Red Fireflies

Part 1

Hitomu
I spent most of the night at the lab working on Nightopia. It was mostly quiet until Musouka had come in, telling me it was nearly midnight and that I should be heading to bed. I assured her I was just about done and that she should get rest. She then hugged me from behind and patted my shoulder as she went to turn in for the night. What she hadn't known was that I was actually making some extra, long overdue repairs on Fout. Being developed by Mr. Bedryf, we can't possibly be sure of what damaging effects he could've had on her. I typed in a command on the panel;
"Summon AI F 2.0"
And she began to manifest in a row of code until her image was revealed on the screen from the waist up. She opened her eyes and blinked a moment until she realized who I was.
"Hitomu, hello. What brings you in need of my assistance?" She said.
I was glad they were able to talk while in Nightopia and the Dreamscape, it made things sort of more natural.
"Hi Fout. I was just here working on your program and I thought you'd like to be here witnessing it happen," I responded.
"Fixing... Me?" She asked, placing her hand on her cheek, it and her hand fuzzing up slightly.

She was still damaged from her encounter with Musouka and further possible damage could have been inflicted on her by her fight with Satoru. It was time to do something to improve her. Get her finally out of Bedryf's grip once and for all.
"Yeah, I'm getting rid of some old programming so you won't be doing the job you were originally intended to do by Mr. Bedryf. Think of it as setting you free. You'll be back to a more original state like Satoru. We really aren't sure where Bedryf got a hold of your technologies but you both are apparently not doing what you were originally designed to. The only thing is, we don't really know what you're for or who really made you. But in any case, this could be a chance to start fresh," I explained.
She looked pensive a moment until she nodded with a firm hum.
"Alright, Fout, prepare for an upgrade!" I said as I typed in the final information until I sent it off.
Her image turned to code and the numbers changed rapidly. I waited anxiously for her to reveal herself. After a few minutes, the screen turned black for a moment until it lit up with the pale blue background. I tilted my head curiously. Did I have to maybe summon her again? I typed in the new command;
"Summon AI FV 2.1"
And I waited.

After a moment, code in the shape of her outline appeared again. It then cleared away to reveal her once again. She certainly looked different now too. She still was the same in appearance, but it seemed her color scheme changed. Instead of looking precisely like Satoru's counterpart, she became her own AI. Her hair turning orange with green streaks instead of the former green with orange, and her clothes turning metallic orange in color instead of its previous light green. Her design seemed to have sort of, inverted. She opened her eyes then and blinked a moment, her eyes stayed the same as Satoru's. She looked down at her hands and examined herself shortly.
"Feel any different?" I asked hesitantly. She looked at me then gave a bright smile.
"I... Feel? I am experiencing.. A sudden boost in my programming!" She said.
I smiled and wiped my brow satisfied.
"Meet the new you! Fout Vaste," I said proudly.
"Bug fixed.." She said softly. She then gave a warm smile and nodded, "thank you, Hitomu" she said then.
I nodded with a smile as I saw her vanish from the screen.

After doing some extra tuning up to Nightopia, I dressed into some sleeping clothes, hopped in bed, and stared dazed at the ceiling for a while. Looking up at the screen for most of the day could actually drain you more than you'd think. I smirked as I thought about how happy I'd made Fout. I've been meaning to fix her up for a while. Now she's finally her own AI. After a moment, I then thought about how Musouka had stopped by to see me. She could have gone to bed when she wanted. But she chose to check on me. I made a mental note to do something cool with her tomorrow as my eyes began to drift closed.

It became late in the night as I began shift in my bed. "Watch out.." I heard myself mumble, being half asleep.
"T-thank you," she said interrupting my attempts at explaining myself as to why I had claimed to be her boyfriend to those guys who were causing trouble that time ago.
I blinked as my eyes slightly widened. She didn't say anything else. She hadn't protested against it. I was just trying to drive them off. Did she.. Actually feel the same way about me?
We leaned in as our eyes partially closed. She put her arms against my chest, bringing us close so I held her around the waist.
"Hitomu.." she said in this surprisingly calm, sincere tone.
"M-Musouka," I stuttered as chills went down my spine at hearing her voice.
I couldn't say anything more as I closed my eyes tight in feeling her plant a kiss. I couldn't believe it. My mind and heart were racing a million miles a minute. But it was short lived.