A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot, #1)

by Becky Chambers

Sometimes, a person reaches a point in their life when it becomes absolutely essential to get the fuck out of the city.

“Well, can’t you … I don’t know, run programs in the background, or something?” Mosscap’s eyes adjusted their focus. “You understand how resource-heavy consciousness is, yes? No, I can’t do that any more than you can. But we’re getting off track. To the point—I was sent here to answer the following question: What do humans need?” Dex blinked. “That’s a question with a million answers.” “No doubt. And I obviously cannot ascertain any of those answers by talking to one individual alone.”

“So, the paradox is that the ecosystem as a whole needs its participants to act with restraint in order to avoid collapse, but the participants themselves have no inbuilt mechanism to encourage such behavior.”

“I don’t know,” it said. Dex sighed. “I don’t expect you to know; I’m just … talking.”