A/N : Well, it's that time again! Time for my terribly long author's note before I get around to the fic. First things first - I have started up a twitter! If you want to stay updated on my and my fics, cos plays, art, and general stuff, check it out! ( http:// twitter . com/ sopheryl Just take away the spaces!).
This chapter runs a bit short, sorry about that!
So, before I get to the replies to some of the reviews, I'd like to say that I really like this chapter. It was a lot of fun to write, and we get some more plottage in here…though I think some people have already figured a few things out, ha ha. And I would reply to everyone's reviews, but most would be the same answer, see my second point below.
Firstly, my ever continuing thanks to my beta!
Secondly, thanks to everyone who reviewed and is loving the story and chapter! I hope that the next chapter doesn't disappoint.
Even though it's from chapter one : Rahar Moonfire - Oh, it's probably chock full of errors! Ha ha ha. I tend to write these fics between 10PM and 1AM. That's when it just seems to all come out. I try to catch most of them though.
1227kitsune - I really liked how they fit Chi inside the Tsubasa manga because, well, I love Chi. Ha ha ha~ I'm glad you enjoyed seeing Kero-chan, he'll return later! And upon reading your comment, I realized I hadn't fit Mokona in yet…but you'll see Mokona in next chapter, though maybe not in a way you'll be satisfied with, ha ha ha~
To. Touch. The. Sky - This may sound silly, but I was super anxious to hear what you thought of chapter 2, because of your enthusiasm in the first one, ha ha! I hope this one is just as awesome!
L-L-Love - Oh, the mystery only gets deeper in chapter and the next one. :3
Rove - I love angst-laden Fai as well, but this fic seems to be turning out to be cheery Fai, ha ha ha!
ZELLT - 'Magic' will be making an appearance in chapter 4, so stay tuned!
The next day was Friday, and Kurogane went home early when the interns said that all there was to do was yet more android refurbishing. As soon as he got home, Fai attached himself to Kurogane's side and refused to leave it. If Kurogane went to one room, Fai followed, like some duckling. No, Kurogane decided. Fai wasn't a duckling. The stupid android was a cat. This was clear when Fai curled up next to Kurogane on the couch, using Kurogane's legs as a pillow.
By the end of Friday, he was ready to dismantle Fai and sell him for scraps, legality be damned. It only got worse Saturday morning when Fai (somehow) convinced Sakura and Syaoran to let him wake Kurogane himself.
"Good morning Kuro-master," came Fai's sing-song voice over his head. As he spoke, something else was trying to say good morning (despite Kurogane's mental objections), as Fai ran his hands down Kurogane's stomach, towards the hem of his pants. Companionship-builds. Did they ever learn?
"Git yer hands off me," Kurogane muttered, tiredly, shoving Fai away slightly. He reached out blindly until he found his clock, lifting his head only enough to squint at the numbers. "Fuck this, I'm going back to sleep, it's only eight. I'm not getting up until ten."
"Fai will wake you up again in at ten!" The android didn't leave the room but flopped down next to Kurogane, closing his eyes as he went into sleep mode.
And that was how his Saturday started. And his Sunday. On Monday, it happened an hour earlier.
"You're not supposed to be the one waking me up anyway," Kurogane said, sitting up and blinking at Fai tiredly.
"Fai told Saku and Syao it would be more time and energy effective to let Fai do it, since Fai is not doing anything else." Fai leaned forward. "According to Fai's internal calendar, it has been almost a week."
"It'll be a week on the day after tomorrow." He stood, stretching. "Whatever. If you want to be useful, go help Sakura and Syaoran with breakfast. It shouldn't hard, even for a companionship-build."
"Fai tried, but Fai hurt Fai's self." Fai held up his hands. The artificial skin was darkened, and there were a few cuts in it, showing slivers of silver muscle-imitation underneath.
"Let me see." Kurogane grabbed Fai's wrist and lifting the hand up. "Nothing that can't be fixed. We'll just have to graph on new skin. Alright, fine, go do something that doesn't involve high temperatures, knives, or water."
"Fai will." Fai got off Kurogane's bed, then clapped. "Would Kuro like to hear the weather report? Fai heard it on the television earlier."
"Yeah, sure," Kurogane muttered, going for the bathroom. He stopped halfway when Fai spoke.
"It's raining," Fai said, before skipping out of the room.
Unfortunately, Fai had heard right. Even more unfortunately, Fai had still insisted on walking him to work.
"I don't know if I trust you to get home," Kurogane muttered when they reached the building.
"Fai memorized the path," Fai said, smiling. "Fai will pick Kuro up after work!" Before Kurogane could respond, the android skipped out from under the umbrella and into the rain, spinning in circles and kicking at puddles. For all intents and purposes, he seemed like some hyperactive young man. Kurogane shook his head and went into his building. It was going to be one of those days.
Fai stopped halfway across the parking lot, legs in mid-step, arms in mid-swing when a program clicked on in the back of his mind, past the firewalls that kept others out. His joints whirred as he lowered his leg, and his hands returned to his side, looking off. His auditory programs blocked out the rain and city sounds as he stared, and his vision programs switched to 'selective', making the rest of the world blurry and grey as he focused on the target chosen by the program.
"That one is Fai?" He asked, looking at the him-that-wasn't-him standing before him. The him-that-wasn't-him looked the same, except that he wasn't wearing the clothes. While Fai was wearing the clothes from the day he'd met Kurogane, the him-that-wasn't was wearing some kind of bodysuit, and was slightly transparent. Fai could see the other side of the parking lot through this other him.
"No. I am Yui," the him-that-wasn't replied. In a mirrored motion, they both lifted their hands, pressing them together.
"Then that one is not Fai? But that one looks like Fai." Fai looked at their hands, then back at the Fai-that-wasn't-Fai's, Yui's face. His memory files scanned, but the only matches were all blocked and fire walled. Without a password, they were inaccessible. "Fai feels like Yui is familiar."
"It is okay not to remember." Yui, smiled. "Will Fai listen to me?"
"Fai will listen. Is Yui Fai's owner?"
"No. I am Fai's brother. It's okay if Fai doesn't remember, Fai doesn't need to remember. Then Fai is protected." Yui intertwined their fingers. "But Fai must listen to me now, okay?"
"Fai will listen," Fai repeated, tilting his head. "What does Fai need to hear?"
"Fai must not come here. Okay?" Yui copied the head-tilting motion.
"Where is here?"
"Here is the Celes building." Yui's pupils contracted and dilated in the way android pupils often did.
"Fai must come here. Otherwise, Kuro will be lonely on his way to work." Fai smiled brightly. "Fai doesn't want Kuro to be lonely."
"Fai is very kind." Yui frowned. "That is why I had to do what I did."
"Is Yui sad?" Fai asked, concerned. His free hand lifted to Yui's lips, and Yui's lips were cold. Even androids had some kind of heat coming off their bodies, it was a byproduct of their electronic processes and physical movements - much like humans. "Yui is frowning. If not sad, Yui is upset?"
"No, no, I am happy. I am happy that Fai has found someone to keep company, and I am happy that Fai is so kind." Yui smiled. "But I am a bit worried about Fai, if Fai really does not remember. But that is okay!"
"It is?" Fai leaned towards Yui. "Does Fai know Yui? Fai has files, but Fai doesn't know how to unblock them."
"That's okay. Fai does not need to know me just yet. Still, I think Fai will remember soon." Yui paused, looking off at a window high on the building. "I need to go."
"Will Fai see Yui again?" Fai asked, looking up at the same window.
"Fai will. I promise." Yui closed his eyes a moment, and when they opened they were dilated to the point that there was barely a ring of blue around his pupils, and the tiny gleam of circuits could be seen. His voice was hollow and empty when he spoke, "Program : Guard, activate and go on standby. Program : Angel, standby."
The vision before him disappeared as Fai stiffened, staring off at nothing as new data flowed through his connectors, hiding under his ongoing programs. His 'mind' was clouded for a moment, and his hand twitched. An electrical shock ran up his arm to his shoulder. "Warning. Designation Fai has suffered an electrical short. Warning. Designation Fai has suffered an electrical short. Compensating. Compensating. Awaiting commands. Awaiting commands. Data blocked. Commands not found. Standby. Restart." Fai closed his eyes as his programs shut down, one by one, first striking him blind, then deaf, then dumb, before he shut down completely.
Without his balance programs, Fai fell over, laying in the parking lot.
When he was reactivated, his internal clock told him that he'd been offline for three hours. One by one, his programs rebooted. As soon as his vocal programs were rebooted, he announced each of the essential programs as they activated. He was aware he wasn't alone when he heard voices, several, and 'felt' the other androids on the widespread wireless 'contact' they all had.
He opened his eyes when he was able to do basic operations - speak, see, hear, and move. He turned his head, and his eyes adjusts with an all-too-loud whirr as he blinked. "…Kuro?"
"Don't move," Kurogane said, without looking away from Fai's arm. "I swear, you're going to get me into trouble. Your arm is shorted out. I knew I should have told you to stay at the house."
Fai tilted his head as he looked down. The inside of his arm had been sliced open and the falsified skin had been pulled back as Kurogane worked, replacing bits of wire. Fai was laying down on some flat table, probably one used for the very purpose of repairing androids. Kurogane was sitting in a chair next to it, leaning over Fai's arm.
"I don't know what half of these connectors are," Kurogane muttered, narrowing his eyes. He prodded at opaque tubing, and tapped tiny light indicators that flashed green. "Like this. Any ideas Fai?"
"Fai doesn't know. " Fai sat up, trying hard not to move his arm.
"It didn't even cross my mind that your body construction would be different," Kurogane frowned. "There's no wires in it, it's just tubing." He poked at the opaque tubing again.
"Fai does not know," Fai repeated, emphasizing, and Kurogane shook his head.
"Why am I not surprised. Try to move your fingers," Kurogane ordered, watching his hand and the thin, silver-lines of muscle imitators contracted, like human muscle, and relaxed as Fai's hand clenched into a fist then let it lay flat. "Good." He looked back over his shoulder. "Tomoyo!"
Tomoyo danced over with a small tray. "Here it is, here it is." She set it down on Fai's lap. "Do you know what this is Fai?" She held up a small bottle before Kurogane snatched it.
"That is….glue," Fai said, blinking at it. "Because Fai is a robot. Glue is needed to attach Fai's skin to Fai's muscles." He watched as Kurogane uncapped it, applying dots to the underside of Fai's false skin.
"That's right!" Tomoyo smiled, then leaned in. "By the way…Fai…What are your dimensions? I'm sure you can access that data, right?"
"Tomoyo, fuck, you're not making him clothes," Kurogane said, pushing the skin back over Fai's arm, before pointing at him. "Don't move this arm for a few minutes."
"Fai understands." Fai smiled at Kurogane before looking at Tomoyo. "Fai doesn't know. But Fai is much smaller then Kuro." He looked back down, flinching when Kurogane used an instrument to push against the false nerves of his fingertips. "Ow! Kuro!"
"I barely touched you, but at least your nerves are working," Kurogane growled, poking at one of the tiny sensors in his finger tip cuts from his attempts at cooking from that morning. "These swatches won't match, but they'll have to do until I can get some that do." He reached over to the tray and picking up a small circular sample of the android skin, applying glue to it before placing it over the cut. He continued on, grumbling to himself. Tomoyo patted Fai's head (and Kurogane's, which earned her a growl) before she walked off, saying something about getting back to work.
"We need to back up your data," Kurogane announced, when Fai's hand was finished. Fai lifted it up, staring at the blotches of slightly-darker skin on his pale skin.
"Fai is spotty now."
"We'll get a color that matches better later," Kurogane said. When Fai moved to get up, he held up a hand, then pointed back at the table. "No, you're staying here until I get off work. And once I'm off work, we will walk to the nearest store and find your skin color." He poked Fai's chest. "And only after we've bought glue solvent, more glue, and replacement skin, will we head home. Understand?"
"Fai understands." Fai smiled.
And so they did.
"Is there anything inside you that isn't fire walled?" Kurogane growled, staring at the computer screen on his desk. The warning had come up for the fifth time in the last half an hour. Warning. Firewall. Password needed. Kurogane didn't have a damn password! "The hell does a companion -build need with firewalls anyway? What's being protected? A digital Kama Sutra?" He scoffed, and his chair swiveled slightly as he moved.
"Kuro knows a Kama Sutra?" Fai looked up at Kuro from the floor, leaning his head against the outside of his thigh. "Why would Fai need firewalls for something like that?"
"I'm just thinking out loud, there's no need to answer me." Kurogane kept his eyes glued on the screen as he tried to hack his way around another firewall. He hadn't done anything like this since high school. It simply wasn't that fun, really.
But no, comparing Fai's firewalls to his old high school's was insulting to the android. These were much more challenging, and things like there weren't his strong suit. Still, he didn't want to risk using Sakura's programs at this point. No, not yet.
"I can't even back up your data. Damn it. What if you crash again?"
"What happens if Fai crashes again?" Fai poked at one of the computer towers under Kurogane's desk, curiously.
"Don't touch that," Kurogane scolded, only glancing down. "And if you crash again, you could suffer damage. And then I'd be to blame." Fai only made an affirmative noise before going quiet and just watching Kurogane type on his keyboard.
"Kuro?" He asked, quietly.
"What?" Kurogane snapped, narrowing his eyes as another firewall warning appeared. Six of them now.
"Just what does Kuro do at work?"
"Huh?" Kurogane looked down at him. The android blinked up at him innocently, so Kurogane shrugged. "Minor programming. Specific motions. And I consult on defensive and offensive moves. They're fight-build. They're going to be used in the military, for bodyguards, things like that, so the more they know, they more use they can be used in close combat."
"Oh. Would Kuro be upset if he couldn't do that?"
"I guess." Kurogane pushed away from the desk slightly, looking down at Fai. "I spent most of my life learning this stuff. Competed in middle and high school .College too. Why?"
"Would Kuro say he's built for it?"
"That's a weird question," Kurogane said. He leaned back in his chair. "I guess. But I got my build from it."
"Fai doesn't mean physical build like that. Fai means…" Fai scrunched up his face, then clapped his hands together. "Born! Fai means to ask if Kuro thinks Kuro was born to do things like this."
"Eh? I guess."
"So, Kuro would be unhappy if Kuro didn't get to do what Kuro was born to do, right?"
"I guess. …Where are you going with this? This is pretty nonlinear for an android."
"So, the feeling Fai feels is sadness, because Kuro isn't using Fai for what Fai was built to do."
"That's different!" Kurogane frowned. "What kind of logic programs could come up with that?
"Logic programs follow model Celes 001-Y-F." Fai's voice was hollow. When Kurogane just stared at him, Fai tilted his head. "Kuro can't blink?"
"What did you just say?"
"Fai said something?"
Kurogane peered at him. "You don't remember?"
"Fai does not remember." Fai pursed his lips then nodded.
"Fai, what audio programs do you use?" Could it really be so easy?
"Celes A345," Fai said, voice hollow again.
"Verbal processing programs."
"Celes C55-09."
"Of course, companion-builds are supposed to be submissive." Kurogane shook his head. "Still….Fai, do you have any parts or programs that aren't licensed to Celes Corp?"
Fai's eyes dilated. "One program found. Producer of program code - unknown. Source of program code - unknown. Purpose of program code - unknown."
"Well, that's so helpful," Kurogane turned back to his computer. Three other firewall warnings had popped up. He canceled the data backup attempt and reached to the back of Fai's neck to the plug that connected to him to the control. He pulled it and tossed the plug onto the desk. "We're done, there's nothing I can do. But at least we found something out."
"What did Fai and Kuro find out?" Fai asked, standing. He reached back, sliding the cover back into place over the ports.
"You were made by someone who buys from Celes. If all those parts are the ones I'm thinking of, you were very expensive. Someone had access to them before they went on the market." He narrowed his eyes. "Those are recent, and you must be a few years old, judging by the state of your muscle imitators."
"Kuro is so smart," Fai said, clapping.
Kurogane scoffed. "Now there's one I don't hear often." He stood up. "You know, day after tomorrow makes it a week."
"Then Fai is Kuro's!" Fai said, sounding almost excited.
"Eh," was all Kurogane said, ruffling his hair before walking out of the room and off to bed.