Chapter Text
AI music was what the public had grown accustomed to listening to. The brightly lit streets would always have it playing, and robot idols would perform in 24/7 concerts.
Tsukasa and Saki had only ever known these robot concerts. Their parents took them to a few before, but they always found it boring. It sounded soulless, some songs even sounded identical to others. No originality. No work put into it. Sound only created for numbers and money.
Tsukasa was around ten years old when him and Saki got lost on the way home from school. The brightly lit streets of Tokyo were confusing at times. Even though they had taken this route many times before, they still couldn't find their way home.
They eventually stumbled upon a bar. The man at the front was planning on turning them away, but he realized they were very much lost. He let them in so they could use the phone inside of the bar.
The bars in the television shows Tsukasa watched would always have loud music blasting through them. His grandmother told both him and Saki that the music in older shows had been edited to become AI remakes. Tsukasa found that quite strange.
Unlike the ones on TV, this bar only had the sound of the customers chatting amongst each other. Tsukasa and Saki didn't think much of it, and they walked over to the phone, about to call their parents.
While waiting for Tsukasa to dial the number, Saki sat on the floor, messing with the rug that her older brother stood on. She lifted a corner up a few times. One of these times lifted it up a bit more than the rest, revealing a trapdoor beneath.
She tugged on Tsukasa's sleeve to show it to him. Curiously, the two of them opened it and climbed down.
The new area of the bar was larger. People held giant glowing sticks in their hands, waving them in time with one another.
A song was playing. The music blasting through their ears. The volume made the room feel like it was shaking.
It was unlike anything Tsukasa and Saki had ever heard before. There was true emotion in the voices that were singing. They walked through the room, seeing three people dancing on stage.
Tsukasa could tell there was a light in their eyes that robot idols didn't have. They were humans. Human-made music was illegal. Yet, it sounded amazing. The song they has sung was the best thing the two had ever heard.
Saki had a huge smile on her face, her small blonde pigtails swaying as she rocked back and forth to the music. Tsukasa had never seen her so happy before. He turned to his younger sister, placing his hands on her shoulders.
"Saki! I'm going to become a singer when I grow up!"