Yarnkettle

“So, you have a relationship with this transport.”
I was horrified. Humans are disgusting. “No!”
Ratthi made a little exasperated noise. “I didn’t mean a sexual relationship.”
Amena’s brow furrowed in confusion and curiosity. “Is that possible?”
“No!” I told her.
Ratthi persisted, “You have a friendship.”
I settled back in the corner and hugged my jacket. “No. Not—No.”
“Not anymore?” Ratthi asked pointedly.
“No,” I said very firmly. ART had stopped pinging me but I knew it was listening. It’s like having a malign impersonal intelligence that is incapable of minding its own business reading over your shoulder.”
― Martha Wells, Network Effect

“There’s no practical difference in the mind of the slighted between a real slight and a perceived slight.”
― T.E. Kinsey, Rotten to the Core

“Have some gaps. Being on your own is brilliant and good for you. Let the dust settle after a relationship has ended. Allow yourself to blossom.”
― Sarah Millican, How to be Champion: My Autobiography

“I had a stab wound so large you could see the metal of my interior structure, but Senior Indah was too polite to mention it. The medical bot extended a delicate sensor limb toward me. On the feed I told it anything that touched me would get torn off and thrown across the room. It pulled the limb back and used it to check Hostile Two instead.”
― Martha Wells, Network Effect