[ot] [wrong] [fiction] Gifts

[Karl]

Friend used their remote machine learning setup to find the next person
similar to the people who had burned their home.

On Facebook, their account page had a profile picture that was just words:
"I told you I do not want a hug!".  Friend sent them a Facebook message,
saying "I'm so sorry I'm still communicating so poorly; how do I refrain
from hugging you?"

Friend asked around the community.  When asked about this person, everyone
asked would suddenly say, "I really don't like hugging!" and curtly turn
away, sometimes denying service or offering thinly-veiled death threats or
sudden physical violence.

While being beaten by what seems a small anti-hug-gang, friend curls up,
starts punching themselves too, and offers the clothes off their back and
personal slavery as an expression of care and trust.  The few strong people
stop harming them.

"Uhhhh it's really not that big.  Why didn't you make it right?  The person
whose photo you're carting around doesn't want to hug you."
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/html
Size: 1271 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://lists.cpunks.org/pipermail/cypherpunks/attachments/20210602/00b711cd/attachment.txt>