Sudden Short Story 37

"You never used to strike me as a big meatspacer, you know that?" asked the first.
"Between the two of us, I think that you're the less surprised one," said the second, with a relaxed nod to the side.
They paused for a moment.
"Are you still on that love kick?"
"always am, always will be"
"They're doing new things with sex bots these days, you know."  This comment received a raised eyebrow.  "You know what I mean.  They walk and talk - they've got the language down pat - and there's even an option to have them run on food, if plugging them in turns you off.  You can even get one that's a bit of a puzzle, you know."
"Oh, now you're just trying to appeal to my love of puzzles.  What do you mean by 'puzzle,' anyway?"
"Well, they're not just automatically pleased by whatever you do, and you have to figure out which one makes yours happy, just like if she were human."
The second sipped his tea for a bit, then set it down.  "I think that you're losing touch with reality.  It's not a matter of finding what pleases one or what makes one happy."
"Well, you can get them straight, of course, but I thought that a man of your tastes would want it.  Somehow, anything short of flesh and blood isn't good enough for you."
"It's not that.  You've forgotten something very basic."
This time, the first was at his tea, and finished it off.  "And what's that?"
"Nothing pleases them.  They have sensors, sure, but you're not really doing anything for them."  He finished his tea and then sat back, looking to the trees.  "What do you think?  I chose New England for this time of year because of the leaves."
"I guess that they're nice, but I should be getting back.  You're not the only one with anachronisms, you know?  My guildies and I have a raid soon."
"What, WoW?  That does take me back.  What's the level cap these days, 120?"
"135," said the first, as he stood and turned to leave.
"Feel free to say hi to your Waifu™ for me, if it helps."