Murasakino

Back to the lab

   "Murasakino?" Dr Kerrett said, confused. "What on earth are you doing here?" She had a white shirt on and a bewildered expression on her face, and her hair wasn't in a ponytail anymore.
   "Oh, uh..." I quickly scrambled for my luncbox, and was about to zip it up when Pippa looked inside it.
   "Where'd you get those?!"
   "Th... they were free samples... I got enough for everyone..."
   She counted them. "Any for me?" she asked, not sarcastically but as if she really wanted one too.
   "The man who sells them is just over there," I said, pointing. He was offering his tray up to a woman with a baby, who was picking a marzipan fruit up.
   "Thanks," Pippa said, and was about to ask for one when she turned back around to face me. "Why didn't you go back to the lab, Murasakino?"
   "I just wanted to see what the city was like," I replied. "I was even thinking of getting cakes for everyone, just to... make up for it."
   "I could buy them for you," she said, but again turned back to me instead of going over to ask. "I'd feel awkward though..."
   "Not as awkward as me! I've never been in public before and have no money!"
   "Yeah, but look at me! They're not gonna let me buy nine cakes, are they! I look like I already eat ten every day!"
   "I'm sure they will!" I said, reassuring her.

   It was a pretty weird situation to imagine; a robot encouraging a human to be confident. She probably found it fascinating, too, as she had undoubtedly watched me being constructed and knew that I was basically just metal and fake skin. Plus, I was good at it, and she bought everyone a cupcake and got herself a marzipan, eating it the moment she had removed the wrapper.
   On our way back to the lab, she talked almost non-stop, apart from when she was eating her cupcake. I hadn't expected her to be so worried about her weight, since she didn't look fat and hadn't mentioned it before. Well, she wasn't totally worried, and she ate her cupcake fairly quickly.
   She gasped suddenly and stopped walking. "I just realised..." she began, staring at nothing in particular.
   "Realised what?" I asked, looking where she was looking to see if she'd seen something.
   "I had an argument with you!" she said, turning to smile at me with the huge grin she had when I first met her.
   "Yes, you did," I replied, confused.
   "Which means Dr Takeda's robots are so brilliantly clever, if you don't mind me saying, that you can not only understand everything anyone says, but argue back! I could never manage to get a robot to do that!"
   "Why would you need to?"
   She shrugged her shoulders and started walking again.

  At the lab, the other girls were happy to see me, but not as overjoyed as I expected. There were no shouts of, "Where have you been?" or, "We were worried sick!", but at least Cathy and Dr Takeda were a little happier to see me.
   "I thought you'd gotten lost or something!" Cathy said.
   "At least you're home again," Dr Takeda said, looking down at my lunchbox. "That looks full. What've you put in it?"
   "Cupcakes," Pippa said, unzipping the bag and taking a few out.
   "Girls!" Cathy shouted, and they headed over to see what was up.
   Their eyes widened at the sight of cake. "Yes!" cried Honōiro, grabbing a cake with pale blue icing before any of the others had a chance.
   "Cake!" Aka and Ao said together, giggling.
   "Are there enough for all of us?" Midori asked.
   "I think so," I replied, handing her one.
   "Unless Pippa's had two..." Cathy said, not offending Pippa but making her laugh and say, "Heyyy! You'd have two if you could!"
   "True," Dr Takeda laughed, and Cathy rolled her eyes.

   "It's a bit concerning that they were more excited to see cake than me," I told Dr Takeda.
   "I wouldn't be too worried about that," he said. "I bet they'd be terrified for you if you'd been missing for longer."
   "You do?"
   "Of course. If the emotion of fear works properly, that is."
   "Well, we all got a bit scared when the alarm rang," I said, "And I... um..." I paused, remembering the night before.
   "Yes?" Dr Takeda asked, looking slightly worried about what I was about to tell him.
   "I was still awake when I was... you know..."
   His eyes widened slightly, realising what I meant, and gasped quietly.
   "Charging?" he said, finishing my sentence. I nodded, staring down at the cupcake in my hand, and he placed a hand on my shoulder for comfort. "I hope it didn't hurt you."
   I shook my head, even though I didn't mean it, but Dr Takeda could tell I was lying.
   "Look, it's okay, Murasakino. I know it..."
   I sniffed, a tear ran down my cheek and I realised that I was crying. I told myself to stop, but Dr Takeda put his arm over my shoulder, and for some reason this made me start crying more. The girls noticed and walked over to see me.
   "You alright Murasakino?" Midori asked.
   "What happened?" asked Aka. "Dr Takeda, is she...?"
   "She's fine, girls. She's fine," he told them, and I sat down at the table.

   Everyone else sat down as well, and the room went quiet. I did stop crying quickly, but didn't finish my cupcake. I guessed that nobody could really think of what to do or say to me, and I would probably have been the same if it was someone else crying. After a few minutes of this, Tākoizu asked if she and the other girls could go and see Dr Kerrett's lab. Dr Kerrett was happy to let them, and they left while I sat staring at the table.
   "Don't you want to go?" Cathy asked me. She was sat two seats away, and Dr Takeda was sat between the two of us. Before I answered, I just looked up from the table and at the tall, green vase on it. There were some green buds that were beginning to open inside it, and the subtle colour of white petals could be seen peeking out of some of them.
   "No, I'm okay." I did really want to go, but for now I was just going to sit here and calm myself down. Well, I was already calm, but I wanted to know why I had cried at the memory of being plugged in, as it was nowhere near as bad as actually experiencing it. I suppose it was the thought that nobody could have helped me, as they were all asleep or busy or not in the lab at all, and that I couldn't have avoided the pain unless I too had been asleep before it happened.
   "Are you sure?" Dr Takeda asked. "I know thate you wanted to explore the labs if you had the chance."
   I realised that he was right, and looked at him, a smile slowly forming on my face. "I did..." I said, and stood up from my seat. "Could I, Dr Takeda? Please?"
   "Nobody's stopping you," he grinned, and I ran over to the door giggling.
   "Thank you so much!" I shouted back.