Sterling came back in, quietly. “How’s it going? Glad Nora and Simon got their chance to visit earlier.”
“Everything seems fine.” Then softer he added, “They are so fragile.”
Sterling peeked in at the baby, who had fallen asleep in Atlas’s arms. “It’s been many years since I delivered a baby. But I guess things like this don’t change.”
“Yes, thank you for all your help.”
Sterling smiled. “I’m still running the newborn testing. Call me when Anna wakes up. I’ll check her stitches then, but you probably have it from here.” He patted his shoulder. “Congratulations, Atlas.”
“. . . Thank you.” And Atlas stayed awake, holding their baby long after he left. Every inch of him had rewritten himself around to include the baby now, in addition to Anna. A family. Something he never had before. Just like his old movies.
Eventually, he put the baby down, but that was only to check the vitals on Anna. He hovered over them both, checking measurements and feeling restless. Anna slept, the baby within arm’s reach in a clear-walled bassinet.
Night had almost halfway passed when the lights flickered overhead. He frowned. Simon mentioned electricity issues.Zero must still be working on them. He thought nothing more of ituntil another hour had passed and the intercom on the wall crackled.
Atlas walked to the speaker. “Come again?”
“Atlas? There’s been an issue with the wireless connections. Can you come to your office?” It was Sterling, sounding staticky and garbled. The voice was faint under the hum of monitors in the room.
An issue?Atlas reached for the communal mind, finding it offline. This had happened before, a lot actually, in the early days of Mars. But never in recent years. He leaned in close over the speaker to reply, “What happened?”
“There are connection problems.” It was definitely Sterling’s voice, only tinny and faint.
“. . . Sterling?”
The speaker crackled. “They’re fixing the connections. Some electricity short. But in the meantime, can you come to your office really fast? There’s some data on the baby I would like to discuss with you.”
“From the newborn screenings?”
“Yes, and other scans on Anna.”
Atlas glanced back at Anna. He leaned back in and pinged the intercom again. “Can you bring the data here?”
Static, then, “You really need to see this for yourself.”
Atlas’s mind flooded. “Did something happen to the baby after Anna wore that chip?”
“Just come really fast. I have told my nurse, Alice, to keep watch over Anna.”
“. . . Alright.”
Atlas glanced over the two sleeping humans in his life. His entire world was in this room. The need to protect them was overwhelming, but that included knowing what was so important that Sterling felt the need to call him away for privacy.Maybe the neurochip did affect something?
Alice, Sterling’s nurse, was outside, down the hall by the glass intensive care area. She was one of the models that had worked with Sterling for years. Atlas flagged her down. “Alice? Sterling has asked me to come to my office really fast. He said you would keep an eye out? I’ll be right back.”
“Alright.” Alice nodded, her thick black braids accentuating the movement.
Atlas hurried down the hall.I’ll find out what he has to say.His hands clenched at his sides.I’ll never forgive Stella if that experiment did something to the baby.
Chapter forty-nine
Anna
Anna woke up to her baby stirring. She lifted herself up, feeling achy and sore from the waist down. “Atlas?”
He wasn’t in the room.
Cries pierced the silence, and she looked over to see her baby red in the face. She forced herself up, feeling the soreness from the stitches deep down low. “You hungry sweetie? I’ll get you.”
