An android came from the other room, almost identical to Atlas. The dark brown hair and hazel eyes mostly matched, but this one had a deeper complexion and a smattering of freckles. Anna glanced between the two of them in a double take. “Atlas?”
“No.” Atlas said. “That’s Sterling. Another of the E series. He oversees the medical care here.”
“Welcome!” Sterling greeted them first. “We have been expecting you. Ria? Pearl?” He gestured them forward. “The new humans from Earth are here to see you.”
Both of the humans stared as they came closer, matching shocked expressions on their faces.
“Come now!” Sterling shook everyone’s hand in turn. “I am Sterling, in charge of all medical issues here in the human area.”
Simon left Tilly’s side to come to Nora, putting his arm around her. “I’m Simon. I am bonded with Nora, and our daughter, Tilly. And next to us is Anna.”
“Hello.” Anna took a tentative step forward, rubbing a hand behind her neck. “I’m Anna. Yeah. No hiding that I’m pregnant. What was that saying you said, Simon? Bun in the oven?”
“You got it.” Simon said. “Anna is eight months pregnant with a baby girl.”
Sterling examined them in the same clinical way Anna remembered Atlas doing when she initially met him. “Yes. It is nice to meet you. I have been looking over all the notes from day one. I feel like I know you all already.”
Anna looked back at Atlas, then at Sterling again. “Are there many others of you?”
Atlas smiled, and she noted it was not nearly as stiff as Sterling’s fixed, clinical one. “No. There were more before, but only he and I have survived time.”
“So . . .” Nora slowly asked. “How many of Simon’s custom models are here?”
Simon smirked. “Thinking of upgrading?”
“Never.”
“I’m still not able to access the mainframe.” Simon’s eyes moved rapidly. “Are there any others with my specifications?”
Sterling tilted his head. “No, unfortunately.”
Nora poked at Simon’s side. “What were you custom designed for?”
“Oh, Nora.” Simon looked at her flatly. “You know.”
Twin spots of color appeared on Nora’s cheeks. “Oh. Yeah.”
Anna snickered, then immediately stopped. Ria and Pearl crept forward as a unit until they stood level with Atlas. Next to him, in his silicone perfection, they appeared even more aged and weathered.
Ria pulled on Pearl’s sleeve, pointing to Tilly. “That child is getting mud all over the couch.”
Anna’s heart fell. That was something Paul would have said.
Ria and Pearl’s stern expressions did not change, however, as they turned from Simon to look at Anna, then to her pregnant stomach a second later.
She rested her arms across her front protectively. “Did you know we were coming today?”
Ria cleared her throat, but her voice was still a rasp. “We knew. But it’s different . . . seeing you now.”
What was different? The way they talked definitely was. Both Ria and Pearl had an odd, clipped dialect, unlike the drawl both Nora and Anna shared, or the androids’ placating perfection. Their speech was different enough that Anna had to mentally replay what she’d said in her head to understand.
“Sorry, we will clean up the couch.” Nora followed Tilly over to the screen. “Tilly—get down, okay? We can see what that is later. Come say hello.” She picked up the rectangle on the couch. “How the hell do you turn this screen off? Simon?”
Simon held out the rectangle and the screen went black.
“Hi!” Tilly came right up to the women, smiling. “I’m Tilly! We went swimming in the lake earlier. I’ll show you my dolls later, okay? They are still on the ship.”
The two women glanced at each other, then back at Tilly.
