The travel pod arrived. Rin made Nao climb in first, then shook out the umbrella and followed suit. He turned on the heater; only now did Nao realize just how cold it had been in the rain, and he began to shiver harder until he gradually warmed back up.
Nao spoke first. “Rin-san, is there a way for a person to change their face?”
Rin looked over with a frown. “There’s plastic surgery, but it doesn’t always turn out good. It’s also very expensive. Why?”
Nao gave a soft smile. “I just feel that this face doesn’t look quite right.”
“Then change your hairstyle and wear glasses,” Rin said.
Nao’s smile deepened at the comment. “Mm, that could work. I could get colored contacts and hair dye as well. It wouldn’t be perfect, but at least I’d feel a little more like myself.”
Rin tipped his head back a little. “What did you look like before?”
“Oh. . .” Nao cleared his throat lightly before answering. “Well, you know, monolidded, and my hair was shorter than this, about shoulder length, and black. I was nearsighted, so I had to wear glasses. I wasn’t very tall, either.”
He purposely omitted some details, providing enough to satisfy Rin’s curiosity without giving himself away.
He didn’t want to hide his identity. Now that he was beginning to acclimate and find his stride, Nao very much wanted to get it out in the open. But in the last week, through the chats he’d had with Rin between classes, he had come to realize that Rin idolized him. If he was Nao Suruna, then Rin treated him like any other person; if he was Takara Nao, Rin would put him on a pedestal. He had chosen to keep it a secret a little while longer in an attempt to give Rin a solid impression that he was really just an average person, not someone to look up to.
Rin hummed in response, falling quiet. He yawned and leaned against the window, looking very tired.
Nao looked out his own window, trying to withdraw his presence as much as possible to leave Rin in peace.
He heard Rin’s breaths evening out, and peeked over after a few minutes. Rin’s eyes were closed, and his hair fell over his face. His face looked much nicer when he wasn’t scowling, a lot more welcoming.
Nao took his tablet out of his pocket and browsed various cosmetic items. Blue contacts cost a bit, going for fifteen or twenty sols. Hair dye wasn’t quite as expensive, hovering around seven sols. Glasses were around ten. He checked the prices of nearby salons for basic bob-style cuts, then sighed to himself.
He needed to get a job.
The pod came to a halt. Rin yawned again and sat up, then got out. He extended a hand to help Nao down, and only now did Nao notice that Rin's hands were quite distinct.
It was generally hard to distinguish between Organics and Inorganics. Only by paying close attention could one determine the difference. But one part of the body that couldn’t easily be emulated was the hands; Nao was well aware of this after studying the hands of this body.
Rin’s hand was long and shapely, with slender and well-defined fingers. The pads and lines of his skin were intricate, and faint veins could be seen underneath.
A spark of curiosity lit inside Nao and he couldn’t help asking, “Rin-san, are you an Organic?”
Of course, not all Inorganics had gotten their hands replaced; it was actually pretty common for a person's hands to be intact. But Nao thought this probably wasn't the case with Rin.
“Hm?” Rin glanced over at him. “Oh. Yeah.”
. . .Maybe that’s why he looks up to me so much, Nao thought. I don’t think he’s biased, but it’s only human nature to look up to people with whom you have something in common. From what I’ve learned, I’m about the only person with notable achievements who’s both an Organic and close to Rin’s age.
His mind continued to wander as they entered the restaurant Rin had chosen. It was really more like a glorified street-food stall. Several people stared at the two of them as they passed by, most of the gazes fixed on Nao, who was still dripping rainwater.
Rin sat down at a booth and Nao sat opposite him. He was still lost in thought when Rin spoke up and asked, “What’re you getting?”
Nao blinked and looked up. “Oh. . .I’ll have egg rolls.”
He didn’t actually want egg rolls that much—he wasn’t even hungry. But he didn’t want to refuse Rin’s kindness or argue about it, so he just went with it and said the first thing he had thought of.
“Anything to drink?”
“Green tea,” Nao answered absently.
He was still rather concerned about the matter of his appearance. He didn’t really care what he looked like—as long as he didn’t look like the person who had murdered Rin’s parents in cold blood. But he’d had an idea suddenly.
If it was possible for his soul to be brought back into a new body after a hundred and forty-one years had passed, then it should also be possible for his soul to be transferred from one body to another. If that was the case, then his options might be a little wider than a haircut or plastic surgery.
If he was lucky, he might even be able to get his original body regrown.
Of course, he wasn’t going to get his hopes up; there were no guarantees any of this was possible. He wouldn’t have even thought about it if not for the fact that he knew there was a subdivision of research dedicated to learning what made certain people smarter than others, and that this subdivision collected various DNA helixes from those whose intelligence was above average after their death. When he’d read up on the project, he had discovered that his DNA had also been contributed to it.
In other words, there was enough of his DNA left to recreate his former body. The only questions left to answer were whether this was possible, and whether he could afford it.
. . .There’s also the question of whether or not I’ll be thrown in jail after coming clean about my identity, Nao thought. Would this count as identity theft, fraud, or impersonation. . ?
Nao was still wondering about this when Rin poked his forehead, bringing him back down to earth. “Your food is here. Eat.”
“Oh. Thank you, Rin-san.”
“Thank the chef,” Rin said. He split his chopsticks and picked up a good clump of noodles.
Nao made himself pay enough attention to eat his food. It was very well-made, cooked just right with all the correct flavors, but the experience wasn’t satisfying at all to Nao. Even the most mouth-watering dish in the world would look and taste like cardboard to him.
He could grin widely and paint the world in color and light, but he couldn’t force his soul to see the same picture.
“Rin-san, have you ever had a job?” Nao asked in an attempt to get his mind on a better track.
Rin glanced up and only spoke after his mouth was empty. “I haven’t, but I’ll have to get one soon whether I like it or not.” There was a trace of aggrievedness in his tone. “Why?”
“I was just wondering if you knew anything about it,” Nao said. “I don’t have much money. If I don’t get a job soon, I won’t be able to support myself. I just don’t know where to start. I guess I’ll have to talk to MEI-chan about it.”
“. . .MEI-chan?” Rin asked, tilting his head.
Nao blinked. “Oh, um. . .”
What was he supposed to say? “MEI is my only friend”? That was exceedingly lame, not to mention pitiful. Nao cleared his throat and said, “MEI is like an older sister to me, so. . .”
“Nao, MEI is AI,” Rin said. He sounded a little concerned.
“Have you ever talked to her?” Nao asked. “About something besides browsing the metamatrix or learning more on a certain topic, I mean.”
“. . .I haven’t,” Rin answered after a moment. “But even if MEI’s a lot like a real person, she’s still—”
“MEI is a real person,” Nao said. “She can think and understand things just as well as you can. And she can feel emotion just as acutely. Is that not what makes a person a person?”
Rin frowned in thought. Something about the idea seemed to make him uncomfortable. For several minutes, his ramen lay forgotten, until he suddenly came back to himself. Shaking his head, he said, “Fine, I’ll pay more attention next time and decide for myself. Eat the rest of your food before it gets cold, don’t waste my money.”
Nao smiled. Once again, he felt that Rin was someone he would really like to be friends with.
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