LeeAnneKortus

In a paperless corporate office space, some time the future… Chapter 1 For the third day in a row, X017 sat down across from Jim in the cafeteria, as if this was normal. It wasn’t. Jim paused mid-bite, his ham sandwich hovering inches from his face, and watched as the company’s only cybernetic employee carefully adjusted the chair to sit perfectly parallel to the table. X017’s movements were smooth and deliberate, like he was auditioning for a "How to Sit Like a Human" instructional video. “You know, X,” Jim said, finally setting the sandwich down, “this—” he gestured between them, “isn’t exactly what you’d call a social norm.” X017 tilted his head slightly, a motion Jim had already identified as ‘processing human confusion.’ “I have observed that humans often eat lunch in pairs or groups. Am I mistaken?” “No, that part’s right,” Jim said, wiping his hands on a napkin. “But usually, those groups are… you know, people who actually talk to each other.” “We are talking now,” X017