The apartment barely qualified as such.  Renee looked around in surprise.  “You live here?  It’s empty!”

“Not quite!” replied her robot-girl co-worker.  “I have all my stuff right here.”  Null stepped forward into the plain white room, and patted the simple white cube in the middle of it.  The cube was a little over a foot tall, and squished slightly as she patted it.

“Your worldly possessions are in that ottoman?” asked Renee in confusion.

“No, they are the ottoman.   Everything I owned fit into a single box after the fire.  So I got it venned with me, and ... well, there it is.  It’s comfy.  Folds out into a bed...”  She demonstrated by tugging on the top of the cube, and it proved to be made of six seamlessly connected slices that, when unfolded, made a very minimal mattress.  The top slice was fractionally thicker than the others, giving the mattress a built-in pillow.

Renee shook her head in wonder, her fiber-optic hair flickering as she did so.  “Okay... so... what do you need help with?  I’d help you decorate, but that doesn’t feel like the right direction.”

“I’ve got the next week off.  I wanted to go... even more minimal.”

Renee nodded slowly.  “I guess that makes sense.  So... do you want me to store your stuff while you... what, exactly?”

Null shook her head.  “No.  Well, I guess so, actually.”  She folded the mattress back into its cube shape, then patted it.  “I was hoping you’d turn me into this, and kind of... live here while I’m away.”

Renee looked around the apartment again.  There was nothing to see.  Four white walls, pale grey floor, bare white ceiling with recessed lighting along the edges that gave it a futuristic look despite being empty.  “What would I do here?”

Null shrugged.  “Sleep?  I don’t do much else here.”

“It would be handy to have a crash space so close to work...” mused Renee.  “Okay.”

“Yay!  Can we go now?  I’ve been dreaming about this...”

Renee chuckled softly.  “Lying on that weird mattress?  I’m not surprised.  I’d go a little batty if I lived here, too.”

“I kind of did.  Changed my name, turned necessity into... if not virtue, at least a lifestyle.  But I want to really live the minimalist lifestyle, all the way.”

“And to do that you need to be a cube?”

Null nodded eagerly.  “Yeah!  The only thing simpler would be a sphere, but then I’d roll away.”

Renee giggled.  “Right.  Because that’s the biggest concern here.  You’re sure?  If you get bored after a few days, I’ll have no way to know.”

“You know what it’s like to be really inanimate, right?”

“I’ve been the statue out front of the cafe a few times,” mused Renee.  “Once night falls it gets all quiet and... nothingy.  Oh!  You want that.”

Null scooped up the cube and hugged it.  “You get it!  In here, with nobody around, I’ll really be about as minimal as I can get.”

“And you’ll be okay with someone sleeping on you?” asked Renee.  “That will probably wake you up for a little bit.”

“Objects need to be used.  I’ll be a good object.”

“Okay, okay.  You’ve sold me.  Let’s go hit the Venn Machine.”

*** *** ***

Renee returned to the blank white room with a white cube in her arms.  She set it down in the middle of the room, patted it once, then turned around and left.

She returned a few hours later, unfolded the cube into a mattress, stripped out of her cute robot waitress dress, laid it on the floor neatly beside the mattress, then laid herself on the mattress.

She stared up at the ceiling, and wondered what the heck she was doing.  She was lying on a person.  A remarkably comfortable person.  A person who wanted to be treated just like an object.  She wrestled with the idea of wishing it good night, then sighed.  Null had wanted this, so she’d do her best.  She’d grown used to sleeping as a robot, and murmured “shutting down” then was out like a light.

By the third night, Renee was used to thinking of the mattress as just a mattress.

On the fifth night, she came home after a very fun dinner date with one of the customers who’d asked for her “serial number” at work.  It was nice to have a crash space nearby, her parents’ place was an hour away by bus when travelling after the evening rush.

Renee lay in the bed, thinking of her date.  She’d gotten so bold as to tell him about her latest design.  She didn’t need to pee as a robot, so she was smooth between her legs... except for a little red button under a plastic cover.  She could feel it glowing hotly as she remembered his kisses, and fumbled for the cover.  She hadn’t used it since some early testing when the cafe’s Venn artist had given it to her.  It took several seconds to remember the mental twist required to open the latch.  Once she did so, her fingers hungrily pressed the button, holding it down for the count of ten before letting go.  On her first test, she’d only tried one, and it had been amazing.

This was beyond what she’d ever imagined, her whole body felt like it was crackling with electricity.  She clamped her mouth shut to muffle her scream as she shuddered through a synthetic orgasm that would have shattered her flesh and blood body.

Despite not needing to breathe, Renee found herself panting heavily after it ended.  Her head flopped back against the pillow of the mattress.  And then, abruptly, she recalled just what the mattress was made of.  For a moment, she was deeply embarrassed, then a wicked grin crossed her lips.  This was what Null had wanted.  To be used.  The feeling of embarrassment passed, and turned into a wild feeling of power.  Her fingers found their way to the button again, brushing it briefly to spark short, sharp orgasms, each driving home the way she owned a person, was lying on a person, was diddling herself on a person.

When it came time to return to the Venn Machine, Renee found herself reluctant to scoop up the cube.  She had changed it for a month, after all.  The only reason to restore her was to keep the schedule at work from getting thrown into disarray.  Contemplating the chaos and long shifts, she shook her head and picked up the cube.

She kept on thinking of it as “the cube” until the doors of the Venn Machine closed and she saw a person on the other side.  Not Null, her friend from the robot cafe, but a slim guy standing next to a cardboard box full of random oddments, many of them singed.

“Oh!” Renee exclaimed.  “I don’t think I’ve seen you like this before.  History?”

“Please.  See if you can find the one with the cube.  Should have been a month ago, when we were all white with gold trim.”

“History... ooh, yeah, there it is.  You won’t fit this week’s style, but I guess we can drop off the cube then change again.”

Null sighed happily as she felt the change restore her body.  “Thanks.  Never much liked that body.”

“Sure you wouldn’t rather go back to being a cube?” teased Renee.  She regretted it the moment she saw Null’s eyes light up.  “Oh no, you would.  Really?”

“It was so simple.  So easy.  Nothing to worry about, you know?  I liked being useful.  Being used.  Especially that one night.”

Now it was Renee’s turn to blush.  Their bodies had glow-circuits in the cheeks for just that purpose, though to match the week’s styling hers glowed mint green.  “Uh, sorry?”

“Don’t be sorry!  That was great.  Really drove it home, I was such a good bed afterward.  Forgot about being human at all.”

“Well, if you can figure out how to do it without breaking the schedule, I guess I’m game.  It was really nice not having to commute, though I’ll probably still go home on weekends to see my parents.”

“Cool!”

Null gave her notice at work the very next day.  She agreed to work all her currently scheduled shifts, but after that she wasn’t coming back.  Renee gasped when she heard Null say that.  “Seriously?  Not coming back... ever?”

Null’s eyes shone.  “You can handle the rent on the cube, right?”

“Yeah, but...”

“What?”

“It’s weird.”

Null smirked.  “You got used to it after less than a week.  I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it again in no time.”

“I don’t think I can live in a white box indefinitely.  If we’re going to do this, I’ll sleep on you, but I’ll add stuff to the place to make it mine.”

“Oooh, I bet you could sweet talk a few of the others into being furniture...”

“Null!  I don’t want to own people.”

Null looked a little taken aback.  “You don’t?  But what about...”

Renee chuckled softly.  “You’re weird and really, really want this.  I’ll get used to it.”

“Might get used to the other, too.  Hit up Fantasy Emporium if you don’t want co-workers.”

“Yeah, I’d hate to mess the schedule up again.  I’ll just buy normal stuff.  Posters, a few bits of furniture from garage sales.”

“You could get our design guy to venn those to the same style as me...” wheedled Null.

“Okay, fine.  Matching white stuff.  Except the posters.  I need some colour in my life.”

Null held out her hand to shake Renee’s.  “Deal.”

Renee shook Null’s hand reluctantly.  “Did you just give away your human existence over a handshake?”

“Yep!  In two weeks, I’ll be a simple white cube.  Your simple white cube.”

*** *** ***

They had a low-key going away party for Null after her last shift.  Everyone at the cafe knew of her plans.  A few of the waitresses had approached Renee about adding to the furnishings, but they all agreed that the schedule was going to be tight without Null.  Their manager had already found a few candidates to replace it, but training the newbies would make things worse rather than better for a while.

Everyone gave Null a parting hug, but as requested there were no gifts.  “Thank you all,” it said at last.  “I’ll take your happy thoughts with me into the next phase of my existence.”

Renee chuckled.  “This is going to be so weird.”

“Are you still okay with it?” asked Null, worriedly.

Renee nodded.  “Let’s do it.”

They arrived at the Venn Machine after a side trip to pick up Null’s cube from its blank white apartment.  Null set the machine for three years then stepped inside.

“You’re serious about this,” muttered Renee, hesitating outside the door.  “After three years, you won’t even remember being human.”

“Why would I want to?”

Renee snorted and stepped inside.  “That bad, huh.  Well... I guess you don’t have to worry any more.  Enjoy.”  She waited a moment, but Null had no last words.  And then, it was just a cube.

Renee was surprised at how quickly she got used to the plain apartment.  She did decorate it with a few posters and a plain white mannequin she used to store her dress while she slept.  After a few months she added one of her co-workers as a bedside cube.  They only stayed for a month, then decided they preferred to exist.  Renee got the cafe’s Venn designer to convert some random thrift-sale furniture into sleek white equivalents instead.

*** *** ***

Over time, Renee forgot about Null’s existence entirely.  She started dating one of the cafe regulars, and after a few dates she braved showing him her crash space.  He stared around it in wonder.  “It does seem perfect for an android.  Do you like it?”

“It’s... convenient.”

“Would you rather move in with me?”

“Oh hell yes!”

Renee disposed of most of the furniture when moving day arrived.  She kept the cube, and her two favourite posters.  The rest got carefully removed from the wall and given away to friends.

When she arrived at her sweetie’s apartment, she sighed.  “I suppose I’ll have to get used to a normal bed.”

“Oh, that’s right.  Weren’t you sleeping on someone?”

Renee’s eyes widened.  “Oh!  Yes, it’ll be disappointed...”

She returned to the Venn Machine with the cube, and set it for another three years.  It took Null a little while to remember how to move, but he managed to accept a new change just before the timer ran out.

“Why?”

“I’m going to be sleeping on a real bed.  I thought... maybe a smaller cube?  That unfolds into a pillow?”

Null grinned eagerly.  “Do it!”

Renee brought home her new pillow, and unfolded it into place on the bed.  She made a point of folding it back up into a cube in the mornings.  Eventually, she got Fantasy Escorts to make a similar one for her sweetie, but made his black to match his hair, and so she could tell them apart.

*** *** ***

“Home sweet home!” exclaimed Renee.  “I can’t believe we have a house of our own.”

“Once you turned me into an android like you, the food savings alone made a huge difference.  Do you want to stay like that?”

“For now.  Maybe in a few years when we want to start trying for kids?”

“Works for me.”

That night, when Renee set up her cubical pillow, she noticed that their new bed came with brand new pillows as well.  She tested both, and sighed.

“What’s wrong?”

“I love the new pillows we got with the bed.”

Her husband laughed.  “And that’s bad why?”

Renee patted the cube softly.  “I need to decide what to do with this.”

“There’s that glass sculpture you were looking at... you could make a nice lighted stand for it.”

“Oooh!  That sounds perfect.”

The next day, Renee set her favourite cube in the Venn Machine.  Null didn’t quite manage to hit the button in time, so they stumbled out into the mall, both human for the first time in years.

“Hey.  I don’t know if you heard, but... the position of pillow has been taken by a new one.  It’s super comfy.”

“Oh.  Are there...”

“I’m thinking a smaller cube.  About four by four inches.  Hard and still white, slightly rounded corners.  It lights up on top, to display my glass jellyfish.”

Null nodded slowly.  “Sounds pretty.  Can I see it?”

“Oh!  Yes, I’ll set you up so you can see.  I think the light might do that anyway.”

Null headed toward the machine, but Renee scooted up to it first.  She swiped the display to show the new option.  Null stared at the three ringed planets on the display.  “How long is that?”

“Eighty eight years.”

Null nodded.  “Good.”  He stepped inside, and Renee followed a moment later.  Not long after that, she picked up a plain white cube.  Tapping it once made a circular patch on one side light up with an even white light.

She set it up on the mantlepiece, set the jellyfish on top of it, and stepped back to admire her handiwork.  “Very nice.”

“I agree,” purred her husband as he snuggled up behind her.  “This is very nice indeed.  You feel softer than usual.”

Renee giggled.  “I’m human at last.”

Her husband tugged her toward the bedroom.  “Then it’s time to get started.”

*** *** ***

The young man in the Venn Machine blinked in confusion.  There was a girl standing next to him, about his age.  “What?”

“Who.  That’s Jill, my granddaughter.”

“Gramma, I told you, I want to be called Nil.”

The machine dumped them out while Null was still processing that.  “Why?”

“I told the kids and grandkids stories of my favourite thing, of course.  Nil decided to join you, so she spent the last year on the mantelpiece displaying a lovely glass dolphin.  I promised that if she stayed for a year, she could meet you.”

Nil giggled.  “I didn’t have much choice about staying, gramma.  Daddy venned me for a Saturn.”

“You could blink your light if you didn’t like it.  I never once saw you flicker or dim.”

Nil smiled.  “And now I get to meet the curious person who didn’t want to be one.”

“Still don’t,” muttered Null.

“And now is the time we set the machine up again,” said Renee.  “Two of you, one object.  I was thinking more of an art installation this time, a nice canvas that you can recolour.  Time for a little colour in your life... I mean, your existence.”

Null chuckled weakly as Nil made puppy eyes at him.  “It sounds appealing after so many years of so little.  Do it.”

The resulting living painting had a spot reserved for it on the wall of the living room.  However, when Renee was about to hang it, she got a good look at the image it was displaying and blushed.  “Well.  You two are getting awfully intimate for inanimate objects.  I’ll hang you in the bedroom instead.  See what kind of fires you two light.”

That evening Renee’s husband chuckled at the display.  It was an abstract swirl of colours, slowly moving.  “Very pretty.  Why didn’t you put it in the living room like we planned?”

Renee rolled her eyes.  “You two.  Time to show off.”

“Oh.”  He stared at the roiling image and started to blush.  “They’re... very imaginative.”

“Oooh, I want to try that one.  Care to hit the Venn Machine with me, my sweet?  I haven’t had tentacles in years.”

“The lot of you are going to be the death of me, I just know it...” he muttered, but his grin made it clear what he really thought of the idea, and soon they were out the door, leaving the decorative intimacy to itself for a time.

*** *** ***

Two people stood in the painting, hand in hand, smiling.  Renee stopped in front of it, then saw what they were wearing.  Both were in white gowns, and both were holding bouquets of white flowers.  “Oh, good!  I’d hoped it would work.  I’ll set everything up.  Want to wait in there and have your first kiss at the altar?”

When they didn’t move, Renee giggled.  “It’ll take a couple months to get the wedding together.”  She blew them a kiss.  “I’m guessing you want a ... minimal wedding?”

Null’s head inclined in the faintest of nods.