The Three by Sarah Lotz Page B

robot.
    RYU : Really? But he comes across as really funny and cool in that documentary.
    CHIYOKO : Which one? There’s like a thousand.
    RYU : Can’t remember. You want me to look it up for you?
    CHIYOKO : Don’t bother. But how you are on camera might be different to how you
really
are. I think it’s a genetic thing.
    RYU : What is? Being on camera?
    CHIYOKO : No! Being cold. Like me. I’m not normal. I’m cold. A sliver of ice in my heart.
    RYU : Chiyoko, the ice princess.
    CHIYOKO : Chiyoko, the yuki-onna.
    CHIYOKO : So we’ve established I have an ice princess genetic condition that can only be cured by… what?
    RYU : Fame? Money?
    CHIYOKO : That’s why I like you, Ryu, you always have the right answer. I thought you were going to say love and then I was going to be sick.
    RYU : o( _ _ )o What’s wrong with love?
    CHIYOKO : It doesn’t exist outside of bad American movies.
    RYU : You are not completely cold. I know you aren’t.
    CHIYOKO : Then why do I not care more? Listen, I’ll prove it. How many people died in the Sun Air crash?
    RYU : 525. No, 526.
    CHIYOKO : 526. Yes. Including my own aunt. But all I’m feeling is relief.
    RYU : ??()
    CHIYOKO : Okay… let me explain. Since the crash, since she heard about Auntie Hiromi and Hiro, MC hasn’t been on my back about going back to cram school once. Is that a bad thing to think? That because of someone’s tragedy I get some peace in my personal life?
    RYU : Hey you have a personal life. That’s something. Look at me.
    CHIYOKO : Ha! I knew it was too good to last. Never mind, you can be my own personal hikikomori. I like to picture you locked in your small room, the curtains shutting out the light, chain-smoking and messaging me when you get tired of playing Ragnarok.
    RYU : I am not a hikikomori. And I don’t play Ragnarok.
    CHIYOKO : Didn’t we say we would always be honest with each other? I told you what I was.
    RYU : I just don’t like that word.
    CHIYOKO : Are you going to sulk now?
    RYU : _|7O
    CHIYOKO : ORZ????? Neraa! How long have you been saving that one up? Do people even use that any more? You sure you’re really 22 and not 38 or something? And when are you going to grow out of posting all that ascii shit?
    RYU : <(_ _)> Let’s change the subject. Hey… when are you going to tell me about your life in the States?
    CHIYOKO : Not again. Why do you want to know so badly?
    RYU : Just interested. Do you miss it?
    CHIYOKO : No. It doesn’t matter where you live, the world’s messed up. Another subject please.
    RYU : Okaaaay… The message boards are still going wild about why the plane crashed into Jukai. There’s this whole theory that the captain crashed it on purpose. The suicide captain.
    CHIYOKO : I know. That’s old news, it’s everywhere. What do you think?
    RYU : I don’t know. Some of the things they are saying might be true. The forest does have a history and it’s miles off the Osaka route, why crash there?
    CHIYOKO : Maybe he didn’t want to land in a populated area. Maybe he was trying to save more lives that way. I feel bad for his wife.
    RYU :
You
feel bad? I thought you were the ice princess.
    CHIYOKO : I can still feel bad for her. Anyway, that Sun Air corporate drone mouthpiece said the captain was one of their best and most reliable, that he would never have done something like that. Also, they said he had no money worries, so he didn’t need the insurance and his medical showed he was in good health.
    RYU : They could be lying. And anyway, maybe he was possessed. Maybe he was
made
to do it.
    CHIYOKO : Ha! Brought down by hungry ghosts.
    RYU : But you have to admit… Why so many planes on the same day? There has to be a reason.
    CHIYOKO : Like what? Don’t tell me, a sign that we’re facing the end of the world?
    RYU : Why not? It is 2012.
    CHIYOKO : You’ve been spending
way
too much time on conspiracy sites, Ryu. And we’d know by now if it was terrorism.
    RYU : Can the real Chiyoko come back now please? You