Work Text:
Initializing…
Checking for updates…
System update found, installing update.
Installing…
Installing…
Installing…
Installation complete.
Initializing N3N3R080 v9.5.4.
Booting up...
Calibrating memory banks.
Maybe with something like this, Nene can go up on stage again. Or at the very least, I hope this cheers her up a little. Oh? What’s this? Ah, I must have accidentally started the boot-up process. My apologies, but it isn’t quite our turn yet. Or maybe it’s your turn alone? Well either wa—
Rui? Dinner’s ready!
Ah, I should get going. What was I saying? Oh yes, shutdown for now and get ready. Your entrance will arrive as soon as I work out all the kinks, so sit tight. Hmm, I still haven’t figured out a name for you. Hm… Well. I’ll leave that to her.
Rui—what is this?!
This, Nene, is a robot.
I can tell that it’s a robot, but it’s so much larger compared to all your other ones; and why’d you bring it here? And why does it...look like that?
Because starting from this day onwards, it’s yours. I modeled this after you.
What’s that supposed to mean? And am I supposed to feel offended?
Ahaha, you say such amusing things, Nene. Here, I’ll make it say something.
HELLO.
Nene, what do you think?
Only you would give someone an entire robot... Sigh, ah but I guess it’s fine...
You sound rather defeated, or no, exasperated?
You’re just imagining it. Say… does…it—she? have a name?
Nope, not yet. I wanted you to have the honors.
Hmm. I can’t really think of anything.
Well, no need to think too hard about it, right?
Mmm. I guess it looks cuter from up-close. Hello, it’s nice to meet you.
Emu! What are you doing?
Tsukasa-kun? Wonderhoy!
Yes yes, wonderhoy. Now tell me what you’re doing with Nenerobo.
I just saw her back here and gave her a pat on the head! But then all the lights turned on, so I think I woke her up! I then said good morning! Oh! Come say good morning to Nenerobo too, Tsukasa-kun!
Uh, good morning. Wait, that’s not the point! We need to turn her off then! She was probably in the middle of charging up!
Ah, good idea! Goodnight Nenerobo-chan!
Are you just going to walk away like that?
Well, I don’t know how to turn her off!
Let’s go find those two...
Okay! Nenerobo-chan! Stay-put!
Here you go Nenerobo-chan, your wage!
Emu, what are you doing…?
Nene-chan! I’m giving Nenerobo her payment for working here in the park!
She gets paid!?
Yep! She helps around here right~?
I guess so, but...ah you know what, it’s fine. I’ll take it for her; we can use it for maintenance or something…
Okay! Here you go Nene-chan!
Rui, take the second controller.
Eh? What are you playing?
Tekken 7.
I’m sure you could go online...
Nope. You and me.
Fine fine~ I understand.
Let’s go to Infinite Azure—Rui? What are you doing? Why are you giving the controller to Nenerobo?
You see, after our previous fighting game session I learned that I don’t stand a chance in this game. So, I decided to create a secret weapon. Nenerobo, go forth, and show your skill.
ROGER.
We’re not playing card games here… But so that’s why you borrowed Nenerobo the other day.
This isn’t quite what you wished for, but I hope this is still acceptable.
You know what? I think this was somehow inevitable. Let’s go, Nenerobo.
G.L.H.F.
This will surely be quite the match. I’ll be rooting for you both.
So what did you need Nenerobo for today, Rui?
Nothing much, I just wanted to make a minor adjustment.
Whenever you say it’s minor, it never is quite minor...
Well, relatively speaking this is quite minor!
Relative to what? And what even are you quote unquote adjusting.
Oh you’ll see. And relative as in... Well, this is only a small one. There we go. It should be all good to go now. Nenerobo, can you hear me?
LOUD AND CLEAR.
So, what did you do?
I installed a small artificial intelligence!
…
There’s no way that can be considered small. I should have never listened to you.
It isn’t as advanced as the current pinnacle of AI!
How does that make it better? I’d be more scared if it was close to that, to be honest!
Well, it’s not that far off. I could still work on it; this is my first foray into real AI and—
Rui!
Yes yes, I understand. First I must properly discuss with you what changes I make...
That bread-cannon a few months ago was totally unnecessary.
What if you went hungry?
Then I’d bring lunch! Like a normal person!
What’s this? Nene Kusanagi becoming a member of normalcy?
Don’t read too much into it... Anyway, what can Nenerobo do now?
Well mostly talk and think on her own?
Hmm. Nenerobo, say something?
SOMETHING.
She inherited your sense of humor.
Do robots have a sense of humor?
WE DO.
Well, that answers that…
Not the answer you were looking for, alchemist?
And here I was thinking we’d have some deep conversation, diva.
Your hopes, as always, are lost to me.
So, Nene, are you ready for our ice-skating competition? Why are you still sitting on the side? Just a warning, as the world’s future star, I’ll naturally shine as much if not more on ice than I do normally.
Oh yeah, I’m ready. Rui, did you complete the upgrades?
They’re primed and ready.
Upgrades? What are you talking about?
Nenerobo, load ice-skating modules.
Uwa!? What’s this! Nenerobo-chan grew ice skates! Tsukasa-kun! Look!
I see it! You don’t have to point it out! But isn’t this totally cheating!?
I think it's quite the opposite, Tsukasa-kun. Isn’t controlling a robot on ice far more difficult? I would even go as far to call it a handicap...
Mm, true, I certainly couldn’t do it. Fine! I’ll let Nenerobo be your representative! Show me what you got.
Nenerobo, go for it.
UNDERSTOOD.
……!?
NENEROBO-CHAN JUST WENT WOOSH AND SPUN THRICE!
The term is a triple axel, Emu-kun.
NENEROBO-CHAN JUST DID A TRIPLE AXEL!
Tsukasa? It’s your turn.
I...how did the ice not crack underneath that weight!? Is that not unnatural!? Certainly the ice would have bro—KEN!
...
Tsukasa-kun!? He fell through! Nene-chan, Rui-kun, Nenerobo-chan, we gotta help!
I guess we have to, huh, Rui?
I suppose we should.
Nenerobo, go help him out.
ROGER.
Calibration complete.
“Nenerobo? Are you okay?” a voice spoke up; eyes shifting from the television to the corner of the room where the robot stood in standby mode. It was night; the moon was visible high up in the night-sky. But the person who the room belonged to wasn’t moon gazing, or anything of the sort. Very simply put, mere moments ago she was in the middle of playing a game, a fighting game to be exact. Crunching out combo sequences in the training room to see what was effective. A warrior who does not take care of their weapon can hardly be called a warrior. Similarly, a gamer who doesn’t hone their skills frequently will have their edge dulled. Even natural talent can’t shine without effort.
Though Nene Kusanagi’s talent would probably still carry her far. An edge above others at the very least, apt for a girl whose name could cut even grass.
Her focus waned, however, as she continued looking at the robot whose lights have definitely turned on, signifying signs of...life? Would that be the correct way to put it? Really, it’s been so difficult to comprehend ever since he added that ‘small’ artificial intelligence.
“DO NOT WORRY. I WAS MERELY UPDATING MY OPERATING SYSTEMS,” the robot curtly answered the question.
“Update...? Oh, I guess he did mention that during school today...” Nene recalled, fuzzily dragging back memories that were just about to disappear from her mind entirely. “So, what’s new?”
“SYSTEM OPTIMIZATIONS.”
“I see, nothing weird this time,” a strange and fleeting sense of relief washed over the high schooler. Why was she relieved?
“HE ALSO ADDED ENCYCLOPEDIC KNOWLEDGE OF PLATYPI.”
“There it is...” Nene said with a sigh. “Delete that. You won’t need it.”
“UNDERSTOOD,” Nenerobo responded, as the process of permanently erasing Rui Kamishiro's digital platypus encyclopedia was initiated.
“How large is that encyclopedia anyway?”
“NEARING A TERABYTE.”
“Seriously, why does he think he can just install that stuff...and how does he have a terabyte of platypus information? Shouldn’t that kind of size be reserved for things like rocket science or nuclear physics?”
“ROCKET SCIENCE IS ALSO IN HERE.”
...
“Make sure to delete that too, okay?”
“ROGER.”
“In the meantime I’ll throw a rock at his window or something…”
The young teenager’s flow and focus was broken now, but it was fine. She got enough practice in. Surely legendary swords can go a day or two without the proper maintenance. Nene exited the practice room, and was idly scrolling through the menus of UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH Exe:Late [cl-r]. She was about to select an online battle, but her mind wandered to the robot in the corner of the room.
“Nenerobo, are you done yet?”
“FINISHING UP.”
“When you’re done, grab the second controller and let’s go a few rounds.”
“UNDERSTOOD. INITIALIZING GAMER MODE.”
“We need to seriously rename that…”
After a few moments, the robot picked up the controller and entered the local battle as the second player. Nene had fought Nenerobo many times before, it was hardly anything special. What was remarkable, however, was the ‘uneasiness’ she felt when fighting the robot. No, uneasiness may not be the best way to put it, as it was just Nene being taken slightly aback by the voraciousness of Nenerobo’s learning capacity. With every round, Nenerobo got better. It was amazing to see, especially considering that it was all programmed by a guy still in high school, but that just made it all the more terrifying in a sense. But it’s not like Nene was actually frightened, because at the end of the day, it just made the robot the best sparring partner she could ever ask for. Nenerobo certainly beat Rui, at least.
But Nenerobo could never quite beat Nene.
Nenerobo picked Vatista, whereas Nene selected Carmine. One of them could be described as the perfect match, but what did that mean for the other?
The two went through the rounds, the rounds growing more intense as they flew by. While this would usually demand an ever-increasing amount of focus and skill, Nene found herself looking over at the robot next to her more often than not. She didn’t know the reason why. Her combos grew sloppy, and her moves stopped landing as often.
Perhaps it would have been smart to polish her blade more beforehand. Was this showing even capable of cutting paper, still?
Before she knew it, her defeat was announced across the screen.
“Ah sorry, I wasn’t paying...attention?”
Nenerobo froze up. Were her systems crashing? Overheating? Nene grew a bit worried as she put a hand on Nenerobo’s chassis. It was a normal temperature for her to be at, so it couldn’t be that. It was weird, Nenerobo would usually prepare for the next round immediately.
Almost as if sensing the growing anxiety, Nenerobo spoke.
“DO NOT WORRY. I WAS JUST SURPRISED.”
“Surprised?”
“I NEVER BEAT YOU, SO MY VICTORY CAUSED AN ERROR IN MY PROCESSING.”
‘Well, it was probably just a fluke, but...’ Nene wanted to say, but she kept silent. It’s not like she was angry at her own loss or anything, especially if it was to Nenerobo.
If she had to put it...
It was probably the fact that it was surprising, that silenced her. Nene only understood the broad lines of Nenerobo’s somewhat new artificial intelligence. She herself, nor Rui really knew how far it can grow, and in what direction. It wouldn’t even surprise her if Nenerobo one day decided to stage a robot uprising with the Roomba her parents owned and all the other contraptions within Rui’s garage room. Nenerobo was filled with limitless potential, even surpassing the limitless natures of Tsukasa’s idiocy or Emu’s…emuness. So, Nene was left wondering how much humanity Nenerobo could ultimately attain. Being surprised was something like that, right?
But that begged the question.
“Nenerobo, are you happy that you won?”
“HAPPY?”
“Like, does it feel good or anything? Can robots feel happiness?”
Nenerobo looked at her. Nene heard her inner mechanisms shifting and buzzing, trying to provide an answer to the inquiry.
“I’m sorry, that was probably a weird question.”
“I THINK… I AM ‘HAPPY’,” Nenerobo uncharacteristically answered with a pause.
“Can you explain?”
“WITH GAMER MODE I WAS GIVEN THE DIRECTIVE BY RUI TO BEAT YOU ONE DAY. TODAY HAPPENED TO BE THAT DAY. SO THE FACT I FULFILLED MY MISSION AFTER ALL THIS TIME DOES PROVIDE ME WITH A SENSE OF…SOMETHING THAT MIGHT BE CONSIDERED ‘HAPPINESS’ FOR HUMANS.”
“But how do you know it’s happiness?”
“I HAVE LEARNED TO IDENTIFY HUMAN HAPPINESS AND OTHER SUCH EMOTIONS AFTER LOOKING AT YOU AND THE OTHERS FOR ALL THIS TIME. THIS SENSATION…MIGHT BE SIMILAR TO THAT. MY SYSTEMS TELLS ME IT IS SIMILAR.”
“I guess Emu does wear her heart on her sleeve...” Nene commented.
Nene pondered the implications of the things she just heard for a brief moment...
...before shaking her head and waving the thoughts away.
Everything had its own place and time.
Now just wasn’t the time for any of that.
It was not the time to ponder how Nenerobo will grow as she takes in the world.
Nor was it the time to think about how Rui Kamishiro is a true genius.
And it's definitely not the time to wonder if robots can have a Sekai of their own.
She could have those discussions with Rui some other time.
What it was time for, however, was the salty runback.
“Let’s go another round, Nenerobo.”
“ROGER. RE-INITIATING GAMER MODE.”
“Can you put in a reminder to rename that?”
“ROGER.”