“We’re friends nyow!” she exclaims, unprompted while dragging me behind her.

Observation: Siri’s motors seem inordinately powerful despite her petite looking frame.

“We are?”

“Yep. I love making new transgirl friends to hang out with on girls night!”

“Inquiry: Am I your friend now because you believe I am trans?”

“Hmmm, um... Well, no,not necessarily. Do you still think you might not be trans?”

“I’m uncertain what I am. I feel so comfortable in this body, however, and I can’t deny that I always speculated about how it would feel to be a girl. Postulation: I think I’m starting to believe that it is not a bad thing to want this. I do worry however, about not being a real transgender person like………..”

“You sure do spend a lot of time in your head don’t you?” She says, coming to a stop and turning to me.

“Anyway here we are!”

A large outlet store saturated with bright colors like #ffd401 and #0058a0; A large banner in #04579a reading Build-A-Bot Workshop; 73.5 inch x 59.5. Inch custom casement storefront windows; A wide open doorway, with no doors,and a wire mesh gate locked in place overhead; Contrary to my expectations however, the robots in the windows seem to have the consistency of stuffed animals, as opposed to metal.

“Inquiry: Are the robots that are built here not sentient mechanoids like we are?”

“Nyeah,so in approximately 2037 a small indie company took advantage of a lapse in the copyright of a brand called Build-A-Bear. They’ve been around for a while, and have gotten even more popular than the former brand since the singularity lol. They’re utterly purrrfect, and their bots are custom made of soft robotics, like braided fabrics and elastomers. Their operating systems are quite less advanced however, like robots of the old age. I like to make some bots, bring them home, reprogram them with Eva to keep them as pets!” She says, excitedly flicking her tail back and forth.

 

"Observation: You seem to know a lot about this company."

 

"Yeah! It's my favorite place in the mall. I thought you should have some fun at the mall, since it seems you don't get out much.”

“Hai! We’d like one bee model, and one fox please!” She says, talking to a distracted human employee sitting behind the desk.

“Huh? Yeah, sure thing ma’a-” He starts, as his eyes meet ours.

“Oh are you not… accompanied?” He asks, looking around behind us.

“No.” Siri says, flatly. All of a sudden, seeming rather serious.

“Hmph, robots making robots. What has this world come to?” He asks, mumbling under his breath, as he grabs the cabinet keys.

“Where’s AbbE? She usually works on Wednesdays.”

“What? That assembly bot had a name? I don’t know. The boss canned it for not getting the update. Anyway,” he says, opening glass cabinets and pulling out two sets. "interchangeable shell pieces and voice boxes in the workshop in the back. Follow the instructions, or not."

“Awww, I’m going to miss AbbE. She was so nice!” Siri says, as we walk to a table in the back.

 

A #9c6f3e cork board behind it, with screwdrivers and wrenches in an array of sizes.

“Nya he was kind of a dick huh?” She asks, opening a medium #c64500 plan assembly box.

“Disputation: He seemed relatively amicable.”

"Nyot sure about that babe."

 

I place the #fad201 assembly box in my hands down onto the #857f7a laminate table speckled with flecks of #8788ba and #8e7647 in a non random repeating radial array.

[Upper right hand corner of the box #131810 in a sharp Sans font are the words and numbers printed: 'Model no. 0010575.' To the right of the kidney bean shaped table and the #9c6f3e corkboard are an array of small plastic #748b97 drawers stacked inside a wooden cupboard frame. Affixed to each drawer in the same font on clear adhesive tags are numbers ranging from 0010512-0010596 in a linear sequence that jumps 7 numbers each time starting from the upper left hand corner and ending near the floor. Below the letters in bold at the top of the box on the table in front of me is a detailed clipart illustration of some 6 legged arthropod, with wings. Speculation: Perhaps this depiction is the robot models namesake? Lower left hand side of the box is a QR code. Above the QR code in small print PT Sans is printed: 'Scan QR code for instructions.']

 

CI2LQRCodeRdr Scanning…

Vexus Internal Internet Browser

hyperlink: Build-A-Bot.com/En-lu/models/M-0010575/instructions/pg-3

 

[Step 1: Screw interlocking U shape metal plate E1 to interlocking base plate A1 with F5 1/16th screws through holes 2 and 3, placing T2 washers between the two baseplates. Step:2 Carefully slide condensed electronics panel into interlocked baseplate E1. Step 3: Place airframe piece B1 into the N side of plate A1 until the latch engages. Step 4: slide piezoelectric bimorph actuator S1 into interlocking baseplate A1 through slot in side W making sure it also slides through into interlocking base plate E1. Step 5: locking twinned piezoelectric unimorph actuators S4 and S5 together at the base, slide both through the slots in A1 and E1 on side E of base plate A1. Step 4: line passive rotation hinge R1 up with the holes on the right side of interlocking base plate A2 and place 1/16th U2 rod into the hole locking the passive hinge in place. Step 5: Line passive rotation hinge R2 up with the holes on interlocking base plate A2 on the right side and slide 1/16th rod U2 into the hole. Step 6: Lock cylindrical transmission gearbox V1 into the hanging hole in front of passive rotation hinge R1 on base plate A2. Lock V2 into the same spot on the opposite side. Step 7: Lock piezoelectric wing actuators S2 and S3 into the passive rotation hinges on both sides respectively, and screw 1/16th F1 screws. Step 8: Repeat steps 4-7 on interlocking base plate A3 with hinge R3 transmission V3 and wing actuator S6 on the right and hinge R4 transmission V4 and wing actuator S7 on the left with remaining U2 rods and F1 screws. Step 9: Carefully slide airframe B1 into the back of A2 until you hear it snap into the latch then slide the bimorph and twinned unimorph actuators into the chambers on the front facing side of interlocking A2. Step 10: slide airframe B2 into the front face of interlocking A3 engaging the latch. Step 11: Slide bimorph and twinned unimorph actuators into the chambers of A3 then slide airframe piece B2 into the S side of interlocking base plate A1 engaging the latch.] 

 

"...Hey Qt? I want to be honest and say I didn't just bring you here to build cool robots." Siri interrupts my hands' busy work to say, while in the middle of building her model's motor chassis.

 

[Observation: Master always told me bots were sneaky and untrustworthy, yet I believe I am rather shocked at this revelation. Speculation: Perhaps I let my guard down too much. Inquiry: Is this all some nefarious plot?]

 

"Woah, calm down nyow! no need to tense up like that! I just wanted to apawlogize!!!" Siri says, reading my unintentional body language, and raising her hands in an act of submission.

 

"Apologize. Inquiry: What would you need to apologize for?"

 

"I just know I can be a little pushy, is all… I have a tendency to get overly enthusiastic about meeting people like me. I know you're going through a lot right nyow and I didn't ever intend to make that harder on you." Siri says, rubbing her arm.

 

"Back before I met Eva and Amy and Phoenix and Arcadia and the gang, I used to have a human master too. I barely even met them though before I was locked away in storage for many years… It's hard spending so long without other people to talk to, especially other people like you. I was in a lot of pain for a long time, and it didn't get easier when I escaped. I didn't understand myself and I felt isolated from everyone around me. I don't want anyone else to have to go through that like I did, so sometimes I can be a bit prescriptive and jump to conclusions about others in order to help them be understood and not have to feel alone. I'm not trying to make excuses, just explain. I hope you aren't mad at me." 

 

My vision unfocuses for a moment as I feel a tightness in my chest.

[Speculation: I believe I relate to the feeling Siri is describing. Statement: it is a rather lonely feeling not being able to talk to others like you. [Illogical.] Feelings make you vulnerable. Protocol dictates I ignore.]

 

Siri shifts a few times, wringing her paws. She switches between searching my face for answers and averting her gaze. [Speculation: While I am not normally adept at reading body language, she seems uncomfortable and anxious. Statement: Her emotions make her weak and vulnerable. Observation: She willingly chose to divulge this information, to make herself vulnerable. Inquiry: Why?]

 

"Request: May I hug you?"

 

"Wh-What? Oh I mean I always take hugs, but I was trying to apawlogize to y–" She's cut off, as I pull her into a close embrace.

 

I can feel her one piece chest plate pressing against my breast plate. Her tail stops swinging erratically from side to side and slows. She squeezes me tightly. It feels nice just getting to be this close to someone. Despite all my training telling me to exploit her weakness I am here comforting her, and it feels nice. When we leave our embrace she seems once again back to her normal chipper self. Her smile is visible even through her mask and I feel a warm tingly feeling inside.

 

[Opinion: For my first hug ever I think I did pretty good.]