Memory Defrag

Track 1

Regular Morning Maintenance

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“Hey Kinari, it kinda seems like you treat the members outside of the Evening Group like strangers, you know?” 

That day,  in the HAMA Tours house living room where all of the organization members reside together, the Morning Group Leader Renga Nishizono called out to me. 

“Does it appear that way? If permitted by you, for reference, may I ask what attitude I have displayed that would make you think you think that is the case?” 

“Well, it’s that, you see. That. How do I put this… You’re formal with me but also to the other group members you refer to and talk to them with very formal speech.” 

Nishizono-sama took a seat next to me with a steadily weakening tone, flicking his eyes here and there, while sometimes sneaking quick glances at me. Taking into account the data that I have gathered from living in the HAMA House with Nishizono-sama, in most cases, these flustered expressions and gestures are indicative of wanting to shrink the distance between whomever he is interacting with. 

“When we returned from the Study Trip, Master gave an order regarding how to interact with the members outside of the Evening Group. Master desired a suitable sense of distance with the others and for me to engage in proper decorum. I have tried to ensure that an attitude of politeness and propriety is maintained. 

When I explained my logic, Nishizono-sama responded “Ah, is that how it is… Well, if that’s easier for you I guess…” Nishizono-sama made a seemingly dejected expression and left the living room. 

Was there a mistake in my response just now?

Inside my mind, I ran a quick check of our conversation including Nishizono-sama’s expressions and tone. Master, who had apparently overheard the conversation, called out to me. 

“Kinari-kun.” 

 Master’s countenance had a tinge of fretfulness. 

“Regarding the conversation you had with Renga-kun just now…” 

“Yes, it appears I have made a mistake in my response.” 

“That’s not what I mean to say. I think the order I gave you back then was wrong.” 

“Master has not made any mistakes.” 

I tell myself that Master does not make those kinds of mistakes.

“Bringing it back to how I asked you to interact with the other groups, at that time everyone had just moved into HAMA House. It was the time whether or not everyone would get used to each other and I was paying heed to signs of trouble. So, at that time I mentioned emotional distance and politeness but now everyone is opening up to each other, right?” 

“Yes. If I reference the collected data thus far, interactions beyond the boundary of the individual groups have increased on average.” 

“Yeah! It might be the right time for you to start letting go of the honorific speech and treating everyone outside of the Evening Group more naturally. Of course, with a pace that’s comfortable for you. 

“Is that a new order?” 

“It’s not exactly an order but… If taking it that way is easier for you then it’s fine to think of it as one.” 

“If so, when should I end my usage of honorific speech?”

Master made a troubled expression when I asked this question. 

“Hmm, I think the best option is for you to try interacting with each person individually and quit when you feel like it’s the right time.” 

Master’s statement was a difficult matter.

“Vague instructions increase the probability of an operational error to occur but…” 

“Yeah, sorry about that. But still… Within Ev3ns activities, you’ve started to think about and change the way you sing and you’ve started to smile naturally, right? I’m sure there will come a time when something changes within you, so I want you to change at that time. I’m well aware this is difficult, but I think you can do it.”

 

I grasped the true meaning of Master’s words. 

Master desires that I “obey my feelings” and change actions based on those feelings. 

From my time spent with Master, and their actions and words, I’ve come to comprehend that Master treats me as a human being and not an Android. 

Human beings, different from Androids, do not take orders. They change behavior based on logic, reason, and emotion. 

Master seems to desire that for myself as well. 

My Developer, “Father”, also wished that for me at the end. 

I remember the words Father left on the cassette tape. 

Father had said, sing with your own voice, and live a life of your own. 

To obey and move based on emotion is the most difficult hardship an Android could face. 

However, the most important order, the one Master gave me, “Sing and dance with all your might and live with fun!” is that idea itself. 

In order to fulfill that order, a piece of it must include obeying my emotions and thus changing my conduct and actions. 

I returned my Master’s sacred glance, and nodded.

“Order received, Master.” 

“There, maintenance is finished.”

Kafka Oguro-sama closed his laptop and said this after completing my system check. My body was accessed externally, the architecture of my intracerebral system, and internal body transmission system. 

The people that know I am an Android include Ooguro-sama who offered to do my regular maintenance and outside of my group members, the Day Group. 

Raito has established a gag order and the others have not been made aware at this time.

That day, for regular scheduled maintenance, Ooguro-sama had come to my personal room.

My roommates Raito and Kuguri were absent, with Raito at work and Kuguri’s whereabouts unknown. 

“You have a place within your intracerebral region that is giving off an access error. I didn’t touch it because it seemed like it wasn’t cleared up on purpose but please clean up the other memories regularly.”

“Yes, thank you very much.” 

“You’re still as always with that stiff language, aren’t you?”

“Yes. Nishizono-sama pointed it out to me as well.” 

“Ah, Isn’t Renga telling you that because he wants to get to know you more?” 

“That is what I am speculating. Additionally, Master also instructed me to evaluate the best timing to change my usage of formal language and stop referring to others with sama.” 

“Leader-chan would say something like that.” 

Ooguro-sama excels in conjecture, and without further explanation, shrugged his shoulders as if he understood clearly.

“I have a question for Ooguro-sama… In order to fulfill Master’s new order, I have determined I require a large amount of Emotion Data. I believe there are fragments of feeling beginning to grow within me. However, that in itself is not sufficient.” 

“You’re looking for a method to increase it?”

“I am looking to gain Ooguro-sama’s knowledge on how I can foster that sensitivity rather than simply collect data.” 

Ooguro-sama put his finger near his mouth, and thought for a few seconds.

“Sensitivity, huh… Emotions are often born out of human relationships. It’s likely that the best option is trying to communicate with as many people as possible.” 

Ooguro-sama continued with “We should talk about what are human emotions in the first place.” 

“That something that floats up from inside of the heart? Humans feel through experience and that something is categorized and given a name. Joy? Anger? And such. That being said, that function doesn’t always work properly. On occasion, one might be under the illusion that sadness is anger. There are also times one encounters emotions that according to past experience cannot easily be named.”

“What should one do in that situation?” 

“It varies from person to person but one method is self introspection. When that emotion rises to the surface, analyze it,  study it, and give it a name within yourself. It’s verbalizing it or putting it into words. Of course, putting it into words isn’t always the most important. It’s a good method to clarify the emotions that occur inside of you but it’s kind of cheap to verbalize them too easily. Either way, I think in your case trying to verbalize those emotions is probably the quickest first step.” 

I recorded each of Ooguro-sama’s words one-by-one into my Memory Drive as critical information. 

“For example, in your Memory Drive there seems to be a fair amount of past recordings. One method could be to access those and verbalize the emotions you’re feeling while observing them.”

“That is a concrete method. I think I can do that.” 

Ooguro-sama smiled and responded, “Well, don’t overwork yourself too much,” and left the room. 

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