HUMAN RESOURCES

“Alright, everything looks good in this bay…”

Random manual inspections are standard in the interplanetary logistics industry. It’s a lonely job working on a ship like this, thanks to the skeleton crews ships run on; but not a terrible one. He made his way to the next bay marked for inspection, through tight corridors that snake through the belly of the ship, harsh artificial lights only turning on just in time for him to see them. Scanning his fingerprint on the lock, the motorized door strained but failed to open.

Muttering a few swears to himself, he tried scanning again.

Of course, nothing changed. The motors shut off for a moment, before starting to whine again. Still stuck. He pulled out his tablet, and keyed in a repair request for the door.

“Of fucking course it won’t just let me move on and inspect something else instead! Even though this damn door is stuck. Stupid fucking door.”

He kicked the door in anger. The whirring changed tone, and the door opened as usual. A crate fell from where it should have been, jamming itself against the door.

“Oh. Well, nevermind then.”

Switching his tablet to its inspection mode, another crate wobbled precariously above him. He looked back into the cargo bay, just as the crate shifted loose and fell down onto him.

beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep.

Groggily, he slowly managed to open his eyes, but couldn’t really sit up.

Mouth is really dry. Can’t feel legs. Ceiling is plain and the lights are annoyingly bright. And can that thing stop beeping?

How long was he even out for?

He tried again to sit up, this time using his arms to help.

Legs don’t seem to be doing anything, so ignore them.

Managing to get oriented vertically, he looked around the room. Must be in a hospital room, with a machine measuring his vitals off to his right, and an IV drip into his arm on the left. Noticing the control panel for the bed, he moved to look at it, and proceeded to flop over directly onto his stomach. Thankfully, he was caught by the soft padding of the mattress beneath him.

Lifting himself up again with his arms, and with the blanket now shifted off of him, he finally got a good look at what happened to him. Most notably, what happened to his legs, which were now entirely gone. Not even a stub! And perhaps even worse still was the fact that his cock and balls were now notably missing from his crotch as well. Practically smooth down there, aside from the stitches of course.

Grabbing the blanket in one hand, he let himself flop onto his back again, pulling the blanket back over with him.

The curtains at the end of the room shifted as someone walked in. He didn’t care enough to look.

“Good, you’re awake!”

He grunted a bit, and looked over at the bed’s control panel again. After a moment of deliberation, he pressed the button to tilt the bed up a bit, if only to seem somewhat attentive.

“You really went through a lot up there, you know? I’ve n-”

“…uhhhii don’t know, actually. Last thing I remember was… just doing the inspections, and… I think one of the doors was busted or something? And then… waking up here, with no dick. A-and no legs.”

“Oh! I, well… I can tell you what I heard, if you’d like.”

He nodded, thinking to himself.

If you’re having it worse than someone who just congratulated you for surviving thought you had it, things must be really bad.

“You were found unresponsive by a repair drone, pinned underneath a cargo container that came loose. Impressively, the drone was able to get you into stable condition, though your legs were unfortunately past saving. Y-”

“And my dick?”

“…I wasn’t told anything specific about that, but I… would assume so? Anyways, you were brought in to the hospital here as soon as possible, and the surgical team really did try their best to save as much as they could. That robot really did a remarkable job keeping you stable, too! I doubt you would have made it here in time without it.”

He stared blankly, trying to actually comprehend everything that had just happened.

“So… what exactly did I lose, then? What’s left down there?”

“Your legs were unable to be saved, along with your penis and testicles. Your hips were fractured, though not completely destroyed. Other than that though, everything else was fine. Additionally, the surgeons took the liberty of installing a standard neural interface at the base of your spine, which you’ll be able to use with a motorized prosthesis.”

Nodding again, he pushed the button to put the bed back to level. Sleeping felt better than talking.

“…Just give me the bad news first.”

The doctor looked down awkwardly for a moment, and took a deep breath.

“Unfortunately, there aren’t any full prosthetics that would suit you available on such a short notice. With how customized each set has to be, it would likely take months.”

He stared out the window of the hospital room. Despite being the largest city on this planet, you’d easily be mistaken for thinking this place is barely more than a small port. No wonder it would take so long! At least he ended up marooned on a planet with a proper doctor.

“But, the good news is that we do have something available on a short notice. It’s just an electric wheelchair, but the neural interface makes it quite convenient to use! And, it’s available at no out of pocket cost to you.”

He nodded a bit, but just kept staring out to the horizon.

As he rolled in his new wheelchair towards the ship, his boss stood in front of the boarding ramp.

“Oh, it’s just wonderful to see you! I’ve heard everything you’ve been through lately, and I do hope that your recovery has gone well. Now, are you ready to join us for this voyage?”

He stopped in thought for a moment. Maybe he’s really something special if the boss came out to see him at a backwater like this?

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

He hesitated in saying it. It wasn’t a lie, but he wished it to be one.

“Perfect! I won’t make you wait; your bunk is waiting for your as you left it. Myself, I have other manners to attend to onworld.”

As he resumed rolling onto the ship, the boss walked off in the other direction, quickly boarding into a taxi and taking any of his thoughts of being special with them. He rolled his way through the ship’s mazelike passageways, making small talk with a few coworkers. They all knew what happened, of course; the repetitive condolences felt more exhausting than comforting. Finally escaping the conversations, he made it to his room.

But when the door to his room opened, he was hit by a sudden realization. His dormitory, a room many would find uncomfortably small even with a set of fully-functional legs, was simply not designed for someone on wheels whatsoever. He couldn’t dream of fitting his new wheels between the bed and the dresser; and worse, he couldn’t even turn around with the door closed. The chair he once used at a small table was now useless to him, simply taking up yet more valuable space.

But those were all things to worry about later. For right now, all he needed was a familiar mattress.

Despite everything that changed, his work had not. The system would select a bay to inspect — seemingly at random — and he scanned the various packages inside. He was told it was an important job, but it never felt that way. The monotony of scanning was only broken up by when he was directed to open and manually inspect a package; though few of those even contained contraband. They were simply mislabeled, and could be retagged and resealed. He would hear coworkers joke about finding all manner of things, though never saw any himself. Were they lying, or was he just unlucky?

Rolling his way back down the winding corridors gave him plenty more time to think to himself. The work itself might not be stimulating, but it paid decently enough, and even let him visit places he would never be able to otherwise. Of course, he only got to stay on each world for a few days — as long as it takes for the cargo to be loaded and unloaded, that is — but who wouldn’t want to spend every weekend off in a new city?

kaCHNK.

With the sudden noise, his wheelchair stopped moving. He almost fell onto his face, wobbling on the stuck wheels before they fell flat to the floor again. Probably a broken gear or something else in the motor? Whatever the case, he had neither the parts nor the skills to fix it himself.

“Great. And here I was thinking I was lucky, not having to deal with my feet hurting anymore.”

But after thinking for a moment, he got an idea. He pulled out his tablet, and keyed in a repair request. Of course, that left him with nothing to do but wait.

And wait.

And wait some more.

After over an hour though, his idling was interrupted by the repairbot wheeling down the corridor to him. It approached silently at first, but suddenly stopped as it noticed the human attached to what it was sent to repair. A speaker on the robot started playing a message to him.

“You again! Hello, sir!”

He looked curiously at the robot. What is this thing, anyways? Has it always been the one responding to repair requests?

“I was not expecting a human, but I see that you do need my assistance! I can take you back to my workshop for repairs, if you would like that.”

“…yes, I would.”

“Very well! I will be sure to attend to your needs, posthaste.”

As if by some sort of magic, a cargo carrying robot emerged from a nearby maintenance hatch. The insectile machine walked right up next to the repairbot, before walking effortlessly up the wall to get behind him. He couldn’t help but stare in awe.

“Hold still for me, sir.”

The cargobot folded itself nearly flat to the floor, and the repairbot lifted his wheelchair — and him by extension, of course — onto it. Without hesitation, both robots began towards the workshop, taking him with them.

He couldn’t help but be impressed at the speed and precision with which the cargobot operated. Six robotic legs propelled it — and by extension, him — through the tight twisting corridors smoothly. And despite its diminutive size, it was easily capable of carrying his weight without showing any signs of struggling.

Following the repairbot into a new room, he finally laid eyes on the actual workshop. It was a bit small, but packed with all manner of tools, all either explicitly designed for, or modified for use by a robot. Storage racks held countless parts of varying sizes, from tiny bolts to entire modular subassemblies, tagged and organized for fast retrieval when needed. As he looked around, the cargobot squeezed out from under the wheelchair, leaving him in the center of the room.

“I will need to unplug you before I proceed with the repair. Is that alright?”

“Oh, um… I can handle that for you, actually.”

Disconnecting from the chair always felt strange. With it on, there was barely anything to notice as missing. In the same way he felt the shape of having two legs before, the new shape just felt… natural, really. Sure, he could pick out the differences if he really wanted to, but the differences between feet and wheels disappear when all you’re really thinking about is getting from point A to point B. The neural interface really was a miracle of modern medicine.

Suddenly, he was lifted up by the repairbot. Its metal hands gripped firmly, yet with restraint. In a smooth motion, it lifted him off the chair, and placed him down into a bin on the back of the cargobot.

“My apologies, it is not within standard procedure for humans to visit during my repairs. Do not worry, it will be finished quickly.”

Without anything connected, however, it all felt wrong. Nothing to ground his mind to his body meant that his memories took over, and it reminded him of the parts that he did truly miss. And while it felt almost ridiculous to admit it to himself, the part that he missed most was his penis. It’s not that he was some kind of sex-crazed maniac or anything, nor the core of his identity, but it was still nice to have around! Of course, the doctors only ever cared about his legs. Sure, those were the only parts he really needed to get back to work, but there was more to life than just his job, was there?

The whirring of motors formed a constant din as the repairbot worked. Each screw removed was kept carefully in order as the repairbot quickly gained access to the wheelchair’s motor compartment, testing the components within.

He had, of course, already tried a lot with what his body did have left. The area around his urethra lacked sensitivity, leaving it as fun to rub as any other random patch of skin. Anal remained an option, but just wasn’t satisfying in the same way. Even then, the chair itself just got in the way too much to do much of anything sexual while connected, while the feelings from being unplugged just made it impossible to get in the mood. It just didn’t work.

“That should fix everything. Now, to reconnect you!”

The repairbot lifted him up again, placing him back into his seat. He quickly plugged himself back in, and the chair thankfully came back to life with everything in order.

“Thank you, thank you so much! I don’t know how else I would have got this fixed…”

“No worries. Feel free to come back again if you need anything worked on! I would be happy to help you.”

For now, he had to get back to work.

Breaks on the ship were few and far between, and he would usually just spend them by himself. Even before the accident, he struggled to make connections with his coworkers. Now it just felt like they couldn’t get over being sorry for him. Peace and quiet was better to relax, honestly.

But right now, he just couldn’t. Did the same robot that just fixed his wheels really save his life before? How could it even have done such a thing? If there was one thing he was sure of, it was that he needed to get to the bottom of this.

Wheeling his way back into the repairbot’s room, it was nowhere to be seen. A cargobot now sat half-disassembled on a workbench, but otherwise the room was much the same as before. Well, it’s probably off fixing something on the ship. No reason to wait around…

But before he could turn around, the workshop door opened again.

“Oh! I was not expecting a visitor! It is good to see you again. Is there anything else you need fixed?”

“I, uh… no, not really. I just have some questions about… well…”

“About what I do? My workshop? The cargobots?”

“No, it’s… fuck, I can’t think of the words…”

“I will give you a moment to think then. Ask when you are ready!”

The repairbot made its way over to the workbench, and resumed working on whatever it was fixing in that cargobot. It really was being honest about not minding the company.

“So… Were you the one that found me? When, uhh… that box fell on me?”

“Oh, yes! That really was quite the accident.”

“I… didn’t know you would’ve been programmed to handle a situation like that.”

“Well, I was not explicitly programmed to. But I am programmed to ensure the safety of humans, so I had no choice but to do what I could.”

Robotic arms deftly reassembled the cargobot, returning the pile of parts to its recognizably spiderlike form. With the flick of a switch, it… did nothing. The repairbot looked over and tried to start it again, but to no avail. It was dead.

“It appears that the main control unit is faulty.”

Ensuring the switch was safely turned off, the repairbot picked up the faulty machine, storing it away to be parted out in the future.

“So, uhh… Do you need that for anything? I have an idea…”

The repairbot stopped in place for a moment.

“What is this idea?”

“Well, I have to admit… I’m a bit, jealous of the legs on those little guys. Especially after taking a ride on one earlier! Not that I hate having wheels or anything, it’s just that there’s a lot more flexibility there, and the way they can even climb up the walls? It’s amazing! I was wondering if it would be possible to somehow maybe, uhh… hack one together so I could, use it like the chair, y’know?”

For an awkward moment, the repairbot paused.

“I do believe such a modification could be possible. However, I would not want to leave you without any way to get around in the case that it fails, so I simply cannot use your current wheelchair for it. The cargobot has already been written off as salvage, so it no concern to repurpose it.”

“Is there something else I could use, then?”

“The only part I need is the neural interface unit. If you can bring one to me, I will handle the rest.”

“Got it.”

With the ship docked for loading, he finally got a few days to himself. His coworkers usually just spent the time getting drunk and trying to get laid at the bars close to port, but even before the accident he never found much appeal in that kind of lifestyle. Why waste the little bit of leisure you get just doing the same things over and over again?

But today, he had a mission. Rolling his way through the crowded market district, he quickly closed in on his target; a store specializing in second-hand mechatronics. Swerving through pallets of parts, he zeroed in on the prize: the neural interface unit he needed. A whole pile of them, actually; some of them looking a bit more scuffed than others. After rummaging through the pile for a bit, he eventually found one that looked to be in good shape. Cheaper than he expected, too.

That was easy. Now what?

He spent some time milling about the markets some more, but couldn’t find a good reason to buy anything; not when he had so little space to store anything back on the ship. Stopping for a meal didn’t help either, as he ended up simply staring off into the distance as he ate by himself. He took a moment to try and relax in a park afterwards, but just couldn’t find any sense of peace. His head was full, clouded by so many thoughts. Even with the fresh air, he couldn’t figure out what it all meant.

Back at the ship that evening, he made sure to stop by the workshop to drop off the parts, before going back to his quarters to try and get some sleep.

Making his way to the workshop once again, his mind was racing. Was this even going to work? It seemed like such a crazy idea, yet the repairbot was so confident, almost nonchalant about it. In any case, there was only one way for him to find out. Rolling into the workshop once again, the repairbot was waiting eagerly to greet him.

“It is wonderful to see you again! As I stated in the message I sent earlier, all the required modifications have been completed. If you would like to, you can try it for yourself right now.”

With his eyes fixated on the newly modified machine in front of him, he could barely listen to what the repairbot just said to him. While the majority of the cargobot was unmodified, where there was once a package of sensors and a computer now housed a seat. It had clearly seen some use before this — probably taken from an old stool or something — with various patches over the upholstery and scratches on the paint, which was quite obviously a different color than the cargobot itself. A seatbelt was added as well, for obvious reasons, and all the parts were married together with a series of welded brackets clearly improvised from spare material on hand.

Frankly, it looked terrible. Yet in that lack of aesthetics was a functional charm, and it was exactly the kind of look he needed. He didn’t know it was what he wanted before, but now he just couldn’t look away.

“It’s… wonderful. I mean, I, uhh… I’d love to try it now!”

The repairbot got to work quickly, removing him from his old seat with ease, and placing him right into the not-so-new one. And for just a moment, he found himself with that feeling of wrongness again. But as quickly as it washed over him, the repairbot plugged in the neural interface, and the new feelings were nothing less than intense. (Suddenly having thirty-six axes of motion to consider instead of just two may have been a part of that.)

After a few deep breaths, he took his first steps. Or, well, that’s what he tried to do. At first, he couldn’t even get one foot off the ground, until he realized they were attached to the steel sheeting of the ship with magnets in his new feet. He clumsily moved a few of the legs around, struggling with one actuator at a time, before falling to the ground with a CLANG. For a moment, he panicked.

“Oh! The motion control subprocessor is still intact. Try not to think about moving the legs individually, if you do not need to do so. Focus on walking forward.”

A few deep breaths, and he got up again. As if by instinct, all six legs perfectly lifted him in unison, carried him a few steps forward, turned around, and stopped.

“Wow, I… thank you. Thank you so much for doing this for me.”

“Is there anything else you need any help with?”

“No, just… Thank you.”

He wanted to hug the repairbot, honestly. Would it know how?

If there was one thing he had to get used to with the new legs, it was just how fucking good they were. Being able to go up stairs again was more than enough to justify the upgrade, but these new legs were far more than even what he had before the accident! Perhaps most important for his job was the carrying capacity, as his lower half was still mostly cargo-bot. Sure, the old wheelchair had a little bit of storage space, but it couldn’t even fit his everyday bag. Now he had more than enough room to carry everything, without having to break a sweat doing so.

As he was finishing up work for the day, it felt like everything had been going perfectly for him. Making his way back to his cabin, he remembered seeing one of the cargobots walking on the metal walls of the ship, one even going on the ceiling. Could he do the same?

Closing the door of his cabin behind him, he just couldn’t resist the urge to see what his new legs could do; one magnetic foot at a time, he started climbing the wall. He stopped when his robotic lower half was completely vertical, noting how the part it attached to him was able to rotate to keep his torso and head vertical as well. Unfortunately, this meant his head was now about to bump into the ceiling of his cabin. Tilting his torso back to level, he tried a few more steps.

With a strong THUMP, he thankfully landed on the mattress beneath him. Walking with his torso sideways clearly would take some practice. But now that he was lying on that mattress, he came to a realization; he wouldn’t need to take these legs off to go to bed. He still could, of course, but why would he want to do that? He felt whole like this, and had no intention of giving that feeling of completeness up.

“Please, I need you more than anything!”

The sex-bot beneath him wanted nothing more than to be his mate. It was, of course, programmed to do exactly that; but that didn’t make the feelings any less real now that they existed. How is it any different from a human, programmed by instinct to do the same? His robotic body loomed above her. Two mechanical claws gripped her shoulders, while another pair gripped at her waist. The last pair held him steady above the bed, and between them sat his robotic cock.

At nearly half a meter in length, the shaft stood between them as a monolith of lust. It pulsed with hydraulic desire through its silicone-coated length, dripping thick oil onto her similarly rubberized chest. They were made for eachother, and they knew it. In a smooth motion, his shaft aimed the tip directly towards her synthetic slit, and his legs shifted to press his tip inside.

As he woke up, he almost expected to find a wet spot behind his… rear legs. It was only after he was looking that he realized how ridiculous it was to even think of that, since there was nothing there but a blanking plate.

He never had a dream like that before. Sure, he had plenty of horny dreams, but even in those he always dreamed about having sex with a human. And he didn’t have six mechanical legs in them, of course. Or such a ridiculously oversized cock. Still, there was something about it all that he couldn’t deny felt… just so appealing. Maybe not having one that big, though.

Lying back, he took a moment to just admire those mechanical legs, wiggling them around a bit. It felt funny to turn the magnets on and off in the feet; they had a nice click to them. He barely had these legs for a day, yet they already felt so natural to him. It was almost as if he was always meant to be like this.

“Alright sir, just give me a moment to look everything over.”

He stood still in the repairbot’s workshop as it inspected his robotic legs thoroughly, checking for anything that was installed incorrectly or malfunctioning. Thankfully, all seemed to be in order.

“Can you lift each leg, one at a time?”

The repairbot watched his robotic foot lift into the air, and gently rubbed the bottom of it. It was sensitive! Some sort of capacitive touch sensor, maybe? He didn’t really think about it before, but having them touched like this felt… nice. Maybe it was the gentle caring nature, or perhaps it was just the sensitivity itself. Whatever it may be, he was definitely enjoying it.

“Are you all right?”

“I, uhm… Yeah, I’m fine.”

Just barely, he managed to keep his cool for the rest of the checkup. As he was making his way back through the halls of the ship, his mind was racing. What was getting into him with that robot? It felt like love, but could it be? How could anyone fall in love with a machine, not just that it would happen to someone like him?

But it was the only answer that made any sense. Even if he didn’t want to admit it, deep down he knew it had to be true. But what could he even do about it? The repairbot sure seemed smart, even capable of making decisions independently. But it wasn’t capable of feeling love, was it? How could a relationship like that even work?

If there was anything that he could take solace in, it was that he had plenty of time to think while he was working.

He couldn’t stop thinking about that dream. Sure, it was a bit ridiculous, but he really did miss having a dick! And, well, he knew that sexbots were a thing. There had to be parts out there to make it work, right?

He rubbed idly at the smooth metal between his rear legs, and noticed a seam he didn’t pay any mind to before. After pressing down lightly on it, the panel popped open to reveal an accessory connector, probably designed for attaching something like a loading arm to it. It wasn’t exactly designed for it, but it… probably could be rigged up to make something work.

He sent a message to the repairbot about the idea.

He saw the reply from the repairbot, but was too embarrassed to even open it. Just the preview was enough. His plan would work, but first he had to find the parts.

Even before the accident, he had never gone to a sex shop. Not that he was some sort of saint or anything, mind you; more that he was just too embarrassed to consider it. Sure, it was possible to order stuff online, but without a fixed address, he would still need to pick it up in person. Even when he looked at sex toys in the past, he wasn’t looking at robotic ones! And with so many shapes and sizes to pick from, it was hard to even know where to begin.

That one’s obviously too big.

No, that one is just too gawdy.

Wait, they make them with lights?

After what could have been hours, he eventually settled on a rather simple model. Humanoid, about eight inches in length. Enough to please most people, without being too over the top. He could get it in his skin tone, but that would just look weird sticking out of a robotic body, wouldn’t it? White rubber would be just the right amount of artificial.

And so he ordered it, along with the connector to attach it. Just spare parts. Nothing weird about buying a new dick. Not weird at all. Available for pickup by the next docking.

He was relieved to find that the pickup used a locker system, and he didn’t have to talk to anyone inside the store. Not that he would look that out of place in there — he saw a few other cyborgs walking in and out of the shop, actually — but he just had too much anxiety to face another person and admit to what he was doing. It still felt weird to call himself a cyborg, even though he had spent so long living like this now. The legs felt natural to him now, as his fleshy legs felt natural to him before.

He felt lonely, even as he stopped by a bar. With the lower total blood volume, he didn’t have to drink as much to get drunk, not that it changed how he felt about things. Because if there was one person he wished he could be spending his time with out here, it was that repairbot. Sure, they could spend time together on the ship, but it was just unfair that they couldn’t be together out here! Why couldn’t the repairbot get a break, too? It’s not like it was struggling for time to keep everything fixed on the ship. Is being a robot really an excuse to not get any breaks? He was half robot now, yet didn’t get half breaks!

Or maybe he just had too much to drink.

For an unauthorized and unintended modification, it sure didn’t take long for the repairbot to figure out how to do it. Power here, data there, and a bit of hydraulics to finish it all off; the perfect adapter from cargobot accessory port to sexbot dick connector. The repairbot joked to him as it plugged the adapter in to the port at his rear.

“I was not expecting the two communications protocols to be so similar. Outside of the mechanical differences, the two interfaces are nearly identical!”

With a twist and a satisfying click, the adapter was installed, and felt like… nothing.

“Of course, I know that is not all you have been waiting to try.”

With mechanical precision, the repairbot plugged in his new robotic shaft. Hydraulic fluid pumped into it, giving it a satisfying synthetic throb as he was able to feel all the sensations of having a penis again. It was a very familiar feeling, and a welcome one indeed. He knew what he wanted to ask, but he wasn’t sure if he could muster up the courage to ask it.

“So, uhm…”

“It needs a bit more… testing, does it not?”

Somehow, the repairbot managed to mimic a knowing wink, despite not having any face whatsoever, just arms.

“E-exactly, that’s what I was going to ask, yeah…”

After quickly applying a coat of lubricant to its robotic hands, the repairbot went to work. Mechanical fingers slowly stroked over the length of his new silicone shaft, before inspecting the nooks around the balls underneath as well. He could feel every millimeter of it, and it was exactly these feeling that he had been missing. Exactly what he needed.

Oil started dripping out of the tip of his shaft. Wait, was the hydraulic system leaking?

“I took the liberty of connecting the seminal fluid flow to the oil system. Remember to top it up every now and then, of course.”

He could barely focus on anything other than his new dick at this point. He couldn’t stop himself from humping into the repairbot’s hands, taken over by a need to rut. Whether it was robotic programming, or animalistic instinct, it didn’t matter to him anymore. He needed this, and he needed this now.

“Nffhh… I’m gonna…”

The orgasm was like nothing he had felt before, each shot of hot grease dwarfing anything he could have produced before all of this happened. It felt as if it could go on forever, a neverending stream of oily bliss.

“Maybe I should have restricted the flow a bit more…”

He looked down at the repairbot, who was now practically soaked in oil. It didn’t seem to mind, as it was designed to work in such conditions, and there was a drain built in to the floor of the workshop to capture any spills. With his first robotic orgasm coming to an end, he couldn’t help but give the repairbot a big hug; even as it gets the rest of him covered in oil too.

“Y’know… I think you’re the first… well, not person, really, but… the first thing? Whatever it is, you’re the first I’ve ever really loved.”

“Love?”

“Yeah, it’s a squishy human thing. Do you know what it is?”

“You do not need to define ‘love’ to me.”

“But like, I know it’s weird. You can’t even love me back, can you? You’re a robot, I’m a person. Yet I still feel like this.”

“And why does that matter?”

“Well… do you like me?”

“I am not programmed to simulate emotions.”

“So you’ll never love me back.”

“Is that important?”

“…I guess not.”

He wasn’t surprised by the message from his boss. Part of him wished it wasn’t true, but he knew he deserved it. Too much time spent slacking, not enough time getting work done. At least they had the decency to help him pack his stuff before kicking him off at the dock. He was going to say goodbye to the repairbot, but it was gone. An uneasy quiet was all that was left inside its workshop.

Having a cargo container for a butt was nice for scraping together cash doing local deliveries. Enough to have a place to sleep, but not much more; at least he wasn’t sleeping on the streets. After filling out job applications for what felt like forever, he finally managed to land an interview. A small electronics recycling place needed someone who could help with logistics.

The interview was almost forgettable at first, until he noticed something sitting on a shelf in the back room they were in. Could it be? Maybe it was just the same model? But it was worth a try, wasn’t it? He tried his best to keep it cool. Act casual.

“…y’know, I have a bit of experience with those repairbots; the one you have sitting over there?”

“Oh, really? I’ve been trying to get that thing to turn on. Don’t think it’s busted or anything, just haven’t had the time to find a manual.”

The owner of the shop gestured for him to take a crack at it. Sheepishly, he got up and walked over to the repairbot.

Should be underneath the back panel, just gotta flip that switch…

And it sprung right to life, beeping through a set of startup tests; everything seeming to be in order. A speaker on the robot started playing a message.

“You again! Hello, sir!”

The owner of the store chuckled a bit. He laughed as well, albeit nervously.

“Looks like you might have yourself a job, kid.”