Shoko Komi's Ultimate Challenge

by Ulquiorra9000

Communication 35: let's build it!

In early spring, it was time for the family to get together once again at Yuiko Komi's countryside estate! On the drive to grandma's house, Shoko Komi relaxed in the family car's back seat, arms folded across her chest, watching the countryside rush past her. Part of her wanted to try and find a cool new challenge at her grandmother's house, but another part of her wondered if that was appropriate. Visiting her family wasn't supposed to be some game! But then again, playing card games with Yuiko and her cousin Akira had been fun for Shoko, and challenging, too. Hmmmmmmmmm...

"Are you all right, Shoko dear?" Shuko asked, looking back at her brooding daughter.

Shoko sat up straight, shaking her head.

"Oh. I was just afraid you were bored, or in a bad mood," Shuko said kindly. "I know it can be kinda boring driving all the way out to grandma's house."

Tell me about it, Shosuke's expression clearly said. He was definitely pouting in his seat behind his mother, evidently suffering from Counter-Strike withdrawal. The poor thing.

Shoko shook her head again. "I'm fine, mom," she said softly. Which was pretty much true, but even so... what to do?

At least it was nice to see everyone again!

"Oh my, they're so weird," Shuko said with a chuckle as Masayoshi and his brother Sadayoshi once again greeted each other with silent but meaningful stares once everyone met up at the house.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Ryuko Komi said with a smile, cupping a hand to her cheek. "My Sadayoshi hardly says a word all day long! It's like, hello! I'm right here, dear!"

The sisters-in-law shared a laugh, while Shosuke, who totally identified with his father's and uncle's silence, loitered at the edge of the gathering.

Shoko, meanwhile, happily greeted her younger cousin Akira with an exchange of friendly bows. Akira piped up, "Um, Shoko... uh..."

Shoko gave her a go-ahead gesture.

Akira cleared her throat. "I wanna play games with you again, Shoko! I've gotten a little better, and I wanna see if... well, if I can win. Please?"

Shoko patted her cousin's head. Of course we can. But let's talk to grandma first. The cousins gave friendly bows to Yuiko, who gave them a terse bow in response.

"Are you okay, grandma?" Akira asked.

"Hmph. Just a little... maintenance issue," Yuiko said evasively, fiddling with her glasses. "Blasted thing never worked right..."

Shoko cocked her head in confusion. "What is it, grandma?"

"Oh, it's nothing, girls. I just..." Yuiko folded her arms. "You see, I'm looking to launch my own small business with my savings. Work from home, and all that. But I need a working computer, as Sadayoshi told me, and my computer just won't work anymore! I can't even get to the desktop screen."

Akira gasped. "Wow, grandma! You're gonna have your own business? That's so wonderful! What are you gonna sell?"
"I have a few ideas," Yuiko said sourly, "but it won't matter if my computer can't boot up! Though I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. That thing's been around for years and years. It was slow even before it broke down."

Now this sounded like a challenge in the making! Could Shoko help get her beloved grandma's computer fixed so Yuiko could launch her own business? She had to try! She and Akira followed Yuiko inside the house and into Yuiko's office, where the PC in question sat innocently on an antique desk, its screen solid black.

"Feel free to tinker with it," Yuiko said as Shoko and Akira curiously checked the computer's exterior. "But I'm convinced it's dead by now."

Shoko was no tech expert, but she knew the basics, at least. She sat in the swivel chair, turned on the tower and monitor, and watched the PC boot up... slowly. And it made some nasty, weird noises inside the tower. Then, as Shoko feared...

"Oh, that doesn't look right," Akira commented when the screen got all glitchy, and a blue text box appeared with some technical jargon Shoko didn't really understand. Fortunately, Shoko wasn't too proud to ask for help, so she jogged back outside and brought over her reluctant brother to get some pointers. There had to be a way to fix this!

Shosuke scratched his head, staring intently at the screen. Then he moved the mouse around, typed some keys, and then got up, shaking his head. It's beyond help, Shosuke's face clearly said. Sorry, grandma.

"Hmph. I feared as much," Yuiko commented. "Very well, Shosuke, girls. You tried your best."

The challenge was already over? That can't be right! Could no one fix this computer and help Yuiko launch her business? Shoko didn't come all this way just to fail like that.

But wait... why make the challenge "fix Yuiko's PC"? How about "help Yuiko launch her business with a working computer" instead? That opened up new possibilities for the group!

Shoko made a happy "Hmph!" and hopped up and down with excitement.

"What is it, Shoko?" Yuiko asked.

Shoko took a deep breath. "Grandma, Shosuke, Akira... since this computer is ruined, let's make a new one! Together!"

Akira gasped and clapped her hands over her mouth. "I didn't think of that!"

Yuiko finally cracked a smile at her granddaughter. "Good girl. I like the way you think. How soon can we get it done?"

Shoko had no idea, so she turned to her brother, who was already on his phone to check something. He held up the screen so everyone could see the Google map image of a local electronics store. We can find the parts there, and have it done by dinnertime, Shosuke's vaguely excited expression said.

"You seem happy, Shosuke," Akira commented to her cousin.

Shosuke merely shrugged, so Shoko explained that her brother was also overdue for a challenge, and even if he didn't admit it, he always had fun working with his hands. This shared project was a go!

The other Komis were pleasantly surprised when Shoko explained their new mission, and Masayoshi generously offered to drive his son and daughter to that local shop to get the parts. As for the money, Yuiko lent Masayoshi one of her credit cards and advised him to keep the total under 200,000 yen. Whoa! Were computers always so expensive? Scary!

Then Shoko hopped into the car with Shosuke, and the three of them arrived at the shop about 20 minutes later. What a place! Shoko had never visited such a store, marveling at the displays of printers, laptops, graphics cards, monitors, and some items she didn't even know the name or function of. Sheepishly, Shoko turned to her brother for help once again, and asked for the basics on how this worked. She would have to share this highly technical challenge with him or end up just making a mess of things. Well, the important part was that Shoko was trying new things, anyway.

Shosuke nodded and listed the basics for building a custom PC, such as finding a sufficient power source, tower case, hard drive, graphics card, cooling system, and accessories such as the mouse, monitor, and keyboard. Oh, and make sure the parts are compatible with each other! It sounded daunting, but that's why Shoko Komi was here. Time to expand her horizons!

Masayoshi politely asked a store employee for help finding these things, and the three of them picked out the goodies from all over the store, with Shoko marveling at each box's cool illustrations and the technical mumbo-jumbo on the back. She didn't know how much RAM was enough or anything, but she'd figure this out just fine. And Yuiko didn't need a high-spec gaming PC like some of the boys in Shoko's class did, or else it would cost twice as much! Some hobbies sure are expensive.

I believe this should do it, Masayoshi commented silently when Shoko picked out a keyboard and put it into the cart. Shoko and Shosuke agreed, so they went right to the cash register, where Shoko watched the total cost add up in a hurry! She held a hand to her heart when the total reached 198,567 yen, just a hair under Yuiko's maximum budget. Shoko knew how strict her grandma could be, especially when annoyed! And Masayoshi sure knew it, too. He had a whew, that was close expression on his face when he handed over his mother's credit card to pay, and about 25 minutes later, the three Komis returned to the estate with the goods in tow, each of them carrying a few boxes.

"My, my. What's all this, dear?" Shuko asked warmly in the living room, even though she already knew.

Computer parts for mom. We're going to build it ourselves, Masayoshi informed her.

Sadayoshi gave his brother a wordless nod of approval, as though to say Right on, big bro. And Ryuko merely commented on how cute and grown-up Shosuke looked carrying boxes, prompting the boy to hurry into Yuiko's study where things were quieter.

Shoko smiled to herself and helped her father bring in the rest of the goods, and they closed the door to get to work building this thing. Challenge time!

*o*o*o*o*

Twenty minutes later...

For the third time, Shoko held up the same odd-looking power cord thingy to her brother, asking What does this do? with her expression.

Shosuke stopped what he was doing and held it up to the right parts, motioning at it all. As per the instructions, his face said. But we don't need it yet. The other component isn't in place.

Shoko meekly nodded. She had installed the power supply all on her own and set up the mouse, keyboard, and monitor on the desk (the old PC was gone), but the rest was a bit tougher. Even Masayoshi, who hadn't done this in years, was getting lost, too. But it was too soon to give up!

Then, at last...

Let's take it for a spin, kids, Masayoshi's expression said. He gave them a thumbs-up and pressed the newly-assembled computer's power button. Shoko watched in fascination as the PC tower hummed to life, the monitor showing some neat screens all the while.

Then Shoko's heart sank when an error window appeared on the monitor. That wasn't supposed to happen!

Masayoshi examined the message. Something's wrong, his face said. He shut off the PC again and took off its panels to reveal its electronic guts, but there were no obvious problems. Shosuke and Masayoshi each poked around in there, but they seemed sure that everything was slotted in, plugged in, and wired up just right. Then Shoko thought of something.

Shoko motioned, and Shosuke showed her a certain paragraph and diagram of the online instruction booklet he had found. Shoko squinted at the instructions, trying to line up everything in her head...

She suddenly went "Hmph!" and imagined her cat ears perking up. Of course!

Moving quickly, Shoko unplugged a few things inside Yuiko's new PC, switched around some plugs and cables, then slotted the hard drive in the other way and a few inches lower to make room for the cables. Then she hit the power button, watching anxiously as the PC once again showed its bootup screens.

Success! The PC moved on to the proper screen, and a silent but delighted Masayoshi gave Shoko a proud pat on the head before he sat in the swivel chair to take care of the rest.

Shosuke watched his father work, then glanced at the PC, then to his sister. He looked amazed and slightly embarrassed.

"What's wrong, Shosuke?" Shoko asked.

Shosuke winced. I'm the one who wired up that thing wrong. I got the other parts right, but not that one. Good call, big sis.

Shoko impulsively patted her brother's head, then skipped off to bring over her grandmother and share the good news. A moment later, the entire Komi family crowded into the home office, watching Yuiko test out her brand-new desktop.

"Hmph. You sure know how to spend a few yen, Masayoshi," Yuiko commented dryly.

Masayoshi braced himself.

Yuiko made a tiny smile. "But good job, Masayoshi, Shoko, Shosuke. This is perfect. Thank you for your hard work."

"Hooray! They did it!" Ryuko cheered, clapping.

"I raised those kids right," Shuko added happily.

Sadayoshi grunted his approval.

Shoko, meanwhile, checked off the challenge in her head and finally retired to the living room to play a few card games with Akira, determined to spend the rest of this visit relaxing, not tinkering with stuff! The next challenge could wait for a few more days. She dearly looked forward to it.