3.zip

I—I…finally…finished…it… ugh… my head’s… spinning.

This is Tensain Michito, a twenty-two years old freelance programmer, and he has not slept for sixteen hours, fifty-eight minutes, and forty-two seconds.

W—what… time… is… it? Ah, it… just… turned… fifty-nine… ghuhgh…

It took him eighteen seconds to process that thought. That’s how sleepy he is.

N—no… more… bugs, right?

His right hand undulates to an area of his table where fourteen coffee cans lie scattered. All his movements are sluggish and heavy, and his action mimics that of a worm.

…need…more…coffeeeeeehikhhhhh…

He has deviated from his usual drink, macha because he thinks he needed more energy to finish his ‘coding marathon.’

Once his fingers touch the last standing can, his hand snatches it like a snake, and he quickly drinks it.

He gulps and slurps and then throws the cans to another pile of cans. This one is a different pile.

“Pwfah!! I feel energized!”

He successfully tricks himself into having more energy than he actually has.

“Now, it’s time to show this to Renka!” he stands up quickly, but then his legs were wobbling. He hasn’t left his chair in a long time, so the blood rushed down his legs.

“Ngah!?” his instability reached its climax and—

“Woooahh? Woooaaaah, wooooooaaaagh!?” he falls on his back to the carpeted floor.

“Ouch, ouch, ouch! That’d hurt!”

Good thing I landed on my butt first.

Ping! A Disaccord message appears.

“A message!” he struggles to sit up, let alone stand. He has used up his energy on sitting.

“H—hold on! Ghrhhhhrhhhhh!!” he reaches for his chair to pull himself, but the chair falls into his stomach, “Gwarghohoffu!”

I need to get some abs training!

After another minute of struggling to get on his feet, he finally reads the message, “I’m here at the café now. I’ll be waiting.”

Tensain types a reply, “On my way.”

Then, he grabs his coat and quickly leaves his apartment.

After a few minutes, a fatigued Tensain arrives. He pushes the glass door, but struggles.

And Renka pulls the door opens for him simultaneously, and Tensain falls forward to the ground on his face.

“Wah! Tensai!!?” Renka quickly kneels to Tensain and nudges him, “Tensai? Are you okay?”

Luckily, it’s another carpeted floor.

“Zzzzzzzz…”

Is he asleep!?

“Ah, excuse me!” she calls for a waitress.

***

Mmmmfffhhhh… what is this feeling? It feels so soft and smooth… is this heaven?

Ahhh, I wanna stay here forever.

Tensain is currently dreaming about a white place full of clouds. And, in front of his face are two soft and luscious clouds that look like pillows.

Wow, I want these pillows in my bed. Are they made out of feathers?  Maybe literal water droplets? Anyway, they’re so much better than my memory foam ones.

It’s so good, I want to bite into it. Maybe they'd taste like marshmallows or just water.

He bites one of the pillowy clouds but bites something hard instead.

What? What is this? Why is this so stiff?

Deciding to investigate further, he bites harder.

Kyaaaah! a heavenly sound resonates throughout heaven.

Oh? Is that the god? Where is he?

He looks around flailing his arms about, “God! Where are you? I want to meet you!” And he touches something soft. “God?” What he has touched is a fluffy cloud, and he grabs it, “Is this you, god?” He starts kneading it with his hands while he worships it.

Wow, I never thought god would be so soft!

Auuuhnn… hmnnnn! Kyah! Hark! A glorious moan echoes in heaven!

“You have a cute voice, god!” Tensain praises.

Then, something hits him in his face, and Tensain exits the heavenly realm.

***

“Tensai!!” Renka greets Tensain with a red, furious face. “What do you think you’re doing!?”

But, Tensain is still recovering from his sudden summoning, “Mhhmm… what?” His head sways side by side as he rubs his eyes. His entire body seems to collapse. Then, he fully wakes up.

Tensain looks around the silent café. Every eye is watching him with varying reactions. One is shocked, another disgusted, another jealous, another turned on.

And Tensain seems angry for some reason.

“Why...” Tensain grits his teeth, “did you interrupt my dream!!?”

“Huh!?”

“I was having such a good dream!”

“What dream? Hey, did you mean—”

“I met god!” he declares as he raises his hands like some kind of preacher, “I’ve seen him! He has revealed unto his true form!!”

Everyone’s faces turn into confusion.

“Hey,” Renka is disconcerted by his weird remarks, “what are you talking about? If it’s a joke, it’s not funny.”

“No-no-no-no-no! It’s not a joke! I had a revelation from god itself!” he insists.

The café hushes into silence, uncomfortable silence. Both parties, everyone, and Tensain, greatly misunderstand each other.

“Therefore, everyone confess your sins before god returns!” Tensain declares.

Then someone says in a weak voice, “S—should I call the police?”

But another stops her, “No, you don’t have to.” That man steps out from within the audience.

He wears an office uniform. His blazer has the company’s logo sewn into it. Everybody recognizes this famous company, ToYa Incorporated, but he is respected even more when his ID swings as he approaches Tensain. His title, ‘Secretary to the CEO.’

Then, the crowd whispers to each other, “No way! He looked like a normal person!” “I think we shouldn’t meddle in their matters. He seems to know the guy.” “I feel bad for him because of a crazy friend.” “I guess it’s no big deal after all. Let’s return to our conversation over coffee.”

Renka and Tensain look at the man who silences and disperses the crown with his mere presence.

But the man realizes something, Oh! I didn’t remove my ID! He quickly removes its clip and pockets it.

He looks familiar, Renka thought. Since Renka has been made aware by the whispers of the man’s importance, she bows, “Thank you for that! I’m sorry for bothering you!”

“N—no! It’s no problem!” he frantically waves, “I just thought that Ten— I mean he is in trouble.”

Then Renka pinches Tensain’s side and impatiently whispers, “You should also apologize to him!”

“Ow—ow—ouch! F—fine! I’ll do it, just stop that!” Tensain faces the man, “I’m sor— waaagh!”

Renka forces Tensain’s head down, “Bow!”

Tensain, while being held down, apologizes.

“Really, it’s alright! But…” the man comes in deep thought and Renka eagerly waits on his demand. “M—may I join you for a coffee?”

The customers in the café haven’t completely digressed from the topic and return to gossiping, “Looks like he works with ToYa.cannot” “No, maybe the Secretary will hire him?” “How lucky! I’m jealous!” “Why’d they hire the crazy guy?” “That’s a good question.”

ToYa Incorporated is a popular company that specializes in advanced technology. They create and sell convenient gadgets and devices, and they are called the ‘Technological Innovators’ or the ‘Digital Innovators.’

They have been eyeing the Love AI project and have attempted business negotiations with the creators, but they’ve been rejected. So, ToYa decided to make their own, but progress has been slow, and Love AI still leads the AI revolution.

What is more amazing is that the project is led by two developers. When the popularity blew up, they decided to create a small-scale company to handle the additional business side of things.

That company is called ‘AILoveU.’ It isn’t an acronym and stands for nothing while ToYa is two company names merged into one.

“Sure, our table’s over there,” Tensain leads him casually as if he wasn’t an important person.

The onlookers observe this, “He’s acting with the Secretary familiarly, isn’t he?” “Maybe they know each other after all.”

While the two men settle at the table, Renka bows and apologizes to the waitress, “I’m sorry! Would you please forget what he did? I’ll compensate!”

“No, it’s no need! I mean, I didn’t suffer alone after all,” she remarks causing Renka to blush. The waitress leaves, and Renka goes to the table.

Sighing, Renka scolds Tensain, “Why did you do that? Are you a pervert?”

“Huh?” Tensain is shocked at Renka calling him a pervert, “what do you mean? Did I do anything wrong?” Tensain sincerely looks into Renka’s eyes.

And Renka’s eyes glance around as she blushes.

And the stranger understands her reaction and decides to save her the trouble, “You fainted in the entrance, so Renka carried you. She was worried about you.”

“Really? That’s what happened?” Tensain looks at Renka, “Thank you! I’m sorry for causing you trouble!”

“W—well,” she still averts her eyes, “it’s fine, but did you have any sleep?”

“Ah, yeah… I overslept,” this time, Tensain looks away.

He’s lying. Renka glares at him, “You didn’t have any, did you? I told you to take care of yourself!”

“Well… you see—”

“I should just live with you from now on when you can’t take of yourself.”

The spectating man is stunned by Renka’s boldness, Woah! She’s amazing, to think that she suggests that so boldly and freely.

“N—no, you don’t have to—”

“Speaking of living with you, I haven’t visited your apartment for a while. Have you been cleaning up?”

“Y—yeah! I clean frequently!” Tensain couldn’t look straight at her eyes.

“Really? Then, I should visit sometime—”

“No-no! You don’t have to! It’s really clean! You don’t have to worry!”

“Why do you sound like you’re hiding something?”

“No-no! I’m not! I mean you can visit— but not right now!” Tensain nervously laughs.

“Why not now, huh? You know what, let’s talk in your apartment.”

“B—but—”

The man clears his throat halting their argument.

Yikes! I ignored the VIP!

“A—ah! Sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you waiting. I’m just like this with him!”

“Ah, alright,” he nods, “I understand. I’m alright with you leaving.”

“No-no! It’s alright, you can join us in our coffee!”

She even copied his ‘no-no’ phrase.

“Anyway,” the man starts, “what are you here for? May I join that topic?”

“Ah, sure! Tensai, please show me your work!” Renka smiles.

But Tensain skeptically looks at the man, He had better not steal my work from me.

Without his initial cheerful demeanor, Tensain reveals a thick, metal disk and sets it on the table.

“Oh! It’s the hologram!” Renka goes for the button, but Tensain stops her.

Then, he looks at the man, “Don’t steal this.”

“Of course! I won’t.” What does this guy think I am?

“Alright,” Tensain nods to Renka.

And an animation of light appears before forming a woman. The hologram’s default color is blue, so everything is colored blue. It has no ability to change its colors.

And so the woman of Tensai’s dreams is unveiled in the hologram, all colored blue.

She has a unique hairstyle. Her long hair gracefully splits into two parts. But she also has some kind of ponytail branching out before the hair splits into two. Her face is smooth. It can be discerned even though it’s pixelated. She has a thin mouth, a blue blush on her cheeks, long eyelashes, and dark blue eyes.

The hologram makes her hair look blue because of its inability to produce any other color than blue. The hair is originally red, and so are her eyes. Therefore, the hologram makes both darker.

As for her clothes, she is wearing a plain shirt and a short skirt. Tensain hasn’t decided her fashion style yet because he rushed this to completion.

The man’s eyes widen as his jaws drop in amazement, Wow! Tensain is quite amazing! I didn’t think he could achieve this!

“Renka, meet Monica, and Monica, meet Renka Mirimi!” Tensain excitedly introduces them.

But the hologram anime woman doesn’t respond. Her eyes are closed and her mouth sealed. She seems to be floating air, but she is not moving at all.

Renka is also amazed but soon her emotion drops because she now has met Tensain’s dedication. I guess it’s all over from here.

At that moment, Renka decides to spend less time around him. It’s time to say goodbye. “T—Tensai—”

“Wait, not yet. I’ll wake her up,” Tensain interrupts.

“H—huh?” He… knew?

“Hey, Monica! Say… ‘Hello World!”

Then, the hologram woman slowly opens her eyes.

Some customers at the café take notice, and since they are seating by the window, some passers-by stop to spectate.

They whisper to each other asking what this thing is and remarking the marvelous technology, while the café diners talk about the potential grand future the Secretary will buy.

But Tensain, Renka, and the stranger pay no heed for they are about to witness history.

The holographic maiden’s first words.