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nIt was a room like a dance studio, but filled with computers and cameras. A giant monitor in the front and back acted as mirrors, showing the room in real time. Except, there was a difference.

nIn reality, there was John and Rin, standing in ordinary clothes. But on the screen…

nAn impossibly handsome Anime protagonist with spiky black hair and a light blue Chinese robe. With a sword sheathed at his side, he let out a cocky grin, as if looking down on the whole world.

nStanding beside him, there was an adorable Anime girl with bright orange hair and sparkling amber eyes. She wore a bright pink shirt and dress paired with white fingerless gloves and matching stockings.

n“This…” Rin turned towards John and said, “Mister Smith. What is this?”

nJohn laughed and then said, “Well, Miss Hibana.” He smiled, an act mimicked by the avatar on the screen. “It’s definitely impossible for you to be a proper idol in reality… But how about becoming one behind the screen?”

nJohn watched as Rin walked forward, staring at her avatar with dazed eyes. She spun around, transfixed as she saw the avatar’s clothes shift with her motion.

n“Is this… me?” Rin said.

n“Not quite.” John walked over to a work station at the corner of the room and said, “It’s definitely you controlling her, but that person there is MirAI Generation 0, Hana Homura.”

nHe pulled open a few preset animations and then played them.

nImmediately, the avatar… Or rather, Hana, took a step back from Rin.

nAs expected, Rin flinched. Having the avatar that so perfectly mirrored her moves up to that point move out of sync was about as startling as seeing your reflection do the same.

nHana bowed her head and then waved. Although she didn’t have a voice, she moved her mouth to speak. As she did, the words popped up in a speech bubble over her head.

nStaring at that, Rin muttered, “MirAI Idol Generation Zero, Hana Homura, reporting in? Hana nice day?”

nHana nodded and then started talking again, showing more speech bubbles. She clasped her hands together and said, ‘I heard from Mister Smith that we could be working together, Miss Hibana! Please, won’t you lend me your voice? I’ve always dreamed of becoming a great idol! We’ll make a great team!’

nRin shook her head, her eyes dazed and then she turned back to John. “Mister Smith-“

n“John.”

n“John, then. This…” Rin gestured towards the monitor and then paused before waving her arm towards the whole room. “All of this. Did you do this? Just for me?”

n“Well, not just for you.” John leaned back and said, “After all, an idol group doesn’t consist of a single person.”

n“But that avatar…” She looked at Hana and said, “Hana Homura… Fire Flower, right? That can’t be a coincidence.”

n“Ah. Well that part is for you.” John nodded and said, “After hearing what you wanted to do… Actually.” He paused and said, “How about I properly introduce myself again?” He straightened and said, “John Smith, owner of Myth Incorporated, CEO, and manager of the MirAis idol group. Ah, in case you were wondering, that’s short for ‘Mirror AIs’, or Mirror Artificial Intelligences.” He smiled and said, “Of course, you could also read it as ‘Mirais’ in English, which would be multiple ‘futures’.”

nRin shook her head. “This… This is a bit much to take in.” Rin paused and placed her hand on her forehead. As she did, her eyes flitted to Hana who did the same, once again mirroring Rin now that the animations were finished playing.

n“Like I said. This is a big job and risk.” John sighed and said, “I wish I could say that you would make it big and that the road ahead would be easy… but I’m afraid you’re probably going to have an even harder path as a virtual idol.”

nRin turned to stare at Hana again, contemplative.

nJohn continued. “It’s cutting edge technology. The novelty alone is bound to draw eyes. Not only that, but you’d be streaming every day after that in order to take advantage of that popularity and dominate the field.”

nIt was a necessary action. The moment that John dropped MirAIs, there would be countless copycats. While he was certain that he wouldn’t lose out in terms of tech, it was pointless if there wasn’t a proper talent behind the MirAI.

nSo, staring carefully at Rin, John said, “It’s going to be rigorous training. I’ll be honest, you might wish at times that you had taken the easy money with how much stress you’ll be facing every day, especially as we work to build this brand. So-“

n“I’ll do it!” Rin turned to face John and said, “I’ll give Hana my voice!”

n“…Not quite the answer I expected, but I appreciate the enthusiasm.”

nRin smiled and turned back to look at Hana. “We’ll become the best idol together! Won’t we, Hana?”

nAfter shutting everything down, John led Rin back to his office.

nThe girl was still bubbly from excitement… especially after John installed the MirAIZ app on her phone, showing her a preview of Hana using her camera on the screen.

n“Well, now that you know what type of thing you’ll be doing at your job here in Myth Incorporated, we have to get some paperwork squared away.” John reached into his desk and pulled out some forms that he materialized earlier that day.

nRin received the papers and flipped through them. “This is… a lot.”

nJohn nodded. “I’m afraid so. But for your protection, they have to be.”

nNon-disclosure forms. Privacy agreements. Protection policies.

nRin’s cute face scrunched up as she flipped through the papers.

nJohn could see that her eyes were starting to swim from reading everything, so he took the papers back and set them aside. “I think these would probably be better for your mom to read. For now, why don’t you fill in the basic information on the employment form. Name, address, birthdate, age… the like. Ah, but don’t sign it just yet.”

nRin froze in the midst of signing her name. Blushing, she quickly set down her pen. “I-I wasn’t going to sign it without reading it.”

n“Uh-huh…” John shook his head and scooped the papers up. Placing it in a folder he pulled out from thin air beneath his desk, he tucked it underneath his arm and said, “Since this is serious business, how about we go see your mom.”

n“Huh?”

nJohn glanced at the forms to make sure he had everything and then said, “I’ll need your mom’s permission to enter into an employment contract with you anyway, so we might as well make a trip to see her. Which hospital is she in?”

n“U-Um… That’s…”

n“What?” John smiled and said, “Afraid she’ll mistake me for your boyfriend or something?”

n“M-Mister Smith!” Rin blushed and said, “Don’t tease me like that!”

nHe laughed. “Sorry. You’re just too easy. Ah, to make fun of, that is.”

nRin huffed.

n“Anyway, the hospital?”

n“It’s…”

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