So I headed toward the financial district, eventually turning onto one of the streets that connected to Fifth Avenue. I was pretty sure this area was called Koreatown, which was something confirmed to me once I saw a string of Korean barbecue restaurants.
I kept walking, pausing at some point to watch a photographer take pictures of a model posing in a crosswalk. It wasn’t easy to get the shots, so they constantly ran out when the light signaled for them to cross, running back once the light changed, watching for landing aeros.
There was traffic on the streets, traffic in the air, and traffic even higher up. A wall of traffic, really, so pedestrians had to obey traffic laws.
It wasn’t like this in Brooklyn; the streets were mostly for bikers, people with scooters and pedestrians on foot, but Manhattan just had too much action to ban vehicles.
It was a little colder than normal out, but nothing my military jacket couldn’t handle. I had a beanie stuffed in the front pocket, which I put on, my glasses tucked underneath.
Eventually, I activated the Monster Hunt app, and Lady C. appeared.
I thought for a moment about bringing Aya as well, but I didn’t want her to give us shit, and I knew that this would be a touchy subject.
“We’re going on a walk?” Lady C. asked.
In a flash she had gone from her pajamas to her warrior outfit, this one with blue accents. I didn’t know how much damage Aya and her had done shopping the other day, but they had apparently picked out a ton of new outfits. While there was armor on her body, most notably over her shoulders in the form of epaulets, her legs were uncovered as usual, aside from the fishnet stockings that came up to her knees.
“That we are,” I told her with a smile.
“Great, I thought you would never call me here,” she said.
I had to laugh. “You were here last night,” I reminded her. “We stared out at the city and all the lights.”
“Definitely romantic.”
“Definitely. Is everything set up in your cabin?” I asked her.
She nodded. Late last night, we had received instructions on how to set up what the company called a “dive vat” in Lady C.’s cabin. It was a fairly simple set-up, the vat similar to the full immersion Proxima rigs we had here.
According to the instructions (given to us by voiceover from a famous actor named Aramis Bjurstrom), these digital vats weren’t actually necessary, but they were used for visual purposes so the NPC could mirror what it was like for one of us, someone from the real world, to dive to the Proxima Galaxy.
It was the stuff of science fiction, but then again, there were electric vehicles flying above me, I was talking to a digital hallucination, I had somehow become rich by cracking a puzzle in a virtual reality world, and this was without mentioning the fact that I was going to a company whose sole business was to transfer the neuronal algorithms that make up the personality of an NPC into the body of an android.
“I hope it doesn’t hurt,” Lady C. said as we continued onward, passing a famous doughnut chain. Krunkin’ Kronuts used to be good, back when I was a kid, but last time I had had one of their kronuts, it was dry and not so tasty.
“It won’t hurt,” I told her as I stepped around a woman walking a cute French bulldog. The dog wore clothing that matched its owner’s scarf, and like most people who are proud of their dogs, she saw that I looked at it and gave me a braggy smile.
“I just hope it feels natural for both of us. I really want it to be good. I really want this to…” Lady C. stopped and brought her hand to her cheek. “I don’t know anyone who has done this. I mean, I know that there are NPCs that do this sort of thing, but I don’t personally know any. I really don’t know what it will be like. Sorry, I’ve been thinking too much about this…”
“Let’s just see how it is,” I told her. “Maybe it will be the same as when I dive to your world. Maybe we can dive to each other’s worlds back and forth, so we can actually make this work. But in this world…”
“I get it, it would be like if you were a ghost in my world,” she said. “I mean, it would be like if your avatar wasn’t actually there, and I was actually pressing my hand through it when we touched there. That make sense?”
I nodded. “We’ll see how it is, but if you don’t like it, you don’t have to do it.”
“It may be…” She bit her lip. “It may be just a bit overwhelming. But don’t get me wrong, I am interested. I want to try this. I want to know what it would be like to touch something for real in your world. I was reading this book by Lothar; I know I always mention him but he’s just so prolific. He was a giant from Unigaea who later migrated to Tritania, I probably already told you that, so he knew a thing or two about being an outsider. And in this book, he recounts what it was like to live in a different world with different customs and different languages, that sort of thing. But there’s one quote from it that always stuck with me: be yourself no matter how far you have come. Being able to look at yourself in the mirror and accepting who you are is the sign of a life well lived.”
“It’s definitely something to live by,” I told her.
“Maybe I’m worrying for nothing, maybe this won’t be as weird or strange as I think.”
“I really don’t know. It was incredibly bizarre the first time I logged in to the Proxima Galaxy. But I got used to it, and now it feels natural. So maybe it’s something like that. Growing pains.”
“Yeah, growing pains.”
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
“It shouldn’t be long now,” NPC and Me’s humandroid shopkeeper said.
She was the same one who had greeted us the day before, the one that had been part of the process up until now. It struck me as odd in that moment that I was being sold an android by an android, but I didn’t say anything about it as we stood in a different room, not as comfy as the one we had viewed the demos in.
There was something sterile about this space, the walls white, stainless steel counters with cushioned bar stools made of thick metal. On the table before us, lying on a swath of purple velvet with her head on her pillow was the humandroid that would later become Lady C.
And she looked surprisingly like the Metican warrior.
“And since she didn’t have many requests, it wasn’t very hard for our technicians to get this one together relatively quickly,” she explained.
The woman had already given me access to digital files which went over everything from basic stats, like the humandroid’s weight, to build numbers and a troubleshooting library.
“That’s good to know.”
“As you may already be aware, humandroids have coexisted with humankind for nearly fifty years now, at least in their current form. Earlier models weren’t able to eat or drink, but this is something we have corrected in all models from 2085 forward. However, just like a human, if a humandroid eats or drinks, they must excrete the waste. So that’s something to keep in mind, if you would like to take your droid out for a meal, or something of the sort.”
“Is the food waste processed in the same way?”
“No, energy for humandroids isn’t derived from the food the humandroid eats. Nutrients come in the form of carbon and photosynthesis. Earlier models were based entirely on photosynthesis, known as robosynthesis, but from about 2077 forward, the newer models can also process carbon in the air, which they breathe in and turn to energy.”
“I see.”
“Once a month, at least for the first year, we ask that you allow us to do a maintenance check. This is a very fast process. All you do is simply stand in front of your humandroid and asked them to dilate their eyes. Our digital technicians will take care of the rest. If there are any issues that we perceive, we will let you know. After the first year, this is something that you will need to do once every two to three months. Your humandroid will also let you know if they are malfunctioning in some way. Not only will they give you verbal confirmations, but you will receive alerts from them over iNet as well.”
“G
ot it.”
“Continue to read over the manuals that we have provided for you; it will cover many of your initial questions. For the first three months, you will have twenty-hour tech support available to you at no cost. Going forward, there is a small fee for this, but most people don’t need it after the first three months. And, as discussed previously, there is a thirty-day return policy.”
“Great, that’s good to know,” I said.
I couldn’t help but anticipate the moment Lady C. opened her eyes. I licked my lips, nervous for her all of a sudden, realizing just how strange this was, understanding yet again that money in this world could buy anything, including the chance to be with a digital person in a completely physical setting.
The future Lady C.’s eyes were currently closed, her dark bangs swept off to the side. She wore a black bodysuit, but there was a rack of clothing in the corner of the space, which would allow her to choose what she wanted to wear once she was awake.
“Touch her,” the woman next to me said.
Her voice startled me, but I quickly swallowed my nerves and reached my hand out, lightly grazing my fingers against the humandroid’s cheek.
“How does it feel?” the humandroid asked.
“Like a cheek,” I told her honestly. I’d had some physical contact with humandroids before, things like shaking hands, running into one another, even a hug from some of the stress relieving humandroids employed by my high school.
“I suppose that is one way to put it.”
“She’s not going to experience any discomfort or anything, is she?”
“No, of course not,” the woman said as she made her way over to a flat screen monitor.
She typed a code in and a small lens at the top of the monitor beamed three-dimensional information to the space between us. Using her hand, the woman moved through a few menus, eventually settling on a series of code that looked like a bunch of letters and numbers crammed together. “Shall we begin?”
“Yes,” I told her.
“She’s already in the vat in EverLife, so this shouldn’t be very long.”
I watched the humandroid intently, waiting for any signs of life.
My assumption was that she would blink her eyes open, but this was not how it happened.
Lady C.’s chest began to move up and down, which the saleswoman explained was her first intake of carbon.
I listened intently, figuring I would hear some sort of whirring sound or something else indicated that the android had come to life.
But it was nothing like that at all.
It was as natural as a normal person waking up from a deep rest. Her cheeks quivered, there was some movement in her fingers, and her nostrils flared open for a moment.
It was then that Lady C. opened her eyes, blinked twice, and slowly turned her head to me.
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
“Ch-Chase?”
“It’s really you,” I said, catching my breath. “Is she supposed to just lie there? What is she supposed to do?” I asked the humandroid attendant.
“Everything is fine,” she said as she once again looked at the information floating before her. “And if you ever want to go back on your own, you will be able to do that over iNet,” she told Lady C. “Instructions on how to use iNet are already downloaded into you, so it should feel relatively natural. It isn’t so different from what you see as an NPC in the Proxima Galaxy.”
Lady C. nodded. She slowly started to push herself up, her brown hair falling back.
Once she was up, she brought her hands to her chest and down to her waist. She looked at her arms for a moment, touched her face, and finally turned to me as she swiveled, sitting with her legs now hanging off the table, the harsh light reflecting off her eyes.
She lifted her arms and I came into them immediately, hugging her, Lady C. breathing heavily. “It’s so strange,” she whispered in my ear.
“There will be some adjustment,” our attendant said, “but it should not take you too long to get the hang of it. How’s this for a reveal? I am actually an NPC, from a world known as Steam.”
“You’re an NPC?” I asked.
“I sure am,” she said with a smile, nodding down to a brass bracelet she wore, which was clearly steampunk inspired.
“That’s Ray Steampunk’s world,” Lady C. said.
“You know of him too?”
Lady C. nodded, and I couldn’t help but reach my hand out and lightly touch her face. It was incredibly odd actually being able to touch her in this world, and I still felt a little uncertain about it.
Maybe “uncertain” wasn’t the right word.
Apprehensive? No, not that either.
I wanted to bring her back into my arms again, and was only stopping myself because she had struck up a conversation about Ray Steampunk with our humandroid attendant.
“Ray Steampunk is why I’m here, actually,” she said, with cheer in her eyes.
If Lady C. was feeling any jitters, she was no longer showing it. She looked as natural as ever as she got to her feet, pivoting from foot to foot, getting used to the way that it felt.
“Is it?” the woman asked.
The Metican nodded. “Chase here solved the mystery of the Steeple of Litur and Industria in EverLife. He was given a ton of money for doing so.”
“Ahem…”
Lady C. didn’t pick up on the noise I had made, or its intentions.
“Really? That’s fascinating. And I’m guessing you are one of his Mythcrea?”
“No, his Huntress.” She beamed at me. “Still am.”
The humandroid nodded, a grin taking shape on her pale face. “That’s so cute. It’s not easy going from world to world, but I promise you, I promise you both, it gets easier. You will find a way to exist here and in there.”
“I know,” said Lady C.
“A representative from our organization will contact you within the next twenty-four hours, making sure everything is going according to plan. Remember, there will be scheduled maintenance going forward, just to make sure that everything is going smoothly. But these are the state-of-the-art, most up-to-date humandroid models, the newest ones off the assembly line, as weird as that sounds. We don’t expect many errors. Any updates will come when you are recharging,” she told Lady C.
“Okay…”
“We will definitely be diving tonight,” I told the two. “We have a tournament to take part in, so there will be time to recharge.”
The humandroid woman smiled at us. “Great, and good luck.”
After a few additional signatures on my part, Lady C. and I were ready to go. Of course, she wanted to change outfits, and in the end, she chose a flowing maroon dress that closely hugged her body.
“We’ll go shopping,” I assured her as we stepped out of the establishment, back into the busy streets. I was used to it by now, but every now and then, stepping out onto the New York City streets took me off guard. Inside could be so quiet, and then with one foot out the door, I was at the center of humanity.
“Yes, that would be so awesome,” Lady C. said.
She had tried high heels earlier, but was still having a little difficulty walking in them. For the time being she wore black ballet flats.
With the shoes and her maroon dress she looked very bohemian, and we were in a good part of New York to find this type of style.
Of course, she was already formulating other plans.
“And you said I couldn’t wear my warrior outfit here, right?”
“It would be a little strange. Maybe if we lived in Tokyo…”
“Where’s that?”
“Far away from here. I tell you what, one day, whenever it comes up next, we will go to a cosplay convention, and you can wear all the warrior clothing that you want. You can go all out.”
“I want to wear something like I wear normally, a skirt of sorts and some armor, maybe an open top…”
An old man walking with a limp stopped as he heard this comment, and looked at h
er.
“Hello,” Lady C. said to him.
“Heya,” he said, giving me a big wink as he continued on.
“We have to be a little careful of who we talk to,” I reminded her.
“Why? Everyone here is so friendly.”
“You really haven’t lived in New York that long, have you?”
“No, just about thirty-six minutes and twenty-six seconds. You know, what she said in there isn’t quite correct.”
“What do you mean?” I asked her as we turned back in the direction of Fifth Avenue.
“This is not like what I see in the Proxima Galaxy. There is even more information here. And I don’t really see anything in the Proxima Galaxy, to be honest.”
“Yes, you do. What about your inventory list?”
“I guess I never thought of it as seeing it, it was just there for me, presented before me,” she said, waving her hand in the air in front of her. “Okay, maybe it does make sense what she said, maybe this is what she means. But I sure have a lot of information.”
“You aren’t the only one,” I told her, tapping on my temple. “It’s a gift and a curse to constantly have data presented to you. Sometimes I like it; sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming. I can turn it off though. And I have an app that silences everything. Maybe you should get the same thing, for when you really need to turn off.”
“That would be nice.”
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
We took things slowly.
We walked for a while, shopped some, and eventually decided to grab a quick bite to eat. The plan was to meet with Iris later, for both of us to dive from her home, and it was at that point that I was going to surprise her with Lady C. in humandroid form.
And maybe it was a bad idea.
Maybe I should have told her beforehand, but Iris was the type that usually went with the flow, and even if we had had a little romantic fling recently, it was probably best if we didn’t get too involved.
Especially because of the fact that we were bandmates and co-dojo owners.
Lady C. and I were now at a restaurant near Grand Central Station, a place with floor-to-ceiling windows and stainless-steel tables, meant to look sort of like a cafeteria. I was just finishing up my wrap when a strange look came across her face as her eyes dilated.
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