How they try to suppress smiles and appear concerned. There are points to be had for empathy. Peter scans every detail, the desperate way they try to hide their shabbiness; he can’t stand it any longer and heads off, he walks, his gaze on the ground, until he stumbles. A man has stopped in front of him. He’s looking at the entrance to a business,

The man,

At whom

DON

Is staring

Is Walter.

Walter has stopped in front of a bordello. An automated brothel that is called Game Paradise and as a result is also open to minors, it resembles a car wash for sperm. Futuristic you’d say if you had to say something. No corners, soft ochre-colored retro-chic plastic, but totally green, everything is green now, and sustainable, in hallucinogenic forms. Ecological hallucinoids. At reception: a robot hostess.

The man battles within,

He is Christian, after all—

WALTER

But—hey, come on, Lord God, dear Lord God—

Sex with robots is like masturbation. Not exactly divinely ordained, but acceptable somehow. There are no relevant passages from scripture to be found about it. And Walter needs to try something, needs to clear something up, he needs to know what the hell is going on of late—because it doesn’t work anymore, it won’t get hard.

Walter is a believer.

Woman shall be subject to man. Even if it is made of algorithms, circuits, and silicon. Walter studies the menu that the robot hostess hands him with a smile.

Women. And men. In all skin colors and hair colors. Many with cool extra functions: “Rape me!” for instance. Lots of minor models on offer, the youngest four months. Children. Man, they are sick. Walter won’t fuck a child, even if it’s only a machine. Right.

Cheapskates can consummate a money-saving deal if they let other visitors take part in their fun visually. Walter opts for an extremely submissive sixteen-year-old. He pays. He allows viewers. Booth number three. There are three hundred booths. Occupied booths have a red light over the door. Occupied booths where you can join in have an additional blue light. Walter looks to see what’s going on. In the first booth there’s a baby on its stomach, and a man is standing in front of it trying to get his penis hard.

The next booth. An old man lies in the arms of a very heavy Chinese woman and cries. In the next booth a man sits in the corner rocking back and forth. A sex robot lies on the floor, destroyed. Violence against sex robots is the most common type of assault. Even more common than acts of violence against the homeless. Sex robots simulate pain and fear almost perfectly. It will take a while yet before men are able to anticipate the costs of such assaults. Right now, though, Walter is not angry at all. Also, unfortunately, not hard, either. But that will come.