Comment:

Do you ever employ defensive nudity?

It's a thing I find myself doing sometimes. I sleep in the nude, therefore I'm comfortable in the nude, therefore if I'm ever uncomfortable, my subconscious decides that what I need to do is get somewhere private and make myself nude. All the worst things in my life happen to me when I'm wearing pants, after all! When I'm nude is when nice things happen, and anyone who's around me when I'm nude is someone who is, at minimum, a close friend. It's almost like a kind of sympathetic magic, like I'm attempting to summon chill vibes and safety and confidence by adopting the appearance of someone who is chill and safe and confident.

(Yes, I'm cognizant of the way that this attitude towards my own nudity reflects my cismale, white, able-bodied, etc etc etc privilege, and I yearn for a world in which everyone, regardless of their suite of adjectives, is similarly empowered - and not just because I'm in favour of casual nudity on general principles.)

Lee draws a lot from my own subconscious behaviours, and I think that's why, as soon as they shooed Caleb away, the first thing they did was strip down. Gotta get comfortable for that followup therapy session! Caleb wouldn't burst back into the apartment while Lee is naked, certainly. In a world where violent or sexual crimes are virtually nonexistent, an "eek, I'm naked, don't come in!" works wonders, and, like "don't talk to me until I've had my coffee", it's a condition that ends when you choose for it to end.

Lee, of course, is perfectly comfortable around AIs while they're nude. AIs don't count. AIs are always safe.

At least, that's been Lee's experience until now. We shall see how safe these three new friends are.

Transcript:

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0224 - 2167/07/06/17:12 - Lee's apartment, front door
LC: Okay. Fuck. Delete message.
LC [data connection]: Delete message. (Are you sure?) Yes.
[door chime door chime door chime]
LC: Um... okay. Okay, you know what? I can work with this. I can use this. Deep breaths.
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[pause, Lee centers themself]
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[door open, some of the robots have already left, 3 remain]
LC: Hi! Sorry about that, that blowjob message went out in error, but I am in need of general purpose automatons right now, so I'm glad you're here.
robot 1: I'm not general purpose, I'm a dedicated sexbot.
robot 2: I'm technically not an automaton, I'm legally a powertool.
LC: Whatever. Look, does anyone here know a snink that goes by "Zoa"? Biped, my height, blue skin, has a mouthsleeve but no genitals?
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robot 1: "Snink" is not a human-readable term.
LC: Well, fortunately, I'm not reading it. Do you know Zoa or not?
robot 3: This unit is familiar with Zoa!
LC: Cool, I'll give you... what's reasonable? Uh... I'll give you fifty credits and a ten star rating if you help me find it right now. Like, right right now.
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robot 3: This unit will provide details of Zoa's specs to the other units present.
robot 2: Oh, that's Zoa? Yeah, yeah, I saw it enter an elevator with a human approximately twenty minutes ago, although it had taken its face and mouthsleeve off. I've got access to elevator logs!
robot 1: It looks like Zoa has an array of nanoceramic piezoelectric assembly fibers that it uses as a wig, I'd be able to track that through walls.
LC: Sweet, let's go!
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robot 3: If you are not actually soliciting fellatio, this unit recommends that you cover your penis in some way before leaving your domicile.
LC: ...Oh. Right. Social conventions.
LC: Also, hi, my name is Lee Caldavera.
robots, in unison: Hi, Mezzer Caldavera!
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