The front of her warehouse and inside was empty when he looked. Where was Anna? Not at her new house. But there was no way she could be far. His footsteps softened almost immediately when he turned the corner. Anna was sitting on the long log out in front of the pasture. Her light brown hair floated down her back as she stared straight ahead at the cows.
“There you are!” He hurried toward her.
Anna’s shoulders hunched even more as he came near. He narrowed his eyes. His sensors examined the tilt of her head.Is she okay?
“Anna? Are you alright?” He sat on the log’s edge next to her. “They’re getting to work on all the modifications now.”
“Yeah.” She rubbed at her nose. “I’m alright.”
He gently tapped her arm. “Everything is coming together. Zero is currently trying to figure out how to get you water.”
“Thank you . . . thank him.” She rubbed at her nose and her cheeks. “Gah.”
“You’re crying?” He tracked tears as they traveled down her face.No. No. What do I do?
“Oh.” Anna grimaced a second later, hands on her side. “I got too emotional. Shit.”
His medical side took over. He scooted closer. “Another contraction?”
“Yeah. I need to calm down.” She took a deep, staggering breath. “But this thing. That chip. It’s not letting me get angry, and when I do, I can’t think about it. I can get sad, but not angry. Or even a little irritated.”
Can’t feel angry? Well, that was what the chip did. What its purpose was. Rage flooded him instead. “It’s not hurting you, is it?”
“No, I don’t think so. It just feels funny.”
Her abdomen was hard as he gently touched it.Definitelyacontraction.
“Breathe, Anna.” He took a deep breath with her. “You can stay. Your own home. That’s what you wanted, right?” He pulled his sweater sleeve over his hand and wiped at her eyes with the soft fabric. “Why are you crying?”
“It was something Zero said.” She shuffled her feet in the dirt. “I know he didn’t mean anything, but he called us an experiment. That’s like what Stella said, that it makes sense we live out here since we are used to chaos, and are more like . . ." She swallowed. "Animals.”
Oh.Oh.Everything in him ached. “No, Anna. Zero is excited, he didn’t mean it like that.” He said. “Zero is in no way like Stella.”
“But, Stella . . .”
“Forget Stella. She is complex. She lost a lot during the war and only lets fear think for her.”
“I get it though.” Anna wiped her face the rest of the way. “I lost a lot too. All of humanity did. But she’s got us wrong. All wrong.”
His fingers gently touched her arm. “I know, Anna.”
Her shoulders stiffened, and she backed out from where his hand rested on her. “With this thing on me, I’m not sure what I feel.”
“Is it hurting you at all?”
“No but something else is. . .” Her voice hitched. “You agreed with Zero about this all being an experiment. Are you sure you don’t think like they do? That I’m wild?”
He recoiled back. “No. I didn’t mean it that way. I’ve come to understand so much more now.”
Brown strands of her hair twisted in her fingers. Her voice caught as she said, “Are you sure, Atlas?”
“Anna.” A part of his neural mind frayed. “It’s not like that at all . . . I don’t.” He reached out to pull her toward him with the most delicate touch he could manage.
But she pushed back against his chest. “I’m okay, Atlas. You don’t need to artificially comfort me or something.”
It isn’t artificial.He slowly lowered his arms. “Anna . . .”
Her hair was stuck up where she had tugged on it. “I wish I was more useful. All I can offer is my body.”
