A/n: this chapter is a slightly altered version of the oneshot I wrote a while ago.
It seems like everyone in the city had a persacom. Everywhere you turned there was someone walking around with one. Coming from the rural farm areas into the city for university was expensive enough so even though you wanted one, there was no way you'd be able to buy one.
Persacoms were amazing technology, AI robots that were life size and looked so incredibly human aside from the almost cat like ears on the side of their head where their chords were. Sometimes you'd have to do a double take when you saw a persacom because they just looked so real and acted so human like. You felt a little out of place as you made your way back to your small apartment in the city, you were one of the few people without a persacom by your side.
"Maybe I can skip lunch so I can save money for one? No I should eat so I don't make myself sick. Damn... I really want one though, not like someone would just leave a persacom lying around..." you mumbled to yourself.
Walking down the silent street under the streetlights, out of the corner of you eye you saw something lying in the pile of boxes and rubbish bags to be collected in a few days. When you turned to look at it, you almost had a heart attack.
It seems the universe had been listening to you... because lying on the side of the road, among a pile of junk left for roadside pickup, you saw him.
"A BODY- wait..." you exclaimed.
As if the universe had heard your earlier words, you noticed something about this 'body'. Persacom ears on the side of its head. You approached it, flabbergasted. Wrapped up in bandages to keep its arms and legs tied together as well as censor is clotheless body, a complete full size male persacom lay in the pile of trash.
"W-who'd throw out a whole persacom? It looks like it's brand new! And it's cute... maybe it's an old model..." you mumbled to yourself.
You stood there, looking down at it for a moment. It had fluffy black hair, white and blue ear ports, and it seemed to be a custom model due to the Eyebags under his eyes. You hadn't seen one with Eyebags before...
"I mean... if someone's throwing it out I can just... take it right..?"
You wouldn't pass this miracle of luck up. A whole full size persacom just lying there free for the taking, in seemingly perfect condition. Even if he was a bit scuffed up you were sure you could fix him up. Lifting the heavy persacom from the pile of boxes, you weakly carried it up the rest of the street and back to your apartment. You hoped no one saw you, as it probably looked like you were carrying a dead body. Even more awkward was the fact he was wearing nothing but some bandages.
Finally making it home, you lay him on your floor and took a moment to regain the strength you lost carrying him here. Now... you had to figure out how to turn him on.
"Ok... where's the switch?"
You examined his body, which felt like touching real skin it was so realistic. You checked under his hair, on his arms, on his feet, in his ear ports, but couldn't find a switch. How the hell did this thing even work? Unless... it was somewhere under the bandages?
You hesitated for a moment, even though he was a persacom, he looked so human you felt like if you unwrapped the bandages and exposed his body you'd be harassing him or something... but slowly, you did finding a small button on the inside of his upper thigh.
Did they really have to put it there?
"Ok, so I just... press it? Do I have to do anything else?" You asked yourself, absentmindedly pressing the button.
Hearing the sound of electronic whirling, you jumped. And right before your eyes, the persacom opened its eyes and sat up. It worked, he was still functional and you'd managed to switch him on. Why would someone throw him out if he still worked? Oh well, it was lucky for you.
"Wow... that worked. Uh... hello?" You said, not sure how exactly to work a persacom.
He turned to look at you, tilted his head and in his eyes was a small light like a loading sign. He seemed to memorising your face.
"Hm? He's not talking... maybe I need to switch something else on?" You mumbled to yourself.
Standing up to get your laptop from your bag to try and look it up, you were stopped in your tracks when he followed your actions and stood up too, the loose bandages starting to fall off him.
"Woah woah woah! Clothes you need clothes!" You panicked, slightly awkward.
Even if he was a persacom, he seemed so real you felt like you shouldn't be looking at him naked when you'd just met. You pulled a random shirt from your cupboard and pulled it over his head to cover him up. An oversized plain white long sleeved shirt covered him a bit like a dress. He looked down at it, seemingly scanning it.
"I'm confused... he's on but how do I work him now..?" you sighed.
Hearing you talk, he looked at you again and this time, he spoke.
"L?"
That it. That's all he said.
"L?" You questioned.
"L"
"Uhh... is that your name? L?"
"L" he said.
Now you understood why he may have been thrown out...
"Is... L all you can say?" You asked.
"L"
Seemed like it, why a random letter was all he could say you didn't know. But it seemed like it'd be an easy fix for someone who know about persacoms, so even if he was a bit broken surely it wasn't worth throwing him out right? You didn't know much about persacoms, but you were sure there was some way to fix that.
"Ok... well, I'll call you L. Since that all you know. Is there a chip or a USB or something?" You told him.
He let you examine him, and open up his cat like ear docks to see the tech inside it. You saw a chord used to plug him into other devices and a port for a USB but no USB or SIM card or chips inside it. Maybe he was missing a part?
"Hm... I can't do much research if I can't find a brand or model number..."
You continued to look around on his body for any logos or numbers. But found nothing, meaning he was probably custom made hence the Eyebags...
"Damn, finding out how to work you might be hard then..."
You sat down on the floor at your kotatsu and pulled your laptop from your bag to try and look something up.
"L?" He questioned, watching you.
"It'd be helpful if I knew how to fix your talking" you said.
He sat down opposite you, watching you pull turn on your laptop. The same electronic whirling you heard when you turned him on quietly rang from him, and that loading light in his eyes flashed.
"L" he said.
"I wish I knew what you were trying to say L" you replied.
He turned to look at your bag and reached for it. You watched in confusion as he pulled things out and put them on the table. First your pencil case, then water bottle, then wallet, then phone. When he was done placing them in a neat pile he looked back up at you.
"Hang on..."
You stood up.
He stood up.
You sat down.
He sat down.
He was copying your actions. He was learning. That processing sound coming from him when he watched you was him learning and remembering things.
"Wait a second... I'm (y/n)" you told him.
There was that sound again, quiet but noticeable.
"What's my name?" You asked.
"(Y/n)" he said.
It worked! He was learning from you!
So it seemed he had a software that picked up on actions and words and learnt from things around him. So in order to make him work properly, you had to teach him.
"I get it, I have to teach you. And when you remember you can do things by yourself. Alright then... I'm (y/n), I'm your owner ok? And your name is L. I'll teach you how to be as human as possible ok?" You told him.
"(Y/n)... teach L?" He asked.
"Yes I'll teach you. Although I'll have to find you some proper clothes at some point... I'm sure we'll have to go out of the house eventually..."
He looked down at the shirt you gave him, the only thing covering him up.
"Clothes" he said.
"That's right. You keep that on ok? I'll get you some more eventually" you replied.
"L"
That seemed to be a yes, he just didn't know the word yet. Anything he didn't know seemed to be replaced with L.
This would be a very interesting little project. Getting L to function as a human... well... persacom while not knowing who made him or how he works aside from a learning software he seemed to have. The owner of the apartment building might know something, you'd have to ask him at some point.
Right now you had to focus on teaching L the basics and finding out as much as you can about his functions... and then find out who made him so you can thank them for making him so goddamn cute.