HOPE
Chii slowly ascended the flight of stairs that led to her room. Each step was filled with so much emotion and pain as she traced every step she and Hideki took and recalled each and every memory that this place still held for her. She finally made it to her room and entered it, slowly closing the door as it clicked into place. She ran her hands over each panel of the wall; each mat on the floor as she remembered waking up inside this room after Hideki activated her for the first time. She then sat down by the window where she usually stayed when waiting for Hideki to come home. Most of the things were already in their respective boxes already and all that was left to do was to seal the few that remained open as there were still a few things that she had to put away. The two mobile-persocoms, Sumomo and Kotoko were at the mansion already as she instructed them to go ahead. Chii stood up and opened the cabinet where Hideki stored his favorite "side- dishes" as Sumomo would call them. A major number of the magazines had seen better days and most were fit to be thrown away now as they had stayed untouched in the cabinet after Hideki had gone to college. To others, it was simply a collection of porn-magazines but to Chii, they were a treasure to be stored, if only for the memory of Hideki.
But since there were issues that had either been water-damaged or faded already, Chii had no choice but to throw these away. After a few minutes, she had two stacks of magazines that she would take down to the dumping area outside the compound. Even that dumping-ground held a cherished memory for Chii for it was where Hideki first found her.
She was back in her room after dumping the magazines. After a thorough examination, Chii found out that she still needed one more box to store her own belongings which were mostly dresses and her own collection of the magazine which she didn't know until now, were actually written by her "mother" Chitose Hibiya. Chii recalled that her mother stored a dozen or so unused boxes in the broom-closet of her own room. Rm101. She went up in order to retrieve the boxes.
Upon entering, Chii turned on the light and searched for the broom-closet. She had accidentally flicked another switch and she heard a slight humming as a panel opened from the floor. She examined it and found that it had a flight of stairs going down. There seemed to be machinery that was still running so she decided to go in investigate.
Chii found herself in a big room where there were a lot of displays and a 360 degree console with a helmet-interface. She had stumbled into her late mother's personal laboratory. Her curiosity got the better of her and she was about to investigate the controls when the systems hummed to life and a hologram appeared on the chair in the middle of the room. When the image cleared-up, Chii saw a person she never expected to see: her mother, Chitose Hibiya.
"Chii," uttered the hologram of Ms. Hibiya.
"Mo-mother?!!" was all Chii could say as she gazed at her mother's image.
"Yes, it's me," the image replied.
"How-how is this possible..?" Chii continued.
"I know this seems surprising for you so I'll explain," replied the holographic Hibiya and the hologram went on to explain how and why it was activated.
"If you're viewing this, it means that I have died and most likely, Hideki has died too. My system calendar tells me that it has been almost fifty years since Hideki reactivated you. I assume that you're alone now save for Minoru and Yuzuki, right? Anyway, I can tell that all these "departures" have not gone well with you especially that of Hideki's death so I prepared for this event," the hologram began.
"Prepared? You prepared for this? What do you mean, mother?" Chii asked.
"Yes, I've indeed made arrangements for this day. As you now know, Persocoms especially a CHOBIT like you are almost immortal save for any debilitating accident or a hardware failure. But if none of these mishaps occur, a persocom will look the same as the day it was turned on and can go on and on with its life. But unfortunately, humans like me and Hideki do not have those options. When we age, our bodies deteriorate as we get older and when we have lived our normal expected life-span, we humans die. You can imagine how hard it was for me when your "father" died, for he was MY one and only as Hideki was to you," holographic Hibiya continued as Chii nodded in assent.
"Our only comfort as humans, is the knowledge that if ever our loved one passes away ahead of us, we'll soon follow. Maybe not immediately but eventually and then we can be reunited. But such is not the case for Persocoms," the hologram added. It paused, with a matching facial expression and anyone who was well-versed with programming would marvel at the AI's seeming sentience.
"Even a non-CHOBIT persocom develops an attachment to its owner. Yours is much deeper thus, much worse especially after your OS was upgraded when you found Hideki: your 'only one'. Your emotions are more complete now especially after all this time so I knew that Hideki's death will hit you hard. It's because of this that I set about making sure that you wouldn't be alone when all of the humans in your life are gone," added the holo- Hibiya.
Chii felt anxious at the hologram's words. Of the humans she knew, only Minoru remained alive now. Yumi was still alive though she had moved to another area with her children after her husband, Ueda, died. The confectionery remained open but this was due to Minoru buying it for Chii so that she would at least have a semblance of her old routine and he had a few people running it with Chii. Minoru himself was already approaching his sixties and Chii often heard him mumbling about how he wasn't as healthy as he used to be whenever he and Yuzuki came to visit. But what did holo- Hibiya mean by her last sentence?
A few commands scrolled quickly down a screen off to Chii's left and she heard a few more systems come to life. A key was blinking red on the console immediately below it while the screen displayed a message saying all systems were ready and was waiting for the command to execute.
"Chii, please press that blinking button on the console," the holo-Hibiya requested. Chii did as she was asked and she stepped back after pressing it.
The additional systems hummed and Chii could almost hear the countless servos that were running. The activity reached a pitch and then suddenly ceased. Chii heard a system message declare that the process was complete and a panel opened in the wall that was near the screen. A few more panels opened from the wall and Chii could barely make out a figure suspended by wires and cables from the ceiling. A few more servos hummed into operation and the figure was slowly moved out of the recess into the light.
"Initiate final scans and internal systems check," ordered the holo-Hibiya,
"Initiating diagnostic-program.......querying internal systems for synapse- response and system-integrity.............scans and diagnostics complete. No anomalies or inconsistencies found. Construct awaiting final instructions," declared the system's vocal-alert.
The holo-Hibiya executed a few commands then turned its attention back to Chii while the whole operation was being executed.
"I meant to tell you about this but there simply wasn't enough time. I myself had only learnt of the possibility after I had turned forty-five. The whole process would take twenty or thirty years to complete as I lacked a number of major parts that were necessary for the completion of this process. I chose to go ahead with the operation," explained the holo- Hibiya.
The cables and wires attached to the figure were detached one by one and it was soon lying on the prep-table that projected out of another area in the wall.
"Constructing a new unit was not the problem but it was more of how to program it successfully but in the end, your father showed me the way," holo-Hibiya explained.
"Father did?" Chii inquired. The holo-Hibiya nodded in assent.
"Chii, this is my final gift to you as your mother. I'd like you to meet my latest and last CHOBIT-series persocom: Hideki Motusawa," declared the holo- Hibiya as the lights fully exposed the figure lying on the table.
Chii slowly ascended the flight of stairs that led to her room. Each step was filled with so much emotion and pain as she traced every step she and Hideki took and recalled each and every memory that this place still held for her. She finally made it to her room and entered it, slowly closing the door as it clicked into place. She ran her hands over each panel of the wall; each mat on the floor as she remembered waking up inside this room after Hideki activated her for the first time. She then sat down by the window where she usually stayed when waiting for Hideki to come home. Most of the things were already in their respective boxes already and all that was left to do was to seal the few that remained open as there were still a few things that she had to put away. The two mobile-persocoms, Sumomo and Kotoko were at the mansion already as she instructed them to go ahead. Chii stood up and opened the cabinet where Hideki stored his favorite "side- dishes" as Sumomo would call them. A major number of the magazines had seen better days and most were fit to be thrown away now as they had stayed untouched in the cabinet after Hideki had gone to college. To others, it was simply a collection of porn-magazines but to Chii, they were a treasure to be stored, if only for the memory of Hideki.
But since there were issues that had either been water-damaged or faded already, Chii had no choice but to throw these away. After a few minutes, she had two stacks of magazines that she would take down to the dumping area outside the compound. Even that dumping-ground held a cherished memory for Chii for it was where Hideki first found her.
She was back in her room after dumping the magazines. After a thorough examination, Chii found out that she still needed one more box to store her own belongings which were mostly dresses and her own collection of the magazine which she didn't know until now, were actually written by her "mother" Chitose Hibiya. Chii recalled that her mother stored a dozen or so unused boxes in the broom-closet of her own room. Rm101. She went up in order to retrieve the boxes.
Upon entering, Chii turned on the light and searched for the broom-closet. She had accidentally flicked another switch and she heard a slight humming as a panel opened from the floor. She examined it and found that it had a flight of stairs going down. There seemed to be machinery that was still running so she decided to go in investigate.
Chii found herself in a big room where there were a lot of displays and a 360 degree console with a helmet-interface. She had stumbled into her late mother's personal laboratory. Her curiosity got the better of her and she was about to investigate the controls when the systems hummed to life and a hologram appeared on the chair in the middle of the room. When the image cleared-up, Chii saw a person she never expected to see: her mother, Chitose Hibiya.
"Chii," uttered the hologram of Ms. Hibiya.
"Mo-mother?!!" was all Chii could say as she gazed at her mother's image.
"Yes, it's me," the image replied.
"How-how is this possible..?" Chii continued.
"I know this seems surprising for you so I'll explain," replied the holographic Hibiya and the hologram went on to explain how and why it was activated.
"If you're viewing this, it means that I have died and most likely, Hideki has died too. My system calendar tells me that it has been almost fifty years since Hideki reactivated you. I assume that you're alone now save for Minoru and Yuzuki, right? Anyway, I can tell that all these "departures" have not gone well with you especially that of Hideki's death so I prepared for this event," the hologram began.
"Prepared? You prepared for this? What do you mean, mother?" Chii asked.
"Yes, I've indeed made arrangements for this day. As you now know, Persocoms especially a CHOBIT like you are almost immortal save for any debilitating accident or a hardware failure. But if none of these mishaps occur, a persocom will look the same as the day it was turned on and can go on and on with its life. But unfortunately, humans like me and Hideki do not have those options. When we age, our bodies deteriorate as we get older and when we have lived our normal expected life-span, we humans die. You can imagine how hard it was for me when your "father" died, for he was MY one and only as Hideki was to you," holographic Hibiya continued as Chii nodded in assent.
"Our only comfort as humans, is the knowledge that if ever our loved one passes away ahead of us, we'll soon follow. Maybe not immediately but eventually and then we can be reunited. But such is not the case for Persocoms," the hologram added. It paused, with a matching facial expression and anyone who was well-versed with programming would marvel at the AI's seeming sentience.
"Even a non-CHOBIT persocom develops an attachment to its owner. Yours is much deeper thus, much worse especially after your OS was upgraded when you found Hideki: your 'only one'. Your emotions are more complete now especially after all this time so I knew that Hideki's death will hit you hard. It's because of this that I set about making sure that you wouldn't be alone when all of the humans in your life are gone," added the holo- Hibiya.
Chii felt anxious at the hologram's words. Of the humans she knew, only Minoru remained alive now. Yumi was still alive though she had moved to another area with her children after her husband, Ueda, died. The confectionery remained open but this was due to Minoru buying it for Chii so that she would at least have a semblance of her old routine and he had a few people running it with Chii. Minoru himself was already approaching his sixties and Chii often heard him mumbling about how he wasn't as healthy as he used to be whenever he and Yuzuki came to visit. But what did holo- Hibiya mean by her last sentence?
A few commands scrolled quickly down a screen off to Chii's left and she heard a few more systems come to life. A key was blinking red on the console immediately below it while the screen displayed a message saying all systems were ready and was waiting for the command to execute.
"Chii, please press that blinking button on the console," the holo-Hibiya requested. Chii did as she was asked and she stepped back after pressing it.
The additional systems hummed and Chii could almost hear the countless servos that were running. The activity reached a pitch and then suddenly ceased. Chii heard a system message declare that the process was complete and a panel opened in the wall that was near the screen. A few more panels opened from the wall and Chii could barely make out a figure suspended by wires and cables from the ceiling. A few more servos hummed into operation and the figure was slowly moved out of the recess into the light.
"Initiate final scans and internal systems check," ordered the holo-Hibiya,
"Initiating diagnostic-program.......querying internal systems for synapse- response and system-integrity.............scans and diagnostics complete. No anomalies or inconsistencies found. Construct awaiting final instructions," declared the system's vocal-alert.
The holo-Hibiya executed a few commands then turned its attention back to Chii while the whole operation was being executed.
"I meant to tell you about this but there simply wasn't enough time. I myself had only learnt of the possibility after I had turned forty-five. The whole process would take twenty or thirty years to complete as I lacked a number of major parts that were necessary for the completion of this process. I chose to go ahead with the operation," explained the holo- Hibiya.
The cables and wires attached to the figure were detached one by one and it was soon lying on the prep-table that projected out of another area in the wall.
"Constructing a new unit was not the problem but it was more of how to program it successfully but in the end, your father showed me the way," holo-Hibiya explained.
"Father did?" Chii inquired. The holo-Hibiya nodded in assent.
"Chii, this is my final gift to you as your mother. I'd like you to meet my latest and last CHOBIT-series persocom: Hideki Motusawa," declared the holo- Hibiya as the lights fully exposed the figure lying on the table.
