Episode 5. "Holiday"

It's a holiday morning, and I'm laying out women's clothes on the floor, worrying about this and that. Today I was going to take Hana to the aquarium. It is a little date. If I'm going to take her, I want her to be dressed up. As Kimie had said, Hana was a young girl, even if she is an android. I had her stand in front of the dresser and put her clothes on one by one. A white dolman sleeve blouse and a tight beige skirt. Okay, this is good. She looks quite ladylike and a bit of a lady.

After getting Hana dressed, we left the room. As the train rocked, I checked the location of the aquarium on my tablet.

"What's the aquarium like?"

Hana asked, looking into the tablet.

"It's a facility where a lot of marine life is housed and displayed for visitors."

"What do they do that for?"

"For what? ...... Well, for fun, I guess. If you live in a normal city, you will never see such creatures, right?　　In the country, there used to be quite a few creatures in the rivers and seas, but now there are fewer and fewer."

"Why are there so few?"

"Because civilization has developed and nature has been destroyed. Even this tablet needs a big factory to make it. There is no more land left in the city, so we have to destroy the nature in the countryside to build factories.　　That's how nature was destroyed all over the earth. But humans are still a kind of animal. We instinctively want to be surrounded by beautiful nature and creatures. Aquariums and zoos were created to satisfy this desire. There are also other reasons, such as the preservation of living things and natural history."

"Hmm. I understand that you are a kind of animal, but I am an android, why do you take me to the aquarium?"

I didn't think about it. 

"It's just a ...... distraction. I just thought you needed something to look forward to, that's all."

"I see. ......"

She turned her head down.

"You don't like it?"

"I'm just having fun."

"That's good."

After catching a train, we arrived at a huge aquarium in Tokyo, where many people were already crowded in. I got in line, bought two tickets, and went inside with Hana. The first section was an exhibit that recreated the state of the sea around us. Isojinchaku (sea squirts), starfish, and other nowadays precious rock creatures were humorously displayed. In this corner, we could put our hands in the tank and touch the creatures.

Hana's eyes lit up as she gazed at the starfish, and she reached out to touch it. When she felt the rough surface of the starfish in her hand, she squealed in surprise.　

"I've never seen one of these before!"　

She was so excited that she blew more oxygen out of her head than usual.

"What do you think?　　Isn't it interesting?"

"Yes!　　Living things are interesting."

Seeing her smiling innocently, I was glad that I had brought her along with me. She was a mere plant, breathing in carbon dioxide and breathing out oxygen. Of course, that's not a bad thing, but even androids should be able to enjoy and be moved by something. The more I watched her, the more I began to think of her as if she were a normal human girl. In terms of emotions, Hana was much younger than she appeared to be, but that couldn't be helped since, she had only a few years of experience after being shipped from the factory, and those years were spent just working as a convenience store clerk. Thinking about it, I felt sorry for Hana and wanted to give her as much experience as possible, just like a girl of her age.

On the second floor, there was a huge cylindrical water tank that we could walk around to see. The tank was filled with a huge whale shark and a variety of tropical fish. Hana put her hand on the tank and stuck to it, looking up and following the whale shark with her eyes.

"I didn't know there were such amazing creatures on Earth!"

Hana's excitement was at its peak.

"You like it?"

"Yes. I love aquariums!　　Living things are amazing!"

I was satisfied. Seeing Hana's happy face like this made me feel like a happy man. I didn't have any children, but I felt like a father with a real daughter. And it was a very satisfying feeling. In the world, childless couples sometimes seek out androids as surrogates, but until now, I had thought that this was just a trick. I guess I need to change my mind. Androids could be a good substitute for a child, I thought, excited by my new discovery.