Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Mini

For all their evident sophistication, the AZR-0 robots settle the question of who goes first the same way the rest of us never quite outgrew. A pointed limb or antenna moves from one to the next, in time to a rhyme with no basis in logic, and a verdict nobody can dispute because nobody fully understands the rules. There’s a strange comfort in thinking that even the clever little machines we invented would sooner leave a decision to a counting song than actually make the call themselves. And honestly, who can blame them.