Weight of the Soul

‘Kay, lesson over! ♪ We were super in sync today!

Master, I have completed your order from the other day. May I share my findings with the other members now that our lesson is over?

Order? Oh, the social media feedback thing? You’re done with that already? That was so fast!

I’d love to hear about it, Kinari. Hearing what our fans think will help improve our performances.

There are already fandoms for Ev3ns on Spira Network and dazzle. The following are their posts.

Woah, it’s from our gig the other day. They uploaded a fancam of it so fast.

…I can’t believe we actually have fans.

Recently, there has been an influx of supportive comments and new fans. There is also an increase of fans who “bias” particular members.

Hm. The fans seem to act differently depending on who they bias.

Taotao, they’re saying that they like how you’re “just some guy”! ♪ That’s awesome!

Oh, cool… Is that a good thing?

“Domeki Kuguri must be God himself.” “Can I get indoctrinated into Kugurism?” They’re not much different from the other poor souls who follow me.

I was the member with the most negative reception.

*gasp*

“He never smiles.” “He never does fanservice.” “He’s like a robot.” “He doesn’t make a good idol,” were among the comments I found.

The person who has repeatedly posted such comments was a not hater, but rather, one of Ev3ns’ biggest fans.

Perhaps I should improve upon my performance.

…You don’t have to listen to fake fans like that. You’re perfect just the way you are, Kinyari!

What are fake fans?

They pretend that they’re fans and leave comments to hurt the members. They’re just as bad as haters.

Idol fan culture is quite complex… But I agree, Kinari. You don’t have to worry about them.

……

Kinari-kun, I agree too. You sing with so much more emotion than you used to!

Yeah. There are lots of things that only you can do, Kinari.

…I will reconsider.

Come in! Oh, Kinari-kun.

Master, may I speak to you?

Of course. What’s up?

I have practiced my smile. Please assign a score to it.

……

Uh…

(Kinari-kun… You really don’t have to worry about this kinda thing… But your smile is a bit…)

Uh, umm… I’ll say…90 points!

…Increase in heart rate and perspiration detected… Master, you are lying.

Urk… I-I’m sorry. But you definitely get 100 points for the effort…!

There is no meaning in effort with no results. I will be collecting data in order to input human emotions into my system.

Are there any particularly efficient films or stories to input? What would be the easiest to reproduce?

(Reproduce… I guess he’s trying to imitate human emotions. That makes sense, since he’s an android, but…)

Listen, Kinari-kun. I think you’ve gotten way more in tune with your emotions since we came home from Beppu.

You were bothered by what the fake fans were saying and wanted to practice your smile, right? Those are your emotions.

I can recommend you movies and stuff if you want, but…you don’t have to worry so much. You can find a way to smile genuinely on your own.

Smile genuinely…

You should smile when you want to. That’s not an order, but…

But I am lacking in my emotions. I believe it makes me seem strange as an idol instead of charming.

But being charming isn’t everything. When it comes to emotions, negative emotions are valid too.

I said that you don’t have to worry about the bad comments, but they still got to you. You felt hurt and frustrated…

That means that you really do have a heart.

And you want to change yourself to help Ev3ns. I think that’s proof that you’re getting better with your emotions as you spend more time with them.

Spending more time with them…

……

…I often think about Kitakata Raito’s death prophecy.

!

(That’s right, Raito-san said that he talked about it at the end of their trip. I thought that the members didn’t think much of it, but I guess I was wrong.)

He will die at 28. If death is considered the last page of a human’s life story, I conclude that I cannot be human, as I am essentially immortal.

Maybe it is because I cannot die that I am lacking 21 grams.

21 grams? What does that mean?

My developer told me that it is the weight of the human soul.¹

……

My developer created me in the likeness of his son, who passed away young. As a result, he treated me as if I was human.

(His developer. That’s the person who modeled Kinari-kun after his son. And the person who had his life support cut off by him…)

However, in truth, I was nothing but a machine to him. He ordered me to shut off his life support.

*gasp*

If I were his real son, I do not think he would order me to do as such.

Before I shut off his life support, I asked him for orders regarding my future.

However, he did not give me an order. He told me to do as I wished… But I am an android, and I cannot do anything if I am not ordered to.

When he died…I also wished to be shut off with him.

…Kinari-kun…

It was my final chance to die as a human would. But even though I voiced that wish, it was not granted.

…It was my first and final wish.

I was created to be his son…but I failed. I could not complete my order.

I suppose my developer only saw me as a machine not even worthy of a final order.

…Kinari-kun.

*knocking* Nayuki-kun, can I come in?

Hup…!

Woah! That was a close one.

(Huh? Are they fighting?! Like, a fistfight?!)

Oh, Chief. Is something wrong?

Man, you look like you saw a ghost, Chief. Didja think we were fighting?

Y-You’re not?

I’m sorry for worrying you. Iwabuchi-san trains me in martial arts from time to time.

Phew… Did you need something, Chief?

Oh, right, I forgot. Um… I wanted to ask you about Kinari-kun…