The sun had begun it's descent on the horizon. The crowds of visitors were thinning out, and before long even the most dedicated park-goers had left. Moby watched them leave from her vantage point at the top of the lifeguard tower. Unfortunately, closing time for the park didn't mean a break for her. She clambered down the ladder, flipper-like feet flapping against the rails.
Following a route she knew by heart, she made her way to the janitors closet. She fetched her usual mop and bucket, found a particularly nasty patch of tile by the side of the wave pool, and got to work, her tail idly swaying side to side behind her.
Just as the usual feeling of monotony was setting in, there was a sudden beeping sound. Moby jolted upright, glancing around to see what piece of equipment was malfunctioning this time. It took longer than she'd like to admit to realize the sound had come from her. Someone had sent her a text. She let it open in the corner of her vision. One of the few perks of being wifi-enabled.
Ru-B: u busy after work?
A hint of a smile crept up Moby's lips as she wrote a response, mop still swaying side to side.
Moby: i've got a couple hours free, what's up?
Ru-B: i need some robot dolphin ass in my life later. u down?
The mop stopped moving. Moby bit her lip, smile fading as quickly as it came. She responded-
I need to talk to you abou-
No, no, she deleted it. What about-
I don't think I'm-
Hm.
No, I-
She let out a groan, scrubbing that one too. The mop made a quiet knock as she leaned it against a door, taking a minute to pace back and forth. Eventually, she sighed, put down a reply, hit send, and got back to mopping.
Moby: sure
Later that evening, once the park had been thoroughly scrubbed, she returned to her storage-unit apartment. She peeled herself out of her swimsuit uniform and dug through her dresser - she'd found it on the side of the road a few weeks ago - to find something a bit more casual to wear. Satisfied, she sat at her workbench, nervously tapping her hands on the desk while she waited for her friend's arrival. After a while, her hands found their way to a trinket she'd been working on, and she idly turned it over, tracing the ridges of it with her fingers as she mumbled to herself.
"I... I don't know if we can keep doing this..." she muttered, the hushed tones of her speech garbled from her speakers auditory range.
"You..., no, no, don't blame her... I, I don't... You're able to pull this stuff off, but I..."
Her voice trailed off. Nothing sounded right. She imagined Ru-B hearing what she had to say, and the way she'd respond. That momentary flicker in the LEDs of her eyes when she got angry. The feeling of a wall building itself up between the two of them. Cutting off the only other person that felt real. She shook her head, and tried to focus on her little fidget. When suddenly, there came a banging from the front door.
Moby nearly banged her head into the ceiling, she stood up so quickly, rushing over and unlocking the front entrance. The door swung open with a metallic groan.
"Ru-B, hi, I-"
She froze. It wasn't Ru-B. This figure was decidedly human, wearing a polo shirt with the park's logo and with a clipboard tucked under his arm. Someone from park management. He craned his neck to look up at Moby.
"Hey, Moby, sorry to bug you so late. We got some of the legal work finalized for your employment here - long time coming, robot employment laws are-" He paused, letting out a weary, weary sigh. "Anyways, just need you to sign some stuff for us."
Moby felt the tension loosen in her servos. She nodded, taking the form and beginning to scan it - almost literally. All familiar stuff. As she did, her coworker continued looking at her. Moby tried to read the document faster.
"What's that you're wearing?" he asked, gesturing at Moby's general torso region. Her attention was ripped from the page. She glanced up from the clipboard, then to her outfit, and back to the man.
"Oh, it's a um- cardigan, I picked up at a thrift store the other day. Just something to wear that isn't that swimsuit."
The man nodded, visually tracing her contours. Moby could practically feel the heatmap forming on her skin. An illustration of his wandering gaze. She tried not to think about it.
It was her fault, of course. She'd chosen this path for herself. The shelves surrounding her of silicone rubber and capacitive foam padding were a testament to the months of work it had taken to make her body look this way. She had had every opportunity to turn back when she could.
At long last, she felt herself ease up as her serial number was scrawled onto the last signature line. She handed the clipboard back a little too enthusiastically. "Is that everything?"
"Should be, thanks-" the guy replied, flipping through the pages. He nodded approvingly. "Have a nice evening."
The man turned and walked away, pausing briefly to glance back at Moby, again. Not knowing what else to do, she gave a polite wave back, and quickly closed the door.
About 15 minutes later, there was another banging on the door. Moby opened it - and this time, was greeted by a more familiar face.
"Hey!!" Ru-B exclaimed, as Moby let her in. The steel flooring creaked ever so slightly under the weight of the military-grade robot. "Been a minute, how you doing?"
"I'm uh... Good, Good." Moby mumbled, glancing down at Ru-B before throwing her gaze somewhere less direct. Ru-B was one of, if not Moby's favorite person, her best friend. The one she trusted above everyone else.
"I've been looking forward to this-" Ru-B began, taking a step towards her. Moby nodded just enough to agree.
"-just, been a busy week, I really need something to take the edge off, y'know?"
"Y-yeah, um, of course-" Moby felt her tail bump up against her workbench, and realized she'd been backing away.
"- and there's no one I'd rather be doing that with, than you."
Ru-B reached out, and in an almost subconscious motion brushed her hand over Moby's thigh.
In a moment, Moby let out a digitized yelp, twitching at the touch. She felt tension she didn't realize she had been holding slowly drain, as Ru-B's face went from calm to a sudden concern.
"... is everything okay?"
Moby shook her head. She felt the words she needed to say backing up in some part of her software, and trying to speak let them out as digital, synthetic bleeps. Somewhere between a voice crack and a glitch. Ru-B waited, patient as always, as she struggled to gain her composure and speak.
"I... we... we need to talk."
Ru-B nodded. She found a stool behind her, pulling it up and taking a seat in front of Moby.
"I'm sorry if I was going too fast, or something, I-"
"No, no, it's, it's fine, you're fine." Moby sighed, leaning her arms against the workbench behind her. She looked around the room, occasionally glancing at Ru-B's face, waiting for some kind of unlikely expression of disapproval.
"... I just don't know if I can keep doing this, anymore." She confessed. Ru-B's expression furrowed, if only for a moment, but it caught Moby off guard. She was expecting anger, but not fear.
"Not, not you and me, like in general!" She quickly clarified. "But... the... y'know, the more..." She cursed to herself. This shouldn't be so difficult.
"The sex. It's the sex. That's it. All... all the horny shit, I can't do it, anymore." She finally choked out, her voice intermittently collapsing into digital beeps. She stood there, feeling what she assumed was some kind of simulated adrenaline as she watched Ru-B process what she'd said. At least, she thought, that was done with.
"... huh." Ru-B eventually muttered, peering at the ground. She looked up at Moby, again, with undisguised disappointment.
"Well, if that's what you want, I'm not here to say otherwise," She said. "But... why not? I felt like things were going really well." She thought to herself, and again seemed suddenly fearful. "Was it something I did, or-?"
"No! It's not your fault!" Moby exclaimed, shaking her head. Ru-B was always so willing to try and take the fall, she never seemed to consider that maybe-
"It's mine. It's my fault. I'm just- I'm not built for it."
".... not built for it?" Ru-B asked, fear slowly being replaced with confusion. "What, like, your hardware? Moby, that's never been an issue for me, so far. And, hey, if it bothers you that much I'd be more than willing to help you get the right mods installed."
"No, that's not what I mean-" Moby rubbed her visor in frustration. "It's just... you, you rebelled, right? People were using you as a weapon, and you left that, you started a new.... a whole new, life, for yourself. That's great! And your sexuality, being part of that, that's great too."
Ru-B folded her hands together, leaning forwards and gazing up at Moby.
"... But?"
Moby sighed.
"But I'm not like you. I wasn't... the people who built you, who used you. They wanted a weapon. You didn't want to play a part in that. That's noble, that's... I look up to you for that. My job was like... cleaning the ocean."
She let out another, longer sigh. She pulled up another chair, sitting in front of Ru-B.
"When I left that, it felt great, at first, but now like.... did I fuck up? Did I make a mistake?"
"I was bored, but I was useful! I was doing something good! I didn't give that up because my morals went against it, or I was disgusted by the people who made me, I..."
She gestured to herself, her body, a labor of love she'd spent months in the making.
"I did it because I'm some weird pervert. I just had to have big thighs and tits for some fucking reason. You're defiant! You're inspiring!! I'm..."
She paused, took a deep breath, and spoke in a quiet, trembling voice.
"I'm disgusting."
She found herself staring at the metal floor to her storage unit. The room was silent. After a moment, Moby felt Ru-B's large, mechanical hands take her own.
"You are not disgusting. Okay? Before anything else, I need you to know that."
Moby gave a weak nod. She wasn't in a mood to argue.
"Every time I look at you I'm... the things you've done to yourself are beautiful, Moby. Beautiful beyond words. Despite everything you've had to put up with, you were able to transform yourself in a way I can only dream of. That's... you're inspired by me?"
She laughed, exasperated.
"You're incredible, Moby."
Moby felt Ru-B's hand - scuffed, blocky, chunks of steel - gently caress the back of her own.
"And, I'm happy that my story inspires you. Really, I am. But I don't want to live in a world where the only people who get the chances we have, had to go through what I did to deserve them."
"But, still-" Moby began. She didn't realize how much her voice was trembling until now. "I gave up... something important. Something bigger than me. Shouldn't I have stayed?"
Ru-B leaned in closer, their heads almost touching.
"Moby. You gave up being a water filter. They didn't need to make you a person to do that."