Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou Fan Fiction ❯ Alpha's Travels ❯ Nai ( Chapter 5 )

The sun was getting lower in the sky. The time had gotten later and later. Alpha sat and waited at the concrete step wondering when the airplane would arrive. Somewhere deep inside her Alpha could feel that the airplane was going to arrive that day. Sitting there on the step Alpha began to whistle a small tune. Occasionally she would look over towards the small reception house and see the little woman peek out and look up at the sky. She knew the woman was hoping the plane would arrive that day but she also understood that the woman knew there were times when the plane wouldn't arrive as scheduled.

 

Leaning back with her hands on the concrete step Alpha let out a sigh that announced she was getting tired of waiting for the airplane to arrive. When will she get her with the airplane, Alpha thought. Sitting up straight once more Alpha began to imagine what the robot would look like. At first, she pictured a robot with long brown hair that was feminine and demure dressed in modest clothing that was like the outfits she wore when working around her café. Alpha shook her head to remove it of the thought she had in it and let out a small chuckle.

 

“No she wouldn't be like that, not if she works around an airplane all day.” Alpha thought aloud with another small chuckle.

 

With the first thought out of her head, Alpha began to wonder what the robot would look like yet again. This time she imagined someone with hair that was short like Takahiro's that was a shade like Kokone's hair. The robot wore clothing more suited for the job of an airplane pilot; the shirt was the same as the one Alpha wore and the pants this time reminded her of something she might see on Ojisan. Once again, Alpha found herself shaking her head to rid her mind of the thoughts upon it.

 

“I'll just wait for the plane to arrive to see what she looks like.” Alpha told no one in particular.

 

It was then she heard it. Off in the distance Alpha heard the sound of a low buzz. Looking quickly over to the reception house Alpha saw the woman disappear down behind the counter for a brief moment before returning to her vigil at the window of the building. Standing up Alpha looked out into the distance and caught the sight of a shining spot. At first, it looked like a morning star shooting across the sky but as the spot darkened and grew larger, Alpha saw what it really was. The Airplane was coming back to the airport.

 

The air around Alpha began to tremble. She could feel the airplane in the air as it flew closer and closer to the runway. Alpha stood there amazed at what she was witnessing. The sight of the airplane was something she would never forget. The plane flew low across the sky getting ready to land. The bottom of the plane was level with Alpha's head and it was unlike anything she had seen. The plane was yellow with a two-person cockpit and a class canopy. On the tale of the airplane was a series of letters and numbers that read “KN-021.” Alpha's jaw dropped as she saw the person in the plane turn their head and look over at her.

 

Once the person in the plane had a good look at Alpha, they maneuvered the plane into a roll and then curved it around to the left. The plane then came in low and pointed its nose upwards as it touched down upon the concrete runway. As the plane pulled to a stop, Alpha stood there with a blush on her face when she realized what the person in the plane had been doing. It was the first time in her existence that anyone man or robot had checked her out. Alpha did not know what to make of the situation, as she had never been looked at the way the person in the plane looked at her.

 

The plane pulled forward towards the reception house coming to a complete stop. The person in the plane climbed out onto the wing and looked at Alpha. Alpha could see that the person in the plane was male. He was dressed in tan pants and a leather jacket. The man's hair was long and brown and he kept it pulled back into a low ponytail to keep it out of his face with a white ball cap upon his head. He wore a pair of special glasses upon his face to keep the wind out of his eyes. The glasses looked a lot like the ones Kokone wore when riding her motor scooter. I thought the woman in the reception building said the pilot was a robot, Alpha thought, this is a human male.

 

“Oh a customer?” The man said in a calm manner as he reached into the plane to get something.

 

“No, I'm not a customer. I'm just looking. You have an amazing plane.” Alpha remarked a bit startled when he spoke to her.

 

“You really think so?”

 

“Yes it is. It's…”

 

Alpha smiled brightly when she found she could not come up with the right word to describe the plane. She was too excited about seeing the plane up close that she was at a loss for words. All Alpha could think of doing was to stand near the plane and smile cheerfully with a slight blush to her face. Continuing to smile Alpha stood near the propeller and placed her hand upon the plane. The man, who had climbed down from the plane with a large case in his hand, looked at Alpha wondering why she was smiling at him the way she was.

 

“What?” He wanted to know.

 

“Um…I feel silly for asking this but are you a robot?” Alpha responded with a question of her own.

 

The man sighed and replied to Alpha's inquiry, “I guess I am. Are you a robot too?”

 

Taken by surprise by his question Alpha blushed a bit more. She let out a small giggle before answering his question about being a robot.

 

“I guess I am too.” Alpha responded.

 

Alpha began to wonder if what she had seen was correct. The robot before her looked unlike any other robot she had seen. He wasn't female like Kokone was and Alpha wondered if he was indeed a male robot.

 

“You're a man aren't you?” Alpha wondered.

 

“Huh? Oh yeah I seem to be a man.” The male robot replied, “You're a woman aren't you?”

 

Once again, the question from the male robot took Alpha by surprise. She was nervous as her stomach began to do summersaults and stammered out a response to the question at hand.

 

“Y…yeah I seem to be.” Alpha sputtered.

 

*********

 

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou

Alpha's Travels

Chapter Five: Nai

 

*********

 

The male robot gave out a small chuckle before heading over to the reception house. The female robot at the airport that day was a remarkable sight. He had seen many other robots before and every single one of them seemed comfortable in the fact that they were female and he was male. The new robot he had met seemed to have lived a sheltered life and didn't know there were such things as gender. He wondered if the person she had lived with after her initial training had bothered to teach her those facts. The other robots he knew were well aware of what genders were.

 

As he reached the reception house, the male robot smiled at the little woman in the building. The woman sat up and reached for a clipboard and pencil. She then wrote down a few things before returning the clipboard and pencil to where she got them. With the information taken down the woman waited for the male robot to give her what was in the case he carried.

 

“Do you have the paperwork?” She asked him.

 

“Here you go mother the flight plan for the day all complete.” He said before handing her a small stack of papers.

 

The woman took the small stack of papers and looked them over for a moment. After making certain everything was in proper order, she put them down upon the counter and looked back towards the male robot. He had a questioning look on his face, which had the woman waiting for whatever it was he wanted to ask her.

 

“Mother, that robot over there says she's not a customer yet she's at the airport. Why is she here?” The male robot wanted to know.

 

“She said she stumbled upon the airport after getting lost in her travels. It's getting late so why don't we offer to let her stay with us for the night.” The woman explained.

 

The male robot placed a hand upon his chin and thought for a while before turning back to look at the female robot. Looking back at the woman, he called mother the male robot let out a small smile.

 

“I wouldn't mind letting her stay for the night.” The male robot replied.

 

Mother leaned out of the small window to the reception house and called out to the female robot, “My kid and I would like it if you spent the night here with us.”

 

Alpha heard the woman's offer to spend the night with her and the male robot. The woman had made her offer just in time. Alpha had been thinking of where she would be spending the night. She had hoped the woman or her kid would know of an inn in the area where she could spend the night. For a bit while she waited for the airplane to come Alpha had considered camping outside for the night. Now that the woman had made her offer, Alpha was happy that she'd have a room to sleep in for the night. Alpha figured the woman and her son had a spare room she could use that night.

 

“I'd love to spend the night with both of you.” Alpha replied to the woman's offer.

 

“I need to put the plane in the hanger. You can stay with mother.” The male robot said.

 

Alpha watched as the male robot went into the hanger, drove out a large cart like vehicle, and attached a tow cable to the front of the airplane. He then pulled the plane into the hanger with the cart. Alpha was amazed at how well he handled the cart and the airplane. However, at the same time she wondered just why she hadn't seen or heard of any male robots before that day. The robot at the airport was a curiosity to her.

 

“Why don't I show you where you can put your things for the night miss.” The little woman said before she came out of the reception house.

 

Alpha looked down at the little woman and saw that she only stood as high as her chest. Alpha was surprised at how small the woman stood and tried not to giggle at her. The woman smiled, put her hands inside the sleeves of her violet colored jacket, and headed for the apartment at the back of the hanger. Alpha followed the woman to the apartment and placed her things inside the one room studio flat. Once she placed her pack inside, Alpha then went back outside to visit with the male robot.

 

The sun was setting in the sky and there was a small bit of daylight left casting its glow over the airport. The male robot had set up a small metal barrel that had several holes in the sides as a makeshift stove and campfire. The stove had a grate on the top and a teakettle bubbling on top of it. Alpha recognized the stove as the one that had been going next to the main room in the reception house of the airport. In front of the stove were two tires turned on their side with a piece of plywood on top as makeshift stools. The male robot sat upon one of the stools reaching for the kettle. Alpha walked over and went to sit upon the second stool in front of the fire.

 

“We're lucky there's no wind tonight.” Alpha commented.

 

“Yeah we are.” The male robot added.

 

The male robot then poured the contents of the kettle into one of two mugs he had with him and held it out for Alpha to take.

 

“Here. It's dokudami tea.” He offered.

 

“Ah! Thank you.” Alpha replied with a bright smile as she took the mug of tea from him.

 

Alpha took a sip of the tea and stared into the light of the fire thinking about the day's travels. She had become lost on the North road and stumbled upon the Atsugi Airport. It was a mistake that she was happy she made. If Alpha had found Route 16, she would not have had the opportunity to meet the little woman and her kid, the male robot. Blinking, Alpha thought for a moment. Not once since the plane landed did the woman mention the name of the robot she was sitting by.

 

“You know you still haven't told me what your name is.” Alpha commented with a small smile.

 

The male robot looked up at Alpha and responded to her comment, “Ah, that's…”

 

“I'm Alpha.” Alpha cut in introducing herself.

 

The male robot blinked for a moment. It was hard not to laugh at the straightforwardness of her name. Letting out a small chuckle at the fact that Alpha was named after the Alpha line of robots, the male robot commented on her name.

 

“Huh…Alpha, like the “Alpha type”? You really are straightforward.” He said with another small chuckle.

 

Alpha couldn't help but let out her own chuckle at the humor of her name. She had not thought about the similarity between her name and the “Alpha type” robots. Alpha had always thought that her name was just a name Owner had given to her.

 

“And you are?” Alpha asked as she continued to laugh.

 

“Nai.” He replied with a serious look to his face.

 

Alpha continued to smile at Nai not realizing he had just told her his name.

 

“Eh?” She wondered.

 

“I told you: Nai. My name.” Nai tried to explain.

 

Alpha stared at Nai looking very confused. She thought she had asked him what his name was but he kept responding with “Nothing.” Alpha didn't know Nai had told her what his name was and began to think that it was the policy with the company not to tell anyone who he was.

 

“Ah…I see…that's…huh? Some sort of policy you have?” Alpha commented, “So…what to call you?”

 

Nai looked at Alpha as though she had gone crazy and tried to get her to stop by waving his hand at her.

 

“Ah…” Nai said still waving his hand at Alpha, “That's not it. I'm called Nai.”

 

“Yes, yes I understand. However, I still need a name to call you...” Alpha responded stopping in mid sentence.

 

Alpha's eyes went wide and she pointed to the sky indicating that she finally understood what Nai had been saying. He was not telling her he could not introduce himself to her. Nai had been telling Alpha his name all along.

 

“Aaaah! Nai-san!” Alpha exclaimed with a nervous smile showing she finally understood what he said as she put her hand behind her head.

 

“Yep.” Nai replied with a chuckle.

 

Alpha sat by the fire continuing to keep the nervous smile on her face. She let out a second nervous chuckle before continuing the conversation she was having with Nai.

 

“You know somehow I think I know where that name came from.” Alpha commented.

 

“Really?” Nai replied.

 

“Ah…yeah that's right. I'm sorry for making such a big deal before.”

 

“Before?”

 

Alpha looked at Nai for a moment before getting a nervous blush on her face and looking down into her mug of tea.

 

“Yeah I always thought all robots were always female. It took me by surprise.” Alpha told Nai.

 

“Ah. There's no need to worry about it. I'm used to that reaction.” Nai remarked.

 

Alpha looked up at Nai's remark about being used to the type of reaction Alpha had given him earlier in their meeting. She began to wonder what he meant by his remark. Nai saw the look on Alpha's face and knew an explanation was in order.

 

“I know quite a few robots too. I haven't met another man yet though. It seems to be the same for everyone else. I'm unusual.” Nai told Alpha.

 

Alpha looked at Nai and thought for a moment. It appeared to Alpha that Nai was the only male robot known to exist. Alpha was a lot like every other robot out there because she was female. Alpha considered herself lucky.

 

“Hmmmm...I guess I'm really lucky then.” Alpha commented with a bright smile and a small cuckle.

 

“I guess you are.” Nai remarked with a lonely sound in his voice.

 

Alpha stopped laughing and took another sip of her tea. She looked over at Nai out of the corner of her eyes and noticed he hung his head low staring at the ground. Alpha knew she had other robots out there like her. It was hard for her to understand what Nai was going through or feeling at that moment. When Alpha met Kokone, she was excited to meet another robot. She did not stop to think if she was unique or special. Alpha thought all robots were like her and Kokone. Never once did she think there was a robot like Nai out there who wondered if he would ever meet someone like him. Alpha then began to wonder if Nai had the same functions as a human male.

 

Nai noticed Alpha looking at him out of the corner of her eyes, looked up, and glanced over at her. He knew she was wondering about him. Every female robot he had met wondered if he really was a male robot and why he was the only one out there.

 

“You're wondering aren't you?” Nai questioned her.

 

Alpha jumped and began to laugh at his straightforward question, “Ah! Hahahaha…..Well to tell the truth, a little bit…”

 

Nai stared at the mug of tea and sighed slightly. Everyone he encountered always wanted to know if a male robot was truly male. They had always asked if he had what made a male actually male like humans did. Nai never had to show them if it was true or not but the constant questioning always made him feel uncomfortable when the subject came up. Nai looked up from the mug of tea and focused upon the teakettle as he gave Alpha the answer to her inquiry.

 

“I'm as much of a “man” as you are a “woman.” I think I look normal.” Nai said with another sigh expecting Alpha to ask for proof.

 

Alpha could tell he was expecting to have her ask to see just how much of a “man” he was. With a nervous and surprised look on her face, Alpha tried to think of a way to change the subject. She wasn't about to ask Nai to show off his body to her. Nai was different from Takahiro and yet the same. While they were both male, Nai looked older and more like Ayase. Alpha had seen enough of the male body when she and Takahiro took the bath together after being stuck in the rain a few years back.

 

“Ah…it's okay…really…I get what you're telling me.” Alpha stuttered as she waved her free hand up and down to stop Nai from going any further.

 

Nai looked over at Alpha and could tell she was getting a bit uncomfortable about the subject of their gender and decided to change it to something else. He knew she was still curious about male robots in general and decided to talk about that.

 

“It seems male robots are weak. From what people told me, the male robots all seemed to die when they were younger. For some reason I don't know yet I'm different.” Nai told Alpha with a bit of a sigh.

 

Alpha looked over at Nai and then turned her attention to the fire. Nai truly was unique and special. From what Alpha could understand Nai was the only male robot in existence. If he was the only surviving male robot around, Nai had no one to share his experience with as Alpha did. There was no male version of Kokone around for to be friends with Nai. All Nai had were the female robots he had met while flying his plane.

 

“I see…” Alpha commented softly with a tiny smile.

 

“Yeah.” Nai replied as he looked down at his mug of tea once more.

 

Alpha took a final sip of her tea and placed the mug down on the ground. She then looked up at the light cast into the darkness from the fire inside the barrel. As she watched the light, Alpha noticed bits of paper floating upward dancing around on the warm current of air from the fire. Nai looked up from his mug of tea and saw Alpha watching the paper bits. Feeling better about his situation Nai took a moment to see what Alpha found fascinating in the paper the fire threw into the air. The dancing paper was hypnotic to watch and pulled the two robots under their spell.

 

“You know I want to thank you.” Alpha said breaking the silence minutes later, “You guys saved me. I was positive I was going to have to camp outside tonight.”

 

“You know you're going to have to share a bed with my mother and me.” Nai replied.

 

Alpha smiled and blushed slightly realizing it would be the first time she would share a bed with a male.

 

“Thanks again. There really aren't any inns around here are there?” Alpha inquired.

 

Not realizing what direction Alpha had come from Nai pointed off to the east and responded to Alpha's inquiry, “The nearest inn is off that way at an eel restaurant.”

 

Upon hearing where the inn in the area was Alpha let out a chuckle. Alpha realized she had spent the previous night at the only inn for miles around. Nai, not realizing it, had told her to turn around and go back in the direction she had come from.

 

“Actually, I came from there today.” Alpha commented with a bit of chuckle.

 

Alpha sat in silence for a while taking in what Nai had told her. She was very lucky to have what she did. The relationship Nai had with the woman who took him in did not appear to be like the one she had with Owner when he was still living at home. The woman treated Nai like a son and he in turn treated her like a mother. Alpha began to wonder if Owner treated her like his own child when he still lived with her. Was he more of a father to me or just someone that took care of me until it was time to leave, Alpha thought. With a small shake of her head, Alpha cleared her mind of her thoughts and focused back on Nai's Texan model of airplane.

 

“Say Nai? I would love to see more of your airplane later on if you wouldn't mind showing it to me.” Alpha said hopefully.

 

“Sure.” Nai replied.

 

Nai sat there for a brief moment looking at Alpha going over the next day's events in his mind. He had time to show Alpha the plane some more but he also had a delivery to make. It was at point when Nai got an idea he was certain Alpha would enjoy.

 

“Oh that's right. I have a delivery run I have to make tomorrow. It's just a short run with a small package. You can come along if you like.” Nai offered.

 

The moment Alpha heard Nai's offer to ride in his plane she let out an excited squeal and got a very excited look upon her face. The chance to ride in an actual plane was something Alpha would treasure for the rest of her existence.

 

“Really?! You mean it?! I'll go!!!” Alpha cried out at the top of her lungs.

 

Alpha's reaction to Nai's offer startled him. Jumping in his seat Nai's eyes went wide and his eyebrows arched as high as they could go. Never before had he heard someone give such a reaction to getting an offer a ride in an airplane.

 

“Yes!! Are you sure you don't mind? Yaaaaaaay!!” Alpha cried out continuing to show off her excitement over being able to ride in an actual plane.

 

Alpha let out a second squeal and clutched her hands into tight fists as she oozed with excitement. Nai sat still watching Alpha as she calmed down from her excitement. The simplest of things seem to bring great joy for Alpha, Nai thought.

 

With the excitement of the offer for the plane ride over with Nai poured a second cup of tea for them both. The pair of robots sat in silence drinking their tea as they watched the charred bits of paper make their dance in the warm draft from the fire. When the mug was empty once more, Alpha placed it on the ground, folded her arms on her knees, and rested her head upon them. Looking over at Nai with droopy eyes Alpha let out a tiny yawn-like noise.

 

“You getting tired there?” Nai asked as he looked over at Alpha with gentle brown eyes.

 

Alpha tried hard not to fall asleep and replied to Nai's question, “Hm? I'm still good.”

 

Once again, Alpha put her head on her arms and let her eyes droop slightly as she continued to look over at Nai. Alpha could not keep her eyes off Nai finding something about him interesting. Whether it was the fact that he was the only male robot known to have survived to an adult-like age or the fact that Nai was kind and gentle, Alpha liked him as friend and maybe something more.

 

“Nai…” Alpha said getting Nai's attention.

 

“Yes?” Nai replied curious as to what Alpha wanted.

 

“Do you have any work available?”

 

“I don't think so.”