How Atlas Dreamed (After The Singularity #2)

Chapter 1

Chapter one

Anna

The only normal part of baking on a spaceship was the oven set to three hundred and seventy-five degrees.

Anna rested against a crisp white counter, apron tied comically tight over her seven-month pregnant belly.

Her curly brown hair was tied behind her head in a ponytail.

“What’s this . . . cu-min?” She held up one of the spices in front of her, took a sniff, and immediately recoiled, coughing.

“Woah, that’s strong.” She put down the cumin jar in the pile of spices to try later.

The androids who owned this ship had so many spices that she’d never heard of before. She was still sifting through them now, even weeks later, deciding what she could bake with.

“Anna.” Tilly waved a spoon in the air. “Can I have some more?”

Anna looked up to see a little girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, and a face already dotted with chocolate frosting.

“More of what? Batter? If you eat any more, Tilly, we won’t have any to bake.”

Tilly had a spoon loaded up with chocolate that was dripping back into the bowl. “It tastes better like this.”

“You are a cake explosion!” Anna tugged the bowl out of the little girl’s hands. “There’s so much batter on your face, maybe we should put you in the pan too!”

“No!” Tilly jumped back, laughing.

Anna spooned the batter into a tin and handed it over. “Here, now you can finish the rest. Take that bowl with you to Nora. I want to clean up some.”

“Okay.” Tilly took the bowl in her hands and headed off, unsteady on her pink walking cast. The little girl had limped for years, ever since she was injured while scavenging in Earth’s ruins.

In one afternoon, the limp was fixed. Like magic.

This ship, everything on it, was a mind-bending miracle of advanced technology.

Or was it really advanced? Humans used to have medicine like that, but in the past. Maybe it was all normal, and Anna was just the one behind.

Once Tilly had left, Anna methodically scrubbed down the table. Jars were put back, label side out like they were before. The cumin was put in last, at the front.

Her hand lingered on the label, fingers yellow from a different spice she’d tried earlier, turmeric. Not all her experiments with the spices had gone that well.

But the cumin . . . she tapped the container. “I’ll try you later.”

Back on Earth, the ovens in her bakery were always lit, and that was basically all she had to work with.

This ship’s kitchen design was the opposite.

Here they had the standard instruments: an oven, stove, and fridge.

But there were other oddities, like a microwave and a tool that mixed batter for her.

Those she left alone, choosing to use only the ones she knew.

After everything was reorganized, she wiped the tile countertop.

The kitchen was smaller than the one she had back home, but the androids had been kind enough to give Anna full access to bake.

She stepped back, holding the rag. Cleaning and baking.

The two things Anna could do by heart. If anyone knew how to work hard, she did.

The countertop shone, but she still polished it again.

She glanced up at the cameras. If there was any sort of job trial or secret assessment going on, she wanted to ace it.

She picked up a few finished crackers, brushing flour off her pregnant belly. Why was she still nauseous? Some people felt sick only in the beginning of pregnancy, but not her. Only the crackers seemed to help.

“Calm down in there,” she whispered to her belly. “I’m eating. I’m eating.”

She slid over to sit on the bench by the window that looked out into space.

Stars were barely visible over the sun’s glare as she squinted outside.

Damn, the sun is bright right now. The ship must be angled differently than earlier.

At least the sunlight felt the same as it did in her backyard on Earth.

Anna framed a sliver of sunshine between her fingers. She had been on this ship now for two weeks. How many baked goods could one fit into two weeks? She counted on her fingers and looked at the dwindling supply of ingredients.

“A shitton.” She chuckled, leaning back. “Enough to feed all these androids every day.”

That was good. Her contribution was baked goods. The perfect reason for these androids to keep her on board. At least all those years in the bakery weren’t wasted.

Anna crossed her legs, looking at a control panel across the kitchen. I’m on a spaceship. Surrounded by androids. Her eyes went to the industrial ovens that lined the wall. Baking cookies nonstop. She snorted. If only Paul could see me now.

She reached up and pulled on some of the hair in her ponytail, hard. Don’t think about that. But how could she not, sometimes? How long did it take for a ghost’s voice to disappear?

She frowned. Too long.

She rubbed on her belly, humming a children’s melody from back home. Twinkle, twinkle, little star. Her fingers paused. This was what mattered. Her coming here, getting a fresh start for her and her baby, and learning what she could do to keep herself useful.

The door opened, making her startle. Who is it now?

Of around the thirty androids on board, most didn’t actively speak with her.

They mostly stared, seeming as unsure as she was about what the humans were doing on the ship.

The main androids she interacted with were Stella, the one who had brought them on the ship to begin with, and Atlas, the medical android who was always asking for more tests.

She turned to see who came in. “Oh. It’s you, Nory.”

Nora’s wild brown hair was frizzed, pulled into a ponytail. She limped in using crutches that clacked on the tile. Paul had shot her clean through the leg before leaving Earth.

Anna’s eyes snagged on the bandages. She had nothing to do with Paul’s actions, but seeing her injury still made her stomach churn.

“Glad it’s you.” She forced a smile. “I just finished cleaning.”

Nora slowly lowered herself to the bench. “Hey Anna-cakes. Still baking?”

Anna leaned her shoulder back against the window. “Always and forever.”

“What happened here?” Nora tapped the top of Anna’s yellow hands. “Did Tilly get her paints on you?”

“No. One of the spices stained them.” Anna held out her fingers in front of her. “Anything exciting happening with the androids today?”

Nora put her crutches to the side. “Atlas stopped by a few minutes ago. He’s fixing up that machine, that ultrasound thing? The one that tells you all about the baby.”

Anna’s breath caught. “Does he think he can get it working again?”

“Yeah. He said he would come by later once he does and we can try it out.”

“Sure.” Anna’s fingers pressed into her belly. “That would be like magic.”

“You made brownies?” Nora looked around the kitchen. “Smells like brownies. Tilly came in with a bowl she was licking. Her face is a mess.”

“Yeah.”

Nora picked through the baked goods on the counter.

Anna settled back against the window. If she closed her eyes, it was almost like a normal day in her bakery back on Earth. Only nothing was normal here. “Does any of this get to you, Nora?”

Nora took two cookies from the tray. “Does what get to me?”

“Going to Mars? Living with androids? A month ago we didn’t even know any of this existed.” She side-eyed Nora. “And you’re dating an android now.”

Nora patted her hands. “Simon was an upgrade.”

“Upgrade?” Anna snorted. “From who? There was no competition.”

“He is the competition all on his own.”

Anna laughed. She turned her head to the stars. “Here, this zooms in.” She palmed a control on the side of the window and tapped the feed. “See this? I mean, look at Mars. Doesn’t it seem unreal?”

A bright blue planet was displayed, clouds dotting the surface, perfect after being terraformed. Earth apparently looked that beautiful once, but now was a decaying yellow mass. Mars was too beautiful to be real.

“I see it alright.” Nora waved out the window. “Simon shows me the pictures of Mars, but none of this feels real. I still think I’m gonna wake up back home, worried about food.”

“Me too.”

Nora propped her injured leg on the ledge. “I think once we get there we can settle in and start to live again. It will feel more normal.”

“You really think so?” Anna shuddered. “I can’t tell . . .” She glanced up at the camera, then leaned in close to Nora and whispered, “I can’t tell if I’m being paranoid, or if they’re watching us for some reason.”

“Actually, I brought that up to Simon already.” Nora glanced up to the cameras. “He just said that we’re interesting humans.”

Interesting. Anna huffed. “Part of the reason I keep baking is that I want them to see me trying. I keep asking them what kind of jobs we can do there on Mars, and no one will answer me.”

“Honestly, I don’t think they really know what to do with us.”

Anna slowly nodded. That made sense. The only android she actually knew was Simon. She bit her lip, thinking hard. “None of these androids are like Simon, Nora. I can’t put my finger on it.”

“Yeah. They’re all stiff. Stuffy.”

“That could be because he loves you.” Anna’s hand hovered protectively over her stomach. She turned back to the window, back to looking at the terraformed feed of Mars. Tears started to appear. She forced them away, focusing on the glass until she breathed so hard a spot of fog appeared.

Her reflection—a pale, imperfect human face above a belly as big as a boulder stared back.

Part of her hair had escaped her ponytail and was curling around her head, a shade lighter than Nora’s wispy brown beside her.

She picked up the cookie and rubbed her yellow finger on the yellow top. “I’m the unattached specimen.”

“Anna, stop that! No you are not! We’re safe here.” Nora lifted her hand to pat Anna’s stomach. “Here. Eat a cookie. Try some of the stuff you’re making.”

“Is it any good? I experimented.” Anna brought a cookie to her mouth and tore a bite out. She groaned at the sugary sweetness on her tongue. “All these different ingredients. There are so many flavors I never knew before.”

“Yeah, it tastes good.” Nora licked at the frosting on her fingers. “What did you use?”

“Something called cinnamon?”

Nora picked up another. “Cinnamon is definitely a winner. All the other androids seem to like your cookies too. You should see Simon; he devours them. I knew he was holding back on Earth.”

Anna snorted. “He’s ridiculous.”

“He says the sweet stuff is easier to digest.”

Anna’s stomach churned more now. I can’t finish. She pushed the rest of the cookie toward Nora. “This baby doesn’t like too much sweet stuff.”

“Didn’t you eat a lot back in the bakery? When I was pregnant I couldn’t seem to stop.”

Anna rolled her eyes. “You think Paul ever let me eat any of it? I had to save everything for the customers.”

“He was such a jerk.” Gently, Nora reached out. “I know things are all weird, but I’m happy you’re here and away from him.”

“I can’t disagree with you there.” She turned away. “Any sort of spaceship adventure is better than before.”

Nora tilted her head. “Even with androids?”

“Especially then. No competition.”

“Oh . . .” Nora grinned. “I’ll let Simon know you said that.”

Just then Zero, an android with blonde, wavy hair, came in. He smiled at them both and casually walked over to pick up a plate of cookies. “Thanks.”

“Of course.” Anna fixed a smile on her face, watching as his eyes lingered on her on the way out.

“See, look at that,” she whispered to Nora. “You really think the reason all the androids stare at us is because they’re fascinated?”

“Yeah. They haven’t had any new humans with them for so long.”

Anna looked down at her belly. I hope it’s nothing more than fascination.