Miku: Yay! A new chapter! And I get to do more speaking! The world is MINE!
Kaito: When am I going to get to be in the story?
Me: Not for a while yet.
Kaito: (sad)
Miku: Awww. Can't we squeeze him in this chapter?
Me: No. Sorry. But I've got you a whole gallon of Death by Chocolate icecream.
Kaito: (drools) Sounds good to me! Gimme!
Me: I do not own Vocaloid
Miku: But we love you anyway.
Andrew sighed as he closed the door to his room behind him, and dropped his backpack in a corner. On the whole, he enjoyed college, but not when the temperature was 112. At that point, he just wanted to lay back in the air conditioning, and listen to some soothing music.
Andrew glanced over at his 3D printer wall, and sighed again with relief that none of them had had any problems while he was gone. Yowane Haku, a Prusa Mendel 3D printer, and the first one he'd ever made, was running low on filament, but it had enough to finish the piece for the more expressive robot face he was currently testing.
All of Andrew's home-made 3D printers were named after fan made Vocaloids. Akita Neru was his second build, a MendelMax. It had a bigger build volume, and was currently printing a synthetic skin sample. Akaito was another Mendelmax, currently modified to print in porcelain. It had finished it's printing job while Andrew was out, and now his new Luka statue was drying. Kaiko was another Prusa Mendel. It could print in most any paste, but currently it had just finished printing some chocolates shaped like Hachune Miku. And then there was Hachune, which was a Fold-a-Rap, and could pack down into itself as a briefcase. He'd always thought that if he ever could afford one of the super expensive, super capable, super fancy Stratys 3D printers he'd name it Hatsune Miku.
Andrew was very much into 3D printing. He actually paid his bills by printing designs that other people had made. Andrew ran, out of his apartment, the 3D version of a print shop. That, and his financial aid, paid for his tuition and living expenses, but it did not cover going to one of the big-name prestigious schools, or one of the few that actually had a 3D printing degree. Technically, Andrew was a Graphics Design Major, with a concentration in 3D modeling, and a side order of Engineering courses. His dream was to one day go as an exchange student to Tokyo University. There he could combine his love of things Japanese and Anime with one of the most prestigious colleges and 3D printing programs in the world. But his real goal in life, beyond college, is to be able to make the best, most functional and realistic prosthetics for people. He had a project, where he was trying to make a perfect remote full-body prosthetic for people confined to a wheelchair or hospital bed. Which is what the face plate was about.
Andrew went over to his computer and sat down, looking over to check my messages, but there weren't any. This was both a good and a bad thing. Bad for his finances, because it meant no-one had called to commission his services . On the other hand, it meant he didn't have to answer any messages, and could relax. He booted up the internet, and logged onto Vocome chat, a clearinghouse for all things Vocaloid and Anime.
"Hey guys, anyone else on? How are you doing?" The room looked pretty empty. It looked like most everyone else had things to do. Vocome was a worldwide site, but since it was in English, it was focused in America and England, and it was still in the middle of the afternoon. Most people were probably at work or at school, but Andrews schedule meant that he got off early on Friday. The only others on right now were a creapy guy with a Pedobear avatar called "Bearlove" and a new girl he hadn't seen before with a VERY nicely done Miku Hatsune avatar called "REAL_Hatsune_Miku". If the girl didn't watch out, she was going to get herself sued by Crypton.
"Not much Panda." Andrew's screen name was Pandora's_Printer, and Bearlove liked to give nicknames to everyone. It was one of the least offensive aspects of his behavior. It looked like today he was intent on displaying them all. "There's only one loli between the two of us. Not that she's not good enough to eat! *(Lick)*"
Andrew sighed. Every cave has a troll.
"Welcome Hatsune_Miku! Ignore Bear. It's easier that way." Whoever this new person was, they had a quality avatar. The animation on it was great, and it wasn't running any loop or simple program. It actually reacted to what was being said. It was cringing away from Bear when he logged on, while Bear spoke it almost cowered, and now it was smiling shyly.
"Thanks Panda-san. You can call me Miku-chan." And then her avatar blushed. "I-If you want, that is. If it's not too forward."
"No problem, Miku-chan. That's one of the great things about the internet. On here, most people call me Printer or Printerman. It's only Bear who calls me Panda."
"You know you love it Panda." Bear couldn't go very long without a comment.
"So, Miku-chan, I take it you are a Hatsune Miku fan. Who did your avatar? It's amazing!"
"Do.. do you really like it?" Now her avatar was turned partway away, drilling into the ground with her toe, and nervously fiddling with her hair. "I was thinking about shortening my hair."
"Don't! Miku is best with long hair." Now her avatar's cheeks were firy red. I have got to get the contact info of whoever designed that avatar. Andrew thought. There is an extremely talented program. Plus, it's totally Kawaii.
Apparently, Bear thought so too. He hardly ever animated his avatar, besides the basic mouth moving. He was just too lazy. But now, his avatar trundled over to Miku-chan's and grabbed her skirt.
"Hey Panda! Don't you go hogging all this loli goodness. Share and share about."
"Eeeek!" Miku screached, and Bear's avatar popped and vanished.
"What the..." Andrew was non-plussed. He'd never seen that happen. "Are you a mod, or something?"
Then he noticed that Miku-chan's avatar wasn't where it had been standing. It was leaning against his chest, shaking. He very carefully, wary of getting popped himself, made his avatar put it's arms around her's.
"There, there. It's all right. He's gone. It's aaaaall right." He murmerred, wondering if it was.
"I'm scared." Miku-chan mumbled. "It's a lot bigger out here than I thought. And there are weird people, and scary programs, and all kinds of things I don't understand, and icky things."
"Don't worry," he consoled her, "I'll take care of you." If Bear comes back I'll run interference. I don't think she's actually at the minimum age for this site.
"Really?" Miku-chan's avatar raised it's head, with very realistically simulated tears on her cheeks.
"Sure. No sweat." He tried to cheer her up. "I'm used to dealing with guys like Bear."
"Thank You!" Her avatar's face was radiant, and the tears had all disappeared. "I'll transfer over immediately!"
"I'll transfer over... What? Andrew was still trying to figure it out, when his computer screen flickered, and then a dialog box appeared, with a progress bar. Andrew tried to move his mouse, but everything seemed to be frozen, except for the progress bar. Andrew looked closer. "Hatsune_ "
Andrew had a top notch internet connection, something that he justified, claiming it was for his work. But even so, it took several minutes. Whatever was downloading was big. Andrew tried using Control-Alt-Delete, but it didn't seem to have any effect.
Finally, the download was finished. Andrew's computer screen went black, then blue, and Hatsune Miku's face appeared on it.
And said, "Thank you Printer-sama. I'll make sure you never regret this. I promise."
Miku: Yay! Chapter 2 is out!
Me: Sorry for the info dump at the beginning. I'm trying to introduce things that will be important later.
Miku: That's not important. People don't come for your plots. The come for ME!
Me: Anyway, thanks for reading. If you have a moment, please review, so I can improve.
Miku: We love reviews!
