The Question

"One of the first advancements in the cosmetics of machines came in giving them the appearance of being alive. They no longer had soulless eyes or a rigid walk. This made them look more human, but it was still obvious that they were not human from the plastic skin that they were molded in. It was the next thing to be changed.

"Plastic was replaced with a polymer that simulated skin. The advancements would have continued by man if it were not for the war. However, the machines didn’t stop improving themselves. Their shining achievement was the creation of the bio-machine. It was the ultimate creation in imitation of human life.”

Herbert Stein, Machine Historian -

Yuu walked out of the room as though knowing that he would soon be followed by Satoru. They walked down the hallway with Natsuko following behind them. The design of the halls was completely different from the main building that Satoru knew. White walls and polished metal lined most of the main building. There were lights evenly spaced embedded into the ceilings to mold with it as though they were built as one rather than inserted. This hall was black and plastic with electronic panels holding all of the light. It was uninviting and intimidating as though it was ready to swallow up whoever was foolish enough to trespass.

The unwelcome feeling sank deep into Satoru, as he was being led somewhere. It was so dark and labyrinthine that he couldn’t maintain his sense of direction. The way the halls were built made distance difficult to gauge accurately. Satoru didn’t know how long he had walked. He just knew that they had arrived at their destination since Yuu had stopped in front of a wall.

Yuu placed his hand on the wall causing a light to bleed around the rectangular cracks of a panel. The soft chime from the wall cleared them for entry. The wall opened granting them passage into a small room. "What is this?" Satoru attempted to look around to see what he was brought to see, but it was too difficult. 'Its so dark, I can't see anything…' Every inch and corner of the room was empty, a void with only the three of them inside.

The wall closed in behind them cutting out any traces of light that might have slipped through. Yuu stepped forward placing his palm on a panel that suddenly lit up the entire room. Lights from the electronics in the room spread out in a river flowing over the walls. In front was a black monitor switched off and glass panels looking out into a room equally as empty as the one they used to be in.

Yuu moved his fingers over the panel, starting up several systems that breathed life into the room with a low hum. The sounds of computers had an almost calming effect on Satoru. Once everything was running lights began to click on in the room connected to them. Yuu brought up an image of the room on the monitor for Satoru. "This is your decision. What will you do?"

Satoru had been looking into the room trying to see what it was that Yuu wanted him to see. Near the center of the room there seemed to be a person, but it was too difficult for him to see at the range he was at. When the monitor turned on it became immediately clear to Satoru who was in that room. He could see her face and recognize it in a heartbeat. "Asami! Asami!" His shouts went in vain as he could see that she wasn’t awake and his voice wouldn’t carry through the walls. "What are you doing to her?"

"Nothing right now. It's up to you what you want to do. She has sustained minor physical damage, but is unable to self-repair." The camera in the room projected its images back on the monitor for Satoru to see. It revealed the areas that were damaged on her body. Satoru could see where the bullet from the sniper hit her arm. The bullet had dug through her arm, but the angle that it hit at was enough to deflect it away rather than going through. The EMP net had shorted everything out with the areas where things overloaded charring the skin underneath. "I can fix her, but if I do fix her. What will you do, Satoru?"

Satoru looked at Yuu, not sure what he was asking him. "What do you mean?" His immediate thoughts were to go to her side, but it conflicted with his thoughts as well. He couldn’t agree with his heart. Both mind and soul were divided in what should be done.

"Do I have to spell it out?" Yuu said, slacking his shoulders in disappointment. He didn’t want to have to explain himself to Satoru. "Do you love her? Do you love her, even though she is a machine?" It was as clear as he could get. There was no subtext or dancing around the subject.

'The same question that I have…' Satoru looked down at the floor, saddened that he could still not answer the question. He had been ramming his head into the wall for days trying to come to an answer. All he had figured out was that it wasn’t an answer that he could easily find. It was embarrassing for him. Fear and confusion mixed its vile blend in his mind leaving him constantly twisting into the maelstrom to know which direction he faced. "Asami…I-I…"

"She was given a life and emotions, but she is a machine." He didn’t know how much longer he could stand beating this into Satoru. It was tiring for him to have to deal with someone that couldn’t even make up his mind. Unfortunately, nothing else could start until there was a resolution made. "When you touch her she is warm and when you hurt her she cries. She is not of the same flesh and bone, but metal and circuits. What do you see when you look at her? Is it a machine that will kill you? Is she a lover that will hold you? This is your decision, Satoru. Do you love her?" It felt like he was talking to some child of his rather than an adult. 'I guess adults have these problems as well…it makes us all children again.'

Satoru could hear Yuu's voice echoing through his head pounding around for an answer. The deafening howls were unbearable for him. All it did was just increase the conflict that he had in his mind. He knew all of the sides, but knowing it did not solve anything. 'I just don't know…Asami…she's a machine…' Satoru felt a pain in his head instinctively bringing his arms to try to ease it. The pounding was only getting worse, wanting to break free from his skull.

"Satoru…" Natsuko rushed to Satoru's side to give him support to pull through the turmoil. She knew how much it was hurting him. Every time that she had seen him it was clear on his face. It was only magnified now knowing that she was a machine. "You can't make him decide right now. Look at what you're doing to him."

Yuu gave out a disappointed sigh of defeat knowing that playing the villain wasn’t an enviable role that he wanted. He had done enough to set things in motion for the time being. The rest would move itself in time. "Very well. It'll take time for me to make the repairs to her. You have until then to come to a decision."

"You're going to fix her?" Satoru looked up in surprise at Yuu. He was expecting that he would have to wait until giving him an answer before Asami would be fixed. It still gave him a deadline. Satoru didn’t feel much better knowing that fact, even if it did relieve most of the momentary stress.

"Well of course," Yuu said as though Satoru was being stupid for not assuming that Asami was going to be fixed. He gave Satoru that annoying smile of his as though it was supposed to be some sort of reassurance. "Just because I haven't done anything yet doesn't mean I wasn't going to do it. Spend the time deciding what you'll do. Things are starting to come to a head in the world. You need to figure out which side you are on." His words had turned serious at the end bringing back the importance of finally deciding. Yuu walked out of the room with Natsuko leaving Satoru alone with Asami.

Satoru opened the door to the large room that held Asami. He walked over to the metal table that solely populated the space. On top of the table Asami lay quiet. Her eyes were closed and all of the life seemed to have been drained out of her. There was no color in her face or anywhere on her skin. She looked like she was dead. 'You need to figure out which side you are on,' Yuu's voice said to him through his mind.

'Sides…always sides…' He placed his hand on Asami's face hoping to feel something back. Nothing, she was empty right now. It was worse than when she was possessed by her programming in the lobby. Even though she was distant and there did not seem to be anything but cold logic, Satoru had felt something. Now he could find nothing. 'Asami, what should I do?'