CH 10 — Saffron
As a sanitation worker from a major city, Saffron had so little time to itself in the outside world. All those old fears of humans being replaced with machines were all for naught; not out of concern for worker’s rights, though the union had a big hand in this. No, the lack of takeover came from a much simpler source: greed and refusal to invest in expensive tech. Robots required supervision and maintenance, and why shell of billions, when you could grind your human workers to shreds?
The union also secured pay raises, still cheaper than big tech and specialized mechanics. Not that they could avoid robots altogether; they just got low cost versions that made the day go by faster. Saffron had hoped for shorter workdays, but got an extended lunch instead.
Its weekends were spent in the VR world, or offline hobbies and Sunday gatherings with its family. They were big church folk (”God is good!” “All the time!”), but not Saffron. Religion never made sense to it, much to the chagrin of its grandmother. She always demanded to see it lined in the pews, dressed in rarely touched formal wear, a Bible clutched tightly in its hands.
