My cat arches her back to stretch; I copy her And I trickle my fingers through her rivulets of fur

I think what I owe are my words on the page. Not Claudette's or any other AI. I owe Quinn my attention so that she doesn't get nails in her brain because I even appear to be favoring Claudette. I don't owe anyone else a damn thing.

This isn’t dating. It’s fieldwork. And I’m not just the subject—I’m the scientist.