Seven pointed to the table. “Have you spoken with Anna at all? Maybe this is all unneeded; maybe if it’s framed right, she would be okay with the chip.”
Atlas stiffened.No. No she would not.
“You dumbass,” Zero barked back. “You saw her reaction to it being talked about earlier, Seven. Use your computing power.”
Atlas looked at Starla, who was fingering the locket still. “Would you have changed your Adam?”
“Never!” Fire was back in her tone. “Well, other than to have him live longer.”
Atlas swallowed, then looked back at Anna. “I don’t want her to change either. They are wanting all this research for her baby too.” He thought of the ultrasound. Of the baby girl without a name. And remembered Anna singingTwinkle Twinkle Little Starwhen she didn’t think anyone was looking. She already was singing some of the old songs to her baby. All by herself. . .
Even now, at the table, Anna was confused and out of place, but there was a tenderness that Atlas could see as she rubbed her stomach while sampling increasingly smaller bites of the food the androids offered her. Anna was always snacking on crackers because her morning sickness never fully went away. His eyes softened.She loves that baby.Despite having the memories of Paul, she loves that baby.What do androids know about biological reproduction? Anna wasn’t a machine for them to modify.
She wasn’t like one of his plants, able to change and experiment on at will. But still, he had to ask again, his eyes still on Anna, “Why are you telling me this?”
Reverence shone in Starla’s dark brown eyes. The locket around her neck was worn around the edges from years of touches. “Because you were the first to speak up. I can tell you care too.”
He smiled at her briefly and then returned to watching Anna. “You’re right. I don’t want any of them to change from who they are.” As he was watching, she touched her stomach again. “Or who they will be.”
Chapter nineteen
Anna
Anna sat with a fork in her hand, trying a little piece of everything but pushing the rest of the food around on her plate.It is rude to not eat it all, right?
The table rang with conversation and small talk clearly designed to keep the androids busy while they ate. And observed.
The plates piled high with a feast just for them was giving her anxiety. Would the food go to waste? People were literally starving back on Earth. And here she was, unable to even eat more than a few bites.My stomach.Her whole abdomen seized up with the thought of another bite. Anna slowly pushed the plate away.I’m going to be sick if I try to eat any more.Wouldn’t that be a great first impression?
Anna rubbed her front; the baby was kicking up a storm.Here we are, the first new humans at this facility in so many years.First real meeting. And I come in and yak all over the carpet.Saliva was thick in her throat.This would be way worsethan throwing up on the ship.But maybe it would show them that they really weren’t dangerous? She debated the question by forcing down another noodle bite.
“Can I offer you any more?” A female android with braids down her back held out a dessert tray. She was similar in her features to that nurse, Alice, who sat next to Sterling at the table. Only her dark eyes were a lighter shade and her hair had a copper color woven into the braids.
Anna glanced at the tray. The desserts were works of art, just like every meal presented. Everything had swirls and embellishments beyond the ingredients.
“No, thank you. I’ll have some water.” She quickly picked up the glass, which had a fine decorative print, and took a sip.
The android moved to Nora while another swooped in to fill her water again from the sip she just took.
Everything tasted wonderful. It was too bad it all sat in her stomach like lead. Anna watched Tilly as the little girl sampled one of every dessert. There were some spices that she had experimented with enough to recognize. But mostly everything was foreign.
As the meal carried on around her, Anna instead examined the hall. Along the walls were very familiar bags, lined up and arranged. Anna knew those bags. She knew that fabric. In fact, she had a nightgown made from that back on Earth.
Anna, though, sat back and counted the bags. There were hundreds. Thousands. The sight of them made her tear up.
It all felt unreal. She was on Mars. In the place where the drops were carefully constructed. Literally her whole life back on Earth had hung on those shipments. She could see pallets of the bars she remembered and rolls of fabric with familiar patterns. Her hands shook, making the water in the glass shake as she put it down.
I don’t want to disappoint them, but I don’t know what they’re looking for. What do they want me to do?Every time she looked up there were different androids present, walking stiffly, openly staring. It made it even harder to focus on eating and chewing. Another came by, presenting a different fruit tray.
The pressure of the room did not match the gentle music that played. The tempo layered into a headache that matched Anna’s nausea. The dishes were perfectly arranged and the glasses kept full. And it all added up to a test she didn’t fully understand.
“Anna? Are you feeling well?” Stella’s lips were pulled in a mock frown.
Leo, that dark-haired, brooding android by her side, also never took his eyes away.
Maybe most of the androids care, but I don’t trust either of these two.The thought came suddenly. Which was surprising, as Stella was the one who initially welcomed them on board.
“I’m fine.” Anna churned her fingers in her lap, under her napkin. “This is all new. And I’m not used to eating this much. It’s all so much nicer than Earth. Some of these things I’ve never seen before.”
