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

by Becky Chambers

going through a door was something Dex gave no more thought to than putting one foot in front of the other. But there was a gravity to leaving a place for good, a deep sense of seismic change.

Find the strength to do both.

In those hours, they frequently asked themself what it was they were doing. They never truly felt like they got a handle on that. They kept doing it all the same.

you just an animal, Sibling Dex.” It turned its gaze to the road, head held high. “We don’t have to fall into the same category to be of equal value.”

“And machines only work because of numbers and logic.” “That’s how we function, not how we perceive.” The robot thought hard about this. “Have you ever watched ants?”

“So, you see me as more person than object, even though that’s very, very wrong, but you can’t see me as a friend, even though I’d like to be?”

What if i killed myself

But if you don’t want to infringe upon my agency, let me have agency.

“Every living thing causes damage to others, Sibling Dex. You’d all starve otherwise. Have you ever watched a bull elk mow its way through a bitebulb thicket?”

desirable?” “Because nothing else in the world behaves that way. Everything else breaks down and is made into other things.

Dex put their hands in their pockets. “Are you afraid of that?” they asked. “Of death?” “Of course,” Mosscap said. “All conscious things are. Why else do snakes bite? Why do birds fly away? But that’s part of the lesson too, I think. It’s very odd, isn’t it? The thing every being fears most is the only thing that’s for certain? It seems almost cruel, to have that so…”

“So, we’re smarter than our remnants, is what you’re saying.” Mosscap gave a slow nod. “If we choose to be.”

think there’s something beautiful about being lucky enough to witness a thing on its way out.”

“Then how,” Dex said, “how does the idea of maybe being meaningless sit well with you?” Mosscap considered. “Because I know that no matter what, I’m wonderful,” it said. There was nothing arrogant about the statement, nothing flippant or brash. It was merely an acknowledgment,