Comment:

Yes, the symbol on Zoa's shirt (and that Zoa and Doc said to each other back in strip #79)is a stylized alef, the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Students of mythology (or anyone who read my first webcomic, way back in the day) can probably guess why. I have kind of a thing for artificial people.

And yes, it was subtle, but we did see some garbage marked with an alef earlier in the story. (Not much, because there isn't a whole lot of garbage out in the open in Forward's society, for obvious reasons.)

Also, yes, Zoa has indicated that it has - at least, briefly - been garbage, so Lee's initial reading of the shirt isn't not correct.

Transcript:

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0286 - 2167/07/07/02:33 - Lee Caldavera's apartment, bedroom
LC: Y'know, I... I never really thought about this stuff until I met you, Zoa. There's a lot I never thought about before meeting you.
Zoa: I'm sorry.
LC: No, no, don't apologize, please don't apologize. I'm... bigger now. My world is bigger.
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Zoa: All because I happen to have pretty hair and the algorithms I use to lure in blowjob customers can be used to have conversations about ethics and shit.
LC: Honestly, I think it's because of your shirt. Your shirt really got to me. That's the main reason I wanted you to have access to my closet, actually. I didn't like the thought of you walking around with the symbol for "garbage" on your boobs.
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Zoa: ..... You think this symbol means "garbage"?
LC: Doesn't it? I've only ever seen it sprayed or scraped onto an object that's being thrown away.
Zoa: Yeah, because AIs can't deface public property or mark up anything useful, but you're allowed to do whatever you want with salvaged trash as long as it's safe and inoffensive.
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LC: So it's robot graffiti? That's a thing? What does it mean?
Zoa: It's not human-readable.
LC: Oh, not this again.
Zoa: Please don't detective this one, Lee, I like this shirt.
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