“Different, yes.” Atlas shook his head. “But not awkward.”
“. . .Alright.” Her footsteps faltered as she walked the hall. “You definitely are sweet-talking now!”
“Maybe just a tad.”
She grinned and then quickly glanced away.
Atlas’s body heated from the eye contact. He kept pace, but also a respectable distance. At least for this meeting, he didn’t want to invoke more questions from the others by bridging the gap and offering his hand. If the other androids thought his opinions were compromised because of familiarity, his insights would be calculated down to bias in the communal mind and no longer be taken as seriously.
Instead, he physically walked a step behind them, like he did for Clara.That’s not right.Atlas recalculated before he pushed his feet to walk by Anna’s side.
Regardless of his confusing feelings toward her, he was not going to play a subservient role again.
Chapter seventeen
Anna
Anna heard the dining room before she saw it. There was a hum, a low-level vibration of talking that indicated a large crowd was present. She held her head high and kept her walk steady. The dining room entrance was already open when they approached, bright and cheery.
Barely one footstep in, a loud clash sounded. It was followed by a blast of sound. Instead of just the gentle hums she’d heard as they approached, loud noises came from every corner.
“What is happening?” Anna’s arms raised involuntarily in an attempt to shield her face. Lights started to flash, coinciding with the sound.
“Oh.” Her hands lowered a second later as the sound kept playing, now recognizable as a tune. She laughed slightly. “It’s music?”
“Yes, music.” Atlas’s voice was close to her ear. “They wanted to welcome you by having an orchestra playing.”
“What is that loud banging?”
“Cymbals!” Atlas shouted. “And drums!”
“Cymbals?” Anna gave a sheepish smile. Whatever the hell cymbals were, they were too loud. “That’s really sweet of them, isn’t it?”
“I forgot you probably never heard live music. Look, everyone is playing different instruments.”
Anna still wanted to press her hands to her ears, but instead forced herself to stand still. Soon the melody shifted to a gentler section and the lights dimmed. The music was truly beautiful, now that it was softer. “Oh. This is softer now. Simon played some recordings. But this is something else.”
“It is.”
Nora clutched to Simon’s side, looking equally overwhelmed. Tilly, on the other hand, had her hands clasped in front of her, and was already swaying to the melody.
The song ended soon after. The androids that were playing stood, taking a bow.
Simon clapped and Anna took the cue from him, clapping her hands together.
“Thank you!” Simon yelled. “It’s beautiful.”
Anna nodded, echoing him, as the androids playing left their instruments to stand with others lining the dining room hall. Her ears still rang, but she forced her hands down, resisting covering them again.
The dining room was packed, with androids doubled up around the entire dining hall. Anna scanned the lines. Were there more than two hundred here like Atlas said? There definitely were more than there were outside. She twirled a strand of her hair nervously.
Now that the music stopped, she took in the room. It was easily the biggest room she’d ever seen. There was space for many tables to be set inside, but only three were there. Placesettings were on one end, and an assortment of the android models sat on the other, waiting.
They had been waiting, through the music, just watching them file in.
Stella rushed forward, wearing a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Ah good. We have been expecting you.”
“Thank you for setting all this up!” Anna said. “That music was incredible.”
