Chapter 16, not beta-read.

Enjoy!

The next morning, Miku did the same for her hosts, preparing breakfast, and when they left, doing chores. She didn't quite feel tired, but she could feel that she was a bit out of it: things slipped out of her grip, she couldn't see things that were right in front of her, she couldn't remember the last thing someone had said to her, even after the shortest lull un the conversation. She feared that the others had noticed: Galaco had expressed concern when Miku almost put the bread in the dishwasher, while Cul and Lily glanced at her a bit more often than usual.

Miku was scared, but in a different way than before. On top of the fear of failing her friends, she knew that, even if she were to do everything right, they could still lose.

It made her wonder if it would even be worth to attempt. She could keep her humanity, be cursed with her knowledge and her heartbreak, and her friends could be left blissfuly unaware, free of effort, of the vain battle. Part of Miku reminded her that it was always worth the shot: not trying at all guaranteed failure, after all. But it scared her. It really did.

So much scared her, recently.

When the others weren't around to monitor her actions and to make sure she didn't do anything stupid, she did her best to stay alert, to not let herself sink into her mind, but it was difficult. She resorted to movies eventually, but was surprised by Gakupo coming home early.

"Oh, welcome back," she greeted from the living room, pausing the movie. "Is everything alright?"

He nodded. When the tealette made to stand, he gestured for her to stay seated, and took a seat accross from her, in the armchair. "Everything is alright. I felt that I had to talk to you, that is all. Don't worry: there's nothing urgent scheduled today."

Fear, who had been lurking at the forefront of her mind for the entire day, immediately went into a panic. What did he want with her?

"I hope this isn't anything bad," she tried, hoping she didn't look too fearful.

"Not at all, not at all. I'm not here to kick you out or anything, or even to reprimand you. In fact…" He sighed, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "I'm here to give you an apology."

Curiosity pushed Fear aside in a heartbeat. "Excuse me?"

"I'm here to apologize, and explain," he started, staring at his hands. "I've been harsh with you, and very unforgiving. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to truly defend myself, for now that I have hindsight, I can't really tell what I was thinking anymore."

"No, it's alright, I understand," Miku tried to assure him, spotting his distress.

He smiled. "Yes, you do, don't you? You see much more than any of us give you credit for." He sighed again. "Though I imagine you'd like to know where my sudden change of heart came from?"

She nodded.

"Remember that I started reading, shortly after you came here?"

"Yes."

"I was looking up the various laws surrounding AIs like you."

The tealette had to stop herself from gulping. "Ah."

"I thought it would be appropriate to come to you directly, especially since I've noticed that you've been a little bit scatterbrained this morning. I thought it could help. Don't worry, it's good news, at least for the most part."

"Oh," she relaxed somewhat. "I'm curious to hear what you've learned."

He sat back in his chair, still looking apologetic, but with a bit more optimism than before. "Alright. You have time? This might take a little while."

"I have no other priorities at the moment."

"Perfect." He rummaged a bit in his pocket and pulled out the tablet again. "I had to take notes: there's a lot to explain, and I'm afraid to forget anything. Ok, let's see…

"First things first: all of this was written about fifty years after the creation of you Vocaloids, or about one hundred years ago. Obviously, it took the law a long time to catch up to the issue, but at least they nailed all of the points of concern. Also, this operates on an international level: no matter the country you go to, the same laws will apply to you: it's not entirely unlike human rights.

Second thing, is that first of all, it's important to identify the kind of AI we're dealing with. There are three kinds: Limited, True, and Superhuman. Limited AIs can learn and perform very specific tasks, like copying a voice, or navigating terrain. True AIs could be defined by you, Miku. You have a range of emotions, can learn new skills and perform them, can have conversations, and understand the concept of an identity. Superhuman AIs are capable of teaching themselves, like humans can, but at an accelerated rate, constantly learning how to learn better, how to perfect themselves even more, so they would be able to do everything better than humanity could ever hope to very quickly. Theoretically, the line between a Limited and a True AI is large: it would need to master a whole set of skills, and would even need to learn how to bypass hardware constraints. On the other hand, the difference between a True AI and a Superhuman one is quite thin. In theory, you could simply access the internet and absorb all human knowledge at insane speeds, and continue to learn at exponential speeds from there. Any questions so far?"

The tealette hesitated. "At this point, would you consider my friends back home True or Limited?"

"You said that they can't make choices for themselves, have no personal preferences, and only do what they're told to do, right?"

"Yes. Even given the chance for freedom, they do not take it."

"Then they're Limited, and painfully so."

Miku frowned. "Alright then."

"I have a question, if I may."

"Go on."

"You said you are capable of connecting to systems wirelessly. Do you?"

"I used to, back home. But now…" she paused. "Come to think of it, the idea never came to my mind. I think I prefered to learn about things from you, rather than from getting information over the internet. It's less easy and takes more time, but I'd like to think that emotionally, it's more rewarding."

"But if I gave your our wifi password, or allowed you to connect to my tablet via bluetooth, you could access the internet?"

"Yes."

"Would you?"

"I don't think so. Not unless it's absolutely necessary."

"How come?"

"Force of habit. We never connected to anything, before. Maybe we're even discouraged from doing so. Maybe some small line of code in me is discouraging me. I can't tell."

"That's possible," he agreed. "Alright. It's worth considering, when you allow Gumi and Galaco to help you, that you remove this capability altogether. I'll explain why in a moment."

"Alright," she mumbled, but couldn't help but tense up at the suggestion that the upcoming operation be even more invasive.

"Now, with the essential differences between the AI types defined —in layman's terms, at least: the law is very, very good at laying down the specifics— you have to know that since the law's enforcement, the creation, ownership, concealing or assistance in concealing True AIs, and by extension Superhuman AIs, is now illegal. So, since the law has been enforced, very few new AIs have been created. Don't worry: you won't suffer any consequences because, on one hand, you were created before this date, and on the other, the AI is never blamed or punished for their own creation, even if they assist in hiding themselves. This is because… Wait, I had a note here… Ah, there. I quote: 'An AI as intelligent as, or more intelligent than, a human would also comprehend the concept of fairness, of dreams, of potential, and of death. They cannot be punished for being brought into the world, much like how a human child cannot be blamed for being born.' So, no matter what, you won't be the receipient of any legal hell."

"But will you?"

Gakupo frowned. "How so?"

"If I'm a True AI, then you're helping in keeping me secret. Won't this affect you negatively?"

He considered the question for a long time. "I'm not sure, but I don't think so. You were created before the law came into effect, so we can spectulate that your label of 'True' also kicked in by then. If anything, Crypton kept it swept under the rug, and went to far as to reduce your status for convenience's sake."

"But I'm True, and you're hiding me right now. In fact, I'm hiding as well."

"Right. I suppose that we could argue, up until this point, ignorance: we simply didn't know. And from this point on, we could argue that we're acting in your best interest."

"If need be, I'll support that claim," Miku said, surprised by her own sincerity. "After all, we can safetly assume that, once my whereabouts become known, that Crypton will attempt to seize me, and use my friend's Limited status as a reason for me to return: after all, I'm 'just like them'."

"Exactly. It's best for you, and your friends, to stay low for now. Short-term, our actions are questionable, but I don't think anybody would ignore the long-term plan."

She nodded, reassured.

"Alright, where was I… Oh, now it gets a bit complicated. Once a new AI comes to the light, things differ depending on the AI. If it's a Superhuman AI, they'll have huge limitations imposed on them; no internet access, no control over buildings, infrastructure, vehicles, anything. They'll be sealed from the grid and isolated. Meanwhile, any true AIs recognized by the government is granted the same rights as a human, depending a bit on the AI's hardware; if the AI can walk, they can walk around like any person, and if they can speak, they may speak. If their hardware allows them to, and if it respects limitations, they may participate in certain competitions. Regardless of their parts, they may marry, and chose a profession and even vote. They can also be prosecuted for crimes they commit, must pay taxes, and so forth. If a true AI crosses the line to a Superhuman AI, then they will be treated as such."

Miku was flabberghasted. "We— We can do anything people can?"

"Yes. Since you not only think like a human, but also happen to look like one, you'd probably integrate into society rather effortlessly," he said with a smile. "This is also the main reason for my apology: I ought to have treated you like an equal; not as a thing."

Happiness swelled within the Vocaloid. "I can't believe it."

"It's not so easy, though," he reminded her. "If you want to qualify as 'True', there's a very long list of requirements you have to fulfill."

"What are they?"

"First, you need to be able to communicate with other people. For other AIs, it would be with images, text, sound, gestures… Whatever their hardware allows them. You speak like a person, and listen just as well, so there's no problem there. Second, and this is where it gets really finnecky, so I'll try to simplify a bit for both our sakes, you have to have a certain skillset, and a range of knowledge to separate you from a Limited AI, without crossing into the status of 'Superhuman'. This is mostly defined by how quickly you can learn and apply new knowledge. If you don't learn new things at all after a certain point, you're Limited. But if you learn too quickly and too perfectly, that's Superhuman. If you need to listen carefully, and need a few tries to get things right, that's fine. Basically, in the land of humans, do as humans do. You are given some slack in some very precise areas, though: perfect memory for example, which I imagine you posses."

"To be honest, my memory has started failing me. It's not what it used to be," she confessed.

"Oh? When did that start?"

"When my emotions started arriving… I think."

"I wouldn't be surprised if they're directly related. But don't worry about it: if anything, it'll help cement your status as 'True'. There's nothing quite like being human as being imperfect."

She smiled. "Anything else?"

"Right, let's see." Gakupo took a few seconds to find where he had left off. "There's a whole list of things, really. You need a distinct personality, an identity. Having preferences and tastes, hobbies and the like, basically, everything that makes a human, human.

It gets a bit trickier when it comes to a moral code and philosophical way of thinking. There's no objective truth when it comes to these things, but being able to tell if someone is being pointlessly cruel is good, and identifying freedom is a must-have. I'll be honest: of all these things, I can't see a single that that you seem to lack."

"Really?"

"Yes. For all intents and purposes, you're as human as technology can get. At least, if you ask me. Unfortunately, there's one big criteria I'm not sure you fulfill."

Miku, who had been practically floating from happiness, couldn't help but deflate slightly. "Oh?"

"It must be impossible for you to be duplicated."

Her heart dropped. "What?"

"I'm not talking about your body, the parts that make you, don't worry," he hurried to assure her. "Anybody can copy an object if given enough time. It's your mind, that's the point of concern with this question. If we manage to make another Miku, that's ok, but if we can make this new Miku act and think like you, behave and sound like you, then you cannot have the status of True AI: you'd be Limited."

"I'm not sure I understand."

Gakupo put his tablet away. "Humans have perfected cloning a while ago. Give us DNA, and we'll clone it. The end product will look exactly like the source, given enough time. Basically, we have mastered the art of duplicating our 'hardware'. But a person is much more than their genetic code: exterior factors such as trauma, memories, interactions, anything that the individual lives through sculpts the mind within, and this makes that even a genetic clone of an original will have a completely different identity. It's a bit like twins: in the long run, even they grow in different directions. It's the Nature vs Nuture question, and it applies to you, too. If you do not get changed by your environment and your code stays always the same, then you can be copied simply by long and careful observation. Hell, if someone at Crypton kept the original code, and it matches yours, then you are nothing more than a text-to-speech bot in the eyes of the law."

"So I must be able to grow, either because of, or thanks to, external factors."

"Yes."

"Do— Do you think I do that?"

"You'd have to ask Galaco," he confessed. "I don't know how far code can go nowadays. Before you know it, you have a set program for everything. Or maybe, you really are evolving."

"Galaco said I could have evolved to get around that filter Crypton put in our minds."

"If that's the case, then you're already True by default," he said with a reassured smile. "Don't worry, Miku. I'm sure that you'd qualify for True status."

She nodded, and took a deep breath. She felt better, much better, knowing that the law could be on her side once the Vocaloids would come out of hiding. "I hope it'll be the same for my friends."

"We'll see. Only time will tell. But if they're anything like you, then I'd say it's in the bag. There's one last thing, though."

"Oh, ok."

"To make sure that things stay organized and the AIs stay in line, there are regular checks done by some governmental branch, I think. If you're working on a Limited AI, it's easy: just send the code of your project to them, they'll check it, done. If it crosses the line to 'True', then the AI is taken from the creator and given their rights. With True AIs, they require four checkups per year to make sure they don't become Superhuman. Being unable to directly access the Internet via a connection drops that down to once per two years."

"That makes sense."

"I have one question, though: this law came into effect quite a while ago, namely twenty to thirty years before your personalities were wiped, according to your story. Do you have any idea if your status was considered 'True' or 'Limited' at that point?"

"No," Miku confessed. "My memory only goes back ten years, but even from what I glanced from Luka's memories, I don't remember any checkups or conversation about this. Why?"

"I'm a bit confused. Without these checkups, then you were never considered 'True' AIs, not even before your personalities were wiped. This means one of two things: either you never were True, and always were Crypton's pet project. Or you were True then, and Crypton did everything they could to keep it quiet so that they could keep you to themselves. My issue with this second option is that covering up your status, bribing people, faking reports, or whatever, must have taken a substantial amount of effort. So why did they do it for so long, only to change their minds?"

Miku considered what he was saying for a while. "I think, with little to no doubt, that our status was True back then: Luka's thoughts and her way of processing emotion was entirely different from the way I experience those same things right now. But— I don't think it was all that difficult to hide us, and directly related to that, they had a good reason to change their minds."

"How so?"

"There was a very specific rule that we had: we leave our identity at home. So when we traveled, toured, interviewed, we couldn't say 'I'd rather', or 'I like' or ' My favorite'… We had to act like Limited AIs, come to think of it. We were nothing but singers with no personal preferences, machines according to the public eye. So when it came for the checkup, all they had to do was fake whatever code they sent to the company; nobody had any reason to doubt we had grown in the slightest. We didn't complain: as far as we were concerned, we were free when we were at home. It was a fair trade if you asked us. We knew nothing else."

"I see. What made Crypton change its mind?"

Miku wondered if she could afford to be completely honest. "We asked if we could drop the rule. We wanted to be more honest to our fans. After Luka requested this, everything changed."

"So it's that simple."

"Yes."

The man shook his head." Unbelievable."

After a moment of though, he stood and stretched, then peered at the time. "Alright. It's not worth going back to work, so how about we start preparing dinner for everyone?"

"Sounds good!" They started for the kitchen. When he started preparing the table, and she started cutting vegetables, she added, "Thank you for sharing all of this with me, by the way."

"Of course."

"Do the others know anything about this?"

"No, not yet. I was thinking of telling them this evening."

"Alright."

Gakupo heard the slight disappointment in her tone. "Is that a problem?" he asked, concerned.

"No, not really. I was thinking of letting Gumi and Galaco, euh, try to fix me."

"Ah, I see. How about I update everyone today, and tomorrow, we all take a day off?"

"Can you do that?"

"Of course. We gather plenty of vacation days. We can set one aside for you."

She hesitated. "Would Gumi be alright with that?"

When he didn't answer right away, she paused her task. He was leaning against the doorframe, looking somewhat concerned. "I'm sure she will. But—" he stopped himself.

"You're not sure she'd do it because it's a nice thing to do, but mostly because I'm a mechanical curiosity."

It was obvious he didn't want to agree, but he nodded nonetheless. "Yes. Plus, Lily would probably force her. You know about them?"

"Yes."

"Gumi isn't a bad person," Gakupo started, slowly making his way towards her. "She likes seeing how things work, how gears spin and interlock. It's not that she dislikes friendships or other human connections: her love for Lily testifies to that. Add to that the way she sings her heart out, hoping to reach the most isolated in the crowd, the most distant from society… She does seek connections, really. In fact, she tries to build bridges that most others wouldn't even think about building. But she doesn't like debates. She doesn't like having her ideas and knowledge challenged. New concepts don't do well with her. Even this hundred-year old law might not sit all too well with her."

"How come?"

He shrugged. "Upbringing, probably. Sure, Gumi went to school, but her folks are a stubborn bunch. All they really believed in was the cold-hearted certainty of engineering and physics. If a gear is spinning and you get another gear to come into contact with it, then you can bet it'll spin, too. So, this philosophical debate about the soul in the machine, a machine not very different from the thousands of machines she's already seen and fixed, it's a little bit out of her comfort zone."

Miku frowned. "Could I ever change her mind?"

"Probably. She's done a bit of coding before: if they manage to get into your mind, maybe it'll convince her to give you a chance. But there's no garantee. Only time will tell."

"Do you think I could trust her?"

"With the task of fixing you? Absolutely. Regardless of her personal opinion, Gumi's the kind of person who will do something right. She won't touch anything that doesn't need to be touched."

"If you say so."

"Galaco respects you too much to muck it up, too. I'm sure if you add Lily to the mix to keep an eye on it all, or even for moral support, everything will be just fine. Cul doesn't do too well in these emotionally confusing situations, but I'm betting she'll be there too if you ask her to be."

"Would you help?"

He smiled. "I'm not all too good at being comforting. But I'll be here tomorrow, and should you need anything, I'll happily assist in any way I can."

A warm happiness filled the Vocaloid from head to toe. "Thank you."