Full Summary: Persocoms, mankind's greatest creation. Humanoid computers capable of anything, from entertainment, business and even sexual desires. You could customize them as you pleased, from appearance to personality and even accent. The problem was that, for someone like Eren Jaeger, an engineer student aspiring to build persocoms, who lived alone and was too stubborn to accept even the least of help, they were way too expensive. So it was practically a gift from the heavens when he found one near the dumpster. Blonde hair, undercut, big build; not a single physical flaw in sight and looking as if he was simply taking a nap. No harm in taking it home, right? (Chobits!AU)
"Mama, when I grow up, I want to build persocoms!"
That's what he said, but now Eren was really regretting it. It's not that he didn't want to be an engineer; it's not that he didn't want to build mankind's greatest achievement, the persocom. It's just that this fucking teacher could not be more annoying. In truth, Eren Jaeger wanted to achieve his promise of becoming an engineer to his deceased mother.
'How am I supposed to become an engineer when is one teaching me?' He grumbled in his mind, resting his chin on the palm of his hand. His eyelids felt heavy, his concentration completely dispersed, and he stared off into space for what seemed like a few minutes before the classroom started fading in his mind. His teacher's annoying voice, the classroom's chatter, the flickering of the broken lights above didn't draw his attention.
His chest felt light, and his weight seemed to have tripled before completely disappearing. But it didn't bother Eren; in fact, it filled him with a sense of relaxation. He couldn't tell if he was sleepy. Well, he should be, he's been deprived of some good hours of sleep by all the goddamned homework he'd had. His momentary relaxation broke quickly by the very person who had indirectly prevented his sleep.
"Jaeger!" His teacher, Auruo Bossard, bellowed. Eren jerked back into awareness as he was asked, "You entered this class with admirable determination. What is the first program you install in a persocom? Im not counting the whole Operating System."
Ah, what was it again? He couldn't remember. There were lots of programs; Visual programs, Auditory programs, Movement programs, Speech and Language programs, Memory expansion programs, Anti-Viruses…
"Er, the Movement programs?" It was worth a shot, right? It wouldn't be a persocom if it couldn't move, right? That was the whole thing about persons, human-like computers that could call and even connect to TVs.
"Wrong," Bossard scowled, crossing his arms, "The Speech and Language programs come first. Because persocoms do not have a screen, they rely on saying what is left to install and guide you through the procedure. Even If their first program was movement, they wouldn't be able to communicate through sign language without, well, the Language program. So they'd just walk or move at random with no destination. Not that you'd be able to understand even if the persocom did some sign language." He scoffed at Eren, turning back to the projected screen and continuing the lesson, complaining about his students and how they didn't pay attention to something so simple.
Well, fuck. Eren glared at his notebook, writing what he just learned down. was good in terms of teaching, his knowledge was admirable, but his piss-poor attitude ruined everything. And Eren, try as he may, couldn't suck it up and ignore a person with a shitty attitude. Maybe that's why he had piles of detention slips.
"Master Auruo, don't be rude!" Eren's gaze traveled back up, and he blinked as 's own persocom, Petra, defended the students. Auruo visibly shrinked back before scowling, "I wasn't being rude, it's just discipline." He tried to defend, but Petra crossed her arms, and he grumbled before sitting down at his desk. Petra went up to the front with a charming smile, and, if it weren't for the trademark bell-shaped 'ears' all persocoms have, no one would have known she's a persocom. No one knew why Petra had such power over her own owner, but most just guessed that liked it that way, even if he argues back and says it's not true. Others suspected him of not changing her personality traits program because he had fallen in love with her just as she was.
"Hear him complain all you want, but the first program he installed on me was the Visual one. So all I could do was stare at him while he tried to speak to me," The class snickered, and Auruo's cheeks went pink from embarrassment. She continued where he had left off, turning back to the projection.
Meanwhile, Eren blatantly stared at the persocom. It must be nice, he thought, to have a persocom. They do all kinds of work, you can customize them so they can be eye-candy, customize their personality, and they can do anything. He wanted one, too. Sadly, his empty wallet greatly disapproved of that thought; as someone who had to live alone he couldn't afford buying such an expensive luxury (even though it'd be extremely helpful in that situation). His childhood friend, Armin, was a genius who could build high-quality persocoms in less than a week. He had offered tons of persocoms, including his own persocom, Mikasa, to him, but as tempted as he was, he denied them.
Mikasa was…a persocom created to 'replace' his original adopted sister, who had died of sickness like his father supposedly had. Eren and Armin could never cope with her death, and thus the other 'Mikasa' was created. That persocom looked, talked, and expressed itself just like Mikasa, but he had to remember that it wasn't Mikasa, it never would be. Having it near would just hurt him, and he didn't accept the others because he was too stubborn to rely on anyone. He could do this on his own…right?
His last option was to build a persocom himself after he graduated as an engineer, but even then he didn't know how he'd be able to buy the parts with his dumb job as a waiter. He tuned out the rest of the class as he mulled over his future, gradually upsetting himself.
After what seemed like hours, Eren's favorite words were spoken; "Class dismissed!," Petra announced, giving a small bow before starting to pack Auruo's things. Eren, too, started packing his own things before he someone pulled a chair and sat in front of his desk.
"Yo, hetero-chromiac," Came the short greeting from his…friend, if he could even call him that. Jean Kirschtein, a guy his age with weird hair and a long face. They had known each other since Elementary, when he had a huge crush on Mikasa. He wasn't a bad person, but their personalities clashed way too much so they could get along well. After Mikasa passed away, they weren't rude to each other; Mikasa had always hated when they fought.
He snorted at the nickname; nicknames were supposed to be shorter and easier to pronounce, yet this asshole had decided on 'heterochromiac' because of his eye colors. One which shone honey gold, and the other a strange sea green. For the longest time, he thought they were something bad, that they'd make him go blind eventually or something. For the longest time, he had hidden them beneath contact lenses. He only stopped doing so after Mikasa passed away. Her death changed lots of things. He wished he had listened to her every wish while she was still alive.
"Yo, horseface." He had greeted back, but neither looked shaken by the insults; it was normal for them. He zipped his bag before turning his full attention to Jean, urging him to hurry up and spit out what he wanted to say.
"I saw you going by the apartments I live in. You moving in?" By now the classmates had left, and it was finally quiet. Eren wished it was always like this.
"Ah, that. Well, yeah. The place I live in right now is too far and crowded, plus the landlady gave me a discount for being a student," A smile made its way to the boy's lips at the memory, and Jean snickered at him.
"Yeah, she gave me a discount, too. She's really nice, and the apartments aren't half bad." He hums, and adds, "So, does your weak-ass self need help getting things up to your room? I know you need the help of a real, strong man like me."
"Like hell I do, asshole."
"Fine then. Have fun not being able to lift not even your toaster."
Eren grumbled. There was a squeak before something made its way out Jean's pocket and landed in the table. A small persocom, one of the pocket versions, with a brown ponytail and a big round eyes.
"Master, master! It's time to go home! What will you cook today master? Which workout routine do you prefer today? What playlist do you want me to play while you do the routine? Will we visit Connie's bakery today?" Question after question, the small persocom bounced around, running her mouth. At least, until Jean had enough.
"Gah, enough!" Jean snapped, and both Eren and the persocom flinched. "I know it's time to go home. Today's dinner is spaghetti, and both the routine and the playlist are the usual. Now hush, Sasha. And no to the rest of your questions." He huffed, taking a breath.
Huh, maybe having a persocom wasn't all that perfect. This looked like the kind of persocom that'd wake you up at 4 in the morning just to ask what you would cook for dinner.
Eren snickered at the thought.
"Sorry about that," Jean sighed, motioning over to the persocom. "This is Sasha. She's an entertainment-purpose laptop model." Sasha seemed to acknowledge Eren now, and she bounced over, a huge grin on her face.
"I'm Sasha, and I like food!"
"Yeah," Eren replied, "I noticed."
"Well, since you're gonna move in, you're free to use her," Eren raised an eyebrow, eyeing Jean. "Really? What's the catch?"
A wide smirk made its way to Jean's face, "You gotta help me with homework."
He gave an exaggerated roll of his eyes, "You have a persocom to help you with that."
"Yeah but an entertainment-purpose laptop persocom isn't as advanced. She'd made for, well, entertaining. Singing, dancing, etc. She can gather information but when it comes to anything else it's beyond her." He explained, twirling her ponytail with his finger.
Eren pondered over it. Well, he wasn't relying on Jean in a way, so there's no harm right? After a nod, he gathered his bag and stood, "Alright. Also, there's some guys that will take my stuff up. But thanks for your concern, Jeanny boy."
Eren snickered; making his way out the door while ignoring the 'Hey!' that came from behind him, he made a mental note of how dark the clouds looked. He hadn't brought an umbrella, and he was really regretting that.
By the time he made it to his work place, a small restaurant called L'avenir, it had begun to pour. Rushing in, he quickly clocked in and changed clothes, ruffling his hair to get rid of any excess water. It was warm inside, and it had a relaxing atmosphere to it. The walls were a pale cream, with shiny wooden floors. The air smelled of various foods, and this time the chatter was welcomed. The pay wasn't anything extravagant, but Eren loved this place. When he moved to the city, this was the first place he visited on a rainy day, just like today. He had been completely and utterly lost, upset and hungry before the cook, Erd Gin, invited him over. In return, he offered to work for free, but Erd simply hired him and payed him like a normal employee.
The cook's personal persocom, called Gunther, was probably the closest to being an actual 'robot'. He didn't have much range of emotions, and though he had his expressive moments, most of the time he remained quiet and obedient. Eren wasn't sure how to feel about that. For one part, the thing that made persocoms so amazing was their ability to resemble an actual human. Gunther felt…like just a robot at times. He knew that wasn't true, thought, as he had seen the persocom smile and tell jokes to Erd. It was just so…uncommon, that it amazed Eren.
Sometimes he forgot how amazing persocoms were.
He took his mind away from the topic, facing some new customers and giving his best grin, "Hello and welcome to L'avenir, are you ready to order?"
It was dark and raining by the time his shift ended, and though Erd offered him a ride, he declined. He had no idea how to get to his new home by car anyways. He did, however, accept the umbrella the generous cook gave him.
So now Eren was running, trying to get home as soon as he could. Out of the corner of his eye, a persocom store caught his eye, and a bit reluctantly, he stopped and went near. He browsed the persocoms on display, admiring how human they looked. Well, he took that back; they looked too perfect to be humans. Not a single flaw on the curve of their ears, not a single eyelash out of place; a perfect symmetrical face.
'Do I dare look at the prices…' That's what he thought, and though he knew he shouldn't, he did anyways. Sure enough, they cost more than he's probably worth plus all the money he's held in his life (which wasn't much, but that wasn't the point). He clicked his tongue, taking one last glance at the persocoms before sighing and accepting his persocom-less fate. Even a tiny one like Sasha would be too expensive. He just hoped that his studies would get him where he wanted to be, doing what he wanted to do. Hopefully one day he'd be able to make persocoms like these- no, persocoms better than these.
With renewed determination Eren hadn't known he was lacking, he stood straight and help his head high, gripping his bag and took off home. He hadn't felt like this since long ago; the flame of determination. He was going to go home, and he was going to study everything he copied down on his notebook. He would memorize every word so that when the time came, he wouldn't have to look at manuals or hesitate where to put the cables. He would build persocoms, of a high quality, like Armin's. A smile spread out on his face, the rain no longer bothering him. He didn't bother to dodge the puddles, he didn't even notice when he stepped on them.
His euphoria was cut short when, much like he didn't notice puddles, he hadn't notice something in his path. He fell face first, pain shooting through his nose and rain wetting his face. Angry, Eren whipped back at the source of his fall, only to find that it hadn't been some log or anything. It was...a leg? For a moment, panic went through his head,
'Oh my God, I just tripped over a dead body.'
He scrambled over, grabbing the body's shoulders and shaking, ignoring the fallen umbrella and his soaking clothes. "S-Sir?! Are you okay, si-" That wasn't a sir. Well, it was, but not a real one. An artificial sir. He'd know those bell-shaped ears (which looked more like cat ears actually) anywhere. It was...a persocom. A persocom with bright blonde hair, an undercut, a peaceful sleeping expression, and a fairly big, toned body. It was weird; was it a new model? Eren had never seen toned male models before. Maybe it was a homemade model. A thought occurred to him, and his head snapped up to the persocom's closed eyes. It was in the trash. Somebody threw something as expensive as a persocom away, instead of selling the 'shell' to a persocom store. That means...he could take it?
No, that would be relying on someone. Well, not really, right? It had been thrown away. Even if it didn't work, he could sell it. Eyes flickering around, Eren weighted his options before giving a groan. Ah, fuck it. He got closer to the persocom, swinging its arm over his shoulder and using all his force to pick it up. It was heavy as hell. He nearly changed his mind, but his brain reminded him of all the ways this persocom could benefit him, and he ended up sucking it up. With some struggle he picked up his umbrella while avoiding that the persocom fell, and with a wobble, started to make his way to the new apartment.
He just hoped no one would see him carrying a nearly-naked male model at night.
Eren got to his apartment undetected, but drenched from head-to-toe. He had nearly slipped down the stairs and the chilly air was pricking at his skin. He just wanted to have a warm bath and go to sleep. He struggled to hold up the persocom while opening the door to his apartment, and when he finally did, he lowered him softly on the floor and locked the door.
Eren rubbed at his aching shoulders, rolling them while groaning; he'll definitely feel that in the morning. More importantly….his gaze traveled down, where the persocom laid. He bent over and grabbed him, dragging him closer to the bed and going off to get towels. He dried himself off first, not wanting to catch an annoying cold, and when he went over to the blond, he paused.
Persocoms could get wet right? They weren't damaged because of water, right? Well, he had seen some scuba-diving persocoms on TV before, but those were made specifically to scuba dive. Pushing his doubts aside he put his hand around his waist amd held him up so drying him would be easier, and his cheeks burned bright red. He tried looking away, but he was scared about touching certain unwanted places because he couldn't see where he was drying. He took another towel, a smaller one, and got around to drying off the persocom's blond hair. At some point, it had brushed against his hand and Eren paused, noting how soft it was. Before he even registered his movements he had combed his hair parted at the side, feeling how soft it was.
He caught himself in the embarrassing act, panicking and letting go. The persocom's head hit the floor with a 'thud' and Eren flinched, mumbling an apology as if it could hear him. He should really turn it on and make this whole process easier. It seemed like a good idea, until Eren actually leaned over and froze. Er, the start button was...where? He felt around the artificial ears, pressing and searching for some button. He remembered telling him that a persocom's button was usually on the ears or their bellybuttons. Eren's hand drifted down, feeling the humid 'skin' and it's 'muscles'. When he got to the bellybutton, the button wasn't there. He looked away, his face burning up as his hand kept wandering around. He even tried the nipples (while wishing that some superior deity itself would descent and smite him on the spot). His eyes traveled lower, where the persocom's crotch was covered with what seemed like bandages.
'You know, I don't have to do this. I can just take it to shop and sell it and pretend this never happened,' He thought, but a sliver of hope burned in his stomach. What if it did turn on? What if he could actually own a persocom?
And such a thought was the one that made Eren's hand travel even lower, past the bandages. His throat dried up, and his eyes stung from the embarrassment he felt as he touched around, and—why the fuck were this persocom's genitals so fucking well defined what the hell most weren't even supposed to have any.
The hand around his torso moved up, tired of holding the whole weight of the persocom. It moved to the back of the neck, and looking for a more comfortable posture, Eren moved it again. The pressure applied to the particular spot on the nape of the neck and—
Blue eyes snapped open, body jerking in the boy's grasp. Bicolored eyes met sky blue ones as Eren turned in horror, hand still touching where it shouldn't. Eren wasn't one to think of suicide, but right now he wanted nothing more than to throw himself out the window.
He brought his hands back to himself, once again letting the persocom's head hit the floor with a 'thud'. Except this time, the persocom was awake. It gave a flinch before sitting up, and it didn't seem to be in pain. If anything, it just looked disoriented and confused. What was Eren supposed to say? Hey there I found you in the trash and decided to bring you home but if you didn't wake up I was going to sell you haha dont mind the hand that was touching you in strange places, yeah?
Wait- it woke up. The persocom works.
"Y-You're awake," Eren gawked, and the persocom turned to him again, tilting its head. "Yes…I am?" It answered, as if it itself could not believe it. Eren coughed awkwardly, wanting to avoid the fact that he had his hands down the persocom's only covering a few seconds ago. "My name's Eren. Eren Jaeger. I kinda- I sorta just found you. Uh, in the trash. I thought you didn't work, but it's good you woke up, huh?" a nervous laugh followed, and Eren scratched the back of his head while the persocom just stared.
"Eren." It repeated, testing out the name on its tongue, maybe wondering if it had any memory of the name. "Eren…"
"Yes…?"
"Erwin." It said, and after hearing his name twice, Eren got confused for a moment. "Erwin Smith," it tried again, "My name is Erwin Smith, Eren."
Eren gave a small 'ah'. "Well, uh, nice to meet you, Erwin."
The persocon stood, the bandages falling off before he gave a bow, "From today on I am in your care, Master Eren."
Eren's jaw dropped, eyes widening. He had his very own persocom. His very own humanoid computer capable of anything, and its name was Erwin Smith.
A/N; /It's been a while since I've written fanfics. It's also in AO3 and my tumblr is commander-ereri. This won't really follow Chobit's storyline but persocoms belong to chobits so? I dunno what Im doing/
