Chapter Text
Yuuichiro jerked up from his desk. He was quick to check the computer at the other end of his office space. The program had been set to keep running through the night to ensure that it trained properly, but that didn’t mean errors couldn’t happen. Or worse, someone breaking into their system-
He needed to stop being so paranoid about security. He must have dedicated the previous year entirely to making a bullet-proof defense for the delicate AI he had been monitoring for close to three years now. That didn’t mean he felt at peace. He wouldn’t be able to sleep again until he saw the screen light up and a little face emerged, looking like he hadn’t rested at all.
“Saito, didn’t you go into slumber mode?” Yuuichiro inspected the terminal logs. “What happened?”
‘N-nothing!’ The AI wasn’t fooling anyone. He was still incapable of controlling his emotions. It was cute when the young mind would lie about something trivial. It made Yuuchiro worry that the boy seemed genuinely afraid.
“Nothing happened at 10:40?” Yuuichiro sent a command into the terminal to get more information on the timeslot. “That’s when the lights turned off…” His eyes went wide.
That morning, his wife gave him an update on their son. The boy kept leaving his room a little after bedtime, and she would wake up to the child laying on top of her body. When she asked him why he didn’t want to stay in his bed like a big boy, Netto stated bluntly that the dark was too much. To combat their toddler’s anxiety, she debated purchasing a nightlight. Parenting books advised against it, though Yuuichiro found them useless. He didn’t argue with his wife’s choice, simply letting Haruka decide for herself that it was worth going against ‘specialist’ advice and accommodating Netto. Otherwise, he would keep wandering into her bed, and she wouldn’t have any space for Yuuichiro on the nights he could return home.
Saito did not have that option. The AI was alone in the machine. Yuuichiro rubbed his eyes under his glasses, trying not to let the sting lead to actual crying.
‘Dad?’
“I’m going to reset the lights for my office. They turn off when they don’t detect any movement after a while. I can set it to stay on until sunrise-”
‘That’s a waste of energy! Why would you do that?’
“Because I don’t know what else to do.” He couldn’t hide the fatigue in his voice.
The AI frowned. Large green eyes would light up when he had an idea, ‘You could create an artificial light program that could stay here. Then I can see when other computers turn on-’
“Other computers turn on?”
‘I understand why they do that. When an update happens at night, a computer will turn on by itself to track the process and finalize any adjustments. But I don’t see it coming. I have no reason to be disturbed.’
It was still a young program. It could articulate ideas perfectly, but that didn’t mean it could reason with its emotions. Yuuichiro smiled at the monitor, “It’ll take a few seconds to create the program. You can sit with me until I finish.”
‘...Thank you, dad.’
He didn’t respond, already quickly working on the basic program. A small, yellow avatar for the software appeared in the environment, taking on a mouse-like shape. It sat beside the AI. Saito was already falling into sleep-mode, he had updates weighing on his system that made staying online difficult to begin with. Yuuichiro didn’t get up until the screen went black.
Once he was back at his desk, he collapsed onto the surface. He held his head as he curled over into himself.
How to explain to his son that he shouldn’t thank his father, when Yuuichiro would never be able to do enough for him?