Minoru Kokubunji angrily flopped down into his lab chair and put his
head in his hands. His long black raven hair flowed around his face, and he
quickly tried to shove it back into his ponytail. He sat up annoyed at his
hair, wondering what on Earth ever possessed him to grow it out long in the
first place. He glanced over again at the computer screen,
"This is getting me no where." He said as he slowly walked back over to the monitor. He then lightly chuckled to himself; here he was 22 years old, fresh out of college and already working for Japan's top Government Research Center on Persocoms. His job was to create the ultimate A.I, which is a lot harder than he first thought. Many times during his research his mind would start drifting, remembering the 'Chobits' urban legend that floated around for about10 years.
"Minoru-san?" came the soft voice of Yuzuki as she walked into the room, "I'm sorry if I am interrupting your research." Minoru slowly stood up and walked over to her, putting his arms around her small frame,
"You're never interrupting anything love." He whispered into her ear. Yuzuki was considered one of the most powerful Persocoms Japan had ever seen. Even though she was a custom one, made by the very hands of Minoru several years ago, her self teaching program is unmatched. It was because of her that he got such a high job after graduating from college.
"Minoru-san, Mr. Yasha would like to see you in the basement facilities." She said, not moving from his embrace.
"Mr. Yasha? Did he tell you what he wanted?" He pulled away from her in surprise. For you see Mr. Yasha was the head of the Government Program on Persocom Research. Anything that involved this man was highly classified.
"No, he did not. He sent me the passwords to get into the basement and only said that you and I were to go down there immediately." She slowly started making her way towards the door.
"I'm coming, let me grab my findings as I am guessing that is why he wants to see me" he said as he rushed over to his desk and grabbed a folder. Then he made his way back to Yuzuki to meet with Mr. Yasha.
They walked in silence to the basement doors and then were stopped by two Persocoms.
"Hello Zima, hello Dita" Minoru said, "This must be pretty important if you two are here!" He slightly chucked. Dita glared at him but she kept her mouth shut. Zima chuckled slightly and leaned over to whisper into Minoru's ear,
"You're going to be surprised at what you see in there. Try not to wet yourself from the shock." With that he turned to Yuzuki, "Password verification please...thanks you. You two may pass." He stepped aside and the basement doors opened and all four of them silently walked in.
"Ah, Mr. Kokubunji!" Mr. Yasha exclaimed, "I was wondering when you were going to make it down here!"
"Hello Mr. Yasha." Minoru said as he bowed in respect to the older man. "May I ask what this meeting is about sir?" Mr. Yasha merely smiled and waved his hand over to two tables with what looked like corpses under white blankets.
"Uhh, sir I do not deal with dead bodies..." Minoru stammered.
"Dead bodies? Boy go take a closer look! They are Persocoms let me assure you." Mr. Yasha laughed, "Go on over there boy and pull off those covers." Minoru cautiously made his way over to the blankets and slowly began to pull them off of the one on the first table. He was starting to have a very bad feeling about this whole thing. So he closed his eyes and yanked the cloth off the Persocom, and jumped back in pure, utter shock.
"Minoru-san!" Yuzuki whispered in awe as she recognized the Persocom that was under the cloth.
"I take it this is not your first encounter with this Persocom is it?" Mr. Yasha chuckled, "The Government has been trying to get a hold of this beauty since that Chitose guy made it! And finally we were able to take it thanks to the information we've been given." Minoru clenched his fist and turned to the older man,
"And what of her owner? What happened to him?" He tried to keep his voice even and steady.
"He's dead, the man tried to fight us and in the process he got shot and regrettable died from it." Mr. Yasha turned back to the Persocom and walked over to it. He took a lock of her white hair in his hands, "Zima..."
"Yes Sir?" Zima said as he stepped forward with a strange look on his face.
"Please go get me some scissors; these two have an identical frame so we need a way to tell them apart." Mr. Yasha said as he gathered up the Persocom's hair. Zima hesitantly came forward with the scissors in his hand and handed them over to the man. Mr. Yasha proceeded to cut the Persocom's long white hair till it was just below her shoulders. Minoru just stood there in complete shock, and watched. "Alright, now we can tell the two apart, Minoru I want you to fix the broken one. And see just what makes these beauties tick, these are considered the most advance Persocoms ever made. Even though they are well over 10 years old, they are unmatched; they make your Persocoms look like trash. The rest of your orders are over there in a folder, I'll be back tomorrow, so please work on them until your shift is over." With that Mr. Yasha turned on his heel and left.
Minoru stood still as stone for a moment longer, and then collapsed to the floor sobbing. Yuzuki rushed over to him and tried to comfort him.
"I told you, you would be shocked beyond belief." Zima stated.
"It's Chii...my God it's Chii!! A-And Hideki's dead..." He covered his face with his hands and wept.
"Minoru-san...Mr. Yasha said that there were two of them, and that they were identical...how so?" Yuzuki asked as she glanced over at the other table with the other Persocom hidden from view. She got up and walked over to the other table and pulled off the other cloth. Just like the other man had said, the Persocom was identical to Chii. "H-How can this be?" She stammered.
"That's where I come in" Zima stepped forward, "You see Chitose made two of those Persocoms for his wife. That one there broke down, and around that same time the other one was restarted and put in the trash. The broken one's name is Freya; she was actually buried, with a tombstone and everything. But we found her and dug her up in hope to understand how they were made. That's where you come in Minoru."
"I can't...I can't do anything to them, if Hideki's dead, then Chii should be also. Chii's sister, Freya should also stay broken. It's not right to fix them!" Minoru shouted at Zima, hot tears streamed down his face. Zima merely shrugged.
"It's your job, you'll do it whether you like it or not. This is a top secret operation, if you back out you'll end up like your friend Hideki." With that Zima left the room, leaving Minoru and Yuzuki torn between morals and the sake of their job.
"This is getting me no where." He said as he slowly walked back over to the monitor. He then lightly chuckled to himself; here he was 22 years old, fresh out of college and already working for Japan's top Government Research Center on Persocoms. His job was to create the ultimate A.I, which is a lot harder than he first thought. Many times during his research his mind would start drifting, remembering the 'Chobits' urban legend that floated around for about10 years.
"Minoru-san?" came the soft voice of Yuzuki as she walked into the room, "I'm sorry if I am interrupting your research." Minoru slowly stood up and walked over to her, putting his arms around her small frame,
"You're never interrupting anything love." He whispered into her ear. Yuzuki was considered one of the most powerful Persocoms Japan had ever seen. Even though she was a custom one, made by the very hands of Minoru several years ago, her self teaching program is unmatched. It was because of her that he got such a high job after graduating from college.
"Minoru-san, Mr. Yasha would like to see you in the basement facilities." She said, not moving from his embrace.
"Mr. Yasha? Did he tell you what he wanted?" He pulled away from her in surprise. For you see Mr. Yasha was the head of the Government Program on Persocom Research. Anything that involved this man was highly classified.
"No, he did not. He sent me the passwords to get into the basement and only said that you and I were to go down there immediately." She slowly started making her way towards the door.
"I'm coming, let me grab my findings as I am guessing that is why he wants to see me" he said as he rushed over to his desk and grabbed a folder. Then he made his way back to Yuzuki to meet with Mr. Yasha.
They walked in silence to the basement doors and then were stopped by two Persocoms.
"Hello Zima, hello Dita" Minoru said, "This must be pretty important if you two are here!" He slightly chucked. Dita glared at him but she kept her mouth shut. Zima chuckled slightly and leaned over to whisper into Minoru's ear,
"You're going to be surprised at what you see in there. Try not to wet yourself from the shock." With that he turned to Yuzuki, "Password verification please...thanks you. You two may pass." He stepped aside and the basement doors opened and all four of them silently walked in.
"Ah, Mr. Kokubunji!" Mr. Yasha exclaimed, "I was wondering when you were going to make it down here!"
"Hello Mr. Yasha." Minoru said as he bowed in respect to the older man. "May I ask what this meeting is about sir?" Mr. Yasha merely smiled and waved his hand over to two tables with what looked like corpses under white blankets.
"Uhh, sir I do not deal with dead bodies..." Minoru stammered.
"Dead bodies? Boy go take a closer look! They are Persocoms let me assure you." Mr. Yasha laughed, "Go on over there boy and pull off those covers." Minoru cautiously made his way over to the blankets and slowly began to pull them off of the one on the first table. He was starting to have a very bad feeling about this whole thing. So he closed his eyes and yanked the cloth off the Persocom, and jumped back in pure, utter shock.
"Minoru-san!" Yuzuki whispered in awe as she recognized the Persocom that was under the cloth.
"I take it this is not your first encounter with this Persocom is it?" Mr. Yasha chuckled, "The Government has been trying to get a hold of this beauty since that Chitose guy made it! And finally we were able to take it thanks to the information we've been given." Minoru clenched his fist and turned to the older man,
"And what of her owner? What happened to him?" He tried to keep his voice even and steady.
"He's dead, the man tried to fight us and in the process he got shot and regrettable died from it." Mr. Yasha turned back to the Persocom and walked over to it. He took a lock of her white hair in his hands, "Zima..."
"Yes Sir?" Zima said as he stepped forward with a strange look on his face.
"Please go get me some scissors; these two have an identical frame so we need a way to tell them apart." Mr. Yasha said as he gathered up the Persocom's hair. Zima hesitantly came forward with the scissors in his hand and handed them over to the man. Mr. Yasha proceeded to cut the Persocom's long white hair till it was just below her shoulders. Minoru just stood there in complete shock, and watched. "Alright, now we can tell the two apart, Minoru I want you to fix the broken one. And see just what makes these beauties tick, these are considered the most advance Persocoms ever made. Even though they are well over 10 years old, they are unmatched; they make your Persocoms look like trash. The rest of your orders are over there in a folder, I'll be back tomorrow, so please work on them until your shift is over." With that Mr. Yasha turned on his heel and left.
Minoru stood still as stone for a moment longer, and then collapsed to the floor sobbing. Yuzuki rushed over to him and tried to comfort him.
"I told you, you would be shocked beyond belief." Zima stated.
"It's Chii...my God it's Chii!! A-And Hideki's dead..." He covered his face with his hands and wept.
"Minoru-san...Mr. Yasha said that there were two of them, and that they were identical...how so?" Yuzuki asked as she glanced over at the other table with the other Persocom hidden from view. She got up and walked over to the other table and pulled off the other cloth. Just like the other man had said, the Persocom was identical to Chii. "H-How can this be?" She stammered.
"That's where I come in" Zima stepped forward, "You see Chitose made two of those Persocoms for his wife. That one there broke down, and around that same time the other one was restarted and put in the trash. The broken one's name is Freya; she was actually buried, with a tombstone and everything. But we found her and dug her up in hope to understand how they were made. That's where you come in Minoru."
"I can't...I can't do anything to them, if Hideki's dead, then Chii should be also. Chii's sister, Freya should also stay broken. It's not right to fix them!" Minoru shouted at Zima, hot tears streamed down his face. Zima merely shrugged.
"It's your job, you'll do it whether you like it or not. This is a top secret operation, if you back out you'll end up like your friend Hideki." With that Zima left the room, leaving Minoru and Yuzuki torn between morals and the sake of their job.