Tokyo: Become Human

Chapter 8: Data

The boy had been too afraid to even stand up. Most androids don't need to be manually charged, but instead recharge themselves by going into sleep mode. Miku guessed that the shock of the event and running with a bunch of injuries must have taken a lot out of him, and so he fell asleep in her arms, his head resting on her shoulder.

Miku had scooped him up in her arms and carried him the whole way home, getting odd glances from every passerby they came across. Hopefully people just thought she was taking a defective machine to be repaired.

When she finally made it there, she kicked the door open and walked over to her bed, where she laid the kid down and took off his hat. She unfortunately didn't have the materials to patch him up (considering her trip to go get said materials had been cut short) so she settled for stopping the bleeding and using a makeshift gauze and bandages, made out of paper napkins and duck tape. Then she covered him with the old blanket she had and sighed as she wondered what the hell she was going to do now.

She obviously couldn't keep this kid. Room inspectors would eventually show up, so they'd find him immediately. Besides, she couldn't risk his former owners, if he had any, putting out a search for him. But the alternative option, leaving him out in the streets, was out of the question.

God, what kind of mess has she gotten herself into? She'd promised herself, months ago, that she'd live a life of peace and solitude, and would not get involved in the war between humans and androids.

She came to the conclusion that she needed to make some food. He might need a hot meal to bring up his body temperature. Miku found that although she didn't need to eat, it always helped her feel better. Her favorite thing to eat, for whatever reason, was leeks. She didn't know why, she just did.

But she was fresh out of leeks, so she decided on mac and cheese.

As she mixed in the cheese, she looked over at the boy, who suddenly began stirring in his sleep. He'd probably wake up soon, so she decided to hurry up and serve him.

Sure enough, when she went over to give him a paper bowl full of the yellow cheesy goodness, he was fully awake, blinking warily at his surroundings.

He spotted her and started, shrinking in on himself. She set the bowl down on the floor and raised her hands up in surrender.

"It's alright," she soothed. "I promise I won't hurt you. Are you alright?"

He gave her a wide-eyed look of confusion and shuddered anxiously. After a second though, he seemed to remember her and relaxed a bit. He carefully sat up, hiking his knees up to his chest.

"Yeah, you're okay, alright? My name is Miku."

She didn't know why she gave him her real name, but she had the feeling she could trust him with it. He didn't seem all that threatening anyway, especially with those amber gold eyes giving her a deer-in-the-headlights look.

"Oliver." He mumbled softly.

"That's a unique name. I've never heard of anyone in Japan named Oliver."

"I'm English." He clarified.

"Really?" She had never met an Englishman before today. Now that she looked at him more closely, he did look that way.

"Why'd you save me?" He asked.

"Because you needed help, and I was there."

"But—"

"Why don't you eat?"

He looked down at the bowl of mac and cheese, and his lips tightened with unease. It took a moment for him to decide what to do next, and Miku silently prayed.