"UNIT UTATANE HAS BEEN ACTIVATED. RUNNING FUNCTION CHECKS."
I opened my eyes and looked around. I was lying on a table in a very bright room. There were lots of machines around me, beeping and whirring. Standing in front of a large screen was a woman in a lab coat with bright green hair and red goggles.
"Excuse me, but um... Where am I?" I asked. It felt strange to talk for the first time. The woman stared at the screen intently, as words that made no sense appeared on it. She was holding her breath. Something is wrong.
"Hello there Unit Utatane. Welcome to my lab, my name is Dr. Megpoid but you can call me Gumi." she said, without once looking away from the screen. Something popped up in green and she breathed a sigh of relief. Then she turned to me, no longer stressed out. "'Unit Utatane' sounds much too formal, don't you think? Let's call you Piko." she smiled warmly. Suddenly a computer's voice spoke throughout the lab.
"ERROR 267: UNIT UTATANE MEMORY CHIP FAULTY." The woman's - Gumi's - face fell. She fell to the ground, crying quietly. I sat up.
"What's wrong, Gumi?" I asked.
"N-nothing. It's... something from the past." she sighed, standing up. "Come with me." she took my hand and led me out of the laboratory. We went through winding hallways with gray walls until we arrived at a large wooden door.
"Piko, I'd like you to meet..." Gumi pulled open the door. "... your new family!"
The room was large and cozy looking, with a soft couch and a fireplace - although in my time there, we never lit it.
Sitting on the couch were three girls. Gumi gestured to the girl seated on the far left. She had blond hair with a large white ribbon in it, and she wore glasses and a lab coat to match Gumi's. Her eyes were a piercing blue.
"This is my assistant, Rin Kagamine. She lives here with me and helps with me with my research and projects."
"You can just call me Rin." she smiled. Next Gumi pointed to the girl in the middle. She had light peach-colored hair tied back in a ponytail, and a red helmet with kitty ears on it. Her eyes were a soft, warm brown, like melted chocolate.
"This is Unit Nekomura, but we just call her Iroha." Gumi said.
"Nya!" Iroha waved. I was confused when she didn't say anything else, but Gumi had already moved on to the third girl.
"This is Unit SF-A2." Gumi said. I looked over to SF-A2 and was stunned speechless. She had long red hair down to her waist and a beautiful face. But what struck me the most was her eyes. They were like rubies, deep red and dazzling. I thought it strange, however, that they didn't sparkle. Though they were beautiful, they were flat, lacking emotion. Right then and there I became determined to change that.
"Greetings." she spoke with just as little emotion as her eyes showed. Gumi sighed.
"Just SF-A2? No other names?" I asked.
"No." I expected her to elaborate, but she didn't. There was a moment of silence.
"... Well, go on, introduce yourself!" Rin said.
"Oh! I'm, um... I'm Unit Utatane, but Gumi decided to call me Piko." I stammered. SF-A2 was staring at me.
Gumi clapped her hands. "So, now that we all know each other, let's head in to the dining room for dinner! ... Except for you, Rin, I need to speak to you for a minute." Rin held back, while Iroha, SF-A2, and I went to the dining room. Iroha bounced around me like a little kitten, mewling and rubbing her head on my shoulder. SF-A2 didn't look at me once. We sat down and began eating, as we wait for Gumi and Rin to return. When they finally did, Gumi's face was red as if she had been crying, and she constantly had to blow her nose. However, throughout this she kept smiling and chatting with us. Rin watched her sadly. Is this because of me and my faulty... Whatever it is? I before I had worked up the courage to ask her, dinner was over. Rin showed me to my room, and Gumi went back to work on what she called 'Project K'. I stayed in my room the rest of the night, asking myself questions that I couldn't answer. Why is SF-A2 so cold? Why can Iroha only speak in meows? What's wrong with Gumi? Gumi returned to her room late at night, and I heard her crying herself to sleep. I eventually followed suit, still wondering. What is Project K?