Atlas didn’t meet her eyes. “Correct, yes. It would not hurt any human. At all. We have an external design ready to test now.”
“That’s wrong, though.”
“They’re humans too,” Nora added. “Why would they want that for us?”
“Right,” Anna said, “but apparently they’re the good kind.”
Nora smirked. “Well, forget that then. I’ll go roll in the mud some more.”
Tilly lit up. “Really?”
“No!” Nora snorted. “Well, maybe. Mud never hurt anyone.”
Anna rounded on Atlas. “Do the androids still want to use that chip on us?” She didn’t add.Do you?
“There is no consensus for that to happen.”
Nora and Simon relaxed, but Anna wasn’t fooled. She heard the hidden message underneath. They’d thought of it, and were still thinking of it. Control like Paul, all over again.
Nora looked pointedly at Atlas. “No wonder you were vague when talking about the humans here.”
Simon had his head tilted, a cold expression on his face. “We did not agree to come here for any experiments.” He angrily turned away. “I’m being left in the dark. Intentionally.”
“That at least we can fix now.” Atlas rubbed his temple. “We will do the updates so you can connect better.”
“Yes.” Simon tugged his eyes away from Nora. “Zero already mentioned that when we were walking in. Take me now, please.” Simon’s eyes flashed. “I need to connect. There better have not been any lies to make us come here.”
No lies. Anna shuddered. The walls here already felt closer than before.
“You are welcome here, I promise.” Atlas put a hand on her shoulder. “Like I said, we have no current plans to do anything.”
Anna wanted to back away and shake off his hand. But from Paul, she learned that sometimes you needed to stay still and keep quiet. And listen.
“I didn’t like those other people.” Tilly’s jaw jutted out. “They were mean.”
Nora nodded. “That they were. But . . .” She leaned over and ruffled her daughter’s hair. “Ain’t nothing we haven’t learned to deal with before, right?”
Simon put his arm around both of them, giving each a hug, but his eyes were hard and staring into the distance. His voice was flinty, protective, as he said, “I’ll get upgraded and puteverything together.” He looked straight at Atlas. “None of us are dangerous.”
Anna could feel Atlas’s eyes on her face as he said softly, “I know. You are not dangerous.”
She flitted her eyes up to meet his.Do you?But he held her gaze until she felt uncomfortable and looked away first.
Nora stood, pressed into Simon’s chest a moment longer, until Atlas cleared his throat again. “Well, regardless of their reception, you’ll have your own area all to yourself, so why don’t you explore and pick your rooms out?” He pointed down the twin corridors that split off of the main common room. “Down these halls are rooms. Please take whichever you want; all are vacant. I will come back in roughly an hour. I want to check on the arrangements for dinner.”
Simon was rubbing down Nora’s arm. “Can’t you uplink?” he asked Atlas.
But Atlas frowned. “Some things need to be handled directly. Come with me and I’ll bring you to Zero as well. If we can do those upgrades, then you can see more for yourself.”
Simon hesitated, lingering at Nora's side.
“Shoo.” Nora waved him forward. “I don’t need a keeper. Atlas is right. The faster you get those upgrades, the faster we can know what’s really going on.”
“Alright.” Simon kissed Nora’s forehead and followed Atlas out the door.
Anna stood, watching until after the door shut behind them. Then her shoulders dropped. Finally alone. Well, as left alone as they could be with the monitors overhead. But it felt right for the moment to be just with Nora and Tilly again.
Nora turned to Anna. “Well?”
