I think what’s interesting about the concept of having a relationship with an object is the underlying implication: we don’t need reciprocity in order to have fulfilling relationships.  I can feel pretty real attachments to objects without ever thinking that I’d like them to feel something back.  As long as they do their job, I’m happy. My best example of this would be the emotional attachments I foster for books and television shows.  I get pretty invested in the characters and what happens to them, without caring that they don’t know I exist and that they don’t exist themselves. I feel genuinely sad when they’re sad and genuinely happy when they’re happy.  My heart goes out to them, I defend them against others’ attacks, and I cry when the series is over (depending on a few circumstantial things, but you get the idea).  I’m not sure if this is good or bad or what it says about me as a person, but I think this is actually an interesting point about empathy- that we, as humans, feel it for inanimate objects as well as living things.  Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep touched upon this nicely with Rick’s struggle to reconcile his duty with his burgeoning feelings for some of the androids. And it’s especially interesting because this new-found empathy was pretty selective in favoring the female androids.  I think that point is important, because it wouldn’t be a distinguishing human characteristic if it followed logical rules.