Page 17 of The Planetary Systems Preservation Committee Decided We Needed a Nanny

No more billionaires.

Woot.

Lora appears in front of me, and I crane my neck to smile up at him. “Hello, tiny Ollie.”

I wave at my outfit. “What do you think? Still adorable?”

He crouches in front of me and reaches out to finger the robe. “Still adorable.” He confirms. “This is quite soft, and you like very soft things.”

Never one to pass up such a stellar opening, I reply, “So do you.” I give him a wink, and grab my belly, jiggling it at him.

I’m what you might call furry if you like body hair on men, and hairy if you weren’t that into it. Not blanketed in body hair, but it isn’t exactly sparse either. Lora seems to find the fur on me appealing, because any time he has the opportunity, he caresses me, and he doesn’t disappoint this time, either.

“I do enjoy some soft things,” he agrees, splaying his hand over my belly and giving it a gentle squeeze before rubbing my tummy.

Although the balcony isn’t always busy, it is the time of day that usually sees more activity, and a passerby stops in her tracks, staring at Lora in shock as he runs his hand up my chest to my neck. It would be such a pleasant sensation without the gawker.

“Girl, they’ve been on Earth for a month, and this one visits me all the time. Get over it,” I sass, pushing up and letting Lora lift me out of my chair.

I grab his hand and drape it over my shoulder, backing up to lean against him. I look ridiculous, but with Lora backing me up, I really don’t care how I look.

“Greetings, Amberlee,” Lora states more formally than I think I’ve ever heard him. “Was your contribution today fulfilling?”

Amberlee’s eyes widen, and she slowly nods. “Uh, yeah. It was great. Thanks.”

“Lovely,” I tell her. “Nice to meet you Amberlee, but I’ve got a date with destiny, so see ya,” I announce and pull Lora into my apartment.

Lora follows willingly since there’s no way I could move him if he didn’t want to be moved, and once the door is closed, he crouches down to my height (ish) and cocks his head at me, rattling thoughtfully. “You do not like other humans.”

I wrinkle my nose. “I’ve not been all that impressed by them, no. I prefer a select few and the rest can fuck right off.”

His smile makes my heart flutter a little. I really fucking like him. “I have considered what contribution you might find fulfilling. Doctor Randy made a suggestion that I agree may suit you.”

Ooooh. I’ve been waiting for this. I thought I would be amongst the first humans assigned to a job, but Lora told me that I was lower on the list than that. “What is it?”

My expertise is in nerd shit. I spent my twenties in tech startups doing hardware engineering, and then my early thirties was in software engineering, and we all know what I’ve been doing lately. Tech support is a step down but way less stressful than creating the tech that needs support.

Lora’s rattle becomes pensive before he admits, “I believe humans would call the job ‘janitorial staff.’”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“Janitorial staff.” It’s not a question so much as a confused statement. I don’t think there’s a universe in which I could have expected that. “You know I’m an expert in human technology shit, right?”

Lora rattles positively.

Before he can do much more than that, I add, “Why did you need to consult Dr. Randy, and why did he think I would want to clean?” I wave my hand around my apartment, which is clean, but the important thing is the robotic vacuum, and I point directly at Jefferson. “If I had a robot for every chore, I would never clean.”

Lora smiles, and immediately my heart flutters and anticipation grows in my chest. “Dr. Randy pointed out the opportunity for solitude in your work without isolation from meaningful contribution. Let me educate you. I believe I chose the right job for you.”

I mean, I have been curious about what it’s like to be reeducated after Bee’s experience, and at least this way I won’t have any meaningful objections to being a janitor. “Alright, Lora. Hit me with it.”

Lora pulls out his tool, which looks tiny in his hand, but if I grabbed it, it’d be huge for me. Maybe the size of a hand held drill—the heavy duty kind that you need to be strong just to pick up. He points the go-end at me and…

This feels like a VR sim except instead of getting vertigo because I can’t adjust to the view, it’s real enough to fool my eyes and brain. I’m standing in my living room, and I’m aware of myself out there, but I’m also standing in a blank white room with nothing but a console in front of me.

“It’s curious that almost all of the humans residing on this continent choose a white room like this for their virtual setting.” Lora’s voice doesn’t startle me at all. In fact, I seem to be experiencing this whole simulation without my emotional feedback. Normally his voice gives me a little bit of a thrill. Not this time.

“Why do I feel disconnected from my emotions?” I question, having a vague sort of mental but not emotional worry about not feeling my feelings.