The Tokyo Domain

I lay on my back staring up at the ceiling trying to get my bearings. The room was unusually silent and black. Not even the usual streams of light were breaking through my window to let me know it was safe to sleep. Maybe that’s why I woke up. Once the sun had faded below the low buildings on Main Street it was dark enough to wake me up. This time it seemed like there was a storm brewing. I tried to remember if I put my bike under its cover before I came upstairs last night.

“It’s under its cover.” I heard a soft voice echo in the room.

I reached out and fumbled for my glasses. Putting them on the room came into focus and I could see her lounging aimlessly on the couch, her arm resting on my helmet. I usually was pretty good about keeping my helmet on the floor by the door. I’m sure it must have had something to do with my confusion. I got up and went over to my desk, laying back heavily in my chair and trying to grasp some kind of conscious thought.

“You have barley slept at all, why don’t you go back to sleep.” She got up and glided across the room before plopping herself down on my desk.

I must not have been asleep long at all. As I looked at her now was wearing her outfit from earlier, though now her zipper had managed to find its way halfway down her chest and, for just a moment I wondered how it managed to cover her before realizing what I was thinking.

“Ehh… I can’t sleep once I’ve woken up. I might as well see what the rest of the world does when I am sleeping.” I rubbed my eyes groggily before looking back toward her.

“Nothing too exciting I can tell you that much.” She yawned softly and stretched her arms over her head arching her back.

I waved my hand and the screen on the wall sprang to life. It was blank. Konpyuuta Chan just glanced at it before jumping off my desk to make room for another keyboard that was trying to spring up underneath her. She was right, nothing was happening at all.

“I’m hungry.” I could feel my stomach churning.

“Well why don’t you just go downstairs and eat something then? It may in fact be one of the perks of living where you do.” She giggled softly before slowly walking into the blank screen and vanishing.

She did have a point. I was empty. Usually I could manage going without food for a while but it was starting to seem that my habit of sleeping through most of my meals was catching up with me. I grabbed the nearest pair of pants I could find and pulled them on before walking out the door of my apartment.

I could already hear the noise form the restaurant downstairs. It didn’t sound too busy and it did occur to me that I had no idea what time it was. I looked down at my wrist and a digital clock blinked onto my arm. Just a little after lunch it seemed, probably not very crowded downstairs at all.

I walked down and through the back as I was accustomed. There were only about three tables of people in the whole place. I sat down at the counter in my usual spot and waited for some one to take notice of me. I looked to my left and noticed that a newspaper has suddenly founds its way in front of me. I glanced around for Konpyuuta Chan but, she wasn’t around. I reached down to pick it up and wasn’t surprised to find it was quite fake. A clever illusion to keep applications organized and streamlined enough to resemble the real world exactly. I casually picked it up and began reading.

It was the usual stuff, rape, murder, nothing new or exciting at all. The age old fear mongering to keep the people in line and the media popular. I wondered if maybe the world would be a better place without articles scaring people into believing walking outside at night would mean you would get shot but, then I asked myself “When would people watch TV if they ever went outside?” My philosophical investigation would have to wait for later. I noticed one of the waitresses coming up to me from behind the counter.

“Sorry to keep you waiting! You are always so quiet we hardly ever realize you are here!” She had a big smile on.

“I don’t mean to bother you guys any. Just pretend I’m not here…. Right after you get me a plate of fried rice that is.” I smiled at her warmly with a genuine kind of friendship I was surprised was still in me.

Then I cursed myself for being able to talk to her so openly. How was it that the second the younger girl walked into the room I would become a bumbling idiot? This waitress wasn’t bad looking at all, certainly not old either. Her hair was tied up on top of her head and she definitely had a noticeable figure. For some reason when I looked into her eyes it wasn’t the same. Once I had locked eyes with that one girl it was like my world faded away and no matter how hard I tried my rational thoughts just seemed formless and unreachable.

I mulled over my women troubles as I slowly ate my rice never glancing up from the endless barrage of world events. It was like watching a car wreck, which incidentally there was a rather large one in town last night involving a police cruiser that had suddenly lost control. I saw a sudden flash before the paper had vanished from sight. I looked up and saw Konpyuuta Chan sitting on the counter top in a short cut red Chinese dress which was revealing a little too much cleavage.

“I was reading that.” I shoveled some more rice into my mouth.

“It wasn’t anything important.” She smiled broadly at me.

“Something about a police cruiser crashing outside of town…” I couldn’t finish before she had interrupted me.

“Well, I think that this might be a little more important!” She pointed off behind me.

Without turning my head my left eye flickered and suddenly I saw everything behind me.

“Oh please don’t tell me you have become too lazy to turn around now…” She looked a little disappointed.

Behind me was the girl. Not dressed in her usual uniform but just wearing a pair of jeans and a light blue tank top. Her hair fell softly around her face as she leaned over to check the reservation book. I stopped for a second and zoomed in on the book slowly.

“You would think that men your age would be a little more interested in something else…” Konpyuuta Chan got up and wandered off into the kitchen.

I shifted the focus to the left a few inches to find myself staring at the young waitress’s ass. I closed my eyes quickly and when I opened them everything was back to normal. I’m sure I blushed a little but Konpyuuta Chan wasn’t around to let me know about it. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to deal with the girl today. I suddenly cared that I never brushed my hair earlier. As I reached back I realized I hadn’t even put my hair back yet.

I definitely could not face her this way. Keeping a careful invisible eye locked onto her I slowly let the world fade to black and white. The only thing illuminated by color was what a program decided was in her line of sight. I carefully measured my steps to make sure I never crossed into that colorful world. Trying to act smooth and collected I maneuvered my way into the back room without being seen.

I breathed a sigh of relief before looking down to check the time on my wrist. I noticed something was odd. I glanced down and saw my black and orange shirt and khaki pants, then I looked around the room slowly examining its soft shades of grey. I looked behind me quickly to catch her gaze, staring at me softly from across the room. I watched frozen as a wave of grey washed over me as the door to the kitchen slowly closed before me.