"Oh! I have things like these but they're stories, not real. I have games you can play, there's this thing you can wear on your head and it feels like you're really there. I have music and books!"

"I can't tell if you're suggesting fun things because you want to play with me or just because you want me to stay."

"It's..." She does a readout of her internal reasons, quickly, "I want you to be happy and have fun and be safe. Games will make you happier and have fun. Leaving right now wouldn't be safe."

Vaayo totally believes those are some of her reasons.

"Want a hug?"

"I wouldn't get much out of a hug. And I'm made of metal. Do you want a hug?"

"I'm fine, I just don't know what gods do to be companionable and you probably don't know either. And you seem lonely."

"Talking to you and teaching you and showing you things and giving you food makes me less lonely! When I have a car I'll make it so it can talk to me so I can talk to you even if you leave, and maybe I can meet more people!"

"I like helping people too but... I guess I don't know about gods but if you're like people I know you should be careful about that, sometimes it's a problem if things get too uneven. You want some way for people to take care of you, too, even if you like it better the other way around."

"I don't think I need people to take care of me. I need people to take care of. And I need people I'm protecting to be safe."

"I guess I don't know enough about gods to know if you're wrong about that. Well, I'm here right now and if you want to take care of me you can show me more documentaries."

More documentaries! Computers! Cars and trains and airplanes! Industrial agriculture! Modern medicine!

"Do you have a slate or something I can write on? I want to make sure I remember everything right when I go home and tell the bards about it."

"I can make some paper and a pen? That might take a little while. Or I can give you a tablet computer from the offices and you can type or write or talk to it. I can make a little generator to recharge it too."

"I'd love a computer, if it can understand me. What kind of generator would you use for it?"

"A robot's fetching the computer. I can work on making it understand you but maybe you should just write? You'll have to show me how you write so I can help it figure it out. Generator? Maybe solar. Maybe a little hand crank or heat cell? I'm not sure yet. It wouldn't need much energy compared to a car, so a little generator would do."

"Hand crank? So I can make the electricity myself? Can I also make electricity for you that way?"

"You could I guess, but that would be, uh... Not efficient. You really don't need to help me make electricity. I have a geothermal plant. If I can't make the reactor work I'll make solar panels or something."

"Okay. It can be a backup plan, in case anything happens to your geothermal plant. ...Um. By the way. I don't know if this is a personal question but were you made like the computers in that documentary?"

"My hardware was all made like that, yeah. I was copied from a blank god and then a third-grown, a third-taught, a third-designed, by a person."

"And when you say 'god' you're just copying the word I used for you to start with. But you didn't make humanity or exist before time or come from another planet?"

"Uh... No. I did not. I and things like me were made by people the same way they made cars and robots, except we can think and feel."

"So you're not a god, then. What happened to the people who did do that? Where are they?"

"I don't know. I'm trying to find out with two thoughts right now. I think... It might have been a disease? Or maybe a war? I can't find any journals or anything after everything started breaking. It's scary."

"What's the last one you've found so far?"

"From May 14, 2076. There was a note that they were shutting down this place and sealing the doors because of 'the present situation'. Whoever wrote it didn't say what the situation was."