[She considers this, looking over her drink, one of those fancy juice concoctions that sparkles a little like the stars outside.]

We don't have robots where I'm from, but we do have servants. People always treated my mother oddly for treating those as people, even though they patently are. I simply thought it ought to carry over. I don't know how much they can think or feel, but if they're people... And even if they did turn out to be objects, we have something called tsukumogami back home, where objects can develop their own spirits. So it's better to be kind to them, don't you think?