This short story can be read here: firesidefiction.com/custom-options-available

This is a story about a retired mining robot working to understand itself and its own desires, now that it is more free from some constraints of capitalism. In particular, the story opens with the line "The hardware specialist does not want to sell me genitals." and the narrating robot goes on to explore choosing its own sexuality and what it finds attractive.

This whole story was a lot of fun to read from the matter-of-fact tone and wry humor. The narrator is not a sardonic Murderbot (who would probably be somewhat bewildered by this narrator's choices) but rather a robot that is more self-aware of its own needs and wants. The idea from this story that I enjoyed the most was the narrator choosing and designing software to add physical attraction, and choosing what things it would find attractive. It's a short story, and while the sexuality part of the story is obviously the major focus, I think the other "who do you choose to be when you are suddenly free to do so" thematic elements resonate a lot with me (for obvious multidimensional personal reasons).

I read this because it's on the Otherwise Award's 2020 Honor List: otherwiseaward.org/award/2020-otherwise-award/2020-honor-list