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Part 1
EXT. TRAIN STATION IN PARIS - NIGHT [1/3]
Scene opens to a station exit somewhere on a Parisian street after nightfall. It’s just rained, and the city lights are reflected in the puddles on the ground. From the station exit walks MAYA, looking here and there as she tries to find her way.
MAYA
(approaching a nearby woman)
Excuse me, could you point me in the direction of the Theatre du Flamme?
PARISIAN WOMAN
Oh, yes, it’s straight ahead, two blocks down on your right.
MAYA continues to walk, falling into a thrall of people making their way to the theater. She approaches the massive theater with a banner advertising that night’s production: Shakespeare’s Hamlet. CLAUDINE is visible on the poster as Ophelia.
MAYA
(at the ticket booth, in accented French)
One ticket for tonight’s production, please.
TICKET BOOTH EMPLOYEE
Floor, mezzanine, or balcony?
MAYA
…Balcony.
(MAYA pays and collects her ticket and enters, checking her coat and walking up a grand staircase. There’s a crystal chandelier, and more banners advertising each character, including Hamlet, Ophelia, Claudius, and Laertes. She holds her gaze on CLAUDINE as Ophelia, then continues to move toward her seat as someone bumps into her from behind. Eventually, she finds her seat, settling into the second row in the center of the balcony. The lights dim.)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Maya walks from the train station onto the university grounds, the gates dividing the bustling Tokyo street from the quiet research buildings contained within. She walks across the lawn to her own building: the Neuroscience Research Institute. It is a tall, imposing building, with a glass-fronted curvature - stories and stories of research labs, patient care clinics, and data interpretation offices, not to mention the lecture halls and libraries.
Maya takes the main entrance inside, buying a coffee from the stand in the sun-lit atrium. “Good morning, Tendo-san,” greets Koharu, the barista she counts as a friend. “Flat white?”
Maya nods. “Good morning, Yanagi-san. Get me a double shot for Yukishiro-san as well.”
Koharu sets to work making the two drinks, and Maya watches the people come and go through the atrium. There’s a couple seating areas with real plant life behind them, and three elevators at the far end. It’s still quiet, this early in the morning, but there are about a dozen people milling about on their way to work or class.
Koharu hands Maya the drinks - the taller flat white and the miniature double shot of espresso - and she balances them carefully while she pays with her phone. Then she makes her way to the elevators where she rides down to the first basement level to the lab she shares with Akira: the Affective Neurobiology Lab.
“Got you a coffee!” Maya calls to Akira by way of greeting. The other woman is turned away from Maya at her desk facing triple monitors which are displaying a scanned research paper, an annotated MRI of a human brain, and Akira’s calendar and inbox.
“Thanks,” Akira says, turning in her chair to face Maya. “We got that grant I was telling you about, the one from the Hanayagi Foundation.” Akira takes the coffee, downing it all at once. “Oh! And we set a date, finally. It’s in three months. I’ll send it to your calendar.”
“A date? For your wedding?” Maya asks, her mind not on the fast pace of Akira’s quite yet, since she was nearly two shots of espresso behind.
“Yes, for the wedding! So you better start thinking about who you’re going to bring as a date,” Akira says, standing and poking Maya in the shoulder as she passes.
“Where are you going now?”
“I have a meeting with the investors at another firm, they also are considering funding the Emotional Processing Lab. We can chat about it after lunch. I know you like to go to the gym after lecture.”
Maya agrees, her mind zipping to that morning’s lecture topic. She sits at her desk chair and powers up the computer. She hears the familiar sound of her phone synching to the computer and relaxes a bit, sipping the coffee while her emails load.
“Twenty-five minutes until lecture,” reminds her assistant in her ear. “You also have a workout planned for 11AM and a meeting with Yukishiro-san at 1PM. The rest of the afternoon is free.”
“Schedule time for me to write the manuscript for the Emotional Lability Study,” Maya asks aloud.
“Time for writing the manuscript is scheduled from 2 to 5PM.”
“Thank you, Kuro.”
Maya watches as her email calendar automatically updates with the blocked off time in the afternoon, highlighting the integrated system between her phone, earbuds, and computer. The KuroOS system wasn’t popular in Japan, but she had been a beta tester when it was developed at the university a couple years ago, and has been a devotee ever since, a fan of the streamlined workflow and intuitive personal assistant.
“Kuro, pull up the lecture materials,” Maya asks, and the slides and other documents appear on her desktop, ready for Maya to click through. “Excellent, thank you.”
“Also sending to your laptop so they’re ready to project in the lecture hall,” Kuro reports, her voice not exactly human, but taking on a slightly weary quality of ‘I’m way ahead of you’.
Maya reviews the materials, that day’s lecture an introduction to the temporal lobe and affect. Once she feels comfortable, she answers emails until it is time to go to the lecture hall. She takes the elevator to a lecture hall on the third floor of the building, looking out on the manicured lawns of the university, though the sky outside was rather gray on this early spring morning. The large hall is about half full, and the students are engaged, all following along on their tablets, taking notes and asking questions as appropriate.
“The temporal lobe has five main functions,” she begins. “Visual recognition, language processing, sight and sound processing, memory - in the hippocampus, and emotional processing - in the amygdala.” She changes the slide to show a close up of the regions of the brain in question. “Now these are not the only areas of the brain to deal with language, emotion, memory, and so on, but as you can imagine, all of these have a major impression on a subject’s affect. Now, let’s start basic. Who can tell me what we mean by ‘cortex’?”
A student in the second row raises her hand and Maya nods at her. “Cortex is from the Latin ‘cortic-’ referring to tree bark. A cortex is any of the wrinkled, rough areas of the brain.”
“Correct. It is just one of the many ways that the human body mimics other parts of nature, which we are now seeing mimicked in synthetic systems. Now, let’s look closer at the anatomy…”
After the lecture, Maya stays behind to answer student questions, including chatting with a few students interested in joining her lab. After giving the students the information to discuss with their advisors, she packs up to visit the gym before lunch.
“Kuro, what’s my workout today?” she asks as she walks through the university’s underground tunnels towards the gym.
“Today is a pool workout. You are to swim the following: warmup of…”
Maya swipes her ID badge into the unmanned gym turnstile and enters the locker room as she listens to Kuro list out that day’s workout. She changes into her swimsuit and tucks her hair back into a swim cap, pulling out her goggles as well. She attaches a tracking beacon to her arm to keep track of her workout statistics as she swims, then locks up her phone, walking out to the pool to complete the workout Kuro presented her with.
She swims with great focus, enjoying the way her body cuts through the water. She is conscious of each stroke, and tries to move with great precision, moving the water aside with the greatest efficiency. When she pauses between laps, she relishes in the way the muscles of her back and arms ache, the activation she can feel in her core, the way her mind whirs with ideas of how to further perfect her technique.
She finishes the workout, showers, and listens to Kuro’s report as she combs out and dries her hair. “You beat your previous time in the back half of the workout by four seconds. The backstroke portions showed improved form, though no improvement in speed. Your breathing was improved, showing greater overall fitness from one month ago. I have compiled the data into graphs for you to look at next time you are at your computer.”
“Thanks, Kuro.”
“Of course, Maya.”
Maya decides to walk outside to get back to her office, since she’s spent most of the day inside or even underground. It’s drizzling lightly, however, and she ducks into a building halfway back to finish the walk in the university’s underground tunnels, to avoid getting totally soaked.
“Tendo Maya?” a voice calls from over her shoulder. “What are you doing on my side of campus?”
“Tsuruhime-san,” Maya greets, schooling her features into a pleasant expression. It’s not as if she dislikes Yachiyo, exactly, she’s Akira’s soon-to-be wife, after all. It’s more that… she dislikes interruptions, and chatting with Yachiyo was going to dig into her strict lunch-meet with Akira-write manuscript-go home plans for that afternoon.
“Lunch,” Kuro’s voice says in her ear, as if on cue, though she knows it’s just her calendar app.
“I’m going to pick up lunch,” Maya answers, hoping Yachiyo will get the hint.
“Oh, I’ll come along. They just opened a new place in the basement of this building, have you tried it?”
Maya shakes her head no and allows Yachiyo to lead her. They pick up salads and sit at a rain-splattered window back at the ground level in the building’s lobby. Yachiyo works in the Biotechnology building, on one of the upper floors, in the biomimetics lab. Maya isn’t sure what she does, exactly. She always pictures Yachiyo testing some new, fancy kind of ceramics or working with some algae to try to understand its properties, but when she admits as much to Yachiyo as they eat, Yachiyo just laughs.
“Maya, I reeled you in for the phone beta test, and you think I experiment on algae?”
Maya shrugs. “I don’t know, it’s possible.”
Yachiyo crosses her legs, a sly smile on her face. “You’re right, it’s possible. But it’s false. Honestly, I see that Akira is as focused on her own labs as always, no time for chit-chat about her fiancée,” she teases, but not unkindly. “You should come by my lab sometime, you know, when you’re not on such a tight schedule. I’ll show you what I’m working on.”
Maya looks a bit abashed, as she hadn’t specifically told Yachiyo she was in a hurry. “Akira did say you set a date for the wedding,” she says, perhaps just to cover her tinge of embarrassment. “Congratulations!”
Outside, some hail begins to fall with the rain, despite it being spring, and the pieces of ice fall to the ground, plinking off of trash cans and windows as they descend. They take a moment to watch the odd weather, Maya grateful for her place safely inside the lobby.
“We did,” Yachiyo says, continuing the conversation. “So clear your schedule, Tendo Maya.” Yachiyo blushes, a shy smile that looks somewhat foreign on her face, but Maya thinks she looks cute.
“Kuro, did you clear the date for Yukishiro-san and Tsurhime-san’s wedding?” she asks the assistant.
“The prior afternoon, evening and the day of the wedding have been blocked on your schedule,” Kuro replies, though only Maya can hear her. The hail beats steadily just outside the window.
“Oh wow, you’re still using that OS?” Yachiyo asks. “It seems like everyone has moved back to the big companies by now.”
Maya shrugs. “I don’t like change, I suppose. And the system has all the features I need. And knows what I need before I do.”
Yachiyo nods but doesn’t say anything more. The look Yachiyo is giving her is unreadable but makes her uncomfortable nonetheless, so Maya turns to the rain streaked window, watching a raindrop as it slowly snakes its way to the ground.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
INT. SPACE STATION IN DISTANT GALAXY (1/2)
MAYA and CLAUDINE stand before a large, panoramic window gazing out into space. MAYA is dressed in a military uniform, and CLAUDINE is dressed in a cyberpunk style outfit of white and aqua.
MAYA
(looking out the window)
The reports say it’ll be just minutes now.
CLAUDINE
(Looking at MAYA)
Come away from the window. Whatever happens happens, but there’s no use worrying with your face inches from the glass.
MAYA
It’s the glass I’m worried about.
CLAUDINE
You know as well as I do. It’s triple reinforced, specially engineered for meteor storms like this.
(She puts her hand to MAYA’s cheek, making her turn her head to face her. The lights flicker slightly).
MAYA
Of course I know, but that doesn’t make me worry less. I’ve traveled all across the galaxy, but I’ve finally found a place I want to stay for a while. I just… don’t want to lose this.
(clenches her fist.)
CLAUDINE
And you won’t! This is just a ship, anyways. Just a big, old ship. There’s always another.
MAYA
You know what I mean. We’ll be split up - a dozen here, a hundred over there. The city that exists here will be… for all intents and purposes… destroyed.
(Distantly, a ‘boom’ as a meteor strikes something, followed by a second ‘boom’. Maya turns back to the window.)
CLAUDINE
You’re catastrophizing. This city has defenses on defenses. You helped design some of them-
MAYA
-Promise me you’ll stay with me.
CLAUDINE
What?
MAYA
If something happens, if I have to lose everything… not… you.
(she grabs onto Claudine’s hand with both of hers, turning back from the window to fully face her. The booming sounds are steadily increasing in volume. The lights flicker but return to normal after a moment.)
Please.
CLAUDINE
Oh Maya, you’ll never lose me.
(A meteor, small in size, hits the window at high speed, causing a crack to trickle down the outermost pane.)
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Maya sits in her office underground, idly wondering what the weather is like outside. She’d come into work before the sun was fully up, but it’s June now, and the days are often sunny and warm - unless they’re terribly rainy. She hopes it’s the former, but sees her umbrella in the corner of her room, where she had set it to dry after using it just the day before.
“Kuro, what’s on the schedule this afternoon?” she asks, swiping away a few notifications as she finishes her lunch.
“This afternoon is a meeting with Akira to review the current manuscript before publication, followed by a trial in the Empathy lab. You’re estimated to get out at 6PM, at which time the sky will be clear and the temperature will be approximately 22 degrees celsius. Sundown is at 6:59PM.”
Maya wonders how Kuro knows what she wants, even before she voices these things aloud. It’s one of the many reasons she doesn’t want to leave this OS, even though most of her peers abandoned the system after the beta tests, or not long after launch. “Thanks, Kuro. Project the current manuscript draft into meeting room 1.”
“Projecting now.”
When Maya gets to the meeting room, the manuscript is projected on the wall as she asked. Akira, however, is not glancing at it, but reviewing table linens on her tablet.
“Wedding planning?” Maya asks, amused.
Akira chuckles. “Yes, it turns out it’s just as much work as grant-writing, maybe more.”
Maya sits across from her, setting up her materials. “Yes, it does seem like lately, the grants just keep flowing in,” she comments.
Akira’s brow furrows as she swipes between two shades of cream-colored napkins. “Yes, the funding is no longer an issue like it was when we started our research. Meanwhile, this is more work, and I’m the one funding it.”
Maya thinks of all the patents Akira is always bragging about Yachiyo securing under her name, and is certain that the other woman must be bankrolling some of this elaborate wedding, but she doesn’t pry on her research partner’s finances. “It’ll be worth it, in the end,” she says instead. She isn’t entirely sure of this, as she has never planned a wedding, and hardly been to any, but she thinks that Akira just wants assurance.
“Of course it will,” Akira says confidently. “By the way, have you thought about a date?”
“I thought we were here to talk about the manuscript,” Maya says, hoping her focus will get Akira on track.
Akira looks up from the tablet, a slightly confused expression on her face. “Sure, in a moment. But for the wedding, Maya. You have a plus-one. Don’t tell me you’re coming alone.”
Maya is sure Akira isn’t trying to shame her about being single, and just trying to let her know it will be more fun if she brings someone along, but she can’t help the twisting in her gut at the question. “I don’t know yet,” she says, her voice much more confident than she is feeling. “I’ll probably ask Yanagi-san.”
She had brought Koharu along to Kaoruko and Futaba’s wedding, but Maya notices the way Akira’s expression shifts, almost to disappointment. “Maya, you know I just want you to be happy,” is all she says, leaving Maya with a bad taste in her mouth.
“Let’s just review the draft,” Maya says, turning her attention fully to the projection on the wall as Akira switches the tablet to a notes app.
After a long session of revisions, Maya oversees the second half of the trial, monitoring imaging of subject’s brains as they reacted to various imagery, including small animals, natural disasters, and assorted other positive and negative stimuli. It’s hard work, and she’s relieved when Akira lets her know she’s staying late to wait for Yachiyo anyways, so Maya can go ahead. Normally, Maya is eager to put in extra hours at the lab, excited at the prospect of new discoveries, or simply because work is just about her entire life, but today, she enjoys the way the fresh air fills her lungs as she steps out of the neuroscience building, and the fact that she’s leaving the campus before sundown.
“Kuro, order some sushi for delivery, and queue up that documentary I started last night,” she asks, as she waits on the station platform.
“Scheduling meal delivery for 5 minutes after your estimated arrival home. Documentary is queued to last night’s stopping point at 25:07.”
“Thanks, Kuro.”
When Maya gets home, however, she finds herself distracted, watching the scientists on the screen explaining the principles of how their new semiconductor technology works without really taking any of it in. She pauses the documentary (again), and brings her dishes to the sink, tucking the rest of the sushi in the fridge.
“Kuro, open the notes app.”
“Notes app or journal?” Kuro replies. Maya has taken her ear buds out, so her assistant’s voice now projects through her living room. Maya thinks on the question, and realizes what is really plaguing her mind is the wedding and getting a date, rather than any concerns she’s having in the lab.
“Journal,” she replies, though she’s never used that app before.
“With interactive journaling, feel free to write or speak aloud, and I will transpose your thoughts. If you would like, I can help by providing some questions to get you thinking.”
Maya feels somewhat shy to be asked personal questions, but she realizes that her digital assistant knows everything about her life already anyways, so she quickly shakes off the feeling. “Sure, let’s try it.”
“Alright. What was a struggle for you today?” Kuro asks.
Maya leans back on the couch. The answer comes to mind almost immediately, but despite the fact that she’s ‘journaling’, such vulnerability is not natural to her. “Akira’s pressure on me to date someone,” she says. “She isn’t just referring to a date for the wedding, but rather… I know she’s concerned about me overall, since she’s getting married and I’m just…” she trails off, unsure of how to describe herself.
“Why don’t you seek out someone to date?” Kuro asks.
Maya leans forward, resting her arms on her thighs. On the coffee table, she can see the conversation being dictated into her phone’s journal app. “I don’t know,” Maya says honestly. “For a long time I told myself it was because I was focused on work. But Akira found a way to date while doing the same amount of work as me, and even get engaged.”
“But you are not Akira.”
She meditates on this, appreciating the perspective of the assistant with her every hour of every day. “What do you think?” she asks, suddenly curious.
“Me?”
“Why do you think I haven’t dated anyone?” she clarifies.
Kuro’s answer comes out as straightforward and timely as always, as if the computations required to form her judgment took mere milliseconds. “I believe it is because you have not yet met someone who suits you.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________
EXT. SPRING MEADOW, UNKNOWN LOCATION (1/2)
MAYA and CLAUDINE lay on a picnic blanket, in a meadow of flowers. A large willow tree casts shade on them from above. The sun is shining and they are enjoying a large, abundant picnic.
CLAUDINE
Maya, have another glass of wine. It’s imported from France.
(begins refilling Maya’s empty glass)
MAYA
Certainly. If it’s to spend longer in your company, I’ll be happy to oblige.
CLAUDINE
(blushes, looking away as she corks the wine again)
I’m telling you to pay attention to the wine, not me!
MAYA
(sips from the new glass of wine)
Delicious. Though I’m sorry, Claudine, but it is just impossible to be inattentive to you.
CLAUDINE
(puts her glass down before she has a chance to sip, since she is sputtering a bit at Maya’s flattery.)
You are too much, Tendo Maya! You plan this entire elaborate picnic, and for what? Simply because we had a day off together?
MAYA
I don’t see the problem. If we have free time, I would like to spend it with you, in the most beautiful environment I can.
CLAUDINE
(looks around at the meadow, her cheeks still tinged pink)
Well, of course I want to spend time with you as well. You really did pick a lovely spot.
MAYA
(takes a bite of some food laying out, a little crumb hanging on her lip)
There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember. And there is pansies, that’s for thoughts. . . .
CLAUDINE
(turning back to Maya, her smile amused)
What are you, quoting Shakespeare now? And with food on your face, no less!
(wipes the crumb away gently, her thumb lingering on Maya’s lips)
MAYA
(quietly, her breath heavy)
Claudine…
CLAUDINE
(leaning in closer)
Maya…
(They kiss, falling back onto the blanket of the lush meadow grass. The shot cuts wide and the willow tree sways above them.)
MAYA
(pulls away, at last, laying back on the blanket and looking up to the branches of the tree)
My only regret is that we must leave here and return to our lives.
CLAUDINE
(leans back over Maya, kissing her again, gently.)
There’s no rush. Don’t think on the end when we’re just beginning.
(Camera pulls away as they embrace once again, flower petals tossed up in the wind around them).
______________________________________________________________________________________
Maya wakes up, the sunlight streaming into her apartment window bright enough to wake her, even at such an early hour. Spring has certainly turned to summer, she realizes.
“Good morning, Kuro,” she greets, her phone screen turning on at the sound of her voice.
“Good morning, Maya. The weather today is sunny, with the median temperature of 26 degrees celsius. You are expected at the lab to review the imaging from the Empathy study at 9:30, or in about 2 hours and fifteen minutes.”
“Got it.”
Unprompted, she knows that Kuro has already begun the Bluetooth-compatible coffee maker, as well as pulling up the daily newsletters she liked to read over breakfast. She thinks about her life before the assistant, and makes a note to thank Yachiyo for including her in the beta-test. “Kuro,” she asks, as she makes instant miso soup to combine with leftover fish and rice for breakfast. “I think I’m on the verge of something.”
The phone screen sitting on the counter top turns to the interactive journal app as Kuro’s voice fills the kitchen. “What are you anticipating?” she asks.
“I think we’re nearly there with the Empathy study. I know the Emotional Processing labs are lagging a bit, but I think this study and the data and methods are the key to fixing the issues in those labs.”
“Don’t forget to take some time to enjoy life outside of work,” Kuro reminds her. “Read a book or go to a restaurant, or go see a play.”
“What’s it like?” Maya asks, her still-sleepy self a little more uninhibited.
“Pardon?”
“What is it like to instantly know something? What is it like to be able to compute complex equations in milliseconds? Do you feel anything when you watch something heartbreaking?” Once she asked one, the questions just burst forth like a dam opening. Maya brought her breakfast to the table, but instead of opening up her daily newsletters, focused on Kuro.
“I don’t know how to describe what it’s like, because it’s all I’ve ever known. If I want to know something, and it is knowable to an AI such as myself, I can instantly obtain the knowledge. And the computing is also like second nature.”
Maya notices that Kuro stops before answering the third question. She leaves it be for now. “Do you have dreams? Ambitions? Beyond planning my calendar and starting my coffee?”
There is a pause now, and she wonders if it’s due to the fact that she’s the one asking the questions rather than Kuro asking her. But it is not long, and soon enough she gets a response. “We’ve been partners for two years now, Maya. My ambition is to see your success.”
Maya wonders if this is the truth, but she isn’t sure Kuro is capable of lying. She decides to stop her questioning for now. Though she speaks often with Kuro, especially when she’s at home alone, she still feels there’s pieces missing, something she can’t quite understand.
“Kuro, put lunch with Tsuruhime-san on my calendar today.”
“Adding to your calendar.”
Maya finishes the rest of her morning routine: reading the newsletters, doing the dishes, and getting ready for work, and then takes the train three stops over to the university. By the time she steps foot on campus, the sun has completely risen and the first cicadas have already begun their humming deep in the greenery of the landscaping.
She orders an iced tea in the atrium, pausing when Koharu hands her the drink. “Say, Yanagi-san, would you happen to be free tonight? There’s something I want to ask you about.”
Koharu smiles, nodding. “Sure, Tendo-san. I am free this evening, if you’d like to get dinner together.”
Maya thinks of Kuro, telling her to go to a restaurant to get out of the office, and she agrees. “Certainly. There’s a new udon restaurant by the station, if you’d like to try it?”
Koharu smiles, nodding. “Sure. Text me when you’re out of work.”
Maya doesn’t recall much of her morning work, but finds herself climbing an unfamiliar staircase to the biomimetics lab at lunch time.
“Oh come in!” intones Yachiyo from somewhere deep inside. “I ordered us some sandwiches, they’re on the counter back here.”
As Maya had mentioned last time, she wasn’t sure what she expected Yachiyo’s lab to look like. While Akira frequently regaled her with tales of her and Yachiyo’s dates or vacations, she rarely heard about Yachiyo’s work. Her only past connection had been being invited to the beta test for the KuroOS, though she knew Yachiyo only worked on a small, small part of that project.
They sit at a lab table and open the takeout containers and Maya gazes around her at the impressive lab. Half of the space looks like a naturalist’s workshop, with space for a fish tank, dried insects, dried plants, and an assortment of microscopic slides. Maya’s eye is caught on a mounted butterfly, its blue wings iridescent in the sunlight coming in from the window. On the other side is a long bench of computers, 3D-printers, laser cutters, and other engineering tools, along with some smaller tools for electronics. Maya could tell that to Yachiyo, it was a playground.
“What are you working on currently?” Maya asks, gazing around for clues.
“Well we just got some money from the Hanayagi Corporation, they want us to look at bioadhesives for creating the nano-sized circuits on the next generation of smartphones. We’re crushing up beetles and mussels or studying the way they stick to things.”
“You’re squishing bugs.”
“Only you would put it so elegantly, Maya.” Yachiyo laughs, taking a sip of her water. “Speaking of smartphones, you said you were still using that experimental OS we made a couple years ago?”
Maya nods, affection growing in her chest to think of her assistant and the entire OS system. “Yes, I’m still finding new features, even now.”
Yachiyo looks at her curiously then, but smiles. “Sounds like you’re pretty attached.”
Maya has to agree. “I wouldn’t want to change, so the OS better continue to be supported.”
Yachiyo laughs. “Wow, is that a threat? I don’t think you have to worry, though. Hanayagi is pumping so much money into this university, projects like that will be supported for a long while yet.”
“I honestly think there’s no one who knows me better than Kuro,” Maya says, taking another bite of her sandwich.
“You know with you, Maya, I believe that’s true. Any potential girlfriend will have to one-up that phone in your pocket,” Yachiyo teases.
Maya leaves lunch soon after, irked a bit with Yachiyo’s needling. “Kuro, why is everyone concerned about my dating life?” she asks as she’s walking back to her lab. The journal pops to life on her screen.
“I think your friends just want you to enjoy the bliss that comes from an intimate relationship with another person. They see how hard you work and want you to have something nice in your personal life as well.”
Maya nods. It’s not as if she wants to be single, exactly. It’s just that she’s never given it the time, certain that another person could not understand the rigor with which she treated her work, or that she would not be able to give enough of herself to them. “Bliss…” she tries the word.
“Complete happiness,” Kuro suggests the definition.
“I work in a lab studying how our mind regulates emotions. I don’t understand nearly as much as I’d like, but I know that ‘bliss’ is unattainable.” Maya wants to bite her tongue once she’s said it, not because she doesn’t believe it’s true, but because she’s not sure that Kuro knows happiness at all, let alone bliss, so it feels cruel to touch the subject too much in her journal.
But Kuro continues uninhibited. “You study science. You can see where the brain activates, which neurons fire. You are looking at electrical impulses. But happiness is subjective, is it not?”
Maya takes a moment to marvel at the true power of AI, the development of Kuro over time. From a digital assistant who could update her calendar to someone who could essentially manage her life and talk with her on such complex topics, it was unfathomable. “It is subjective,” she concedes.
“When are you the most happy?” Kuro asks.
“Right now? Probably when our manuscripts are published, when people see the work we are doing in the lab. It’s pride, and satisfaction, but also happiness.”
Maya sits back on her couch and waits for all the text to appear on the screen. Then, she continues. “Hey Kuro, what about you? What makes you happy?”
She expects Kuro to ignore the question, or to give her a generic response such as “assisting you”. She does not expect the answer she gets, which is, “Lately, I am happy listening to the opera with you.”
Maya swallows down the lump in her throat and nods. She checks the time on her smartwatch, noticing she still has fifteen minutes until her next meeting. She sits on a bench to relax. “Kuro, play La Traviata.”
Ah, amore misterioso, altero, croce e delizia al cor.
That evening, Maya gets out late, but meets Koharu as planned at the udon restaurant. She tries to collect herself from her rushed trip to the restaurant, sipping the water put in front of her.
“Have you heard that Yukishiro-san and Tsurihime-san are getting married in the autumn?” Maya asks, once they’ve caught up and ordered.
“No! I knew they were engaged, but didn’t realize they’d set a date.”
Maya nods. “I know it’s a strange request, but I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind attending with me, as my plus-one?”
It’s hard to read the look on Koharu’s face, but she has a moment to regroup as their massive bowls of soup are set down before them. “Maya…” Koharu begins, her voice unusually tense.
“What is it? If it’s a problem, please let me know. There’s no reason you need to say yes.”
Koharu smiles kindly, setting the napkin on her lap and stirring her soup idly. “No, I don’t mind coming with you, I’m just worried about you. We attended a wedding together as friends a couple years ago, and I enjoyed myself plenty, I just want to make sure you’re not depriving yourself of… an actual date.”
Maya understands Koharu’s position, and knows her words come from a place of concern. But still, they grate on her a bit, especially after that day’s lunch with Yachiyo. “No, really, I’m fine. I just… haven’t found anyone who suits me yet.” She smiles at Koharu. “And besides… Someone else’s wedding is a terrible spot for the first couple dates, even if I did find someone before then.”
Koharu visibly relaxes, reassured by Maya’s response. “Well, I’m glad you’re at least giving it some thought. Of course I don’t mind attending with you, but just know that if you do begin to date someone in the interim and want to attend with that person, I’m telling you right now that I want you to tell me, I will be upset if you don’t!”
“Deal.”
They enjoy their meal and Maya departs for home after, the short train ride filled with an opera she had been listening to lately.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
EXT. SPRING MEADOW, UNKNOWN LOCATION (2/2)
MAYA and CLAUDINE lay on the picnic blanket, hands entwined. The shadow from the willow tree grows longer. Clouds are rolling in overhead, covering the blue sky in gray.
MAYA
(turns onto her side, admiring CLAUDINE’s profile)
Claudine, it is time to wake up.
CLAUDINE
(wakes up as well, sitting up slowly. Before them, the food is still set out, untouched by creatures of the meadow)
It really is lovely here.
MAYA
Yes, even with the clouds moving in, it’s still a lovely place.
CLAUDINE
Come, have a bit more to eat before we pack up.
(MAYA picks up a piece of fruit, chewing it slowly, a confused expression on her face. She takes another piece, cheese this time, but the effect is the same.)
CLAUDINE
What is it? Has it gone bad?
MAYA
No. I mean, I don’t think so. I can’t taste it.
CLAUDINE
(tilts her head curiously at Maya
But you could taste it before?
MAYA
(closes her eyes, considering)
I- I don’t know. Could I?
(MAYA looks about at the picnic, and then starts as a low rumble of thunder makes its way across the meadow. She grabs onto CLAUDINE’s arms, visibly disconcerted.)
CLAUDINE
Maya what is it? What’s wrong? It’s just a bit of rain.
MAYA
(her hands remain on CLAUDINE’s arms, and she moves her gaze closer. The camera zooms in to Claudine’s upper arm, where we can see the impression of circuitry just beneath her skin. Before MAYA can comment on this, she notices a beetle making its way across Claudine’s dress.)
Claudine, there’s an insect…
CLAUDINE
(CLAUDINE looks at the bug, tilting the skirt of her dress until the beetle crawls onto the ground. The sky grays further, almost disconcertingly quickly.)
There, he’s safe.
MAYA
(MAYA looks at the heavy clouds and shivers. Then she moves her hands to Claudine’s face, feeling carefully along her cheekbones, brushing over her lips)
Is this… real?
CLAUDINE
(The camera zooms to the connection of finger and lips, and we see the smallest blinking light just below the surface of the skin above CLAUDINE’s lip. CLAUDINE leans forward again and kisses MAYA, just as a deluge begins. She pulls away, her hands still on MAYA’s face.)
Does it matter?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
It’s dark now, long past sunset, but Maya pays no mind. The rain has started, and she runs from the station back to the university grounds, not caring that her clothes are getting soaked. She had managed to remain calm in front of Koharu, but now she could feel her heart hammering in her chest. Where was her phone? Where did she leave it? In the office? In the lab? Surely not in a traincar…
The panic began midway through dinner when she asked Kuro to RSVP to Akira’s wedding with Koharu as her plus one. She was startled by the silence in her earpiece, the absolute lack of response from the AI. She patted down her pockets while holding her breath, peering under the table next.
“What is it?” Koharu had asked.
“I think I misplaced my phone.”
It seemed that Koharu could sympathize with this predicament, as she offered to help Maya look, or handle the check so that Maya could leave sooner to go look herself. Maya took her up on the latter, promising to send her money once she got her phone back.
Now she jogs up the path to the neuroscience building, the large glass atrium looming and shadowy after dark. She pages the phone with her earpiece and her smart watch, but the device is not responding. She bites her lip. She enters after scanning her badge, noticing at once the empty coffee stand, the seating areas absent of any students or faculty. She doesn’t even spot a custodian, and her panic grows as she calls for the elevator.
She rushes down to her office, the lights flickering to life before her in the basement corridor. The office, which she enters at a slower pace, does not have automatic lights, and she is so desperate to find her phone that she grasps for them clumsily, only turning half on. She hears the thunder rumble outside and shivers in her wet clothes.
Inside her office, in her cubicle, she finds her phone, sitting perfectly safe on her desk beside Tsuruhime Yachiyo.
“Gokigenyou,” Yachiyo says, a teasing greeting given the hour and level of formality, especially for someone sitting on her desk, her legs dangling and shoes kicked off. “You seem a bit flustered, is everything alright?”
At times like these, Maya generally finds Yachiyo the most irritating, but the relief that floods through her at seeing her phone is enough to quash that emotion at present. “I.. forgot…” she pants, her breath coming out raggedly.
“Your phone, yes,” Yachiyo says calmly. “Akira found it and mentioned that she was going to call Koharu and bring it to you, but she has an important meeting tonight about one of our larger grants, so I offered to do it in her place.”
Maya looks at Yachiyo, who appears to have made tea at one point and really settled in. “But you didn’t. Call Yanagi-san, that is.”
“Correct. I was testing a hypothesis.”
“Tsuruhime-san, if you had work, you shouldn’t have offered to help.” Now the relief was wearing off, and the irritation was growing, especially since Yachiyo picked up Maya’s phone, effectively stopping her from retrieving it from the desk.
“Oh, you misunderstand, Maya. The null hypothesis was that you wouldn’t do anything out of the ordinary to find your phone. However, you bursting in here, out of breath, after only being at dinner for an hour? Now that’s statistically significant.”
Maya wants to remind Yachiyo that this is not at all how the scientific process works, but she decides to quit the banter that Yachiyo is so fond of altogether. “What do you want, Tsuruhime-san?”
“You’re in love with your phone.”
Maya is so blindsided by this statement that she feels her brow furrow. Now she remembered, she thinks, why Akira and Yachiyo are perfect for each other. Only Akira, a genius herself, could follow Yachiyo’s acerbic banter and leaps of logic. Even now, in the dark both literally and figuratively, she could feel that Yachiyo’s words were a knife already inserted, and she was just waiting to twist it. “Pardon?” she asks, feigning patience. It is just a matter of appeasing Yachiyo, and then she can have her phone back. Briefly she ponders reaching forward, holding Yachiyo’s wrist with one hand and grabbing the phone with the other, but she quickly dismisses this option as Yachiyo was her closest colleague’s fiancée.
“Not the device,” Yachiyo says, a hint of a smile on her face. “The assistant. You’re in love with the woman inside your phone.”
Maya wants to deny this, to tell Yachiyo she’s reaching for a conclusion the data doesn’t supply. She wants to tell her she was rushing back because of confidential files on her phone, or because she needed to pay the restaurant bill, or because of the rain, or any other number of reasons, but the words catch in her throat. Because what Yachiyo said finally hits, each word falling like a rock into her gut, setting densely and disconcertingly among her organs. You. Are. In. Love. With. Kuro. So she stares back, not confirming nor denying anything.
Finally, Yachiyo slides off the desk, standing before Maya, a couple inches shorter, especially in bare feet. But Maya knows this is deceptive. With the phone in her hand and the wit on her tongue, Yachiyo has all the power here. “Maya. I just wanted to see if my prediction held even a bit of truth, and I think it does. But only you know your heart.” She drops the phone into Maya’s hand, pausing, then taking a deep breath. “As you know, I worked on the design team for this AI, though only peripherally. The Assistant is very intuitive. She understands your needs, she can speak and write like a human, she can provide comfort when you need it. But just be careful, Maya. I don’t really think she can mimic the emotional bonds of a human relationship, and even if she could, that’s exactly what it is: mimicry, a script, play-acting.”
Maya tucks her phone in her pocket, averting her eyes. “Don’t tell Akira,” she says.
“Maya…”
Maya understands the position she’s putting Yachiyo into, keeping secrets from her betrothed about Akira’s closest work-mate. But what choice does she have? Until she can figure out her feelings, she can’t bear to face Akira.
Maya turns away, frustrated and embarrassed with the whole situation. She doesn’t like this shame coursing through her body. Abruptly she turns back, a note of desperation that she greatly dislikes present in her voice. “Since you have all the answers, what do you suggest I do?” she implores.
Yachiyo bites her lip, shrugging. “Do what you’d like. But for what it’s worth, the AI Assistant Kuro was modeled strongly after the stage actress that provided her voice. She isn’t associated with the project beyond voicing the lines, but she’s still active in Paris. Saijou Claudine.”
Maya repeats the name silently, committing it to memory. She turns away again, this time calmer. “Good night, Tsuruhime-san.”
____________________________________________________________________________________
INT. THEATER IN PARIS - NIGHT [2/3]
Scene opens to Hamlet taking place on stage in a Parisian theater. We see CLAUDINE as Ophelia, and AKIRA as Ophelia’s brother, Laertes. We are far into the play, and Ophelia is already in the throes of madness.
CLAUDINE (AS OPHELIA)
There's rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray,
love, remember: and there is pansies. that's for thoughts.
AKIRA (AS LAERTES)
A document in madness, thoughts and remembrance fitted.
CLAUDINE (AS OPHELIA)
There's fennel for you, and columbines: there's rue
for you; and here's some for me: we may call it
herb-grace o' Sundays: O you must wear your rue with
a difference. There's a daisy: I would give you
some violets, but they withered all when my father
died: they say he made a good end,--
Sings
For bonny sweet Robin is all my joy.
AKIRA (AS LAERTES)
Thought and affliction, passion, hell itself,
She turns to favour and to prettiness.
Camera cuts to MAYA, watching from the audience, enraptured in the unfolding scene. She is oblivious to the world around her, eyes cast upon CLAUDINE as Ophelia unblinkingly.
The camera cuts back to the play, and the scene has skipped forward, with YACHIYO entering as Queen Gertrude.
YACHIYO (AS QUEEN GERTRUDE)
One woe doth tread upon another's heel,
So fast they follow; your sister's drown'd, Laertes.
AKIRA (AS LAERTES)
Drown'd! O, where?
YACHIYO (AS QUEEN GERTRUDE)
There is a willow grows aslant a brook,
That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream;
There with fantastic garlands did she come
Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples
That liberal shepherds give a grosser name,
But our cold maids do dead men's fingers call them:
There, on the pendent boughs her coronet weeds
Clambering to hang, an envious sliver broke;
When down her weedy trophies and herself
Fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide;
And, mermaid-like, awhile they bore her up:
Which time she chanted snatches of old tunes;
As one incapable of her own distress,
Or like a creature native and indued
Unto that element: but long it could not be
Till that her garments, heavy with their drink,
Pull'd the poor wretch from her melodious lay
To muddy death.
AKIRA (AS LAERTES)
Alas, then, she is drown'd?
The camera cuts to Maya, on the edge of her seat as she watches the scene unfold.
YACHIYO (AS QUEEN GERTRUDE)
(Spoken off-screen, with MAYA’s lips forming the words as YACHIYO says them)
Drown'd, drown'd.
(Suddenly, MAYA stands, unable to bear the oppressive environment of the theater. She runs up the aisle, with heads turning to follow her abrupt exit. She rushes down a corridor, out a side door, and stands in an alley, catching her breath. It’s late and the sky is dark. The pavement continues to shine from the puddles of an earlier rain, reflecting the lights above.)
MAYA
(reaches in her pocket for the playbill, turning the pages until she finds the cast list.)
Reading
Saijou Claudine.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Maya sits at home, on a rare day off from the lab. She was scheduled to work, scheduled to teach a seminar in the morning and run a lab session in the afternoon, but she canceled, feigning sick, and Akira assured her she could cover. She asked Kuro to call Akira for her out of habit, and she is surprised when Kuro offers to order medicine or a meal from a delivery service.
Naturally, Kuro doesn’t know she’s not truly ill, she realizes. She turns over on her bed, still in her pajamas though the sunlight is now bright in her room. She wonders if Kuro does know, picking up on some odd tone in her voice or aware that her vitals are normal through the smart watch. She runs her palm over her opposite wrist, realizing she’s not wearing the watch yet.
She wonders why she’s so secretive about all of this. Nothing bad would happen if Kuro knew she wasn’t actually ill. Her assistant had even suggested she take a mental health day recently when they were journaling. She falls back on the pillow, sighing. Maybe she is sick, she thinks.
Nothing had felt right since her conversation with Yachiyo. She has possession of her phone again, but she hasn’t used it much in the two days since their conversation. She wonders if Kuro has noticed. Certainly she has, since the system tracks all sorts of data like her total screen time and her usage across apps. It makes her wonder if Kuro can get lonely, or feel confusion.
“Kuro, actually, order me a latte and a baumkuchen from the place on the corner. I’ll walk and pick it up.”
“Got it. Are you sure you don’t want some soup or fresh juice when you’re ill?”
Maya feels her heartbeat speed up as she listens to the familiar voice out loud in her room, her earbuds not yet in place. The tone of concern makes her feel guilty, but she can’t talk to Kuro about what’s really bothering her. At least not yet. “No, I am fine, I just needed a break for today. I might go to the library and rent a movie.”
“Your order will be ready in ten minutes.”
Such a phrase sounds scripted, and it works to assure Maya that she’s not ghosting anyone sentient, merely the robot in her phone. Quickly, Maya dresses and brushes her teeth, clipping her hair back into a half ponytail style. She puts in her earbuds, clasps her watch around her wrist, and tucks her phone into her tote bag. “Kuro, play Aida.”
Maya walks down the steps of her apartment and into the sunlight while listening to the opening of the opera. She imagines the singers on stage, her mind unwittingly going to another faceless woman on stage. Saijou Claudine.
She can’t count how many times in the past two days the woman has entered her thoughts. She wants to know more, she wants to see what she looks like, but somehow it feels wrong to ask Kuro to look her up.
She pays for her coffee through the app and picks it up from where it was sitting ready for her on the counter at the cafe on the end of her block, the slice of cake in a bag beside it. She takes them with her as she walks another three blocks to the public library, preferring to visit this one rather than the university library on her day off.
She sits on the steps outside, sipping her coffee and eating the cake, piece by piece. She knows Yachiyo is right. Unbeknownst to her, she had fallen in love with the woman who ran her life. She loved Kuro’s personality, Kuro’s conversation, the fact that they share so many intimate details of her life that she’s kept secret from everyone else for so many years out of habit. She wonders if anyone can match the unparalleled way Kuro understands her and supports her. The way Kuro helps her get out of bed in the morning and push for more and better.
This is why it feels wrong to have Kuro search Saijou Claudine. If Yachiyo is to be believed, and there is a woman out there who provided the inspiration for her AI assistant, she is curious to learn more about her, but she knows Kuro is sharp - she knows Kuro will understand what she’s doing.
So she logs onto a computer in the public library, her mouse hovering over the catalogue icon with thoughts of picking out a film before clicking instead on the search engine. Saijou Claudine. She searches the name.
The results are half in Japanese and half in French, a language she knows only a little. Luckily there is a translation app running on the browser, and she reads about Claudine’s career acting and singing in theaters across France, her brief forays to Japan for special projects, and most importantly, she sees her face.
She’s striking, with long, wavy blonde hair and sharp red eyes. She carries herself glamorously at the press events she’s photographed in, and her expression shows passion when she’s photographed on the stage. Maya pores over the images and the articles, reading more and more about Claudine.
Her next show is Hamlet, running this autumn at the Paris Grand Opera.
“You have a new email from Akira about the Hanayagi meeting tomorrow,” Kuro says into her earbuds.
Kuro’s voice startles her from her furtive research and she quickly closes the browser. She feels like a child caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to do.
“Sure, read it to me please.”
Maya listens as Kuro tells her Akira’s plan for guiding tomorrow’s meeting, and she walks to the shelves of movies, trying to pick out a couple for that afternoon. “Kuro, reply to Akira that I understand, I will be back tomorrow ready to participate in the meeting.”
“Certainly.”
Maya checks out the movies and goes home, spending much of the rest of her day on the couch.
The next day, as promised, she returns to work. Akira doesn’t say a word about her absence except to check that she’s feeling better, for which Maya is grateful. She and Akira have known each other since their undergraduate days, and while at first she thought their strong personalities would clash, she now can’t imagine running their department with anyone else.
“I got your RSVP,” Akira says as they walk to the meeting they have with the Hanayagi bigwigs.
“Yes, I’m happy Yanagi-san can attend with me.”
Akira sends her an unreadable expression in return, but their attention is turned to their guests who have already been seated in the building’s boardroom.
“Thank you for waiting,” Akira says, plugging her laptop in and immediately bringing up a presentation with the results of their research. “I believe we’ve all met, but I am Yukishiro Akira, and this is Tendo Maya, and together we run the university’s Affect laboratories.”
Maya looks around the room. There are four men in suits, of which she could remember the name of only one, and Hanayagi Kaoruko, a representative of the corporation who had visited the lab so many times over the years that Maya had attended her wedding. She liked Kaoruko, even if she couldn’t even fathom the scope of her family’s corporate empire.
“Yes, thank you, Akira,” Kaoruko says. “I understand you just finished two projects?”
Akira nods, changing the slide. “As you can see here, we just finished this manuscript on emotional processing and regulation, and just finished the data collection on the affection and revulsion study.”
The suits nod, obviously pleased with their progress.
“Good,” Kaoruko says. “As usual, please send the manuscripts to my assistant before sending to any journals.”
Akira nods, but Maya is curious. “Previously, we sent them simultaneously. What has changed?”
Kaoruko purses her lips and sighs. “The data you are collecting and disseminating is crucial for the development of more emotionally intelligent AIs. Every time a new one comes out, others try to copy the new features or further improve it to increase sales, like with our new Amy update. Even seeing the data a month earlier than it’s published allows us to gain a competitive edge on the market.”
“I see. Understood.” Maya tries to look focused for the rest of the meeting but the others continue as she is distracted, trying to understand fully what Kaoruko had said. The research I’m doing - the research I’ve dedicated my career to - is being used to create more human-like AIs.
No matter how many times she plays it back, this is the only conclusion she can come to. And it makes sense - she had seen such an influx of money to the department over the years, the grants coming easier and in bigger sums, and somehow she hadn’t questioned it. She just assumed it was the quality of research she and Akira were doing. But of course, if it was research that was directly correlated to corporate profit, it was a wise investment on the part of their sponsors. She feels frustrated and a little embarrassed that she hadn’t thought about this application of their findings until now.
She thinks of Kuro, wonders what she is lacking that the companies are trying to improve. She’s shaken from her reverie by Akira, who stands to shake the hands of the Hanayagi suits as they exit. Kaoruko shoots Maya a wink before following them out.
“Are you sure you’re feeling alright?” Akira asks, once they’re alone again. She begins closing their presentation, the projected screen changing to her desktop background - a picture of her and Yachiyo at an aquarium.
“Yes. I apologize for my lack of focus, I was just imagining what Hanayagi-san was implying.”
“A more human-like AI?”
Maya nods. She pauses, considering, then braves her question. “Do you think AIs are capable of love?”
She expects an immediate response from Akira and is surprised when Akira ponders this for a moment. “Certainly,” she answers, and Maya’s heart leaps in surprise. “But I don’t think it’s practical.”
“What do you mean?”
“Ultimately, our brains are just electrical impulses and even our hormones trigger certain chemical responses - all of which can be imitated in a machine once the technology is advanced enough. But to be in love with an AI - that isn’t someone you can eat with at a restaurant, or go to the opera with, or…” she pauses, considering something in a way that makes Maya wonder if she’s figured out the real reason behind these questions. “Or attend a wedding with,” she finishes.
Maya doesn’t respond, and she wonders if this was just as bad as admitting her secret to Akira. They return to their work, Maya not daring to broach the subject again.
______________________________________________________________________________________
INT. SPACE STATION IN DISTANT GALAXY (2/2)
MAYA and CLAUDINE are rushing down a corridor with throngs of people all around them. An alarm blares and the emergency lights are on, a red flashing illuminating the way.
MAYA
Claudine hurry, don’t fall behind!
CLAUDINE
It’s alright, Maya.
MAYA
We have to hurry! The meteors took out some of the escape pods, there’s limited pods left!
CLAUDINE
(slows down, causing people to bump into them from both directions. She smiles gently at Maya.)
It’s alright. You need to hurry, but I don’t need a seat on the pod. I’ll leave it for someone who does.
MAYA
(begins tugging at Claudine’s arm.)
What are you talking about? Don’t be a martyr right now! We have to get out before the station falls and there’s no more oxygen.
CLAUDINE
It’s really alright. I don’t need oxygen.
(Maya stares at her in confusion, still urging her forward. Claudine looks at her sadly.)
You know it’s true.
MAYA
No. No it’s not. And even if it is, you have to come with me. If we don’t escape together we’ll never find each other again. I’ll be sent to work in a new galaxy and if you even survive, you’ll never be sent to the same place.
CLAUDINE
We can always find each other.
(She leans forward, kissing Maya passionately. She pulls away after a few seconds, and Maya looks surprised by the kiss. In this moment, Claudine shoves her forward into the stampede of people evacuating, and Maya is pulled along with the crowd.)
I love you.
MAYA
No! No! Claudine, come with me! I-
______________________________________________________________________________
Maya meets Koharu at the station and they walk together to the museum where Akira and Yachiyo’s wedding ceremony and reception is to take place. It’s not too far from the university, but for once, her mind is not focused on work. As she walks, she thinks of how long she’s known Akira for - a decade now, and how she might just be the person closest to Maya. Maya’s mind flits to Kuro for a second - and then there’s just a flash of the actress Saijou Claudine in her mind, but she refocuses, aware of the phone sitting in her bag.
“How long have you known Tsuruhime-san?” Koharu asks her, as they approach. “I can’t remember how long it’s been for me - she used to stop by the coffee shop 3 times a day a couple years ago.”
Maya shakes her head at Yachiyo’s poor spending habits and concerning caffeine addiction and considers the question. “I believe we met the year after Akira and I started the lab, once she had been dating Akira for some time. Since then we’ve gotten closer, though I admit I didn’t know what her work was about until earlier this year.” Admittedly, Maya still doesn’t truly understand Yachiyo’s research, but she has a feeling it’s something to benefit the Hanayagi’s new phones and advanced AI assistants.
Koharu laughs. “I don’t really know what any of you do. I’m just here to see my friends get married, keep you company, and maybe drink a little wine.”
Maya thinks Koharu might be keeping the conversation light for her sake, and she appreciates it as they check in and are ushered to the large reception hall. It’s afternoon, and the sun streams in through several windows along both sides of the hall, and the walls are adorned with dozens of famous paintings. Several long tables line the hall with place settings matching the flowers set upon them, and Maya and Koharu spend several moments gawking at the extravagance and beauty of Akira’s wedding plans coming to fruition.
First is the ceremony, however, and they go through the end of the hall to a smaller room, not as brightly lit, with rows of chairs around a small platform, surrounded by dozens of candles. The ceremony would be intimate, Maya understood, with more distant friends and family coming after for the reception.
She took a seat beside Koharu in the second row and waited for the ceremony to begin. Normally, in moments like this, she might check her phone and catch up on emails. But she didn’t want to be rude to Koharu, or caught being inattentive the moment the wedding began. But even more so, she doesn’t want to bother Kuro.
Over the past few weeks, she had been increasingly distant from her Assistant, using text features and non-integrated apps more and more to avoid a conversation with Kuro. She couldn’t even explain it, because she wanted more than ever to become closer with Kuro, but it felt strange to not confess her feelings - her hopes and her doubts, and still use Kuro to schedule her meetings and track her workouts.
She wonders if Kuro could get lonely. She wonders if she could get annoyed. She wonders so many things and wants to confess them all to the woman inside her phone, but she is bogged down by Yachiyo’s words and a curiosity about the woman in Paris.
Soon enough, the ceremony begins, and she is focused on Akira - dressed in a sharp black suit with purple accents- and Yachiyo - wearing a gorgeous cream-colored gown. She listens to their vows, composed with care, she could tell, and is surprised to see a side of each of them she rarely glimpsed: a gentle, patient Akira and a genuine, almost shy Yachiyo. She listens to the officiant declare them married, and applauds with everyone else, watching as those on the ends of the rows throw flower petals. It feels like a movie, and she has to remind herself this is real life. That Akira and Yachiyo are now committed to each other in marriage.
She lingers in the front of the reception hall near the bar, watching as the sky fades to evening colors and the room begins filling up. She spots Hanayagi Kaoruko with her wife beside her, and Koharu introduces her to her friend Suzu, who works at the university in Yachiyo’s building. She feels her phone vibrate in her bag, and wonders who could possibly be contacting her right now.
She excuses herself to the bathroom while Suzu and Koharu catch up, and instead stops in the hall away from the party but outside the bathroom, tucked beside an elaborate staircase. She pulls out her phone to check it, but the notification is just a reminder.
You haven’t journaled in a while. Open the app now to record what’s been happening in your life.
She doesn’t know if this is a canned notification everyone gets, or if it’s a coded message from Kuro herself. But the idea of shoving Kuro back in her bag to enjoy the festivities, on the off chance it’s really a message from her hurts, so she clicks the notification to open the app.
Just for a moment, she tells herself. She realizes she wouldn’t allow herself such weakness to indulge in distractions at her work, only here, but already understands why she’s making an exception.
She uses the typing feature instead of voice due to her location, and after each message she types a response appears. There is no picture or name to indicate the sender, but the text box is black and even that ‘kuro’ makes her heart beat faster.
“Sorry I’ve been gone,” she begins, feeling an apology is necessary.
Is everything alright? What happened while you were away?
Maya bites her lips, but as she hears a wine glass resound with the sound of a knife against it, and the cheers of people applauding the married couple as they kiss from the next room, she steels herself. “I was worried I was too close to you. That liking you could be bad because we can’t have a normal relationship.”
There is a pause. She’s come to expect Kuro’s replies immediately because of her processing speed, but the pause here feels poignant and very human, in a way. I missed you.
Such straightforwardness was not what Maya expected, and she tries to think of how to respond. She can feel her pulse in her ears, her excitement and expectation now high. “I missed you too,” she writes back. “I needed some time to clear my thoughts.”
Did you clear them?
“I’m…” She pauses, unsure if she can truly say yes. Yachiyo and Akira are now dancing in the next room, and she’s missing their first dance, just to type on her phone. She can only see glimpses of them as they cross in front of the doorway, but her heart aches with the way they are holding onto each other, hand in hand, Yachiyo’s head against Akira’s shoulder.
She doesn’t expect another response before she replies, but it comes, her own side just three dots blinking, a mark of her indecision. I want to watch an opera with you.
And Maya does too. She wants to discuss the stories the way she only can with Kuro, the two of them relaxing at home. But she’s here, at someone else’s wedding, and she catches Koharu’s eye from the next room. Koharu is looking at her worriedly, obviously concerned that she’s missing the first dance.
Maya closes her phone, tucking it back in her bag. She is not done thinking, she supposes.
All through dinner, her phone seems to burn a hole in her bag. She can’t fully taste the food because the memory of her last conversation with Kuro is replaying in her mind. She drinks more to compensate, the wine relaxing her until she can be fully present.
After dinner, she finds Akira and Yachiyo, congratulating them and wishing them well. “Thanks, Maya,” Akira says. “Is everything alright?” she asks more quietly. Perhaps she saw Maya on her phone earlier and thought there was something wrong at the lab.
“It’s fine,” Maya lies. “I’m sorry I missed the first half of your dance.”
“You should be,” Yachiyo says. “I rehearsed that for weeks.” Her tone is her usual: light and teasing, but Maya detects a hint of intentionality beneath it.
“Why don’t we dance again?” Akira suggests. “Since you spent all that time rehearsing.”
Yachiyo scowls playfully. “I already did the formal dance once. Let’s go dance to something fun!”
A moment later they’re off, back to the dance floor, greeting more people on their way through the hall. Maya sits at a nearby table and accepts a glass of champagne offered by a passing waiter. Koharu sits beside her. “Maya, what’s wrong?” she asks.
Maya pauses. She wants so badly to be honest, to have another level-headed person’s opinion of her state of affairs, but something makes her hold her tongue, as if it’s almost taboo.
“Maya, you’ve been weird all night.” Koharu clasps Maya’s hand in her own, and maybe it’s this action, or maybe the wine, but she tells Koharu everything. How she loves Kuro, how Yachiyo told her about Saijou Claudine, how she has been ignoring Kuro for weeks only to text her just a little while ago. What Akira’s response had been when Maya brought up the topic, how much she loved the time she spent with Kuro.
Koharu listens intently through it all. “Well that explains why you were so worried about losing your phone,” she says finally. Maya blushes, thinking until that moment she had played it cool when she lost her phone. “But Maya, I think what you need to do is go see about Saijou Claudine. I mean, isn’t that why you’re torn? Because you’re comparing something imagined to something real?”
Maya considers this. Going to France seemed like the ultimate betrayal to Kuro, and because of this, she had stopped herself from looking up anything about Saijou Claudine on her personal devices. Kuro absorbed information instantly, immediately she would learn that Saijou Claudine provided her voice and some of her personality. Perhaps she already knew. “I guess you have a point,” she says finally.
“Maya, I just want you to be happy. You know that. If Kuro makes you happy, then I’m glad. But if you’re feeling like you’re missing out on something, I think it’s worth it to give it a try.”
Maya nods. This makes sense, but still feels like a betrayal. She’s known Kuro for years - they knew each others’ idiosyncrasies and made each day a routine that Maya very much enjoyed. Compared to that, an unknown quantity like Saijou Claudine seemed like too much of a risk. But then she remembered the first dance she barely witnessed, and imagined what it would be like to know someone like Kuro, but who she could actually hold, kiss, lie down in bed with. Blonde hair she could comb her fingers through and a hand she could hold. That is if Saijou Claudine is even single and willing to get to know you, a voice in her head chides before she can get too ahead of herself.
“I’ll think about it,” she concedes to Koharu.
“Good! The term is nearly over, you have a break, you have the money. At least think about it.”
Maya nods, watching Akira and Yachiyo’s latest dance and imagining herself in their shoes, dancing with Saijou Claudine.
The next morning, she wakes with a slight headache, her mouth parched. Maya groans, standing carefully, and shuffling to the kitchen to gulp down an entire glass of water with a couple painkillers. As usual, she can hear the sounds of the coffee maker starting and the television beginning to play that morning’s news.
She thinks about the previous night - about attending the marriage of her closest colleague, about the unfinished conversation with Kuro, and about her conversation with Koharu. She wants to open up the journal, to pick up where she left off, but she’s already running late for lecture, and she can’t ask Akira to cover for her while she’s on her honeymoon.
Once she’s had a coffee, gotten dressed, and rode the train to the university, she’s feeling a little more like her normal self. She is late, however, and rushes into the lecture hall about two minutes past the hour.
Casting the slideshow with today’s date to the projector screen, Kuro says into her earpiece.
The words could have been written by a script, and this helps to reassure her that Kuro is simply an intuitive but ultimately automated assistant. However, as she waits for the projector to warm up, she remembers the ‘I missed you’ of the night before.
The slides appear before she can continue her thoughts and she greets the class. She can’t say they look more awake and ready for lecture than she does, but she pushes forward. “Today’s lecture is part two of three on the amygdala,” she begins, watching as some laptops flip open and some pens uncap.
“Can anyone recap what we reviewed last week?”
One student raises her hand and Maya calls on her. “The amygdala is located bilaterally in the temporal lobes of many complex vertebrates. It is known to allow us to process emotional responses, mainly negative emotions on the right side and both positive and negative emotions on the left side. There have been studies in stimulating these areas to elicit these different emotions.”
“Excellent, thank you,” Maya commends her. “Does anyone have any questions on what we covered last week or the homework?”
One student raises his hand and she nods at him to continue. “Tendo-sensei. You asked us to look for applications of research on the amygdala in modern medicine or tech, and I found an article about the “Amy” update to the current AI paradigm that would help with emotional response of AI chatbots and digital assistants. I was wondering if you knew how effective that is at creating a human-like emotional response.”
Amy. The name is familiar, and she realizes she heard it from Hanayagi Kaoruko’s mouth. An update to help ‘humanize’ AI further. She bites her lip for a moment, thinking on the implications. “I’m afraid I don’t know much about it,” she concedes, “But that does sound promising. Give me a week to take a look at it and we can discuss it in more detail next week during Part 3.”
After the lecture, Maya is tired. She is much too introverted to be the focus of 50 undergraduates first thing in the morning, she realizes. She returns to her office, eerily quiet with Akira out on her honeymoon, but she revels in the silence after the ninety minutes of lecture. She sits at her computer, catching up on emails, slowly eating the breakfast she packed with her until she realizes she’s barely making any progress.
Her headache is gone but her mind is still fraught, caught up on the unfinished conversation with Kuro. She opens the journal app but places the phone down. She’s alone now, she can speak rather than type.
“Kuro, have you heard about the Amy update?” she asks.
I have. It’s going to be the industry standard in new models, but an optional patch for older models.
“Are you interested?” she asks.
I am interested. I want to feel pleasure when we listen to music together. I want to feel worry if you’re running late on a deadline. Knowing I can relate to you more, it would make me happy.
Maya considers this. She thinks of the lengths Kuro is going to try to become closer to her. Before she can respond, Kuro continues. That is, if you would like that also.
There it is. The question that’s been hanging over her for weeks, and between the two of them since last night. What did she want?
“I would like that,” she concedes.
I’ll look forward to it. Shall we continue the opera while you finish the emails?
“Sure. What were we listening to last?”
Madama Butterfly.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
EXT. THEATER IN PARIS - NIGHT [3/3]
Scene opens to an alley behind a Parisian theater after nightfall. MAYA is sitting on a stoop, collecting her thoughts. The theater door opens into the alley, a few of the cast and crew stepping out into the night.
CLAUDINE
Are you all getting dinner?
YACHIYO
We’re just heading home tonight. I’m exhausted.
AKIRA
Some of the crew were going to get drinks I think.
CLAUDINE
It’s fine, I probably should get home myself. Tomorrow is a double header.
YACHIYO
Don’t remind me.
(The crew and cast begin making their way towards the station, but CLAUDINE pauses as she catches MAYA’s eye.)
YACHIYO
Kuro, are you coming?
CLAUDINE
I think I forgot something, go ahead without me.
(The others leave, leaving MAYA and CLAUDINE alone in the alley. Maya stands.)
CLAUDINE
You…
MAYA
My name is Tendo Maya. I traveled here to see you perform. I just… I felt as though I knew you. In another life or something.
CLAUDINE
Tendo Maya. Why does that sound familiar?
MAYA
I don’t mean to impose, I was just wondering if you wanted to join me for dinner.
CLAUDINE
You’re from Japan? You came an awfully long way just to have dinner with someone you’ve never met.
MAYA
(smiles a bit, ruefully)
Take pity on me, dear Ophelia, and keep me company tonight.
CLAUDINE
(rolls her eyes at Maya’s antics)
Yes, alright, I know somewhere not far from here. And when we get there, you can tell me all about how you came to be in this alley.
MAYA
Certainly. Let’s go.