“It doesn’t worry you that I have access to the robots’ datastreams?”

The repair unit looked back at me, the glowing rings mimicking pupils burning. “Why should it worry me?” the device said. “You’re not learning anything that hundreds of people haven’t already, from the average consumer like you to the highest echelons of corporate boardrooms. If you want to see how the sausage is made, you go right ahead.”

“But aren’t you worried that I might…you know…spill the beans?” I replied. “It could shake consumer confidence.”

“It’s not like there are any competitors to Centralia Automated Systems or its wholly owned subsidiaries,” the repair bot said. “Besides, it would be a violation of your lease agreement with Centralia Real Estate Holdings LLC GmbH d.b.a. The Friendly Mortgage Company.”

“What?”

“Oh yes. Mention any of this in a context that is accessible to scraping bots from GaggleAI (a Centralia™ company) and you’ll be in hot water. First offense is a warning, second offense is eviction.”

“But talking about it is fine?”

“Hey, it’s a free country,” the repair bot said. It closed the side of the Mop-O-Matic and tilted it back upright. “I’ve found your problem, too. Looks like this unit’s reservoir was filled with floor buffing fluid. It’ll need to have its system flushed and a pump replaced.”

“Can you do that here?”

“Naw, that’s a factory refurbishment. Your floors might be dirty for a few days, but it’ll be be back soon enough.” The repair bot made some adjustments, disabling the cleaning systems while leaving the drive units intact, and the Mop-O-Matic meekly followed it out to the waiting repair van.

“I hope you’re happy,” I said, looking across the courtyard to the opposite landing, where the Buff-O-Bot was visible.

“VERY.”

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