Large, bustling avenues crisscrossed in every direction, with crowds of people—no, ASes—floating down them. Some took the form of animals, insects, or ocean creatures, others of vases, triangular rulers, or bicycles, and still others of fantastical half-human beasts, goddesses, or warriors. There were more, too, in every form imaginable, all flying back and forth and talking loudly.
I gazed up at the night sky. At first I thought it was filled with sparkling stars, but then I realized they were the innumerable glimmering windows of upside-down skyscrapers.
Another reality. Another world.
So this is U?
Flurries of snow were falling. It was a little cold. When I reached out my hand to catch a snowflake, I saw a pale arm and long, slender fingers—my own.
“……!”
Surprised by these new physical sensations, I looked down to inspect my body. My slender midriff and long legs were wrapped in a dress so white and unsullied it looked newborn.
And this is me?
A line from the U welcome message ran through my mind:
It’s time to live as another you.
I sensed someone’s eyes on me and jerked my head up. Several of the ASes in the crowd were looking at me. But after a quick glance, they walked off. It was like they were saying, Okay, you might be one of the pretty ones, but this is U. Your looks aren’t anything special.
That was how I liked it. No one gave me a second look. Maybe, then, I could try something I’d been wanting to do for a long time.
I lifted my face, took a deep breath, and sang an experimental note.
My voice was my own, no question about that. It came out far more freely than I’d expected. As a sort of vocal stretch, I kept humming, my nasal cavity vibrating. The sound came out more smoothly than I’d imagined. Was my virtual body improving the sound? But I didn’t at all have the sense that the sound was separate from my own consciousness. Was that because my biometric information had been accurately scanned?
Anyway…
“I sang!”
I couldn’t believe it. The snow swirled magically around me, my voice echoing between the skyscrapers.
How many years had it been since I really sang? It was strange that despite the gap, and despite my lack of a warm-up, my voice came out exactly as I wanted it to. I felt I’d gotten hold of incredible freedom, but at the same time I was a little scared. How had my biometric information been converted to create this output? What was an AS, really?
Anyway…
“I finally sang!!”
That alone made me irrepressibly happy.
I gathered my concentration and decided to sing a song with proper words. Of course, there was no accompaniment, but I couldn’t have cared less.
Gales of song, guide me through the storm
On the wings of a small, simple melody
Words take flight and soar, they carry me
A world will see
Looking for a farewell;
I pull the threads
A life without you I cannot accept
I can’t tell that lie
I can’t let go
As I sang, ribbons of the lyrics translated into different languages encircled me. Gaelic, Thai, Persian—they were all overlapping and intertwining. Were they generated automatically when the app detected a song? I could also hear synthetic voices singing with me in several languages, though not quite as many.
“Hmm…?”
Maybe that was why the ASes who had ignored me a few minutes earlier were turning back to stare at me.
“Uh…?”
Legions of ASes floating down the roads between the high-rises were stopping one after the next to watch. That wasn’t what I had in mind. I’d only wanted to see what the body-sharing technology let me do. And now all these ASes were gathered around listening. I was like a virtual street musician. Mortifying.
But I couldn’t stop partway through the song. I wanted to sing it to the end, for myself. So I kept going.
But now that you’re gone,
I have to move on
Seems like everyone,
Just smile staring at the sun
But what about me?
Tell me how I will know
where I should go?
Oh gales, you sing and guide me!
I walk alone
There’s more to life I have to know
It’s just me, lost and so far away from home,
alone I
shut myself in
Still the winds howl, they call and their voices lead me,
Gales of song, guide me through the storm
Let the melody lift me high, I’ll be me
Gales of song, please stay by my side
Winds of love, breathe into my life
Comment bubbles from the ASes who’d been listening started popping up:
What’s going on?
Who’s singing?
Strange song
At first, the comments were cautious, like people were waiting to see what would happen. Soon, though, their hesitation vanished.
Wish she’d shut up.
That song’s weird.
What a poser
For some reason, the ASes writing that stuff were all so cute, you’d never expect them to say things like that. They had on frilly pink dresses or were small animals or babies clutching teddy bears.
She’s not bad looking
What’s with the freckles? LOL
As I sang, all different comments flew at me. I ignored them. I was singing for myself. I couldn’t help feeling hurt, though. I noticed that they were coming from a certain small group of viewers. It was hard. Maybe that was written all over my face. The attacks escalated.
Freak
Stop already!
Shut up!
Somehow, I finished the song without giving up. The ASes who’d been making all the fuss sighed, snorted, and left. I watched them go, feeling depressed.
Then I heard someone call my name.
“Bell?”
I looked up.
“Oh!”
A strange creature was gliding toward me.
“What…? Oh!”
Shedding shiny scales, it circled beneath me, then alighted softly on my hand. It was a very odd AS, like a white fairy, or an angel—a sea angel. I looked closer. Its body was translucent, like a delicate piece of warabimochi. It fluttered its wings and said, in a slightly faltering voice, “You…are amazing. You…are beautiful.”
I felt I’d been rescued.
“…Hee-hee. Thank you.”
I opened my eyes. It was morning.
Somehow, I’d ended up facedown on my bed.
Was everything a dream? It felt too vivid for that. I looked at my phone to figure out the answer.
There was the profile page I’d made for Bell. It wasn’t a dream.
I looked at the icon below her name, where the number of followers was posted.
Bell: 0 followers
Zero.
“No followers,” I mumbled, staring at the screen. “Different world, same story.”
Even though I hadn’t set out to rack up followers, I felt kind of disappointed.
Just then, I got a notification. My follower number changed to 1. It was the angel AS. A comment bubble appeared; it was blank.
I put my phone down and lay on my back on my bed, thinking about what happened the night before. Lots of it had been unexpected.
“And I was finally able to sing…”
That hit me harder than anything else. The winter morning light felt more brilliant than usual. I hadn’t felt that fresh and new in ages.
Another follower notification pinged. It was Hiro. Her AS was a cute bird with a round hat. The subject line of her message was Re: Just saw you. It read:
It’s Hiro. You’re awesome, Suzu (Bell). I got you, girl!