Yokohama
Shopping Trip Log
Gone shopping in Yokohama
Some years ago,
the owner…
entrusted me with the shop
and went away somewhere.
Where to? What for?
Will he return someday?
I think it’s good that I’m a robot.
No matter how long it takes, I can wait.
Gone shopping in Yokohama
To Alpha I’m glad to see you are doing well.
Morning February 2nd
Coffee – I seem to end up drinking eight-tenths of it myself.
Have ya arranged a ride back?
I have.
I’d really like to take you all the way,
but someone is waiting for me.
Not at all. You have been a great help to me.
Sorry.
…and follow that road to the end, and ya’ll be there.
Thank you.
I’d love to give ya a ride, but the gasoline truck will be here soon.
Please don’t worry about it. It sounds near enough.
Sorry.
She looks familiar.
Hatsuseno.
The front door?
Coming!
Who might you be?
Are you Hatsuseno Alpha-san?
Huh? Oh yeah, that’s right.
It’s been so long since anyone has called me by my full name. I had to think for a second.
I’m from the Musashino Express Delivery Service.
Uh, express delivery?
I haven’t received a package in a long time!
Who is it from?
Let me see.
It’s from a Mr. Hatsuseno.
I know you’re busy, but thanks for the company.
Not at all. Besides, I’ve…
Ah, gee, I wonder what it is.
I don’t mind whatever it is though.
Is this a camera?
It seems to be…
Oh gosh… but why a camera?
Such an odd person, you know.
Do you know anything about it?
I do have a message from the sender to give to you.
You do? May I?
No, it’s a direct message.
Eh? Direct?
Yes.
A direct message?
Um, excuse my rudeness, but… you are a type A7M2, right?
A7…?
Ah, I remember having a name like that too.
Directly?
That’s right.
Does that mean you’re a…
No, I’m a more common model – type A7M3.
Eh?! You’re a robot?!
What? You didn’t realize?
I’ll transfer the message directly, then.
Umm… can’t you just tell me?
Well, I don’t know the details myself.
Besides, it shouldn’t take too long.
Let’s do it. Hold my hands.
Please show me your tongue.
Are you ready?
Please don’t shy away.
Well then, excuse me.
Did you receive it?
I’ll need a moment…
The message from the owner felt something like this:
“I don’t think I will be coming home for some time.”
“Do not worry about it. I encourage you to go out and see the world around you.”
“Ten years or a single day may not make a difference to you right now.”
“But someday, there might be things you may like to be nostalgic about.”
“In hope that it will assist you in capturing such moments more vividly,
I send this camera to you.”
“Take good care,” it said.
Why, I feel nostalgic already.
Sorry for making you drive me back.
I can’t believe you were about to walk ten kilometers to the station.
Have them come to my house next time, okay?
I will.
Hi there, Ojisan!
Oh, how are ya?
Musashino, huh? That’s pretty far.
It’s not really that far.
I wonder when they’ll get here.
It happens all the time.
Besides, we got here a little bit early, so…
Kokone? That’s a cute name.
When I first visited the training institute, I made up that name myself.
I forgot why I named myself that.
Um, may I ask what your model name is, Alpha?
Alpha is my model name.
I was born when the Alpha-type models were still rare…
so I was simply referred to as “Alpha,”
and it became my actual name.
Well, I kind of like it too, so…
Ah, as I thought.
Oh yeah, about this camera.
Oh, you brought it with you?
Mmm-hmm. Can you tell me how to operate it?
Can I take a look at it?
Yeah. For these models…
you usually take one of these caramel-like capsules…
open the back cover like this…
insert it in the hole…
and close the cover.
Then, you push the lid of the lens here and press this.
One piece should be good for three hundred pictures.
You know, about this lens…
It seems they are made of the same things as our eyes.
So it is an eyeball after all.
Do you have a cord?
Hmm… Oh, this?
Yes.
Plug the thin end of the cord into the hole in the cap.
Plug it in, and…
If you put the other end into your mouth…
you can see what the camera sees.
This feels…
kinda awkward.
It is rather neat to be able to see yourself with your eyes closed, isn’t it?
Mmm, I think I get it now.
Say “cheese”!
Afternoon January 1st
A while later, her ride arrived.
Would it be okay if I visited sometime outside of work?
Of course! Visit anytime.
Thank you for everything.
I think we will meet again.
Looking at her going back to an unknown world…
it feels lonely, but…
Musashino county.
Once known…
as the Capital of the East.
Although it’s only a neighboring county,
it feels further away…
than it actually is.
Ojisan—!
Huh?
What’cha want?
Need gas?
Nope. I’m sorry for waking you up though.
D’ya know that girl?
She asked me for directions this afternoon.
By the way, she looks a lot like you.
I was kinda surprised, just a little.
She looks like me?
Yep.
She’s my little sister.
There isn’t a single superfluous scene.
Three hundred shots are not nearly enough.
The sky is blanketed in bright red…
when the tilted sunset changes its face.
Look closely…
at the whispering lullaby of the waves.
The light flickers…
from afar in my heart.
I let myself drift in the direction of my memories,
to the town I once visited, far, far away.
The owner sent me a camera a little while ago.
I’ve carefully put it away since then.
I know I should be using it more often.
After all, it’s light and perfect to carry around as an accessory.
It was made for my gun.
It’s a little big, but…
It’s perfect!
All right! Today, I will take some pictures!
My, don’t you look handsome?
At a closer look…
there are so many scenes to photograph.
Not yet.
Ojisan—!
Oh, what brings ya here?
I want you to model a bit for me. Is that all right?
Huh?
Just be casual.
Try to act natural.
I… I’m sorry!
Mmm, what’s that about?
I’ll be back again.
This is not going well.
All right.
Maybe I should try a nearer scene.
There are still hundreds of pictures left;
one or two should not matter.
When did I become so stingy?
There are many wonderful scenes,
but…
I am really after one picture.
I was really after that one picture.
The northern ruins.
I decided that I would take that picture at sunset.
The silhouette of Eno Island,
and the street lights lined up above the water.
In an instant…
the sky turns wisteria purple.
Navigation
Entranced by the scenery,
I was unable to take a picture.
I couldn’t push the shutter.
I ended up just carrying the camera all day.
The picture of my scooter I took on the way out…
was the only picture of the day.
But that one picture… is good enough for me.
The number of pictures remaining is not so meager after all.
Also, I can recall the scenery I’ve seen today in finer detail than usual.
The moment… returns to me.
The festival-like world…
has slowly settled to a leisurely pace.
To think that an era…
would reach its twilight so pleasantly.
The dangerous times have since been called the “Age of Evening Calm.”
I will probably keep watching this twilight world… as long as time flows.