Chapter 464: Project MirAI EN: Prologue – Hope – II |
Hope's throat hitched and then she let out a hiccuping laugh. "Y-You're ridiculous, Mister John..."
"Tell me about it... Rin is going to make SO much fun of me after this. I'm handling it even worse than with her and she was the first person I recruited... Anyway!" John cleared his throat over the line before saying, "I'll text you a $200 e-giftcard. Use it to buy yourself something nice to eat. I'd send more, but the IRS is terrifying and I don't want them breathing on your neck. When the paperwork comes through and you sign on as a proper employee, we'll get everything else sorted."
Hope blinked as a $200 visa giftcard immediately appeared in her text messages.
It was unbelievable. But it was real.
And when she added it to her phone's digital wallet, it was valid. It wasn't an illusion or a scam.
Hope's eyes teared up again and she whispered, "This... I'm not dreaming, am I?"
"...Are you crying? Please don't cry. Yue is going to murder me... aaahhh. I'll make it up to you, Hope. Promise. For now, feel better! This is my direct line. If you need anything, text me, call me, yell at me... whatever, okay?"
Hope laughed, wiping away her tears. "O-Okay. Deal, Mister John."
"...And just call me John. Rin calls me Mister John. Your dai-senpai will get upset at someone else stealing her title for me."
"...You say that. But your dai-senpai is scary, you know? But anyway! I'm emailing you the discord server login. I'm also emailing you the details on how to make your own email account via MIRAIZ so you can have an official @projectmirais.jp account. Take care, cheer up, and let me know if you need ANYTHING, okay? We'll make it work. Bye for now."
The phone line went dead.
For a few moments, Hope just stood there, staring at her reflection on her cracked phone screen.
Her light blue eyes were reddened from crying. Her makeup was all messed up from that too. But despite it all, she couldn't hide the wide smile on her face. "...No wonder Aoko keeps making fun of Mister John." She giggled and covered her face with her hands. "...Stupid, stupid, stupid boss. Making me cry like this...!"
The tears didn't stop. But unlike before, it wasn't from disbelief or heartache at the thought it was just a dream. No, these were happy tears. Like Alfi's when she was emotional on her streams.
Hope wiped her tears away again, sniffling the entire time. After she finally calmed down, she made her way to her laptop.
It was a five year old model she got on the curbside trash day. Someone had put it out along with a charger since it stopped working.
All it really needed was a new harddrive though, so Hope fixed it up.
But that didn't matter. What did was the fact that it worked, and the fact that she was using it to check her email and the other information Mister John sent.
And there it was.
A link to a private chat server along with login information.
For her, it was [email protected] along with a generic starter password.
"...This won't be a virus or anything, will it?"
Hope was hesitant. But after checking it out a few more times and making sure it was legitimate, she held her breath and logged in.
The moment she did...
*Eeeeeh? Nande? Dare?*
...Hana Homura's voice echoed through her laptop speaker.
Except, the facecam of the girl there wasn't Hana. It was a cutesy Japanese high school girl with light brown hair and an orange ribbon.
Hope blinked.
Her webcam was still off. And her mic was muted too, so she couldn't respond.
But even if she wanted to, someone else spoke first. In English that time.
*Oh! Did Papa remember about our new kouhai? Hello! I'm Alfi!*
A young woman who looked even more beautiful than Alfi. One with silky black hair and enchanting crimson eyes. Someone who looked more AI than a normal person... but who was definitely real since there weren't any filters on.
*Tch. Did he give the wrong code? Baka...*
Another voice and another young woman appeared. Unlike the blue-haired dragon woman that Hope expected though, an athletic looking Japanese woman with a stern face appeared.
Hope hesitated.
She could just leave. Pretend it was a technology mix-up.
But...
With another deep breath, she turned on her webcam and unmuted herself. "K-Konnichiwa...?"
*Kyaaaa! Sugoi! Suteki da ne~?*
Hope felt her heart race as the high school girl... Hana? As Hana clapped her hands and let out a bright smile.
"U-Um... Gomen! Nihongo... warui da..." Hope panicked, wracking her mind to respond as well as parse out what exactly Hana had said.
But before she could, a small captions box appeared beneath Hana, automatically putting English subtitles beneath her.
*You're so cute! And the hair is cool too! Did you dye it? I've always wanted to dye my hair, but Mom says I can't! I think I'd look pretty with blonde hair though!*
Hope blinked, reading the subtitles. Then she giggled and played with her hair. "Um... it's dyed, yes...?"
Aoko(?) rolled her eyes and spoke up in Japanese, the subtitles instantly appearing beneath her as she did.
*Sis, you dummy. We're the senpais here. Don't you think we should introduce ourselves first?*
Hana(?) gasped and nodded rattled off in Japanese, her words automatically subbed beneath her.
*Oh my god! You're right! Ohanayo~! I'm Hana! My real name is... secret~ Teehee! We'll meet in person soon enough though! Knowing Mister John, at least!*
Alfi(?) giggled and spoke in English. "It might be a bit hard right now to communicate. Papa said he's working on the translation feature, but it's hard to do over the internet. I think he'll ship it over soon though! He made a headset that translates words into your language, so it'll be easy for us to communicate in the future!"
Hope let out a sigh of relief at hearing English and not having to process Japanese so late at night. "Thank you, Alfi-senpai. But, um..." She tilted her head, staring at the three young women. "...This is what you really look like?"
Hana(?) tilted her head. "Eeeeh? Nande, nande?"
Aoko(?) frowned and spoke up in slightly accented English. "Do we look that different?"
Hope quickly shook her head. "No! It's just... Um..." She blushed and poked her fingers together. "...I thought... you might not be that pretty since you use an anime avatar...?"
Silence.
And then Hana(?) burst out laughing.
Aoko(?) facepalmed.
Alfi(?) giggled and said, "Thank you! But we're very pretty, yes! Your other senpais are pretty too! We're just doing this because it's easier, you know? If you're pretty, it can be hard to stream with your real face."
Aoko(?) lowered her hand and gave a serious nod. "That's right. I already have to fend off guys with a sword when I go out with my Alfi. And if people knew her real face too... ugh. I don't even want to think about it."
Hana(?) clapped her hands and rattled off some more Japanese, her words subbed immediately beneath her.
*Anyway~! What's our pretty kouhai's name? Are you going to be called Hope-chan when you stream? That's sooo cool!*
Hope blinked and then blushed at the sudden attention. "U-Um... No. That's not my username. That's my real name... I'm Hope Valentia. Y-Yoroshiku...? I-Is that how you say it?"
Silence.
And then Hana(?) let out a loud gasp. "Hontou ni?! Hope-chan wa Hope-chan? Sugoi?!"
The enthusiasm seemed to throw off the translations since there weren't any subtitles to her words.
But Hope got the gist of it and laughed. "Y-Yes... that's my real name. Nice to meet you, senpais?"
Aoko(?) tilted her head and said, "Wait. It's around noon here in Tokyo... isn't it like really late there in America?"
"Y-Yes? Well, it's not that late..." Hope fidgeted with the bottom of her hoodie. "I just got off work so-"
Alfi(?) gasped and pointed at the camera. "That's Aoko's hoodie! The limited edition one!"
"WAIT!" Aoko(?) immediately reached for her mouse, no doubt to zoom in. "...Oh my GOD. It is! Don't tell me you're a fan."
Hope blushed and then shyly shifted her laptop to reveal the bits of other Project MirAIs merch she had. Mostly clothes, but she had a few of Alfi's dresses and then Hana's bags too.
Hana(?) let out a happy scream and said, "You! Kouhai! Best kouhai! Visit soon, kay~? Many, many gifts!"
Hope giggled. "I'll... do my best! Um, it might be hard though. Travel is expensive..."
Aoko(?) snorted and said, "Don't worry. John gave you his number, right? If you text him and say you want to visit, he'll get you here within the hour."
Hope blinked. "...You're joking, right?"
Mister John DID say that she could ask for anything. But that...
Alfi(?) clapped her hands and said, "That's a great idea! I'll go call Papa right now!"
After that, she disappeared with a soft chime.
Aoko(?) sighed and said, "I'll go with her. It's nice to meet you, Hope-chan. See you soon."
After that, Aoko(?) left too.
And then it was just Hope and Hana... or at least the girl who played Hana?
Hope still didn't know her name, so she wasn't sure. But she WAS sure that this was the girl behind the sunny little sister anime girl that she'd come to love.
...But what now?
Hope shifted in place, not sure of what to do now or what to say.