Program: Kokoro

Chapter 2
Song Notes

For the rest of the day, Rin spent her time replaying the memory. Occasionally, a cherry blossom flower detached itself from the branches and would slowly float down. If it came her way, Rin would hold out her hand to catch one.

Although, it drained much of her battery meter, so she had to head back and recharge.

Unbeknownst to her, another memory began to play inside during recharging.

-Several hundred years ago-

"Rin, try singing this note," Len asked. He took a small breath and sang a high note. Rin attempted to reach the note. Her voice had a deadpan tone. Len refused to back down. He took out a sheet of music and pointed to the note.

"Try again, Rin," he urged. Rin attempted to sing. Same results as last time.

"Once more, please."

And so, the practice of singing continued on for several hours. Long, painful hours. With each fail, Len felt more and more fired up to keep practicing. No matter what, he refused to have RIn be unable to sing.

When she was able to hit almost all of the notes, Len couldn't help but cry. At this rate, KOKORO may not be needed.

Who am I kidding? he couldn't help but think. Even if she could sing all the notes and know everything there is to know about mankind, she would still need the program to have fully functioning feelings. When he turned to Rin to continue practicing, he almost gasped. It was silly, but he could see himself in her blank eyes. That empty look on her face...he wanted to change it. He wanted to witness her smile, her sadness, all the emotions of a human being. Because of her...Len wasn't alone.

With no warning, he walked up to Rin and touched his chest, right where his heart would be.

I want to teach and share with her...

"Rin," he said, "do you know where your heart is?"

...the happiness and sadness of mankind.

"Yes, Doctor," Rin replied in her robotic voice. She pointed where her heart might have been.

"That's right, Rin. Do you remember why humans have emotions?"

"Because they contain hearts."

"Correct." Len smiled and patted Rin's head. "One day, Rin, you'll be able to experience those feelings. It may not be today, tomorrow, or the near future..."

He paused for a moment, hearing how his voice was wavering. The scientist was near to tears.

"...One day, you will be able to experience human emotions."

"Human emotions. Does not compute," Rin said. Len laughed good-naturedly.

"Don't worry about it."

-Present-

"Human emotions," was Rin's first phrase when her system booted up. Her system then uploaded the memory and played again, with Rin taking in every detail.

"Human emotions," she said again. "Does not compute."

When she combined the memory today and the one from yesterday, she wondered if that was the program he was working on. Human emotions.

"Does not compute. Beyond understanding."

Why was it that she was unable to understand human feelings? She was the perfect robot, the scientist said. Something must be wrong with the programming. Rin turned to the main computer and connected several wires. The computer started up, humming with a heavy sigh. It began conducting a virus scan. She awaited the results.

"Searching, searching," the machine declared. "System check complete. No viruses found."

Then why? Rin touched her chest, right where her heart would have been.

Doctor, I do not understand.