Tokyo Love (15 page)

Granted, the PLC project would have gone on if Kathleen hadn't accepted the promotion. Yet Ai wasn't just the PLC project; she was Kathleen's PLC project.

She had taken Kathleen to this place, where Kathleen probably would have never been interested in going otherwise. Ai had brought her here and found things for Kathleen to enjoy. New things for her to discover. She had brought Kathleen to the top floor of this building to show her something that Kathleen had forgotten. Something that used to be her greatest achievement.

Kathleen looked down at the package, feeling more than a little sentimental. “I never played it in Japanese. They had translators for English by the time I worked on it.”

Ai put her hand on Kathleen's wrist. “Then maybe it would be good to buy it now and practice your Japanese?”

Kathleen nodded, a little ashamed that she was feeling close to tears. “Y-yeah.”

When they left the store, it was late afternoon. The sun was setting, though the heat still lingered. Kathleen wasn't so overwhelmed by the crowds anymore. She let Ai take her hand anyway. If she were a real customer for this product, she would want to hold Ai's hand. She would love that Ai had the initiative to bring her out and show her a good time. She would be pleased that no one on the street could tell that Ai wasn't real. Kathleen supposed it was probably because she was real enough.

They were almost back to the station and Ai was beginning to mention getting some food, when something] went terribly wrong.

Ai froze in the street and Kathleen could feel the strength leave her grip. Kathleen quickly put her arm around her, in case she was going to fall over, and tried to see her face. Ai's eyes were stuttering in their sockets. She whispered, “Failure. Suggest reboot.”

Kathleen looked around, but no one was looking. “Don't reboot. Can you walk?”

“Failure.”

Kathleen bit her lip. Something was overwhelming Ai's system. Was it the heat? The exercise? Kathleen sent a quick text to Yuriko, warning of an impending emergency in Akihabara. She didn't know what else to say. “Umm, stop performing all AI functions. Keep motor functions. Uh, keep your eyes open and listen for direct instructions.”

Kathleen wasn't sure if it was the proper thing to say, but Ai immediate relaxed her stance, keeping her head up and forward. Her eyes were blank now; she had no expression. It was truly alarming to look at and very much like one would expect a robot to look.

“Walk with me.” Kathleen took Ai's elbow and she promptly began to walk. Kathleen kept her grip tight, even though Ai didn't seem to have problems with balancing.

Kathleen's phone buzzed and she tapped her wrist. Yuriko had responded.

I'll be at the station in twenty minutes. Where can I meet you?

Kathleen looked around. She needed a quiet spot where people wouldn't look too closely at Ai, who wasn't even blinking now. She decided on a cafe near the station. Hopefully, Yuriko could find her there. She led Ai inside and quickly bought a simple coffee, just so the employees wouldn't stare at them.

She put Ai down in a booth and sent a message to Yuriko letting her know where they were. Kathleen sat next to Ai, taking her wrist and trying to get her to connect with Kathleen's phone. Her phone wouldn't be as good as her home computer, but maybe it would give her some hint of Ai's sudden failure. Ai wasn't able to connect and Kathleen didn't know if it was because her phone was incapable or if the area's Wi-Fi was interfering.

“Ai? Can you list your errors?”

Ai opened her mouth, but no words came out. Kathleen could hear something like her mechanics working, but there was nothing else. Kathleen squeezed her wrist, as if it could help Ai connect better.

“Don't speak,” she whispered. “We will get you back to my place and Yuriko and my computer can figure it out.”

Ai closed her mouth.

“Kathleen!”

Kathleen looked up, grateful to see Yuriko rushing inside. She was still wearing her work clothes—a blouse and pencil skirt with a pair of pumps. She was winded, but she immediately leaned over Kathleen and Ai. “Total failure?”

Kathleen nodded. “She suggested a reboot before she froze. I have her on direct orders only, so she can walk. But she can't talk nor is she responding in any way.”

Yuriko turned to Ai. “Stand up. We should get back to the apartment.”

Ai didn't move. Kathleen nearly started to panic. “Ai, you need to stand and follow us.” Ai stood, jerking and lacking any grace that she had before. Kathleen took her elbow, looking to Yuriko. “Must be priority orders only. Can you lead the way? I don't think I could figure it out on my own.”

Yuriko nodded. “The trains are crowded now, so try not to lose her.”

Kathleen tightened her grip on Ai's elbow. Yuriko took them into the station and Kathleen felt a familiar panic seize up on her. She never liked rush hour, she got lost too many times. That first day was the worst. The crush of bodies. The Japanese announcements. Flickers of holo ads and HELP kiosks. There were so many people, most of them dressed in the same suit or professional attire. All of them Japanese, all of them ignoring her.

She had slowly learned how to deal with it and not totally panic.

That familiar sensation was creeping up on her. She clutched Ai's arm, struggling to keep up with Yuriko. Ai was keeping pace with them, but Kathleen didn't know if there was a limit. How bad was Ai's failure? Would she continue to degrade? What if she lost all power on the train? How could they explain it?

Yuriko took Kathleen's free hand, looking back to her. She gave her a small smile. “We'll make it home.”

Kathleen remembered how, just earlier that day, Ai had taken her hand. She had walked before her, just like Yuriko now, leading her with a firm grip. Yuriko's hair was also tied up and Kathleen could see those small hairs on her neck, curling with real sweat. She was breathing heavier than Ai had. Her hand was a little clammier. Yet Kathleen felt infinitely safer in her grasp. Ai was a machine, a malfunctioning one. If Yuriko, or Kathleen for that matter, were to collapse in the street, people would help. People would know what to do. Only Yuriko and Kathleen could help Ai. They were very far from the equipment they needed to do so.

The train was bursting with commuters. Yuriko took Ai from Kathleen, trying to position her in the crowd. Kathleen followed after, feeling the doors slide close behind her. Yuriko had managed to maneuver Ai into a corner between the door and a partition blocking the seats. Kathleen managed to get shoved up against Yuriko's back.

“She all right?” she whispered.

“She is the same,” Yuriko replied over her shoulder. “We caught an express. It'll cut our time down and we'll make fewer stops. You okay?” She kept her voice down in the quiet train car.

Kathleen sighed, pressing her forehead against Yuriko's shoulder. She smelled like fresh laundry and something like motor oil. “I think I've managed to dodge a panic attack. Thank you for coming,” she murmured.

Yuriko sighed. “It's no problem. But can you tell me one thing?”

Kathleen looked up, which practically put her chin on Yuriko's shoulder. “What?”

“Why is Ai carrying these bags of
dōjin
and love sim games?”

Kathleen had almost totally forgotten about her purchase. She let out a short laugh and pressed her face between Yuriko's shoulder blades. Then, just because she was feeling relieved and stressed all at once, she put her arms around Yuriko's waist. She liked the feel of her. She felt stable in the crowded train car and warmer than the other bodies pressed around them.

“Just a cultural experience.”

“You should have told me,” Kathleen muttered.

“I'm afraid that I didn't anticipate the problem.”

Kathleen glared at Ai. “You were automatically downloading every ad and coupon and whatnot in a one block radius of Akihabara. How could that not be a problem?”

Ai shrugged, both arms on the table, slouching. “I am programmed to absorb knowledge so that I can learn.”

Kathleen sighed, turning back to her display. “Ads from department stores aren't knowledge. So I'm writing a new code for you so this won't happen again.”

“Thank you, Kathleen.”

“Don't thank me. Just try to tell me about any more anomalies, okay? I'd like to find the problems before you suffer a major breakdown.”

Kathleen had only just rebooted Ai. After the disaster at Akihabara three days ago, Kathleen shut her down completely once they reached her apartment. It didn't take long to scan Ai's system to see what the problem was, but it took a long time, and many conference calls to figure out how to fix it. For almost twenty hours Kathleen had been programming Ai with the new update. More work was needed, but it would be easier with Ai awake now.

“Report functions.”

Ai sighed, obviously tired of this repeated order. “All systems go. Prepare for launch.”

Kathleen glared.

“It's the same report as ten minutes ago.” Ai rested her cheek on the table. “Come on, Kathleen. Let's go
out
. Let's have fun. You remember daylight, right?”

“It's nearly 9 pm and you are not going anywhere until this patch is finished.”

“When will you finish it?”

“Hopefully I'll have the bones of it for Fukusawa to look over tomorrow morning. Report memory functions.”

Ai sighed, a little more dramatically. “Fifty-seven percent cognitive functions.”

“Not good enough.”

“Before Akihabara, I was running at only sixty-eight percent.”

Kathleen frowned. “That is way below our testing average.”

Ai grinned. “I guess I'm outperforming the tests. And you didn't even notice.”

“Noticing is not the point.” Kathleen quickly sent another text to Fukusawa. “You should be ninety percent or higher, unless for short bursts of high functions. That's it, you are reporting all you functions to me every morning.”

“
Hai, okaasan
.”

“
Urusai,
” Kathleen muttered.

Ai giggled, sitting up. “Someone has been studying! But that word wasn't in my lessons.”

Kathleen held up her wrist. “I bought a game in Akihabara, remember? Even without an English translation, I have most of the dialogue memorized. Guess I learned some new words.”

Ai put a hand to her chest. “You—” she pointed a finger “—you are cheating on me!”

“Hardly. The AIs in the game are practically prehistoric compared to yours.” Kathleen looked back to her wrist. Fukusawa had already replied to her text. Guess they both were having late nights.

“B-but, you are still talking to other women behind my back!” Ai went on.

“And I talk to Yuriko all the time. You've never had a problem with that before.” Kathleen sent a quick reply to Fukusawa. It was nearly ten; she wasn't going to get into an argument with him about particulars. He could see her product in the morning and judge her then.

“Yuriko is different.”

“Different how?”

“Because she's real to you.”

Kathleen looked up. Ai was giving her a pensive expression, eyes wide, as if she was trying to see something in Kathleen. “Yeah, she's real.”

“That's not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?”

Ai waved a hand. “What I mean is that when you care for her, it's real.”

Kathleen's doorbell rang. She still stared at Ai, with her staring blue eyes. “I … uh … come in!”

The door banged open. “Oh good, you are both still here in the same position that I left you in … yesterday?” Kathleen looked up to Yuriko's grin. “Come on, we're going out.”

“W-what?”

Yuriko grimaced. “Have you even opened a window in forty-eight hours? You definitely need to get out. There's a
nomikai
happening tonight and I am now officially inviting you.” She looked around, probably trying to figure out why Kathleen was staring at her like a mute fish.

Kathleen blinked. “What is a
nomikai?
”

“Japanese drinking party. My coworkers are having one tonight because we are all tired and need to get drunk. I figured you'd understand. Now, I'm going to change. You put on something … decent.”

Then Yuriko just whirled out of the apartment. Kathleen turned to Ai.

“You'd better go,” Ai said softly, but she was smiling.

• • •

Yuriko called the restaurant an
izakaya
. Kathleen called it
loud
.

They were put into a sequestered room of the restaurant, filled with Yuriko's coworkers from Engineering. They had already gotten started, all sitting around a large table, heaping with food. They all cheered when Yuriko and Kathleen entered and they were quickly handed glasses of beer.

Yuriko sat Kathleen down next to her, grinning. “Eat and drink. It's all you can eat for a couple hours.”

Kathleen looked at the spread. There was fried chicken and potatoes. Some sort of noodles and salads. They even had pizza, though it didn't look nearly as appetizing as the rest. Most of the people were still in their work clothes, though some had changed, like Yuriko, into something more casual. The beer was cheap, but it was cold in the stifling room.

“
Ne
, Yuriko-
chan
, introduce your friend!” It was a woman sitting next to Kathleen. She had short hair, which had been bleached to a light brown. She wore large red glasses and had a black bow in her hair. She smiled to Kathleen.

Yuriko leaned over. “This is Kathleen. She's in Development for the PLC project. Kathleen, this is Mitsu Kojima-
san
. She works in Quality Control with me.”

“Call me Mitsu-
chan
.” She held out a hand, smiling brightly. She had rainbow colored braces, the kind that didn't do anything, just as a fashion statement. “Yuriko says you both live in the company housing here in Matsudo?
Waa
, I'm so jealous! I live in the complex in Saitama and it is so
gishi gishi
.” She had a strong accent and she spoke with a very high voice.