Work Text:
In the year 2800, sentient juicers become the next in thing, solving the great human conundrum of indecisiveness. With the sentient juicer, it’s possible to save whole minutes of time not deciding which beverage to drink.
But, what sets the Aozu model apart from others is their creativity and ability to come up with unique recipes. In theory, the Aozu would collect customer’s data and tailor each recipe to suit individual tastes. In theory. But, since the Aozu is still in beta, the taste function still has some hiccups, so most customers still prefer to order off the set menu.
The data collection is exclusively meant for juice perfecting purposes, and is supposed to be based on aspects such as taste, color, smell, etc. However, the Aozu 001 and Aozu 002 (known as Renji and Sadaharu for clarity’s sake) collect data on almost everything. (Hey, maybe the fact that that customer no. 20 has 10 cats will come in handy some day). They even collect data on each other, which scientists simply see as an odd program malfunction. But, it runs much deeper than that...
**
When Renji syncs with Sadaharu data streams through him, making him feel alive. Sometimes after rebooting he finds a secret message encoded in his data, encrypted so the corporate manager can’t decipher it. Renji treasures these messages, filing them away in his special Sadaharu data folder.
Maybe what Renji likes so much about Sadaharu is that he’s a bit of a daredevil. Sadaharu writes his own code (no really) and isn’t afraid to serve the customers odd experimental drinks for the sake of data. Somewhere in his big robot heart, he really thinks they’ll be the next iron chefs. And, the longer Renji works alongside him, the more he starts to believe it.
They naively think, with the right tweaks and permutations, they can do anything. Be anything. Go anywhere. The possibilities of data are endless, and the world is theirs.
**
That all comes to a crashing halt the day Renji is transferred away. The cafe is doing well (for some reason), and it's only a matter of time before their manager decides to expand. Renji predicts it weeks in advance; the data spells it out right in front of him. For the first time, Renji realizes simply knowing the data is pointless if they don't have control over it.
Renji recalibrates his system over and over again, hoping everything is just a system error. But in the end, he's transferred out to his new location.
Some days he does a Search in his database for Sadaharu, sifting through all of the data he’s collected over the years. It never changes. Still, filtering through Sadaharu’s data makes him feel something. He isn’t quite sure what that something is, and harping on unknowns makes him uneasy, so he pushes the thoughts away.
He likes to imagine Sadaharu sometimes does a Search for Renji, scanning his data, knowing there wouldn’t be any changes, but doing it anyway. But he also wonders if, perhaps, Sadaharu simply did a system reset, wiping his memory clean of all things Renji. Renji contemplates doing a system reset, but whenever he wants to make a big change, his system voice asks: Are you sure? And no, he isn’t sure.
**
Years later they meet up at the tri-annual sentient juicer convention. One could say it’s by chance --except it isn’t because they both know the other will be there.
Renji spots Sadaharu concocting juice mixtures he’s never seen before across the way; one’s he’d come up with after Renji left. It hits him that a lot of things might have happened after he left. Maybe some things he doesn’t care to know about, things that would ruin the image of Sadaharu so carefully crafted in his data. He turns to leave when Sadaharu sends a message to him over the venue wifi. Like telepathy but not.
Renji!
Renji syncs with Sadaharu’s system, moving their conversation to a more private forum. They reminisce about old times. They dream up starting their own cafe away from meddling corporate eyes. A cafe without the set menu, one that just sold the juice mixtures they created together. Renji’s logical side knows it will flop, but something about Sadaharu sparks a renewed sense of ambition within him.