第二十三章

26 August 2075

It had gone midnight and now that Shoichi had finished his recollection of the ascent to the summit of Fuji-san – the descent was far less dramatic although decidedly more painful as the pathway was steep and his big toe banged into the front of his boots causing the nail to go black and later fall off – he turned his mind to where he was going to spend the night. He could, of course, sleep in the room with Kimiko although there was nothing in there that he could fashion into a reasonably comfortable makeshift bed and spending the night sat on a chair would be out of the question. 

He then saw a notice that looked like it had been hastily produced and holographed asking Too tired to make the trip home tonight? It was advertising the use of on-site pods to spend the night in for just twenty thousand new yen, double the price of a return ticket from Mito to Ikebukuro by train, but still reasonable. The small print of the holograph informed Shoichi that these could be booked at any time and that he should see the medical droid at the entrance to the ward for further details and to enquire about availability. 

Shoichi had, on occasion during his working days, used the capsule hotels that were still going strong in most major cities in Japan; for decades, these simple installations had been accommodating those who had missed their last train home or who were simply looking for a cheap no-frills place to bed down for the night.

He wondered how different these might be as it was at least fifteen years since he had last needed to call on their services when, at the end of a particularly boozy Friday night retirement party for his section chief, he had fallen asleep at a karaoke bar and did not wake until gone one o’clock in the morning when the group he was with decided it was time to move on from the nijikai second party to the sanjikai third party at a local ramen noodle bar. 

Shoichi recalled the conversation that he had with Kimiko that evening, explaining what had happened and that he was not too drunk but would have to spend the night in Tokyo and make his way home in the morning. She had been very understanding about the whole thing – socialising with colleagues was an expected part of the job – and was highly amused at Shoichi trying to cover up how much he had clearly had to drink. What gave the game away was when he confessed quite loudly and publicly during their conversation how much he loved Kimiko, an unusual show of emotion in front of others.

Back at the hospital, after kissing Kimiko goodnight, he left her room and walked along the same corridor towards the nurses’ station. Talking to the medical droid seemed strange to him and in a world where robots were the norm, Shoichi still felt rather self-conscious when addressing machines no matter how advanced their conversational capabilities might be.

‘I, erm, saw a sign in my wife’s room,’ he began, ‘advertising the use of the on-site sleeping pods. I’ve missed the last train home and wondered if there was a vacant pod that I might be able to use this evening.’

‘Certainly, Tanaka-san,’ the droid replied recognising the unique sonic print of his voice. ‘There are currently five vacancies in the group of pods behind this ward. It is twenty thousand new yen per night and includes breakfast in the on-site cafeteria from seven until nine. Would you like me to proceed with your booking?’

‘Yes, please. It will be just for the one night,’ Shoichi replied.

‘Thank you. I have confirmed that you will be staying in pod TW212a for one night,’ the droid continued although Shoichi could not help but feel that there was a certain tone of resentment in its voice at being made to carry out such menial tasks when it was designed for more sophisticated purposes.

‘Would you like a Japanese- or Western-style breakfast?’

‘Japanese-style please,’ Shoichi replied without really giving it much consideration.

‘Thank you. The cafeteria has been informed that there will be one more breakfast to prepare in the morning. In accordance with the terms of business, payment is in advance of your stay. Do you give me permission to debit your account held with the hospital?’

‘Yes, that’s fine,’ Shoichi said and the transfer of funds was complete.

‘Your visitor smart stamp’s access profile has been updated to allow entry into the guest communal area, bathing zone and individual pod,’ the droid added moving to close the conversation so that it could get back to monitoring the condition of the patients on the ward; the work that it had been built for.

‘You should find everything that you will need for your stay is provided in the pod although do not hesitate to contact the hospitality droid there if you require any further assistance.’

‘Thank you,’ Shoichi said.

‘You’re welcome. I hope that you enjoy your stay,’ the droid said, although Shoichi was not convinced that it really meant it.

He left the ward through the sliding doors of the main reception and walked out into dark of the night in which the heat and humidity was ever present. Although late, he was not yet feeling tired and was rather looking forward to taking his time getting ready for bed, something that had been rushed on his return home from hospital in recent weeks.

 The building housing the pods was an architecturally pleasing steel and glass construction that contrasted positively against the grey concrete that dominated much of the rest of hospital. Shoichi felt that it looked almost retro and, despite not having studied architecture properly enough to be sure, he felt that he could detect an early twenty-first century influence in its design.

Inside the lobby, it was bright on account of a rather grand chandelier hanging from the vaulted ceiling.  The chandelier was made up of hundreds of elongated hexagonal crystals each housing a pair of LEDs that refracted the white light into faint rainbows that bounced about the crystals themselves, sometimes spilling out onto the polished tiled floor. TW212a was on the second floor so Shoichi took the elevator – there were no stairs in the building, just the metal fire exit staircase on the outside – and followed the signs on the wall that directed him to where his place for the night would be.

The pods were arranged in columns of three and Shoichi’s was on the bottom with a green light shining to the left of the entranceway indicating that it was vacant. He opened the concave bubble-like Perspex hatch and crawled inside. 

What struck him first was how little the design of these had changed over the years. The capsule hotel where he had last stayed was equipped with a ceiling mounted television, air-conditioning unit, digital radio and, to the right of the bed at the far end, a small shelf and mirror. What he was faced with tonight was a slightly updated version of the same with a sophisticated integrated entertainment system and a micro-climate control panel that allowed guests to choose scenes that they found most conducive to sleep such as “Camping Under the Stars”, “Hawaiian Beach Hut”, “Thunderstorm” and “City Life” each accompanied by mood lighting, adjusted temperature, sounds and smells.

The air-conditioner had been turned on prior to his arrival and the cool temperature was most pleasing to Shoichi. On the bed was a pair of biodegradable pyjamas, some slippers sealed in a bag, a wash set and a towel. Shoichi scooped these up, backed out of the pod and set off down the corridor to take the lift up to the fifth floor where the showers and bath were located.As the lift doors slid open, Shoichi caught the familiar smell of natural spa waters and wondered if the hospital was built on the site of a hot spring or, more likely, he was about to experience the more common synthetic version of an onsen; a change in legislation following a period of successful lobbying by the Japan Tourist Board expanded what could legally be called a hot spa which made it increasingly difficult to distinguish between a fabricated onsen and the real thing.

In the changing room just outside of the bath and shower area, Shoichi undressed and put his clothes into the dry cleaning cabinet and other belongings into one of the wooden laminate lockers. He then slid open the opaque glass door and walked into a room that had walls tiled with sandstone and that was generously appointed with colourful plastic flowers which did not seem in fitting with the sleek nature of the rest of the facility. The small towel held in front of him to protect his modesty was unnecessary as he was the only person there and although happy to have the place to himself a part of Shoichi missed the bustle of a busy onsen as it was so much more than just a place to have a wash.

The unit controlling both temperature and shower pressure was the standard forty centimetres from the floor and Shoichi eased himself onto a wooden stool so that he could use these controls comfortably. Holding the shower head away from him, Shoichi adjusted the temperature down to thirty eight degrees centigrade and then pressed the button to turn the shower on. Whoever had used this before him must has liked to be invigorated as the water pressure was very high and nearly propelled the shower head out of his hand as its spray rocketed towards the textured wetroom floor. A quick press of a button adjusted the pressure downwards and Shoichi let the water run down over his head and shoulders washing away some of the exhaustion in his body. Once wet, he pumped the shampoo dispenser a couple of times into his palm and washed his hair. Doing the same with the shower gel, Shoichi carefully washed every inch of his body, using the towel as a luffa to reach across his back. He then rinsed away the soap suds using a wooden bowl that he filled with hot water from a nozzle that was attached to the same valve.

Free from any dirt, Shoichi stood up and walked towards the round communal bath that was about two metres in diameter and raised above the floor so that he had to take three steps up to get in. The water was hot and he withdrew his right leg immediately before putting it back into the water more slowly this time. Little by little he lowered himself in until completely submerged, feeling flushed and a little light-headed as his blood pressure rose. Shoichi shut his eyes and thought again about the sunset from the top of Fuji-san. 

He could feel the beads of sweat forming on his forehead and took the towel to dab away this perspiration before folding it neatly and putting it back on top of his head again; although nobody would have seen if he had rinsed the towel in the bath and left it floating on the surface, as he liked to do when bathing at home, Shoichi was a firm believer in etiquette and stuck to the rules of communal bathing. The water really was hot and after just a few minutes, Shoichi decided to get out. He filled the wooden bowl with lukewarm water from the tap he had used earlier and tipped this over his body to cool himself down. He repeated this three times and, happy that his body temperature was approaching something close to normal, walked back to the changing area to get dry and put on his pyjamas.

Before his bath, he had forgotten to close the door to his pod completely so the air conditioner was valiantly trying to cool the entire second floor and therefore once Shoichi got back inside the pod it was warmer than he would have liked. However, on sealing himself in, the air cooled down in no time and Shoichi gulped from the bottle of water that he had just picked up from a vending machine situated outside the lift. The mattress was a perfect firmness and was made of millions of air bubbles, trapped during the manufacturing process, so that Shoichi felt he was being gently cradled as he lay down. Perhaps I’ll treat Kimiko and myself to one of these mattresses when she comes home, he thought.

Turning on the viewing screen, his voice the remote control, Shoichi caught up with the news, the headline of which was an update from the trial of the accused serial killer from Nagano Prefecture who had been arrested a few days earlier. The public prosecutor had finished her first day of presenting the case against T-san – who could not be named for legal reasons – and the reporter spoke of this being a cut and dry case although added that the defendant has pleaded not-guilty which came as a surprise considering the wealth of evidence against him.The next time Shoichi was aware of his surroundings, it was eight o’clock in the morning.