Lesson Learned

Mitsuko took a deep breath, staring at her laptop for a long while.

"Um, Ritsu?"

Her screen remained on her desktop page.

"Uh..." She let out a deep breath. "Look, if you can hear me, hopefully, I just wanted to talk..."

Nothing happened.

She grimaced and quickly double-checked she was connected to the internet.

Was she even there?

Mitsuko groaned, burying her face in her arms. "Okay, still pulling the silent treatment..." She looked up and stared at the screen. "Fair enough, I was a bitch." She sat up straighter and watched the screen. "You don't have to say anything..."

She tried to choose her words carefully.

"I wanted to say sorry for being a jerk," she began to apologise, hoping the AI was actually listening. "I didn't treat you with respect, or like a real friend." She shifted in her seat. "I was a really, really, shitty friend, and I'm sorry..." She fidgeted. "I have a bad history of treating my friends like crap, I'm trying to work on that." Her stomach churned unpleasantly. "Anyway, I completely understand that you don't want to ever speak to me again so...yeah, I just wanted to apologise."

The screen stayed blank, making her chest ache.

Mitsuko swallowed a lump in her throat. "Yeah...good talk." Her voice strained, starting to close the laptop.

"Nakamura said you needed my help."

She froze, feeling her heart leap when she saw a stern-faced Ritsu appear on her screen.

"Ritsu!" Mitsuko exclaimed in relief, pushing the laptop fully open again. "Please tell me I wasn't talking to myself and you actually heard my apology?"

Ritsu pursed her lips into a scowl, crossing her arms. "I'm spyware on your laptop...I'm listening even if I don't want to."

Mitsuko's smile grew. "Really?" Then she frowned. "Wait, spyware?"

Ritsu sighed, looking exasperated. "Look, if we're going to be friends then you need to be nicer to me." She frowned. "I've been posting in a lot of friendship forums and they all agree you've been really mean to me!"

She cringed. "Sorry..."

The AI sighed, composing herself. "Luckily for you...I have a high level of forgiveness in my emotional processor." She gave her a stern look. "But that does not mean I will tolerate you always shoving me to the side and locking me out emotionally!"

Mitsuko nodded along. "I know, and I'm sorry."

Ritsu frowned. "I know some things are hard for you to talk about, but please don't shut me out..." She touched the screen and looked at her sadly. "It hurts seeing you so sad, and even if you don't think so, I...I think you're my best friend."

Mitsuko would have given anything in the world to hug her. "You're my friend too..." She held her burner phone close in her hand. "Honestly, I'm not that good at making new friends, and God knows how I've kept this many so far but..." She smiled faintly. "You're honestly a saint for sticking with me this far."

Ritsu was visibly trying very hard not to smile. "Well...I still need an accomplice for World domination." She shrugged. "And since you keep wanting to be important, I figured you're the perfect fit."

Mitsuko snorted in amusement, starting to smile. "You really have that much faith in me?"

The AI smiled properly this time. "I've calculated you're the most logical choice—I have a five-step plan and everything."