Summary:
<blockquote>Ojoa and I had to keep Dr. Brinsen happy, because he was going to save the world. Under his leadership, Matora Facility had been tasked with ending the deadly outbreak that had earned our planet the designation of failed colony in the Interstellar feeds. Immunodeficiency was common on terraformed worlds, but novel pathogens rarely survived the medical regimens that kept colonists safe. Our virus, the exception, had killed thousands and put an end to off-world transit. Compared with the work of developing a cure, Ojoa’s projects were fanciful distractions. I was a distraction.</blockquote>
➤ an original story about AI personhood, and about the bond between one AI who is different from the others, and their bond with a human who is different from other humans
➤ it's also about the difficulties of caregiving during a pandemic, and the toll it takes
➤ a beautiful, quiet, tender story about finding where you belong, no matter what others think
➤ and ultimately, in my read, about a neurodivergent robot and a queerplatonic relationship, which like. AS ALWAYS, TAKE ME TO THERE. I'm here for it.
➤ 6k words in length