A partner with a history
Calm afternoon light shone into the washitsu (Japanese-style room) of a decades-old apartment. Since it was April, it was still a little bit chilly, but I left the window open as the wind felt good. This was my new living space: a corner room on the second floor of a rental house I got in order to carry out my investigation into Lost Property in Komagaoka City.
As I started leaning on a cabinet with faded colors (that was given to me by the landlord) and thought about this and that regarding my school life starting tomorrow, a voice above my head called out: "Can I ask a question, master?". T-6407J. An autonomic drone that had become my partner just a few days ago. It was floating around the air lightly like a jellyfish. I grabbed him with both of my hands, and held him next to my belly. It felt a little bit warm when I did this. He asked me with a childlike electronic voice:
Dialogue: Master, why did you choose me? Dialogue options: "I wanted you to become my partner", "Your life circumstances were like mine...", "I don't have much money..."
This artificial intelligence asks quite risky questions. When looking at it from his perspective, he surely must be wondering. If my goal was to get assistance in investigating Lost Property, there are other drones that are more efficient and useful than T-6407J. What was the reason why I went out of my way to get a drone that was about to be thrown away, and on top of that, an outdated model?
There were multiple reasons, but how did I respond...? I remembered the moment I took him.
I was waiting at the inhumanly undecorated entrance for the person in charge to come pick me up. The Anti-Lost Property Department of Weapons Development: a collaborative department of the Organization that researches and develops tools that are of use in the containment of Lost Property. As I was told by Amaki, I came here with the goal to collect tools for my work.
After a bit of waiting, a man called Kirishima came to me. He had grizzled hair and seemed tired, but there was a strong atmosphere of authority around him. "Thank you for waiting. I've heard why you're here. Please come along with me this way." After he said this, he guided me towards a factory.
Inside the factory, people wearing working clothes were working in a hurry. They were moving or watching over giant machines of which I could not possibly grasp the workings, and were carrying tools around and contacting each other, and I started feeling a bit sorry for walking around at my own pace. Then, Kirishima said:
Dialogue: Please choose one you like from here. Well, I will send you an invoice after of course.
It seems like everything has its price. That's fair. Oh well, when push comes to shove I guess I'll just send the receipt to mr. Amaki.
While I was thinking about these sorts of things, I passed by employees who were carrying some sort of weird thing. A worn-out red drone was being carried arround with a trolley. What stood out to me, was that there were also purification tools being carried along with it. I guess it wasn't just a simple defect, but it had gotten digitally infected by Lost Property. I had apparently unconsciously stopped in my tracks when I got interested and was following where it went with my eyes, and Kirishima, who was walking ahead of me, prompted "Is something wrong? Come here, quickly."
The first tool I picked was a large case called Small Containment-Room Type θ.
You acquired a Small Containment-Room Type θ. A case in which you can store multiple tools or C-grade Lost Property, and take them out at any time. Developed with the goal of being a portable containment room.
I don't know the logic behind it, but you can put much more in here than it seems. Although there is a limit, even things that are larger than the capacity of this case somehow fit inside. And it's not just that, but it is also permitted to shut a portion of C-grade Lost Property inside it and take them outside. For example, since using Lost Property 882 [Stick Choco Mystery Dust] allows you to instantaneously heal wounds, it is often taken along on dangerous missions. Of course, using it wrongly may result in deadly situations, so it should be equipped in preparation for emergency situations only. Anyhow, if you have one of these, you won't have problems managing your tools, so it's a very useful article to have.
Doing Lost Property work, you often end up in unpredictable situations. For example, there are cases where even getting close to one, your human cognitive function gets overwritten, and you become unable to recognize Lost Property as being Lost Property, or may even become unable to recognize humans as humans. In times like these, an autonomic assistance drone is helpful. It contributes greatly to the survival rates of employees by scanning the scene and releasing special magnetic fields to prevent recognition problems, fighting back using simple weapons, and even by becoming a weak shield for humans.
I tried asking Kirishima about the red drone they were carrying earlier. He seemed a bit perplexed, but then told me:
Dialogue: You mean that Torii-shaped drone? Its previous owner passed away, and we are about to throw it away soon. Dialogue options: "That one, please", "Hmmm...".
"That Torii-shaped drone is called T-6407J. It's previous owner has passed away, so..."
It looked like it was not quite treated well by its owner at the time. Unmaintained and its paint peeling off, it was continually made to do heavy work. Finally, during its last mission, it received a digital infection from Lost Property, and its owner died without it being able to protect them. Although the owner not maintaining the drone properly was a contributing factor, these reasons have become a strong cause for stress, and now there are errors occurring in parts of the artificial intelligence.
I decided to take that Torii-shaped drone. Kirishima widened his eyes. "Are you sure you're okay with this one?" He introduced high efficiency drones and drones with different use cases to me, but I had already made a firm decision. Kirishima seemed apologetic all the way, and arranged the decontamination and minimum repairs for free himself.
Equipment Booth
Loss of memory as a result of an intense burden. A being giving its all for its master, knowing it will get used and thrown away later. I felt like this drone was somewhat like the current me.
It's a matter of preference. Since it's a partner with whom I'll be working for a long time, I thought it would be a good idea if I chose one that fit myself even a little bit. But since putting this into words was a bit embarrassing, I chose to tell him the other half of the reason.
"Because you don't have much money... I see. I get it. If I were in your position, master, I would not have been able to think of any reason except that one." It seems like T-6407J accepted my answer. He started floating around the room lightly again, seemingly satisfied. Is that good enough to be satisfied with...? "Thanks to you, master, I was able to avoid being thrown away. That being the case, I have but one mission," T-6407J said, looking at me directly. "I will protect my master." He was probably regretting that he let his previous owner die very much. His voice was filled with determination.
"I don't know if choosing this partner will bring me good or bad luck. However, I am not planning to go out that easily, and I don't want this partner to become my substitute. Let's at least do my best," I thought, as I looked at the drone which was frequently observing the stains on the old walls.
End of the introduction.