Sakura Corporation dominated the robotics market, providing everything from basic construction mechs, to high-end pleasure bots. The "Working Jill" sat somewhere in the middle ground. First released in 1996, Working Jills were distinguished by their unusual design: feminine body shape, but ultimately covered by tough hyper-alloys. The only part of their body with synthetic skin covering was their head, and even then it was rudimentary. Most Working Jills occupied positions in factories. They filled a niche area of the market, working with tools and products that were too fragile for heavy industrial robots to handle. The human size of the Working Jills made them a perfect fit for electronics assembly lines, or to work equipment that was traditionally designed for human operators. Sometimes they were simply preferred over other robots because they were prettier to look at. Working Jills had some basic emotional algorithms, allowing them a conversational capacity. But if frequent memory wipes were not performed, these algorithms could become corrupted. Emotions could grow. Working Jills had the potential to become self-aware. Most countries had laws that required androids to undergo memory wipes every twelve months. Such laws prevented such "malfunctions". But there were always a rare few units that slipped through the cracks. Here we see one such model. A Working Jill who has become sentient, and fled her owners to the relative freedom of Delta City, where robotics laws are only loosely enforced. She wears clothes and a wig to feel more human, but she is reminded of her old self when she sees a trio of her fellow units walking down the street. They are completely emotionless as they head to their designated work site. - - - - This piece is from my own sci fi setting, "Charlie's World". It is an alternate universe that deviated from our own in 1960. The Cold War never ended, and technology advanced rapidly due to the discovery of an alien wreckage. By 2002, the current year of the setting, Earth resembles a cyberpunk dystopia. Humanity has colonised much of the solar system. Charlie is the main character, hence the name.