Ya know, I could have sworn "Faybles" won out a while back, but use whatever floats yer boat.
I have to admit that this fictional relationship really took me for an unexpected feels trip. Lots of reasons, including:
- It's a truly unique take on AI/human relations, and the "realest" I've ever seen. I can't recall anything else quite like this in scifi. Not a hint of the usual tropes around AIs. For example, Pinnochio syndrome infects most scifi involving robots, but none of the AIs in the QC-verse want to be human - they like being robots. QC has also avoided the "monoculture" trope -- AIs don't all think the same or agree on much of anything. Lots of others, too.
- This relationship is sort of the culmination of a whoooooole bunch of very meticulous world building. I love world building. (Anyone wanna talk Tolkien sometime...?)
- Speaking of world building, there are just tons of fantastic, "real" details -- I love how Faye sees Bubbles as a woman first, not an AI. So her big internal hurdle was "bein' with a lady", and figuring out she's bisexual (at least where smoochin' Bubbles is concerned). The fact that Bubbles is an AI is completely beside the point. She's always been a person to Faye, and Faye was pretty much immediately attracted to Bubbles (just didn't quite figure it all out for a good long while...)
- I think a big factor for many of us is seeing Faye find some sort of happiness and healing, and making good decisions. She's a messy, complex character we've all known for a LONG time, and she's been through all kinds of hell. Same for Bubbles. Of course, Bubbles' past is much less well known; the trauma we know about was far different.
- Good gravy, they're both so ridiculously GOOD for each other. Faye stumbled aimlessly through some not-that-great relationships until a great one snuck up on her. A few of us have had that happen. Some have seen it happen. And it's amazing.
Enough gushing. I could go on. And on...