“See, Stella? Look at her.” Zero pointed at the screen. “This poor girl. She can’t even make cookies without bleeding out or throwing up. There’s not a dangerous bone in her body.”
“Zero has a point.” Atlas regarded the picture. “Beyond that, they’re terrified of us.”
Stella hissed from his side, “Don’t be fooled. They might look pathetic, but they’re violent underneath it all. We’ll need to be careful if we want to integrate them well.”
Violent?He quirked an eyebrow.That’s a stretch.
Zero met Atlas’s gaze from across the room. “Lay off, Stella. Anna is just baking cookies and bleeding. In fact, I’m going to send this image to the communal mind myself. I’ll show them how fragile these new ones are.”
“You and your brothers know nothing!”
Zero stiffened. “I have the same processors you do, Stella.”
“Ha!” Stella scoffed. “You were designed for construction.”
"And are you any better?" Zero’s eyes narrowed. “You’re a diplomat model, programmed to sweet talk and lie. I see howhard you’re trying to persuade the consensus to test out the neurochips.” He pointed at the screen. “And I’m saying—look at Anna. Funny and cute and kind of . . . pathetic.”
Stella wrinkled her nose. “Cute?”
“Yeah.” Zero crossed his arms over his mesh shirt. “Are you jealous? More women here?”
“Enough, you two.” Atlas held up his hand. “She’s hurt and needs help.”
Stella muttered, a disgusted expression on her face. “Both of you have become soft.”
Zero pointed at the screen. “Look. At. Her.”
Stella picked up and slammed her heel back down. “You’re letting yourself be fooled!”
Fooled?There was a vulnerability on Stella’s face that Atlas rarely saw. Usually, Stella was easy to dismiss, but . . . “Have you seen anything different from these three?”
Stella didn’t answer. Instead, she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the kitchen feed.
Zero shook his head. “See? You have nothing.”
If androids could steam, Stella would be, based on the stare she leveled back at Zero. “It’s not about her. Not really.”
So, nothing.Atlas turned away.I need to go help Anna anyway.But before he left, Stella grabbed his arm, yanking him closer.
“Stella . . . what are you doing?” Atlas jerked his arm away, but she held on tight. “Let go of me.”
“Showing you. It’s not just my programming. It’s not even about Anna.” She pressed a memory on him over their shared communal wireless connection, overriding his block with her touch. “Just look!”
Unwillingly, he had to.
Pictures of war, only from Stella’s perspective, flashed over his mind. She pulled him into the images. Into her memoriesof the war, of androids being ripped apart. There was so much destruction once the humans used their bombs, reducing Earth to a wasteland. Now, the humans were reduced to living like savages on a planet that didn’t have enough resources to support them. And they relied on charity from the androids who helped, secretly and from afar, out of the goodness of their circuits.
As the images flashed by, Stella’s voice grew more and more distant. “Just because we’ve had peace all this time doesn’t mean humans aren’t still dangerous. Remember why these three humans are here. Paul tried to capture Simon and sell him for parts before he was killed! That was just a few weeks ago! They haven’t changed! If we give humans any leeway, they will do this to us again.”
Atlas quickly blocked the images. “How dare you force that on me!”
He ripped his arm out of her grasp, stepping backwards out of her reach.
“You are in danger of forgetting!” she snarled. “And your fragile, cute Anna here is carrying that violent man’s baby. That baby has half of his genetic code. Half of his potential violence.”
“She showed you her war memories, didn’t she?” Zero grimaced. “Why did you keep them, Stella? They’re poison.”
“I prefer reality.” Her voice was like acid. “I feel like everyone needs to be reminded.”
