Anna’s entire body stiffened seeing those hovers.“Another complication is right. They must not be happy to come out here so fast.” She plastered a smile on her face.
Sitting inside the open-air interiors were a complement of five androids spread between the two hovers. Stella, along with several of her model-Bs, were in the front one. The dark-haired, brooding, researcher Leo was in the back one.
Stella’s hover barely stopped before she hopped out and glided to them on sensible, low-pump sandals. “Anna. Oh Anna.”
“Hi Stella.” Anna shuffled her feet. “I think you heard?”
“Yes.” There was a pinched expression on Stella’s features. She was out of place in the dirt field wearing a starched dress instead of the standard-issue suit, the rainwater perfume clashing withthe cow smell. “We came here as soon as we received the message from Atlas. We were all shocked.”
The smile fixed on Anna’s face.
A Stella twin came forward. Her scowl matched the others’, though she had a strategically placed mole on her lower lip and a darker complexion. “Stella is right. You humans are changing everything.” She pointed right at Atlas. “And you. You are molding yourself to their wishes fast. I don’t understand it. These humans come here, and now we must accommodate them?”
“Leave Atlas alone!”Anna surged forward. “This is our decision. He is only helping.”
“Oh.” Stella’s eyes grew calculating. Then she gave a harsh laugh. “She’s actually defending you, Atlas.”
“How rich.” The Stella clone tossed her head back, laughing as well. “The human girl has a crush.”
The sound of laughter felt like a whipcrack. Anna’s cheeks flushed. She balled her fists. “He’s a good person.”
“Person? We aren’t like you.” Stella scoffed. “Atlas, you’re not saying anything; are you compromised?”
Anna turned to see Atlas's face hardened.
“Enough,” he said. A chill radiated from him as he shifted farther in front of Anna. “Anna and the others are doing nothing dangerous.”
Stella’s eyes were like ice chips. “I guess we couldn’t expect you to be civilized.”
Shock, hard and heavy, made Anna’s ears buzz. She met Stella’s eyes. “What do you mean?”
“We should have anticipated this.” The look on Stella’s face became pitying. “That humans used to chaos would like to live out here with the animals. Ria and Pearl were right.”
Atlas stepped forward. “Stella, this is not appropriate.”
Stella tilted her head, tapping her ruby red lips with her finger. “Why not?”
The three other Stella models were walking all around the farmyard with various expressions of disdain, as if the cows themselves offended them. When they turned back to Anna, she was not surprised to see matching disgusted looks. Behind them, indifferent to the entire argument, cows snorted. The two worlds next to each other were almost comical.
Leo slowly got out of the hover and stood nearby, silent.
Anna felt herself detach, shrinking her shoulders to appear small, but she ground her feet in the dirt to hold her place. The talk went in a circle around her, Atlas’s and Stella’s voices growing increasingly heated, but she didn’t move.That’s the way it’s gonna be? Fine.
“Yep, you’re right!” she yelled over everyone. “We’re not civilized. I know I’m not. I never pretended to be, though.”
Stella’s mouth hung open, but her eyes quickly darted behind Anna.
Nora was running up from the barn, slowed down from where she was holding Tilly’s hand. “Woah, a lot of you came here. What is going on?”
“Hey Nora.” Anna kept her eyes on Stella. “We’re being lectured about how humans should act. They think we’re gonna hurt everything here if we stay.”
“That’s ridiculous.” Nora’s wispy hair flew around her head as she turned back to Stella. “We will not harm anything.” She waved her hand overhead. “You’re already watching us. You can see everything we’re doing—it’s no different from Earth.”
Tilly looked back and forth. “Are they not gonna let us stay here, Mama?”
“Wrong!” Ignoring them both, the Stella twin leaned forward. “This is not Earth. We do not want you doing your own thing.This is our sanctuary. We expect you to attempt to fit in and integrate where you belong.”
Integrate?The word felt wrong. Anna said quietly, “No.”
