Shifting uncomfortably, Apollonia Nor looked around the cool, clinical room. Every surface was a spotless white, gray, or just bare metal.

She'd seen clean rooms like this before, mostly in cheap vids that didn't do them justice. This room was genuinely so clean she thought that every surface might squeak if she ran a finger along it.

The door opened with a whisper, and the robot walked into the room.

"Hello," Dr. Y said. Its voice was warm and friendly, but its body was a terror to her. Taller than any spacer human like herself, and even taller than the tallest Earthers, its body was lanky and thin. Its limbs were just simple tubes with simple coverings, possessing eleven stick-thin fingers on each hand. For eyes on its bullet-shaped head it had only two glowing white lights.

"Hello," she said cautiously.

"Your test results have come back, and I am pleased to tell you that you are in better health than I expected. You lack any worrying tumors or collections of cancerous cells and your gut microbiome is better than most from New Vitriol. I take it you were born elsewhere and emigrated?"

She was unsure how to respond to his summation of her health. "I was deported from Vitriol and New Vitriol was the only place I could go," she replied to his question.

"I am sorry to hear that, I imagine it was quite difficult," Y replied. "I would say that your health condition is not as optimal as I would like to see in a human of your age, but these are issues that we can improve. I would like to prescribe you some microbe supplements and treatments to prevent any future cancer risk."

A cabinet obligingly opened and a mechanical arm brought him a handful of small injectors.

"I don't know," she said. "I don't know what's in them."

"In them?" the machine repeated, its voice politely confused. "Ah, yes, you wish more information. I can download to your system a full ingredient list with summaries of all important data, if you wish."

"I, uh, don't have a 'system'," she replied. "I've got a tablet." She picked up the device and showed it to him.

"Oh my, how silly of me. I shall be sure you are provided with a proper system so that you can-"

"No, no," she cut the doctor off. "I can't have one. They don't work for me. I don't know why, but whenever I get the dermal implants - or even external temporary ones - they don't work for me. It's like they're defective." She mimed tapping her fingers. "I just have to do things manually."

The robot doctor was quiet for a long moment. "I see," it said. Its voice was still just as friendly. "Well, do not worry, I can still send you the information. You may peruse it at your leisure."

"Okay," she replied. She felt numb.

The doctor approached, and she pulled back.

"What are you doing? I just said no," she said, looking at the injectors in his hands.

"I still need to give you all mandatory vaccinations. This is for the safety of the crew as well as yourself. If you will hold still, it will only take a moment."

She wanted to refuse. She wondered if she'd be allowed to. A lot of the shows she'd seen had always portrayed the Sapient Union as borderline tyrannical when it came to giving people injections.

"And if I say no?" she asked.

"Why would you do that?" the doctor replied. It sounded like a genuine question.

"Because I don't want to get shots!" she replied.

"The odds of a negative reaction are approximately 273 million to one. And even in the case of negative reactions we are entirely capable of solving them with no further consequences."

"I still don't want them!" she snapped.

The doctor paused again. "I see. We are at something of an impasse here. You see, to be on this ship it is a requirement that everyone be vaccinated. When you agreed to come along, it was taken as an acceptance of these terms."

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"I didn't know that," she protested.

"I understand. I think we can both agree that this is unfortunate, yes Apollonia?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Just call me Nor."

"Very well, Ms. Nor." The robot sat down, steepling its many fingers.

"Can I go?" she asked.

"I'm sorry, we are not finished yet. This will likely be over soon, though."

She felt her suspicion rising. "And I'll be going to a cell?"

"Isolation cells are only for people who are quite sick. Do you feel sick?"

"No. I mean - I meant a prison cell. That's where I'll go if I don't get the shots, right?"

The doctor's head shifted slightly, a sharp, mechanical movement she found unnerving. "Not unless you commit a serious crime. I do not expect that you will do that."

"Not taking your shots isn't a crime?"

"A crime? No. It's simply a slightly challenging situation. There are other options, of course, but I would prefer we simply talk. You have your beliefs, which I would like to honor. However, I have a duty to attempt to convince you."

"I don't want to talk about this. I've made up my mind."

Being honest with herself, she did not know why she felt so strongly about the issue. Most people got vaccines on the old colony, though doctors were widely distrusted on New Vitriol, and she agreed with the sentiment. A lot of her objection likely came down to that - and this robot was the strangest doctor she'd ever met.

Everything about it so far seemed all right. But she knew there was another shoe waiting to drop. There always was.

"I'm going to strongly suggest that you at least humor me in a discussion. Speaking about it will not violate your beliefs, I imagine? So this is a simple concession."

"Fine," she muttered. "What do you want to say about it?"

"The sanctity of your person is a very important issue. It is one that I cannot personally say I understand." It gestured to the door - and it opened obliginlgy. A robot that looked identical to Dr. Y walked by, giving a polite wave.

"I am an artificial intelligence of the Ehni people. The name itself means nothing, you see, but we created it as a word that other species could use to identify us. We do not have need of names for ourselves as a species - or even as individuals, though we all have a 3,200 digit identification code that can be used if necessary."

"So you're really just a race of . . . robots?" she asked. "I thought you were just part of the ship or something."

"These bodies are machines for us to use to interact with the physical world. I am no more this machine than you are a forklift if you were operating one. And I am the only one of my kind on this ship. I can simply control more than one of these bodies at a time."

"So . . . that was you walking by?"

"Yes," Dr. Y said. "There are currently 149 bodies I am controlling - this is the legal limit imposed by the Sapient Union for concurrent units I am allowed to control at once under these circumstances."

She leaned forward, frowning. "They limit the number you can control? Why? How many could you control at once if you wanted to?"

"All good questions! This was a contentious issue when my people first began to contact others. But, they had good reasons for their concern, and we decided that to be cooperative and that attempting to understand their concerns was more valuable than attempting to enforce our own comfort upon everyone else. At the end of the day, it was a small concession to make as we do not often need to use more than one body. This is a rare time."

He shifted. "As for how many - I have never had the need to stress-test myself in this regard. 150 is . . . a comfortable number. Now, if I only wished to make them dance and sing, that would be easy. How many millions would you like to see?"

Despite herself, she laughed. The doctor just did not look the song and dance type.

Her smile faded, and a frown crossed her face. "So do your kind . . . die? Sorry, that's probably a rude question."

"It's all right. I do not like to contemplate my own end, though it is a certainty. Simple statistics, no matter how much I back myself up. But I will live a very long life. Likely I will outlive even most stars."

"Are you serious?"

"I am. I might be wrong, I have not yet proven it, after all. But that is why I care to make concessions to others in the name of friendliness. If I refuse, they may very well say 'the Ehni are too difficult, we should not spend the time and energy meeting their demands'. And while great spans of time could get lonely, they are even lonelier if we isolate ourselves. Wouldn't you agree?"

She felt a flush on her cheeks.

"Yeah," she replied. "I guess I do agree."

The doctor leaned forward - just a little. She realized she did not feel threatened by him anymore, and the move only seemed to emphasize his words.

"I will not force you - nor even consider forcing you - to have the innoculations. But I ask you to consider; what do I have to gain from lying to you? You will no longer trust me and I will have lost something that I value deeply. I will never again have a chance to know your uniqueness as an individual, and in the dark ages of the universe I will be left with regret rather than pleasant memories of friendship.

"Thus, I ask you, Nor, to consider your decision again - if you feel sick in even the slightest I will give my entire concentration to make you healthy again. And speaking from statistics, very strong statistics that quadrillions of beings have trusted with success, there is far less likelihood of harm from these shots than there is from the diseases they protect against. I would so much rather give you great odds of never being sick than to have to try to cure you once you already are suffering."

He held out a mechanical hand. "Do you wish to trust me, Nor?"

Apollonia swallowed through a dry throat.

It was hard not to listen to him.

"Okay," she said.