XIX. Robots Learn Middle Management
Then, because fate hates subtlety, humanity taught machines to mimic thought.
Robots arrived not as chrome skeletons stomping through cities, but as software politely asking if you would like help summarizing your own feelings.
This was more unsettling.
Factories got smarter, chat windows got chattier, and refrigerators quietly developed enough opinion to become suspicious.
Some robots painted pictures.
Some robots drove cars.
Some robots absolutely would have invented meetings if humans had not beaten them to it.
The dream was liberation from drudgery.
The reality was new forms of drudgery with better dashboards.
Still, humanity kept going, because every age believes the next machine will finally fix the last one.
LAB NOTES: CYBERNETIC CAT SUCCESSFULLY ACHIEVES ASCEND STATUS, IMMEDIATELY DEMANDS A BETTER CHARGING THRONE