The technology to build the artificial bodies that carried out the labor was ages old, but building the minds to drive them had proven elusive. At last that problem had been solved, or at least rendered obsolete by a scientific breakthrough in another area, that of faster-than-light communication.

The world was at peace, but not all were content. There were those who believed that the ‘perfect’ culture was founded on exploitation, that the drone-minds were being taken advantage of, that it was not right that those who toiled so tirelessly and so reliably should not share in the produce of their labors, but they were paid little heed. Nobody was forcing the drone-minds to work for them… that was the beauty of the system. There was an entire race of creatures who seemed willing and eager to bend their brains towards tasks that were for them nothing more than a stylized representation on a view screen, and they would do it and do it well for no further reward than having their performance of the tasks acknowledged. Priests argued with scientists whether this was evidence of divine planning or mere cosmic happenstance, but both agreed that it would serve no purpose to let such a precious resource go to waste.

Across the vast gulf of space, a hundred thousand screens flashed with notification icons. The strawberries were ready to be harvested.