And he pretended he didn’t really care.
He had always been drawn to humans, despite their imperfections—whether by his model’s design or his own nature, he could never quite tell. That susceptibility was why he’d kept his distance for so long.
The new humans were unwanted by most of the androids on Mars. A fly in the ointment. A burden that most felt pressed to accept. But a part of him could not ignore his programming, which wanted him to care for these three new humans they’d brought on board.
Atlas spoke down to the wiring. “More humans and more complications.”
He currently had little to do with the small human colony that lived with the androids on Mars. The colony, the humans they had cultivated over the years, was aging out, nearly gone.
The communal mind, the overarching link the androids shared, was split. Only half of the androids were happy about this new arrangement, but what could they do? Almost every android had originally brought loved ones with them to Mars. How could they deny the same opportunity to Simon?
Even Atlas had brought someone, roughly one hundred years ago. Clara. Although, those memories weren’t always favorable.
His hand slipped on the wiring.Never mind.After all, they were only a week away from landing at Mars. It didn’t matterto him what happened once the three humans were delivered. His obligation would end then. Sterling, his model counterpart, would take over their care.
The ultrasound was now completely gutted. He examined the broken pieces carefully. The repair shouldn’t take more than a few hours.
He turned the machine to examine the backside. Even though the ultrasound belonged here in the medical quarters, it looked out of place. The med room was filled with plants; there was more greenery there than any other area on the ship. They spilled over the monitors in some places, and were held back in others with clips. He’d had to push a few to the side for this machine to even fit.
Still, the plants were in the way. He had to wheel a delicately pruned Barbados cherry tree farther away, carefully, to reach the backside of the ultrasound machine and unhinge the panel.
The wires appear degraded.Atlas uplinked over the androids’ shared wireless connection.“Zero?”
“Yes?”
He projected a live view of the open hardware back to Zero. “Am I correct that this needs new wiring? The troubleshooter is currently reading low voltage.”
“Hm. It’s actually not in that bad of shape. But I’ll bring you some.”
“Thank you.”
Atlas disconnected before more androids could link with him.The communal mind pinged at him every time he opened a connection lately. Since he was the one medically treating the new humans, he was currently in demand for their data. He pushed off the ultrasound in disgust.
He took a break from trying to fix the machine, instead reaching for and adjusting one of his plants. Greenery surrounded him. All of the plants were cuttings that he hadpersonally grown and nurtured for years now. They stood in pots in every spare corner of both the med room and the private charging quarters he had on board, their green hues sharply contrasting with the otherwise sterile walls. Plants made sense, unlike humanity. They also did their best to give back. Oxygen, fruit, even medicines.
Also unlike humanity.
In his office were pothos and seedlings started under grow lights, but his favorite was his cherry tree. That tree had origins back to when he first came to Mars, continually kept alive through grafting and regrowth.
He dipped his head low to examine a recent graft he’d completed on one of his apple rootstocks. This was where his medical knowledge shined. The apple tree branch received another layer of tape over the splice, right over a bumpy callus where the cuts joined. “Everything is healing well so far.”
He ran his finger over the joint. Outwardly, his movements were calm, but underneath the familiar task his processors were hot. Uncommonly hot. Endlessly calculating. Atlas didn’t want to think about humans any more than he had to, so why did his mind return to them so frequently? Was it fixing this ultrasound machine? After Clara, the human he’d served, passed away, he’d purged most of his medical manuals. Only recently had he redownloaded all of them from backup drives to assess and treat the new human arrivals. Was reviving the old manuals why his training protocols were returning to him so strongly?
He rolled the sleeves of his blue sweater up, exposing more skin to cool himself down.Damn them.Then he wet his hands in the same water he was using to refill the hydroponic reservoirs, checking the moisture content of the grow pods as he went.
“Humans are much more complicated than you.” Atlas spoke softly to the plant cuttings. “You just need sunlight, water, and nutrients. They need . . .” He looked across the room to theultrasound machine that was against the wall. “Well, I’m not quite sure what these humans need. They’re different from the ones in the colony.”
Maybe that was the real issue? That something about them was not like the others?
Everything in him softened as he adjusted the pH levels of the plants individually. Under the fluorescent lights, he had different arrays set up, providing the full spectrum lighting that the plants needed to thrive. They also all had their own individual feeding schedules. The ultrasound was abandoned as he lost himself in the cuttings, working all the way to the far end of the med room.
By the time he finished, he returned to the ultrasound to see Zero halfway in the machine. “Oh. I was going to fix the wiring.”
Zero’s muscular frame was hidden by cables. Whereas Atlas seemed to need more layers to optimally regulate his temperature, Zero needed less. His model, the model-M specializing in mechanics and manufacturing, ran hot. Zero wore a mesh shirt, and it was see-through enough for every silicone part to peek through as he held up the wires. “It’s fine; it has been a long time since I worked on tech like this. I’ve missed it. I take it you’re fixing this ultrasound for the pregnant human, Anna?”
“Yes. Sterling has been asking for more data.” Atlas adjusted one of his lamps, usually used for his plants, to a better angle so Zero could see.
“Everyone wants more data,” Zero drawled. “The researchers. Stella and the rest of her model-Bs. Even all my brothers.”
