I watch them stop to look at a rack of pants. They are all a dull gray, but with a few words to a ragged SalesBot, the gray pair Kara likes becomes a deep blood red. Even here in a poorer district I guess color-chip-enhanced fabric is commonplace. Jenna purchases a small shirt for Kayla and a bagful of spiced almonds from a nearby vendor. Soon everyone seems to be spreading out. I see Miesha step over to a booth with outdoor survival gear, and Allys looks at garden tools at the next booth. Before everyone is too spread out, I offer to sit on a nearby bench with their packages and act as home base like I used to. Dot insists on sitting with me. Watching things is just as fascinating to her as buying things. Even though she's from this world and I'm not, this perspective is as new for her as it is for me.

"I wonder what it smells like," Dot says, pointing to a smoking grill with long slabs of meat cooking on it.

I remember the foul algae ponds that didn't faze her. She seems so human, at least from the waist up, her Botness sometimes still surprises me.

"That's right," I say. "I forgot that you can't smell."

"I have sensors that can detect noxious fumes that might impact customers, but smell is not considered a necessary add-on for my line of work. Does it smell good?"

How would she know what is good? How would she know the difference between my brother's armpits or a hot apple pie if she could smell? I breathe in deeply for her benefit and nod. "Yes, Dot. Very good. It smells like burning wood and toasted spices, and I can almost taste the grilled meat in my mouth." And then I realize she can't taste either. She sees and she hears and that's it. I reach out and grab her hand, and I trace her name in her palm. "Can you feel that, Dot?"

"Feel what?"

I place her hand back in her lap. They gave her only what was necessary for her job, and she doesn't even have that anymore. Thanks to me. I may have gotten her some makeshift legs to get her around, but I can't do anything about everything else she's missing.

"You are troubled, Customer Locke. Is this not your preferred destination? I'm sorry, I'm only a passenger now, and I cannot alter our--"

"No, Dot, that's not it. This stupid destination is just as good as any other place right now. I was just thinking about how I wish I could give you more than those substitute legs. I know you could have gotten points if you had turned us in."

Her shoulders pull back and her brows rise. "Customer Locke, I may not have everything you do, but I have more than you think and much more than I ever dreamed of. I told you, Bots dream. At least some of us do. Whether we are supposed to or not, whether it was ever planned or not, we dream. Some of us think beyond our cabs, we imagine where our customers go and what things they see. When they jump into our cabs, we imagine where they have been, and how it has changed them. Their worlds become our secret worlds, and sometimes we share those places with others like us and sometimes we even dare to dream that those worlds could be ours one day. We don't know if that could ever be true for us, but we hear stories. And now ... I am one of those stories. Escape is not about moving from one place to another. It's about becoming more.

"I know I could still be found by Star Security. Remote Deactivation could sizzle my circuitry in a blink, but every single minute of this past week would still be worth it." She looks down at her palm where I traced her name and runs a finger over the place I touched. "Even though I may not walk, or taste, or feel, or even think exactly like the Eaters and Breathers, I use what I have more than any of them can even imagine. So." She looks back at the meat grilling, takes a deep breath, and then pats the sides of her assistance chair. "You never need to worry about me! Customer Locke, I thank you for allowing me to be part of your Escape."

I stare at her. She's light-years from the Bot in the diner and even more light-years from the CabBot who was going to trade me for points. Did those Bots ever dream of escape? Did they dream at all? Maybe something changes inside when a Bot dreams. Maybe that's how they become something more.

"You're right, Dot. I don't think I need to worry about you."

"Worry about what?" Jenna says, surprising both of us from behind.

"Not a thing," I say, and Dot grins. I turn and look over my shoulder at Jenna. "What are you doing back?"

"Kayla went with Allys to look at some bird feeders, and Kara's still looking for a shirt that's more her style. I'm done. I'm not much of a shopper anymore."

"Where did Miesha go?" Dot asks.

"I'm not sure. The last time I saw her, she was walking over that way."

"I'll find her," Dot says, and she takes off in the direction that Jenna pointed, the treads of her assistance chair crunching over the dirt.

Jenna sits down next to me. "Looks like those two have become quite attached to each other this past week."

"Yeah, it's a surprise to me. They sure didn't start out that way. Almost as much of a surprise as you agreeing to go shopping. Where in the world did that come from?"

Jenna shakes her head. "I honestly don't know. Maybe I was just overwhelmed with too much too fast. I've had a lot to wrap my head around in such a short time. I guess, when she said shopping, it seemed like an out. A place to get away and think, or not think, depending on how you look at it. I'm still trying to sort it all out." She turns to look at me. "She really wanted to come. I couldn't say no, and I couldn't say no to you either. You wanted me to give her a chance, so I am. Her face, it still-- But she talks and moves and seems just like the Kara I knew--"