Chapter 10
Chapter ten
Atlas
Atlas touched the plants, assessing their health and moisture content like he did for his personal ones on the ship. Home. He spun a rose in his fingers. Technically, they had plans to go directly to the compound facility after landing, but none of the androids stopped the humans from exploring.
Why would they? After all, drones were already circling overhead keeping tabs. The buzz from the drone was almost louder than the bees that circled the roses in force. His hand clenched on the white rose. More data for their files on what Anna and the others do with freedom.
But he could forget that for a moment. Forget what he had discovered a few nights ago.
Right ahead was a sight that needed all of his focus, for both medical and personal reasons. A sight that defied any sort of logic.
Anna lumbered through the forest with none of the grace and precision humans could be known for. She waddled and shuffled, flat-footed, as if she was drunk, like the joke she’d made earlier. All of this while touching everything with fingers that tried to be delicate even as her body was not.
An ache not related to mechanics swam in his gut as he stood within arm’s reach of Anna. His hand reached out, involuntarily, only grasping at air. “Carefully. The lower gravity.”
“No need to worry. I think I got it now.” She tossed back. She walked ahead, touching everything almost compulsively, and tripping into a tree trunk a second later.
She didn’t have it.
He pinched his chin, following her. She’s so clumsy.
A part of him knew that observation was not fair.
That belly of hers did make her awkward.
But he also was aware that the drone above was observing her as she made a spectacle of herself.
She didn’t seem to care that the entirety of the android colony from the drones above were watching.
Her palm, almost fully healed, was unwrapped. The stitches were almost dissolved even, the healing cleanser he applied having accelerated the process. And she didn’t seem to show any hesitation with using it. Unfortunately.
Atlas winced every time she grabbed at the soil or the trees and dirt coated the partially healed wound with no regard for medical hygiene.
He couldn’t focus anywhere except on her frenzied exploration.
He tracked all the minute movements of her eyes lighting up and how she bounced from flower to flower.
It was only a few minutes in that he realized he was also recording the scene.
He turned off the recording. She’s wild. A smile crossed his face, followed by an immediate frown. This shouldn’t be that interesting. But her joy. There was nothing measured or contained about it.
Maybe Stella was right. Maybe he was malfunctioning. Either that or her joy was infecting him. Regardless, he wouldn’t change a thing.
But . . . He looked over the rest of the humans. It is not only Anna. Her friends’ joy overall was infectious. All three of them. Four, if you counted Simon, who was acting more humanlike than any of the androids Atlas knew.
Atlas ran his hand through his hair. Simon is confusing. He was privy to all the schematics and data about Mars, and was as capable of understanding all the data as Atlas. And yet Simon didn’t seem concerned about not being connected while on the ship with his outdated hardware.
And Simon didn’t know how much was being excluded from him about the research plans.
“Atlas?” The sunshine bounced off Anna's smile. “How long can we stay out here?”
His voice came out clipped. “No set time.”
“Oh good.” She stretched her arms high above her head. “It feels so nice to be outside. Don’t want to go back yet.”
Atlas hung back at a distance for some time then while she picked flowers, mostly weeds, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. He crossed his arms, but couldn’t look away. What is wrong with me? The humans’ reactions were fascinating. No. Her reactions were fascinating.
He spun the rose in his fingers, then put the it down to his side, frowning.
Suddenly Anna reached for him, touching his elbow. “Thank you, Atlas. You’ve been so sweet and kind.”
He flinched, unable to meet her eyes. Kind. The earlier thoughts, and distance, dried up. Yet again. “Of course, Anna.”
“Trees are still trees.” Anna knocked on the wood of a pine tree, leaning up against the bark. “Are there any cacti here?”
“No. No desert areas here like where you lived in Arizona.”
“That’s alright. I’ve had enough cactus. I don’t mind if I never see one ever again. We only had a few trees in the town. Twisty ones. I like all of these more.”
“What else is similar?”
Anna spun around, humming. Her hand-stitched maternity shirt flowed out, giving the illusion of someone not weighed down, even with her eight-month pregnant belly. “Hm. Not much!” Then she pointed into the distance. “What is that? It looks like the forest changes?”
Over where she indicated was where their main agriculture operations were. The bulk of the produce was sent to Earth. “Over there is farmland. And cows and other domestic animals.”
To see farther, she stood on her toes before catching her balance. “Oh, can we visit?”
“Soon, but it’s a far walk.”
Anna turned away from the road. “Wait—there’s more of those roses. But a different color.” The roses here were more woody, and deeper and darker shades of red. Her hand quickly recoiled after she reached for one. “Oh. Ow. Thorns?”
“Let me see? And you really should watch that palm . . .” Atlas reached for her, but she had already moved on to dipping her nose to a flower on the vine.
“No, it’s alright. Just a scratch. Look at this one!” The morning dew was still on some of the vines in places, though it fell under her touch.
Instead of the flower, his eyes snagged on her cheeks. She is getting a sunburn. The humans’ skin didn’t have much protective melanin coating on it, having been in the spaceship for over a month. The red nagged at him, reminding him of the blood he had pulled for testing.
Testing that had more than his eyes on it now, with Stella and the researchers also having access. A hollow sensation filled his chest. Back at the ship, and overhead, he knew it was likely that not all of those watching were as amused by Anna’s antics as he was.
Especially those that felt threatened by having more humans here in their paradise.
Atlas tore his eyes away from Anna.
The sunburn must have bothered Simon too, because he pulled Nora and Tilly into the shade by the lake. They sat there, observing the water, while Anna stayed out in the sun, waddling slowly along the flowers.
“Anna?” He reached his hand out. “You need to go find some shade. The sun is less intense here, but there’s slightly more radiation. You’re not used to it yet.”
Anna turned at the touch on her sleeve. “Too much sun? Alright. I’m tired from walking too.”
In the shade, Nora pulled Tilly to sit next to her, adjusting them both on the thick layer of grass underneath. The little girl still had energy, and was poking at the soil.
“Come here!” Nora leaned back on her arms and waved Anna down. “Take a break for a minute.”
Anna settled down, ungraceful, her red face grimacing. “It’s good to take a rest. This baby is going crazy in me.”
“The baby?” The grass flattened as Tilly rolled over Nora’s legs. “Can I feel?”
“Yeah. You don’t even need to feel. Can probably see. She is kicking up a storm.”
Tilly pressed her fingers on Anna’s side anyway. The entire span of her abdomen was jiggling, causing Anna to shift and grimace.
Stiffly, Atlas lowered himself next to her, not fully resting back.
His eyes focused on Anna’s belly, which continued to move even as she sat still humming a wordless tune.
Twinkle Twinkle he recognized after a minute.
He'd never heard that tune hummed in real life before, only in the movies. He listened intently.
He shifted, mixed emotions tugging at his neural mind. The only reason he was here was because Anna needed assistance. Right?
In front of them was the lake’s edge. Anna pointed ahead. “Do you swim in this? Like the ducks? Are there ducks?”
“No ducks right now. We don’t swim, but you could.” The ground warmed his legs. Simon was walking around the lakefront, but Atlas felt no need to explore further.
Nora was rubbing on her leg, the recently healed one. “Oh, that’s good. I’ve always wanted to try swimming.”
Anna rubbed on her side, where her belly moved with the baby’s kicks. “Why don’t you swim? I saw in old magazines people used to do that for fun.” She tapped at Nora’s arm. “At the beach, right?” Then she jiggled her stomach. “I’ve got my beach body right here.”
Nora snorted.
Atlas caught himself smiling.
It looked like Anna wanted to say more, but instead leaned back on the springy grass to watch Tilly drop rocks in the lake. The rocks made a gigantic splash; the lower gravity made the water rocket higher than it would have on Earth.
Nora picked up a rock and threw it in. A large splash followed. “This is all so wild.”
The way Anna moved certainly was wild. Atlas smiled at the word. It really wasn’t an insult anymore. Leaving the grassy shore, he filled a bottle in the lake and brought it to her. “You’re flushed. Here. All the water here is monitored and safe to drink.”
Anna had a frown on her face as she echoed, “Monitored?”
The hollow, uncertain feeling returned. Monitored and tracked. Atlas swallowed. “Yes.”
She balanced the bottle on her belly before drinking it down, then handed it back. “Thanks. Yeah. The air isn’t hot, but more sticky?”
His eyes snagged on her mouth as she wiped it. “The air is humid. Different from the desert you lived in before.”
“Well, we had monsoons. This feels like it did then.”
Atlas refilled the canteen before shaking the bottle in front of her. “More?”
“No.” She pushed it away with her hand. “Thank you, though.”
Anna leaned back on her arms, firmly in the shade of a tree behind her back. She tilted her head toward him. “Where is the place Stella said to go? I wasn’t really listening once the doors opened.”
He cleared his throat. “Our permanent settlement is back near where the ship landed. That is where previous humans once lived. We have quarters already set up.”
“Oh.” Anna picked at the grass. “Yeah, I saw a large building, but was too distracted by the forest.”
He watched her fingers move, long and delicate, before forcing his sensors away. “When you are done exploring here, we can go there. The others are expecting you.”
“Okay. They just sort of let us walk off.” Anna frowned. “I was kind of surprised we could.”
But Nora pointed overhead at a drone hovering in the distance. “That’s probably why they let us. They’re still watching.”
The dark green drone, two of them in fact, were hovering directly overhead. Anna shaded her eyes as she looked up. “Yeah. I didn’t even notice. So much to see here, it kind of blends in.”
Tilly gave a wave above her head. “It’s green, like the ones back home.”
Atlas was silent, but his jaw tightened as he watched Anna wave. She’s waving up to them like it’s a party.
Anna picked herself up. “Well. They can see me do this.” Struggling to stand, she took off her boots and socks, almost falling over her stomach as she did.
Atlas jumped to pull her up.
Once she regained her footing, she patted his arm gingerly. “Thanks. C’mon!”
She walked to the water’s edge and then beyond.
The lake was muddy in spots, but mostly a deep, inviting blue.
When her feet were almost wet, she glanced back, waving him forward.
Simon and Nora were already half in the lake, an arm’s length from Tilly.
She put a toe in, then called to him, “Oh shit, it’s cold! ”
“Here, do you want to come out?” Atlas stretched out his hand.
“No.” She giggled. “It’s freezing!”
“Anna, be careful.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not going all the way in.” She put her hands on her hips. “One day I’m going to learn how to swim for real. Both me and this baby girl.”
Tilly streaked across the water, touching everything in sight, as Nora and Simon chased after her. Tilly came stomping by, sloshing everywhere. Then she twirled in the lake, hands cupping the water and tossing in the air.
Atlas’s eyes grew distant watching Nora and Simon play with Tilly in the lake. Now that. That. Everything about them together was like his movies.
Anna joined them a second later, completing the scene. She turned back to Atlas, grinning. “Here, you want some water too?” She threw a handful, and it fell only a few feet away.
Then she began to laugh. Soft at first and then louder, until she doubled herself over on her stomach. The laugh echoed back to him. Then she wiped her eyes, her hand still damp. “That’s the first full laugh I’ve had in . . . years.”
“Anna . . .”
But she didn’t let him finish. The water sloshed around her thighs as she walked back out toward him, feet dripping. She gripped Atlas’s arm and shook his hand with her almost healed one. “You don’t know . . .”
She tossed back her head to laugh again. Her hand dripped as she grabbed his sleeve.
He braced himself under her weight, his nerve endings tingling. “I don’t know what?”
Anna reached down to the shore’s edge to pick up the dark red rose dropped there. She held the rose in front of her, pressing it on his chest. The red petals spread across his sweater, splayed out.
“You just don’t know.” Her eyes shone. “It’s beautiful, Atlas. It’s beautiful.”
A flush came over his skin and neck. His smile slowly built, eyes not leaving her face. “Yes, it is beautiful, Anna. Yes, it is.”