Tokyo Love (10 page)

“Aww, I didn't realize how much you cared,” Ai cooed.

Kathleen scowled. “You woke me up at 3 AM, just whispering ‘error, error.' I thought the robot apocalypse had begun!”

“Next time I'm having a complete breakdown, I'll be sure to wait until dawn.”

Kathleen growled, burying her hands in her hair. She began muttering to herself and Yuriko only caught a few words like “idiot” and “bad life decisions.”

“Have you had any other issues with … Ai?” It was still strange to Yuriko that the PLC had a name. Did Kathleen name it? Did she know what it meant?

Kathleen drank her coffee thoughtfully. “Well, not really. Nothing disastrous, anyway.”

Yuriko looked at Ai, who just glanced thoughtfully between them. Ai had said that Kathleen had been upset by her gender. Was it mistaken? “Nothing at all? Ai met all your … specifications?” Yuriko could feel herself clutching her coffee beneath the table, and forced her hands to relax. She wasn't sure what she wanted to hear. It would be pretty surprising if Kathleen had been harboring some secret desire for her. They barely knew each other. But then … Yuriko found she didn't much mind the idea. Kathleen was attractive and cute and a little awkward at times, but there was something a bit flattering about the whole situation.

Even though the whole situation was completely bizarre too.

Kathleen started to nod, but then stopped. Then her face turned very red and she almost dropped her coffee. The words started tumbling out of her mouth, “We-well, there seems to have been a bit of an issue with Ai's gender. I mean, I've never been interested in women. It is probably some sort of cortex scan misinterpretation. I've already made a note of it. I mean, I have no problem with homosexuality or anything like that. I just think it would be pretty disastrous if customers received the wrong gender for their sexuality. You know … ” She was breathing heavily.

Yuriko was actually rather more interested in knowing if Kathleen saw the resemblance between her and Ai—but it was as Ai mentioned, she was rather more concerned about the gender. Did she really not notice? Somehow, it disappointed her. But Yuriko refused to be even the slightest bit upset. It was probably all some malfunction, as Kathleen explained.

Kathleen was very friendly, but she obviously wasn't interested in Yuriko that way. For Yuriko to even consider it was a little pathetic. She forced herself to push aside any unreasonable feelings. She turned back to the scan. “It would not be too difficult to change the appearance. The skin can be changed, added to, taken away, etc. Might take some time, but if this issue persists with other betas, it can be a superficial adjustment.”

“Oh … really?”

Yuriko nodded, fingers digging into the aluminum can. Her chest felt tight and she attempted to will away the strange feeling.

“Well, I guess I'll make a note of that. I can discuss it with my group, but I think it would be too much trouble to change Ai now.” Kathleen was staring at the floor, her face a soft flush. “Besides, I've gotten used to her.”

The knot in Yuriko's chest loosened and she finished her coffee. She looked over to find Ai staring at her, eyes glimmering. She didn't want to know what the robot thought of her. “Analysis?” she inquired.

“Inconclusive,” Ai responded.

“You will have to test Ai in public eventually,” Yuriko said.

Kathleen sat down heavily in one of the open seats on the train. The only reason why there was seating available was because she'd had to work so damn late. She had been out of the office for a week, but had needed to go in to reconnect with her team. All her data was being compiled and they'd held a meeting to analyze it. She hadn't realized it would turn into a five-hour session.

Of course, with the complicated mistake of Ai's gender, she should have expected a very long conversation. Tamura was convinced the cortex scan couldn't be at fault. Kathleen expected that reaction, considering Tamura directly oversaw that project herself and was probably trying to save face. At least Fukusawa had been the voice of reason, volunteering to look into the whole process of how the data of the cortex scan was converted into a physical form. It would take him a couple weeks to come back with a report. With so much of the project hinging on the success of the cortex scan, Kathleen wasn't sure if she wanted him to report there had been a flaw in the system or not.

Of course, if he found the cortex scan and physical manifestation were correct, then Kathleen would have a whole lot more complicated questions to ask herself.

“
Are you sure the PLC doesn't meet your personal specifications
?” Tamura had asked her after the meeting, her tone not unlike a threat.

Kathleen had ignored the question. This whole pretest felt too personal for her liking and she didn't want to question her “personal specifications” with her boss.

Her back felt broken from all the pent up stress. She needed to get into the office more from now on; she couldn't handle this once a week thing.

“I honestly don't think I need to take her out. I've had her talk to you and she's done fine, right? Isn't that as good as talking to strangers in public?”

Yuriko stood above her. Though she hadn't attended Kathleen's hellish meeting, she had happened to be in the same building that day. It was only natural that they ride the train back to the apartment complex together. “I help
build
PLCs. What you need is someone who doesn't know Ai is a PLC. Someone who can give a more random interaction.”

Ever since Ai's breakdown, Yuriko had been calling or stopping by often to check up on them both. Kathleen was very grateful for the interaction, if only because it made Ai seem even more like a product test, rather than a freaky love sim who lived in Kathleen's apartment.

She was also grateful that Yuriko never mentioned how similar she and Ai looked. It only reinforced the thought that Kathleen probably overreacted upon initially seeing Ai. If Yuriko didn't see it as important enough to mention, it was probably not be that noticeable.

Sometimes she thought Yuriko might say something. It was usually after Kathleen had performed some test or scan and Yuriko would be sitting there, staring at Ai like she was trying to solve a rather complicated puzzle. Then the expression would pass and Kathleen would be left wondering if she was seeing things that weren't really there.

Kathleen groaned. “But it would be so … weird.” What if they did realize that Ai was a love robot? What would they think of Kathleen? “Besides, she has nothing decent to wear; all my clothes are super-sized on her.” Kathleen had never thought of herself as fat before she came to Japan. Then, walking into a Japanese department store and finding out she was the equivalent of a XXL was a bit disheartening.

Yuriko raised an eyebrow. “Then go and buy something for her?”

“Wouldn't that be
weirder
? Buying clothes for my sex robot?”

Yuriko raised both eyebrows and Kathleen flushed.

“Not that Ai is like …
at all
. I mean she is … guh. But it's just what people would think, right?”

“You sound just like a Japanese person. Didn't they teach you in America not to care about what other people think?”

“Yeah, because in America people don't care. We are all crazy. But people in Japan really care. I've gotten dirty looks for eating a granola bar while walking down the sidewalk. Like I'm some kind of uncouth caveman slobbering over a leg of turkey!” Kathleen realized too late that her voice rose. The other people in the train car were staring at her now. One man got up and moved several seats away. She looked up to Yuriko, who was attempting to hide a smile behind her hand. “See?”

Yuriko shook her head. “You are overthinking this. Come on, there are some great stores at the next stop.” She moved to the doors.

Kathleen quickly got up. “What? We are doing this now?”

“Yes, why not?”

“But I … I don't know Ai's size!” Kathleen knew she was just making excuses now.

Yuriko frowned, eyes narrowing. “I think I can guess it.”

There it was again, that puzzling expression. Kathleen found herself holding her breath, wondering if Yuriko was going to say something how exactly she might know Ai's size. Then the doors opened and Yuriko's expression relaxed as she stepped out into the station.

They ended up not leaving the station because all the clothing stores they could ever want were inside. Kathleen had never explored some of Tokyo's larger train stations, though she passed through them often enough. Most of the time she was concentrating on not getting lost. This one had a particularly large shopping area, and a ton of restaurants as well.

Yuriko led her into one of the larger clothing stores. “See anything you like?”

Kathleen tugged on a couple blouses. She'd never been good at clothes shopping and it had been a very long time since she had even gone. Some of her friends in America used to drag her out once in a while, which was how she had anything decent in her wardrobe. “I dunno, what's a good look?”

Yuriko scanned the racks. “Probably nothing flashy, if you don't want Ai to draw attention.”

Kathleen looked a few shirts, but she couldn't visualize them. Would they be too shapeless? Would they look good? Too good? “I have no idea what I'm doing.”

Yuriko turned to her slowly. “Would it help if I tried them on?”

Kathleen felt something stick in her throat and she attempted to swallow it down. “Umm, sure?” Was Yuriko implying something? No, she was just trying to be helpful. That had to be it.

Kathleen had only seen Yuriko in business professional or that one fated morning in sweatpants and a t-shirt.

Yuriko slowly took a shirt that Kathleen had been holding. “Okay,” she said slowly. “What else did you want to see?”

Kathleen made a few random selections of shirts, pants, skirts, and even a few dresses on Yuriko's suggestion. She didn't want to buy too much. After all, Ai didn't sweat, so she wouldn't dirty the clothes. Besides Kathleen really didn't want to take her out more than once.

Yuriko stepped out of the dressing room in a loose shirt and flowing short skirt. She stood awkwardly in the dressing room for Kathleen, tugging at the skirt. It was strange, because Kathleen had never seen her look so self-conscious.

“It looks good on you,” she blurted out.

 It was true. Yuriko had great legs. Kathleen could never wear a skirt that short; her butt would hang out the bottom. She realized that she was staring at Yuriko's legs a little too long. She snapped her eyes up.

“What do you think?”

Yuriko turned around to look in the mirror. “It seems fine.”

“Do you not like it?”

Yuriko tugged at the skirt. “I don't think I've worn a skirt this short since high school.”

“But it looks great on you!”

Yuriko stared at her and Kathleen felt herself flush.

“Does that mean you think it would look great on Ai?” Yuriko asked quietly.

Kathleen tensed. “Well, I don't know. Without seeing it on her … ”

Yuriko suddenly rolled her eyes. “I don't think you need to see it on her to know.” She stared at Kathleen; her eyes felt rather like a challenge.

A challenge Kathleen wasn't ready to take on. She started to turn away. “Maybe a little too flashy for Ai. Why don't we try—?”

Yuriko reached out, gripping Kathleen's wrist as she was reaching for the next garment. “Don't be—” Yuriko started, voice loud.

Then she looked up and Kathleen saw a shop attendant staring at them curiously. Yuriko released her arm and lowered her voice.

“Can we just be honest for a second?”

Kathleen could still feel the warmth on her wrist where Yuriko had grabbed her. “About what?” Her voice was too high pitched to be casual.

Yuriko looked unimpressed. “Look, I know you said that Ai's physical appearance was a mistake.”

“Y-yeah. Actually we had a rather long meeting about that. I've got someone looking into the problem,” Kathleen said in a rush.

“Did you ever consider that it wasn't a mistake? I mean, it would be one thing if Ai was just female when you prefer male but Ai is … ” Yuriko lowered her voice even more, stepping closer to Kathleen. “Ai
looks
like me, Kathleen. You have to realize that.”

Kathleen found herself looking away, staring at the rack of clothes Yuriko was currently cornering her against. “She … it's not … ” She could
feel
Yuriko's eyes. “I don't know why she does,” she finally admitted. She looked up to Yuriko, pleading, “It's not anything weird. I honestly don't know why Ai was made to look the way she is. I mean, I have a couple of theories of why some of the wires got crossed. Like, maybe she's Japanese because I do honestly need help here in a Japan. And who is better than a PLC that represents the culture? Also, I do like blue eyes. So I'm not surprised there.”

She was staring at Yuriko's eyes. They were incredibly similar to Ai's, but Ai was still synthetic. Her irises and pupils didn't move like Yuriko's did. The color was almost too vibrant with Ai. Yuriko's color was softer, a grayish blue turning near gold at the center.

Kathleen knew she was staring and she didn't know why. Her heart was beating in her ears and it was almost hard for her to hear Yuriko speak.

Yuriko's eyes almost glimmered. “I have to ask … Do you find Ai … or myself attractive?”

Kathleen looked away then. She had to. She couldn't breathe properly otherwise. “Well, I've never been interested in women in that way. But, I suppose, I do think you are … beautiful, in a way. I mean,” she felt like she was gasping for air, “you do sort of have legs that go on for miles.” She attempted a lighthearted smile. It twitched on her lips.

Yuriko took a step back and Kathleen suddenly found herself able to breathe again. She also suddenly felt cold, as if being so close to Yuriko had given her a fever. She glanced up at Yuriko, wondering why Yuriko was giving her that puzzling expression that she had only given to Ai.