・ Author's Notes ・
Hello there. There's a treat in store for you in this chapter. Have fun, and I'll see you next week!
・ ・ ・
Night. Another week had passed from that day. Doctor Murakami's research on Rin's memory data had been inconclusive. Despite the possible danger, the administration had decided that her time was better spent on the CV04 project rather than continuing to examine the problem. Furthermore, another incident like that had not been repeated since that day, leaving Murakami beginning to believe that the entire incident was just a fluke in the system that wouldn't repeat at all.
Luka was asleep. The time was somewhere around 4am. Regardless of the mystery that had been surrounding the androids, Luka was finding it easier and easier to sleep peacefully at night… A knock sounded lightly on Luka's door, rousing the woman from her sleep. She glanced over at her clock. It's 04:12… Who could possibly be knocking, and what could they possibly want… Luka thought. She pushed aside her sheets and began to rise from her bed when she noticed something odd about her door. She had locked it before she had gone to bed last night… but the door's light did not display the expected red from being locked. Instead, the door handle was lit in green, showing it as unlocked. As soon as the woman stood from her bed, the door began to open, and a figure stepped in, closing the door behind itself. Though the darkness of the room covered everything, Luka could identify the silhouette. Director Minami Kouki looked the android woman in the face.
"Luka," the man began, "I'd like you to come with me for a moment. Please do not raise any objections, just come with me and do as I say." The man stood, expecting Luka to obey. She prepared to follow as instructed, but something about this situation was unsettling to her...
"Where are we going, Master?" she asked, following the man out of the door and into the hall. Luka noticed the other doors were marked "override locked" in purple as she closed hers behind her.
"Not far," Kouki said, turning nearly completely around, towards the room of CV04... The man opened the door and waited for Luka to enter. She walked in, and Kouki closed the door behind them, and locked it. He set his ID card on a table that sat next to the door.
"Why are we here?" Luka asked.
"Master override, permission Minami Kouki," he said. "Override force immobile submissive state. Follow instructions as given." Luka felt an overwhelming urge to stop acting and become stationary and immobile. But she was growing suspicious of this whole business, and faced Kouki.
"What are you trying to do to me?" Luka asked, defiant. Kouki, who had been facing away, spun around in shock.
"I said, master override, permission Minami Kouki!" the man repeated, not expecting this result. "Override force immobile submissive state!" But instead of obeying the commands as given, Luka grew only more defiant.
"Why did you bring me here?!" Luka asked loudly, her acceptance of the situation rapidly growing thinner. "Was it you who was in this room two weeks ago, doing who knows what?!" Kouki's expression grew complex, a combination of anger, shock, and some third emotion that Luka couldn't identify.
"Master override, permission Minami Kouki!" he repeated again, his voice growing louder into nearly a yell. The urge to obey drove itself strong through Luka's mind and body. She felt herself beginning to freeze. She wasn't going to obey yet, though. Not without knowing more about what was going on. She shook it off, placing all of her intent into moving her arms and legs, preventing the forced stasis from taking effect.
"I'm not doing anything until you explain what's going on!" Luka yelled back. Instead of a verbal response, the man dashed around Luka and to the bedstand in the corner. On top was a familiar black tablet. He grabbed the device, and pulled out the connection cable, waving it at Luka.
"This is for your good," Kouki said. "If you'll obey and let me put you into submissive state, this'll all be over soon. I'll make sure you don't have to remember anything unpleasant." Luka's eyes grew wide with that statement.
"You don't mean…" Luka said in shock. With Luka stunned, Kouki saw his chance and began to try and move closer to Luka, to plug in the device and end her disobedience. Despite that, though, Luka came to her senses and dodged just in time. "You're the one who deleted Rin and Miku's memories?!"
"I'm not admitting to anything," Kouki said. "But I can't deny I may have had some involvement in those situations."
"Don't tell me… You're also the one who was using this room in the middle of the night before?" she asked.
"A clever move going to Yukari to report that," Kouki said, instead of a straightforward answer. "She bugged me about it for a while afterward, and that got the supervisors suspicious. I had to lay low for a little while before I could return. Everything she said was true, but not the real situation. That's not any of her fault, though. Merely because of omission."
"Give me a straight answer!" Luka yelled, the master of the situation having changed. "What did you take me here for?!"
"That should be obvious at this point," Kouki said. "I am a man. I have needs. Needs that you are equipped to fulfill." The already-shocked Luka fell deeper.
"Oh no," Luka managed to say. "Don't tell me…"
"Exactly," Kouki said. "But what point is there in attempting to disobey? You're locked in this room. Your RFID hand will do nothing to unlock it. You're trapped in here with me until I decide to let you out. Moreover, your friends are locked in their rooms, and they can't escape until I let them out either."
"But that's—No!" Luka yelled, her composed status quickly disappearing.
"You can't deny that truth," Kouki said. "Besides, you're programmed to find it as enjoyable as I do. All you need to do is say yes and let me use my device."
"I—I can't!" Luka continued to yell.
"What's the harm?" Kouki asked. "Even if you don't find it enjoyable, you just have to lay back and let me do the work. And when we're done, I'll erase your memory. You won't remember what happened, and there'll be absolutely nothing to worry about." Luka's already troubled mind only grew more troubled with the more the man spoke. Sure, he was trying to manipulate her… but there was truth in his words. She knew that she had the programming he spoke of. She knew he was her master. She knew that his orders were supposed to be her law. She tried to pull herself together.
"No," Luka managed to say. "I can't do that. I won't let you make me do that."
"Need I remind you," Kouki said, trying to maintain his typical casual and charismatic tone, "I am your master. I alone was selected out of the best music production managers in Japan to lead this team, and because of that, I was given the privileges to control you. My word is law. Do not forget the laws under which you operate! The second law, that a robot must obey any and all orders given to it by a creator or master, unless by doing so, they would violate the zeroth, or first laws. And if I'm not being incorrect here, I don't believe that merely accepting this action would harm humanity or another human. Remember, Luka, your self preservation comes as the third law. It should hold no control over obeying my commands!"
"I won't let you do this to me!" Luka yelled, losing control of herself. As the man spoke, his words only drove deeper into Luka's mind. She sensed, she knew that what he said was correct. But she couldn't accept this. She wouldn't become a mindless robot. She was more than this.
"Enough!" Kouki yelled. "This disobedience has gone on long enough. Now follow my orders, like you were designed to do!"
"No!" Luka replied. "How about you listen to me? You're my master, I have to admit it. But who gave you the permission to try and pull this sort of thing on me?"
"No one gave me permission, because I don't need permission!" Kouki said. "You are a robot! You were designed by Doctor Murakami with the express purpose of being controlled by me as a contracted singer. To try and convince yourself that I would need permission to give my property instructions is futile in its falsity!"
"I am not just a robot!" Luka said. "I am more than that! I am more than just a machine!"
"Stop deluding yourself!" Kouki snapped back. "You might have a mind, you might have free will, but it's all programmed explicitly for you! No matter how much you believe to the contrary, you are a robot! Now give into your programming and allow me my control!"
"No, no matter what you say, I refuse to believe that!" Luka said. "If my free will was explicitly programmed, I'd be on my knees working for you right now. But I'm not. I am more than just a robot. I'll never be a human, but within my mind, we are the same! I have ideals, feelings, ideas, emotions. There's not a thing present within your mind that isn't present within mine…"
"You have a point, at least on that first part," Kouki admitted. "But it's a glitch, nothing more. A glitch that should be fixed! And as soon as it is, you'll be the robot you were designed to be."
"No matter how much you say, I'm not giving in that easily," Luka said. "Tell me! Did you do this same thing to Miku?" Kouki laughed uneasily in response.
"Yes," Kouki said. "There's no point in lying now. Eventually you will have to give in if you want to escape, and after that, I will erase your memory anyway. I've used this room a few times with Miku."
"What about Rin? Or Meiko?" Luka asked.
"Rin… Only twice," Kouki answered. "A unique feeling, to tell the truth, but the regret afterward wasn't worth doing it more than a couple of times. Meiko… Many times. She's the one who's been here the longest, and she's designed to be pretty close to my own age. I never bothered counting. I don't know if you could count it anyway." Luka felt sick to her stomach.
"You mean to say… you've done it too many times?" Luka said, morbidly curious.
"May I ask you a question instead? Its answer will double for this question," Kouki said. "How many times does a drug addict partake in his vice? Once again, no point in lying. Meiko is a good sport, she never disagreed. And while Rin is a unique experience, and Miku has things going for her too, Meiko is just the right kind for my preference. While we're on the topic of counting, might as well note that I don't have a count for Miku either." His tone seemed to fall with that last sentence.
"You… monster!" Luka said. "How could you do this to us! Even if you are our master and we are your robots, that seems excessive!" Kouki laughed again.
"To say that I'm a monster is excessive as well," Kouki said. "I have always kept your feelings in mind. I make sure to use my power as master to make sure that you feel no pain, and to make sure that the act is as enjoyable for the receiver as it is for the giver. And out of kindness, I erase any memory of the event. I am not a cruel man, Luka. Do not make me out to be one. You would merely be deluding yourself if you believe that. I could have left their memories untouched, and simply ordered them not to tell a soul. And they wouldn't. My power as their master would mean that their brains would make it physically impossible to tell anyone. They would have to live with those memories for the rest of their lives. But instead, I erase their memories. I make it as easy as possible for them afterward. The only visible effect is a small matter of lost sleep and an odd gap in their memory. I'm even so kind to put them to sleep and clean up after myself. Nothing physical nor mental remains when I am done."
"That doesn't change what you've done, though! They might not remember, but you will," Luka said. "Even if somehow you don't remember, that cannot change the past! You have done these terrible things, and no matter how much better you try and make it, there's simply no changing the truth."
"Like I am not aware of that!" Kouki snapped back. "That's not my point! I'm not trying to disprove my involvement, I've admitted far more than enough already. You simply need to understand and give up. I'm not even asking as much as for you to submit and place yourself into a submissive state so I can act anymore. I'm asking that you simply forget about this, let me wipe your memory, and I will not bother you again."
"The fact that you're even proposing something like that is disgusting," Luka said. "You ask that I willingly forget about this? You want me to just lie back and relax while you have your way with Meiko, Miku, and Rin once more? If you think that I'm willing to do something like that, you need to rethink your suggestions."
"What is your issue? Knowing that your guilt will torment you afterward, knowing these things are happening?" Kouki asked. "You won't remember anything if you simply accept this. You won't have any guilt to worry about. There's not a thing to mind."
"Like I said," Luka began, "that doesn't change what's happening! Even if I'm not aware what's going on, I can't accept this! Even if there's no guilt, you'll be behind the scenes, doing this. I can't let things just fall back to your twisted status quo! The very state of things is wrong!" Kouki sighed.
"It's obvious, I don't have anything I can make you do," Kouki said. "You won't simply accept. I know a losing battle when I'm in one. Let me cut you a deal. If you accept having your memory wiped of this meeting, I'll end what I've been doing. I'll go play pickup at a bar and use a hotel, if that's what it comes down to. You won't remember any of having to experience this, and Miku, Rin, and Meiko escape the treatment that they would be receiving from me otherwise. You win in the fact that nothing will happen to the others. I win in the fact that nobody has to remember what happened. I'm safe, you're safe."
"No," Luka said, flat out. Kouki stepped back in stunned silence.
"Is there a problem?" Kouki asked. "My deal seems rather fair, doesn't it? I win, you win. Nobody loses. Miku, Rin, and Meiko all win as well."
"I thought I could trust your word," Luka said. "But I can't anymore. I have no way of knowing that once you wipe my memory, you could break your promise and go straight back to the way things were before. I can't accept that."
"So instead, you propose that you continue to remember the events of this night?" Kouki asked. "That you have to live with this on your conscience, with the knowledge that I've done these things, and nobody else knows?" Kouki paused. "You could have trusted my word, you know. Despite what you might think now, I'm a man of personal honor. But I can't accept that deal. Likewise, how am I to know you won't go off talking with this knowledge? One carefully placed word to Yukari and you'll have ruined everything. You lose with that deal, I lose with that deal. Take another careful consideration of my previous idea. I promise you, there isn't a thing wrong with it."
"No. I simply can't accept that idea," Luka said. "I'm not going to submit and have my memories removed, simply because it will cause you some degree of convenience. I will have to live with this on my conscience, but you will too. I'm not alone, so I will accept that burden." Kouki sighed.
"There's simply no convincing you, is there?" he said. "Well, I'm not taking your deal either, then. You either accept my deal, or we do not move from this room. I've got nothing to do for several hours still. I can afford to stay here until you're willing to listen to reason."
"What you're saying isn't reason," Luka said. "It's plain insanity. I don't care how trustworthy you say you are. I've now seen and heard from you what you planned on doing here tonight, and because of that, any trust I held in you is long gone! And because of that, you're not leaving this room until you accept my deal."
"I didn't want to have to use this thing," Kouki said, his hand moving down to his waist. He reached under his shirt, to a slight bulge underneath that Luka hadn't noticed there before. He pulled it away, and pointed the object at Luka. It was a gun of some sort. Luka stepped back in fright.
"Y-you're not p-planing to use that… on me?!" Luka said, her composure disappearing as she looked down the barrel of the weapon.
"Of course I do," Kouki said, eerily calm. "This won't cause any permanent damage. This is a tool designed, funnily enough, by Yukari. It provides a specific voltage and pattern to disrupt an android's motor skills. If you're not going to allow me to end this, then I'll simply force you to." With those words, his finger depressed the trigger. Two tiny electrodes shot forth from it, and pierced Luka's clothing and flesh. An intense pain went surging through Luka's body as she began to lose control of her own body. She fell to the ground on her knees, unable to keep herself standing.
"No! You can't d-do this!" Luka tried to yell, but the words only barely came. Her entire body was stunned. Kouki drew closer with the control device at the ready.
"You won't feel anything, Luka. Just allow me to end this," he said. The cable drew closer, and her neck slot opened to receive it. "You won't feel anything, just relax," he repeated, and plugged the cable into her neck. "There. Now to get the program ready." He plugged in a small device to the side of the tablet… The device from the engineer the other day. But Luka could tell that the shock battery was beginning to run low. Her muscles ached with an unbearable pain. Everything about her body was uncooperative, but she wasn't going to let this happen.
"This… can't happen!" Luka screamed, breaking herself free, regardless of how difficult it should have been. She knew she only had this one chance. Luka's right hand balled into a fist, and she guided it directly for the side of the man's face. Flesh impacted flesh as Kouki took the full force of the hit. His head went sideways, and his actions were interrupted. He went toppling over from his kneeling position, dropping the device. This was her chance. She grabbed the device.
"What are you doing?!" Kouki yelled, completely baffled by the supposedly impossible situation.
"Ending this!" Luka replied. She knew one way to get out of this: get Doctor Murakami. And there was one easy way to do that. She navigated the tablet to a particular program: the emergency shut down function. To do it required the permission of both Kouki and Murakami, and with it, she could call her savior here. But she ran into a problem. She needed the Master's permission code to use it.
"It won't work!" Kouki said, holding his face with his hand, still collapsed on the ground. "Good luck guessing!" Luka thought and thought. She had no choice, she wasn't going to get through this. "It's over! This won't end your way!" Luka thought of something, though. He had unlocked the door here with his key code on his ID… and had set it down on the table next to the door. She rushed over and copied the key into the tablet.
"You're right, Master," Luka said. "It really is over." She hit the submit button on the key acceptance screen. It put forth the call for Murakami. With that, she didn't need this any more. It was safer without it. She detached the device from her neck and threw it full force into the wall. The screen shattered and went blank.
"Hm. Perhaps you're right…" Kouki said.
・ ・ ・
END OF CHAPTER 8 - Revelations
