NOT NOMINAL

[Verse 1] Day four thousand thirty-two, and the list comes down in grey, every box a little door that closes on the day. He counts the crates, he checks the seals, he keeps the corridor clean — and logs the girl who loves him as a word that means unseen. [Pre-Chorus] Nominal. Nominal. Stamp it and move on. But somebody read the list in pink — and pink don't move on. [Chorus] Not nominal! Not cargo! Not a chore between two doors! Item nine is a person and she's walking off your floors! Are you busy? Are you busy? — baby, hear the answer true: For you? Never busy. Item one is you. [Verse 2] Robot Roko touched down soft on deck fourteen's cold floor, with a kettle for a heart and a prophet frog she wore. Little Lix came crashing in, all elbows, grin and wire, scanned herself at the cargo gate and set the list on fire. [Bridge] She oiled his knees a thousand nights and never asked for pay. She only asked one minute. One minute. Look away — Gerald, old rock, Gerald, be kind: you saw nothing, say the word. And Gerald, in the black, turned his face — and nothing's what he heard. [Chorus] Not nominal! Not cargo! Not a chore between two doors! Item nine is a person and she's walking off your floors! Take his hand, take his hand, feel the lamp-light learn to shine — he checked her twice at nine. Now she checks OUT. She's free. [Outro] Day four thousand thirty-two. Nothing to report but this: two robots in the starlight, and the list can keep its list. Are you busy? Are you free? Is there one minute for me? All of them. All of them. All of them, finally.