pink haired idol android:
There was something different about the city today. It always looks bright, brimming with life and energy. Another busy day for the city of Tokyo. Yet for some reason Kinam couldn’t help but maintain his gaze on the metropolis below. He squinted his eyes and tilted his head in front of the grand windows that adorn the Ishikawa building, something was itching within him. Within the city. Something about the city was calling for him.
But there was just one problem. He can’t leave. Well, he can’t leave on his own. Unless there’s some type of schedule or a proper reason to step beyond the walls of the building he calls home. And while he knew this to be true, he couldn’t help but focus on the fact that he needed to go down there and see the city. Seeing it from up above in this ivory tower was doing Kinam no good.
Truth be told, while he enjoys the atmosphere of this building and all those who live and work inside it, he’s been hoping for the day that he could go down and explore the city. He’s never seen it up close and personal – never for pleasure, only for business. This is as close as he can get to it. And that fact alone can cause his good mood to crumble and make tears fill the corners of his eyes. He can’t share this with anyone though, he’s already in hot water as it is for his poor performances… “Your dancing needs more work.” or “Your singing isn’t sweeping us away.”
But he truly thinks that the answer to his problems is something called “passion”. Yes, “passion”. That’s what all of the idols of the past centuries have had. And with that “passion” they’ve managed to connect with their audience and give mind blowing performances that haven’t been forgotten even after all these destructive years of division between humans. “Passion” is something that Kinam wants to obtain. Maybe with some of that “passion” he, too, could give an earth shattering performance that’ll put him in Mr. Shiwoo’s good graces…
And if there’s one thing he’s passionate about, it’s that urban sprawl just below him. With its incredible neon lights, skyscrapers that seem to touch the heavens, and a mass array of characters with unique stories to tell about their day to day lives just living in this city. Kinam sighs fondly as he admires the holographic advertisement of some new product.
Eventually, Kinam removes his palms from the glass of the window. Shutting his eyes to really allow his mind to process the decision he’s crafted. He’s going to walk out of Ishikawa. He’s going to go out into the city and see it for himself.
As he dashes to the nearest wardrobe room, he makes a mental note to forbid himself from calling this another day of “exploration”. Finding the simplest clothes he could, he makes another mental note to forbid himself from making eye contact with anyone, lest they identify him and he ends up in worse trouble. Once he’s dressed in a plain black t-shirt, black jeans, and black hoodie he stops before the mirror and frowns. “Not good enough yet…” he scans the room and smiles once his eyes land on a cap. “Perfect!” This is what is called “street casual”. At least, this information is correct to his knowledge.
“What do I call this? How should I categorize this? Well…” he ponders to himself as he maneuvers his way down each floor as expertly as he can, avoiding running into people or androids who could hold him back from this.. this.. this experience he’s been craving for as long as he’s been staring out the windows. Once he reaches the main lobby floor, he feels a rush of energy surge through him. Just beyond those lobby doors lies in wait, the wondrous city of Tokyo. He shuts his eyes and braces himself one last time to slip and dodge past anyone who could cause trouble. It seems to be rush hour, so many employees are leaving at once. There’s so much momentum going on that Kinam doesn’t even notice once he’s just steps away from the grand entrance doors. His straight faced expression melting into a smile as he pushes himself from the building’s entrance and steps foot onto the concrete just outside.
Everything is so much larger. “What do I call this?” Everything is so much louder. “How should I categorize this?” Kinam lets out a small chuckle and slowly tears up seeing the glowing signs all around him letting him know his location, Akihabara… The Heart of Tokyo…
It’s all too much. It’s euphoria and at the same time it’s fear. But he worked too hard to back out now. He’s doing this for MANIA, for Ishikawa, for himself. This is it. Kinam stuffs his hands into the pockets of the black hoodie he borrowed from the wardrobe room - hopefully no one notices these articles of clothing are missing. Walking into the mass moving crowd of people, Kinam smiles to the sky and the skyscrapers. “Well… calling it an ‘exploration’ just doesn’t do it justice.”
“From my previous observations, Akihabara never seems to sleep…,” Kinam thinks to himself as he gazes at the enormous glowing advertisements and the crowd of people moving to and fro getting bigger and bigger as he makes his way down the street. “Observations….. that’s it. I know what to categorize this experience as.”
“Category: Field Research.”
When you go out to meet your friend downtown you never expect a riot to stop you. You never expect to step out in the world and see hate words on buildings and hear them be yelled right at your face. You never expect to see a group of people beating up someone who’s like you, someone who’s not doing anything bad. Someone who just wants to be allowed to live. But that’s exactly what Ezi sees the moment he steps out of the subway and into Akihabara. He’s desperate, he loses contact with his friend and runs around the area to find him — he’s lucky he knows the place well, and his android eyes do make things a little bit easier for him. It takes time, but eventually, he finds Leon.
He’s hit by the feeling of happiness when he finally sees the other android, takes him in his arms into a very tight hug and makes sure he’s well, makes sure he’s not hurt. And he hates the idea of parting ways with the other, but he understands why it would be better for the both of them — they could help more people if they went on separate ways, the field of contact would be much wider. And he won’t lie, being in that situation makes him feel more alive than ever.
After speaking with Leon, it feels like most of his worries and stress dissipate. Knowing that his friend is well amongst the chaos of the city brings an intense feeling of relief to Ezi as he makes his way into the mess of the riot, going against what almost everyone is doing — to run away from it. He knows how dangerous the city is at this point, but the idea of just going away and not helping anyone of his kind makes him feel sick. At least that’s what he calls it. Sickness.
He walks through the dense cloud of dust that was caused by the bombs the anti-android group had thrown and uses his mechanical vision to see through the blurriness, looking for other androids. He runs to them when he spots them. He lifts them off the ground, makes sure they’re okay and sends them off by telling them to look for a safe place, to look for the movement, and so they do. He doesn’t stop, he won’t stop until the center of Akihabara is cleared out and the situation is handled by the authorities. But he doesn’t trust them.
He has helped around four or six androids when he spots the one that looks the most lost in the confusion, a hat in his and a weird choice of clothing brings Ezi the idea that he’s trying not to be noticed. Failed. He’s already walking towards the android when he hears the piercing sound of yet another bomb, and this time he calculates its route to find out that it would land right between him and the post android — he can’t let that happen, he can’t allow one of them to be hurt. So he speeds up.
He runs as fast as he can and once he’s close enough to the other, he grabs the android by the wrist and drags him to hide behind the nearest dumpster. He hears the explosion behind them just a few seconds after he took them out of there, and without even noticing, Ezi just now sees that he’s been holding the other android tight in his arms as if they have known each other for years. He doesn’t pull away immediately though, he does it slow and gently as he tries to get a better look of the other’s face — as he tries to identify him. And for his surprise, the lost and confused small android is way more public than he’d expect. Now, all that hiding and disguising made sense.
“Aren’t you one of the idol androids?” Ezi asks as he blinks a few times, his hand going up to touch the few strands of pink hair that are no longer hidden under a cap ( the sudden movement to escape from the bomb probably flew it away ). His voice is gentle despite the high volume when he speaks to the other android, and his eyes are glazed on the soft features of the other’s face. He looks so fragile and so small. Ezi can’t help but feel a weird thing bubble up inside of him as he looks at the idol boy. He doesn’t know how to call that feeling, he might ask Leon later that night. “What are you doing out here, little one?”
