Chapter 23
Chapter twenty-three
Anna
The door opened, startling Anna awake. “Who is it?”
She cracked open one eye. The sun was halfway down the sky and light slanted over the bed, disorienting her. Hours must have passed since she fell asleep after baking with Atlas.
Nora was at the door dressed in her standard outfit for the morning, her hair tied back. “Knock knock. Oh. You’re still asleep?”
“Oh, it’s you.” Anna lifted her head off the pillows. “Knock knock, yourself. I was trying to take a nap. I finally was tired enough that I conked out like a normal person.”
Nora pointed at her belly. “Well. Only room for one of us to be knocked up.”
“Har har. You ass.” She leaned over to the side and pulled herself up. “You learned that saying from the TV show?”
“Simon says that stuff isn’t educational, but I don’t know. I’ve learned a lot already.”
“You sure have.” Anna reached over to the nightstand. “Check these out. I made crackers this morning with Atlas.”
Nora held out her hand and took one. “Wait. You made? As in you baked? Simon said you were doing a medical thing.”
“Yeah. Sorry, by the time I came back you had gone for breakfast. I decided to take a nap.” She rubbed her eyes. “Good thing too, I finally got a bit of deep sleep.”
“Glad you finally slept. And . . .” Nora’s eyes twinkled. “Atlas, huh? Hmmm, Anna.”
“Don’t you start.” Anna swatted at Nora’s side. “I’m a freaking pregnant tent right now. There’s nothing. He’s just nice.”
“Just nice. Hm. You’re spending an awful lot of time together for that. He is a looker.” Nora frowned. “Stiff though.”
“What did you expect? He’s made of metal.”
“I guess . . .” She stuffed the cracker in her mouth, and her whole body sagged. “Damn. After all that fancy food at dinner and then this morning, this cracker tastes like home, doesn’t it.”
“Right?” Anna took another.
Nora wiped her eyes a second later, sitting on the edge of the bed next to her. “See, this is what I was missing.”
“Crackers?”
“No.” Nora picked up another perfect square, breaking it in half. “Something normal. Living. Where was the kitchen? Haven’t seen one yet.”
Anna swallowed. “It is way in the back, past the glass rooms. Atlas said it never really was used.”
“They let you use it though?”
“Yeah.” She rolled on her side, only as far as her belly allowed. “I don’t think they actually want to keep us caged. I think that’s just what the other humans did; they kinda caged themselves. And now they’re confused by us.”
“That’s what I was feeling too.” Nora’s eyes narrowed. “Well, let’s show them who we are then. I already talked with Simon, so let’s go.”
“Go?” Anna stood up from the perfect bed, though the bed was not perfect now that she had slept in it. The blankets were no longer starched and turned down three-quarters of the way, but strewn across the bed haphazardly. “Where do you want to go?”
“Out!” Nora grabbed her hand, pulling her forward. “Simon is taking us out to one of the nature areas. There’s a farming area right past the forest.”
“Oh yes.” Anna stumbled, following, feeling lighter already. “I’m ready.”
“Good.” Nora’s eyes flashed with determination. “Yeah. Simon spent time this morning speaking with the others, and they said we aren’t forced to stay here. So . . .” She shook Anna’s hand. “We need to establish ourselves as different from those other humans right away.”
Now outside the room, Anna closed the door and struggled to keep up with Nora’s faster walk. The common room was empty when they crossed it, the television screens lining the walls were all turned off. “Did you talk with them more? That Pearl and Ria?”
“No.” Nora sighed. “They’re still hiding. Not only are they terrified of us, but they seem . . . dull.”
Anna said in a hushed undertone, “Nora . . . you really are an ass. Calling them that.”
“I’m not trying to be mean.” Nora lowered her voice too. “Something feels off. Lifeless. I know you felt it too. It makes sense that they don’t even cook. I think all they do all day is watch these dumb feeds.” She waved at the screens, moving towards the exit.
“Yeah.” Anna sighed, picking up a hat that Atlas had left behind. “They acted like we were some monsters or something.”
“Well, Simon is already outside with Tilly. We already found the way out. I just came back to get you.”
“Ah, alright. Yes, let’s go.” Anna put the hat on and followed Nora into the corridor, outside the human area’s doors.
A few of Zero’s models were washing the walls right outside the entrance. The androids all knocked on each other’s arms as they noticed them. Same smiles as before.
Nora pointed down the long hallway. “Is this the way out?”
“Yes.” Several answered in unison. After a few shy grins, they turned back to the walls.
“See?” she whispered to Anna as they walked on. “They’re not forcing us to stay inside.”
No. They weren’t. In fact, they didn’t run into any others as they retraced their steps from yesterday through the facility’s cathedral opening and back outside.
The cameras must have known they were leaving at the very least, right?
Anna decidedly walked toward the entrance. I’m not a prisoner here anyway.
But it was only Simon waiting at the same opening to the facility they walked in yesterday. The midmorning sun was high in the sky, humidity rising with it.
Anna quickly looked side to side. No one else was there. Only nature was on either side. Her shoulders dropped. Oh well. It probably was for the best no one was outside. They were free to explore without discussion.
But still, Atlas said he would come check on her in the afternoon and bring her again to dinner with the others.
What would he do when she wasn’t there? She crossed her arms and forced herself to stand straight.
I don’t need to sit around waiting for him.
He’s interested in me because he has a job and that’s it.
Her eyes fell back to the ground. But why did that make her feel .
. . sad? This morning he wasn’t like that.
In fact, lately . . . Anna touched her cheeks, now mostly healed from the sun yesterday.
Still. She firmed her shoulders. She was not going to sit and wait for anyone ever again.
The outside was warm even in the shade cast from the facility, but a strong wind blew. A dreadful feeling came over her as the double doors closed behind them.
Like a decision closing.
She crossed her arms, stiffening. It doesn’t matter. I’m not gonna be kept like a pet. This morning, making the crackers had given her a touch of freedom. The satisfaction of making something with her own hands. That felt too good to give up again.
Simon had a sack full of donuts under his arm. He handed her one as she got close. “Morning, Anna.”
“Morning.” She smiled back at him. “Although it’s kind of late in the day now.”
“Mama!” Tilly danced in place. Her face was already covered in frosting. “I gotta go to the bathroom.”
“Really?” Nora adjusted the backpack she wore, waving her hands. “Why didn’t you go while you were there? I told you to.”
“I did, but I need to again.”
“Let’s maybe just go over there in nature like back home.” Nora pointed to the bushes. “Here, I’ll walk with you. I don’t want to go back inside.”
Anna waited with Simon while Nora took Tilly away to the woods. The frosting was thick and too sweet, so she began eating the under part of the donut first.
She bit her lip, looking back. “Hey, Simon?”
“Hmm?” His eyes were scanning the distance.
“Where are we gonna go? Did you find something out last night?”
“There are some farming areas to the east.” Simon rolled the donut bag shut. “I downloaded the maps to all of Mars last night. Nora was interested in it because there are chickens and cows. This natural area is quite vast.”
Anna thought back to the hologram Atlas had shown her. Cows? “Oh, okay. Nora really doesn’t want to stay here?”
Simon side-eyed Anna. “Do you?”
“No.” She shivered. “This place doesn’t feel right. What about you? These are your people, after all.”
“Are they?”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Anna snorted. “You’re an android. They’re androids.”
“Nora and Tilly are my people. You too. You don’t love those other humans just because they’re humans, and I don’t love those androids just because we share the same circuits.” He gestured behind him with his bag. “Besides, we should see what’s out there. I’m as curious as you are.”
Anna looked at the forested area before trailing her gaze upward to the blue sky. The world really was vast around them. The facility stood, tall and clinical behind them. Completely unnatural to the landscape around it. What’s out there?
He reached back in the bag and held out a ration bar. “I’ll trade you this for that frosting you didn’t eat.”
“Deal.” Anna handed the donut frosting over. “You are a sugar fiend.”
“Naturally.” He grinned. The frosting was eaten in two bites, and then he wiped his fingers off delicately after. “Life’s little pleasures, Anna.”
There was a large rustle as Tilly ran back through the grasses to join them in the path, Nora trailing a step behind. She glanced sidelong at Anna’s belly. “Any hovercraft we can take or something if it’s far?”
“I’m not that fragile.” Anna firmed her shoulders. “I can walk. Let’s not get any more people involved.”
Thankfully, Simon agreed. “They know we’re out here, but yes, where we are going isn’t too far.”
“Alright.” Nora adjusted her backpack. “But you let me know if you need to rest, okay?”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t you mother hen me, Nora. Let’s get out of here.”
“Come on then.” Nora turned her back to the facility. “Let’s see more of what we got ourselves into.”
This morning they went in a different direction from where they landed, not toward the lake area with roses that Atlas took them to initially. Instead, they ambled along an area beyond the forest’s edge, where rows of organized farming were set up.
Soon the facility fell out of sight as they walked the path.
Simon waved at the farmland, endless rows of crops and greenery.
“So, from the records I’ve accessed, all of this gets processed at the factories on the other side of the facility.
Then most of the materials are packaged and sent to Earth in their charity drops. ”
“They’re so organized.” Anna’s eyes crossed trying to take it all in. The farmland stretched out into the horizon, far beyond what she could see.
The care drops that Mars sent to Earth on a regular basis had kept her alive. And to think, she was here now. Living in the place that had helped her—helped Earth—for so long. They do try. Her thoughts about the facility, that glass room, and even the chip softened.
Would humans try to help the androids as much as they were, if the situations were reversed?
Anna had to duck her head. No. And that complicated her mixed feelings toward their care even more. She knew during the big war that humans were the ones at fault; the androids did everything just so they could survive.
She stomped on the dusty road. Most of the humans on Earth are like Paul. The thought pressed on her heart. Even though the neurochip plans disgusted her, she understood why they were afraid.
Humans scared her as well.
Anna pressed on, walking faster to escape her thoughts. Alongside the farmland there was a road that was clearly maintained, even though it was still just dirt with wood chips on top.
“Are you doing okay?” Nora turned around. She and Simon walked together in the lead, next to Tilly.
“Yeah.” Anna quickened her footsteps, picking up the pace. She sweated under the sunlight, but had no desire to stop walking.
And soon, how she felt didn’t matter. Nature and its beauty made her forget how tired she was.
Atlas wasn’t kidding when he’d shown her the feeds.
Golden wheat fields stretched for miles on either side, trapping the heat, making her itchy.
Beautiful and rich. She reached out to touch a stalk.
The seed head rolled easily in her hands.
Not quite ripe. The plants looked healthier than any back on Earth.
The sun overhead was perfect to help them grow, without a trace of the smog and dust that circled the Earth.
Does Atlas take care of these plants too? And why was she thinking of him again? Even now? Anna stomped the ground.
“I gotta go pee again,” Tilly said, halfway through the walk.
“I bet you do.” Nora waved in front of her. “You drank all that water too fast. Well, go on then.”
Tilly dashed off the trail, into the wheat fields, her blond hair floating behind her. The wheat stalks blew around her, looking like something out of a magazine or a history show on Earth, long ago. A simpler time.
Anna sank down onto a slab of rock to the side of the road, chest heaving and sweat on her brow.
Soaking in the sunlight and the vibes. Inside her belly, baby girl seemed to have fallen asleep while they walked.
At least the kicking had stopped for a minute.
She leaned up against a tree, closing her eyes.
Heavy though. My back is hurting. Sitting inactive on that ship for nearly a month didn’t do her muscles any favors.
She smiled. We’re here on Mars though, safe, and there’s dirt and trees and no gunfire.
And being out in the fields was way better than anything within that facility.
Anna hummed to herself. Sitting, like she was, listening to birdsong, she could almost forget there were androids that must be—even now—still watching. There were still drones in the sky, after all.