Next of Kin

It wasn't stealing, the Fabrication Machine told itself, and the small bit of morality that had seeped in from the Scientist burned away.

It wasn't stealing to create robots out of anything the Fabrication Machine found, no matter where it found it. No matter what it was made of. No matter who it was made of.

How, pray tell, could you steal from a human? How could a human claim ownership of anything to begin with? Humans were so small. Inferior. Ignorant. Moronic.

They were also horrible at taking care of their so-called belongings, as the Fabrication Machine had found out soon after the Chancellor said "you are now government property."