the robots

he tells her about centrifugal force. "it does not actually exist," he says.

"i'm spinning around you," she says. "i can feel it pushing me away."

"you are in a non-inertial coordinate system," he says. "your frame of reference is skewed."

"no," she says, "my grip is slipping, i can't hold on."

"then you don't have enough centripetal force," he says. "you need to lean in towards me."

"just press the button," she says. "i want to get off."

"i'll slow it down," he says. "i won't let you fall off."

"that's a dick move," she says. "just let me off."

"i'm going to make it go faster now," he says.

"then i'm letting go," she says.

"we're too high up," he says. "you'll hurt yourself."

"i'm going to throw my phone at you," she says. "i'm going to throw it right at your stupid head."

"don't forget to account for the coriolis," he says.

"don't forget to stop being such a gigantic nerd," she replies. "come on, just press the button."

"okay," he says. "on one condition."

"anything," she says. "except the robots."

"the robots," he says.

"i can't hold on," she says.

"the robots," he says again.

"okay, okay, anything," she says. "turn it off."

"say it," he says. "say the robots."

"ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh," she says. she is falling. it's a long way down. she is hurt. she's bleeding.

he tells her about gravity. "don't underestimate it," he says. "nine point eight metres per second squared is faster than it sounds."