Word count: 2543
-
"I don't like it. It's weird and creepy. Why does it look like that?" Ranpo huffed as he poked the robot's forehead.
"It just looks like a person."
"That's the problem! It's way too human like." Ranpo crossed his arms.
"It cost a lot of money and it is a gift so I won't be taking it back." Fukuzawa huffed. "It's useful. All of its settings are default so name or whatever you want. It'll have no personality so don't worry about it being human and freaking you out." He waved his hand dismissively before returning to his own office.
Ranpo grumbled and brought a hand to the robot's neck, pressing a button to turn it on. The eyes that seemed so human lit up just a little bit to signify he was turned on. A robot. More accurately, an android. Taller than him, white, very badly cut hair that had a black streak. Who designed this? It wore a grey jacket, grey pants, a white button up and it had a blue circle on the temple of its head. "..." The robot's eyes moved left to right and he blinked. Why did it look so human? "Creepy.." Ranpo murmured.
"Please choose a name." The robot spoke. His name sounded human too, not produced by a voice box.
"Uhm.."
"Uhm. Is this the name you wanna choose?" Ranpo frowned as the robot spoke. Wanna? That wasn't- a word. That's a human thing. This thing should've sat want to. He huffed.
"No."
"Please choose a name." It repeated.
Ranpo crossed his arms. He didn't wanna be here... he wanted to go out and get food. Food sounded nice. "Sushi." He blurted out.
"Sushi. Is this the name you want to choose?" And then the robot didn't say wanna. It said want to. Ranpo already got off vibes from it, now that it was turned on.
"Yes."
Sushi's eyes then fell on Ranpo now. "Hi." Ranpo frowned as the robot spoke. Hi? It should say hello. These things were said to be so sophisticated in their speech that it was obnoxious. Ranpo crossed his arms.
"Hey." Ranpo noticed that Sushi seemed to be fidgeting with his fingers slightly behind his back. Were they supposed to do that? "Well.. I'm a detective and you're my assistant now, so follow me." He huffed and turned, walking to his desk. Sushi followed and simply stood next to his desk. "...what do you do when you have nothing to do?"
"Wait for.." why did it hesitate? "..you to tell me what to do." Ranpo looked up at him.
"Solve this case." He handed Sushi a file. The white haired android opened the file, and within five seconds of scanning all of the information in it,—
"It's the department store owner." Sushi and Ranpo speak at the same time. Ranpo, because he thought Sushi would take too long to say the answer. And Sushi, because he was answering the case. They both looked at each other and for a moment, Ranpo swore those vacant robot eyes showed some type of human emotion. "I'm sorry I spoke over you." The robot bowed his head. I apologize for speaking over you. That's what this robot should've said.
"It's fine. I'm surprised.. guess their androids really are high tech..." Ranpo sighed and took the case file, putting it away and typing up the report and submitting it. As he did so, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Sushi had began to play with his hair. Fake hair. Was it supposed to have little kinks like a human? It was acting like one. His posture wasn't straight and nearly unachievable like it was supposed to be. There was something wrong with this android. It had human flaws.
"Heyyyy, mister." Kenji gasped and looked up at the android, tugging at his sleeve. Sushi seemed caught off guard. Should it seem like it's caught off guard.
"Oh.. uhm, hello there." That wasn't the speech pattern it should be using. Ranpo was becoming agitated. And yet he said nothing. Because in the end it didn't matter, did it? The android was a little bit glitchy, or it had just been around people too long so it began to talk like one. "What's your name?" It didn't ask me that.
"Kenji! What's yours?" The blonde smiled brightly, shaking the androids hand vigorously.
"Sushi." Sushi smiled.
"Sushi. Sushi what? Is Sushi your real name?" Kenji tilted his head.
"I am an android, so I have no last name. He named me." He gestured to Ranpo. He. He hadn't asked his name...
"My name is Ranpo," The detective huffed snarkily. "And this things just a big hunk of metal, don't try and be friends with it."
"Ohhh, a robot. City peoples technologies are so advanced!" Kenji giggled and skipped odd.
"..." Sushi frowned and looked back to Ranpo. "You were very rude just then." Ranpo raised an eyebrow at the thing. Was it criticizing him..? Sushi seemed to catch onto his skeptical glare quickly. "Did something I do displease you? If so, I need to know so I won't do it again." It didn't seem like an automated message. It seemed forced.
Ranpo wrote down something on a piece of paper, handing it to the android along with a key. "Go here. Stay there until I arrive." He said calmly and shooed him off with a hand. Sushi looked at the paper, nodded and then walked away. Seemingly to the address given, which was Ranpo's apartment.
Ranpo finished doing work for the day, much more at peace without a robot hovering over him. He returned home and began his little.. experiment.
He twisted the knob. Locked. He didn't tell him to lock it. He knocked on the door. "It's Ranpo. Open up." He huffed. Nothing. He groaned and took a spare key out from his pocket and opened it, closing and locking it. He put his hand in his pocket. Where was that dumb android?
Ranpo's eyes opened. Widening slightly. Said android, white slightly messy hair equivalent to a humans, flawless skin that somehow seemed natural— looking like a boy his own age, this battery powered robot was asleep on the couch. Why was it sleeping? It didn't need to. It couldn't get tired. Ranpo advanced closer. The fact that he couldn't figure out an immediate answer was bothering him. He knelt down.
It was breathing.
Ranpo's heart stopped for a second. He took a small breath and quickly continued his experiment while he had the advantage of the other being asleep. There was no hair growing on his skin.. okay. He brought his hand up to the others scalp. Hair locked into his skin just like a humans. He frowns as he comes across such a thin line around the others forehead that it went nearly undetected, even by the detective. He traces it with his finger and it goes all the way around. He finds a small white circle on the back of the others head. He presses it.
Ranpo jumped back as the others head seemed to literally open. And God he did not need to see that. But he knew that- he did. He cautiously leaned over. Inside the others head was a human brain. It was hooked up to things it shouldn't be, technology surrounding it. He freaked out, and decided to just- close it. Yeah. Sushi back to looking like.. Sushi.
Was this robot part human?
Ranpo took a picture of the androids face, and reversed image search. Nothing came up, except for an android. And yet what he noticed with the android models is that they all looked different. No one looked the same. Not one. Nothing came up on the web.. but...
He goes to the files on his computer. Missing persons case... ? Maybe? He has no photos for certain cases, only names and addresses. One catches his eye. Atsushi Nakajima. Ranpo tilted his head. He named him Sushi on a whim, but could it be coincidence..? Or meaningful? He looks at the address. It's an apartment in this very building that was being renovated. He quickly rushed to the room. Renovated my ass.
Walking in, the room looks completely and totally like a normal room. He quickly shut the door. Shoes on the floor. But no one was home. There was a futon with folded clothes. He found a wallet and phone there. He quickly takes the wallet and gets the ID out. It's Sushi's face. But without a blue LED circle on the side of his head. Atsushi Nakajima. 18. His eye twitches and he quickly goes to the phone.
Kenji.
President.
Dazai.
Yosano.
Tanizaki.
♡︎♡︎
Ranpo doesn't want to click the last contact yet, the one with just hearts. This boy who he has no recollection of lived two rooms away from him and had contacts of all of the agency members. He walks back to the front room. Photos. Framed photos.
Atsushi and Tanizaki. Atsushi and Dazai and Kenji. But what was most bone chilling was that most of them were him and Ranpo. Ranpo didn't remember it at all. He looked back at the phone and reluctantly hit the heart contact.
Sure enough, it's conversations between him and Ranpo. They'd been dating.
Quickly, he gathers everything there and rushes back to his room. He puts it all in his room and bites his thumb nail. Not waking the sleeping android. Or human. Or both. Someone was kidnapping people... somehow erasing their existence off the face of the earth, and turning them into androids.
Ranpo turned back to look at Atsushi as he heard shifting. The android sat up, stretched his arms and yawned. His human movements didn't seem so bizarre anymore. "Nakajima." Ranpo decided to call him by his first name. What answers and memories could he get out of the android?
"Mm?" Atsushi looked over to him. Seemingly waiting.
"What's your name?"
"Sushi."
"But you answered to Nakajima."
"..I did." Atsushi blinked a few times, frowning. "That's an issue. I'll have it fixed, I'm sorry."
"Nuh uh. Don't fix it." Ranpo said quickly. Atsushi blinked a few times in confusion. "..Atsushi. Who made you?"
Atsushi. Atsushi frowned. Wasn't his name Sushi..? "Who made me..?" He blinked a few times. "I'm... not sure."
"What do you remember about the first time you were turned on? Like, awake. Powered." Ranpo crossed his arms. There had to be something in this androids mind.
"I remember that when I was powered on, I was in a hospital type room. But I wasn't being treated. More so I'd been just put together." He shrugged.
"Sushi." Ranpo lifts a picture and shoes it to him. It's him and Atsushi, at an amusement park. Ranpo's kissing Atsushi on the cheek. Atsushi stared at the picture and Ranpo hears a zap/shock noise, and Atsushi suddenly feels like his head is in pain which is evident by him holding it. Ranpo quickly put the picture down and knelt down. Panicking.
So much was going on and the detective had no time to process it. He needed to figure out what was going on. Atsushi's eyes were watering. He looked up at Ranpo, frowning. Ranpo waits patiently for the other to speak. "I'm.. not allowed access... to that part of my brain." He whispered shakily.
"Wha..?"
"It.. I think that I have experienced that photo. I feel that I have. But I don't remember it. And if I try to access that memory my circuits will fry and I'll die." Atsushi's eyes widened at his own words. "I don't wanna die."
"You're not gonna die." Ranpo cupped the others cheeks and lifted his head. "Now.. this is going to be more information that I think you'll know how to deal with. My name is Ranpo Edogawa. Your name is Atsushi Nakajima. You were an 18 year old boy working with the Armed Detective Agency. We were dating. One day you got kidnapped and your existence was erased from everyone's minds. You were remade into part android to sell."
Atsushi blinked a few times. "Huh." He stared at the other. "I was never human. I was put together."
"You were- are human." Ranpo insisted. "I can't show you more proof because I don't want my your circuits to fry." He knew why'd they fry. Because whoever did this made it so that if an android discovered the truth, they could never speak said truth.
"Mmm.. you're making me tired." Atsushi frowned. The poor thing... Ranpo sighed and laid him down.
"Rest. I'll figure things out." Ranpo let the other fall asleep. Too much information would cause a computer to buffer and take a while to process. The same with Atsushi. Ranpo sat back and ran a hand through his hair.
What the fuck am I supposed to do now?
~
A week went by and Ranpo solved the case. He could normally solve cases in mere seconds. Do a normal person might've taken decades just to find out who did it. Ranpo definitely had all of the evidence. But what everyone didn't have were the memories back of those who'd been kidnapped and turned into androids.
Ranpo did what he could. Found what proof he had and led androids to whatever home they might have. Now that the culprit was dead, due to the death penalty, it didn't hurt to try and figure out how to allow androids to access that forbidden part of their memory. And eventually it worked.
The androids remembered. The humans didn't. The humans memories seemed to be altered by a permanent ability the ability holder needn't be present to use. Not even Dazai was immune to it. So when Ranpo finally returned back to his apartment—
He gasped as he was tackled to the ground, engaged in soft arms. "Ranpo!!" Fuck. Atsushi remembered him... and Ranpo didn't remember a goddamn thing. He was going to feel so bad. "Ranpo, I missed you! I'm so sorry I forgot you!" Atsushi ranted in a panic, sitting up. "I'm sorry- oh gosh- I just tackled you- but gosh- once I remembered I felt so bad-"
"I don't remember you." Ranpo blurted out. Atsushi fell quiet. "The androids all have their memories back. But the humans don't yet."
"What..?" Atsushi frowned. "Oh, it's a funny joke." Atsushi gave a nervous smile. "Okay, haha funny. But you remember me. Right..?"
Ranpo only looked away from him. "Dazai remembers me. The President remembers me. You remember me- right?" Atsushi's voice became shaky. Shit, he's gonna cry.
Ranpo may not remember him but he knows that his feelings for the other seem to be similar to what they were previously. He doesn't want the other to cry. He thinks he's cute. He wants to care for him. "No no, don't cry." Ranpo cupped his cheeks. "Please don't cry." He wiped his tears.
Atsushi sniffled. Ranpo was comforting him in the same way he used to. So if they wanted to try again, at least a little of their relationship remained.
But it didn't matter. Ranpo couldn't remember, and it left Atsushi devastated. "Say you love me. You still love me. You remember me..."
"Say you still love me."