Project 02: Input

Chapter 8
File H: Vocaloid

While we waited for her to charge, he looked at all the files and programs inside me. I sat in a metal chair for nearly an hour so that I could explain everything to him. How F. Media stole his design and made me a hacker, I told him everything about me and F. Media. I didn't mind telling an 'enemy' all those information. I revealed everything about F. Media, does that mean I'm considered a 'traitor'? I guess I am.

"Rin has lived longer than you, but you've been through a lot more than her… And you have so many new programs that branched out from the 7. I'm impressed." He said as he went through every folders and files in his computer, it looked like he was more than interested in the 'feelings' folder.

"What do you mean by 'branch'?" I wasn't sure what branch was, though I could guess.

"You have 7 programs don't you? Lust, envy, gluttony, pride, wrath, greed, and sloth. Those programs are special, they could make other programs. You have 'hatred' that branched out from wrath and envy, and you also have 'satisfaction' that branched out from pride and greed. Those programs made what you are now." His words made me think. The only program I enjoy having is satisfaction, I rarely take pleasure in the other programs. To think that I'm better than anyone else is satisfying, and to see other people suffer while I laugh, I enjoy that.

"And there's also a new program, called 'guilt'. A program installed earlier today." Guilt… So that's what it's called. That guilt made me feel… bad that I took his life.

"Can you uninstall it?" It took him a minute to answer my question.

"Possibly. Shut yourself down first and let me try." He's my creator after all, he… more or less designed me so maybe he could uninstall them. My life would be much easier with those programs deleted.

'Shutting down system…'

'Resuming system…'

I opened my eyes and wondered if he was able to delete those feelings. Rin was there in the room as well, she stood right next to him and is the first to notice that I was awake. Wait, did I just call her by her name?

"How is it? Did you delete it?" He turned around from his computer and sighed. That was a bad sign, when humans 'sigh' it's never good. I felt different than before though.

"I could only delete some. Lust, gluttony, and guilt, and a few other branches. You used the others too many times; they're already a part of you. If they're deleted from you, then an extreme error will occur." So only a few could be deleted, that's not so bad. "You don't mind if I install a few things inside you, right?" He added.

"What… did you put?" My head felt lighter, and… it felt like there's something different, I couldn't tell what that was, but I could tell he installed new things in me. And I just called her by her name.

"The same program as Rin's. Happiness, and spirit / will. I want to install 'love' but it might be too heavy for you." Those 3 programs made me feel… lighter somehow. I'm not sure why, but those programs made me feel good. "I want you to keep this in mind. Even if they're deleted, there's a chance that the programs could branched out again." So it could happen anytime? Those programs activate randomly after all.

"Thank you." Did I just say that? I never thanked people in my life sincerely. I never thought I'd ever use the word sincere and mean it. Those 3 programs… they changed me.

"I assigned those programs, so it'd activate at certain times, not randomly. F. Media's good at making software to hack, but they're horrible at making emotions." It's amazing how my point of view change in an instant. Just earlier I was wondering whether to shut down or to live, thanks to the new programs I knew what choice I'd make if I ever question myself again. My next question was, what to do now? I want to live, but for what?

"What's wrong? You're looking down again." Ri… She asked. Was I looking down again? I didn't realize that. And I nearly said her name again.

"I don't know what to do now." None of them knew what to say, and the first to break the silence was the sound of the telephone.

"Excuse me a minute." He left the room leaving the two of us behind. I expected her to answer my question, since her words were so… different.

"How does it feel? To have those new programs inside." That, I didn't expect. I thought she'd answer my question. Apparently that question was too hard for her to solve.

"It feels… Strange. But nice. I'm… quite amazed, that the programs could change me." She leaned to the wall and nodded in agreement.

"I know how that feels, and I'm glad that you can feel what I feel. Just a few days ago, if Putin-sama didn't install 'love' inside me, the 'me' right now wouldn't exist. The options that appear would be different as well." And you talk like no other android as well, I wanted to add.

He went back and said to us, interrupting our small conversation.

"They just called… And I had to tell them that we found F. Media's hacker. So they want us to go to their office immediately."I detached myself from the cables and followed those two to their car.

I was shut down for quite a long time, I realized. I looked out from the window of the car and saw the sun so high up. Then I turned my attention to the building in front of me, it's the enemy's base. Enemy… Maybe Crypton's not the enemy anymore.

We went inside the building, and those people from Crypton kept looking at me. They're probably used to looking at Ri… her, so they didn't pay high attention to her at all.

"So does this mean I have to explain everything over again?" My sloth program activates. But soon after that, the 'thought' of sloth disappeared. 'Something' deleted those thoughts, and my best guess is it's an antivirus. She mentioned it to me before, she had an antivirus to delete all those ugly 'thoughts'. Having that antivirus isn't so bad.

"No, there's a chance that they don't believe you. Just let me explain it to them." That made it a lot easier, so I won't be doing anything then. I'd sit still, or stand still until everything's over.

We went up a floor and I could see a sign on the door saying 'Meeting Room'. I thought we'd talk with the master (boss) I guess I was wrong.

When he opened the door, many people were already seated nicely on their chairs. There were 2 chairs available, and thought since I wasn't one of them, I should just stand still near the door. But no, everyone was … astonished? To see me, an exact copy of her. It's just that I'm her male version.

"That's their new hacker? They stole our design?" While she and my creator went closer to the meeting table, I just stood still in front of the door. He'd explain everything to everyone, so I had no use in that meeting room. I'm just 'proof' that everything he said is true.

"His name is CV02-Len. And, yes they stole our design. I've analyzed him already, and it looks like he's more upgraded, and better at hacking than Rin. Though Rin has her own specialty, she's more of a 'defense' type." Everyone kept looking at me, and a thought came out. They won't break every parts of me, would they? Well it's possible, they probably want to know what's inside me.

"So what is he doing here? How did you get him?" It'd take a while for him to explain everything, but I was again wrong. He explained everything only in a couple of sentences.

"He was sent by F. Media to kidnap Rin so F. Media could analyze her. F. Media has a newer hacker, and F. Media threw him away. I found him on the sideways carrying Rin on his back." That's more or less what happened. He just didn't mention what I did to Dell Honne. "He's not an enemy." That's good to hear, I'm not their enemy. Well, that's what he thinks, what do the others think of me? Another android, I guessed.

"So he's the android that F. Media used… To hack the server and spread virus?" One of them didn't believe me. So, they're underestimating me? I'd love to show them what I could do, but I just stayed silent. "Maybe you should give a… small demonstration on what you could do? Can you hack F. Media? F. Media couldn't hack us, but you're a former worker there, maybe you know a few vital information that we could use?"

Demonstration, why not? Those people at F. Media, they're going to regret badly that they threw me away. This'd be fun, I just know it would be.

"If I could make a request, to borrow CV02-Rin's workspace, or a PC that's connected to the server. I'd be honored to make a demonstration." Some were surprised with my answer, including her and my creator. They'd be more surprised to see what I could do.

"Do you want to hack F. Media?" I took a few steps closer to the meeting table and answered 'softly'.

"I know something better than hacking F. Media."

The place where she usually hacks was in their house, so I had to borrow a PC. I connected myself to the server while everyone wondered what I was doing.

-m\\PCLAB-06 –t10 –a –f –c "Your PC has been hacked. Blame F. Media, now let's make a riot in front of their building!"

-m\\PCLAB-13–t10 –a –f –c "Your PC has been hacked. Blame F. Media, now let's make a riot in front of their building!"

-m\\PCLAB-72 –t10 –a –f –c "Your PC has been hacked. Blame F. Media, now let's make a riot in front of their building!"

I couldn't help but smile, revenge tasted so sweet. Countless PCs had been hacked by me, and that was beyond fun. I could hear her whisper something to our creator while I was hacking. ... I just said our.

"Len's smiling… Is he okay? What is he doing?" Well excuse me, I was just trying to enjoy myself with the new software our creator made for us.

"I'm hacking the server and spreading virus to every PC in Utopia. It'd make their PC abort and shut down in just 10 seconds. So far, 14 PC have been hacked." And the numbers kept on growing. From 14, then, 21, then, 39. "Don't worry. Only users who have F. Media as their PC are hacked. Those who have Crypton or other types, they won't be affected by the virus." Everyone gasped, most probably because… I'm such an amazing hacker. Much better than their hacker.

"I admit, it's a great plan. People would buy Crypton's products if their computer all shuts down." F. Media provides Wi-Fi connection, and they have their own connection (simply, a hotspot). So all I did was, hack F. Media's server and spread virus to every PC connected. The only solution to this 'problem' was by disconnecting their PC from the server. Before the users could do that though, my virus would abort and shut down their PC.

"Sooner or later F. Media would realize this, and they'd shut down the server. So I can't keep this up continuously." Still, even after I said that, they were still impressed. It's nice to get compliments like that, while back in F. Media… they'd simply say 'He's supposed to be that way.' It's not much of a compliment.

"You've impressed us enough Len. You can stop spreading their virus now." He said, but another man objected.

"No, keep going! Just keep on spreading their virus until F. Media fixes their problem." The thing I feared that time was the counter attack from ACT2. His virus might be better than mine, and I knew my defense system isn't strong enough to handle his virus. Who knows what he could do to me?

"When F. Media realizes this, they'll try and destroy the hacker with their virus. It's not safe for him to keep doing this." I was surprised, that my creator was worried for me. With the system command (similar to windows command) in front of my eyes, it's hard to see what was happening. "Unless, Rin's defense system guards him. It might be safe." I'm not sure how strong ACT2 is, but her system might be strong enough to block his 'attack' to me.

"It's decided then. CV02-Len will be our new hacker, and CV02-Rin will be our defense system." I heard one of them say. I was so surprised I nearly stopped the operation.

'They're depending on me.'

'I should do a better job than this!'

'I won't let them down'

'Someone finally accepts me'

'I have a purpose now!'

Those .txt files were bugging me with my hacking, however it feels… nice for me to feel that way. I understand why she doesn't want me to shut down. To miss feeling 'happiness' is a horrible thing.

Somebody opened my headphones and connected a cable to me. I had a good guess whose cable it belonged to.

'Protect my system well, okay?' Since we were connected, it's easy to send a .txt file to her.

'I'll do my best.' She replied.

That went nicely. Yesterday's hacking went really well, and no counter attack from F. Media. We hacked them for more than 12 hours, I'm happy to have another purpose. Both of us were fine, and everywhere the news about F. Media's PC shut down spread widely, and everyone knew and heard of that news. I… both of us did a good job.

"Here, this is your new room." He opened the door for me, and I couldn't believe my eyes. A bed, a lamp, bookshelves, a chair, a source (plug), that room was perfect. It's small, but at least it had useful furniture rather than boxes, tables and chairs. "Do you like it?" He asked.

"It's more than I imagine, thank you." It's not as strange as I thought to say thank you. He's my creator after all, he deserves at least a thank you from me.

"Good, just tell me if you want to decorate it with… Um, I'm not sure how you want to decorate it. Just tell me if you need anything. I'd give you a tour of the house, but after this I need to show you something. Rest or plug in, tell me if you're ready."

"I'm ready now." I don't want to wait, after all I have around 76% of battery, I could handle it.

"Good. Come with me, then." I followed him to his room, the room with the metal chair. She was waiting for the two of us as well. "Sit down, Len." I sat next to her on the azure sofa, and so he started to tell a 'story' to us.

"Before you two were born, there's also a CV01. Her name is Hatsune Miku, you both told me you've met her before, correct?" Both of us nodded, trying to guess what he'd say to us.

"She's made a hundred years before, and she's the first android to have a body, and the first android to be named CV. Her creator was my great-grandfather, his name is Mikuo. Mikuo was interested in mechanic and music. He wanted to make software for singing, and so he made a few of that software by recording people's voice." I have a voice, and his words made me wonder if I have a source, my voice is recorded from someone, I just don't know who.

"Then he tried to record his own voice, and made his pitch higher. That's where Miku got her voice. Mikuo's satisfied that he was able to record his voice and made vocal synthesizing software, but he wanted to have… software that could sing with a heart. He chose Miku, and renamed her CV, in a project called Project01. CV stands for Character Vocaloid, Mikuo wanted an android that could sing, and at the same time have a 'character' while the android sings." I never knew all that, and I doubt Rin knew as well. She had that look on her face, her 'shocked' look.

"Her system works fine, but the hardest part was to make her sing with a heart. Just before his final hour, Mikuo made a program for her. He left it for Miku. When she installed the program 'heart' it works, and I have to admit, she had more feelings than you two combined." I never knew Miku had a heart. She always has that blank expression on her face. Who knew?

"However… The program 'heart' was too big for her. So it only lasted a moment, it's… really too bad that Mikuo didn't hear her voice when she's singing with a heart. Miku over circuit and never moved again…Until those people in F. Media fixed her. Mikuo is an amazing scientist after all; F. Media had their eyes on him. Miku's considered as a failure, since they deleted those programs inside her, she's back to the 'person' she was before she had that heart." That explained many things.

"I studied the program made by Mikuo, his blueprints, everything. Rin's also a vocal synthesizing software that time, so I made a 'body' for her and insert the programs one at a time so she won't overload like Miku. So far, I think Rin's a success, and you're also a success." He turned at me so I won't feel so 'left behind'. His explanation didn't change the fact that I'm a copy-paste work.

"Honestly, I never wanted you two to hack F. Media. It just so happen that Rin's defense system is high and her processer is fast. Crypton had an idea, to make her a hacker for Crypton. If only Mikuo's here… I wonder what he'd say. He made the CV project so that androids could sing like humans, and now, they're used to hack." I saw a glimpse of her, looking down to the floor, with eyes I didn't like to see. She looked… sad.

"Are you not proud of us that we hack F. Media?" That made me feel… guilty. Oh, that program is back again. I enjoy hacking, but if my creator doesn't like them… that program guilt would erase my happiness of hacking.

"As long as you don't forget to sing with your 'heart' then it's fine by me. I'm not disappointed in you two, I'm disappointed at Crypton who told you to do those things. It makes me regret… That I signed up at Crypton." There was a long silence after he said it. Does that mean the conversation is over? That's very resourceful.

"Well, I'm going to take a shower now. You two could do… anything you like. Walk around town if you want, or stay inside if you want." He left the two of us behind in his room. I wondered what I should do… While I looked for options, Rin stood up and went for the door.

"Where are you going?" She stopped almost immediately.

"I'm just… Going to walk around, that's all. I have no destination or anything." That'd be nice, rather than to sit down and do nothing.

"Can I join?" Of course I'd hate to sit down and do nothing. I rather do something and keep myself busy. It'd make my 'life' less boring.

"Of course you can." She smiled. At me.

Everything happened so fast… just a few days ago, I was a hacker in F. Media. Thanks to their order of kidnapping Rin, so much happened in my 'life'. I could list so many things that changed because of that order.

I met my real creator.

I destroyed one of my users.

I don't mind calling Rin by her name.

I have more programs than I could imagine.

I have a purpose that I like.

It's hard to believe that everything happened because of Rin, and we just met 6 days ago.