Christa ties the knot with great attention to detail. Every knot will be tied with purpose and care. The tedious work is an art, no knot will be perfect but she can get pretty close. She finishes the knot and delicately places it in the bin next to her. It's the first one of the day and although it's a little too tight, she smiles at the prideful knot. Two more pieces of twine fall onto her tablespace from the shoot on the ceiling.

  Her workmate, Jake, already had two knots done in his bin. He’s directly across from her and the only other person in the room. His knots are frayed and uneven. One is twice the size of the other. It’s honestly amateurish. The AI quality control technician wouldn’t care, so neither would Christa. She doesn’t care. Still, she stares at his knots, her face getting hot. The two of them have different work styles. That's all. Her way was the right way, and his way was sloppy and pathetic. She wasn’t going to say anything though.

  In the tiny, padded room it's hard not to see him throw the third knot in. It’s larger than the other two combined. She says something.

  “Your knots are looking pretty ugly today. Are you doing okay? Just wanted to make sure you took all your assigned meds,” she tries to make it not sound condescending.

  He raises an eyebrow, “Your single one is looking a little lonely, how about yourself?”

  She huffs. Infuriating. Jake is a weasel. No, a rat trapped inside of a human body. Never appreciating a good job done. His hand scratches his slight beer belly. Okay… maybe a koala? Those are lazy, right? Whatever. Christa starts on her next knot.

  Jake looks back up at her, pouting his lips. He slicked his greasy, graying hair back before talking. “I’m so bored already. Today is dragging by,” pausing he sighs, “have you checked out any new VR simulators recently?”

  Her face cools. She’s not mad at him, not really. She would get mad at anyone in such a small room, “No, I'm still saving up for that Retail Worker one, I told you about a couple weeks ago. The reviews say you can feel the items you stock on the shelves.”

  His wrinkled eyes widen slightly, “Dang, that’s impressive. I keep telling myself I need to check out some of those new ones. Did you see the new Siene 1476 drama? It's the one about the 140 year old retired soldier AI who falls in love with a 22 year old janitor AI.”

  “No. I don't really watch dramas, I can’t seem to get into the characters or story. It's all so fake.” Her second knot is already halfway done.

  “Well, it's absolutely scandalous. You have to watch it,” He’s always had a flair for the dramatic.

  “Maybe I will, once I’m done with my docuseries. That’s more my speed anyways. I’m watching one right now that’s about my hometown.” Unlike most people who group up in various megacities, Christa was from the small town of Smythe. The small, homely town had a meager population of three hundred thousand and nothing of note had ever happened there. She wasn’t going to mention that though. Her late uncle loved that town, and it would tarnish his memory to say a single bad thing about it.

  “That’s cool, what's it about? Like the city in general or something else?” He inquires.

  “Yeah, something like that. It's been pretty fascinating so far.”

  The show was about a local species of bird that went extinct a few hundred years ago, and was undeniably boring.

  Uncle Phil always thought that humans should have the right to create and perform art. It was one of the many radical things about him. He was executed after being caught with black market human made movie files. Though when she was initially questioned, she denied all association, the reality was she enjoyed watching the illegal movies with her uncle. Now years later, she couldn’t remember a single human made movie she had watched.

  She glances at her companion. Jake's eyes are spaced out, his smart glasses show three different feeds he’s rapidly scrolling through. Probably his favorite social media sites. Christa bites her lip before asking, “Have you ever watched anything created by actual humans? Like a movie, or a show, or maybe even a song?”

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  “No, of course not. AI is so much better at creating entertaining ideas and solving problems, why would a human ever even try?” He either hadn’t put much thought into that answer, or he was excellent at multitasking, because he didn't hesitate for a second on his social media browsing.

  She finishes tying the knot and starts on the next one. “I don't know, it feels like maybe we should be working on stuff like that while AI does the boring stuff like this.”

  Jake snorts, “You're too much girl, I don’t even know what to say.”

  Sighing she stops tying the knot and starts browsing on her glasses for something to watch in the background. Some battles aren’t worth fighting. Their earbuds vibrate in unison as an alarm blares. Their mandatory break time is about to start. A smile breaks onto Christa’s face. Perfect timing, when break time is over she’ll come back more rejuvenated than ever.

  Seeing her smile, Jake can’t help but chuckle, “So you won’t give my drama a chance but at the sound of a break you’re all giddy.”

  She side eyes him with a guilty look. The cell door clicks, and the bars rise up. Both of them hastily walk out into the gray hallway. Hundreds of other workers pour out of their own respective cells, most laughing and talking. Just a few older outliers are upset. All of them walk down towards the courtyard. Christa and Jake follow the flow of people, sticking close together.

  Like most of the others, they get in line for food on the way. The process is fast and efficient, she places her wrist on a scanner, it scans the barcode embedded in her skin, and a nozzle dispenses a delicious nutrition cube. She bites into the juicy green cube, fireworks of dopamine and serotonin shoot off in her head (These cubes taste so much better than what Uncle Phil would buy her).

  At the large archway leading out towards the courtyard stood two robots. They were black painted steel with four wide legs at each corner. Their heads were rectangular, with three glowing red ocular lenses for eyes. The one on the left chitters nonstop in AI Lingo to the one on the right. While the left one speaks, the one on the right buzzes with laughter.

  “Oooh I’m about to earn some brownie points, I’ve been practicing my AI talk. Watch this,” Jake pushes ahead of her through the crowd of people until he is a couple feet in front of the guards.

  He jokingly says something to them. She can’t hear exactly what he says but the two guards immediately stop chatting. They stare at him in silence, contemplating. Weighing his judgment. What an idiot. Jake stands there waiting expectantly. The two guards glance at him and then at each other. Christa breathes heavily. After several seconds pass, the two robots burst out laughing. The one on the left extends a small metal rod and pats Jake’s back gently before gesturing for the door.

  He looks at Christa with a broad grin and a smug expression. She silently reminds herself to not underestimate him as much.

  She smiles, the churning in her stomach fading away, “Jake, you’re an absolute nutter. What did you even say?”

  His eyes glint with triumph, “Trade secret.”

  Most wouldn’t even dream of confronting a guard model, “I bet they’ll remember me next time a Culling happens.”

  At that Christa rolls her eyes. They weren’t due for a Culling for about a hundred and fifty more years.

  The courtyard is packed. People trample the yellowed grass under an awning of gray smog. They push and shove each other to get closer to the raised platform, fighting for a better view. Jake and Christa are so far in the back they don’t even try. Large TV monitors line the outskirts, where the two try and settle comfortably. Cameras mounted around the chopping block display it from multiple angles. She coughs at the smoggy air, the shelter created by AI protected her lungs from the harsh air, but outside there was nothing regulating air quality.

  The man lying on the chopping block wore dirty rags, and his greasy red hair dangled down to the ground. His bruised face rapidly searches the crowd, desperate bloodshot eyes looking for help anywhere. Help won’t come for scum. The robotic executioner slowly lists off the crimes of the person in AI Lingo. Christa doesn’t know enough to make any sense of what was said, but Jake’s face scrunches up.

  Her head darts back and forth between the monitor and Jake, “What’s he saying? Quit keeping me in suspense.” Times like this she wished she knew multiple languages.

  His eyes are glued to the screen, “He graffitied one of the guard bots and assaulted a cashier bot.”

  She grimaces, “Who would deface a guard? Some people are plain evil.”

  The robot finishes its speech and approaches the man. Its ax is raised high. Jake screams out, “Kill him already!”

  The head falls and rolls down the platform. The crowd cheers. Sirens blare indicating break time is over, and the two go back to work laughing.