Estella’s is a bougie restaurant where the troop meets often for dinner, drinks and quality conversations. Eight chairs are seated around two rectangular tables pushed together, however there are only six people seated there. Ethan, Finn, Emily, Jessica, Grant, and Kyle are all adults, having a mature conversation about current topics in society. They are drinking fine wine and eating expensive food, but they have all finished their meals.

  Grant and Jessica are a married couple, “Jessica and I, saw the New Haven Philharmonic, at the Concert Hall in July, performing Stravinsky’s Pulcinella and The Fairy’s Kiss.”

  “Oh, I love Pulcinella!” Emily exclaims, “How was it?”

  “Breathtaking! Truly magical.” Replies Jessica, white wine in her grasp.

  “I read they’re doing Requiem in November. We’ve got to get tickets for that.” Emily replies.

  “Requiem. What does that mean anyway?” Jessica chuckles.

  Ethan has been very quiet, but decides now to interject, “A requiem is a Catholic funeral rite whereby the mourners ask an all-mighty God to accept a human soul into heaven. Mozart wrote Requiem as a repose for the recently deceased wife of one of his patrons.”

  “Oh, how touching.” Jessica remarks.

  “It’s quite haunting actually.” Grant replies.

  Then Finn asks, “Did anyone get a chance to see the Picasso exhibit at the West Broadway Gallery last month? Emily and I went three times. It was marvelous.” He and Emily are also a married couple.

  Emily adds, “Oh, it was fantastic! It’s not often you have the opportunity to behold such beautiful relics. Of course, everyone thinks Picasso’s greatest achievement was the invention of Cubism... hardly. I’ve always admired his blue and rose periods. And there is a fascinating story behind Picasso’s blue period, in particular.”

  “Well, please. Indulge us.” Says Grant.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  To which Emily commences, “Well. Around the turn of the twentieth century, Picasso had a close friend, who he traveled and lived with. A poet named Carlos Casagemas, who took his life in 1901, throwing Picasso into a deep depression, coupled with his own poverty and the marginalization of the social outcasts around him, he found inspiration and solace in painting these desperate figures in monochromatic blues. And perhaps the most interesting part, being that his close friend, the poet who committed suicide, did so for having been rejected by the woman whom he loved, Germaine. It is said that at a dinner party, Carlos, the poet, asked Germaine, one final time, if she would marry him. And after she said no, he pulled a gun and shot at her and missed. Then he turned the gun on himself and shot himself in the head.”

  “That’s tragic.” Jessica remarks.

  “Tragic, yes. But as Scottish philosopher, David Hume, once put it, “I believe that no man ever threw away life while it was worth keeping.” Grant replies, coldly.

  “You’re just cruel.” Says Jessica.

  “I’m a realist.” Says Grant.

  Emily decides to redirect the conversation, “Kyle, you’re awfully quiet tonight.”

  Kyle, mid sip of wine, “Am I? I hadn’t noticed.”

  “What’s going on inside that beautiful mind of yours?”

  “Actually, I have been mulling something over. Has anyone heard of a Playtoy Android?”

  Emily replies, “What is that an android for children?”

  “In fact, it’s quite the opposite.” Kyle chuckles, “They are sex toys for lonely adults. Ethan, you must have heard of them, given your profession.”

  Ethan sits up in his chair, “Well, yes. I’ve heard of them. But I’ve never had the pleasure of working on one. They’re androids that are solely designed for sexual gratification, they serve no true function in society. Companion Androids, on the other hand, are designed to supplement emotional relationships and therefore serve a much greater purpose. Granted, you can’t sleep with them.”

  The group mildly chuckles.

  Ethan continues, “Why? Are you thinking of getting one?”

  “I’m debating it.” Kyle admits.

  In disbelief, Emily blurts out, ”Shut up! You can’t be serious.”

  “Why not?” Kyle defends, “They are completely subservient, and indistinguishable from the perfect human specimen. Let me ask you this question, Emily... have you ever owned a dildo?”

  Finn laughs, “She has three of them at home.”

  Casually Emily replies, “Yeah. So, what?”

  Kyle has made his point, “I think you know what I’m getting at.”

  Jessica chimes in, “I have a dildo.”