Autodoll wa Kuchita Sekai de Yume wo Miru

Here’s the second chapter.  I’ll likely have the next one out around Sunday.

Chapter 2: Snow-colored world

“Friend?”

Tilting her head slightly, the girl repeated the question.

“Yes.  As I was already alone at the time that my consciousness formed, I have no friends,” she said plainly.

“Huh? So you weren’t conscious before the world ended?”

“Correct. The awakening of my ego, my becoming self-aware, and the formation of my own consciousness all happened after the world’s collapse.”

“I see. That must’ve been lonely.”

“Yes, probably.”

“Probably?”

“I’m not entirely sure, but I believe that I’m lonely. And I likely begun my exploring in order to meet you.”

“It makes me kind of happy when you put it like that.”

Bowing, the girl whispered in her heart that this must have been a destined encounter.

“And so, will you be my friend?”

The girl raised her head, and replied “Alright” without hesitation.

The girl was also without friends. Or rather, she was the only one who she could rely on. There was no reason to refuse.

“Thank you so much. I’m glad.”

“I’m glad too. It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you as well.”

She raised her right hand, and the girl did the same.

“And so, let us begin with your education. With you as you are now, this can’t be considered an equal relationship.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I have determined that you lack the knowledge needed to stand alone as an individual.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“Yes. In the event that my functions became compromised, you would be broken along with me. So in other words, right now you are reliant on me. That can’t be considered ‘equal,’ and friends ought to have an equal relationship.”

“I see,” the girl nodded deeply. “Alright, then educate me.”

The girl understood the meaning of the word “education,” and also knew that it was a very enjoyable thing. Although she had no memory of ever having been educated in the first place.

“Taking into account the education methods of pre-destruction mankind as well as common knowledge as a basis, I shall form a subroutine.”

“Alright.”

The girl smiled.

“Then without delay…”

Since she stood up, the girl hurried to do the same. And then the sheet that had been covering her fell to the floor.

As the climate control in this place was perfectly functional, there was no need for heavy covers.

The girl didn’t know this yet, but said climate control was operating solely for her sake. Because she had no need for such things.

“You can go to sleep if you want,” she said.

“‘Kay. But… I don’t really want to be alone.”

“Very well.”

She sat back down in a most graceful manner. The girl understood how graceful these movements were.

“Hey, I’m thirsty.”

“Ah, one of the energy replenishment methods that humans require. Without the intake of liquids at regular intervals, they cannot function.”

“So you don’t drink water?”

“I do not. My energy is supplied by power cells.”

“Power cells?”

“I’ll explain it later. What would you like to drink? I’m unable to make anything overly complicated since we only have a simple food maker, though.”

“Simple food maker?”

The girl had no knowledge of what that was.

“It’s a simple type of food maker.”

“Yeah, I figured as much. But what exactly is a food maker?”

“A food maker,” she said, “is a machine which has a database component that contains the molecular structure of many different types of food as well as a printer component which replicates said structure.”

“So basically, it can reproduce the types of food that are recorded inside it?”

“Yes. Would you like a more detailed explanation?”

“‘Kay.”

Aside from electricity, the replication function only requires a small amount of water. And since food makers can also create water itself, indefinite operation is possible through the usage of that as an ingredient. I shall also repeat this a second time since it’s important- aside from electricity.”

“Huh, it sure is convenient.”

“It certainly is,” she nodded slightly. “This technology changed the history of mankind a great deal. Incidentally, around ninety percent of mankind’s food requirements came to rely on these food makers.”

“Is that right…” the girl nodded deeply. “And the simple-type is what we have here?”

“Yes. Food makers are very large appliances, so they aren’t found in public areas. Naturally, they aren’t found in private homes either.”

“Is there any difference aside from size?”

“The number of recorded food types is lower. Also, it’s impossible to replicate more complex foods. It’s a tradeoff for the printer and database components taking up less space.

“I see. Thanks for the explanation.”

“You’re welcome. And as an addendum, it’s also possible to swap out their cooking databases.”

“Ah, then how about a café au lait?”

The girl had no memory of ever having drank one, but she felt as if it was something that she liked.

“Café au lait?” she replied. “You wish to know whether or not that is in the database?”

“Yeah, the girl said. “I want to drink a café au lait.”

“Its data should be included.”

She stood back up and reached out to the girl.

“Let’s go together.”

“‘Kay.”

The girl took her hand.

It was soft and slightly warm.

◇

“I’m bored.”

One day, the girl suddenly exclaimed this.

It was three months after she had begun the girl’s education.

“Bored?” She quietly processed this. “Not interesting. Without worth. Without meaning. Not fun. Without a point. Is that what you mean?”

The girl rolled onto the library floor.

And then,

“Yeah, it’s probably something like that,” she said, stretching her back.

Still sitting opposite her, she placed the tablet that she had been teaching the girl with and looked at her.

Up until a few days ago, the girl showed no signs of boredom.

Even she understood the concept of boredom, as her functions were similar to that of a human brain. This is why she tried teaching the girl many things, so as to avoid repetition.

And of course they took breaks when they would play together.

“You don’t mean that you’re tired?” she tilted her head.

“I’m able to run from one end of this library to the other, I’m not tired.”

“I see. Then what exactly is the problem? Is it with my teaching methods?”

“Ummm,” the girl got back up. “Your teaching method is perfect. It’s fun, and I can understand everything.”

“It’s fun? Even though it’s boring?”

She tilted her head in the opposite direction.

She found the girl’s assertion to be contradictory.

“Studying is fun, and it’s great to learn about new things. But it’s just tiring to do the same thing every single day, you know?”

“So it’s the realization of a lack of stimulation?”

“Yeah, that’s probably it.”

“I see. I shall modify my education subroutines in order to become more stimulating.”

She hopped onto her feet.

“We can save that for tomorrow. But can we do something fun right now?”

“Hmm.”

She pondered.

What can she do so that the girl will be satisfied?

Give her a book? No, that’s just the daily routine.

There is nothing new within this library. And over these three months, the girl has come to know its entire interior.

“In that case,” she thought, “I should just show her something that she hasn’t seen before.”

For example,

the world.

◇

Holding her hand, the girl went outside the library.

The girl opened her eyes wide and took a deep breath.

The world was pure white.

Some white, fluffy-looking substance danced through the air as it fell towards the ground.

“It’s a snowscape,” she said.

“It’s beautiful,” the girl replied.

The girl knew what snow was, but this was the first time that she had ever actually seen it.

While continuing to hold her hand, the girl walked into the snow.

“It’s all crunchy.”

The sensation of the snow was enjoyable. Even through these snow boots, its softness was conveyed.

Turning around, the girl saw that their footprints were left behind.

“Even in a world like this, will our footprints remain?” the girl thought to herself.

She let go of the girl’s hand and marched forward on her own.

“Don’t leave meee~”

When the girl said that, she spun back around. And then crouched down while grinning.

“Is something the matter?” the girl wondered.

She collected snow in her hands and threw the rounded agglomeration at the girl.

The snowball struck the girl’s face and shattered. Its fragments dancing through the air as they fell was a beautiful sight.

But more importantly…

“Why did you attack me?”

She showed no sign of violent intent.

And though she wasn’t hurt, the girl was still uneasy. She wondered if she had a short-circuit or something.

“This is a game called a ‘snowball fight.'”

“A game?”

“Yes. You pack snow together and then throw it. It didn’t actually hurt, did it?”

“No.”

“It’s a safe game.”

While saying that, she made a second ball.

“Am I allowed to dodge that?”

“Yes, you are.”

She casually released the second shot.

It flew through the air in a slow arc. Predicting where it would land, the girl changed positions.

But although she was able to dodge the snowball, her feet caught in the snow and she fell over.

Since it didn’t actually hurt, she continued lying there on the snow’s surface.

“Are you okay?”

She spoke in a louder voice than usual.

“I’m fine,” the girl laughed. “This is fun.”

She hopped back up and begun making a snowball of her own.

“Here I go…”

Gathering her strength, she threw it at her.

“She should be able to easily dodge this,” the girl thought to herself.

But she took no evasive measures.

The snowball that the girl threw hit her square in the face before breaking into pieces.

“You have some nice control there.”

Clenching her right hand, she held up her index finger.

“I thought you’d dodge it.”

“I thought that I’d like to experience being hit by one.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“So what do you think?”

“It’s fun.”

For some time afterwards, the two had fun throwing snow at one another.

And once the girl became tired, the snowball fight came to a close.

The girl laid atop the snow’s surface, and she laid next to her.

“Snow sure is great.”

“I think so as well.”

“Thanks.”

“For what?”

“For showing me this snowscape and teaching me about snowball fights.”

“It’s fine. This is also a form of education.”

“Really?”

“Well… that’s not the only reason. I also wanted to play with you.”

The girl was very happy to hear those words.

And for a while, the two watched the sky.

The air was cool, yet clear. Cold, yet pleasant. Like this, they calmly passed the time.

But then,

“Why’d it go away?”

The girl suddenly spoke.

“Why did what go away?”

She sat up and turned her gaze towards the girl.

“The world.”

Pure white, it was a beautiful world of endless nothing.

“I wonder. As no evidence remains, I have no way to verify.”

“There’s nothing around here that can actually harm me, and this isn’t a nuclear winter. There doesn’t seem to be any massive change in the Earth’s crust either.”

The girl already possessed a great deal of knowledge. However, she was still unable to understand what had happened to the world.

“Perhaps it was a satellite weapon which attacked molecular structures?”

From many possibilities, she chose one at random.

“But that wouldn’t destroy just the surface, would it?”

“What if it was only set to destroy its molecular structure?”

“What, like pattern matching?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm. Then leaving that as a possibility, who erased the world and for what reason?”

“Unknown. Also, there is no proof that it was destroyed at the behest of any one individual.”

“Then what reason would someone have to destroy it? If a satellite weapon was actually used, I mean.”

“I wonder. Perhaps it was a malfunction, or possibly used by mistake.”

“Hmm…”

Though she was deep in thought, the girl was unable to find an answer that she could accept.

Instead, she said the only thing that came to mind.

“I want some hot soup.”

A change of topic that was so sudden, it actually stunned her for two seconds. But then she smiled right away.

“Very well, then let’s go with the type that includes corn.”

Saying this, she stood up and reached out to the girl.