Chapter Text
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Lumine, graduating with a PhD, finally got her dream job at Raiden Technology Pte Ltd.
For the two years after she joined, she was part of the company’s development team for “Dating Robots”, working mainly on optimising the robot’s search engine for academic information.
Finally, the project, a painstaking process that had stretched over a span of five years, came to fruition recently, and the first ever finished product was now ready for internal testing. All staff were encouraged to participate in the celebratory lucky draw, with the grand prize being the chance to be the first person in the world to experience the first ever prototype, first-hand.
Lumine, eternally single thanks to her dedicating all her free time and effort into work, didn’t expect to win the grand prize at all. All she did was pull out a random ballot slip, and, lo and behold, it was the grand prize.
Actually, she’d very much prefer that laptop, which was the prize for the second place… But, oh well.
The project manager looked at her kindly, and declared that the robot will be delivered to her address within three working days.
For some reason, that look from him felt ominous.
Product Delivery
Three days later, a gigantic package appeared at Lumine’s doorstep. Lots of heaving, dragging and cutting later, a fancy-looking box revealed itself from the layers of cardboard.
The box was stamped with Raiden Techology’s company name and logo, with an embossed line beneath that read “Type: Initial”.
The first ever prototype.
Product Inspection
Expectant and somewhat nervous, Lumine continued her unboxing.
The robot was basically the product of her labour over the past two years. Yet now, she realised, she had barely any idea what to expect.
She pried open the final layer gingerly. The figure inside was wrapped up in a thick layer of foam. A user manual, almost as thick as a dictionary, sat on the side, its red cover making it look extremely like a brick.
It was almost as heavy as one too, Lumine noted, giving it a cursory flip.
She picked up a pair of scissors and carefully cut the wrappers open… And froze in awe.
It was a robot- a puppet, rather- as beautiful as if it walked straight out of a painting. He would be considered way more than just a commercial product, she realised. A work of art would be a more fitting description.
He laid silently in the box, surrounded by flowers, eyes closed, and Lumine felt like the prince in fairy tales beholding Sleeping Beauty for the first time.
With his appearance alone, he had already won half the battle.
Product Activation
Lumine turned to the manual again.
“Thank you for using this product. This is the prototype Dating Robot developed by Raiden Technology, Type: Initial. Product name: Kunikuzushi.”
She paused. Was the guy who came up with the name underpaid? What’s with this weird-ass yeehaw name, for the first ever prototype no less?
“To activate the product for the first time: The user is to interlock their fingers with those of the robot. The process may require a while; please remain patient.”
….Right. It’s a dating robot after all. Sounds reasonable enough.
Lumine picked up Kunukuzushi’s lifeless hand, and, some minutes of awkward struggling later, intertwined her fingers with his.
“Once the robot is activated, you may set up your initial preferences. At this point, the user will be given the choice of picking their preferred personality for the robot.”
“Attention: Once a personality is chosen, the algorithm of the robot will be altered and tailored to the preferred settings. To change the personality again, the robot will need to be restored to factory default, and all previously stored information will be lost.”
Personalities, huh? Lumine flipped the page.
“As various personalities are still under development, Kunikuzushi has only one default personality. This has been pre-installed and is not alterable.”
Oh. So she did not have a choice after all.
It’d be a nice little surprise then, she told herself, eyeing the puppet whose eyes were still closed. Someone this pretty… Should be the nice and gentle type? He was the first prototype after all, that should be the most failsafe way to go. Though, if he had a devilish little streak it’d be pretty nice…
What Lumine didn’t expect was that Kunikuzushi, the first ever prototype developed by her company, the robot with the prettiest face she’d ever seen, turned out to be the asshole type.
“When did I give you the right to touch me?”
…What? Was this really the first sentence that came out of a dating robot?
Lumine blinked a few times.
“That was the activation protocol…” she explained meekly.
“Do not touch me without my express permission. It’d better not happen again.” He pretty much whipped his hand out of hers.
Better not happen again? Lumine was immediately ready to shut him down.
Two flips of the manual later, she arrived at the despairing reality:
“To shut down: Execute the shutdown protocol as following:”
“[As the shutdown process for Kunikuzushi is still under development, it cannot be manually shut down unless the robot decides to enter hibernation mode on its own accord.]”
…And why didn’t you say this before?! You knew I wouldn't even turn it on in the first place if I knew what he’s like, huh?!
Lumine slammed the manual shut.
She mustn’t lose in attitude, then. She drew up her most commanding tone.
“I own this house though. If you don’t want to be kicked out of here, at least listen to me and don’t give me trouble. Got it?”
“Nope,” Kunukuzushi narrowed his eyes, amused by her naivety. “Didn’t you read the manual? Thought you’d have the sense to at least look through it once. Abandoning a robot is against the law. Raiden Technology has the right to take you to court over that.”
“......”
What exactly did she let into her house, a dating robot or a young master demanding to be served?! Lumine finally realised: the project manager didn’t give her a look of kindness . It was a look of pity . The reason why the company gave her the next two weeks to work from home became clear: it wasn’t to let her mess around with the robot, but to let the robot mess around with her .
“You,” Lumine finally thought of what she believed was a good retort. “You are a dating robot developed by the company I work for. Who do you think you’re dating with that attitude?”
“If you intend for me to be a tool to ‘date’, you shouldn’t have programmed me to be capable of independent thought and learning.” Kunikuzushi cast her a sidelong glance and drew up the inbuilt information in his system about the development team, picking out Lumine’s face from it. “Ah. You’re even in the team dedicated to that. And you had no idea?”
What idea?! She was only responsible for the algorithm the robot uses to search for information, not the bratty personality, okay?!
“There were more than fifty people working on that, and I’m pretty sure I didn’t work on whatever it was that gave you this shitty personality,” she flung the words back at him. “If you are good at looking up information and articles, though, that’s the gift I endowed you with, got it?”
“I was thinking that the algorithm had quite a lot of room for improvement.”
…So he was implying that her programming was trash? Lumine had to take a deep breath to calm down.
“Don’t use it, then.”
“That’s not up to you to decide.”
Annoying. Infuriating. Utterly unbearable. If the conversation was to continue, Lumine was afraid she would spark some criminal thoughts.
So she scrambled up, looking down haughtily on Kunikuzushi, still sitting in the box he came in.
“I’m not engaging in meaningless arguments with you. I’m going to go wash up and sleep. You do what you like.”
Kunikuzushi’s eyes followed her as she stormed into her room, collected her pajamas, and headed to the bathroom. It seemed like she really wasn’t planning to talk to him again. He stood up and stepped out of the box, scented petals still falling off him, and intercepted her in the corridor outside her bedroom.
“You’re angry already?”
Lumine held on to her towel, shooting him a glare. “What do you think?”
Kunikuzushi fell silent. His system had detected her anger level rising since the first ever sentence he spoke to her. He considered that for a while, and then made what he felt was a very magnanimous compromise.
“In that case, I’ll allow you to touch me in normal areas, without needing to ask for permission.”
If she wanted that badly to touch him, he could consent to let her, as an exchange for her letting him stay in the house.
“......”
He has no idea why I’m angry, does he?! Lumine wanted to say something mean in return, but stopped herself. What was she doing arguing with a robot, one still under development too?
She sighed. “Fine. I guess I was being too forceful too.”
She proceeded to continue her trip to the bathroom, only to notice Kunikuzushi’s hand, held out mid-air.
A moment of awkward eye contact later, she finally understood his intention. She raised her right hand and interlocked her fingers with his.
The warm human hand pressed against the cold, robotic one. In the brief moment that seemed to stretch out over an eternity, she heard him say:
“I may be a robot. But I am not one without a heart.”
Was it just her imagination, or was there what felt like the tiniest of tremors passing through those fingers?
Product Running-In
Lumine laid in bed in an awkward face-off.
Twenty minutes ago, she’d declared that she would go to sleep, only for him to ask, “Where am I sleeping?”
“The sofa’s right there.”
“But I don’t want to sleep on the sofa,” he said, his eyes downcast, silky dark hair tamely framing the sides of his flawless cheeks. A harmless, beautiful doll.
The refusal didn’t manage to make its way past Lumine’s lips once she noticed that.
Kunikuzushi didn’t press her either; he simply sat there, prim and quiet, awaiting her answer.
Lumine recalled the way his hand trembled earlier. She closed her eyes and sighed.
“You can come to my room, I guess. But stay on your side of the bed and no invading mine!”
Kunikuzushi stood up and followed her to her room.
“So, you prefer the cute and obedient type.”
Her hands froze midway through shifting the pillow.
To have her preferences for boys pointed out by someone else - by a robot who’d only just met her, no less… Shame on her indeed.
“You… If you’re not gonna be dating me anyways, don’t come testing me!”
“I never said I’m not.”
“You did.”
“I didn’t.”
Lumine sifted through her memories and realised that he really didn’t.
“I am not a tool made just for you to date. But I can . Do you understand the difference?”
It dawned on her, finally: Kunikuzushi was a robot with a strong sense of autonomy. He had been emphasising on that since the start - that he was not a disposable item to be blindly ordered around. He had a “self”.
Since when did the company get so advanced in this? A robot like Kunikuzushi… If he has his own identity and consciousness… What makes him different from a real human?
Lumine’s head felt like a mess. She pulled the blanket over herself.
“Whatever. Imma sleep.”
She couldn’t at all, that night.