“Yeah. Humans are a bundle of nerves and string.” Then softer, “And water, I guess. . .”
Atlas turned back to watching the nature scene, palming a control. “Let’s try something else. If you like this. . .”
The feed changed, showing a funny beaked animal that streaked on the water. He quirked an eyebrow.
Despite herself, she snorted. “What is that?”
He tapped on the screen, right over the creature’s long beak. “Ducks. You still had cattle on Earth and other basic farming animals, but ducks have long been absent. Especially where you lived in the desert. Am I correct?”
“Yes. I’ve never seen one before. It looks ridiculous.”
The duck dunked its head under the water before swimming across the pond and shaking itself. Water flew from its feathers as it puffed up. Several of the beaked animals dotted the lake’s surface, letting out a funny noise.
She reached out as if she could touch the feathers on the bird.How do they swim like that?The lake was so blue on the feed.Can we swim like that?The biggest amount of water she had ever seen before was where the town’s dam had made a tiny lake—but that was heavily guarded and not for swimming. And definitely never had ducks. “Do you have all of Earth’s animals? There on Mars?”
“No. Unfortunately.” He sighed. “But most of the common ones. We brought as many as we could during the initial runs. And then some couldn’t adapt to Mars when we brought them over and the species died out.”
“Oh.” She frowned. “That’s a shame.”
He bumped her elbow with his, the fabric of the blue sweater he wore soft on her bare skin. “But we have ducks.”
“Right, you do.” Anna smiled back, using the expression she usually wore at the bakery when dealing with the customers.
But Atlas’s professional smile had dropped. Instead he changed the feed to another video of ducks.
Chapter eight
Atlas
Atlas’s eyes softened at Anna’s reaction to seeing ducks. There was so little these new humans knew. Even after examining her firsthand, giving an ultrasound even, it was different now seeing her in a natural context. Sitting next to her. Talking with her about something mundane. Cows and ducks. And her nonsensical jokes.
Across his neural mind, the terms “insomnia” and “the need to rest” flashed as he observed the circles under her eyes. He couldn’t turn off his medical side. It was a byproduct of his model, as much as Zero’s was maintenance and Stella’s was persuasion. A part of him was always on and in tune with her body’s functions.
He glanced back at Anna’s face. Her light brown, curly hair and upturned nose. So different. Unique. The texture, and how it grew, was similar, yet different, as in every human. It was very unlike the standardized formula the androids were constructedwith. Androids were all mostly the same. He loved the variety humans had.
His eyes lingered on her stitched palm before they narrowed again on her pregnant midsection.Organic life.He pushed his sweater sleeves up. He’d kept his distance from the humans since Clara passed away, but here he was now, showing Anna videos of ducks.
Atlas critically scanned Anna from head to toe, forcing himself to catalogue the differences.Nothing like her is similar to Clara, other than the hair.Even her palm he just stitched was calloused instead of soft. Capable. His shoulders loosened. He could revisit his time with Clara in his memories, but he found himself more jaded every time he replayed them. He had been hoping for a family like his movies with Clara, but instead it was more like the reality television.
His jaw tightened.After all, androids were meant to serve humans.Humans were so much more complex. And demanding.
And they used androids like him. Used and abused. They never gave back anything in return.
The feed circled back to the cows again.
“This is so funny to see,” Anna whispered. “That cow is black and white. We only had brown ones back home.”
There was no need to whisper back, but he did. “We have horses still as well.”
“Horses? Oh I can’t wait to see it all.” She tapped on the feed. “Is this happening right now? Not in the past like the movies Simon showed us?”
“This is a current feed. Have you seen many movies?” Atlas’s hopes rose.
“No. He showed us a few from the data files on board. But he said that the androids didn’t keep many on the ship or in their memories.”
“There are more with the human colony. But you’re correct. We usually do not watch them.” He lied.
Atlas turned his attention back to the screen, his processors absorbing every detail as if they would click together and solve some sort of puzzle. The calculations weighed on his sensors. Not the hair or the hands. Or the way she talked. Everything. Everything about them.
