“Well . . .” Anna leaned on him. “Now I know why we were allowed to keep cattle back on Earth. There was no way you had enough milk for all the care drops.”
“We’re not that bad at it.” Atlas’s eyes were amused, watching Nora try to operate the machinery. “Milk is also too heavy to transport unless it’s dehydrated. The best we could do is supplement.”
“Okay, but . . .” Anna smiled. “Some things here are a bit too . . . mechanical.”
Atlas leaned in. “Are you saying cows need a better bedside manner?”
“Yes.” She said. “All of you do. Everything that’s living.”
Atlas chuckled, but then his gaze grew serious. “Please be careful working with them. Wash your hands twice. Our animals are cleaner being isolated, but . . .”
Anna kissed him on the lips. “Shh . . . they’re cows, Atlas.”
“Right, yes. Still . . .”
She leaned on his shoulder. Having someone care so much, even about something as small as dirt, was a feeling she never wanted to go away.
“Quit laughing, dumbass, I got it.” Nora said to Simon. She was struggling with the milking hoses while he grinned behind his hand. She turned around after finally getting it right, then patted the cow’s side. “Where was the on switch? I’m going to try.”
“It’s right behind you.” Simon scratched behind the cow’s ears. “You’ll be a regular dairy farmer before noon. I’ll go leash up another.”
“Wait.” Tilly ran out. “I want to turn it on!”
Atlas pulled away from the fence. “I’m going to go back to check on the construction. Zero is there right now and wants to add things that we do not need.”
“Like what?”
“He wanted to install lighting that changes color throughout the day.”
“Oh!” Anna grinned. “But that would be fun.”
“Okay, fine.” Atlas said. “But I’d rather he focus on the kitchen more.”
“Here. I’ll walk you out.” Anna stepped with him to the milking area’s large front door. “Make sure Zero knows I appreciate it. I left some cookies on the counter in the barn for him.”
“Of course you did.” His eyes crinkled, a bit bemused as he looked back at the cows in the stands, waiting patiently while Nora fiddled with the equipment settings. “I will admit, the cows seem to like you more. Still, be careful. Call me if you need me.” He tapped her front, where the communicator hung between her breasts.
"Will do."
Anna went back inside. With some trial and error, Nora and she worked together the entire morning. Taking care of the cows wasn’t too hard, especially since Simon pulled up every manual on animal husbandry he could find. By the late afternoon, they seemed to have gotten it. The androids had only been milking the cows once a day, and hadn’t kept track of their lactation patterns, as the irregularity seemed to confuse them. Not only that, but the ones that were harder to catch or difficult they gave up on altogether.
She scratched under a cow’s chin. “Looks like we found something we can do better than them.”
“Damn straight. I feel good.” Nora was sweaty, having done most of the heavy lifting all day. She tapped on the tracker where it counted the milk output. “Stella said we couldn’t do it right. This is the highest amount this pasture has ever produced. I bet we can get them back to the twice a day schedule even.”
The sun was low over the horizon before Nora took a break, hanging out by Anna on the side. The milk room was cleared out, cows back in the pasture for the day. But on the wall, the storage containers held more milk than this pasture had seen in months. And that proof of progress had to count for something, right?
Simon had long since joined Atlas back by the barn, digging trenches. And Tilly was busy giving all the cows in their pasture names, the little girl in her element. She’d been covered in dirt head to toe within an hour, and now in late afternoon, she was a mud ball.
Nora sighed, hooking her legs over the fence. “Tilly is a mess. I’m a mess.”
Anna sighed with her. “I was thinking how nice this was. Like old times, when we got together and hung out.”
“Yeah. It feels good.” Nora pulled the standard suit shirt away from her front and rubbed at a big stain on the front. “We should probably go get washed up. It’s almost time to go to that dinner again.”
Immediately, Anna’s mood fell. “That bad huh?”
“Yeah . . .”
