Rebecca.

  Rebecca sighed as she finally felt her body rex, phantom limbs that had been tensing as her cyberics rebelled against her will, now calming with a sweeping relief that had her shivering as she stood.

  “Fuck!”

  “You swear—like, way more than normal people should...”

  “Well, why don't you feel what it’s like to have your body stolen?”

  The android—or, irl, or—fuck, whoever it was in the sex-bot, simply leveled her with a ft look. Staring up at Rebecca, who, after a moment, realized what she’d said.

  “Ohhhh, piss off! I stand by my statement! You didn't have your body ‘stolen,’ you're a copy! A e! The ‘real you’ is still sitting up in her ivory tower lig caviar off some high-css hooker’s ass.”

  “Ugh… and ‘you’re…’ mmhm… I guess just a lot less intelligent than I first thought…”

  Any other time and Beckie might just take mild offeo that statement, relevant and true or otherwise, yet she was feeling pretty ght now and merely shrugged off the insult in lieu of her glorious freedom and most ret 'fuck you' to death!

  But Beckie was just like that.

  Easygoing, eager food scrap, and not really that emotional about the ‘little things.’ She was still gonna sp the bitch up the side of her pretty head when she was finally free of the looming doom in her brain, but—whatever…

  Water uhe bridge at this point.

  After all, it wasn't like Beckie wasn't going to tear off her limbs ahe chick for scrap—probably at this very shop!

  Turnabout's fair py so far as she was ed.

  “Hey, ugh, doc? Do you think you could take a look at my augments free of charge? Seeing as how you clearly were the one who made me go haywire and start pung heads in? Only fair sihey all feel like shit and misaligned after crag that many skulls.”

  Both Gunther and the smaller woman stared at her, each sidering the rge woman who just looked right back at them. Clearly, they were judging her, but—screw them! Beckie could judge right back!

  “They’re not out of alig because you were ‘crag skulls.” The android sighed, almost looking to defte as she gred up at the rger woman with increasing annoyance. “Your joints are probably out of alig because somebody went and got a bck-market ha her limiters and, just so we’re clear, those things do exist for a reason, you know! More of ahan a damned goril…”

  “So, you gonna do it?” Beckie pushed, waggling her eyebrows at the much smaller girl who very much looked to be regretting her decisions.

  “You know what, I’m gonna need another pot of coffee…” Gunther growled, upending his mug befetting to his feet. “You—”

  “Just call me Cire; it's better than you knowing my real he hacker grunted, waving any ents towards her choice away with a zy hand.

  “Right… either way, yoing to o stay hidden during the day when I’m open; I 't have the ds knowing there’s a stolen Paradise bot fug about. Sed to that—” He added, gng back to Beckie, “She’s gonna be your responsibility, Beck. And don’t give me no sob stories; you're the one whht her here; you’re the one who pays her upkeep.”

  “Ugh…” Beckie began, eyeing the shorter— ”Okay, not to sound like a dick or anything… but… hey, are you actually a girl? Or are you, like, a rando dude stu a call-droid?”

  “I’m a girl.” The woman replied, shaking her head before clig her tongue. “But, if I’m not allowed here during the day, then—”

  “Then find yourself a good disguise or work at night!” Gunther answered, his curt tone belying his waning i in the versation. “Beck, like I said, you're in charge of her until I figure out a better pd get started on unraveling this whole fiasake sure she’s under a damned coat or thick clothing while mug about. The moment someohinks she’s not on a real job, they’ll report her for a bounty in an instant.”

  Beckie nodded, not really too upset—after all, while her apartment wasn't really that big, it wasn't like ora person would make much of a difference. “Hey, ugh, Gunny?”

  “What?”

  “Do I like, take her there—now, or?”

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake…”

  “Yes.” the bot stated, almost as if she couldn't believe she had to say it, then gng at Gunther, she added, “I’ll e back tonight so we talk more…”

  “Don't bother, I won't be here. I don't ‘work’ at night. Just let yourself in and moething up worth selling, and I’ll sell it. We talk about how we split things after I see what you do.”

  “Just like that?”

  “You got a better pce to start whatever ‘arra’ this is gonna turn into?”

  The android paused, head cog slightly before she nodded, seeming to agree, if not being terribly happy about it. “No… but—fine, what’s the access code for the pce?”

  “Fug hack it if you’re so good!” The old man growled, walking away from the storefront while the two girls were left standing there.

  As the old goat pushed past some greasy and tinged fps that had, at one point, probably been something akin to transparent pstic, Beckie could only shrug befng back down at her new ‘roommate.’

  “Sooo… about my tech?”

  “Yeah, fine… You got a ‘kit’ at home?”

  “Ummm…” Beckie began, biting at her lower lip while looking away.

  “Oh, you ’t be serious…”

  “These damn things cost a lot of money!” Beckie pined, not unwilling to share her woes with a new ear now that there was another person to listen to them! “I’ve got, like, forty months of payments left on the damn things, and the i literally takes food from my belly some weeks. So—”

  “So you sold your only mainte to—ay for a bowl of fug ramen?”

  “Yeah, actually… How’d you know?”

  “A guess.”

  “A pretty good one!”

  “No, it wasn't.” The android pined, rubbing a hand down her face. “It was holy just statistical… You being poor, ramen being cheap, and a dumbass spending her money on food with all the nutritional value of a leather belt…”

  “You always such a bitch?” Beckie asked, chug while moving past the prickly girl, heading right bato the street without a care in the world.

  “Do you have some kind of poncho or something to hide me?”

  “Eh, I’ve got a few things at my apartment. One of my old hoodies will probably work on you, ! We’ll just pretend I rented a cheap hookup with a Doll if anyone asks about ya.”

  Beckie didn't bother looking back, already heading home and managing a solid dozen steps before the almost silent patter of ti fell in at her side.

  She gnced down at the bot atg her in turn, the small woman’s expression both lidded and ated by an apanying frown.

  Rebecca thought she sort of got the feeling the android was staring at her in the same way Beckie might eye a particurly dubious muffin she’d found. Presumably, half off and sitting on the bakery ter without a lid.

  Is weren't usually a thing unless an iion somehow broke out, typically after some ship docked in port while carrying cargo from a p, but stale and possibly turning food was still as questionable and perhaps moldy as ever.

  Still, muffins were a treat! And Beckie did not miss a hint or two of io go along with all that indecision. Again, the irl ractically radiating a sense of uainty as to her own opinions on Beckie’s person.

  Heh… She khe type.

  Judgmental, egotistical, arrogant, and narcissistic to the extreme. Like everyone and everything around her was scarcely good enough to serve as her toilet. Perfectly willing to use and manipute anyone and everyone around her, all without seeing a sihing wrong with any of it.

  In short—the small girl was a plete and total, queen-B.

  “So,” Beckie chirped, g her hands behind her neck as she sauhrough the crowd, not at all obtuse to the many eyes that briefly glimpsed them, but slid away a moment ter, “What’s it like being a robot?”

  There was a sed, momentary as it was, where she could swear the irl’s eye actually twitched, her slow and exasperated gnce up towards Beckie’s much more impressive stature, speaking all the words that really o be said.

  “Hey, so, it’s only a suggestion, but you know, if you actually want to keep living, maybe you shouldn't talk about our situation on a busy street!”

  “Ha! Don't be so uptight! Half of these zombie-ass fuckers are on Autopilot! Seriously, watch!”

  So saying, Beckie reached out and bumped an onirian, nearly knog them aside!

  The young guy, pretty much a kid, really, all dressed up in the same white overalls that all dock borers wore, simply stumbled as his body swayingly caught itself; the gzed look on his faapped into focus as he looked up to gre at Beckie, only to realize she had a solid foot on him and enough augments and muscle to crush him like a .

  The guy abruptly looked away, lips twisting with frustration, but he shoved his head right down to stare at the road as he swallowed his pride like the good little worker he was.

  “See?” Beckie ughed, practically able to tell with near-perfect accuracy who was and who wasn't letting their brain impnt ‘work’ for them while their minds fucked off to the Sub-verse. “There’s a solid eighty pert of the people out here pulling the same me-ass shit.”

  “Okay…” The girl grumbled, eyes narrowing a fra before she popped her lips. “Wow, okay, so it is arouy pert of the people walking in the overalls, and they make up another seventy pert of people out here, so…”

  “So, like I said, it’s pretty much eighty pert of everyo here that does it!”

  Again, the android looked at her, eyes narrowing, lips opening to say something before they just shut themselves, turning away without another word while Beckie grinned.

  So easy…

  “Either way,” she added, flexing her augmented arms and wing at the unfortable strain, “Most people in the ports don't have all that ‘fancy tech’ that you're used to seeing. Le audio sers, Quick-stats, heck, the only reason so many people have ‘Autopilot’ is because the Megas pretty much give those ones away, and we all know why they do it!”

  “Cheap ‘meat’ bor that moves and acts like a mae?”

  “Yup!” Beckie twittered, grinning as she reached out and bumped into a different person who was just mindlessly stumbling along. "Nothing but human robots..."

  Same as before, the girl momentarily snapped into focus, the rea part of the safety protocols for the starkly 'evil' augment that had takey by storm…

  This time, however, the woman just seemed fused, looking around with this semi-annoyed but far too sleepy expression before her eyes went gssy, and she returo her prior activities.

  “Kinda sad, really…” Rebecca tinued, letting out a weary sigh. “Port’s just ain't as fun as they were when I was a kid… Now that more than half the damned people out here are rog Autopilot; they barely even live in the ‘real’ anymore. Everyone’s just messing around online, living out ‘supposedly’ more iing lives in games like ‘Era’ or ‘Brutal Fantasy…”

  “And… people just let the corporations abuse their bodies with back-breaking work?”

  “I mean… yeah, pretty much…”

  “Why?”

  “Ha! Well, wouldn't expect a chick like you to uand—” Becky chuckled, her own gaze growing somewhat distant. “But life down here fug sucks… You thiing stu a sex-bot is bad? Well, at least you pretty much have a top-of-the-line android body that’s like, a huimes better than a human one.

  “Seriously though, go put in a single week at any of the factories or docks down here, then e bad tell me how ‘bad’ you’ve got it. At this point, I’m pretty much just giving you the be of the doubt and assuming you’ve got no idea what you're talking about.

  “But for most, if the options they’re giveo ‘zo’ and actually enjoy a few hours of their day while dumping online dopamiraight into their brains, or instead, bust their ass at some mindless job nobody get robots for because ‘people’ are supposed to work then—hmph, I don't know, doesn't sound like a hard choiake in my opinion.”

  The android didn't respond to that; she didn't eve, merely turning away to watch the flowing crowd of expressionless zombies as they all swam in a mass of bodies…

  In Beckie’s opinion, the corporations were getting pretty damn close to having maes w for them, just not the kind that were made out of steel and rubber...

  Basically, they were already oep away from full automation, and the only real thing holding them back was the gover itself, which mandated what tasks were and were not allowed to be performed by an automaton.

  It was all bullshit… Hell, Rebecca was well aware she wasn't the smartest person around, and even she khat!

  Ha!

  It was just more politid games...

  At some point, a neerson of the Republic would be nominated, likely serving the is of a differing fa than the current political party. Then, there would be all kinds of new rules and new regutions, and the universe would keep on tru' for aen years before it all got flipped right back again!

  Fod’s sake, when Beckie had been a kid, robots were allowed to perform half the jobs they’d been outwed from, and the young woman could swear she remembered people being a whole lot happier for it!

  Whoever thought they were doing a ‘good thing’ by letting people have some of the shittiest work there was in the Republic—well, holy, they were probably just a seriously dedicated troll…

  Well, whatever…

  It wasn't like Beckie really cared either way… Nobody could really do much to ge anything, so why bother thinking about ging it? No, best to just focus on yourself and those around you.

  Better still if you could make sure you had a warm meal in your stomach every night.

  The duo rounded a er, turning down a familiar street that held a familiar apartment, which was filled with familiar faces. It wasn't the pce around, but it was cheap, and there weren't as many crack-heads as some of the other pces she'd lived in.

  Beckie ractically able to feel her pay-as-you-go shower and its wonderfully lukewarm water when a person she really didn't want to talk to came striding right out the front door… The man quietly pulled out his burner before, as though preordained by god himself, he looked her way, then smiled...