The Best of Intentions

Miu got a job working at a hotel as a cleaning member. Grueling days of overtime became the norm now that she was not a child in the custody of the state. As an adult, she was easier to take advantage of in that regard. In her second week, the front staff were all replaced by automated check-in systems, but the cleaners were spared. For now, no automation or Arcan spell could fold a fitted sheet or efficiently replace shampoo bottles.

Life didn’t get easier. Groceries stayed expensive. Utilities remained costly even with mystical crystals pouring elements out infinitely. Her face always hurt. The cold felt even colder this year. And in the distance, the explosions and fiery glyphs never went away.

Days bled by, but Miu soldiered on. Her evenings were long and lonely, defined by waiting for the moment of her release so that she could get home to Yuki.

For his part, Yuki held true to his cooking and cleaning commitments. Especially in light of Miu’s job now involving house chores all day, the last thing he wanted was for her to have to do more cleaning when she was home. That was what drove him.

Still, it was laborious and slow. One day, he dropped a santoku knife while chopping vegetables, and the blade landed directly in his shin, slicing it open instantly.

Though he felt no pain, the steady rise of blood that began to stain his pant leg told him he was cut.

“Dammit. Dammit!” he murmured as he applied a rag to the cut.

That wound sidelined him for two hours, which meant that by the time Miu returned home, dinner was still underway.

“You’re hurt?!” Miu gasped when she saw his bloodied leg.

“Miu, I hate to tell you this, but I dropped a knife, and it hit my leg. Now I can’t feel my leg. I think I’m paralyzed…” Yuki said in an attempt at humor.

It almost worked. A tired smile drifted across her face, but she still exhaled an exhausted sigh.

“Go and shower. Food’s almost ready.”

Once her shower water had finished running, Yuki finalized the dinner setting and then returned to the brochure that was on the counter. Yuki opened his phone’s email app and typed in the contact email of the company.

“I am interested in your exoskeleton prototype program. Please contact me with details. Thank you. Dokuyama Yuki.”

He pressed send and set his phone down. Not even ten seconds later, there was an alert ping. Yuki lifted his phone to see a response from the email address.

“Thank you for your inquiry, Dokuyama Yuki. We have your name on file as an interested party regarding ArcanStride. We are excited that you remain curious and are ready to move forward with your candidacy. Please see the attached terms and conditions forms, release waiver, and non-disclosure agreement. For ease of access, we have also consolidated all forms into a single waiver, wherein you only need to sign once. Please fill out that form and return it to this email address so that we may begin candidacy protocols.”

Yuki finished reading the email and opened the attachments. The first file was the terms and conditions. Scrolling down revealed that the form was over seventy pages long. It was the same for the release waiver and non-disclosure agreement.

“Wow,” Yuki murmured to himself as he set the phone down.

Just then, the power went out in the building. Everything turned dark and quiet.

“Yuki?” Miu called from the bathroom.

“Power outage, looks like. Hold on, I’ll bring my phone for light.”

Yuki closed the email app and rolled to the bathroom door. It was cracked slightly, and Miu’s hand was extended.

“Awwww, does this mean the heat is going to be off?” she asked.

“Probably. I’ll get the other blankets down.”

“And my hair’s wet. Great,” Miu sighed.

In the silence, Yuki heard a handful of distant booms once more.

“They’ve never said what that is…” Miu said as she closed the door.

“I doubt they ever will,” Yuki agreed as he rolled back down the hall.

“If only we had an ArcanFlame crystal! We could start a small fire to dry your hair out!” Yuki called from the living room.

“I’ll stick to hairdryers!” Miu laughed.

Moments later, she was back in the living room, mostly dry, with her hair wrapped in a towel. Shivers were noticeable as she sat down for dinner. Candles cast small bits of light around the room. The soft glow from Miu’s uncovered eye was the only other light source.

“Thank you for cooking,” she said as she inhaled the scents of the broth.

“Yuki’s world-famous bargain value three-ingredient dinner. Oden broth, beef tendon, and radish.”

Miu returned Yuki’s phone to him as she took a sip. In the low light, she looked thin and exhausted.

“What was your homework on?” Miu asked.

“Large Language Models. Simple AI stuff.”

“You still enjoy it?”

“I do. Apparently, the arrival of the shards really accelerated artificial intelligence. Scientists were able to figure out how to do basic quantum data transferring between manu-crystals, so there’s no need for massive quantum computers anymore. It sounds like developments are about a decade ahead of where they thought we would be.”

“So they use magic to control AI stuff?” Miu asked in slightly genuine curiosity.

“Basically. These computers are solving human genome puzzles in milliseconds now. It’s pretty amazing.”

Miu’s sigh and sniffle surprised Yuki. He looked down to see her wiping her eye.

“Sorry. Sorry,” she said.

“What’s wrong?” Yuki asked.

“I feel so tired. All this magic. All this advancement and change. But things still feel so hard for so many. I’m so happy in so many ways, but I’m so exhausted all the time. Why doesn’t any of this technology or Arcan power do anything to actually make our daily lives better?”

Her question was valid and something even Yuki was struggling to understand. He knew things were vastly better than even a century ago. But it seemed like the last several decades, especially the ones in his life, had been defined by stagnation and strain. The world was completely different from what it was two years ago. And before that, it had been completely different from what it was two decades ago. But the hardship remained. And now it was eating away at Miu. Already, she was withering.

Yuki wanted to stop that. He didn’t say anything, but instead removed his phone from his pocket as Miu silently rested her head on the table. While her eyes were closed, Yuki opened the email from the ArcanStride development team and pressed accept on the mass waiver. His signature and initials were scribbled into the digital box, and then he pressed send.

There was an opportunity for him to be more helpful. Machines with crystal supports offered the ability for him to be mobile and back in the world; to do more than he had done before. To be truly helpful. This new device could be a way for him to finally feel useful and happy again, and could finally allow Miu to not have to do everything.

Once dinner was complete, Miu was asleep in minutes. Yuki quietly joined her in bed and checked his emails. To his elation, he had a response.

"We have received your signatures. We will be in touch soon."