I wondered what had
Happened
Along the way I
Realized that you were
Different
But
Along the way I
Realized that you were
Still You
Chapter 1: Startup
Not too long ago, something terrible happened. An accident that left us hurt very badly. My best friend and I were in this accident, and he didn't survive. I lost one of my best friends in this world. My father and his team tried to save him, and that was when a miracle happened: a miracle that saved his life. You may not believe me, but I am sure that he is still alive. He is not like "them", because he is still human to me, and even if he wasn't, I would still love him. Even if he wasn't "himself" anymore.
...
"Are you ready, Garrett?"
Amber leaned over the side of the hotel bed and looked over at the Persocom that was her best friend. Her only friend, it seemed, at times. She was swinging her feet as they hung over the edge of the small twin mattress. All the other rooms had been booked, and despite how much money her father had, there were no suites available.
In front of her was an open book. On the pages was a little pink bunny printed against a dark starry background.
"Why don't you just let me exchange them?" Amber asked.
She saw the image in the bathroom mirror shake its head. Garrett was so independent at times. If he was having trouble exchanging his Persocom ears, then he should have asked her for help, but he was stubborn.
In reality, they were all for show; his connectors were independent of the tell-tale trademark ears of a Persocom, and he often liked to exchange them for ones that made him look more human.
"There," he announced, stepping out of the bathroom. "Do I look great or what?" A towel was slung across his shoulders and a large smile was on his face. He had no shirt on, of course, and she was not impressed with the sight at all. Garrett tended to show off at times, and she was not in the mood for his shenanigans.
"Or what," she responded, which knocked his smile flat.
To top things off, there was suddenly a knock at the door. Garrett rolled his eyes and went to answer it.
"Delivery for a Miss Lee-Young," announced the delivery girl. She was in an all blue outfit that comprised of shorts, suspenders, a collared shirt, and baseball cap. Her long black hair was silky, and stretched to the middle of her back. She took one look at the shirtless view of Garrett and blushed. "Is this the wrong room?" she asked in confusion, clutching the clipboard to her chest while she juggled the package in her other hand.
The definition of his abdominal area was very tempting to stare at, and she couldn't help but allow her eyes to linger there.
Taking in the baffled expression the girl sported, Garrett laughed. "No, no. I'll get her."
He called her name into the room, and seconds later Amber appeared at the door; she had changed into her pajamas the second they arrived at their room, and by the looks of it, the delivery girl had gotten the wrong message.
"I-I, uh," she stammered, putting together the pieces of a skewed reality. Her face was completely red by this point. "This is a package for you, please sign!" was all she could blurt out.
"Oh, ok then." Amber had no idea of the outrageous thoughts this girl was brewing, but she signed the clipboard, and the delivery girl handed her the package. "Wonder what it is," she said, walking back to the bed. It was a plain rectangular package about the size of a doll's box, and was covered in shiny forest green wrapping paper.
"Can I open it?"
Amber gave Garrett a long withering Look before agreeing.
When the contents were revealed, it proved to be something interesting. It was a mobile Persocom. It had short pink hair, small green eyes, and was dressed in a little grey dress that practically screamed "Gothic Lolita" with masses of ruffles upon ruffles lining the entire outfit. In her hair was a small red clip that was shaped like a plus sign. To their surprise, the unit suddenly activated itself and began to dance.
"One missed message!" she sang. "One missed message!"
"Let's hear it then," said Garrett to the mobile unit, and immediately she stopped dancing and looked up to him.
"What is the password?" said the little Persocom.
Now there were only a couple of people who could send them a package like this, and only a handful of them were in Asia. Nevertheless, there was only one of them that Amber had told that they were coming to Japan.
"Kokubunji," said Garrett and Amber in unison. He was the only one who could, really, spare one mobile unit just to greet them. His parents knew Amber's parents, and they had met a few times before. One minute they were acquaintances, and the next thing both of them knew they were hanging out at each other's beach houses over the summer and talking about Persocoms and programs. So, they were friends. Not very close ones, but they could tolerate each other at least.
He was one of the main reasons she knew Japanese, after all.
"Ooookay!" said the unit, satisfied with the password they had given. Her eyes suddenly became blank as she played back the message he had left them. His overly very formal voice could be heard coming from the little computer's mouth.
"Hello again, Miss Lee-Young, I hope your flight went well. –pause– As a welcoming gift to Tokyo, I hope you will accept this mobile Persocom. In addition to being entertaining, it may come in handy with your studies, as I had heard a rumor that you have applied to Tokyo U. You can call me at any time, and I expect to hear from you soon. Before you visit, please do email me, as the proper arrangements must be made to accommodate you and whatever units you choose to bring with you. Sincerely, Minoru Kokubunji."
At the end of the message, Garrett snorted and crossed his arms. It sure sounded like that self-demonstrating genius. Not that he was jealous of course, but still, he sounded a little too friendly to his Master.
"Isn't that nice?" remarked Amber. She hadn't seen Minoru in ages, and now he was probably around twelve years old. She was far too old for him, but still, he sounded too grown up that it made her giggle.
Unknown to Miss Lee-Young, though, two uninvited visitors were perched outside the hotel room window. One was a tall, dark male with short hair, and the other was a brunette with piercing eyes. They dressed as if they were part of Neo's crew from the Matrix, and had been listening to the recording from Kokubunji. Actually, they'd been following them since they left the airport, and it was only a matter of time before they would be detected. The girl nodded to her companion once then stared straight ahead to where she saw Garrett in the window.
Unfortunately, Garrett hadn't heard her gushing on about Kokubunji and his genius. "Someone's here," he said, looking out into the darkness of Tokyo. The only illumination visible was the twinkling lights of the other hotels and business buildings.
"Who? How? What are they up to?"
He brushed it off casually. "They already tried to hack into my OS and disable me."
"WHAT?" She looked around in frantic panic, trying to figure out where they were. Of course, they had to be pretty close to have a signal strong enough to try and access his hard drive wirelessly. Her eyes lingered on his face, which was completely unperturbed. How was he taking this lightly? True, his was probably one of the most secure ever created, but if someone had tried, maybe staying here wasn't the best idea after all. They should have gone to one of the most expensive places they could find; at least the security would be better.
"It's ok; I sent them one of my special security programs." He smiled devilishly, showing his bright teeth. Somehow, that made Amber sigh in relief, and flop onto the bed. She had forgotten about the layers of encryption and hundreds of programs designed to protect his information.
About half a second later, they both heard an enraged scream in the distance.
Outside, where the two Persocoms were spying on them, the girl clutched her head and growled, stumbling slightly.
"That's a feisty one, hmm Dita?" asked her partner. He chuckled under his breath, smiling himself. For some reason he was thrilled (the closest a normal Persocom could get to thrilled, anyway) at the possibility of a challenge. If he could so easily deflect a direct attack from Dita, then he must have been a powerful Persocom. Jima thought he saw some sparks as well, but it could have been just him remembering the last time someone deflected one of her attack programs. Dita merely frowned and rubbed her head. In a way, Persocoms could feel pain, and what she had was the equivalent of a migraine. Considering the sheer amount of spam that was sent back, it was a wonder she didn't crash. His rate of data output was admirable, at least.
"That Persocom is a Grade-A jerk," she mumbled. "Who keeps that much info on their hard drive?" At the least he'd sent a petabyte of data.
"What'd he send you?" He was curious as to why she was so furious. Dita was always angry whenever someone opposed her, but seeing disgust literally flash in her eyes had intrigued him.
She started to blush, a light dusting of pink forming on her face. "Nothing."
"Dita…"
The degrading images she had been subjected to—the indignity! That Persocom had some guts. Sending her so much P-slash-P was audacious. Persocom on Persocom videos were not on her list of desirable things to see.
Revenge was on her agenda next.
"He sent me porn Jima. PORN!" after shouting that, she calmed down, frowning even deeper now. "Are you happy now?"
Jima couldn't help but laugh and look back through the window, where Garrett was staring back at them. That Persocom was definitely something else if he could get a rise out of Dita like that. If anything, Jima should have been jealous. Making Dita blush was his job, after all.
"Let's go," he said, and they disappeared on the next gust of wind, gliding through the night like a pair of ravens.
If I could save you from
Being lost forever,
I would sell my soul
I would die a
Thousand times
To reach my goal
You will not be lost forever
Forever you will stay
You with me, and me with you
Every. Single. Day.