Chapter 4 She's Finished

I sighed in frustration as President Kurai droned on and on. For somebody who is really dedicated to his goal, he sure is a bore to listen to. Except when he is angry. You wouldn't even want your worst enemy to be on the receiving end of his anger.

I stopped listening to his speech when it reached the ten minute mark. He started by saying that he wanted to get rid of the Pretty Cure, specifically Cure Tomorrow. For some reason, he seems to have a real vendetta against Cure Tomorrow. He claims it is just because she is the Pretty Cure's leader, but I have a feeling it is because of some other reason. I'm not one hundred percent sure what it is, but I know it is there. It's like a noise that you can't detect the source of.

I drummed my fingers on the desk and got to thinking. Ruru is finished. She is currently lying in a capsule in the basement, which is where I am allowed to work. The only thing that I need to do now is activate her. I've been anticipating this day since Ruru was just a mere idea, and as a consequence I was having trouble sitting still. If only President Kurai would hurry up and finish his stupid speech!

As if he could read my mind, the president finally wrapped up the business meeting. He told us all to stay dedicated to our task and went off the screen. I breathed a sigh of relief and got up from my desk. Finally, I could interact with Ruru for the first time! I was so excited that I could hardly contain it!

My colleagues also started to get up from their desks and roam around the room. As I was just about to leave, Charaleet and Papple came up to me.

"So old man," said Charaleet, "I heard that your project is finished?"

I grinned.

"Yes, she is," I said. Charaleet chuckled.

"That's great," he said. "That means you can finally get out from under your rock and start helping us with other things!"

I snorted. I don't know if Charaleet is like this to anyone else, but he acts like a real smart aleck around me. Papple gasped.

"Charaleet!" she said. "Don't you know that this android is really important to the company? You should treat Dr. Traum with more respect!"

Charaleet just laughed. No one really takes Papple seriously. She has way too bubbly a personality for a professional setting. There is also a rumor flying around that she is sleeping with the president.

"Well, if you two don't mind," I said, "I need to go activate Ruru."

"Oh, that's what you decided to call her?" Charaleet asked with a little laugh.

I turned and gave him a bit of an evil eye.

"Yes," I said. I turned on my heel and headed down the stairs. My heartbeat grew with each passing moment. I had programmed Ruru to grow and learn. The reason I did that was twofold. First off, I want her to be an intelligent being, just like a human. Secondly, (and I'm embarrassed to admit this) I've run into a wall with how to program her to feel. Emotionally, I mean. How can you program emotions into a machine? How can you give an android an emotional heart? I'll admit, I was stumped. So, I just decided to see if I could program her to have her heart develop. After all, a regular human isn't born with a pre-programmed heart, are they?

I entered through the door and approached the capsule. I looked in through the glass at my android's face. My android's perfect face. Before Aimi's death, I had no idea what Ruru was going to look like. Over the past few months, however, I had decided to model her after Aimi. Sure, she isn't an exact replica. Aimi was only seven, while Ruru appears to be about thirteen. Ruru's hair is also longer and a darker shade of lavender. Nevertheless, I still think she looks beautiful. She greatly resembles Aimi in the eyes and face.

I pushed a button and the capsule opened up. Ruru's eyes opened and she slowly sat up. When she saw me, she smiled. I smiled back, grateful that I was able to make her facial transitions so seamless.

"Ruru Amour," I said. "My name is Dr. Traum Tatsuya. I am the one who is responsible for your construction and your programming."

The smile fell from Ruru's face. That was when I noticed something was off. While her face still looked pretty accurate to a human's, it also had a stony, mask-like quality to it. Her eyes didn't have the same life that real eyes do either.

"Dr. Traum," she said quietly, stoically.

I felt a little disappointed, but of course I knew I had no reason to be. I hadn't programmed Ruru to feel emotions yet. I made sure to smile even wider.

"You may refer to me without an honorific," I said. "In fact, you may call me whatever you want. You can call me Dr. Traum, Master, or even Papa."

Ruru blinked.

"I shall refer to you as Master," she said.

I stifled a sigh. I would have prefered to have her call me Papa, but I guess I can tolerate being called Master.

"You have one primary goal," I said. "We work for a company called Criasu, and their mission is to stop time. You are going to adhere to that. No matter what gets in your way, whether it be your superiors or the Pretty Cure, you are going to stick to that plan. Do you understand?"

Ruru stared at me. Then she nodded.

"I am programmed to do what you say, master," she said. "If your desire is for me to aid the company in the mission to stop time, then I will do just that."

I nodded in reply.

"Very good," I said. I beamed. "Welcome to the world, Ruru chan!"

I approached Ruru and embraced her in a hug. She felt cold, even though my skin was completely covered.

"What is this?" she asked. "This gesture is not a part of my programming."

I let her go.

"It's called a hug, Ruru," I said. "It's an expression of love."

"Love?" Ruru asked. "What is love?"

"It's..it's a feeling," I said. "It's a special feeling that is felt in the heart."

Ruru stared at me for a while.

"That does not compute," she said at last.

I sighed. It looks like I have a lot of work to do.