My Second Half

My Second Half:
Rosa and Klara are both female Artificial Friends (AFs), and they’re on display in a store in a busy city. From her position, Klara can see out the window to watch the rising and setting of the Sun, which she believes gives her nourishment. One day, when the sun goes away, a boy AF named Rex tells Klara she was too greedy and made the sun go dark by stealing all its nourishment. Klara believes Rex before deciding that he must be making a joke.

The Boy AF Rex gets moved to a front alcove of the store. Soon after, a 13-year-old girl comes in with her mom and asks to buy Rex. Her mother is skeptical because Rex’s model of AF has problems absorbing sunlight, which is their source of energy. Eventually, they leave.

Klara and the other AFs consider it a special honor when Manager (the human woman who manages the store) places them in the window of the store. They also like it because they get more sunlight (and they become lethargic when out of the sunlight for extended periods of time). Eventually, Rosa and Klara get their chance to be in the window. Rosa hopes they’ll absorb so much sunlight that they’ll never feel lethargic again.

Klara has also always had another reason for wanting to be in the window: she wants to see more of the outside world. She and Rosa watch as busy people pass on the street, some of them—particularly children—pausing to look through the window at Klara and Rosa. Klara worries that some of the children she sees in the window look sad or angry, but Rosa reassures her that they must all be happy in such a nice city.

At the end of the day, Klara asks Manager about the sad children. Manager tells Klara that she is special to notice so much. The children Klara sees are frustrated because they dream of having an AF like Klara, but they can’t.

A couple days pass, and it’s now Klara and Rosa’s fourth morning in the shop window. A pale, thin girl of 14-and-a-half named Josie stops at the window and talks to Klara through the glass. Josie tells Klara that she saw her in the window yesterday while riding by in a taxi.

Josie asks Klara questions about what it’s like in the shop and then says that Klara is the AF she’s been looking for. Josie promises to come back at some point and talk more with Klara.

Later that afternoon, Rosa remarks to Klara how strange it is that, even though they can see the outside world from the window, Rosa hasn’t seen many fellow AFs out in the world. Klara realizes the same—in fact, she realizes that the few AFs she does see outside the window always go past quickly, as if they’re embarrassed. As Klara watches more, she wonders if the other AFs are afraid, since Klara and Rosa are newer models.

Rosa continues to delight at all the children paired with AFs that she sees, but Klara slowly realizes that some pairs of children and AFs actually don’t seem that happy together. Klara studies what she sees, hoping to learn all the skills she’ll need to be an effective AF.

One day, Klara witnesses two taxi drivers fighting in what appears to be a case of road rage. They get out and punch each other, shouting the whole time, then get back into their cars and leave. Rosa, however, believes the drivers were just playing, that they enjoyed the experience and that the pedestrians did too.

Klara tries to think of what could make her angry enough to fight someone. While thinking of complicated emotions, she remembers Coffee Cup Lady and an event that happened two days after Klara met Josie. In this memory, Coffee Cup Lady is in her mid-60s and wears a thick wool coat. She is small, wide, and round, like the coffee cups on a shelf inside the store. Coffee Cup Lady crosses the street and embraces a man (Raincoat Man). Manager says they look happy, but Klara says they also seem upset.

Manager explains to Klara that maybe Coffee Cup Lady and Raincoat Man haven’t seen each other for a very long time. She explains that sometimes people feel pain at the same time as happiness. Rosa doesn’t understand the conversation.

At the start of Klara and Rosa’s second week in the window, Josie comes back with her mom (the Mother). Josie apologizes for being gone so long. The Mother watches Klara carefully from a distance—Josie explains that that’s because she knows Klara is the AF that Josie wants.

Josie asks if Klara really wants to come home with her, and Klara nods. Josie warns Klara that some days she doesn’t feel so well. She wants Klara to know in advance because Josie herself hates it when people try to pretend that everything is perfect when it’s not. Klara tries to reassure Josie that she wants to help. Josie promises to come back, possibly the next day.

But Josie doesn’t come the next day or the day after. In the middle of Klara’s second week in the window, Manager moves her back to her previous place in the store, away from the window. Manager says nice things to Klara and Rosa, insisting that they did well in the window, but Klara can tell that a part of her is disappointed.

Manager switches things around, and now, instead of always being next to Rosa, Klara is sometimes next to Boy AF Rex or Girl AF Kiku. Klara can still see out the window, and she notices a big device that she names the Cootings Machine (because “Cootings” is written on the side). The Cootings Machine spews pollution and makes the taxi drivers angry. It has a drill to break the ground, and the drill makes a lot of noise.

The two male AFs in the window don’t get the sunlight they were expecting because of all the pollution from the Cootings Machine. Daytime becomes like night, and the Sun stops coming into the store. Manager assures Klara that the awful Cootings Machine has been out front before, and no AF has ever suffered serious harm from it. Nevertheless, after four days without regular sunlight, Klara feels weaker.

Then one morning the Cootings Machine is gone, the Sun is back, and everyone outside seems happier. Two days later, a 12-year-old girl with spiky hair comes into the store with her father, who wears an expensive office suit. The girl seems interested in Klara, but Klara just looks into the distance at the ceramic coffee cups on the shelf. Klara knows Manager is watching them.

Manager tells the girl that Klara is excellent but that there are even newer models called B3s available that might be better. The girl still wants Klara, but her father convinces her to look at the new B3 models. Later, Manager tells Klara she is surprised at her. She reminds Klara that the customer chooses the AF, not the other way around. Manager says she won’t help Klara the next time. She warns Klara not to trust promises made by children.

The new B3 models, three Boy AFs, are calibrated and take up positions in the store. Rosa and Klara are moved to a different side of the store to make space for the B3s.

One day, when it seems like nothing noteworthy is happening, a boy and his mother come into the store. Klara only realizes later that they’ve bought Rosa, and soon Rosa is taken to the back room to be shipped away.

In the days after Rosa leaves, Boy AF Rex also finds a home and more new B3 models come in. Though the older AFs are nice to the new B3s, Klara notices that the new B3s have been slowly moving away from the older AFs. Klara realizes the B3s are intentionally trying to look like a separate group.

One afternoon, Manager informs Klara that she’s going to have one more chance in the window, this time alone. She promises that she’ll find Klara a home. Klara still enjoys watching the outside world from the window, but she finds it harder to get excited.

On Klara’s fourth day in the window, she witnesses something strange with Beggar Man (a man who lives on the street with his dog). She sees Beggar Man just lying on the ground, not moving. People pass by but don’t do anything, other than pausing for a second before moving on. Klara is sad, believing Beggar Man has died. But the next morning, she finds that Beggar Man is sitting up and hasn’t died; Klara believes the nourishment of the sun has saved him.

Klara’s time in the window ends. Manager tells her she did well, but then, 10 days later, Klara is moved to a rear alcove. Manager tells her that it’s only temporary, and that in a few days, Klara will be moved back to mid-store.

Klara can’t see much from her position in the back, but she can still hear things, and one day she hears Josie coming back with the Mother. Klara hears Josie tell the Mother about how this is the right store but the AF she’s looking for isn’t there anymore. Manager tells Josie about a B3 model that’s available.

Although Klara understands what’s happening, she remains passive and doesn’t move out front to greet Josie. This illustrates how Klara is obedient and how she ultimately feels that her duty is more important than doing what she would prefer.

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Josie says they must be too late to get the AF she really wanted. But Manager overhears her and says she’ll check the back. She brings Klara out and Josie is overjoyed. Josie explains that she would’ve come back sooner, but she got sick. Manager assures the Mother that, while Klara isn’t a B3, her model still has a very good reputation.

The Mother is intrigued when Manager mentions that Klara is very observant. The Mother asks Klara questions about Josie to test Klara’s powers of observation, all of which Klara answers correctly. Josie has a slight limp, which the Mother asks Klara to imitate. Klara feels everyone watching her, particularly the Mother, who stares so intensely that it’s like she’s looking through Klara. At last, the Mother agrees with Josie that they should buy Klara and take her home.