Tokyo Love (14 page)

Kathleen waved a hand. “Just lead me there. It already feels like I'm lost without you giving me two decimals.”

Ai lowered her wrist. “You trust me?”

“Sure, why not?”

Ai smiled. “That's just about the nicest thing you've said to me.”

Kathleen rolled her eyes. “I
built
you.”

Ai leaned closer. “It's still sweet.”

The train came to a halt and Kathleen found herself in the swell of a rather crowded station. It wasn't rush hour, but Kathleen had never been here before. Even on her way to work she sometimes got lost. Ai reached out, taking her hand.

“Come on, it's the last transfer.”

Kathleen let her lead, if only because Ai did have a much faster pace than her. Her hand was strong and warm. It didn't feel like a machine applying a calculated amount of pressure. It sort of felt nice … and safe. Kathleen looked up, grateful that, for once, Ai wasn't giving her some snarky grin. She just had her head tilted, trying to see over the crowd. She had tied her hair up into a high ponytail, which beat against her back. She had small, fine hairs at the base of her neck, curling as if from sweat.

But Kathleen knew that Ai didn't sweat and those detailed hairs had been artistically put there by some mechanic. Kathleen looked around to the other commuters, tourists, some school kids, and people just running errands. Kathleen probably looked like a tourist being led by a Japanese friend on a perfectly normal weekday afternoon. Ai accidentally bumped into someone, but they didn't even turn, barely muttering an apology as they were swept away. No one could see that Ai wasn't the same as them. That she was a piece of expensive hardware and a very complex computer chip, wrapped in unassuming clothes bought at some random department store.

They arrived at Akihabara and Kathleen found herself in a place she had never expected to be.

“You have never been to Akihabara? But you work at the company that is one of the world leaders of computer simulations! This should be home to you! It's the tech center of Tokyo!” Ai exclaimed.

Kathleen looked around outside the crowded station. The buildings here were coated in moving holos, some of them for cartoons or TV shows, and some of them for food and drinks. Some of them leapt from building to building, causing the tourists to stop and take pictures.

“I get all my tech needs from Mashida. This place is a circus.”

Ai laughed, tugging Kathleen forward. They were still holding hands, but Kathleen couldn't quite bring herself to let go. This place was full of foreigners. All of them meandered on the streets, stopping randomly and making loud comments. It was strange, after being afraid of the judgment of the Japanese for so many months, Kathleen found herself intimidated by the tourists instead. They seemed more unpredictable, and when their eyes met, they didn't look away first.

The holos were very distracting, especially from underneath. They fluttered like northern lights, the music and sounds booming around them. Kathleen was surprised to find an advertisement with a bunch of young girls, all dressed in bikinis and singing. Another building had a cartoon woman with her bouncing breasts barely contained by a few ribbons.

“I always thought the Japanese were conservative.”

“They are. But it doesn't mean they don't appreciate porn.”

Kathleen whirled to look at Ai. “You better have not taken me to some red light district.”

Ai laughed, pulling her into a brightly lit store. “Not yet! Come one, I think you'll like this place.”

It was an electronics store. The entrance was crowded with holos of employees, greeting and holding out pamphlets. One of them got too close to Kathleen, and she could feel her phone vibrate with incoming mail. She dropped Ai's hand and looked at it curiously. The holo had sent an ad to her phone, offering a coupon. The holo, a woman with a modest haircut and tacky looking suit, smiled brightly and bowed.

Kathleen looked to Ai. “Could they send this to you?”

Ai nodded. “They have. Actually, I am very receptive to their signals. I am currently storing them all on a sub drive.”

Kathleen looked at the lines of holos, attempting to reach out with their data pamphlets to the crowds entering and exiting the store. “I wonder if the company can track their output and if they are wondering why a walking computer is absorbing them all.”

Inside the store, a real employee greeted them. “
Irasshaimase
!”

Ai nodded and Kathleen was grateful that she quickly moved them forward, lest the employee try to help them. More holo advertisements fluttered across the ceiling, only outshone by signs pointing to different departments. It was an electronics store and Kathleen was impressed that they had both old and new items.

“E-glasses!” Kathleen practically jumped over to the display. “I always wanted one of these as a kid, but my parents thought it would be a distraction.” She picked up one of the lenses. A tiny display lit up in the corner of her vision and she had to blink to move through the small tutorial. She took them off, looking at Ai. “My boss has these and I don't know how she can stand it. These give me a headache.”

Ai laughed. “Come on, I want to show you some of the smart TVs.”

“What's wrong with mine?”

She rolled her eyes. “Well, it can't auto-translate Japanese to English. And if you did actually watch it you'd realize that your holo res is about five years behind.”

“What is it with you and watching my TV?”

Ai smirked. “Maybe it's because it's just about the only piece of technology in your house I can connect with. Besides your personal devices, of course.

“That's weirdly sentimental.”

Kathleen did not end up buying a TV, but she did buy a translator adapter. So at least she could finally watch her TV and understand what was going on. Though, based on what crazy shows she had seen Ai watch, she wasn't sure a translation would help her fully understand.

Ai took the bag from her as they exited the store. “I'll even try to program it so it can help you learn Japanese. Maybe take a few words out or give you some
kana
instead.”

“I could probably do that myself.”

Ai raised her eyebrows. “Yeah, but you wouldn't.” She nudged her shoulder. “Come on, consider it a gift from me to you.”

“For what?”

“For taking me out!” She smiled. “Of course, that means now we get to go somewhere I want.”

Kathleen grimaced. “I really don't like the sound of that.”

The store turned out to be one of the ones displaying an ad of some cartoon characters. That wasn't so bad, even though Kathleen had never gotten into Japanese cartoons. What was alarming was the life-sized holo girl greeting them at the front door. Her large purple eyes blinked at them and she smiled, tilting her over-sized head. She seemed to be wearing some sort of maid outfit. The kind with an outrageous amount of cleavage.

“
Irasshaimase goshujin-sama!
” Her voice was high-pitched.

Kathleen halted. “I don't trust this place.”

Ai took her by the elbow. “Trust me, it's just an anime store.”

“Is that supposed to comfort me?'

“Just be happy I'm not taking you to a maid cafe.”

“And what is that?”

Ai ignored her, pulling her past the frightening holo girl. “I'd think you'd find this place pretty interesting.”

The store was, in one word,
loud
. There was music blasting here, compared to the other electronics store. It was much more colorful with merchandise and posters and movies and downloads and a whole host of other strange things crowding the shelves. There was barely enough room to walk, but the place was packed with people.

“Let's go upstairs.”

“What's there?”

Ai was already pulling her. The directions in the stairs had some English on them. The first two floors seemed relatively normal. Merchandise and movies, etc. The third floor said MALE COMICS 18+. The fourth floor was labeled FEMALE COMICS 18+. The fifth floor was GAMES 18+.

“I don't trust this place,” she said again.

Ai laughed. “Imagine if I brought you to an actual porn shop.”

“This isn't one?”

As they climbed the stairs, the poster GIFs became more lewd, more revealing. Some of the posters called out when they walked by. Kathleen couldn't understand them, but she didn't quite like the tone.

“You should definitely check out the
dōjinshi
.”

Ai was trying to pull her onto the fourth floor of FEMALE COMICS 18+. Kathleen looked inside, glad it wasn't as overly porn-y as the MALE COMICS 18+ had looked as they passed. That didn't mean she was safe. “I don't think so.”

“Come on. Think of it as a cultural experience.”

Kathleen glared.

Ai sighed, rolling her eyes. “You are a full grown woman. Why do boobs and dicks frighten you?”

“In essence, they don't.” Kathleen took a step away from the stairwell. “It's the fact that they are so …
fake
that weirds me out.”

There were comics everywhere. Or, as Ai called them,
dōjinshi
. While e-books were vastly more popular, some printing traditions, it seemed, would never die. Kathleen picked one up, finding it wrapped in plastic. A couple of cartoon guys were humping on the front cover, so she had an idea of what it could be about.

“It's so short.” It couldn't have been more than ten pages. She looked to Ai, who was browsing through another stack. “What is the appeal?”

“You probably wouldn't recognize it, but these are all characters from popular anime. People, or small groups, draw little fan comics called
dōjinshi
and publish them.” Ai held up one. “People like it because then they can read more about their favorite characters.”

“Having sex?”

Ai grinned. “Probably.”

“I thought Japan was pretty slow with their queer awareness. How can this place be full of gay dudes if people refuse to acknowledge that there are gay people?”

“Well, anime and BL manga isn't generally considered reality. Also, I don't think you programmed me to be able to explain why people and cultures can hold double standards. Come on, I think there are a few in here that you'd be interested in.”

“Really?” Kathleen was dubious.

Ai looked around. Even though the shelves up here were just as packed, at least there weren't so many people. The music was quieter too. It made Kathleen feel a little less awkward, even though she was looking at cartoon porn.

She was flipping through a collection of wrist charms when Ai presented her with a small collection of
dōjinshi
, looking way too proud of herself.

Kathleen took them with some reservation. On the covers, instead of the guys that seemed prolific on this floor, there were girls embracing instead. Kathleen frowned at Ai, pretty sure she was making fun of her. “If you wanted to show me girl on girl porn, you could have done that the floor below us and saved my breath.”

Ai held up her hands. “This is different. These are drawn for women by women. It used to be pretty rare, but it's getting more common now.”

“You just really want me to buy lesbian porn, don't you?”

Ai pretended to look innocent. “Do I seem biased?”

Kathleen tried to hand them back, but Ai was having none of it. “Just try them out, please? They are short and easy, so you can practice your Japanese translating them.”

“Didn't you say these were based off of anime? I've never watched anime.”

“I've been following these shows on TV. All the more reason you should watch TV with me.”

Kathleen sighed. “Will you ever give up trying to hit on me?”

Ai looked up to her, eyes wide and slightly biting her lower lip. “I was made to be your Personal Love Companion, after all.”

“Don't remind me.”

Kathleen didn't know why. Maybe it was because Ai was looking a little put out or maybe because Ai had already made it a pretty enjoyable day for her or maybe it was because Kathleen was in a
why the hell not
sort of mood. She bought the stupid comics. Besides, they weren't that expensive.

“One more floor!” Ai cheered as they headed back up the stairs.

“I am not buying a game. I don't have time for games.”

Ai looked just a little too pleased with herself. “I think you'd like these games.”

When they came up to the floor, Kathleen suddenly realized why. They were mostly dating sim games. Ai was already tugging on her elbow, pulling her to an older selection. “See anything familiar?”

Kathleen didn't need her prompting. She reached out and took the casing from the shelf of a game she had worked on about five years ago:
Love Love Date
! She had never bought a copy for herself; the company had provided her with it. She hadn't seen it like this, all packaged with a cartoon girl waving on the front. In the game they were all 3D, before 4D holo games had gotten big.

All the characters were girls, meant for a male audience. They all had distinct personalities and the user could date them by carrying them around on their phone, taking them to different places and having topical conversations. They weren't near the complexity of a PLC, but it was one of Kathleen's first projects for Mashida. She had mostly been de-bugging the system, not the coding she performed now.

She hadn't thought of it as a weird cartoon porn game. It had been a chance to prove herself. She had “dated” each girl constantly, trying to find weird glitches, faults, and ways to improve them. She hadn't seen it as uncomfortable; it was her job.

She looked up to Ai, who was grinning at her. She had been much more involved in the AI project than anything in
Love Love Date
! Maybe that was why Ai felt much different. Ai was more personal to Kathleen. More personal than what a cortex scan could dredge up. Ai was
made
by Kathleen. Kathleen was here, in this strange, fascinating foreign country because of Ai. Ai existed because Kathleen had decided to come here at all.