it would get them to smile and have fun again.
There were numerous things they did not understand, such as the scene before them and the meaning of it all.
What did "sacrifice" and "eternal rest" mean to them? They did not know.
What they did understand was the concept of "helping" someone to fulfill their utmost wishes. They had done it once long ago before they were given to Master.
They looked back to the person in the room and nodded, though Master could not see it staring down at the cube with writing scrawled across its surface. Master probably sensed their agreement, because she let out a shaky sigh of relief as she wiped a tear silently from her cheek with a dark sleeve.
Q11 would not only do this for Master, but for the "child" who also valued the person laid to rest so deceptively young and in the prime of their youth. The image of them appearing to be in an undisturbed sleep was mesmerizing and unforgettable, the lights within the room illuminating the picture with an ethereal glow. It burned into their glassy eyes as they made the decision to "help" the "child", overtaking the vision of the destruction of the plane on that fated day.
To "help" someone after loss; that was the sole purpose of what they were made for.
I have become human.
I sat in my chair, several wires hooked up to me as I held and worked with the cube in my fleshed covered hands.
The chirping of the birds outside and the sunlight filtering through the spaces of the blinds signaled it was early morning.
A woman knocked open the door in a rush. Her glasses were falling down her nose, breathing deep and harsh from running and blonde hair in disarray.
"Sorry, I'm late, Q11," she apologized breathlessly as she walked in with a flick of her white lab coat.
I continued to work on the cube as she stepped closer inside the room but stopped when she said my android name. "Doctor Alex, I am Kuroko from now on."
"Oh, isn't that right," Doctor Alex agreed as she checked the monitor for my vitals. She turned to me, wiping sweat off her face with the back of her hand. "So, how does it feel to be human?"
"What does 'feel' mean?" I asked, quietly.
"To be able to feel," she replied, as if it was obvious. Doctor Alex raised my arms, carefully taking off a few of the wires. She brought herself close enough that I could see the blue of her irises and the individual blonde eyelashes surrounding them. My appearance, blue hair and matching eyes paired with pale skin, was reflected in her glasses. "Ah, forget I said anything!"
Doctor Alex turned away from me to the open door, and did a little dance. "Okay, it's time to go! Come on." She clapped her hands at me to get a move on.
I sat there, a little confused and overwhelmed by her energy, but complied as she led me away.
Some time later, we were boarding a train. In my seat, I watched the passing green scenery fly by with the cube still in my grasp.
"Ah, that old thing sure brings back memories."
I broke my gaze from the window to see Doctor Alex staring at the object in my hand, and I made a small indignant noise as she took it from me to mess with it.
"There was a rumor it could grant wishes, did you know that? Probably not, because I heard it in my college days. Was it the same for you?" she asked. I stared at her, mind blank and unable to come up with an answer. "Oh, I forgot you wouldn't know Kuroko's past, huh?" She sat back down, smiling at her own mistake.
I didn't comprehend her strange questions, but I liked her enough that I didn't mind. We stayed silent until we arrived at a river with a few flat rocks to cross over to a little town she called "Teiko". She stopped to apologize, saying she had to meet up with some people she knew, and tossed the cube to me.
I read the green side, finding Doctor Alex had managed to arrange most of it so it was legible.
"'Live with Taiga,'" I read out loud.
She patted me on the back and looked down at me with a grin. From my previous sitting positions, I hadn't realized she was that much taller than me, and she had casually slipped me her three sizes conversing on our trip here, all which were very generous.
"This was the final wish left by Kuroko," she said, eyes softening at unseen memories. Doctor Alex glanced at the writing then to me reassuringly. I nodded in understanding and she left with a smile, waving a hand in farewell.
Making my way across another rock path in another direction, I knocked into a few children playing and running along it in the opposite direction. One of the children's hat fell off and into the river, and I failed to catch it. I noticed the hat was a shade similar to Kagami-kun's hair before it sunk to the bottom.
I arrived at a small quaint day care center. The sign said "Kagami and Kuroko". So, this was the home where Kagami Taiga and I...I mean, Kuroko Tetsuya, had lived together before his death.
Attempting to open the stiff unused wooden door was difficult, but with a hard push, I managed to slip through and close it as gently as I could. The interior was messy and covered with a fine layer of dust, but it looked lived in for the most part. Looking around for any signs of life, a clatter from the interior garden door had me run in a start.
A few papers were left behind and the clattering continued to another adjacent room and ended with a firm shut of a door. I followed them until it lead to a room filled with various items piled into one large heap. It must have been the place where Kagami-kun hid himself from the rest of the world.
"Kagami-kun?" I quietly asked the door. "Is that you?"
"Who are you?" a gruff voice asked as the door slid open a fraction.
"I am here from the help center to aide you. May I speak with you?"
Anger filled his voice. "I didn't order a robot to replace Tetsuya!" came his reply.
His anger surprised me. "I am only here to help-"
"I don't want a fake. Leave!" he furiously interrupted and slammed the door in my face.
"Do you not like me?" I asked after a moment of stunned silence. Quiet. "Do you wish for me to leave? If so, please sign this."
I placed a paper and pen in front of the door, my cube with the words "cleaning with Kagami-kun" written on it so it wouldn't fly away. The paper was if the person receiving the aide did not want the android look alike of their deceased loved one, and the lack of answer from Kagami-kun could only have meant one thing.
I curiously looked around the messy room as I waited for Kagami-kun's answer and decided to begin fulfilling Tetsuya's wish. I grabbed a rumpled apron and got to work.
It took me nearly the whole day to gather discarded clothing, washing them, air drying bed sheets, picking up various pairs of basketball shoes and scrubbing them clean, then arranging them neatly on shoe shelves by the front door. By sundown, I was intently focused on organizing Kagami-kun's room when a stack of items on his wardrobe collapsed on me as I accidentally removed something that was precariously holding the rest up by a margin.
"Ow," I muttered as a pointed hard object landed a hit on my head.
Rubbing the pain away, my eye trailed to the things that had fallen. A book of some sort was splayed open and the content caught my interest.
Inside was a collection of images of Kagami-kun by himself, smiling wide and proud, many with him and Tetsuya posing together happily, and others with Tetsuya alone and sometimes caught off guard but still managing to look expressionless. The cubes made several appearances within the shots. They were a significant part of Kagami-kun's life.
"Kagami-kun?" I looked on, awestruck at the various faces he could make. I had yet to cause a single one of those, besides one of anger and pain.
I looked toward the fallen cube that had presumably fell along with Kagami-kun's other belongings and resolved to solve a side. Crawling toward it, I saw it had writing just as mine had, it being a counterpart to my own.
"Live with Tetsuya" a side I finished said.
"Kagami-kun!" I addressed the door, excitement trickling into my voice. "I solved it." I brought the cube closer in case he wanted to take a look.
To my surprise, the door did open. A hand quickly shot out, snatched the cube from my outstretched one, and flung it away into a garden fountain with an audible splash. Before I could see Kagami-kun's expression, the door closed again with a bang.
"You're not him. Go home."
"I know," I sighed at the reminder. The only thing I could do now was obey the cube's wishes if Kagami-kun would not sign the paper.
Another side of Tetsuya's cube said "cooking with Kagami-kun", and I intended to do just that. My helping duties were not over.
After several attempts at frying eggs and some pancakes from the recipes I found on the device Doctor Alex had given me, I placed the finished product before the door. It cost me a few scrapes and several wasted eggs, but it was done. The paper and pen were left untouched, but that was fine, too. It meant I would not be going anywhere until Kagami-kun decided for good if he wanted me gone.
"Kagami-kun, please eat." I quietly said. I expected no answer, and continued. "I will be back for tomorrow. Good night."
I rose and left the neglected home to the place where Doctor Alex told me to find, a building housing many recuperating and well known citizens she took care of.
"Don't worry, they're not all as intimidating as you'd think. Some of them are kind of eccentric, but you'll be great friends with them, I know it," Doctor Alex had reassured me with a wink. "If you get lost, just ask anyone where the Teiko Rehabilitation Center is. They'll help you."
Her words only made me more worried as I walked up to the entrance of the large modified traditional mansion.
