“Me? I work for Robox. Same as you. I’m a lovebot driver. In it for the love.” Looking at Sami, “And all the interesting people I meet.”
“What’s your badge number?”
“106692. Sir!”
“TRIG. CONTACT SCHEDULER to make an inquiry into the history of lovebot driver 1066…” Mikl stumbles, not remembering the number.
“106692.” Looking into Sami’s eyes again, “I’m licensed for both male and female lovebots.”
“TRIG. CONTACT SCHEDULER to make an inquiry into lovebot driver 106692. And SEND the results to my personal messages at work.”
“Affirmed. Will do the lookup when we de-stealth and we’re in the comm safe zone.”
“Affirmed. Now, Gayle, answer me this… If you are just a lovebot driver, how did you come by the skills we saw back athe boatshed? And the lipstick? I know for a fact, that’s not standard issue.”
Gayle sighs and puts her feet through the gap between the seats again, rolls over, and wriggles to put her head back in front of Mikl’s.
“You are the smart one, aren’t you? In addition to being a lovebot driver, I’m a member of the SWU, NYC Local 137.”
“The Sex Workers Union? I thought they disbanded when all their jobs were eliminated in 2026.”
Gayle keeps getting closer to Mikl’s face as she explains, “We still exist, but we’re underground. Most of us joined the Hexy Nerds. Some of them used to work for NASA and are still pissed off at Melon Pesos for putting them out of business.”
It sounds plausible to Mikl, but he still has doubts. “Really?” Gayle moves closer, “Really.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
They start kissing.