I was working on a side project, a downright heroic propaganda poster for the Retropolis Fraternal League of Robotic Persons, when I did this side-side project spin off from the idea.

The line “Although I am a servant, I am not your servant” is one that I read somewhere – I have no idea where – years ago. It’s always stuck with me.

I invented the Fraternal League of Robotic Persons in a news item at the Retropolis Transit Authority (it’s got an “On This Day in the Future” feature on the front page). Here’s what I decided I knew about the robots’ union:

On this date in 2033, robots throughout known space collectively formed the Fraternal League of Robotic Persons – the first instance of a labor union for manufactured beings.

This caused some confusion among biological citizens, none of whom had had to work for a living for decades – and in fact even the robots had labor-saving devices of their own. When asked why they felt compelled to unionize, the robots replied that they’d seen Metropolis and they weren’t taking any chances.

So while my original big image isn’t done yet, I spun this version off into a poster, t-shirts, a clock (!), mugs, and other gewgaws. You know me, I’m just like that. But I really ought to be working away at my City of Nova York. It continues to lumber on ahead at its own massive, deliberate pace.