The Next Day, 9:00 AM
I lay awake in bed, surrounded by a sea of dirty clothes and magazines. Like every morning before it, for god knows how long, I wondered idly. What day is it anyway? It didn't feel any different from yesterday, last week, last year. Had it been ten minutes, or ten hours? When was the last time I talked to a person?
Ugh. I cringed. I still had that invitation from that Doctor Kuseno to think about. The thought of that torture was enough to make me feel sick. Who needs people anyway, when I have… I looked around my room, at the push-pinned posters and neatly arranged fleet of plastic figures at my bedside. I picked one up delicately and tenderly caressed the side of its tiny vinyl cheek.
"I don't need 3D people when I have you, Sasuke-kun. You're more than enough for me." Blushing, I gave the figure a kiss and set it down gingerly, swinging my legs over the edge of the bed.
There was no use brooding on it. I wasn't going to go, obviously. I'd never have the courage. I barely had the courage to get out of bed and make some coffee, and doing so now was all I had in me for today.
With a yawn, I bowed over the counter, resting my elbows at either side of the coffee maker, and watched absently as each drip of dark liquid splattered into little life-giving caffeinated droplets at the bottom of a lazily rinsed coffee pot. As I fixated impatiently on each drip, marveling at the way each joined the homogenous sea of black below, my body seemed to detect what my mind had been desperately trying to ignore, the fingers flouting the brain's authority as they anxiously wrung together.
I hadn't cleaned a thing in… well, ever, probably. Had I bathed, at least? I looked down at my clothes. How long had I been wearing these grungy things? I ran my fingers through my hair. Greasy. Tangled. I let out a sigh. All the more reason to flake on that invitation, right?
Quietly, the coffee maker clicked off, and for a second, it reminded me of myself. Other appliances announced themselves so noisily. The drier buzzed at the end of a cycle, get 'em while they're warm! The oven beeped when the timer ran out, if you don't hurry, I WILL burn this, damn you! But the humble coffee maker just switches off as quietly as it can, and gently warms your drink for you until you're ready to come and start the day. What a spineless device, I pretended not to have thought. I clenched my fists and pursed my lips, but only for a second before I remembered that I didn't even have a clean mug to drink this with.
And thus, I went about my day, coding, writing fanfiction, peering nervously through the peephole at my door, eating toast in lieu of cooking, not cleaning, once or twice succumbing to frivolous Amazon purchases—you can never have too much yaoi doujinshi, right? Just a normal day, right?
No. Not a normal day. No matter how I tried to push the thought aside, I kept thinking about Doctor Kuseno's offer. It's not that I really wanted to be around people for once. On the contrary, that was the obstacle here. But all of those years, I wondered about that day in the lab, about the mechanical monstrosity that crushed my arm and murdered my father. The government had declared the details of the event classified, and no amount of digging ever seemed to return any results. Even my mother's lips were sealed, and any time I asked her, she would just go cold and stiff and change the subject. But maybe this associate of my father's…
I sighed. Well, obviously, I had no choice but to go, so what was I doing wasting time?
Thus, at twelve fifty-five in the afternoon, I cowered behind a bus stop, trembling. The world was so loud, so bright. It was overwhelming. There were so many people and all of their footfalls and mutterings in unison were like the crackle of thunder. The high sun beamed down, reflecting from windows and chrome plating, even from the humblest keychains, and it was blinding, like the flash of lightning.
As I sat there, curled into a ball, yanking down on my hood and up on my scarf, trying to disappear into these folds of clothing, disintegrate into invisibility, my eyes danced away from one disdainful face after another until I found them welded to the ground, to the moving shadows of shuffling pedestrians. I imagined people stopping to point at me, to laugh, to make contemptuous expressions at me.
At last, my eyes found the door just beyond the crowd, nestled between a pharmacist and an antique shop, that bore the suite number Dr. Kuseno had sent me.
I gulped. If I ripped the bandaid off quick, I could be there in no time. But then I would have to deal with the doctor and whoever "us" was. I had made it so far already, though. I went outside. For the first time in years. What a feat! What a terrifying, perilous, death-defying, completely mundane, ordinary, every-day feat. I curled a little tighter into my sweater. How pathetic was I? In the middle of summer, wearing all these layers, just so I can pretend that people don't see me.
I took in a deep breath. No. I wasn't going to turn back now. This Kuseno person said he knew my father, after all. This might be my only chance to finally get some closure on the matter. I had been up all night mulling it over. The number he called from was restricted, and so I couldn't call or text it back without getting a dial tone or a fail message. There were no listings for a Doctor Kuseno anywhere, either. It crossed my mind once or twice that this could be a set up for a kidnapping or something equally nefarious. But I managed to convince myself that that was silly… and totally worth the risk for what I might get in return.
Well, this was it. It was now or never. I took a deep breath, squeezed the straps of my backpack, and poised myself for a mad dash. Vaulting over the bus stop and into the street, I toppled bystanders. Horns blared, tires squealed, drivers barked. At last, I dodge-rolled across the sidewalk, breathing heavily, to find my hands pressed against the door. I made it.
Around me, a crowd of confused onlookers had formed and their hushed whispers were like sirens in my ears. I ripped the door open and threw myself inside, slamming it behind me. I couldn't take that. Not again.
When I regained my senses and looked around, what I found was a darkened room devoid of décor that led into a narrow hallway. Slowly, I straightened myself up, advancing timidly into this new scene. I looked around, groping blindly for a light switch.
"H-hello…"
This place seemed to be totally abandoned. Did I come to the right suite? No, there was no mistaking it. This was the place, but… Where was the laboratory? Where was Dr. Kuseno? Maybe… Maybe it was a prank? But how did he know about my parents? A sigh of relief flew out of me when at last my fingers found the switch. I flipped it up, so happy to finally have some light… but instead, the floor fell away from beneath my feet and I found myself sliding down, down, down into a glistening metallic tunnel lined with red LEDs. I shrieked helplessly. What the hell was happening? This had to be some kind of nightmare, right? Was I going to wake up in Wonderland?
Soon, the tunnel gave way to a blinding white light and I found myself slammed face-first into a pristine tile floor. As my eyes adjusted to the light, everything seemed to be spinning. With a groan, I hoisted myself up on wobbly arms. What just happened?
"Ohhh! Akane-chan! Just in time! Come in, come in, take a seat!"
My eyes found a dowdy old man with a long tube-shaped nose and a gigantic bowl cut that fanned out on his head like an umbrella. He reached out to place a hand on my shoulder, but I wouldn't stand for it. With a shriek, I leapt back a good meter and a half, arms raised defensively.
He blinked in surprise, then realization washed over him. "Ah, I suppose that fall probably spooked you. Maybe I should have warned you! Anyway, let's see if some food won't help with that. There's someone I want you to meet, and then we can give you a nice tour of the facility."
He turned and began to cross the room with arms folded behind his back. Glancing around nervously, I soon settled down and hurried after him. Someone to meet. Great. Well, I was at least glad that he had skipped most of the tedious formalities that I could never, ever get the hang of. Maybe this Doctor Kuseno wasn't so bad.
Thus, I followed him through endless cinderblock hallways, past countless metal doors, some firmly shut, and others gaping open, teasing their contents with the blinking of LEDs and the shadows of dangling cables, gnarled machinery. Yet this place was less like a laboratory and more like a bunker. I skittered after the Doctor, who walked impressively fast for a man with such short legs.
"Um… Doctor Kuseno…" I began, winded from the effort.
"Hmm?" He wondered, slowing down.
"Who exactly are you taking me to—" Clunk. I stumbled back, hissing as I cradled my forehead. What in the world did I run into? It felt like a metal ma… ma… a metal man!?
My mouth fell open. I brushed all of the clumps of orange hair out of my eyes to make sure I got a good look. Sure enough, what stood before me was glimmering steel, bent and molded into the form of a man, and I followed the carefully crafted contours up to the face… the face… the face…
"Whoa…" I breathed. "It looks so real," I said, reaching up to touch the cheek. It was so soft, so pliable, like real human skin, and as I traced its curvature along the jawline to the chin, I marveled at the texture. Not even the best silicone facsimile could hold a candle to this material. My first thought was what this substance could possibly be.
My next thought was that I really, really wanted one.
A flush raced to my cheeks as I looked over the handsome features; the graceful curve of the lips, like that of a Mongolian bow at rest, the princely jawline, and focused, narrow, almond-shaped eyes that glowed in amber hues.
It was incredibly well-crafted (though the black sclera was an odd touch). My eyes sparkled with inspiration as I gazed at it. What an amazing work of art. What a tantalizing concept. And, most alluring, I mused, like my cute little vinyl figures, an android could never cast me aside. Why hadn't I ever thought of it before? The perfect man. How long would it take to make one?
Curious, I took a firm pinch of the cheek, to test its elasticity. Then, to my horror, it blinked, reached up, and snapped its cold metal hand around mine, gently directing it away with a frown. I yelped.
Doctor Kuseno laughed sheepishly. "Well, that's because it is real," he said, smashing my dreams to smithereens.
My mind was somehow both blank and cataclysmic. Like a lone racer in an empty stadium, hugging the turns, heated and sweating in a claustrophobic cockpit, but where is she going and why? I backed away, heart pounding.
"S-sorry!" I managed to choke out, turning away to reflect with dread over what I'd done—and worse, what I'd thought. I had long since forbidden myself from ever going down that road again, after what happened in—
Doctor Kuseno cleared his throat. "Now, now, no need. Genos here is a cyborg, so it was probably an easy mistake to make," he reassured. "Genos, this is that Akane-chan I was telling you about."
Genos's eyes widened and he quickly closed the ample distance I had created and bowed at the waist. "It's an honor to meet the daughter of the brilliant Hawley McCrory. Please excuse my rudeness!"
I leaned away in fright. "Uh…"
Doctor Kuseno chuckled heartily and stepped forward to coax Genos out of his bow. "You'll have to forgive this boy. After all, without Old Hawley's research, he wouldn't be alive today!"
I swallowed down my nerves. So, he was a cyborg, right? That was almost an android. So, maybe, if I just squinted my eyes a little, I could pretend… Oh, who was I kidding? That acquaintance was well over before it began. No way I could ever possibly interact with him now.
Instead, my gaze drifted over to the room that Genos had come out of. Within it, a table surrounded by elaborate electronic equipment, lit up like an operating theater. A diagnostic room? I stepped over to it in a trance.
Dazzled, I danced from one machine to the next, fiddling with dials and admiring mechanisms. Soon, my eyes found something spectacular and my jaw slackened at the sight. Could it be…? It was. I wrapped my arms around a huge computer terminal, enjoying the cool, slightly textured surface of the chassis, the gentlest hum of the fans, the wonderful angular edges.
"Twenty thousand one hundred sixty cores, six hundred seventy-seven plus tera-flops, three petabytes of storage, and plays a damn good game of chess… Oh, baby, I missed you." I pressed my lips to it, caressing it gently.
Once upon a time, this same model served as the main system in my father's research facility. The Blue Genesis SR-Q. This thing was worth millions, and wasn't even distributed to the public. I wondered how Kuseno got a hold of it. This must be what love feels like, I mused. All morning, I had been terrified of the prospect of a chatter-fraught luncheon, and instead I found heaven. Just think of what you could do with a TOP500 supercomputer at your disposal!
Doctor Kuseno cleared his throat and I jumped. Beside him, Genos stood, quirking a brow at my antics. I straightened, rubbing my arm self-consciously, feeling, through the folds of my sweater, all of the creases, bolts, and cables anew. No matter how many years passed, I could never quite get used to it.
"Well, with our introductions complete at last, what do you say to a few sandwiches?"
My stomach roared in response and my freckle-dusted cheeks reddened as the Doctor chuckled.
A/N: Okay, this chapter is kind of... well, lazily edited. I feel like it's not my best, so I apologize for any places where it just sucks. :(
That said, I want to thank everyone who has reviewed so far, especially my repeat reviewer! It's so encouraging to know that people are reading. I appreciate it so much.