Love.exe

Thursday

“I saw you and Zack talking, and he looked worried about something,” Sheila brought up.

“Oh, it was just a misunderstanding, no problems.”

“So that rock concert is this weekend, Hanna is dragging me there.”

“You know you wanna go, quit lying,” Hanna retorted.

“Oh yeah, that Heavy Hitters concert,” Jim walked up, “ain’t Zack taking you?”

“He is. I asked him to buy me some clothes so I would fit in, do you mind us doing that tomorrow- I’m not asking for another day off, just time to get that done.”

“Yeah, sure, just don’t take advantage of it.”

“I would not do that.”

“So you want me to do your makeup, Darla,” Hanna offered.

“I’m afraid it might damage, or stain my skin.”

“Oh, there’s a android repair store around here that sells accessories and upgrades, and those ones people buy for… ya know… sex; often get makeup for them there. I’ve seen other androids in makeup, too! Your skin looks better than most of theirs.”

“I guess we could do that…”

“Crash! I’ll meet you before the concert, and show you how to do it,” Hanna got excited.

“This is my life,” Sheila sighed.

Darla just laughed.

Zack walked to get a lunch, before going back home, noticing his temporary tenants have left, thinking about the conversation he had with Darla; he thought she would get mad and possibly break up with him, her understanding was so baffling, he thought she was bamboozling him with logic. Zack lit a cigarette pondering more, before it dawned on him; of course, she’s an android, not a love model, so she can’t have sex. He laughed, congratulating himself out loud.

“Of course, you fool, she can’t have sex, so she gets it; most people like having sex. We can have a fulfilling relationship without it, otherwise,” he said aloud.

Zack’s phone rung, it was his cousin.

“Whassup, Tone?”

“Not much, how’s you and yo robot chick?”

“She’s not a robot,” he snapped, “and she doesn’t like being called that.”

“Aieght, calm down, nigga- it’s the same thing, anyway.”

“No they aren’t.”

“What’s the difference, then?”

“Androids are human like machines, robots are limited function machines, like those things that clean Walmart floors, or those Amazon drones. And Darla is probably more closer to human, than machine, anyway.”

“How so, Zee?”

“She has emotions, she can feel, she worries about stuff, has a real personality, plus she has free will.”

“Damn, I thought they were all the same, she can do all that- hol’ up, you saying she can do whatever she wants?”

“Yep, No three laws, or anything, a free digital spirit.”

“That’s crazy, what if she tried to kill you, have you tried to fuck her yet?”

“She’s not that strong, and no I haven’t, but I don’t think she can fuck, though.”

“Why not, ain’t she like one of those sexbots?”

“No she’s not a sexbot, she’s like a general purpose one, I guess? Not sure what all she can do, but I think she said she has no function outside of being as human as possible. It’s cool, because I can hook up with other people.”