Year 3000
Midohira, Daikidageda
“I knew you would know where we lived, Jizen, without us giving you any directions.” exclaimed Rakuten as she let Jill in.
“What can I say dear, we humans from Earth are good at doing our research beforehand, it seems.” bragged Jill as she took off her black leather jacket. Rakuten made an amusing face to mock Jill, as she offered to take Jill’s jacket to swing it on the hanger. Rakuten stared at it for a few seconds, as she held it in her hand, with a slight sense of sorrow in her eyes.
“What is it?” inquired Jill.
Rakuten shook her head quickly to clear her mind, “Welcome home, Jizen. I hope we will be good hosts tonight! Can I request you to follow just one house rule?” she asked playfully.
“I did not imagine, someone wanting to be free, to bring up rules! What is your rule Raki?” Jill responded, trying to be even more playful. “Also, can I call you Raki?”
“Well, the rule is to smile and be happy, while you are within these four walls!” Rakuten said with a beaming smile on her face, making Jill chuckle. “And as far as my name is concerned, my friends and Rintaro call me that. If you consider yourself as my friend, then you can call me Raki. You can call him Rin as well!” she pointed towards Rintaro.
Rintaro rolled his eyes and walked into the kitchen.
“Or maybe not!” Jill said as they shared a laugh.
Rakuten held Jill by her hand and took her to the living room to give her a tour. Jill was amazed to see a simple, yet cozy household. There was a big section on the left side of the room which showcased all of Rintaro’s certificates, trophies and medals. “Science and research is his passion and he always gets awarded for it.” she said as Jill stared in awe at all of Rintaro’s laurels. “And this side belongs to me!” Rakuten said pointing towards the right side of the room. Jill went closer to look at it. She gazed at the countless newspaper cutouts of Rakuten helping the blind and being felicitated by the local government for her gracious deeds. As she tried to explore more, she came across cutouts of Rakuten publishing articles to create awareness towards safety and prosperity of animals.
“You are really committed to this cause, aren’t you?” Jill asked.
“I keep wishing for a perfect world, averse of negativity. I am not sure if I will ever see that.” Rakuten said looking down at her feet.
“Only if everyone looked at it like you do, dear. Do not feel discouraged by the unknown future, Raki! Keep doing what you are and one day…” Jill said, rubbing the back of Rakuten’s hair.
“Dinner is ready!” screamed Rintaro from the kitchen almost scaring the ladies.
As they arrived at the dining table, Jill was amazed to see how neatly it was set up. There was a small bowl of salad, three little serving plates, four bowls, cutlery and three small glasses on the side. There was a bottle of red wine kept in the centre. “Careful with this pot.” cautioned Rintaro as he brought a steaming hot pot of potato curry seasoned with some mint and cilantro. As the aroma filled the room, he rushed in to get another medium sized pot for some rice. Jill watched in appreciation how meticulous and well organized Rintaro was. He poured some wine in three glasses.
Right when they were about to start eating, Rakuten got up from her chair.
“I almost forgot!” exclaimed Rakuten, just as they were about to start eating. Rintaro raised his eyebrows to look at her.
Rakuten served the curry, rice and salad in the fourth bowl and ran outside. Jill and Rintaro awkwardly stared at each other.
“So…” Rintaro said, trying to break the silence.
“So?” Jill asked.
“So…” Rintaro struggled for words, “Are y-”
“Apologies! I leave some portion of our food for the hungry animals or birds that come around in search of food.” she said as she took the first bite of her food.
Jill smiled at Rakuten’s commitment towards her vision. Her face turned relieved, as she took the first bite of the food, “This is amazing!”
“Are you... you?” asked Rintaro hesitantly, alternating his gaze towards Jill and Rakuten.
Jill let out a laugh. “It was always me in there, Rintaro.” Jill said. “This was the most crucial objective of Idiosyncrasy. Our goal was to augment the DNA as much as possible and alter it as little as possible. Humans have a conscience, which has set us apart from the rest.” she paused to have the next morsel of curry. “DNA stores a lot of information at three major layers or data points. The attributes that can be borrowed from an animal would depend on the ratio of information taken from each of these layers. If you try to incorporate a strain abundant in the physical layer of DNA of an elephant, you can transform into a huge form and may even grow a trunk. You will have immense power to knock down a tree by yourself. Contrastingly, if the strain you subsume is strewn with the emotional or logical layer of DNA of an ant, you may not change a lot physically, but your decision making would be heavily driven by an algorithmic approach, to try and find the most efficient solution to your challenges.”
Realizing that it was a slightly overwhelming conversation, Jill stopped to look at them. It seemed as though she had lost Rakuten’s attention span. She reminded herself that she was on a mission which was running against time. Slowing down was not an option available to her.
“Interesting! And what does the third layer do?” Rintaro broke the silence.
“Instinct - the most intriguing layer. It lets you get the animal’s purest instincts. Wild boars or crocodiles are known to have extremely attacking instincts. Nine times out of ten, their instinct would allow them to not back down, and single-mindedly, attack or take a step forward.” she said, relieved that Rintaro was contributing to the conversation.
“Then what makes it so intriguing?” Rintaro asked with an apparent inquisitivity in his voice.
“Instincts are subjective. There is no measure for an instinct. An instinct could be perceived as aggressive by someone and defensive by another. A balanced individual would easily accept the instinct of an aggressive boar. Being balanced, would let them accept a foreign DNA effectively. Moreover, if the individual is motivated enough towards their goals,” she paused as she looked towards Rakuten, “their go-getter nature will be complemented well, by the animal’s aggressive instincts.” Jill tried hard to not prejudice them.
“This sounds too convenient, Jizen. All of this, at what cost? Do we lose a part of ourselves? Will I be less of a human, if I were to use Idiosyncrasy?” Rintaro asked.
“Correct. DNA is what defines us. By using Idiosyncrasy, you gradually start losing your human nature.” She tried pacifying Rintaro’s frightened expression, “This loss of human nature is very subtle and not apparent in most cases. Again, this depends on how strong you are as a human - a very strong hearted individual will not lose the human in them so easily, and subsequently, their adaptation of Idiosyncrasy would not be in its entirety, or even completely obsolete in some cases. Accepting a strong dose of an aggressive animal will conflict with the human in you. If the human in you loses, you start to lust over the crazy powers of Idiosyncrasy and often, rely on it. This would feel like an animal living and contributing towards a human society.” she answered.
“What is wrong with animals living in a human society, Jizen?” asked Rakuten, suddenly involving herself into the conversation.
“Raki, this is a fairly new concept, one that has never been implemented before. Living in a society comes with its share of responsibilities, taking wise decisions, meticulous futuristic planning and most importantly, communication. This results in the members of society to have opinions, and therefore, a society is driven by opinions. The stronger and more popular opinion usually wins - and that is exactly what animals cannot provide.” Jill tried hard to answer Rakuten, while not disparaging Rakuten’s ideologies.
Rakuten responded instantly, “The solution is so simple, Jizen! Why cannot we use Idiosyncrasy on animals? Why cannot we extract the DNA of a human and integrate it in an anim-”
“You sound just like hi-” Jill dropped her spoon on the floor. Aghast, she stared into Rakuten’s eyes. Beads of sweat had already popped out on her forehead. Gasping for breath, she slid her chair backwards and sprinted towards the window, fumbling with the furniture in her way. Just when she was about to open the window, her right leg morphed partially. Imbalanced, she fell on the floor. Rakuten rushed to help Jill, while Rintaro opened the window to let some fresh air in.
“Aai am foine. I apologize for this mess.'' an embarrassed Jill muttered, as she tried regaining her control.
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“Thank you for having me over for dinner. This reminded me of the stories that my grandparents told me about - having dinner with friends and family. Believe me or not, this is the first time I have had dinner with a friend in many years.” Jill said as Rakuten handed over her jacket.
“I will stop using this jacket anymore, I promise.” Jill said calmly, “I know it saddens you that an animal was hurt to prepare this materialistic piece of clothing.”
“You don’t have to do this for me, Jizen. I have my own beliefs, and you have yours. I contribute towards society… umm, environment, in my own ways, and I am sure you do it differently! Not using this jacket will only make me feel worse. First, an animal was hurt to make this jacket, and now, it is not even being used; was hurting the animal worth a jacket which is lying unused?” Rakuten responded. She loved and cared for animals, but she was smart and more importantly, bold enough to acknowledge differences in opinions.
“It is my gift to you, then. The jacket is made using a technology that will shift shape along with your body, if you ever choose to transform into something.” Jill winked.
“Thank you, Jizen.” said Rakuten.
“I will have to leave Daikidageda soon. I want to brief the two of you with the next steps in this mission, and how you can contribute, if you choose to. I am going to teach you how to use Idiosyncrasy. I would like to invite the two of you to my place tomorrow. I apologize, I cannot cook a gracious meal like you did Rintaro, but I can try something simple.” she said, slightly bowing down.
The three of them exchanged goodbyes, as Rakuten gently shut the door. She stared at the leather jacket in her hand.
“Will you use it?” asked Rintaro.
“Of course I will use this. Rin. This is a gift given from a friend. When she transformed into the cutest dog I have ever seen, I felt very close to her. I will cherish this jacket as a gift from a friend, who came to see me from far...far away.” she smiled. “Although, have you thought about whether or not you will be supporting Jizen in her mission to save Earth?”
“I have been thinking about this for a while. I am not yet driven to give everything up, to save a planet that I have never seen, or heard of. Moreover, I don’t quite trust Jizen completely. She is still...an alien.” Rintaro said. “However, I often feel like she is not just asking us to help humanity on Earth. If what she is saying is true, then the bad elements from Earth are coming for us. She has mentioned about the gap in the advancements of technology on Daikidageda and Earth. If they really come for us, the only way we can bridge the gap would be using Idiosyncrasy. It seems as though they have overused it; if only we could use it the right way…” he said.
“Then don’t do it for Jizen, don’t do it to help save Earth. Don’t do it for the greed to want to be strong, in fact, don’t even do it for yourself.” Rakuten paused, “Rather, do it for friends and family that you have here, do it for the society that you live in, do it for Midohira, do it for the whole of Daikidageda.” she added
“I want to do it for you and for the happy life that I can live together with you and eat persimmons everyday!” said Rintaro, as he hugged Rakuten.
“You do realize that we will be having two different goals, if we were to use Idiosyncrasy, don’t you?” Rakuten asked.
“Disparate objectives…” he said. “Indeed, they can be achieved by the same method.”
To be continued:
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