The lovegety beeped. A female voice chattered something in her ear like an exotic bird. Flashing icons guided her eyes towards a lone figure sitting by one of the large windows. Riina stopped, felt blood rising to her cheeks and tried to think about lying face down in a snowdrift, cold and dead. Usually, it worked.
Not this time. He had good cheekbones, short-cropped black hair and large brown eyes behind rimless AR glasses; he was scribbling something furiously with a stylus on the screen of an old-fashioned palmtop, forehead furrowed in concentration. Suddenly he stopped and looked up, straight at Riina, a surprised expression on his face. His name was Hiroaki, she suddenly knew: twenty-three, studying communications technology at Keio University, single, four previous relationships, likes old Takeshi Kitano films and Japanese jazz, owns a cat.
The lovegety buzzed again. Riina caught a glimpse of a brief animation: clunky cartoonish figures of a boy and a girl holding lovegetys. The devices sent out little arrows that shook hands in the air. “Karaoke Mode Initiated!” chirped the shrill voice of the gadget through her jawbone.
Riina was suddenly overwhelmed by a nauseatingly powerful sense of deja vu mixed with vertigo. It was as if she were falling, only sideways, weightless. She closed her eyes, and the feeling subsided. When she opened them again, she was looking straight into Hiroaki’s eyes, and she felt his hand touching her cheek gently. A confused tangle of new memories unfolded in her head: a seafood dinner, games at the arcade, strolling through 109’s boutiques of the bizarre, joking about the latest fashionable trinkets. Tension, hands and limbs brushing against another ever so lightly, Hiroaki missing his train to walk Riina home. And then— “The First Kiss!!!” piped the female demon in her ear, and her mouth was suddenly full of Hiroaki’s tongue and taste, his lips moving a bit clumsily, uncertainly. But there was no clanging of teeth, no awkwardness.
It was perfect.
And then it was over.
“To Experience Adult Situations, Upgrade To Get2 Mode!!!” sang the lovegety and plunged Riina into a warm sea of afterglow, into soft jazz tunes sung by a Japanese voice. They lay on Hiroaki’s futon, Riina listening to his heartbeat, her cheek against his smooth chest, as he leant on one elbow and toyed with her hair.
“Pillow Talk!!!” crooned lovegety.
“I’m going back home this fall,” she said, not knowing where the words had come from, head heavy with newly discovered plans and dreams. And the butterflies in her stomach, the fear of losing all this perfection—where did that come from? She looked up at Hiroaki, touching his cheek. “Would you like to come with me?”
“Yes,” he said and smiled, and the lovegety carried them away again.
Finland. Snow. Perfect weekends by the lake in her family’s summer house. Hiroaki learning to ski, nose peeling from mild frostbite. Hiroaki making her tea. A big warm water balloon swelling in her chest as she thought about him. Staccato images punctuated by the voice of the lovegety. Arguments. Hiroaki’s inferiority complex. Her endless need to overanalyse her problems, the desire for a safe male figure to replace her father. The usual things, the pitfalls of pillow psychology. And, finally, Hiroaki’s back receding into the distance on one of the moving walkways at Helsinki Airport, Riina holding back her tears and squeezing the little ivory cat in her pocket that he had given her.
“Karaoke Mode Ends!!!”
The voice was like a guillotine, sharp-edged and unstoppable, cutting through the illusion. She fell back to the mutter of Starbucks, felt her knees buckling under her. Strong warm hands grabbed her by the shoulders and supported her. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. It took only seconds for her head to clear a bit, and she found herself looking into Hiroaki’s eyes again. She almost cried from relief and covered his face with kisses, but the lovegety world was already fading away, the memories attaining a dreamlike quality.
“Are you all right?” asked Hiroaki, a concerned look on his face.
“Yes, fine,” she stammered. “I was just—”
“Oh dear. That was your first time, wasn’t it? Come, sit down and we’ll get you some coffee.”
“No…no, I’m all right now.”
“No, really, it’s no bother. I owe you that much at least.” He winked. “Although I did hope that you’d have set it all the way up to get2.” He saw Riina’s expression and laughed. “Only joking. C’mon. It’s safe, I promise.”
Riina felt a bit better after a steaming cup of mocha. Hiroaki watched her intently as she sipped the frothy liquid. She heard a short buzz from somewhere far away, and jumped in her seat, but nothing happened.
“Look, I’m sorry you got so shaken up,” Hiroaki said finally. “Your friend should have explained to you how it works. Are you sure you’re okay?”
He touched Riina’s arm gently, his fingertips little points of electricity on her skin.
“Yeah…yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for the coffee, by the way.”
“Anytime.”
Norie waved at them from the other side of the room and walked over, her pink Hello Kitty handbag swinging in the air. Riina glared at her angrily, but her irritation turned to astonishment as her friend bent over Hiroaki and kissed him on the lips, full and hard. He smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. While you were drinking your mocha, we went to Get2. Kind of accidentally.”
Norie pursed her lips. “Well, it didn’t seem to work out between you two, and he is cute! You don’t mind, right?”
“What about Shinichi?”
“What about him? He’s not really a boyfriend anyway; it’s more of an enjo-kosai thing, you know. We do stuff, and he buys me things. Very practical. He doesn’t mind, really—and we’re still meeting him for dinner! Hiroaki can come along.”
Riina stood up.
“No, you guys go ahead. I… I think I need some fresh air.”
“Really? Are you sure? Look, I’m sorry; these things happen quickly. Try some other setting sometime, it’s really fun!” Norie gave her a tight little hug. “I’ll see you soon, Okay? Call me.”
As Riina started walking away, Hiroaki called after her. “Riina! You are invited to our wedding, of course! Next week! Try to make it!”
She ran then, tears in her eyes, towards the endless heavy beat of Shibuya, trying to find an ivory cat in her pocket, and her heart jumped when her fingers closed around something small and warm. But it was only the lovegety.
She threw it into the fountain by the statue of Hachiko the dog, and watched it sink. The statue seemed to be looking at her sadly with its bronze dog-eyes, and she knew that it, too, was still waiting, waiting for love in Shibuya.
Maquech
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The jewel encrusted beetle walked slowly across the table, dragging its golden chain behind. It was bigger than any other maquech he’d ever seen before and more richly decorated.
Gerardo put down the eyeglass.
“It’s not my usual purchase,” he said.
“It’s rare,” Mario replied. “This is the last one my grandfather made before he passed away.”
“Monkeys are the thing now. Everyone wants a monkey.”
“But it doesn’t need a lot of food or water,” Mario protested. “That’s a benefit.”
“Do you think my clients worry about things like food or water? Listen, I sold five ostriches two months ago. People want large animals now.”