"It's really important. It's selected for because people without it will live right near sewage and handle rotting things without washing their hands and stuff and die. Not that we'd let you do that but if that weren't what people without a pollution instinct would do by default then it wouldn't be selected for."

"I'm a plant," she repeats.

"Plants can still get sick. Maybe you have pollution instincts about things that get plants sick."

"There's things I can't eat."

"That makes sense."

"But I don't wanna kill people for not being food."

"People don't exactly want to kill reds because they're gross it's complicated. Reds kill people a lot."

"Why?"

"Cuz they're trying to make robots or something."

"Oh."

"It's like a couple gears locked together - people hate reds because you don't think about them at all except when they're bludgeoning scientists to death in their homes, and reds do that because people hate them and would get rid of them if there were robots, and then people who didn't mind reds don't like being scared of riots and murders..."

"But... if you'd get rid of them if there were robots..."

"Then of course they'll murder and riot a bunch, yeah. But people still don't like murderers even if they get why."

Nod.

Sigh.

Sigh.

Sigh.

Small children wake up from their nap and set trains off across the floor.

Okay trains are still fun and she doesn't know how to fix the other thing therefore trains.

Trains!

Kan comes to pick her up at the end of the day.

"Hi."

"Hi. Did you have a nice day?"

"Yeah..."

"Ready to go home?"