“Incredible.” Simon put his hand on the facility’s wall. “This is beyond what was produced on Earth in my time. My sensors say it’s a synthetic carbon fiber?”
“Not quite,” Atlas stiffly answered. “The majority of this structure was initially made on Earth and brought here before the war broke out. We then continued modifying and expanding as the atmospheric conditions improved.”
Anna pressed her fingers on the warmed outside. “This feels like the spaceship walls.”
The androids lining the building still watched. A few tilted their heads almost in unison. Tilly followed behind them, waving at each android in turn. The Zero lookalikes were the only ones that waved back. Now, closer in, more variation showed in skin tone and hair color between them.
“Over there.” Atlas waved over toward the facility. “There’s a manufacturing sector beyond this facility where all the items we send to Earth are produced for the charity drops we provide.”
Anna looked up at the building that stretched out for miles.There’s another side?Mars suddenly felt much larger than it had when she was watching on the feed from the spaceship. A moment later, the door opened, revealing a large entryway with windows on the sides that let light in. The only reference she had for the size were large religious ruins just out of town. Theinterior had windows up high along the sides as those long-lost churches, without any of the holy references. Here though, unlike any church she knew, there were only more curved metal walls and no stained glass. Instead, the entryway was large, but splintered off into hallways that appeared to endlessly travel deeper within the structure.
“This is gigantic,” she whispered, walking in.
“Welcome, Welcome!” Stella’s voice echoed in the hall. “I see you finally made it here!”
“Yes, we explored some. It’s beautiful—“ Anna started to say.
But Stella had already turned into the hall, ignoring her. “We have been waiting for hours. I’ll bring you to your quarters, and. . .”
“I’ll do that, Stella.” Atlas stepped in front of her. “There are some sights I want to show them on the way.”
“Oh.” The smile on Stella’s face faltered. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” Atlas said, crossing his arms. “I think dinner still needed some preparations?”
"No. Everything is fine."
"That's not what I heard," Atlas said. "I think they need your help more there."
Stella's smile faltered a second time.
Anna glanced between the two, a sixth sense making the hair on her arms raise. Stella quickly recovered her smile, not seeming to want to challenge Atlas.
She opened her mouth to say more but more androids walked into the room, past her. Zero was at the front, fully identifiable by the way his shock of blond hair stood up on top. He glared at Stella, who stepped even further back.
"I will check on dinner then!“ Stella said, eyes lingering on Zero. “I will see everyone there, after all!”
She walked away a second later, heels clicking harder on the tile. Her blonde hair swishing in agitation from behind.
Anna watched her exit. Something wasn’t quite right. But that was forgotten as Zero ran to greet them, wearing a familiar grin.
He peered, too close, at her face. “Did you get a sunburn?”
“Yes,” Simon answered for them. “We could stay out there all day, but the humans couldn’t take it.”
“Uh, excuse me?” Nora scrunched her face. “Speak for yourself.”
“Sorry.” Simon smirked. “I meant I needed a break. This outdated hardware is wearing on me.”
She leaned on him. “Better.”
“These are all my brothers. All model-Ms.” Zero pointed behind himself. “Well, not all of them. But find one of us if you need anything. We handle most of the maintenance things here, as you know.”
The similar androids all smiled back, most wearing a mesh jersey like Zero in front of them. Some had numbers sewn in. A few weren’t wearing a shirt at all. Their bodies ranged in color from alabaster to a dark brown with facial features that subtly changed.
Anna took a step back, watching their eyes follow her.Are all the androids like this?The row of almost identical Zeros made her dizzy. “I’m going to get confused.”
A laugh rolled through the line of model-Ms.
