Re: your last paragraph, you're welcome to whatever interpretation you have even if it doesn't gel with my authorial intent, but for context, I wrote this story to process my fear over coming out to my family shortly before I actually did it. The robot being gendered at the end of the story sort of is the whole point. On the outside she's a box lacking any gendered signifiers, and most people would probably default to referring to her as "it" or "they", but nonetheless, she's a she. Her ability to self-designate that way is integral to her newfound autonomy in exactly the same way as her desire to attain a new body is. They're intertwined.